"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
An initial phone call between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping should happen soon. Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi and National Security Advisor Michael Flynn spoke last week, likely laying the groundwork for the first conversation between the two leaders since Trump’s inauguration.
The US appears to be dialing back some of the more bellicose rhetoric towards China which, depending on Trump’s mood, may make for a more cordial call. Defense Secretary Mattis stated in a press conference (transcript) last week in Japan that:
“there is no need right now at this time for military maneuvers or something like that, that would — that would solve something that’s best solved by the diplomats.
At the same time, freedom of navigation is absolute, and whether it be commercial shipping or our U.S. Navy, we will practice in international waters and transit international waters as appropriate. “
So, at this time, we do not see any need for dramatic military moves at all.”
Secretary of State Tillerson, in a letter (PDF) to Senator Ben Cardin reaffirmed the One China policy:
“The United States should continue to uphold the One China policy and support a peaceful and mutually agreeable cross-Strait outcome. “
Secretary Tillerson also appeared to walk back his earlier comments interpreted by some as advocating for using a blockade or force to prevent the PRC from accessing the facilities it has built on reclaimed land in the South China Sea:
“To expand on the discussion of U.S. policy options in the South China Sea, the United States seeks peaceful resolution of disputes and does not take a position on overlapping sovereignty claims, but the United States also does not recognize China’s excessive claims to the waters and airspace of the South China Sea. China cannot be allowed to use its artificial islands to coerce its neighbors or limit freedom of navigation or overflight in the South China Sea. The United States will uphold freedom of navigation and overflight by continuing to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows. If a contingency occurs, the United States and its allies and partners must be capable of limiting China’s access to and use of its artificial islands to pose a threat to the United States or its allies and partners.”
The Washington Post reported over the weekend that National Economic Council chairman Gary Cohn may have a moderating influence on the policy prescriptions of National Trade Council director Peter Navarro:
“Gary Cohn, a Democrat and former president of Goldman Sachs who is chairman of Trump’s National Economic Council, has helped bring a more progressive Wall Street sensibility to the administration. He worked to prevent CNBC commentator Larry Kudlow, a longtime Trump economic adviser, from joining the administration and has tried to sideline Peter Navarro, a vocal China critic and hard-liner on trade inside the White House, according to someone with knowledge of his moves.”
I believe the PRC could make significant concessions, aka a “deal”, on trade if pushed hard enough. They will not when it comes to sovereignty and leading with those most sensitive issues at the start of this administration would be a mistake, especially when so much of the Asian region has little faith in Trump.
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. China’s Intelligent Weaponry Gets Smarter – The New York Times The advance of the Chinese was underscored last month when Qi Lu, a veteran Microsoft artificial intelligence specialist, left the company to become chief operating officer at Baidu, where he will oversee the company’s ambitious plan to become a global leader in A.I. And last year, Tencent, developer of the mobile app WeChat, a Facebook competitor, created an artificial intelligence research laboratory and began investing in United States-based A.I. companies. Rapid Chinese progress has touched off a debate in the United States between military strategists and technologists over whether the Chinese are merely imitating advances or are engaged in independent innovation that will soon overtake the United States in the field. // Comment: In this context Baidu’s AI lab in Silicon Valley is problematic
2. New Law to Screen Online Products, Services in Key Sectors – Caixin Global The Cyberspace Administration of China, headed directly by President Xi Jinping, in an internet posting on Saturday sought public opinion on its draft internet product and service security inspection law, a follow-up to the sweeping Cybersecurity Law that was passed last November and will take effect in June. The draft spells out who exactly will be responsible for putting different elements of the Cybersecurity Law into practice and how, said Shen Yi, deputy director of the Cyberspace Governance Research Center at Fudan University in Shanghai. // Measures for Security Reviews of Network Products and Services (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) 网信办就《网络产品和服务安全审查办法》征求意见
3. US-China war would be a disaster for the world, says Communist party | World news | The Guardian “Were the United States and China to wage war on one another, the whole world would divide itself,” the People’s Daily newspaper argued in a commentary, paraphrasing Henry Kissinger, the veteran US diplomat whose secret mission to China led to the historic rapprochement between Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong in 1972. Fears of a potentially calamitous trade war, or even a military clash between the two nuclear powers, have been building since Trump’s shock election win last November. 合作是中美两国唯一正确选择（钟声)
Related: SDF won’t join U.S. operations in South China Sea: Inada | The Japan Times “I told Secretary Mattis that Japan supports the U.S. military’s freedom of navigation operation in the sea,” Inada said on a TV program Sunday. “But the SDF will not be sent to the area.”
