The Sinocism China Newsletter 12.18.14

"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner

Apologies for the radio silence. I neglected to mention in the last newsletter that between finishing a year-end project and the holidays, publishing would be very sporadic until the first week of January. Today’s issue is a long one so it should keep you occupied for a bit.

Thanks for reading Sinocism this year, lots of changes coming in 2015, most good ones I hope.

Happy Holidays!

Today’s Links:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

1. China launches major crackdown on flow of illicit funds to Macau | South China Morning Post Beijing is to launch a major crackdown on the multibillion-dollar flow of illicit funds through Macau casinos in a coordinated security drive that will see the country’s powerful Ministry of Public Security play a leading role. The unprecedented move – confirmed by documents seen by the Post that were sent to Macau’s banks late yesterday by the city’s monetary authority – turns up the heat on controversial VIP junket operators who generate the bulk of Macau gaming revenues as they come under increasing law enforcement scrutiny amid the “tigers and flies” anti-corruption drive by President Xi Jinping. // I seem to remember when the crackdown started that some analysts said look to Macau as a barometer of how real this crackdown is. It sure looks real, and I am quite convinced it is a mistake to call the corruption crackdown under Xi a “campaign”, as I argued here back in July. Much more attention should be paid to the CCDI structural reforms Wang Qishan is pushing. I would call it a “new normal”, structural shift towards anti-corruption work. Yes I know the narrative, no free press, no independent judiciary so doomed to fail, and no princelings (yet) so a sham. But I think people have been far too dismissive of some of the changes Wang is making within CCDI system, and the no princelings bit is premature. First, find a princeling who thinks it is business as usual. Second, Xi and Wang are less than 24 months into this and can’t hit everything at once, especially as Xi is still consolidating power. It may fail, but the crackdown is already much deeper and longer than almost anyone expected, and the signs are that it is intensifying, not slowing, and looks to be still in its early days inside the PLA.

2. 四集专题片《作风建设永远在路上》 CCDI has released episode 3 of its 4 part documentary on the anti-corruption efforts…lots of interesting details have been released in the first three, lots of coverage in Chinese media

Related: 中纪委自曝为何周五“打老虎”:运用传播规律新闻腾讯网 CCDI on why it likes to release news of big cases on Fridays.  // 此外,昨天播出的专题片第三集《狠抓节点》披露,网站是公共舆论传播平台。中央纪委监察部网站巧妙地运用传播规律——他们坚持在一段时期里相对较多地在每周五公布最新案情。几周下来,敏感的公共媒体和网民们就发现了这个规律,并且开始定时守候。这种“点击期待”也迅速成为了一个公共话题,进一步扩大了网站的影响力。

Related:  【侠客岛】中纪委搞宣传咋这么厉害?–时政–人民网 盘点2013年以来的舆论江湖,有一个新门派——中纪委官网,异军突起,而且一路飘红,形势看涨。从去年9月上线以来,第二个月的点击量就达到3000万。2014年3月,总访问量达到2.3亿次,日均访问量超过120万次,峰值达到600万次。而半年多过去,这个数值肯定又是相当可观,可以说分分秒杀其他政务类网站。而从12月16日开始,由中纪委宣传部和中央电视台合拍的四集专题片《作风建设永远在路上》,高调登陆央视,向公众和外界宣传八项规定的执行和落实情况。这在中纪委的历史上,可以算是破天荒。

Related: 【独家】讲述中纪委热播专题片背后的故事 这几天,微信圈里一篇文章挺火,《中纪委搞宣传咋这么厉害》,由侠客岛出品。文章中,岛君不吝笔墨,分析了从15号开始登陆央视的专题片《作风建设永远在路上》。 岛君就是岛君,眼光果然毒辣。正哥哥作为专题片的撰稿人,更有切身体会。刚一登陆央视,收视率就直逼《舌尖1》的这部专题片,其创意、策划、撰稿、拍摄,甚至剪辑,那可都是经过无数次的打磨,每一个案例和细节的选取都大有深意。 今儿,咱就讲讲这部专题片背后的故事。

3. China Said to Plan Sweeping Shift From Foreign Technology to Own – Bloomberg legitimate national security reasons to do this, especially in the wake of the Snowden revelations, something China has been pushing for many years (remember the 863 Program?) and lots of domestic financial interests in this switch as well. Sad but unsurprising to see the US tech firms getting Huawei’d in China, doubt there is much the US government can do to help  //  China is aiming to purge most foreign technology from banks, the military, state-owned enterprises and key government agencies by 2020, stepping up efforts to shift to Chinese suppliers, according to people familiar with the effort. The push comes after a test of domestic alternatives in the northeastern city of Siping that was deemed a success, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. Workers there replaced Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Windows with a homegrown operating system called NeoKylin and swapped foreign servers for ones made by China’s Inspur Group Ltd., they said.

4. 经济参考网 – 竞争性国企不要求绝对控股 员工持股将优先于引入其他的战略投资者 《经济参考报》记者从权威人士处获悉,近期成立的国企改革调研组和国资委、财政部、发改委、人社部等进行了多次讨论研究,目前对于国有企业改革顶层设计方案已基本达成共识,最早将于2015年年初出台。 该权威人士认为,“瓜熟蒂落”对于酝酿了一年多的国有企业顶层设计现状是最好的诠释。“自十八届三中全会至今的一年多时间,国资委、财政部、发改委、人社部以及后来成立的国企改革调研组都进行了数十次的调研,对于国有企业改革的总体方案、指导思想、原则以及实施办法已基本形成共识,其中包括对于国资分类、员工持股、混合所有制改革交叉持股比例等敏感问题”。//sounds like announcement of more SOE reform plans imminent

Related:  国企改革顶层设计即将瓜熟蒂落 市值管理成新动力-手机和讯网 “酝酿了一年多的国企改革顶层设计现在终于可以用即将”瓜熟蒂落”来形容了。”中国建材集团董事长宋志平16日在国资委研究中心举办的“国企改革:探索与前瞻”论坛上表示。据透露,眼下各方在顶层设计中的多个关键问题上已达成共识,比如在国有经济或国有资本的分类方面,共识是分为公益类和商业类两大类;同时,在监管体系上,共识是出资人要把主要精力放在管资本上,人和事的管理工作尽量下放。

5. Cyber Sovereignty Must Rule Global Internet | Lu Wei in Huffington Post wonder if running this will help Huffington Post’s plans for a Chinese language site  //  It is the essence of the development of the Internet that the Internet should bring peace and security to humans, should deny access to criminals and terrorists, should help younger generations to grow in health and should also serve the interests of developing countries since they need the Internet more than others. We should realize that the Internet has turned the world into a global village. Big convergence, great development and deep fusion are the trends of this era, and co-sharing and co-governance are the choices of the history. In this spirit, I therefore put forward five propositions:

Related: Zuckerberg’s pandering to China threatens Web’s values – SFGate By Amy Chang of CNAS  //  Why was Zuckerberg’s gesture toward Lu especially concerning? Because China is actively promoting a counter-narrative to the traditional Western notion of an open, free, networked society. China, and in particular Lu, have been proposing the concept of sovereignty in cyberspace, implying China’s ability to control its own Internet, censor information that may threaten the regime, and administer Web traffic within its own borders. China has employed this language in state-sponsored media, in government white papers, in U.N. meetings, and in literature distributed at Internet governance conferences. The message conveyed in these efforts is the antithesis of what Silicon Valley stands for. In the past several years, companies have stood up for its principles of free access to information and freedom from censorship and monitoring.

