I have a bit of headache wading through the mass of competing OpEds about the Xi visit and US-China relations. One thing I do not understand is people talking about the need for trust in the US-China relationship. I am sorry to be so cynical (then again the name of this newsletter rhymes with cynicism) but Chinese politicians do not trust each other, US politicians do not trust each other, the Communist Party has made it very clear it sees itself in an ideological struggle with the “Western values” represented by America, so how can any sentient person really expect there to be trust between the two governments?
Or is it just a diplo-speak nicety people think needs to be parroted, even though everyone realizes it is a bit of a fantasy? People-to-people trust is different, but if you know anyone who thinks the US and China governments can trust each other please put me in touch, I still have a Beijing bridge I am trying to unload, though I will only take cash upfront (and offshore).
Today’s Links:
OBAMA-XI SUMMIT
Despite Slump, China’s Xi Jinping Pledges Economic Reforms – WSJ In his first interview with foreign media since Chinese stocks skidded this summer, Mr. Xi told The Wall Street Journal that this summer’s government intervention to arrest the plunge was necessary to “defuse systemic risks.” The rescue was akin to acts taken by governments in “some mature foreign markets,” the president said in written responses to questions submitted by the Journal ahead of his first official state visit to the U.S. On the slowdown that has appeared sharper than both global markets and Beijing expected, Mr. Xi urged foreign investors to take the long view and compared the world’s second-largest economy to a vessel in rough seas. // full transcript
U.S. lobby disappointed by slow progress towards China treaty Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the progress had been “incremental, not substantial.” While he had not seen the Chinese list, he understood the number of sectors that remained off-limits to U.S. investment had gone down from about 80 to between 35 and 40. “Typically when we negotiate bilateral investment treaties with other countries, we are talking about one piece of paper, not a thick document excluding these main sectors. “There’s still a long way to go here … China has got to come much further with its offer.”
American Strategy in the South China Sea: Time to Define ‘Militarization’ and ‘Coercion’ | The National Interest The diplomatic picture is no rosier: at the late July ASEAN Regional Forum, China thwarted the United States’ attempt to have all claimants agree to halt land reclamation, island militarization, and the use of coercion in the South China Sea. As the two countries prepare for their presidential summit, it is tempting to resign ourselves to the notion that the United States is out of options when it comes to checking China’s buildup. This would be a mistake. Despite rapid-fire construction and apparent disinterest in dispute management, the United States can contribute meaningfully to the security and stability of the region if it uses the summit to define unacceptable behavior in this crucial waterway.
Can the U.S. & China Make Peace in Cyberspace? | ChinaFile Conversation Many aspects of Chinese Internet governance are unlikely to change any time soon, regardless of any U.S. input. There are few incentives to relax policy on online speech, or change Beijing’s stance on China’s cyber sovereignty. // China sees itself in an ideological war with the Internet as the primary battleground, and this view predated Xi, though as he has in many other areas he has brought a much more muscular, harsh and efficacious approach to issues than his predecessor
For China and the U.S., Cyber Governance Is Better Than Cyberwar | Shen Yi Yet, unfortunately, since the end of July, tides have been turning against the formation of a constructive environment that fosters bilateral cooperation in cyberspace. Mr. Obama’s confrontational rhetoric has been further hyped by the media, and it seems to intensify existing conflicts in U.S.-China cyber relations. Now, it seems, it is cyberwar, not cyber governance, that will consume the energy of Obama and Xi. This is wholly unnecessary and counterproductive. The absence of accepted rules is the root cause of current disputes. As the role of the Internet becomes ever more significant in global affairs, the right way forward for Chinese and American leadership is to commit themselves to first building a benign cyber relationship between the two cyber superpowers.// yeah the lack of rules is the issue…does Fudan P{ofessor Shen actually believe this, or is he writing what he thinks his side wants to hear?
