The Sinocism China Newsletter 03.05.15

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

Today’s Links:

AnchorTHE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

1. China’s National People’s Congress annual session | Reuters China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, opens its annual session on Thursday. Following are highlights from Premier Li Keqiang’s prepared speech to be delivered at the start of the meeting, as well as highlights from reports from the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission.

Related: China lowers 2015 economic growth target to around 7 percent – Xinhua China targeted economic growth of approximately 7 percent in 2015, lower than the goal of around 7.5 percent in 2014, according to a government work report to be delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the parliament’s annual session Thursday. The growth target for 2015 is also lower than the 7.4-percent economic growth rate registered in 2014, its weakest annual expansion since 1990. “Over the past year, the international and domestic environments faced by China in its development have been complicated and challenging. The road to global economic recovery has been rough, with many ups and downs, and the performance of the major economies has been divergent,” noted the report. “Downward pressure on China’s economy has continued to mount, and we have faced an array of interwoven difficulties and challenges,” it added.

Related: China Sets Wider 2015 Fiscal Deficit in Bid to Cushion Slowdown – Bloomberg Business The government projects a budget shortfall of 1.62 trillion yuan ($258 billion) in 2015, the Ministry of Finance said in a report presented to the National People’s Congress in Beijing today. That amounts to about 2.3 percent of gross domestic product, it estimated.

2. China’s Defense Spending Slows as Xi Turns Graft Push on PLA – Bloomberg Business The defense budget will rise about 10 percent this year, in line with the increase in the general budget, Fu Ying, National People’s Congress spokeswoman, said at a briefing on the NPC meetings that start tomorrow. Last year military spending rose 12.2 percent to 808.2 billion yuan ($128.9 billion). “They are tightening up anti-corruption inside the PLA, so that would probably mean more efficient use of resources,” said Zhang Baohui, director of the center for Asian Pacific studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, referring to the People’s Liberation Army. “It is too early to tell if spending is tapering off. We’ll need a few more years to detect a trend.”

Related: China 2015 defense budget to grow 10.1 pct, lowest in 5 years – Xinhua According to a budget report released shortly before the country’s top legislature starts its annual session, the government plans to raise defense budget to 886.9 billion yuan (about 144.2 billion U.S. dollars). That would make China the second largest military spender in the world following the U.S., whose defense budget amounted to 600.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2013. Nonetheless, the 10.1-percent rise represented the lowest expansion in China since 2010, when the defense budget was set to grow by 7.5 percent.

Related: 社评:中国公众欢迎军费再增10%左右评论环球网 其实全世界都很清楚中国需要一支更现代化的军队,随着中国经济总量继续上升,外界对此是有充分思想准备的。一些力量对此说三道四,属于习惯性的舆论表现。中国军费直到现在不足GDP总量的2%,而美国的这个数字是3.8%,英国是2.5%。 这个占比显示,中国近年增加军费较快是在“还历史的账”,这决非虚言。中国军费的起点太低了,如今的增加看上去比例挺高,但远未突破量力而行的原则。

3. China Plays Down US Concerns Over Anti-Terror Legislation – NYTimes Ted Moran, the Marcus Wallenberg professor of international business and finance at Georgetown University, said U.S. laws do all of that and more, giving the U.S. government the reach to pursue user data stored in other countries. “There’s all kinds of hypocrisy going on here,” Moran said. // Shouldn’t AP and/or NYT note Moran’s affiliation with Huawei?–Chinese firm paid US intelligence adviser-AP in 2013

Related: China says tech firms have nothing to fear from anti-terror law | Reuters Fu said China hoped foreign companies would continue to “support, participate and continue to walk forward” with China’s reform efforts. The remarks were more measured than a commentary published by the official Xinhua news agency, which said Obama’s warning to China was evidence of “arrogance and hypocrisy”. “With transparent procedures, China’s anti-terrorism campaign will be different from what the United States has done: letting the surveillance authorities run amok and turn counterterrorism into paranoid espionage and peeping on its civilians and allies,” Xinhua said. // Unfortunately for US and European tech firms there does not appear to be any compelling reason yet given to expect China to back down on this…another “new normal”?

