China Readings for February 14th

"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner

  • 中国风电装机16强出炉:内资耀眼 外企黯淡 – 能源·交通 – 21世纪网 – 托快速成长的中国风机市场,中国风机厂商得以蜕变成长,外资风电企业正在不断加大投资力度。
  • 地方楼市托底突破口 多地首套房利率下调 – 宏观 – 21世纪网 – 芜湖之后,广东中山市将商品房限价由每平方米5800元上调至6590元,成为首个放宽限价令的城市。
  • Today’s iPad Trademark News – What Happens if Proview Goes to Customs? | China Hearsay
  • The Useless Tree: Jeremy Lin and Chinese Soft Power
  • 媒体制中国移民财富路线图 每年8成流入美加澳_财经_凤凰网 – 多国竞相推出优惠政策吸引中国富人投资移民 本报统计各国移民数据绘制中国富人移民地图 中国移民财富八成肥了美加澳

    近期,国内多份权威调查报告显示,近年来,随着欧美发达国家纷纷推出移民优惠举措,投资移民海外的中国人暴增。据不完全统计,从2009年起,每年随中国内地富豪流向海外的财富达到100亿元以上。

    中国富人的财富究竟“肥”了哪些国家的“田”呢?就此,法晚记者通过采访国内资深移民专家,统计各国移民局数据进行调查,绘制并解读“中国富人移民地图”,展现中国富人移民海外的主要流向、分布和资金投入。

    记者统计发现,在中国每年100多亿元流向海外的移民财富总量中,有八成以上的财富贡献给了美国、加拿大和澳大利亚;还有不到两成被欧洲各国、新加坡、马来西亚等地“瓜分”,受益者还包括塞浦路斯、韩国等非传统的移民目的国。

  • 天津市河西区扎实推进平安建设—政务频道—人民网·天津视窗 – 2012年,河西区武装工作将立足训练转型、提升应急应对能力、强化班子建设,促进河西区国防和后备力量建设再上新水平。今年,全区将继续打牢民兵思想政治基础,以应急能力建设为目标,扎实抓好民兵组织整顿工作。其中,重点抓好13个街道民兵应急排、光电集团民兵电子战分队、市信息中心民兵网络战分队和天津广播器材公司通信分队的建设,不断提高整组质量,提高民兵队伍水平。
  • Lessons from Ge Xun’s forced disappearance | Seeing Red in China – Over the past few days I’ve received emails from long-time readers of the blog telling me to “stay safe” after publishing Ge Xun’s account of his detention. In the past I would have said that for the most part, China deports troublesome foreigners and is content with keeping them outside of its borders and labeling them as “hostile foreign forces” (this is not the case with drug charges, China routinely executes foreign “smugglers”). Now though, it seems that the Party is expanding its search for activists that it deems a threat to stability, even if they have been living outside of China for 25 years, and is willing to subject them to violence and intimidation.

    We published Yaxue’s translation of Ge Xun’s account, not only because it is important for his story to be told, but it also serves as a case study that forces us to confront some uncomfortable realities while showing embarrassing truths about present day China.

  • 广电总局:引进剧不得超50集 不得黄金时段播出_新闻_腾讯网 – China's Film/TV regulator SARFT: no foreign movies/TV shows during prime time
  • China to boost seawater desalination capability|Politics|chinadaily.com.cn – The State Council, China's cabinet, unveiled guidelines on Monday to ensure sustainable supplies of fresh water and to protect water resources by raising China's capability to desalinate seawater.
    China will increase its daily seawater desalination capability to 2.6 million cubic meters by the end of 2015, up from 660,000 cubic meters in 2011, according to a statement from the National Development and Reform Commission.
  • Chinese Press Reporting Proview Will Request That PRC Customs Ban Import And Export Of iPads | DigiCha
  • 爱将出事后 传薄熙来2月9日曾赴北京_多维新闻网 – 【多维新闻】王立军事件后,重庆市党政高层的动向一直吸引着舆论持续关注。继民间智库人士王志纲2月10日深夜在新浪微博账户透露重庆市市长黄奇帆出现在北京首都机场后,香港《明报》13日报道称,重庆市委书记薄熙来9日晚间曾飞往北京,目的不明,但显然与王立军事件有关。但暂时还没有其他消息源证实,目前也不清楚9日夜官方新华社关于王立军事件通稿的发布与薄去往北京之间有没有关系。
  • Chinese City Seizes Apple Ipads in Name Dispute-Caijing – Currently, business administrations in cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xuzhou have investigated into the issue, and a national ban is likely, a local newspaper in Hebei Province reported.
  • A Loss of Trust in China’s Property Sector – China Real Time Report – WSJ – For property developers, there’s no indication the squeeze will let up any time soon, with the most recent attempt by a local government to breathe a little life into the local property market seemingly being swatted down by Beijing within days.

