"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Nearly 28,000 investors, policymakers, executives, analysts, diplomats, journalists, scholars and others rely on the newsletter for valuable insights into China. If you too want to get smarter about China, enter your email below to subscribe now.
[gravityform id=”1″ name=”p1 email” title=”false” description=”false”]
Just links today, transfixed with the firing of the American FBI director. Xi must be pleased, more fodder for propaganda against American democracy and Western rule of law.
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. Trump on Collision Course With South Korean Leader on Dealing With North – The New York Times With Mr. Moon’s election, South Korea and China are now fundamentally on the same page about how to deal with the North: Do what it takes to maintain the status quo and avoid any situation that could result in hostilities that would throw East Asia into chaos, and perhaps set off a financial panic. The Chinese, while promising some tougher sanctions against the North, hope to freeze the North Korean nuclear and missile arsenals where they are and channel Mr. Trump into a new set of negotiations that would probably take years. // Comment: Beijing is likely overjoyed with the results of the South Korea election. The credibility of an American threat to use force against North Korea is likely destroyed. It is highly unlikely that the US would attack North Korea without the support of ally South Korea. With a credible threat of force off the table Xi Jinping is much less likely to worry about US actions or change China’s strategic calculus about the DPRK. If (when?) Trump becomes dissatisfied with PRC’s efforts around the North Korea issue, the calm in US-China relations may quickly turn into a storm.
Related: China invites NK to economic forum-Yonhap “North Korea will send its delegation to the forum and will do relevant activities,” Geng Shuang, ministry spokesman, told a press briefing. Kim Yong-jae, the North Korean minister of external economic relations, reportedly plans to lead the delegation.
Related: Trump’s Plan to Isolate North Korea Faces Trouble—in the South – WSJ His advisers say that restarting the two projects would be just a “steppingstone” toward what Mr. Moon calls “economic unification,” with many more inter-Korean projects to come. He also would seek to organize a summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, his advisers said. Mr. Moon said he also would reassess whether to allow a U.S.-backed antimissile system aimed at blocking a North Korean attack to operate on South Korean soil. The system, called Thaad, began operating this week.
Related: ‘China has done its utmost’ on North Korea- Ambassador Cui Tiankai USA Today OpEd The pressure, economic and military, on the DPRK continues to build up. Yet how much is sufficient without triggering a humanitarian crisis or pushing Pyongyang into desperation? Another Iraq, Libya or Syria in Northeast Asia is a nightmare for all. Sanctioning alone will not work. Pressure must be coupled with direct talks with the DPRK. However, China does not hold the key to the issue. While the U.S. worries about the DPRK nuclear ambition, the DPRK justifies it by the U.S. threat to its survival. Suspicion is mutual and runs deep. Both sides are locked in a chicken-or-egg dilemma, and neither intends to take the first step. //Comment: How quickly will Xi offer a form of a “restart” with Seoul and lift some of the economic pressure on South Korea? What if THAAD remains?
Related: US-China Relations Set Up to Fail – Union of Concerned Scientists Tillerson told the assembly at State he hopes to set up the next half century of US-China relations. Tying the long-term future of the US—China relationship to a dramatic shift in Chinese policy on North Korea is a prescription for disappointment
2. President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” Forum | Center for Strategic and International Studies The Belt and Road initiative is Xi’s signature foreign policy effort. Following on from his meeting last month in Florida with President Donald Trump, the forum represents the next way station in a series of carefully choreographed events designed to burnish Xi’s international leadership credentials and showcase his domestic strength on the road to the 19th Party Congress in the fall, where he hopes to recast the new Politburo lineup in his own image and further establish his position of primacy within the leadership. // Comment: Important to remember that this initiative is as much political as it is economic, and that it is Xi’s signature foreign policy effort
Related: 解决“一带一路”钱的问题，周小川想了不少办法_第一财经 人民银行行长周小川日前在《中国金融》杂志上发表的署名文章《共商共建“一带一路”投融资合作体系》指出，“一带一路”建设涉及大量基础设施建设和产业合作，单靠政府难以提供足够的资金。 // Comment: Zhou Xiaochuan pens an essay about financing OBOR
Related: Xi’s New Silk Road Forum Sets Chinese Tone for Globalization 2.0 – Bloomberg China will ask 28 world leaders to sign on to President Xi Jinping’s signature initiative on globalization, bolstering a range of Chinese foreign policy objectives, according to people familiar with the draft communique. Not everyone is yet in agreement.
