"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. China Releases 5 Women’s Rights Activists Detained for Weeks – NYTimes.com The women were among 10 people detained in coordinated police raids in the cities of Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou starting the evening of March 6, as the women were in the final stages of organizing a protest campaign timed to International Women’s Day on March 8. The campaign, promoted via WeChat, was to have taken place in cities across China, with people handing out leaflets and stickers on buses and subway cars to call attention to sexual harassment on public transportation. // Out of detention but not really free as on bail. Did the police even consider their underlying issues when they detained them, or were the arrests due to the plans for organizing protests across cities in China?
2. China details judicial, social reform measures to effectively advance rule of law – Xinhua China has unveiled a detailed plan and timetable on judicial and social reform, amid efforts to advance the rule of law in a more effective way. On Thursday, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee’s General Office, and the General Office of the State Council published an implementation plan on deepening judicial and social reform, following the fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held in October 2014. The implementation plan covers 84 reform measures, assigns each of the 84 tasks to specific organizations, and defines deadlines and verifiable results for each item. // 中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发《关于加强社会治安防控体系建设的意见》
Related: China to intensify terror fight, enhance video security monitoring – Xinhua China will strengthen the building of a security network with measures that include intensified counter-terror operations on public transport and video security monitoring. According to a circular jointly issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council and published on Monday, the authorities will reinforce police patrols to promote security, especially during morning and evening rush hours and in crowded places. Security measures for public transport, including bus, subway and railway stations, airports, ports and along high-speed rail lines, should be intensified to prevent violence, terrorism attacks or extreme events at such sites, the document said…It required the establishment of a national population information database linked to citizens’ ID information and credit records. Effective security analysis and rule of law are also needed to build the network, the document said, adding that the government will encourage the public to join by recruiting more community volunteers and promising handsome rewards for reporting serious crimes. // 中央发文：严防针对地铁公交及高铁沿线等地暴恐袭击
3. Lamborghini and Ferrari drivers in ‘Fast and Furious’ crash are jobless, Beijing police say | South China Morning Post Police have detained the drivers of a Lamborghini and a Ferrari that crashed in a Beijing tunnel during a suspected road race on Saturday night and said they were unemployed. The cars were travelling at over 160km/h, nearly three times the speed limit, when they spun out of control and the Lamborghini slammed into the side of the Datun Road Tunnel in Chaoyang district at around 10pm, according to the capital’s traffic police. It was raining heavily at the time.
Related: 北京相撞豪车两司机被刑拘 家长自称非官非商新闻腾讯网 video from the scene of the drag racing crash. the Beijing drag racing drivers have been arrested, parents deny they are officials, one says child made money in stock market and bought his Lamborghini…this is a very big deal. This site has been scene of drag racing and resident complaints for years, police have not done much to crack down. Now that hammer needs to drop on these two brats if Beijing, and its new police leadership, wants to be seen as serious about rule of law// 唐某的父亲唐先生称，儿子用股市赚来的第一桶金购买了自小特别迷恋的兰博基尼，“可他没把控好，当时开太快了。”唐先生表示，“（车祸）给社会带来了负面影响，作为父母我们感到很自责，十分抱歉。”
Related: Beijing pensioners demand clampdown on Fast and Furious style racing contests – Telegraph “I feel angry and helpless. Somebody must do something,” said Zhao Lihua, a 64-year-old pensioner whose 11th floor flat gives her a front row seat to the terrifying high-velocity pursuits involving supercars and superbikes piloted by super-rich Chinese. Beijing’s boy racers began their contests at around 10pm most nights, locals said. They had vented their frustration to a community newspaper last year but to no avail, Mrs Zhao complained. “These racers have no character at all,” she shouted. “They are abominable. They cannot be the children of ordinary people.”
Related: 社评：“无业”者飙豪车，富人形象集体埋单评论环球网 Global Times weighs in on the Beijing drag racing crash // 能买得起法拉利和兰博基尼的富人，在中国大概已经形成了一个阶层。有钱是对他们事业成功的回报，他们大多都对社会有所贡献。与此同时，中国富人整体上还没有处理好与迅速积攒起来的财富的关系，炫富性消费是不少富人的标志性表现之一。这部分人尚需像当初学习如何挣钱一样学会与财富及社会相处。
Related: “Furious 7” Blows the Doors Off China’s Box Office Records | chinafilmbiz 中国电影业务 and clearly an inspiration for the Beijing drag racers… // Expectations were high among China’s movie biz pundits for Sunday’s opening of Furious 7, but no one came close to predicting the stunning drive-by looting the Universal release would commit at the country’s movie theaters. Prior Chinese box office records weren’t just beaten, they were throttled, smoked and thoroughly lapped by the skydriving thrillfest. Furious 7’s opening day haul of 391 million RMB, or $63.1 million, doubled the previous opening day record of 194 million RMB set by Transformers 4 back in June of 2014
4. A New U.S. Grand Strategy towards China | The National Interest-Robert D. BlackwillAshley J. Tellis They just wrote Revising U.S. Grand Strategy Toward China for CFR // The fundamental problem in U.S.-China relations concerns, quite simply, the balance of power in Asia. As Henry Kissinger has put it, “In the end, peace can be achieved only by hegemony or by balance of power.” Because of profound differences in history, ideology, strategic culture, and domestic politics, the United States and China have diametrically opposed and mutually incompatible perceptions regarding the future balance of power in Asia. China’s grand strategy toward the United States is clear: to replace the United States as the primary strategic actor in Asia; to weaken the U.S. alliance system in the region; to undermine the confidence of Asian nations in U.S. credibility, reliability, and staying power; to use China’s economic power to pull Asian nations closer to Beijing’s geopolitical policy preferences; to increase Chinese military capability to strengthen deterrence against U.S. military intervention; to cast doubt on the U.S. economic model; to ensure American democratic values do not diminish the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on domestic power; and to avoid a major confrontation with the United States in the next decade.
