Today’s Links:

OBAMA-XI SUMMIT

Full Text of Xi Jinping’s Speech on China-U.S. Relations in Seattle The Chinese people have always held American entrepreneurship and creativity in high regards. In my younger years, I read the Federalist Papers and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. I was interested in the life story and thinking of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and other American statesmen. I also read works of Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain and Jack London. I was most captivated by Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and its descriptions of howling wind, driving rain, roaring waves, small boat, the old man and sharks. So when I visited Cuba for the first time, I paid a special visit to the breakwater in Cojimar where Hemingway wrote the book. And in my second visit of Cuba, I dropped by the bar Hemingway frequented and ordered a mojito, his favorite rum with mint leaves and ice. I just wanted to feel for myself what was on his mind and what the place was like as he wrote those stories. //  Guo Boxiong also visited that bar and apparently his picture is still on the wall…I watched the speech live, Xi said many of the right things but I am not sure the Chinese understand that most US audiences have moved beyond just hoping to hear the right, soothing words and actually want to see concrete actions. The Chinese still seem, publicly at least, to have not yet grasped how sentiment has shifted here.

A Guide to Xi Jinping’s Cultural Shout-Outs in Seattle – The New York Times Mr. Xi name-checked “House of Cards,” the television show in which Kevin Spacey plays a power-hungry politician, to say that there was no ulterior motive to the corruption crackdown he has pursued in China and that it was not aimed at taking down rivals. “It has nothing to do with a power struggle,” he said. “In this case there is no ‘House of Cards.’ ”  // Xi is right that the corruption crackdown is not like House of Cards. That show’s plot is bush league compared to China’s millennia of palace intrigues, and the many TV miniseries about those intrigues

Conflict Flavors Obama’s Meeting With Chinese Leader – The New York Times Thomas Donilon, Ms. Rice’s predecessor, had been passing around a paper written by Dai Bingguo, the state councilor under Mr. Xi’s predecessor, arguing against provoking the United States and its allies in the South China Sea and warning the Chinese military to bide its time. Others in the administration saw Mr. Xi as a dynamic reformer who would press for broader engagement with the United States while bringing the military under his control. But they missed the other side of Mr. Xi, “the risk taker,” in the words of one of Mr. Obama’s former top aides, “who is more nationalistic than we thought and more willing to be confrontational.” //then they were not reading Sinocism on November 16, 2012: “Expect Xi Jinping to be a reformer, but possibly a hardline nationalist one. Be careful what you wish for?”…Much western analysis of China seems to incorporate too much wishful thinking and clinging to preconceived notions, not enough seeking truth from facts.

The Obama-Xi Summit and Prospects for the Chinese Economy (Complete) | Asia Society Asia Society Policy Institute President Kevin Rudd, former Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the White House’s National Security Council Evan Medeiros, and Rhodium Group Founding Partner Daniel H. Rosen discuss the Chinese economy, the U.S.-China relationship, and what to expect from the upcoming summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and American President Barack Obama. (1 hr., 32 min.) // good to hear from Medeiros

Unpacking Xi Jinping’s Pet Phrase for U.S.-China Ties | Foreign Policy it “leaves one with the impression that the U.S. has to respect whatever China says are its core interests” — which include territorial claims to Taiwan and areas of the South China Sea that the United States does not recognize — “while not leaving any room for what the U.S. may see as its core interests. “ That hasn’t stopped Chinese state media from using the incantation with great frequency in the days leading up to Xi’s Stateside trip. In this regard, state mouthpiece People’s Daily has been at the forefront

White House: No Cyber Attack Pact with China, For Now – Defense One “I don’t want to suggest that, you know, we’ve reached an arms control agreement here,” said Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security advisor for strategic communications. The sentiment was seconded by Dan Kritenbrink, the senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.

Propaganda Video Offers Glowing Words for China’s President – The New York Times Titled “Who is Xi Dada,” a pet name meaning Daddy Xi, the video that People’s Daily released on YouTube — which is blocked in China — asks foreign students at universities in Beijing to reflect on the man at the helm of the rising superpower and world’s second-largest economy.

