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

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Welcome to all the new subscribers who came through via the flattering PandoDaily profile. Normally I include some daily commentary with the links but I am wrapping up a US vacation with my kids and so things are going to be a bit light for the next few days. After we return to Beijing later in the week I should be able to get things back on track.

As always there were trolls who weighed in on the PandoDaily article, though so far there have been fewer than expected. My favorite comment has me “less an active ring-leader like Goldkorn and more like a leather-clad demigod exacting tribute from his cronies.” Sounds nice, though I have no leather in my wardrobe other than belts and shoes and to date the tribute has not been forthcoming. It is probably safe the assume the commenter has melted his brain on Game of Thrones and/or World of Warcraft.

Thanks for reading, here are today’s links:

• Las Vegas Sands Probed In Money Moves – WSJ.com
  the chinese mexican meth chemical king//
  Federal authorities are investigating whether Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS +4.99% and several of its executives violated money-laundering laws by failing to alert authorities to millions of dollars transferred to its casinos by two Las Vegas high rollers, according to lawyers and others involved in the matter.
  The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles is examining the casino company’s handling of money received several years ago from a Mexican businessman later accused of drug trafficking and a former California executive subsequently convicted of taking illegal kickbacks, according to the people involved…
  The case has its roots in a series of money transfers in the mid-2000s by Zhenli Ye Gon, a Chinese-born Mexican national who owned three Mexican pharmaceutical companies and was a Vegas high roller, say several people familiar with the investigation.
• CNOOC-Nexen deal seen helping China’s South China Sea thrust | Reuters
  The $15 billion bid by China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) to buy Canada’s Nexen, Inc will help the Chinese state giant gain the expertise to drill in deep, disputed waters of the South China Sea without relying on risk-averse foreign firms.
• 报道称地方版4万亿悄然启动 各地上马重大项目_新闻_腾讯网
  “local version” of 4 trillion stimulus has quietly launched–reports
• China’s Social Security Fund Shrinking as Over 96% Money in Banks-Caijing
  “Losses of the fund were estimated at tens of billions in 2010 and hundreds of billions in 2011, ” Deng said.
• New Lending Lower-than-Expected in Biggest Four Banks in July-Caijing
  Chinese banks extended more loans in July than that in June with scaled-up easing efforts from the government to boost economy, but at a slower pace than expected especially at the end of the month.
  New loans extended by the country’s four biggest banks, which typically make up 35 percent to 50 percent of total new loans, were around 220 billion yuan in July, 30 billion more than that in June, the official Shanghai Securities News reported, quoting sources.
• No Reason for Hongkongers to Fear National Education Course: Global Times-Caijing
  “Those who oppose to it are likely to be more ‘brainwashed’ by Western ideology”, said a Global Times’ editorial.
• 明鏡新聞網: 胡錦濤講話 透露18大路線
  中央社記者翟思嘉台北4日電）中共中央機關刊物「求是」雜誌1日刊登「認真學習貫徹胡錦濤重要講話」評論。評論說，在18大召開前夕，這篇胡錦濤在7月23日對省部級主要領導官員的講話，顯得相當重要。
  中共總書記胡錦濤7月23日在主要領導幹部專題研討班開班式上發表講話，被視為中共數月後中共18大報告的「簡略版」，攸關中共世代交替後的施政方向及關注重點。
  這篇講話中，胡錦濤用3個「毫不動搖」強調當前中共的施政路線；以3個「取決於」強調當前中國大陸面對的機遇與挑戰，最終目的是要建立具有中國特色的社會主義模式。
  銘傳大學公共事務系教授楊開煌表示，講話中闡釋的中共未來施政思路，可分為擴大內需、政治路線改革、推動文化傳播、解決社會矛盾、黨內民主改革等5方面。
• China nabs 137 for organizing organ sale – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  Chinese police said Saturday that 137 suspects had been arrested in the latest crackdown on human organ trafficking, amid intense pressure on finding sufficient donors through official channels.
• Vietnam will be tougher with China: fishing group – Breaking news, sociey news from Vietnam on TuoiTreNews
• Secrecy in Environmental Monitoring – Caixin Online
  (Beijing) – Organizations and individuals are the only antidote to the harms that result from treating environmental information as government secrets.
• P/E Ratio for IPOs Drops to Three-Year Low – Caixin Online
  At 26.06, the price-earnings figure for new Chinese stocks is lowest since 2009
• North Korea Invades America in Dumbest Movie Ever | Danger Room | Wired.com
  The new Red Dawn has been sitting on the shelf for a couple years owing to financing troubles and at least one major revamp by screenwriters Carl Elsworth and Jeremy Passmore. As originally written, the relaunched Red Dawn was only slightly less silly. The bad guys were Chinese. And while China has no discernible intention of invading anyone, much less the U.S., Beijing at least commands a $7.3-trillion economy and an increasingly modern, two-million-man army. But it’s bad business to portray one of the world’s fastest growing film markets as brutal world conquerors, so the producers swapped in North Korea, a country no one counts on for ticket sales.
• Access to Propaganda: On The Associated Press Deal with North Korea « SINO-NK
  Enter The Associated Press (AP). Its recent deal with the KCNA to open a bureau in North Korea, a country which ranks 178/179 on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, has put the spotlight on the AP’s much-vaunted credibility as an independent, credible news source. Few instances of the compromises necessitated by this arrangement are more clear than the AP’s agreement to co-host a photo exhibition with the KCNA in New York City. Given the stakes of the event as a template for future cultural diplomacy with the DPRK, we here at SinoNK think it is both appropriate and worthy of all the attention. – Steven Denney, Assistant Editor
