"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. Toward a Free and Democratic China | The Weekly Standard-Dan Blumenthal and William Inboden This is just one more sign of how difficult US-China relations are likely to get during the 2016 US presidential election season. Can any readers point to a time in history when American efforts to change China have worked according to plan? // perhaps the greatest challenge to world order is the resurgence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is the only nation that has the size, wealth, and ambition to credibly threaten U.S. global leadership and international stability. At stake is not only the national security of the United States but the future of the international system our nation helped create and has led for seven decades. In truth, they are almost inseparable. At the end of the Cold War, the late Samuel Huntington argued that only by remaining the dominant world player could the United States ensure the continuation of a liberal order. Thus, the challenge from China is not only geopolitical; Beijing is also ideologically hostile toward democratic capitalism and free societies. Our next president’s China policy needs to address the heart of the problem: The external assertiveness of the Chinese Communist party (CCP) emanates from its internal repression. As Aaron Friedberg has pointed out, “the party’s desire to retain power shapes every aspect of national policy. When it comes to external affairs, it means that Beijing’s ultimate aim is to ‘make the world safe for authoritarianism,’ or at least for continued one-party rule in China.” The CCP has thus far successfully maintained its monopoly on power and avoided any meaningful political reform. American policy in recent years has conceded this monopoly to the CCP and done little to support Chinese reformers, dissenters, and voices for liberty. There may have been short-term rationales for this, but as a policy it has run its course.
2. Fatal police shooting under investigation: ministry – Xinhua A probe has been launched into the fatal police shooting of Xu Chunhe, a man who allegedly attacked police at a railway station in Heilongjiang Province on May 2, the Ministry of Public Security said Tuesday. The ministry promised to announce the results as soon as possible. A statement from the ministry said railway police authorities had sent investigators to Qing’an County, Heilongjiang. Prosecutors are also involved, it added.
Related: China police accused over fatal station shooting, AsiaOne Police prevented Xu — who had been in a long term dispute with local officials over benefit payments — from boarding a train before beating him with batons and shooting him, family lawyer Xie Yanyi said. “The mistake was completely on the police’s side… it’s a suspected case of intentional homicide,” Xie said, adding: “We have a responsibility to pursue criminal prosecution”. Xu had previously attempted to seek higher-level intervention in his dispute, he added. Local officials in China often employ staff known as “interceptors” to forcibly prevent people from travelling to lodge complaints with more senior authorities.
Related: 【独家】庆安枪击案目击还原 政经频道财新网 An eyewitness to the shooting in the Qingan train station says during the protracted dispute/struggle with the police Xu eventually grabbed the police officer’s baton, cop drew his gun, Xu attacked him with the baton so cop shot him..Xu may have been a mistreated petitioner but if this eyewitness account of Xu’s behavior is correct most cops in the US probably would have shot him too…grim. Perhaps they will release the full video of the incident, but wouldn’t bet on it // 一位目击者称，徐纯合抢过了警察的齐眉棍，警察就把枪掏出来了。徐也没示弱，“还骂骂咧咧的”，朝警察手打了一棍。随后一声枪响，徐纯合倒地
Related: 庆安县副县长因学历造假及妻子吃空饷被停职|黑龙江|董国生_新浪新闻 official in Heilongjiang county where petitioner shot in train station suspended, after he praised the cop he was human flesh searched, found to have a fake degree, wife fake had government job // 【黑龙江庆安县副县长董国生被停职】记者12日从黑龙江省绥化市委纪检委得到证实，经纪检部门调查，庆安县委常委、副县长董国生因户籍年龄、学历造假以及妻子“吃空饷”等问题被停职。此前他曾慰问庆安枪击案受伤警察