[视频]【增信释疑 聚焦合作】“中美友谊屋”见证民间外交新闻频道央视网(cctv.com) CCTV on the Muscatine, Iowa home that hosted Xi on his 1985 visit and is now a “museum”, owned by a Chinese businessman
Understanding President Xi’s contradictions | Brookings Institution-Cheng Li A comprehensive understanding of Xi’s contradictions is instrumental for foreign observers. We should not overstate any one dimension of Xi’s leadership while ignoring others. It is still premature to make a definitive judgment about his intentions, capacity, and historical legacy. It would be a huge mistake to conclude that Xi’s policy decisions—either domestic or foreign—are predetermined. It would be even more dangerous to assume that a major confrontation or even war with China is inevitable. Of course, China will decide its own path, and Xi will choose his legacy. But policymakers in Washington have a strong influence over China’s trajectory and a huge incentive to ensure U.S.-China relations remain stable.\
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. As Iran Deal Moves Forward, Nuclear Diplomacy With China Falters | Gregory Kulacki For the moment, there is no indication that China’s new strongman will tie his reputation to a dramatic expansion of China’s nuclear forces or make any fundamental changes in the well-established nuclear strategy of his Communist forbearers. But Xi’s interest in placing China’s nuclear weapons on a higher state of alert could create a new nuclear danger: the potential for an accidental or mistaken Chinese launch. This risk is heightened by potential glitches with the fledgling missile warning system China is apparently starting to build, which could lead to false warning of attack just as U.S. and Russian systems have. President Obama should bring this issue up when he sits down to talk with his Chinese counterpart. It is probably too much to hope for, but both presidents could and should make a joint public commitment, backed up by concrete steps, to take and keep their nuclear arsenals off hair-trigger alert.
2. Chongqing Mayor Says Rural Land Reform Pilot Has Been Just the Ticket-Caixin The city’s government was the first in the country to adopt “land tickets,” an experiment that allowed farmers to sell usage rights for idle farmland as long as the authorities gave their permission. The four-year-old program has seen a total of 10,000 hectares of rural land turned over for industrial or commercial development…”Chongqing is enjoying a bonus from its reforms of the hukou system,” said mayor Huang Qifan, a major backer of the city’s reforms and its mayor since January 2010…In a recent interview with Caixin, Huang said he expected Chongqing to continue to grow robustly over the next few years. He also explained the land ticket program and measures his government plans for handling migrant workers. Excerpts of his interview follow.
3. Easing Fear and One-Child Policy in Guangdong-Caixin Parents of newborn babies in southern China’s Guangdong Province will no longer have to prove they obediently limited, through any means including forced abortion, the size of their nuclear families. In the latest example of a gradual easing of the controversial one-child policy, police officers at the province’s Public Security Bureau recently stopped demanding to see family-planning compliance certificates before registering “hukou,” or household registration, for babies…Even rule enforcers have welcomed the policy change in Guangdong. A police officer in Guangzhou said it’s been “a great relief for us” since officers no longer have to confront angry parents. Police frequently found themselves challenged by parents who had violated family planning rules yet still demanded hukous.
4. Public Opposition Said to Delay Upgrading of Train Line in Capital-Caixin Work to refurbish track so it can handle bullet trains running to Winter Games co-host city can’t proceed due to public’s worries, CRC executive says
5. China Policy Institute Blog » Is the CCP’s Aspirational Leadership Narrative Un-American or Anti-American ? Wang Huning as a Test Case Born well after the establishment of the PRC, China’s senior America watchers at present are nevertheless much better informed about the US, albeit not necessarily more pro-US. The best examples are perhaps Yan Xuetong (b. 1952) of Tsinghua University, who had actually studied for years in the US before gaining a PhD from Berkeley in 1992, or Wang Huning (b. 1955), who had held visiting fellowships at Berkeley as well as at the University of Iowa (1988-9). Surprisingly, whilst Yan Xuetong’s thoughts on the US are not unfamiliar to Western readers,3 Wang Huning’s remain largely unknown. Yet, it is Wang who commands by far more influence within the CCP, as reflected in his 2012 promotion to the rank of politburo member. The purpose of this essay therefore is to better familiarise Western readers with Wang Huning’s formative experiences in, and impressions of, the US, as captured in a travelogue he published after returning from his visiting fellowship.