5. Trade Groups Seek China’s Written Assurance on Tech Policy – NYTimes.com lots of mixed signals on this, but unless there is a written promise tech firms should assume any promises/”delays” are likely to go away after Xi Jinping finishes his US trip in September..and even in the unlikely event there is a written “promise” the foreign tech firms will still not be out of the woods // “Chinese banks are continuing to implement new procurement practices favoring domestic products and services consistent with the guidelines, creating urgent challenges for companies whose products and services are affected by them,” said the letter from trade groups, which include the American Chamber of Commerce and organizations from Europe and Japan. It is addressed to a crucial Chinese committee on cybersecurity, led by President Xi Jinping of China. The letter was provided by a person who declined to be named because he was not authorized to release it to the media.
6. China’s Best Bet: Doubling Down on Reform, Not Stimulus – WSJ – Henry Paulson Paulson’s new book launches this week Dealing With China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower // Can Mr. Xi do it? I wouldn’t bet against him. He has amassed power at a rate and to an extent unprecedented, at least since Deng Xiaoping and possibly even Mao Zedong. But Mr. Xi will need every bit of that power to make the fundamental changes necessary in a country where vested interests are deeply dug in and there is no consensus on the most difficult economic reforms ahead. I believe the market can work magic. And paradoxically, the Chinese Communist Party says it wants to rely on that magic too. In the most important economic policy statement in decades, the November 2013 Third Plenum, it declared that the market would henceforth play the “decisive role” in the economy. So the Communist Party must face this paradox: For all its efforts and successes since launching economic reform in 1978, what the party must do, if it truly wants China to evolve into a global leader, is the hardest thing yet. It must commit itself to setting the economy free.
7. 中央党校教员发文：大陆新儒家要顺应国家治理现代化的要求思想市场澎湃新闻-The Paper Central Party School Instructor writes that China’s neo-Confucianists should comply with the requirements of the modernization of China’s governance system, says Confucianism not the only traditional school China needs to draw from in building a modern governance system. Wonder what Jiang Qing, Daniel Bell et al think about this…Xi clearly not going for Jiang and Bell’s Confucian Constitution for China, as described in this NYT OpEd they wrote in 2012 // 中国社科院官方刊物《中国社会科学报》4月13日刊发文章《从国家治理现代化看大陆新儒家，培育社会道德精神》。文章指出，大陆新儒家若要有裨益于中国的国家治理现代化，前提是要接受和认同中国以社会主义道路建设现代化强国的现实。作者还认为，应该从国家治理现代化的要求出发来看大陆新儒家，而非从大陆新儒家的诉求出发来看国家治理现代化；大陆新儒家也应将自己的诉求与国家治理现代化的要求相适应，而非相反。本文作者刘晨光系中共中央党校科学社会主义教研部教员…最后，我们应该认识到，即便在传统王朝政治下，儒家所承担的功能仍是有限的。中国文明传统虽然以儒家为主体，并常被称为“儒家文明”，但它所包含的内容实际上要广大得多，道家、法家、兵家、纵横家等都在历史中发挥过不可替代的作用。比如在王朝治理层面，法家就扮演着重要角色，以致有“儒表法里”之说；而在乱世需要拨乱反正之时，纵横家、兵家等便显示威力；在新朝初建、民众需要休养生息时，黄老术往往影响较大。要实现国家治理现代化，建设一个强大的得人心的社会主义民主法治国家，固然应该重视对儒家优秀治理思想的继承，但还应该从包括其他各家学术在内的整个中华文明大传统中吸取治理智慧。
8. Why Chinese save, or the death of the precautionary savings hypothesis | Andrew Batson’s Blog There is increasingly strong evidence, in other words, that the reason China has had a high and rising savings rate is that it has been experiencing a major demographic transition and a historic surge in income growth at the same time. The implication is that as the population gets older and economic growth slows down–both trends that seem fairly unavoidable now–the savings rate should start leveling off and declining. Another implication is that dramatic policy interventions aimed at pushing down the housing savings rate are not as urgent (and here we might note that government social spending has stopped rising relative to GDP). Let’s see if this emerging conventional wisdom holds up better than the previous version.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
Economists React: China Exports Slide in March, Strong Yuan Blamed – China Real Time Report – WSJ The extremely weak import growth suggests that China’s first-quarter growth could have fallen to below 7.0%. We forecast China’s economy to grow 6.9% in the first quarter 2015, possibly one of the lowest in six years. The yuan exchange rate strengthened somewhat in the past few weeks in spite of a strong US dollar. We believe that the yuan is likely to remain steady, leading up to the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights review in May…. However, the weak trade data could add some uncertainty to the yuan exchange rate in the short term. We continue to see increasing volatility in the yuan exchange rate in the foreseeable future. –ANZ Ltd., Li-Gang Liu and Hao Zhou
