"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. The Battle for Taiwan’s Soul: The 2016 Presidential Election | The National Interest In the past, the CCP hasn’t played nicely with democratically elected DPP leaders. What happens if Tsai Ing-wen wins?
Related: Tsai’s ‘status quo’ views ‘interesting,’ US official says – Taipei Times Comments by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on cross-strait issues were “interesting” and “constructive,” and Washington looks forward to hearing more from her, a senior US official said on Monday. US Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asia Evan Medeiros said he follows what Tsai has to say about cross-strait issues very closely.
Related: Chu trumpets fake ‘consensus’ – Taipei Times The “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that both Taiwan and China acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what that means. In 2006, former KMT legislator Su Chi (蘇起) admitted that he made up the term “1992 consensus” in 2000, when he was head of the Mainland Affairs Council, before the KMT handed power to the Democratic Progressive Party.
Related: China Focus: Cross-Strait economic forum held in Shanghai – Xinhua Yu recalled that when the cross-Strait relations were experiencing a turbulent time 10 years ago, the first Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum was proposed by the CPC and the KMT with the two sides’ resolve to contain “Taiwan independence” forces and seek historic reconciliation, cross-Strait peace and benefits for compatriots on both sides. Over the last decade, the forum has always followed the 1992 Consensus, opposed “Taiwan independence” and acted as an important platform for CPC-KMT dialogue, Yu said, noting that the total 153 joint proposals reached at the forum, most of which have been turned into practical policies, have brought solid benefit to people on both sides. Pledging better cross-Strait development, Chu said in his speech that the KMT would be held responsible by the public, the next generation and history. He said the peaceful development must continue and efforts should be made on cross-Strait exchanges and to make the achievements in cross-Strait development accessible to more. He said the KMT will work on the basis of the 1992 Consensus.
Related: China’s Failed Taiwan Policy – WSJ China’s Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s Kuomintang Chairman Eric Chu are holding a summit meeting in Beijing on Monday, the highest-level talks between the two parties in six years. While Taiwan’s officials describe it in anodyne terms—discussing “issues of mutual concern”—simmering tensions across the Taiwan Strait make this meeting highly significant. The two leaders will no doubt discuss their parties’ failed gamble on Taiwanese politics. The CCP and the KMT expected that by building closer economic ties they would strengthen support for the Taiwanese ruling party, which shares the mainland’s goal of eventual reunification. Instead the Taiwanese public rebelled against mainland influence in domestic politics.
2. 人民日报罕见提示牛市风险：别对监管部门喊话不以为然牛市点线面澎湃新闻-The Paper People’s Daily warns on the risks in the stock market, reminds readers to not ignore the warnings from regulators // 5月4日，人民日报18版财经纵横刊出《牛市也别忘风险》一文，在连续唱好牛市之后，罕见直接提示股民关注市场风险。这也是本轮牛市以来人民日报第一次在标题上出现“风险”二字。这一评论文章，署名作者午言，近年来人民日报有关股市的评论均出自他手。 文章指出，近日，监管部门负责人“喊话”提示风险，有人却对此不以为然：“这是难得一遇的大牛市，向上趋势不变，即使‘吃套’也是暂时的。怕这怕那就是浪费机遇。”显然，这样的理解有偏差。文章在最后强调，股票是高收益高风险的投资品种。这一基本特征在任何时候都不会改变。
Related: Buffett bullish on China – Global Times Warren Buffett said China’s stock market will perform well in the next two to three years since the country’s population had “found a way to unlock their potential.” The third-richest person in the world told the annual shareholders’ meeting of Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday that China had taken much less time than the US to exert great influence on global GDP, adding that it is important for China and America to maintain close cooperative relations. Buffett’s comments came at a time when China’s macroeconomic data shows promise. Although only four of China’s 31 provincial regions have a higher GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year, China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index figures in April have climbed above the 50 threshold for two consecutive months.
