I am on the road again tomorrow for most of the next three weeks, including ten days back in the PRC with VPNs that have not been tested in several months. The newsletter will be very sporadic between now and August 15th and may not come out at all. As always, you can follow me on Twitter @niubi for more frequent updates.
I hope wherever you are is cooler than Washington DC is this week.
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. China Focus: Xi calls on China, U.S. to respect each other’s core interests – Xinhua President Xi Jinping on Monday called on China and the United States to effectively manage their differences and respect each other’s core interests. Xi made the remarks when meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. China-U.S. common interests outweigh their differences, Xi said, noting that both sides needed more mutual trust and cooperation. // Has the US ever articulated a set of “core interests” to the PRC? If so, what are they?
Related: Statement by NSC Spokesperson Ned Price on National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice’s Meetings in Beijing, China | whitehouse.gov In Ambassador Rice’s fruitful meeting with President Xi, they noted with satisfaction the substantial progress in the development of bilateral relations through deepened cooperation in areas of overlapping interest and agreed on the value of forthright and constructive management of our differences. Ambassador Rice affirmed that the United States is committed to deepening our bilateral relationship, including through the President’s visit in September. // wonder what “fruitful” meeting with Xi means
Related: 习近平会见美国总统国家安全事务助理CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1央视网(cctv.com) 习近平指出，过去3年来，我同奥巴马总统多次会晤，达成诸多重要共识。特别是我们决定共同努力构建中美新型大国关系，推动两国关系取得许多实实在在的成果。中方高度重视中美关系，愿同美方一道努力，牢牢把握两国关系发展大方向，坚持不冲突不对抗、相互尊重、合作共赢的原则，增进互信，深化合作，以建设性方式管控分歧，推动中美关系持续稳定发展。// Xi-Rice meeting was top item on the July 25 CCTV Evening News. Has Jim Brown finally retired as the top US interpreter? Who is doing the interpreting for Rice?
Related: U.S. praises confidence-building measures with Chinese military | Reuters Visiting U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said confidence-building measures had reduced risks and the United States valued progress in improving military-to-military ties. “Our military leaders communicate more frequently and more directly than ever before in the past,” Rice said in a meeting with a vice chairman of China’s powerful Central Military Commission, Fan Changlong. “While our forces operate in closer proximity to each other, the risk of unintended consequences has gone down thanks to the confidence-building measures that our two sides have put in place.”
2. Guo Boxiong, Ex-Top Military Official in China, Gets Life Sentence for Graft – The New York Times Guo Boxiong, the most senior Chinese military commander ever tried for corruption, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison after a military court found him guilty of taking “huge” amounts in bribes in return for giving military promotions and transfers. General Guo rose as high in the People’s Liberation Army as a career military officer can go, serving as a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission for a decade until 2012, when he retired. // who is next? noteworthy no one has been executed in Xi’s corruption crackdown; the sums would allow it in some of the cases, including this one, and especially under military discipline
Related: China Headlines: Guo Boxiong gets life sentence for taking bribes – Xinhua Guo’s bribes were “extremely huge” and his crimes were “extremely serious,” however, he confessed, owned up to his misdeeds, repented in good faith, and all the proceeds of his crimes have been recovered, the statement read. The court carried out a closed trial as military secrets were involved. The trial has been conducted in a fair and independent manner, and its verdict could be tested by the law and time, said the statement.
