"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
1. Beijing warns US against maritime challenge in South China Sea – FT.com In the latest escalation of rhetoric from China, a senior Chinese naval officer on Thursday warned the US that the People’s Liberation Army would deliver a “head-on blow” to any foreign forces “violating” China’s sovereignty. Writing in the Global Times, a newspaper with close links to the Communist party, Rear Admiral Yang Yi said: “Safeguarding maritime rights calls for force and power.” // 杨毅：奉劝美方莫在南海莽撞 “中国在南海不是人工造岛，而是在本国领土上进行加固等工程，目的在于改善驻岛人员生活设施、建设必要防卫设施和其他有利于南海海域航行的设施等。这本是天经地义和无可厚非的事，却被美国等国拿来炒作和污蔑。我们必须对此保持高度警惕，驳斥这种歪曲事实的谬论…对于美国派遣军舰和飞机到我国南海主权岛屿领海、领空巡航的叫嚣，我们首先要抗议、警告，敦促美方不要误判形势，不要做伤害中美关系、破坏地区和平稳定的事。同时，维护国家领土完整与海洋权益不但需要坚定的意志，更需强大的力量，特别是军事力量。中国人民解放军三军将士有信心有能力，随时对敢于侵犯中国国家安全利益和发展利益的外国势力予以迎头痛击”
Related: China’s Forbearance Has Limits: Chinese Threat and Retaliation Signaling and Its Implications for a Sino-American Military Confrontation-Paul H.B. Godwin and Alice Miller (PDF) This April 2013 report from the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs of the Institute for National Strategic Studies provides a thorough discussion of the use of the Chinese military in past and future confrontations, including historic information about previous signals of military intention and possible future military threats regarding disputed islands. // worth re-reading
Related: Chinese media warn against US South China Sea move – AFP Such a move, the Global Times suggested, could be a “breach of China’s bottom line”. “If the US encroaches on China’s core interests, the Chinese military will stand up and use force to stop it,” the paper warned. The editorial came after China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that “certain countries have been flexing military muscles in the South China Sea over recent period of times”.
Related: Beijing to host meeting with Asean defence ministers over South China Sea security and claims | South China Morning Post As expectations grow that the US Navy will directly challenge Beijing’s South China Sea claims, China is engaging in some serious image-building for its own military by hosting two international security forums this week. The events kick off today with an informal meeting of defence ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – four of which exercise claims to various islands and surrounding waters in the South China Sea that clash with Beijing’s own. It is the first time China has hosted such a meeting.
2. Australia-China social queen Sheri Yan arrested for bribery-Sydney Morning Herald The queen of the Australia-China social scene has been charged in New York with funnelling almost $1 million in bribes to the president of the United Nations General Assembly…She and her husband Roger Uren, a media executive and former Australian intelligence analyst who was once tipped to be Kevin Rudd’s ambassador to Beijing, have long been a fixture at Australian embassy events in Beijing…”You can trust her,” reads a glowing endorsement from Greg Rudd, brother of the former prime minister, Kevin Rudd, posted on Ms Yan’s LinkedIn page…She met Mr Uren when he was working at the Australian embassy in Washington in the 1980s, while she was working for China Radio International. Ms Yan helped Mr Uren research his well-regarded book about a reviled Chinese intelligence chief, The Claws of the Dragon: Kang Sheng – The Evil Genius Behind Mao // wonder what she will divulge to avoid US prison. Some politicians in Australia must be a bit uncomfortable…and didn’t Claws of the Dragon turn out to be based on a faked “internal document”? It was certainly an interesting read.
Related: Former U.N. President and Chinese Billionaire Are Accused in Graft Scheme – The New York Times According to the complaint, Mr. Ashe took some $200,000 from two other defendants, Shiwei Yan and Heidi Hong Piao, in exchange for attending a conference in China in his official capacity as president of the General Assembly. // Who is Ms. Piao?