Related: Perpetual Stalemate: China Can Neither Be Dislodged From the South China Sea Nor Control It | The Diplomat Speaking to a U.S.-Japan-Australia strategy conference in January, Sir Angus Houston, who led Australia’s armed forces in the mid 2000s, told attendees that it was “too late to stop the China program in the South China Sea.” In an interview to The Cipher Brief, former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert said, “it is too late to reverse or undo [Chinese] occupancy, without risking a conflict.”…
4. China issues guidelines to preserve traditional culture – Xinhua The guidelines, which were jointly issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and the General Office of the State Council, have been designed to preserve and carry forward various forms of traditional arts and Chinese culture. The guidelines set out that by 2025, major achievements will be registered in traditional culture-related research, education, protection, inheritance, innovation and exchanges. The international influence of Chinese culture should register a “marked boost.” 中共中央办公厅 国务院办公厅印发《关于实施中华优秀传统文化传承发展工程的意见》
Related: 《关于实施中华优秀传统文化传承发展工程的意见》答记者问-新华网 中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅《关于实施中华优秀传统文化传承发展工程的意见》日前正式公布。中共中央宣传部负责同志就意见的有关问题，回答了记者提问。
Related: Why’s Beijing So Worried About Western Values Infecting China’s Youth? | ChinaFile What was also striking from the education conference, Minzner noted, was the absence of the usual nods toward openness to the outside world and learning from foreign achievements and culture while developing China. Instead, there was an emphasis on guiding students to correctly understand the historic inevitability of “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” when making international comparisons. “I think they are sending a signal,” Minzner said. “And that signal alone will probably be enough to accomplish 70 or 80 percent of the goal by increasing self-censorship in universities. Then the push for ideological control may continue in some form until, ideally—from the standpoint of Party censors—it trickles down to students watching what they say even in the dorm room.”
5. Billionaire Is Reported Seized From Hong Kong Hotel and Taken Into China – The New York Times Comment: Xiao Jianhua knows a lot. Taken to squeeze him for what he knows about senior leaders that might help Xi in the runup to the 19th Party Congress, and to keep him from talking about what he knows about Xi? Remarkable he thought he was safe in Hong Kong given it is just another PRC city in all but name now
Related: China sends its billionaires a chilling message-FT $$ Some who know Mr Xiao believe his abduction is a warning to one of the political factions he was close to or that he knew too much about the business dealings of top Chinese leaders. Others believe the party may try to nationalise his significant holdings in major financial institutions. As one person familiar with this case put it: “Most Chinese billionaires are like geese — they get fat on their political connections and close ties to party leaders, but at some point the emperor decides he wants to eat foie gras.”
Related: Billionaire in exile Guo Wengui targets China’s deputy police chief Guo Wengui, the controlling shareholder in Beijing Zenith Holdings and Beijing Pangu Investment, appeared in a video interview last Thursday on Mingjing, an overseas Chinese political rumors website. Guo said in the interview that Li You, former CEO of technology conglomerate Founder Group, had powerful “backers” in the party’s Politburo Standing Committee. He vowed to name some of these backers later. // Comment: Is Guo Wengui AKA Miles Kwok now on Twitter @kwokmiles threatening all sorts of new exposes?