郭伯雄案件一审宣判后军事法院负责人答记者问 – 中国军网 Xinhua Q&A on the Guo sentence
Related: 人民日报评论员：有腐必反 违法必惩-中新网 共产党与腐败水火不容，人民群众对腐败深恶痛绝。我们党作为执政党，面临的最大威胁就是腐败。走过95年风雨历程，站在新的起点，我们必须始终坚持反腐倡廉、拒腐防变警钟长鸣，让腐败分子在党内没有任何藏身之地。全党同志坚守共产党人拒腐蚀、永不沾的政治本色，敬畏人民、敬畏组织、敬畏法纪，各级领导干部牢固树立正确权力观，做到公正用权、依法用权、为民用权、廉洁用权，我们党就将永葆先进性和纯洁性，成为更加坚强的领导核心。深入推进政治建军、改革强军、依法治军，人民军队必将以铁一般信仰、铁一般信念、铁一般纪律、铁一般担当巍然屹立，永远立于不败之地。// page 1 July 26 People’s Daily on the Guo verdict
3. China Clamps Down on Online News Reporting – The New York Times Sun Xuyang, a former investigative reporter for Beijing News and Southern Metropolis Daily, was more pessimistic, saying by telephone that Monday’s announcement was a signal that the space for original reporting was being eroded. “There are no more illusions,” Mr. Sun said. The news sites targeted by the Cyberspace Administration include Sina’s “News Geek,” which this month published a story, later deleted, about a chemical contamination at a Beijing school, and “Landmark,” run by NetEase, that last year scooped the official news media in reporting the arrest of the brother-in-law of a jailed former top official.
Related: 国家网信办：确保网站总编辑负责制有效执行国内新京报网 新京报快讯(记者李丹丹)据国家互联网信息管理办公室官网消息，近日，国家网信办会同北京市网信办和广东省网信办，对新浪、搜狐、网易、百度、腾讯、凤凰、今日头条和一点资讯等8家商业网站和客户端进行内容管理制度专项检查。检查发现，这些网站在落实管理规范、总编辑负责制、值班制度以及人员培训等方面还存在一些亟待解决的问题。 检查组认为，这次被检查的网站出现这些问题，既有思想认识高度不够、盲目追求经济利益的主观原因，也有监督制约力度不强、基本规范依据不健全的客观原因;既有新技术新应用迅猛发展引发的新问题，也有法规滞后、队伍建设不强等现实问题。// crackdown also against Baidu, Tencent, Today’s Headlines and “Yidian Information”, emphasizes need for effective implentation of the “editorial responsibility system”
4. Assessing ASEAN’s South China Sea Position in its Post-Ruling Statement | The Diplomat Before taking ASEAN to task on what was missing, it is also important to evaluate the regional grouping in perspective. For example, it must be stressed that although several media outlets have already begun noting that the statement did not mention China or the ruling, this is a somewhat unreasonable standard. It is not traditional practice for ASEAN to mention China by name in the South China Sea language of a general joint communique (as opposed to a statement to be issued at a meeting like in Yuxi, which did mention Beijing directly). And noting specific events like the ruling would be more likely in a separate statement as opposed to the usual joint communique. Where the organization does deserve scrutiny regarding the statement is the fact that language on ASEAN’s commitment to principles was watered down and there was no mention of respect for legal and diplomatic processes – seen as a way to generally reference the ruling without directly doing so. While the Yuxi non-statement referenced “ASEAN’s commitment” to certain principles, the AMM statement ends up only “reaffirming the need” for them, which reads like a slightly less firm formulation. More consequentially, while both the US-ASEAN Sunnylands Summit statement and the Yuxi non-statement contained the phrase “full respect for legal and diplomatic processes” within a list of principles, this phrasing was removed in its entirety from the AMM statement
Related: China, ASEAN vow to promote peace, stability in South China Sea – Xinhua A joint statement was issued after the meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterparts from 10 ASEAN members in the Lao capital during the 49th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting. The countries recognize that “maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea region serves the fundamental interests of ASEAN member states and China as well as the international community.” They are also committed to the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and working substantively toward the early adoption of a Code of Conduct (COC) based on consensus.
Related: After Days of Deadlock, ASEAN Releases Statement on South China Sea Dispute | TIME The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) released a watered-down joint statement regarding territorial disputes in the South China Sea on Monday, neglecting to refer to a recent court ruling against Beijing, following pressure from China.
