"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
China Signals ‘Unprecedented’ Policy Changes on Agenda at Plenum – Bloomberg Chinese Politburo member Yu Zhengsheng said reforms to be discussed at a Communist Party meeting next month will be unprecedented, adding to signs that leaders are resolved to push through far-reaching policy changes. Yu’s comments were reported by the official Xinhua News Agency yesterday in a speech he gave to a meeting to promote relations with Taiwan.
Related: Xi Jinping appears poised to unveil sweeping economic changes | South China Morning Post–Wang Xiangwei But Xi’s changes will focus largely on economic issues. Anyone who expects a major political liberalisation is likely to be disappointed. While Xi appears to have no qualms about shaking up state monopolies and streamlining government bureaucracy, talk in the corridors of power in Beijing is that he intends to strengthen control over ideological issues and the media to maintain one-party rule. // More Dengist “Politics Left, Economics Right 政左经右“？ Will that still work in today’s much more diverse and complex society?
Related: State Council think tank sets out roadmap for reform | South China Morning Post Ambitious proposals from State Council body ahead of third plenum cover wide range of areas including taxation, land, state assets and welfare…lead authors include Liu He and Li Wei, head of DRC // but this 383 plan just one of several plans, was actually released online weeks go, and was in the Sinocism Essential Eight on October 16 but just now getting heavy Chinese media play
Related: 高层智囊：“383”方案仅为三中全会报告之一_新闻_腾讯网 High-level think tanker tells First Financial the 383 plan is just one of several // 昨日，一名政府高层智囊人士对《第一财经日报》表示，报告基本以国研中心的自主研究为主，属于提供给中央参考的众多咨询报告之一。市场对本次全会的期望较高可以理解，但不应因为国研中心的官方智库背景和该报告系统性的经济政策而做过多猜测…他还透露，该报告大约是在今年年初开始启动，课题组集结了中心大量资深专家。彼时刘鹤还担任国务院发展研究中心党组书记，作为整个中心的大型课题，刘鹤挂名符合规律，因此也不能将该方案解读成为某个单独个人的意志。
善后地方债-财经网 new Caijing cover story on local debt..says latest audit has found 14 Trillion RMB of debt in provincial, municipal, county and township governments..discusses how government may deal with the problem, esp in areas where debt far exceeds local governments’ capacity to repay//《财经》记者获悉，全国各省、市、县、乡（镇）四级政府负债超过14万亿元，和上一轮审计相比，新增债务规模增幅较大。同时由于统计口径分歧，一些地方政府隐性担保债务或许不会被纳入。个别地区大规模举债引发的区域性风险或将被揭发…业内人士预计，地方债的处理上可能要抓典型，个别地区、个别融资平台大规模举债引发的区域性风险，可能将被揭发出来。 据悉，在审计署完成摸底后，中央或会出台一揽子解决方案，分类处理。同时着重解决引发地方债膨胀的长期机制性问题，如如何调整央地财税关系，如何转变政府职能，遏制地方政府过度举债、热衷搞建设的冲动等
Related: 人民日报谈地方债怪相:地方欠债多 官员提拔快_网易新闻中心 People’s Daily reports on the strange correlation of local debt to official promotions…the more debt, the faster you rise…
《新世纪》周刊第575期_杂志频道_财新网 Cover story of this week’s Caixin is on the health risks from air pollution. Brutal cover picture
Related: Study shows PM1 air pollution is most harmful – Chinadaily.com.cn Now, in a new study published in the public health journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers from the School of Public Health at Fudan University in Shanghai have demonstrated correlations between PM2.5 pollution and the incidence of particular illnesses. Researchers spent about two years collecting data in a medium-sized city in northern China, measuring the levels of particulate matter in 23 size categories ranging from 0.25 microns to 10 microns. They then plotted the health conditions of residents in the city against the concentrations of particles of different sizes found in their locations. Among the key findings was that those areas with larger concentrations of smaller particles showed higher incidences of particular illnesses. // and air bad again in Beijing today, city has issued a level yellow smog alert
