Political Will & The “Regulatory Windstorm”; Poverty, Politics, Rockets in Shanxi; Ping Pong-Sinocism 06.25.17

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

The Essential Eight

1. It Might Be Risky To Underestimate The Political Will Behind The Financial Sector “Regulatory Windstorm”

Comment: The coordinated crackdown on the financial system is coming straight from the top, and how long can the political will last is the trillion dollar question. I will bet longer than many think, even in the face of triggering anything short of a massive crisis. Remember the April Politburo study session on financial security and controlling financial risk? The current state of the financial system is a massive risk to stability and Xi and the CCP’s vision for China, and it is very possible the political calculus is now that there is more risk in the extended whack-a-mole approach than there is in much more forceful, near-term action.

Latest gust in China ‘regulatory windstorm’ sparks blowback fears – FT $$:

“The regulators have been moving very fast to identify risks,” said a person close to Chinese policymakers. “But they sometimes move without being fully aware of the consequences of their action.”…

One Chinese official who works on financial policy issues said the CBRC directive…“came directly from the top”…

The official added that “it’s connected to all the other crackdowns we have seen recently, like the ones at the insurance regulator and in the securities sector”.

Funding Tap Runs Dry for Property Developers – Caixin Global:

developers find themselves squeezed by government curbs on bank lending that aim to deflate the housing bubble, as well as a regulatory campaign to force the financial sector to deleverage and improve risk controls. One by one, regulators have restricted the sources of funding available to builders — bond issuances, private equity and bank lending. Now, with even the costliest and riskiest form of borrowing — via trust companies — under scrutiny, companies are running out of options.

Anbang’s predicament amid bank-risk probe – FT $$:

Yang Guoying, researcher at China Financial Think Tank and a popular commentator on Weibo, believes regulators will have considered the broader consequences of taking action against Anbang.

“By the time they decided to investigate Wu Xiaohui, the relevant departments would certainly have prepared a contingency plan. If there’s a liquidity problem, there will definitely be some transitional arrangements,” Mr Yang predicts.

Chinese regulator steps up scrutiny over insurance firms – Xinhua:

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) will strengthen oversight to ensure that new insurance firms operate according to company plans, funding provided by shareholders is authentic, and that their stakes are not transferred during the preparatory process of the companies, according to a CIRC statement.



2. Xi’s Shanxi Inspection Tour: Poverty Alleviation, Political Stability, Rocket Development

China Focus: Xi’s Shanxi tour steps up war on poverty – Xinhua:

The government should focus more on the poorest areas in terms of funds and programs. Public services, infrastructure and medical care must be guaranteed, Xi told the symposium attended by Party chiefs of Qinghai, Shanxi and Yunnan, as well as Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

习近平总书记深入吕梁山区看望深度贫困群众并主持召开专题座谈会纪实

Xi stresses enhancing rocket launch, test capability – Xinhua:

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for comprehensively improving the country’s rocket launch and test capabilities.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks during inspection of a space force unit based in Shanxi Province in north China on Thursday.

习近平在视察驻晋部队某基地时强调 全面提高遂行发射和试验任务能力 为建设航天强国再立新功-Saturday CCTV Evening News report on the visit

Xi stresses reform, development, stability during inspection tour – Xinhua:

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all Party committees to advance reform, development and stability to create a sound environment for the upcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in northern Shanxi Province, calling the congress a significant event for the Party and national political life.

During his inspection tour from Wednesday to Friday, Xi visited a revolutionary memorial museum, villages and enterprises in Shanxi Province.

习近平在山西考察工作时强调 扎扎实实做好改革发展稳定各项工作 为党的十九大胜利召开营造良好环境_CCTV -Top 20 minutes of The Friday CCTV Evening News on Xi’s inspection tour in Shanxi



 

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3. Xi To Visit Hong Kong For July 1 20th Anniversary Of Handover, Will Remind Everyone Hong Kong Is Now Just Another PRC City

Xi Jinping to attend HK’s 20th return anniversary celebration – Xinhua:

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will also be present at the inauguration of the fifth administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the statement said.

Pride of PLA Navy to make port call in Hong Kong | South China Morning Post:

The People’s Liberation Army is to make its most visible ­appearance in Hong Kong in 20 years, marking the handover anniversary with an unprecedented port call by its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, sources told the South China Morning Post.

