"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
We had a lovely week in Paris, I need to find more reasons to go back for a visit.
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. Closer Look: Vaccine Scandal Has Roots in Officials’ Push for Profits-Caixin The State Council issued rules for vaccines in 2005 that divided them into two categories. The mandatory category 1 vaccines, such as those for hepatitis B and tuberculosis, are provided to the public by the government for free. Category 2 vaccines included those that members of the public can choose to get at their own expense. The first type is strictly controlled by provincial-level disease control authorities, from purchase to distribution and inoculation. The expenses are covered by the government and are transparent, a person close to the disease control department in Shandong said. The business of category 2 vaccines is more complicated. The 2005 rules opened the door for more market players to participate in the production and sales of non-mandatory vaccines in the hope that competition would lead to fairer prices. But open competition also brought problems. // If you want to lose the confidence of your citizens, mess with their childrens’ health
Related: Official vaccine investigation begins – Xinhua The group, established by the State Council, will be led by Bi Jingquan, head of the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). Senior officials from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Supervision and the CFDA are deputy heads. Officials from the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Cyberspace Administration of China and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate are also in the team. //How many times has this occurred?
Related: Illegal vaccine fallout: clinics deserted as public lose confidence; lawyers support patients’ rights; failure blamed on ‘private market’ Chinese media outlets such as Sohu Health are reporting that parents are staying away from vaccination clinics as they have lost confidence in the safety and quality of the vaccines being offered. Reporters who visited community health centres in Guangzhou found them almost empty, and with the few families there expressing concerns about the vaccines being used. A doctor on duty at a clinic in Tongling said: “Usually at this time we should be full of people. But many parents do not dare vaccinate their children at this time. For the last two days we have been calling people telling them that our vaccines are safe but they are still reluctant to come. They say they are waiting for this matter to blow over.”
2. College Board gave SAT tests that it knew had been compromised in Asia Security breaches abroad are increasingly significant for U.S. higher education because schools are allocating more seats than ever to foreign students. About a third of the 761,000 degree-seeking foreign students in America come from China, according to the Institute of International Education. Overseas students are especially attractive because most don’t qualify for financial aid and thus pay full price. Chinese students spent almost $10 billion on tuition and other goods and services in America in 2014, Department of Commerce statistics show. Evidence that some foreign applicants are displacing Americans because of an unfair advantage on the SAT could add to a backlash against standardized testing in college admissions
Related: How Asian test-prep companies quickly penetrated the new SAT Reuters was shown two documents that reveal far more substantial holes in the SAT’s defenses. Both documents contained entire sections from exams given on March 5. The College Board said it has a “long-standing policy” not to comment on what may be on an exam. Reuters verified the authenticity of the documents nonetheless with people familiar with the new SAT’s content – including students who took the test. The first file, offered free by a Chinese online test-advice company called SAT Helper, reconstructs one version of that day’s exam booklet. It had a 52-question reading section with five text passages – including the Chavez letter and the plate tectonics essay. The second document was shown to Reuters by a Chinese tipster who had warned the College Board last year about security breaches. It contained images of another version of the March 5 test.
Related: The long march from China to the Ivies | 1843 The vast majority of Chinese applicants end up in large state universities, many in the American Midwest, where populations of more than 4,000 Chinese students (out of student bodies of more than 30,000) can segregate into miniature Chinatowns on campus. But name-brand universities have a cult-like allure…Competition for entrance into these schools is ferocious. Of the roughly 40,000 Chinese students applying to universities in the United States last year, around 200 were accepted into Ivy League schools. As a Beijing-based consultant puts it drily: “Harvard only accepts seven or eight Chinese students a year, and one of them is bound to be the offspring of a tycoon or a leader.”
Related: Heavy Recruitment of Chinese Students Sows Discord on U.S. Campuses – WSJ At first glance, a huge wave of Chinese students entering American higher education seems beneficial for both sides. International students, in particular from China, are clamoring for American credentials, while U.S. schools want their tuition dollars, which can run two to three times the rate paid by in-state students. On the ground, American campuses are struggling to absorb the rapid and growing influx—a dynamic confirmed by interviews with dozens of students, college professors and counselors.