Related: China responds to U.S. concern over counterterrorism law – Xinhua U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday said he was concerned that the law would require technology firms to hand over encryption keys, the passcodes that protect data. The formulation of a counterterrorism law is an important step of rule of law and combating terrorism. The content of the draft law is based on real experiences in the fight against terrorism and has taken into account lessons learned by other countries, spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing. “The formulation of the counterterrorism law is China’s internal affair. We hope the United States can calmly and objectively handle it,” she said.

Related: 美国信息霸权可以休矣(望海楼)–观点–人民网 美国为了自身的信息安全而不松懈警戒,有什么理由要求他国不向美国借鉴呢?至于说美国的信息技术与运营商不可能接受中方新规,所以要是中国坚持新规将不可能再同美国做生意,那恐怕过于自信。美国公司接受了本国法律,不正在美国做生意吗?中国的市场还在,中国本土可以替代美国技术和运营商的能力正在茁壮成长,中国不可能离开美国公司就失去了电信和互联网服务。为了维护自己的信息安全而要求自己的相关企业遵守本国法律,却指望它们在中国可以不尊重中国的信息安全,美国恐怕还在使用上世纪的日历。在我国全面推进依法治国的开局之年,我们有必要坚守国家的信息主权。这里不妨奉劝美国:己所不欲,勿施于人。

4. Doomsday: Preparing for China’s Collapse | The National Interest Provocative piece. I think even more important for US policymakers is preparing for Xi Jinping to succeed with his agenda  //  One of the first research-related steps is to identify the cohesive and centrifugal forces inside China. The CCP used its sixty-six years in power to dismember Chinese civil society and insert itself into any group with the potential to become a political force. Groups that could not be coopted, like Falungong, became pariah and hunted by the regime. Nascent civil-society and activist groups survive in the blind spots of China’s underlapping bureaucratic maze. Chinese political culture beyond the party needs to be understood if Washington wants to claim a “moral stake.”

Related: 社评:西方有人幻想“中国崩溃”上了瘾评论环球网 Global Times does not appreciate Peter Mattis’ piece on planning for a China collpase  //  有一些疯癫癫的文章来刺激我们的眼球,倒也未必就是坏事。我们至少知道了,西方真有一群人如此迫不及待地盼着中国“出大事”,国家政权瘫痪,社会四分五裂。这些人除了眼巴巴地等,做自娱自乐的痴梦,很可能还会干出点更具攻击性的行为,伤害我们的国家利益。我们还可从中知道,一旦中国有难,那些天天表达对中国人权关注的西方力量琢磨的大多是如何从中渔利。《国家利益》这篇文章一句未提一旦有极端情况中国人民可能会遭受的苦难,它的出发点是美国在发生“崩溃”后的中国如何实现自己的利益。

5. Feds raid alleged Chinese ‘maternity tourism’ operations in California – LA Times long overdue  //  You Win USA was one of three operations raided Tuesday by federal agents targeting “maternity tourism” schemes in which pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States, usually on tourist visas, so that their children will be born U.S. citizens. The raids marked the largest federal investigation of its kind aimed at cracking down against the widespread practice of foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. solely to give birth.

6. Translation: Why Chai Jing Got the Chop – China Digital Times (CDT) several propaganda offices, including in Shanghai and Beijing, have ordered websites and media organizations to tamp down the conversation. An essay by Bianweihuizhengwei (编委汇政委, roughly “Editorial Board Gathers Political Commissars”) has circulated online offering an explanation of the official backlash against “Under the Dome.” The author sees a direct connection among the impending National People’s Congress and People’s Consultative Congress (the Two Sessions), the interests of China’s state-owned oil companies (Sinopec and PetroChina), and the suppression of discussion about Chai Jing’s documentary. CDT has translated it in full:

Related: 拿区域经济换蓝天值得吗?腾讯新闻腾讯网 Tencent holds an expert roundtable discussion about economic growth and the environment, in response to “Under the Dome”

7. Code Words, Double Lives – Roads & Kingdoms I was on my way to visit Tom. He was a fu er dai, a second generation rich man. We had met on a gay chat app a few months back. He was 26, and owned a beauty products store, but it didn’t occupy much of his time. Mostly he just spent his family’s money. The problem was, he was gay and his parents were forcing him to get married.