Xi no evil: Hong Kong bans protest slogans as Chinese president visits | World news | The Guardian:

Posters or other displays that could ‘embarrass’ leaders, such as mentions of Tiananmen Square, are ordered removed from tour routes

Two decades after handover, scant love for China among Hong Kong youth | Reuters:

According to a University of Hong Kong survey released on Tuesday that polled 120 youths, only 3.1 percent of those aged between 18 to 29 identify themselves as “broadly Chinese”. The figure stood at 31 percent when the regular half-yearly survey started 20 years ago.

In interviews with 10 Hong Kong youths born in 1997 including Chau, all of them, including an immigrant from mainland China, told Reuters they primarily identify themselves as “Hong Kongers” and their loyalty lies with the city.

Hong Kong independence ‘never going to happen’: former governors tell city’s youth to focus on democracy | South China Morning Post:

However differently they might have led colonial Hong Kong’s dealings with Beijing, David Wilson and Chris Patten agree on one message for Hongkongers 20 years after the handover: Forget the idea of a breakaway city state.

Hong Kong’s new chief: detention of booksellers in China not our concern | The Guardian:

“It would not be appropriate for us to go into the mainland or challenge what happens on the mainland,” Lam said in an interview with CNN, adding that the booksellers case “has to be dealt with in accordance with the mainland’s system”.



4. Trump Has Left And Right Worried He Has Gone Soft on The PRC. The FBI Catches A Chinese Spy in The Washington DC Area

Chuck Schumer: Trump railed against China while campaigning. Now he’s gone soft. – The Washington Post:

Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing will continue to act in its self-interest unless the United States does something to alter the status quo. And yet, despite numerous promises during the campaign to crack down on these unfair practices by China, Trump has failed to take any significant action after almost five months in office. In fact, he has made trade threats against U.S. allies such as Canada and South Korea while giving China a pass.

Senators Urge Trump to Approve Taiwan Arms Sales | Foreign Policy:

The letter sent Friday was signed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the majority whip, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.),  Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

China Is Taking Trump for a Ride | The Diplomat – Joe Bosco:

Chinese leaders, diplomats, and spokespeople have repeatedly told Western counterparts that Beijing will not exert the full measure of pressure it could on Pyongyang because they fear precipitating the collapse of the Kim regime and a flow of refugees into China. That “explanation” has been advanced for two decades by foreign policy experts, led by Henry Kissinger, who is now advising Trump on China.

Comment: The pressures in DC are increasing for a much tougher approach to the PRC, from North Korea to trade and investment, South and East China Seas, human rights, PRC information operations against the US to name a few areas.

Virginia Man Arrested and Charged With Espionage | OPA | Department of Justice:

During a voluntary interview with FBI agents on May 24, Mallory stated that PRC1 represented himself as working for a People’s Republic of China think tank, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS). Since at least 2014, the FBI has assessed that Chinese intelligence officers have used SASS affiliation as cover identities.

Mallory told FBI agents he travelled to Shanghai separately in March and April to meet with PRC1 and PRC1’s boss. After Mallory consented to a review of a device he had been using to communicate with PRC1, FBI viewed a message from Mallory to PRC1 in which Mallory stated that he had blacked out security classification markings on documents transmitted to PRC1

PDF of full complaint here, very much worth the quick read, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences makes another appearance.  

Former CIA officer accused of selling top secret information to China – The Washington Post:

Kevin Patrick Mallory, 60, of Leesburg, Va., was arrested Thursday…

Although the primary government agency in question is not named, two government officials confirm that Mallory worked for the CIA.

Comment: He asked to be represented by a public defender so looks to be short on cash.



5. Are Politics Behind The National Ping Pong Team Scandal?

Top Pingpong Stars Pull Out of China Open Over Coach’s Removal – Caixin Global:

Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin, the world’s top three players according to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ranking, didn’t show up for their round of singles matches at the China Open in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Friday evening and thereby forfeited their matches, the ITTF said.

At 7 p.m. on Friday, all three players, including a fourth member Zhang Jike who quit the game due to injury, posted the same line on their Sina Weibo accounts: “At this moment we don’t feel like playing anymore, because we miss you, Liu Guoliang!”

国乒弃赛后续:乒协称刘国梁岗位调整前已做沟通 国乒官方致歉-Original Chinese Caixin story

China Table Tennis in Turmoil As Top Players No-Show in Protest:

In April, Liu was reappointed head coach of China’s table tennis team. But on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua reported that he was relieved from his coaching duties due to “restructuring.” Instead, it was announced that he would become a vice president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association. While the move was in theory a promotion, many questioned the association’s motives because it already has 18 vice presidents.

