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

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• CARLYLE’S RUBENSTEIN: If I Could Put More Money Into China, I Would –
• Be Better at Twitter: The Definitive, Data-Driven Guide – Megan Garber – Technology – The Atlantic –
• Likely Facebook IPO sends Renren shares soaring | The Australian – MARK Zuckerberg is giving Chinese social-networking site Renren a lot of undeserved face.

  The share price of Renren ran up more than 50 per cent on the New York Stock Exchange in two days at the end of January. With no company-specific news to explain the sudden surge in a stock that has been on a downward trend since the middle of last year, there can be only one explanation: Facebook.

• Regulator examines Google mapping services|Sci-Tech|chinadaily.com.cn – China's mapping service regulator Wednesday said Google's application for an online maps license, which is required for operating such service in China, is under official examination.
  The National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, said in a statement that Beijing Guxiang Information Technology Co. Ltd, a joint-venture of Google, submitted the application in November last year.
• Beijing to set up PM2.5 monitoring stations|Society|chinadaily.com.cn – The capital will set up more than 30 fine particulate pollutant monitoring stations to inform the public of the air quality by the end of this year, according to the city's environmental protection bureau.
  Six of the more than 30 PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) monitoring stations will be set up soon in both downtown as well as surrounding suburbs, based on existing facilities, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said on Feb 1.
• Apple set to expand presence in China|Companies|chinadaily.com.cn – But China is not simply seen as a potential growth market for Apple products. The country often is regarded as the company's main production base.
  US consumers could be misled when they turn over an iPhone and see the "Made in China" label. They often think that means China is taking US jobs and making money from US products.
  The reality is that this impression is not an accurate reflection of the situation.
  A report written by three US professors – who attempted to capture value in global networks by using Apple's iPad and iPhone as research examples – shows that only about "$10 or less in direct labor wages that go into an iPhone or iPad is paid to Chinese workers".
• Mitt Romney’s China Policy – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – Overall, Romney’s choice of how to frame his China policy reflects his decision to focus on how China affects U.S. voters and how to best attack Obama regarding China. While Romney is wise not to overemphasize China, Obama’s Asia policy has been considered pragmatic and successful by most observers.

  If Romney wins the nomination, discussion about the future of America will likely include a debate about how China’s rise will impact the United States. Romney will need to articulate a clearer conception of how to balance partnership with China, U.S. military predominance, and an emphasis on values and freedom.

• Hong Kong Hospitals May Stop Admitting Foreign Pregnant Women – Bloomberg – Hong Kong public hospitals may stop admitting foreign pregnant women next year, as an influx of mothers from China giving birth in the former British colony strained facilities and spurred local protests.
  The quota for foreigners giving birth in public hospitals this year is 3,400, down from 10,000 in 2011, Cheung Wai-lun, director of hospital groups at the Hospital Authority said in an interview broadcasted by Radio Television Hong Kong yesterday. The quota may be scrapped completely next year, he said.
• Warren Buffet’s dark side—Charles Gasparino – NYPOST.com – Imagine a Republican president regularly invoking the wisdom of a multibillionaire businessman who had profited off companies with questionable business practices, and who law-enforcement officials had recently asked to provide information about his own company’s questionable practices. No question about it: Democrats and the media would be having a field day.

  So why do we hear so little about the dark side of Warren Buffett?

  True, the double standard involving Buffett’s business record is longstanding. But now President Obama is using him as a central prop in his class-warfare strategy for winning a second term.

• Starbucks Price Increase Stirs China’s Netizens – China Real Time Report – WSJ – For proof that coffee is taking off in China, look no further than Chinese consumers’ reaction to recent price increases at Starbucks Corp.

  The Seattle-based coffee chain said earlier this week that all coffee drink prices would increase by two yuan, or about $0.32. That bumps up the cost of a small latte – or “tall” latte, in Starbucks’s lingo — to 27 yuan, or $4.20. A large mocha is now 34 yuan, or $5.40. The increases add to prices that are already higher than what similar coffee drinkers pay in the U.S.

  Starbucks fans in China turned to the Internet to complain, helping to make the Chinese term for Starbucks, “Xing Ba Ke,” one of the top trending terms on China’s biggest search engine, Baidu.com. They flooded Twitter-like microblogging sites with emoticons of sobbing faces, complaining about what at least one called the “pain.”

• Blog fight of the month: Han Han the novelist versus Fang Zhouzi the fraud-buster | Danwei –
• Goldman Sachs Said to Consider Hiring Ex-Geithner Aide Siewert – Businessweek – Goldman Sachs Group Inc. may hire Richard “Jake” Siewert Jr., a former counselor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, to manage the bank’s communications department, according to three people familiar with the situation.