Related: Why Facebook Needs Sheryl Sandberg – Businessweek in 2011 Zuckerberg believes that Facebook can be an agent of change in China, as it has been in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia. Sandberg, a veteran of Google’s expensive misadventures in the world’s most populous country, is wary about the compromises Facebook would have to make to do business there. // Does he still believe this, and that it justifies the compromises Facebook would have to make? Has Lu Wei read this story?

Related: Open Internet not at odds with regulation – Global Times We think the Firewall is a stopgap arrangement, whose function will diminish as Chinese cyberspace becomes more developed. Being an open society has become one of China’s core beliefs, and an open Internet has been widely recognized by the people. China has no choice but to try to integrate its cyberspace with that of the international community. Given its recent activities in this area, such as hosting the World Internet Conference and actively participating in the 7th China-US Internet Forum, China is exerting itself to move in that direction. Meanwhile, China will not allow the Internet to be a lawless territory. Along with prosperity and freedom, order and the rule of law also matter in cyberspace. Chinese social management requires activities in cyberspace to be secure to real society // 社评:谷歌“临时开禁”引发的思考评论环球网

Related: China’s Internet Gambit | CHINA US Focus-Rogier Creemers China’s fundamental proposition is that different countries must have the power to decide for themselves how they wish to govern their respective cyberspaces. Rejecting concepts of universal values, China argues that the online sphere is a mere extension of the real world, and thus must be subject to the same governmental scrutiny. With particular reference to questions of national security, China often points to the hypocrisy of a “Western” perspective that publicly advocates online openness, but has condoned the vast expansion of worldwide surveillance and monitoring. National governments, they say, should have the final word in deciding on threats concerning social stability and political integrity.

6. Sinica Podcast: Domestic Abuse in China Sinica is delighted to host Su Wenying and Cai Yiping, two leading advocates of women and children’s rights who join us for a discussion of domestic violence in China. Our conversation starts with a discussion of the current legal landscape, and moves on to the prevalence of domestic abuse with some surprising stats about how education and social status does and does not affect the prevalence of violence in this country, before we look at public awareness of the problem, and ask to what extent it seems likely to change anytime soon.

Related:  The Rise and Fall of the Anti-Domestic Violence Network – China Development Brief The birth and death of the ADVN are not mere blips in the record of Chinese social movements. The curtain has fallen on fourteen years of hard work, raising a serious question: Is this the end of the NGO operating model that, under a particular State-society relationship, combines the social capital of domestic governmental bodies and the financial resources of international organizations? How can the women’s movement and similar social movements develop and be reborn in a new environment and a society that is rapidly changing? These are all extremely practical and important questions awaiting answers from the field.

7. China halts anti-dumping probe into EU, Japan dialysis kit makers | Reuters The investigation, launched in June, was a potential challenge to the international firms who currently dominate the global and Chinese dialysis market. Beijing said at the time it would examine any negative impact on Chinese rivals. “The Ministry of Commerce will from today halt the anti-dumping investigation into hemodialysis devices imported from the European Union and Japan,” the ministry said in a short statement on its Internet site on Wednesday.

8. Here Is Xi’s China: Get Used To It | ChinaFile – Arthur Kroeber In short, China is a successful authoritarian developmental state which is now rich enough to start setting its own rules rather than just accepting other peoples’. That is the Xi project. To recognize this fact does not require one to celebrate it, or to ignore the costs of the authoritarian strategy. So long as it insists on clamping down on information networks, China can never become a global technological leader or anything close to it. So long as it deprives citizens of political and civil rights considered basic in virtually every other middle- or upper-income country in the world, it will remain a cultural desert and its “soft power” will be stunted. These are real costs, and big ones. But they are costs the leadership has decided to bear, and it is a fantasy to think they will be punished for this decision not to emulate the liberal democratic ideal. China, to steal John Connally’s famous phrase about the dollar, is its own country, and other people’s problem. It will develop in its own way, on its own terms, and others will just have to work with it as best they can.// a well-argued “contrarian” view in the face of the overwhelming media/pundit consensus of doom

 

BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE

China Investors Bet This Time Is Different in Stock Rally – Bloomberg President Xi Jinping supports rising share prices, while the market has “matured” after losses during the past five years erased more value from the Shanghai Composite Index than any other global equity gauge, according to Zhang. “If Xi wants to realize the Chinese dream, he has to boost the stock market, which makes us ordinary people happy,” Zhang, who plans to make an initial purchase of about 100,000 yuan ($16,153) and is considering using borrowed money to amplify his wagers, said in an interview on Dec. 9. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if the benchmark index jumps to 10,000, or 231 percent above yesterday’s close.

W.T.O. Fails on High-Tech Tariff Deal – NYTimes.com when the Chinese agreed to a deal during the Obama visit, did they tell the US side that this was all they could agree to and they needed the US to give them cover at Geneva?  //  the talks broke down in the middle of a face-off between China and South Korea over liquid-crystal display television screens, a market where China strongly wants to expand. After difficult negotiations, South Korea was willing to lower tariffs on LCDs. But the Korean delegation wanted China to offer at least a face-saving concession, most likely in advanced lithium batteries, a product in which China already has a billion-dollar trade surplus, according to an American official with knowledge of the talks. China rebuffed appeals from American and Korean negotiators, even from the head of the W.T.O. “I think it says very profound things about China’s ability to negotiate,” the American official said. “The world’s most successful trader of information technology is incapable of having a negotiating conversation.”