Related: Tightened Belt: China Skimps on Its Grand Trade Plan – WSJ Undeniably, real projects are forging ahead: Chinese bulldozers and cranes are at work on a high-speed rail line from China to Laos, port facilities in Sri Lanka, power stations in Vietnam and Pakistan and an international airport in Nepal. Adding it all up, Louis Kuijs, head of Asia research at Oxford Economics, tallies annual Chinese lending to the several dozen belt-and-road countries at around $130 billion in recent years. However, the bulk of that is from commercial banks. The two development banks that finance infrastructure projects relevant to One Belt One Road account for about $40 billion. That’s not small change. Yet it’s out of step with soaring official rhetoric // Comment: lots of burying of OBOR in Western media. Might be a bit early?
Related: SOEs Lead Infrastructure Push in 1,700 ‘Belt and Road’ Projects – Caixin Global About 50 Chinese state-owned corporate giants have invested or participated in nearly 1,700 projects in countries along the new Silk Road routes over the past three years, the Chinese government said Monday, just days before a major summit on the initiative opens in Beijing.
Related: Xi Jinping’s Silk Road is under threat from one-way traffic – FT $$ – Jorg Wuttke when political diktats rather than market forces drive business decisions, the risks of disappointment are always high. The writer is president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China
Related: Xi’s Vision for China’s Belt and Road Initiative – Carnegie-Tsinghua Center On May 14–15, 2017, China will host leaders and organizations from around the world in Beijing for the first ever Belt and Road Forum. In this Q&A, Paul Haenle discusses the significance of the Belt and Road Forum for China’s role in the world and relations with the United States.
3. China’s financial regulators appear determined to tighten rules further, boost oversight | South China Morning Post The Financial News, a publication under the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said in a commentary on Monday that market participants should refrain from exaggerating small-market volatility, lest their actions disrupt regulators’ determination to enhance supervision amid a “mild deleveraging” of the marketplace. “There’s no need to worry about the current monetary policy and regulatory policies,” the commentary said. “Stability remains the key tone.”
Related: Banking Regulator Tightens Oversight on Collateral Management – Caixin Global The China Banking Regulatory Commission included those provisions in new guidelines published on Monday for lenders on collateral management. 中国银监会关于印发 商业银行押品管理指引的通知 银监发〔2017〕16号
Related: Shanghai Bourse Encourages Sale of Local Government Bonds – Caixin Global The demand for such local debt has been sluggish in the past year. About 474.5 billion yuan ($68.7 billion) worth of local government bonds was issued in the first quarter of 2017, down by more than a half of the 955.4 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by Chinese financial information provider Wind.
Related: 重庆发改委原处长受贿2.6亿元 多家券商涉案金融频道财新网 Comment: A former Chongqing NDRC official is accused of receiving 260m RMB in bribes to facilitate debt issuance, including by helping them raise their credit ratings // 围绕发改委企业债的核准权，共有国信证券、广州证券、华林证券等7家券商以及5家发债企业向三名被告人行贿，涉及帮券商承揽企业债券承销业务、帮发债企业提升信用评级等发债潜规则
Related: China’s $9 Trillion Bond Market Lures Neuberger, Fidelity – Bloomberg China is accelerating the opening of the world’s third-largest debt market to help counter capital outflows and seek inclusion in global bond indexes. Bloomberg Barclays Indexes, owned by Bloomberg, overhauled its China fixed-income gauges and started a Global Aggregate + China index on March 1, while stopping short of adding the nation to major benchmark measures.
