Some weekend reading:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

China’s Third-Quarter Economic GDP Growth May Be as Good as It Gets – China Real Time Report – WSJ the question of how long China’s investment-heavy growth model can sustain this kind of expansion won’t go away. Even the government’s official statisticians acknowledged as they announced the numbers that structural problems in the economy – not to mention a shaky global recovery, which makes it hard for any country to export its way out of trouble – will weigh on China’s growth in the final quarter of the year.

Related: Infrastructure drive powers China’s growth prospects – FT.com A surge in lending by banks and other financial institutions at the start of this year is one of the main explanations for the upturn in Chinese growth. Total social financing – China’s widest measure of credit – rose 52 per cent year-on-year in the first five months of 2013, an astonishingly fast pace. At the time, analysts and investors expressed alarm that the surge in credit was not translating into stronger growth, with the economy seemingly mired in an inexorable, albeit gradual, slowdown. These concerns have now been shown to be misplaced – it just took a little while for the lending flows to translate into real activity. “Credit growth typically has a lagging period of two quarters,” Mr Zhu said.

Yukon Huang–China’s Growth Prospects: Bulls and Bears – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace views over whether this rebound is sustained are mixed. Optimistic bulls predict the small uptick will continue next year yet the less convinced bears factor in a small decline. There are also extreme bears who still predict an imminent collapse or growth falling to an annual rate of 3-4 per cent. Of the latter two arguments, one is implausible and the other illogical…These bears assume that the Chinese economy must be rebalanced within, say, a decade. That would mean the ratio of consumption-to-GDP, currently about 0.35, would have to rise to at least 0.50. If consumption were to continue growing at its current rate of 8-9 per cent annually, the arithmetic indicates that GDP growth would have to fall to 3-4 per cent. This argument, however, makes no sense. If GDP growth actually fell that much, consumption would also fall as corporate profits evaporate, job cuts occur and wages stagnate. // Yukon Huang clearly not a fan of Michael Pettis’ analysis

China outraged as Japanese lawmakers visit shrine to war dead | Reuters China summoned Tokyo’s ambassador in Beijing to express its anger and South Korea also criticized the lawmakers’ action…”The Yasukuni Shrine is a symbol and spiritual tool of Japanese militarism,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news conference in Beijing. “It consecrates monstrous crimes committed against Asia’s victimized peoples, including those in China, by 14 Class A war criminals … This is a major matter of principle bearing on the foundation of Sino-Japanese relations.”

Related: Shisaku: Dead Souls Abe has limits on how much longer he will delay a prime ministerial Yasukuni pilgrimage. Chinese and South Korea ingraciousness can only be allowed to proceed so far without a response. Furthermore, Abe must in someway answer for his public expression of regret for having not made the journey to Yasukuni during his first stint as prime minister. Finally, though perhaps this is less of a threat than it seems, he has to address the growing chorus of outraged supporters (check out the comments section on Abe’s Facebook page — the formerly overflowing waters of the Sea of Abe Fandom are drying up) who have been wondering when the Yasukuni Commuter Real Abe they know and love will show up.

Related: EDITORIAL: New war memorial still a relevant issue – The Asahi Shimbun Abe apparently still hopes to visit the war-related shrine during his tenure, but we would like to see him direct his attention to establishing a new way to pay a tribute to the war dead that allows Japanese to remember them quietly and comfortably and does not cause diplomatic friction. We cannot support visits to the shrine by the prime minister or other political leaders.

Authors Accept Censorship Rules to Sell in China – NYTimes.com it is the editors at Chinese publishing houses themselves who often turn out to have the heaviest hands. “Self-censorship has become the most effective weapon,” said the editor in chief of a prominent publishing house in Beijing that publishes more than 300 foreign titles a year, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “If you let something slip through that catches the attention of a higher-up, it can be a career killer.” // Popular Books in China – NYTimes.com The best-selling foreign titles in China in 2012. via openbook.com.cn

The Chinese Characters Dictation Competition Is a Test Few Could Pass – WSJ.com Since its debut in August on a minor TV channel dedicated to educational programming, the “Chinese Characters Dictation Competition” has exploded in popularity. The show shifted to a Friday evening time slot on CCTV1, even challenging the popularity of the country’s most-watched shows, including China’s version of “The Voice.”