多部委调研外贸稳增长 政策落地加速要闻一财网 《第一财经日报》记者从权威人士处获悉，得知3月数据不太乐观，包括发改委、商务部、海关总署等外贸主管部门3月底4月初已经组织到多地外贸企业调研，并试图找到破解之策。 目前来看，如何做到通关便利化，加强口岸工作，成为下一个可能的突破口。海关总署口岸办负责人亦对本报记者表示，经过必要的审批流程，关于口岸工作的细则也即将下发。
China GDP Release Guide: What to Watch for Beyond the Headlines – Bloomberg Business The nation’s gross domestic product report for the three months through March released at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday in Beijing will show growth slowed to 7 percent from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. For an under-the-hood look at how the world’s second-largest economy is faring, keep an eye out for these nuts and bolts that are also scheduled for release Wednesday:
Hebei Loan Guarantee Firm Wobbles, Worrying 50 Financial Institutions – Caixin At least 50 financial institutions – ranging from banks and trust companies to securities firms and peer-to-peer lending websites – are worried their investments are in trouble, several employees from those financial institutions said. The employees said the company has guaranteed at least 50 billion yuan worth of loans. Starting in July, some borrowers have defaulted on their loans and investors have been unable to get repayment from the guarantee company, they said. Hebei Financing Investment Guarantee Group Co. Ltd. is wholly owned by the provincial regulator of state-owned assets // 河北融投500亿担保落空 违约风险一触即发
原河北国资委主任周杰被调查 金融频道财新网 former head of Hebei Provincial SASAC Zhou Jie under investigation // 近期，河北省国资委全资子公司河北融投集团所设立的担保公司已丧失了担保能力，银行、信托、证券、基金甚至P2P等近50家金融机构面临项目违约，500亿债权无人履行担保而面临险境
China ETF Investors in U.S. Miss Rally as Hong Kong Shares Surge – Bloomberg Business The H-share rally “has absolutely caught people by surprise,” Michael Shaoul, who helps oversee $10 billion as chief executive officer of Marketfield Asset Management in New York, said by e-mail on Monday. “A closing of the gap seemed increasingly likely to take place. But most people thought it would come about via a collapse of the A-share market.” // it did not catch everyone by surprise
China Walks $264 Billion Tightrope as Margin Debt Powers Stocks – Bloomberg Business China’s margin finance now stands at about double the amount outstanding on the New York Stock Exchange, after adjusting for the relative size of the two markets. “Regulators are aware of the risk of rising margin debt but they can’t afford to puncture the equities bubble with very draconian measures,” said Lu Wenjie, a Shanghai-based analyst at UBS Securities Co. “They want to pelt the mice without smashing the china. [投鼠忌器]”
Shenzhen’s Overshadowed Stocks Surge – WSJ Shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, one of the largest globally, have surged 55% this year, boosted by droves of small-scale investors furiously trading China’s hottest young companies. These businesses are seen as China’s future, especially compared to the debt-laden state-owned giants that trade in the larger Shanghai market, where stocks are up 27%. Only a few designated foreign fund managers can buy in Shenzhen, but that is expected to change this year, when the exchange links up trading with Hong Kong, across the border
Red Pulse | China Universal Fund Up 100% China Universal FMC’s mutual fund invested into the Internet sector has become the first equity centric mutual fund to double its return, yielding 102.41% since the beginning of 2015. Before April 3, the fund with the highest return was from Fullgoal FMC, investing into low-carbon environmental protection, with a return of 99.31%. From the beginning of 2015 up until April 10, the average yield of the 777 equity centric funds stood at 39%, far more than the 22.94% increase in CSI 300 Index.
China Banks Put Stock in Management – WSJ China Merchants Bank, a midsize lender, said it will raise 6 billion yuan ($967 million) by selling shares to employees. Merchants will be the second bank to do so, Minsheng Banking Corp. having made a similar move last November. Merchants’ Hong Kong shares rose 25% on Monday, despite the offering’s dilutive effect and 12% discount to the previous share price. The offering wouldn’t have been possible without the rally in Chinese stocks, which has lifted bank share prices above book value. Below that level, Chinese regulations bar banks from selling shares. As it is now, Merchants’ shares will be sold to employees at 1.1 times book value, barely above the threshold.