Related: As China tightens cash conditions, yuan bond yields rise | Reuters China’s renewed efforts this month to curb the volume of cash in its banking system do not so far appear to have caused much stress in money markets, although the steady rise in yuan bond yields suggests market participants are bracing for tighter and more expensive funding conditions. Tuesday was the third straight day that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) refrained from injecting cash into markets via its open market operations.
Related: China bond issuance collapses as Beijing squeezes liquidity- FT $$ A government drive to squeeze financial companies’ liquidity and guide interbank rates higher has had a punitive impact on other groups, which have rushed to abort planned debt issues, according to Wind, a Chinese data provider.
Related: 保监会重拳指向险资热衷四大领域：股票、股权投资首当其冲_证券时报网 Comment: CIRC says it will take a look at insurance companies’ big stock purchases as well as investments in real estate, overseas and alternative assets
4. Kushner Companies apologises for touting US presidential family ties in China | South China Morning Post “In the course of discussing this project and the firm’s history with potential investors, Ms Meyer wanted to make clear that her brother had stepped away from the company in January and has nothing to do with this project,” Kushner Companies said in a statement. “Kushner Companies apologises if that mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure investors.” // Comment: The Qiaowai CEO Ding Ying posted slides (Twitter) touting her attendance at Trump’s inauguration Add in the “Trump as decider” slide (Twitter) about EB-5 and the Chinese marks are left with intended impression Trump backs this deal. Nicole Kushner Meyer can issue as many apologies as she wants but the intent is clearly to convince the Chinese investors that Trump backs this and they have the connections to make it happen. Qiaowai knows how to work American politicians; Rudy Giuliani shilled for Qiaowai in 2015 (Twitter)
Related: Senators criticize visa program pushed by Jared Kushner’s sister in China – The Washington Post Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Monday said that an effort by the sister of senior White House adviser Jared Kushner to offer U.S. visas to Chinese investors is a “stark conflict of interest” and called for the program’s elimination. // Comment: A start would be demanding that the certification of this Kushner project for EB-5 visas should be revoked
Related: CBS Evening News-Jared Kushner’s sister highlights family ties in pitch to Chinese investors Witnesses have said the presentation included pictures of Mr. Trump and referenced Jared Kushner specifically. Major Garrett reports. // Comment: Beijing can’t be happy with Qiaowai and all the negative publicity this roadshow is generating, especially if it damages Jared Kushner’s standing
Related: Kushner Kin’s China Sales Pitch ‘Corruption, Pure and Simple’: Expert – NBC News A former White House ethics adviser says that a sales pitch by Jared Kushner’s sister to potential Chinese investors that was centered on a controversial visa program came “very, very close to solicitation of a bribe.” “This is corruption, pure and simple,” said Richard Painter, who was an attorney for President George W. Bush and is now a University of Minnesota law professor.
Related: The Kushner Project Touted in China Is in Trouble at Home – Bloomberg the version Meyer promoted in China is bigger, grander and more than twice as expensive as plans pitched to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in November 2015. It will cost nearly $1 billion, including $150 million from Chinese investors, $301 million in owner equity and $525 million in debt, according to a pitchbook for an upcoming meeting in Guangzhou. It will have more than double the 744 apartments originally proposed to New Jersey.
5. Syria says up to 5,000 Chinese Uighurs fighting in militant groups | Reuters Up to 5,000 ethnic Uighurs from China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang are fighting in various militant groups in Syria, the Syrian ambassador to China said on Monday, adding that Beijing should be extremely concerned about it.
Related: Uyghurs Studying Abroad Ordered Back to Xinjiang Under Threat to Families-RFA Launched at the end of January by authorities across the Xinjiang region, the campaign has frightened targeted students, some of whom have disappeared or been jailed after coming back, a Uyghur studying at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University told RFA’s Uyghur Service.
6. Xi Jinping’s Web of Laws – China Media Project – Medium Xi Jinping’s cyber regime is still in formation. But we can be sure that as the news in China increasingly goes digital, and as television goes mobile, the CAC’s power will grow. Its web of controls, almost assured to be one of Xi Jinping’s most enduring legacies, will overlay China’s 21st century web of communications.
