"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, nothing interesting to say.

• US Olympic team kits were made in China | Sport | guardian.co.uk
  Uniforms for US Olympic athletes are American red, white and blue – but made in China, and members of Congress are fuming.Republicans and Democrats railed on Thursday about the US Olympic Committee’s (Usoc) decision to dress the team in Chinese manufactured berets, blazers and pants while the American textile industry struggles economically with many workers desperate for jobs.

• ‘Mistress killer: the Chinese private eyes fighting the ‘moral bottom line’ – Telegraph
  Sitting under a fake plastic palm-tree at the rear of a suburban diner, the ‘Mistress Killer’ puffed on a lung-choking Red Pagoda Mountain cigarette and reflected on his two decade crusade against infidelity, corruption and betrayal.
  “China has sunk to below the moral bottom line,” sighed Wei Wujun, whose nickname stems from his legendary ability to snare unfaithful husbands with their mistresses.
• Commander with ties to Bo Xilai moves up | SCMP.com
  A senior military commander once believed to have close ties to disgraced former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai was recently promoted. This followed a high-level military investigation launched in April to determine whether there were connections between Bo and the military in the nation’s southwest.
  Major General Zhou Xiaozhou, who had been commander of the PLA’s 14th Army Corps in Kunming, Yunnan, recently succeeded Major General Ai Husheng as chief of staff of the Chengdu Military Command, said a source familiar with military affairs. The source added that Ai had earlier been moved onto the roll as deputy commander of the unit.
• Inner Mongolia: Little Hu and the mining of the grasslands | The Economist
  LOCAL legend has it that the beauty of the grasslands in Xilin Gol, a prefecture in eastern Inner Mongolia, so captivated the 13th-century warrior Genghis Khan that he planned to settle down there once his battles were over. He might be less impressed if he saw it today. In recent years a rush to mine the region’s abundant minerals has scarred its hills, desiccated its pastures and fuelled unrest among its Mongol herders. For the local Communist Party chief, Hu Chunhua, who many believe is being groomed as a future leader of China, these are difficult times.
• FBI Targets Chinese Firm Over Iran Deal | The Smoking Gun
  zte//
  JULY 12–The FBI has opened a criminal investigation targeting a leading Chinese telecommunications firm that allegedly conspired to illegally ship hardware and software purchased from U.S. tech firms to Iran’s government-controlled telecom company, a violation of several federal laws and a trade embargo imposed on the outlaw Islamic nation, The Smoking Gun has learned.
• Cheap at Any Price – By Andrei Lankov | Foreign Policy
  At a billion dollars a year, it’s a bargain for China to prop up its rogue state next door. North Korea BY ANDREI LANKOV | JULY 12, 2012
• 人民日报-希拉里・克林顿近日走访中国周边数个国家，分析认为 美国在亚洲与中国争影响力 东亚国家对美国介入持不同看法
• 人民日报-坚决遏制土地市场异常波动（政策聚焦）
• 重庆新政_杂志频道_财新网
  多次延期的重庆党代会召开，在延续民生承诺的同时，新的经济发展目标开始回归理性
• Chinese Economic Data Preview – Business Insider
• The Predicaments of Chinese Power – NYTimes.com
  China needs to learn to listen and to do more to embed itself in the open and rule-based world order, to which there is no alternative.At the same time, the international community should better understand China’s anxieties, aspirations and difficulties in keeping itself fed and modernized, as well as its complex power predicaments.

  An exaggerated fear of China’s capacities and intentions can itself become a cause of conflict and lead to tragic results. China’s entry into the world must be accompanied by a new dynamic of mutual accommodation with that world.

  Minghao Zhao is a research fellow at the China Center for Contemporary World Studies, the think tank of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The views expressed in this article are his own.

