"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
Hong Kong tycoons descend on Beijing for Xi meeting | South China Morning Post The delegation includes some of the city’s richest people, including Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Hutchison Whampoa chairman Li Ka-shing; Lee Shau-kee; New World Development chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun; Wharf Holdings chairman Peter Woo Kwong-ching; CLP Holdings chairman Michael Kadoorie; and Lui Che-woo. Their companies alone boast combined net assets of HK$1.75 trillion. The group will attend a seminar today held by the National Development and Reform Commission on the country’s economy. They will meet Xi in the Great Hall of the People in the afternoon
Related: [视频]习近平会见香港工商界专业界访京团_
Related: Hong Kong Students Lead Democracy Fight With Class Boycott – NYTimes.com Hong Kong, with a population of about seven million, has more than 78,000 undergraduates enrolled in its seven main universities and a teacher-training college, and there are about 10 smaller colleges. Organizers said about 13,000 students attended the rally, but did not immediately have an estimate of the number of students who boycotted classes on Monday.
Related: Teenager Joshua Wong picks up democracy baton in Hong Kong – FT.com Joshua Wong looks like any other university student in Hong Kong. Wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, the young man worries about the dying battery on his Samsung phone while sipping a cappuccino in a Kowloon café. The 17-year-old freshman badly needs his phone to stay on. As activists have challenged Beijing over its controversial plan for political reform in Hong Kong, he has become one of the leading voices of his generation advocating democratic reform.
China Beats U.S. in Per-Capita Pollution for First Time – Bloomberg “We are nowhere near the commitments needed to stay below 2 degrees Celsius of climate change, a level that will be hard to reach for any country, including rich nations,” said Corinne Le Quere, co-author of the report and a director of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, England. “CO2 growth now is much faster than it was in the 1990s, and we’re not delivering the improvements in carbon intensity we anticipated 10 years ago.” Each person in China produced 7.2 tons of carbon dioxide on average compared with 6.8 tons in Europe and 1.9 tons in India in 2013, according to the study by the Tyndall Center and the University of Exeter’s College of Mathematics and Physical Sciences.
Related: Q. and A.: Glen Peters on China and Climate Change – NYTimes.com In an interview, Glen Peters, a senior research fellow at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo and a scientist with the Global Carbon Project, discussed why China poses such a big challenge for curbing global warming:
Related: China Coal Peak Imminent Makes Coal Risky Investment: Study – Bloomberg Investments in coal assets may be hit by falling costs for renewable energies and tighter regulation to combat global warming, said the group, which promotes the idea that the world can’t burn all the fossil fuels it’s investing in while meeting its climate goals. “There are a host of signals that Chinese demand for coal is close to peaking which will cause a seismic shift in the market,” Anthony Hobley, chief executive officer, wrote in a report released today. “This is potentially a risky business for investors.”
China Clamps Down on Web, Pinching Companies Like Google – NYTimes.com China’s crackdown on foreign Internet services coincides with two trends. One lies in the country’s growing worries about domestic terrorism, particularly after a series of deadly attacks at train stations this year. The other is ever-rising nationalism, directed primarily at Japan but also at Japan’s allies, notably the United States. President Xi Jinping of China, who is also the Communist Party chief, has made clear that he wants to maintain the party’s primacy. He has signaled the importance he places on controlling the Internet by personally taking the top position in the party‘s leading group on cybersecurity. // and will get worse…amidst all the media hype about the great Chinese Internet entrepreneurs, of which there are many, ask how they would do in a market not completely protected from competition with Internet giants like Google and Facebook…given the size of the Internet market in China, it now looks inevitable that Beijing’s protectionism is going to increase friction in the US-China relationship, as the big US Internet firms are realizing that their strategy of hoping for scraps if they behave well is still failing and they may begin to use their formidable DC lobbying operations to push on this issue
Related: Beijing’s Rising Smear Power – NYTimes – Murong Xuecun An article in the Beijing Daily in September last year offered an explanation for the trolls’ expansion: “The Internet has become a main battlefield in today’s ideological war. Anti-China forces in the West attempt to take advantage of the Internet, which can be manipulated to alter the balance power to defeat China…. If we don’t seize control of [the Internet], someone else will.” In the past, such grandiose statements could be laughed off, but as an increasingly bold China flexes its muscle abroad, this is no longer a joke: This is war and China declared it. What will the world look like if the Chinese government wins?