For Xi Jinping’s U.S. Visit, it’s money before politics | Marketplace.org “It puts a lot of American CEOs in a difficult position because they’re almost like supplicants,” says Shaun Rein, author of The End of Cheap China. “They’re all flying to Seattle to meet with president Xi as if he’s an emperor, and it’s clear that he’s going to dictate to them what opportunities exist for them in China.” Rein says the business environment for U.S. tech companies in China is the worst he’s seen in 20 years, and the Obama administration has done little to improve the situation.

Report Stresses Importance of Agreement to Avoid Cyber Conflict – NYTimes. a new RAND report that rates the cyber warfare capabilities of the world’s two largest economies shows how important such an agreement could be. The report, which rates the capabilities of both militaries over the course of two situations, a conflict over Taiwan and one over the Spratly Islands, dedicates an entire chapter to the respective cyber capabilities of both sides.

Letter to President Obama about Xi Jinping’s State Visit | Congressman Matt Salmon Xi Jinping’s first official state visit to the United States as the leader of the People’s Republic of China presents an important opportunity to address some of the difficult issues in the US-China relationship. These include China’s state-sponsored campaign of economic cyber espionage against the United States, China’s restrictions and limitations on U.S. businesses in its borders, its illegal and militarized takeover of the maritime commons, and the Xi administration’s egregious and ongoing human rights violations.

China Daily in historic link-up with US papers – China Daily wonder how much they are getting paid by China’s Ministry of Propaganda for this insert //  To enhance coverage of President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the US and his attendance at summits marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, China Daily will publish China Watch, a 48-page special during the visit in the print editions and online channels of three major US newspapers: The Seattle Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. This allows China Daily’s coverage to reach the mainstream US audience.

Will Xi’s state visit change US-China ties?-CNBC Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, outlines his expectations for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the U.S. // good for CNBC to get a guest who really knows China

Inside the Ring: China wants U.S. to return 2 wanted officials – Washington Times According to U.S. officials, the Chinese president is expected to ask Mr. Obama to facilitate the return to China of businessmen Ling Wancheng and Guo Wengui, both of whom are wanted by Chinese authorities on corruption charges…Intelligence officials are likely to oppose any return of Mr. Ling because of his access to intelligence on China, a top priority spying target for all U.S. agencies that have very little access or sources within the tightly-closed leadership circles.

Xi Jinping’s Message to America | ChinaFile Conversation David Shambaugh–Finally, it remains incredulous for any Chinese government official–much less the President and nation’s leader–to make the following statement concerning cyber intrusions: “The Chinese government will not, in whatever form, engage in commercial thefts or encourage or support such attempts by anyone.” The only credible thing about this sentence may be that it was said in the future tense–let’s hope that the Chinese government ceases such cyber activities in the future, as that has definitely not been the case in the past. Such statements about such critical and sensitive issues do not add credibility and build strategic trust.

What Does Xi’s Visit Have To Do With the Seattle Riot of 1886? | Foreign Policy Zhou Xiaoping, a young nationalist writer whom Xi  lauded in October 2014 for spreading “positive energy” — a term referring to online speech that praises China and the party’s leadership — argued in a popular Sept. 22 essay that Xi tacitly aims to showcase modern China’s power and status in a city rocked by anti-Chinese violence almost 130 years ago

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

1. 6 facts about how Americans and Chinese see each other | Pew Research Center As Pew Research Center surveys have shown, many of these tensions are reflected in American public opinion. Meanwhile, the Chinese public has its own complaints about the U.S. – in particular, most believe the U.S. is trying to contain a rising China. //pretty much everyone I know there believes this

Related: Perception and Misperception in American and Chinese Views of the Other – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Efforts to affect Chinese beliefs about the United States may be limited by the powerful socializing effects of the Chinese government–controlled education and propaganda systems.  //  understatement of the week

2. AP Exclusive: Leading China lawyer says he was tortured He is now speaking out once again in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “Every time we emerge from the prison alive, it is a defeat for our opponents,” Gao said in the face-to-face interview. Gao, who lives under near-constant guard in Shaanxi province, gave the interview earlier this year on the condition that it not be published or aired for several months, until he could finish the manuscripts of two books and send them safely outside of China for publication, which he now says he has done. He also later sent the AP his manuscripts and gave permission to quote from them.