Liu’s transfer follows the suspension last month of Kong Linghui, head of the women’s table tennis team, over a gambling debt scandal.

Comment: Any chance this is political, about the State General Administration of Sports selection of a delegate to the 19th Party Congress?



6. Chen Quanguo Looks To Have Taken His Learnings From Tibet To Xinjiang. 

In China’s far west the ‘perfect police state’ is emerging | The Guardian:

During a trip through China’s violence-plagued Xinjiang, the Guardian witnesses dramatic security surge as Communist party fights to ‘pacify’ region



7. Suspected Arson In Hangzhou Leads To More Discussion of Rich-Poor Gap

Hangzhou Nanny Sets House on Fire, Killing a Mother and Her Three Children | What’s on Weibo:

A high-profile arson case in Hangzhou has become a focus of attention for Chinese netizens. The person suspected of starting the fire that killed a mother and her three children, is the family nanny. Because of the family’s wealth and the nanny’s poor background, many people connect the crime to tensions over China’s poor-rich divide.



8. Thank You Gabriel Lafitte

THE LAST BLOG? | Rukor

That’s why, six years ago, I chose an obscure Tibetan word, rukor, to frame this blogspot. It literally means a circle of tents, an encampment in which several families get together, pooling herds and labour, making collective decisions by combining intimate landscape knowledge of several experienced pastoralists.

Gabriel Lafitte is rukor. But not for much longer. The doctors tell me I am almost certain to die soon, cancers are everywhere, despite my good fortune, as an Australian, to avail of operations, radiation, chemotherapy, the best of treatments, and in a country where treatment is free. Partly due to Rukor and your responses, I can die without regret.

Comment: A tremendous contribution to understanding of Tibet, I hope there is support to continue. Thank you Gabriel Lafitte.



Correction

The June 22 issue wrote that Wang Qishan had “reappeared In propaganda organs after a 39 day absence. That was incorrect. Wang appeared on the CCTV Evening News at Qian Qichen’s memorial service 5.18 and at the 5.27 Politburo study session- 王岐山视频集(首页)_时政频道_央视网 Rumors though are still swirling in overseas Chinese media about his health, his status in the wake of the Guo Wengui allegations, and the possibility of another big tiger to fall.



AnchorBusiness, Economy And Trade

EU promises tough line on U.S., China while pushing for free trade | Reuters: German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday that Europe would react in kind if the United States did not play fair in trade, while EU leaders also agreed to consider screening investments by state-owned Chinese firms. The 28 EU leaders signed up to a document saying they and the European Commission should look into ways to increase reciprocity in government procurement and investment.

The $100 Billion City Next to Singapore Has a Big China Problem – Bloomberg The dream of a Malaysian version of Shenzhen — largely funded by Chinese developers and buyers — with hotels, offices, golf courses, tech parks and thousands of ritzy new apartments, is having to adapt after China’s government clamped down on an exodus of money for investment in overseas property.

Foreign Investments and National Security: A Conversation with Senator John Cornyn | Council on Foreign Relations As Chinese investments in the United States surge, Senator John Cornyn discusses the challenge facing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and previews reform legislation to require heightened scrutiny and vetting of foreign investment transactions for national security risks, particularly Chinese technology deals.

VoxChina VoxChina.org (VoxChina for short below) is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit platform initiated by a group of experienced and accomplished economists. The mission of VoxChina is to be the bridge on economic issues between China and the rest of the world by providing informed analysis on the state of the Chinese economy and insights for reform challenges facing China today, and by analyzing the impact of the development in the rest of the world economies on China.

High-Speed Trader to Pay $101 Million in Landmark China Case – Bloomberg Yishidun International Trading was fined 300 million yuan ($44 million) for manipulating China’s futures markets and ordered to disgorge 389 million yuan in profits. As well as the suspended sentences, two of its executives were fined a total of 1.8 million yuan, according to an announcement Friday by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court.

CIPS Podcast: A Conversation with China Economist Arthur Kroeber on China’s High-Tech Drive — China Innovation Policy Series Kroeber emphasizes the largely positive results from China’s multi-pronged drive to promote high tech. He describes the rationale behind China’s technological innovation drive, highlights the success of leading Chinese Internet companies, and evaluates what options countries like the United States have to respond.

