"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. Wang Qishan highlights Party discipline in anti-corruption effort – Xinhua As the countercorruption campaign shifts up a gear, anti-graft chief Wang Qishan vowed to “awaken the awareness of discipline and rules among Party members”. Wang, head of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), made the remarks during an inspection trip to coastal Zhejiang Province that ended on Sunday. Wang also pledged to enhance institutional innovation and let discipline and rules take the lead in the anti-graft campaign. Recalling the beginning of China’s fight against foreign aggression in 1840, the founding of the CPC in 1921 and the founding of the nation in 1949, Wang said the CPC must continue to lead the great renewal of the nation, adding that the strict governing of the Party was a precondition of ensuring the success of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He said Party discipline was stricter than the law.
Related: [视频]王岐山在浙江省调研时强调 唤醒党章党规意识 推进制度创新新闻频道央视网(cctv.com) Sunday CCTV Evening News on Wang Qishan’s visit to Zhejiang…must be lots of sleepless Zhejiang officials in his wake, usually whenever he visits an area downfalls follow…Wang Qishan also visited Nanhu Lake and the boat on which 1st communist party congress was held
Related: 王岐山调研8省份均有“老虎”被打(图) helpful reminder from Beijing Youth Daily that after Wang Qishan’s 8 inspection tours “tigers” in those areas have fallen soon after, and so far only one “tiger “in Zhejiang has gone down–Si Xinliang, right before Chinese new year // 刚刚过去的这个周末，中共中央政治局常委、中央纪委书记王岐山没有休息。5月8日至10日，他调研浙江，在工作中度过了5月的第二个周末。约3个月前的2月16日，浙江省政协原党组副书记、副主席斯鑫良“落马”，这也是浙江“首虎”。在浙江，王岐山主持召开部分省区市纪委书记座谈会。他强调，要唤醒党章党规意识、推进制度创新，修改好《中国共产党纪律处分条例》，把纪律和规矩挺在法律前面，挺在党风廉政建设和反腐败斗争前沿。
2.【“赵衙内”的房产帝国(之一)】南京：父荫下的原始积累公司频道财新网 blockbuster story on real estate developer Zhao Jin, son of detained former Jiangsu provincial official Zhao Shaolin, talks about ties to Communist Youth League, all sorts of dirty dealings including hidden cameras and blackmail, mentions three of Zhao Shaolin’s Jiangsu provincial bosses by name–Chen Huanfa, Hui Liangyu and Li Yuanchao..given the past examples of Caixin exposes narrowing towards high-level tiger targets, this may not not bode well for claims that the tiger hunt is halted. And probably noteworthy that this story drops the day after the propaganda push around Wang Qishan’s three day Zhejiang inspection tour. Wang sure does not look like he is slowing down… // 赵少麟是在1997年11月，从淮阴市委书记调任江苏省委副秘书长、办公厅主任，开始接近江苏省权力核心圈的。1998年6月，他升任省委秘书长兼办公厅主任。接下来的8年中，陈焕友、回良玉和李源潮先后出任江苏省最高领导，但赵少麟的工作分工一直没有变，并在2000年进入江苏省委常委班子——这也是他担任的最高职务。 知情者称，赵少麟在南京官场上并不张扬，但民间口碑不好。2000年左右，曾有开发商跟他谈及赵少麟时说，这哪里像共产党的干部。 赵晋的原始积累中，赵少麟提携甚力。在南京多位房产界人士印象中，赵晋势利、霸道，他的原始积累是一种空手套白狼的方式，“只要他看中了哪块地，赵少麟会直接出面打招呼”。
3. Economists React: China’s Rate Cut Is a Stone Aimed at Many Birds – China Real Time Report – WSJ This is unlikely to mark the end of policy support…We expect a further 150 basis point reduction in the RRR before the end of 2015, plus continued direct support for lending in the form of re-lending operations…There is a tendency always to see China as teetering on the edge of economic collapse, but given the range of tools at policymakers’ disposal and their willingness to use them, conditions should soon stabilize. That would keep GDP growth on the official figures at around 7%. Despite it being a response to economic weakness, today’s move is also likely to give another boost to equity markets. — Mark Williams, Capital Economics
Related: Goldman Sees China Rebound as History Repeats for Top Forecaster – Bloomberg Business As gloom gathered over China’s economic outlook in March last year, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economist Song Yu declared growth likely had “troughed” and a rebound would follow. The top forecaster on China’s economy was proven right, and sees a repeat this year. “Now it’s very similar to this time of last year in terms of having a combination of monetary, fiscal and administrative loosening,” said Beijing-based Song, ranked the best overall forecaster of China’s economy by Bloomberg Rankings for the past two years. “The data in recent years consistently show us one thing: If the Chinese government really, really wants to push up short-term growth, they can.”