Related: China Stock Rally Not Sustainable, ANZ Bank’s Liu Says – Bloomberg Business Liu Li-Gang, chief China economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Hong Kong, talks about the world’s second-largest economy, policies and stocks
Related: China Optimism Prompts Record Inflows Into Hong Kong Stock ETFs – Bloomberg Business An unprecedented amount of money is flowing into the largest exchange-traded funds that track Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong as investors bet the biggest rally in more than three years will continue. The Hang Seng H-Share Index Fund lured HK$20.5 billion ($2.6 billion) in April, the largest monthly inflow since at least 2010 and the third-most among equity ETFs globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About HK$29 billion has been added to the fund during the past four months in the longest stretch since 2013 as assets grew to HK$57.1 billion. // more reputational if not financial pain ahead for some of the China bears? Hard for fund managers to resist, especially if they missed the A share surge
Related: The Sinocism China Newsletter 01.05.15 | updated today after one of my predictions–Shanghai Composite would hit 4500–happened last week // China’s economy will have another rough year but it won’t collapse and the Shanghai Composite will at some point hit 4500 in this “Xi Jinping bull market”, though probably not this month; [MAY 4, 2015 UPDATE: The Shanghai Composite hit 4500 in the last week of April. The market move has been ridiculous from any fundamental perspective, but the animal and propaganda spirits driving the rally still seem strong. That said, people are getting nervous and I will guess the market corrects to closer to 4000 before hitting 5000 later in 2015…Just another guess, as are everyone’s about where the market is headed. END UPDATE]
3. 政治局会议点题京津冀 未来6年需投42万亿 | 每经网 National Business Daily-42 Trillion RMB investment over next 6 years projected for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration plan…wonder where all that money will come from // 按照政治局的设想，京津冀将探索出一种人口经济密集地区优化开发的模式，促进区域协调发展，形成新增长极。 这无疑将会带来巨大的投资空间，据财政部测算,京津冀一体化未来6年需要投入42万亿元。多家机构一致认为,这将给房地产、建材、环保等板块带来确定性投资机会。 对于外界预期的投资盛宴，祝尔娟说，京津冀的最终目标是打造世界级城市群，至少在交通和生态领域肯定需要协同进行投资。但换个角度来看，规划将有近期、中期和远期目标之分，投资也不是一蹴而就的。“最关键的点在于如何进行有效投资，既疏解北京非首都功能，又兼顾经济和社会效益。”祝尔娟说道。 申银万国宏观分析师李慧勇告诉《每日经济新闻》记者，京津冀所带来的投资领域非常广泛，比如当前京津冀的铁路轨交建设处在强化和调整阶段，对于城市和区域间的经济结构调整、产业转移和人口流动起到加强作用，并推动区域间分工合作的一体化发展。
Related: 京津冀投资红利在哪儿? – 经济 – 中国经营网_中国经营报 据透露，经过修改，《规划》依然将坚持在交通一体化、大气污染治理、产业对接三个方面率先突破。同时，《规划》还确定了京津冀协同发展的近期、中期、远期目标。权威人士表示，近期目标是非首都核心功能疏解到2017年取得明显进展，协同发展的顶层设计和工作机制要基本确立。中期目标是在2020年，北京市的常住人口力争控制在2300万人左右，首都存在的突出问题得到缓解，区域交通网络要基本形成，生态环境质量要有效改善等。远期目标是，到2030年，京津冀区域一体化格局基本形成，京津冀成为具有较强国际竞争力和影响力的重要区域，甚至能够引领、支撑全国经济社会发展。
4. ‘Breaking Bad’ in China: how meth is spreading across rural heartland – CSMonitor.com Meth has overtaken heroin as the most widely used drug in Asia’s most populous country – and it could pose an even greater threat.
Related: ‘Our purity is above 99%’: the Chinese labs churning out legal highs for the west | The Guardian Chinese factories are mass producing novel psychoactive substances that mimic banned substances, destined for an eager market in the US and UK
5. What It Means to Be Chinese-Foreign Affairs-Perry Link Is the moral model of premodern times still relevant in the modern political context, or should it be displaced by newer ideas of political morality? Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” is best understood as a backward-looking answer to the question. But in spite of his wishes, the debate will continue, and it could contribute to instability and even violence in the coming decades.
6. China, Pursuing Strategic Interests, Builds Presence in Antarctica – NYTimes China’s operations on the continent — it opened its fourth research station last year, chose a site for a fifth, and is investing in a second icebreaker and new ice-capable planes and helicopters — are already the fastest growing of the 52 signatories to the Antarctic Treaty. That gentlemen’s agreement reached in 1959 bans military activity on the continent and aims to preserve it as one of the world’s last wildernesses; a related pact prohibits mining. But Mr. Xi’s visit was another sign that China is positioning itself to take advantage of the continent’s resource potential when the treaty expires in 2048 — or in the event that it is ripped up before, Chinese and Australian experts say.