Related: Cyberspace Officials Order Unqualified Portals to End Live News – Caixin Global The order — covering live content billed as “newscasts” with “news anchors” and “livestreaming hosts” — was issued Monday by the Beijing branch of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) as part of a push to harness online content providers before a new internet law takes full effect next month. Websites operated by Sina Corp., Tencent Holdings Ltd., NetEase Inc., iFeng and Phoenix Television were forced to revamp content after authorities said they were violating the latest version of the nation’s 2005 News Information Service Regulations
7. Counterpoint: Universities in China | Justice Labs – Rob Precht Last month I published an article arguing that western universities in China were failing to uphold human rights and violating the UN’s Guiding Principles. An individual with extensive experience in China wrote to me and made powerful arguments opposing my view. With this individual’s permission, I reprint below the message that was sent to me
Related: How can western universities operating in China ignore human rights? A legal perspective | Hong Kong Free Press By Robert E. Precht The growing presence of Western universities in China alongside an apparent government crackdown on the human rights community raises the issue of the universities’ corporate social responsibility.
8. Top Chinese researcher’s move to US sparks soul-searching in China | South China Morning Post ‘Goddess scientist’ Nieng Yan, once touted as a key example of Beijing’s success in luring back talent, is returning to Princeton University
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
Despite Setbacks, Trump’s Trade Warrior Peter Navarro Is Fighting On – WSJ Mr. Trump’s decision last month to kill the National Trade Council, created shortly after the election and led by Mr. Navarro, raised questions about how much influence economic “nationalists” still had over policies. Mr. Navarro’s views have clashed with those of Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs Inc. president who is director of the National Economic Council. Mr. Cohn, of the administration’s “globalist” contingent, has been a moderating force on trade issues, White House staffers and lobbyists say. // Comment: Was Navarro demoted from assistant to the president to deputy assistant to the president? Compare his title in this recent announcement to his title in the earlier announcement about his appointment
No high-rises, no concrete jungle in China’s new satellite capital | Reuters China will ban large-scale property development including towering skyscrapers in an ambitious new economic zone near Beijing, the leading local Communist Party official wrote in an editorial in the People’s Daily on Tuesday. “Every inch of land” in the Xiongan New Area will be carefully and deliberately planned, wrote Zhao Kezhi, party chief of Hebei province, where Xiongan is located.
China’s securities regulator launches inspection on brokerages’ fund business-sources | Reuters Brokerages, along with trust firms and fund houses, have been used by banks as a channel to guide deposits into risky investments and skirt capital rules, helping boost the size of China’s shadow banking to nearly $10 trillion, according to Moody’s estimate.
China Planning Merger of Sinochem, ChemChina – Bloomberg Details of the deal, which would combine more than $100 billion of assets, weren’t immediately clear and the plan’s still subject to change, the person said, asking not to be identified because it hasn’t been publicly announced. In response to the Bloomberg story, representatives from China National Chemical and Sinochem said “there is no such thing.”
Cheap Chinese Aluminum Is a National Security Threat | Foreign Policy High purity aluminum is used to make certain kinds of jets, such as Boeing’s F-18 and Lockheed Martin’s F-35, as well as armored vehicles. But the United States now has just one domestic manufacturer of high purity aluminum left — Century Aluminum’s Hawesville, Ky. plant, which is currently operating at 40 percent capacity amid dropping prices.
Alipay to Debut in U.S., Hot on Heels of WeChat – Caixin Global Ant Financial Services Group, which operates Alipay, is partnering with American payment solutions firm First Data Corp., which will offer the Chinese platform access to its 4 million clients in the U.S., the American company said Monday. The U.S.-wide launch of Alipay — China’s largest online payment provider with around 450 million active users — comes after a pilot rollout in November at certain retail locations in California and New York state.