6. Facebook Is Trying Everything to Re-Enter China—and It’s Not Working – WSJ Over about the past two years, Facebook has stepped up its China groundwork, said current and former Facebook executives and employees. Since at least 2014, the task of coordinating the company’s China initiative has fallen to Vaughan Smith, vice president of mobile, corporate and business development, who helped negotiate dozens of Facebook’s earliest acquisitions, they said. In December, China’s elite Tsinghua University announced Mr. Smith would co-teach a class on innovation. He declined to be interviewed. To deploy a Hong Kong-based field commander, Facebook in 2014 hired Wang-Li Moser, who spent more than a decade at Intel Corp. in China, where former colleagues said she made her name as a quiet fixer.
7. The Parachute Generation – The New York Times Even as U.S.-China relations have slipped toward mutual antagonism, the flood of Chinese students coming to the United States has continued to rise. Roughly 370,000 students from the mainland are enrolled in American high schools and universities, six times more than a decade ago. Their financial impact — $11.4 billion was contributed to the American economy in 2015, according to the Department of Commerce — has turned education into one of America’s top “exports” to China…In 2005, only 641 Chinese students were enrolled in American high schools. By 2014, that student population approached 40,000 — a 60-fold increase in a single decade — and it now accounts for nearly half of all international high-school students in the United States.
8. The Critical Transition: China’s Priorities for 2021 | Chatham House This paper sets out the core issues for the Xi leadership, and focuses on what these might mean for the UK, particularly in the post-Brexit world and with the election of Donald Trump as US president.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
Overseas Chinese acquisitions worth $75 billion cancelled last year-FT Chinese overseas deals worth almost $75bn were cancelled last year as a regulatory clampdown and restrictions on foreign exchange caused 30 acquisitions with European and U.S. groups to fall through. The figures, which reveal a sevenfold rise in the value of cancelled deals from about $10 billion in 2015, highlight a waning appetite for global dealmaking by the world’s second-largest economy.
13省份下调2017年财政收入增速目标经济频道财新网 13 provinces set lower 2017 fiscal revenue targets
国企公司制改制拟年底完成 _ 经济参考网 _ 新华社《经济参考报》官方网站 作为国企改革的重要组成部分，以推进股份制改革和整体上市为主导的混合所有制改革，无疑是本轮国企改革的重头戏。《经济参考报》记者从国资委获悉，国资委划定公司制改制时间表，将深入推进央企公司制股份制和混合所有制改制，积极探索集团层面股权多元化改革，预计今年内全面完成国有企业公司制改制。
The Art of a China Deal | ChinaFile – James McGregor Reciprocity and the Trump Pacific Partnership
Leaked Document Reignites Tesla Shanghai Factory Talk – Caixin Global Plans for a multibillion-dollar electric-car joint venture backed by U.S. manufacturer Tesla Inc. are moving ahead in Shanghai, with the city’s Lingang port area as the leading local candidate, a knowledgeable source told Caixin on Monday
POLITICS AND LAW
The Shadow of Deng Xiaoping on Chinese Elite Politics Deng, who enjoyed an astounding level of authority, was probably the last leader who could have brought real change to Chinese politics. The 1980s in China are often portrayed as a time of introspection and change in elite politics, but that is not the case. The decade was instead defined by “old person” politics and a failure to truly come to terms with the lessons of the Cultural Revolution. These findings suggest that even if elite Chinese politics later became increasingly shaped by traditions and principles in a relative sense, policymakers have reason to doubt the robustness of those rules a hypothesis supported by recent news from Beijing about current Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Without unambiguously legitimate rules guaranteeing both collective leadership and a stable succession, Xi may feel he has little to lose and much to gain by concentrating personal power in his hands. // Comment: Interesting argument
Procuratorate investigates former vice state security minister – Xinhua Investigation into Ma Jian, former vice minister of state security, for suspected involvement in accepting bribes, is under way, China’s top procuratorate said Monday. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) said that it had also placed Ma under “compulsory measures.”