3. Premier urges deeper reforms, new engines – Xinhua The premier said China’s economy is in the process of a shift from traditional growth methods to new engines, while the weakening old impetus intensified the downward pressure and new impetus is emerging, which needs nationwide confidence and persistence to realize the growth target. Combining the strategies of mass startups, Internet Plus and Made in China 2025 will accelerate industrial upgrades. Expanding supplies and new industries will boost structural adjustment. People-oriented urbanization and agricultural modernization shall be coordinated, and make the best of China’s economic potential to stimulate investment and consumption. He urged faster projects in water conservation, railways in central and west China, renovation of housing and urban underground pipelines, and further opening up with free trade areas.
Related: 催生新的动能 实现发展升级 Li Keqiang has lead essay in latest Qiushi, similar theme as the comments below, Thursday CCTV Evening News summarizes it here: [视频]《求是》杂志发表李克强总理文章《催生新的动能 实现发展升级》
Related: A very Chinese coup | The Economist Li Keqiang is the weakest Chinese prime minister in decades // probably somewhat accurate, but lots of “may”, “apparently”, “probably” caveats…in the newly constrained information environment under Xi, Pekingology is making a comeback…
4. China unveils timetable for pricing reform – Xinhua China’s cabinet set a timetable for reform of the country’s pricing mechanism on Thursday. China will lift price controls over basically all goods and services in competitive sectors by 2017, according to guidelines released by the State Council. By then, government-set prices will only exist for key utility services, public-good programs and network industries featuring natural monopolies, such as electricity and water supply. // 中共中央 国务院关于推进价格机制改革的若干意见
5. Trade pact may not come up in House until after 2016 election – POLITICO Mike Sommers, chief of staff for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said at a Ripon Society meeting that Congress was unlikely to move on the massive trade package until a lame-duck session more than a year from now. Hazen Marshall, policy director for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was also at the session, agreed that a TPP vote was more likely to happen in a lame-duck session, and added that the White House was trying to work with congressional leaders on timing.
6. Chinese president calls for Asian political parties’ support on Belt and Road – Xinhua Chinese President Xi Jinping met here on Thursday with foreign representatives attending the Asian Political Parties’ Special Conference on the Silk Road. The conference with the theme of “New Vision of the Silk Road, Actions for Common Development,” is of important practical significance, said Xi. // [视频]习近平会见出席亚洲政党丝绸之路专题会议的外方主要代表
7. Grading Xi Jinping’s America Policy: C- | The Asan Forum – Robert Sutter Many American leaders and specialists inside and outside the government have a number of proposals for action.26 The realities of power in Asia and China’s continued reluctance to confront powerful America would support a tougher American stance against China’s advances. Depending on who wins the 2016 election, some of the proposals for action will be adopted. How much US attention is devoted to China will depend heavily on how China continues the offensive actions. At present, the China debate is only one of several important foreign policy issues in the US election campaign that focus on perceived US weaknesses in dealing with an array of international challenges. One obvious outcome of recent developments is that few Americans will anymore believe Xi’s pledges for a “new relationship” with the United States
8. 张木生忆杜润生：一个时代的结束视频频道财新网 原《中国税务》杂志社社长张木生回忆说，杜老善于通过各种各样的辩论，最后激荡出正确的适合中国的政策；杜老曾遗憾地说，农村改革只完成了三分之一 // Caixin video of Zhang Musheng talking about Du Runsheng and rural reform
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
Eager Investors Fueling Car-Hire Competition-Caixin Uber, an American company whose Chinese investor-partner is the search engine Baidu Inc., said in August that it had raised at least US$ 1.2 billion from undisclosed investors to finance its growing China business. Although CIC and China Life Insurance Co. had been rumored as potential Uber backers, sources told Caixin neither was involved in the latest fundraiser. Media reports in June said Uber hoped to raise US$ 2.5 billion globally, including US$ 1 billion from Chinese investors. Uber has also told investors its Chinese division is preparing to file for an initial public offering on a mainland stock exchange.