7. 【独家】“三桶油”董事长新老更替 新人承压公司频道财新网 这次三家公司的董事长大换班的背景，发生在中石油集团原总经理廖永远、中石化集团原总经理王天普在近两个月内相继因涉嫌严重违纪被调查之时，因此格外引人关注。今年被称为“国企反腐年”，巡视组在对包括“三桶油”在内的多家央企的巡视工作进行过程中，已有多名央企高管被调查或遭受处分，而中石油更是反腐重灾区。一位石油行业资深人士认为，对于傅成玉和周吉平来说，此时到站退休或许不无解脱，继任者则面临艰巨挑战，不仅要承受反腐重压，还要在低油价和经济发展放缓的长期预期下承担拯救业绩的重担。业绩的下滑已经开始。在上月公布的2014年业绩中，中国三大石油公司的业绩均出现了不同程度的下滑。其中中石化的净利润结束了五年的增长，同比下滑29.4%。中石油的净利润也同比下降17.3%。以海外业务为主的中海油情况稍好，但2014年实现营收2746.34亿元，也同比下降3.9%。“三桶油”均宣布将缩减资本开支。
Related: China’s Leadership Shuffle at Big Oil Clears Path for Reform – Bloomberg Business “Obviously, the new leaders would have passed the central government’s corruption screening, and they don’t have to face the kind of questions that many of the older generation faced when China’s anti-corruption push swept the industry,” said Nomura’s Kwan. “In that sense, the leadership changes also provide the oil companies with a fresh beginning.”
8. China Will Get Rich Before It Grows Old-Foreign Affairs-Baozhen Luo Beijing’s Demographic Problems Are Overrated
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BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
China April Manufacturing Weakens Further in Final HSBC PMI – Bloomberg Business The final Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was at 48.9, missing the median estimate of 49.4 in a Bloomberg News survey and lower than the preliminary reading of 49.2. Numbers below 50 indicate contraction.
中央点题八大政策重视经济下行 加码稳增长-新闻频道-和讯网 按惯例，中央政治局一般在7月和12月各召开一次全体会议，分别研究总结上半年和全年经济形势，并制定下半年和来年工作计划。但从去年开始，面对严峻的经济形势，中央政治局在4月底额外召开一次经济工作会议，在分析一季度经济形势的基础上把握未来经济政策的大方向。 今年中央政治局在4月30日召开的会议也不例外，主要议题仍是“分析研究当前经济形势和经济工作”。但与去年提到“经济下行压力依然存在”不同，今年的会议强调“高度重视经济下行压力”。 措词变化的背后是经济运行状况的变化 // growing expectations for more economic policy support after recent Politburo meeting
IMF to Brighten View of China’s Yuan – WSJ The International Monetary Fund is close to declaring China’s yuan fairly valued for the first time in more than a decade, a milestone in the country’s efforts to open its economy that would blunt U.S. criticism of Beijing’s currency policy. The fund’s reassessment of the yuan—set to be made official in IMF reports on China’s economy due out in the coming months—follows years of IMF censure of Beijing’s management of the currency. The IMF’s latest view undermines the Obama administration’s pressure on China over its management of the currency and could undercut congressional efforts to inject yuan concerns into pending trade legislation.
China Insuring $16 Trillion Deposits Means More Bond Risk-Reward – Bloomberg Business “The deposit insurance system is part of the government’s preparation for more credit defaults,” said Li Ning, a bond analyst in Shanghai at Haitong Securities Co., the nation’s third-biggest listed brokerage. “Interest-rate liberalization may have a big impact on the bond market as banks’ borrowing costs can’t fall, which will in turn prevent bond yields from declining in the coming two to three years because banks are the biggest bond investors.”
Beijing’s April second-hand home sales hit 25-month high – Xinhua The transaction volume of second-hand homes in Beijing reached 17,191 in April, the highest in nearly 25 months, according to new data from property agent Centaline. Zhang Dawei, chief analyst with Centaline, attributed the rise to easing policies on buying and selling the second-hand homes.