Chinese Newspaper Apologizes for Articles by Detained Reporter – NYTimes.com The campaign invigorated online commentators and some of China’s more aggressive media outlets, who saw Mr. Chen’s arrest as an effort by big business and government — Zoomlion is partly owned by the Hunan provincial government — to stifle coverage critical of the company. They said the police had overstepped their authority by traveling to Guangzhou to arrest Mr. Chen in what should be considered a civil matter, not criminal. At first the campaign resembled the response in January when journalists at Southern Weekend, another Guangzhou-based publication, went public to criticize what they saw as an escalation of the censorship. Mr. Chen’s confession, and the newspaper’s embarrassing climbdown and apology, killed its campaign against the Changsha authorities days after it started.//just a mess. No one surprised if a journalist here is on the take, but trial by CCTV, clear violation of legal process makes the government look worse than the reporter. If there were a Golden Boot for own goals…Wang Liming aka “rebel pepper” posted to Weibo this poignant cartoon on the recent trend of justice via CCTV. Sany Heavy, another New Express reporter appear in Chen Yongzhou’s written confession shown on CCTV. Could get messier…Market likes Chen’s confession, Zoomlion shares up 6%+ this morning
Related: 央视:新快报记者陈永洲收人钱财发表失实报道_网易新闻中心 Saturday AM CCTV report with Chen Yongzhou’s confession // 据10月26日早间央视《朝闻天下》报道，新快报记者陈永洲被刑拘，自称受人指使收人钱财，发表失实报道。陈永洲向民警坦承，为显示自己有能耐，获取更多的名利，他受人指使， 连续发表针对中联重科的大量失实报道，致其声誉严重受损。陈永洲对自己的犯罪事实进行了供认并深刻悔罪。
Related: China Exclusive: Detained reporter apologizes for releasing untrue stories – Xinhua Chen Yongzhou, a journalist with the New Express based in the southern city of Guangzhou, said to police that he had continuously released a series of unverified and false reports against the giant engineering company Zoomlion at the request of others. At the request of others, Chen fabricated facts and wrote more than 10 reports based on supplied materials from Sept. 29, 2012 to Aug. 8, 2013 about Zoomlion’s “financial problems” without verification, bringing huge losses to the company and its share prices, police said late Friday.
Related: 致歉 – 新快网-新快报 New Express apology in Chen Yongzhou mess // 经警方初步查明，本报记者陈永洲受人指使收人钱财发表大量失实报道，严重违反了《中国新闻工作者职业道德准则》和新闻真实性原则，报社对稿件的审核把关不严。事发后报纸采取的不当做法，严重损害了媒体的公信力，教训深刻。我们将以此为戒，对存在问题进行认真整改，进一步加强采编人员和出版流程管理，严格要求采编人员在工作中尊重事实，遵守法律，遵循新闻工作者的职业道德和行为规范。 特此向社会各界致以深深的歉意。 新快报社
Related: 罗昌平：陈永洲事件食物链_UGC精选 Luo Changping on the Chen Yongzhou mess // 罗昌平评“陈永洲案”称这宗发生在企、警、媒之间的公共事件，简化为四个环节，谁的议程设定能力强，哪个问题就会被突出，这个局中没赢家。
Related: 人民网：居然有这样没节操的记者_资讯频道_凤凰网 对于新闻从业者来说，陈永洲事件是一个严重的教训。每个新闻从业者都必须坚守法治底线、道德底线，否则不仅没有职业尊严，还可能铃铛入狱，而报社更应该管好自己的团队，并且带头遵守法律法规，任何的冒险之举都会搬起石头砸自己的脚，后果不堪设想。
Related: 蓝色光标回应贿赂记者传言：将向当地公安报案_资讯频道_凤凰网 10月26日22时17分许，有ID为“南方有晨曦”者在新浪微博散布所谓“新快内幕”，称警方先突袭蓝色光标，把受贿记者名单和金额等帐单掌握，再将三一重工人抓获，把证据链做实，最后抓记者。//Blue Focus denies claims that it was involved in the bribing of Chen Yongzhou, on behalf of Sany Heavy, says has reported the claims to the police
Related: 蓝色光标公共关系机构 Blue Focus PR. Shenzhen-listed, 14B+ RMB market cap, impressive client list, can fix lots of problems
Japan PM says ready to be more assertive against China: media | Reuters Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in an interview published on Saturday, said Japan was ready to be more assertive towards China as Beijing threatened to strike back if provoked.