6. Chris Buckley 储百亮 on Twitter: “It’s true. I’m back in Beijing to resume reporting. New York Times’ Chris Buckley gets a journalist visa, is back in Beijing. Quite the comedown on the eve of Xi’s visit given that the NYT does not seem to have untied the bell, unlike Bloomberg, who among other acts of recent penance to the Party held a conference last week in Manhattan for a visiting delegation from the State Council Information Office.
7. China Formally Arrests U.S. Citizen Accused of Stealing State Secrets – The New York Times State security officers secretively detained the businesswoman, Phan Phan-Gillis, also known as Sandy, about six months ago while she was accompanying a delegation of officials and businesspeople from Houston in southern China. But her case had gone unreported until Monday, after her husband learned of her formal arrest and decided to speak out and deny that her work as a consultant could have involved spying.
Related: White House seeks answers from China on U.S. woman detained in spy probe | Reuters White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters it was “disconcerting” that many of the U.S. government’s questions “have gone unanswered” by Chinese officials about the status of Phan-Gillis. “This is something that the United States State Department has been working on for quite some time,” Earnest said. “At this point, I certainly couldn’t rule out that it would come up in the conversation between the two leaders.”
8. China publishes regulation on CPC’s united front work – Xinhua China on Tuesday published the full text of a regulation on the united front work of the Communist Party of China (CPC) which took effect on May 18. The regulation, which was passed at a meeting held by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, is the Party’s first rule on the matter. The new rule says it is essential for the CPC to unite all forces in society as China transforms itself, with reforms in almost every area. // 中共中央印发《中国共产党统一战线工作条例（试行）
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
Soho China CEO: I Wouldn’t Buy Overseas Real Estate Today – WSJ Zhang Xin, chief executive officer of commercial property developer Soho China, said that real estate assets in major cities abroad are currently too pricey. “I’d be holding cash now because if you look around, outside of China, assets are just so expensive because of all the rounds and rounds of QE,” Ms. Zhang said Monday at a panel during the opening of Soho China’s latest office building in Shanghai // any chance she has some China properties coming online to sell?.
European Chamber in China Position Paper The European Business in China – Position Paper (Position Paper) is the European Chamber’s primary annual publication. This 15th edition of the Position Paper offers Chinese policy-makers detailed recommendations that draw directly from the knowledge and expertise of the European Chamber’s nearly 1,800 member companies.
相约2018 全国版负面清单明确时间表要闻一财网 CBN says a nationwide market access negative list system is coming by 2018
债市风暴第一案“悄悄”开庭 孙明霞等9人集体受审股市一财网 两年前，时任国信证券固定收益事业部总裁、曾经的“债市女王”孙明霞被公安带走调查，业界震惊。而今，孙明霞及其他8位当年在债券市场呼风唤雨的人物已”悄然“站上被告席接受审判。
Top investors flee struggling Fortress macro hedge fund | New York Post His Fortress Macro is down 15 percent this year through Sept. 4 after Novogratz’s wrong calls on everything from the Chinese stock market to last week’s Fed decision on interest rates.
POLITICS AND LAW
Reform Agenda In Turmoil: Can Policy-Makers Regain The Initiative? | Hoover Institution-Barry Naughton The stock market turmoil in China revealed a certain amount of disarray in the top-down economic policy process designed by the Third Plenum. In line with traditional division of responsibility, the State Council and Premier Li Keqiang have been playing a central role in coordinating day-to-day economic policy. This is evident with respect to both stock market policy and state enterprise reform. Competing policy entrepreneurs will drive the next step of the policy agenda.