3. 环球时报刊文：“文革”50周年 反思不应偏激|“文革”50周年|反思“文革”_新浪新闻 目前舆论场上有两种针锋相对的声音，其中有一部分人主张“重新评价文革”，认为“文革”有反官僚、反腐败的正面价值，并且举证“文革”期间氢弹爆炸、卫星上天等成果，宣称“文革”的这些积极面被长期隐没了。“重新评价派”的圈子不大，他们中最激进的鼓吹者尤其很少。 另一派人士则主张重新全面反思“文革”，认为国家一直在故意隐瞒“文革”的真相，并且宣称“文革”有可能卷土重来。这一派声音在互联网上相对更强些。 第一种声音直接与党对“文革”的正式评价相抵触，其错误性比较容易辨识。这种观点虽能得到一些有民粹主义色彩的附和，但它的边缘特征十分明显。 后一种声音从相反方向吸引了另一拨民粹主义者，汇集了当下更多的不满情绪，又有一些较有影响的公知举旗，在网上形成了一定的声势。由于50周年的契机带动了社会的正常记忆和反思，这种声音还有较多的围观者。然而“全面反思派”似乎是故意混淆了几个情况。一是他们把第一种“极左”声音混淆为中国的某种普遍思想动向，或明或暗地指责官方推动了它的出现。二是他们将“文革”没有得到反思当成现实来批判，而几乎不提上世纪70年代末至80年代初国家对“文革”从思想、组织直至法律上的全面清算。三是他们喜欢过度使用“文革”标签，把现有的各种问题都与“文革”相联系，证明“文革”还会再来。// Global Times on discussion of the Cultural Revolution on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the start of the disaster
4. Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee passes two documents – Xinhua Two documents were passed Friday at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee presided over by General Secretary Xi Jinping. One is about integrated military and civilian development, the other on the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. There is a pressing need for integrated military and civilian development, as it is related to the national security and prosperity, according to a circular issued after the meeting. Economic growth and defense buildups should both be achieved in a coordinated, balanced and compatible way, the circular said.
Related: 中共中央政治局召开会议 审议《关于经济建设和国防建设融合发展的意见》和《长江经济带发展规划纲要》 中共中央总书记习近平主持会议CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1央视网(cctv.com)
5. AP Investigation: How con man used China to launder millions Gilbert Chikli was rolling in money, stolen from some of the world’s biggest corporations. His targets: Accenture. Disney. American Express. In less than two years, he made off with at least 6.1 million euros from France alone. But he had a problem. He couldn’t spend the money. A tangle of banking rules designed to stop con men like him stood between Chikli and his cash. He needed to find a weak link in the global financial system, a place to make his stolen money appear legitimate. He found it in China. “China has become a universal, international gateway for all manner of scams,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Because China today is a world power, because it doesn’t care about neighboring countries, and because, overall, China is flipping off other countries in a big way.”
6. Alliances best step against greater conflicts – Global Times [Update: Global Times deleted this article so the link now goes to the Google cached version] Editor’s note: The Sino-US relationship has been experiencing some fluctuations lately. Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University, has suggested that forming alliances abroad can help China smooth the bilateral ties. How will it work? How should the two sides further develop their relationship? Can China and the US can escape Thucydides Trap? The following content is based on Yan’s recent lecture “Strategies for China’s rise and changing international environment.”…GT: You have once said that both China and the US are refusing to admit that they’re in competition. Is that still true? Yan: That’s correct. Beijing and Washington are now trying to ease tensions with each other by pretending to be friends. But this strategy is obviously not working. The root cause is the fact that the core of this bilateral relationship is competition, rather than cooperation. // Why does it seem so hard for some in DC and academia to accept this fact? “Serious” people in Beijing seem to have no doubt this is the case.
7. China’s banks and bad debt: where from here? — Medium — Eric Burroughs This is as much about the financial development of a large and still fast-growing economy as about really dealing with bad loans. If the capital outflow problem has been overstated, mainly because banks/companies are paying down FX loans/debt, then China is free of one of its very few vulnerabilities. And this is where I really disagree with Michael Pettis. China’s ability to monetize this debt will only severely hurt households if it results in a hyperinflation that seems unlikely. The PBOC has plenty of means to monetize the paydowns of some of this debt to relieve the burden on AMCs, banks, policy banks and others in a way that isn’t going to be inflationary. The bigger problem is not the forced low-return environment on household savings as the lack of financial development that has sparked a chase by the burgeoning middle class for returns in slightly dodgy financial products. Finally doing away with the deposit-rate cap is a start but only a start. Ultimately, China needs a major reformation of its banking system as part of a broader financial maturation for an economy of its size…This is where it starts to get very interesting, if not in the hyper-crisis manner portrayed by so many these days.