Related: Chinese drone training in line with international law, practice – Xinhua Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng made the remarks at a press briefing Saturday in response to a question on Japan’s plan to shoot down drones that infringe into its airspace. “Chinese aircraft have never infringed on other countries’ airspace, and China never allows other countries’ aircraft to infringe on China’s airspace,” Geng said. Geng said that if Japan took the so called moves, it would be a severe provocation to China and an act of war, and China will take resolute measures to strike back. The Japanese side shall be responsible for the consequence. Geng also said that on Oct. 23, a Japanese fishing boat sent a distress signal from a prohibited area in the Pacific where the Chinese navy was conducting shooting training. China provided convenience to Japanese vessels coming to the area for rescue out of humanitarian concern.
Related: 国防部批驳日挑衅言论 中方为日遇难渔船救援提供便利——国防部网站 strong words from Ministry of Defense spokesman in response to question about Japan threats to shoot down drones // 耿雁生表示，日方有关好战言论纯属蓄意挑衅。中国军队飞机包括无人机在东海有关海域的正常训练和飞越活动，符合国际法和国际实践。需要指出的是，中国飞机从未侵犯他国领空，也决不允许别国飞机侵犯中国领空。我们奉劝有关各方，不要低估中国军队维护国家领土主权的坚定意志和决心。如果像日方所说采取击落等强制措施，就是对我的严重挑衅，是一种战争行为，我们必将采取果断措施予以反击，一切后果由肇事方承担。
[视频]时代先锋 核潜艇部队：铸就共和国安全盾牌_新闻频道_央视网 Top 4 minutes of Sunday CCTV Evening News on China’s nuclear submarine force…start of series on the Navy // 央视网消息(新闻联播)：海军北海舰队某潜艇基地是我军第一支核潜艇部队，他们始终牢记强军目标，锤炼官兵能打胜仗的过硬本领，创造了人民海军多项第一，初步具备了核威慑和核反击能力，成为共和国坚不可摧的水下盾牌。新闻联播从今天开始在时代先锋栏目中，连续报道海军某潜艇基地官兵“用生命践行使命的水下先锋”的先进事迹。 // Xinhua-Photos of PLA Navy’s first nuclear-powered submarine force
Related: China nuclear subs ‘gallop to depths of ocean’ – FT.com China has said its first fleet of nuclear submarines has started sea patrols, in the latest sign of the growing confidence of the country’s military that has raised tensions in the region. Xinhua, the official news agency, released photographs of what appeared to be Xia-class vessels – China’s first generation of nuclear-armed submarines, which are several decades old – saying they were being “declassified” for the first time. It said they would “gallop to the depths of the ocean, serving as mysterious forces igniting the sound of thunder in the deep sea”, and be an “assassin’s mace that would make adversaries tremble”.
Related: 新闻联播人民日报等头条报道解放军核潜艇部队_新闻_腾讯网 Nuclear submarine force also gets page 1 treatment Monday from People’s Daily and other official newspapers, top story on main news portals
A level 2 problem | China Accounting Blog | Paul Gillis NQ Mobile has released a list of major certificates of deposit. These are all classified as Level 2 inputs. It appears that they have done this correctly in 2012 and were wrong when they classified them as Level 1 inputs in 2011. For example, NQ Mobile had a one-year term deposit with a face value of 100 million Yuan maturing 9/14/2014 with the Industrial Bank Co. Ltd Beijing Branch. This is correctly classified as a level 2 input. At December 31, 2013 there was no quoted price for CDs with a maturity of nine months and 14 days, so the necessary quoted prices do not exist. But the CD can be valued by reference to other nine month CDs that do have quoted prices. // wonder how the other charges stand up. convincing Muddy Waters report on Netqin at first glance, but this looks to be a big screwup…comments to this post are also interesting
Related: NQ Rejects Muddy Waters ‘Fraud’ Call as Shares Plunge 47% – Bloomberg “With the debt, that’s not a good position to be in,” Daniel Yu, the director of research at Gotham City Research, an investment-research firm, said by phone from New York.// did Bloomberg quote someone who is short Netqin without disclosing that fact?
