"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Happy Thursday/Friday depending on where you are. I am trying to stick to a consistent schedule of at least 4 newsletters a week, part of my plan to re-addict everyone before the big, beautiful paywall rises.
The newsletter may seem overwhelming at times, but even if you can only take a minute or two to scan the essential eight, my take on the most important issues, you should find it worthwhile.
The Party Congress speculation is heating up, so for fun I want to tap the collective of wisdom of the 30,000+ strong Sinocism community about Wang Qishan. Please answer this one question poll about his fate–Wang Qishan’s Political Future. I will share the results next week.
The Essential Eight
1. Unhappy 25th Anniversary Of The Establishment of Sino-Korean Relations
Comment: It could have been a much happier event but Xi is too hung up on THAAD to capitalize on the opportunities that President Moon, and President Trump’s treatment of South Korea, offer.
China’s President Xi Jinping sent a message to his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on Thursday, pledging concerted efforts to properly address the two nations’ differences, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The message was sent to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-South Korea ties.
Comment: Moon wanted to visit China for the anniversary but Xi said no?
China’s Blockade of Cultural Korea Marks Troublesome Anniversary | Variety:
Ceremonies were held in Beijing and Seoul on Thursday to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. But neither foreign minister dared to show up.
U.S. holds powerful but risky tool to halt North Korea’s nuclear progress – Reuters:
The U.S. government is turning the screws on companies that do business with North Korea in violation of U.N. sanctions but has stopped short of taking the more aggressive, and riskier, move of targeting Chinese banks that facilitate Pyongyang’s trade in arms and other banned goods.
Trump’s Olive Branch to North Korea Opens Slim Path to Talks – Bloomberg:
Tillerson told reporters on Tuesday that North Korea hadn’t carried out “provocative acts” since the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions earlier this month, and said Pyongyang’s temperance might lead to negotiations “in the near future.” Kim Jong Un last tested a missile on July 28.
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un ‘killed relatives over China coup plot’ – Sky News:
Kim Jong Un’s half-brother and uncle were both killed after the North Korean ruler uncovered a Chinese-backed plot to oust him, it has been claimed.
Comment: Kim is no dummy, he hates Beijing and Beijing hates him, and he is right to be paranoid about China’s intentions.
2. Ministry Of Environmental Protection Saying The Right Things About Attacking Pollution
China commits to cut northern air pollution by 15 percent – Reuters:
China has pledged to cut average concentrations of airborne particles known as PM2.5 by more than 15 percent year-on-year in the winter months in 28 northern cities to meet key smog targets, the environment ministry said.
In a 143-page winter smog “battleplan” posted on its website on Thursday, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said the new target, for the October to March period, would apply to Beijing and Tianjin, along with 26 other cities in the smog-prone provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan.
Comment: the plan accessible through a link at 关于印发《京津冀及周边地区2017-2018年秋冬季大气污染综合治理攻坚行动方案》的通知
China launches 8,000 water clean-up projects worth $100 billion in first half of 2017:
The projects were devised as part of a 2015 action plan to treat and prevent water pollution, and cover 325 contaminated groundwater sites across the country, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said in a notice.
环境保护部通报2017年上半年《水污染防治行动计划》重点任务进展情况
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3. The Rise Of The Military-Propaganda Complex
People’s Daily Pumps Up Military-Enthusiast Portal – Caixin Global
Comment: Lots of money to be in the burgeoning military industrial complex, and the military-propaganda complex. The momentum can become unstoppable, at some point you have to test all those shiny toys in real conditions…
People.cn, the website of the official People’s Daily, disclosed that it will pay about 7.2 million yuan ($1.08 million) for a 1.5% slice of the online community whose name literally means “steel blood,” a reference to the unbending and upright quality of the 2 million people who make up China’s military, according to a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, where People.cn is traded.
In exchange for its people’s stamp of approval, Tiexue.com will give People.cn representation on its directorial and editorial boards. People.cn will also get editorial representation on a wide-ranging site that includes ads for military attire; books and films; and articles on such varied topics as China’s recent conflict with India and the steamed dumplings consumed on naval ships.
