This is likely the last issue of 2015. Thanks for sticking with me over an inconsistent year.
Happy 2016!
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. China passes controversial counter-terrorism law | Reuters While a provision in an initial draft that would require companies to keep servers and user data within China was removed from the final law, technology companies will still have to provide help with sensitive encryption information if law enforcement authorities demand it. Speaking after China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament passed the law, Li Shouwei, deputy head of the parliament’s criminal law division under the legislative affairs committee, said China was simply doing what other Western nations already do in asking technology firms to help fight terror.
Related: China Law Translate | 反恐怖主义法 （2015）- Counter-Terrorism Law (2015) did China really back down over encryption and source code, or just find a more artful and ambiguous way to require the same things? // Article 18: Telecommunications operators and internet service providers shall provide technical interfaces, decryption and other technical support assistance to public security organs and state security organs conducting prevention and investigation of terrorist activities in accordance with law. Article 19: Telecommunications operators and internet service providers shall, according to provisions of law and administrative regulations, put into practice network security systems and information content monitoring systems, technical prevention and safety measures, to avoid the dissemination of information with terrorist or extremist content. Where information with terrorist or extremist content is discovered, its dissemination shall immediately be halted, relevant records shall be saved, and the relevant information deleted, and a report made to public security organs or to relevant departments. Network communications, telecommunications, public security, state security and other such departments discovering information with terrorist or extremist content shall promptly order to the relevant units to stop their transmission and delete relevant information, or close relevant websites, and terminate relevant services. Relevant units shall immediately enforce [such orders] save relevant records, and assist in conducting investigations. Departments for network communications shall adopt technical measures to interrupt transmission of information with terrorrist or extremist content that crosses borders online.
Related: Commentary: China’s anti-terrorism legislation no excuse for U.S. agitation – Xinhua Many countries including the United States have written into law technology firms’ duty to cooperate in terror-related surveillance or probe. Meanwhile, although it is a common practice to oblige firms to help fight terrorism, the United States appears to have gone way further by abusing the so-called “backdoor access” to make itself the world master of eavesdropping: It does not only spy on common U.S. citizens but also prominent foreign leaders. As for the U.S. concern over possible restrictions on personal freedom, anyone with a sober mind sees the necessity to sacrifice a small portion of personal rights if it’s what it takes to preserve the ultimate personal rights to life.
Related: Commentary: Press freedom no excuse for advocating terrorism – Xinhua There will be further restrictions for media when conducting terror-related reports, according to China’s first anti-terror law promulgated Sunday. The various restrictions intend to prevent copy-cat crimes, protect frontline anti-terror workers and keep society from the harm of hearsay. It is for the common good that foreign media outlets in China as well as domestic media organizations comply with these regulations and make their due contribution to the global fight against terror.
2. China Expels French Journalist Ursula Gauthier | China Law & Policy Regardless of the validity of the Chinese government’s accusations against Gauthier, by denying her press card and thus her ability to report from China, the Chinese government has effectively silenced her. This is not the first time the Chinese government has used the press accreditation process as a form of retribution or an attempt to censor foreign journalists. But even in light of this fact, Gauthier’s case is shockingly different, with the Chinese government, after a ruthless campaign against her, publicly admitting that its decision to effectively expel Gauthier was a direct result of her reporting.
Related: Is There a Uighur Terrorist Build-Up Taking Place in Southeast Asia? | TIME Alli, the Uighur suspect, is believed to have entered Indonesia via Batam, a small island off Singapore, about two months ago — along with two of his Uighur compatriots who remain at large. In Indonesia, he is accused of getting a fake ID card that said he was born in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. “He said he was a Pontianak Chinese, but his Indonesian language is very bad,” Rakyan tells TIME. “It’s difficult to interrogate him.” // lost in Beijing’s hysterical sophistry 强词夺理 over expulsion of @ugathier is that China and the world do face growing Uighur terrorist risks
3. 供给侧全面发力财新周刊频道财新网 2016年经济社会发展的五大任务是去产能、去库存、去杠杆、降成本、补短板；财政赤字将增加到2万亿元以上，真正落实减税 // Caixin on the “supply side 供给侧 (gong1ji3ce4)” approach emphasized at the recent central economic work conference
Related: 楼继伟：督促风险较高的地区制订中长期债务风险化解规划宏观一财网 财政部部长楼继伟对明年的财政工作给出两点判断，第一，经济发展进入新常态，主要矛盾是结构性问题、主要方面在供给侧。第二，财政收入潜在增长率下降，财政支出刚性增长的趋势没有改观，财政收支矛盾呈加剧之势，平衡收支压力较大。
4. Pu Zhiqiang Given 3-Year Suspended Sentence, Barred from Practicing Law – China Digital Times (CDT) While Pu is unlikely to spend any more time in prison for this case, he has already been imprisoned for 19 months and will not be allowed to practice law
Related: Courage on Trial in China – The New York Times OpEd by Ai Weiwei As the world gushes over China’s economic power, no one should forget that its rise comes at the cost of freedom and human rights. Sadly, many people inside and outside China have resigned themselves to the fact that the judicial system submits to the power of the Communist Party.But I reject such habitual indifference and numbness. I reject the belief that we have to accept what we are given in China.