U.S. pilot killed in China crash – Xinhua The crash happened at 12:19 p.m. in Suixi County, Huaibei City. The American pilot, who has not yet been identified, and the passenger were dead when firefighters reached the scene. According to local police, the aircraft belonged to George Heintz Aircraft Manufacturing Co. in the central province of Henan.
The U.S.-China Disconnect on Trade Deals – WSJ Left out of the TPP talks, China has joined negotiations for another Asian trade deal, the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which is supposed to be reached this year. China has taken a back seat in those talks to Southeast Asian nations and India, trade experts say, and the results are expected to be modest: perhaps a deal to cut tariffs and little else. That agreement is hardly a rival to TPP: Seven RCEP nations are also TPP members. “RCEP won’t become a strong free-trade agreement even if it comes into existence,” said Brandeis University economist Peter Petri.
China Outbound Travelers Spent Close to $500B in 2014 — China Internet Watch how much did this contribute to capital outflows? // According to China Confidential, a research institute of Financial Times, the total expenditure of China outbound travelers reached RMB140 billion (US$498 billion) in 2014. In other words, today’s Chinese outbound tourists’ spending is more than the total household consumption expenditure in some countries, such as Indonesia ($436 billion) and Turkey ($442 billion).
Zhiwu Chen | China’s Dangerous Debt- Foreign Affaars Unless China’s leaders correct course, the mixed-ownership reform, at least in its current form, will likely create more problems than it solves. Before it’s too late, then, the country must shift its focus to privatizing SOEs, divesting nonessential government assets, selling at least some portions of SOE equity to private investors, and cutting government spending. Those measures would help reduce both operating costs and debt burdens for governments at all levels. If Beijing fails to act, however, standing by as local governments and SOEs generate more losses and larger fiscal burdens, a crippling crisis will become unavoidable.
Embracing China’s “New Normal”-Foreign Affairs-Hu Angang It is clear by now that China’s economy is set to slow in the years to come, although economists disagree about how much and for how long. Last year, the country’s GDP growth rate fell to 7.4 percent, the lowest in almost a quarter century, and many expect that figure to drop further in 2015. Plenty of countries struggle to grow at even this pace, but most don’t have to create hundreds of millions of jobs over the next decade, as China will. So understandably, some experts are skeptical about the country’s prospects. They argue that its production-fueled growth model is no longer tenable and warn, as the economist Paul Krugman did in 2013, that the country is “about to hit its Great Wall.” According to this view, the question is not whether the Chinese economy will crash but when. Such thinking is misguided. China is not nearing the edge of a cliff; it is entering a new stage of development
Chinese developer leads transformation of L.A.’s skyline – LA Times As chief executive of Chinese development firm Greenland USA, I Fei Chang is overseeing $6 billion worth of real estate development in the U.S., making her one of the biggest developers in the country.
Siemens healthcare unit probed by China regulator for bribery – sources | Reuters anyone think they are not guilty of something? // A Chinese regulator investigated Siemens AG last year over whether the German group’s healthcare unit and its dealers bribed hospitals to buy expensive disposable products used in some of its medical devices, three people with knowledge of the probe told Reuters. The investigation, which has not previously been reported, follows a wide-reaching probe into the pharmaceutical industry in China that last year saw GlaxoSmithKline Plc fined nearly $500 million for bribing officials to push its medicine sales.
经济参考网 – 新华社《经济参考报》官方网站 Vanke starts seling REITs to the public // 近日，中国证监会网站公告显示，万科与鹏华基金公司旗下“鹏华前海万科REITs封闭式混合型证券投资基金”已于4月22日被证监会受理。 一直谋求轻资产运作，并在去年仿效美国铁狮门推出“小股操盘”模式的万科，在进行了各种试验后，似乎找到了最适合自己的理想模式。 近日，中国证监会网站公告显示，万科与鹏华基金公司旗下“鹏华前海万科REITs封闭式混合型证券投资基金”已于4月22日被证监会受理。
POLITICS AND LAW
China has 88 mln Communist Youth League members – Xinhua As of the end of last year, China has over 88.2 million Communist Youth League (CYL) members and more than 3.87 million grassroots CYL organizations. The figure was released by the organization department of the CYL Central Committee on Sunday. Chinese Youth Day falls on Monday and the CYL also announced awards for 25 young people, including villagers, scholars, business persons, cadres of grassroots Communist Party organizations and military officers, as well as three youth groups for their excellent work.