4. Investors Pay a Price for Caution on China – WSJ Yes been painful for those who missed this, and some of the bearish pundits/analysts who exposed their lack of understanding about the intersection of politics, propaganda and the markets in China have now gotten very defensive. But as I have said repeatedly recently this market has gone up too far too fast and there are lots of reasons to expect a bit of a correction…and some smart money I know says their trigger for selling is when the foreigners start buying in to catch up to what they missed… // Investors who are skittish about China are underperforming versus their benchmarks whenever the market goes up. Yet they say they are leery of boosting their allocations to China, because they don’t want to buy at excessively high prices, potentially hitting future returns. At a time of weak economic growth and expansive central-bank stimulus—including an interest-rate cut by China’s central bank on Sunday—gains in many Chinese investments appear driven by hopes for policy moves rather than fundamental economic strength. Last week’s pullback in Chinese stocks amid a sharp reversal in several once-hot assets, such as the U.S. dollar and German bunds, has reminded investors how vulnerable these rallies are.
Related: At 1:20 P.M., China’s Great Stock Rally Mysteriously Falls Apart – Bloomberg Business It’s the most dangerous hour in the Chinese stock market — when the world’s biggest boom suddenly goes bust. The time is 1:20 to 2:20 p.m., and its losses stand out in a rally that added 545 points, or 15 percent, to the Shanghai Composite Index over the past 30 days. In that hour alone, the equity gauge dropped 359 points. It fell in 19 of 30 sessions, the most consistent declines among rolling one-hour periods when the Shanghai bourse was open for trading.
5. India comes to China-Sinica Podcast Today we’re going to talk about the upcoming visit to China of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who served from 2001 to 2014 as chief minister of Gujarat and was sworn into office almost one year ago this month. Modi’s visit comes at an interesting time in Sino-Indian relations, following closely on the heels of recent Chinese summitry with India’s arch-rival Pakistan and the closing of roughly 46 billion dollars in investment deals in the region. Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for this discussion are two friends and experts on Sino-Indian relations: Ananth Krishnan of the India Today Group, and Sutirtho Patranobis of the Hindustan Times.
6. A Slow Death? China’s Draft Foreign NGO Management Law | China Law & Policy transparency is not what this law is about. If it was, foreign NGOs could easily continue to be regulated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. But the Ministry of Civil Affairs is nowhere to be found in the draft law itself. Instead, it has largely been replaced by the China’s public security apparatus. It is the PSB that has ultimate say if the foreign NGO can establish a representative office or conduct temporary activities in China (see Art. 47). The PSB can, on its own volition, conduct on-site inspections of the China office, question individuals involved with the “matter being investigated,” copy or “seal” documents and when the PSB determines necessary, “seal” the venue related to the “matters being investigated” (see Art. 49). The law is silent on what would give the PSB cause to disrupt the work of a foreign NGO, allowing for potential harassment.
7. Q&A: Taiwan”s President Ma Ying-jeou on China Ties, Policy and His Legacy – WSJ Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou is entering his eighth and final year in office. The Wall Street Journal interviewed Mr. Ma in the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on Friday, discussing his time in office, his China policy and the political costs of some of the policies he has pursued. Here is a transcript of the conversation.
8. Harnessing the Mekong or Killing It? – National Geographic Magazine Pumee Boontom lives in northern Thailand, but he tunes his television to the Chinese weather forecast. A big storm in southern China means a big release of water from the Chinese dams upstream—and, in turn, a good chance his village will be flooded. The Chinese government is supposed to warn downstream countries. In Boontom’s experience, that warning tends to arrive too late or not at all. “Before the dams, the water would go up and down gradually, with the seasons,” he says. “Now the water goes up and down drastically, and we don’t know when it’s going to change—unless we watch the storms.”
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
What Spurred Shanghai’s Stock Selloff – Barron’s To be sure, most of the rally stems from higher multiples, not earnings gains, and some bubbly valuations are evident, such as those for Hanergy Thin Film (0566.Hong Kong), the world’s largest solar company by market cap despite questionable technology and a dubious business model, and Evergrande Real Estate (3333.Hong Kong), a heavily-indebted developer trading well above its peers, just because it owns a soccer club. But it’s too early to call the entire Chinese market a bubble. Shanghai and Hong Kong shares trade at 2.8 and 1.4 times book value, respectively, well below the 6.9 and 5.2 times seen at their 2007 peak.
