THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

1. China’s Stocks Rally for Biggest Gain Since 2009 on Financials – Bloomberg only about 50 points below Friday’s close. A needed correction looks to have been a great buying opportunity for those who believe the Xi Jinping Bull Market is still intact. But don’t confuse China stock market performance with underlying economic fundamentals…this market has never traded on those //  The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) jumped 4.9 percent to 3,328.64 at 2:48 p.m., adding to yesterday’s 1.8 percent advance. The gauge plunged 7.7 percent on Monday after the China Securities Regulatory Commission suspended three brokerages from loaning money to new equity-trading clients and said brokers shouldn’t lend to investors with assets below 500,000 yuan ($80,380). “We would suggest that the regulator is not trying to reverse the bull trend in the overall market,” Jonathan Garner and Laura Wang, strategists at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a report. “The A-share bull run is intact although it is likely to proceed at a slower pace from here on out.”

Related: Closer Look: Stock Market Wasn’t Burning Down, but CSRC Doused It Anyway – Caixin The logic behind the move to tighten rules is simple. Much of the growth in the stock market over the past several months was driven not by improvements in the economic fundamentals, but by a surge in leveraged investments. Retail investors were pouring capital into the market, many apparently unaware of the risks. It is the CSRC’s job to prevent risks from worsening. But the message could have been sent to investors in a way that disturbed the market less. For all the perils, the market was not facing immediate danger. It took more than three months for the outstanding value of all margin-trading accounts to reach 1.1 trillion yuan from only several hundred billion yuan. If the regulator wanted to curb margin trading, it could have done so slowly.

2. 习近平就政法工作作出重要指示强调把政法工作摆到经济社会发展全局中谋划履行好维护国家安全和社会安定重大责任-新华网 Xi’s comments at the Politics and Law Conference // 习近平强调，各级党委要切实担负起维护一方稳定的政治责任，把政法工作摆到经济社会发展全局中来谋划，积极研究解决影响政法工作的重大问题。要带头依法办事，支持人民法院、人民检察院依法独立公正行使审判权、检察权，支持政法各单位依照宪法法律独立负责、协调一致开展工作，为政法机关依法履行职责创造良好环境。要加强和改进对政法工作的领导，选好配强政法机关领导班子，不断提高政法队伍思想政治素质和履职能力，培育造就一支忠于党、忠于国家、忠于人民、忠于法律的政法队伍，确保刀把子牢牢掌握在党和人民手中。

Related: Xi asks party organs to support independent judicial system – Xinhua President Xi Jinping ordered party departments on Tuesday to support judges and prosecutors to exercise their duties independently. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in a written instruction on political and legal work. The central conference on political and legal work was convened in Beijing on Tuesday. Party committees at all levels should set an example of abiding by the law, he wrote. They should enable law enforcement agencies and judicial departments to work independently according to the Constitution and laws and “create a favorable environment” for them to do so, he wrote.

Related: China to abolish arrest, conviction rate targets: state media | Reuters The Political and Legal Committee, a secretive body overseeing the legal and security services, said on Tuesday that its units and law enforcement authorities “must resolutely cancel targets for criminal detention, arrests, prosecutions, convictions, settlements and other unreasonable targets for assessment”, state news agency Xinhua said on its microblog.// 中央政法委：取消有罪判决率、结案率等考核指标|考核| 判决_凤凰资讯 

Related: 29省级政法委书记不再兼任公安厅长_国内_新京报网 记者统计发现，十八大后，全国14个省份政法委书记进行了调整，其中1人系“空降”。在31个省份中29省级政法委书记不再兼任公安厅长。此外，省级政法委书记中的“60后”继续增加，目前已有10人。

