Just links today:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

People’s Daily continues attack on US constitution | South China Morning Post The People’s Daily continued its blitz on constitutionalism yesterday, with its overseas edition running another front-page commentary attacking US constitutional governance. The criticism comes amid an escalating debate over which political direction China is heading, ahead of a series of leadership meetings. The article, titled “American constitutional governance is more in name than in reality”, said “there is no such thing as democracy and freedom under US constitutional governance”.

Related: 人民日报海外版-美国宪政的名不副实（望海楼）– 马钟成–人民日报海外版 People’s Daily Overseas Edition–America’s Constitutional government more in name than fact // 无产阶级治理国家的逻辑和方式与资产阶级根本不同。社会主义国家借鉴美国宪政的结果，只能给资产阶级掌握政权打开缺口。戈尔巴乔夫搞的政治体制改革，就是因为以西方宪政为蓝图而彻底失败。前车之覆，殷鉴不远。（作者为海洋安全与合作研究院高级研究员、中国社会科学院世界社会主义研究中心特邀研究员）// so is the author a member of the proletariat?

Related: 三中在即 中共喉舌定调宪政姓资姓社_中国_多维新闻网 Duowei argues the analysis that the anti- and pro-Constitutionalism articles are a sign of high level ideological struggle are offbase, that in fact the leadership including Xi Jinping are serious about improving rule of law but believe that the calls for Constitutionalism are really designed to destroy the one party rule of the CCP…which they kind of are, no? Guess someday we’ll find out if Duowei’s different interpretation is right, but I have to say I am not convinced there are high level ideological differences…though I know it is more exciting if there are…// 也正是因为如此，当此次党媒一齐“讨伐”宪政，所有的猜测都指向最高层之时，外界才对这种“左右反复”感到不解。事实上从目前的情况来看，较为准确的解读是包括习近平在内的整个中共领导层从未对“依法治国”产生摇摆，他们所担忧的是自由派借“宪政”之名动摇中共一党执政的合法性基础。这一点也在这批党媒文章中有所袒露，“坚持共产党领导是宪法确定的基本原则，共产党没有经多党竞选而上台执政有不容置疑的合法性。但以宪政理念为标准，就无共产党的领导地位”。 此外，也有消息称，鉴于钓鱼岛、南海等问题的僵持不下，中共高层正在为可能发生的一场局部战争而准备，这种猜测也通过近期习近平在军队作风问题以及人事安排上所做出的安排有所呈现。在这种情况下，像宪政这种国家内部争议就可能被暂时搁置。

Related: 汪亭友：马克思主义是普遍真理不是“普世价值”—党建网 党建编者按：“Party Construction” has a long article against “universal values” and the attempt to use them to weaken the position of Marxism-Leninism…Marxism a “universal truth” not “universal value”…getting lots of play on news sites and weibo//  马克思主义是无产阶级的思想体系，并非适用一切人、适合一切时代的“普世价值”。“马克思主义是普世价值”，这是认识上的误区，是没有搞清楚“普世价值”与“普遍真理”的区别。个别“普世价值”论者别有用心地提出“马克思主义是普世价值”的论断，是有别的想法，是想使我们陷入“两难”境地：承认这一论断，则有利于为“普世价值”辩护；反对这一论断，则有利于削弱马克思主义的指导地位。我们可以明确回答：马克思主义是无产阶级的思想体系，并非适用一切人、适合一切时代的“普世价值”。

Related: Ministry of Truth: Worse Than the Soviet Union – China Digital Times (CDT) State Council Information Office: For the next 48 hours, all media websites must prominently display the Xinhua editorial “Upheaval Would Leave China Would Only More Tragic than the Soviet Union” on their twin homepages. These are important instructions from a key comrade in central leadership. All websites must strictly comply. (August 1, 2013)

After the Storm, Measure of Calm Returns to Interbank Market – Caixin– Liquidity in the interbank market this month has shown signs of improvement after the central bank intervened, but analysts agree that it is too soon to breathe a sigh of relief. Liu Mingkang, former chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission, said on July 27 at a forum held by Caixin that volatility is here to stay. The tightness is unlikely to ease before 2015, he said….Liu Yuhui, a research fellow of finance at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he doubts that banks started deleveraging after the June credit crunch. Instead, he said, they may have increased their exposure to real estate companies and local government financing platforms because few companies in other industries can afford a sharp increase in their capital costs. Only when banks cannot pass on the cost of rising interest rates to property developers and financing platforms can they really deleverage and pay more attention to liquidity management, he said.

