"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
A busy day so a very short update. I no doubt missed a lot but would rather send something instead of nothing.
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. Former CIA Chief Says Government Data Breach Could Help China Recruit Spies – WSJ Retired Gen. Michael Hayden// He said the personnel records were a “legitimate foreign intelligence target.” “To grab the equivalent in the Chinese system, I would not have thought twice. I would not have asked permission…This is not ‘shame on China.’ This is ‘shame on us’ for not protecting that kind of information.”..He described this as “honorable espionage work. All countries do it, including our own.” // can’t imagine the White House is happy with his straight talk
2. 努力向人民交出优异答卷 General Liu Yuan in latest issue of Seeking Truth on the corruption crackdown, damage corruption has done including the Xu Caihou case, can’t imagine Guo Boxiong enjoyed reading this…another sign that guesses that corruption crackdown may be flagging are likely premature…how often has the termed “corruption virus” been used? // 坚决纠治选人用人上的不正之风。周永康、徐才厚、令计划、苏荣等严重违纪违法案件触目惊心，腐败病毒已渗透党的肌体甚至中央高层，“吏治腐败”尤烈。这是最要命的。就军队来讲，徐才厚掌管政治工作十年期间，对选人用人造成的污染和危害是全局性的、致命性的，明明不称职的人还占着位置“拼命干”，群众公认的正派干部、有能力的好干部用不起来，对党和军队事业损害破坏极大！纠治选人用人上的不正之风，必须坚持好干部“五条标准”，突出考察真品德、真能力、真政绩，切实把那些德才兼备、既廉又勤、能够担当强国强军重任的好干部选出来、用起来，把让党放心、人民满意的好干部用到重要岗位、发挥重要作用。
Related: 武警交通部队原司令刘占琪被调查 曾任武警后勤部副部长政经频道财新网 【财新网】（记者 薛健聪）今天（6月16日）军方对外公布了近期查处两名军级以上干部重大案件情况信息。其中武警交通指挥部原司令员刘占琪少将因涉嫌严重违纪，2014年11月经军委纪委批准，武警部队纪委对其立案调查；2015年5月移送军事检察机关依法处理。同时被宣布落马的还有黑龙江省军区原司令员寇铁少将，两人都是去年11月即被带走，但并未出现在今年军方公布的前四批军级以上干部重大案件情况通报中。
Related: China military says two more top officers probed for graft | Reuters In a brief statement, the ministry said that Kou Tie, former commander of the Heilongjiang military region in northern China, had been put under investigation last November for suspected “serious discipline violations”. He was handed over to military prosecutors last month. The other officer was named as Liu Zhanqi, a former communications division commander for the paramilitary People’s Armed Police, also suspected of “serious discipline violations”, common wording for corruption. He was handed to military prosecutors last month as well
Related: 习近平批准整治军队地产 纠治6类问题新闻腾讯网 全军工程建设项目和房地产资源管理专项整治全面展开 集中纠治计划外工程、“三超”项目、擅自建设楼堂馆所和办公用房超面积、军用土地纠纷、擅自处置房地产、违规租赁房地产等6类突出问题
3. 隐形大鳄车峰的三个“贵人” Tencent Finance piece on Che Feng, the recently detained son-in-law of former PBoC head Dai Xianglong. Dai is not mentioned by name but very much hinted at // 车峰，这一原本不被大众熟悉的名字在过去半个月里迅速传播，他的被查揭开了其一手搭建的“资本帝国”面纱。初中毕业的车峰，经商的起点不过是上海滩的一家服装店，而在其巅峰时期，虽然自己保持隐身，其“小弟”却能连续两年均能登上福布斯富豪榜。在车峰的财富征途中，两位比他更为大众熟知的“资本大鳄”起到了关键作用；与此同时，一位少女时代即与他相恋的女子，亦在无形中给予了车峰不小的力量。
4. Japan Learned Profound Lesson From War, Abe Tells China Media – Bloomberg Business Japan has learned profound lessons from World War II, and proposed security legislation wouldn’t lead to conflict between China and Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an interview with a Chinese-language TV station. Abe’s efforts to strengthen defense policy won’t lead to a pro-war stance, Abe told the Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV on June 15, in the first interview by a Japanese prime minister with Chinese-language media in seven years. The legislation to reinterpret Japan’s pacifist constitution to expand the role of the self-defense forces is being debated in parliament.