发改委企业债新政财新周刊频道财新网 财新记者获悉，中债登已经成立新部门但尚未正式挂牌，该部门正职尚未确定，副职为中债登客户服务部负责人周文斌。新部门已开始内部培训，并于4月8日进行了廉政教育培训。中债登有关人士向财新记者表示，“听从发改委的安排”。 财新记者亦发现，对于此次中债登预审企业债这一业务变化，央行并不知情。而业内普遍关注的是，主管企业债多年的发改委是否会淡出债市。
李克强会见美国总统代表、商务部长普里茨克-新华网 CCTV Evening News report on Li Keqiang’s meeting with the US joint trade mission led by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall. Xinhua report-Chinese premier urges stronger clean energy cooperation with U.S.
十三五铁路投资或达4万亿 铁路网将覆盖80%县级行政区 | 每经网 21st CBH says railaway investment in the 13 Five year plan will be 3.5 to 4 Trillion RMB // 核心提示： 一位接近铁总的人士表示，2014年和2015年铁路投资都是超过8000亿元，按照目前政府对铁路建设的重视程度，“十三五”期间铁路的总投资大概会在3.5万亿元到4万亿元之间。
经济参考网 – 新华社《经济参考报》官方网站 Economic Information says NDRC is accelerating project approval // 种种迹象表明，国家发改委的项目审批速度正在加快。《经济参考报》记者从知情人士处获悉，国家发改委筹备了新一批年内开工项目，正在落实相关手续，该批项目将主要集中在结构升级和科技创新两大领域。有消息人士透露，在为了保持经济运行在合理空间的目标下，政策工具箱正在逐渐打开，发改委的项目审批速度就是其中一项。有发改委官员表示，当前应该“理直气壮”地抓投资，尤其是现在这个阶段，拉动经济增长的三驾马车，外需难有明显提升，消费是个慢变量，起关键作用的还是投资。
POLITICS AND LAW
Chinese Official Who Ran Oil Giant Admits Bribetaking, Court Reports – NYTimes The former official, Jiang Jiemin, stood trial at the Hanjiang Intermediate People’s Court in the central Chinese province of Hubei. His case has attracted particular attention because of Mr. Jiang’s ties to Zhou Yongkang, the former head of domestic security and law and order, who has also been indicted on corruption and other charges. // CCTV Evening Reports on the trial, includes video of the courtroom, Jiang’s admission of guilt 蒋洁敏案一审今公开审理
Jiang Jiemin Trial Links Key Officials in China’s Corruption Crackdown – WSJ In a separate trial Monday in the southern city of Zhuhai, prosecutors accused a former general manager of a China National Petroleum subsidiary of embezzling public assets and taking bribes worth more than 52 million yuan, according to Xinhua. Among the alleged gifts taken by the executive, Tao Yuchun, were nine properties between 2002 and 2011, the news agency said. Mr. Tao couldn’t be reached for comment.
Were China’s Corrupt Officials Plotting a Coup? | The Diplomat – Bo Zhiyue Nevertheless, the evidence is still too thin to glue the four men together as a “Gang of Four.” For one thing, there is no evidence of Xu Caihou’s involvement in “non-organizational political activities” either alone or together with Zhou, Ling, and Bo. Xu’s problem was taking bribes, not participating in a coup. Meanwhile, Ling’s involvement in factional activities may have nothing to do with Zhou and Bo. There is no evidence that either Zhou or Bo (much less both) were part of Ling’s inner circle, Xishan Hui, which is composed of government officials and business people from Shanxi. For that matter, there is no hard evidence that Zhou and Bo conspired to overthrow Xi. It is likely that Zhou had thought highly of Bo before the Wang Lijun Incident and Zhou might have privately communicated with Bo about the handling of that scandal. But it is hard to imagine that Zhou would have pledged his support for Bo two years after his retirement. // really?
China Needs a Strong Leader Like Xi — but the Rule of Law Like Singapore | Zheng Yongnian Having a strongman is a good thing if you know what you’re doing. Among the leaders in China, Mao Zedong in the first generation and Deng Xiaoping in the second generation were both political strongmen like Lee Kuan Yew. However, the people knew that, like Lee, they were not in the game for themselves, their families or their small circles. They devoted themselves to the whole nation with a certain kind of idealism.
