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

Subscribe Now

If you like this free daily roundup you can subscribe to it either through RSS or email. See the links to either option at the top right of the page. And if you really like it feel free to donate through the button on the top right.

• xinhua-Taoism: remedy for a world in crisis? –
• xinhua-China explores cultural therapy to cure social ills –
• xinhua-Chinese official urges greater social management efforts to foster cultural construction – Senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhou Yongkang on Tuesday called for enhanced and innovative efforts in social management, in a bid to foster the country’s socialist cultural construction.
• xinhua-Publicity official calls for promotion of culture-oriented guidelines– publicity in english, propaganda 宣传 in chineseSenior Chinese leader Li Changchun has urged the launch of nationwide campaigns to publicize culture-oriented guidelines adopted at the sixth plenary session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
  Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks Wednesday at a meeting on spreading the guidelines.
• 环保部长称我国部分早期核设施安全风险增大_新闻_腾讯网 –
• 高铁因资金缺口停工调查：工人半年未发工资_新闻_腾讯网 –
• 温州“大拆违”惹争议 – 宏观 – 21世纪网 – 一边是从改革初期延续至今的大量的违章厂房，一边是铁腕拆违。
• 湖南省纪委预防腐败室副主任的另类维权 – 宏观 – 21世纪网 – 陆群说，常规途径无效促使他决心打破常规，运用现代网络工具来叫板长沙县政府。
• China labour costs soar as wages rise 22% – FT.com –
• FT Alphaville » Cheap China – China is cheap — at least on a price-to-book basis.
• China Paradox and American Misperceptions – Brookings Institution – By Cheng Li
• The Useless Tree: Daoism as Soft Power? – For a long time now there has been talk about how Confucianism might figure, or not,  in the soft power strategy of the PRC state.  And now it seems Beijing is starting to look toward Daoism for the same purposes
• Amazon.com: The American Phoenix: And Why China and Europe Will Struggle After the Coming Slump: Charles Dumas, Diana Choyleva –
• Crisis of 2012 May Hurt China More Than U.S.: William Pesek – Bloomberg – What if, a decade from now, the U.S. comes out the winner of today’s market chaos at the expense of Europe and China?
  This intriguing contrarian view is the subject of “The American Phoenix,” a new book by Hong Kong-based economist Diana Choyleva and her Lombard Street Research colleague Charles Dumas. Bargain bins are loaded with China-crash titles. What’s different about this book is that it turns all we think we know about the interplay between the Group of Two on its head
• Reality bites: China orders crackdown on ‘vulgar’ TV shows | The Guardian– But attempts to raise the moral standards of broadcasting in the past have often resulted in a decline in viewers.Bill Bishop, an independent internet analyst based in Beijing, said video-sharing sites hosting foreign reality shows may receive a boost in traffic, and suggested that authorities might seek to curb this. “If they are neutering traditional television, you have to wonder why they are not going to do something about online [access] – at the moment there’s all the stuff that doesn’t get broadcast,” he said.
• China’s Wealthy Wine Drinkers Help Revive Australian Vineyards – Bloomberg – Australian vineyards such as Ferngrove, facing a wine glut, slumping exports and rising competition from countries including Chile and Argentina, are turning to China for salvation. Chinese buyers are proving receptive as they seek to meet surging demand among the nation’s rich, who are developing a taste for grape wine and the expression of wealth it conveys.
• The Hottest Commodity at the Chinese Border-New Yorker Letter From China – The milk scandal, and other food-safety problems, left the Chinese public asking what kind of moral corrosion creates an environment in which manufacturers knowingly add dangerous chemicals to food for those least equipped to defend against it. Explanations varied: some makers said they didn’t realize it would be harmful; others said they had no choice but to do it if they wanted to compete. Nearly four years later, the Chinese people are still unconvinced that their baby formula is safe. It’s a grim fact that, with all the talk these days about weakness in the Chinese economy, the safest bet may be right in front of me. Double down on baby formula in Macau.
• Alibaba Says it Does Not Loan Out Alipay Escrow Funds | iChinaStock – E-commerce giant Alibaba, receiving lots of bad press in the Chinese media, has also come under attack for charging usurious interest rates. But Hu also said the loan rate that its provides are strictly in line with Chinese laws and regulations.Earlier Chinese media reports, including some official media, suspected that Alibaba makes loans with some of the Alipay escrow funds. The reports came shortly after some of small Taobao Mall merchants had threaten to attack Alipay.

