"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Beijing chose the United Nations World Environment Day to demand that foreign embassies stop disseminating air quality information. The Wall Street Journal writes in U.S. Air Monitoring in China: Vienna Violation? that a senior environmental official stated that the US embassy effort “is not in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and it is also against relevant environmental protection regulations.”
In China Soft-Power Watch: @BeijingAir Edition James Fallows nicely articulates the unfortunate optics of this statement: “Billions for international PR campaigns, and defensive censorship about public health data? Huffiness about “the Vienna Convention”? Sigh. The country is better than this.”
In case you were hoping for more air transparency from the Chinese environmental bureaucracy, China Daily tells us that Beijing will no longer count ‘blue sky days’.
Is the fact that no major English media seems to have noted Beijing made these air quality statements on World Environment Day a sign of the irrelevance of the UN’s efforts?
Continuing with the pollution theme, Caijing Magazine’s latest cover story–Toxic Soil Threatens Urban Areas–is a disturbing look (the cover image says it all) at the reuse of polluted land sites with no environmental cleanup. Think urban EPA Superfund sites, on a China scale?
The soil story follows last month’s Caixin Magazine story on polluted tap water–The Dirty Truth about Water Quality. As I wrote about the water story “not delivering the goods, and specifically not delivering healthy water, is very dangerous for the stability of any government. China has massive water problems and some sort of water-related unrest should be an increasing concern.” A similar statement probably applies to siting apartments on toxic sites.
Just in case you thought the tea was safe to drink, check out this disturbing Caijing story about pesticide use in tea production–Banned Tea Exports Compel China to Improve Pesticide Standards. Perhaps there is hope for improvement if the tea growers lose money unless they change their practices.
No wonder so many people with means want to get their kids out of the country. (note to self…)
The Yang Kun corruption case may be a real headache for Macau casinos. The South China Morning Post reports in Beijing anti-graft team is on the trail of casino losses that “Beijing has major Macau casinos in its sights as it seeks hard evidence of bribery and money laundering amid a snowballing investigation into a senior banker and a secretive businessman on the mainland.”
It sounds like Volkswagen could have a serious China corruption problem. The 21st Century Herald is reporting in 涉案数千万人民币：一汽大众销售副总静国松被调查 that Jing Guosong, sales vice president for FAW-Volkswagen, is under investigation for “economic problems” and that another manager recently committed suicide by jumping off a building.
The Beijing Public Security Bureau’s release of data that appears to show there are 3.8 million empty apartments in Beijing has caused a stir (北京核对空置房屋381万户 标注出租屋139万户_新浪网). Bets on if they try to walk back from this economically damaging number? Meanwhile, a Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development official insists there is no loosening of the real estate restrictions (China’s property controls to stay – Xinhua), in spite of Xinhua discussions of “micro-adjustments” (刚需释放吹不起市场泡沫 “回暖”难言房价再次暴涨 – 新华财经) and a move by Hebei Province to slightly relax the purchase restriction policies (河北拟对限购等楼市调控政策进行微调-财经网.)
The best way to see this blog is to subscribe by email, especially if you are in China, as Sinocism is still blocked here. The email signup page is here, outside the GFW. You can also follow me on @niubi or Sina Weibo @billbishop. Comments/tips/suggestions are welcome, and feel free to forward to recommend to friends, as the more readers I have the better the content will become. And of course if you are feeling generous donations are always appreciated. Thanks for reading.
- Chinese stimulus and iron ore – MacroBusiness
ANZ released an interesting note late yesterday on the prospects for a rebound in the iron ore price in second half. The note is interesting on a couple of fronts. Firstly, there are some mixed messages coming out of the bank about China’s iron ore stockpile. Regular readers will recall a recent video with ANZ staff exposing worryingly large overflows of iron ore at a large Chinese port. However, this note is much more sanguine about the glut. Secondly, there is some good quantitative data in here on the stimulus measures already announced.
- 6 Signs That Chinese Growth Could Be Stabilizing – Business Insider
excessive sell side optimism?//
looking forward, Morgan Stanley analyst Helen Qiao and her team preview May data and expect signs of stabilization. - Philippines says tensions ease in China sea row | Inquirer Global Nation
MANILA, Philippines—China and the Philippines have repositioned some ships stationed at a disputed South China Sea shoal, easing tensions that have been building up since April, the Philippine government said Tuesday.