Related: China central bank continues liquidity injection – Xinhua China’s central bank continued to inject liquidity into the banking system on Tuesday, with 12 billion yuan (1.96 billion U.S. dollars) of 7-day reverse repurchase agreement (repo) operations. The yield of the reverse repo, a process of central bank purchasing securities from commercial banks with an agreement to resell them at a future date, stood at 4.0 percent, according to a People’s Bank of China statement. “The reverse repo rate fell 40 basis points from last week’s offering,” said Jiang Chao, an analyst with Haitong Securities. “It indicated that the central bank aims to guide the market borrowing costs to a lower level,” he said.

Related: Growth in China trust assets slows as shadow banking crackdown bites | Reuters Data published by China Trustee Association late on Monday showed total assets managed by China’s 67 trust firms reached a record-high 9.45 trillion yuan ($1.54 trillion) by the end of the second quarter. While that was up 8.3 percent from the end of the first quarter, growth decelerated sharply from the 16.9-percent rise seen in the first quarter. In 2012, total assets managed grew by an explosive 55.3 percent. “We’ve seen other signs before (of a slowdown in shadow banking), but this is more authoritative,” said May Yan, China banks analyst at Barclays in Hong Kong.

Erickson & Collins Commentary: China Carrier Demo Module Highlights Surging Navy | The National Interest This is part of a larger pattern in which outside analysts have repeatedly underestimated the speed and sophistication of China’s military-technological development. China’s political and economic capacity to invest financial and human capital in multiple new programs is unparalleled. While it remains uncertain how rapidly China’s aviation industry and other less-dynamic sectors can transform a growing glut of projects into high-performing finished products, China’s shipbuilding industry already has proven production capabilities. Here China is simultaneously developing and producing seven types of submarines and surface combatants; a number matched only by the United States.

Related: Section of engineering sample of future Chinese aircraft carrier unveiled – Xinhua Sections of a ship at Jiangnan Group’s Changxing Island shipbuilding facility near Shanghai may be parts of China’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier. Images of the blocks recently began appearing on Chinese military forums and websites and have been corroborated by DigitalGlobe satellite imagery of the Changxing Island site dated 3 March 2013. The structure of the block does not resemble any of the commercial vessels currently under construction in the surrounding docks.

Related: China’s State Shipyards Help Widen Lead Over Korea in Orders – Bloomberg China widened its lead over South Korea as the world’s biggest shipbuilding nation as state-backed yards won contracts for complex gas-carriers while private facilities in the country struggle for funds. China won orders to make ships with a capacity to carry 27.8 million deadweight tons, or 47 percent of global contracts, getting a 7.8 million-ton lead over South Korea in the seven months through July. A year earlier, the gap was 1 million ton.

广东拟允许宅基地在镇域范围内流转_政经频道_财新网 Abstract from Caixin English: “Limited but significant rural land reform is taking place in Guangdong after the provincial government issued a mandate on August 5 that allows rural residents to sell land designated for housing. Guangdong and Chongqing are the first local governments to approve land transfers of this type. Such transfers were forbidden by the State Council in 1999. The reform is important because many experts say the transfers can provide money for rural residents to urbanize, while at the same time limiting local governments’ reliance on land sales for income.” // 《广东省农村宅基地管理办法》送审稿公布，农民一户一宅之外的农村房屋，均可进行宅基地使用权转让，宅基地流转将不再局限于转户农民，流转范围不再限于村集体经济组织内

Closer Look: Reporting Corruption Is Just a Click Away – Unless You Use an Official Website – Caixin The news shot through online forums and microblogs. Shanghai court officials responded the next day, stating that an investigation had started. The four judges were sacked and three were kicked out of the party. It is important to note that the whistleblower said in an interview that as early as April he had reported that one judge, Zhao Minghua, was involved in prostitution. He said he stopped Zhao and a lawyer as they exited a VIP club after visiting prostitutes and called the police. The case went nowhere. The whistleblower said that the reason he put the information online was that “at the time [of the police report] I overlooked things.” He did not elaborate on what he overlooked, but it is clear that he realized the failed police report meant officials enjoy special protection. An ordinary citizen making a report through official channels is likely to make little headway.