• Meng Jianzhu presides over needed reforms to law enforcement｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
  China’s public security minister Meng Jianzhu has risen to greater prominence in recent months amid the controversies surrounding Wang Lijun, Chen Guangcheng and Li Wangyang, and legal reforms in the country have also been taking place under his leadership, according to Duowei News, an outlet operated by overseas Chinese.
• Multinational luxury brands may face tax evasion charges in China｜Economy｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
  The love-hate relationship that wealthy Chinese consumers have with “made in China” luxury products has created huge profit-making opportunities for international suppliers of expensive luxury products, which are now directly manufacturing and marketing their products in the country. But some analysts say the practice could land these foreign firms in trouble, including possible accusations of tax evasion.
• Sources: China Didn’t Cut Rates On Worse-Than-Expected Data | MNI
  Last week’s decision to cut interest rates wasn’t fueled by worse-than-expected economic data, and was rather a preventative move designed to shore up growth this year, an official with the People’s Bank of China said
• Sany Heavy Cut Excavator Sales Goal on Weak China Demand – Bloomberg
  Excavator sales may increase 10 percent this year, slower than a previous target of 40 percent, Vice Chairman Xiang Wenbo said in a July 11 interview in Changsha, Hunan province, where the company is based. Sany will still outperform the industry that may see a contraction in demand, he said.
• 7省市立军令状 王岐山中国经济再“救火”_多维新闻网
  据中国商务部副部长钟山透露，王岐山4月初要求华东7省市立下“军令状”，力保全年10%的外贸增速目标的达成。
• 俞可平：改革重心正从经济转向政治_多维新闻网
  中央编译局副局长俞可平称，随着新的社会格局的形成和社会现代化建设新阶段的到来，中国改革的重心正在日益从经济领域转向社会政治领域。
• 纠结者绿铭：缺失“地沟油”变航油核心技术|纠结|绿铭|缺失_21世纪网
• AHEAD OF THE TAPE: China Digs Into Its Pro-Growth Toolbox – WSJ.com
  the place to look for green shoots is bank lending. A combination of interest-rate cuts and the familiar end-of-quarter surge in lending should push new loans above May’s 793 billion yuan ($124 billion). A rise in the share of medium- and long-term loans to fund investment projects also would signal the stimulus is kicking in.If that doesn’t happen, expect China’s leaders to reach deeper into their pro-growth tool kit. The first step would likely be a cut in the reserve-requirement ratio for banks—freeing up additional funds for lending. Falling inflation and low public debt mean the government also has room for further cuts in interest rates and increases in infrastructure spending.

  Another investment splurge won’t do China’s long-term growth prospects any good. But amid a once-in-a-decade transition for the country’s political leadership, policy makers will focus on the here and now. So investors shouldn’t get too down about Friday’s GDP figure. Instead, they can take comfort that growth should stabilize in the second half.