新一轮土改方案透露：严禁农地直接流转商品房_21世纪网 Economic Observer on land reform plans likely to come out of the third plenum // 新一轮土地改革的总体方案大致为，在不突破现有土地利用政策、土地使用标准等法律法规的前提下，提高征地补偿额度，缩小征地范围，盘活存量建设用地，规范农村经营性集体建设用地的流转，探索以“集体建设用地使用权交换企业经营权”的新路径，严禁将农地直接流转为商品房建设。

Uncomfortable Bedfellows: How Much Does China Need America Now? | ChinaFile Conversation Robert Kapp–I have recommended to my friends in the China field that they send a crumpled 1 RMB note to Senator Cruz, and to all the Members of Congress who pulled this horrifying stunt on the American people, with a note card saying “Thanks for all you do!”

Innovation in China–Sinica Podcast Kaiser and Jeremy are pleased to be joined by Tom Saunders, a researcher and policy analyst at the Nesta think-tank on innovation who is in Beijing as part of a high-level British delegation focused on strengthening economic ties with China. More importantly, Tom is also the author of a recent report on China’s Absorptive State: innovation and research in China, a report which tries to make sense of how much innovation in China is genuine, and what this means for the rest of the world.

 

BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE

China may be slowing but it is playing an ever larger role in global trade | The World Friday’s GDP data out of China (the economy grew at an annual rate of 7.8 per cent in the third quarter of this year) has illustrated what many economists see as the “new normal”. China is growing slower than it once did. But, given its increasingly outsize role over the past two decades what does that mean for global trade? Together with Valentina Romei from our stats department and the helpful people at the WTO we have been running some of the numbers. Here are a few interesting points to pass on…

Profits at China’s SOEs rise 10.5 pct – Xinhua SOEs administered by the central government recorded 1.28 trillion yuan of profits in the nine-month period, up 16.3 percent year on year. During the same period, profits of SOEs administered by local governments fell 2.4 percent from the previous year to 482.9 billion yuan. Total business revenue at SOEs rose 11 percent year on year to 33.71 trillion yuan.

Chase Manhattan Plaza Sale Sets Record for Chinese Buyers – Bloomberg Shanghai-based Fosun, run by billionaire Guo Guangchang, agreed to buy the 60-story lower Manhattan tower for $725 million, according to a statement filed to Hong Kong’s stock exchange. The 2.2 million-square-foot (204,000-square-meter) steel skyscraper was completed in 1961.

Xinhua, NDRC to set up price research institute – Xinhua | English.news.cn China’s state news wire and the nation’s economic planning body on Friday agreed to establish a research institute studying domestic pricing to provide references for government’s macro-regulation.

Pilot free trade zone in Shanghai to build open economy | East Asia Forum the pilot FTZ scheme should serve as a perfect opportunity to build an open economy on a macroeconomic level by testing out innovative systems in the context of global competition. From this, China can learn about other economic management methods and assess the impact of full liberalisation.–Bo Chen is Deputy Chair at the Department of International Economics and the Deputy Director of the Research Center on Free Trade Zone, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Easing measures boost free trade zone – Xinhua New measures to ease corporate registration and customs clearing procedures in the Shanghai free trade zone have prove a huge boon for businesses. “In the first three working days after the national holidays, more than 1,900 companies submitted registrations in the zone — nearly triple the number for the whole of last year,” Dai Haibo, deputy director of the zone administration, told China Central Television yesterday. // [视频]改革发展新景象 上海：改革试验田里的新变化_新闻频道_央视网 Shanghai Free Trade Zone gets 3:30 at top of Saturday CCTV Evening News

China’s Real Estate Developers Perk Up Amid More House-Hunting – China Real Time Report – WSJ In terms of floor area, housing sales rose 23.9% in the first nine months this year compared to the same period a year ago. In September alone, housing sales rose 21.5% from a year earlier, up from August’s 9.4%, according to WSJ calculations. The strong demand has helped to clear some housing inventory, analysts said, but they said that developers will have to pick up construction activity if home-buying momentum continues.  Residential property completions rose by a mere 1.4% in the first nine months this year. There is currently a supply crunch of homes in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which is in turn leading to fast-rising property prices.