3. Chinese Investment Banker Fan Bao Searches for Next Jack Ma – Bloomberg Business Fan Bao and his ‘Alpha Team’ of investment bankers are scouring China’s startup scene to uncover a new wave of technology giants…Bao has advised on some $26 billion of IPOs, M&A deals, convertible bond offerings, and private placements for Chinese tech clients. China Renaissance itself has built about $600 million of assets under management by taking equity in promising companies in lieu of fees…Skeptics question how genuinely innovative China’s new tech companies really are. Michael Pettis, a former head of emerging markets at now-defunct Bear Stearns who teaches finance at Peking University, says many new-economy giants have merely copied U.S. highfliers. Baidu is China’s Google. Alibaba is a mishmash of Amazon and EBay. The merging Didi-Kuaidi is a Chinese Uber. “That’s not really high tech,” Pettis says. // People who don’t think there is tech innovation in China are not paying attention. Could there be more with fewer restrictions? Of course, China’s “innovation tax” is not insignificant, but those who think/hope China can not innovate are going to be blindsided. Advice to reporters, if you want informed comments about Chinese tech product/services, find people who are not illiterate in Chinese and can actually use said products/services…
Related: The start-up frenzy gripping China | Business Spectator Premier Li Keqiang paid a visit to 3W cafe, an incubator at the heart of China’s innovation strip in Beijing, last week and it caused quite a stir. The photo of him drinking a cup of coffee at 3W has gone viral on Chinese social media. Premier Li has been drumming up support for an innovation-based economy since last September, when he said “just try to imagine, there are 800 to 900 million workers out of 1.3 billion, if all of them take part in innovation and start new businesses, this is an enormous force.” A lot of young people in China are heeding Beijing’s call to set up their own businesses. Many more are inspired by the extraordinary success of Jack Ma, who founded the e-commerce giant Alibaba, which is now one of the largest internet companies in the world.
4. Pentagon Report: China Deploys MIRV Missile – Federation Of American Scientists The biggest surprise in the Pentagon’s latest annual report on Chinese military power is the claim that China’s ICBM force now includes the “multiple independently-targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV)-equipped Mod 3 (DF-5).” This is (to my knowledge) the first time the US Intelligence Community has made a public claim that China has fielded a MIRVed missile system. If so, China joins the club of four other nuclear-armed states that have deployed MIRV for decades: Britain, France, Russia and the United States. For China to join the MIRV club strains China’s claim of having a minimum nuclear deterrent. It is another worrisome sign that China – like the other nuclear-armed states – are trapped in a dynamic technological nuclear arms competition.
5. Tycoon son of former senior Jiangsu official ‘linked to group of fallen officials’ | South China Morning Post Caixin did not name the father’s superiors, but official information shows he served as aide to former vice-premier Hui Liangyu and current Vice-President Li Yuanchao, when they were the province’s party chiefs. Nanjing property developer sources told Caixin the father gave his son significant help when he first ventured into business. Within a few years, Zhao Jin had set up more than 20 companies in the city, and in the following decade, his interests stretched out across Jiangsu, Tianjin, Shandong, Hebei and Zhejiang.
6. The Little Village That Could: Shenzhen Reinvents Itself, Set to Surpass H.K. – Bloomberg Business One thing that hasn’t changed in Shenzhen is a feeling that this city is special in China. That here, things are done differently. “The biggest advantage of Shenzhen used to be policies — you could get things done in Shenzhen that were impossible in other parts of China,” said Ye Qing, chairwoman of the Shenzhen Institute of Building Research Co., which designs eco-friendly buildings. “That advantage has gone completely. The new advantage for Shenzhen is its people, the young and ambitious people who love the city.”