China’s ABP Stumbles Over $1.5B Royal Albert Docks Project | Mingtiandi A £1 billion ($1.5 billion) project to build a centre for Chinese businesses in London is facing an uncertain future after Beijing-based Advanced Business Park’s primary financial backer announced this week that it was putting its investment in the redevelopment of the Royal Albert Docks on hold. The project, which promotes itself under the tagline, “London is getting a new heart,” now appears to be on life support after mainland private equity firm China Minsheng Investment said this week that it is putting its participation on hold.
China Said Considering Merger in Push Toward Plane Engine Dream – Bloomberg Business The plan, which straddles multiple ministries, is still in its initial stages and will pool all related assets from existing state-owned firms, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Aviation Industry Corp. of China may end control over AVIC Heavy Machinery and AVIC Aviation Engine Corp. following a restructuring, the two listed companies said in separate statements this week.
Mapping China: Which provinces are most dominated by state-owned firms? | Andrew Batson’s Blog The answer I’ve come up with is not quite the one I expected, but it does make sense I think. Beijing is number one, naturally–it’s the place where all the major national state-owned enterprises are headquartered, and SOE influence is inescapable. But after that easy one, anecdotal impressions do not provide much of a guide. According to my scoring system, the provinces where SOEs have the biggest economic weight are the wealthy coastal municipalities, and the far western provinces. In other words, SOEs dominate both the richest and poorest provinces in China, and play a relatively lesser role (though still a large one) everywhere else.
Xi Eyes Megacity Mayor for China’s Economic Team – Bloomberg Business Now, Huang Qifan is being considered for a top economic post as Xi looks to reshape his team after recent turmoil in China’s financial markets, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Possible jobs include leadership of the stock regulator or a panel led by Xi that’s charged with steering economic reforms, said the people, who asked not be identified discussing personnel matters and because a decision is not final. // Huang as head of CSRC rumor been going around for a while..a former banker with experience dealing with him told me in August that he would be a “disaster”…perhaps we will find out
[Report] | The New China Syndrome, by Barry C. Lynn | Harper’s Magazine As our biggest manufacturers and traders and investors succeed in China, they also come to depend on China for future profits — which brings them increasingly under the sway of a Chinese state that holds the power to cut those profits off. What if the master capitalists and corporate bosses who have so cowed us here at home are themselves being cowed in Beijing? What if the extreme economic interdependence between the United States and China is not actually carrying our values into a backward and benighted realm, but accomplishing precisely the opposite — granting the Chinese Politburo ever-increasing leverage over America’s economic and political life?
China’s Billionaire Tally Overtakes The U.S., Survey Says – Fortune A survey conducted by The Hurun Report says China now has 596 billionaires, surpassing the U.S. tally for the first time (the U.S. has 537 billionaires, according to the report). If 119 billionaires from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao are added, Greater China owns 715 billionaires in the “Hurun Global Rich List.”
国务院清理规范89项行政审批中介服务 _ 经济参考网 _ 新华社《经济参考报》官方网站 国务院日前印发《关于第一批清理规范89项国务院部门行政审批中介服务事项的决定》（以下简称《决定》），决定第一批清理规范89项国务院部门行政审批中介服务事项，不再作为行政审批的受理条件。
回售大限将至 中钢恳请投资人手下留情 公司频道财新网 中钢集团日前发声，若投资者对即将到期的20亿“10中钢债”行使回售选择权，公司将无力兑付本期。发改委、国资委正在紧急协调解决方案，希望投资者撤销回售登记
POLITICS AND LAW
A Year After Xi’s Landmark Speech on the Arts, Some Things Get Left Out – China Real Time Report – WSJ Qiao Mu, an expert in Chinese media at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the transcript released Tuesday likely bears little resemblance to the actual speech and that Mr. Xi’s office appears to have spent some effort adding names of artists, works of art and literary references. “Then on the one year anniversary, they put it back out and enjoy the new rush of publicity,” he said.