 

POLITICS AND LAW

Xia Yeliang, an Outspoken Chinese Professor, Says He Has Been Dismissed – NYTimes.com A politically outspoken Chinese economist, Xia Yeliang, will lose his professorship at Peking University, one of China’s most prestigious and internationally prominent schools, after a committee voted to dismiss him, Professor Xia said on Saturday. The decision came after months of contention over his future, which his supporters have said reflected the Communist Party’s efforts to deter liberal political views on campuses. // expect lots of huffing and puffing but no substantive actions from Western institutions. Who wants to jeopardize their China opportunities, from campuses in China to increasing flows of students and money from the PRC to their institutions? Yes, I am cynical…

习近平欲放舆论管制 严打网谣实为先紧后松_中国_多维新闻网 Duowei tries to put positive spin on online crackdown, claims person in the know say that XI will loosen up online environment in the beginning of the year, but needs to crackdown first…// 【多维新闻】中共亮剑整肃网络秩序已将近两个月的时间，最新被刑拘的网络大V是云南网络名人“边民”（真名董如彬），据悉其涉嫌寻衅滋事等罪。有知情人士对多维新闻表示，这场快节奏的网络严打之风一直会持续到明年年初，之后可能会逐步慢下来。这是习近平为肃清网络谣言、开放舆论管制而采取的欲扬先抑之法。所谓放行之前先清路，对网络大V先严打然后再行安抚引导，最终创造一个言论开放又清明的网络环境，既可以让人人都能说话，又可减少谣言带来的负面作用…上述知情人士对多维新闻表示，实际上，中共并不是想要一个不说话的舆论环境，而是想要一个好好说话的网络环境。过去网络上鱼龙混杂，一些大V利用自己的影响力，做了些出格的事情。故要让大家都好好说话，那么就采取了先紧后松的方法，先把那些乱说话的整治了，让大家认识到要为自己说的话负责任，然后再让大家畅所欲言。这可以被认为是习近平在治理网络舆论方面的新方法

Roter Vorhang » Artikel der NZZ vom 11. September 2013 The Neue Zürcher Zeitung published a series of articles in the last couple of days in which it reports about questionable practices during the facilitation of Tibetan child refugees into Switzerland. The CPC will not be shy to use this in her propaganda efforts against the Dalai Lama. The China Daily has already picked up the baton and published a commentary. The whole story has the potential to keep us occupied for some time and so far no English translation of the article is available to our knowledge. That is why we decided to provide a rough and quick translation of the first article without claiming it to be authoritative or complete

浙江金帝集团董事长失去联系 或涉中石油贪腐案_网易新闻中心 Zhejiang’s richest man may be under investigation as part of PetroChina case // 编者按/8月份开始爆发的中石油系列贪腐案还远没有结束，其波及范围还在不断扩大。继中石油前任董事长蒋洁敏以及四位高管李华林、冉新权、王永春、王道富被带走调查之后，一些背靠中石油系统这棵垄断大树而疯狂掘金的商业大佬也不断被牵出。继四川神秘富豪吴兵之后，本报记者又获悉，浙江金帝集团董事长卢斯侃也已经多日不见、联系不上。卢斯侃近十年来，依靠和前中石油集团副总裁、昆仑能源董事局主席李华林的特殊关系，建立了一个庞大的能源商业帝国。本报记者持续辗转调查，希望能够逐步揭开李华林贪腐案的真相。

齐心党媒刊文回忆习仲勋 崇敬毛泽东归罪康生_中国_多维新闻网 Duowei on Qi Xin’s full page People’s Daily essay on Xi Zhongxun // 【多维新闻】北京时间10月18日，中共党媒《人民日报》在第6版以整版篇幅一万余字刊发齐心回忆亡夫习仲勋的文章《忆仲勋》，着重描述了习仲勋的在中共革命和执政后经历的一系列政治事件和起伏，并提及多位中共高层领导人。值得注意的是，除习仲勋本人外，文中所提及人物频率以毛泽东为首，其次为周恩来，并在必要处简单提到了邓小平、胡耀邦、叶剑英、王震等人。有观察人士表示，从文中用词及表达语调来看，文章中流露出了较多的对毛泽东的崇敬和信仰，以及对上述其他人士不同程度的感念之情。此外，康生则被认为是导致习仲勋惨遭冤狱和迫害的始作俑者。

Animated film about Mao Zedong in works to raise youth awareness | South China Morning Post When Mao Zedong Was Young is being made by the movie and TV production subsidiary of the propaganda flagship Qiushi Journal and two filmmaking companies based in Hunan . The movie poster shows Mao as a teenager, sporting a braid, a typical hairdo during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), with large shining eyes and a confident smile. Lu Huasheng, art director at Qiushi’s film and TV centre, told the Sunday Morning Post the endeavour was an attempt to reach out to young people who knew little about revolutionary heroes.