Related: Chinese and US tech giants face off in the war for talent | Business Spectator Chinese tech giants such as Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba and Huawei want to shed their images as American copycats and are investing heavily in research to develop new cutting-edge technology. Their new hiring sprees of Western scientists and engineers are a strong indicator of their global ambitions. These companies are not only competing with Western rivals for market share and consumers, but also for global talent. It is time Western companies took notice. // Western governments may be taking notice given that some of these people took western government research money to help develop their expertise
PLA reshuffle strengthens Xi Jinping’s hand in corruption fight | South China Morning Post The generals have yet to be named, but sources said Liu Yuan, the political commissar of the PLA general logistics department, and Zhang Youxia, head of the general armaments department, both stood a good chance. At least one of them will be named vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, which exercises command and control of the PLA, at a key Communist Party meeting next month, various sources said. Three sources said that Liu may be tasked with heading the military’s discipline commission. Eventually both may join Xi, who is also the chairman of the CMC, to form a core leadership of the highest military command.
“中国模式”成功的制度原因–时政–人民网 Zhang Weiwei has a long piece on p6 of Monday’s People’s Daily on the system (institutional?) origins of the success of the “China Model”. Zhang is a Fudan Professor and senior fellow at Eric X. Li’s Chunqiu Institute, among other positions // 对复杂的制度安排作简练的概括不失为话语建设的一个好方法。
Related: The China Model: A Dialogue between Zhang Weiwei and Francis Fukuyama – The New Legalist Zhang Weiwei in 2012
Related: 中华文化视角下的中国政治制度 Zhang Weiwei interviewed in latest issue of Red Flag Manuscript
揭王岐山露面玄机:露面偏少月份 落马高官数量较多_新闻频道_中华网 long Caijing piece on “Wang Qishan in the eye of the storm”…among the findings, that the less Wang appears in public the more officials subsequently get taken down…Wang was out of the public eye for almost a month, just weeks before Zhou Yongkang was officially taken down
Dim Sums: Rural China Economics and Policy: China’s GMO Impasse The lack of trust in “big business” and technocratic government–based on the belief that their interests are intertwined and are divergent from the interests of the general public–is exactly what is pushing Western societies into a post-modern food system that rejects GMOs and yearns to return to “local food,” “heritage breeds,” and chickens in the backyard–exactly the kind of subsistence agriculture that China is trying to get away from. This post-modern view of the food system is rapidly gaining traction in China and undermining the country’s “scientific development” project.
Joint Intel Chief Says US Must ‘Better’ Understand China Strategy « Breaking Defense The man responsible for indicators and strategic warnings at the Pentagon, the so-called J-2, told an audience of intelligence experts and industry types that the US suffers from a “data glut but an information deficit” about China. “We need to understand their strategy better,” Rear Adm. Paul Becker said this afternoon at the annual Intelligence and National Security Summit here. Our intelligence analysts need to come to closer grips with China’s grand strategy (if it has one), “interim objectives” and their “main campaigns” so they can better serve commanders and other senior leaders, he said…And in a very interesting sidebar, Becker made clear that he worries the US lacks the sort of towering intelligence analysts we once possessed: “Where are those people for China? We need them?”