The Origins of China’s New Law on Foreign NGOs | ChinaFile – Shawn Shieh By providing a detailed framework, procedures, and responsibilities for regulating foreign NGOs, the law seeks to limit the discretionary power of the Ministry of Public Security even while it expands its administrative authority and resources. I realize that this last point is not widely shared by many critics of the law who see the law giving the Ministry of Public Security unlimited power over foreign NGOs. While I am not a fan of this law, the critics’ view ignores the fact that Public Security organs and local governments already have the authority to close down many of the foreign NGO projects and offices in China that are unregistered or improperly registered. In 2000, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the “Interim Regulations for Banning Illegal NGOs” that provided guidance to local authorities who were unclear about how to deal with unregistered or improperly registered Chinese and foreign NGOs working in their jurisdiction
习近平主持召开中央全面深化改革领导小组第三十二次会议-新华网 习近平主持召开中央全面深化改革领导小组第三十二次会议强调 党政主要负责同志要亲力亲为抓改革扑下身子抓落实
Trump Is Enemy of the Law, Says Chinese Judge | Sixth Tone A judge serving on the Supreme People’s Court of China, the country’s highest judicial body, has labeled Donald Trump an “enemy of the rule of law,” following the U.S. president’s disparaging remarks about a “so-called judge” who blocked his divisive travel ban on Friday. In a Sunday post published to his own public account on social media platform WeChat, Judge He Fan suggested that Trump’s contempt for the actions of federal Judge James Robart represented a level of disrespect for the legal system comparable to the murder of a Chinese judge in late January.
Chinese officials use hotlines to take the public’s pulse | The Economist e-mails to the “mayor” and hotline calls provide rare and valuable guides to public concerns about a wide range of issues: local governments handle everything from social housing to education and health care. The Communist Party hopes that the hotlines and e-mails will make local administrations more accountable, more efficient and—perhaps—more popular
推动形成网络空间新生态（人民要论）–时政–人民网 推动形成持续发展的网络空间生态，要求网络空间保持开放性，与经济社会发展紧密互动，对各种经济社会需求实时响应，力争使网络生态与自然生态、社会生态形成 “三位一体”的良好格局，形成健康、积极的发展机制，让网络空间成为人类发展进步的新平台、新载体。 （作者为清华大学新闻与传播学院教授） 《 人民日报 》（ 2017年02月06日 07 版）
Bill Bishop on Twitter: “Purported notice of 6 year sentence for Rui Chenggang Purported notice of 6 year sentence for rui chenggang going around wechat. No idea if legit
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
罗援：赢得和平，就要勇敢面对战争 – 中国军网 让战争远离人类，是爱好和平的人们的美好愿望。但作为一名军人，守望和维护和平，就必须勇敢地面对战争，以自己的流血牺牲铺设和平的道路。军事专家罗援在今天出版的《解放军报》发表署名文章《赢得和平，就要勇敢面对战争》，强调军人的职责是“能打仗、打胜仗”，不敢“亮剑”的军人绝对不是好军人。 // Comment: Luo Yun in 2.6.17 PLA Daily writes that to win peace the PLA must be ready to fight wars
China Assails U.S. Pledge to Defend Disputed Islands Controlled by Japan – The New York Times Mr. Mattis was not staking out a new American position; while in office, President Barack Obama said that the United States would defend the islands. But the defense secretary’s words were reassuring to Japanese officials, who had been unnerved by Mr. Trump’s remarks as a presidential candidate suggesting that he might reduce America’s military commitments to its Asian allies.
Australia needs to focus more on China in a Donald Trump world | afr.com Australia has nothing to lose by doubling down on its relationship with Beijing. It has a lot to gain. Ministers, public servants, ADF officers and independent observers should be dispatched or encouraged to go to China as never before. Australia would not have to compromise any interests or give in on any values by engaging with Chinese officials much more energetically than hitherto. They would simply transmit a similar message: Australia wants to take its ties with China to a new level in this era of volatility. Linda Jakobson is chief executive of China Matters, an Australian public policy initiative.