Related: Toxic Tasks: Mobilising The “50-Cent Army” — China Media Project — Medium This week, a propaganda directive on the trial and sentencing of rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang was issued (by exactly which agency we know not) to paid “Internet commentators,” known in Chinese internet jargon as the “50-cent Party,” or wumaodang (五毛党). These propaganda workers, some of whom are paid on a peace-meal basis — 50 cents a post it was once rumoured, hence the popular moniker — can be mobilised at all levels of China’s vast Party-state structure to “channel” sensitive topics and breaking news stories away from destabilising speculation. The idea is for them to descend on chat threads or forums, social media and other places where public opinion is made in order to lead the conversation in what the authorities would consider a more healthy direction.
5. 人民网：2015年互联网舆情分析报告 在近日召开的社会科学文献出版社2016《社会蓝皮书》新闻发布会上，人民网舆情监测室发布了2015年互联网舆情分析报告。这是该研究机构第9年为《社会蓝皮书》撰写互联网舆情分析报告。作者为祝华新、潘宇峰和陈晓冉。作者授权刊载如下： // People’s Daily Online public opinion monitoring office releases 2015 internet public sentiment analysis report
6. Remarks at a December 2015 Panel at the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States | The Sinocism China Newsletter Just before Christmas I participated on a panel–Points (tipping), Lines (9-dash), Planes (military), and Spheres (of influence) – The Geometry of a Changing Relationship–at the WIlson Center’s Kissinger Institute with David Wertime of Foreign Policy, Shannon Tiezzi of The Diplomat and Robert Daly of the Kissinger Institute. It was a lot of fun and all three of them provided some terrific insights. I have embedded the video as well as a copy of my opening remarks below:
Related: China and the World: What to Expect in 2016 | ChinaFile Bill Bishop tries to make sense of it all as the editor of the popular Sinocism email newsletter. Bishop spent a decade in Beijing observing, consulting and writing about Chinese politics. Earlier this year, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he joined Eric and Cobus to share his outlook for the year ahead in Chinese international relations.
7. China’s cyber-diplomacy – China Media Project Two words were at the heart of the World Internet Conference agenda: foreign affairs (外交). Everything else was meant only to serve these two words… the vast majority of developed nations in the West have not bought into China’s multilateral program. On the other hand, it reveals the thread of China’s foreign policy strategy here: Begin by uniting around this idea all of those countries in the so-called Third World that seek economic assistance, or have deep misgivings about Western democracy. For their part, Chinese internet users came up with their own very vivid characterisation: “Buy a high-speed rail, we’ll throw in a national firewall free of charge” (买高铁送防火墙).
Related: High-level advisory committee established for World Internet Conference – Xinhua The WIC organizing committee secretariat has invited 31 leading Internet figures from governments, enterprises, academic institutions and technological communities to be members of the first high-level advisory committee. The members include Li Xiaodong, president and CEO of China Internet Network Information Center; Zheng Yongnian, director of East Asian Institute, Singapore National University; Shum Heung Yeung, executive vice president of Microsoft; Werner Zorn, Father of German Internet; Denis Davydov, chairman of Russian Safe Internet League, among others.