A Culture of Bidding: Forging an Art Market in China–New York Times “This is the challenge right now,” said Wang Yannan, the president and director of China Guardian, the nation’s second-biggest auction house. “In the mind of every Chinese, the first question is whether it’s fake.” For years, much of the forgery went unnoticed as works passed from buyer to buyer, their prices spiraling up. But, increasingly, high-profile scandals are exposing the extent of the fakery and sowing doubts about the larger market. In one case, three years ago, an oil painting attributed to the 20th-century artist Xu Beihong, which sold at auction for more than $10 million, turned out to have been produced 30 years after the artist’s death by a student during a class exercise at one of China’s leading arts academies. // know some very smart experts who have been fooled by smarter forgers
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
China relaxes company registration requirements – Xinhua According to the statement, requirements for the minimum registered capital for limited liability companies, one-person limited liability companies, as well as joint-stock companies with limited liability, will be scrapped. Requirements on the site registered for business operation will also be relaxed, the statement said. To improve transparency and strengthen business credit, the current annual inspections on registered companies will be replaced by annual reports open to public inquiry, while companies that commit aberrant behaviors will also be made public. // getting lots of play in Chinese media, big move
天地侠影被拘记_杂志频道_财新网 long story in new Caixin on blogger arrested 4 criticizing listed Xinjiang firm. amazed zero English coverage of this story// 股市个人投资者因为公然质疑上市公司被刑事拘留。市场担心，以后谁还敢公开说话？谁敢监督上市公司？
China PBOC Launches Prime Rates In Interest Rate Reform Push | MNI The one-year prime rate was set at 5.71%, the bank said in a statement. The rate, which compares with the PBOC’s one-year lending rate at 6.0%, is based on a weighted average of rates submitted by nine commercial lenders. The PBOC said the launch will gradually see the transfer of lending rates to the market from the central bank and is a key step of its interest rate reform.
利率飙升 央行或暗施援手 新华社——经济参考网 Xinhua’s Economic Information on latest spike in SHIBOR, suggests PBOC won’t let it get out of hand, nothing to really worry about // SHIBOR的急涨加大了市场对“钱荒”再来的担忧。目前看来，市场最为关注的是，央行29日是否继续暂停逆回购？如果坚持不放水的立场，机构的紧张情绪将导致市场的动荡。另一方面，央行是否会对近期人民币的强势予以干预？这将直接影响到四季度的流动性…不过，主流的机构判断，经历了6月的“钱荒”之后，央行已经认识到过度收紧流动性可能导致系统性风险明显上升，央行可能采取包括“窗口指导”或SLO工具，定向放松流动性、并稳定市场预期。而且，虽然此前央行连续三次暂停逆回购操作，在一定程度上表明了政策操作的紧缩倾向，但主要是基于对冲大量资本流入的意图。
China Construction Bank Profit Rises as Lending, Fee Income Climb – Bloomberg The bank set aside 9.29 billion yuan of new provisions against soured debt in the third quarter, compared with 8.26 billion yuan a year earlier.
Bank of Chongqing Sheds Light on Shadow Banking – China Real Time Report – WSJ Bank of Chongqing Co.’s prospectus for its upcoming Hong Kong initial public offering, issued Friday, portrays a fast growing, highly profitable bank with a low nonperforming loan ratio and a comfortable capital buffer. But it is also a detailed portrait of how many Chinese banks help meet the funding needs of industries that face tough regulatory limits on how much they can borrow.
自贸区将实行隔离型资本项目可兑换-证券时报多媒体数字报刊平台 Shanghai FTZ to try to allow “segregated” capital account convertibility..wonder how that will work // 自由贸易区的金融政策颇受关注。证券时报记者了解到，上海自由贸易区建立与市场化全球化金融业务相适应的金融制度就是要建立资本项目可兑换体系、人民币跨境使用体系、利率市场化体系、离岸金融服务体系。这将对区内金融机构业务拓展带来极大空间，也将对区内跨国集团经营带来极大便利。不过，境外投资等制度安排等不包括自然人，区内自然人投资境外的股票、基金市场等仍然将受到限制。
BIS sees risk of 1998-style Asian crisis as Chinese dollar debt soars – Telegraph British-based banks hold almost a quarter of all cross-border bank exposure to China, and the figure has risen since 2008. By contrast, German, Dutch, French and other European banks have slashed their share from 32pc to 14pc, chiefly because they are retrenching to beef up capital ratios at home. Some of the British banks are likely to be branches of Mideast lenders or agents of foreign wealth funds, recycling money through London.