Related: 东盟外长声明没提仲裁案 西方媒体叹中国赢得胜利国际新闻环球网 美国媒体的评论也充满意图破灭后的遗憾，《西雅图邮报》25日评论称，“中国25日赢得毫不含糊的外交胜利”，阻止了东盟批评其在南海的领土扩张活动，即使东盟有成员国是这些活动的“受害者”。美联社称，经过“面红耳赤的磋商”，东盟最终的声明对中国的指责被稀释，只是具有象征意义。这也暴露了东盟引以为傲的团结背后深深的分裂。东盟只是说对南海最新的进展“依然严重担忧”。最重要的是，声明没提南海仲裁结果。分析人士称，这是东盟面对中国的再一次投降。新加坡东南亚研究所研究员伊安·沃德认为，“声明未能提及中国，反映东盟没有能力在面对中国时组成统一战线”。
5. UK explores multi-billion pound free trade deal with China – BBC News Chancellor Philip Hammond has begun discussions with China on an ambitious free trade deal which could see greater access for major Chinese banks and businesses to the UK economy. The Chancellor told the BBC it was time to explore “new opportunities” across the world, including with China, one of the UK’s biggest inward investors.
6. Sinica Podcast: Whose century is it, anyway? This live recording of Sinica at the Smyth Hotel in New York City on July 13 features the journalists Mary Kay Magistad and Gady Epstein discussing the increasingly complex “frenemyship” of China and the United States. They also talk about the South China Sea, the role of “old China hands,” and how the Middle Kingdom is changing the world and being changed by it. The title of the episode is taken from Mary Kay’s radio show and podcast, Whose Century Is it? // I think I count as one of those people now “inside the beltway” whose views have changed. Had I been on the show I would have again emphasized the point that people need to pay far more attention to the revival of the Communist Party under Xi and its impact on how the PRC conducts itself domestically and politically…still surprised by how many people seem to elide over the Party and Xi’s attempts at restoring it to its full glory
7. Are China’s Most Extreme Nationalists Actually Foreign Stooges? | Foreign Policy That’s not just because China’s government fears nationalist protests might interfere with its foreign-policy making. It’s also because of a widely held suspicion that China’s wildest, most demonstrative nationalist protesters are actually anti-government activists in disguise. An article published July 16 on the Weibo account of the Communist Youth League, the ruling party’s key youth organization, offers a primer on this bizarre but surprisingly popular conspiracy theory. The article, titled “Life’s-a-game memes and the hijacking of youth patriotism by ‘crazy uncles’” (more on that later), argues that much of the extreme nationalist outbursts within China are in fact the work of those engaged in gaojihei, which roughly translates to “high-level smearing” of good Chinese patriots by anti-party elements. The article, which has been read more than 2.6 million times, suggests that counterfeit patriots affect an exaggerated and ridiculous nationalism in order to critique party ideology through parody, blacken the name of true patriots, foment domestic chaos that risks destabilizing party rule, and even to use public opinion to push the government into a war that would have disastrous consequences for the party.
8. Chinese scientists to pioneer first human CRISPR trial : Nature Chinese scientists are on the verge of being first in the world to inject people with cells modified using the CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing technique. A team led by Lu You, an oncologist at Sichuan University’s West China Hospital in Chengdu, plans to start testing such cells in people with lung cancer next month. The clinical trial received ethical approval from the hospital’s review board on 6 July. “It’s an exciting step forward,” says Carl June, a clinical researcher in immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
Chinese Students in the U.S. Fear the Yuan’s Fall – – WSJ Despite the crackdown on underground currency markets and heightened enforcement of the $50,000 annual cap that each individual in China is allowed to buy, students have found various ways to circumvent the restrictions. A math student at a private university in the Midwest, who asked to be unnamed due to the sensitive nature of the matter, said his father bought a total of $150,000 from last October to this January. His father, an employee of a big Chinese bank, borrowed identification cards from his coworkers to circumvent the $50,000 annual exchange ceiling, the student said. // so expect another huge burst of conversion January 2, 2017? 300,000 students in the US times $50,000 is 15,000,000,000, seems manageable though if all exchange the legal quota, no?