创业板窗口指导属谣言 基金否认收到风险提示-手机和讯网 Securities Times interviews more than 20 funds, says that reports that the CSRC requested funds reduce Shenzhen small cap exposure are wrong, the funds never got any request like that// 两则消息在朋友圈、微博、微信号里广为相传，一时间，令普通投资者和机构投资者都无法淡定，可又无从求证。 普通投资者关心的问题是，创业板股票会否迎来大幅震荡，而机构投资者关心的是，监管层直接干预基金交易和仓位的行为，将直接抹杀中国资本市场多年来的市场化成果，动摇国内机构投资者的信心，更不用说国外长期投资基金进入中国的信心了。 记者随即启动调查。 调查结果非常明确：接受采访的20余家规模排名靠前的基金公司均称未收到来自监管层的交易指令，并认为，在当前的政治和经济大环境下，监管层不可能对基金配置进行直接干预。换言这，直接干预市场主体交易和仓位的行为明显不符合常识。
China’s securities regular warns investors over exposure to risks | South China Morning Post one of the reports Securities Times says is wrong // China’s securities regulator has suggested that some funds reduce their exposure to small-cap stocks listed on the ChiNext board, a Nasdaq-style board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, sources said. The China Securities Regulatory Commission is concerned inexperienced individual investors may be misled by the rapid increase in prices of shares traded on ChiNext and may be at risk of large losses, said the sources. The ChiNext Index jumped six per cent on Friday to a record and has doubled this year.
China Private Equity, M&A & Capital Markets, from China First Capital In fact, a new form of investment fund has come into being especially to do deals like this. They call themselves “市值管理基金” which you can translate as “market cap management funds”. They exist to help publicly-traded companies do M&A deals that will lift the company’s share price, and not much else. They make money buying and selling shares, as well as marking up for resale companies they buy on behalf of publicly-traded companies. They are not buyout funds as understood elsewhere, since these market cap management funds are buying on behalf of a specific company and have no particular industry expertise or experience managing an acquired company. They act purely as a temporary custodian. Most often, the acquirer will contribute a small amount of limited partner capital to the “market cap management fund” as a way to bind the two organisations together. It can take a year or more from when the market cap management fund first buys the target company then sells to the publicly-traded acquirer, and from there, several more years before this acquisition starts to have an impact, if any, on the acquiring company’s earnings. In other words, a very long timetable.
China stocks woo investors with new names – FT.com “Companies want to let investors know that they are moving away from original business and into emerging industries. It’s like in the US in the 1990s when every company started calling itself dotcom,” said Yao Weiwei, equity strategist at Huatai Securities in Shanghai, acknowledging that most name changes are more than just cosmetic. Tech shares and other emerging industries have been among the biggest winners in the recent share rally. Investors expect tech firms to benefit from government policies aimed at reducing the economy’s reliance on smokestack industries and promoting the services sector.
Why China Is Ready to Let Wall Street Firms Invade Its Markets – Bloomberg Business China’s securities regulator figures greater participation by foreign investment banks might help mitigate the boom-bust cycles of its stock market by bringing in more institutional money, according to people familiar with the matter. To that end, Chinese officials are weighing letting them buy majority stakes in local joint ventures and expand into areas such as stock broking and wealth management, the people said in March. Such a move could align the interests of China’s government and foreign banks who have lobbied for years for greater access: The banks would get an opportunity to carve out a larger market share in the world’s second-biggest economy, while China gets support for its push to make securities markets more efficient without jeopardizing the dominance of local firms.
Chinese property sector shows signs of recovery – FT.com M ore signs of a recovery in Chinese property: developers surveyed by China Confidential, an FT research service, reported a surge in activity in April. Of 300 surveyed in 40 cities nationwide, 55 per cent reported an increase in sales from the previous month, taking the China Confidential Home Sales Index to 66.9 (a reading above 50 indicates growth). Growth came from an already high base in March, when developers reported a sharp uptick in sales following the Chinese new year holiday. Significantly, this is the first time that the index has stayed above 60 for two consecutive months since China Confidential began its survey in December 2012.