    Still, all is not lost for the construction sector. In the fourth quarter, trust-company funding for infrastructure projects jumped 46% from the previous three months to 169.2 billion yuan, a sharp turnaround after dropping about 37% in the third quarter from the second.

  • 姜维平 – 维基百科,自由的百科全书
  • Air pollution in Shanghai | Shanghaied Weblog – If you live in Shanghai you know that this is not one of the healthiest cities in the world to live in. Not only does work go on 24/7 here (well, at least when you run your own business), but also the air quality is quite bad. It’s actually so bad that it’s very likely that unitedstyles will be the last company that I set up in China, and that I will eventually move somewhere else. I am sure I will be in China regularly for my investments and other business related issues, but at least I want my family out of here.
  • 王立军事件官方处理撇清薄熙来 显政途无“大碍”_多维新闻网 – 【多维新闻】重庆市副市长王立军于2月6日进入美国驻成都总领事馆,滞留1天后离开。目前这已被称为“王立军事件”。这一事件持续在海内外发烧,原因有二,一是中国鲜有高官未经正式批准独入外国领地;其二就是王立军是薄熙来的得力干将,而薄熙来则是目前中国政坛最耀眼的明星人物之一,而且正仕途看好。也因此,人们除了关注王立军的命运,更津津乐道的是薄熙来的前途。舆论几乎一边倒地炒作薄氏“危在旦夕”。其实,只要略谙中共的操作规则,从官方透出的信息中,已可以寻出答案。

    在王立军受到舆论关注的同时,他的老上级薄熙来更是被频频提及,见诸纸端。不少海外媒体甚至大肆渲染“王立军被中纪委调查,薄熙来弃卒保帅独善其身”、“王立军、薄熙来因涉贪内讧拔枪相向,薄熙来十八大前景堪忧”等桥段,言之凿凿,似亲眼所见,但外界则普遍认为实不足信。而且多维新闻从多方获得的信息可以基本证实,此前中纪委的确没有介入所谓“王立军案件”,因为王立军到目前为止尚未发现他有经济或贪腐问题。再加上近日中共当局对此的处理方式以及官媒的报道来看,即使王立军因某种原因“被查”,薄熙来的政治前途应仍无“大碍”。

  • 重庆市长黄奇帆现身北京_多维新闻网
  • 薄熙来会见时已经被中央来的人控制(图) – for those into pekingology, has Hu Jintao sent 1 of his guys to watchover Bo Xilai? pics from harper meeting in chongqing
  • Sidney Morning Herald-Garnaut-Children of revolution decry party for return of sin and corruption – Hu Muying, who is the daughter of the late Hu Qiaomu, a former politburo member and chief speech speechwriter for Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, used her keynote speech to rail against the kind of party putrefaction that Mr Bo had been waging war against.

    ''Thirty years of opening and reform have achieved remarkable economic achievements but those brilliant achievements were followed by class polarisation, rampant corruption, a public spiritual vacuum, chaotic thinking, moral decline, prostitution, drugs, triads and so on,'' said Ms Hu, who convened the gathering, as president of the Children of Yan'an Fellowship.

  • World Press Photo winner: The Return of the Native, Mao Zedong Remembered | Ministry of Tofu 豆腐部 – interesting photos
  • A Word to Describe Chinese Society – NYTimes.com – But language is telling, and as I translated a novel about official corruption over the past year, one character began to emerge as the linchpin of the book’s discussion of power and those who wield it. That character is 管, pronounced guǎn, with a “scooping” tone.