Chinese Film Critic Feared Fired After Damning Review of ‘Wolf Warrior II’ – RFA:
Central Academy of Drama lecturer Yin Shanshan has been inactive online since she used her microblog account on Sina Weibo to slam the movie as excessively violent and “psychopathic” to her more than 70 million fans, as the country’s tightly controlled media lauded the summer box-office smash as “filled with patriotic feeling.”
Wolf Warrior 2 Movie Review & Film Summary (2017) | Roger Ebert:
The jingoistic Chinese action flick “Wolf Warrior 2” is not a harmless piece of pro-military propaganda. This is the second highest-earning film in all of Chinese history, and its characters’ sense of patriotism is built on the back of racist assumptions that would, in a European or American narrative, be rightfully criticized for being part of an ugly “white savior” power fantasy. In time, “Wolf Warrior 2” might seem benignly kitschy, though its core ideas about how only the Chinese military can save a nameless African country from bloodthirsty native rebels and amoral European mercenaries, will always be gross. After all, nothing dates faster than good intentions marred by pervasive ignorance. But watching “Wolf Warrior 2” with an at-capacity crowd on Sunday gave me an idea of what it was like to watch tripe like “Rambo II” back in the ’80s. Like Sylvester Stallone’s earlier star vehicle, “Wolf Warrior 2” lectures you, pummels you, then expects you to cheer.
4. Xi Controls The Gun, Makes PLA Personnel Moves
China’s Xi Names Combat Veteran to Top Military Post – Bloomberg:
General Li Zuocheng, 63, a veteran of the country’s brief and bloody 1979 war with Vietnam, was this week named chief of the People Liberation Army’s Joint Staff Department, the people said, asking not to be identified because the announcement was internal. He replaces General Fang Fenghui, who last week hosted the U.S.’s top uniformed officer, General Joseph Dunford, and is expected to receive another position, they said.
Comment: SCMP report from August 11: War hero Li Zuocheng appointed to top PLA post | South China Morning Post:
Lieutenant General Li Zuocheng , 60, has replaced retiring General Li Shiming , 64, as commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s southwestern military region which covers Chongqing , Guizhou , Sichuan , Tibet and Yunnan , according to xilu.com a website known for its military news.
China to appoint new air force commander, sources say | South China Morning Post:
The front runner to lead the country’s 420,000-strong air force is Lieutenant General Ding Laihang, three separate sources told the South China Morning Post.
Ding, who will turn 60 next month, has held the top air force job in the Northern Theatre Command since last year. He is tipped to succeed Ma Xiaotian, 68, who has been the air force commander since 2012 and is expected to retire.
5. Xi’s China Dream Includes The Return Of The Party Everywhere
In China, the Party’s push for influence inside foreign firms stirs fears – Reuters:
Late last month, executives from more than a dozen top European companies in China met in Beijing to discuss their concerns about the growing role of the ruling Communist Party in the local operations of foreign firms, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions…
One senior executive whose company was represented at the meeting told Reuters some companies were under “political pressure” to revise the terms of their joint ventures with state-owned partners to allow the party final say over business operations and investment decisions.
6. Six Trillion RMB Market From Which Foreign Firms Are Increasingly Excluded
China’s cabinet expects information technology market to reach 6 trillion yuan by 2020 – Reuters:
China’s State Council on Thursday issued a guideline for the development of the country’s information technology (IT) industry. The State Council expects China’s IT industry to reach 6 trillion yuan ($901 billion) in value by 2020, based on an average annual growth rate of 11 percent.
国务院关于进一步扩大和升级信息消费持续释放内需潜力的指导意见-国发〔2017〕40号
China to further promote information consumption-Gov.cn:
According to the guideline, intelligent digital products for families should be promoted. Meanwhile, Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence should be used to upgrade digital products and their application in public transportation, energy, and environmental protection.
Innovative digital content and services, and online education and medical care are also important sectors to drive up consumption.