Related: 习近平为何引用毛泽东“刀把子”论_新闻_腾讯网 在“没有完成时”的反腐浪潮中，政法系统也成为重灾区，一批领导干部落马，包括周永康、李东生、马健等高级领导干部。他们的落马，无一不是理想信念滑坡所致。周永康在台上时，大讲特讲法律法治，在台下却大肆进行权钱、权色交易。这样的“两面人”，给中国法治建设造成多大的破坏作用可想而知。更何况，周永康长期担任政法系统的最高领导，他的所作所为、用人导向，也在政法干部中造成了很坏的影响。必须深刻反思这个教训，彻底肃清周永康案造成的影响。 因此，在这个大背景下，习大大再次提出“确保刀把子牢牢掌握在党和人民手中”，就是要求政法机关和政法干警不断坚定理想信念、切实增强党性原则；就是要求广大政法干警严守党的纪律和政治规矩，一切行动听党指挥；就是要求始终坚持党对政法工作的领导。从这个角度说，“刀把子”寄托了习大大对政法机关的殷切希望。

3. China to instill national characteristics in think tanks – Xinhua There are no high-end think tanks with major influence and global prestige; research results are limited; resources are not appropriately allocated and there are few prominent leading figures, the guideline said. Strategic issues and public policies will be the main fields of endeavor, supporting the Party and government in making policy and decisions. Think tanks should be non-profitable. The guideline proposed 50 to 100 think tanks become high-end think tanks with specialties. The guideline also called for system reform by hiring foreign experts, building overseas branches of Chinese think tanks, and strengthening international cooperation.

Related: CCP General Office and State Council General Office Opinions concerning Strengthening the Construction of New Types of Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics | China Copyright and Media In order to deeply implement the spirit of the 18th Party Congress and the 3rd and 4th Plenums of the 18th Party Congress, strengthen the construction of new types of think tanks with Chinese characteristics and establish and complete a policymaking consultancy system, the following Opinion is formulated.

4. Shanghai govt releases report on stampede tragedy- China Daily Eleven officials in Shanghai were punished over the New Year’s Eve stampede that left 36 people dead and 49 injured. Four top district officials, includingthe Huangpu district Party chief, district governor and police chief as well as deputy police chief, were sacked for insufficient preparation and response in the New Year’s Eve stampede, according the decision of Shanghai municipal authorities. Seven other officials in tourism, public security and urban management, received disciplinary punishments, said the decision announced Wednesday at a press conference.

Related: 上海公布外滩踩踏问责结果 黄浦区书记被撤_政经频道_财新网 定性为“造成重大伤亡和严重后果的公共安全责任事件”；事发地黄浦区书记、区长等11名党政干部被处分

Related: 五问外滩陈毅广场拥挤踩踏事件联合调查组：踩踏悲剧谁之过–社会–人民网 People’s Daily Online interviews member of the Shanghai stampede investigation team, asks five questions including whether the Huangpu official who lost his job was a senior enough person to take responsibility  //  疑问二：问责以上海黄浦区领导为主，更高级别的领导没有出现在问责名单上，问责是否到位？问责依据何在？ 在问责名单上，有11位领导干部，包括黄浦区委书记周伟、区长彭崧的撤职，也包括上海市公安局指挥部的陈昌俊等的行政记大过。而调查报告的原因分析，都集中于区级层面。为什么没有更高层级的领导被追责？ 上海市政府法制办副主任刘平拿起一份《中华人民共和国突发事件应对法》，直接读了第63条来回应：这一条明确了“地方各级人民政府和县级以上人民政府有关部门违反本法规定，不履行法定职责的，由其上级行政机关或监察机关责令改正；有下列情形之一的，根据情节对直接负责的主管人员和其他直接责任人员依法给予处分……” 刘平解释说，依据这个法规，突发事件要处分的，就是“直接负责”的责任人。

5. Provincial, Regional Gov’ts Prepare for a More Frugal Future – Caixin Six provincial and regional governments have reported that they missed their targets for revenue growth in 2014, as the country’s economy slowed down, prompting the cabinet to give its advice on how they can balance their budgets. Twenty governments of China’s regions, provinces and municipalities published information about their income for last year as of January 15. Sichuan, Hunan, Shandong and Jilin provinces and the regions of Guangxi and Ningxia all said they fell short of their goal. Eighteen had lower growth rates than in 2013; only Shanghai and Guangdong did better.