It’s Not Just Greece, China’s Retreat Threatens European Bonds – Bloomberg Business The Chinese central bank has amassed $3.73 trillion in currency reserves over the past decade in a bid to hold down the value of the yuan and underpin the competitiveness of its exporters. As the government in Beijing changes gear, cultivating domestic demand to sustain economic growth, it may affect European bond markets just as much as the Greek efforts to win better terms from creditors. “It’s quite clear that China’s foreign exchange reserves can’t grow like before,” said Li Jie, head of the foreign-exchange reserve research center at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing. “There will be fewer and fewer funds available from China for European treasury bonds.”
人民日报驳“外资撤离潮”论 People’s Daily refutes talk that foreign firms are pulling investments out of china en masse // 这些年，确实出现了个别外资企业撤出中国的情况。沈丹阳认为，这主要是随着中国经济发展进入新常态，正在发生经济结构升级和比较优势转换。在这一背景下，一些外资企业出现不适应，他们或者转型，或者转移，这是利用外资过程中出现的正常现象，总体数量有限，“不用大惊小怪”。 商务部研究院副院长邢厚媛认为，所谓“外资撤离潮”以前没有出现，以后也不会出现。越来越开放的中国，对外资依然魅力十足。
三桶油换将悬念财新周刊频道财新网 Caixin cover story on the changes in leadership at the top three oil companies and the apparent delays in mooted reform
近1/4平台已出问题 P2P监管前夜争相提速 – 经济观察网 － 专业财经新闻网站 Economic Observer says 1/4 of P2P loan platforms are having problems // “今年可能不排除有排名非常靠前的公司会倒下。”王坤称，中国经济进入新常态，平台的风险在积累，发展也将进入新常态，一旦投资金额突然减少，会对平台造成难以估计的冲击。
POLITICS AND LAW
Scandal of Linxiang mayor found naked and high on Ice highlights drug addiction among cadres | South China Morning Post When police caught up with rising political star Gong Weiguo last month, he was allegedly naked and high on the drug Ice. The last public appearance of the mayor of Linxiang a city of just over half a million people in Hunan province, had been on April 7. A week later, Gong, 43, was admitted to a Guangzhou hospital, suffering from depression, according to The Beijing News. Within days, police had launched an investigation into his suspected drug-taking, and by April 21 he had been removed from office.
China’s rule of law plan is for real | East Asia Forum While it is rather easy to take a cynical stance with respect to the Chinese Communist Party, its leadership seems committed to enhancing good governance and the welfare of the Chinese population (at least in the manner it defines these terms). China’s legal reforms will not pursue the development of a legal system premised on individual autonomy and representation. Rather, the law is a tool for progress towards outcomes determined at the top. Whether or not these efforts are successful, only time will tell. Rogier Creemers is a research officer in the Programme in Media Law and Policy, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford.
Trial of China’s former security tsar Zhou Yongkang hit by delay | South China Morning Post hard to verify this when trial date was not announced…there were similar reports about Bo Xilai trial // The trial date for China’s former security tsar Zhou Yongkang has been postponed amid a push by the authorities to build a stronger case against him. Sources confirmed the trial was originally set for late April, but that this had now been put back. The reason for the delay is not known, but there is speculation Zhou may have retracted his confession. The long-awaited official announcement that Zhou would face trial came at the beginning of last month.
China’s leadership reshuffle ‘in line with Xi’s plan to promote reformists’ | South China Morning Post “The recent position changes among cadres must have taken into consideration the personnel layout for the 19th party congress,” said Profesor Zhu Lijia, a public policy expert at the Chinese Academy of Governance, which trains middle and senior government officials. “The changes reflect an innovation in personnel selection standards, which was to mainly choose officials who promote reforms,” Zhu said. Xi last Tuesday voiced his intention to elevate those who supported and helped accelerate reforms. “We should use cadres who want to reform, plan for reforms and are good at reforms,” Xi was quoted as saying.