7. Can The US Government Craft A Comprehensive Strategy To Handle The China Challenge?
Rethinking the Economic Dimension of U.S. China Strategy–Report by Aaron Friedberg:
China is all three things at once: it is big, it deploys a unique and thus far highly successful blend of market-driven and state-directed economic policies, and it is an increasingly ambitious and capable strategic competitor. The challenge posed by China is thus unlike any that the United States has previously faced. Over the course of the past decade, a growing awareness of this fact has begun to drive shifts in U.S. military doctrine, force posture, and diplomacy. For a variety of reasons, however, the economic aspects of existing strategy have remained essentially fixed.
Now things seem set to change. In the last few years, there has been a growing sense of unease in many quarters about the past impact and possible future implications of the Sino-American economic relationship. Even before the 2016 presidential election raised the public prominence of these issues, a serious debate had begun over whether, and if so how, the United States should adjust its existing policies for interacting economically with China. The purpose of this report is to map the contours of the emerging debate over these questions by identifying the main alternative approaches to them; examining the logic, assumptions, and evidence that underpin them; and sketching out the differing policy prescriptions to which they give rise.
The State Department Is Tilting Dangerously Toward China | Foreign Policy – Ely Ratner:
This has to stop. It has to stop because the State Department is giving Beijing a green light to bully Taiwan, further suppress Hong Kong, and push toward its goal of controlling the South China Sea. It has to stop because the State Department is generating serious concerns throughout the region about the credibility of America’s commitment to Asia and its willingness to push back on Chinese assertiveness.
Chinese state councilor, Tillerson discuss bilateral ties, Afghanistan issue over phone – People’s Daily Online Calling for mutual respect and mutual benefit, Yang voiced hope that the two countries will expand cooperation and properly settle differences so as to keep up a good momentum for the development of China-U.S. relations. Tillerson, for his part, said that the U.S. side is willing to work with the Chinese side to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and promote communication and cooperation. President Trump is looking forward to his important visit to China within the year, said Tillerson, expressing hope for concerted efforts to make a success of the visit.
Comment: “Within the year”? Is that a change from prior talk of a visit this year? Latest I heard is Trump may go to Beijing November 15, problematic though if he visits Beijing before he visits Seoul or Tokyo.
8. American Education For Sale, English Not Required
John Pomfret: Chinese cash at American colleges is a massive problem – SupChina:
If this obsession with Chinese cash prompted a wave of great Chinese applicants to U.S. universities, it would have been fine. Instead, it’s triggered a tsunami of fraud. Chinese families, eager to get their sons and daughters admitted to U.S. schools, contract with agents that are often paid a bounty by U.S. universities for each student accepted by the school.
Deception courses through the system. SATs and the TOEFL exams are taken by what the Chinese call “ghosts,” who are paid for high scores. Grades are made up. Letters of recommendation are forged. As far back as 2010, Zinch China, a consulting firm, warned that 90 percent of the recommendations coming from China were fake, 70 percent of personal essays were written by someone else, and 50 percent of high school transcripts were forged. Another survey done in 2012 of 25,000 Chinese students interested in coming to America to study found that English-language skills were actually declining; two-thirds could not speak English well enough to hack it at American schools.
Business, Economy And Trade
Lack of Disclosures Raises Questions About Who Controls Chinese Conglomerate – New York Times HNA has previously said that PAC, as it is known, is an independent company that purchases engines, spare parts and other airline equipment for HNA’s subsidiary, Hainan Airlines. HNA has said that it has no ownership stake in PAC. Previously unreported corporate documents reviewed by The New York Times show a closer relationship. PAC is run by the son and younger brother of HNA’s co-founder and co-chairman, Chen Feng, and was once controlled by HNA.
China’s reliance on infrastructure stimulus at record high – FT $$ “It’s a very important data point. There are so many different ways that local governments finance urban infrastructure. But now there’s a real concern about how they can continue,” said Shen Jianguang, China economist at Mizuho Securities. “I believe we’re headed for another deleveraging cycle like the one in 2010-11. The growth slowdown will probably be sizeable over the next year.”
Debt-ridden Chinese city does U-turn on scrapping loan guarantees | South China Morning Post A city government in central China has scrapped plans to pull guarantees to pay local debts after a backlash among creditors, lawyers and financial professionals. The U-turn by the government in Ningxiang, Hunan province, comes as the country’s leadership under President Xi Jinping tries to rein in local authorities’ massive debt problems. The rapid roll-out and then reversal in policy also highlights the risks facing creditors who have lent to municipal authorities in China, according to analysts.