8. Blackwater’s Founder Is Under Investigation for Money Laundering, Ties to Chinese Intel, and Brokering Mercenary Services What began as an investigation into Prince’s attempts to sell defense services in Libya and other countries in Africa has widened to a probe of allegations that Prince received assistance from Chinese intelligence to set up an account for his Libya operations through the Bank of China. The Justice Department, which declined to comment for this article, is also seeking to uncover the precise nature of Prince’s relationship with Chinese intelligence.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
China’s state pension funds can now invest big in the country’s volatile stock markets – Quartz Beijing can invest nearly $100 billion of China’s state pension funds, about a third of the total available for investment, into the country’s volatile stock markets this year, state media reported, bringing a “wave of liquidity” to the moribund markets. Previously, China’s pension funds, which account for 90% of the country’s social security funds, were only allowed to invest in safer assets like bank deposits and treasuries
两位证监会前副主席开火，肖钢到底做错了啥 主持人（王波明）：欢迎各位来参加今天最后一天一个比较热门的题目：“闯祸”的杠杆。我先介绍一下在座各位嘉宾。今天我们有三批人： 第一批人是高西庆先生和李剑阁先生，这两位都是中国早期证监会副主席，所以都是咱们资本市场的监管者。应该鼓一下掌。 第二批人我们的学者，财政部前科研所所长贾康先生，人大金融研究所所长吴晓求教授。这两位都是对资本市场有很多研究。我也注意到贾康先生前一段时间已经发表过文章，就是关于去年股市波动的看法。 最后一批人，市场的参与者。高盛投资管理部中国副主席暨首席投资策略师哈继铭。哈博士曾经也是中金公司的。还有一位海外的朋友，加拿大养老金投资委员会国际部总裁MarkMACHIN。中文名字是马勤。管理2800亿美金。// interesting Boao panel on the stock market, with Gao Xiqing, Li Jiange, Jia Kang, Wu Xiaoqiu, Ha Jiming, March Machin
The Fall of China’s Hedge-Fund King – The New York Times “The level of corruption is beyond your imagination,” a prominent Beijing-based hedge-fund manager told me over coffee several weeks after Xu’s arrest. Like all my sources, this fund manager was extremely nervous about being interviewed. The irony of the crackdown was clear: Though a lack of transparency had clearly shattered the market, the Chinese government was responding with a crushing clampdown on information. The fund manager insisted that I could not use his name, for fear of being blacklisted or arrested. The ubiquity of wrongdoing, he said, did not make anyone safe. “No one knows who will be next. If they want to catch you, they will catch you.”
Anbang Has the Money for Foreign Deals, Its Chairman Insists-Caixin Insurer “has assets that far exceed 1 trillion yuan,” says Wu Xiaohui, whose firm aims to buy Starwood Hotels and Resorts // I still don’t understand how CFIUS will approve an Anbang-Starwood deal without significant conditions. Starwood has a lot of data on US citizens, including government employees
What’s Driving Insurer Anbang’s Big Bang?-Caixin good 2015 story trying to unravel Anbang’s structure
Chinese Bidder for Starwood Has Mysterious Ownership Structure – WSJ Several Wall Street banks haven’t gotten internal clearance to pursue work with Anbang in the past, partly because it is unclear who effectively owns the company, people familiar with the matter said. None of those people said the banks had ruled out working with Anbang in the future.
Anbang global shopping spree fuelled by leverage – FT.com “If there is any risk that the takeover activities will slow, it would likely be due to tighter regulations of bidders’ financial leverage,” Vincent Chan, head of China research at Credit Suisse, wrote in a recent report. “China’s insurance regulatory agency has already stated concerns about the usage of funds raised from insurance products to support these bids.”
The Credit Card Loophole That Gets Around China’s Capital Curbs – Bloomberg The most popular polices in Hong Kong, agents say, are those that combine a life insurance element and an investment component. These can be cashed out after a few years, at which point the money can be used for property investment or other purposes, raising fewer questions about how the money left the Chinese mainland. Hong Kong’s insurance regulator last year warned of growing money laundering risks through such policies.
