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

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• China’s skyscraper craze ‘may herald economic crash’ | Business | The Guardian– China could be the next country to go bust, if its headlong rush to build ever-taller skyscrapers is a guide to its future economic health.According to a study by Barclays Capital, the mania for skyscrapers over the last 140 years is a sure indicator of an imminent crash.

  It points out that the construction boom that threw up New York’s Chrysler and Empire State buildings preceded the New York crash of 1929 and Great Depression.

• China’s collapse ‘will bring economic crisis to climax in 2012’ | Business | The Guardian– A looming hard landing in China will bring the financial and economic crisis of the past five years to a climax in 2012, one of the City of London’s leading analysts has warned.Albert Edwards, head of strategy at Société Générale and one of the UK’s leading “bears”, said the next 12 months would be the “final year of pain and disappointment”.

  Predicting a sharp slowdown in activity in the world’s fastest-growing emerging economy, Edwards said: “There is a likelihood of a China hard landing this year. It is hard to think 2013 and onwards will be any worse than this year if China hard-lands.”

• How to build a business magazine in China – Fortune Features – A lot has changed in China in the 15 years since Fortune’s China edition launched.
• 15 business people who’ve changed China – Liu Chuanzhi (1) – CNNMoney – To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Chinese version of Fortune magazine, Fortune China editors revisit significant events and personalities that shaped the Chinese society and economy during the past 15 years.
• 新华网进入IPO筹备期_金融频道_财新网 – Xinhua Online now preparing to IPO
• China defends Iran oil trade despite U.S. push | Reuters – (Reuters) – China gave no hint on Wednesday of giving ground to U.S. demands to curb Iran’s oil revenues, rejecting Washington’s sanctions on Tehran as overstepping even as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner lobbied for Beijing’s support.
• China May Idle Most Aluminum Capacity Since 2009: Commodities – Bloomberg –
• Prominent Chinese dissident says warned, computers taken – Yahoo! News – BEIJING (Reuters) – One of China’s most prominent dissidents, Hu Jia, said police confiscated two computers from his home on Wednesday and warned that he could face renewed detention or investigation on accusations that he broke the terms of his jail release.
• Harper to visit China, seeking higher oil sales – Yahoo! News – OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to visit China next month as his government looks to open new markets for oil sands crude in the wake of Washington’s decision to delay approval of a major pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
  Harper is scheduled to fly to Beijing in the second week of February and aims to deepen economic ties with the Asian powerhouse, the prime minister’s office said in a statement on Wednesday after he met with China’s ambassador.
• Taking Swings at China – By Scott Clement | Foreign Policy – Does it really work to use Beijing as a political punching bag?
• 人民日报：唯有借助道德想象力量 才能填补制度真空_资讯频道_凤凰网 –
• 深圳回应事业单位人均年薪30万：制度缺陷 无处罚依据_资讯频道_凤凰网 –
• 国标委：中国校车标准并非照搬美国 只是参考_资讯频道_凤凰网 – dispute over whether or not new school bus standards copy America’s
• 故宫院长易人单霁翔“掌舵” -头版-新京报电子报 – Beijing’s Palace Museum replaces head. related to scandals last year?
• 广电总局：严查电视剧前后广告偏长_北京_新京报网 –
• China faces greater pressure to ensure energy supply in 2012: energy chief – Xinhua | English.news.cn –
• Dinosaur footprints discovered in Beijing – Xinhua | English.news.cn – Photographers shoot fossilized footprints at a geological park in Yanqing County, Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2012. Paleontologists said on Monday that several hundred fossilized footprints unearthed in the suburb park were those of dinosaurs. The footprints were left by dinosaurs that lived some 140 to 150 million years ago in the late Jurassic period, said Zhang Jianping, researcher at the China University of Geosciences. They are the first dinosaur traces the city has found, according to Zhang. (Xinhua/Zhang Yu)
• CPC vows to score new anti-corruption achievements in 2012 – Xinhua | English.news.cn – BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) — The discipline watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Tuesday said “the task of anti-corruption remains arduous,” and new anti-graft achievements should be scored ahead of the Party’s 18th National Congress.
• Scalpers dial up trouble for iPhone release – Xinhua | English.news.cn– BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhuanet) — Conflicts among hundreds of scalpers raring to stock up on the new iPhone 4S are casting a shadow over the gadget’s launch on the Chinese mainland on Friday.Over the weekend, scalpers from two groups bickered and shoved each other when standing in line to purchase iPhone 4 at Apple’s Sanlitun store, said witnesses.

  Workers from two Apple stores in Beijing told China Daily the stores have not started online bookings for the iPhone 4S so far.

  “More than 1,000 of us have gathered to buy all the available iPhone 4 this morning,” said a scalper hawking the phone outside the Sanlitun store on Sunday.