粤津闽自贸区离挂牌还有数月,获准试点新内容_自贸区连线_澎湃新闻-The Paper new FTZs 4 Guangdong, Fujian & Tianjin, extension of some of Shanghai FTZ policies to Pudong // 12月12日,国务院总理李克强主持召开国务院常务会议,部署推广上海自贸试验区试点经验、加快制定完善负面清单,推动更高水平对外开放。   会议批准广东、天津、福建三地,在特定区域设立自由贸易园区;会议还要求,上海自贸区继续深化改革,并将部分开放措施辐射到浦东新区。当天召开的会议指出,上海自贸区设立一年多来,围绕外商投资负面清单管理、贸易便利化、金融服务业开放、完善政府监管制度等,在体制机制上进行了积极探索和创新,形成了一批可复制、可推广的经验做法。党中央、国务院已决定在更大范围推开,推动实施新一轮高水平对外开放。

瞭望:以开放促改革,加快构建开放型经济新体制-时政频道-新华网 Liaowang on using increased openness to advance domestic reforms //  当前,随着全面深化改革进入攻坚期和深水区,我们既需要加大力度深化内部各项改革,对“险滩”“硬骨头”实施正面攻坚,也迫切需要通过更大力度、更宽领域、更高水平的开放,加快形成更高水平的开放格局。习近平总书记关于加快构建开放型经济新体制的最新论述,对于我们在全面深化改革进程中,以开放促改革、促发展,以对外开放的主动赢得经济发展的主动、赢得国际竞争的主动,具有重大指导意义。 开放倒逼改革,是我国改革不断取得成功的重要经验。

SEC.gov | SEC Charges Avon With FCPA Violations The SEC alleges that Avon’s subsidiary in China made $8 million worth of payments in cash, gifts, travel, and entertainment to gain access to Chinese officials implementing and overseeing direct selling regulations in China.  Avon sought to be among the first allowed to test the regulations, and eventually received the first direct selling business license in China in March 2006.  The improper payments also were made to avoid fines or negative news articles that could have impacted Avon’s clean corporate image required to retain the license.  Examples of improper payments alleged in the SEC’s complaint include paid travel for Chinese government officials within China or to the U.S. or Europe as well as such gifts as Louis Vuitton merchandise, Gucci bags, Tiffany pens, and corporate box tickets to the China Open tennis tournament.  //  any way to find out who they paid, and which media outlets they bribed? Ridiculous if this all the penalty Avon gets. DoJ also looking at this?

Slowdown in China Bruises Economy in Latin America – NYTimes.com China’s voracious hunger for Latin America’s raw materials fueled the region’s most prosperous decade since the 1970s. It filled government coffers and helped halve the region’s poverty rate. That era is over. For policy makers gathered here last week for the International Monetary Fund’s conference on challenges to Latin America’s prosperity, there seemed to be no more clear and present danger than China’s slowdown.

China, CEE countries eye land-sea express passage to speed up delivery – Xinhua China and three Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries on Wednesday agreed to build a land-sea express passage linking a Greek port and the landlocked Hungary to speed up transportation between China and Europe. The consensus was reached when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with his counterparts from Serbia, Hungary and Macedonia one day after the leaders’ meeting between China and 16 CEE countries in Belgrade.

China Criticizes Steep U.S. Tariffs on Solar Panels – NYTimes.com The new tariffs, announced Tuesday by the United States Department of Commerce, include antidumping duties of 26.71 percent to 78.42 percent on imports of most solar panels made in China, and rates of 11.45 percent to 27.55 percent on imports of solar cells, a key component, that are made in Taiwan. In addition, the department announced antisubsidy duties of 27.64 percent to 49.79 percent for Chinese modules.

There’s $1.7 Trillion Locked Out of China’s Stock Rally – Bloomberg The benchmark gauge in China has soared 33 percent since August through last week, more than any other major market in the world, yet most developing-nation equity funds aren’t benefiting from the rally at all. In fact they’re plunging. The problem is that while Chinese policy makers have taken some steps to free up capital flows, the moves haven’t gone far enough to persuade MSCI Inc. to include the country’s locally traded shares in its flagship emerging markets index. And if a market isn’t in the index, fund managers who benchmark their performance to the gauge typically won’t put money into it. With Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong failing in their role as substitutes, Brazilian shares falling into a bear market last week and Russian stocks tumbling, not since 2010 has the lack of mainland China securities been felt so keenly by investors.

China’s Second LGFV Bond Sale in Doubt as State Support Pulled – Bloomberg For the second time in less than a week a local government financing vehicle in China looks set to not complete a bond sale as scheduled after investors discovered the notes won’t receive state backing. A 1 billion yuan ($161 million) offering of securities scheduled to be sold yesterday by a financing unit in Urumqi, the capital city of China’s northwestern Xinjiang province, may not proceed after investors refused to hand over the money, Caixin reported today, citing people it didn’t identify. China’s top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, will have the final say on whether the bond sale will be canceled or not, Caixin said.// 【独家】“14乌国投债”或中止发行金融频道财新网

传不动产登记明年3月起实施 二手房应声而降财经频道一财网 中 央编办批复在国土部挂牌不动产登记中心后,不动产登记的步伐再次加快。近日,有消息称,《不动产登记暂行条例》(以下简称《暂行条例》)基本敲定,已由国务院签发,定于年内颁布,自2015年3月1日起施行。 不动产登记暂行条例的敲定会大幅拉低房价吗?会让原本就库存高企的楼市再添重负吗?近日,《中国经营报》记者走访了部分房产业界人士,大家纷纷表示,短期内不动产条例对楼市不会有太大影响。但是长期来看,不动产登记在一定程度上能够提高房地产市场调控乃至宏观调控的运作效率,如此一来,对房价有很大影响。

China to focus on 9 reform areas in 2015 – Xinhua China will accelerate reform in nine areas next year including the capital market and market access for private banks, according to the Central Economic Work Conference concluded on Thursday. Reform will be speeded up in administrative approval, investment, pricing, monopolies, franchising, government purchased services, and outbound investment. This takes into consideration both the need for the next year and the long-term interests, according to a statement released after the conference.

 

POLITICS AND LAW

Why Marx Still Matters: The Ideological Drivers of Chinese Politics | ChinaFile one must be careful in ascribing certain traits to Marxism alone. Many of the traits that we have to come to associate with the Chinese version of Marxism can often be drawn back to China’s imperial political culture. In fact, one could argue that one of the reasons Marxism was so attractive to the modernizers who built up the Party during the 1920s was because it provided an intellectual tool to transform society that shared some of its crucial components with Chinese political concepts that they were well acquainted with—in many cases because they had been educated with the classical Confucian canon or grew up in scholar-official families. Marxism’s focus on the realization of a utopian society, for instance, was not too dissimilar to the Confucian yearning for Grand Harmony. Similarly, the Leninist idea of rule by knowledge elites resonated among thinkers for whom the imperial examination system was anything but a distant memory.

CPC disciplinary watchdog to supervise more central Party, government organs – Xinhua The Communist Party of China’s (CPC’s) disciplinary watchdog will establish resident offices in four CPC central organs to intensify anti-graft work, it was decided on Thursday. Similar branches will also be set up in the country’s top legislature, top political advisory body and the General Office of the State Council, or the cabinet. It is the first time the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) has sent resident supervisors to the CPC Central Committee’s General Office, Organization Department, Publicity Department and United Front Work Department, and the National People’s Congress, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and the General Office of the State Council.