China protests U.S. sanctions on Iran, but sees ‘clouds of war’ dispersing over South China Sea – The Washington Post They include two Chinese companies and three Chinese individuals, who are now blocked from the U.S. financial system or dealings with U.S. companies. Foreign companies and individuals are also prohibited from dealing with them at risk of also being blacklisted by the United States.
A Third Whistleblower Unsuccessfully Seeks Protection from Retaliation At UN/OHCHR | GAP In addition to Anders Kompass and Miranda Brown, a Human Rights Officer with the Human Rights Council reported in March 2013, to the then-High Commissioner that a senior staff member, Eric Tistounet, had given the Chinese government the names of Chinese human rights defenders planning to attend a session of the Council in Geneva. Emma Reilly, the whistleblower, believed provision of this information would endanger Chinese human rights defenders by giving the government the information needed to stop the dissidents from appearing. No other government was given the identities of their dissident nationals prior to the sessions. In fact, in September 2013, six months after Ms. Reilly’s first report, a Chinese human rights defender, Cao Shunli, was disappeared from the Beijing airport on her way to attend a Council session in Geneva. She subsequently died in detention.
China Showcases New First Island Chain Ballistic Missile | AP First displayed at a Beijing military parade in 2015, the missile is believed to have a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), putting it within striking distance of Okinawa, home to several U.S. military installations, as well as the Japanese home islands, Taiwan and the Philippines.
China Announces Reform of Military Ranks – Jamestown In mid-December, the first official confirmation of such plans was reported when General Zhang Yang (张阳), a member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and Director of the CMC Political Work Department, told members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) that “China will build a rank-centered military officer system (军衔主导的军官等级制度) that is fit for the construction of a modern armed force and, furthermore, that military rank will reflect officers’ capabilities, identities and status” (MOD, December 19, 2016). He added that ranks would determine career development, and that the appointment system (which the CMC Political Work Department is responsible for) would be rebuilt to promote “excellent” officers and professional training.
Isolating China Doesn’t Work – The New York Times On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump’s accusations that China was “raping” the United States over trade recalled the railings of Denis Kearney, the firebrand founder of the Workingmen’s Party in 1880s California who at the end of each rally would lead the crowd in a chant, “The Chinese must go!” Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Kearney masterfully merged a hatred of the robber barons — the elites of the day — with a fear of China. The Workingmen’s Party used its heft to lobby Washington to bar Chinese people from America’s shores. This coalesced in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which, in its prohibition of Chinese laborers’ traveling to America, was the first time Americans targeted a specific immigrant group for exclusion from the United States. Sound familiar?
Jim Mattis, in South Korea, Tries to Reassure an Ally – The New York Times Mr. Mattis met with an array of officials in Seoul, including Mr. Hwang, who is the country’s prime minister as well as serving as acting president during the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye. If she is removed, a new presidential election may be held as early as the spring, so the fraught political situation in South Korea poses a challenge for the United States. “Mattis is going to meet with people who probably aren’t going to be in office in a few months,” said Joel S. Wit, a Korea expert at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. // Comment: And a new South Korean government may not want THAAD
Korea See China’s Ire Over Missile Shield in Export Hurdles – Bloomberg Korea’s Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho has said he thinks China may be taking unfair and indirect action in some cases. China opposes the deployment, with a foreign ministry spokesman last month saying it hoped South Korea will “take China’s concern seriously and create better conditions for the normal friendly exchanges between our people.”
Demand for inquiry into frontbencher’s China links | The Times A Conservative MP will this morning submit a letter of complaint to the parliamentary standards commissioner about the behaviour of Barry Gardiner, shadow international trade secretary, after it emerged that he is being funded by a law firm with links to the Chinese government. Mr Gardiner has received more than £180,000 in staff costs from the firm that acts as chief legal adviser to the Chinese embassy. At the same time the 59-year-old Labour MP has been employing the son of the firm’s founder in his Westminster office. Parliamentary records show that the donations partly fund the son’s salary.