7. 军报驳解放军亮相红场“与强盗同庆”：煽历史仇恨黑中俄关系舆论场澎湃新闻-The Paper interesting dispute between a columnist for People’s Daily Wechat account and the PLA daily about the honor guard in the Russia parade..the columnist questioned the wisdom of getting so close to Putin, mentioned the anger many Chinese still have about Russia taking land from China, PLA Daily not pleased, the wechat post is now deleted // 5月10日，微信公号“侠客岛”刊发题为《高调亮相红场阅兵，中国在冒险吗？》文章，透视了这种国民情绪。文章指出，中国这次高规格参加红场阅兵，可以说是给足了俄罗斯面子。但在中俄“大秀亲密”现实之下，国内民众对这个邻邦有着复杂的情感，甚至有人认为，这是“老毛子”的阴谋。 文章强调，从传统历史角度看，这个植根于民族记忆深处“割地赔款”的痛点，时常会爆发。而从现实层面看，中国高调支持红场阅兵的决定，尽管有可能坐实“中国威胁论”，却仍是一招值得冒险的“险棋”。 不知何故，在国内媒体纷纷转载之后，“侠客岛”却删除了这篇文章。不过，争议之声并未停歇。 5月11日晚，解放军报法人微信“军报记者”刊文，狠批了刺耳的“抹黑”声音。该文驳斥了“怎能与强盗一起庆祝”的诘责，称忘记历史意味着背叛，中俄同庆表明，中国人民忘不了苏联人民对中国抗战的支持。文章说，此类声音试图翻开历史老账，与西方媒体一唱一和，给中国政府添堵。用中俄历史问题挑拨离间中俄关系，目的就是要造成国内反俄的舆论，希望中俄撕破脸皮。殊不知，中俄友好是必然的、唯一的选择，中俄两国彻底解决了历史遗留的边界问题，老是通过煽动历史仇恨抹黑中俄关系是别有用心
8. Invasion of the Body Snatchers | ChinaFile “Taishi kangyi,” or “carrying the corpse to protest,” is a practice with deep roots in Chinese history. Since late imperial times, people have employed it when judicial systems failed to provide a reliable channel of redress for injustice. These days, corpses are dragged into all manner of disputes involving medical malpractices, forced housing demolitions, vendor’s tussles with local patrols, and compensations for workplace accidents. When an accidental death occurs, citizens use the corpse to draw attention and invite sympathy from the wider public, all in an effort to put pressure on the authorities and to render a just outcome. This “highlights the distrust people feel about autopsies or investigations conducted by government organs and China’s justice system,” says Teng Biao, a civil-rights lawyer and visiting scholar at Harvard Law School. “Especially with the rise of social media in the past ten years or so, families of the dead can post photos or videos online. The rapid spread of such information can turn up the heat on local governments.”
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
挤压A股杠杆财新周刊频道财新网 Caixin sounds the warning on leverage in the stock market. Shanghai Composite closed back over 4400 and the Chinext is at another record high // 融资融券一线从业人员愈发谨慎，卖方分析师中仍不乏看多证券公司此类业务增长前景的声音。但在上述中信证券两融业务负责人看来，未来券商资本中介业务的发展趋势应当是偏机构客户的复杂业务，从而更多体现出技术含量，比如大力发展门槛更高的融券，而非散户化的融资；另外，高杠杆更适用于大规模、低风险的投资品种。“从境外市场经验看，融资业务发展太快，其实是消灭散户的过程，会有很多人爆仓而被迫离场。对行业来说也是很大挑战。” “分析师还都年轻，没经历过风浪。”一位券商高层对财新记者说。
China Overnight Money Rate Drops in Longest Streak in Five Years – Bloomberg Business The overnight repo rate, a gauge of funding availability in the banking system, dropped four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 1.26 percent as of 10:07 a.m. in Shanghai, according to a weighted average from the National Interbank Funding Center. It touched 1.25 percent earlier, the lowest since December 2010.
China springs a leak before springing rate cut-Reuters It showed up Sunday AM in my wechat stream // More than two hours before China cut its interest rates on Sunday afternoon, the financially sensitive information was making its rounds among users of China’s popular social messaging app WeChat. The WeChat message, seen by Reuters at 2:41 p.m., was bang on the money; it said China would cut interest rates by 25 basis points and raise the ceiling for deposit rates to 1.5 times the benchmark. The information was attributed to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), and the WeChat message, which redirected readers to an anonymous web page, did not carry the central bank logo or any official government stamp. When the real announcement was released shortly after 5 p.m. local time, it matched word for word.
Guangzhou to launch city-backed app to rival Uber in China According to Nanfang Daily, Guangzhou’s municipal transportation bureau is preparing to launch its own ride-hailing app, known as Ruyue. Ruyue is the Guangzhou taxi industry’s unsurprising response to Uber and Kuaidi Didi. In advance of its launch, the city has allocated 2,950 mid-tier and high-end vehicles to serve the app’s customers. To date, four municipal taxi firms have won bids to operate the vehicles. Drivers have proper licensing and registration with municipal bureaus, and are all former cab drivers. Bid winners shoulder the costs of vehicle maintenance and insurance.