Here’s why a war has started between Chinese Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba – The Next Web Why would Alibaba be so afraid of Tencent though, given that Tencent has not yet made its big jump into e-commerce? The reason is simple: Tencent’s dominance in the social market.

“Are you still prostrating yourself before foreign milk powder?” | Danwei The vast majority of Chinese daily newspapers yesterday featured the massive New Zealand milk powder product recall as a front page story, most as either the leading headline or as a large and prominent graphic feature. The imagery is very much that of a scare campaign, with dozens of papers using evocative images of microscopic bacteria. The cover of the Xiamen-based West Strait Morning Post even showed the grim reaper lurking behind the recalled products. The New Zealand flag was also prominent on some front pages.

Related: Fonterra chief’s China slip: don’t forget the ‘People’s’ part | beyondbrics One of the corollaries to Orwell’s famous six rules for good writing is “never use three words when two will do”. Multinational executives would do well to heed a similar dictum when speaking off the cuff in China: never use a particular five-word phrase when one word will do instead. The five-word phrase in question is “the People’s Republic of China”. Theo Spierings, Fonterra’s chief executive, demonstrated the phrase’s pitfalls while on an emergency trip to Beijing on Monday. In town to manage the fall-out from a health scare affecting his dairy company’s exports to China, Spierings apologised instead to the people of the “Republic of China”.

Related: Malcolm Moore: Fonterra chief feels the heat but keeps critics at bay | NZ Herald It did not start well. Even before the press conference began, Fonterra’s Chinese representatives were handing out brown envelopes of cash, or “media allowances”, for journalists at China’s most important state-run outlets. “It is not much money,” said one representative, “Just for their travel expenses.” This is common practice in China, where companies have to persuade lowly paid hacks to attend their events. But Fonterra did not need to pay anyone to turn up yesterday. The scandal made the front pages of all the newspapers.

Related: China to Raise Requirements on Infant Formula Producers – Bloomberg The government is seeking public feedback on new rules for the baby-milk industry, according to a statement posted on the China Food and Drug Administration’s website yesterday. The regulations, published in draft form, will require producers to own milk sources and have research and development capability, the agency said.

iPanda熊猫频道 PandaCam is live!!

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Early Data, Economists Projections Suggest China’s Economy Stabilized in July – China Real Time Report – WSJ China’s economic momentum has been faltering, but economists’ forecasts and early data releases for July suggest growth stabilized last month. China watchers are anxiously awaiting official data on growth, inflation and lending that come out later this month. However, high frequency indicators released earlier than the official figures show that July’s performance wasn’t the disaster some bears have been waiting for.

First U.S.-Listed Chinese Firm Plans Switch to China – China Real Time Report – WSJ China Security, which makes surveillance and safety equipment, was valued at $580.4 million when Mr. Tu bought it two years ago. Shanghai Feilo is paying 4.5 billion yuan ($730 million) in stock for China Security shares. “The valuation [that China Security is getting from the buyer] is off the charts,” says Mark Tobin, founder of consultancy Tobin Tao & Company, which tracks Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges. The buyer is paying more than 41 times 2012 earnings for China Security’s subsidiaries, a huge jump from the 6 times trailing earnings that the chairman bought out China Security for, according to calculations by the firm.

China’s Gold Imports From Hong Kong Decline as Demand Slows – Bloomberg China’s net gold imports from Hong Kong fell 4.8 percent in June as a slump in prices damped demand and the government curbed the use of bullion in financing deals. Mainland buyers purchased 101 metric tons, after deducting flows from China into Hong Kong, compared with 106 tons a month earlier, according to calculations by Bloomberg based on data from the Hong Kong statistics department today. Inbound shipments including scrap were 113 tons, from 127 tons in May.

China’s weak coal market mirrors slowdown, transition – Xinhua Power consumption rose 5.1 percent year on year in the first half of 2013, much lower than the 7.6 percent economic growth rate during the same period, according to China’s National Energy Administration. Meanwhile, the weak coal market comes as the country is striving to cut some high polluting and energy guzzling capacity to transform the economy into a more sustainable one, said Li Tiegang, deputy president of the school of economics with Shandong University.