黑龙江枪击案补偿协议为死者堂兄签订 妻姐称无效(图)_凤凰资讯 the case of Xu Chunhe, shot and killed last week in the Qingan, Heilongjiang train station, in front of his son and mother, by a police officer, looks grim…reports online that he was petitioner on his way to Beijing, looks like attempts at a coverup
Video of lawyers visiting Xu Chunhe’s mom she apparently has been placed in hospital by local authorities to keep her from talking, but these lawyers got into talk to her
明鏡月刊：習王停抓大老虎，停查常委家族 – 中国数字时代 China Digital Times with more details of the Mingjing Monthly story claiming that due to pressure from Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong there has been a halt to investigations into standing committee members and their families, and that Zhou Yongkang will get off without a death sentence…we’ll see
客运办主任开会大骂“国家规定是狗屁”，山西古交正在调查直击现场澎湃新闻-The Paper local Shanxi official caught on video saying state regulations are a “dog’s fart”…local officials investigating…
“红色通缉令”嫌犯胡玉兴被曝在澳隐居，发现记者后挥拳相向打虎记澎湃新闻-The Paper another member of the 100 wanted fugitive official club reportedly found in Australia, attacks reporter who visits him
从“头号警花”王菲的捞人生意说起 Meng Xinyang, head of the Conservatory at Nationalities University, taken away by central discipline commission inspectors…Luo Changping posts speculation on his Wechat account that might be connected to Ling Gu Ferrari crash // 知道孟新洋出事已经很久了，这位中央民族大学音乐学院院长，用澎湃新闻的报道说——调查或指招生办学上的受贿嫌疑。 年近六旬的孟新洋，由纪检部门带走，4月20已经校方通报。此后，不少学院教职工甚至学生被叫去问话。甚至有人来问请托，能不能“捞出来”。这并非平叔第一次遇到，也知道身边有人在做这种生意。 孟新洋长期从事少数民族声乐演唱和教学研究，16岁下乡插队，加入西藏自治区歌舞团，由此离开家乡北京，他演唱的《桑吉卓玛》《拉萨夜色美》等歌曲，受到藏族同胞喜爱和传唱。 自2001年开始，孟新洋出任中央民族大学音乐学院院长，执掌这一关乎众多学员的上通之路。不过，级别不算太高的孟，竟然由中纪委专案组办理，平叔当时的第一反应，此案是不是令谷车祸事件的延伸。
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Guard against Japan’s denial of history, says PLA military newspaper | South China Morning Post The People’s Liberation Army Daily said some political groups and figures in Japan were still denying the “barbarous crimes” of Japanese aggression, and still “paying homage to the souls of war criminals whose hands are stained with blood”. Japan was still “challenging the intuitive knowledge of mankind” by beautifying colonial rule and invasions, and showing “contempt for historical facts and international justice”, the paper said in an editorial. “To this, we must remain highly vigilant,” it said.
Obama’s quiet nuclear deal with China raises proliferation concerns – The Washington Post notification to Congress that he intends to renew a nuclear cooperation agreement with China. The deal would allow Beijing to buy more U.S.-designed reactors and pursue a facility or the technology to reprocess plutonium from spent fuel. China would also be able to buy reactor coolant technology that experts say could be adapted to make its submarines quieter and harder to detect. The formal notice initially didn’t draw any headlines. Its unheralded release on April 21 reflected the administration’s anxiety that it might alarm members of Congress and nonproliferation experts who fear China’s growing naval power — and the possibility of nuclear technology falling into the hands of third parties with nefarious intentions…“This is not simply renewing a past agreement. The senators are going to address it in new strategic circumstances.”
Korean Reunification Is in China’s National Interest – Caixin The end of the North Korean regime will be a blessing for the world. It will reduce tensions in the region, end a strange relic of the Cold War, foster economic growth, and improve the tortured lives of North Korea’s long-suffering population. Other than Korea, the country that will benefit most from Korean reunification will be China. A newly confident China has recently begun to demonstrate a greater willingness and ability to play a more active and responsible global role. China can and will reassess its position on North Korea and Korean reunification not because it is the right thing to do, although it is, but because doing so will eventually be recognized as being in China’s strategic national interest. Jamie F. Metzl is a senior fellow of the Atlantic Council and author of Genesis Code. He served on the U.S. National Security Council and in State Department, and with the United Nations, and is the former executive vice president of the Asia Society. www.jamiemetzl.com
央视未直播红场阅兵被骂惨 原因有二_中国-多维新闻网 至于原因，中国权威专家表示有两点：一是，不希望给外界一种“中俄结盟”的印象。事实上，此次俄罗斯阅兵，不少西方国家元首均表示不参与，一个重要的原因就是乌克兰，尤其是，美俄在乌克兰问题上交恶已久…二是，中国将在9月3日举办阅兵，这才是宣传重点。目前，国防部已经确认9月3日将在北京举行阅兵式，而习近平此次还特意邀请普京出席中国9月3日的庆典。
China’s military warns troops wearable tech poses security risk | South China Morning Post Leave your smartwatches and fitness trackers at home, the military has told its soldiers – the enemy can tap into such devices and pinpoint troop location or take photos and recordings that can be sent over the internet. The warning, which was carried in the military’s PLA Daily mouthpiece, comes amid a push by the mainland to bolster cybersecurity and eliminate security threats potentially posed by foreign-owned technology.