Plans for 320 Meter Skyscraper in Shenzhen Cut by Half – Caixin The zone is 12 to 15 kilometers from the busy Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport. The Qianhai bureau and city planners in Shenzhen have been bickering with aviation authorities since 2011 over the height of buildings planned for the zone. Aviation authorities say two-thirds of the economic zone is within an area around the airport in which building heights need to be limited for safety reasons. Those officials say buildings should be no taller than 153.72 meters to ensure the safety of flights. The Qianhai bureau says that this limit would hurt the development of the zone – and its ability to serve as a new engine for growth. The original plan for the zone and land sales records indicate that at least 14 buildings will be taller than 150 meters. Six were to be over 300 meters tall and another five would have heights of 150 to 200 meters.
China’s Great Legal Firewall: Extraterritoriality of Chinese Firms in the United States | U.S.-CHINA Chinese businesses participating in the U.S. financial services sector can effectively operate behind a firewall that keeps them largely immune from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts and regulatory agencies, leaving U.S. partners, competitors, and investors vulnerable. Greater legal protections for U.S. entities, including requiring Chinese firms in the United States to assign a domestic agent to receive legal papers such as subpoenas and court notifications, are a possible solution to this dilemma of jurisdiction.
VIEs are dead, long live the WFOE | China Accounting Blog | Paul Gillis For many of China’s internet companies and their investors, this is good news. They have been carrying the VIE structure around their necks like a millstone. Besides scaring off investors, VIEs proved to be an inefficient structure that made it difficult to manage taxes and move money around the group. While companies under Chinese control might continue to use existing VIE arrange-ments, I expect most will dump them, preferring instead to operate in wholly owned subsidiaries (WFOE). That will be a big win for shareholders, since they will finally own the assets that they think they own.
Banks compete to hire bilingual China-savvy analysts – FT.com The challenge for those looking to hire has been finding the right people — typically junior stock analysts and equity salespeople, often in their late 20s or early 30s, who have fluent Mandarin and English, and are comfortable working outside China. “They want to find someone they can put in front of investors in Boston or San Francisco without losing any of that Chinese expertise,” said Marlon Sanchez, head of Asia prime finance distribution at Deutsche Bank. “These individuals over the next five years are going to be some of the most important as we try to right-size the amount of time we spend on China.” The competition has become so fierce that some in-demand candidates have been able to double or even triple their basic salaries as rivals outbid one another for their services, according to people familiar with the job market.
China Adopts IMF Accounting Practice in Reserve-Currency Push – Bloomberg Business People’s Bank of China officials have called for the IMF to include the yuan in the institution’s basket of reserve currencies, and adopting global accounting norms will support its case before a review later this year. The yuan failed to quality in 2010 as it wasn’t judged to be “freely usable” in trade and finance.
Beijing to Honor Tax Breaks for Contracts with Cities, Provinces – WSJ Foreign business groups had raised concerns in recent months that China’s latest campaign against big spending by local governments had thrown promised tax incentives and other preferential policies into doubt. They said local governments were balking at honoring tax breaks written into existing contracts, and were waiting for guidance from Beijing on other benefits such as discounted land prices. The State Council, China’s cabinet, said in a notice posted on its website Monday that such policies already written into contracts with local governments and departments would be fulfilled. It also said existing preferential policies that don’t have an end date need to be “adjusted,” but didn’t provide details on what such adjustment entailed.
各地频发存款丢失 银监会宣布铁腕查案金融频道财新网 针对各地频发的存款诈骗、票据造假等涉银行系统的案件，银监会于2014年底开展专项检查，铁腕查案。监管高层在近期召开的一季度经济形势会议上指出，各级监管机关不得松动，要把真实情况反映出来，“三铁三见”，即：铁面无私、铁证如山、铁案不翻、见人、见钱、见整改
India’s KV Kamath to head new Brics bank – FT.com India has named private sector banker K.V. Kamath as head of the New Development Bank, the so-called Brics bank of the big emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, according to government officials in New Delhi.