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
Alibaba’s Banks Said to Boost IPO Size to Record $25 Billion – Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA)’s initial public offering became the biggest ever at $25 billion, after bankers exercised an option to boost the deal size by 15 percent on strong demand, a person familiar with the matter said. The underwriters exercised a so-called greenshoe option to sell an additional 48 million American depositary shares, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the information is private
Nanjing Joins Cities Dumping Limits of Home Purchases – Caixin The city’s government said on September 21 it would no longer require homebuyers to present documents required by an old policy that barred residents with a Nanjing hukou, or residency permit, from owning more than two homes in the city and those without a hukou from having more than one. The limits were imposed in February 2011. The change came after home prices in Nanjing fell in August by 1.3 percent from July, recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows. That was the worst single-month decline the city has seen for six years. Before that, Nanjing’s home prices fell month-on-month in July and June. // only six cities still have housing purchase restrictions–Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Sanya
传四大行首套房标准将放松 房贷还清都算首套_财经频道_一财网 rumor that the big 4 banks will loosen requirements for first time mortgages, which are currently much harder to get than they were a few years ago…could be a fillip for the sagging property market // 有传闻称“首套房认定标准将放松”已获得申万地产证实，
FAW Group mired in anti-corruption storm｜WantChinaTimes The image of Jilin-based state-owned FAW Group Corporation has been tarred by a series of financial problems involving several high-ranking executives of the business group over the past few years and a subsequent anti-corruption probe, which threw the company into the limelight, Guangzhou-based Time Weekly reports. At the end of August, Jilin prosecutors launched an investigation into allegations of serious disciplinary violations by Li Wu, a former vice president of the FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company, a subsidiary of the FAW Group, and FAW-Volkswagen Audi Sales Division deputy general manager Zhou Chun.
China risks ‘balance-sheet recession’ as stimulus impact wanes – FT.com Authorities want banks to channel those funds into the real economy, but bankers and analysts say that weak credit creation in recent months is due more to lack of demand from borrowers than to constraints on bank lending. That raises the spectre that China may slip into a so-called “balance-sheet recession”, the kind of economic slump in which monetary policy loses its effectiveness because highly indebted companies concentrate on paying down debt and remain unwilling to borrow even when interest rates fall. Weak demand for goods amid a slowing economy further depresses appetite for investment.
Why would a Chinese tech company buy a $16 million Morgan Hill golf course? – Silicon Valley Business Journal An affiliate of a Chinese technology company has paid about $16 million for Coyote Creek Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus-designed property located on the edge of south San Jose, the latest deal in a burgeoning wave of overseas investors targeting diverse Bay Area real estate assets. The buyer is an entity associated with Beijing-based Sumavision Technologies Co. Ltd., which makers hardware and software for video delivery and broadcasting.
3名央视记者在陕西遭地产项目数名保安暴打(图)_
Short sellers target China, this time from the shadows | Reuters Short-sellers who profit from stock price declines have resumed targeting Chinese companies after a three-year lull, but many of the researchers who instigate the strategy are now cloaked in anonymity, shielding themselves from angry companies and Beijing’s counter-investigations. Three reports published this month separately accused three Chinese companies – Tianhe Chemicals, 21Vianet and Shenguan Holdings – of business or accounting fraud. All three companies said the allegations were baseless but their shares were hit by a wave of short-selling by clients of the research firms and then by other investors as the reports were made public.
Ultrasonic CEO says did not abscond with money – Sina | Reuters The chief executive of German-listed shoe maker Ultrasonic AG told the Chinese news outlet Sina that reports he absconded with millions of dollars of company money were wrong, saying he had been out of the country for a vacation and medical check.
China’s war on graft leads to drop in outbound investment – FT.com Analysts believe the main reason for the disappointing performance is a lack of major Chinese offshore energy investments this year, which they say is largely due to President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, which has particularly targeted the Chinese energy sector. “As the [Chinese] oil companies have come under scrutiny from corruption investigators, that has reduced their risk appetite when it comes to offshore investment,” said Thilo Hanemann, an expert in Chinese outbound investment and research director at the Rhodium Group, a research consultancy. “The lack of big headline energy deals is a big drag on the total outbound investment number.”
Chinese Overseas Buying Increasingly Shifts to Private From State – WSJ “The theme of outbound China M&A has changed. State-owned enterprises are no longer the only buyers going overseas, private companies in industries like consumer and technology have started doing high-profile acquisitions on the global stage in recent years,” said Stephen Gore, Asian-Pacific head of mergers and acquisitions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
News Analysis: New accounting regime ends “GDP supremacy” – Xinhua At least 70 counties have adopted people’s livelihoods and environmental protection as the major criteria for assessing officials’ performance instead of GDP growth. “In the long term, economic restructuring is a necessity for China; in the short term, such a restructuring is urgent especially after the impact of the global financial crisis,” said Xie Lujiang, professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Xie said that the fundamental purpose of restructuring is to build a modern country in the truest sense, with changes on many fronts, including politics, economics, institutions, and vested interests.