China issues draft rules in crackdown on illegal fundraising – Reuters The draft rules, issued by the law office of China’s State Council, call for participants engaged in illegal fundraising to cover the losses stemming from those activities. Regulators will guide financial institutions and non-bank payment service providers on tightening up their supervision of suspicious fund flows, the draft rules said.
African Development Bank debars state-owned China firm for fraud – The FCPA Blog Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO) “engaged in a fraudulent practice” during bids for an AfDB-financed road project in Uganda, according to the AfDB’s Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption.
China’s Bay Area Is a Property Mega-Market in Waiting – Bloomberg The region of nine cities in Guangdong Province, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen, plus Hong Kong and Macau will grow from the current population of 68 million to 86 million people within 14 years, according to Morgan Stanley.
China to use ‘all means necessary’ to defend itself against Trump ‘protectionism’ – The Washington Post “If Trump initiates sanctions against China, especially the Section 301 investigation, it would be like killing 10,000 enemies at the cost of losing 8,000 of its own troops,” said Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and a former vice commerce minister. “It’s really unnecessary, and it would cause grave losses to both sides.”
China state-owned firms’ profits +23.1 percent year-on-year in Jan-July – Reuters Total profits stood at 1.66 trillion yuan ($249 billion) in January-July, while revenue rose 16.5 percent to 28.94 trillion yuan, the ministry said. State firms’ total liabilities rose 11.3 percent from a year earlier to 95.26 trillion yuan at the end of July, it said.
Regulator Steps Up to Curb Banks’ Improper Sales Practices – Caixin Global Sales of investment products that involve bank staff and take place in banks’ premises must be recorded both visually and audibly, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said Wednesday.
“社科院版”中国政府家底报告： 净资产约50万亿 需防范局部债务风险 – 21经济网 CASS estimates the PRC government assets at 50 trillion rmb
我国政府债务风险总体可控 _ 经济参考网 _ 新华社《经济参考报》官方网站 CASS report also says government debt risks are controllable
Politics And Law
Graft-buster not on China leadership list – The Yomiuri Shimbun Comment: I am posting this for laughs, I find little value in the speculation at this point about who will be in the PBSC. Frankly I would be surprised if it is set. I have also heard it will be Xi, Li Keqiang (as NPC head), Wang Qishan (as premier), Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Hu Chunhua and Wang Huning…I am very skeptical, and you should be too as you read the tsunami of speculation that is coming between now and the party congress. But I will bet that Wang Qishan does stay on at the 19th Party Congress // According to the latest list, Xi, 64, and Premier Li Keqiang, 62, are to stay in office. Chen Miner, 56, who is Xi’s close aide and the Chongqing municipal committee secretary, will be promoted two ranks from his membership in the Central Committee. Four officials — Vice Premier Wang Yang, 62; Han Zheng, 63, Shanghai municipal committee secretary; Hu Chunhua, 54, Guangdong provincial committee secretary; and Li Zhanshu, general office director, who will turn 67 this month — will be promoted from the Political Bureau.
China’s odious manipulation of history is infecting the West – The Washington Post What the party is seeking to do, Tiffert surmised, is to paint a new and completely false picture of some of the key moments in Chinese Communist history as a way to further bolster the party’s rule today. Talk about fake news. Indeed, China’s assault on history has reached Orwellian proportions where history, as Orwell himself wrote, is being “scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.”
No More Drinking on the Job for Guizhou’s Government Employees – Sixth Tone The upcoming ban, dubbed the “Complete Prohibition of Alcohol in Guizhou,” applies to all government bodies, state-owned enterprises, and staff employed at those institutions, the announcement said. The southwestern Chinese province, which is home to the famous Moutai liquor brand, will also crack down on using public funds to gift alcohol, as well as on drinking during office hours and on lunch breaks.