A gilded retirement for China’s elders – FT.com 30 years of prosperity later, China’s elders seem to be ready to relive the youth they never had — and to spend money on it. They aren’t all sitting around hoarding their renminbi and meddling in the lives of their children, as the conventional wisdom has it. Urban middle-class seniors are taking up sports such as hiking, biking and “square dancing”, in addition to more traditional pursuits such as taichi, mah-jong and minding other people’s business. Paradoxically, it is the same Communist party that took away their youth that is giving them the time, the money and the financial freedom to enjoy their dotage.
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POLITICS AND LAW
太原市房管原局长在北京、上海等地有36套房产新闻腾讯网 head of Taiyuan, Shanxi housing bureau has 36 properties in Beijing and Shanghai, wonder if any in SOHO China buildings
抑郁官员就医通常不走医保 怕医院泄露秘密 Beijing Youth Daily on depression among officials, says money don’t want to use their health insurance to see doctors because afraid of stigma if leaks
China Policy Institute Blog » Chinese Propaganda in Historical Perspective: Five terms to consider Five key terms offer a glimpse into the social norms, doctrinal culture, and governing practices that contribute to Xi Jinping’s claim to use propaganda for public order and personal uplift. I arrange these core ideas of Chinese statecraft from the hoary and general in Chinese culture to the recent and specific in the Chinese Communist political system. Together they suggest a role for the government as a pedagogical state that has the responsibility to provide order and prosperity through civilizing its citizens according to the superior insights of certified transformational bureaucrats learned in a body of thought that when applied properly will bring great harmony to all under its sway. If this sounds like bunk to you, think again. To note the claims that animate Chinese propaganda is not to endorse them. Rather, if we admit to political principles, be they those of The Economist or The New Left Review, then we admit that politics needs persuasive power (academics read: hegemonic thought) as well as muscle and money. That leaders may not sincerely believe the ideology they perform does not mean alienation from it. How many elected officials in America are sincerely religious while so many find attending church, synagogue, or mosque to be socially appropriate, promoting good social values, perhaps personally comforting, and certainly politically useful. There are degrees of belief and compliance with a powerful social norm.
王庭大：以“三严三实”落实全面从严治党要求–理论-人民网 做到“两手抓，两促进”。坚持党要管党、从严治党，最终目的是推动党和国家事业发展、推动经济社会发展。同样道理，开展“三严三实”专题教育，也要坚持围绕中心、服务大局，与做好当前改革发展稳定各项工作结合起来，与本单位工作实际结合起来，与改进干部作风结合起来，与全面从严治党结合起来。应积极探索经常性加强思想政治建设的有效办法，把作风建设激发出来的进取精神转化为做好工作的强大动力，做到“两手抓，两促进”。（作者为中央纪委驻中国科学院纪检组原组长）
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Kerry, China leaders to meet in Beijing, May 16-17 | Reuters Kerry will spend Saturday and Sunday in the Chinese capital and will discuss the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue scheduled to be held in Washington in late June as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to the U.S. capital in September. Kerry will also visit Seoul on May 17-18 for talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, including preparations for her planned visit to the United States in June. On his way home, Kerry will stop in Seattle on May 19 to deliver a speech on trade policy, including a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, to which neither China nor South Korea is party, that Washington hopes to see concluded this year.
Japan steps up maritime engagement with Philippines, Vietnam | Reuters The Philippines and Japan held their first joint naval exercises in the South China Sea on Tuesday, while Japan’s coastguard works with Vietnam this week, as Tokyo boosts maritime ties with two nations at odds with Beijing over the disputed waterway. Japan’s cooperation follows a speech last year by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowing to help Southeast Asia maintain freedom of navigation and overflight in the region.
