"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
稳增长信号再释放：7.5%“下限论”替代“左右论”_
Related: 住建部密集调研 棚改料加力_宏观_中证网 Party Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has recently made several recent inspection tours of shantytowns, looks like there will be even more efforts directed towards shantytown redevelopment, aka more investment stimulus // 住建部党组书记陈政高日前赴湖南调研，并在长沙、株洲、
Cities eye ‘house-for-hukou’ to boost property market | China Daily Forget about handsome discounts and promotional giveaways, lower property prices are no longer tempting enough to lure prudent buyers to a housing market mired in a downward spiral. But some Chinese cities have found new bait to whet the appetite – easier access to hukou.//analysts expecting China’s real estate markets to all crash need to explain why politically that makes sense for Beijing…Yes, the government still has many levers to stem outright crashes…China may be kicking things down the road, but the country has a lot of feet, and a lot of road left even with the recent debt surge
Related: 楼市进入白银时代（感言）–山西频道–
Related: 限价政策执行现松动 开发商：“本身也不敢高报”_财经频道_一财网 price restrictions on new real estate developments appear to be loosening, even in Beijing-CBN // 目前无任何书面或口头示意北京限价政策趋松，但今年以来，
Related: 广州楼市低调松绑：
Related: 人民日报：楼市遭别有用心者唱空 房价调整正常 |房价调整|楼市唱空|房地产政策_新浪财经_新浪网 Peop
Related: 房地产下楼梯_杂志频道_财新网 this week’s Caixin looks at the real estate market, says in a period of adjustment but will not crash // 在房地产市场出现分化的情况下，
【请问】许善达谈税改_视听频道_财新网 Caixin video interview with Xu Shanda (Bio), retired deputy director of State Administration of Taxation. Xu doesn’t expect property tax for at least three years, also discusses overall tax reform, likely pathways for reducing overall tax burden. ..17 minutes
Chinese scholar refutes former U.S. official’s criticism of China’s Asia-Pacific diplomacy – Xinhua A Chinese scholar has refuted former U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley’s allegations at the World Peace Foruma here that China’s diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific has escalated regional tensions. Wu Xinbo, executive dean of Institute of International Studies with Fudan University, told the People’s Daily Saturday that Hadley’s allegations reflected the U.S. concerns about China’s rise in the Asia-Pacific and the U.S. intention to complicate the situation in the region. First, the U.S. overreaction to China’s proposal at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) shows the United States has not adapted itself to the new situation, said Wu who is also a participant in the forum// Original Chinese on Hadley’s comments 前美高官列中国在亚太地区“罪状” 中国学者驳斥
网络主权：一个不容回避的议题（权威论坛–人民网- 网络基础设施有国界，网民有祖国，网络公司有国家属性。
After port fraud, China’s vast warehouse sector under scrutiny | Reuters greedy and lazy, no one should be surprised there is fraud, the banks deserve whatever losses coming their way // “The banks still haven’t looked under the hood,” said an executive at a bank involved in commodity financing in China, referring to China’s warehousing sector. At the heart of the issue is China’s roaring commodity financing business, which has helped drive up stockpiles of commodities at ports to record levels, stored in warehouses not always regulated to the same extent as elsewhere. Though many global firms are involved in the warehouse industry in China, there has been outsourcing to local firms to cut overheads and avoid dealing with complex local regulations.
James Surowiecki: America’s History of Industrial Espionage : The New Yorker That’s not to say that the U.S. should turn a blind eye to China’s piracy—the Justice Department is supposed to look after the interests of American citizens. But, just as in a loom factory, the pattern repeats: engaging in economic espionage is something developing countries do. When you’re not yet generating a lot of intellectual property on your own, you imitate. These days, China is going to try to steal, and the West is going to try to stop it. But the tactic of using piracy to leapfrog ahead? That looks like an idea it stole from us.