FBI arrests Chinese national connected to malware used in OPM data breach – CNN The arrest was made Wednesday after the man entered the US to attend a conference, according to the officials. He faces charges related to creation of the Sakura malware, which the FBI has said was used the breach. It was one of the worst data breaches to hit the US government, with hackers stealing sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, from security clearance forms of millions of government workers and job applicants.
Sales of President Xi’s book on governance hit 6.42M-Xinhua President Xi Jinping’s book on the governance of China has inspired people home and abroad, selling 6.42 million copies in 21 languages // Comment: Mao would not be proud; a fraction of the number of little red books…
以党的创新理论为指引——贯彻落实习近平总书记在省部级专题研讨班重要讲话精神系列述评之八-新华网 Comment: number 8 in a series of commentaries from Xinhua on Xi’s speech to the provincial and ministerial-level officials at the July 26 meeting
Foreign And Defense Affairs
China criticizes India’s building roads near undemarcated boundary – Xinhua Hua said the reports sounded like a slap in face to India, and once again proved that India had been inconsistent and self-contradictory in resolving the Sino-Indian border issue. She said that India used the excuse of security concerns to obstruct China building roads on its own territory, but India’s road building plan proved that it was saying one thing while doing another.
India Intensifies Crackdown on Chinese Tech Firms – Bloomberg The ministry of electronics and IT said earlier this month that it was focusing on “securing Indian cyberspace” and its digital infrastructure. It directed over two dozen smartphone companies to provide detailed written responses by Aug. 28 on their “safety and security practices, architecture, frameworks, guidelines and standards.” The companies included prominent Chinese device makers such as Xiaomi, Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo and Gionee as well as global brands Apple and Samsung and Indian companies.
Alibaba’s UC Browser may be banned in India over alleged mobile data leak | business-news | Hindustan Times “There have been complaints against UC Browser that it sends mobile data of its users in India to server in China. There are complaints that even if an user has uninstalled it or cleaned browsing data, the browser retains control of DNS of user’s device,” the officer who did not wish to be named told PTI.
越来越“狠”！外交部开始对印度使用罕见措辞 长安街知事APP发现，最近几天，随着中印洞朗地区对峙局势日益紧张，中方对此事的表态也愈发密集，且措辞越来越激烈。在最近的一周之内，中方已经有多次严厉表态。
China prepares for an era of asymmetric warfare – FT $$ China’s two-decade effort to modernise its military has seen it develop stealth fighters, guided missile destroyers and ballistic “carrier killer” missiles, while also reducing troop numbers. It will spend at least $152bn this year on its military, but only in a few areas has it come close to surpassing US technology. Beijing is now betting that swarms of drones, low-tech hardware knitted together with high-tech artificial intelligence, will become a weapon of the future.// Comment: I highly recommend Peter Singer’s “Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War”
U.S.-China relations after six months of Trump, with Susan Shirk and Stan Rosen – Sinica Podcast Two astute observers of Chinese politics discuss China’s growing influence on the world and the Xi government’s management of Trump turbulence.
China air force chief rips defense white paper, says ‘Sea of Japan is not Japan’s’ | The Japan Times The head of China’s air force has blasted a Japanese Defense Ministry white paper critical of Chinese military drills in and over waters near Japan, saying “the Sea of Japan is not Japan’s sea.”
Sri Lankan justice minister fired for criticizing China deal – The Washington Post Sri Lanka’s president fired the justice minister on Wednesday for criticizing government policies, including a decision to sell a majority of shares in a seaport to China.
U.S., China compete for global favorability | Pew Research Center America’s weakening image in many nations has taken a toll on the country’s once-solid lead over China. And China’s own favorability has strengthened in recent years in Canada, Australia, Lebanon and Turkey.
3 Questions on the China/India Border Dispute | Asia Society In order to get a better sense of the origins of the dispute, as well as find out what’s at stake, Asia Blog caught up with Asia Society Policy Institute Assistant Director Anubhav Gupta.
Elbowed Aside by Russia, Aramco Opens Wallet to Woo China – Caixin Global The world’s largest crude oil exporter is looking to woo China at a time when it has been growing closer with one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest rivals, Russia, which has overtaken Saudi Arabia as both the world’s largest oil producer and China’s biggest crude supplier. With Russia flexing its muscles in the global oil market, Saudi Arabia would like to win over China, its third-biggest customer.