Q. and A.: Yang Fenggang on the ‘Oxford Consensus’ and Public Trust in China – NYTimes.com In late August, two dozen Chinese public intellectuals from four of the country’s main ideological schools — Confucian, New Left, Liberal and Christian — met at Oxford University’s Wycliffe Hall to discuss their country’s problems. Remarkably, for a group of people who in Chinese public life are often at each other’s throats, they came up with what is now being dubbed the “Oxford Consensus” — four theses expressing their hopes for a pluralistic, liberal China.

《打铁记》第16章：老干部举报有力量_UGC精选 16th installment of Luo Changping’s serialized book about the takedown of Liu Tienan, this chapter about retired NDRC officials who sign a joint complaint about Liu and gave it to the CDIC // 2012年四五月间，老干部们拿着那一期《财经》，以及他们联名签署的刘铁男涉嫌贪腐的举报信，走进中纪委。

U.S. Businessman Accused of Being Mob Boss in China | TIME.com When more than 500 policemen swooped in to arrest 40 suspected gangsters in southern China last year, the alleged kingpin was a Los Angeles businessman who had hoisted an U.S. flag amid a crowd to welcome Xi Jinping, now China’s president, to California. Vincent Wu’s children and lawyers say he’s an upstanding, philanthropic Chinese-American entrepreneur who has been framed by business foes who want to seize his assets, including a nine-story shopping mall. But police in the southern city of Guangzhou say he was a ruthless mob boss who led gangsters with nicknames such as “Old Crab” and “Ferocious Mouth.”

 

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

Malaysia to establish marine corps, naval base close to James Shoal – IHS Jane’s 360 According to the statement, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base will be established at Bintulu on the South China Sea (SCS) to protect the surrounding area and oil reserves. Unstated by the minister is the base’s proximity to James Shoal, which is 60 n miles away and was the location for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) exercises on 26 March that were the most recent example of China asserting its claims to most of the SCS.

PLA Navy begins West Pacific exercise – Xinhua The exercise, which began Friday and will last until the beginning of November, is expected to improve high sea combat abilities and hone strategies for utilizing information technologies, the newspaper reported. The country’s three fleets — North China Sea Fleet, East China Sea Fleet and South China Sea Fleet — will join the drill.

India, China near pact aimed at keeping lid on border tension | Reuters The border defense cooperation pact that diplomats are racing to finalize ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China next week is a small step forward in a complicated relationship marked by booming economic ties but also growing distrust.

China’s Jiaolong submersible set for Indian Ocean – Xinhua Jiaolong, China’s first manned deep-sea submersible, is scheduled for a voyage in the Indian Ocean at the end of next year, the oceanic authorities said Friday. The sub will carry out scientific research focusing on polymetallic sulfides in the southwest Indian Ocean, with its carrier, Xiangyanghong 09, set to start sailing in November or December, according to the State Oceanic Administration.

河南登封非洲洋弟子修行功夫_网易新闻 Slideshow of 20 men from 5 African countries studying at Shaolin Temple

 

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

The Far-Eastern Sweet Potato: Citizen 1985: The real deal, or a false flag? (中文 link at bottom) it is possible to conclude that Citizen 1985 is meant to serve a number of functions, all of which beneficial to the government. It can serve to discredit the organizations that are more focused, more militant, and therefore the likeliest to compel the government to change policies that it does not want to change; it can turn public opinion against the students by depicting them as violent, disrespectful, irrational, and not “high class” enough; it can redirect resources that otherwise would have joined the student movements and thereby assist law enforcement when it faces overstretch; and lastly, it can serve as an opiate by giving society the impression that they are participating in something meaningful, when in fact they are all sheep (they do, after all, wear white) gathering for rallies that the government need not fear and which, in the end, will not lead to policy change. And if nothing happens after hundreds of thousands of people have rallied a number of times, the public could well give up and come to “accept” the inevitability of government policies, or the impossibility of change.