The Strange Case of Datong, China’s Half-Finished Faux ‘Ancient’ City – CityLab An ambitious former mayor started gutting the historic city center and replacing it with replicas. Then he left town.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
China’s City of London blessing is part of a bigger design | George Magnus Ultimately, however, it is mistaken to believe that the Chinese authorities have it within their power to establish the RMB as a global reserve currency, even if they could. They can certainly allow it to be more widely used, and it is or will be the dominant currency in Asia without any doubt. But reserve currencies have historically been far and few between, and come of age as markets, agents and participants demand something for the purposes of commerce, trading, storage, and a unit of account that, crucially, they trust. Don’t expect the Communist Party to change its judicial, legal, and governance systems and institutions in a hurry, if at all. My guess is that 25 years from now, the RMB may account for about the same proportion of global reserves as the Japanese Yen, or roughly 7-8%, and that the US dollar will dominate global finance for a very long time to come.
China’s wealth management products total 2.1 trillion USD – Xinhua Wealth management products (WMPs) have been booming in China in the past few years, totalling 12.8 trillion yuan (about 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of May, a senior official of China’s central bank said Saturday. The growth of China’s WMPs market had been at a rate of between 60 and 80 percent annually for a few years before it decelerated to 30 to 40 percent in 2013, Pan Gongsheng, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said at a forum in eastern coastal city of Qingdao.
小房企年利息60%借不到钱 房价多降就资不抵债|小房企高利贷危局|资金链断裂|降价困境_
As LED Industry Evolves, China Elbows Ahead – NYTimes.com A year ago, China’s light-emitting diode industry seemed like a case study of industrial policy gone awry. Hundreds of factories built all over eastern China, often with lavish clean energy subsidies from state-owned banks and local governments, were operating at half capacity. The share prices of LED manufacturers were plunging. Now demand is surging, and the Chinese manufacturers suddenly find their factories running at full tilt, churning out LEDs faster and cheaper than global rivals.
Chinese Speculators Burned by Bitcoin Turn to IPO Market – Bloomberg Chen Yifeng, a 36-year-old accountant in Shanghai, says he’s found China’s last sure bet. It’s not the property market, where prices have started falling from record highs, or gold, which left him nursing two years of losses. Returns from trust products are too low, he says, and bitcoin is too risky after the virtual currency tumbled 48 percent from its December high. For Chen’s 50,000 yuan ($8,033) of investable cash, only initial public offerings will do.
Chinese consumers switch gears from cash to credit for car buys | Reuters In a country where owning a car has long been a symbol of luxury and success, around 85 percent of Chinese car buyers still buy cars with cash. But people like Chinese accountant Grace Mi and her peers in their 20s and 30s are changing the car financing game and are the ones catching the attention of global carmakers looking to boost revenue and defend margins in an increasingly competitive market.
Ferragamo CEO sees improved growth outlook in H2, upbeat on China | Reuters For China the medium-term outlook is extremely positive and growth in the travel retail market is still very rapid.” The group increased its annual sales at stores it operates directly in China by 10 percent in the first quarter, though geopolitical tensions between China, Japan and Vietnam had an adverse impact on its wider business in Asia, said Norsa.
学区房乱象：不惜重金“求一房”，能否如愿入名校？-地方频道-
China Beige Book Shows Economy Slowing on Investment – Bloomberg For the first time since the China Beige Book survey began in 2012, no sector showed an improvement compared with the previous quarter, according to today’s report. Transportation, mining and retail slowed and services weakened more sharply.
董事长失联经营失控 债权人云集中都集团讨说法_21世纪网 Chairman of Zhongdu Holdings, a large Hangzhou-based conglomerate, has disappeared. Creditors, and there are a lot, are worried, the local government has issued a missing persons announcement…have they checked Orange County? // “入梅”的杭州，天气说变就变。杭州知名企业中都控股集团(
POLITICS AND LAW
在法院“做官”，还是做“法官”？_杂志频道_财新网 Caix
无罪释放者_高清图集_新浪网 slideshow of people released after years in jail for wrongful convictions
普洱发布“鱼塘浮尸”初查结果_头版_新京报电子报
Attack on China’s Xinjiang Police Station Kills 13, Xinhua Says – Bloomberg Officers shot to death 13 people who attacked a police station in China’s northwestern province of Xinjiang today, the official Xinhua News Agency reported today, citing the local government. “Mobsters” rammed the building with a truck and set off explosives before being killed, Xinhua said. No civilians were hurt and three policemen were slightly injured in the attack in Yecheng county, according to the report.