Xinhua Insight: China to recruit more public servants despite fading gov’t job appeal – Xinhua China kicked off registration on Thursday for the 2016 national public servant exam with plans to recruit its largest cohort of officials ever, despite waning interest in civil service among young people. The country plans to recruit 27,000 civil servants for national-level government organs, a 25-percent increase from the previous year. The number of recruits was 15,290 in 2011 and 10,282 in 2006.
[视频]中共中央组织部发出通知要求深化县级“三严三实”专题教育着力解决基层干部不作为乱作为等损害群众利益问题新闻频道央视网(cctv.com) 要在今年10月至12月开展一次专项整治，强化正风肃纪，对基层干部不作为、乱作为等损害群众利益问题“零容忍”，发现一起、查处一起、曝光一起。
Xi Jinping Compared to Deng Xiaoping: Two Consequential Leaders of China | The Asan Forum Interviews Ezra Vogel Deng was a strategist, who was not afraid to delegate authority. While he gave free reign to forces previously left with little initiative—decentralization to markets, local areas, and etc.—, he also was a centralizer, establishing supervision after the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. Xi also has sought to increase supervision, imposing a more centralized structure of power, but he is finding it more difficult to implement his agenda. Yet, prevailing images of his power are overstated. He actually is not as strong a leader as Deng, in my judgment, because he does not have the accumulated experience in managing the centralized bureaucracy, the unquestioned authority based on decades of leadership, and the sure hand as an experienced policy manager at the top of the party and state.
终于把54个大贪官集成了一副扑克！大王竟是他… someone created a deck of cards of top 54 corrupt officials
媒体揭秘贪官内斗：雇凶杀人互相拆台_廉政瞭望 如谢、杨这般，官员之间通过非正常手段，互相排挤及病态争斗的情况，自古以来就不鲜见。十八大以来，一系列因内斗而举报，最后双双落马的案例，更将这一话题引入公众视野。梳理官场内斗的表现形式及深层原因，可为总结教训提供有益借鉴。
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
习近平将在英国议会发表演讲 为中国领导人首次新闻腾讯网 Xi to give a speech to Parliament on his UK trip?
‘Don’t interfere’: Chinese ambassador warns UK not to raise human rights when Xi Jinping visits | South China Morning Post Liu Xiaoming said Britain was fast becoming the leader in terms of western countries with the best relations with China, and said he expected Xi’s visit to “herald a golden era for the relationship”. But Liu suggested the president would not respond well if reprimanded on human rights during his visit.
Despite Japanese anger, Beijing mulls jointly nominating ‘comfort women’ for UNESCO list – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun China might collaborate with other countries to renominate wartime “comfort women” documents for UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, while Japan threatened to withhold funding over the organization’s acceptance of Beijing’s other war-related proposal.
日公明党党首转交安倍亲笔信 邀请习近平访日_凤凰资讯 reports that Abe sent a handwritten letter to Xi via New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi inviting him to visit Japan in Spring 2016 // 主持人：习近平周四会见了正在北京访问的日本公明党党首山口那津男，山口还转交日本首相安倍晋三的亲笔信。此外日媒报道，为了力争在中日韩首脑会谈期间举行中日、韩日首脑会谈，安倍基本决定不在靖国神社秋季例行大祭期间前往参拜，而是自费献上被称为“真榊”的贡品。
Global Military Justice Reform: Freedom of association and the PLA With the worldwide focus on China’s military parade in early September, few, if any, outside China noticed that the PLA issued new regulations restricting current and retired military personnel’s ability to join societies and associations. The regulations are in sharp contrast to developments in Europe, described elsewhere on this blog, in these posts, where military associations are accepted. The timing of the regulations may be linked to the large scale troop reductions announced in early September as well as the anti-corruption drive within the PLA.