China to boost military-civilian integration in sci-tech – Xinhua The plan was jointly issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Science and Technology Commission of the Central Military Commission. A coordinated military-civilian innovation system for the sector should be put in place by 2020, in addition to breakthroughs in mechanisms and exploring cost-efficient patterns, the document said.
五年来习主席领导军队党风廉政建设和反腐败斗争的壮阔实践 – 中国军网 Comment: long page 1 PLA Daily look at Xi’s efforts to clean up the PLA
中国向美遣返1名红通逃犯：有严重暴力犯罪 广州落网_新闻_腾讯网 Comment: China sends fugitive jewelry thief Naquan Ferguson back to the US. He had fled to Guangzhou
Tech And Media
How Former BlackBerry Security Specialists Aim to Solve Quantum Threat — The Information $$ In the past few years China has gone from not being much of a player to announcing that they’re going to have a quantum safe network for commerce inside China. They built the first fundamental “qubit” [the smallest form of data in quantum computing] and then seven or eight months later had 10 qubits working together, which represents a decade or 15 years worth of research in North America. In late July, China announced plans to hook up some 200 organizations, including government, military, energy and commercial, to a quantum safe network in China. They have also launched a quantum satellite and recently did something called “quantum key distribution” to distribute a key between two separate sites 1,300 kilometers apart, while the previous record had been 100 kilometers. So they are starting to build practical technology to build that core infrastructure for commerce and communications. China seems to be moving faster than any other country in terms of ramping up on the defensive side.
China bought a third of the world’s robots last year – Axios China bought 90,000 robots and took a third of the market share in 2016, according to an International Federation of Robotics estimate. By 2019, they’ll buy nearly 40% of new robots, the organization projects.
Baidu Offloads Money-Losing Meal-Delivery Unit – Caixin Global Shanghai-based Ele.me — which in recent years has received more than $10 billion in startup support from venture capital firms and tech giants that include Tencent Holdings Ltd., JD.com Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. — will pay Baidu about $200 million in cash and $300 million worth of shares for full ownership of Waimai, the sources said.
The News Reads You in China—and People Can’t Get Enough of It – WSJ Apps that use algorithms to scour thousands of sources to find news and tailor feeds to individual users are China’s fastest-growing mobile segment
Society, Art, Sports, Culture And History
Along the banks of the Yangtze – series playlist – YouTube Photographer Ruben Terlou took his camera along the banks of the River Yangtze, talking to the locals about the impact of the economic progress. In a six-episode series, we are taken from Shanghai, the most westernized part of China, to Shangri-La
These Male Chinese Bloggers Will Explain Cosmetics to You | Jing Daily Men in China have a delicate relationship with female beauty. They’re permitted to judge female beauty and they can also rationalize women’s cosmetic-buying decisions. In a feature length article on Chinese news site Jiemian, Fang, the blogger mentioned above, revealed his secret to gaining 3.5 million Weibo fans since his video went viral last year, and how he belongs to an industry of Chinese male bloggers who hold influential power over female consumers’ cosmetic purchasing decisions.
Chinese social network causes uproar over ‘sex slave’ memes – BBC News Chinese users of the popular social network QZone are furious after stickers, or memes, that seem to poke fun at World War Two “comfort women” emerged on the platform.
Chinese Rocker’s Thermos Becomes Viral Symbol of Aging – SixthTone In the widely circulated photo sits Zhao Mingyi, the 50-year-old drummer for the iconic ’90s rock band Black Panther. Once a muscular man, Zhao’s hair is now graying, he has a slight paunch, and — to complete the picture of middle age in its most distilled form — he holds a silver thermos. In his heyday during the early 1990s, however, Zhao was part of the generation of rockers who gave an energetic voice to China’s economic revival…Another user glibly noted that the image reflected one of three classic symptoms of the Chinese male’s midlife crisis: Buddhist prayer beads, extramarital affairs, and a thermos. //Comment: FFS I have the buddha beads and a thermos, no plans for the other…
Orphaned Boys Used for Commercial Fights Sent Home – Caixin Global The decision to send back the children to their poverty-stricken homes comes after a police probe into whether they were forced into commercial fights and concerns that they didn’t have access to proper schooling. About 400 children had been recruited by the club since it was founded in 2001, according to the July video.