Q. and A.: John Osburg on the Angst Found Among China’s Newly Rich – NYTimes.com John Osburg, 39, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Rochester, is the author of “Anxious Wealth: Money and Morality Among China’s New Rich,” based on research he conducted in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu. The book paints a detailed picture of the complex ways in which men and women try to buy favors and get ahead in business ventures

十起冤案追责盘点:赵作海案等三起已追责新闻腾讯网 The Beijing News looks at who is responsible for miscarriages of justice in ten recently publicized/overturned cases

七地司改试点方案均获批,政法委主导法官遴选委员会模式被否法治中国澎湃新闻-The Paper 12月13日,全国首个省级法官、检察官遴选(惩戒)委员会——上海市法官、检察官遴选(惩戒)委员会成立,一共有15名委员。遴选(惩戒)委员会分别在上海市高级法院、市检察院设立办公室。        15名委员包括7位专门委员和8位专家委员,专门委员由上海市委政法委、市委组织部、市纪委、市人大内司委、市公务员局、市高级法院、市检察院等单位的分管领导担任。专家委员从资深法学专家、业务专家、律师代表中择选。        上海遴选(惩戒)委员会还附设专家库,由资深法学专家、律师代表等组成,共20人左右。

Related: 【聚焦】胡乔木女儿:革命后代要全力支持习近平反腐 interesting interview with Hu Qiaomu”s daughter. She is very supportive of the corruption crackdown, says a “very small minority of red nobility” are corrupt…I will bet that we see some of these “very small minority” go down in 2015…Xi and Wang can’t go after everyone at once, and they are not even two years in to the corruption crackdown  //  记者:社会上对“红二代”有些非议,认为他们享受了特权。胡木英:这种看法是不对的。“红二代”是社会上对革命后代约定成俗的称谓,这个称谓比较模糊。大多数红二代是普通人,勤勤勉勉工作,直至退休。以我的亲身经历,上山下乡,我都跟同龄人一样,没有任何特殊待遇。 但是不排除有极少数红二代,腐化堕落,利用父辈的权力捞好处、挣大钱,背离了人民群众。我认为不能把他们称为“红二代”,称为“官二代”更合适。这极少数人破坏了我们革命后代的形象,辜负了他们父辈的革命教育。

曝光专区——中央纪委监察部网站 CCDI launches special section on its site to report New Year and Chinese New Year transgression by officials

中纪委专题片曝光黑龙江副省级官员喝死人现场_网易新闻中心 中国网12月17日讯 中央纪委监察部网站16日晚间发布四集专题片《作风建设永远在路上——落实中央八项规定精神正风肃纪纪实》系列专题片的第二集《正风肃纪》,片中将片中回访了几位违反八项规定的领导干部,并曝光了黑龙江省副省级干部付晓光喝死陪酒人员现场以及安徽省原副省长倪发科的自我交代手稿等。

Former SOE Head Handed Death Sentence for Fraud Scheme – Caixin Zhang Xinhua, former general manager of Guangzhou-based Baiyun Nonggongshang United Co. Ltd, was found guilty by the city’s intermediate People’s Court of embezzling 72 million yuan worth of state-owned assets and taking another 100 million yuan in bribes. The court also convicted him of causing a loss of 284 million yuan in state-owned assets.

CPC stresses “mass-line” legacy – Xinhua Party organizations should reflect on the progress and effect of the campaign and resolve remaining problems, according to a Monday statement by the campaign organizers. Promises to correct bad practices must be met one by one, the statement read. Backsliders will receive guidance from higher level officials. Wherever undesirable work styles recur or violations of rules are found, leading officials will be held responsible.

China Rail Chief Ally Ding Given Jail, $400 Million Fine – Bloomberg Ding Yuxin, also known as Ding Shumiao, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 2.5 billion yuan ($403 million) for paying bribes and engaging in illegal business, the court said. She was also ordered to forfeit 20 million yuan of personal assets, according to a post today on the court’s Weibo social media service account.

令家“合伙人”打虎记澎湃新闻-The Paper 自今年10月底传出被查消息以来,投注于令完成身上的目光久未散去。   山西籍落马高官令政策的亲弟弟、央视著名主持人李平的丈夫、中国网通天天在线前总裁、乐视网背后的早期投资者之一,这些身份都难以覆盖令完成的人生履历与商业轨迹。 少有人提的是,在新华社工作了近20年后,令完成2003年前后,从新华社下属中国广告联合总公司总裁,跳至央企下属企业中国华星汽车贸易(集团)公司(以下简称“华星汽贸”)担任总裁。其时,他使用的还是本名令狐完成。     令完成在该公司的同事戴小兵、唐富文等人,成为他此后数年亲密的商业伙伴。 // another long article on the business activities of Ling Jihua’s brother Ling Wancheng, active in Beijing media and Internet circles

《求是》刊令计划撰文:民族工作坚持8个必须 Ling Jihua in latest “Qiushi” on the “8 necessarys” in ethnic policy work// 一、必须坚持党对民族工作的领导。; 二、必须坚持中国特色社会主义道路。; 三、必须坚持维护祖国统一。; 四、必须坚持各民族一律平等。; 五、必须坚持和完善民族区域自治制度。; 六、必须坚持各民族共同团结奋斗、共同繁荣发展。; 七、必须坚持打牢中华民族共同体的思想基础。; 八、必须坚持依法治国。

中央纪委专题片首次曝光问讯记录表和报销发票新闻腾讯网 “昨天晚间8时30分许,中央纪委宣传部、中央电视台联合摄制的电视专题片《作风建设永远在路上——落实中央八项规定精神正风肃纪纪实》正式播出。 中央纪委首次以专题片的形式公开披露大量“四风”细节。”

习总书记首谈“四个全面”意味着什么新闻腾讯网 新华网北京12月16日电 据新华社“新华视点”客户端消息,习近平总书记近日在江苏调研时强调,要“协调推进全面建成小康社会、全面深化改革、全面推进依法治国、全面从严治党,推动改革开放和社会主义现代化建设迈上新台阶。”

舆论场:红旗下的反党运动_中国-多维新闻网 就在不久前,胡锡进带领的《环球时报》还为将军和学者搭建起了辨论颜色革命的平台。如果将《红旗文稿》掀起的揭露反党运动奇文与颜色革命关联在一起,又何尝不是一脉相承的观点表达?只不过,揭露反党运动具体到了个人,颜色革命则采取了更为含糊其辞的表述。关键问题在于,《红旗文稿》近乎直接点名的做法,真的可以代表官方意志吗?点名过后,真的会有公众忌惮的舆论之外的政治后果吗?