    Originally meaning “pipe” or “flute” — the feathery bit at the top is the bamboo radical, indicating a section of bamboo culm — guǎn later evolved into a verb meaning “to manage” or “to be in charge of.” If I were given only one word to capture Chinese society, guǎn would be it.

  • iPads removed from shelves after trademark ruling|Economy|chinadaily.com.cn – The tablets have been confiscated from shelves in many retail shops and electronic stores due to a Chinese company's lawsuit against the Apple Inc over the trademark infringement, in Shijiazhuang city, capital of North China's Hebei province.
    Some retailers have removed the iPad tablets to back storerooms, fearing that local Administration of Industry and Commerce will confiscate them.
    An inspection squad of the Xinhua District's Administration of Industry and Commerce in Shijiazhuang city, launched a campaign to crack down the sale of the tablets on Feb 9 after receiving Proview Technology (Shenzhen)'s complaint. A total of 45 iPad tablets were confiscated by the authority in the district over two days.
  • Down Goes iPad! Proview vs. Apple Fight Gets Serious | China Hearsay – if this is accurate, it’s big news. Some of the details are a bit unclear at this point, but I suppose we will get more information in the days ahead. Remember that we have one court case in Shenzhen over the trademark purchase contract between Proview and Apple. Proview won at the Intermediate Court and Apple has filed an appeal. There is also a second civil suit, this one a trademark infringement case, pending in Shanghai.

    The first part of this article suggests that an application has been filed by Proview in Shijiazhuang and that the AIC there has responded with several enforcement actions. I say “suggests” because it would be a bit strange for AIC to run around snatching up iPads in the absence of a Proview complaint. Possible, but it usually doesn’t work that way.

    So the AIC there has confiscated some iPads and scared some retailers into taking the product off the shelves, at least temporarily. If that sentiment spreads to other retailers, that’s horrible news for Apple, which is reportedly gearing up for a big launch of the iPad 3 next month. Talk about bad timing.

    As to the Shijiazhuang actions, this all makes sense. The AIC definitely has the power and the evidence to legally confiscate iPads. Same scenario I talked about last week with respect to Beijing AIC, but in this case, it may actually be happening.

  • Expanded Role Proposed for Elite Military Forces – NYTimes.com – The officer, Adm. William H. McRaven, who leads the Special Operations Command, is pushing for a larger role for his elite units who have traditionally operated in the dark corners of American foreign policy. The plan would give him more autonomy to position his forces and their war-fighting equipment where intelligence and global events indicate they are most needed.

    It would also allow the Special Operations forces to expand their presence in regions where they have not operated in large numbers for the past decade, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

  • Foreign Bribe Case at Avon Presented to Grand Jury – WSJ.com – Authorities are focused on a 2005 internal audit report by the company that concluded Avon employees in China may have been bribing officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to three people familiar with the matter. Avon had earlier said it first learned of bribery allegations in 2008.

    The audit found several hundred thousand dollars in questionable payments to Chinese officials and third-party consultants in 2005, one of these people said. It came as Avon was pursuing a license to conduct door-to-door sales in China. Some of the payments were recorded on invoices as gifts for government officials, the person said. Avon secured China's first such license to a foreign company in 2006.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. prosecutors in New York and Washington are trying to determine whether current or former executives ignored the audit's findings or actively took steps to conceal the problems, both potential offenses, two people familiar with the matter said.

    Executives at Avon headquarters in New York who saw the audit report at the time didn't disclose its findings to the board's audit committee, finance committee or the full board, according to people familiar with the investigation. Board members didn't learn of the audit report until after Avon launched its own internal investigation of overseas bribery allegations in 2008, say the people familiar with the situation.

  • U.S. presents evidence to grand jury in Avon case: report | Reuters – Will Andrea Jung be indicted?

    U.S. authorities are studying a 2005 internal audit report by the company that concluded Avon employees in China may have been bribing officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Journal said, citing three people familiar with the matter.