大同百亿造城烂尾 _1视觉_一财网 slideshow of Datong’s unfinished 10B urban construction projection…says it looks like Detroit // 山西大同与底特律本是风马牛不相及的两座城池，
POLITICS AND LAW
推进人民政协理论创新制度创新工作创新
Senior Henan Legislator Falls under Scrutiny of Anti-Corruption Watchdog – Caixin Qin Yuhai, previously was head of henan PSB for 9 years..when I was in Zhengzhou in June heard that the CCDI had found lots of issues, would not be surprised to see more senior heads roll // His sacking comes four months after a central government inspection team launched a routine check of government operations in Henan. The CDIC said that since then more than 20 mid-level officials in the province have been investigated, including Meng Gang, the police head of Xinxiang City, and Mao Zhibin, former president Henan Police College. In early July, Ouyang Song, director of the inspection team, briefed the Henan government on its findings and highlighted problems including collusion between businessmen and officials in land transfer deals and building projects. Graft was also found in local governments and in the courts.
秦玉海落马或涉人事问题 传曾退数百万摄影器材_新闻_腾讯网 Qin Yuhai was a photography buff, had handed over millions of rmb in camera equipment after being questioned earlier this year // 据了解，秦玉海酷爱摄影。在焦作市委书记任期，
河南人大副主任秦玉海被查:或涉”皇家一号”案_网易新闻中心
洛阳失联副市长孩子出国妻子失踪_网易新闻中心-网易新闻客户端
Minitrue: The Scottish Referendum – China Digital Times (CDT) The media must not hype or comment on the Scottish referendum. All websites must take care to control content on interactive platforms. (September 20, 2014)
Blasts in China’s Xinjiang kill two; govt censures officials | Reuters Two people were killed and several more injured in at least three explosions in China’s troubled far western region of Xinjiang on Sunday, state media reported, but gave few details. The blasts came as China punished 17 regional officials and police “for being accountable” for a July 28 attack by masked militants that led to almost 100 deaths of police, officials and civilians, and for the subsequent killing of a pro-Beijing imam.
Chinese militants get Islamic State terrorist training – media | Reuters The Global Times, which is run by the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, said militants from Xinjiang had recently been involved in IS activities in Syria and Iraq as well as with IS “branches” in Southeast Asia. The newspaper said in the report on its website that four suspected militants from Xinjiang were arrested in Indonesia this month. Indonesian police said last week four foreigners were being questioned but did not identify them. The four fled to Cambodia from China, and then went to Thailand where they obtained fake Turkish passports, before flying to Indonesia through Malaysia, the newspaper said.
No way out through death[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn According to China’s Criminal Law, prosecution against a suspect ends when the suspect dies; if somebody is already being prosecuted the case should be withdrawn. Combined with the principle that one is not guilty unless convicted by the People’s Court, death therefore has turned out to be a way for corrupt officials, as it has for other suspects, to escape from being convicted of their crimes. Besides, China has a long-time cultural tradition of respecting the dead and avoiding talking about their wrongs. There is no clear rule, but in practice, the disciplinary and other investigations against a corrupt official will also end in the event of their death. By escaping from judicial and possibly disciplinary penalties once and for all, the officials suspected of corruption can not only preserve their titles and honor, but also preserve the material gains they have made for their families, since their illegal income will no longer be confiscated. Considering the astonishing sums of money an official can obtain through corruption, that’s a good deal for them and their families.-The author is a professor on anti-graft studies at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC.