 

TECH AND MEDIA

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun hits out at critics and biased media–TechInAsia Then why did he take to copying Jobs’ wardrobe, his launch style and generally assiduously try to create an image for himself as the “Steve Jobs of China”, to the point he is known by some as “雷布斯”, a play on the Chinese name for Steve Jobs “乔布斯”? // Chinese media outlets, as one would expect, have published responses to Lei’s piece, calling some of his claims into question.

China’s Chukong to launch developer suite for its Cocos2d-x game engine, as it lands $50m investment – The Next Web Chukong has announced completion of a $50 million Series D round led by New Horizon Capital with a post-money valuation of $500 million. Earlier this month, the company, which is booking more than $12 million in monthly revenue, reorganized to consolidate its CocoaChina, Punchbox and Cocos2d-x brands under the Chukong name.

Baidu to Qihoo Lead Advance on Economy: China Overnight – Bloomberg The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese stocks in the U.S. advanced 1.7 percent to 107.13, the highest close since September 2011. The gauge gained 2.3 percent for the week. Baidu, owner of the nation’s largest search engine, rose to the highest on record, while software developer Qihoo climbed 8.1 percent. Real-estate broker E-House China Holdings Ltd. (EJ) jumped to a one-month high as a government report showed home sales surged in September from a month earlier.

广电总局拟规定明年卫视最多保留四档唱歌节目_网易新闻中心 more limits to foreign format and singing contest TV shows in 2014 // 昨日，有媒体报道，广电总局近日对2014年节目编排提出新要求，明确规定每家卫视每年新引进的国外版权模式节目不得超过一档，而全国卫视的歌唱类节目最多保留四档。据业内人士向本报记者透露，目前初步商议的方案是每个季度里全国只上一档音乐选秀节目，以此规避一些音乐选秀节目在同一季度扎堆播出的现象。不过几十家上星频道中，哪四档音乐选秀节目能获准上星播出，其分配方案还未最终划定

小夫妻创作动画被赞媲美好莱坞 Excellent animated short of a kungfu rat and friends, by a couple in chengdu whose previous studio failed// 10月15日，“成都同城会”发布微博称：“一对成都小夫妻唐伯卿和曾小兰，在创业五年失败，团队解散后，为了梦想，两人回到1居室的家中，用5台电脑，耗时15个月，磨出了一部媲美皮克斯的动画短片。传统武侠风格，画面精致没得说！秒杀无数国产3D动画。”微博中还附上了两人短片《入学考试》的视频。

 

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

Screenshot: An angry weibo about the impending destruction of ancestral home in Fujian blows up on Weibo 65k retweets so far, full set of posts and pictures here http://www.weibo.com/jinna

百年香火_忠民影苑_郑忠民_博联社 interesting set of pictures of incense altars for ancestor worship in a county in Zhejiang…not so common these days// 可喜的是，在地处浙江西南山区的松阳县境内，仍然完整保留了大量的香火堂，其良辰吉日的祭祖活动（比如每年除夕的“请年神”习俗）绵延数百年而经久不衰，人们从小接受传统礼仪、道德、观念的感染和熏陶，在现代文明的大潮中保留了传统文化的精髓，对增进族群的团结协作，促进社会的和谐进步具有重要的作用。

Marital dispute sparks 7 NW China murders – Xinhua Ma confessed to the murders of his seven family members including his pregnant wife and two young nieces, according to the police. They said Ma killed his wife, his parents in-law, grandparents in-law and two nieces aged three and one in their home in Wengou Village of Pengyang on the night of Oct. 14 after he had an argument with his wife that afternoon.

The Pamela Werner Murder Peking 1937 interesting, thought the case was closed? // Pamela Werner’s murder in 1937 has been a recent source of interest to readers of history and of crime fiction. The most current account, Midnight in Peking, is based on the letters of her father and claims to solve the mystery of this cold-case from Peking. Archival material contradicts this bold claim, and is presented here for interested parties…The compilers of this website include G Sheppard (UK) and a small group of people from various countries and different professional backgrounds: history, medicine, law. Only two are descendants of persons who feature in a minor way in Midnight in Peking, however they are all united in the belief that history is important and should not be confused with fiction.