6. China Boots Up an Internet Banking Industry – Caixin translation of recent Caixin cover story  // Tencent has developed face recognition technology that can be applied and used with any computer or mobile terminal. It reads facial characteristics and compares them with what appears in photos on personal identification cards and in police databases. A central bank official said questions still remain about the reliability of Tencent’s technology. Another issue is privacy protection. Wang Qiang, a vice president for overseas data at Wells Fargo, said face recognition technologies are rarely used in the U.S. financial sector. Sources said that after their January meeting with bankers in Beijing, central bank officials asked WeBank executives to come up with a bank-account opening plan based on face recognition technology and identity documentation using the Internet. Once the plan has been drafted, a central bank team is expected to conduct an evaluation and launch a pilot project to test the waters. If the physical presence hurdle can be overcome, said a source at a state-run bank, WeBank and ZBIC might be able to sign up millions of clients.

Related: 习近平考察腾讯公司 笑问马化腾微博粉丝多少-中新网 Very interesting description from 12.14.2012 of Xi Jinping’s visit to Tencent HQ during his first “southern tour”…and some of the uses of all the data Tencent collects //  总书记不断询问一些相关问题，此时他问微信产品在国际竞争中会遇到哪些问题？听到解答后，他鼓励腾讯要不断进取，为民族互联网产业走向世界贡献力量。.. “互联网在社会管理方面有较大作用，我们怎么去适应它？”当时总书记说，“我看到你们做的工作都是很重要的，比如在这样的海量信息中，你们占有了最充分的数据，然后可以做出最客观、精准的分析。这方面对政府提供的建议是很有价值的。”

7. 四部门专项整治网络敲诈有偿删帖：力争半年清除这一网络公害_法治中国_澎湃新闻-The Paper CAC, MIIT, PSB, SAPPRFT launch campaign to end deletion of onlne posts for money  //  国家互联网信息办公室1月21日宣布，国家网信办、工业和信息化部、公安部、国家新闻出版广电总局联合启动“网络敲诈和有偿删帖”专项整治工作，力争用半年左右时间，着力解决这一损害群众利益、群众反映强烈的突出问题，努力使网络空间全面清朗起来。

Related: 中央外宣办原副局长高剑云涉收钱删帖被查 wonder from whom now detained SIIO official Gao Jianyun was taking money to delete posts  //  中国日报网讯 2014年9月，中央纪委监察部对高剑云违法违纪情节曾做出通报称，高剑云利用职务便利为他人谋取利益，索要、收受巨额贿赂，长期包养情妇并育有一子，与他人订立攻守同盟，对抗组织调查；目前，高剑云已被开除党籍公职并移交司法机关。

8. Obama, Citing China as Rival, Warns Lawmakers Over Inaction on Trade Measure – NYTimes.com President Obama held up China as a formidable rival to the global influence of the United States in his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, warning lawmakers that failure to take action on trade legislation could be tantamount to ceding America’s leadership role to Beijing.

BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE

PLC – Draft Foreign Investment Law open for comment until February 17 useful summary  //  The Ministry of Commerce has opened for public comment the Draft Foreign Investment Law of the People’s Republic of China. When enacted, the new law will replace the current regime for foreign investment into China. The last day for comments is February 17, 2015.

What Happens When a Foreign Investor Holds Chinese Bonds That Default – Bloomberg Bondholders of Suntech, Ocean Grand Holdings Ltd., Celestial Nutrifoods Ltd. and China Milk Products Group Ltd. got 5 percent or less while investors in Asia Aluminum Holdings Ltd., which collapsed in March 2009 with $17.7 billion of debt, received about 7 percent. Sino-Forest debtholders were luckier at 17 percent, while those with their money in China Nickel Resources Holdings Co. got returns of about 75 percent of par. If Kaisa turns into an offshore versus onshore creditor fight, a back of the envelope guess “is that a liquidation could lead to a bondholder recovery of at most 40 cents, if the process is orderly,” Gramercy’s Rauch said. And if it’s not, “returns could quickly drop below 10 cents,” he said.

Alibaba seeking stake in insurer New China Life: state paper | Reuters Shanghai Securities News said on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. The newspaper reported that Central Huijin Investment Ltd, the investment arm of the Chinese government and the largest shareholder in the insurer, plans to sell some of its stake to Alibaba. It did not give any details on the size of the deal. Central Huijin currently owns 31.34 percent of the insurer, according to the paper.