Vanke’s $116M Manhattan Deal Stars In NYC Scandal | Mingtiandi The city comptroller – New York’s top auditor – has already subpoenaed city hall for details of how a deed on the 118-year-old Rivington House on the Lower East Side was changed last year to allow Vanke and two local partners to purchase the former AIDS clinic for conversion into luxury condos.
Cuts Push Coal, Steel Sectors into Corner-Caixin At the NPC meeting on March 6, Heilongjiang Governor Lu Hao said former coal miners laid off by the provincial government-owned local Longmay Mining Holding Group were being encouraged to seek new business opportunities in farming and forestry. The government has opened an extra 20,000 hectares of land to farming and 100,000 hectares to forest management in hopes former miners will change careers. So far, Lu said, the project has been successful. Since September, some 22,500 former miners have found new jobs, he said, and 100,000 or more will likely make the switch in the future. The Henan government, meanwhile, has set aside 200 million yuan to help coal companies and miners weather the transition. Pingmei Shenma Group, which is owned by the Henan government, plans to lay off 50,000 of its 130,000 workers and cut production capacity by 6 million to 7 million tons from 70 million tons over the next three years. But in many communities, economic fears are mounting.
东北经济困局网易新闻网易网 策划概述：辉煌，是东北经济的过去。困顿，是东北经济的现在。共和国长子的荣光映照在记忆的角落里，是什么造就了东北的今天？
Shenzhen Says It Plans to Spend Billions to Attract Talent-Caixin Shenzhen gave those luminaries three options should they come to the city. The first was a one-off cash payment of 6 million yuan. The second was a 10-year lease on a 200 square meter apartment, which could be kept if the person stayed for the entire period. That offer also included local household registration privileges, which entitle the holder to health care, education and other public services. The final option was 10 million yuan in cash and benefits, payable after 10 years.
Zimbabwe law to hit Chinese firms – Global Times Chinese companies and experts expressed concerns on Sunday over renewed efforts in Zimbabwe to enforce a controversial law that requires foreign firms to sell stakes of at least 51 percent to locals in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean government has asked all foreign companies in the country to comply with the law or face closure, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday. Youth, Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwao announced on Wednesday that the deadline for compliance would be April 1, 2016, and that firms would lose their licenses to operate if they failed to meet it, Xinhua reported, citing the state news agency New Ziana. // with friends like these…
POLITICS AND LAW
To silence its critics abroad, China goes after their families at home – CSMonitor.com Some Sinologists have said the letter was written in the style of party members; Bishop said it was difficult to tell. While disgruntled cadre have distributed such letters during past internal power struggles, said Bishop, there have also been instances of “overseas groups” distributing bogus documents to create the appearance of dissent in the party. Bishop also noted that exiled Chinese activists have long had to weigh if their actions abroad could have repercussions for their families. Following the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protestors, hundreds of student activists fled to Taiwan, the US, and other countries. Some have been told by Chinese authorities that they can only return to visit family if they abandon their anti-PRC activism.