    The federal authorities are probing whether current or former executives ignored the audit's findings or actively took steps to conceal the problems, both potential offences, the newspaper said.

  • 腾讯视频开门红 2012大剧春晚得佳绩 _资讯频道_计世网 – Tencent Video catching up to youku and tudou, at least 4 certain shows? $tudo $yoku
  • [转载]北大学生父亲作村民代表上访,疑遭报复被蒙面人_王克勤_新浪博客 – 我父亲是北京市门头沟区潭柘寺镇南辛房村村民。2012年1月10日上午6:15左右,他在晨练时遭到两蒙面男子暗算毒打。两人驾驶黑色无牌照轿车,只露双眼,一人持棍一人持刀。经诊断手术,我父亲右腿腓骨粉碎性骨折;头部钝器伤口有7、8厘米,可见头骨,幸无头骨骨折颅内损伤;全身多处软组织挫伤。
  • Analysis:China offshore yuan market booms even as yuan bets fade | Reuters – Three years after China launched its most ambitious experiment yet to give its currency more global clout, some market watchers are writing its epitaph, saying Beijing is not loosening its grip on the yuan fast enough to attract sustained interest.
    But others say incremental changes in Chinese regulations are creating more channels for investors to move yuan between domestic and offshore markets, pointing to a growing market in Hong Kong that Beijing is using as a testbed for far-reaching reforms which could one day see the yuan become a global reserve currency.
  • 北京出台公租房设计指导图 40平米满足生活所需_中国经济网――国家经济门户 – beijing 40 sqm public housing layout. mr/s china bear hedge fund manager would you live in this?
  • China paper says country does not want to "buy up" Europe – Yahoo! News – BEIJING (Reuters) – China has no intention of "buying up" or "controlling" a debt-ridden Europe that it still has confidence in, and any help Beijing may offer will be for purely economic reasons, a top state-run newspaper said on Monday ahead of a China-EU summit.
  • LinkedIn创始人约见中国互联网公司 或将入华-搜狐IT
  • Authorities Removing Apple iPads From Chinese Store Shelves? | DigiCha – So says this report (Chinese) from Hebei Youth Daily.

    Apparently as a result of the Proview iPad trademark infringement verdict, some local Administrations of Industry and Commerce (AIC) have started to confiscate Apple ($AAPL) iPads they find on sale. The article claims that many stores and resellers have taken the products off their shelves to avoid discovery by authorities, but if you ask for an iPad you can still buy one. It is not clear if this is going to happen nationwide or if this is just the action of a handful of local authorities, but Apple has a lot of risk in this case.

  • Check Out The Blistering Growth Of China’s Inner Provinces
  • Lifestyle & Entertainment News | Books, Music, Movies, Fashion News from Hong Kong | SCMP.com – Choosing a mainland school generally means spartan classrooms, rote learning methods and rigid discipline. But Alderson and his wife reckon these are more than compensated for by their offspring achieving a linguistic skill that will be a major professional asset in their lifetime.

    There is also the matter of money. Fees at state-run schools can be as low as HK$25,000 a year, significantly less than those at an international school. For expatriates without generous packages from their employers, enrolling in an international school in the capital is simply not an affordable option.

  • China Military Growth Spurs Asia Demand for Boeing, Lockheed – Businessweek – China’s surging defense budget, the world’s second-biggest, is helping spur military spending across Asia, offering U.S. and European suppliers a chance to offset slowing demand at home.
  • China Should Fine-Tune Policy Early as Q1: Wen – Bloomberg
  • Benedict Rogers: Federalist Reform for Burma – WSJ.com – Ms. Suu Kyi's presence is especially key since, as Aung San's daughter, she can recapture the spirit of Panglong. She can work with the government and the ethnic nationalities to take this process forward. When Burma's ethnic nationalities, who make up 40% of the population and inhabit 60% of the land, can live in peace, with equal rights, autonomy and respect for their ethnic, religious and cultural identity, we can truly say Burma has changed.
  • In Tibet acts of self-immolation rise amid a battle for hearts and minds | World news | The Guardian – Special report: in Aba, a remote town on the Tibetan plateau, the Guardian witnesses how Chinese authorities are trying to quell dissent through security, propaganda and 're-education'

    On the roof of the world, Chinese paramilitaries are trying to snuff out Tibetan resistance to Beijing's rule with spiked batons, semi-automatic weapons and fire extinguishers.