Related: 安倍接受凤凰专访：决不再战 未设想中日冲突_凤凰资讯 日本首相安倍晋三：“日本曾给亚洲人民带来伤害，基于深刻的反省，日本一直想为世界的和平发展、特别是为亚洲国家的发展尽力。战后70年，我们会基于反省、战后走过的道路、今后坚持积极和平主义理念之下，在国际协调主义、积极的和平主义的理念之下，为地区、世界和平与稳定做出更大的贡献。”
5. China Says South China Sea Island Building Is Almost Complete – Bloomberg Business The reclamation activity would end only on “some” of the islands, Lu said, without giving further details. China has been building on seven features in the waters, and is constructing an airstrip capable of handling its biggest military aircraft.
Related: 外交部发言人陆慷就中国南沙岛礁建设有关问题答记者问 经向有关部门了解，根据既定作业计划，中国在南沙群岛部分驻守岛礁上的建设将于近期完成陆域吹填工程。中国南沙岛礁建设除满足必要的军事防卫需求外，更多的是为各类民事需求服务，以更好地履行中国在海上搜救、防灾减灾、海洋科研、气象观察、生态环境保护、航行安全、渔业生产服务等方面承担的国际责任和义务。陆域吹填完成后，下阶段我们将开展满足相关功能的设施建设。
6. A Partnership with China to Avoid World War by George Soros | The New York Review of Books – George Soros The areas for cooperation may prove to be wider than is obvious at first sight. Cooperating with China in making President Xi’s financial reforms successful is definitely in the common interest. Success would fulfill the aspirations of the ever-increasing Chinese middle class. It may also allow Xi to relax some of the restrictions he has recently introduced and that would, in turn, increase the probability that his reforms will succeed and improve global financial stability. The weak point of his current approach is that both implementing and monitoring the reform process are in the same hands. Opening up the process to criticism by the media and civil society would greatly improve the efficacy of his reforms. This is particularly true of Xi’s anticorruption campaign. And if China followed this path, it would become increasingly attractive to the US as a strategic partner…If a bona fide attempt fails, the US would then be fully justified in developing a strong enough partnership with China’s neighbors that a Chinese–Russian alliance would not dare to challenge it by military force. That would be clearly inferior to a strategic partnership between the US and China. A partnership with China’s neighbors would return us to a cold war, but that would still be preferable to a third world war.
Related: Power envy • Inside Story – Kerry Brown The good news for China is that their exploration of a new kind of power is likely to attract international interest and tolerance. The bad news is that the residual need for a dominant player – a need felt in the United States, sometimes extremely strongly, and in much of the rest of the world – is unlikely to go away soon. This leaves us in an era of shadow boxing, in which the real debates and conflicts are not about what they seem to be. The South China Sea is not really about physical space; it is about political and diplomatic influence. And the tussle over cyber-espionage is not really about stealing other’s secrets; it is about who gets to set the rules for this new type of space. The only thing that is real is the United States’s sense that it is losing its might, or at least its prowess. But the suspicion must grow that they are worrying about the wrong thing, at the wrong time, and in the wrong way. The real question is not about how the United States cedes top slot to China but how it works in a world in which the two countries are on a parity. And that question must be answered not in Beijing but in Washington. •
7. Beijing’s migrant children forced out of the city – FT.com Beijing for Beijingers…expect to see that even more clearly when the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration plan is released. There has actually been a broad reform of school enrollment for all kids in Beijing over the last year, designed to make educational opportunities for kids with Beijing hukous more equitable, but that have been quite jarring to many // Recent policies — such as the rules on education — seek to push migrants out of the most attractive and high-wage places into provincial cities where there is a glut of new housing. Those policies, a reversal of several decades of population flow into the biggest cities, force migrant parents once again to face the choice of confiding young children to the care of elderly and uneducated grandparents or to enrol them in distant boarding schools.