Political Advisor in Guangdong ‘Detained for Graft’-Caixin The Communist Party Organization Department in Guangdong said in an internal briefing on September 20 that Zhu Haijun, a member of top committee of the province’s political advisory body, is being investigated for bribery. The document from the party’s personnel department for Guangdong, which Caixin has examined, said that Zhu has been expelled from the province’s political advisory body. Zhu also headed the private Sea View Investment Group.
Knife Attack at Xinjiang Coal Mine Leaves 40 Dead, Injured-RFA A knife attack orchestrated by alleged “separatists” at a coal mine in northwestern China’s troubled Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has resulted in at least 40 casualties, including the deaths of five police officers, and several suspects are believed to be on the run, according to local security officials. The attack began at around 3:00 a.m. on Sept. 18 when a group of knife-wielding suspects set upon security guards at the Sogan Colliery in Aksu (in Chinese, Akesu) prefecture’s Bay (Baicheng) county, Jamal Eysa, the chief of state security police at a neighboring mine in the county seat told RFA’s Uyghur Service Monday.
国家宗教事务局党组成员、副局长张乐斌涉嫌严重违纪接受组织调查 Zhang Lebin, vice director of religous affairs bureau, under investigation, fwiw he worked for many years in communist youth league center 团中央
季建业受贿案审判长被人举报多次驾公车赌博新闻腾讯网 presiding judge in Ji Jianye case under investigation
贾庆林刚卸任“一把手”的统促会来头有多大|统促会|贾庆林_新浪新闻 9月21日，中国和平统一促进会第九届理事大会召开。中共中央政治局常委、全国政协主席俞正声当选中国和平统一促进会会长。 新选举产生的第九届理事会领导班子，正副会长为1+12模式，全部为副国级及以上领导人。执行副会长为现任中央政治局委员，中央统战部长孙春兰，其他11位副会长由5位现任全国人大副委员长和6位现任全国政协副主席构成。 据新闻联播画面显示，前任会长贾庆林并未出现在会议现场，主席台上除了现任会长俞正声和孙春兰等副会长外，国务委员杨洁篪在列。
人民日报：中秋节不发月饼的领导不是好领导！ now it is ok for work units to give out mooncakes, in moderation. Mid-Autumn Festival is Monday // 中秋临近，你是不是老早就翘首期盼着单位能发些福利？按照相关规定，中秋可以发放少量的节日慰问品。如果单位不给你发月饼，知道是什么原因吗？
Chinese businessman arrested for smuggling $4.5M cash into US | New York Post A Chinese businessman who allegedly illegally funneled money to the Democratic National Committee before President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election has been arrested for smuggling more than $4.5 million in cash into the United States, according to Manhattan federal court papers. Ng Lap Seng, 68, and his interpreter, Jeff Yin, 29, were busted on Saturday for sneaking cash from China to US airports, the papers state.
S. China’s Shenzhen launches property registration – Xinhua China’s southern boomtown Shenzhen on Tuesday began its unified property registration as part of a national push for regulating the real estate market.
Premier orders thorough investigation of Tianjin blasts – Xinhua The authorities have achieved “preliminary identification” of how the accident occurred, damage, illegal practices, corruption and dereliction of duty, the Premier said while he was briefed on the investigation. Li urged rigorous investigation to make clear every detail and leave no “gray area” so that every conclusion can “stand the test of time and history.”
人民时评：完善责任制，让人民信赖司法–评论-人民网 要让人民信赖司法，应当“让审理者裁判，由裁判者负责”，也要恪守司法权自身的运行规律- （作者为最高人民法院司法改革领导小组办公室主任）《 人民日报 》（ 2015年09月22日 05 版）
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
So Crooked They Have To Screw Their Pants On—Part 3: The Guo Boxiong Edition | Hoover Institution On 30 July, the Central Committee announced that General Guo Boxiong, who served as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission between 2002 and 2012, was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and handed over to prosecutors for accepting bribes “on his own and through his family” for “aiding in the promotion” of PLA officers. Guo’s expulsion comes one year after similar charges against his fellow CMC vice-chair Xu Caihou, who died of bladder cancer in March 2015. This article examines the charges against Guo, places them in the context of the larger anti-corruption campaign within the PLA, and assesses their implications for Xi Jinping’s relationship with the military and for party-army relations.