    Every 20 metres along the main road of Aba, the remote town on the Tibetan plateau in that is at the heart of the current wave of protests, police officers and communist officials wearing red armbands look out for potential protesters. Dozens more paramilitaries sit in ranks outside shops and restaurants in an intimidating show of force.

  • Inside Tibet’s heart of protest – video | World news | guardian.co.uk – On the streets of Aba, ranks of paramilitary police armed with guns, batons and spiked clubs keep a watchful eye on Buddhist monks in crimson robes. After a 10-hour drive across the Tibetan plateau, Jonathan Watts was able to get into the town undetected and witness how the authorities are trying to extinguish dissent with fire engines, riot police and patriotic 're-education' campaigns
  • Shalom, Shanghai – According to the Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai (CJSS), some 25,000 Jewish refugees from Europe streamed into Shanghai between 1939 and 1941. Shanghai's Jewish community, which dates back to the 19th century, numbered 31,000 during the 1940s.
  • DAVID SLOAN JOINS EURASIA GROUP AS ASIA PRACTICE HEAD – India specialist
  • 高华讲座——毛泽东何以发动文革_杜衡芳芷_新浪播客 – Gao Hua lecture in Hong Kong on Mao and the Cultural Revolution
  • Chinese City of Wuhu Retracts Property Easing as Wen Pledges Housing Curbs – Bloomberg – China’s eastern city of Wuhu suspended a decision to ease property curbs three days after its announcement, in a move that underscores the nation’s determination to cool prices.
    The mid-sized city in Anhui province will temporarily suspend its home subsidy policy so it can study details on how to implement the rules, according to a statement on the local authority’s website yesterday. Wuhu will waive a deed tax and subsidize some home purchases, it said Feb. 9, becoming the first Chinese city this year to signal its intention to ease property curbs.
  • AP News: AP IMPACT: USAID contractor work in Cuba detailed – WASHINGTON (AP) – Piece by piece, in backpacks and carry-on bags, American aid contractor Alan Gross made sure laptops, smartphones, hard drives and networking equipment were secreted into Cuba. The most sensitive item, according to official trip reports, was the last one: a specialized mobile phone chip that experts say is often used by the Pentagon and the CIA to make satellite signals virtually impossible to track.

    The purpose, according to an Associated Press review of Gross' reports, was to set up uncensored satellite Internet service for Cuba's small Jewish community.

    The operation was funded as democracy promotion for the U.S. Agency for International Development,

  • 温家宝:预调、微调从一季度就要开始 – [中国证券网] – [编者按]每年两会前的一个多月,温家宝总理都会连续召开数次座谈会向社会各界人士征求对《报告》的意见。在上述座谈会期间,涉及到2012年一系列改革目标的具体内容都成为座谈会的焦点话题。其中,另一个社会长期关注的话题——“新36条”配套细则的颁布时间再次得到明确。
  • 芜湖楼市新政叫停 地方救市被亮红灯 – [中国证券网] – [编者按]芜湖市政府网12日发布通告,宣布暂缓执行此前公布的《芜湖市人民政府印发关于进一步加强住房保障改善居民住房条件的若干意见的通知》。业内人士认为,这一举措或意味着楼市调控政策仍将延续。
  • 人民日报:真与假折射地方官员对党是否忠诚_新闻_腾讯网 – 调控并非是让民众受益的目标政环境中,看一个干部是否实事求是、求真务实,就要看其干事创业,是真抓实干,还是弄虚作假?问题矛盾面前,是说真话出实招,还是说假话躲着走?社会监督之下,是言行一致还是言行不一?“真与假”之间,折射出一个领导干部,对党是否忠诚老实,对人民是否真诚服务,对改革发展事业是否勇于担当。