Xi Jinping as Historian: Marxist, Chinese, Nationalist, Global | The Asan Forum Like all his CCP predecessors, Xi must be understood first as a Marxist-Leninist historian. He has been trained to view history as a continuous series of struggles that will eventually end with the forces of progress, under the leadership of a vanguard party, prevailing over those of backwardness. Xi’s Marxist framework allows him to assert that China’s international rise under the CCP is both historically determined and morally just.
Dreaming Big, Acting Big: Xi’s Impact on China’s Military Development | The Asan Forum This article uses the occasion of Xi’s US visit to analyze his impact on, and likely legacy for, China’s military development. In keeping with the visit’s bilateral nature, as well as Xi’s prioritization of preparation for scenarios of greatest concern, the article focuses primarily on PLA development to support the most likely major challenges it faces: demonstrating capability to address contingencies involving China’s unresolved island and maritime claims in the “Near Seas” (Yellow, East China, and South China seas).
一次具有深远影响的历史性访问 Wang Yi reflects on Xi’s visit to the US in the latest issue of Qiushi
Cui: China, US should share global vision| China Daily China and the United States should have a shared global vision when addressing the world’s problems, China’s ambassador to the US told the audience at the National Committee on US-China Relations Gala Dinner on Wednesday. “The relationship is not about dominance but about partnership, is not about zero-sum rivalry but about win-win cooperation,” Ambassdor Cui Tiankai said to applause at The Plaza Hotel in New York. “This is no longer a world where one country can single-handedly make all the international rules. Rather, this is a world where all countries have to work together.” // my invitation to the gala must have been sent to my Beijing address…
国际论坛：做深做实中美地方合作–新闻报道-人民网-李小林 中美地方合作不仅使两国关系更加密切，也将为两国未来几代人的互信和友好打下良好基础。让我们认真领会习主席讲话精神，将中美地方合作做深、做实，继续推动两国地方在建设中美新型大国关系进程中发挥积极作用。 （作者为中国人民对外友好协会会长）
Chinese Cyber Spies Fish for Enemies in South China Sea Dispute – Bloomberg Business “Whenever you see island-dispute issues flare up you also see cyber activities spike as well,” said Tobias Feakin, director of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra. “If it is being used in coordination with the prodding that the Chinese do in a physical way, it surely shows you see a strategic advantage in the use of that power.”
Engaging Diaspora via Charm Offensive and Indigenised Communication: An Analysis of China’s Diaspora Engagement Policies in the Xi Era – Ding – 2015 – Politics – Wiley Online Library As China’s national image is haunted by its poor human rights records and increasingly assertive foreign policies, the Chinese diaspora has become an important platform for the country’s public diplomacy. Since Xi Jinping came to power, the Chinese government has made great efforts to launch soft power campaigns in order to better engage the 50 million overseas Chinese and communicate China’s ideas to the outside world. The Xi administration’s diaspora engagement policies focus on: (1) indigenising international communication to improve China’s national image; (2) jump-starting immigration reform to win the minds and hearts of overseas Chinese; and (3) strengthening education exchanges to shape the diasporic identity of overseas Chinese. Through historical comparisons and policy analyses, this article argues that China’s current diaspora engagement policies are based on the Chinese leaders’ new vision of public diplomacy, which is approached with soft power strategy
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
Hong Kong police, democracy activist charged over beating | Reuters Seven Hong Kong police officers have been charged in connection with the beating of a protester during pro-democracy demonstrations in the Chinese-ruled city late last year that brought large parts of the financial center to a halt. The protester, Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, was also charged.