习近平这样做县委书记_求是网-党建频道-求是网 习近平同志初到正定时担任县委副书记，分管农村经济、精神文明建设、平反冤假错案、落实党的政策，以及文化、教育等工作。1983年7月，他担任县委书记。习近平同志带领全县人民大胆改革，冲破了“经济上农业单打一，农业上粮食单打一”的模式，实施改革兴县、工业兴县、科技兴县、人才兴县、文化兴县、旅游兴县，走“半城郊型经济”发展之路。由此，正定大地掀起了前所未有的经济发展热潮，全县上下形成了“党风正、干群和、干劲大、硕果丰”的大好局面，正定甩掉了“高产穷县”的帽子，开始步入发展快车道。
Deceased former Shanxi vice governor expelled from CPC – China Daily Ren Runhou, former vice governor of north China’s Shanxi Province, who passed away while under investigation by the Communist Party of China (CPC), has been stripped of his Party membership for corruption, said the CPC discipline agency Monday.
Auntie Bai brings rule of law to Chinese teatime TV – FT C ross Jerry Springer with Judge Judy, throw in a good dose of social conflict and a hefty pinch of justice with Chinese characteristics and what do you get? Auntie Bai, a hard-nosed Shanghainese granny who uses the oldest tricks of Communist party dispute resolution to keep the peace — on Chinese dinnertime television. These days, Beijing is always banging on about the rule of law, and the need for more of it. We westerners predictably sneer that what China means by rule of law is a criminal court system with a 99.9 per cent conviction rate, and a tradition of putting politics above justice.
Chinese Journalist to Receive Verdict Friday on Charges of Revealing State Secrets – NYTimes.com Gao Yu, a veteran Chinese journalist tried nearly five months ago on charges of revealing state secrets, will receive a verdict this week after the court twice postponed giving a judgment, one of her defense lawyers said on Monday.
如何看待“对改革开放的质疑”？_求是网 interesting essay in latest Red Flag on how to view questioning of the reform and opening policies // 众所周知，农村实行家庭联产责任制之时，政治上就废除了人民公社体制，后来又废除了领导干部实际上的终身制，实行任期制。可以说，我国的政治体制改革一直在稳步推进。中国的改革首先是一个经济发展过程，改革总体上不存在哪些方面改了，哪些方面没有改，改革在某些方面滞后的问题，在某些方面、某个时期、某个领域，改革快一点、慢一点是有的。我们党所领导的改革历来是全面改革，改革的目的是完善和发展社会主义制度。我们要靠不断改革创新，使中国特色社会主义在解放和发展社会生产力、解放和增强社会活力、促进人的全面发展上比资本主义制度更有效率，更能激发全体人民的积极性、主动性、创造性。有些不能改的，再过多长时间也是不改，不能把这说成是不改革。正如习近平总书记所强调的：社会上很多意见和建议值得我们深入思考，但也有些意见和建议偏于极端。一些敌对势力和别有用心的人也在那里摇旗呐喊、制造舆论、混淆视听，把改革定义为往西方政治制度的方向改，否则就是不改革。他们是醉翁之意不在酒，“项庄舞剑、意在沛公”。对此，我们要洞若观火，保持政治坚定性，明确政治定位。
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
China’s army warns corrupt officials are ‘keeping it in the family’ | South China Morning Post The Chinese military’s newspaper has warned officials against enlisting family members in corrupt practices, amid heightening speculation a former top figure in the People’s Liberation Army has been caught up in the anti-graft drive. A commentary in the PLA Daily yesterday said officials should not abuse their power to fulfil their family’s needs, and urged them to teach their children proper moral values.
【独家】北京军区联勤部原部长董明祥被调查政经频道财新网 former head of the Beijing Miitary Region “joint logistics department” [Is there a better english translation] is under investigation // 七大军区已有成都、沈阳、北京三个军区的联勤部原部长和广州军区的一名原副部长被调查，仅北京军区就有两名联勤部高级将官先后落马，与其掌控着庞大的军队财物及买官卖官有关
北京军区退休副军干部超配车辆全部收回新闻腾讯网 Beijing Military Region takes back cars that exceed regulations from some retired cadres // 昨日，《解放军报》披露了军队和武警部队开展专项清理整治工作情况。报道称，北京军区清房清车清人工作中，认定的不合理住房已全部腾退，退休副军职领导干部超配车辆全部收回。
北京军区领导班子调整：曹清任军区副司令员人事风向澎湃新闻-The Paper 在北京军区领导班子成员不久之前出现的大规模调整中，除澎湃新闻稍早前已报道的宋普选、高东璐、史鲁泽等人之外，同时履新北京军区领导班子的高级军官还有曹清。 据北京军区政治部出版的《战友报》2015年4月10日报道，“根据军区党委工作部署，4月9日上午，军区第一期学习贯彻全军政治工作会议精神理论集训在天津疗养院开班。军区党委机关第二季度理论学习和全区团以上领导干部轮训通过视频会议系统异地同步进行。军区司令员宋普选、政委刘福连参加学习。副政委高东璐作集训动员。副司令员郑传福、曹清，副政委王健，副政委兼政治部主任程童一，参谋长史鲁泽，联勤部部长海力斯，装备部部长邓汉桥，军区机关四大部领导、集训班全体学员、军区机关全体干部和全区团以上领导干部第一期参训人员同步参加。” 上述报道确认了曹清已担任北京军区副司令员的消息。// more leadership changes in Beijing Military Region