省部级官员近期密集调整的重要看点是啥？ 事儿”（微信ID：gcxxjgzh）注意到，在“交接班仪式”上，新任河南省委书记谢伏瞻和新任陕西省委书记娄勤俭在讲话时，都谈到了“核心意识”，两人一致表态，要坚决维护习近平总书记这个核心。
辽宁纪委书记林铎转任甘肃省委副书记|职务调整|刘伟平_凤凰资讯 日前，中央决定，林铎同志任甘肃省委委员、常委、副书记，刘伟平同志不再担任甘肃省委副书记、常委、委员职务，另有任用。
意识形态工作关乎党和国家前途命运－2016年03月25日 《红旗文稿》2016/06 作者：鲁 言 党的十八大以来，面对意识形态领域日益错综复杂的形势，习近平总书记发表了一系列重要讲话，深刻阐述了意识形态工作的重大理论和现实问题。这些重要论述，站在时代和全局的高度，对意识形态工作进行了全方位战略思考，为做好新形势下意识形态工作指明了方向、确立了原则、提供了遵循。
文艺上的历史虚无主义思潮-2016年03月25日 《红旗文稿》2016/06 作者：刘润为 改革开放以来，在涉及历史题材的文艺创作上，多数作家、学者都能做出正确的选择，产生了不少优秀文艺作品和学术著作。与此同时，历史虚无主义的东西也在滋长蔓延，其主要表现是：“有的调侃崇高、扭曲经典、颠覆历史，丑化人民群众和英雄人物”。（习近平《在文艺工作座谈会上的讲话》）只有彻底纠正这一错误倾向，才能保障以人民为中心的创作导向落到实处。
贺卫方：答王银川吴伟bj新浪博客 昨天你发表的致我的公开信已经读过。我的那篇微薄前天发表，而且很快就被屏蔽，你能够这么快就写出洋洋洒洒八千言的文章与我商榷，可谓小扣引发大鸣。对于你的批评，我非常感谢。一种观点发表出来，总希望得到回应。即便是激烈的批评，也有助于论者反思，发现自己的不足。例如你提供了共青团中央预算的信息线索，让我知道本年度该机构的财政状况（虽然按照民主标准，那样的公布还是太笼统，缺乏细节。我知道日本对于国家机关预算的规定具体到每一顿公务接待开支）。另外，对于团中央的人员编制，包括各个级别干部的数量等，似乎还是很难查考，我很希望你以及其他网友能够帮助把详情加以展示，那毕竟是政府以及公权力机关信息透明的基本要求。 关于我要求共青团回归到真正的民间地位的呼吁，你引用了《中国共产党章程》里的话，强调它在政治上的重要性，但是请注意，党章以及相关的任何官方文件里都明确地说共青团是“群众组织”
乡镇团委书记致贺卫方先生的一封公开信 – 乌有之乡 我最后真的就想问一句：您公然发表那么多言论，也是党内民主？您发表的那么多和《党章》不一致、和党中央不一致的言论，也能算“批评党”？您把党内同志和人民群众的智商就想象的那么低？
China newspaper editor ‘resigns over media control’ – Telegraph Yu Shaolei, the editor of Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, posted his resignation notice on his social media account, under the title “Unable to follow your surname”, an apparent reference to Mr Xi’s call. Along with a screenshot of the resignation notice, he had also written a note explaining his decision. “I’m getting old; after such a long time (kneeling), my knees can’t stand it anymore,” Mr Yu said, in the post that appeared to be deleted two hours after it was posted on Sina Weibo
中纪委解答纪律处分条例中的”有关规定”指哪些规定–时政–人民网 人民网北京3月29日电 据中央纪委监察部网站消息，《中国共产党纪律处分条例》全文有几十处提及“违反有关规定”或者“不按照有关规定”。关于“有关规定”是指哪些规定的问题，中央纪委法规室近日给予解答。
People’s Daily Chief Warns of ‘Historic Mistake’ if China Loses Grip on New Media – China Real Time Report – WSJ In a lengthy essay published [Last] Monday, Yang Zhenwu, chief editor of the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, warned that Beijing could make a “historic mistake” if it fails to control new media and harness it for propaganda. “To lose speech is to lose power,” he wrote — apparently without irony — about the challenge facing state media.
人民日报评论部：重创新别失思想内核–观点–人民网 ——坚守融合时代的媒体信仰② 本报评论部
求关注别丢理性定力（人民观点） ——坚守融合时代的媒体信仰③ 本报评论部
当代中国马克思主义哲学创新发展的典范（深入学习贯彻习近平同志系列重要讲话精神） 必须结合时代特点、根据实践需要，吸收现代文明成果，对传统文化进行创造性转化和创新性发展。在这一过程中，我们要坚持以马克思主义为指导，以当代中国发展的实践为基础，对传统文化采取批判继承的态度，坚持古为今用的原则，既要反对历史虚无主义，又要避免复古主义。综上可见，习近平同志从国家兴盛、民族复兴的高度把握核心价值观和文化软实力建设的重大意义，从历史与现实、理论与实践相统一的角度阐释文化发展规律和核心价值观培育的科学路径，对马克思主义价值哲学进行了符合中国现实国情和时代特征的科学运用与创新发展。- 郝立新-（作者为中国人民大学马克思主义学院院长）
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Obama Faces a Tough Balancing Act Over South China Sea – The New York Times When dozens of world leaders gather for a summit meeting in Washington on Thursday, President Obama will meet privately with only one of them: President Xi Jinping of China. The one-on-one session signals the importance of the relationship, as a rising China seems determined to be the dominant player in Asia, and the United States vows to retain its power in the Pacific. But relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in 15 years. // why 15 years?