China’s Communist Party graft-buster recommends once-liberal bookstore to cadres | South China Morning Post On its smartphone app, the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI) recommended three bookstores: a state-owned bookstore in downtown Beijing, a store for antique books and Chinese classics, and a privately owned bookshop once known as a gathering place for liberal intellectuals. “Established in 1988, Sun Way Books is among Beijing’s first to host book signings, small-scale indoor concerts and cultural exchanges,” read CCDI’s recommendation, which was posted alongside photos of the bookstore’s interior. The graft-buster even hailed Sun Way’s serene atmosphere as one that “could hardly be experienced elsewhere”.
立案登记制实施 “民告官”案或大增国内新京报网 5月1日，最高法院《关于人民法院推行立案登记制改革的意见》实施，地方法院此前纷纷出台实施细则。这意味着，立案门槛大幅降低，可能引来诉讼潮。记者多地采访发现，立案门槛降低，但也增加了审理难度。如何在防止案件久拖不立同时，应对案件数量增长的影响？
10人涉命案羁押两年获释特别报道新京报网 2012年1月，邯郸鸡泽县东柳村发生命案，4名青年被认定为嫌疑人遭逮捕，他们的7名亲属也被控制。但该案一审时众被告翻供，后诉讼被撤，11人重获自由，180万国家赔偿金今年3月到位。虽寻回了清白，但这些人的生活已被打乱，难以回到正常的生活轨道。
加强和改进巡视工作之四——系列七——中央纪委监察部网站 ●在当前遏制腐败蔓延势头的阶段，更好发挥巡视在党内监督中的重要作用，就要把减少腐败存量、遏制腐败增量的要求落实到巡视成果运用中，对巡视发现的问题分类处置，做到件件有着落。 ●巡视发现问题本身就是震慑，用好巡视成果就能形成更强有力的震慑。 ●要牵住党风廉政建设的“牛鼻子”，强化被巡视党组织的主体责任，整改意见书由党委书记签收、立此存照。 ●对责任不落实、整改不彻底、效果不明显、查案不够、震慑作用不大的，要抓住典型、严肃问责，决不放过。
继程慕阳后港媒再曝被通缉外逃3官疑藏匿加拿大新闻腾讯网 HK media on three more corrupt officials hiding in Canada
今年中央首轮巡视结束 近20名央企高管被查新闻腾讯网 目前，2015年中央第一轮巡视已经结束。据中新网记者不完全统计，在此轮巡视期间，26家央企中就已有近20名高管被查，其中包括多名已退居二线的前高管。
媒体解析：中纪委为何调整问题线索处置标准？_凤凰资讯 昨日，中央纪委监察部网站发布《纪委是如何处置问题线索的》视频，披露中纪委对反映干部问题线索的分类处置标准进行了调整，去掉了“留存”环节，增加了“谈话函询”环节。据悉，这有利于防止把小问题变成大问题、避免把“小苍蝇”养成“大老虎”。
Graft fugitive Michael Ching Mo Yeung finally admits he is a wanted man in China… but denies any guilt | South China Morning Post Vancouver property developer Michael Ching Mo Yeung, who was last week identified as Chinese fugitive Cheng Muyang, has broken his silence to admit that he is wanted on corruption charges in the mainland but denies he is guilty. In a statement issued to Canadian media over the weekend, Ching’s lawyer David Lunny said his client “had no involvement whatsoever in any graft or corruption”. “He did not flee from anything and he has never been in hiding,” said the statement.
China’s Exodus of Judges – WSJ With reform in the early stages and judicial resignations numerous, China is taking incremental steps that demonstrate how long the road is toward substantial legal reform, let alone a relatively independent judicial system. Among the problems that lie ahead are whether young law graduates will be attracted to the judiciary. It is possible that in the next few years the number of younger judges who are now leaving and the current lack of applicants could weaken efforts to professionalize the courts, and force the courts to recruit lower quality candidates.
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Foreign Affairs Brain Trust | Will China Crumble Survey asks if the current Chinese regime will not survive the next decade without major reform. 19 of 32 experts disagree or strongly disagree, 7 agree or strongly agree, 6 are neutral
Australia Plans Fines, Jail for Illegal Foreign Home Purchases – Bloomberg Business Sentences may stretch to three years and fines to A$637,500 ($500,500) for illicit buyers, with penalties also on third parties knowingly complicit in violations, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Saturday in Sydney. The steps are needed to give the public confidence that foreign-investment rules on property purchases are being enforced, he said.