When Two Nationalist Leaders Meet | The Wire The simultaneous emergence of “strong” leaders in India and China can be seen in contradictory ways. It is seen by some as an opportunity — to take the bold decisions required to settle the boundary, for instance — and by others with trepidation, who fear their stronger nationalist rhetoric and broader definition of core interests feeds chauvinism and leads to friction and conflict. Security is a subjective concept, with no objective metrics to measure it. The negative narrative on India-China relations comes primarily from those who look at capabilities rather than intent, or the successful experience of managing differences and building on commonalities that India and China have exhibited for over 30 years. This is not a debate that can be settled either way except in time and in ways in which it will be too late except for one side having the satisfaction of saying “I told you so”. In the meantime both sides risk talking themselves into a classic security dilemma. This is already evident in the social and mainstream media and in certain sections of the commentariat in both countries, though not so far in what the governments say or do.
From rundown outpost, Philippines watches China island take shape in disputed sea | Reuters As the Philippine military C-130 transport plane made its approach to the country’s most precious outpost in the disputed South China Sea on Monday, it flew past a reef which China is quickly turning into an island. At least two cranes and two dredgers were visible on Subi Reef from the plane taking local and foreign reporters on a rare trip to Thitu island. China’s reclamation around seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea is making Philippine islands such as this, known internationally as Thitu but called Pagasa in the Philippines, vulnerable, said Philippine military officials and security experts.
Chris Smith- Press Freedom Critical to ‘Shine Light in Dark Places,’ Says Rep. Smith about World Press Freedom Day To meet this growing challenge to freedom of expression, Congressman Chris Smith will introduce legislation early next week along with Representatives Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) and Joe Pitts (PA-16). The first World Press Freedom Day was set by the United Nations as May 3 in 1993. Entitled the World Press Freedom Protection Act of 2015, the bill allows the U.S. to respond to press freedom restrictions worldwide by authorizing the President—based on credible evidence—to deny U.S. entry visas to individuals who are responsible for the arrest, intimidation and other threats to international journalists, as well as the censorship of the free flow of news information. The bill also authorizes the President to deny “I” (media) visas to “executives of state-owned media organizations” operating in the U.S., if U.S. journalists were “expelled, experienced extended, undue visa delays or denials, or faced intimidation or violence” in the past year. This authorization targets only managing executives, not working journalists, from state-owned media organizations.
Through Beijing’s Eyes: How China Sees the U.S.-Japan Alliance | The National Interest From China’s perspective, rather than demonstrating the power of reconciliation, the revision of the U.S.-Japan defense guidelines “is a worry for all nations with direct experience of these countries’ previous overseas military escapades.” Once seen as a valued restraint that checked Japan’s ambitions for regional hegemony, the U.S.-Japan alliance is now viewed as a threat. Chinese president Xi Jinping has gone beyond mere calls, such as were made by his predecessor, for the elimination of such alliances in the Asia-Pacific to propose the establishment of a new regional security architecture that transcends “the outdated thinking from the age of Cold War and zero-sum game.”
Chasing ghost images: Chinese scientists report breakthrough in a quantum camera for satellite use | South China Morning Post Mainland scientists have achieved a significant breakthrough which could help them build the first quantum camera for satellites within five years. In a paper in the latest issue of the Scientific Reports journal, professor Gong Wenlin and Han Shensheng detailed a revolutionary method to achieve high-resolution far-field imaging with a quantum camera, which could help snap images an ordinary lens cannot see, such as objects obscured by clouds or smoke. This is commonly dubbed “ghost imaging”.
军报批部队办事靠拉关系:多喝1壶酒增10万经费_网易新闻中心 —办事靠协调、成事靠关系、公事靠私交。一位团主官给记者讲述一件往事：几年前，为了改善单位年久失修的营房设施，他和几位团领导带着机关人员到上级机关跑经费，前后花费大半年时间处理各种关系，最后钱总算是要到了，可驻地的雨季也过了。一位部队领导也给记者讲了一个故事：为协调保障经费，他请上级相关部门人员吃饭。“多喝一壶酒增加10万元”，对方一句半真半假的戏言，让他硬着头皮几次“拎壶冲”，连喝几大壶……
Xi and Putin—a Camaraderie of Convenience – WSJ Mr. Xi is acting from strength. That’s reflected in his more measured challenge to American leadership in the Asia Pacific. He can afford to be patient: He doesn’t need quick military conquests to bolster his domestic support, although there are fears his nationalism could sharpen if the economy stumbles. Rather, Mr. Xi shrewdly calculates that China’s expanding economy will over time draw its neighbors into its orbit without a fight. His strategy is a careful mix of inducements and intimidation.