经济参考网 – 四川省将全面取消住房限购限价政策 Sichuan ending all housing purchase restrictions  //  摘要：2015年，四川省将对地方政府住房消费政策进行一次集中清理，全面取消限购、限价等行政干预政策。 1月21日从四川省新闻办获悉，昨日，四川省住建厅提出今年将着力扩大住房消费，力争完成房地产投资4800亿元，同比增长10%。

China seeks balanced growth as net capital exporter – Xinhua China has become a net capital exporter for the first time, with outbound direct investment outnumbering capital inflows in 2014. Chinese investors channeled capital into 6,128 overseas firms in 156 countries in 2014, with outbound investment reaching 102.89 billion U.S. dollars, up 14.1 percent from a year earlier, according to a press conference by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday. Growth was much faster than the 1.7 percent gain recorded in foreign direct investment, which was 119.6 billion dollars. This is the first time the two-way nominal capital flows have been near a balance

POLITICS AND LAW

中央要求省部级单位民主生活会分析周永康等案|民主生活会_新浪新闻 中央督导组督促各单位坚持在聚焦问题上下功夫，开展典型案例分析，从周永康、薄熙来、令计划、苏荣等案件以及一些腐败干部的忏悔材料中受到警醒、提高认识，从工作中出现的新情况新问题和群众反映比较集中的意见中检查反思，始终聚焦严明党的政治纪律和政治规矩、落实中央八项规定精神、坚决反对“四风”、持续抓好整改。

中央企业2015年将从严治企严惩腐败————要闻——中央纪委监察部网站 CCDI website–Central SOE will be strictly managed and corruption will be severely punished in 2015 //  张毅指出，习近平总书记心系国企、心忧国企，多次作出重要指示，在中央纪委五次全会上再次强调国有企业党风建设和反腐败工作，振聋发聩、令人警醒。中央企业要坚决贯彻落实中央的决策部署，深刻反思，把压力转化为动力，充分认识反腐败工作的长期性、复杂性、艰巨性，保持惩治腐败的决心信心，保持长期作战的恒心耐心，牢固树立“两手抓、长期抓、从严抓”的意识，坚决打赢党风廉政建设和反腐败斗争这场攻坚战、持久战。

中纪委官员：个别官员搞同乡会是醉翁之意不在酒–时政–人民网 人民网北京1月21日电 今天上午，中纪委研究室理论研究处处长苏静做客中纪委监察部网站，解读2015年党风廉政建设和反腐败工作主要任务。在谈到“守纪律、讲规矩”问题时，苏静表示，有些干部聚在一起搞同乡会、同学会，看似漫无目的，其实是醉翁之意不在酒，是要结交情谊，将来好相互提携。

福建省龙岩市副市长陈盛仪接受组织调查————要闻——中央纪委监察部网站 vice mayor of Longyan, Fujian under investigation

Macao casinos targeted in the fight against graft – China Daily China will strengthen supervision of assets that corrupt officials transfer abroad illegally through gambling houses in Macao, the Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday. “Once a suspicious flow of capital being sent overseas through casinos is discovered, … the People’s Bank of China will inform us quickly and provide intelligence for us to conduct further investigations,” a senior official from the ministry told China Daily.

Line Drawn on Purported Corruption in Calligraphy – NYTimes.com “Some leading officials can’t even write regular script properly, and still they rush straight into cursive, and then dare mount it to give others,” Mr. Wang said in a speech in mid-January, according to a report issued by his agency on Friday. “They’ve forgotten the bond between the ruling party and ordinary folks.”

Accounts of gov’t agencies flourish on WeChat: report – Xinhua At least 17,217 government WeChat accounts are active, according to the report from xinhuanet.com. The figure is a remarkable increase from a July report by the Communication University of China (CUC), which said that at the end of 2013 there were 3,600 government WeChat accounts, and nearly 6,000 at the end of March. About 20 percent now belong to Communist Party of China (CPC) organizations, people’s congresses (legislatures) and the committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (political advisors).