中央党校副校长：党报须思想旗帜鲜明、敢批歪理邪说_舆论场_
Lawsuit filed on behalf of man who was tortured to death by police | South China Morning Post Mustard oil poured into a suspect’s nose and use of electric shock were some of the gruesome details revealed in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a man who died after being tortured for “refusing to confess” during an interrogation by local police in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, the news website Xinhuanet.com reported. Seven people – three police officers from the city’s Daowai district and four security personnel from outside the police force – had been sentenced to between 12 and 30 months in prison for torturing seven criminal suspects, including the one who died, last year in six separate cases. // the original from Xinhua 哈尔滨4名非警务人员逼供致人死亡案细节公布
社科院媒体刊文反驳我国3年困难时期饿死千万人 China Social Sciences Today, the newspaper of CASS, publishes article calling claims of tens of millions of death during the “three years of hardship” aka Great Leap Forward are false, used by hostile western forces to negate the legitimacy of the CCP // 某些西方敌对势力反复炒作中国饿死几千万人，而且一再夸大，
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Xi stresses military headquarters’ loyalty to Party – Xinhua | English.news.cn President Xi Jinping stressed the loyalty of headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at a meeting with PLA chiefs of staff here on Monday. Headquarters of PLA forces must have absolute loyalty and firm faith in the Communist Party of China, guarantee a smooth chain of command and make sure all decisions from the central leadership are fully implemented, said Xi, also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC). Headquarters of all PLA forces should improve their combat readiness and sharpen their ability to win a regional war in the age of information technology, he said. // Monday CCTV evening news top item 习近平在接见全军参谋长会议代表时强调 努力建设新型司令机关 增强组织指挥打赢能力
China and Iran to Conduct Joint Naval Exercises in the Persian Gulf – NYTimes.com The news agency posted images of one of the destroyers docking in the port of Bandar Abbas, where it was given a military welcome. The Iranian and Chinese Navies were scheduled to start joint exercises on Monday, focusing on rescue missions, Iranian news media reported. China has been expanding the areas where its navy operates, most recently joining the effort to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia
South China Sea conflict a real threat to Indonesia | The Jakarta Post Indonesia has been warned that the territorial conflict over the South China Sea is a real threat that will sooner or later impact this country. Chief of the Sea Security Coordinating Agency, Vice Admiral Desi Albert Mamahit, conveyed the warning during the opening session of a focus group discussion on maritime security early warning systems held in Batam, the Riau Islands province, earlier this month. He said that the Indonesian waters around the Natuna Islands (Kepri) regency were not actually inside in the disputed territory, but they were very close to the area and China had not yet clarified whatever claims it would make regarding Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (ZEE) around them.
Chinese military official meets Indonesian defense minister – Xinhua Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, met with visiting Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro. Fan said China and Indonesia share a long-standing and vigorous ties. Bilateral relations are currently in an important era of rapid and all-round development, and the two sides should continue to deepen friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation, realize common development and jointly maintain regional peace and stability.
Hu do you think you are? PLA slams uni boss for limousine display imitating former leader | South China Morning Post “Such a move is just to catch attention,” the official media outlet for the PLA said. “But military training is to improve Chinese students’ national defence consciousness … and should not be hyped up for any purpose.” The university’s president had repeatedly saluted students and called out using a microphone, saying, “Greetings, students!” and “Students, you are working hard!”. The lines of students responded with loud chants of, “Greetings, leader!” and “To win the honour for Wonder!”. // 军报批高校领导坐”阅兵车”
安徽高校回应乘“阅兵车”检阅新生：用词有误_新闻_腾讯网 A
Mugabe Critic: Zimbabwe’s ‘Old Friend’ China is Bleeding it Dry | ChinaFile Harare-based economist and columnist Vince Musewe doesn’t mince words in his criticism of Zimbabwe’s growing financial dependence. Beijing is “bleeding Zimbabwe dry” through loans and Musewe says enough is enough. He is calling on Robert Mugabe’s government to come clean and reveal the secret deals between the two governments, otherwise Musewe warns Zimbabwe will only sink further in to economic desperation.
Asia Unbound » China’s Mixed Messages to India – Alyssa Ayres Transgressions doubled from 2011 to 2012. Based on the seven-month data the Home ministry provided for 2014 (through August 4), Chinese transgressions appear well on track to substantially exceed the 400-plus levels of the previous two years. It’s hard to reconcile this pattern with the economic cooperation messaging happening in parallel.