Spotlight on solar panel maker in test for China – FT.com Since March, there have been a number of surprises. Until then, creditors assumed that China Inc would bail out the ailing company “in the mysterious Chinese way,” says one creditor. That didn’t happen. In addition, few people had expected the big Chinese banks to be the ones that ultimately pulled the plug on Wuxi Suntech, even though that is likely to trigger big writedowns for them. The fact that the banks were the ones to cease supporting Suntech suggests Beijing is trying to shift away from its previous growth model that relied on allocating cheap capital to chosen sectors.

Forget ‘taper’ risk: China is a bigger threat – FT.com George Magnus–In China, the GDP deflator (a measure of the level of prices of all new, domestically produced, goods and services in an economy) has already slumped to a reported annual rate of 0.5 per cent in the June quarter, from around 7 per cent just two years ago. The combination of overcapacity in several industries and weaker growth could generate further downward pressure on Chinese goods prices at home and abroad.

China Economic Watch | China Rebalancing Update—Q2 2013 Overall: The data from the second quarter paints a depressing picture of the progress of economic rebalancing in China. The changes relative to last month have been in the wrong direction and as a result China receives its worst rebalancing score yet. If rebalancing is to be successful, policymakers will need to find ways to keep disposable growing at a healthy rate, boost deposit rates without imperiling banks, and slowdown real estate investment without crashing GDP growth. These are difficult tasks, particularly given an environment of growing domestic economic uncertainty and weak global growth. Overall Grade = F (14/25)

Chinese Reform Goes Local by Zhang Monan – Project Syndicate Indeed, while China’s overall capital stock is by no means small, capital-structure and maturity mismatches have led to the accumulation of massive volumes of non-performing assets, undermining China’s economic stability and financial efficiency. In order to create the stability needed to reach the next stage of economic development, China must shift its focus from sustaining high GDP growth toward revitalizing its capital stock. China’s new leadership seems to recognize this. Premier Li Keqiang has declared that the government will not introduce any additional economic stimulus; instead, the authorities will pursue profound and comprehensive economic reform, even if that means slower GDP growth.

Comac Said to Delay Maiden Flight for First Large China Jet – Bloomberg Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China will delay the maiden test flight of the country’s first large passenger plane to 2015 from an earlier plan for next year, four company officials familiar with the plan said. Comac, as the company is also known, delayed the flight of C919 because of certain procedures that aren’t linked to technical matters, the people said, declining to be identified as the information isn’t public. The Shanghai-based planemaker may notify suppliers about the decision as early as this month.

多省预警财政收入紧张：明年将是最困难一年|财政收入|紧张|地方债_新浪财经_新浪网 昨日(8月6日)中央财大财经研究院院长王雍君在接受《每日经济新闻》记者采访时表示，财政收支矛盾突出，地方更应该用好财政资金，必须明确哪些是必要支出哪些是非必要支出。

审计风暴下万亿城投债风险隐现 新华社——经济参考网 在资金成本居高不下和监管收紧的背景下，城投类企业债7月发行规模仅82亿元，触及年内单月发行量最低点，而政府性债务审计风暴更是引发对城投公司再融资受限及存量债务违约风险的担心。机构数据显示，城投债存量规模已达3.2万亿元，形成巨大的债务“堰塞湖”。作为银行信贷之外的主要融资渠道，由地方融资平台发行的城投债近几年快速膨胀。去年银行间债券市场发行的城投类债券达6367.9亿元，比2011年增长148%。

易付宝叫板余额宝 苏宁跟风做理财_财经频道_一财网 继阿里余额宝之后，苏宁易购的易付宝也将抢滩理财市场。昨日晚间，《第一财经日报》记者独家获悉：苏宁将于近期正式进入基金领域，开始涉足货币基金等投资理财产品；后期，“易付宝”将申请独立域名。在接受本报记者采访时，苏宁云商有关负责人承认易付宝将推出新业务，但避谈关于是否涉足小额理财的话题。

P2P平台频现挤兑 “拆标”引爆流动性风险_财经频道_一财网 拆标是指长期借款标的拆成短期，大额资金拆成小额，从而造成了期限和金额的错配。

 

POLITICS AND LAW

Chinese officials ‘should be banned from nightclubs’ – Telegraph The state-run Global Times made the proposal after four senior Shanghai judges became embroiled in the latest in a series of salacious sex scandals involving high-ranking government officials.