人民网辟谣：未发表《比周永康更有分量老虎将现身》|人民日报| 老虎_凤凰资讯 昨晚有微博消息称：人民日报海外版曾发表文章《比周永康更有分量的超级老虎将现身》。经@人民网求证，该报未发布过含有此内容的文章。

人民日报论法：“申冤”何时不再上北京–观点–人民网 通过以上分析，我们不难看出，造成进京上访问题集中，无论是多元社会利益、社会矛盾的产生还是传统与现代法律文化的碰撞，都不可能单凭法院一家之力就能完全扭转过来。有的涉及法院自身体制机制的完善，需要配合司法体制改革的步步推进而一一化解。由此可见，尽管 “进京上访”还将在一段时期里继续成为一个社会难题，但我们乐见其在全面深化改革和全面推进依法治国的过程中最终逐渐消失在历史的长河里。《 人民日报 》（ 2015年01月21日 19 版）

给常委定规矩 习近平重构中共高层权力格局_观点-多维新闻网 值得注意的是，习近平在本次会议上专门听取全国人大常委会、国务院、全国政协、最高人民法院、最高人民检察院党组汇报工作。正如上文所提到的那样，这种“五党组汇报”意味着中共中央有权对全国人大常委会、国务院、全国政协、最高人民法院、最高人民检察院进行统一领导！也就是说，此前的七位政治局常委，国务院党组书记李克强、党组副书记张高丽、全国人大、全国政协的党组书记张德江、俞正声等，同习近平的关系已经从同僚变成了上下级的关系。 (公子 评论)

李源潮出席共青团全会 党报刊文藏玄机_中国-多维新闻网 北京时间1月19日，共青团十七届三中全会被北京召开，中共政治局委员、国家副主席李源潮现身大会发表讲话，中共党报《人民日报》第二天刊发相关报道。值得注意的是，从《人民日报》版面来看，李源潮赴共青团全会的新闻位于同为政治局委员，现任中央统战部部长孙春兰之后。由此可以看出，从李源潮以政治局委员身份担任国家副主席以来，外界关心的他究竟是正国家级还是副国家级似乎有了答案。

武警部队司令员王宁、公安部副部长傅政华兼任中央政法委委员_人事风向_澎湃新闻-The Paper 据中央政法委官网中国长安网报道，中央政法工作会议1月20日在京召开。中共中央政治局委员、中央政法委书记孟建柱在中央政法工作会议上强调，习近平总书记关于政法工作的重要指示，进一步指明了加强政法工作的正确方向。  国务委员、中央政法委副书记郭声琨主持会议，中央政法委委员周强、曹建明、汪永清、耿惠昌、吴爱英、杜金才、陈训秋、王宁、傅政华等人出席会议。

Gov’t to Give Employees 60 Pct Pay Hike as Part of Pension Reform – Caixin Salary increase means public workers won’t take pay cuts when changes to pension program come into effect, official says

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

China: The Influence of History | The Diplomat–Michael D. Swaine Of course, some Chinese seek to manipulate this concept to serve more pragmatic, sometimes selfish ends. And at least some Chinese believe that all major powers, including China, have hegemonic inclinations. But overall, most Chinese apparently believe that China’s rightful place in the international order is as a major (not singularly dominant) power whose views must be respected but who exists in general harmony with other nations. This is a far cry from the notion of China as a resurgent leviathan bent on dominating Asia and the world beyond. // Can be dangerous to try to say what “most Chinese” think. Regardless, if the underlying belief is that it is your territory historically, say with the South China Sea nine-dashed line, then laying claim to territory that you see as rightfully yours is in no way “assertive” or “aggressive”. So when Xi says Chinese have no “gene for invasion” he is not saying anything contradictory to the facts on the ground as he sees them, since in the case of all the current territorial disputes Chinese believes it is the one that has been encroached upon.

INTERACTIVE: Slow boat to China — the long, troubled journey of the Varyag from the Black Sea to Dalian | South China Morning Post In this interactive, Joe Lo illustrates the path that the former Soviet aircraft carrier, the Varyag, took to get from Ukraine’s Black Sea Shipyard to Dalian in China’s Liaoning province. It is an odyssey that took more than 2 years to complete and would eventually see the unfinished giant hull reborn as China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

Beijing Investigating Detention of 100 Chinese in Myanmar – NYTimes.com The Chinese government is investigating the detention of more than 100 Chinese citizens by Myanmar on suspicion that they entered the country to engage in logging, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar said Tuesday.