• Taking aim at the China model | FT
  a problem with the US taking a more strongly economic line of attack is that its own brand of finance capitalism, aggressively exported during the 1990s and 2000s, looks a lot ropier than its commitment to free speech and democracy. “We’re from Wall Street and we’re here to help” isn’t a message that resonates in Asia. Hence, I suspect, Mrs Clinton’s need to fudge. If the Chinese economy tanks, of course, the US line against state capitalism might be able to harden. But if it really crashes, Washington will probably have more pressing concerns than how many pals it has in Asia.
• FT Alphaville » China as a post-capital economy
  China’s rise confounds economic history, but not necessarily economic theory. At the heart of growth is a focus on capital investment in infrastructure, designed to create more productive lives, funded by a government which may bear losses but is capable of capturing the still positive side-effects (externalities) from rising tax revenues. In addition, the government is more removed from activity in the consumer sector where it promotes a competitive industrial landscape designed to lower the cost of living for households. These foundations seem brittle to western investors used to judging the health of an economy through the returns on capital. But the Chinese are comfortable with low capital returns if the pay-off is a stronger economy. This has been the case.
• The End of the Vietnamese Miracle – By Geoffrey Cain | Foreign Policy
  not good for peace in the south china sea//
  Few businesspeople predicted the Vietnam of 2012: a country struggling with a weak currency, inflation, red tape, and cronyism that has led to billions of dollars of waste — and home to a government that makes decisions like building oddly placed ports or roads that serve little economic value.
• Facebook Page For Foreign students in China 1976-79
• Eric Schmidt’s Comments on China: The Risks for Google – Isidor’s Fugue
  Slideshare was bought by LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) back in May for $119 million, but LinkedIn remains unblocked in China as of this posting. It’s unclear what might have caused the Sliedeshare censorship, but the service isn’t exactly known for attracting rebels or dissidents
• The ‘truth’ deleted from internet in China – Telegraph
  “Truth” appears to have vanished from the Chinese internet, after micro-bloggers discovered the word had been blocked on the country’s leading social-media website.
• China Blocks Slideshare-TechinAsia
  Slideshare was bought by LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) back in May for $119 million, but LinkedIn remains unblocked in China as of this posting. It’s unclear what might have caused the Sliedeshare censorship, but the service isn’t exactly known for attracting rebels or dissidents
• China New Yuan Loans Top Forecasts; Forex Reserves Decline – Bloomberg
  China’s new loans exceeded estimates in June, boosting odds the government will secure an economic rebound after growth probably slowed for a sixth quarter.
  Banks extended 919.8 billion yuan ($144.3 billion) of local-currency loans, the People’s Bank of China said today. That compares with the 880 billion yuan median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Foreign-exchange reserves fell to $3.24 trillion at the end of June, the central bank said, a record quarter-to-quarter drop.
• China second quarter economic growth around 7.5 percent: government think-tank | Reuters
  China’s economy may have grown around 7.5 percent in the second quarter and nearly 8 percent in the first half, and will recover steadily in the second half as policy stimulus gains traction, a senior economist at the cabinet’s think-tank said on Thursday.
• China’s luxury buyers pull back as economy slows | Reuters
  Shares of the world’s largest jewelry retailer, Chow Tai Fook, tumbled nearly 8 percent to a two-week low on Thursday on weaker-than-expected sales, deepening a sector-wide stock slump as China’s slowing economy saps luxury demand.
• Writer Sues Internet Giant Baidu for Copyright Violation – Caixin Online
  In addition to seeking compensation, celebrity blogger Han Han’s lawsuit is also asking courts to shutdown Baidu’s online library service
• Kidnapping unravels a spy’s career – The Washington Post
  The ex-CIA operative knew she was taking a risk when she booked her flight from Washington to India. Sabrina De Sousa was still getting used to the idea that she was an international fugitive, with a European arrest warrant issued in her name.
• China, U.S. seek to calm South China Sea tensions | Reuters
  The United States and China signaled a willingness on Thursday to work together on “sensitive issues” in a move to cool tensions between rival claimants to the potentially oil-rich and increasingly militarized South China Sea.
• China Brands Lose to Western Labels – WSJ.com
  In recent years, Chinese consumers have been moving toward the Western brands that have been cutting their prices sharply while appealing to the hip. Nike Inc., NKE -1.30% for instance, sponsors basketball star Jeremy Lin, who has a huge China fan base, while China’s top brand Li Ning sponsors now-retired National Basketball Association star Shaquille O’Neal and is still closely identified with its 49-year-old founder.
• Some Economists Say China’s Growth Has Slowed More than Data Suggest – WSJ.com
  Recently, doubts have been raised that electricity-production data—widely viewed as a reliable proxy for China’s growth, also may be subject to political interference, with suspicion that local leaders may be encouraging power producers to exaggerate growth rates.Standard Chartered economist Stephen Green thought concerns over the electricity data were serious enough to warrant a switch to a new proxy for growth—demand for gas and diesel. This replacement indicator, though, still suggests “sluggish growth rather than recession,” he wrote in a recent note, similar to the story told by the official GDP data.

• Sina Weibo Backlash Beginning as US Consulate in Shanghai Gets Banished
• The Chinese are Capable Enough to Hack RIM’s Security Systems ? » M.I.C. Gadget
  Speaking during the RIM shareholders meeting, CEO Thorsten Heins has cited security concerns around industrial espionage and software theft as the reason BlackBerry devices are not manufacture in China. Heins indicated there was a threat that Chinese contractors could presumably use the access to the phone and tablet software to hack RIM’s infrastructure
• No Freeze For U.S. Consulate as Weibo Account Axed – China Real Time Report – WSJ
  When Sina Corp. said this week that it would stop deleting user accounts on its popular Weibo microblogging service except in the most extreme cases of malicious attacks, some might have wondered where that line is drawn.On Thursday, the U.S. consulate in Shanghai offered a clue.