- Pollution alarm for China’s rivers, seas |Society |chinadaily.com.cn
An environment official on Tuesday sounded the alarm of pollution in China’s rivers, lakes and seas, saying the problem in the near-shore water of major coastal economic zones is particularly serious. Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Wu Xiaoqing said the quality of the near-shore water of north China’s Bohai Sea and the East China Sea as well as water in five of the nine bays along China’s coast was “extremely poor.”
- Yukon Huang-Tall Tales About China’s Banks Hide Economy’s Problems – Bloomberg
Thus the key to reforming the financial sector begins by getting the fiscal system to take on the responsibilities it should normally have. This would encourage more accountable and transparent practices, and reduce the likelihood of waste and corruption.
- 人民日报-积极实施扩大内需战略 有力应对国际金融危机（科学发展 成就辉煌）
People’s Daily continues its series on what a great job the Party has done managing the economy, this time with a look at China’s successful navigation of the financial crisis
- Fewer Chinese students take college exams, opt for overseas education: report – Politics & Society – morningwhistle
Fewer Chinese students are choosing to take college entrance exams while more of them are considering studying abroad, according to a new report.
- LVMH’s Benefit Cosmetics closes e-store on China’s Tmall.com – Technology – morningwhistle
Benefit Cosmetics LLC, a maker of cosmetics owned by French luxury goods giant LVMH, has closed its online store on Tmall.com, China’s largest B2C website, sina.com reported.The closure comes 6 months after the company opened its e-shop on Tmal
- Troubled Deloitte expands China presence with $160 mln injection – Finance & Markets – morningwhistle
Troubled auditor Deloitte has reaffirmed its commitment to China by saying it will invest up to $160 million in its local operations to boost its presence, and continued to defend itself against efforts by U.S. regulators to get their hands on documents on a Chinese firm they are investigating.
- HEARD ON THE STREET: China’s Workers in No Need of Stimulation – WSJ.com
While the U.S. struggles with a relatively jobless recovery, China seems to have the opposite challenge.
Despite a sharp slowdown in China’s economy, a slew of data suggest that labor markets are tight. In the first quarter, a survey of local employment bureaus found a record dearth of workers. In the same period, government data suggest that wages for migrant workers rose 16.6% year-over-year. - 涉案数千万人民币：一汽大众销售副总静国松被调查 – 汽车要闻 – 21世纪网
FAW-Volkswagen Sales VP Jing Guosong under investigation for “economic problems” (i.e bribes/kickbacks et al) that may be as large of 30m RMB
- Welcome to FAW-VW
Volkswagen JV in China
- China’s property controls to stay – Xinhua | English.news.cn
Some mixed messages about whether on there will be slight adjustments in the property controls//
Talking about those easing policies, the official said the ministry will keep a close look over local authorities and instantly set about remedying improper policies.
The Chinese government has repeatedly stated that the country will maintain property regulation policies without wavering, even after economic growth slowed to a near three-year low of 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012. - An excuse to stir up trouble |Op-Ed Contributors |chinadaily.com.cn
UNCLOS//
The US is rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific region and cannot wait to interfere in the South China Sea disputes using the legal framework of the convention, especially as China and the Philippines are locked in a naval standoff near Huangyan Island. This is fully demonstrated by Clinton’s remarks that the US is ceding the legal high ground to China and is not as strong an advocate for its friends and allies as it would like to be.However, even if the US does finally ratify the convention, it will not become a concerned party in the South China Sea. It is not and never will be, as it is sovereignty disputes over islands in the South China Sea that are the issue and the US has no sovereignty claims. - Banks’ NPL figures ‘don’t add up’|Industries|chinadaily.com.cn
China’s banking regulator has noticed a contradiction between a surge in some categories of problematic loans on the one hand and a decline in non-performing loan ratios on the other over the past few months, and it is taking a closer look at lenders’ loan classification, said a senior official on Monday.
“We are already aware of an obvious increase in overdue loans and ‘special-mention’ loans. Further statistics and analysis are necessary for us to discover the cause of the inconsistency and how much hidden risk there is,” said the source from the China Banking Regulatory Commission, who declined to be identified.
“But generally speaking, the inconsistency is not very large, and the risks of rising bad loans are still controllable,” the source said. - Beijing no longer counting ‘blue sky days’ |Society |chinadaily.com.cn
Environment authorities in Beijing will no longer use the method of counting “blue sky days” as a gauge of air quality, which had been practiced for more than a decade.
- China’s GDP growth may slide to 7.8% in Q2 |Economy |chinadaily.com.cn
Economists think China’s GDP growth in the second quarter could slow to 7.8 percent after a cooled expansion of 8.1 percent in the first quarter, according to survey findings released on Tuesday.Ten financial institutions participated the survey initiated by Caixin and reported expectations of a median 7.8 percent growth in China’s GDP in the second quarter. Only two of the 10 participants kept a GDP growth prediction in the second quarter above 8 percent, with the highest expectation of 8.2 percent.