上海法官涉嫌集体招嫖_测试频道_新浪网 Sina News special section on the whoring Shanghai court officials…3 kicked out of the party and removed from jobs, one disciplined

Bo Xilai supporter arrested for urging masses to gatecrash trial – FT.com Song Yangbiao, a journalist from Chinese newspaper The Time Weekly, was detained on Monday and is facing charges of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”, a crime often used to punish political activists and dissidents.

李家法律顾问：媒体企图“做实”李天一轮奸事实_网易新闻中心 Li Tianyi family advisor complains media already convicted Li Tianyi…driving his family nuts that so many people are trying to preemptively block any escape for Li//

广东佛山特警试用新式捕“狼”神器_网易新闻 Foshan police testing a new dvice to subdue people with knives and other weapons…pictures // 8月5日，广东佛山，特警试用刚刚引进的捕“狼”神器——新式控制叉，进行抓捕持械行凶嫌疑人训练。 CFP供图 谢绝转载

舆论场：举报华润宋林 贺国强“中枪”_中国_多维新闻网 【多维新闻】最先实名举报华润董事长宋林的前《山西晚报》记者李建军虽然拉长了战线，且对宋林的指认字斟句酌，但却并未引起多大涟漪。紧接着新华社记者王文志实名举报信发出后，宋林旋即成为了热门新闻的头号人物，官方媒体甚至一度加入讨伐的阵营里推波助澜。一阵喧嚣过后，就在公众以为宋林会全身而退之际，李建军又杀了个回马枪，到香港廉政署将宋林背后的常委故事铺展开来。 截至多维新闻发稿前，退居二线的前中共高官，包括前总理温家宝以及夫人、前中纪委书记贺国强、前副总理吴仪等均在李建军自述的“故事”中扮演着角色。不同之处在于，有的扮演着正面角色，如亲自批示调查的温家宝；有的扮演着反面角色，如两次叫停调查的贺国强；还有的则只闻其名未知其角色渗入程度，如温家宝夫人和吴仪。一个颇耐人寻味的细节是，事件牵扯到前常委级别高官——温家宝和贺国强。前者退居二线后鲜有露面，可谓低调到了谷底，但却经常被媒体提及；后者几乎淡出了公众视线，此次举报华润宋林被牵出，算得上是“躺着中枪”。

中央巡视组进驻江西 稀土商争相举报贪腐官员 |稀土|中央巡视组|官员_新浪新闻 Central inspection team arrives in Jiangxi, rare earth businesspeople “falling over themselves” to report corrupt officials…

南京“孙大师”被查 家住豪宅修牌坊_高清图集_新浪网 Another “master” in official sights, this one in Nanjing // 近日，南京高淳区东坝镇被曝有个“成名已久”的“孙大师”，不仅住着颇为显眼的四层大楼、门口有九龙壁，还在修建十多米高的牌坊，更有传言称其能“通天文地理阴阳八卦”“看风水问前程治百病”。而相关部门调查时，“孙大师”却“闻风而遁”。图为“孙大师”个人照。卢斌/CFP

社科院：劳教制度威胁公民自由 已到必须改革之时_资讯频道_凤凰网

河南禁擅传公共场所监控视频 官员否认阻碍反腐|监控|公共场所|视频_新浪新闻 中广网北京8月6日消息 据中国之声《央广夜新闻》报道，8月1日，河南省人大常委会通过《河南省公共安全技术防范管理条例》，其中明确：禁止网上擅传公共场所监控视频，违者最高要被罚3万元。隔天，网上就爆出了上海市高级人民法院多名法官所谓“集体前往娱乐场所”的视频。这两条新闻放在一起，讨论就来了，有网友对河南《条例》中“任何单位和个人不得买卖、传播或者未经公安机关通知查看、复制机房系统采集保持的信息”的内容进行了质疑，甚至有网友愤怒表达：这个叫保护贪官！要都这么安排了，上海的视频大家不就看不了吗？那蒙在鼓里，反腐和公众监督怎么来保障？

祖国为你守望——在党中央国务院坚强领导下韩亚客机空难中方处置纪实 本报记者 杜尚泽 丁小希 赵 成 马 菲 《 人民日报 》 People’s Daily looks at the assistance for the victims of Asiana San Francisco plane crash, under the resolute leadership of the Party Center and The State Council…most read story on People’s Daily Website so far today //

Cannes Villa Is Expected to Play Role in Bribery Case Against Chinese Ex-Official – NYTimes.com French documents show that people close to the Bo family have been involved with the villa since 2001. Patrick Henri Devillers, a Frenchman who knew the family when Mr. Bo was the mayor of Dalian in the 1990s, is listed in a property assessment document as a current owner of the home, and he was appointed head of a company apparently created to buy the property in 2001, according to an earlier document. That management company, Résidences Fontaine St. Georges, is registered at the villa’s address, 7 Boulevard des Pins, and Mr. Heywood, the Briton and Bo family friend, was listed in court documents as the manager of the company from 2007 to June 2011, five months before he died in China.