8. 第一次，中国电视综艺泪诉文 革 最近东方卫视的选秀节目《中国之星》再度火爆全国。其中最让人震惊的一首歌曲，居然是一名满头白发的老音乐人杨乐的歌曲《从那以后》，歌词中那句“文革以后”当真能把每个中国人都扎醒。 // on a recent episode of the “Stars of China” music contest show, Yang Le, accompanied by his sponsor Cui Jian, sings a song about how his family was destroyed in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, pretty much everyone cries. This post claims broadcast of this kind of song about the GPCR is a first, interesting on many levels, including that the 50th anniversary of the start of the disaster that was the GPCR is just a few months away, don’t be surprised if a lot of people can no longer hold in their anger and sorrow
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
China PBOC Reiterates Stance on Stable Yuan, Monetary Policy | MNI The PBOC’s comments came in a statement after its fourth-quarter Monetary Policy Committee meeting. The wording of the statement is mostly unchanged from the third-quarter statement, although it dropped comments on volatile global financial market and commodity prices. The monetary policy committee, chaired by PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, is only an advisory body and does not make decisions on interest rates.
US warns Europe over granting market economy status to China – FT.com Washington has warned Brussels against granting China ‘market economy status’, saying the long-sought trade concession could hamper efforts to prevent Chinese companies flooding US and European markets with unfairly cheap goods. Achieving market economy status (MES) at the World Trade Organisation is one of China’s core strategic goals. Among other benefits, it would make it far more difficult for the US or EU to impose steep tariffs on Chinese companies for unfairly dumping low-cost goods on their markets.
China’s overcapacity cut will not cost a lot of jobs: Official – Xinhua “Structural reform, especially cutting overcapacity, will inevitably affect the employment status and income of some people, but that’s a step we have to take,” said Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs. A mature support mechanism must be in place to ensure social stability, and by doing that, there won’t be mass unemployment, Yang said at a meeting on China’s economy for the 2015-2016 period, which was attended by government officials, think tanks, and entrepreneurs.
Vanke’s New Investor Got Funds in Way Analysts Say Is Risky-Caixin Baoneng Group leveraged wealth management capital through scheme that critics say lenders would not normally use
Das Evil Kapital | Chublic Opinion No matter who emerges in the end as the winner of this bid for the control of China’s largest home developer, the loser is already visible: it’s the idea of “philosopher-king capitalists” as the progressive force to change China. The Vanke drama has revealed the fragility of the public image that Wang Shi and an entire class of so-called progressive Chinese capitalists have built for themselves. To the Chinese public, not only are their moral positions dubious, their independent agency is also under question. The widespread public perception that they are just puppets of much more powerful masters provides a real valuation of their moral capital in this country and how shaky their moral high ground really is. Expecting entrepreneurs like Wang Shi to provide the kind of moral leadership that can lift the society out of its value vacuum is almost like betting on Hector to win the Trojan War.
China Fines Shipping Firms $63 Million for Price Collusion – Bloomberg Business Japan’s Nippon Yusen KK, Mitsui OSK lines, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Eastern Car Liner Ltd., Korea’s Eukor Car Carriers Inc., Norway’s Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics AS, Chile’s Cia. Sud Americana de Vapores SA and its shipping line were the eight indicted after a year-long investigation, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its website Monday.
Central Urban Work Conference lays out city development guidelines – CCTV News The two-day Central Urban Work Conference was held along with the Central Economic Work Conference. It was the second time Chinese leaders had held the conference in 37 years. ／／中央城市工作会议在北京举行
Alibaba avoids being named on U.S. blacklist for fakes | Reuters The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said, though, it was “increasingly concerned” about Alibaba’s enforcement programs and warned it must make a greater effort to stop the sale of pirated and counterfeit products on its online platforms. Inclusion on the annual list of the world’s most “notorious markets” for sales of pirated and counterfeit goods, while not carrying direct penalties, would be a blow to Alibaba’s efforts to shed perceptions its sites are riddled with fakes. // Baba pays up for good lobbyists and connected US employees
Alibaba to add 200 staff to fight against counterfeit products| China Daily Zheng Junfang, an Alibaba partner, announced that Alibaba will add 200 people to cooperate with Chinese government organizations to crackdown on counterfeit products online, despite the group’s earlier announcement to strictly control its recruitment quota in fiscal year 2015. Zheng made the announcement when she gave her first media interview as the group’s chief platform governing officer, a role responsible for cracking down on fake products online and protecting intellectual property.
SEC.gov | Traders in China and Hong Kong Paying $920,000 to Settle Insider Trading Case The SEC’s complaint alleged that Zhou and Liu traded two health care company stocks (MedAssets Inc. and Chindex International [United Family Hospitals parent]) based on nonpublic information about their impending acquisitions by private equity firms. Liu was a private equity associate at TPG Capital, which had ties to both of the deals, and maintains a personal relationship with at least one current TPG Capital employee.