Manila says China’s ‘massive’ reclamation work a serious concern | Reuters Evan Garcia, Manila’s deputy foreign minister, said the reclamation activities “are not a positive development to promote our common interests” and a clear violation of what had been agreed by China and Southeast Asian states in 2002. “Just look at the photographs, these are huge activities that are designed to change the status quo,” Garcia told reporters at the end of a two-day bilateral strategic dialogue with the United States in Manila.

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

China ‘has the power’ to introduce tough security laws in Hong Kong | Reuters ormer Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa said on Tuesday tough Chinese national security laws could be introduced in Hong Kong, stoking fears China may tighten control in its southern financial hub after last year’s pro-democracy street protests.

HK needs to educate its youth–China Daily Comment By Sonny Lo This is the first of a two-part series on youth problems in Hong Kong. Part one addresses the radicalization of youth. Part two will address the need to “de-colonize” our education system.  // Lo is Professor and Head, Department of Social Sciences; Co-Director of Centre for Governance and Citizenship; Acting Associate Vice President at Hong Kong institute of Education

Hong Kong Tells Public to Avoid Going Outside as Pollution Soars – Bloomberg The pollution index reached 10+ at monitors in Central, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay, the city’s main business and entertainment districts, at 2:00 p.m. local time, according to the Environmental Protection Department. The index scales from 1 to 10+, which is marked as “serious.”

TECH AND MEDIA

Meaning Of Mural At Apple’s New China Store – Business Insider Here’s the poem that’s on the outside of the store while it’s being built: The light of water sparkles on a sunny day, and misty mountains lend excitement to the rain. I like to compare the west lake to “Miss West”. Pretty in a gay dress, and pretty in simple again.–Su Shi’s West Lake

New Yorker Writer Denies Authorship of Op-Ed in Chinese State Paper – China Real Time Report – WSJ Earlier this week, an opinion article under the byline of China hand and New Yorker writer Peter Hessler appeared in Chinese state-run media. On Tuesday night, though, Mr. Hessler said in a statement on Facebook that he didn’t write the piece. Published in China Daily, China’s official English-language newspaper, appeared to praise various political aspects of China – where Mr. Hessler lived and worked for years, including at The Wall Street Journal –cited in contrast to Egypt, where he currently resides. The article appeared under Mr. Hessler’s name and called China’s political system “quite stable,” citing the conviction that when significant reforms do come, they are more likely to succeed, “because the Chinese have a significant political foundation, and they have the experience of living in a functional state.”

Failed MPAA / Xunlei Anti-Piracy Deal is Shocking | TorrentFreak After signing an anti-piracy deal with Xunlei last year the MPAA is already suing the Chinese file-sharing giant. What went wrong is unclear but documents obtained by TorrentFreak reveal the toughest and most shocking set of anti-piracy demands to be found anywhere on the planet.

China’s regulator blames “unhealthy images” for re-edited TV show – Xinhua I am up to episode 55…Tencent video app has what it says is the “uncensored” version  //  A senior official from China’s television regulator on Wednesday said “unhealthy images” are the reason a TV drama about the country’s only known empress, Wu Zetian, was edited. “We received many complaints from viewers after the TV series began airing, saying there were some unhealthy images for minors, among other problems,” said Tian Jin, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television at a press conference.

Tencent’s long-awaited Android ROM enters beta-TechInAsia Details are sparse right now. Getting into the beta requires filling out a survey and waiting for Tencent to accept or deny the application. We’ve been expecting a Tencent ROM for some time now. Fellow web giants Alibaba and Baidu both released their respective spins on the Android OS years ago, so it was only a matter of time before Tencent followed suit. In December 2013, Tencent also contributed to a US$23 million series B investment into CyanogenMod, one of the more popular Android ROMs that comes pre-installed on some phones made by Oppo, Micromax, and Oneplus.