French Villa Linked to Fallen China Leader – WSJ.com The Wall Street Journal has found French corporate documents showing that Mr. Heywood was one of three people close to the Bo family who managed Villa Fontaine Saint Georges at various times. Mr. Heywood was removed from that post six months before he was poisoned to death.

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FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

Grass-roots forum for Japanese, Chinese marks 300th session – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun Duan Yuezhong, 55, editor in chief of his own Duan Press publishing house in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district, has held weekly, open-air gatherings in the capital where ordinary Japanese and Chinese can chat and bridge the gap. Xingqiri Hanyujiao, which means “a Chinese-language corner on Sunday,” was started in August 2007, and has since been held without interruption. The only exceptions are Sundays during the Golden Week holidays from late April to early May and when Jan. 1 falls on Sunday.

Japan unveils largest warship since World War II – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun Japan unveiled on Aug. 6 its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier. The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 meters long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese officials say it will be used in national defense–particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions–and to bolster the nation’s ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

日本“拜鬼”闹剧当休矣-钟 声 《 人民日报 》 日本政客“拜鬼”闹剧当休矣！“8·15”是亚洲人民摆脱日本军国主义蹂躏的纪念日。我们希望日本右翼政客端正历史观，停止制造麻烦，彻底结束闹剧，顺应日本利益和亚洲国家利益不断融合的大趋势，为亚洲国家拓展合作、联合自强、共谋发展、互利共赢注入正能量。

扎实推进海洋强国建设-刘小明 《 人民日报 》 加强宣传教育。部分民众海洋意识淡薄，重陆轻海，忽视海洋开发与保护，忽视海洋权益和核心利益捍卫，这不利于海洋强国建设。应通过各种形式、各种途径，大力普及海洋法律法规和海洋知识，宣传海洋在国民经济、国防建设中的重要地位和战略作用，进一步增强全民的海洋国土意识、海洋经济意识、海洋环保意识和海洋法制意识，引导人们从根本上树立海洋强国是中华民族实现强国梦想必然选择的意识，形成全社会热爱海洋、关注海洋、开发海洋、保护海洋的良好氛围。

No one can contain China, scholar says amid territory rows | South China Morning Post Ruan Zongze, vice president and senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said: “No one in this world will try to contain China and no one in this world is capable of containing China. “Since the United States has adopted this new strategy of returning to the Asia-Pacific region, some countries have made the wrong judgment that the US will encourage them to challenge the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China,” he added.

Eyeing China, Philippines gains U.S. ship in military upgrade | Reuters The Philippines took possession of a former U.S. Coast Guard ship on Tuesday, part of its biggest military upgrade in decades, as a stronger economy allows it to raise spending to counter China’s growing assertiveness in disputed waters.

Will China Ever Purchase a U.S. Media Company? | FP Passport they should not be allowed to as long as US firm could not buy a similar Chinese firm//

Chinese fighter-bombers practice reconnaissance in anti-terror drills in Russia – Xinhua | English.news.cn CHELYABINSK, Russia, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) — Five Chinese JH-7A fighter-bombers carried out their first reconnaissance mission in China-Russia joint military drills here Tuesday. The flight lasted for more than an hour and focused on getting familiar with the environment, unaided eye reconnaissance and searching for combat targets, said Wang Xiaoliang, one of the pilots.

CHELLANEY: China’s salami-slicing strategy – Washington Times To be sure, Beijing usually is careful to slice very thinly so as to avoid any dramatic action that could become a cause of war. Indeed, it has shown a knack of disaggregating any action into several parts and then pursuing each element separately in such a manner as to allow the different pieces to eventually fall in place. This shrewdness helps to keep its opponents off balance and in a bind on how to respond. In fact, as a skillful salami-slicer that camouflages offense as defense, China acts in ways not only to undercut its opponents’ deterrence, but also to cast the burden of starting a war on them. Any targeted state is presented with a strategic Hobson’s choice: either endure the loss or face a dangerous and costly war with an emerging great power.