2015 Report to Congress on China’s WTO Compliance | United States Trade Representative released right before christmas
Deutsche Bank sell Hua Xia Chinese stake for as much as $5.5b | afr.com Deutsche Bank has agreed to sell its 20 per cent stake in China’s Hua Xia Bank to insurer PICC Property and Casualty Co for up to 25.7 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) as it seeks to raise cash and reduce its balance sheet exposure.
China central bank details rules on online payment – Xinhua The new rules require real-name registration for all non-bank payment accounts and classifies them into three categories depending on the security levels. The size of payments allowed through such accounts will then range from 1,000 yuan (155 U.S. dollars) to 200,000 yuan per year…In addition to limiting the size of transactions, the new regulation also bans payment institutions from opening accounts for firms engaged in financial businesses. The new policy will be effective from July 1, 2016.// 人民银行有关负责人就《非银行支付机构网络支付业务管理办法》答记者问
China Clamps Down on Online Lenders, Vowing to `Cleanse’ Market – Bloomberg Business China’s banking regulator laid out planned restrictions on thousands of online peer-to-peer lenders, pledging to “cleanse the market” as failed platforms and suspected frauds highlight risks within a booming industry. Online platforms shouldn’t take deposits from the public, pool investors’ money, or guarantee returns, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said on Monday, publishing a draft rule that will be its first for the industry.// P2P监管拟划12条“红线”
IMF reforms clear last hurdle with US adoption – BBC News The US Senate has adopted long-awaited reforms to give emerging economies a greater say in how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is managed. China’s voting rights will rise to 6%, from 3.8% and IMF resources will double to about $660bn (£440bn).
POLITICS AND LAW
中纪委释疑何为“妄议中央大政方针”？新闻腾讯网 中央纪委法规室：“妄议中央大政方针，破坏党的集中统一的”是这次修订新增的违纪行为…党中央在制定重大方针政策时，通过不同的渠道和方式，充分听取有关党组织和党员的意见建议，但是有些人“当面不说、背后乱说”“会上不说、会后乱说”“台上不说、台下乱说”，实际上不仅扰乱了人们的思想，还破坏党的集中统一，妨碍中央方针政策的贯彻落实，造成了严重后果。对该类行为应当按照《中国共产党纪律处分条例》第四十六条规定给予相应的处分。对于情节轻微的，可以给予批评教育或者组织处理 // another CCDI official explains that article 46 is not just about “improper discussion of policies” but also about not impeding implementation of policies
央视Rap神曲：深改组两年了，习近平说过哪些重要的话？中南海澎湃新闻-The Paper CCTV raps about the deepening reform leading group. Not to be missed
Reform Targets Unease over Urban Law Enforcers-Caixin Today, chengguan officers are still generally unpopular – and sometimes loathed – for methods they use to enforce rules covering outdoor markets, shop signs, sidewalk restaurants and other mainstays of urban landscapes in cities nationwide. The system, created by the national Administrative Punishment Law in 1996, lets local governments enforce administrative rules through uniformed officers who operate separately from crime-fighting police. Acknowledging that public discontent toward chengguan has been steadily rising across the country, the Communist Party is taking steps aimed at fixing the system. A plan for reforming the urban management system was approved in early November by the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, whose chairman is party boss Xi Jinping. Although details of the reform plan have not yet been released, many legal experts say the effort is likely to put the chengguan system on track for better supervision, more legitimacy and stronger public support.
Detention of China Telecom Boss Linked to Time at Different Firm-Caixin The probe into Chang, 58, who took the top job at China Telecom in September, is linked to his 11-year tenure as the head of China Unicom, the country’s third largest telecom firm, one person close to the inquiry said. A team of CCDI investigators conducted a month-long check of China Unicom in December last year. Investigators said in a report two months later that China Unicom executives accepted money and sex in return for influencing matters such as contract negotiations with suppliers and personnel promotions. The report, which Caixin has viewed, says some executives also helped companies run by relatives and associates win contracts from China Unicom. The report did not name Chang. // hear Chang’s son-in-law is in private equity, must be nervous
常小兵遭实名举报信曝光:向郭伯雄家族输送利益_网易新闻中心 report of a letter accusing China Telecom’s Chang Xiaobing of “giving benefits” aka corruption to Guo Boxiong’s family. waters deep on this one, not sure just about this even if it is true. Chang spent much of his early career in Jiangsu
做忠诚干净担当的中办人（践行三严三实 全面从严治党） 中央办公厅深入开展“三严三实”专题教育纪实
China co-opts a Buddhist sect in global effort to smear the Dalai Lama-Reuters The Dorje Shugden movement gets clandestine support from the Communist Party. Their joint campaign to discredit the Tibetan spiritual leader is paying off, especially in Britain.