Free of graft and technically skilled: the qualities Xi seeks in new PLA generals | South China Morning Post from July. Seems like it would be brave of the new Tibet commander to cause an incident with India while Xi visiting, and without Xi knowing about it…// The latest promotions were announced yesterday – two officers with the provincial area command of Sichuan and two from Tibet’s. The commander for Tibet, Xu Yong, and his colleague, political commissar Diao Guoxin, gained experience in the border conflict with Vietnam in Yunnan . At age 55, Xu is one of the younger officers to be elevated. He was the first PLA major general to lead a relief force to Wenchuan following the massive earthquake that struck Sichuan in 2008, killing 87,000 people.
Saudi Arabia admits to purchase of Chinese DF-21 missile｜WantChinaTimes Saudi Arabia purchased DF-21 ballistic missiles from China to defend Mecca and Medina, said Dr. Anwar Eshqi, a retired major general and advisor to the joint military council of Saudi Arabia, during a press conference. “Saudi military did indeed receive DF-21 missiles from China and the integration of the missiles, including a full maintenance check and upgraded facilities, is complete,” said Eshqi as cited in the state-run newspaper OKAZ. In addition to defending two holy cities of Islam, the DF-21 will also be used to form a protective umbrella to defend Saudi Arbia’s allies over the Persian Gulf, he added, indicating that the missiles are not for offensive attacks.
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
China Policy Institute Blog » Where have the Sunflowers gone? Successes notwithstanding, the Sunflower Movement, or whatever successor movement emerges in its wake, cannot afford to lose its focus. Worryingly, this is exactly what seems to have happened. The movement has splintered and its members are now busy fighting among themselves. In the period of uncertainty that followed the occupation, the common fears that had succeeded in bringing together the disparate groups that become the Sunflower Movement were replaced by fissiparous forces. Several factors contributed to this, including differences over strategies, the infusion of new thinking. For example, the Black Island Nation Youth Alliance, one of the precursors of the Sunflower Movement, is now divided and seems to have been taken over by individuals who espouse a Marxist viewpoint, e.g., the struggle isn’t over Taiwan’s sovereignty, but rather of the “have-nots” versus the wealthy class; others yet have joined forces with stridently anti-Chinese and pro-independence groups.
TECH AND MEDIA
Illegal drugs listed on e-commerce site Alibaba as mega-IPO looms | GlobalPost It seems like you can buy almost anything on the Chinese business to business retail platform Alibaba.com. But as the site’s parent company, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., prepares this week for what may be the biggest IPO in history, here’s one thing you might be surprised to find: synthetic heroin.
Baidu now lets anyone invest in movies–TechInAsia The move into movies mirrors just-listed Alibaba’s (NYSE:BABA) announcement in June that it would allow users of its mutual fund Yu’e’bao to invest in movies. The combination of entertainment and finance seems to be a culmination of many of China’s internet giants’ goals: amassing a library of original video content and getting users to adopt their respective online financial tools such as ewallets, savings funds, and ecommerce platforms.
A Close, Disturbing Look at a New York iPhone 6 Line (Video) | Re/code And a new video, from filmmaker Casey Neistat, appears to make it clear that some people camped outside of Apple’s store in New York’s Soho neighborhood won’t ever use the phones they bought. Niestat’s video documents an unsettling scene: People of Chinese descent, waiting in line for a day or more under unpleasant conditions, and then some re-selling the phones almost immediately upon exiting the store. He documents an arrest, as well as a death threat. Several of the people on line said they were buying phones for friends. But there’s an alternative story that seems as likely, based on previous reports of similar scenes: these phones are being sold to middlemen, who will then ship them off to China where there is increasing demand for luxury items.
“电视湘军”体制改革待解_公司频道_财新网 interest
中国将以安全理由禁止各级官员使用外国手机-科技频道-和讯网
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
中国尚有4亿多人不能用普通话交流-地方频道-新华网 Chin
Retiring Li Has Eyes on Business, and Future of Tennis in China – NYTimes.com “Maybe for two months I would like to relax,” she said. “But life has to continue. Deep in my heart, I still want to help tennis for children.” Locations are already being scouted for a Li Na Tennis Academy. Li hopes the academy will reflect Western coaching methods, which she preferred to the techniques of her critical Chinese instructors. She also expressed a desire for her venture to have a philanthropic tilt, with a focus on underprivileged children, as well as those affected by H.I.V.