China unveils its new high-speed train ‘Fuxing’ – China Plus Translated as ‘Revival’, the train has been wholly designed and manufactured in China, which holds the complete intellectual property rights.

Contenders vie to take up mantle of Chinese central bank reforms Guo Shuqing, Jiang Chaoliang, Liu Shiyu, Yi Gang

Audit report reveals China’s economic fault lines | South China Morning Post An official audit report published on Friday said that 18 of the 20 state-owned firms that were audited have in recent years inflated their revenues by more than 200 billion yuan (US$29 billion) and boosted their profits by 20 billion yuan with faked business and manipulated books. 胡泽君首作审计报告 去年移送重大问题线索600起涉1100人



AnchorPolitics And Law

China takes steps to improve social credit system – Xinhua Under the guidance of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the China Information Industry Association (CIIA) has officially launched a project to promote the national social credit system. Meanwhile, a public service platform was also released to trace private domain names, aiming to help the public to distinguish genuine domain names from counterfeit ones, CIIA president He Cuiqin said.

China’s draft law on supervision submitted for review – Xinhua China has begun to pilot the supervisory system reform in Beijing Municipality and the provinces of Shanxi and Zhejiang. The pilot sees the establishment of local supervisory commissions at three levels — provincial, municipal and county — in order to form an integrated supervision system. 十二届全国人大常委会第二十八次会议举行第二次全体会议 张德江出席会议 

维权网: 释大成和尚因持续转发郭文贵爆料遭湖南警方再次抓捕 被以寻衅滋事罪刑事拘留(图)Comment: A monk in Hunan has been detained for 10 days “picking quarrels” for sharing corruption allegations from Guo Wengui

Blogger Who Compiled Reports of Protests, Demonstrations Stands Trial in China’s Yunnan – RFA Lu Yuyu, who founded the blog “Not the News,” was detained alongside his girlfriend Li Tingyu on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” by police in Yunnan’s mountain resort of Dali in June 2016. Lu, who recently refused food and water in protest at alleged mistreatment in a police-run detention center, stands accused of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” in connection with his work publicizing protests in China.

China slashes murder sentence in loan-shark killing case | Reuters the case of Yu Huan, who on Friday had his life sentence cut to five years following a retrial, has also prompted debate about whether widespread public anger over the initial verdict had a bearing on the much more lenient final outcome.

刚发两天 人民大学收回司马南教授聘书 – 万维读者网Comment: Renmin University Continuing Education School hires Sima Nan as a professor then rescinds two days later after outcry

Analysis: NPC Standing Committee’s 2017 Oversight Plan – NPC Observer The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) released its 2017 oversight plan (Plan) in early May, and this post presents an overdue analysis of it. Here, we will not list each and every project in the Plan (unlike our previous analysis of the NPCSC’s 2017 legislative plan), but will instead offer a few observations about the Plan. A partial translation of the Plan, including more detailed descriptions of the projects, can be found at the end of this post.

CPC calls to set up “relatively complete” regulatory system by 2021 – Xinhua In a recently published document, the CPC Central Committee said rule-based Party governance is a precondition for good state governance. Improving Party regulation is necessary step to improving Party governance, building a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, and modernizing state governance. It is key to the Party’s long-term rule and China’s lasting stability, it said 中共中央印发《关于加强党内法规制度建设的意见

蔡奇当选北京市委书记 新一届北京市委常委产生–时政–人民网Comment: No surprise, Cai Qi formerly made Beijing Party Secretary

Tibetan Cuts Own Throat in Lhasa Freedom Protest – RFA A Tibetan man called out on Friday for freedom for Tibet before cutting his own throat in a solo protest outside Lhasa’s famous Jokhang temple, Tibetan sources said. No details were available on whether the man had died or been detained following his 10:00 a.m. protest, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA’s Tibetan Service on June 23.  //  Comment: I was last in Barkhor Square by the Jokhang Temple in July 2015, the security presence then was obvious and stifling.



AnchorForeign And Defense Affairs

Macau billionaire on trial in U.S. in U.N. corruption case | Reuters Ng Lap Seng, 69, has pleaded not guilty to charges he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. The Chinese national, who was once linked to a Democratic fundraising scandal when Bill Clinton was U.S. president, is one of at least seven people charged since 2015 in the U.N.-related federal corruption probe.