最高检：“监视居住”应具备正常生活休息条件综合新京报网 昨日，最高检发布《人民检察院对指定居所监视居住实行监督的规定》。公安机关、人民检察院、人民法院对犯罪嫌疑人、被告人适用指定居所监视居住的，指定居所应当具备正常生活、休息条件。此外，违法限制被监视居住人见律师将被提纠正意见。
思想作风党性的集中“补钙”“加油”–时政–人民网 从2015年6月开始，各级党委（党组）中心组和内设机构党组织围绕“严以修身”“严以律己”“严以用权”3个专题，在县处级以上领导干部中深入开展“三严三实”专题学习研讨，目前基本结束。 这是将专题教育融入领导干部经常性学习教育的生动实践，是加强党的思想政治建设和作风建设的有效举措，各级领导干部在思想作风党性上“补了钙”“加了油”。
China Detains 12 People Over Shenzhen Landslide, Police Say – The New York Times They also said that a former district official whose office approved and oversaw the huge site had committed suicide by jumping from a building. The dozen people placed under “mandatory measures” — a broad term for confinement — included at least one senior manager of the Yixianglong Investment Company, which operated the dumpsite at Hong’ao Village on the industrial outskirts of the city of Shenzhen
Monthly data detail China’s often soft-handed anti-corruption campaign | CER coverage of the headline figures gives little context for how the battle is progressing, or why. Luckily, monthly reports about the Eight-point Code are released as image files by the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). CER has collected and transcribed these files to build a unique corruption database dating back to September of 2013 from which developments and trends in the fight against graft can be scried.
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
President Xi stresses importance of military newspaper – Xinhua The president personally posted an update on the paper’s Weibo account, wishing members of the armed forces a happy New Year and encouraging them to making new contributions to the Chinese dream and the dream of a stronger military. Founded on Jan. 1, 1956, the paper is celebrating its 60th anniversary
[视频]习近平在视察解放军报社时强调 坚持军报姓党坚持强军为本坚持创新为要 为实现中国梦强军梦提供思想舆论支持新闻频道央视网(cctv.com) CCTV Evening News on Xi’s 12.25 visit to PLA Daily
Jet-setting Xi: With 14 global trips this year, China’s president is the country’s most-travelled leader since foundation of communist state | South China Morning Post Then there was Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited 14 countries in 2015 – making him not only a top political globetrotter, but also China’s best-travelled top leader since the Communist party took power in 1949. Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, visited only seven countries during his decade as China’s top leader. Since Xi took the reins in 2012, he has visited more than 30.
Xi urges “struggle” for military press – China Media Project In his speech, Xi Jinping spoke of “Party control of the media” (党管媒体) and “politicians running the newspapers” (政治家办报) — both traditional buzzwords in the Party lexicon denoting the Party’s ultimate control of the media and public opinion. The Party’s control of the media, and of the military press in particular, were points that cropped up repeatedly: “[We must] uphold the principle of Party control of the media,” Xi said, “strictly implementing the demand that politicians run the newspapers, ensuring that the leadership news and propaganda work is ultimately entrusted to the hands of reliable people who remain loyal to the Party.”
China’s sweeping military reforms to strengthen grip of Communist Party, says army newspaper | South China Morning Post The PLA’s official newspaper has run a signed commentary arguing that President Xi Jinping’s reforms of the military were aimed at consolidating the Communist Party’s control over the armed forces, while accusing unnamed hostile forces of attempting to “pull the military away” from the party’s banner. The commentary in the PLA Daily by Cui Lianjie, a deputy director at the PLA Nanjing Institute of Politics, said the reforms would strengthen the power of the Central Military Commission, which is headed by Xi, and make sure supreme leadership and command belonged to him.