8. Chinese military intelligence chief Xing Yunming held in graft inquiry | South China Morning Post Major General Xing Yunming, the former liaison office head of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Political Department, was taken away by the army’s anti-graft watchdog on February 17. He was in charge of overseas espionage and is better known to the West as the vice-chairman of the government-backed China Association for International Friendly Contact, which used to be the Department of Enemy Work.

AnchorBUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE

易纲:人民币不会加入贬值大军–时政–人民网 Yi Gang says China is not going to join the crowd in devaluing its currency

China to strengthen management of local gov’t debt_Xinhua The government will impose ceilings for local government debt, and place local government debt under budgetary management for general public finance and government-managed funds, it read. To contain fiscal risks, warnings will be given to regions where high risk is detected, and local governments will be urged to set up crisis management mechanisms and formulate contingency plans, according to the report. A system for releasing information on local government debt will also be established, with regular public disclosures, it said.

经济参考网 – 国企改革灰色地带将划监管红线 委员呼吁警惕国资流失这一潜藏毒瘤 《经济参考报》记者日前从权威人士处获悉,作为推进深化国有企业改革重要部分,针对目前正在进行的国企改革,国家层面正在酝酿相关政策防止国有资产流失。据预计,防止国有资产政策文件将先于国企改革顶层设计方案出台,并对改革中可能出现的“灰色地带”加强监管,保证国企改革顺利进行。

HR Head of Alcatel-Shanghai Bell ‘Found Dead in Shanghai River’ – Caixin The body of a human resources director at a major telecoms supplier who had accused company executives of corruption was found in a river about a month after he went missing, several sources say. The body of Jia Lining, the head of human resources at Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd. (ASB), was found in a tributary of the Huangpu River around Spring Festival, two sources close to ASB said.

房地产调控告别打压模式 委员吁一线城市放开限购新闻腾讯网 黄其森建议,北京等一线城市的限购政策也到了适度调整的时候。“有人建议在北京取消单价5万以上的商品房的限购,给北上广深的限购政策松松土。这有道理,但不如以总价为标准”。 他建议,松开总价千万以上高端住宅的限购政策,一方面,总价1000万元以上是个门槛,不是一般普通消费者所能承受。另一方面,近几年北京每年顶多消化两三千套此类产品,由于体量不大,放松限购后不会对整体市场造成太大冲击。因此政策松绑后不仅契合去行政化的调控思路,还可以激活市场,增加税收

How Alibaba’s U.S. IPO Got the Company Ordered Out of Taiwan – Bloomberg Business The hundreds of pages of pre-IPO documents, such as Alibaba’s prospectus, contained the information Taiwan’s investment commission needed to prove what it already thought it knew, Chang said. So now that it has evidence of the alleged Chineseness, it’s ordered Alibaba out by the end of August. They could either sell the business or close it, Chang said.

The Chinese have put out billboard ads announcing the renminbi as the new world currency When I arrived to Bangkok the other day, coming down the motorway from the airport I saw a huge billboard—and it floored me. The billboard was from the Bank of China. It said: “RMB: New Choice; The World Currency”

China Rongsheng Suspends Warrant Issue as Investor Detained – Bloomberg Business Wang Ping, owner of private-equity firm Kingwin Victory Investment Ltd., was detained last month on criminal allegations unrelated to the deal, according to people with knowledge of the matter. They asked not to be named because the move hasn’t been made public.

龙柏控制人王平被拘 熔盛重组成疑公司频道财新网 2月23日,大年初五,龙柏宏易投资集团(下称龙柏集团)董事长、实际控制人王平被北京警方刑拘。起因是涉嫌在投资东方家园时的资金使用存在问题。//Caixin on the Wang Ping detention

Alibaba Shares at Post-IPO Low After JD.com Tops Estimates – Bloomberg Business JD.com reported revenue of 34.7 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) in the fourth quarter, topping analysts’ average projection for 32.9 billion yuan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Beijing-based company also issued a forecast for first-quarter sales that exceeded predictions.