3. Hackers Took Fingerprints of 5.6 Million U.S. Workers, Government Says – The New York Times Just a day before the arrival of President Xi Jinping of China for a meeting with President Obama that will be focused heavily on limiting cyberespionage, the Office of Personnel Management said Wednesday that the hackers who stole security dossiers from the agency also got the fingerprints of 5.6 million federal employees. The attack on the agency, which is the main custodian of the government’s most important personnel records, has been attributed to China by American intelligence agencies, but it is unclear exactly what group or organization engineered it  //  another win for Team China, US government IT incompetence makes it too easy. This is obviously terrible for the people affected but is a legitimate espionage target. Can the affected people can sue the federal government for negligence in protecting their data?

Related: Cyber Sleuths Track Hacker to China’s Military – WSJ Mr. Ge doesn’t appear to fit the hacker stereotype. His published academic papers identify him as an expert in a nontechnical subject: Thai politics. Frequent posts on Chinese social media that researchers have linked to him show him to be a new father and avid bicyclist who drives a white Volkswagen Golf sedan and occasionally criticizes the government. But his activity elsewhere on the Internet links him to a Chinese hacker collective that attacks targets in an area of strategic interest to the U.S., according to the report by cybersecurity concern ThreatConnect and security consulting firm Defense Group Inc

Related: No Serious Issues Separate China and U.S., Murdoch Tells Caixin   In an exclusive interview with Caixin, Rupert Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp., said there is no serious problem in the Sino-American relationship and the United States should adjust itself to a rising China…”I think it’s exaggerated.” Murdoch said, referring to the cybersecurity issue. “We don’t really know how much is done by governments. Clearly, the intelligence services of all countries, including America, are active in this area. When it comes to individual companies and individual people, hacking into intellectual property and stealing has got to be stopped. There has to be a clear understanding about that.”

4. China’s Internet czar wants to work with the U.S. for ‘mutual benefit and mutual victory’ – GeekWire Toward the end of his talk, Wei circled back to his boat analogy, recalling an ancient Chinese tale of two men in a small boat together, fighting off a huge storm in the ocean. At first, they suffered hardship and disagreed — working on their own terms would lead to failure. But ultimately, they partnered together to make it to land.

Related: 鲁炜谈中美网络关系：同乘一船 须向前看_网易新闻中心 鲁炜引用了2500多年前中国“二人同舟”的故事：两个人乘坐同一条船出海，在茫茫的大海上，狂风卷集着浪花不断袭来，前方还有无数凶险的暗礁，两个人互相争吵和指责。突然天降暴雨，风浪越来越大，如果不立即降下船帆，船就要倾覆入海。但仅靠一个人的力量，根本无法降下船帆。面临共同的风险，两人从对抗走向了合作，他们一同冲上前去，齐心协力降下船帆，颠簸的船终于稳定下来，最后两人不仅安全到岸，也成为了患难之交。

Related: Tech leaders greet Chinese president – Business Insider nice group photo. Baidu’s Robin Li did not go on the trip, sent president Zhang Yaqin instead

Related: Xi Jinping Hears Tough Complaints of American Business – The New York Times On a day that President Xi Jinping wanted to show off the significance of China’s huge market to American business, the titans of the American tech industry lined up for a 10-minute photo opportunity with Mr. Xi here at Microsoft’s campus. The first in line to meet Mr. Xi, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief of Facebook, spoke Chinese with him, enough to get a laugh from the Chinese leader.

5. Struggles in China Push Cisco to Strike Deal – WSJ Cisco’s rise and precipitous fall in China should be a sobering case study for a new generation of US tech execs who think they can find the right government relations team/strategy to successfully navigate China. They too will learn that in the end that the CCP feels no gratitude and will bend eager execs to their will, all while trying to use their firms to help domestic competitors. Or to be crass as I was earlier on Twitter, once you start sucking up to Beijing there is no end. Your permanent file is stamped “SUCKER’ in bold red letters …There is no easy answer here, but if you are going to take the plunge take it with your eyes open, and manage expectations about China potential far better than most have //  The Silicon Valley networking-equipment giant is planning to announce a partnership with server maker Inspur Group Co. during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seattle on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the discussions. Cisco’s effort to open more doors for its technology in China shows how Western tech companies are scrambling to adjust to an increasingly tough market. “There are certain geopolitical dynamics that we have to navigate,” said Chuck Robbins, who became Cisco’s chief executive in July, in an interview last week in which he didn’t discuss Inspur. “It’s been a tough couple of years.”