总政印发新修订《军队党组织发展党员工作规定》新闻腾讯网 《规定》的修订和颁布实施，是深入贯彻党中央、习主席关于加强新形势下党员队伍建设新部署新要求，贯彻《中国共产党发展党员工作细则》精神的重要举措，对于确保发展党员质量、保持党员队伍先进性和纯洁性具有重要意义。《规定》充分体现党的十八大、十八届三中、四中全会和习主席系列重要讲话精神，体现全面从严治党要求，体现强军目标对党员队伍建设的新要求，注重吸纳部队实践探索的新经验，是做好新形势下发展党员工作的重要遵循。
经中央军委批准 《习近平国防和军队建设重要论述选编（二）》印发全军-新华网 新华网北京4月13日电 经中央军委批准，《习近平国防和军队建设重要论述选编（二）》由解放军出版社出版发行，印发全军团以上领导干部。总政治部近日发出通知，要求全军和武警部队认真组织学习。
人民网：习近平眼中的杰出军人有啥“硬杠杠”？|党员|党组织_凤凰资讯 4月12日，新华社发布消息，经中央军委主席习近平批准，总政治部日前印发新修订的《军队党组织发展党员工作规定》。《规定》是1991年制订的，1999年、2004年曾先后两次修订，此次是第三次修订。 《规定》强调，始终保持一支以干部和士官为主体，能够担当强军重任的高素质党员队伍，为建设听党指挥、能打胜仗、作风优良的人民军队奠定坚实的组织基础。《规定》对如何发展军队党员做了明确规定，“高标准”、“严要求”是其核心内涵。《规定》充分体现了习主席关于加强新形势下党员队伍建设新部署新要求。
Indonesia eyes regular navy exercises with U.S. in South China Sea | Reuters Indonesia wants to hold regular military exercises with the United States near the sparsely populated Natuna archipelago, an area of the South China Sea near China’s claims, a navy spokesman said on Monday. Although Indonesia is not a claimant in the South China Sea, the military has accused China of including parts of Natuna within its so called “Nine-Dash Line,” the vague boundary used on Chinese maps to lay claim to about 90 percent of the sea.
Chinese Hackers Target Southeast Asia, India, Researchers Say – NBC In a report [ “APT 30 and the Mechanics of a Long-Running Cyber Espionage Operation]released on Monday, FireEye said the cyber espionage operations dated back to at least 2005 and “focused on targets — government and commercial — who hold key political, economic and military information about the region.” “Such a sustained, planned development effort coupled with the (hacking) group’s regional targets and mission, lead us to believe that this activity is state-sponsored — most likely the Chinese government,” the report’s authors said.
社评：布什、克林顿家族要垄断总统战吗评论环球网 Global Times will have lots of fun if the US presidential race comes down to Bush and clinton again // 政治家还是传统意义的政治家吗？连这个根本问题都在西式民主制度下逐渐动摇。那里的政治家们越来越依赖电视台及视频网站的镜头，小心谨慎说每一句话，很多时候他们不愿意承担责任，把最棘手的问题留给自己的后任。也因为这样，越是在西方，政治家这个职业越是像“只赚不赔”。
The Chinese Internet Hates Hillary Clinton Even More than Republicans Do | Foreign Policy Many of China’s netizens think she’ll be too tough on their country, while others are just being sexist.
AVIC acquires fourth US aviation firm – IHS Jane’s 360 The Chinese state-owned corporation said AVIC International purchased Align Aerospace from its previous owner Greenbriar Equity Group for an undisclosed amount, and that the acquisition has already received regulatory approval from the US and Chinese governments.
China reaffirms post-war order as Bandung Conference anniversary draws near – Xinhua Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called on Asian and African countries to carry forward the “Bandung spirit” and safeguard the post-war international order prior to the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference. “Under new circumstances, Asian and African countries should drive the international political order toward a more just and rational direction and safeguard the post-war international order with the United Nations at the core,” Li said while addressing the opening ceremony of the 54th Annual Session of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) held in Beijing. The AALCO, established in 1956, was a governmental organization focusing on exchanges and cooperation with international law.