Malcolm Turnbull says China ‘pushing the envelope’ in South China Sea – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) “The pushing the envelope in the South China Sea has had the consequence of exactly the reverse consequence of what China would seek to achieve,” he said. “My own view and the Government’s view is that China would be better advised, in its own interests frankly, not to be pushing the envelope there and that is why there’s been resistance against that activity.”
Turnbull promotes clear-eyed view of China – Global Times Hugh White praises Malcolm Turnbull
Where China Can’t Compete | Foreign Affairs To be world-class, Chinese research institutions must also be able to cooperate and compete openly in the international arena. However, Chinese think tanks are encouraged to do the opposite: access to ideas and even scholars from outside China is painted as dangerous. A Chinese think tank leader recently called for establishing a “blacklist of unpopular overseas scholars” so that they were “kept away from China’s idea market and marginalized by Chinese intellectuals.” Blocking foreign news sites on the Internet also prevents Chinese scholars from developing the fullest understanding of how world events—and indeed China itself—are viewed outside the country. As one Chinese scholar noted on WeChat, “Chinese think tanks do not have the ability to correctly predict the rapid changes of international situations.”
Silent Contest – Wikipedia seemed disturbingly paranoid at the time, now seems like a playbook // Silent Contest (“较量无声”) is a Chinese communist military propaganda film produced by the People’s Liberation Army’s National Defense University Information Management Center, purporting to expose and explain the secret battle, or conspiracy, the United States is waging against the People’s Republic of China.[1][2] The documentary runs for 92 minutes. According to the official newspaper Global Times, “The film is an exploration of the belief that the US remains China’s enemy and has never stopped its strategies to westernize and divide China.”[3] Some analysts have called it a “masterpiece” of political propaganda, while others called it “eerie,” “paranoid,” “bizarre,” or “alarming.” Silent Contest consists primarily of interviews with hawkish Chinese military scholars and analysts, interspersed with narration that drives the explanation of the U.S. plot. It first circulated among military enthusiasts and Internet users in China in late October, 2013.[3]
Xi Jinping On Chinese Foreign Relations: The Governance Of China And Chinese Commentary | Hoover Institution The Governance of China is an official compilation of speeches, conversations, and instructions by current PRC President and CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping on a wide range of topics relating to Chinese governance, from domestic development concepts and policies, to ecology, national defense, the campaign against corruption, and a range of principles and policies guiding China’s growing involvement in world affairs. This article examines those sections of the compilation relevant to Chinese foreign relations, as well as Chinese commentary on the volume.
TECH AND MEDIA
CloudFlare raises $110M from Baidu, Google Capital, Microsoft, and Qualcomm | VentureBeat | Deals | by Jordan Novet The news comes a few days after CloudFlare announced a partnership with Baidu
China’s Xiaomi announces telecom carrier service, new flagship handset | Reuters Xiaomi’s new wireless business, called Mi Mobile, will offer voice and data services and utilize either the China Unicom or China Telecom networks.
Here’s What All The Chinese Students At Your School Are Reading-WorldPost Fast-forward three years from graduation, and blood is rushing to Lin’s head as he hangs upside down from a spine-stretching device at his startup’s headquarters in Beijing. A few yards away, his team of writers is mashing up the day’s slate of stories and blasting them out to hundreds of thousands of Chinese students in the U.S. This is the headquarters of College Daily, a Chinese-language digital media startup tailored specifically to Chinese students in the United States and Canada.