Foreign Supermarkets Hand over Register Keys to Domestic Rivals – Caixin CP Lotus and Tesco are heading for the door, leaving Chinese companies with bigger operations – and even bigger questions on handling them
China turning into ‘giant North Korea’ say panda pundits – Telegraph Blogs China experts Minxin Pei and Jonathan Fenby left a group of grizzled policy veterans open-mouthed with astonishment at a Westminster lunch by Centre for European Reform. They more or less said that China is reverting to full police-state Maoism, with sinister self-criticism sessions making a comeback. The reforms are skin deep, and the Communist Party is rapidly shutting off the last hope of averting a violent denouement.
Rhodium Group » Chinese FDI in the United States: Q3 2013 Update In Q3 2013, Chinese firms spent $7.5 billion on ten acquisitions and eight greenfield projects in the United States. Shuanghui International’s takeover of Smithfield Foods for $7.1 billion (including debt assumption) accounts for the lion’s share of the total deal value, and marks by far the biggest completed FDI transaction by a Chinese firm in the US in history, at almost three times as large as the next biggest deal (Table 1).
One Chart That Worries Chinese Officials – Business Insider Sales volume growth in China slowed to 21.2% year-over-year in Q3, from 32.4% the previous quarter, and housing investment is slowing too. Housing starts are expected to slow in coming months. “The under-supply situation in big cities is unlikely to change in the near term,” writes Societe Generale’s Wei Ya
BBC News – Robert De Niro invests in Shanghai property complex Actor Robert De Niro is among the investors in a new property complex in the Chinese city of Shanghai, to include an arts centre, a boutique hotel, a cinema and global retailers. Due to open in 2016, Project 179 will be a 76,500-sq-m (850,000-sq-ft) complex on Shanghai’s waterfront.
POLITICS AND LAW
清华大学调查称拆迁波及中国16%家庭_网易新闻中心 New Qinghua report says 16% of Chinese households have been affected by home/land reclamation // 数据显示，农业户籍人口的流动率为21%，非农户籍人口的流动率达到23.7%。清华大学社会科学学院院长李强表示，这说明中国社会当前呈现的一种强流动特征，不仅表现为农民工的流动，城镇社会内部的流动率同样很高。这就提醒有关决策者在涉及市民化政策、流动人口社会融入政策时必须分类型对待当前的城市流动人口。比如人们看到的那些积分入户、积分入学等政策，有许多是只适应那些原本就是城镇居民的流动人口，对农民工其实只是一个幻影。 调查还发现，征地、拆迁波及16%的家庭，而征地拆迁后提供就业机会和城镇社会保障比例较低。农村本地居民打算以后还自己耕种承包地的比例降至79.1%；流动人口中打算以后还由自己耕种承包地的比例仅为47.7%。
Bo Xilai May Have Gotten Off Easy | ChinaFile My colleagues and I gathered reports from the official media, C.V.s on official Chinese government websites, and court records. We compiled a list of high-ranking officials who were dismissed or forcibly removed from office between 1989 and 2013. It was these cases we surveyed to try to answer our questions. Among our conclusions, which we explain in greater detail below, are: Given the patterns of sentencing of other officials convicted of taking similarly large sums of money through bribes and graft, Bo Xilai’s sentence was comparatively light. Hu Jintao removed more officials from office for corruption—both in absolute numbers and on a yearly basis—than did his predecessor, Jiang Zemin. The officials who fell during Hu’s era were subject to stiffer penalties than their Jiang-era counterparts.
With Snap of Group Photo, 3 Members of Advocacy Group Face Trial in China – NYTimes.com Three grass-roots rights advocates face trial in eastern China on Monday, with the main charge against them stemming from a group photograph snapped in the courtyard of an apartment block. That brief gathering will be at the heart of the first courtroom test of how far the government will go to extinguish the New Citizens Movement, which has pressed the Communist Party leadership under Xi Jinping to embrace democratic change.
Interview: Former U.S. Envoy to China Jon Huntsman Dissects Xi Jinping – China Real Time Report – WSJ China’s Xi Jinping is approaching the end of his first year at the head of the Communist Party. With nine more years left in his term, what can we expect from him? In a one-on-one video interview with WSJ’s Jerry Seib, former U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman discusses whether China’s new president really is the reformer some hope he is
Trademark Bully Jenzabar Ordered To Pay $500,000 In Attorney Fees Over Its Unrelenting Attack On Documentary Filmmakers | Techdirt For years now, we’ve covered the bizarre legal fight between software company Jenzabar and some documentary filmmakers, Long Bow Productions. One of Jenzabar’s founders, Chai Ling, was one of the student leaders of the Tiananmen Square uprising — a fact that Jenzabar has played up many times in its promotional efforts. Long Bow made a documentary about the uprising, and in that film, it shows Ling making some comments (that apparently she’d prefer she never said out loud) about how she hoped for bloodshed. Now, most people would brush off those comments as youthful excess of an immature activist, but Ling, now living in the US and using her activist roots to promote the company, instead resorted to suing Long Bow Productions for defamation and trademark infringement.