China needs more efforts in steel capacity cuts in H2 – Xinhua China reduced steel capacity by 13 million tonnes in the first half of 2016, about 30 percent of the planned cuts for the whole year, and capacity cuts will intensify in the second half, a senior official said here Monday. The progress in the first half of this year “was in line with our expectations,” and “we remain confident that we will fulfill our capacity cut targets for 2016,” Feng Fei, vice minister of industry and information technology, told a press conference.
China’s Tibet comes on top of regional GDP growth in H1 – Xinhua Tibet came top of 25 Chinese provinces and municipalities that had released their half-year GDP growth figure as of Monday, thanks to investment in infrastructure and local industries. The economic growth of Tibet Autonomous Region was 10.6 percent during the first half this year, extending a 23-year streak of double digit growth and up 3.9 percent points from the national average in the same period.
Lou Jiwei: help but not bailout_Top Insights | Xinhua Asia Pacific Daily Violations of contracts are increasingly seen in the iron & steel and coal industries in China since 2016 with some central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) involved too. What’s the role played by central finance in removing risks of SOEs? China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei responded as “Help but not bailout!” at the 2016 G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors held on July 23-24. Lou remarked that though enterprises see high debt ratio and also several cases of violations of contracts now, no systemic and regional risks outbreak. Public finance will not get involved until systemic risks arise and possibly result in huge economic loss.
Draft of real estate tax law expected to unveil in 2017, tax rate a concern | Xinhua Asia Pacific Daily At the High-level Tax Symposium of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting held on July 23, Lou said it is regret that reforms on real estate tax and individual income tax have not been introduced, due to weakness in information gathering and hindrance from interested parties. But he indicated that China will “proceed without hesitation on this issue”. China Business News learnt that draft on real estate tax law currently is still under preparation, and there are many difficulties to be addressed
China could shake Apple’s earnings to the core: Here’s why-CNBC Data released over the weekend from Counterpoint Research showed Apple’s market share in China at 9 percent in June, down from 13.2 percent in the same month last year, and below the 9.9 percent recorded in June 2014.
国家队基金周年账单：熊市中赚39亿(附最新调仓动向)_证券时报网 5 funds of the “state bailout” of the stock market last year have made a combined 3.9B RMB? // 2015年7月，证金公司宣布以2000亿元申购5家基金公司旗下基金，5只400亿元规模的国家队基金相继成立，分别是华夏新经济、嘉实新机遇、南方消费活力、易方达瑞惠和招商丰庆A，其举手投足无不吸引着市场投资者的目光。 截至目前，5只国家队基金已运行近一年，在A股震荡向下的大背景下，5只基金的成绩单如何呢？另外，基金二季报已披露完，5只基金又有哪些调仓动作？
China Bank to Turn $1.6 Billion of Bad Debt Into Securities – Bloomberg Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. is planning China’s largest sale so far under a trial program for lenders to offload bad loans by packaging them up as asset-backed securities. The lender plans to sell securities backed by 10.7 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) of nonperforming loans on the interbank bond market, it said July 22 on the Chinese bond clearing house website.
G20’s deference for China’s economic policies irks Japan | Reuters While the world’s second-largest economy has slowed and the yuan has fallen to 5-1/2 year lows against the dollar over the past five months, G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs appeared more concerned about the fallout from Britain’s June vote to leave Europe. “We have been very polite with China,” said a European official at the meeting in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, adding Tokyo failed to keep its concerns about China’s economic performance – a major risk for Japan – on the table. “China’s growth problems and exchange rate decline have not been much of an issue here. Japan with its concerns has been left a bit alone, no one wanted to join in,” the official said.