China Scrutinizes Active Stock Traders as Xi Hosts Summit – Bloomberg The instructions, delivered at the behest of China’s securities regulator, follow a pattern of market intervention during tightly-scripted government events. The Belt and Road summit — part of Xi’s push to increase trade ties across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa — kicks off Sunday against the backdrop of rising investor angst. The Shanghai Composite Index headed for its longest losing streak in three years on Tuesday amid concern that a separate regulatory crackdown on leverage will curb demand for shares.
Buying Spree Brings Attention to Opaque Chinese Company – The New York Times As China’s financial might has grown, companies like HNA have embarked on ambitious expansions, spreading money around the world and reshaping markets. But the opaque nature of some big Chinese players is prompting scrutiny from policy makers and politicians in the United States and elsewhere who are trying to understand the forces behind the aggressive deal-making and the role that the Chinese government plays.
China Mulls 3 Mega Power Firms in $855 Billion Reshuffle – Bloomberg The proposal, which is only one option being considered as the government of President Xi Jinping seeks to restructure the state-run power sector, hasn’t been finalized and is subject to change, according to people with knowledge of the plan.
Economy-Boosting Locations Picked for Second Airports in Guangzhou and Shenzhen – Yicai Locations have been selected for second airports in the megacities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, per the Guangdong Provincial Government’s recently issued Comprehensive Traffic Transportation System Five-year Plan. The sites were selected predominantly for their potential to boost economic growth.
China Mulling Higher Pay for State-Owned Company Executives, Source Says – Bloomberg Premier Li Keqiang told a meeting of more than 100 top executives in Beijing last month the government was rethinking a 2015 policy capping their pay at a fraction of their overseas peers, said the person, who asked not to be named because the meeting was private. Li promised a system with more competitive rates, probably tied to performance, the person said, in an effort to hold onto their managers.
Ex-Wall Street Banker Convicted in Guinea Bribery Case – Bloomberg Prosecutors claim Thiam used the bribes to pay for luxuries, including ski lessons, private school for his kids, a Steinway grand piano and renovations to a 30-acre estate in New York’s Dutchess County. Thiam, who testified in his own defense, said the money was a loan from China International Fund’s Sam Pa. Bribery allegations have swirled over mineral development in Guinea for years.
2.6-bln-USD venture capital fund to support Chinese startups – Xinhua The fund was set up by the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission and the State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC), among others.
POLITICS AND LAW
Chinese Rights Lawyer ‘Released’ After Guilty Plea During Subversion Trial-RFA Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan on Monday released rights lawyer Xie Yang on “bail” after he pleaded guilty at his subversion trial and backtracked on previous reports of his torture while in police detention. Xie, 45, stood trial at the Changsha Intermediate People’s Court on Monday, pleading guilty to charges of “incitement to subvert state power” and “disrupting court order.” “Xie told the court … that he had not been coerced into a confession nor had he been subjected to torture,” state news agency Xinhua reported, reflecting the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s official version of events.
Statement by the Spokesperson on the recent conviction of prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Li Heping – European External Action Service The Chinese authorities are expected to abide by China’s international law obligations, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and respect the rights of all citizens as recognised by China’s Constitution, as well as to drop all pending charges against the human rights lawyers and defenders detained in connection with the 9 July 2015 crackdown, including Jiang Tianyong, Wang Quanzhang, Xie Yang and Wu Gan, and ensure their release.
