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

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Just links today, busy morning:

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Hard Living in Beijing – Economic Observer Online – In-depth and Independent – People coming to Beijing to work and pursue their dreams are increasingly meeting with insurmountable frustration. The slowing economy, rising living costs and government policies that disadvantage residents without a Beijing Hukou are combining to see an unprecedented reduction in the city’s migrant population.

China oil giant chairman increases public exposure after missing rumor – Xinhua | English.news.cn – The Chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Jiang Jiemin was interviewed by Xinhua on Thursday, scotching rumors that he had “mysteriously” disappeared.

China attacks foreign short-sellers in official editorial | Reuters – The commentary called for the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate short sellers like Citron and suggested that Chinese companies might stop listing in the U.S. if they don’t receive better treatment.

人民日报海外版-稳增长政策空间大 洋机构唱空有企图 中国经济“危急”说于实无据(热点聚焦) July People’s Daily piece warning of the motivations foreign institutions pushing the china short theme

Citron’s Andrew Left Defends His China Record, Considers Legal Action After Personal Attacks [INTERVIEW] – Earlier this week, a group of top Chinese tech execs banded together to defend US-listed Chinese stocks from being bashed by short sellers. But their primary target was one man, Andrew Left, the financial blogger and analyst behind Citron Research. To tell his side of the story, Andrew agreed to chat with us about his work, and the recent controversies that led to some cross-Atlantic mud-slinging.

Ambow Rebounds as Investigation Shows Centers Registered – Bloomberg – trust us…//Ambow has completed its internal review regarding the media reports and has no plan to hire third-party advisers to assist with any further internal review, it said today.

FT Alphaville » Is the PBoC starting to liberalise its rate regime? – Sid Mathur at UBS has an interesting note on the liquidity operations that the People’s Bank of China is having to do to accommodate a more flexible currency regime and smaller FX surpluses.

湖南湘潭耗资155亿元打造16项献礼工程_网易新闻中心 – 15.5 B RMB budgeted for projects in Hunan’s Xiantan to commemorate 120th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth?

80 major Chinese steelmakers lose US$312m in July｜WantChinaTimes.com – China’s 80 top medium and large steel companies reported their total losses at 1.98 billion yuan (US$312 million) for July, reports the Shanghai-based First Financial Daily.

 

POLITICS

汪洋率团赴延安学习考察 向毛泽东铜像献花篮(图)_资讯频道_凤凰网 – homage before ascension to center? wang yang leads delegation to yan’an, places flower wreath by statue of chairman mao//

2012/17_求是理论网 – Yu Zhengsheng has the lead essay in the latest issue of Qiushi…Sun Zhengcai also has one. Both discuss scientific development, Yu about innovation transforming development in Shanghai, Sun about improving people’s lives

Net gains for transparency |Society |chinadaily.com.cn – there seems to have been a move at the top to start really promoting this..this theme all over the media. even hu xijin parroting it on weibo. probably a piece of an overall. massive anti-corruption effort that will be pushed by 18th party congress (we hope)// The online clout of netizens has become a vital weapon in fighting abuses of power and ensuring greater transparency, government insiders and experts said.

Chinese Party Elders Step Back In – WSJ.com – in April, Mr. Jiang met the chief executive of Starbucks, Howard Schultz. He wrote a preface to a history book published in July, and telephoned officials in his hometown of Yangzhou after an earthquake there in August….More importantly, party insiders say Mr. Jiang, now 86 years old, played a key role in deliberations over the past few months about how to deal with Bo Xilai, the ousted party official whose wife was convicted last month of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood….Mr. Jiang isn’t the only elder statesman to re-enter the political fray…Mr. Jiang, who was party chief from 1989 to 2002, is one of 12 former members of the Politburo Standing Committee who are still alive and regularly consulted on key party decisions on policy and personnel, according to party insiders and political analysts….Most of them are thought to have attended an unofficialannual leadership conclave over the summer in the seaside resort of Beidaihe

 

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns China on View of U.S. – NYTimes.com – BEIJING — In an unusual public airing of strategic problems surroundingChina’s rise, the prime minister ofSingapore, Lee Hsien Loong, warned China on Thursday that it should view the United States not as a declining power, but as a nation with the ability to innovate and bounce back.