8. Deal Aims for Netflix-like Video Service for China’s Living Rooms-Caixin The capital’s sole cable TV network operator says it will establish a firm with investors including a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to expand upon a movie streaming service similar to Netflix in the United States that it has been trying out. Beijing Gehua CATV Network announced the plan on June 15 to form a company with investors including an investment subsidiary of New York-listed Alibaba Group; China Film Co. Ltd.; and National Radio and TV Network Co., which was founded last year with 4 billion yuan from the Ministry of Finance. The new firm’s name translates as China TV Theaters Operating Co. Ltd. It will have a registered capital of 500 million yuan, with Gehua holding a majority stake of 62 percent and Alibaba’s subsidiary owning another 6 percent. The other two firms will each hold another 10 percent, and another two investors will hold the rest. The first general manager will be someone recommended by Alibaba, Gehua said.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
新华网：改革牛尚未结束-手机和讯网 Xinhua still constructive on stock market, says reform and innovation will continue to drive bull market…but didn’t hkp // 上周，中国重工(601989)、长江电力(600900)双双停牌宣布重大资产重组，在市场人士看来是国企改革提速的信号。业内人士表示，中央全面深化改革领导小组近日审议通过的国企改革相关文件为下一步改革指明了方向，国企改革指导意见有望在一两个月内下发。国企改革顶层设计方案发布后，央企改革有望全面铺开。改革与创新为行情主线 -5000点之上，市场宽幅震荡，但基金人士认为本轮行情并未终结，最重要的是紧紧抓住本轮行情最重要的主线—-改革与创新。
A tidal wave of Chinese money is causing chaos in Hong Kong’s stock market – Quartz Hong Kong’s resistance to tough regulation relates in part to the city’s dependence on a handful of wealthy tycoons, critics say. “It’s the nature of Hong Kong society, which is basically an oligarchy or a plutocracy,” Gillis said. “There are many powerful institutions in Hong Kong that will resist any change they find adverse to them.”
Meet the Economic Expert who says Punk-Rock Is a Bullish Sign for China – Bloomberg Business “Beijing’s music scene is a good sign that right now there is an atmosphere, at least in some of the great cities, in which young Chinese find it rewarding and exciting to be creative,” said Pettis, who is also professor of finance at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. “It proves wrong those people, both foreign and Chinese, who do not have confidence in the ability of young Chinese to be innovative.”
CRC Said to Reach Deal Letting It Lead Bullet Train Industry-Caixin Operator of country’s railroads convinces rail equipment manufacturer to play second fiddle, source says, in part by cancelling orders
POLITICS AND LAW
China Asserts More Control Over Foreign and Domestic NGOs – China Real Time Report – WSJ The state-run People’s Daily newspaper quotes Central Party School professor Zhang Xixian as saying that because these local NGOs continue to grow in number, the Central Committee wants them “to establish Party groups in order to better guide their development.” Party groups are “more focused on directly leading the organization to follow the core values of the Communist Party,” Zhang said. These are chilling messages to those who thought it possible to work within the atmosphere of incomplete or murky rules. Now not only are human-rights groups being targeted, but a wide range of other organizations hoping to integrate needed social services into Chinese society could be affected.
Expert Asks How Gov’t Spends Social Welfare Money It Gets from Lotteries-Caixin Central and local levels took in 100 billion yuan from welfare and sports lotteries last year, but CASS researcher says it is unclear how it was used
山西省长李小鹏访问美国 学习资源型地区经济转型经验|访问|李小鹏_凤凰资讯 Li Peng’s son Li Xiaopeng approved to visit the US…getting notice because of the official media coverage so soon after the embarrassing demotion of and subsequent rumors about his sister Li Xiaolin
China steps up controls in unruly Xinjiang as Ramadan approaches | Reuters The holy month, which begins this week, is a sensitive time in Xinjiang following an uptick in deadly attacks blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants over the past three years in which hundreds have died. In recent days, state media and government websites in Xinjiang have published stories and official notices demanding that party members, civil servants, students and teachers in particular do not to observe Ramadan, something that happened last year too. In Jinghe county near the Kazakh border, food safety officials decided last week that they would “guide and encourage” halal restaurants to stay open as normal during Ramadan, the government said on its website.
TECH AND MEDIA
China Box Office: ‘Jurassic World’ Grabs $100M As Blackout Looms – Hollywood Reporter – The Hollywood Reporter Jurassic World took in $100.1 million in its first five days in the world’s second-biggest film market, according to data from Universal. Hollywood is having a powerful run in China this year, with Furious 7, Avengers: Age of Ultron and now Jurassic World earning enormous sums in their opening weeks. However, the annual “blackout” period is due to begin June 19, when Hollywood movies have to give way to Chinese films, and that usually runs until the end of July.
1M rides a day? Questions about Uber’s growth claims in China After noticing the 1M/100K discrepancy, Chinese tech media site Sina Tech went to its own “knowledgable source” on the matter, who says that Uber is really completing about 300,000 rides/day in China at the moment. So within the span of a week, we have three very different numbers popping up in the press about Uber’s business in China. The two lower numbers come from anonymous sources, which might be cause for some skepticism. But the 1M number comes from Uber itself in a “leaked” letter to investors that contains almost nothing negative about Uber and plenty of negative information about its competition – certainly sufficient cause for skepticism as well.