  U.S. diplomatic staff in Shanghai woke up that morning to discover that the consulate’s Weibo account had disappeared, according to a spokeswoman. The spokeswoman said no reason was given and it was unclear whether a particular post had caused problems.

• People’s Daily Online — Communitarianism, Confucianism: He’s got all that figured out
  June 2006//
  It was a diverse group: Men from Harbin battled physics professors; taxi drivers squared off against fellow Beijingers; and among them was Daniel A. Bell.They all knew he was a Canadian, but Bell had never felt more Chinese.

  He uses the phrase “I’ve gone native,” yet minutes later says: “I don’t want to stop being Canadian.” And whether he’s on the ice or in the classroom, it’s never quite clear which team he’s playing for.
  Bell, 42, is a professor at Tsinghua University the school’s first foreign philosophy professor since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949.

• Women Hold Up Half of The Sky | Song Bing | Prospects | The China Boom Project
  Daniel Bell’s wife. very smart//
  Currently Song Bing serves as Vice President, Secretary of the Board, and Management Committee member at Beijing Gao Hua Securities Company Limited, and  Secretary of the Board and Management Committee member at Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities Company Limited. Song Bing was a lawyer at Baker & McKenzie LLP and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, and Vice President at the Legal Department of Deutsche Bank AG Hong Kong Branch.
• A Confucian Constitution: Traditional Irrationality | China Hearsay
  Why on earth would anyone, Confucian scholar or otherwise, ever think that a descendant of Confucius would be useful for anything, much less as a key member of a government? This is faith-based mumbo jumbo at its worst. Is it really necessary to point out that whatever usefulness there is in Confucianism lies in the message, not the messenger? Quasi-deification of Confucius doesn’t elevate the wisdom, it cheapens it.
• China: Shifang Government Goes From Angel to Satan in Crackdown? · Global Voices
• PercyAlpha: US consulate V.S Weibo
• Dan Rather: International News Coverage in 60s and 70s Better Than Today [Video] | Asia Society
• American Stabbed to Death Near Tiananmen Square in Beijing – Bloomberg
  A 62-year-old American who is the husband of a Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) employee was stabbed to death in downtown Beijing yesterday by a man with a history of mental problems, Chinese police said.
  Howard Thomas Mills, who arrived in Beijing on July 3, was attacked at the end of a narrow alleyway that’s about a five- minute walk from Tiananmen Square, Beijing’s Public Security Bureau said in a statement posted on its official Weibo microblog account last night.
• Clinton Warns of Sea Clashes as China Delays Talks Over Rules – Bloomberg
  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned of more confrontations in the South China Seawithout a region-wide solution as China rebuffed calls to expedite talks on rules for operating in disputed waters.
  “Issues such as freedom of navigation and lawful exploitation of maritime resources often involve a wide region,” Clinton said in remarks today to Asia-Pacific foreign ministers during a meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. “Approaching them strictly bilaterally could be a recipe for confusion and even confrontation.”
• China Slowdown Seen Forcing Wen’s Hand on Property Curbs – Bloomberg
  China’s weakest growth in three years may pressure Premier Wen Jiabao to further ease the government’s crackdown on a property industry that accounts for more than a quarter of final demand.
  Gross domestic product expanded 7.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier following an 8.1 percent increase in the first quarter, according to the median estimate of 38 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before a report tomorrow.
• The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea – China in Huge Infrastructure Projects Near N.Korean Border
  China is building a massive highway and rail network in Liaoning and Jilin provinces near the border with North Korea. Beijing is expected to spend more than US$10 billion on the project by 2015.
  Experts believe the aim is not only to tap into North Korea’s mineral resources but to secure easy access for Chinese troops in case of an emergency in the North.
• 13-year-old child worker under intensive care after colleagues pump him up like car tyre: Shanghaiist
• EXCLUSIVE: Romney Invested Millions in Chinese Firm That Profited on US Outsourcing | Mother Jones

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