Related: For Cisco, Empty China HQ Shows Localization Not Always Quick – WSJ China’s official Hangzhou Daily newspaper reported in January that after nearly a year of preparations and office furnishing, Cisco would officially move in around the spring festival – which fell in mid-February this year. More than 100 executives were moving from Cisco’s Shanghai office “to found Cisco’s China ‘brain’ and hub,” the newspaper said. But although the company already has a swanky new high-rise emblazoned with “Cisco” in central Hangzhou, the spacious office was empty except for two front desk attendants when a Wall Street Journal reporter visited over the summer.

6. When China Rules the Sea | Foreign Policy–James Holmes– Attitudes toward the sea aside, the Cold War is the historical episode that illustrates how U.S. officialdom will likely respond to PLAN voyages in the Americas. Washington views the presence of foreign navies near U.S. shores as the price of doing business on the briny main. Freedom of the sea is a matter of reciprocity. Abridge maritime liberties for others and they’re likely to abridge them for you…China has yet to acclimate to the rules of the nautical game. Why? Because continental powers like China tend to think about the sea differently than natural seafaring states like the United States or Great Britain. Where nautical peoples see a commons — an ungoverned space, open for the free use of all — terrestrial peoples see national territory, to be governed as though it were dry land. A chasm separates Chinese from Western worldviews.

7. Xu Xiaonian: Time to face reality, and regain common sense | chiecon Being a patriot is not just about saluting with the left hand, but pointing mistakes out with the right. Chinese economists have over the past five years criticised government policy, but under the Xi administration, these criticisms were carefully dialled down. Depressingly, many essays felt obliged to namecheck Xi Jinping, and the unoriginal ‘new normal’ slogan. But perhaps the government’s mishandling of the stock market, and lack of meaningful reform to counter past policy errors, have inspired economists to once again speak their mind. Dr. Xiaonian Xu is Professor of Economics and Finance at CEIBS, and previously Head of Research at CICC. Below are the key takeaways from his speech yesterday.

8. China: The Superpower of Mr. Xi by Roderick MacFarquhar | The New York Review of Books What Xi did not acknowledge was that when Gorbachev came to power in 1985, his aim was to revive the Party and the country after two decades of corruption and stagnation under Brezhnev. He believed in communism, state ownership, and central planning, probably more deeply than Xi. Like Deng Xiaoping, Gorbachev launched reform (perestroika) and opening up (glasnost). But unlike in China, the Soviet bureaucracy had been in power for many decades and had not been terrorized and undermined by a cultural revolution. Resistance to perestroika was strong, even within the Politburo. Glasnost became the more important route for changing the Soviet system, and authors and journalists exploited their new freedom. Hitherto banned books were published. Informal groups were set up in favor of perestroika. Public opinion became important. The regime came under open attack. And gradually Gorbachev became more radical in his effort to shock his countrymen into change. Ultimately, the Soviet Communist Party was dissolved and the Soviet Union fell apart. Xi Jinping is as concerned as Gorbachev was to transform the Communist Party that he leads and to prevent the collapse of the People’s Republic. The Soviet example proves to him that glasnost is not the way to go.

BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE

China prosecutor to intensify financial markets crackdown | Reuters The prosecutor told a news conference in Beijing it would strengthen coordination with market regulators as part of efforts to halt activities such as insider trading and spreading of false information, state radio said on its website on Wednesday.

NDRC defends credibility of GDP data – Global Times The NDRC also noted that electricity usage, volume of freight and other goods indexes can not determine whether the Chinese economy is growing more slowly, because the services sector and the pharmaceutical, electronic, telecommunications and high tech industries account for an increasing proportion of the Chinese economy. Zhong Dajun, director of the Beijing Dajun Institute for Economic Observation, also said that measuring China’s economic growth just by looking at energy consumption and other “old economic indexes” is not accurate.  “As China’s economy is moving toward being more high-tech and energy-efficient, those indexes we used before can’t draw a full picture of the economy anymore,” Zhong told the Global Times Wednesday, adding that the official GDP data was “reasonable and accurate.”