AnchorPOLITICS AND LAW

Ezra Vogel compares Xi Jinping unfavorably to Deng|WantChinaTimes China’s president, Xi Jinping, is lacking in global awareness compared to the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, although the two shared a zeal for reform, according to Ezra Vogel, author of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China and Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard University. Vogel was cited by Hong Kong-based newspaper Ming Pao as saying that Xi, like Deng, has been bold in his push for reform and development. He added that Xi should be praised for his anti-corruption campaig since he took over as head of the Communist Party at the end of 2012, stating that corruption is still very much present in China.

China’s letting men pour tea—and no one can decide if it’s to combat sexism or prevent ogling – Quartz To be fair, there are male attendants at the CPPCC each year. But whereas in the past, only women have been “lead pourers,” now men have taken over

Fixing China’s Distorted Urban Land Quota System-Paulson Institute NYU’s Yuan Xiao and MIT’s Jinhua Zhao draw lessons from China’s experiment with land quota linking and trading that consolidates rural residential land, and offer policy recommendations aimed at minimizing the adverse effects and side-effects of quota markets.

家暴非家务 最高法称以暴制暴视情节论专题频道财新网 关于家暴防治的讨论在中国已有20年,去年年底全国首部《反家庭暴力法(征求意见稿)》发布。今日最高法等四部门发布《关于依法办理家庭暴力刑事案件的意见》,同时《反家庭暴力法》计划在今年八月提交审议

China says NGOs need regulating for national security reasons | Reuters Fu Ying, spokeswoman for China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament, said she understood there were more than 6,000 foreign NGOs operating in the country, who had brought with them money, expertise and technology. “They have been beneficial for our development and have made contributions, but there are some deficiencies in their management,” she told a news conference, a day ahead of the opening of parliament’s annual meeting. China needed a law to better regulate them to ensure they had “sufficient legal basis” to operate in China, Fu said.

媒体称官方提“铁帽子王”有深意 不指老虎落马新闻腾讯网 人民网北京3月5日电 “学习小组”微信公众号4日关注官方多次提“铁帽子王”的背后深意。文章称,这几天“铁帽子王”成为中国政治语言中的新热词。这个词,是中国历史上的一个特有名词,它源于清代的封爵制度,指世袭罔替的王爵。笔者注意到,今年以来,这个历史上的特有名词被官方多次提及。 最早是出现在《人民日报》1月15日头版评论员文章《党风廉政建设和反腐败斗争永远在路上》中,文章说“腐败没有‘铁帽子王’,反腐败绝不封顶设限”第二次是出现在中央纪委监察部网站2月3日刊发的署名文章《不得罪腐败分子,就要得罪13亿人民》中,文章提到“在贪腐问题上,没有人能当‘铁帽子王’。”接着,就是出现在3月2日“两会”首场新闻发布会上,发言人吕新华在答记者问时提到“在反腐斗争中…没有不受查处的‘铁帽子王’。” // on the origin and meaning of the term “iron hat prince”

山东坠亡老虎系人大代表非法饲养 仅被罚3000元新闻腾讯网 owner of the shandong leaping tiger only fined 3000 rmb, calls for heavier penalty per the law but he is a local NPC member…

平说-少将朱和平与钦差令狐安,自述官场“躺枪”经历 令狐安,全国人大常委、中央第十巡视组组长令狐安,曾被误认为是令计划的父亲,有人甚至因此向他跑官;朱和平,朱德之孙、空军少将,最近因同名落马将军而躺枪。他们的叙述,就是一部活生生的现代官谱图。

Muslim Villagers in China’s Tianjin Come Out in Protest Over Alleged Graft-RFA A Tianmu resident surnamed Chen said villagers had sent a delegation to the township government again on Wednesday, but the government had done little to resolve the dispute. “They got involved, but they didn’t resolve the issue,” he said. “They are still protecting Mu Xiangyou, and we’re very unhappy about that.” He said Tianmu campaigners have estimated that Mu has made four billion yuan (U.S.$149 million) personally out of land and property sales to developers over the past three decades. // lots of issues in Tianjin…