社评:红色不是“左”,它是中国真正主流色评论环球网 建国以来,由于“文革”等错误,以及重庆的“唱红打黑”都不同程度上损害了红色原有的形象,主流社会对红色的阐述一度犹豫不决,或者残缺不全。 然而十八大以来的情况再次证明,红色是中国凝聚力的最大源泉,它不仅是执政党的能量库,也是全社会最亲切的精神故里。把一些尘土掸掉,杂草铲去,让原汁原味的红色接通人心,它就会焕发出属于这个时代的耀眼光芒,释放强大的力量…红色过去代表革命,今天更多指向传承。传承是积累,是对未来的现实主义选择。用“左”来标签化红色是极其肤浅的。红色是中国真正的主流,所有试图挑战它的政治色块都将被证明是过眼云烟。

谣与防谣 都有新变化(求证·特别策划·新媒体时代防谣新常态①)–社会–人民网 编者按:经过2013年轰轰烈烈的“网络打谣”,防谣治谣是否进入“平稳期”?传统媒体、网络媒体携手辟谣的“大联盟”是否已然构建?从多部门联合整治,到法律法规完善,防谣治谣是否进入“新常态”?回望2014,谣与防谣,都有话要说。“求证”栏目从今起推出系列报道,关注新媒体时代防谣新常态。

【正解】西式民主在中国行不通 田文林 求是网

人民日报总结2014反腐:有3种动物屡屡“上头条”_打虎记_澎湃新闻-The Paper 2014年的中国反腐,全年都持续吸引着关注的目光。        今年全国“两会”期间,全国政协新闻发言人一句“你懂的”,不期然间成为这一年的反腐热词。那时的疑惑,如今已是过眼云烟。那句“你懂的”,在这一年的反腐之后,变成“真懂了”。临近岁末,反观这一年中国的反腐,会发现在全面推进依法治国的目标之下,无论谁有问题,一概难逃法网。

Dalai Lama says his role should cease after his death The Dalai Lama said he took heart from hearing Xi talking about Buddhism recently. “This is something very unusual,” he told France24. “A communist, usually, we consider atheist.” Asked if the remarks led him to believe Xi was ready to discuss genuine autonomy for Tibet, the spiritual leader said there were “some indications”. “But at the same time, among the establishment, there is a lot of hardliner thinking still there. So he himself sometimes finds it’s a difficult situation,” he said.

社评:贺卫方“讲座门”不应被过度引申评论环球网 广东省委老干部局同广州市委老干部局10日联合举办学习四中全会精神报告会,邀请北大法学院教授贺卫方做报告。广东省媒体就此公开做了报道,在舆论场引起不小波澜。我们认为,一方面,舆论不需对贺去广东讲座做过多解读,无限扩大它的含义。国家政治路线和舆论导向如今都十分清楚,围绕所谓“宪政”的争论事实上已划上句号。党的一个地方老干局通过请一位“宪政”主张者讲座来支持他的政治主张,进而发出有悖舆论大导向的信号是不合逻辑的。这种安排更可能是技术层面原因导致的,不应被政治化。另一方面,党的各级机构也应当对互联网时代自己与舆论的关系不断加深认识,清楚自己如今的每一个行动都可能被舆论捕捉到,产生扩大化解读的情况。各地基层党组织已经完全置身舆论中间,与舆论的互动有时是它们主动的,有时则是被动的。

维护微博意识形态安全必须纠正的几种倾向 近年来,兼具大众媒体与社交网络双重性质的微博飞速发展,已跻身获取信息、发表观点、社会交往的主要渠道。开放式的微博舆论场上,各种意识形态观点竞相博弈,一些抹黑中国、否定党的领导和社会主义制度的观点在微博平台上扩张传播,不仅制造了各种话语暴力和谣言,而且对社会主义主流意识形态形成严重冲击,维护微博意识形态安全特别是警惕和纠正以下几种倾向已经成为当务之急。

 

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

Another PLA Officer Said to Run Afoul of Anti-Graft Investigators – Caixin Ma Xiangdong, director of the political department of the PLA Nanjing Institute of Politics, was detained by military investigators in early December, sources with knowledge of the matter said. Ma holds the rank of senior colonel. His detention came shortly after an investigation was launched into Dai Weimin, a major-general and the deputy dean at the Nanjing Institute of Politics. Dai was suspected of taking huge bribes related to land and construction projects. Ma is suspected of selling admissions when he was the head of the training bureau of the PLA’s General Political Department around 2009, a source close to the matter said. The training bureau is in charge of selecting government-sponsored military students for admission into military colleges and other education institutions.

Anti-graft drive will go on as China can’t afford to lose corruption battle: PLA Daily | South China Morning Post In a rare candid commentary, the PLA Daily said that a proper understanding of the campaign was needed if the “pernicious influence” of former Central Military Commission vice-chairman Xu Caihou was to be eradicated. It pointed to misperceptions within the army and the public about whether the drive could continue or might lose the support of rank-and-file officers. There were now two opposing sides in the campaign, which had reached a critical point, and the military should know there wouldn’t be any let-up in the fight.

President Xi orders PLA to clear up bad influence from Xu Caihou – Xinhua Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks during an inspection tour to the Nanjing Military Area Command of the People’s Liberation of Army (PLA) on Sunday. The armed forces should learn a lesson from Xu, former vice chairman of CMC, and “fully clear up the bad influence” left by this case in the army’s ideological, political and organizational work as well as the style of work, Xi said.

军报谈反腐:周永康徐才厚都动了 还有谁动不了新闻腾讯网 12月17日,解放军报刊发评论文章,题目为《反腐是一场输不起的生死仗》,对“再反下去会不会反散人心”、“还能不能反得下去”等疑惑作出回应。 文章明确指出,必须坚决将反腐斗争进行到底。“到此为止”绝对是一种错误,“骑虎难下”显然是一种误判。对人民军队而言,是整军治军、打胜仗、重新赢得人民信任的必须。同时,坚决反腐,为稍纵即逝的改革“窗口期”赢得宝贵时间。因此,反腐斗争“不能退也退不起,不能输也输不起”。评论文章如下:

Reporters in China Say Media Freeze Is Intensifying – NYTimes.com The good news is that unlike last year — when the Chinese government delayed the issuance of some journalist visas, prompting the intervention of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. during a state visit in December — the authorities appear to be renewing hundreds of annual resident journalist visas without a hitch this year. That includes reporters from The New York Times and Bloomberg News, two media outlets that last year were targeted for their investigative coverage of the wealth of the families of China’s top leaders. But the progress on visa renewals obscures what many correspondents say is a mounting hostility toward Western media outlets operating in China.

NYT should review biased China coverage – Xinhua The New York Times has demonized the word “communist”. Although China has adopted market reforms and opened up to the world for more than thirty years, the newspaper remains blind to China’s progress and attributes all the problems that have arisen during China’s develop as results of “dictatorship”, “lack of democracy” and “lack of freedom”. Such a Cold-War mentality prevails in the New York Times, especially when it comes to issues related to China’s Tibet and Xinjiang. Such misleading reports will only intensify the prejudice in the minds of some Americans and weaken the foundation for the healthy development of bilateral relations.

U.S. Links North Korea to Sony Hacking – NYTimes.com North Korea has been a notoriously hard target for computer penetration. But four years ago the National Security Agency launched a major effort to penetrate the country’s computer operations, including its elite cyberteam, and to establish “implants” in the country’s networks that, like a radar system, would monitor the development of malware transmitted from the country. But it is hardly a foolproof system. Much of North Korea’s hacking is done from China. And while the attack on Sony used some commonly available cybertools, one intelligence official said, “This was of a sophistication that a year ago we would have said was beyond the North’s capabilities.”