A Big Bet That China’s Currency Will Devalue Further – The New York Times Mr. Hart, who is 43, has a different approach compared with most hedge fund managers. There is his Texas domicile, which he credits for keeping him and his team at Corriente Advisors at a safe distance from the groupthink traps found in traditional hedge fund centers…This June, he closed his China fund, just months before the devaluation. But he has kept his China bet on for himself and several private investors…“My fund would have benefited quite a bit, but my timing was off,” Mr. Hart said in an email exchange. “I believe that there is still much more downside in the yuan.” //Bloomberg 5.25.2011-Corriente’s Hart Bets Against China’s Yuan on Inflation 

China state group bailout highlights urgency of reform – FT.com Chinese bondholders facing the prospect of a debt default by a state-owned enterprise will receive a bailout, the company said on Tuesday, a sign that Beijing remains unwilling to impose market discipline on lossmaking state groups.

China’s New Path to Sustained Growth – Bloomberg View Li Wei is president and and senior fellow of the Development Research Center of the State Council, the People’s Republic of China

李克强：不作为的干部要“挪位子”滚动新闻_中国政府网 The more he threatens and complains, the more it is clear Li Keqiang can’t get the bureaucracy to do what he wants them to do  //  “不作为的干部，该问责的要问责，该‘挪位子’的要‘挪位子’。”李克强总理在9月23日的国务院常务会议上说。  当天会议听取了对今年国务院督查中发现的不作为行为核查问责情况的汇报。李克强强调，加大督查力度，坚决整肃懒政怠政等不作为行为，推动争相干事、有作为，是狠抓政策落实促发展的重要举措。“下一步，国务院督查结果要和‘干部能上能下’的机制相衔接。”

Chanos: Why China got so bad in 2015 – Business Insider Of course, none of this means China is collapsing tomorrow. Not even Chanos believes that. But it helps explain why 2015 has been such a critical year for China. “This is going to be a slow-motion unwind,” Chanos said Tuesday. “This is not going to be smoking ruins tomorrow.”

Aim’s Chinese disasters offer cautionary tale for chancellor – FT.com If the UK Chancellor wants a cautionary tale for his initiative to link London and Chinese stock markets, he should look to the Alternative Investment Market. This week two of the 45 China-­based companies quoted on London’s junior market have either had their operations suspended or their shares. They are just the latest of a long string of Chinese disasters on Aim.

China takes big step in pricing reform – Xinhua A list of items that have their prices set by the government has been reduced by almost half, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. Previously, price controls were levied on 13 categories. This has been slashed to 7, including natural gas, electricity, water supply for irrigation works and postal services. The total number of items subject to price restrictions has dropped markedly from nearly 100 to 20.

POLITICS AND LAW

Xi urges better public security management – Xinhua “Currently, public security incidents are likely to occur and may happen frequently, and the task of ensuring public security is onerous,” Xi said in a written instruction publicized Wednesday to coincide with a meeting on social security management. Xi called for precise, lawful and coordinated efforts to prevent, resolve and control various risks. He urged political, legal and social management departments to adapt to the current situation and heighten their awareness of risk.// 习近平：不断提高维护公共安全能力水平 努力建设平安中国 

Senior leader calls for discipline within anti-graft agencies – Xinhua Wang also answered the question of “who watches the watchdog?” Internal supervision departments have been set up within the discipline inspection agencies. “Such internal supervision is an initiative by the agencies. Together with the Party and public, the watchdog can be watched well,” he said. “To forge iron, one must be strong oneself, and the inspectors should take the lead in observing discipline and laws,” Wang said. “Anyone who is found to have violated the Party’s rules will be purged from the agencies.”

中纪委一官员办李春城案“跑风漏气”被严肃处理新闻腾讯网 在今天召开的纪检监察干部监督工作座谈会上，老王第一次公布这组数字：十八大以来，全国纪检监察系统共处分违纪干部3400多人，中央纪委机关查处处置14人。…在一次内部讲话中，王岐山花了20多分钟来谈他对此的思考。李春城是十八大以来被查办的第一位省部级官员，中纪委对他的调查长达一年多之久。据说，在办李春城案的时候，中纪委办案室一名对口四川的干部，曾发生“跑风漏气”的问题，这位干部甚至在四川住了近一周，全程由李春城和其秘书接待。这一事件东窗事发后，中纪委对该名干部作出了严肃处理。