人民日报人民要论:充分认识中华独特价值观–—从中西比较看 陈 来–人民网 如何把握我国传统价值观特别是社会层面的价值观特色,是价值观研究的重要课题。价值观的特色一般是通过对不同理念和事物进行比较、选择、取舍而显示出来的。因此,我们讨论中华价值观的特色,就不能局限于中华文化本身,而要将西方文化特别是西方近现代价值观作为比较对象。中华价值观与西方近现代价值观相比,主要表现出四大特色。–作者为清华大学国学研究院院长

人民日报社论:为协调推进“四个全面”凝心聚力-中新网 “四个全面”为早日实现中国梦擘画出清晰路线图。协调推进这一引领民族复兴的战略布局,人民代表大会制度作用独特、不可替代。全面建成小康社会,政治建设是五位一体总体布局的关键一环,始终需要人大在民主政治建设、政治文明发展、政治体制改革上接力爬坡。全面深化改革与全面依法治国形同“鸟之两翼、车之两轮”,统一于国家治理体系和治理能力现代化,在法治下推进改革、在改革中完善法治,始终需要人大在科学立法、执法司法监督和民主发展等方面久久为功。全面从严治党,运用法治思维和法治方式为党的建设新的伟大工程固本强基,始终需要人大提供坚实的法治支撑。波澜壮阔的“四个全面”伟大实践,为人大充分发挥根本政治制度优势、激发创新活力提供了前所未有的机遇和舞台。

AnchorFOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

China investigates second top officer for graft – sources | Reuters Guo Boxiong, 72, was a vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission until he stepped down in 2012. Another former vice chairman, Xu Caihou, was put under investigation last year for corruption.

朱和平:军队和地方出现团伙性腐败|跑官|党的建设_凤凰 Zhu Heping, vice head of the air force command academy and grandson of Zhu De, on PLA corruption  //  这两天,军队又集中公布了查处的14位高级军官。昨天,全国政协委员、空军指挥学院副院长朱和平少将接受了记者的采访。朱和平表示,现在的腐败有团伙性,有利益链条性。人事以及管钱管物的部门是腐败的高发区。 朱和平的另一身份是朱德之孙。

图解:十八大以来查处的军级以上“大老虎”–军事–人民网 infographic from People’s Daily online of senior officials detained for corruption so far

Chinese state media suggests retired general Guo Boxiong may be next to fall, after son comes under graft probe | South China Morning Post A commentary posted on the People’s Daily’s WeChat also suggested that the senior Guo might be in trouble, saying that there would be a bigger story after the junior Guo’s arrest. “Bigger dramas are coming in the military’s anti-graft fight,” it said. Other state media also highlighted the junior Guo’s name in the list of 14 accused. The WeChat post said this suggested the news was not just about the junior Guo. Rumours that father and son were being investigated for corruption have been swirling in overseas media for months.

Western ideology, market economy to blame for military corruption, says PLA official | South China Morning Post yes, western thinking no doubt behind the lust for jade, gold, women and moutai among other things… //  The opinion article penned by commentator and military cadre Peng Guangqian was published today in the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily, which is widely known for its nationalist tones. “In the face of the tide of market economy and Western ideology’s delusions, some of our military officials have failed to stand the test,” said Peng, a civilian military cadre of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who holds the rank equivalent to major general.

独家:黄宏卸任八一厂厂长新闻腾讯网 Huang Hong longer head of the August First Film Studio…a letter purportedly written by retired studio cadres to Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan is circulating on the Chinese Internet, claims all sorts of improprieties at the studio in the last few years, accuses Huang of close ties with Xu Caihou and suggests he bought his position, claims that a recent series of renovations at the studio were in response to a fengshui master’s advice among other allegations…no way to verify, certainly interesting timing…

政协代表爆反腐内幕:一个解放军团长要卖百万_加拿大家园网 恒昌国际集团董事长林晓昌指出,现在军中存在的买官卖官问题。他说:「我有个侄子在部队,一个人要提到连长,必须给20万(人民币,下同),(升)到营长,就要30万,到团长,就是100万,这是老规矩。//A CPPCC member’s alleged comments on costs for promotions in the PLA based on his nephew’s experience