TECH AND MEDIA
American Publishers Take a Stand Against Censorship in China – The New York Times 2 American publishers have signed a pledge to work against the censorship of foreign authors’ works in China, now the second-largest publishing market, behind the United States. “As publishers, we commit ourselves to a considered and principled approach to dealing with Chinese censorship,” the pledge read. “While we bring common values to questions of free expression and censorship worldwide, the pace of our engagement with China renders that market an important and emblematic case deserving particular attention.” // meanwhile Hollywood is bending over to support Chinese censorship, but there is a lot more money at stake in movies…
Alipay Blames Flaw One User Found on Data Leak-Caixin The country’s largest online payment service by number of users has said a customer who found his account was linked to e-commerce websites without his knowledge was the victim of data leak, but did not comment when other users found similar problems with their Alipay accounts. The Alipay user said on Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, on October 8 that he was going through the settings for his account and discovered that it had been authorized to make payments to five websites even though he never gave his permission.
China Mobile Executive Denies Taking Bribes, but Wife Pleads Guilty-Caixin Xu Long, the former president of China Mobile’s subsidiary in the southern province of Guangdong, and his wife, Wang Jianying, went on trial over bribery charges in the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on October 13 and 14. Prosecutors have charged Xu with taking a total of 12.9 million yuan and HK$ 2 million in bribes on five occasions – two of them involving his wife – while he was the president of China Mobile’s Guangdong unit from 2005 to 2013.
刘强东：很多电商都打着“农村电商”的旗号，骗地方政府补贴-虎嗅网 Huxiu on JD CEO’s comments at a forum in Sichuan and rural e-commerce, leads with quote that many ecommerce firms are using the “banner” of ecommerce to scam land from local governments
China burnishes Xi Jinping’s legend with TV drama of his years in rural hamlet | World news | The Guardian Now China’s larger than life leader, Xi Jinping, is set to appear in his first television series, a 45-part drama depicting the time he spent in rural China during the Cultural Revolution. The drama – called Liangjiahe after the deprived hamlet in Shaanxi province where a young Xi lived from 1968 to 1975 – was recently approved by China’s television regulator, state media announced this week.
网络任性转载：是病，得治（深阅读）–社会–人民网 People’s Daily on the intensified campaign to clean up and standardize news headlines and photos online // 日前，国家网信办官网中国网信网刊文《“标题党”“图片党”该收手了》受到热议。同时，一篇由网友整理的文章《别人的标题VS网易的标题》，对比展示某网站乱改标题的案例，在微信朋友圈热转。互联网和社交平台上的转载乱象，引发不少负面评价。 13日，北京市网信办和首都互联网协会组织新浪、搜狐、网易等17家北京属地重点网站，召开“网络新闻报道标题规范及要求”评议会，通报了近期突出存在的转载篡改标题现象，要求各网站完善新闻采编流程、落实编辑实名制、加大规范执行力度。与会网站负责人承诺采取有效措施杜绝“标题党”乱象。
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
中国人口报告上递决策层 建议立即放开全面二孩_网易新闻中心 CBN says report been submitted to higher authorities recommending immediately allowing any couple to have 2 children // 上递的人口报告至少分别来自2~3家单位，可能包括中国社会科学院人口与劳动经济研究所、中国人民大学人口与发展研究中心以及国家卫计委下属的中国人口与发展研究中心。这些报告基于历年的人口统计数据对当前总和生育率水平、人口总量未来变化、人口峰值大小和出现时间等作出预测。提出立即放开全面二孩政策的是其中一份报告。
Chinese Scholar on “Pitfalls in the Next Stage of China’s Rise” | 高大伟 在美国华盛顿人的博客 Most people, and particularly elites, fear chaos. They feel that once they have finally been able to achieve some stability in their lives, although they have less than some and more than others, they’ll say “Let’s not make waves. What the people really want is to be left alone to tend to their own affairs.”
北京昔日林彪秘密基地变身军事主题酒吧高清图集新浪网 A secret Lin Biao base in western Beijing is now a bar…slideshow
我想去外面的世界看看-中青在线 ——记者眼里的和田农村女青年
释延鲁：释永信需要中央级部门插手才能查处新闻腾讯网 Shaolin Abbot scandal continues
1,000 Years of Art at the Edge of the Gobi Desert – The New York Times The most splendid cave art was produced during the height of the early Tang dynasty from roughly 618 to 718, a period when the statues and mural paintings were the most sumptuous.