- Hu, Putin pledge to boost China-Russia ties|Politics|chinadaily.com.cn
With the signing of key commercial deals and the promise of greater political cooperation, China and Russia cemented their partnership on Tuesday against an uncertain world and regional scenario highlighted by the fluctuating Middle East crisis and shifting Asia-Pacific landscape.
The leaders of both countries also urged the international community to support UN envoy Kofi Annan’s plan on Syria. - 西安18岁司机驾奥迪撞死11岁女童后逃逸_网易新闻中心
18 yr Audi driver in Xian hits, kills, 11 year old girl, tries to run away
- Amazon.com: Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power eBook: David E. Sanger: Kindle Store
interesting chapter about China
- International – James Fallows – China Soft-Power Watch: @BeijingAir Edition – The Atlantic
- Officer warns against misuse of paramilitary force | SCMP.com
A senior army officer has warned against abusing the deployment of troops for non-combat missions in a commentary by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily. Although yesterday’s article by the political commissar of the People’s Liberation Army’s Guangzhou military command, Zhang Yang, talked of the army’s political loyalty to the Communist Party, defence experts said it appeared to be pointing at an increasingly worrying phenomenon in the army’s close sibling, the paramilitary People’s Armed Police, which is more involved in domestic non-combat missions.
- Calls for June 4 rethink grow in party ranks | SCMP.com
Some mainland scholars see signs of support, possibly at a high level, for a vindication of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protesters; others not so sure
- Fraudsters buy official posts ‘to serve the people’ — Shanghai Daily
Yang was referring to an acquaintance who bought an official position and said euphemistically that “I just want to buy a chance to serve the people.” Compared to the sale of official ranks in days of yore, which was conducted openly and left the impression that no official was clean, the trade today has moved underground.
- Civil servants make killing on government flats — Shanghai Daily
ZHANG Zulin, mayor of Kunming, provincial capital of Yunnan, said on June 1 that it is common for privileged government employees to have four to five apartments. Some government agencies are rich and powerful enough to provide more housing than is needed for their staff
- Beijing anti-graft team on trail of casino losses | SCMP.com
Beijing has major Macau casinos in its sights as it seeks hard evidence of bribery and money laundering amid a snowballing investigation into a senior banker and a secretive businessman on the mainland.
A special team from the Communist Party’s high-level anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, is trying to uncover a complex network run by low-profile but well-connected businessman Wang Yaohui, according to sources familiar with the matter. - Sidney Morning Herald–The minister, his laptop and evading Chinese spies
THE Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, took extraordinary precautions against Chinese espionage before arriving in Beijing yesterday, revealing the degree of distrust lingering beneath the surface of his goodwill visit.
- Google Online Security Blog: Security warnings for suspected state-sponsored attacks
If you see this warning it does not necessarily mean that your account has been hijacked. It just means that we believe you may be a target, of phishing or malware for example, and that you should take immediate steps to secure your account
- Chinese Buddhists ’cause plague of serpents’ – Telegraph
For a group of Chinese Buddhists, releasing a thousand snakes from captivity into the wild was a compassionate act that would bring them good karma. But for the small nearby village of Miao Erdong, it resulted in a plague of serpents.
- » Louis CK Is Performing In Beijing This Sunday Beijing Cream
- [Bilingual Brew] Years in Elite Chinese Elementary School Were Darkest of Their Lives | Tea Leaf Nation
just last week i paid tuition for my kids to start september in the international department of a chinese primary school…//
A few days ago, the articles “My Two Years at Lhasa Road Elementary School” and “My First Four Years at Lhasa Road Elementary School” caught fire on Chinese social-networking sites Renren, Douban, and Weibo. The authors are two PhD holders, one from Northwestern University and the other from Cambridge University. Zhang Zaoli (章早立) and Li Xuan (李萱) both were once students at the “brand-name” Lhasa Road Elementary School in Nanjing. Both maintain that their time studying at that elementary school were the darkest years of their lives. - The Beijing Police Have an Electronic Map That Shows Where You Live | Tech in Asia
What if Google Maps allowed you to click on any building that you saw to access personal information about the residents living inside? That would be terrifying. I don’t think Google’s planning to add that feature anytime soon, but the Beijing police have been building their own version of just such a map since last fall, and it’s 87.7 percent done.