North Korean Propaganda Video Depicts Nuclear Strike on Washington – The New York Times The four-minute video clip, titled “Last Chance,” uses computer animation to show what looks like an intercontinental ballistic missile flying through the earth’s atmosphere before slamming into Washington, near what appears to be the Lincoln Memorial. A nuclear explosion follows. // next time the PRC goes into histrionics over THAAD deployment discussions with the ROK, US negotiators should just show them this video
U.S. hopes China will accept missile defense talks | Reuters U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system was a necessary step by the United States to protect itself and regional allies from North Korea missile attacks. “We realize China may not believe us and also proposed to go through the technology and specifications with them …and prepared to explain to what the technology does and what it doesn’t do and hopefully they will take us up on that proposal,” Blinken told the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington
China and North Korea: The long goodbye? | Brookings Institution For the first time, China has begun to fully acknowledge that North Korean actions pose a direct threat to vital Chinese security interests, and that Beijing is no longer prepared to rationalize or ignore the threat. Beijing has also concluded that its inaction was damaging personal and political relations between President Xi and President Park. But the driving factor is that China is no longer prepared to tolerate the cavalier, near-contemptuous attitude of Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s impetuous young leader, toward his principal source of economic support. // this article seems hopeful, not sure it is this clear that China has really shifted
Analysis – A Chinese Way of War-Defense News A new paper by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) warns of misreading Chinese tea leaves, such as the tendency of US-based China-watchers to use mirror imaging, ignore China’s lack of transparency and use of subterfuge, and the fact that the Chinese military advocates no differentiation between peace-time and war-time use of cyberwarfare. // “The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress”
No trespass by Chinese vessels: Malaysian navy- The Straits Times In an apparent about-face, Malaysia’s navy yesterday said no Chinese vessels had encroached into Malaysian waters after investigating claims by the maritime authorities that 82 fishing boats were spotted off Beting Patinggi Ali, in the hotly disputed South China Sea. Malaysia’s National Security Minister Shahidan Kassim had said last week that three Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) ships and navy assets were sent to the area after aerial monitoring found a group of Chinese fishing boats there.
Xi meets Zeman at Czech president’s country home on state visit – Xinhua | English.news.cn Xi arrived earlier Monday in Prague for a three-day state visit. It is the first state visit by a Chinese president in 67 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. It is also Xi’s maiden visit to the CEE region since he assumed presidency in 2013 and his first trip to Europe this year. Xi told Zeman that China and the Czech Republic have a long history of friendship despite the distance between them, and that he expects to elevate the bilateral ties to a new level with his visit. After visiting the Czech Republic, Xi is expected to travel to Washington D.C. to attend the fourth Nuclear Security Summit, which is to be held from March 31 to April 1.
Chinese hacker who tried to steal US military data ‘deserves respect’ – state media | World news | The Guardian “We have no reliable source to identify whether Su has stolen these secrets and transferred them to the Chinese government. If he has, we are willing to show our gratitude and respect for his service to our country,” stated the editorial. “On the secret battlefield without gunpowder, China needs special agents to gather secrets from the US. As for Su, be he recruited by the Chinese government or driven by economic benefits, we should give him credit for what he is doing for the country.”
China Sets up Joint Research Center on South China Sea-CRI The joint research center was unveiled on Friday at a symposium held on the sidelines of the 2016 Boao Forum for Asia. The China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea, includes the established think tanks across China and Southeast Asian countries. Wu Shicun is the director of the Chinese institute
Chinese military ends era of providing paid services to concentrate on soldiering | South China Morning Post The People’s Liberation Army and the nation’s armed police are set to stop providing all paid services in a move to curb corruption and make the army more loyal and focused on combat. The reform, first announced by President Xi Jinping in November, is expected to be completed in three years, according to a recently released document by the Central Military Commission, the army’s official newspaper PLA Daily reported.