• Disruptive US back in business|Op-Ed Contributors|chinadaily.com.cn – But regional stability has been punctuated by disputes since 2009, when the US chose to return to the region. It’s obvious that the US is desperately in need of money for its economic resurgence. But it will not be welcomed to Asia Pacific, for many regional countries know its game plan. That’s why the US is trying relentlessly to stir regional conflicts, trumpet the “China threat” theory and cash in on any chance to sell arms to countries and regions in Asia Pacific to make money.
  Unrest in Asia Pacific will probably intensify with the increasing presence of the US military, but Washington may not be able to realize its wishful thinking because all countries in the region will see through its plans sooner than later.
  The author is a rear admiral and former director of the Institute for Strategic Studies at the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University.
• Auspicious fish priced at 88,000 yuan | Center | chinadaily.com.cn – Measuring at about 60 centimeters long, an arowana is priced at 88,000 yuan ($13,924) at a market in Nanming district of Guiyang city, Southwest China’s Guizhou province on Jan 10, 2012. This kind of fish is popular with customers despite the high prices, since the fish’s Chinese name is translated literally as ‘dragon fish’, which associates the fish with fortune and auspicious omens.
• Behind The Wall – Chinese applications to U.S. schools skyrocket – friend’s daughter leaving next week to start as 2nd semester freshman at an oregon high school. 47/yr tuition plus 1k/mo allowance.
• Chinese Law and Politics Blog: Party Policies on Culture Continue to Play Out– None of the recent developments such as the restrictions on TV programming, the real-name registration efforts for microblogs, the crackdown on illegal publications and pornography, or Hu Jintao’s article in Seeking Truth, came out of the blue.Rather, these are simply part of a comprehensive program set out in the Party plenum statement issued in October at the conclusion of the 6th plenum of the 17th Central Committee (which itself simply pulls together yet earlier policy strands).  The plenum statement sets up a comprehensive plan with regard to culture that is being pushed through the system.  (Note that culture doesn’t just mean food festivals – we’re talking history textbooks, Internet content, TV programs, etc).
• DF-21D ASBM Deployed, but China Daily Probably Incorrect in Claiming “2,700km Range”; Gen. Chen Bingde Never Said That | Andrew S. Erickson –
• The Folly of “Managed” Taiwan Ties | The Diplomat –
• China warns US not to meddle in its affairs – Yahoo! News –
• China spends another $10 billion on water project – Yahoo! News –
• Richard Gere Slams China: It’s The World’s Biggest Hypocrisy – The Hollywood Reporter – Larry Busacca/Getty Images
  The actor and Dalai Lama devotee – currently in India attending a Buddhist event – also said in a TV interview, “China will have to kill all Tibetans to destroy their culture and they are not going to do that.”NEW DELHI – In a prime-time interview telecast Tuesday night on leading English news channel NDTV 24×7, when asked about his views on the recent cases of self-immolation by some monks in Tibet protesting against China, Richard Gere said, “China is a very difficult place to live if you are a free thinker, if you are an artist, if you are a religious person, but especially in Tibet. I think they (China) have so wrongly gauged the Tibetan people, thinking they could subvert the deep, deep, deep religious beliefs and make them true Communists. It’s never going to happen. Their whole lives have revolved around Buddhism, around their teachers, around their gurus… the high ideals of Buddhism. They are not going to change that in a hundred years, two hundred years, a thousand years, that will never go away.”
• 贵州茅台(SH600519)的股票股价,行情,新闻,财报,数据_雪球 – shares of Moutai greatly outperformed overall market in 2011
• Nestle Boosts Milk Production in China After Scandal Hurts Rival Mengniu – Bloomberg –
• Why Banks Back SOPA, the “Bring the Chinese Internet to America” Bill « naked capitalism –
• Tmall Changes Its Name – ZILA BLOG – Alizila – 天猫 (literal translation: Sky Cat
• 深圳市委书记：没有公款消费 茅台不会那么贵-深圳-新闻 –
• Shenzhen Party Chief: Corruption to Blame for China’s Increasingly Pricey Moutai – China Real Time Report – WSJ– In surprisingly candid remarks made at a local government meeting this week, Wang Rong, Party secretary of Shenzhen, lashed out at the various forms of the abuse of public funds by officials. In particular, he described wining and dining on the government budget “the toughest and a very complicated issue” for the authorities to correct, reported the Southern Daily (in Chinese).“If we can make do with three courses, why eight?” Mr. Wang asked local officials. He said he had been reflecting on why officials always chose the fanciest restaurants. “With my income, I can’t afford a single meal in a big restaurant,” he said, adding that officials’ behavior has “distorted” prices in such restaurants.

  “Moutai is so expensive. If there were no such consumption using public funds, it wouldn’t have reached its current price,” Mr. Wang said.

• 成都启动最大规模大熊猫野化放归(组图)_新闻中心_新浪网 –
• China Rhyming » Blog Archive » And Finally on Dickens and China – Little Dorrit and Chinese Women –
• Taiwan Inc. Backs Ma Re-election Bid – Bloomberg –
• In Talks With the Chinese, Geithner Faces an Uphill Climb – NYTimes.com –
• Death penalty cases rife with evidence flaws| SCMP.com – Quality of cases worse than expected, deputy chief of nation’s highest court says, outlining problem of inconsistent standards
• China’s Riviera? | beyondbrics | News and views on emerging markets from the Financial Times – FT.com – Around 73 per cent of Chinese luxury consumers are under 45 (compared to 30 per cent in the US and 19 per cent in Japan), with a well-established “gift culture” similar to Japan’s. Moreover, unlike many of their Western peers, wealth for the Chinese does not originate from heritage and investment in luxury goods is often used as a hedge against risk, Lombard Odier analysts said.
• 须警惕“石头摸上了瘾，连河也不想过了”-中国青年报 –
• Expats in US pay high price|Prime|chinadaily.com.cn – Just three months after becoming a permanent resident of the United States, Zhang Jianwu (not his real name) has already begun to feel the pain of being wealthy in his new country of residence.
  As a businessman in the foil making industry, he is frequently exhausted from his trips between the US and China, where he must wine and dine his clients and associates to maintain the health of his business.
  What burdens him the most, however, are the heavy taxes imposed on the country’s top earners. According to the US tax code, he must pay nearly 30 percent of his income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS

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