Chinese police return favor for ill US officer- China Daily A terminally ill police officer in California, who initiated the idea of sending get-well wishes to a Chinese policewoman battling cancer three weeks ago, has received similar wishes himself from his Chinese counterparts. “So far, we have received more than 100 photos from Chinese police officers in the past three days,” said Cartier Lee, vice-chairman of the police chief’s advisory board of the San Leandro Police Department, where the sick police officer works. Lee said he preferred not to disclose the officer’s name now due to privacy concerns, but told China Daily he is a Chinese American in his late 40
美军采购中国平板电脑装备部队军事环球网 4月7日，美国海军大湖基地，后备训练司令部举行了eSailor掌上设备的颁发仪式，该移动智能设备可以使用无线网络将信心提供给所有士兵。其内置有电子书、训练信息、通信功能，甚至是医疗记录及考试内容。此次装备的数量为200台测试版，主要探索如何在全海军推行无线科技。值得注意的是，该产品制造商为中国宏基。
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
Beijing blocks Taiwan from becoming founding member of China-led AIIB | South China Morning Post Taiwan said it would try to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a regular member, after Beijing on Monday turned down its request to become a founding member. The Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan said it regretted Beijing’s decision, but would continue to communicate with mainland authorities over becoming a full member, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
PLA general upset by idea that Taiwan could be defended｜WantChinaTimes n a vitriolic response to a Taiwan-based journalist’s assessment of ways Taiwan could stave off a potential Chinese invasion, retired PLA lieutenant general Wang Hongguang wrote in the nationalistic People’s Daily-run tabloid Global Times on April 10 that Taiwan cannot withstand a full-scale war with the People’s Liberation Army militarily, politically, economically or psychologically.
TECH AND MEDIA
China’s Tencent hits $200 bln market cap for first time making it more valuable than U.S. tech firms like Amazon.com Inc, IBM Corp and Oracle Corp . The country’s biggest social networking and online entertainment firm rose 5.38 percent to close at HK$170.50 ($22) in trading in Hong Kong, giving it a market valuation of $206 billion. This is higher than Oracle’s $190 billion, Amazon’s $178 billion and IBM’s $161 billion. Tencent’s shares have rocketed 52 percent from the beginning of this year, bringing its valuation close to those of U.S. peer Facebook Inc’s $230 billion and Chinese arch rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s $210 billion. // Tencent shares down over 5% at time of this writing as Tencent CEO Pony Ma sells shares
Time Still Not Ripe for Apple Pay to Enter China Market – Caixin Apple Inc. released its latest operating system – iOS 8.3 – on April 9, but it does not support China UnionPay. A UnionPay employee who declined to be named said the company has not reached any agreements with the U.S. tech company and no timetable for cooperation has been set. When Apple sent software developers a test version of the new operating system in February, it said iOS 8.3 would support UnionPay, a development that received broad media attention. Apple started talks with UnionPay about using its network last year and hoped that by March it would have an agreement in place that would allow consumers to make payments via their iPhones.
Wanted: Ten million Chinese students to “civilize” the Internet – The Washington Post Web users recently posted a document issued by the China Communist Youth League dated Feb. 13 that asks for no less than 20 percent of its members to be recruited as “cyber civilization volunteers”, who would be expected to become “good Chinese Netizens” and promote the “voice of good youth.”
文化部调整网信领导小组成员 雒树刚担任组长 – 手机新浪网 on changes to leadership of the ministry of culture’s “leading group on cyber affairs, set up in October 2014…how many ministries/agencies have these leading groups now? // 中国经济网北京4月13日讯 近日，文化部信息中心发布通知，根据工作需要和人员变动情况，经报文化部党组同意，对文化部网络安全和信息化领导小组及办公室组成人员作了相应调整。中国经济网文化产业频道记者了解到，文化部网络安全和信息化领导小组组长由文化部部长雒树刚担任，原文化部部长蔡武不再担任。据中国经济网文化产业频道记者了解，为加强对文化部系统网络安全和信息化工作的领导，2014年10月，经文化部党组研究决定，成立文化部网络安全和信息化领导小组，全面负责文化部网络安全和信息化工作。
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Chinese Painter Cui Sets Record With $30 Million Landscape Work – Bloomberg Business “There is certainly an interest in creating a public price level for his artworks, and this appears to be at a price level not really for experienced collectors,” said Johnson Chang, who has been dealing in contemporary Chinese art for 30 years. “This sounds quite unbelievable.” // Mr Chang artfully trying to say he thinks the auction was manipulated. shocked, just shocked…
China: What the Uighurs See by Ian Johnson | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books Foreign journalists tend to fly in and out for a dateline and an interview. The American photographer Carolyn Drake is an exception. Drake has been traveling to Xinjiang since 2007, when she began photographing Central Asia from her base in Istanbul. Over the years, she has come to know the region well, and struggled to break free from its clichés. The summation of her work is Wild Pigeon, an ambitious, beautiful, and crushingly sad book.
Opinion polls: The critical masses | The Economist But even to report a poll, as state-run media do almost daily, gives weight to the notion that public opinion matters. It is a message that is sinking in among citizens and fuelling demands for more responsive government. “People are more and more clear about their rights and about what they can express,” says Mr Shen.
Jin Youzhi, Sibling of China’s Last Emperor, Dies at 96 – NYTimes Almost a half-century after the death of China’s last emperor, his last surviving sibling, Jin Youzhi, died on Friday in Beijing. He was 96. Jia Yinghua, a historian of China’s last imperial family, confirmed the death.