戚建国上将出任中央军委联合参谋部副参谋长人事风向澎湃新闻-The Paper 据中国新闻网报道，3月28日上午，出席中越两军第三次边境高层会晤的中央军委联合参谋部副参谋长戚建国一行，受到越南国防部副部长阮志咏率队迎接。 澎湃新闻从上述报道中发现，原总参谋部副总参谋长戚建国上将已经出任中央军委联合参谋部副参谋长一职。
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
社评：“港独”宣布建党，猖狂全球无双评论环球网 比如“港独”明明是伪命题，但它所消耗香港社会注意力的比例却越来越大，这座城市不得不分出部分精力陪一小撮“港独”分子玩。他们形成了香港一个奇怪的“热闹”，自己撒泼，引来怀有不同目的看热闹的围观者。他们自己算不上什么力量，但有可能为一些引申的麻烦提供由头。 希望香港主流社会体系足够强大成熟，能够就对付“港独”这样的政治泼皮形成有效办法。无论是冷落忽视他们，还是依法规制管束他们，都能浩然正气，绝对主动，而不让那一小撮人搅和了香港的正事。
China warns U.S. not to endorse Taiwan observer status in Interpol – Xinhua China warned the United States not to endorse observer status for Taiwan in the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on Monday. U.S. President Barack Obama signed a bill on Friday which requires the U.S. secretary of state to develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan in Interpol.
TECH AND MEDIA
China proposes tighter restrictions on foreign websites – FT.com Experts were still studying the draft rules on Tuesday. Charlie Smith of Greatfire.org, a website devoted to monitoring Chinese online censorship, said the wording appeared to be purposefully vague, which in practice could allow enforcement agencies to do with it what they wished. “I think the language being used is probably not exactly clear and that the authorities have purposely made things unclear and open to interpretation or, as the case may be, misinterpretation” he said. // Internet Domain Name Management Rules (Opinion-seeking Revision Draft) « China Copyright and Media
China launches 24 bln USD IC base project – Xinhua A state-level integrated circuit base project has broken ground in central China’s Hubei Province, with an investment of 24 billion U.S. dollars in the coming five years. Construction started on Monday in the East Lake High-tech Zone in Wuhan City, capital of Hubei. The project focuses on research and development of memory products. Monthly production capacity will reach 300,000 chips in 2020 and 1 million in 2030.
Father of China’s Great Firewall to lead new cybersecurity association | South China Morning Post The newly founded Cyber Security Association of China – the first of its kind in the country – consists of companies in related industries, such as internet giants Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and telecom firms China Mobile and China Unicom. It also includes top universities and research institutes in the field, including the National University of Defence Technology, Peking University and some institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Microsoft built a special version of Windows 10 for China-TNW Often, companies will have to bend to suit the requirements of China’s government and that’s exactly what Microsoft has done. Ralph Haupter, Microsoft’s CEO for the Greater China region has revealed that the company’s made a Chinese government-approved version of Windows 10.
This Chinese browser gathers a crazy amount of your data and then stores it unsafely – The Washington Post A report published Monday by the Citizen Lab, a research center at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, found that both the Windows and Android versions of Tencent’s wildly popular browser gather large amounts of personal data and transmit them without adequate encryption.
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
How Britain saved Chairman Mao’s mistress from the communist regime | Home News | News | The Independent What this newspaper could not report then, but can do now, is that among those granted asylum in Britain was Chen Luwen, a woman in her 50s who had become Chairman Mao’s mistress as a teenager. She was not a pro-democracy activist, but she had fallen out with the regime. Without doubt she knew too much – most of which she told to Nick Harris, a young reporter working for The Independent on Sunday.
Lingering Curse of a Factory’s Deadly Dust-Caixin removing metal flecks from the air was far less routine – in fact, officials say, negligently infrequent – before an explosion ripped through a Zhongrong Metal Products Co. auto wheel-polishing factory in Kunshan, a gritty factory town in eastern China’s Jiangsu Province, on August 2, 2014. Management negligence toward what’s considered standard housekeeping at a metalworks factory was one reason cited by investigators for the blast that killed at least 146 and injured 114 of the 265 employees on the job that fateful day.
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
China pushes for mandatory integration of renewable power | Reuters China has ordered power transmission companies to provide grid connectivity for all renewable power generation sources and end a bottleneck that has left a large amount of clean power idle, the country’s energy regulator said on Monday. The grid companies have been ordered to plug in all renewable power sources that comply with their technical standards, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said.