Admiral ‘used’ in Japan’s PR war on Beijing | The Times Admiral Lord West, who also served as first sea lord and chief of the naval staff, was recruited by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a think tank, to publicly oppose China without being informed that the charity was being paid about £10,000 a month by the Japanese embassy in London to run an anti-Beijing propaganda campaign.
Chinese Netizens Argue Over Ivanka Trump’s Visit to the Chinese Embassy New Year’s Party | What’s on Weibo While many appreciate the charm offensive, there are also those who criticize Trump’s failure to send greetings for the Lunar New Year.
China tested new missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads | South China Morning Post “The test of a nuclear missile requires permission from the highest level – the Central Military Commission. It takes at least one year for the military to get the approval and to prepare for it,” said the expert, who refused to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. “It is not a random decision to be made just because Trump is now in office,” the expert said. Although China had made steady progress in nuclear arms development in recent years, the government had no plans to drastically adjust its nuclear policy, the expert said.
金钱政治成为美国社会顽疾–国际–人民网 // Comment: Full page in 2.5.2017 People’s on the corrupting influence of money in US politics
Chinese student organizations denounce Dalai Lama as commencement speaker at UC San Diego| THE TRITON Comment: UCSD better not cave // Almost immediately, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) on campus made a statement against the University’s decision on both its Facebook page and official account on WeChat, a popular messaging app used among Chinese students. Other campus groups, Chinese Student Association (CSA) and Chinese Business Society (CBS), made joint statements with CSSA within hours…CSSA reached out to the Consulate General in Los Angeles yesterday, according to its WeChat announcement.
US campuses need to teach true history of Tibet – Global Times The Chinese Students and Scholars Association at UCSD has filed a complaint to the university and reached out to the Chinese consulate general in Los Angeles. The university needs to bear any negative consequences which may be brought by the Dalai Lama furor in its future cooperation with China. It is hoped that the US and its institutions will not pointedly work at odds with China’s concerns but should learn about Chinese history to better bilateral relations.
Military Wives Soldier On Through Loneliness and Secrecy | Sixth Tone If the relationship turns sour, the law prohibits army wives from seeking divorce without their partner’s consent unless they can prove infidelity, domestic violence, or some other form of misconduct. A former soldier who spoke to Sixth Tone on condition of anonymity explains that the law dates from wartime, when it was intended to protect military marriages so servicemen could focus their minds on battle. He believes that nowadays, however, both parties should have equal rights, because if a member of the military cheats, it is difficult for a civilian spouse to gather evidence, as they are not permitted on army bases without their partner’s permission.
TECH AND MEDIA
NetEase Offers Google a Way Back to China — The Information NetEase has approached Google to form a joint venture to launch the store, called Google Play, in China, according to two people familiar with the discussions. It’s unclear whether the talks will lead to an agreement, the people said. Other Chinese tech companies have previously approached Google but nothing came of those discussions.
国家网信办起草条例禁止未成年人0到8点期间打网游__腾讯网 Comment: Cyberspace Admininstration of China draft rule prohibiting minors from using the internet from midnight to 8 am
Oppo topped China’s smartphone market in 2016, as Apple recorded first annual decline | TechCrunch A new report from IDC found that this strategy propelled Oppo’s annual sales in China to 78.4 million, up 122 percent year-on-year, first on the list, while Vivo sat slightly lower in third with 69.2 million shipments, up 97 percent. Sandwiched between the two is Huawei, with 76.6 million shipments. Apple and Xiaomi round out the top five.