Taiwan’s Master Timekeeper by J. Hoberman | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books Like most of Hou [Hsiao-hsien]’s films, The Puppetmaster was never commercially released in the United States and has been rarely screened. It is an event to have it anchoring the comprehensive Hou Hsiao-Hsien retrospective now showing at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, which will continue on a North American tour to cinematheques and museums in Cambridge, Berkeley, Washington, D.C., Rochester, Toronto, Vancouver, Houston, and Chicago. This epic chamber-piece, which split the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1993, is neither documentary nor fiction. (The Chinese title is “Drama, Dream, Life.”) The movie dramatizes the youth and early career of Taiwanese “national treasure” Li Tien-lu who, born in 1910, became an apprentice puppeteer at age eight, performing traditional plays first in remote mountain villages and later for Japanese officials in Tapei.
上海现虐猫”恐怖组织”？剪猫爪割猫脖 成批丢高架！ Shanghai has a cat torturer on the loose, dumping the victims on the city’s elevated highways
Photos of Horrific Animal Abuse in Guangdong Hit Major Chinese Media | TheNanfang Photographs of a dog being dragged behind an SUV on a street in Shantou, Guangdong were uploaded by the Weibo account “Love in Shantou” on September 20, and have been reported by news outlets as varied as the People’s Daily Online, Caijing and Sina.
Rural Library Chain Closes, Citing ‘Tremendous Pressure’ – NYTimes.com A nongovernmental organization that had run a rural library project with as many as 22 libraries across China has announced that it is closing down, citing “tremendous pressure” from the local authorities. Since 2007, Liren — which means helping someone find his way — had devoted itself to providing children in underprivileged areas with free access to books and fostering independent thinking. Its founder, Li Yingqiang, who studied economics at Peking University, had started by building a library in his own former school in Hubei Province.
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
“神医”常和平的名利生意：自称意念包治百病_深度_新京报网
红会否认靠卖血获利数十亿元 称不收取任何费用_新闻_腾讯网 Red Cross of China denies Internet rumors that is has made close to 4B RMB from selling blood // 网传红十字会卖血获利39.35亿。红会回应，
美国“亚洲鲤”成灾 派专家赴华考察鲤鱼消费_新闻_腾讯网 Dr Jim Garvey in China, reportedly trying to learn about the best ways to cook Asian Carp to help deal with that fish’s rampant spread across the US…how many has he heard the joke going around weibo last year that the US should just invite a few thousand officials over and the fish will all be eaten in months
Arctic ice shrinkage alarms returning Chinese expedition – Xinhua China’s sixth Arctic expedition has found the region’s sea ice continuing to shrink at an alarming rate. The ice shrank to an annual low on Sept. 15, when its 5.07 million square km was the sixth-smallest coverage since records began in 1979, said Lei Ruibo, a crew member on board Xuelong, which is due to return to Shanghai on Wednesday after 76 days at sea. “Though the Arctic sea ice area has been comparatively large in the past eight years, it’s still far below the average 6.14 million square km since 1979,” said Lei. “So we believe the Arctic sea ice is still receding.”
FOOD AND TRAVEL
天津大批候鸟被捕 催肥后被杀(组图)_新闻_腾讯网 CCTV report says tens of thousands of migratory birds caught in Tianjin every day…fattened up and then killed, eaten // 天津多个市场公然贩卖候鸟，甚至包括濒危鸟类，
Tianjin markets sold migratory birds captured illegally to restaurants | South China Morning Post Traders said that the birds mostly went to restaurants in Guangdong, where the owners were willing to pay 60 yuan (HK$76.6) per kilo. CCTV undercover reporters revealed how hunters set up nets to capture the birds as they migrated south.
BEIJING
北京多个楼盘“日光盘”造假 公然欺骗购房人-股票频道-金融界 shocker, reporter catches Beijing developers lying about selling out their new developments in day…
China beats which in per-capita pollution?