We participated in talks with North Korean representatives. This is what we learned. – The Washington Post Strikingly different from similar meetings in the past was the self-confidence, even cockiness, of the North Koreans, clearly a result of the recent successes of their nuclear and missile programs. The North Koreans also made clear that their nuclear program is a response to the general “U.S. hostile policy.” As such, nothing Seoul could offer would alter Pyongyang’s commitment to its nuclear arsenal. The North Koreans won’t even deign to negotiate with the South Koreans, whom they described repeatedly as “puppets” of the United States.

Japanese warship takes Asian guests on cruise in defiance of China | Reuters Military officers from the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) boarded the 248-metre carrier in Singapore on Monday. It returned on Friday after demonstrating naval skills and kit Tokyo hopes will help it bolster alliances in the region.

China ‘willing to work with US’ to ease tensions over North Korea, top diplomat tells Trump | South China Morning Post The meeting between State Councillor Yang Jiechi and Trump at the White House on Thursday also came after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged China to step up diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea over its nuclear weapons.

David Rank, top U.S. diplomat, on why he resigned to protest Trump – Sinica Podcast The former chargé d’affaires of America’s Beijing embassy explains what went through his head on the day that Trump made his Paris announcement.

China deploys new anti-submarine aircraft to fringes of South China Sea – Defense News Satellite photos taken on May 10 and May 20 by commercial satellite imagery company DigitalGlobe showed four Shaanxi Y-8Q turboprop aircraft with its distinctive magnetic anomaly detector boom parked on the ground at Lingshui Air Base in the southeastern part of China’s Hainan island.

Mongolians fret over China investment as they prepare to vote | Reuters Miyeegombo Enkhbold, standing for the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), is “open to foreign investment from all countries, that of course includes investment from China”, a party official told Reuters. “The reality for today is we have the supply, China has the demand,” he said, while adding that Mongolia had to diversify and “reduce inappropriate dependence” on one country. Enkhbold’s main challenger, from the Democratic Party, is a former martial arts star, Khaltmaa Battulga, who has voiced suspicion about China’s aims in a country that was under Chinese domination for centuries, until it gained independence in 1921.

The New Yorker Radio Hour | WNYC – Evan Osnos Ai Weiwei reflects on censorship and the refugee crisis, a congressman asks us to reconsider trade with China, and Chinese students explain the country’s Ivanka Trump feve

China’s Imports From North Korea Slump in May After Coal Ban – Bloomberg Shipments in the first five months of this year are down 10.7 percent to $722.1 million, according to China Customs data released on Friday. The slump came in the wake of Beijing’s move in February to ban coal imports from Kim Jong Un’s regime until end of the year, in compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions over North Korea’s nuclear program.

China refuses to budge, says no to India’s NSG membership | The Indian Express China’s has repeatedly stonewalled India’s admission in the NSG, a move that has become a major stumbling block in bilateral relations between the two countries.

China’s party paper trumpets U.N. rights resolution as combating West’s monopoly | Reuters The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday adopted a China-led resolution on “The Contribution of Development to the Enjoyment of All Human Rights, the first time it had adopted a resolution on development issues, the official Xinhua news agency reported.



AnchorTech And Media

China bans 40 TV commercials for rule violations – Xinhua According to a statement by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), most of the commercials were for healthcare products, and banned for exceeding regulated time limits.

Woman promotes products on TV using forged identities – Global Times The People’s Daily on Wednesday revealed a “famous” medical expert who promoted fake medicines on different television stations under different names, nationalities and social identities. The elderly lady, identifying herself as Liu Hongbin, claimed to be an inheritor of the traditional Miao medicine on Tibet TV and said she has been focusing on curing cough and asthma. On Gansu TV, she claimed to be a member of the Chinese Medicine Association [which never existed] and owned a prescription from the ancient court that can treat rheumatism.

China’s authorities tighten noose around online video content | Reuters Several online video portals, including iFeng, have been publicly reprimanded in the last six months for conducting live-streamed interviews and other news gathering activities without state authorization. “I think this [recent] ban is much more serious than the ones before,” a former iFeng employee, who worked at the firm until recently and declined to be identified, told Reuters.

LinkedIn China president resigns | South China Morning Post Derek Shen, who launched the professional networking site in China, quits in what could be a setback to the company’s mainland expansion plans

How Li Ruigang, China’s ‘Rupert Murdoch’, is building a global media empire | South China Morning Post Founded in 2009 by chairman and single largest shareholder Li Ruigang, dubbed China’s Rupert Murdoch, the company is the mainland’s first fund dedicated to media and entertainment investments in China and abroad.