China pledges 3-billion-USD investment fund for CEE countries – Xinhua Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Tuesday that his country will create an investment fund of 3 billion U.S. dollars to facilitate financing in the cash-strapped Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Li made the announcement at the third leaders’ meeting between China and 16 CEE countries in Serbia. The latest pledge came two years after the world’s second-largest economy set up a 10-billion-dollar special credit line to support cooperative projects with CEE countries.

Canada Unveils New Plan to Attract Wealthy Immigrants – WSJ Besides the minimum investment and net-worth requirements, immigration lawyers said the new program has strict conditions for entry. For instance, applicants must be proficient in either English or French and hold an education diploma that is the equivalent of a Canadian postsecondary degree. Language has been part of the requirement for immigrating to Canada, but not for investment-based immigration. French language institutes have sprung up in China, as wealthy Chinese discovered a back door into Canada that involves applying for entry into Quebec, as long as the applicants have a working knowledge of French.

Vancouver being transformed by new wave of brash, rich Asians looking for safe place to ‘park their cash’ | National Post Vancouver is to some degree a victim of its own success, a conundrum it must somehow learn to cope with. That isn’t lost on Kevin Li, creator of the Ultra Rich Asian Girls youtube series.

Thousands take to street in Nicaragua to protest China canal deal|WantChinaTimes A massive demonstration rocked Nicaragua’s capital of Managua as protestors opposed to the construction of a US$50 billion Nicaragua Canal took to the streets on Wednesday. Protesters said the construction will damage local freshwater sources and the environment, reports Shanghai-based newspaper the Paper. Some protesters held banners reading “Chinese gets out!” and “No canal.” The project, which is to begin construction on Dec. 22 and scheduled to be completed in 2019, will dwarf the neighboring Panama Canal. It will be 278 kilometers in length and pass through Central America’s largest lake.

Audio: Sherrod Brown on U.S.-China Relations – Council on Foreign Relations Sherrod Brown, United States senator and chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, joins Lorne W. Craner, founder of Redstone Global, to discuss a new approach to U.S. policy toward China. Brown says that although integrating China into international systems and furthering dialogue may have been the best course in the past, China is failing to comply with international standards in trade, human rights, intellectual property, industrial policy, cybersecurity, and other issues. A tougher strategy of ‘principled resolve’, he says, is needed to hold China accountable for its actions.

David Ignatius: A U.S.-China ‘reset’? – The Washington Post The dialogue was organized by the Aspen Strategy Group, co-chaired by Nye and Brent Scowcroft, the former U.S. national security adviser, and the Central Party School, which trains senior members of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. I attended as a member of the Aspen group; the ground rules prevent me from quoting the participants by name.

After the Abe-Xi summit: What comes next in Japan-China Relations (pt. 5)? – Dispatch Japan Today we hear from Jonathan Pollack, a long-time China-watcher from the Brookings Institution.

Natuna Is Indonesian, Not Chinese: Jokowi Adviser | The Diplomat “The sovereignty of Indonesia cannot be negotiated…we are very, very firm on this,” Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, former commander of the Indonesian special forces, told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. On the South China Sea issue, Luhut said that while Indonesia could help in “bridging” differences between ASEAN claimant states and China, it would also not shy away from exploiting resources in what it viewed as its own waters.

China’s unpredictable maritime security actors | Lowy Institute KEY FINDINGS China’s recent assertive actions in the maritime domain are not part of a grand strategy to coerce China’s neighbours in a tailored manner. The restructuring of China’s maritime law enforcement agencies, announced in March 2013, led to a power struggle between the State Oceanic Administration and the Ministry of Public Security. Consequently, genuine integration of the new China Coast Guard has not yet taken place. The People’s Liberation Army could be taking a more active role as coordinator of maritime law enforcement in China’s near seas.

U.S. and China Conduct Anti-Piracy Exercise – USNI News In a rare bilateral exercise, the U.S. and China conducted anti-piracy training off the pirate-prone Gulf of Aden, the Navy said in a Thursday statement. The guided missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104) joined at least two of People’s Liberation Army Navy ships for the exercises that included visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) exercises, communication exchanges and “various other aspects of naval operations,” read the statement from U.S. 5th Fleet.

 

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

Hong Kong Graft Investigators Search Home of Guotai Junan’s Wong – Bloomberg Hong Kong anti-graft investigators searched a home of Wong Tung Ching, deputy chief executive officer of a unit of Guotai Junan Securities Co., China’s third-largest brokerage, the company said. Independent Commission Against Corruption officers seized securities trading-account records and an agreement relating to a placement from the firm’s office, Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd. (1788) said in an exchange filing today. The raids were on Dec. 15. Noone has been arrested, the company said.

UK consulate mum on Chen bombshell on wartime governor Britain’s consulate general in Hong Kong said Wednesday it had no comment on a recent speech by a former senior Beijing official in which he criticized the wartime colonial governor for “surrendering to Japan”. “We are unable to comment on this,” a spokesperson for the British mission, told EJ Insight by e-mail. On Friday, Chen Zuo’er, a former deputy director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said former Hong Kong governor Mark Aitchison Young was ultimately responsible for the fall of Hong Kong to the Japanese.

Special Report: How China spies on Hong Kong’s democrats The mainland Chinese intelligence services have long been suspected of running covert operations in Hong Kong, but this has now been confirmed for the first time, Reuters has learned, with one of their surveillance teams taken into custody. The pair was part of a team watching To, according to the people familiar with the operation. Other teams have been assigned to track key figures in the pro-democracy movement and critics of Beijing’s rule in the city, they say, with the aim of uncovering compromising information. The arrested pair was quickly released without any public announcement. The police declined to divulge their identities to Reuters.

Why Jimmy Lai quit–EJ Insight With a 75 percent stake in Next Media, Apple Daily’s listed parent, Lai controls the newspaper and other media assets. His resignation as chairman, announced Sunday, just hours before he was arrested for illegal assembly in Hong Kong’s two-month-long democracy protests, simply means he is no longer involved in the running of the business. Sources close to the group say Lai considered stepping down for some time owing to his growing involvement in the democracy campaign. Senior executives view his exit as a way to reduce his influence on the business, leaving it to professional managers.

Hong Kong, the Resilient City | Foreign Policy Economic and political data show that dire warnings about the pro-democracy protests have proven inaccurate.

 

TECH AND MEDIA

Net Videos Will Be Censored Just Like TV Shows, Regulator Says – Caixin The top media regulator will use the same censorship policies for online video content as it does for traditional TV shows and films, said Cai Fuchao, director of State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. Cai made the comments at the 2nd China Internet Audio-Visual Conference, a three-day meeting in the southwestern city of Chengdu, on December 17. Websites offering streaming of TV and film content need to acquire clearance from the regulator before putting it online, he also said.