刘源查办谷俊山挖背后两大老虎 三句话震巨奸_网易新闻中心 多年来，在重大问题上，刘源都能保持与习近平“不谋而合”。 // gushing Beijing News piece on liu yuan mesh w rumors of retirement,or rumors of promotion? getting even harder to read tea leaves, esp through the smog
[视频]海军航母部队舰机融合训练顺利推进新闻频道央视网(cctv.com) 12.25 cctv evening news on combined training exercises on the liaoning aircraft carrier
Commentary: More sincerity, actions required from Tokyo to resolve “comfort women” issue – Xinhua As Japan and South Korea agreed to settle the long-standing “comfort women” issue between the two sides, more sincerity and actions are needed from Tokyo to better resolve the sensitive historical matter. On Monday, Japan offered an apology and a 1-billion-yen (about 8.3-million-U.S.-dollar) payment to Korean women forced to work as sex slaves during World War II.
The Transformation of Chinese Diplomacy: What Should the World Pay Attention To? | The Diplomat In a recently concluded academic conference on China’s diplomacy, co-organized by China’s new foreign affairs think tank, the Intellisia (Haiguotuzhi) Institute, and Jinan University in Guangzhou, several important questions on China’s current foreign policy were considered. Although there was no consensus on this complex subject, the outside world should pay serious attention to the following questions when trying to understand a rising China.
Seymour Hersh turns Uyghur refugees into “would-be fighters” | Sinoturcica Clearly there are some Uyghurs fighting in Syria, but we need better evidence than this before we start throwing around figures in the thousands. And we shouldn’t, as Hersh has done, turn the presence of Uyghurs in Syria into a pretext to tar all refugees from Xinjiang as “would-be” jihadists. As The Kebab and Camel has already said: the “rat line” is actually the Uyghurs’ lifeline, taking them to the one country in the world that is willing to immediately provide them with asylum and resettlement. When Western journalists like Hersh force the evidence into a frame that entirely backs up China’s repressive anti-terror crackdown, they’re only helping to ensure that more Uyghurs will feel the need to find an escape route to Turkey in the years ahead.
In Central Asia, Chinese inroads in Russia’s back yard – The Washington Post “When China announced its Silk Road plan in Kazakhstan, it was met with a lot of skepticism and even fear by the Russian leadership,” said Alexander Gabuyev, head of the Russia in the Asia Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “The feeling was, ‘It’s a project to steal Central Asia from us; they want to exploit our economic difficulties to be really present in the region.’ ” Russia had long blocked China’s attempts to create an infrastructure development bank under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional body, fearing it would become a tool for Chinese economic expansion.
China launches Gaofen-4 dual-use geostationary satellite | gbtimes.com China on Monday launched its Gaofen-4 Earth observation satellite toward a geostationary orbit, from which it will able to perform a range of civilian and military applications – including detecting US aircraft carriers.
China opposes Filipinos landing on S. China Sea island – Xinhua China voiced strong dissatisfaction at the arrival of Filipino demonstrators on China’s Zhongye Dao Island in the South China Sea on Monday. “China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands, including the Zhongye Dao Island,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang in response to a question on the Filipino demonstrators, who landed on the island over the weekend.
China appears ready to begin mass production of first stealth fighter jet, state media suggest | South China Morning Post China “may” have started mass production of its first stealth fighter, the J-20, a state media report suggests. The clue came in slightly blurry photos that Xinhua published on Sunday. They show a plane parked on a runway at an unidentified military airfield, coated in a yellowish paint typically used before the application of radar absorption material.
Companies ordered to employ veterans amid troops cut _News_Icrosschina The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission jointly distributed a document urging the companies to reserve 5 percent of their total recruitment for qualified veterans, the ministry announced at a meeting on Monday. Authorities will check the number annually, according to the document.
纪录频道《铁在烧》纪实台央视网(cctv.com) 该片讲述了1951年志愿军第63军为保障主力部队完成撤离和重铸防线，奉命阻击以美国为首“联合国军”的历史片段，将一段浴血鏖战13天且并不为人所熟知的 // CCTV documentary on PRC fighting the US in the Korea War.
Strategic Air Command Declassifies Nuclear Target List from 1950s Whether China was fighting on the Soviet side or not in a war, SAC treated it as part of the Soviet bloc and listed Chinese airfields and cities in the target lists, including Beijing. Of the list of targets scheduled for “systematic destruction,” Beijing [Peiping in Wade-Giles transliteration] was in the top 20 (number 13) with 23 DGZs. The list included several Air Power targets, including two Air Force military control centers and two Air Force storage areas. The location of those installations suggests that Beijing would have been targeted with thermonuclear weapons early in the war. For Beijing and its suburban district Fengtai, SAC identified various infrastructural and military DGZs, including “Population” targets.