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Full Text: Gender Equality and Women’s Development in China – Xinhua The Information Office of the State Council, or China’s Cabinet, on Tuesday issued a white paper on Gender Equality and Women’s Development in China. Following is the full text
Symposium commemorates late Chinese Christian leader – Xinhua A symposium was held in Beijing on Tuesday to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of bishop Ding Guangxun, the late leader of the Christian community in China. Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), attended the symposium.
Chinese furniture, paintings and Qing ceramics perform well in New York | Chinese art International auctioneers Christie’s report from New York that their Asian Art Week sales there, which took place from September 15-18, totalled US$54.9m. There are some interesting conclusions to be drawn from this strong performance. Firstly, it suggests that that private collections with good provenance can still outperform the market. It also serves to indicate that demand for quality Chinese furniture and paintings is particularly strong, trailed by demand for Qing ceramics. The top of the market is evidently unaffected by the more general slowdown.
腾讯新闻-天津爆炸受伤消防员昏迷一月后苏醒 艰难敬军礼(图) Tianjin firefighter wakes after 40 days in coma, salutes, makes front pages of news sites
实拍外籍男子当街殴打六旬开车老人 挥舞扫帚猛戳 – 搜狐视频 foreigner caught on video beating 60 year old with a broom in Nanjing, over a traffic issue (he was doing nothing wrong). Foreigner a teacher at a local school. Why he is not sitting in a Chinese jail is beyond me
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
Chinese scientists row over long-sought protein that senses magnetism : Nature News & Comment On 14 September, Zhang Sheng-jia, a neuroscientist at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and his colleagues published a paper1 in Science Bulletin claiming to use magnetic fields to remotely control neurons and muscle cells in worms, by employing a particular magnetism-sensing protein. But Xie Can, a biophysicist at neighbouring Peking University, says that Zhang’s publication draws on a discovery made in his laboratory, currently under review for publication, and violates a collaboration agreement the two had reached. Administrators at Tsinghua and Peking universities, siding with Xie, have jointly requested that the journal retract Zhang’s paper, and Tsinghua has launched an investigation into Zhang’s actions.
清华北大教授论文纠纷再曝学术道德问题政经频道财新网 Caixin on the dispute
Discovery of 17 million-year-old fossilised flower adds to mystery of Tibetan plateau | South China Morning Post Scientists found the flower at an altitude of 4,600 metres – thousands of metres above its normal living range, prompting an international team led by researchers from the mainland to calculate the plateau had risen by up to 3,000 metres since the flower was alive.
FOOD AND TRAVEL
United Airlines to seek approval for service to Xian, China | Reuters The U.S. carrier said it would apply to the U.S. Department of Transportation for approval to start seasonal nonstop flights between San Francisco and Xian from May next year.
Enjoy Yourself: The App That’s Taking Beijing’s F&B World by Storm | the Beijinger In Beijing’s saturated food and beverage market it is no longer enough to rely on the quality of your food alone; today’s savvy – some might say picky – consumers are looking for an experience, something unique that they can share with their friends in person or, more likely, on their WeChat moments. Enter Enjoy, a new dining experience app that is taking Beijing – and China – by storm.
Namtso Lake our last trip in China before we moved, 4700 meters but only about a five hour drive Lhasa. Absolutely gorgeous and very few tourists but for one small part, a new road (dirt for 300+ of 350 or so kilometers) now allows you to drive all the way around the lake.
BEIJING
最严禁烟令实施三月 北京无烟环境改善政经频道财新网 Caixin on the Beijing smoking ban after 3 months…it is actually working
Gov’t Holds Meeting on Mishandled Sewage Sludge in Beijing-Caixin Officials from the ministry’s Bureau of Environmental Supervision summoned executives from the Beijing Drainage Group for a meeting on August 17 after it learned that the company has left untreated tons of sludge left over from the sewage treatment process, the China Environment News reported.
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