AnchorSociety, Art, Sports, Culture And History

Chinese public criticizes calls from UN to take refugees – Global Times A comment critical of the UNHCR’s call has been reposted over 80,000 times. The top comments under that Weibo post are all critical. One read, “stop creating an atmosphere that we should accept refugees, it’s revolting. If we don’t have that kind of national prowess, we shouldn’t randomly receive refugees.” “There are still a lot of Chinese people who live in poverty and can’t pay for medical bills. Shouldn’t we solve our own problems first?” reads another. In recent years, there have been many calls for China to do more to show responsibility as a big country, including on the refugee issue.

Language Log » Renewal of the race / nation First of all, front and center, what is this mínzú 民族?  It can mean lots of things:  nation, nationality, people, ethnic group, race, volk.  This is not the first time that mínzú 民族 has erupted on the international stage.

Shanghai Investigates Historical Villa’s Demolition – Sixth Tome On Friday afternoon, the owner’s mother, surnamed Wang, told the Paper that she had intended to redo the interior of the house, only to find that the underlying wooden structure had been “seriously damaged,” and that the wall was sloped. She added she was not aware that government permission was required for any renovations.// Comment: Bought for 83.8 million RMB in 2015 by a 20 something woman who had returned from studying overseas, fined 30 million RMB for this 80多年优秀历史建筑被擅自拆毁重建,业主为90后女生

Is a Buddhist Group Changing China? Or Is China Changing It? – The New York Times Across China, millions of people like Ms. Shen have begun participating in faith-based organizations like Fo Guang Shan. They aim to fill what they see as a moral vacuum left by attacks on traditional values over the past century, especially under Mao, and the nation’s embrace of a cutthroat form of capitalism.

Hopes fade in China for 93 missing in landslide | Reuters A huge landslide crashed down on the village of Xinmo, in mountainous Sichuan province, as dawn broke on Saturday.



AnchorEnergy, Environment, Science And Health

Xi Jinping Is Set for a Big Gamble With China’s Carbon Trading Market – The New York Times The start of a national carbon trading market in China by late this year has been years in the making, but is now shaping up as Mr. Xi’s big policy retort to Mr. Trump’s decision to quit the Paris accord. The Chinese government said in a greenhouse gas policy guide released on Wednesday that the 2017 start was on track.

China’s blueprint to clean lakes and stop algae blooms is working | PBS NewsHour Phosphorus, a mineral and an ingredient in farm fertilizer runoff that can prompt algae to multiply, dropped 60 percent in Chinese lakes from 2006 to 2014, according to a new study that analyzed 862 lakes across the country.



AnchorAgriculture And Rural Issues

Dim Sums: Rural China Economics and Policy: Subsidies = Profit in China’s Largest Grain Province This month, a Grain and Oils News journalist reported dramatic changes in cropping patterns in parts of China’s Heilongjiang Province following the removal of the support price for corn. While the article emphasizes the greater market orientation of planting decisions this year, the journalist’s investigations also suggest that fat subsidies account for most of the profits earned by farmers in China’s largest grain-producing province.

China drone king turns to farming – Phys.org China drone-maker DJI is betting on flying machines that shoot pesticide instead of photos to fend off growing competition in the global remote-controlled aircraft market.



AnchorEducation

上海劲掀培训机构整顿风 中小学生负担能否减轻_政经频道_财新网 上海家长圈流传着一个词——“鸡娃”,指家长强迫孩子上培训班。为减轻上海孩子的学习负担,上海着手在3个月间对近7000家教育培训机构分类整治规范



AnchorBeijing

Video: ‘Return our money’ – Beijing police surround shopkeepers staging rare protest against evictions | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP The crowd gathered outside the entrance of the Beijing Zoo wholesale market in the west of the city, punching their fists in the air and shouting, “Return our money!” Rows of police officers encircled the crowd, with some wearing riot gear as the two sides bumped against each other.



AnchorJobs And Events

Jing-A Brewing Co. – HEAD BREWER Our Head Brewer will have a hands-on approach to leadership, working both with the Founders to develop recipes, chart capacity expansion, manage ingredient procurement, and develop process improvements; as well as with two full-time junior brewers to brew awesome and experimental craft beers on our small 4HL Taproom system, and with our brew service team on 100HL batches of liquid gold at a new production brewery outside of Beijing


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