• Chen Guangcheng, in and out of China’s media – China Media Project – Blind self-taught lawyer and rights activist Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚) has in recent years been one of the most enduring symbols outside China of the country’s human rights abuses. Inside China, meanwhile, Chen’s case has remained mostly unspoken and unknown — until recently. A broad cross-section of Chinese — online and offline — have continued to push for justice in the Chen Guangcheng case since the beginning of this month, thanks in large part to social media.
• Wal-Mart Reviewing Management at China Stores After Pork Probe – Bloomberg – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is reviewing management procedures in China as it reopened outlets in Chongqing after officials ordered all 13 of them shut for two weeks for mislabeling ordinary pork as organic.The world’s largest retailer has doubled efforts to improve operations and needs to review management procedures across China, Del Sloneker, chief operating officer of Wal-Mart China Hypermarket, told reporters today in Chongqing. He also apologized for the mislabeled pork cases and didn’t say how much the review or other steps would cost.
• 人民网·图片频道·童年的课堂 – interesting old pictures on people’s daily site
• 十一届全国人大常委会第二十三次会议–中国人大新闻–人民网 –
• Shanghai Homeowners Smash Showroom in Protest Over Falling Prices – China Real Time Report – WSJ – A group of around 400 homeowners in Shanghai demonstrated publicly and damaged a showroom operated by their property developer after the company said it cut prices. Home buyers had wanted to speak with the developer to refund or cancel their contracts but were unsuccessful, according to local media. One report said the price cuts exceeded 25% per square meter.The local media reports said an unspecified number of people were injured. The property developer, a unit of China Overseas Holdings Ltd., didn’t respond to requests for comment.
• China Unveils Policies to Save SMEs-Caijing cover story – Caijing learned that the rules focus on providing outlets for private capital, and may include operable provisions on opening up the telecommunications, railway, and even military industries to private capital.
• China paper warns of “sound of cannons” in sea disputes – Yahoo! News – One of China’s most popular newspapers warned on Tuesday that nations involved in territorial disputes in the South China Sea should “mentally prepare for the sounds of cannons” if they remain at loggerheads with Beijing. The Global Times is published by Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, but unlike that newspaper it is not a platform for official policy and tends to take a stridently nationalist tone which pleases it readers. In a editorial published in its Chinese and English editions, the tabloid-sized Global Times accused countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines of taking advantage of China’s “mild diplomatic stance” to push their own agendas.
• China Officially Limits Entertainment Programming on Satellite TV. Good Or Bad News For Youku And Tudou? | DigiCha – The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), China’s primary regulator of television and video programming, has issued an edict (限娱令) limiting the amount of entertainment programs that can be broadcast on provincial satellite TV stations during the 7.30-10 PM prime time slot. As reported last month, talent shows will be limited, now explicitly to a total of ten per year across all satellite TV stations. Each station is also required to show at least one “morality construction” (道德建设) program. For those who read Chinese, here is a summary: “限娱令”的核心内容是：各卫视频道在晚上7：30- 10点的黄金时间，每周娱乐节目不能超过两档，此外各台须设一档道德建设类节目。全国卫视选秀节目一年加起来总量不超过10档，类型不得重复。
• AppleInsider | Apple supplier Pegatron facing pollution concerns in China –
• Jon Huntsman Defends Mormonism, Speaks Mandarin to Stephen Colbert – thought his Mandarin was better?
• 广电总局限娱令正式下发 每年选秀不能超过10档_新闻_腾讯网 – Another SARFT edict limiting entertainment content on TV, mandating minimum amount of “morality construction” programming//[导读]“限娱令”的核心内容是：各卫视频道在晚上7：30- 10点的黄金时间，每周娱乐节目不能超过两档，此外各台须设一档道德建设类节目。全国卫视选秀节目一年加起来总量不超过10档，类型不得重复。
• Authority probes alleged faulty rail bridges|Politics|chinadaily.com.cn – The Ministry of Railways said on Friday that it is investigating media claims that an unfinished railway bridge in Northeastern China had serious safety flaws because of illegal contracting.A railway bridge project in Baishan, Jilin province, was subcontracted in July 2010 to Lu Tianbo, a migrant construction worker who led dozens of migrant workers who were unqualified for building bridges, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.The report also found that gravel was used to replace concrete in the construction of bridge pier foundations for other railway bridges, posing serious safety threats in bridges that were part of a multibillion yuan railway project.
• BlackRock Sees Slowdown of China GDP Growth – Bloomberg – A near doubling in the Chinese economy’s reliance on credit over the past decade will prompt slower growth in coming years, risking diminished returns for investors, according to research by BlackRock Inc. China’s gross domestic product will rise at a 7 percent to 8 percent pace in the next few years, said analysts at the BlackRock Investment Institute, a London-based unit of the world’s biggest money manager, down from 10.5 percent in the past decade. One yuan of GDP now needs about 0.30 yuan of credit, compared with 0.17 yuan in 2002, a shift BlackRock describes as like a car getting less mileage per gallon of gas.
• Entrepreneur Thrives in China Where Big Chains Struggle – WSJ.com – Now he has a chain of 11 restaurants. Sales are on track to hit $30 million this year, up 40% from last year, according to Element Fresh’s managing partner, Frank Rasche. The chain’s profit margin hovered between 10% and 15% last year, he says. They plan to open about 40 more outlets in China by 2015.