TECH AND MEDIA
China’s Baidu probing own execs for graft: company | Capital News Baidu did not reveal any details of its inquiries, nor confirm how many were being investigated or their names. “Internal anti-corruption action creates a just and transparent working environment, and a sound environment for workers’ development,” the company said in a statement to AFP. “We call on all employees to respect company ethics and national laws, to create a healthy and just working environment.” Chinese Internet portal Sina reported Monday that Baidu was investigating three departmental directors…Baidu’s anti-corruption investigations were conducted by its own “ethics and morality construction” department, reports said. Baidu fired five executives last November for bribery and illicit appropriation and dismissed four of its employees for bribery in August 2012, according to media reports.
Apple CEO Hits Online China, Gets Followers, Penguin Queries – China Real Time Report – WSJ Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday made his first post on China’s Weibo social media service. It likely won’t win awards for eloquence – “Hello China! Happy to be back in Beijing, announcing innovative new environmental programs” in English and Chinese – and a bitter student of Chinese might point out that the adjectives could have been better-placed. No matter. Mr. Cook so far has amassed more than 250,000 followers, and counting.
Chinese Smartphone Makers Try to Make Inroads in India – NYTimes.com The saturated Chinese market — more than 800 million people there use smartphones, according to IDC — means fewer new buyers, and a slowing economy means less spending. So Chinese companies are turning to India, trying to catch a $14.5 billion market on the way up. “It is India first for us,” said Varun Sharma, Coolpad’s chief executive of Indian operations. He said Coolpad, a Shenzhen-based company, planned to use its patents and manufacturing infrastructure to sell devices “at $100 price points for the Indian market and not at $800 or $1,000 price points that global brands are doing.”
Alibaba’s World: How a Remarkable Chinese Company is Changing the Face of Global Business: Porter Erisman: Amazon According to Porter, it includes all sorts of juicy never-before-disclosed details about Alibaba’s rise, such as: —What happened when Jack Ma met Jeff Bezos —The secret Alibaba-eBay hotline established at the peak of the battle between the two companies (and the trash talking that followed) —How the Yahoo-Alibaba deal almost got derailed —What it was like to meet the Google founders behind closed doors on their first fact-finding mission to China—How the original group of American MBA’s that joined Alibaba in 2000 tried to silence Jack Ma on the public stage
Emily Rauhala joins The Post as a China correspondent – The Washington Post We’re happy to announce that Emily Rauhala of Time Magazine will join The Post next month as a China correspondent based in Beijing.
国产手机寒冬：成也安卓败也安卓？–百度百家-王新喜 这透露出的信息包括，国民整体收入提升，整体智能机市场都在趋向饱和的情况下，当许多用户拥有多款智能手机的情况下，性价比策略已然失效，当越来越多的用户拥有一款以上的智能机时，对新手机的选择则更加倾向于品牌。而与此同时，拥有软硬件一体化生态的苹果，其品牌影响力正在扩大，其本土化策略正在进一步奏效。这意味着，主打性价比策略的国产手机的寒冬已经来临。 国产手机迎来寒冬其原因之一在于，国产手机的发展一直依赖整条产业链与原材料的供应与代工厂组装，导致硬件创新能力被压制。即便在目前，供应链也依然是国产厂商无法破除的瓶颈，当集体发力“机皇”追求硬件顶配时，在上游产业链比如芯片、摄像头等供应链环节“争抢货源”已经是一种常态。..Android构建了一个同质化的而且完全开放的竞争市场，在智能机发展阶段，里面的厂商可以搭乘Android的列车快速发展，但发展到成熟与饱和阶段，整个同盟都无法逃脱彼此同质化的激烈竞争，这使得苹果的独一性反而更加耀眼。当大浪来袭，水位升高，大环境变化，如何在茫茫大海中求生已成为国产厂商未来的重要课题。
库克暗示有大屏iPad 将采用新触屏材料-搜狐科技 最近苹果公司CEO库克来到中国进行环保项目，在接受采访的时候有人提到了iPad销量下滑的问题，库克坦诚iPad的确是苹果所有产品中唯一销量下降的，但整体平板电脑市场乏力是大趋势。同时他还暗示苹果公司在未来准备了很好的产品，规划很强劲。虽然没有明确表示是12.9英寸的大屏幕iPad Pro，但媒体猜测八九不离十。 之后，韩国媒体通过上游产业链得到消息，苹果正在开发的iPad Pro将使用新型材料触屏——银纳米线材料。