揭秘专车的赚钱之道：刷单拿补贴–文化纵览–聚焦–人民眼光–文史–人民网 People’s Daily Online on how drivers for Uber and other car services, but especially Uber, create false “rides” to scam the rich subsidies // 滴滴、易到、嘀嗒这些平台都可以刷,分成比例的话是5:5,不过我们建议最好还是用Uber或者人民优步来刷,这样大家都可以多分点。”在北京一个刷单QQ群中,记者试图以车主的身份向该群主咨询刷单问题后,得到上述答复…经过多方了解,我们得知目前刷单现在最为严重的专车平台是Uber,而滴滴、易到虽然也有刷单的情况存在,但情况并不普遍。而顺风车平台上,也是人民优步刷单现象最为严重。究其原因,则是高额补贴给了刷单者可乘之机。
Fake drivers and passengers are boosting Uber’s growth in China – Quartz Accomplices can sit in their apartments, disable location settings, and specify a pickup not far from the actual location of driver’s vehicle, the report said. The driver then accepts the hail, and goes on a trip without a passenger. After the accomplice approves payment, the driver will – hopefully – pay back the fee and share a cut of the bonus. It’s not the most clever get-rich scheme on the planet. But for drivers, it’s better than waiting for a hail in a parking lot. Other Chinese drivers appear to be circumventing Uber’s system for signing up new drivers by signing up for accounts with fake credentials, in order to grab first-time driver bonuses over and over again.
More protests over private-car services like Uber in China-TechInAsia On Monday, a similar scene played out Wuhan, where Caixin reports and videos show bystanders and drivers protesting authorities as they attempt to arrest a private-car driver. The situation reportedly got out of control, with police forced to fire warning shots in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Like last week’s protests in Guangzhou, both incidents this weekend were sparked by the arrest of a private-car driver for operating an illegal cab. And both incidents also led to demonstrations so large that riot police had to be called in to manage the crowds
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
《财经》独家|一化工项目在怒江大峡谷违规施工 Caijing on an illegal petrochemical project in the Nu River “Grand Canyon” area. Nothing sacred.. // 5月18日，环保组织自然之友向怒江州环保局提交了一份举报意见函，认为项目存在重大环境风险，不宜仓促通过环评审批，应严格按法律规定暂缓项目环评审批，并就此召开听证会。该函同时抄送国家环保部西南督查中心、云南省环保厅，截至记者发稿均未获正式回应。 “我们已将这份意见函转给了具体业务科室部门，具体情况还不了解。”6月15日，一位怒江州环保局办公室人士对《财经》记者说。 据了解，该项目选址于云南省怒江州福贡县上帕镇古泉村附近，与周边村庄的饮用水源地、怒江支流——古泉河仅几米之隔。在反对者看来，该化工项目的落建将给当地生态带来极高风险。 经怒江州环保局调查，该项目于2014年7月开始建设，调查期间已完成了主厂房和储罐等关键设备建设，一期生产线已安装完毕，并在今年3月开机调试，二期生产线正在安装中。未取得环保审批手续，就开工建设，已是违规，因而，今年5月4日，怒江州环保局对该项目实施行政处罚，立即停止一切建设活动，并缴纳5万元的罚款，并限时完成环评审批手续。
EDUCATION
Chinese Text Project Welcome to the Chinese Text Project homepage. The Chinese Text Project is an online open-access digital library that makes pre-modern Chinese texts available to readers and researchers all around the world. The site attempts to make use of the digital medium to explore new ways of interacting with these texts that are not possible in print. With over twenty thousand titles and more than three billion characters, the Chinese Text Project is also one of the largest databases of pre-modern Chinese texts in existence.
FOOD AND TRAVEL
Hainan Airlines debuts non-stop flight between Silicon Valley and Beijing – People’s Daily Online Hainan Airlines launched its new flight between Beijing Capital International Airport and Mineta San José International Airport on Monday, marking first-ever nonstop service between China and Silicon Valley. “With the growth of the technology industry, trade between China and the U.S., and especially this region, has expanded. Travelers will no longer have to endure traffic and taking longer routings when they are flying to or from Silicon Valley, and San José Airport is known for its amenities and accessibility,” said Mu Weigang, vice chairman of Hainan Airlines.
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