  Siewert, who turns 48 today, is in talks about a role similar to the one held by Lucas van Praag, 62, who has worked at Goldman Sachs for 12 years, said the people, who asked for anonymity because the talks aren’t public and an agreement hasn’t been reached. Siewert worked as a press secretary for President Bill Clinton and managed corporate development and public strategy at Alcoa Inc. before joining Treasury in 2009.

• U.S.-Backed Militia Fortifies Afghanistan’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ | Danger Room | Wired.com –
• The N.B.A. Is Missing Its Shots in China – NYTimes.com – so much more to this story. weak reporting on what really happened
• Pinterest Clones Explore China’s “Interest Graph” | TechRice – meilishuo doing well, sequoia investee
• Nomura Pours Cold Water On That ‘Strong’ Chinese PMI Report – Last night, China posted a strong January PMI number, unexpectedly coming in above 50, and for now allaying fears of a hard landing.
  But underneath the hood things weren't so pretty.
  As Nomura notes, there seems to have been an unusual seasonal adjustment.
• China blames Tibet deaths on ‘separatist plots’ | World news | guardian.co.uk – Campaigners say at least three Tibetans, possibly many more, were shot dead in closed region in worst unrest since 2008
• China quietly shelves new diesel emission standards | Jonathan Watts | Environment | guardian.co.uk – It ought to have been a centrepiece of China's efforts to reduce smog, but the government has quietly postponed plans to clean the fumes from truck and bus exhaust pipes.

  The 18-month delay of new diesel emission standards, which was announced this month, runs contrary to the authorities' promises to tighten controls on air pollution.

  Environmental scientists say the move shows public health concerns remain far less of a priority for China's leaders than the economic interests of state-owned petrol companies, PetroChina and Sinopec.

• Exclusive: U.S. accuses China of instigating plot against DuPont | Reuters – Chinese government representatives directed a U.S. businessman to obtain valuable technology manufactured by chemical giant DuPont and were seeking on Wednesday to keep him in jail ahead of his trial on charges relating to trade secret theft, U.S. prosecutors say in newly released court documents.。。

  Liew was hosted at a banquet in 1991 by Luo Gan, who at the time was a high-ranking official of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, according to correspondence from Liew that U.S. federal officials say they seized from his safety deposit box. Luo Gan went on to become a member of the nine-member Standing Committee of the Politburo, prosecutors wrote in the filing.

  Several other Chinese officials also attended, according to the documents.

  "The purpose of the banquet is to thank me for being a patriotic overseas Chinese who has made contributions to China," Liew wrote in a memo to a Chinese company, according to U.S. prosecutors, "and who has provided key technologies with national defense applications, in paint/coating and microwave communications."

  Luo Gan gave Liew directives at the meeting, and two days later Liew received a list of "key task projects," including TiO2, prosecutors stated.

• China Entrepreneur Magazine Examines Private Lending And The Wu Ying Death Penalty Case | Sinocism –
• 张国立之子张默顺义别墅内抽大麻被抓 – 张国立就儿子张默涉毒发声明致歉 – 视频 – 优酷视频 – 在线观看 – zhang guoli's son Zhang Mo was arrested in his Beijing Shunyi Villa compound for smoking marijuana
• 北京环保局:美使馆设置不规范致PM2.5值不一致_新闻中心_新浪网 – beijing says us embassy improper setup of pm 2.5 equipment causing discrepancy w its data
• 一淘网价格监测数据惹恼京东当当_互联网_科技时代_新浪网 – alibaba so powerful. driving competitors nuts w its etao subsidiary's data about who really has the best prices
• Over Chinese Objections, Vale’s Ship Comes In – Caixin Online – A range of steel and shipping industry executives in China were utterly befuddled by the sudden arrival of the mega-ship Berge Everest at the Port of Dalian in late December.
  The ship moored December 28 and promptly disgorged a massive cargo of 350,000 tons of iron ore, mined in Brazil by Vale SA for sale to steel producers in China.
  Industry insiders were stunned that such a huge vessel had been given Chinese government permission to offload Vale's ore at a Chinese port. The powerful China Shipowners Association (CSA) and major Chinese shipping companies such as COSCO Group had long opposed a plan for mega-shipping floated by Vale, one of the world's largest mining companies and a key supplier for Chinese steelworks.
• 网曝男子驾军车打昏女收费员 扬言“我是军政委的” – 假军车撞人夺4命追踪-家属拒火化遗体 分别索赔百万元 111106 今日一线 – 视频 – 优酷视频 – 在线观看 –
• Minimizing the Risks that Legal Representatives Face : China Law Insight –
• 广西柳州官方称医师不得下镉中毒诊断系误会_新闻_腾讯网 –
• Chinese auto-parts influx worries lawmakers – Josh Boak – POLITICO.com – Over the past 11 years, the auto-parts trade deficit with China has shot up 867 percent to almost $10 billion, according to the United States International Trade Commission. Other auto producers, such as Germany, Japan and South Korea, run surpluses with China.