China Seeks to Promote the ‘Right’ Western Philosophy: Marxism – The New York Times In 2004, the Communist Party, concerned that the wrong Western values, such as liberalism and capitalism, were surging into China and determined to preserve the right one, Marxism, announced a ‘‘Marx Project’’ to bolster research and teaching across the country. Now Peking University has gone five better and announced its own ‘‘Six Marx Projects.’’ In addition to the new building, these will include the establishment of a voluminous ‘‘Marx Collection.’’ This will bring together writings and documents on the history of Marxism in China from its introduction more than 100 years ago, as well as a compilation of all of Marx’s writings and related international materials

团中央与任志强微博上“撕起来了” 任：我不反党-凤凰新闻 Ren Zhiqiang in a Weibo fight with communist youth league central

Senior leaders pledge more aid to ensure Xinjiang stability – Xinhua A conference on providing assistance in a bid to maintain stability and prosperity in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is held in Beijing

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

Osborne talks up prospects of regional China amid latest fatal clashes | The Guardian UK chancellor has faced criticism for failing to speak out about increasing levels of government repression many blame for the bloodshed in Xinjiang

军工企业重组加速 船舶和航空是焦点-中国资本证券网 随着军工业务加速市场证券化和中共中央、国务院印发的《关于深化国有企业改革的指导意见》（以下简称《指导意见》）的印发，军工业务改革的步伐也开始加速。     对此，中投顾问高级研究员贺在华向《证券日报》记者指出，对企业来说混改将会带来两方面影响，“一方面民营小企业进入国有企业只能做小股东，而我国并没有保护中小股东权益法律；另一方面有利于企业市场化水平的提高，加快企业专业化发展步伐，实现资源优化配置”。

TECH AND MEDIA

Tencent M&A Chief Said to Leave After $19 Billion in Deals – Bloomberg Business Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s mergers and acquisitions chief Richard Peng Zhijian is leaving China’s largest Internet company to start his own investment fund, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

【头条】央视人事大调整+谢涤葵“辞职”？电视圈又一轮人事洗牌 on the large number of personnel changes at CCTV

Google is returning to China? It never really left | Technology | The Guardian Google Analytics has continued to transmit data across the Great Firewall despite other services being blocked

Silicon Valley shouldn’t let China strong-arm it into spying – Quartz Many US Internet companies have lobbied against China’s new security rules, but Apple has already acquiesced to demands that it store Chinese iPhone user data in China and permit undefined security inspections of its products. Similarly, media reports indicate that Google is seeking to introduce a government-approved Chinese version of its Google Play Android mobile app store, which may also entail storing user data locally. This is a dangerous path. Once companies store user data in China, they will inevitably be asked to give security officials data on Chinese activists.

A first look at the Chinese operating system the government wants to replace Windows – Quartz NeoKylin has long been part of the Chinese government’s hopes that a successful domestic OS would emerge. This has been driven by Microsoft dropping support for Windows XP—still widely used in China—and the government’s push to limit dependence on foreign technology, primarily for security reasons. Now NeoKylin is starting to be considered a legitimate option even for users outside the government.

Thailand’s government closer to setting up Great Firewall-TechInAsia any chance they will buy Chinese hardware/software solutions?  //  Thailand’s unelected junta has moved a major step closer to setting up a China-style Great Firewall that could block and censor websites or apps. A proposal to set up sophisticated and streamlined web censorship was discovered yesterday by a Thai citizen while looking through months-old cabinet resolutions in the official government repository

China’s Smart Hardware Landscape 2: The Xiaomi Model – TechNode Xiaomi’s Mi Band is so far one of the highest-selling wearables, or smart hardware products in general, in China. It announced shipment of 6 million units in June 2015, less than a year after its launch. However despite having the Xiaomi logo on it, the activity tracking wristband was designed and made by Chinese startup Huami in which Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital Partners, the venture capital firm co-founded by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, made an investment when it was founded in early 2014.