习近平在地方任职期间关心指导办公厅（室）工作的故事–专题报道-人民网 在习近平总书记“5·8”重要讲话发表三周年之际，《秘书工作》派出采访组到有关地方和单位进行采访，了解感受践行“五个坚持”给“三服务”工作与办公厅（室）队伍带来的深刻影响和巨大变化。在河北、福建、浙江、上海等地，大家不约而同回忆起习近平总书记当年关心指导办公厅（室）工作的一些故事和细节。这些故事和细节，让我们感受到习近平总书记对办公厅（室）同志们一以贯之的亲切关怀和严格要求，对进一步深刻理解和深入贯彻“5·8”重要讲话精神具有重要启示和意义。
低调的中央机构 接连约请省委书记 – 今日头条 中共中央对外联络部成立于1951年，负责中国共产党对外工作，是党际外交的主要机构。目前负责的领域主要有四大方向：一是服务国家总体外交布局“抓政党”；二是围绕中央治国理政的需求“抓调研”；三是着眼于国家关系的健康稳定发展“抓人脉”；四是开拓创新“抓形象”。// Comment: Interesting article on the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party
中共中央党校 – 学习时报网_系统掌握马克思主义基本原理 中共中央办公厅印发的《关于推进“两学一做”学习教育常态化制度化的意见》指出：“习近平总书记系列重要讲话是中国特色社会主义理论体系最新成果，是当代中国马克思主义最新发展，是我们党推进具有许多新的历史特点的伟大斗争、党的建设伟大工程、中国特色社会主义伟大事业的强大思想武器，是各级党组织和全体党员必须始终坚持的行动指南。”我们学习习近平总书记系列重要讲话，也应该按照党中央《意见》的要求，“坚持读原著、学原文、悟原理”。 (作者系教育部高等学校社会科学发展研究中心原主任、教授)
周永康爱将、原公安部副部长杨焕宁被抓 Comment: Boxun claims that Yang Huanning, former vice minister of Public Security, current head of the State Administration of Work Safety
Guo Wengui has another live broadcast May 10 at 8AM EST 郭文贵报平安视频直播 5月10日上午8时（美国东部时间 // Comment: I believe May 10 is his birthday, could be interesting. Guo lately seems to have pulled back from some his more sensitive attacks, almost like he has reached or is close to a deal with Xi’s people. In his May 8 video he spent a lot of time attacking Boxun and Caixin, and he said more than once he did not want to see the overthrow of the CCP. Guo is disappointing overseas dissidents who saw him as a great hope with his reiteration that he is not interested in toppling Xi or the communist party
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
China’s Xi vows to defend climate pact in call with Macron | AFP China and France “should protect the achievements of global governance, including the Paris Agreement”, Xi told Macron, according to the foreign ministry. 习近平同法国当选总统马克龙通电话
No change to U.S. Navy freedom of navigation patrols: commander | Reuters “There is nothing that has significantly changed in the last two or three months,” Admiral Scott Swift told reporters in Singapore, referring to the U.S. Navy excursions it says it conducts to ensure freedom of navigation.
Satellite images reveal Chinese expansion in South China Sea-Defense News The high-resolution imagery, shown here for the first time, reveals recent changes in the layout of the People’s Liberation Army’s Yulin Naval Base at the tip of Hainan Island in the disputed South China Sea. In less than two months, the PLA deployed multiple missile launchers on the western side of the base, deployments that ISI imagery analyst Amit Gur has concluded are anti-ship missiles.
China’s smear campaign against a U.S. admiral backfires – The Washington Post The Chinese government is denying reports that its ambassador to Washington asked the Trump administration to fire Adm. Harry Harris, the head of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) and a strong voice inside the U.S. government calling for a tough China policy. This may mark the end of Beijing’s not-so-subtle campaign against Harris, which has been going on for years.
11 children, several South Korean, die in bus crash in China | Reuters The bus had been transporting the children, all aged between three and six years old, to an international kindergarten in Weihai, a city across the Yellow Sea from South Korea, the local government said on its official Weibo account, a Chinese equivalent to Twitter.
Now, Beijing deletes envoy’s suggestion to rename China-Pakistan corridor | Hindustan Times Chinese ambassador to New Delhi Luo Zhaohui had also said Beijing had no intention to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan, and that the CPEC project was for promoting economic cooperation and connectivity in the region.
Project 2049 Institute – The People’s Republic of China and Burma: Not Only Pauk-Phaw Pauk-Phaw was a term coined in the 1950s to describe the supposedly friendly and close relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Burma…As China sees it, it cannot simply “hand over” Burma to the West. The country is far too important strategically and economically to the PRC for that to happen. Bertil Lintner (05/09/2017)
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
Uninvited Taiwan says going to U.N. health meeting, warns China on ties | Reuters In an unusually assertive stand for the island, its foreign ministry said Chen Shih-chung, minister of health and welfare, would lead a delegation to Geneva “to exchange views” with WHA members on global health and safety.