  About 75 percent of the more than 600,000 automaker jobs in the U.S. are with parts companies. And because of how supply chains work, factories often cluster together. So should the trend continue, Americans could be left turning the last screws on vehicles mostly made in China.

  And that’s raising some eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

• Sino-Forest’s independent investigation ends without definitive conclusions – The Globe and Mail – After a seven month investigation costing more than $35-million, an independent committee probing fraud allegations against Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE-T4.81—-%) has failed to provide definitive answers about the Chinese timber company’s business practices and accounting.

  The committee has, however, identified at least two timber purchases that appear to be undisclosed related-party transactions conducted by what was once the most valuable forestry company on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

• Through an Explosion, a Chinese Artist’s Road to Discovery – NYTimes.com – did he pollute the summit of mt everest permanently?//

  When the sculptor and conceptual artist Zhan Wang set out to create his latest work, “My Personal Universe,” he envisioned it as a relatively straightforward project.

• Chinese Workers Easy Prey in Africa as Growth Sending More Citizens Abroad – Bloomberg – The capture of 54 Chinese citizens in Egypt and Sudan signals growing concern for China as its economic power expands abroad and it sends more people to work on infrastructure projects in dangerous places overseas.
• CHINA ENTREPRENEUR – Will Wu Ying be sentenced to death for borrowing money? – Wu Ying rose from being a poor peasant to one of the richest women in China. But at 30 years old, she sits in jail awaiting the death penalty for borrowing money from private lenders – a common but technically illegal practice. Many people wonder, who did Wu Ying anger to get this fate? And will society benefit from her execution, or from reforming and regulating its private lending laws? China Entrepreneur traces the shady twists and turns of her arrest, trial, and the divvying up of her wealth by local officials.
• China Manufacturing Holds Up Against Global Slowdown – Bloomberg –
• 25 Chinese workers kidnapped in Egypt – global times article, updated with deletion of the holyland map, with no notice of course
• China’s Global Times Prints Map Of Middle East With "Holyland" Instead Of Israel | Sinocism –
• China RRR: Wrong focus | beyondbrics | News and views on emerging markets from the Financial Times – FT.com – Many of the top analysts who cover the Chinese economy predicted that the central bank would loosen policy by cutting banks’ required reserves in January. It did not.

  Should investors be disappointed at the lack of easing? Pleased that the government seems so confident abut the health of the economy? Or are they simply barking up the wrong tree?

  Andy Rothman, a veteran economist with CLSA in Shanghai, called this week for an end to the obsession about China’s required reserve ratio – normally referred to by its clunky acronym, RRR:

• Yahoo: Alibaba remains in complicated split talks – FT.com – A process to complete a cash-rich split would take between six and nine months, said industry lawyers and an industry banker. The size of the transaction would probably necessitate a request for a private letter ruling from the IRS to ensure the tax status of a transaction, they said. This could take 10 weeks, one of the lawyers added.
  Given these factors, reaching a deal for a cash-rich split by mid-February would be an aggressive timetable, the first banker said, but added that a cash-rich split was the most efficient way for Yahoo to sell its Alibaba stake.
• Scientists close to entering Vostok, Antarctica’s biggest subglacial lake – The Washington Post – After drilling for two decades through more than two miles of antarctic ice, Russian scientists are on the verge of entering a vast, dark lake that hasn’t been touched by light for more than 20 million years.

  Scientists are enormously excited about what life-forms might be found there but are equally worried about contaminating the lake with drilling fluids and bacteria, and the potentially explosive “de-gassing” of a body of water that has especially high concentrations of oxygen and nitrogen.

• Iran, perceiving threat from West, willing to attack on U.S. soil, U.S. intelligence report finds – The Washington Post – marketing arguments for a preemptive attack are coming into place//

  An assessment by U.S. spy agencies concludes that Iran is prepared to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States, highlighting new risks as the Obama administration escalates pressure on Tehran to halt its alleged pursuit of an atomic bomb.

  In congressional testimony Tuesday, U.S. intelligence officials indicated that Iran has crossed a threshold in its adversarial relationship with the United States. While Iran has long been linked to attacks on American targets overseas, U.S. officials said they see troubling significance in Tehran’s alleged role in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington last year.

• Interview: Perry Link, on the New Book From Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo | Asia Society –
• 北京拟启动户籍改革试点 全面推广居住证政策 – 房产中国网 – （记者吴海花 实习记者赵晓丽 ）一直期待的京城户籍政策终于有了破洋冰这旅，昨天中国日报网房产记者从相关部门了解到的。首都之窗公布2012年第一期北京市政府公报中，《北京市“十二五”城乡经济社会一体化发展规划》明确指出，北京将启动户籍改革试点，逐渐过渡到居民统一户籍登记管理制度。
• Yahoo: Alibaba remains in complicated split talks – FT.com –

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