Five Police Officers Killed in Attack on Xinjiang Security Checkpoint-RFA Five police officers have been killed in a pre-dawn attack on a security checkpoint in China’s restive far-western region of Xinjiang after government officials harassed ethnic minority Muslim women wearing head scarves and men with beards, according to police and residents. Unknown assailants on Friday stabbed two police officers guarding the checkpoint in Qaraqash (in Chinese, Moyu) county in southwestern Hotan prefecture and then set fire to a room in the building where three police officers were taking a nap, police said.
Cuffed knifeman ‘apologizes’ for holy war assault in China’s Xinjiang | Reuters The knife attack occurred last Sunday in a crowded chess hall in the city of Hotan in troubled Xinjiang, the traditional home of ethnic Muslim Uighurs. Two of the attackers died from serious injuries, while the remaining one, Muer Zhati, was arrested, China Central Television (CCTV) said on Saturday. “I just listened to them and did something like this, hacked people,” Muer Zhati was shown as saying on CCTV. “I’m sorry, I apologize for my behavior. I just want to say I’m sorry.” Muer Zhati, who was shown on television wearing an orange prison vest and handcuffs, said members of his group had advocated a holy war, telling him that he could obtain a straight path to heaven.
争做“四强”干部（声音）–时政–人民网 People’s Daily runs excerpts of a talk Xinjiang Party Secretary Zhang Chunxian recently gave to the Xinjiang Party committee
陕北400余农民私分争议土地 自称打土豪分田地|农民分土地_新浪新闻 Peasants in Shaanxi take back land, divide amongst themselves, use slogan from 1950s land reform “beat the local tyrant, divide up the land”..the word for lcocal tyrant is 土豪 (tuhao), which now of course is also used to describe egregiously crass nouveau riche // 新京报讯 (记者萧辉) 6月1日，陕西靖边县84户400多名农民私自成立分地工作队，
王文元同志遗体火化 习近平等在八宝山公墓送别_网易新闻中心 6 of the 7 PBSC members (Li Keqiang had not yet returned to Beijing) attended Sunday funeral services in Beijing for Wang Wenyuan (bio) // 新华网北京6月22日电 著名的社会活动家，九三学社的杰出领导人，
江西萍乡落马官员被曝与“大师”王林颇有交集_新闻_腾讯网 a
中共中央至少有18个中字头小组 习近平兼4个组长_新闻_腾讯网 Beijing Youth Daily says there at least 18 leading small groups at the party Center level, and Xi chairs 4 of them…interesting bout of somewhat increased transparency in official media about these groups, wonder why
官员水灾救援怕湿鞋要人背被免职 -新华法治-新华网 Jiangxi official visiting site of floods worried about getting his shoes wet, has a colleague carry him across a stream…photo goes viral, official loses is job…again, this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Expert warns China of Vietnam’s blackmail on oil rig tension – Xinhua In an article carried by Sunday’s China Daily, a Beijing-based international relations expert warned that China should be “particularly vigilant” of Vietnam’s trick to depict itself as a “victim” in the South China Sea dispute. Lu Yang, a Beijing-based scholar, wrote in his article that Vietnam intended to orchestrate a self-injury scenario to slander China for taking advantage of its stronger national strength to “bully the weaker”, so as to win sympathies and support. He suggested that China should avoid head-on clashes from troublemaking Vietnamese vessels and collect and publish evidence on provocative Vietnamese behaviors.
Evolution of Sino-Russian Defense Cooperation since the Cold War | The Asan Forum Defense cooperation has contributed to a shift in the balance of conventional military power towards China; yet Russia has taken measures to counter this, such as limiting sales of advanced systems. Moreover, while Russia has had very little influence in China’s decision to focus on its maritime regions, Russia’s security has benefitted from it. Since 1996, China has concentrated chiefly on building forces necessary to support its sea denial strategy. Russia directly supported these efforts by providing China with the kinds of weapons suitable for such a strategy, which are less useful in a potential land campaign against Russia. Moreover, China’s maritime buildup has fueled a growing arms race with the United States, as reflected in the US “pivot to Asia” and the development of the “Air Sea Battle” counterstrategy. This dynamic seems likely to continue, which would keep China focused more on potential threats to its east than on its less threatening neighbor to the north for the foreseeable future.