多地下调2016年工资指导基准线 山西降幅最大|工资指导线_新浪新闻 记者从北京等五省份发布的工资指导线看到，在基准线方面，五个地区的基准线均低于10%，而且较2015年的平均水准均有所下降。天津从10%降为 9%，北京从10.5%降为9%，山东从10%降为8%，山西从10%降为7%，内蒙古从10.1%降为8.5%。其中，山西降幅最大，达3%。 在上线方面，天津从18%降为16%，北京由16%降为15%，山东从18%降为13%，山西从18%降为11%，内蒙古从14.5%降为13.5%。其中山西降幅最大，达7%。 在下线方面，北京由3.5%上调为4%，山东由4%降为3%，天津、山西和内蒙古的下线与2015年持平：天津3%，山西4%，内蒙古3%。
POLITICS AND LAW
Xi’s China: The rise of party politics — FT.com One foreign government official who recently visited Mr Liu [He] says the president’s adviser is worried about the Chinese economy’s prospects. “He told us not to believe the people who say it’s spring in China again. It’s still winter. “Our meeting with him was in English without translation and he was surrounded by overseas-educated staffers,” the person adds. “It was like meeting with a group of Americans except they were all members of the Chinese Communist party.”
Top Chinese economic fugitive to return after 13 years for medical treatment – People’s Daily Online China’s most wanted economic fugitive, Yang Xiuzhu, has been reported to have given up her application for political asylum in the United States, and wishes to return to China as soon as possible. Yang, being held at Houston Immigration Detention Center in Texas, said she hoped to return to China to get access to better medical treatment, according to a recent report by World Journal, the largest Chinese language newspaper in the United States.
反对历史虚无主义在于自强自信-求是网评-求是网 来源：求是网 作者：敖思明 近日，中共中央政治局召开会议，分析研究当前经济形势和经济工作，中共中央总书记习近平主持会议。会议强调，在错综复杂的国际国内环境下，各地区各部门要按照党中央部署，确保党中央确定的政策不走样、不变形，确保各项政策落实到位。
5th official suspended after deadly floods in Hebei – Xinhua Public outrage is mounting as many say they were not informed of the impending floods, and that officials had failed to organize evacuation before the flood crested. Guo Tongheng, deputy Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Wangkuai Township, which is in the economic development zone of Xingtai, the worst-hit area, has been suspended, the CPC Xingtai Municipal Committee announced Monday.
US Man Gets 25 Years For Molesting Boys In China | The Nanfang An American man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a US federal court after confessing to sexually molesting four young boys in China and documenting their abuse.
湖南一命案轻判的递罪逻辑：市委书记打招呼，公检法“一条龙”服务 7月22日，该系列司法腐败案12名被告人的审理全部结束。澎湃新闻（www.thepaper.cn）旁听了其中9名被告人的庭审，根据检方指控，梳理出上述命案被告人获轻判的全过程：律师从警方人士获得立功线索转给主犯，主犯因此“立功”被减轻量刑；审查起诉时，命案被降低审级至益阳赫山区法院审理；公诉人对明显存有漏洞的立功证据仅进行“形式审查”；定罪量刑时，包括赫山区法院院长谢德清在内的多名审委会成员违规会见被告人家属，且在审委会上强调案外因素，引导审委会改变合议庭意见，使主犯减少基准刑70%的量刑；对此结果，赫山区检察院未依法提起抗诉。
人民网评：整顿基层责任书“打白条”现象不能再等！–观点–人民网 俗话说，人无信不立。“三严三实”之意，亦在于警示权力公信更当珍爱“羽毛”。眼下而言，要整治责任书被“打白条”问题，办法无非两个：一是以信息公开对抗“自娱自乐”。把责任目标和履责情况晾晒在阳光下，将责任书情况纳入巡视监督等内部监督机制。二是加大群众评议履责情况的权重。责任有没有兑现、任务有没有完成，自然应该是群众说了算。日前，中央印发了《中国共产党问责条例》，管党治党从宽松软走向严紧硬。在此基础上，结合群众评议对“打白条”的责任书究责到底。 有权必有责，有责必尽心。整顿责任书“打白条”现象，已然不能再等。
不断开辟21世纪马克思主义发展新境界（深入学习贯彻习近平同志系列重要讲话精神）_网易新闻 2016-07-26 03:21:00 来源: 人民日报(北京) page 7
浙大原副校长褚健案延审5次，辩方坚持无罪再次申请取保候审国内新闻环球网 7月25日，浙江大学原副校长褚健的辩护人、北京泽博律师事务所律师周泽，向湖州市中级人民法院提交了《取保候审申请书》，申请对褚健取保候审。当天，周泽还向湖州市检察院递交了《关于对褚健进行羁押必要性审查的申请书》，希望该院建议湖州市中级人民法院对褚健予以取保候审。 // former deputy head of Zhejiang University been detained for three years, still no trial, strange case