• China Spacesat H1 profits rise 15.2 pct – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  China Spacesat Co., Ltd., the nation’s key developer of small satellites, Saturday reported 15.2-percent profit increase in the first half, due to steady business expansion.
• Commentary: U.S. needs to behave itself over South China Sea – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  What makes the United States tick, however, is hard to tell. On the one hand, it accentuates its neutrality and claims a stake in stability and freedom of navigation in the sea. On the other hand, it eggs a few claimants on to make provocative moves and thus stokes antagonism.
  Such a double-dealing practice has given birth to a swirl of comments that the world’s sole superpower is trying to drive a wedge between China and its neighbors so as to clip China’s wings and shore up the United States’ cracking pedestal in the Asia-Pacific.
• » After Much Ado, China’s “Other” Badminton Team Won The Women’s Doubles Gold Beijing Cream
  Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were disqualified for match-fixing because they wanted to avoid facing Tian Qian and Zhao Yunlei in the semifinals, and now we know why. Tian and Zhao just won the gold medal, never dropping a set in any of their three knock-out round matches. They beat Japan’s Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa 21-10 25-23.
• China’s military lacks allies, can’t catch US: analyst｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
  Asia strategy expert Michael J Green said China’s military forces have not been able to catch up with America’s because the country has been over-reliant on overseas resources and water channels. The country also lacks strong allies.
  Green said the US may misjudge the situation and messages from Beijing. The Chinese military has modernized faster than the US estimated over the past five to 10 years and has developed key anti-access area-denial technology that could threaten America’s military bases, said the former senior director of Asian affairs at the National Security Council of White House.
• China blames West for failure on Syrian crisis – Yahoo! News
  China said Saturday that the West should be blamed for obstructing a diplomatic and political solution to Syria’s crisis because it advocated regime change, dismissing criticism by the United States and others that China and Russia have hindered peace efforts.
• China Says U.S. Sending ‘Wrong Signal’ on South China Sea – Bloomberg
  China said U.S. criticism of its attempt to bolster claims to gas- and oil-rich islands in the South China Sea sent “a seriously wrong signal” to nations embroiled in territorial disputes in the region.
• China strongly opposes U.S. State Department’s statement on South China Sea: FM spokesman – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  The selective blindness and expression of concerns of the U.S. side run against the attitude of ‘no position’ and ‘not to intervene’ that they have claimed to hold on the South China Sea issue, and is not conducive to the unity, cooperation, peace and stability in the region,” Qin said.
• Military officers transfer trapped residents in Qinhuangdao, China’s Hebei – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  maybe rumors of a beidaihe meeting delay due to weather? qinhuangdao close to beidaihe
• Statement by Spokesperson Qin Gang of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China On the US State Department Issuing a So-called Press Statement On the South China Sea
• 外交部部长助理张昆生就美国发表南海问题所谓声明紧急召见美驻华使馆临时代办
• All Things Nuclear • Obama’s Problems with China
  Obama’s advisers told Sanger they were frustrated with the Chinese leadership’s inability to overcome internal political opposition from hard-liners who could not be “compelled” to “accommodate” the concerns of the United States. At the same time these aides were unwilling to entertain a Chinese request for President Obama to stand up to his own hard-liners in order to honor an obligation he made to the president of China.
  It is not surprising that even “accommodating” Chinese officials are just as frustrated with the United States as the Obama administration appears to be with China.
• 百度内部邮件曝光：内部员工违规删帖 已涉嫌犯罪_原创_DoNews-IT门户-移动互联网新闻-电子商务新闻-游戏新闻-风险投资新闻-IT社交网络社区
  ugly,chinese media claims several baidu employees fired/arrested 4 taking bribes from 3rd parties 2 delete posts
• British diplomats to attend Chinese murder trial
• BBC News – Romford – China’s social media base
  Obama’s advisers told Sanger they were frustrated with the Chinese leadership’s inability to overcome internal political opposition from hard-liners who could not be “compelled” to “accommodate” the concerns of the United States. At the same time these aides were unwilling to entertain a Chinese request for President Obama to stand up to his own hard-liners in order to honor an obligation he made to the president of China.
  It is not surprising that even “accommodating” Chinese officials are just as frustrated with the United States as the Obama administration appears to be with China.
• China unlikely to scrap housing presale system: report｜Economy｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
  The housing presale system is crucial to property developers as it allows them to collect money from apartment buyers ahead of construction or completion of the housing projects. The advance-sale practice helps alleviate the financial burden for developers. But it can also prompt them to hoard housing units and fan anticipation for further rises in property prices.
• 调查称国内鱼翅4成系明胶合成_网易新闻中心
  an investigation claims that 40% of shark fins in CHina are fake, made of gelatin. just 40%? One way to say “karming retribution” in Chinese may be 活B该//
• China’s Xi’an City Seeks Feedback on Vehicle Restrictions – Bloomberg
  Xi’an, home of China’s terracotta warriors, may limit vehicle ownership to control traffic congestion, the latest city in the world’s largest auto market to consider such restrictions.

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