In Mess Bo Xilai Left Behind, An Opportunity for Beijing to Set Things Right – China Real Time Report – WSJ If Chinese legal authorities are willing to seize this opportunity to set things right, they have no shortage of models from which to choose. Professor Huang Shiyuan of Shandong University has reviewed 26 cases nationwide in which wrongful convictions were overturned by the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorates or provincial-level procuracies (prosecutor’s offices), and Political-Legal Committees at various levels. In a recent paper on his findings, he discussed a number of governmental and non-governmental foreign institutions that investigate wrongful convictions and, if necessary, convince courts to declare the accused to be innocent. He mentions Innocence Projects in the U.S., the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) of the U.K. and the Canadian Royal Commission of Inquiries. He urges establishment of CCRCs in every province of China.
‘Trottergate’ Raises Questions of Reckless Consumption – NYTimes.com “In three years Secretary Han Junhong has racked up 700,000 in i.o.u.’s,” declared one of the banners, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily, a tabloid published in southern China. “Wangluo party secretary and town chief, pay your bills,” said the other. The town government responded quickly to what Chinese newspapers could label, following their habit after any scandal, “Trottergate.” Officials scurried to visit Mr. Geng, the owner, and settle the problem. By Friday, the debt was paid, the Beijing News reported on its Web site.//and Mr. Geng thinks he can continue to live in the town?
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Xi Jinping: China to further friendly relations with neighboring countries – Xinhua | English.news.cn The strategic goal of China’s diplomacy with neighboring countries is to serve the cause of national rejuvenation, for which China must consolidate its friendly relations with neighboring countries and make the best use of the strategic opportunities China now has, according to Xi. We must strive to make our neighbors more friendly in politics, economically more closely tied to us, and we must have deeper security cooperation and closer people-to-people ties, Xi said. He emphasized that the basic tenet of diplomacy with neighbors is to treat them as friends and partners, to make them feel safe and to help them develop.// 习近平：让命运共同体意识在周边国家落地生根-高层动态-新华网
Closer Look: Travels of Xi and Li Show Beijing Has New Approach to ASEAN – Caixin The president and premier hit the trail to start a fresh diplomatic effort in the region – not to mention take advantage of huge opportunities in infrastructure building
李肇星:刚去曾母暗沙泡澡以个人名义宣示主权|李肇星|曾母暗沙|主权_新浪新闻 Li Zhaoxing made a visit to James Shoal, took a swim and made a personal declaration of China’s sovereignty over the shoal // 退休之后，如今主要关注哪些领域？对此，李肇星说，他自然还是最为关注自己从事过的外交领域。“前段时间，我去了一趟朝鲜和韩国，到‘三八线’上去看了看；不仅如此，我还到我们国家最南端的曾母暗沙去了一趟，以我个人的名义宣示了一下主权，在那里泡了一个澡。”李肇星说。
Chinese naval combat drill underway – Xinhua Flotillas attached to the Beihai, Donghai and Nanhai Fleets started a confrontation drill in the west Pacific on Friday, according to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The exercise is the first open-sea drill with maritime and air forces from all three of China’s fleets taking part, said a PLA statement released Friday. This kind of drill hones open-sea combat and command competency, improving the navy’s ability to safeguard national security and maritime interests.
Watch This Space – China Hands If one were to explore the upper reaches of the cable television universe between the hours of 7 and 9pm Eastern, they might be mistaken for thinking they had stumbled upon a public television broadcast of BBC World News. They would see the same modern, red graphics; an international ensemble of anchors and guests; and a stately presentation free of soundbites and focused on the hard news that never quite make American nightly newscasts at all or with any real appreciation of their complexity. But it wouldn’t be the BBC’s logo that one would see, but that of CCTV: China Central Television, live, in English, broadcasting from Washington, and with every intention of not only superficially modeling the BBC, but ultimately rivaling its influence in every corner of the globe.// China Hands – Home new e-Journal from Yale
Wikipedia China Becomes Front Line for Views on Language and Culture – NYTimes.com The Chinese-language version of Wikipedia has become more than an online encyclopedia: it is a battlefield for editors from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong in a region charged with political, ideological and cultural differences.