Jack Ma vs Lei Jun: who is really Asia’s richest man?-TechInAsia But yesterday, a US$200 million investment into appliance manufacturer Midea by smartphone maker Xiaomi revealed some new numbers that might make the analysts reconsider. As it turns out, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun owns a whopping 77.8 percent of his company – way more than Jack Ma owns of Alibaba at just 6.3 percent…Xiaomi last month began fundraising at a valuation of US$40 billion to US$50 billion – higher than Sony and Lenovo. While that figure is hotly contested, Xiaomi’s explosive sales growth means it’s not totally far-fetched. That puts Lei Jun’s share of Xiaomi at US$31 billion to US$38.9 billion, well above Ma and somewhere in the range of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Xiaomi Wins Partial Reprieve on India Smartphone Sales – Bloomberg An India court partially lifted a sales ban on Xiaomi Corp., saying the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor could import devices as long as they use chips from Qualcomm Inc. A two-judge panel of the Delhi High Court cleared those sales until another hearing on Jan. 8, Kapil Sibal, an attorney representing Xiaomi, said today.

China Mobile’s Dead End on the WiFi Highway – Caixin China Mobile sources told Caixin, China Mobile has decided to gradually phase out its five-year-old TD-SCDMA network while shifting its focus to the 4G network. The telecom plans to continue providing a stable 3G network, sources said, but won’t spend any more to expand it. Moreover, China Mobile hopes to transfer every WiFi customer to 4G. “Currently, only 30 percent of the TD-SCDMA network is used,” said Huang Leping, vice president of Nomura Securities. “With more users transferring to the 4G network” China Mobile’s “massive investment” in the homegrown 3G system “will never see returns.”

Leaked Emails: Sony Execs Scared of “Desperately Unfunny” Interview The truth is, Sony’s been worried about this for a long time. The company was so concerned about angering China that Nigel Clark, the head of international marketing, emailed a script of the movie to the general manager of SPE China, Li Chow, back in December 2013. Chow writes that “it is unlikely that Sony will be hurt by making the film” but suggests changing “the part… when they sneak into China to get into N. Korea”:

Xiaomi plans to launch sub-CNY500 smartphones in 2015 according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

Former sports champion rumored to lose 2bn yuan on gov’t website|Economy|News|WantChinaTimes.com Deng Yaping, world sport champion-turned businesswoman, has reportedly lost 2 billion yuan (US$324 million) of the country’s assets running a state-owned online search portal, according to Shanghai’s China Business News. Deng, an 14-time world table tennis championship winner and 4-time Olympic gold medalist, retired in 1997 following a doctoral degree from the University of Cambridge. From then began her second career as a politician and higher-ranking officials in various state-owned agencies, including the Communist Youth League and People’s Daily.  //  Was her advisor at Cambridge was Professor Peter Nolan? Wonder what her dissertation topic was

ThePaper.cn and Propaganda 2.0 – China Digital Times (CDT) The Paper is an ambitious effort to achieve this. It is an offshoot of the Oriental Morning Post in Shanghai, a print newspaper that is losing circulation and advertising revenue, and barely turns a profit. When Han Zheng, Shanghai’s party chief, urged the newspaper in 2013 to produce a new digital platform, its editors were thinking the same. With funding of 100m yuan ($16m) from the Post’s state-owned parent, the Shanghai United Media Group, the Paper was formally launched on July 22nd. Its mission was clear from the beginning. Just before the launch it hosted a visit by Mr Lu, the regulator: a signal of his support.

陌陌唐岩敲钟现场疑似竖中指回应网易控诉-财经频道-新华网 12月11日消息,针对日前网易发声明控诉陌陌创始人兼CEO唐岩“在网易就职期间私创企业”、“涉嫌腐败”、“个人作风有问题”一事,唐岩在纳斯达克敲钟现场疑似以“竖中指”的形式给予回应。 陌陌今晚在纳斯达克正式挂牌上市,股票代码为“MOMO”,开盘价14.25美元,较发行价上涨5.6%,市值约为26.57亿美元。//MoMo CEO and his Matrix VC celebrate the company’s IPO by giving the camera the middle finger, likely directed at Netease.

 

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

8-Year-Old with HIV Banned from Chinese Village One of the top ten trending topics on Sina Weibo of December 17th 2014 is the case of a young HIV-infected boy expelled from his village (#艾滋男童被联名驱离#). Over 200 inhabitants from a village in Sichuan province (Xichong country) have signed a joint referendum on the banishment of the 8-year-old.

China’s mountain hermits seek a highway to heaven | USA News.com Hundreds of small huts dot the jagged peaks of the remote Zhongnan mountains in central China, where followers of Buddhism and local Taoist traditions have for centuries sought to live far from the madding crowds. “The Zhongnan mountains have a special aura,” said Hou, who moved to the hills almost a decade ago and wrapped himself in a long black robe, smiling as the wind rustled the surrounding woods.

The Abbot [百岁和尚灯宽] – Liao Yiwu [廖亦武] | The Bamboo Sea I have lived for over a hundred years. I’m gradually ambling my way to the ritual of reincarnation. As a Buddhist, one needs to contain displeasure, anger, and complaining. I have tried to abide by these principles during the past decades and try not to dwell on my past. In recent years, many of the villagers who participated in torturing me have come to seek help because they are poverty-stricken and can’t send their grandchildren to school. I have given them money and support. The money is not mine. It was raised from Buddha’s followers. It’s a sin to keep the money. I remember very well what those villagers did to me in the past, but I don’t harbor any ill will toward them. When you start to blame and hate people, retribution will befall you.

潭柘寺“功德箱”成上市公司“小金库”?国内新京报网 北京市千年古刹潭柘寺内“功德箱”随处可见,一种正面写着“功德箱”,一种正面写着“广种福田”。一名僧人透露,写着“广种福田”的功德箱属于住寺僧团所有,而写着“功德箱”的全都属景区所有。也就是说,信众和游客投到53个“功德箱”的钱都成了景区收入。

The NSA Listened as Chinese MiGs Shot Down American Warplanes — War Is Boring — Medium Many of the partially-to-heavily redacted documents are signals intelligence reports written in the aftermath of aircraft losses. Most of the trove references American pilots lost over North Vietnam. But Chinese fighter jets intercepted and shot down American aircraft on several occasions, killing several pilots. It’s a little known and politically sensitive aspect of the war in Vietnam. Some of the details are still classified.