In Beijing, Turtle Man heralds the arrival of spring – LA Times “What are you going to do if you don’t sell it?” we asked, wondering whether there was any prospect the turtle might escape the soup pot and live to see another spring. Turtle Man, though, was entertaining no such notions. “Cook it myself, of course!” he said. “Good for my health.”
安定医院副院长王刚：安定医院抑郁症就诊量年涨20%深度新京报网 王刚是安定医院副院长、抑郁症治疗中心主任。他近日接受专访称，安定医院每年针对抑郁症的总门诊量以百分之十几、二十的速度上涨；抑郁症还做不到精准治疗；公众的误解和对疾病知识的匮乏是最不应该存在的阻力。//Deputy head of Beijing’s Anding Hospital says the hospital’s depression diagnoses are increasing 20%/year. Depression is a real problem in China, and the health system nowhere near capable of handling all the cases
China Energy Planning and Transition | The Energy Collective China’s two key energy and climate targets, energy intensity reduction and carbon intensity reduction, move in different directions for the 13th Five Year Plan, compared to the levels set in the Twelfth Five Year plan, with energy intensity decreasing from 16% to 15% and carbon intensity increasing from 17% to 18%. China managed to overachieve both targets in the Twelfth Five Year Plan, with energy intensity decreasing 18.2% and carbon intensity decreasing 20%. Given the decrease in carbon intensity of 20.2% in the Eleventh Five Year Plan and the further decrease of 20% in the Twelfth Five Year Plan, achieving a reduction in carbon intensity of 18% over the next five years means that China will very likely overachieve its 40-45% carbon intensity reduction target for 2020.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ISSUES
China’s Rural Youngsters Drop Out of School at Alarming Rate, Researchers Find-Caixin Three million village teenagers leave school every year, experts say, a problem that could come back to haunt the economy
China to count left-behind children – Xinhua China will carry out a nationwide census on rural left-behind children, those whose parents work away from home, to ensure proper arrangements for their lives and education. The census kicked off Tuesday and will last until the end of July. It will collect information on the number and distribution of these kids, where they live, family structure and education, according to a statement issued at a press conference by the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) on Tuesday.
马铃薯主食化 也要靠“大妈”（三农微观察）–时政–人民网 马铃薯主食化，要实现供给侧和需求侧的精准对接。认真对待消费者的需求，马铃薯主食化推广的步伐就能加快 一直被当做盘中菜的马铃薯也能成为碗里的主食。近日，农科院举办了一场马铃薯主食化的研讨会，在现场展览出了150多种马铃薯主食产品，除了马铃薯馒头、面条、米粉等大众化主食，还有马铃薯热干面、乌冬面和栲栳栳等富含地域特色的主食。参展的观众举起手机，争相和马铃薯主食产品合影。
China to End State Corn Stockpiling Amid Glut, Xinhua Says – Bloomberg Business The government will encourage state and private firms to buy corn at market prices and offer credit support to farmers, Xinhua reported late Monday, citing a press briefing by the National Development and Reform Commission. It will also promote changes in crop cultivation and move to reduce existing stockpiles, the news agency said. The changes will affect the 2016-17 season.
EDUCATION
About Three-Quarters of Students Going Abroad Return to China: Report-Caixin About three-quarters of Chinese students studying abroad have returned home after finishing school in recent years, the Ministry of Education said on March 25. Statistics released by the ministry showed that 523,700 Chinese students went overseas to study in 2015, 14 percent more than the year before. Some 409,100 students returned home last year.
BEIJING
聚焦谁炮制了“天价”学区房?新闻频道_央视网(cctv.com) 孩子的教育问题是绝大多数家长的头等大事，为了让孩子能进好的学校，很多家长不惜重金购买学区房。近期，一条有关北京天价学区房的消息让“天价学区房”的概念再次被刷新。有网络媒体报道，北京西城区文昌胡同的一套学区房，卖出了每平方米46万元的天价。这到底是一套怎样的房子？又是谁买走了这套房子呢？
独家|双京籍家长二孩落户与计生脱钩 摆脱“黑户”命运政经频道财新网 北京市东城区已有双京籍家长的二孩成功落户，不再需要计生相关证明；北京其他区域的新政近几天也将逐渐落地。但是，单京籍家长的计划外生育子女何时可以落户，尚未明确
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