 

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

No ties? No problem as China courts Taiwan’s remaining allies | Reuters Taiwan’s last remaining diplomatic allies are developing increasingly tight economic ties with China, in a trend that could increase Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation if the current detente between Beijing and Taipei fails. The world’s second-largest economy is gaining soft power with a series of investment commitments in Central America, home to the last significant bloc of countries that still maintain formal ties with Taiwan.

 

TECH AND MEDIA

The ‘Steve Jobs Of China’ Is Actually Beating Apple In China – Business Insider During the second quarter, Xiaomi shipped 4.4 million phones to Apple’s 4.3 million.  Those figures are according to Canalys. One the one hand, that’s impressive, considering Xiaomi only launched in 2011 – two years after Apple began selling the iPhone in China. On the other, Xiaomi should be outselling Apple in China. It’s phones are much, much cheaper.

China Focus: Specialized newsrooms abuzz on WeChat – Xinhua  The Official Account is one built-in WeChat function that offers broadcast messaging. Operators of each account can share anything in any format with their subscribers and receive instant feedback. According to Tencent’s website, the platform was originally created for big brands, such as airlines and banks, and celebrities, but it has unexpectedly struck a chord with ordinary people and citizen reporters, like Lu, who are taking advantage of the platform to develop specialized storytelling styles.

Popular Messaging App, Telecoms Operator Trying to Play Nice – Caixin–A special subscription plan offered by China Unicom’s Guangdong branch to users of the popular messaging application WeChat opened to online reservations on August 5. Official sales were to start three days later. The plan, which includes a new SIM card, has attracted great attention from the market because it is the first attempt at cooperation between a telecoms operator and Tencent Holding’s WeChat. Early indications are that the pilot program is flying high. The two companies say that as of 11 a.m. on August 6, the number of online reservation surpassed 933,000.

China Denies ‘Despicable Me 2’ Ban – The Hollywood Reporter China’s Film Bureau denies it has banned Universal’s Despicable Me 2 from theatrical release, insisting that the hit animated movie was not submitted for censorship approval, sources close to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) tell The Hollywood Reporter.

Economic slowdown in China drives IDC to lower forecast for IT spending in 2013 According to research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), economic slowdown in China has driven IDC to lower its expectations for worldwide IT spending growth in 2013. IDC now forecasts IT spending growth of 4.6% in constant currency for 2013, down from the previous forecast of 4.9% growth and a sharp deceleration from last year’s growth of almost 6%. Despite the lower forecast, IDC expects IT spending will reach US$2 trillion for the first time ever in 2013. Meanwhile, total ICT spending, including telecommunications services, will increase by 3.8% at constant currency to US$3.6 trillion.

China component suppliers to join Intel 2-in-1 supply chain In addition to Taiwan-based component suppliers, Intel is now also inviting China-based suppliers to join its 2-in-1 product supply chain, hoping to leverage their cost advantages to compete in the IT market, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Jackie Chan’s insensitive rants anger netizens in China…again | Offbeat China Chan’s post has so far been shared more than 34,000 times. Chinese netizens didn’t pick anything from his list. Rather, they preferred identities like “model ass-kisser of the Chinese Communist Party,” “loyal dog,” “world’s most shameless star,” “professional endorser of fake, low-quality products,” “liar,” “slave,” or “5 mao”, popular term used to describe government-hired online commentators in China. Offbeat China’s favorite is “cheng guan.” In simplified Chinese, Jackie Chan’s name is pronounced “Cheng Long.” And since he likes stricter law enforcement, why not just call him “cheng guan,” China’s much-hated urban law enforcement officers.

TechCrunch China Is Our Latest International Expansion, And It’s Live Now | TechCrunch We’ve been busy expanding our coverage around the world and today our latest project is ready for you — if you prefer TechCrunch written in Chinese. You can now find translated articles available on TechCrunch.cn,  via a partnership with Gang Lu and his Shanghai-based tech publication, Technode. We’ll gradually introduce original content in Chinese later on.