The Problems With China’s Foreign Policy Bureaucracy » The Carter Center’s US-China Perception Monitor The key problem is the lack of a “policy suggestion and selection agency,” meaning a department that is responsible for selecting, summarizing, and judging all kinds of policy suggestions. In theory, the Office of Foreign Affairs of the CPC Central Committee could play this selection role; however, in practice, considering its status, it can only serve as an implementation agency. By contrast, the Foreign Affairs Leading Group has a high enough administrative rank and is broadly representative, but as a non-permanent agency it cannot function regularly as a policy selection and summary body. The Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, whose entrusted responsibility is “policy design and related theoretical research,” can only partly fulfill the task. Meanwhile, the National Security Commission was expected to shoulder this responsibility, yet in practice it tends to focus on domestic affairs.
Presidents praise ties, sign friendship treaty-China Daily Xi, the first Chinese president to visit Belarus in 14 years, said the friendship between the countries “has a profound origin”, and Beijing “feels satisfied about the development of China-Belarus relations” as the ties grow steadily closer. Bilateral trade surged to nearly $4 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 27 percent. Chinese investment in Belarus exceeds $400 million, and loans totaling $5.5 billion have been offered to Belarus by China. The two heads of state signed a China-Belarus treaty on friendly cooperation and issued a joint statement on further developing and deepening the countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership that was established in 2013. China and Belarus are determined to make a jointly developed industrial park a flagship program of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the leaders said.
China publishes court exhibits of Tokyo trials – Xinhua China has published compiled documentary evidence from the Tokyo trials, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the victory of World War II. A Collection of Court Exhibits of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East is classified into 53 volumes, containing 3,915 court items. It is the first time that such court exhibits have been published globally…The series will also be released at the BookExpo America, New York, this month.
南沙守礁战士：遇不明身份船只骚扰 几天不睡觉-新华网 China News Service looks at the hardships faced by the troops stationed on the Spratly Islands outposts // “守礁的苦，主要体现为精神压力大。”被选去南沙守礁的战士，往往要经过严格的核查。到了礁上后，早上6时起床，然后在礁上进行训练枪械操作、岛礁防御演练，晚上还要轮流站岗值班，这就是守礁战士们每天的作息时间表。 卢永兰回忆道，南沙海域是台风多发区，每年都有数十次台风正面袭击礁盘，不少守礁战士都曾面临生死考验。他回忆，曾有个第一次守礁的新兵，暴雨晚上穿着雨衣带着枪，站在渚碧礁上执勤。“那晚风浪很大，天上打着雷闪着电，但那个新兵依然一动不动地站在那里。” “一些不明身份的船只有时会跑到我们的礁盘附近骚扰。”卢永兰说，为了守卫和维护这片祖国的海洋领土，有时候战士们因此连续几天几夜都无法正常休息。
China invites Russian troops to march in war parade | Reuters China has invited Russian troops to march in a parade in Beijing in September to commemorate the end of World War Two, the Defence Ministry said on Monday, a move likely to further put off Western leaders from attending. China has been coy about which countries it plans to invite to the parade, but says it will likely invite representatives from the Western Allies who fought with China during the war. President Xi Jinping could be left standing on the stage with few top Western officials, however, diplomats told Reuters, due to Western governments concerns over a range of issues, including the expected presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
解放军方阵出场顺序由第9调整为压轴 军方人士解读_凤凰资讯 Global Times explains why the Chinese honor guard marched last in the Russia parade // 在出场排序上，中国仪仗队也得到“特殊对待”。按照字母排序，中国本该排在第九位，但却调整到“末位”，压轴出场。外交无小事。一位军方人士对《环球时报》解释了这种微妙调整展示出的深层次含义，“中国方队排在‘国际方阵’的最后一位，其后就是主宾国俄罗斯方队，展示了中俄关系紧密相连”。
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
Hong Kong Free Press: A new, independent news source for Hong Kong Hong Kong Free Press is a new, English language news source seeking to unite critical voices and provide quality analysis and credible reporting on local and national affairs. Free and independent, HKFP arrives amid rising concerns over declining press freedom in Hong Kong and during an important time in the city’s constitutional development. Launching in June, 2015, HKFP strives to bridge the gap between Chinese and English reporting while providing a platform to raise global understanding of Hong Kong and China issues. // raising money in a crowdfunding campaign here
TECH AND MEDIA
CCTV anchor blasted for wearing Apple Watch on air｜WantChinaTimes Netizens around the country are furiously debating whether Wang Yinqi, a young newsreader in her 20s, should have been wearing an Apple Watch during a segment that aired around 4am on Tuesday. The model of the Apple Watch Wang was wearing retails for 4,188 yuan (US$675) in China. The highly anticipated product was only released across the mainland on April 24. Some netizens accused Wang of showing off her wealth, while others slammed her for giving Apple free advertising. Wang’s supporters claim that wearing a watch that costs only a few thousand yuan is not considered showing off.