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Tsai Center Paper: Roy on the Changing Geopolitics of East Asia – Yale Law School The United States is facing a new set of challenges in East Asia. China’s rapid economic development over the last three and a half decades has transformed its position in East Asia and the world. Its growing economic strength, military capabilities, and political influence are giving the United States a run for its money in a region of the world where we have been the dominant power for the last seventy years. In the past our dominance was sorely tested by wars in Korea and Vietnam. More recently, it has been an important factor underpinning the stability in East Asia that has permitted most of the countries of the region to focus on economic development rather than military buildups. That era may be ending as China continues to expand its military footprint in the western Pacific–Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy
How the GOP Stopped Loving China | The National Interest Blog This background brings us to the just-announced 2016 GOP platform. No longer is China’s rise welcomed or even offered the “democratic conditional.” The language has taken a sharp turn. “China’s behavior has negated the optimistic language of our last platform concerning our future relations with China. The liberalizing policies of recent decades have been abruptly reversed, dissent brutally crushed, religious persecution heightened, the internet crippled, a barbaric population control two-child policy of forced abortions and forced sterilizations continued, and the cult of Mao revived.”…To add to this “Chinese reversal,” the platform condemns China for asserting “a preposterous claim to the entire South China Sea,” reclaiming islands, building “landing fields in contested waters” and “building a navy far out of proportion to defensive purposes.” All of these transgressions are said to be a result of “the complacency of the Obama regime” and its “unilateral approach to disarmament.” The platform finds particularly offensive China’s 2015 Victory Day parade, which celebrated the seventieth anniversary of China’s defeat of Japan in WWII, its first such celebration. To add to it all, “cultural genocide continues in Tibet and Xinjiang, the promised autonomy of Hong Kong is eroded, the currency is manipulated, our technology is stolen, and intellectual property and copyrights are mocked in an economy based on piracy.”
Has China Withdrawn A Long-Range Missile Battery From Woody Island? | The Diplomat Satellite imagery indicates that a HQ-9 battery was taken off Woody Island on or around July 10.
北戴河会前大动作 中共神秘部门浮现_中国-多维新闻网 中共北戴河会议召开前，军方将领进行密集的人事调动。从7月初至今，至少有30名将领被调新职或兼新职。在中央军委部委新人中比较让人关注的是从解放军军事交通学院院长调任军队和武警部队全面停止有偿服务办公室副参谋长的大校纪海泉。这个“全停办”的具体职务第一次在媒体上公开。
South China Sea air strips’ main role is ‘to defend Hainan nuclear submarine base’ | South China Morning Post The real reason for China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea is to provide a ring of protection for its fleet of advanced nuclear submarines based on the southern tip of Hainan Island, experts say
TECH AND MEDIA
汪峰旧爱葛荟婕涉嫌吸毒 被行政拘留多日国内新京报网 新京报记者多方证实，歌手汪峰旧爱、中国超模葛荟婕日前在某医院就医时涉嫌寻衅滋事，医院报警后，葛荟婕被检出尿检呈阳性，涉嫌吸毒，被行政拘留多日。 公开资料显示，葛荟婕曾获2002年纳爱斯杯十佳模特称号和2004年法国皮尔卡丹国际模特大赛亚军，其最近一条微博更新在7月13日。 // model Ge Huijie administratively detained in Beijing for drugs
Billionaire Li Drops Bid for Baidu’s Netflix-Like Video Unit – Bloomberg An investor group led by Li and Qiyi.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Yu Gong offered to buy out Baidu’s 80.5 percent stake in February – a deal that conferred a $2.8 billion enterprise value on the Netflix-like service. The pair informed the board they’re retracting that offer after failing to strike a deal despite several rounds of discussions, Baidu said Monday.