“中国故事”走出国门 影视佳作海外热播——中国当代作品翻译工程成效显著-新华网 自２０１３年中宣部组织实施的中国当代作品翻译工程启动以来，遴选资助具有代表性的中国当代影视作品并进行多语种翻译向世界推介，在讲好中国故事、传播中华文化方面发挥了积极作用。 随着越来越多的“中国故事”走出国门，一股勃勃涌动的“华流”正吸引着全世界关注的目光。
China surpasses Mexico in sending immigrants to California | The Sacramento Bee In a reversal of a decades-old trend, China has replaced Mexico as the country sending the most immigrants each year to California, new data show. About 33,000 immigrants moved to California from China last year, roughly triple the number who came in 2005, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Public Policy Institute of California. The number of immigrants coming to California from Mexico fell from almost 100,000 in 2005 to just over 30,000 in 2014, a roughly 70 percent decline.
Japan’s far-flung island defense plan seeks to turn tables on China | Reuters Tokyo is responding by stringing a line of anti-ship, anti-aircraft missile batteries along 200 islands in the East China Sea stretching 1,400 km (870 miles) from the country’s mainland toward Taiwan. Interviews with a dozen military planners and government policymakers reveal that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s broader goal to beef up the military has evolved to include a strategy to dominate the sea and air surrounding the remote islands.
Vietnam builds military muscle to face China | Reuters The ruling Communist Party’s goal is to deter its giant northern neighbor as tensions rise over the disputed South China Sea, and if that fails, to be able to defend itself on all fronts, senior officers and people close to them told Reuters. Vietnam’s strategy has moved beyond contingency planning. Key units have been placed on “high combat readiness” – an alert posture to fend off a sudden attack – including its elite Division 308, which guards the mountainous north.
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
Taiwan President Frontrunner Disputes China Framework for Talks – Bloomberg Business Tsai Ing-wen, the chairwoman of the island’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party, took issue with the so-called “1992 consensus” on Sunday when pressed by opponent Eric Chu during their first televised debate in Taipei. Both Chu’s ruling Kuomintang and the Communist Party in Beijing describe the agreement that they both belong to one China as crucial to continuing trade and cultural ties between the two sides even though they haven’t resolved their civil war. “As long as we have sincerity, communication, I believe cross-strait relations can be stable,” Tsai said. “The 1992 consensus is one option, but it’s not the only option. It is inappropriate to continue to frame it as such.”
TECH AND MEDIA
One tech VC is increasingly bullish on China DCM, a 20-year-old firm with operations in Beijing, Tokyo and Silicon Valley, is aiming to raise $400 million for a China-focused fund, which would be 21 percent bigger than its previous fund from early 2014. The filing was registered with the SEC on Friday.
In ‘Mr. Six,’ China’s Changing and Staying the Same – China Film Insider 老炮儿 // Playing an aging gangster railing against the “little punks” who kidnapped his son in Beijing, Feng Xiaogang gives a solid performance as the title character of Mr. Six: a gravel-throated vigilante shaken when his go-it-alone rescue effort puts him on a collision course with a world that’s much bigger and more complex than the one he’s used to.
Huxiu- Uber China’s Series B Funding, Stuck in the Mud? A popular belief has formed among investors: given that commuting is a tough issue in public policy, and in Uber’s case, transportation and the city’s data are also involved, it is no wonder that Chinese government is concerned about the operations of a foreign company in this field, which is why state-owned capitals are less likely to be seen in the new funding round. Apart from that, investing or not is also about choosing sides, in which case no one wants to be on the opposite side of Alibaba and Tencent. An investor who has approached Uber said that he once explained to a senior executive of Alibaba that the money would go to Uber global instead of Uber China, only to be replied: “is there any difference between investing global and investing in China? It’s same company.”
China to Require Internet TVs Use Homegrown Smart TV OS | Marbridge This means that TVOS 2.0 will be the SAPPRFT’s officially sponsored operating system for smart TVs, and that Internet TV devices not running TVOS, which are used by many Chinese consumers, may be banned in the future.