教育部：网络低俗语言已非治理不可|教育部|整治媒体|网络用语_新浪新闻 报告称，2014年,热词热语势头不减。中国语言生活热点频发,网络语言上广播电视节目、进教科书、入词典等问题引起社会热议，网络语言粗鄙化需要治理，规范网络语言的必要性逐步得到社会认同。
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
Clearing the air: Chinese leaders to consider pollution-cutting targets that actually might make a difference | South China Morning Post Beijing is likely to add new environmental protection targets, in addition to its traditional emissions-reduction goals, as top policymakers ponder five-year plans for 2016-2020, experts said ahead of a key Communist Party meeting. The country has never failed to meet its emissions-reduction targets for air and water pollution included in its past two five-year plans – but still the state of its air and inland waterways has steadily deteriorated.
China targets corruption in environment impact assessment – Xinhua China has revised regulations on environmental impact assessors to combat corruption, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said on Thursday. The regulation prohibits any enterprises funded by environmental authorities or their affiliates from being accredited as assessment agencies.
通水近一年 四问“南水北调”特别报道新京报网 The Beijing News looks at the south-north water transfer project a year in
Global warming may help alleviate China’s drought and flooding problems as monsoons move north, scientists say | South China Morning Post Global warming will benefit China by increasing rainfall in its dry northern regions while reducing flooding in the hotter southern areas, according to a new study by scientists in the country. The research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that if the phenomenon continues, the planet’s thermal equator will move northward and push the rain belt associated with the monsoons in East Asia from the southern to northern part of the country.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ISSUES
Dim Sums: Rural China Economics and Policy: Grain Piles up in China’s Biggest Producing Province The stockpile is the result of China’s efforts to prevent grain prices from falling by buying grain at a floor price and storing it in a “temporary reserve” stockpile. In September, the government announced that the floor price would be reduced to 2000 yuan per metric ton for the 2015 crop in the northeastern provinces, down from 2200 yuan last year. The new minimum price is about $8/bushel, nearly double today’s corn price at U.S. Gulf of Mexico ports of $4.26/bu. Hence, economic gravity is pulling Chinese prices downward.
贾平凹：最大的问题是农村没有人了_共识网 “最大的问题是农村没有人了，没有人怎么建设新农村?”贾平凹告诉南方周末记者。他认为一百年来中国乡村一步步失去了过去积淀而成的秩序，比如乡贤、宗族、宗祠、庙宇和孔孟之道。
EDUCATION
Harvard creates Global Institute | Harvard Gazette The funds will come from the Harvard Global Institute, which was established at the recommendation of a faculty committee on Harvard’s international activities and further refined by the work of the Faculty Advisory Committee on Global Institutes…The result was the institute, whose launch was made possible through the support of Wang Jianlin, chairman of Beijing-based Wanda Group and which will provide larger grants to projects involving teams of established faculty members and smaller grants to single faculty members exploring more experimental topics.
Chinese PhD scholar accused of plagiarism takes Peking University to court | South China Morning Post A Peking University graduate accused of plagiarising a thesis paper has taken her former college to court demanding that it reinstate her PhD degree, according to a newspaper report. She said an essay she copied from was not part of her degree thesis and the university had decided to revoke her degree merely due to public pressure, The Beijing News reported.
BEIJING
北京17人“为官不为乱为”受处分深度新京报网 北京市纪委通报首批12起典型案件，涉及上班炒股、脱岗打牌、玩忽职守等，17名涉案人员受到撤职、开除党籍、记过、警告、降级等处分，其中4名领导干部因“为官不为”，监管不力玩忽职守受到处分。
If you like Sinocism please spread the word using this link.
Follow me on Twitter @niubi for updates between newsletters
Send comments/tips/complaints to bill@sinocism.com