The inglorious exit of Bo Xilai, Canada’s closest ally in China’s power structure – The Globe and Mail Ties between Mr. Bo and corporate Canada are rooted in the long friendship between the Bo and Desmarais clans, which stretches back to the 1970s, when Mr. Bo’s father, vice-premier Bo Yibo, visited family scion Paul Desmarais Sr. on his way to Washington to help prepare for Richard Nixon’s breakthrough trip to China. There’s no evidence that the Desmarais family or Power Corporation, the massive holding firm they control, profited directly from their friendship with the Bo family, although it clearly gave them high-level access to decision-makers. // and there was a rumor going around that Bo Guagua hid out on a Desmarais estate and studied for his LSATs
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
China Is Trying to Copy America’s Naval Radar Plane — War is Boring — Medium In late October, authorities in Taipei revealed that a major in the Taiwanese air force—part of a ring of up to 20 turncoats—had been caught trying to sell technical data on the E-2 to Chinese agents. Taiwan operates six of the twin-engine E-2s, which feature a large rotating radar dish atop their fuselages for detecting ships and airplanes hundreds of miles away. //Taiwan such a sieve US should stop selling them anything sensitive?
TECH AND MEDIA
传苏宁与PPTV已达成收购协议 或今日公布_科技频道_凤凰网 Suning to acquire video site PPTV? does that mean PPTV will stop showing pirated version of uS shows like Homeland, Scandal etc? // 凤凰科技讯 10月28日消息，今日有媒体报道称，苏宁与PPTV已达成收购协议，苏宁将出价4亿美元收购，苏宁最快将在今天公布相关信息。
China’s hottest set-top boxes and smart TVs for web video–TechInAsia Web TV is a booming entertainment sector, and big tech companies are eager to get a piece of the action. Smart TV penetration in China is second only to Japan, which has a much smaller population. This year alone, we’ve seen multiple companies jump into the web TV arena with set-top boxes, smart TVs, or both – including some web giants like Baidu and Alibaba.
How China’s Perfect World plans to be a player in mobile games — and the West | GamesBeat But Robert Xiao, chief executive of the 15-year-old publicly traded Perfect World, isn’t content with that. And he’s making progress, with 30 percent of the company’s revenue now coming from international markets. We caught up with him at the recent Global Mobile Internet Conference in San Francisco, where he gave a speech on his heavy investments in mobile.
China Won’t Lose Its ‘Voice’ Despite New TV Restrictions – China Real Time Report – WSJ Broadcaster Zhejiang Satellite TV has confirmed it will continue airing the hit show despite new regulations that take aim at broadcasts based on formats developed abroad, and said it is tweaking other shows to make sure they conform with the new restrictions.
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Chinese doctor stabbed to death in latest hospital attack | Reuters A Chinese man unhappy with the results of an operation on his nose stabbed a doctor to death and wounded two others on Friday, state media reported, in at least the third such attack in a week in which China promised to improve hospital security. // 温岭杀医案：医护人员保护被杀医生遗体(1/13) and family and colleagues of the doctor won’t allow hospital to take the body away–slideshow
Better Than a Tweet? In Four Characters, a New World of Meaning – NYTimes.com another terrific Sinosphere post by Amy Qin // Some of the most popular Chinese idioms in use today, though, are of a more modern provenance, having been forged in what is currently the hottest space for linguistic innovation in China — the Internet. These sayings retain the four-character format of the classic idioms but are distinguished by their ironic, contemporary, and sometimes political themes. Popular among Chinese youth, the new idioms may not be considered highbrow, but they offer a window into the humor, culture and concerns of China’s millennial generation.
湖北恩施被曝“整酒”成风：母猪下崽也要摆酒_新闻_腾讯网 近日，央视报道湖北恩施“整酒”成风，除了婚丧嫁娶外，参军、升学都要摆宴席，连母猪下了崽也要摆酒，当地人苦不堪言。节目播出后，引起了巨大反响。当下，人情消费越来越高，人情交往渐成负担，许多人都有切身感受。如何遏制这种不良风气？听听政协委员、普通百姓都有哪些话要说。// more tales of abusive drinking…this one from CCTV, about Enshi, Hubei…always wondered if China universities had frats would some of the more stupid drinking have been just a phase, rather a key part of professional life for so many, well into middle age…then again, could you imagine the damage that would flow from an “Erguotou bong”?