Billionaire Usmanov Says He’s Started Selling Alibaba Stake – Bloomberg Business “All our investments in Chinese assets can be divided into strategic and financial,” Usmanov said Monday in an interview with Rossiya-24 state TV. Alibaba, which operates online markets for products from Louis Vuitton bags to Boston lobsters, has become a financial holding, he said. “We are selling out from this company at a high level. We boosted initial investments five- to six-fold.”
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Vatican approves China’s elected bishop candidate ucanews.com Sources in southwestern Sichuan province said the Holy See approved the appointment of Bishop-designate Tang Yuange of Chengdu in October, shortly after a six-member Vatican delegation visited Beijing to meet with Chinese officials.
NPC committee suggests deleting draft ban on surrogate pregnancy – Xinhua The Law Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) has suggested to delete a controversial provision on banning surrogate pregnancy in a draft law amendment. Lawmakers have quite different opinions over this provision, according to a statement issued after a chairpersons’ meeting of the NPC Standing Committee on Saturday. The draft amendment to the the family planning law, which was submitted for review at the bi-monthly session of the NPC Standing Committee that opened on Monday, allows couples to have two children.
Animal Rights Group Wants Bear Bile Firm’s Listing Bid Blocked-Caixin Fujian Guizhentang Pharmaceutical again encounters opposition over plans for a listing after 2012 attempt failed
Top legislature amends law to allow all couples to have two children – Xinhua “The state advocates that one couple shall be allowed to have two children,” according to the newly revised Law on Population and Family Planning, passed at the bi-monthly session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which ran from Monday to Sunday. The newly revised law will take effect on Jan. 1.
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
AP-Chinese Medicinal Herbs Provide Niche Market for US Farmers More than 300 plants are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Giblette and Peg Schafer, an herb grower in Petaluma, California, compiled a list of marketable species for U.S. farmers. They include Angelica dahurica, a flowering perennial whose root is used to relieve pain and inflammation; Aster tataricus, a relative of garden asters said to have anti-bacterial properties; Mentha haplocalyx, a mint used for stomach ailments; and Salvia miltiorrhiza, a type of sage whose roots are used for treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Misalignment of Energy Goals Fuels Appetite for Coal-Caixin Electricity consumption in the first 10 months of the year inched up just 0.7 percent compared to the same period in 2014, far below the 8 percent target set by the central government, data from the China Electricity Council (CEC), an industry association, showed. However, over the same period new coal-fired power plants were still being built, pushing up total generation capacity by almost 7 percent, CEC data showed. Investments in building new plants shot up by 28 percent in 2015, compared to the first 10 months in 2014.
As China Hungers for Coal, ‘Behemoth’ Studies the Ravages at the Source – The New York Times “I knew I wanted to make a film about the environment, so in 2011, I spent about a year driving around China to see what was out there,” Mr. Zhao said in an interview in his studio here. “When I was in Inner Mongolia, I was looking at the map and this area was black. I couldn’t see it very clearly, because there was all this thick smog from the coal mines.”
China Begins to Bring Mentally Ill ‘Back to Society’ | Foreign Policy Mental illness has long been stigmatized there. Now a new law is helping patients and families seek treatment.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ISSUES
Two-day Central Agriculture Work Conference begins – CCTV News – CCTV.com English The two-day conference is expected to focus on integration of agriculture and service industries, land reforms and E-commerce in rural areas, as well as modernization of agriculture industry.// 解读中央农村工作会议：加强农业供给侧改革
EDUCATION
Chinese attend US schools at younger age – Xinhua In the 1970s, a typical Chinese student in the US was there for a master’s or doctoral degree. They were then followed by students pursuing undergraduate degrees. Now, Chinese are the largest international group in US kindergarten-through-12th grade, or K-12, programs of study. November statistics show that 34,578 Chinese students were studying in primary and secondary schools in the US, or 52 percent of all international students there.
China Curbs Elite Education Programs – WSJ The new environment is evident at Beijing No. 4 High School in central Beijing. Like hundreds of Chinese schools, it has an international curriculum for students who want to earn degrees abroad after graduation. But officials recently urged Beijing No. 4 to relocate that program to the city’s suburbs and sever it from the public school, said Shi Guopeng, the program’s principal. The school agreed, and the program now plans to move next year and possibly raise tuition, two moves that may impede its ability to attract students, Mr. Shi said. “Some government officials don’t want to see so many students going abroad,” he added
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