 

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

Urgent Update on Foreign Ministry Archives, Beijing | Dissertation Reviews I recently had the opportunity to revisit the Foreign Ministry Archives (early July 2013). Previous stints had been in the summer of 2011, when I spent over a month perusing sources, and last summer, when I could only spend about a week. Amanda Shuman, who wrote the introduction to this archive, was a fellow researcher during the summer of 2011. Last year, most of the rules and regulations that Amanda described in her introduction were still in effect. The collection, some 80,000 items ranging from 1949 to 1966, appeared to be the same. Getting permission to print seemed a little harder—there was greater oversight and less flexibility on what was permissible—and while not explicitly stated, a letter of introduction from a local danwei had become the de facto way of gaining access. All in all, in spite of the changes, the archive remained a useful resource for early PRC history. This year, however, several changes have taken place in terms of access as well as availability. They may serve to substantially reduce the value of this archive for future researchers. Below is a list of the most salient changes.

移民　拓荒　戍边_草民的世界_胡镇彬_博联社 pictures from a border town in Heilongjiang…looks pretty desolate // 黑龙江畔原为荒芜之地，人烟稀少，野兽出没。在清初，中央政府就开始有计划的进行移民，开展拓荒运动，守卫我们的边疆～

 

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

Chinese Factories Embrace Environmentalism—To a Point – Steven Zhang – The Atlantic I have spent the past year interviewing Chinese owners and managers of factories for Chinese companies about environmental protection, and found that, like Mr. Liang, they tend to view environmental protection through the lens of China’s economic development. Their views of the matter are focused almost exclusively on the effects of environmental damage to personal health. These views, in turn, affect the way they control the environmental impact of their factories.

China Focus: Heat, drought, flooding: severe weather tests China – Xinhua  Power consumption exceeded 50 billion kwh in July in neighboring Jiangsu Province, the highest among all provinces, partly due to the wide use of air-conditioners. Meanwhile, 326 rivers had been cut off, 65 reservoirs dried up and 1,100 others left with dead storage levels in central China’s Hubei Province, dubbed “the land of a thousand lakes,” as of Tuesday. The current heat wave has swept 13 provincial-level areas across China, leaving about 5.95 million people and 1.72 million heads of livestock short of drinking water, according to a Monday report from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

 

FOOD AND TRAVEL

French Government Report Warns of Money Laundering by Chinese, Russians in Wine Deals-Caijing A number of signs suggest some wealthy could be involved in some kind of furtive and complicated money laundering, using big vineyard deals to cover their crimes, according to the report. China for the first time made onto the list of countries where the suspected wealthy come from, complied by the French government to warn over risks facing the wine industry, said Sud-Ouest, a local French newspaper. The annual report was released by the government’s anti-money laundering organ, the financial intelligence unit. The 130-page report this year targets a growing numbers of questionable deals in the wine industry.

 

BEIJING

首都经济圈规划出台尚无时间表_财经频道_一财网 历时8年之久，《首都经济圈发展规划》（下称“规划”）始终不见真身，其中的复杂被专家称为“最难编制的区域规划”。近日，河北媒体报道称规划有望今年出台，并称最终方案将采用“1+9+3”模式，即北京+河北省的张家口、承德、保定、廊坊、唐山、秦皇岛、衡水、沧州、石家庄+天津的宝坻区、武清区、蓟县。衡水、沧州、石家庄为最新被纳入的3个城市。昨日，《第一财经日报》向国家发改委和北京市发改委相关人士求证此事，两部门人士均表示规划尚无明确出台时间表。国家发改委人士称，根据国家部署，今年确实有所提速，报道中提到的被纳入3个城市也确实在去年递交了材料，但最终具体方案还未定下来。

 

BOOKS AND LITERATURE

The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays: Simon Leys: 9781863955850: Amazon.com: Books Simon Leys’ cultural and political commentary has long been legendary for its profundity and acerbic wit. In The Hall of Uselessness his most significant essays are finally gathered together, on subjects ranging from China to Orwell, from Quixotism to the sea. Leys feuds with Christopher Hitchens, ponders the popularity of Victor Hugo and analyses whether Nabokov’s unfinished novel should ever have been published. He dissects Mao’s Cultural Revolution and the Khmer Rouge, and discusses Waugh, Simenon and Confucius. He considers Chinese art, culture and politics, the joys and difficulties of literary translation and the fate of the university.