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

Ethnic minorities: Don’t make yourself at home | The Economist Uighurs and Tibetans feel left out of China’s economic boom; ethnic discrimination is not helping

大山 Dashan on Vimeo Dashan trying his hand at Chinese comedy. A very talented guy

组图：艺术家在上海拆迁废墟上涂鸦走红网络_新闻_腾讯网 2015年1月20日，两位涂鸦艺术家在上海一处正在施工的拆迁基地留下了诸多涂鸦作品，通过描绘简单生动的本土化人物形象与当地社区居民交流，走红网络。

杜导正谈文革：毛泽东不得人心广东密谋兵变_历史-多维新闻网 南方报系旗下《南方人物周刊》2011年末采访前国家新闻出版署署长、时任《炎黄春秋》杂志社长杜导正。在访谈中杜提到，在“文革”开始时，作为有名的“毛泽东的好学生”之一的陶铸，被毛泽东提为中国的“第四把手”，从广东调到北京，但却又瞬间被打倒。陶铸说过自己不能再跟毛了，再跟下去，在历史上就变成罪人了。由于陶决定不干了，毛就把他搞下来了。此外，杜导正还罕见披露，文革后期，中共党内反对毛泽东的声音越来越多，就连广东的军力也曾密谋兵变。以下为《对话杜导正》全文摘录。

China’s 2nd-Richest Grabs 20% Stake in Spanish Soccer Club Atletico Madrid- Bloomberg The group will pay 45 million euros ($52 million) for the stake, marking the first investment by a Chinese company in a top European soccer club, Wanda said in a statement announcing the deal Thursday in Beijing, where it’s based. Wang, China’s second-richest man, is Wanda’s chairman and founder.

China’s National Soccer Team Winning Games, and Fans – NYTimes.com For Chinese soccer fans, the new year is already an unusual one. After years of frustration, disappointment and cynicism with the national team, the 2015 Asian Cup is becoming a big success, with China winning all three games so far and finishing first in Group B.

赵本山的粉墨人生(2015-01-21 7:22:06)_网易新闻中心 多年来，在本山传媒的这座神秘楼层墙壁上，陆续消失的照片还包括周永康、王立军等多位官员身影。而网上至今仍流传有赵本山师徒和时任重庆公安局局长的王立军、北碚区委书记雷政富等官员的合影。 伴随政商资源的腾挪和链条延伸，赵本山一步步完成了财富帝国的构建。 赵本山的财富积累主要来自刘老根大舞台剧场、影视剧制作、辽宁大学艺术学院和文化地产的开发运营。根据本山传媒官网数据，2013年，刘老根大舞台在北京、长春、沈阳、哈尔滨、天津、泰安等城市8家剧场的总收入达到2.5亿元。

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

湘潭市环保局人员处罚县城管局遭拒，还在城管局办公室被群殴_绿政公署_澎湃新闻-The Paper Xiangtan, Hunan environmental protection bureau officials beaten by chengguan when they tried to deliver notice of a fine

Environmental Staff in China Spray Air Quality Monitors with Water to Make Readings More Acceptable | TheNanfang Desperate times call for desperate measures. When Hanzhong, in Shaanxi Province, was confronted with off-the-chart PM 2.5 readings, officials at the City’s Environmental Protection Bureau did what any respectable scientist would do: they altered the readings by spraying the air quality monitors with water from a fire hose. One blogger happened to catch the Bureau in the act, snapping a photo of the scene, and posting it online. The photo immediately became quite a discussion piece on online forums. User 业精于勤 said, “This is covering one’s ear while stealing a bell?” alluding to a Chinese idiom that describes trying to conceal the truth while committing a devious act.

AGRICULTURE

Dim Sums: Rural China Economics and Policy: Chinese Livestock Industry: 7 Challenges At a recent meeting of China’s livestock industry association, a Ministry of Agriculture official proclaimed that the industry faces seven challenges as it enters a critical period of upgrading.

BEIJING

Forget the taxi, Beijing tourists can now be zipped around the city in a helicopter | South China Morning Post The China World Summit Wing hotel – located within China World Tower, Beijing’s tallest skyscraper – has opened a helipad on the rooftop of the 330-metre-tall building. The hotel’s trial flight on a Bell 429 chopper flew three VIP guests to the Bird’s Nest stadium and the Water Cube – the 2008 Beijing Olympics venues – as well as the nearby Chaoyang Park before returning to the building.