Japan backs Taiwan taking part in UN global health forum | South China Morning Post “We feel Taiwan’s participation in the WHO in some form is desirable in order to strengthen [the world’s] response to dangers to public health,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular press briefing in Tokyo Tuesday.
More pro-democracy activists ejected from Macau, hours after successfully entering as tourists | Hong Kong Free Press Two pro-democracy activists have been deported by Macau hours after successfully entering the Special Administrative Region, which is currently hosting a Chinese state leader. It came after several other Hong Kong pro-democracy figures were denied entry ahead of the visit.
Macau to Require ID Check Before Cash Withdrawals at ATMs – WSJ Government says use of facial recognition, identity cards is aimed at tackling money laundering, terrorism financing
TECH AND MEDIA
China Says Draft Rules on Cloud Computing Have Been Misunderstood – WSJ Responding to questions about the policy from The Wall Street Journal, the industry and information technology ministry said in a statement Friday that it was a “misreading of the situation” to say the rules would require U.S. companies to transfer control to a local partner. It said foreign companies who abide by the law wouldn’t have to worry about losing their intellectual property.
China reforms personnel management in media institutions – Xinhua The plan, approved by the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform, aims to retain talent and bring new blood into the journalism industry by forming more stable labor relations between media institutions and their personnel 深化中央主要新闻单位采编播管岗位人事管理制度改革
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
‘Baby Dragon’ Found In China Is The Newest Species Of Dinosaur : The Two-Way : NPR Meet Beibeilong sinensis, the most recently identified dinosaur species. The name means “baby dragon from China.” The dinosaur had massive feathered wings and a birdlike skull. It probably looked most like a cassowary, flightless birds slightly smaller than an ostrich.
Anti-smog campaign continues in north – China Daily The 5,600-plus inspectors will keep a spotlight on governments and companies in 28 major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the neighboring provinces of Henan, Shanxi and Shandong, which are susceptible to heavy smog, the ministry said. // Comment: Will they check the air monitoring station at the Olympic Park in Beijing? According a post on Weibo on May 5 (Twitter), the Beijing environmental bureau busted pumping purified air next to that air quality monitoring station
Monitoring network to be further expanded – China Daily China’s air quality monitoring network is to be expanded to cover a wider area, especially at the grassroots level, to facilitate scientific and effective control of airborne pollution.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ISSUES
Company Squabble Sees 16,000 Tons of Wheat Go to Waste Owner of Henan storage facility alleges state monopoly Sinograin neglected to pay millions of yuan in rent from 2010.
Li gets close look at China-made tractor – People’s Daily Online Premier Li Keqiang called on Monday for further efforts to drive agricultural modernization and manufacturing upgrades amid China’s economic transformation. Li, during his inspection tour in Central China’s Henan province, visited an agricultural machinery manufacturing plant in Kaifeng and climbed aboard on a newly made tractor developed using domestic technology. CCTV-李克强：提升改革开放水平 解决重点民生难题 // Comment: Is Li Keqiang getting more propaganda love again?
EDUCATION
Shanghai Punishes Primary School for Drilling Parents on Their Intelligence – Caixin Global Education authorities in Shanghai have ordered two private primary schools to apologize after it was revealed that one gave parents grueling IQ tests and another grilled students over the profession of their grandparents.
BEIJING
Beijing Cracks Down on Steeply Priced ‘School District Homes’ In China, public schools offer places to students according to the proximity of their family home. This policy is designed to encourage fairness, but in practice, the opposite happens. Wealthy families compete for spots at the best schools via the real estate market. Some of Beijing’s districts also get thousands more applicants than they can accommodate. Under the new policy, children will be allocated to any school in the wider district, and not necessarily to the institution closest to their homes.
Send comments/tips/complaints to bill@sinocism.com
If you like Sinocism please spread the word using this link.