Chinese photo-sharing app Kuaishou planning U.S. IPO later this year | TechCrunch The IPO is targeted for the back half of the year, though things could of course change for any big deal like this. Investors have been buzzing about Kuaishou for some time, where we first heard the company had taken money from Sequoia and has risen to a valuation around $3 billion. DST, Baidu and DCM are all also investors, according to our sources
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
China Fining Parents for Second Kid Born Before One-Child Policy Scrapped – Caixin Global On the first day of China’s 2017 Lunar New Year, a shop owner in Zhejiang province said he found an enforcement notice posted on his front door that ordered his family, whose monthly income is less than 10,000 yuan ($1,450), to pay an overdue fine of 170,000 yuan for having a second child. The fine, dubbed a “social maintenance fee,” is in effect a punishment for violating China’s now-defunct one-child policy. The shop owner’s second child was born in July 2014, well before Beijing scrapped its three-decade-old one-child rule in October 2015
Shaolin Abbot Cleared in Corruption Probe – Caixin Shi Yongxin, 51, who became abbot of Shaolin Temple in 1999 and had courted controversy for running the legendary temple as a successful tourist business, was embroiled in scandal in 2015 after several former Shaolin monks and employees reported that the abbot kept mistresses and had daughters with them. Shi was also accused of extorting money, pocketing the temple’s money, purchasing numerous luxury cars, and transferring shares belonging to the temple to his mistresse
Mes Aynak: China to destroy ancient Buddhist city to mine copper-CNBC According to the film “Saving Mes Aynak,” Metallurgical Group Corp. (MCC) and Jiangxi Copper are in the initial stages of building an open-pit copper mine 25 miles southeast of Kabul. The location is home to a walled Buddhist city that dates back 5,000 years.
网友曝官员”考察吃穿山甲” 广西:正在核实_网易新闻 Comment: Scandal brewing over weibo post by young man, apparenty from Hong Kong, claiming to have eaten Pangolin with senior Guangxi officials. His Weibo also has pictures of him with Jilin provincial governor and Party secretary. Or it did before the posts were deleted. He is now known as the “Pangolin Prince”// 今天开始，一名为Ah_cal的网友晒图称“（广西）李局长黄书记请我们在办公室煮穿山甲吃，第一次吃，口感味道很好，已经深深爱上这野味了”。记者看到，男子不但晒出了在广西受到官员招待、媒体报道，还有在长春受到省委书记、省长等的接待。该男子被网友戏称为“穿山甲公子”。今天下午，在受到大量质疑之后，该男子已将微博删除，仅留下一句“散了”，过一会儿后，删得只剩一个句号。
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
China Pulls Plug on Electric Vehicle Fraud – Caixin Nearly 4,500 subsidized electric vehicles produced by the seven companies were found to have less powerful batteries than the firms declared when applying for incentives, according to an MIIT statement published on Saturday. The seven firms are Zhengzhou Nissan Auto Co. Ltd., SAIC Bus Tangshan Co. Ltd., Chongqing Lifan Passenger Vehicle Co. Ltd., Chongqing Hengtong Bus Co. Ltd., Shanghai Sunwin Bus Co. Ltd., Nanjing Special Auto Manufacturing Co. Ltd., and China Youngman Automobile Group Co. Ltd.
Beijing vows 30 percent cut in coal use in 2017 to fight smog | Reuters “We will try to basically realize zero coal use in six major districts and in Beijing’s southern plain areas this year,” major Cai Qi was quoted as saying, adding that Beijing would also eliminate small coal-fired boilers. The new cuts will bring coal use in the city to less than 7 million tonnes in 2017, Cai said.
How China’s insatiable demand for timber threatens Congo’s rain forests by The China Africa Project | Free Listening on SoundCloud In this episode, award winning Shanghai-based environmental journalist Shi Yi joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the emerging crisis over the illegal trade of Congolese bloodwood. She recently reported on how surging demand in China is fueling widespread illegal logging in the DR Congo.