Country Report: China (June 2014) | The Asan Forum interesting summary of recent writings of several influential chinese foreign policy thinkers
China’s Charm Offensive to Korea: A New Approach to Extend the Strategic Buffer | The Asan Forum China’s new approach to Korea is a clear reflection of its traditional strategic mind of buffer zone mentality. The major objective of its status quo oriented North Korean approach and its South Korean policy focusing on a charm offensive is to extend its comprehensive influence over the Korean Peninsula. China’s confidence in its national capability vis-a-vis the United States, its snarling ties with Japan and ASEAN neighbors, and its uneasy relationship with the Pyongyang regime forced it to come up with the charm offensive to Seoul. South Koreans, however, evaluate China’s charm offensive ambivalently. They welcome economic co-prosperity with China and diplomatic cooperation on North Korean affairs, while they are concerned about China’s potential challenge to the US-ROK alliance. Since the core of China’s buffer zone mentality is the exclusivity of its control over the peninsula, China’s charm offensive to Seoul may result inevitably in a zero-sum situation for Seoul. Although the policy of hedging may guarantee South Korea’s national interests for the time being, the Seoul government, in the meantime, has to find a long-term diplomatic strategy to convince China that South Korea with its US alliance still suffices as an efficacious buffer zone.
Why Values Matter in Australia’s Relations with China | The Asan Forum–John Fitzgerald New Zealand Overseas Chinese specialist James To observes that Beijing has gained overwhelming dominance of Chinese language media in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands following a concerted effort at content placement and media industry networking by China’s embassies and consulates in the region. This effort is part of a larger proactive strategy of “group management, extra-territorial influence, counter-infiltration, and counter subversion” targeting Overseas Chinese communities generally—particularly Chinese students abroad—to ensure their loyalty to Beijing wherever they happen to be domiciled.7 Beijing’s investments in Australia’s Chinese language media have had negligible impact on the broader Australian public, but they are earning high dividends among the Chinese-Australian communities targeted through an active public-diplomacy program that is highly strategic, clearly focused, and generously supported. Through China International Radio, the World Chinese Media Forum, and other arms of the party-government, the Central Propaganda Bureau outlaws the slightest criticism of the CCP or PRC government on its Australian radio and press networks. It pre-packages its own content for placement in local media, including layout, editing, and typesetting, and has largely banished alternative news sources from co-placement on Australian networks.
China’s Jiaolong submersible set for Pacific voyage – Xinhua Jiaolong, China’s first manned deep-sea submersible, is scheduled to leave for a voyage in the northwest Pacific Ocean on June 25, according to oceanic authorities. Its carrier, Xiangyanghong 09, left the eastern port city of Qingdao on Saturday. It will pick up Jiaolong from the city of Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA)’s North China Sea Branch. During the 40-day voyage, Jiaolong will conduct research on cobalt-rich crusts in the ocean and is expected to return in August, according to the SOA branch.
金一南少将：说军队整个腐败了是危言耸听 – 中国军网 Interesting interview with Gen Jin Yinan
戴旭：美对华攻心战思想总纲曝光 不少国人被洗脑 – 中国军网 Dai Xu and America’s plans to subvert China through psychological warfare, claims CIA behind a fifth column to push “color revolutions” around the world…is the top story Monday morning, with a large, bold headline, on China Military Online. Many people in China believe this to be true, and seemingly more by the day // 美国中情局操纵的新型“第五纵队”是怎样在全球策动“颜色革命”
Sinica Podcast: Isolda Morillo: una vida en China This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy are delighted to be joined by Isolda Morillo, a Peruvian journalist for the Associated Press whose life story is as interesting as they come. Growing up in Beijing in the 1980s, where she attended local schools, Isolda went on to attend university in South America before launching a career in journalism which has taken her to Cuba, France and the United States as well as back to China.