《焦点访谈》： 敲掉网络敲诈-中共中央网络安全和信息化领导小组办公室 CCTV’s “Focus Report” on the multi-agency campaign to fight online extortion and blackmail, discusses case of “ad agency” that bought the rights to the environmental protection channel of ce.cn China Economics Net, then extorted money from polluters to delete/not write stories about their problems
消息称百度三名总监正接受内部调查 或因反腐|百度|总监|调查互联网新浪科技_新浪网 Sina Tech reports 3 Baidu directors undergoing internal investigation, possibly for corruption // 新浪科技讯 5月11日消息，近日有消息人士告诉新浪科技，百度三名管理层人士正在接受调查，起因或是涉腐败事件。 该三名管理层分别是百度公司渠道总监宇晖、百度渠道部大区总经理赵志勇，以及百度企业市场总监金治，目前已确定三人正在接受内部调查，但不确定原因。
Chinese newspaper ad revenues drop 15% in 2014 – People’s Daily Online A new report published by Tsinghua University is pointing to another decline in ad sale revenues among China’s newspapers. The analysis shows newspapers in China have seen a 15 percent decline in ad revenues through the whole of last year. This would represent the 4th year in a row of declining revenues.
China’s Meteoric Box-Office Rise – Bloomberg Business Chinese revenue is getting close to half the U.S. level, about double the proportion in 2012. China actually exceeded the U.S. domestic box office in February, according to the nation’s statistics bureau, a breakthrough helped by bad weather in U.S., while most Chinese had a weeklong holiday for Lunar New Year. China at the top won’t be a rarity soon. Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts it to become the world’s biggest market in five years. Wang Fenglin, deputy director of the China Film Producers’ Association, told Xinhua News Agency in November that the handover will be in three years. Zhang Xuejing, co-chief executive officer of Gewara.com, expects the Chinese box office this year to expand by about the same pace in 2014, to as much as $6.4 billion.
Apple Top In China As Smartphone Market Dips For First Time Since 2009 | TechCrunch The research firm tracked 98.8 million smartphones shipped during Q1 2015 — that’s down 4 percent year-on-year and 8 percent on the previous quarter. IDC suggested that excessive inventory from the previous quarter was partly to blame. (That’s something we heard in India earlier this year.) “China is oftentimes thought of as an emerging market but the reality is that the vast majority of phones sold in China today are smartphones, similar to other mature markets like the U.S., UK, Australia, and Japan,” said IDC’s Kitty Fok in a statement.
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
China detains 11 for smashing halal food shop | Reuters Police in western China detained 11 people after a crowd of angry customers in early May smashed a halal shop suspected of mishandling food prepared according to Islamic custom, state media said. A group of “law-breakers” in Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, broke into a store on May 1 and vandalised it after discovering that non-halal foods had been transported along with halal products, a violation of regulations.
The Chinese Art of the Crowd – The Atlantic After viewing news photographs from China for years, one of my favorite visual themes is “large crowd formations.”
His Brother’s Keeper – WSJ review of “The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong” by Gyalo Thondup, the Dalai Lama’s older brother and former chief of staff. Here is the book on Amazon // There are few heroes, Tibetan or foreign, in Mr. Thondup’s narrative of the decades that followed. The villains include not only China’s Communist rulers and greedy Tibetan aristocrats—who were only too happy to accept titles and well-paid jobs from the Chinese occupiers—but also Western secret intelligence services. The book reveals a catalog of lost opportunities to open a dialogue between the Tibetan government in exile in India and Beijing in search of a settlement that would allow the Dalai Lama to return home and provide Tibet with a degree of self-government. In each case the overtures were sabotaged by the CIA or India’s intelligence service, or they were brushed aside by Britain’s MI6.