China’s solar power capacity more than doubles in 2016 | Reuters Installed PV capacity rose to 77.42 gigawatts at the end of 2016, with the addition of 34.54 gigawatts over the course of the year, data from the energy agency showed.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ISSUES
China to deepen reform in agricultural sector – Xinhua The “No. 1 central document” is the name traditionally given to the first policy statement released by the central authorities in the year and is seen as an indicator of policy priorities. When carrying forward supply-side structural reform for the sector, national grain security must be guaranteed, according to the document. It also said that supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector would be a long and challenging process, demanding the relationship between government and market be well handled and in the interests of all stakeholders. // 中共中央 国务院关于深入推进农业供给侧结构性改革加快培育农业农村发展新动能的若干意见
人民日报社论：深入推进农业供给侧结构性改革–观点–人民网 今年是推进供给侧结构性改革的深化之年。各地方各部门要切实把认识和行动统一到中央决策部署上来，把农业农村工作重心转移到推进农业供给侧结构性改革上来，真抓实干，奋发有为，攻坚克难，开创农业现代化建设新局面，迎接“三农”发展新的春天。 《 人民日报 》（ 2017年02月06日 01 版）
中农办主任解读今年中央一号文件三大亮点-新闻-上海证券报·中国证券网 第一，文件特别重视平台、抓手和载体的建设。具体来说，文件提出建设“三区”，即粮食生产功能区、重要农产品保护区、特色农产品优势区；建设现代农业的“三园”即产业园、科技园、创意园；以农民合作社为主体建设田园综合体。 第二，文件十分重视农地优化和资源配置。比如，发展节水灌溉；撬动社会和金融资本等。 第三，见物也见人。文件提出培育农村建设的匠人等。
How is China feeding its population of 1.4 billion? | China Power Project Decades of near double-digit GDP growth has enabled China’s leaders to make considerable strides in increasing food access across the country. Yet China’s economic boom has generated a new set of demographic demands and environmental strains that have affected its agricultural capacity. This feature explores China’s domestic production, the changing dietary demands of its public, and the role international trade plays in China’s food security.
FOOD AND TRAVEL
The World Is Eating Chinese Caviar (And Doesn’t Know It) – That’s Beijing while China’s caviar industry is exploding, the country’s producers face an uphill battle as they try to convince the international community that the best sturgeon roe in the world are, well – ‘made in China.’ I suppose that’s why I’m here. Those in the fine dining industry know of China’s caviar domination, but diners still don’t. “People in the industry, of course, know,” says Dominique Martinez, executive chef of The Peninsula Beijing. “But people outside the industry are always surprised to learn that China makes the best caviar.”
Chinese make a record 6.15m trips overseas during holiday – China Daily That is an increase of 7 percent compared with last year’s Spring Festival. About 374,000 trips were organized by travel agencies, a 2.5 percent increase.
BEIJING
RIP Keith Wyse, Goodwill Worker and Bread of Life Bakery Co-Founder | the Beijinger The 58-year-old Ohio born expat’s work at Agape Family Life House – situated in Langfang between Beijing and Tianjin – was mostly dedicated to helping forsaken youngsters stricken with a bone weakening condition called osteogenesis imperfecta (leaving victims colloquially known as “children of glass” because of their frail demeanor and brittle bones).
保利俱乐部等三涉黄俱乐部背后关系网：小姐被一家公司招募 输至各夜总会深度新京报网 新京报记者发现，这三家涉黄俱乐部背后，隐藏着一条小姐产业链。按照多人讲述，小姐被一家公司集中招募，再被输送至各夜总会，并可相互交换，该公司所有者因此参与到多家夜总会经营中。 2017年2月5日，新京报记者向北京市公安局询问本次扫黄行动的案件进展情况，外宣办工作人员表示，“现在没有后续通报。” // Comment: The Beijing News with more on the background of the three very high-end KTV clubs that were raied Christmas Eve 2016
JOBS AND EVENTS
Work With Us – Paulson Institute Comment: Some interesting job openings, Chicago and Beijing
U.S. Policy Toward China: Recommendations for a New Administration | Center on U.S.-China Relations | Asia Society Tue 7 Feb 2017 2:00pm – 4:00pm / Washington, D.C. Newseum Knight TV Studio 555 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20001
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