Xiaomi Launches A Money Market Fund, Pushing Further Into Online Financing – TechNode Xiaomi has just launched a money-market fund Huoqibao inside its homegrown mobile app Xiaomi Finance. After registering with one’s national ID, Xiaomi users who are 18-years old or above will be able to purchase financial products managed by E Fund Management, a third-party financial institution in Chin
库克透露来华隐秘目的 商谈Apple Pay进入中国_TechWeb 库克将Apple Pay在美国发布后的表现形容为“巨大成功的开始”（a huge start），他认为，Apple Pay在中国的发展速度会比美国还快。 “我对Apple Pay在中国的发展前景十分乐观（I’m very bullish on Apple Pay in China），”库克说。
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
人民日报民生观：女司机道歉信里找药方–观点–人民网 People’s Daily takes on road rage..perhaps traffic police who actually traffic regulations would be a good start, might help with traffic too // 不文明驾驶乃至“路怒”行为，一个病根是“钢铁侠幻觉”。表现症状是：一个平时也许老实巴交的人，一摸方向盘，顿生超人之感。车嘛，钢铁打造的一套装备，人进车，犹如钢铁侠穿上机甲、圣斗士穿上圣衣。不但自大，而且自恋：谁敢超我的车？不成，我哪能受这份委屈！对路况的预期往往也高得惊人，红灯多点也烦，道路堵点也怒，一逮着理，整个人会化身一枚炮仗，动辄大打出手。暴打女司机那位就是典型一例。许多人也都有过体验：“车中我”怎么不似“平时我”呢？
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
Apple promises to take on a greener hue in China | John Kennedy – China Dialogue Foxconn’s vast manufacturing plants run continuously, meaning that intermittent supplies of wind and solar energy would have to be backed up local by energy storage, such as using powerful batteries, a technology that is advancing quickly but not yet at the scale to power Foxconn’s manufacturing plants. Meanwhile, to use renewable energy transported over long differences will further modernisation of China’s grid. Apple has already started to try and reduce its carbon footprint in China by dipping its toe into solar power, and the technology could also be used to power data centres and retail outlets.
Chinese police bust large pangolin-selling ring – Xinhua Seven people are in police custody in central China’s Hunan Province for allegedly selling thousands of pangolins, a state-protected endangered mammal. In March, forest police in Xiangtan City caught two men, Shi and his son, attempting to sell two of the animals to a local restaurant, Dai Hongwen, deputy chief of the local forest police, told Xinhua on Tuesday.
China to Cede Top Oil Buyer Spot Back to U.S. as Refining Slows – Bloomberg Business The country bought about 7.4 million barrels a day of crude from overseas in April, overtaking U.S. imports of about 7.3 million, government data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Asian nation’s purchases may drop in the next few months as processing declines, according to ICIS China, a Shanghai-based commodities researcher. China’s new ranking shows how the U.S. shale boom is reshaping flows of oil around the world as suppliers hunt for buyers amid a global glut.
EDUCATION
In China, Where Everything is a MOOC – Education Week The Chinese appeared committed not only to increasing their commitment to MOOCs and other forms of online learning, but to Sinicize them as well. There was a sense that the early relationships with edX and Coursera may have been made hastily, and Chinese universities might be better served moving to Chinese-owned platforms, build for Chinese learners in Chinese languages. There was one startup that had built a platform that looked to me to be basically a clone of Udacity–with courses focused on programming and Web design–that had signed up 800,000 users in a few months and had grown almost instantly to 300 employees
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