• Analysis of China’s Draft Mental Health Law – An Interview with Michael Perlin | China Law & Policy – Prof. Michael Perlin, professor at New York Law School, Director of the Mental Disability Law Project, and author of the recently published “International Human Rights and Mental Disability Law: When the Silenced are Heard,” analyzes China’s new draft Mental Health Law, paying particular attention to its interplay with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a treaty China has ratified.
• China Film Law Q And A. : China Law Blog : China Law for Business – China Media Monitor Intelligence (CMM-I), based in Beijing, is the leading independent business to business intelligence resource for the Chinese media industries. CMM-I analyzes China’s media industry, with a strong focus on content across film, TV and New Media platforms. CMM-I recently interviewed our own Mathew Alderson for CMM-I’s  sector report, “Feature Film Co-production in China,” which is scheduled for publication next month. With CMM-I’s permission, I have asked Mathew to do a series of blog posts based on the interview.
• U.S. Turns Eastward to Address Uneasy Allies – NYTimes.com – China was never mentioned, but when a sailor in the Japanese Navy asked Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta here on Monday whether the United States planned to cut back its forces in Asia, Mr. Panetta knew exactly what he meant.
• Draft Legislation Expands Police ID Checks, Adds Fingerprint Tech_From Caixin’s Blog__Blog_English_Caixin – DHS jealous?// The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress convened this week to consider amendments to China’s Resident Identity Card Law, including measures that would allow police to ask for identification in more places, and embed fingerprint information into ID cards.
• A Glimpse into Chinese Law-Making-WSJ-Stanley Lubman – The most that Westerners hear about Chinese law usually pertains to human rights violations, examples of arbitrary official conduct and a weak judiciary. While these problems remain critical, they tend to overshadow an equally important, though less headline-ready, topic: How laws are drafted in China and what that means for the country’ progress toward greater legality. Legislative drafting has been going on quietly for decades, and some of the results of these efforts were on display at a presentation by Chinese officials given as part of an annual bilateral legal exchange program held recently in San Francisco.
• China Regulator Warns on Insurers – WSJ.com – China’s insurance regulator on Monday warned of domestic insurers’ worsening ability to make payments to policyholders, and said it will help insurers tap the Hong Kong offshore yuan market for funds.Chen Wenhui, vice chairman at the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said Chinese insurers’ solvency ratios have deteriorated because of sagging stock markets and insurers’ rapid business development in recent years.
• Bret Stephens: How Many Nukes Does China Have? – WSJ.com – Yet for all of the uncertainties, there is little doubt about the tunnels themselves, which the Pentagon acknowledged for the first time this year in its annual report on the Chinese military. And nobody who cares about the nuclear balance can look away from the mountain of evidence Mr. Karber has compiled, much less fail to consider what it might imply. That goes especially for the Obama administration, which has moved forward with an ambitious agenda of deep nuclear cuts with Russia as if China’s arsenal barely existed.That assumption needs urgent reconsideration. The alternative is for China, steeped in a 2,500 year military tradition of concealment, deception and surprise, to announce—at a time and in a manner of its choosing—its supremacy in a field that we have foolishly abandoned to our dreams.
• FT-Resolving China’s local debt woes – Beijing is right to let municipalities issue their own bonds
• Executive Director, Stanford Center at Peking University at Stanford University in Beijing, China – Job | LinkedIn – Stanford University is opening a Beijing center on the Peking University campus in spring of 2012 that will serve as an inclusive platform in China for faculty, students, and programs from across Stanford’s seven schools.  The Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU) is a member of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Stanford’s primary center for innovative research on major international issues and challenges. FSI is seeking a seasoned, hands-on professional with experience working in China and with academic institutions to manage this startup venture (http://scpku.stanford.edu).  The Executive Director serves as the senior administrative officer responsible for the Center’s day-to-day operations, program facilitation, and relationship management in China to ensure the long-term viability and success of its academic mission. This is a full-time, benefits-eligible position located in Beijing,China.
• Daily China Readings Are Back | Sinocism –
• Bronte Capital: Silvercorp: not what I expected – Silvercorp is a Chinese precious metals miner listed on the Canadian and Amex stock exchanges. It is a controversial stock.Two anonymous short-sellers put out reports (at least one posted to the Canadian regulators and some Canadian journalists and the audit firm from a US address). You can find the reports here and here.The company and its CEO went into war-mode – making the pursuit of the short-selling slander their top priority. They also employed KPMG to do a review which was a little later than originally promised but did eventually come.The KPMG Review says that the cash balances and cash flows of the company match the accounts. That does not mean that it is not a fraud but it does mean that it is not a simple fraud as alleged the anonymous short sellers. Silvercorp stock is understandably up over 17 percent as I write this.
• 韩旭东：组建“准军事力量”，保护海外人员_评论_环球网 – 在危险上升的同时，中国海外公民正面临无法得到其驻留国家提供有效安全保护的窘境。这主要是因为一些驻留国家无力或消极提供有效的安全保护。

Subscribe Now