NYPD: Cousin admitted fatally stabbing mom, 4 kids – Yahoo News A Chinese immigrant who neighbors said struggled to survive in America was arrested Sunday on five counts of murder in the stabbing deaths of his cousin’s wife and her four children in their Brooklyn home — using a butcher knife. The suspect, 25-year-old Mingdong Chen, implicated himself in the killings late Saturday in the Sunset Park neighborhood, police said.
Jealous butcher killed mom, 4 kids because they had ‘too much’ | New York Post Ming Dong Chen, 25, an illegal alien from China, was nabbed as he fled out the front door by two detectives who happened to be investigating a robbery pattern nearby when they heard a radio report about a domestic dispute involving a knife and responded to the scene, the source said.
Why ‘2 Broke Girls’ Is All the Rage in China | FP Passport Yet fans of the show in China are drawn in by its feel-good message. “I don’t just watch 2 Broke Girls for fun,” one viewer explained on Weibo. “I am studying the spirit with which they pursue their dream. At the end of every episode, when they count how much they’ve saved, I feel an indescribable positive energy. The girl who grew up rich can pick herself back up even though she lost all her money. The girl who grew up poor still has a positive outlook and sharp tongue.” The viewer concluded by asking, rhetorically, “Why on earth shouldn’t I pursue the life that I want to live?”
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
“奶粉进药店”北京试点启动_证券时报网 pilot launched to sell infant formula in pharmacies, idea being that somehow pharmacies will only sell safe, verified formula // “奶粉进药店”试点10月26日在北京启动，在北京四家连锁药店医保全新、嘉事堂、金象和永安堂的5个门店，通过设立ATM机的方式，消费者可以“自助”购买到11个品牌的婴幼儿奶粉。
石油焦进口之忧_杂志频道_财新网 China imports a lot of dirty burning petrocoke from the US…Caixin on the pollution from the use of petrocoke // 美国能源部的数据显示，从2006年开始，石油焦在美国国内的销量就开始减少，但中国的需求一直在增加。2013年上半年，中国从美国进口了超过2400万桶的石油焦，同比增长近55%。目前，美国出口海外的全部石油焦中有20%运往了中国。
Soviets conducted nuclear blasts at oilfield to be tapped with China | Reuters A Siberian oilfield that Russia and China plan to develop together was the site of Soviet nuclear blasts in the 1970s and 1980s, Russian officials said on Friday. The government and state oil firm Rosneft said the field was safe, rejecting environmentalists’ concerns that oil extracted from it could be contaminated with radiation.
BEIJING
北京10月二手房均价突破三万|二手房|北京|房价_新浪财经_新浪网 average price for second hand home transactions in Beijing topped 30,000/rmb/m in October // 据伟业我爱我家市场研究院的数据统计，10月份(截至26日)北京全市二手住宅网签总量为8190套，与上月同期相比下跌了近二成，而二手住宅交易均价却突破三万大关，为3.09万元/平米，环比上月同期上涨了3.4%。
北京”最牛违建”仍矗立 开拆两月无大变化(图)_网易新闻中心 3 months later, the crazy, illegal rooftop structure in Beijing still has not been torn down // 新京报讯 近日，位于北京人济山庄的“最牛违建”拆除进度遭到市民质疑。市民发现自8月15日开拆以来，最底层的假山和房屋从外部看没有太大变化，怀疑房主张必清已经悄然停工。昨日，张必清否认称，违建一直按计划拆除，月底能拆完。
JOBS AND EVENTS
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China » Junkyard Planet: China’s Hand in a Billion Dollar Trash Trade Come and join Adam Minter, columnist for Bloomberg View, who’ll unveil the secret back-story of globalization over the last thirty years: the globalized recycling business. Adam will give an insider’s account of the hidden world of this multi-billion dollar waste business that goes from the U.S to China and points in between. Adam’s talk will include never-before-seen video and images from his reporting of his first book Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade. DATE: Oct 30 (Wednesday) TIME: 10-11:30am VENUE: Royal Norwegian Embassy, 1, Dong Yi Jie, Sanlitun (enter from 3rd ring road South direction), phone: 8531 9600