CogitAsia Podcast: 26th ASEAN Summit | cogitASIA CSIS Asia Policy Blog In our latest podcast, we focus on the 26th ASEAN summit which concluded on April 27th in Malaysia. We caught up with CSIS Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies Ernie Bower to get his take on the outcomes of the summit and what they mean for the United States. We also review the region’s news and profile Myanmar’s Tin Aye.
China’s armed police enter Nepal to aid quake relief – Xinhua China’s armed police officers of traffic rescue left southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region and entered Nepal for the first time on Sunday to aid earthquake relief there. The operation, approved by the State Council and Central Military Commission, was launched after a meeting in the morning on the Chinese side of China-Nepal border at the urgent request of Nepal. Around 1:30 p.m., 160 armed police officers and 56 units of engineering machinery entered Nepal across the Friendship Bridge that links the two countries. Their first mission is to reopen the road connecting the border pass of Zham and Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital.
社评：安倍用向美谄媚逃避为侵略道歉评论环球网 中韩与日本就历史问题的斗争将长期持续下去，即使这当中表面上能被一眼认出的输赢不明显，但最终的输赢是会有的，那就是看谁的实力增长最终有更多收获。日本最感压抑的是其经济长期停滞，而中国却迅速在经济总量和国家综合实力上超越了它。中国继续朝前赶路，逐渐站到与美国实力的同一级别上，把日本越甩越远，将是对日本右翼势力的最沉重打击。
侵华日军七三一部队旧址部分建筑将修缮新闻腾讯网 some of the structures used by Japan’s infamous Unit 731 being restored // 据新华社电记者从侵华日军第七三一部队陈列馆获悉，近日国家文物局对《关于侵华日军第七三一部队旧址平房营区13处文物建筑保护修缮工程立项的请示》已作出批复，这标志着“七三一”旧址外围的文物建筑保护修缮工作将启动。
The clash of Chinese and American exceptionalism | Business Spectator In my current trip to the US, I started to notice in myself what I presume is the same sense of moral certainty that many Americans feel. I am both by proclivity and training a relativist, and I was surprised to find myself feeling pride and moral confidence as I toured such venerable institutions as the Library of Congress. Over the course of a number of meetings with US think tanks, government employees and academics, I began to see an acceptance of a certain fundamental bottom line of truth as being the base of many US views about China and its activities in the Asia Pacific. Namely, that China is ‘behaving badly’ and it is up to the US to stop it. This can be seen in, for example, the recent Washington Post article in which the author casually assumes ‘America’s job of containing China’.
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
Hong Kong’s Top Official to Visit U.S. – WSJ Mr. Leung will be accompanied on the visit by Clifford Hart, the U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau, said a spokesman from the U.S. consulate. “Consul General Hart looks forward to participating in the Chief Executive’s visit, as other U.S. Consuls General to Hong Kong and Macau have done in the past,” the spokesman said.