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
Hundreds of thousands vote in Hong Kong democracy ‘poll’ in defiance of Beijing | Reuters Nearly 600,000 votes have been cast in three days of an unofficial referendum on democratic reforms in Hong Kong, part of a civil campaign that has been branded illegal by the former British colony and by Communist Party authorities in Beijing.
TECH AND MEDIA
整治网络转载乱象 力挺传统媒体维权–时政–人民网 State copyright Bureau official talks with People’s Daily about the recently launched campaign to cracked down on online copyright violations of traditional media products
网瘾少年的死亡特训_深度_新京报网 The Beijing News takes an in-depth look at a Henan institution for treating kids with Internet addiction where a teenager died earlier this month…these places are awful, but so is Internet addiction, and the parents are desperate // 河南搏强学校的19岁少女郭玲玲因上厕所未向教官报告，被“
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
土改中农民如何学会“诉苦”-2014-06-22 叶匡政 真话频道 只有在诉苦中让农民强烈地感受到“苦”，
China’s Grand Canal added to World Heritage list – Xinhua China’s Grand Canal, the longest artificial waterway in the world, was inscribed on the World Heritage list on June 22, 2014. The Grand Canal with a history of more than 2,400 years was recognized by UNESCO World Heritage Committee which convened its 38th session in the Qatari capital. The 1,794-km canal runs from Beijing to Hangzhou in China’s eastern Zhejiang province.
Silk Road recognized as world heritage| China Daily China gained its 46th World Heritage Site designation on Sunday after the UNESCO’s 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in Doha, Qatar, approved a portion of the Silk Road to be included in the list. The successful international application of “The Silk Roads: The Initial Section of the Silk Roads, the Routes Network of Tian-shan Corridor” — which involves China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan — thus becomes one of the biggest items on the list in terms of geographic distribution.
The Latest Icon in Artistic Rebellion: A Cabbage – NYTimes.com His work, he says, is an attempt to raise questions about people’s relationships with the fleeting yet important objects in their lives. In April he took the cabbage performance to a music festival near Beijing, where he was joined by cabbage-toting friends and fans. The images went viral, prompting reports in the foreign news media of a bizarre fad emerging among Chinese youth desperately seeking uncomplicated emotional companionship in an increasingly alienating world. Soon it became clear that Mr. Han was behind the scene, though he said he appreciated others reinventing the act as they see fit.
外国人玉林品狗肉 民众聚集欢送_高清图集_新浪网 A couple of foreigners sample dog met at the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, attract a crowd. Slideshow
【媒目】桃花镇上建僧尼寺，亵渎了谁?_媒目_新京报网
FOOD AND TRAVEL
MH370 captain plotted route to southern Indian Ocean on home simulator – Telegraph The pilot of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane which disappeared in March with 239 people on board had plotted a flight path to a remote island far into the southern Indian Ocean where the search is now focused, investigators have discovered. The route, which was deleted before MH370 disappeared on March 8, was made on a home flight simulator machine used for practice by its captain, Zaharie Shah. Its discovery has intensified suspicion that he deliberately hijacked his own plane and diverted it from its approved flight path to Beijing.
China, U.S. airlines carry 4.4 mln passengers – Xinhua A total of 4.4 million air passenger trips were made in 2013 between China and the United States, according to latest Chinese official data. Seventeen companies from China and the U.S. carried the passengers and 150,000 tonnes of freight, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.
Hainan launches Beijing-Boston nonstop service| China Daily Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest carrier, launched its Beijing-to-Boston nonstop service on Friday with the arrival of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Logan International Airport. The maiden flight landed just after 3 pm local time, giving Hainan its third destination in the United States. Return flight 482 was scheduled to leave Logan at 5:10 pm, with a scheduled arrival of 6:50 pm the next day. The airline will use the Dreamliner for the new four-day service on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. But starting on July 18, the carrier will switch to daily flights until Aug 31, Joel Chusid, executive director of Hainan USA, said on Friday.
BEIJING
北京菜贩鞋匠纳入反恐情报体系 随时用手机反馈_新闻_腾讯网 Beijing enlists vegetable sellers and cobblers into is anti-terror surveillance network ..”if you see something, say something”…oh wait, that is in the US…