Book review: ‘China 1945,” Mao and America, by Richard Bernstein – The Washington Post Bernstein tells the story of the United States, China, Japan and the U.S.S.R. during the last, dramatic year of World War II in Asia. The central question he explores is this: In the late 1940s, could the United States and China have avoided four decades of antagonism, thereby allowing America to dodge the depredations of the Korean War, a defeat in Vietnam and, it is implied, our current tensions with Beijing? In the 1970s, in the wake of the Vietnam War, U.S. scholars were almost united in arguing that yes, if only the United States had seized the opportunity to befriend Mao Zedong in 1945, the history of America and Asia would have been completely different. But in keeping with today’s hard-boiled view of China’s communists, Bernstein has marshaled a powerful rebuttal. There was, he insists, never a “lost chance” for the United States in China. Mao was as devious as, if not more so than, his mentor, Joseph Stalin. // the book on Amazon

The Blind Voice of the New Silk Road | the art of life in chinese central asia The Voice of the Silk Road is a celebration of an amateur love for Uyghur music. The contestants sing because they love to sing; they sing because they want to be famous; and they sing because they think their voice is a voice of the contemporary Silk Road. When 16 year-old Perhatjan shuffled onto the stage, everyone in the Xinjiang Arts Institute Concert Hall knew there was something special about him. The four judges — the famous flamenco player Arkin, the king of Uyghur pop Abdulla, the hyper-masculine pop rocker Mahmud Sulayman, and a little known female opera singer named Nurnisa — couldn’t see him; their tall red swivel chairs were facing the audience. Although he later said he was 16 years old, Perhatjan looked like he was about 12. Also, he was blind.

高考取消奥赛、体特生等6项加分国内新京报网 教育部官网公布《关于进一步减少和规范高考加分项目和分值的意见》规定,明年1月1日起,取消中学生学科奥林匹克竞赛、科技类竞赛、省级优秀学生、思想政治品德有突出事迹及两项体育特长生加分项目等6项全国性加分项目;地方性体育、艺术、科技、三好学生、优秀学生干部等加分项目也取消。

China’s Brave Underground Journal—II by Ian Johnson | The New York Review of Books “What I had hoped for was a Willy Brandt moment,” Wu said to the group, and the writers nodded at the reference to the former West German chancellor who in 1970 fell to his knees before a monument to the Nazi-era Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a signal moment of penance in Germany’s postwar rehabilitation. “But it became more complex than I thought.” As Wu had hoped, the discussion heated up after 2012. When Chen Xiaolu, the general’s son, apologized last year, Wu urged Song to take the next step and apologize formally herself. Several classmates said they would join her, and several teachers from that era, now in their nineties, agreed to participate. In January, Song returned to her old high school, where a bronze bust of Bian stands on a pedestal in a conference room. Bowing before it with several other classmates, Song pulled out a written apology, saying she felt “eternal regret and sorrow” for her actions.

 

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

Story Map: What is the impact of China’s mega water diversion scheme? | Beth Walker – China Dialogue Our interactive map illustrates the impact of China’s controversial South-North Water Transfer project, as water finally reached Beijing last week

China moves to keep nuclear work local | Business Spectator With the global nuclear industry focused on China, the Chinese government has used the heft of its huge market to secure transfers of key technology and gradually localize production. In the process, China is achieving a political aim to source sensitive manufacturing at home and satisfying a practical need to avoid complications posed by faraway suppliers.

The tale of a virtuous woman and a morally perished city in China: Yang Yun and Beijing. — Medium Today I paid a visit to the Chaoyang District Mental Health Institute…Yang Yun is the director of the center….Yang Yun’s late husband opened the Institute in the ‘90s. She continued to manage the institute after he passed 4 years ago, and often approaches foundations for funds. Here are her responses to my questions.

 

AGRICULTURE

U.S, China making progress on biotech crop talks: USDA’s Vilsack | Reuters The countries are “moving toward an understanding of how we might be able to establish a strategic dialogue on biotechnology,” Vilsack told Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang in a bilateral meeting in Chicago. Biotech crops are a key trade issue between the countries because China has rejected more than 1 million tons of U.S. corn containing traces of a type of genetically modified corn, Agrisure Viptera, in the past year. The strain, developed by Syngenta AG, is approved for planting in the United States but not for import by Beijing.

中国耕地退化面积超四成,1.5亿亩被污染_财经上下游_澎湃新闻-The Paper 农业部17日发布了《全国耕地质量等级情况公报》,这是我国首次将耕地分等定级。  根据《公报》,全国18.26亿亩耕地(第二次全国土地调查前的国土数据)质量等级由高到低依次划分为一至十等。

Tuliu: Leveraging China’s Rural Land Reform – TechNode It’s only in recent times that Chinese peasants have been allowed to mortgage, lease or sell their rights to agricultural land or land occupied by their homes. Taking advantage of the easing of these restrictions, Tuliu.com (“land transfer” in Chinese), providing information and web and mobile applications for trading or leasing rural land, is one of the first of its kind in mainland China. As with other real estate websites, on Tuliu land rights holders as well as agents and brokers can post listings. Buyers can search for land by city or category, or submit their requests. But when it comes to trading, Chinese peasants must still depend on agencies like Tuliu, as the new rural land transfer policies initiated by the Chinese authorities are complicated.

经济参考网 – 部分地区三农金融坏账抬升 专家称现代农业和金融尚未形成可相互依托的体制 经济下行周期,三农贷款坏账问题逐渐浮出水面。《经济参考报》记者日前在多地采访发现,不少基层商业银行和农信社正深受其扰。以辽宁省为例,业内人士透露,今年前11个月,该省60多家农信社总规模约为600亿元的农户贷款中,250亿元为不良贷款,不良率逾40%。另据一位商业银行工作人员透露,在西部某些地区,涉农贷款接近100%逾期。

 

BEIJING

Illegal clubs run in two Beijing temples – Global Times In a large dining room in Zhizhu Temple, a chair carved with inlaid dragons – an imitation of an emperor’s throne – is displayed, reported Xinhua. An employee at the restaurant said that the throne is a replica of the original in the Forbidden City, and that diners usually take pictures sitting on it. The temple also features a stage for performing Peking Opera for “officials” who visit the restaurant. The report said that the restaurant typically charges at least 800 ($129) yuan per person, with dinners reportedly costing as much as 2,000 yuan. The Global Times also found another Western-style restaurant named Temple Restaurant Beijing in Zhizhu Temple. An employee there said that the average per-person spend is at least 500 yuan, exclusive of a 15 percent service charge.

China’s NDRC Approves New $12.9 Billion Beijing Airport – Bloomberg The new airport will be built in the south of the city, the agency said. Beijing Capital International Airport, which served 83.7 million passengers in 2013, was the busiest in the world last year after Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, according to Airports Council International.  //  and already at or near overcapacity

报告称北京小升初改革初见效 仍留盲区政经频道财新网 报告称2014年北京小升初就近入学比例达76.82%,但以“推优”、“点招”、“占坑”等方式择校的情况仍然存在,且非京籍儿童入学面临受限颇多

施一公等党外人士挂职北京市政府政经频道财新网 第二批党外人士挂职北京市政府名单公布,北大教授张颐武兼任文化局副局长,中科院院士施一公兼任卫计委副主任。北京市委统战部表示,今后高层次党外人士挂职锻炼将成为新常态

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