河北易县奶奶庙”生意经”：每年总收入达近千万元 – 文化体育 – 中国经营网_中国经营报 on the business of Hebei’s “nainai temple”
Energy, Environment, Science And Health
[视频]【至诚报国】哈佛八剑客 赤子丹心逐梦最强磁场_CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1_央视网(cctv.com) Comment: Party propaganda starting a series on patriotic Chinese scientists returning to China after overseas study. First one looks at 8 who went to Harvard
Education
Is it necessary to learn the stroke order of Chinese characters? | Hacking Chinese In this article, I will discuss this question, which is often asked by beginners. The answer should be obvious for anyone who has already learnt Chinese, but since no-one explained it to me properly when I started, I’m going to explain why learning stroke order really is necessary.
A Parent Confronts Conformity in the Classrooms of China – The New York Times Anyone will understand the country better after reading this book, the heart of which is Chu’s experience of enrolling her 3-year-old son in an elite Shanghai preschool. She and her husband, the NPR correspondent Rob Schmitz, work hard to get Rainey admitted, but from his first day they start to have second thoughts. They fear that their son is being brainwashed into being a good little soldier, a loyal Chinese patriot, and are sure that the school employs methods that rankle American sensibilities, including hard-edged coercion; public competition, with posted rankings of everything from height and hemoglobin level to recorder skills, punctuality and politeness; and even threats of calling the police if a child doesn’t take a nap. // Comment: This book sounds interesting. I will probably wish I had written one…we sent out twins to a local Beijing primary school for grades 1-3. Overall it was a great experience, made them appreciate their squishy US education much more…
Food And Travel
China’s Yunnan Cuisine Is About to Sweep the U.S.—Here’s Where to Try It – Vogue Until recently, diners had to seek out a few places in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park (Western Yunnan Crossing Bridge Noodle, Yun Nan Flavour Garden) or in L.A.’s San Gabriel Valley (Yunnan Restaurant); San Francisco’s Bib Gourmand–recognized Z & Y or Vancouver’s Flower and Horse in Spring. But Little Tong, which opened in March, joins student-friendly takeout spot The Rice Noodle near NYU, opened by a Columbia grad who’s a native of the province, and Deng Ji under the Manhattan Bridge in Chinatown in putting the dishes in front of more New Yorkers.
中国启动“东西大动脉”沿江高铁规划 成都到上海7小时_凤凰财经 Comment: China planning new East-West Artery High speed rail line…Chengdu to Shanghai in 7 hours
Books And Literature
At Beijing book fair, publishers admit to self-censorship to keep texts on Chinese market | South China Morning Post Tiananmen, Tibet and Taiwan are off limits for companies wanting to sell their books in China, publisher says
Moral superiority undue in journal spat – Global Times Generally, China is not so sensitive as to interfere in foreign presses. It is better to manage domestic opinion sphere well. We would welcome it if Western opinion-makers could talk about China objectively. But we can also withstand any provocations on China’s sensitive affairs. China has the technology to minimize their impact on Chinese society. When necessary, it can block information from the Chinese public to avoid accusations and debates. Cambridge University Press has behaved in a vulgar way. It perhaps thought highly of the Chinese market, so it blocked some sensitive articles from its Chinese website. It showed flexibility in this regard. Now that the editor of the China Quarterly revealed the issue, Western media rushed to impose pressure on the journal with their so-called political correctness. So Cambridge University Press changed course and restored the blocked articles.
Senior leader calls for Chinese publications to have greater int’l influence – Xinhua Publishers should pay more attention to content and improve their abilities in international communication to maintain the prosperous development of the industry, Liu said. The top priorities for China’s publication industry at present are to publish high-quality works and create a good atmosphere ahead of the 19th CPC National Congress, he said.
Beijing
After Animal Attacks, Beijing Calls for Safer Zoos – Sixth Tone Bear bites man on same day city published standards aimed at keeping distance between tourists and wildlife.
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