China white-box smartphone vendors lower prices to cope with increasing competition China-based white-box smartphone vendors, under increasing competition from vendors including Huawei Device, Lenovo, Xiaomi Technology and Coolpad as well as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, have reduced ex-factory quotes, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

Microsoft-Baidu deal in China – Business Insider This afternoon, Microsoft announced a big deal with Chinese internet company Baidu, where Baidu will provide an easy way for customers to download a legal, licensed version of Windows 10. This is vital to Microsoft, which wants Windows on 1 billion computers by 2018. It’s also important because historically, a lot of computers in China were sold with pirated or phony versions of Windows. This will be the genuine artifact, and Microsoft will make money from it.

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

南昌街头真马撞宝马 司机负全责新闻腾讯网 horse and BMW get into an altercation on Nanchang road, horse kicks car and damages it. Cop says BMW driver’s fault. Slideshow //  9月22日，南昌市丰和中大道与庐山南大道交会处，一辆宝马车拐弯进入旁边的中兴华庭小区时，遇一名男子牵着一匹棕色的马直行。正值上班高峰期，宝马车司机心急之下按喇叭催促。棕马受到惊吓，抬起马蹄对着车右边的叶子板就是一脚，将叶子板踢瘪。交警赶到现场处理，判定宝马车司机负全责。

Gender discrimination lawsuit in China creates buzz among activists – Channel NewsAsia A 24-year-old woman who sued China’s largest postal agency for gender discrimination in hiring has prompted activists to sign a petition calling for equal employment opportunities.

Dear Xi Jinping — Medium As China’s leaders increase control over expression — by censoring in the press and on social media, by jailing of those with dissident views, and by tightening regulation of domestic civil groups — it’s vital that courts in China continue inching their way forward as defenders of equal rights for women. Chinese women make up one fifth of the world’s total female population. More than ever the voices of women agitating for equal rights in China need to be heard and what their Constitution promised them needs to be upheld.

父亲，既然是农民，又何苦做股民 在打磨作品时，作者九月坦承“难以回避个人情感的强烈进入”，她甚至几次试图放弃发表，来等待时间沉淀掉某些不甘或愤懑。 作为一个女儿，一个股市沉浮的间接相关人，九月经历着对父亲、对家庭的重新认识，关系中摇摆不定，炒股对父亲的意义是怎样的，或许这篇稿件对于作者的意义就是等同的。 故事的主人公“父亲”，失去了成为凤凰男的机会，又无法真的融入村庄，“十八年长长短短炒股人生，五十载摇摇晃晃不安天命”，这就是九月眼中的父亲。

Chinese Art Auctions Fall to $7.9 Billion as Speculators Flee – Bloomberg Business Auction sales of Chinese art and antiques worldwide fell 7 percent to $7.9 billion in 2014, hampered by the country’s economic slowdown, government anti-corruption measures and fleeing speculators, according to a report. Sales are down 31 percent from the Chinese art market peak in 2011, according to the third annual report published Wednesday by art researcher and database Artnet and the China Association of Auctioneers. Auctions in mainland China accounted for most of last year’s decline, falling 9.3 percent from 2013.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

【活着】与霾为邻腾讯新闻腾讯网 stunning slideshow of life near a Dongbei coal mine

Researchers punished for corruption – Xinhua Several environmental researchers were given administrative punishments for a corrupt project they were responsible for, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) announced on Wednesday. The project was a national program on water pollution and treatment, during the 11th five-year plan period (2006-2010), covering China’s major lakes, rivers and urban drinking water.

China Is Sitting on an Ocean of Diesel Fuel – Bloomberg Business “The world is becoming an ocean of diesel,” said Ul-Haq. “Demand in China is not as high as it was previously expected. Chinese refiners are becoming more export oriented.” China’s August shipments of the fuel, also known as gasoil, surged 77 percent from a year earlier to a record 722,516 metric tons, or about 175,000 barrels a day, according to data released this week by the General Administration of Customs. They may rise to about 250,000 barrels a day later this year, according to ICIS China and JBC Energy GmbH, industry consultants.

BEIJING

Beijing Soaks Golf Courses, Ski Resorts Amid Water Worries  – WSJ The new rules are part of the broader “save water usage” campaign and come on the heels of the closure of more than 60 golf courses earlier this year, many of which came under fire as part of President Xi Jinping’s austerity campaign. Since 2004, officials have said water usage of golf courses should be strictly controlled, and the government has issued new regulations of protection zones around water sources in recent months.

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