安徽路怒男当街猛踹骑车女 女子次日自杀身亡新闻腾讯网 another road rage (路怒) incident, this one in Anhui…getting lots of media play after several bad incidents and the recent launch of a PSB crackdown on road rage
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
Apple expands green initiative to Chinese manufacturing, to manage 1M acres of forest Apple on Monday local China time announced a major expansion of its environmental responsibility operations in the region, including the creation of one million acres of responsibly managed forests and a buildout of clean energy infrastructure for manufacturing facilities, offices and retail stores.
国家中医药管理局-国家中医药管理局解读《中医药健康服务发展规划（2015-2020年）》 日前，国务院办公厅发布《中医药健康服务发展规划（2015-2020年）》（以下简称《规划》），国家中医药管理局作为《规划》编制及实施的牵头部门，国家中医药管理局局长王国强就相关问题进行了解读。
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ISSUES
Dim Sums: Rural China Economics and Policy: Feed Industry Outfoxes Beijing An April 2015 study tour of feed and livestock producers in Guangdong Province reveals how the industry’s discovery of imported sorghum undermined Beijing’s attempt to enforce high Chinese corn prices by banning corn imports. The flexibility and inventiveness of industry on China’s southern coast contrasts with the sclerotic inside-the-box thinking at communist party headquarters in the northern capital.
FOOD AND TRAVEL
Chinese firm to build golf resort in Cuba – Xinhua Cuba already has one 18-hole golf course in the touristic beach area of Varadero but the new golf course and resort are slated to be built in the Bello Monte area on Cuba’s north coast between the capital and Varadero. And Cuba’s partner in this project will be China’s Beijing Enterprises Group. The president of the Beijing Enterprises Group Wang Dong and business director at the Cuban Tourism Ministry (Mintur) Jose Reinaldo Daniel, respectively, signed the letter of intent, which gave the green light to initiate the project, Juventud Rebelde newspaper reported. The letter was signed in the presence of the Chinese Ambassador for Cuba, Zhang Tuo.
Beijing airport to renovate its oldest runway – China Daily Beijing Capital International Airport, the busiest aviation hub in China, will soon renovate its oldest runway, a task that will affect about 200 flights daily, the airport operator announced on its micro blog. The airport’s central runway will undergo a complete renovation from May 23 to 28, the statement said. The last overhaul was in 1996. During the project, the airport will use just two runways, the company said, adding that it has urged airlines to reduce or adjust flights to Beijing.
BEIJING
Beijing Police Use Facebook in Drug Bust Involving International School Students | the Beijinger Facebook was employed by police in Chaoyang District in a drug investigation that began April 17 and resulted in the detention of five foreign international school students for marijuana use and three foreign drug dealers carrying marijuana, ice, and heroin, The Beijing News reported Friday night The revelation was part of a bevy of new details that emerged from a police report released Friday detailing an investigation that started when four international school students were caught smoking marijuana in the Beijing Riviera home of two of the suspects April 17.
Amazon.com: The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia eBook: James Bradley: Kindle Store James Bradley introduces us to the prominent Americans–including FDR’s grandfather, Warren Delano–who in the 1800s made their fortunes in the China opium trade. Meanwhile, American missionaries sought a myth: noble Chinese peasants eager to Westernize. The media propagated this mirage, and FDR believed that U.S. support for Chiang Kai-Shek would make China America’s best friend in Asia. But Chiang was on his way out and when Mao Zedong instead came to power, Americans were shocked, wondering how we had “lost China.” From the 1850s to the origins of the Vietnam War, Bradley reveals how American misconceptions about China have distorted our policies and led to the avoidable deaths of millions. The China Mirage dynamically explores the troubled history that still defines U.S.-Chinese relations.
北京遇64年来最冷5月天 立夏后现最高气温13℃新闻腾讯网 Sunday was the coldest May day in 64 years in Beijing
JOBS AND EVENTS
Alibaba Group is Looking for a Few Good MBAs | Alizila The Alibaba Global Leadership Development Program (AGLD) is structured to give participants a broad, strategic understanding of Alibaba’s extensive businesses by working for two years in a variety of jobs at Alibaba Group’s Hangzhou, China, campus. Unlike many corporate MBA training programs that place participants in specific jobs or corporate subsidiaries, the AGLD calls for trainees to rotate through core Alibaba business units in six-to eight-month stints, gaining experience in different disciplines such as e-commerce operations, cross-border logistics, and business development. Each participant will be mentored by a senior member of Alibaba’s leadership team.