Continuing a Peaceful Rise: China’s Foreign Policy After the Leadership Transition – BR asked Shen Dingli (Center for American Studies at Fudan University) to discuss the implications of the leadership transition for China’s foreign policy, its relations with neighboring states, and the future of the U.S.-China relationship.

北京日报：国人不要被希拉里蒙骗_网易新闻中心 – Beijing Daily tells readers to not be deceived by Hilary Clinton

The media should not exploit patriotism | Danwei – The front page of yesterday’s China Youth Daily carried an admonition for the media in China in the current heated political climate: don’t exploit patriotism for sensationalist reporting to attain higher newspaper sales or television ratings. In other words: cut the hot air.

Mitt Romney Doesn’t Scare Billionaires in China – Bloomberg – But China isn’t fazed. Sure, its media lash out from time to time, dismissing Romney’s ideas as “pugnacious” and an “outdated manifestation of a Cold War mentality.” His clumsy trip to Europe spawned countless ugly American cartoons in Asia. Mostly, though, China views a potential Romney presidency with a big shrug. Here are five reasons why

Inside the Ring: Romney’s policy liberals – Washington Times – Gertz…// The advisers said the rebalancing toward Asia is a mistake and that Mr. Romney will not agree to support it as president. Mr. Talent, in one meeting, described the Asia pivot as a “fig leaf” with no substance. Mr. Williamson in two separate talks in Tampa revealed his admiration for Clinton administration China hand Kenneth Lieberthal, one of the most pro-China national security officials of an administration that produced a China influence-peddling scandal and the loss of nuclear-warhead secrets to Beijing through espionage. Mr. Williamson quoted his China expert “friend” Mr. Lieberthal during one briefing.

Yasukuni Shrine: The Nation’s Pacifying Shrine That Angers Other Nations : Japan Subculture Research Center – Memo: JSRC is neither opposed to the existence of Yasukuni Jinja nor does it support the views of the group currently operating the shrine or Japanese nationalists.  We felt that it would be useful to get a glimpse at why some people go visit the shrine and who those people are. We apologize if anecdotally shedding light on the cultural background offends you.

 

TECH AND MEDIA

China’s Huawei negotiating conditions to join U.S. hearing | Reuters – how much does Plummer get paid?// Huawei has received the committee’s invitation to testify next week, “and will appear at the hearing if the appropriate arrangements are agreed with the committee,” William Plummer, a company spokesman in Washington, said in a statement.

 

SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Tea Leaf Nation Partners With The Atlantic | Tea Leaf Nation – congrats to TLN and The Atlantic. The Atlantic is beefing up its China content, more to come//

chinaSMACK vs. Tea Leaf Nation: Which Do You Prefer? | china/divide – interesting perspective// TLN’s editorial mix is more similar to the mix of other Western news media, heavy on what Westerners are interested in reading about when it comes to China, with an overemphasis on Chinese politics, oppression, and censorship. TLN isn’t as narrative driven as most Western media reporting, but there’s a sense that their reporting invariably conforms to narratives whereas cS has narratives but they’re more organic, determined by Chinese netizens through the allocation of their attention and energies in discussion. Furthermore, similar to the Western (especially online news) media’s over-reliance on Twitter, TLN is also in my opinion over-reliant on Sina Weibo. Though to be fair, I think cS has an over-reliance on NetEase but interestingly, my criticism for both hinges on both sources being distorted demographics and the inherent problems with their sampling methods. I think cS’s sampling methodology has serious confounding factors while I think TLN’s use of Sina Weibo quotes is more akin to the adage of journalists presenting their opinion through their choice of quotes rather than actual “sampling”.

Booklet tells parents to ‘prevent’ homosexuality |Society |chinadaily.com.cn – in Hangzhou. not a backwater, and a city with a long history…// Families of gay men and women in China have expressed their anger at a sex education booklet given to parents of teenagers that describes homosexuality as a type of “sexual deviance”. About 50,000 copies of Parents, Please Walk Your Children Through Puberty have been distributed in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, since last year.

 

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