网传百度贴吧官方吧全面停止售卖 _TechWeb 7月25日消息，今日某媒体曝光一份“内部邮件”称，百度已经开始对贴吧官方吧产品进行下线处理。TechWeb向百度方面核实此消息真实性，截至发稿尚未得到来自百度的正式回应。
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
China’s weightlifting powerhouse readies for Rio Olympics – in pictures | Sport | The Guardian With under two weeks to go until the start of the 2016 Olympic Games, all the competitors are in training aiming to hit peak fitness in Rio. Getty Images photographer Kevin Frayer has been to Beijing to check out how the Chinese weightlifting team are getting on
Chinoiresie | About Us In addition to China-related essays, Chinoiresie is home to Made in China: A Quarterly on Chinese Labour, Civil Society, and Rights and the Tianxia Podcast Series.
Chinoiresie | Oil and Water: Being Han in Xinjiang The following gallery contains some highlights from an exhibition held at the Australian National University in early July.
八部委联合解决一个“字”，释放了什么信号？-新华网 人名中的冷僻字，电脑打不出来，申领身份证Ｎ年未果；甚至为了拿到身份证，一些人被迫改姓换名。即使冷僻字被印在了身份证上，有的人还因铁路、银行、社保等部门的电脑敲不出“迺”、“”、“韡”、“鉏”“讠志”等字，不能买火车票，不能住酒店，不能参加高考……对此，公安部日前召集工信部、人社部等7部委，积极解决姓名中含冷僻字居民身份证社会应用问题，推动姓名中含有冷僻字身份证在各用证部门，特别是基层窗口单位全面正常使用。公安部主动服务民众，为民解忧，对于那些姓名中含有生僻字的人来说，这无疑是个福音。
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
China confirms first imported Rift Valley Fever case – Xinhua A 45-year-old man from Henan Province began to suffer fever, headaches, joint and muscle pains in Angola on July 14, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) said Sunday. On July 21, he returned Beijing and was admitted to hospital for quarantine and treatment. On Saturday evening, he tested positive for RVF.
China’s Sansha launches maritime ecological protection fund – Xinhua China’s Sansha city has decided to allocate 5 million yuan (about 748,000 U.S. dollars) annually for maritime environmental conservation in the next three years. A first round of special environmental funding worth one million yuan was earmarked Saturday for exploration of the newly confirmed world’s deepest underwater sinkhole, or blue hole, in the Xisha Islands. The blue hole in Yongle, a major coral reef, is 300.89 meters deep. It is known as Longdong, or “Dragon Hole.” // too little too late for many areas?
Is China using organs from executed prisoners? Researchers debate issue in the literature – Retraction Watch at Retraction Watch A researcher is calling for the retraction of a paper about a recent ban in the use of organs from executed prisoners in China, accusing the authors of misrepresenting the state of the practice. In April 2015, a paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics welcomed the ban by the Chinese government as “a step in the right direction,” but noted that China remains plagued by a crucial shortage in available organs. Some academics disagreed with the authors’ take on the issue, noting that the paper fails to note that many organs may continue to be harvested from Chinese prisoners of conscience; ultimately, the journal received a letter asking to retract the paper. The journal decided not to, and instead asked the authors to issue a lengthy correction, for instance changing the language about the government decision (“law” became“guideline”), and allowed critics to publish a rebuttal to the paper in May 2016.
BEIJING
Tianjin FTZ mulls expansion to neighbor in N China – Xinhua A pilot economic zone in the northern coastal city of Tianjin could expand to include another industrial zone in neighboring Hebei Province, part of a wider program to drive economic integration around the capital Beijing.
JOBS AND EVENTS
Bridging Cultures: Education and Entrepreneurship on a Global Stage Tickets, Sat, Jul 30, 2016 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite Columbia Global Centers| Beijing 哥伦比亚大学全球中心|北京 Saturday, July 30, 2016 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM (CST)
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