- Gucci Set To Open 800 square meter Southwest China Flagship In Chongqing-Jing Daily
Makes Sinocism post from April about Bo Xilai look “prescient” haha The Gucci Maoists
- Rice Poised for Third Record Crop as Food Prices Retreat – Bloomberg
The third consecutive year of record rice production is poised to expand inventories to the most in more than a decade, driving down prices and helping to contain the more than $1 trillion spent on food imports annually.
- Labor Shortages in Guangdong Signal Limits on Stimulus – Bloomberg
Guangdong’s job market is showing signs of withstanding China’s slowdown as factory owners report that shortages of workers persist in the southern export hub.
- 中国出逃贪官数量骇人 资产转移方式大揭密_多维新闻网
official stats claim 18,487 corrupt officials who have fled overseas have been caught. this article looks at how they transfer assets overseas
- Stalking China’s Weibo Censors: An Interview with Chi-Chu Tschang | Motherboard
- Auctioneer Beijing Poly Sets Record With $46 Million Chinese Painting-Jing Daily
this past weekend a painting by the late artist Li Keran (李可染) (1907-1989) sold for a record-setting 293.25 million yuan (US$46 million) at the Beijing Poly spring auctions. As China Daily notes this week, Li’s painting “Wan Shan Hong Bian” (万山红遍, “Thousands of Hills in A Crimsoned View”), painted in 1964 and inspired by a poem written by Mao Zedong in 1925, was purchased by “a domestic entrepreneur who began buying art two years ago.”
- GM’s China Sales Rise – WSJ.com
General Motors Co. posted a 21% sales gain in China in May as demand for microvans produced by a local joint venture boosted overall sales.
- 世界新聞網-北美華文新聞、華商資訊 – 上證跌64 89 太巧合 北京嚴查
World Journal claims Beijing is investigating Monday’s Shanghai Composite open and close numbers 另據消息人士指，上證指數出現「奇蹟」，暗含64信息，決非巧合，此事已被立案，中共18大前，上交所高層將被調查。
- 朝鲜称火箭部队已瞄准韩国7家媒体 不道歉就报复_资讯频道_凤凰网
North Korea Rocket Brigade Takes Aim at 7 South Korean Media Firms, Says WIll Take Revenge If They Do Not Apologize
- ConocoPhillips China Confirm Oil Is Leaking Into Bohai Again – Caixin Online
Failed safety device blamed for another spill in area where the two companies struggled to contain huge mess last year
- U.S. General Replaced in S. Korea After Comments on North Korea – Bloomberg
The commander of U.S. Special Forces in South Korea was replaced after he was quoted as saying American and South Korean units have been parachuting into North Korea to spy on its underground military facilities.
Brigadier General Neil Tolley is being replaced by Brigadier General Eric Wendt in a “routine” job rotation, Kim Young Ku, a public affairs officer at U.S. Forces Korea, said today in Seoul. - The Useless Tree: Chinese Intellectuals Need Freedom: Zhuangzi Anticipated This…
The swamp pheasant has to walk ten paces for one peck and a hundred paces for one drink, but it doesn’t want to be kept in a cage. Though you treat it like a king, it’s spirit won’t be content.
澤雉十步一啄，百步一飲，不蘄畜乎樊中。神雖王，不善也。 - China, Russia on same page regarding Syria, Beijing says | Reuters
China said on Tuesday that both Beijing and Moscow oppose foreign intervention or forced regime change in Syria as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived for a security summit.
- U.S. Air Monitoring in China: Vienna Violation? – China Real Time Report – WSJ
- ‘Hire Local’ Rule Puts Big Four at Crossroads – Caixin Online
Mandatory staffing adjustments at Chinese subsidiaries pose challenge to the world’s largest auditors
- 田学斌_百度百科
- China Services Industry Expands at Faster Pace, Survey Indicates – Bloomberg
China’s services industry expanded at a faster pace in May, according to a survey of purchasing managers released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics.
The PMI rose to a 19-month high of 54.7 in May from 54.1 in April, HSBC and Markit said today. The result contradicted a government-backed survey of services businesses released June 3 and signs from other data that a slowdown in the world’s second- biggest economy is deepening.
The best way to see this blog is to subscribe by email, especially if you are in China, as Sinocism is still blocked here. The email signup page is here, outside the GFW. You can also follow me on @niubi or Sina Weibo @billbishop. Comments/tips/suggestions are welcome, and feel free to forward to recommend to friends, as the more readers I have the better the content will become. And of course if you are feeling generous donations are always appreciated. Thanks for reading.