平说-次帅儿媳的烂尾地产 郭正钢现为少将军衔。早在新年元旦之时,一桩涉及郭家、在浙江省军区土地上的生意就引起了《财经》的注意。 2015年1月1日当天,游人如织的杭州西湖边,著名景点“柳浪闻莺”附近,与西湖仅隔一条马路的浙江省军区大门前,近百人聚集在有节奏地高喊:“郭正钢,还钱!”“郭正钢,还钱!”不少游客被叫喊声吸引,过去询问究竟。现场,不少人用手机拍照,不过很快被维持秩序的警察和便衣制止驱散。// on dirty real estate dealings of Guo Boxiong’s daughter-in-law

How China uses J-visas to punish international media for critical coverage – Committee to Protect Journalists reciprocity idea may be gaining momentum where it matters…not sure what other choice there is at this point  //  One of the streams of thought, put forward in the discussions last month, was that there should be some degree of measured reciprocity: International journalists aren’t getting visas in China? Then, Chinese journalists in affected countries should be dealt with in a similar manner, some policy makers at the meetings proposed. That is not a positon CPJ takes– in China or elsewhere in the world. In June 2012, we cautioned against the passage of proposed House Bill H.R. 2899, the Chinese Media Reciprocity Act of 2011. The aim of the bill was to pressure Beijing into allowing more Voice of America reporters into China.

Arcadia officials cancel controversial trip to China – LA Times FBI sniffing around yet?  //  Amid rising tension about alleged foreign influence on city politics and development, Arcadia officials have scrapped a proposal to visit China and Taiwan and said they would reject money from three corporate donors that would have paid for the trip. Mayor John Wuo had proposed that a group of elected officials and department heads visit China and Taiwan to explore sister city relationships and observe Chinese government.

US Army Protects China Ties Despite Tensions-Defense News Amid reports the Pentagon has paused efforts to expand defense ties with China until the two nations can agree on rules for airborne encounters between their warplanes, Gen. Vincent Brooks, chief of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), said he received no instructions to reduce his engagements with the People’s Liberation Army. “I am not going to comment on whether that is a true statement or a policy, but I can tell you I was not given any instructions to reduce engagements,” Brooks said Wednesday at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event. “We are looking at every opportunity within our authority to do that. Some subject areas are not permitted yet as a matter of policy.”

PacNet #14 – The Time is Right for US-China Nuclear Dialogue | Center for Strategic and International Studies A meaningful official dialogue on strategic nuclear issues is needed to prevent lingering suspicion and distrust about each other‘s capabilities and intentions from damaging overall US-China relations. This will not happen, however, until Washington accommodates what Beijing perceives to be its legitimate security concerns and clarifies its own objectives, and Beijing realizes that further delay could undermine its long-term interests.

Colombia detains China Cosco Shipping vessel over illegal arms | Reuters The Da Dan Xia, operated by Cosco Shipping Co Ltd, was headed for Cuba when it was stopped on Saturday in the northern port of Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, after the materials were detected during an inspection. The cargo was listed in the records of the 28,451 deadweight-tonne ship as grain products. The captain of the Hong Kong-flagged vessel had been arrested, the attorney general’s office said. China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the ship was carrying ordinary military supplies to Cuba and was not in violation of any international obligations.

A Silk Glove for China’s Iron Fist by Brahma Chellaney – Project Syndicate China’s plans for the Silk Road combine economic, diplomatic, energy, and security objectives in an effort to create an expansive network of linked facilities to boost trade, aid strategic penetration, and permit an increasingly potent and active submarine force to play an expanded role. In the process, China aims to fashion an Asian order based not on a balance of power with the US, but on its own hegemony. Only a concert of democracies can block this strategy  // Author is Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research

Net Politics » Raising the Cost to Chinese Hackers Instead of raising the costs by engaging in active defense where small groups of U.S. hackers with highly detailed intelligence disrupt attacks in China before they hit U.S. networks, the one idea that generated any enthusiasm was to lower the value of the information Chinese hackers stole through deception.  // so continued impunity…another thing that might help is significantly raising the costs for US firms that do not take data protection seriously, especially defense contractors?

AnchorHONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

习近平:两岸关系走向关键在大陆发展新闻腾讯网 据新华社电中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平昨天下午看望了参加全国政协十二届三次会议的民革、台盟、台联委员,并参加联组会。他强调,两岸关系和平发展是一条维护两岸和平、促进共同发展、造福两岸同胞的正确道路,也是通向和平统一的光明大道,我们应该坚定不移走和平发展道路,坚定不移坚持共同政治基础,坚定不移为两岸同胞谋福祉,坚定不移携手实现民族复兴。 中共中央政治局常委、全国政协主席俞正声参加看望和讨论。// Xi stresses cross-Strait peaceful development, urges vigilance against Taiwan independence – Xinhua

Taiwan’s Marginalized Role in International Security | Center for Strategic and International Studies The complicated question of Taiwan’s sovereignty has led to its exclusion from virtually all international security organizations. This marginalization has left a critical hole not only in the security of Taiwan’s 23 million citizens, but also the world at large. Despite possessing both the means and intent to play a role as a responsible stakeholder, Taiwan can neither benefit from most international security bodies nor share its considerable reservoir of knowledge and expertise for the common good. This report highlights challenges to Taiwan’s ability to play a more active role in eight areas of international security: counterterrorism, law enforcement, maritime security, nuclear security, transportation security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, human security, and cybersecurity. The report also offers recommendations for expanding Taiwan’s participation in key international security organizations.

AnchorTECH AND MEDIA

Huawei plans big push to sell its phones, wearable devices in U.S. | Reuters China’s second-largest smartphone maker, already with more than $40 billion in annual revenue from a wide range of telecom gear and products, is preparing to introduce Americans to several of its smartphones and wearable devices this year, including its youth-oriented “Honor” phone, Huawei officials told Reuters. The company’s 2015 U.S. plans, which have not been previously reported, will encompass traditional advertising, online promotion and sports team sponsorships, said Huawei’s U.S. spokesman Bill Plummer.

‘China brain’ project seeks military funding as Baidu makes artificial intelligence plans | South China Morning Post Robin Li Yanhong, the founder and chief executive of online search giant Baidu, is looking to the nation’s military to support efforts which may make the mainland the world leader in developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems. One of the country’s wealthiest people, Li has proposed in his capacity as a delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) that the mainland establish the “China Brain” project. Li said the proposed project would be a massive, “state-level” initiative that could be comparable to how the Apollo space programme was undertaken by the United States to land the first humans on the moon in 1969. He told reporters on the sidelines of the CPPCC in Beijing that the military was welcome to join the project because it was a sector with extensive funding resources that had played a significant role in technology innovation and had huge demand for the latest hi-tech advances.  // how much of the research Baidu is doing in this area is being undertaken in its Silicon Valley offices, and did its US employees working on this ever receive grant money and/or other support from the US government?

经济参考网 – 信息安全“黑洞门”触目惊心 机构检测显示37%网站存漏洞 23.6亿条用户信息存泄露风险 记者日前从补天漏洞响应平台上收录的数据显示,目前该平台已知漏洞就可导致23.6亿条隐私信息泄漏,包括个人隐私信息、账号密码、银行卡信息、商业机密信息等。导致大量数据泄露的最主要来源是:互联网网站、游戏以及录入了大量身份信息的政府系统。根据公开信息,2011年至今,已有11.27亿用户隐私信息被泄漏。

‘Cat-And-Mouse Game’: Alibaba Exec on Fake Transactions – China Real Time Report – WSJ Alibaba spokespeople have said it tries hard to detect and remove fake transactions. It deploys sophisticated technological tools that allow it to detect unusual spikes in orders coming from the same IP addresses or being sent to the same mailing addresses. Still, Alibaba says some fakery is inevitable given that its Chinese shopping marketplaces host more than one billion product listings and more than 8.5 million sellers. In an interview at Alibaba’s  headquarters in Hangzhou, Chief Operating Officer Daniel Zhang discussed this and other questions with The Wall Street Journal

5 problems standing between Netflix and its ambitious China plans-TechInAsia wonder who is advising Netflix on their China strategy  //  Netflix wants to come to China. That’s what Ted Sarandos, the company’s chief content officer, told reporters earlier this week in Shanghai. Breaking into the Chinese market is an aspiration of many Western companies, of course, but Netflix’s vision is a little different: it wants to go it alone. Sarandos told reporters that the usual model for launching a Western tech service in China – partnering with a local company for a joint venture – doesn’t much interest Netflix. Such ventures are, Sarandos said, “difficult to manage.”

AnchorSOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

Tiananmen dissident Yuan Zhiming resigns from church duties after Chai Ling accuses him of rape: Shanghaiist Chai accused Yuan Zhiming, founder of China Soul for Christ Foundation, of raping her at her apartment in Princeton, New Jersey back in 1990, before either of them had converted to Christianity. Chai is a two-time Nobel Prize nominee and founder of All Girls Allowed, an organization focused on girls affected by China’s one-child policy. Yuan is a prominent voice in the Chinese Christian diaspora. Both are activists associated with the 1989 democracy movement in Beijing who fled China and eventually ended up in the US.

Migrant Hair | ChinaFile This photo series of Chinese hairdressers was made in the spring of 2012, in the city center of Chengdu in Sichuan province. There, some 16 percent of the city’s nearly 12 million residents are recent immigrants, like the individuals photographed in this project.

The Other China | ChinaFile Writers Michael Meyer and Ian Buruma engage in a discussion co-sponsoted by The New York Review of Books centered on Meyer’s new book, In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China, which combines immersion journalism, memoir, and historical research to create a portrait of the momentous changes underway in China’s often-overlooked countryside

AnchorENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

Power Hook-Up Policy a Live Wire in Guangxi – Caixin Transmission companies of China Southern Grid, which serves Guangxi and the reset of southern China, and State Grid, which serves the north, have for years been lobbying governments to approve the new fees now making waves in Yulin, said an official from the National Energy Bureau. Guangxi’s rule strengthened the monopoly-like grip of transmission companies, said the official. The companies wanted to hike fees as a way to shift transmission maintenance costs onto developers’ shoulders.

Prince William in China: illegal wildlife trade a ‘vicious form of criminality’ |The Guardian William said he had discussed the efforts China is making during his meeting with president Xi Jinping on Monday, who told him of China’s “intention to do more”.

BBC News – The man protecting China’s elephants But as Prince William heard from local conservationists and forestry police, the greatest threat to China’s wild elephants is no longer poaching but habitat destruction. It’s the same story I heard when I spent three days with Chang Zongbo of the forestry police, a man who has spent his life trying to protect what remains of Yunnan’s rainforest and its wildlife.

AnchorFOOD AND TRAVEL

Country Kitchen | Rosewood Beijing delicious, head chef came from the Grand Hyatt’s Made in China…in CBD  //  For an exquisite taste of Beijing, Country Kitchen presents an array of Northern Chinese specialties. With an open show kitchen and a wood-roasting oven, chefs demonstrate their culinary art with dishes such as hand-pulled Chinese noodles, Beijing duck and a variety of dumplings.

China Fieldwork Semester Blog » A Weekend Trip to Shaxi Shaxi (沙溪) is a historic market town on the tea and horse trade route leading from Yunnan to Tibet and Burma. We were lucky enough to get the opportunity to visit this historic center of life. When we arrived it was the weekly market day in every sense of the term. // what a great high school program

AnchorBEIJING

KING OF PEKING: a film about juggling fatherhood and piracy by Sam Voutas — Kickstarter A heartwarming story about movie piracy. Join a Sundance Lab alum to make a flashback comedy set in 1998 China, when DVD was king.

AnchorJOBS AND EVENTS

The Jamestown Foundation’s Fifth Annual China Defense and Security Conference   Thursday, March 12, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 4:45 P.M.   Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW The Root Room (2nd Floor) Washington, DC

Ad/Marketing/Business background Intern wanted for an overseas media company | the Beijinger Los Angeles Times

There are a number of job openings at the U.S.-China Economic & Security
Review Commission in Washington, DC, links to PDFs:

TEAM LEAD AND SENIOR POLICY ANALYST, SECURITY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

TEAM LEAD AND SENIOR POLICY ANALYST FOR ECONOMICS AND TRADE

POLICY ANALYST, ECONOMICS AND TRADE

POLICY ANALYST, SECURITY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

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