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
Central Gov’t Plans Crack Down on Underground Surrogacy – Caixin The central government has said it will take a tougher stance on surrogacy, a practice that has grown underground in China as infertility has increased. The government issued a statement on April 8 announcing a national campaign to crack down on surrogacy – the practice where a woman gives birth to another couple’s child – the rest of the year. “Surrogacy upsets the natural order of childbirth and poses potential health risks,” the statement said. It added the practice contradicts the government’s population policy.
China to surpass U.S. as top cause of modern global warming | Reuters China’s cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, when governments were becoming aware of climate change, will outstrip those of the United States in 2015 or 2016, according to separate estimates by experts in Norway and the United States. The shift, reflecting China’s stellar economic growth, raises questions about historical blame for rising temperatures and more floods, desertification, heatwaves and sea level rise.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ISSUES
袁隆平谈超级稻争议:出点小问题不能说都有问题|袁隆平|超级稻_新浪新闻 problems with Yuan Longping’s “super rice” strain as yields drop in Anhui? // 在安徽蚌埠，万亩“超级水稻”去年出现绝收或减产，将种子供货方隆平高科推上风口浪尖。在一片争议声中，隆平高科4月12日晚间宣布停售这一杂交水稻种子，并将筹建种子行业灾后救助基金。 停售并未完全平息关于超级水稻的争议。从亩产1026.7公斤的实验纪录，到进入中国农民的田间地头，超级水稻到底还有多少路要走？
隆平高科停售争议种子 称乃省级超级稻政经频道财新网 安徽蚌埠地区万亩“两优0293”水稻大幅减产引发的“超级稻”风波还在发酵，涉事种子现已停售。 4月12日晚，袁隆平农业高科技股份有限公司（下称“隆平高科”，000998.SZ）发布公告宣布称，公司销售的“两优0293”产品质量符合国家标准，“但鉴于2014年安徽蚌埠地区因极端气候导致部分种植农户蒙受不同程度的经济损失，公司决定停止销售‘两优0293’”。
Antibiotics abuse makes China’s pork industry a hotbed for drug-resistant bugs | CER Antibiotics offer industrial farms one way to prevent and combat disease, and are a far more common means than clenbuterol for boosting weight in China’s mass-produced hogs. Antibiotic drugs like tetracycline are generally used in place of healthy living conditions at industrial farms to promote growth in hogs without spending more on feed. Yongguan Zhu at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that with “so many pigs living in small areas, they’re likely to get infected by pathogens, and the pathogens can move around. So you have to use the antibiotics to maintain the productivity in this intensive animal farming system.”
EDUCATION
The new paperless revolution in Chinese reading | Hacking Chinese The approach I’m advocating here is clearly not for everyone. It still takes a student with a certain degree of dedication to get over the technological hump and create this kind of digitized reading environment. But for those willing to make the effort, the result is a new access to entire semantic worlds that were virtually inaccessible to previous generations of Chinese learners. There are still a surprising number of struggling Chinese learners who have not seen the wisdom of this paperless path. But if you are already doing the bulk of your Chinese reading with digital tools, know that you are on the vanguard of a digital revolution that will eventually free all our Chinese-learning comrades from the tyranny of printed books, those mute and unhelpful “paper tigers” who have preyed on our precious hours and energies for far too long.
BEIJING
Beijing Turns to Social Media Tattletales in Battle Against Smoking – WSJ Beijing’s government is rallying residents to help enforce the country’s new smoking rules, which will be implemented on June 1. The rules ban smoking in restaurants, bars and other indoor public places, with maximum fines of 200 yuan (about $33) for individuals and 10,000 yuan for organizations and companies. The government this week launched an account on the social messaging app WeChat to allow residents to report violators, either by uploading images or videos of smokers caught in the act. In addition, the account offers a bevy of anti-smoking information including the full text of the regulations, anti-smoking videos featuring famous CCTV anchors, and warnings about the health impact of smoking
女律师称在北京通州法院遭法官法警连续殴打新闻腾讯网 lawyer claims she was beaten by court official and bailiff in Beijing’s Tongzhou district, Tongzhou court says investigating // 新京报讯 “作为一名律师，竟然在法院办公室遭到两次殴打。”北京恒清律师事务所主任崔慧昨日称，4月2日她在通州区法院办案时，遭该院执行局法官和法警的殴打，致使眼部、面部、肢体等多处受伤。通州区法院昨日表示，已成立调查组，如查证属实，将依法依纪对有关责任人进行处理。
CORRECTIONS
The April 7 Newsletter incorrectly identified Sun Jiadong, apologies. A reader writes: “Sun Jiadong is not a science fiction author, rather a “zhuming de kexuejia”: the Godfather of China’s moon exploration effort, designer of the Beidou satellite navigation system, and long-time heavy hitting cadre in the Chinese aerospace establishment. He is known for his science and engineering, not his fiction. Unless he has branched out into that realm in semi-retirement and I have missed that move. The CCDI prominently profiling him as a supporter of the anti-corruption campaign makes good sense: in China he is well-known, widely respected, and both a Red and Expert cadre who has stayed clean all these decades, it would seem.”
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