 

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

Beijing Announces Emergency Pollution Autos Ban, but Don’t Hold Your Breath – China Real Time Report – WSJ Beijing changed the way it calculates AQI this year, making it hard to perform past comparisons. But based on the old index, Beijing endured just a single day in 2012 and 2011 when the average AQI went above 300, Mr. Andrews said. Vance Wagner, a senior researcher at the International Council for Clean Transportation, said the level of air pollution necessary to trigger the alternate-car ban may occur only as much as three times a year, and only when weather patterns aren’t favorable for dispersing pollution.

Shanghai Studies Traffic Congestion Charge to Control Pollution – Bloomberg A congestion charge is one of the measures being considered as part of a white paper on transportation, Gao Yiyi, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority, said today at a joint departmental briefing. The city also pledged to cut levels of PM2.5 — the most damaging particulate matter — by 20 percent by 2017 from last year’s levels, according to the environmental protection bureau.

Analysis: China’s pioneers to drive recovery in solar equipment demand | Reuters There is a considerable global capacity overhang to work through – some analysts say 10 gigawatts – before demand will exceed installed capacity, meaning a rise in equipment orders will not be felt until 2014 at the earliest. But new plants will be built in new locations. JinkoSolar, the first Chinese solar panel maker to return to profitability, is building a plant in South Africa to meet local production requirements, company spokesman Sebastian Liu said.

In China, victory for wildlife conservation as citizens persuaded to give up shark fin soup – The Washington Post “People said it was impossible to change China, but the evidence we are now getting says consumption of shark fin soup in China is down by 50 to 70 percent in the last two years,” said Peter Knights, executive director of WildAid, a San Francisco-based group that has promoted awareness about the shark trade. The drop is also reflected in government and industry statistics.

 

FOOD AND TRAVEL

Asia’s Travel Business: Tuniu, China’s Package Tour Aggregator – Forbes Su booked his Greek tour on Tuniu.com, a travel aggregator that specializes in leisure trips. Founded in 2006, it serves 10 million customers a year and expects to ring up $565 million in transactions this year. Its business is built on the proposition that online booking offers the best way to pick a tour and to ensure that travel agents, who supply the tours listed on the website, deliver on their promises…In August Tuniu raised $60 million from DCM and Temasek Holdings in its fourth funding round, bringing its total raised since 2008 to $115 million. Its internal valuation is now from $350 million to $400 million. Yang says the firm made its first profit in the first quarter, but he expects full-year profits to be negative as it continues to invest in systems and people (current head count is 1,200).

《舌尖上的中国2》春节上映 聚焦“暗黑料理”_新闻_腾讯网 Taste of China 2 out by Chinese New Year // 谁说有“暗黑料理”之称的街边摊头小吃难登大雅之堂？记者日前获悉，第二季“舌尖”将于春节期间登陆央视。平时不为人知的“暗黑料理”将登上这档传奇美食节目。“舌尖”的配套节目《一城一味》则将于明年元旦期间亮相。

北京明年长途客车推实名制 可有效抑制黄牛党-地方频道-新华网 starting Jan 1 long-distance buses from beijing will require real name ticket purchase…to combat scalpers it says // 明年元旦起，乘省际长途客运也要验证身份信息了。昨天，北京市交通委相关负责人做客首都之窗时透露，省际客运实名制联网购票系统调试已近尾声，预计在明年1月1日前开通运行。对于乘客来说，只是多了一个身份认证的环节，却能有效抑制黄牛党。

 

BEIJING

BBC News – Patti Austin cancels gig after Beijing asthma attack American jazz star Patti Austin has cancelled a concert in Beijing after suffering “a severe asthma attack”. A statement on the singer’s website said Ms Austin was unable to perform at Forbidden City Concert Hall on Friday night “due to health problems”. While the cause of her illness has not been confirmed, it comes at a time of growing concern over air pollution levels in the Chinese capital.

 

JOBS AND EVENTS

Wednesday, October 23 – Speaker Series with Mark Rowswell, aka Dashan (北京) | ATLAS-China TIME: Wednesday October 23, 7:30pm LOCATION: Beijing Guomao neighborhood – RSVP for details FORMAT: Presentation to be followed by Q&A and reception RSVP: rsvp at atlas-china.com