TECH AND MEDIA
国家网信办首个社会团体成立-中新网 日前，由国家互联网信息办公室指导成立并主管的首个全国性社会团体中国文化网络传播研究会在北京正式宣布成立。 据了解，该会是由从事中国文化研究的专家学者和从事网络传播的个人、企事业单位和社会组织自愿结成的全国性、学术性、非营利性社会组织，旨在团结各界有识之士，借助网络社会各种有效模式，发挥线上、线下桥梁与纽带作用，促进传统文化的现代转化、当代文化的未来发展、中国文化的海外传播，弘扬中华文化从自发到自觉向网络世界进军。自去年7月开始筹备以来，已有近300个会员申请入会
国家互联网信息办公室副主任任贤良对办好研究会提出四点希望-新华网 2015年4月29日，中国文化网络传播研究会成立大会在北京中国人民大学国学馆隆重举行。图为国家互联网信息办公室副主任任贤良致辞
互联网监管的三个“十条”有何意味？国内新京报网 自去年2月，中央网络安全和信息化领导小组提出抓紧完善互联网信息内容管理等法律法规，“微信十条”、“账号十条”和“约谈十条”先后出台。专家称，这一系列文件蕴含“互联网思维”，互联网立法将逐步完善。
暴风科技27涨停 较发行价涨16倍-手机和讯网 Baofeng Technology has traded limit up 10% every day since its IPO 27 trading days ago…a very interesting company in its own right, was originally a foreign-funded Internet firm with a VIE structure that restructured the VIE away and listed on the Shenzhen Growth board // 今日继续一字涨停，截至发稿，已收出第27个涨停，超越此前兰石重装(603169)的涨停纪录。暴风科技最新股价报122.54元，较发行价大涨16倍。 业绩方面，暴风科技一季度亏损320.85万元。 华泰证券(601688)认为，公司是中国知名的互联网视频企业，公司通过“暴风影音”系列软件（主要包括暴风影音PC端、暴风无线APP（简称“暴风无线”）和暴风看电影视频浏览器（简称“暴风看电影”），为视频用户提供免费使用为主的多终端综合视频服务、为商业客户提供互联网广告信息服务。募投项目主要包括互联网高清视频服务平台的升级与扩建项目和移动终端视频服务系统研发项目。
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Chinese Village Pursues Mummy That Turned Up in Hungary – NYTimes When contacted on the networking site LinkedIn last month, the Dutch architect Oscar van Overeem publicly acknowledged for the first time that he owned the mummy in dispute. He has said he purchased the statue in 1996 from a collector in Amsterdam who had acquired it in Hong Kong. Workers restoring the statue realized something might be inside, and Mr. van Overeem decided to get a CT scan, which revealed the mummy. But he insists that his statue is not the Zhanggong Patriarch. “I have convinced the Chinese representatives easily with facts and research that the villagers’ claim is unjustified or unlikely,” he wrote via LinkedIn. “However, meanwhile, my mummy has become a political issue — if I like it or not.”
China’s Race Problem-Foreign Affiars-Gary Tuttle Many observers, especially those outside China, see Beijing’s repressive policies toward such places primarily as an example of the central government’s authoritarian response to dissent. Framing the situation that way, however, misses the fact that Beijing’s hard-line policies are not merely a reflection of the central state’s desire to cement its authority over distant territories but also an expression of deep-seated ethnic prejudices and racism at the core of contemporary Chinese society. In that sense, China’s difficulties in Tibet and other regions are symptoms of a deeper disease, a social pathology that is hardly ever discussed in China and rarely mentioned even in the West.
相声“文哏大师”苏文茂病逝文化新京报网 Crosstalk master Su Wenmao dies at 86 // 著名相声表演艺术家苏文茂5月3日在天津病逝，享年86岁。遗体告别仪式将于5月9日举行。苏文茂师承常宝堃，代表作有《批三国》、《论捧逗》等，因其相声作品文雅深沉，有知识性且讲究刻画人物，有“文哏大师”美誉。
China’s great migration – FT.com – Jamil Anderlini reads like one of those big stories reporters write just before they leave // When China’s 170m rural migrant workers head home for New Year, it is the biggest movement of people on earth. Reunions can be hard
More Photos of the Ferrari LaFerrari crash in China | CarNewsChina.com Qin Fen (pic)(weibo), who goes by the nickname of ‘King’, is the owner of the very lucrative eSports outfit ‘Team King‘, its top-five players earned more than a million US dollar in 2014, each, by playing games like League of Legends and Dota 2…This particular car featured in our April story on a secret supercar garage in Shanghai. It is the seventh LeFerrari in China we know about, after a red one in Guangzhou, one in Chengdu, a double in Shanghai, one in Beijing, and a first in Shenzhen. It is the first LaFerrari to crash in China, but not the last, we bet.
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
Promising protection plan comes late in the game for China’s drying, degraded waters | CER there is likely enough slack in China’s agricultural water use that it is still possible to save a substantial amount through better irrigation practices and other improvements. That water can be used elsewhere while still growing the same amount of food, provided farming scales up to become more efficient and minor import growth is allowed for some grains. “I think you can actually maintain self-sufficiency and water supplies if you just manage it well,” Tan said, “though what you may have to give up on is meat production.” That would no doubt upset rapidly growing domestic hog farming outfits, which supply most of the rapidly rising domestic demand for meat. But recent signs do point to preparations being made at China’s ports for more pig imports.
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