FEATURED ARTICLE
Chinese Santa (February 10, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
To see our Chinese brothers and sisters as true equals, we need to let go of the subtle cultural pride that leads us to look down on our neighbors. In China, we are the cultural outsiders. We are not the arbiters of what is and is not normal. On the contrary, if we want to enter into people's lives, and earn the right to speak meaningfully to their situations, then we need to learn to see through Chinese eyes.
GOVERNMENT / POLITICS / FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Video: Chinese on North Korea border unaware of conditions in secretive dictatorship (February 3, 2014, Fox News)
The appearance of these North Korean laborers, who work in China with the blessing of the North Korean government, provides ordinary Chinese with little indication of how desperately poor the vast majority of people in the neighboring country truly are, however.
Learning to spin (February 8, 2014, The Economist)
The party still exerts firm control when it comes to anything sensitive. But outside politics the media landscape has changed completely. Consumer programmes, investigative reporters and a noisy mix of microbloggers and middle-class NIMBYs are holding the party more to account. The classes at CELAP demonstrate that the leadership has understood what is at stake, even if it is still learning how to deal with it. Some of the partys biggest recent problems have come from mishandling the newly probing media.
China's Olympic Favorite: Putin (February 10, 2014, Bloomberg)
Don't expect the Chinese Communist Party to have a sense of humor when it comes to the Olympics. Long before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the games were already serious state business, providing an ambitious government the means by which to demonstrate to itself, its citizens and maybe the world, that China, too, is a great power.
Video: How significant are China-Taiwan talks? (February 11, 2014, BBC)
China and Taiwan have begun the highest-level talks since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.Wang Yu-chi and Zhang Zhijun, the top cross-strait officials from each side, are both attending the four-day talks in Nanjing.
China to Reward Localities for Improving Air Quality (February 13, 2014, The New York Times)
Chinese officials announced Thursday that they were offering a total of 10 billion renminbi, or $1.65 billion, this year to cities and regions that make significant progress in air pollution control, according to a report by Xinhua, the state-run news agency.
No wonder they take bribes: Many civil servants' salaries below 4,000 yuan a month (February 12, 2014, Shanghaiist)
Leaked information about civil servants in Lengshuijiang, Hunan province, has revealed that being an official in the CCP is an extraordinarily poorly paying career. According to the stats, a "vast majority of local civil servants earn 2,001 to 4,000 yuan" per month.
Xi Touts Communist Party as Defender of Confuciuss Virtues (February 13, 2014, Sinosphere)
Xi Jinping wants you to memorize The Analects of Confucius. Chinas Communist Party chief says that the homegrown thoughts of the ancient sage offer an antidote not just for his own countrys ills, but also for Western societies whose faith in capitalism has been battered by the economic slump.
RELIGION
Human Rights Lawyer Xiao Guozhen On Faith and Law (February 6, 2014, China Digital Times)
I spoke with Xiao about the significance of her Christian faith and the changing strategies lawyers have used in the face of tighter controls as part of my thesis research at the University of California, Berkeley:
Glorious Things to Learn from Hudson Taylor (February 12, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
At the Desiring God Conference for Pastors in Minneapolis last week, conference host John Piper spoke on the life of Hudson Taylor in a message titled, "The Ministry of Hudson Taylor as Life in Christ." In the introduction he reminds us that "there are glorious things to see in the life of Hudson Taylor, and wonderful lessons to be learned about abiding in Christ and about faith and prayer and obedience and suffering."
SOCIETY / LIFE
American WWII Bomb Unearthed, Defused In Central Hong Kong (February 7, 2014, NPR)
A 2,000-pound bomb dropped on Japanese-occupied Hong Kong by an American bomber during World War II has been defused after it was unearthed at a construction site in the city's central Happy Valley district.
Beijing Bursting at the Seams (February 7, 2014, Outside-In)
A couple of weeks ago, Xinhua News Agency announced that the population of Beijing was more than 21 million.
Photos: Packed for Home: (February 7, 2014, Caixin Online)
The Spring Festival travel rush hit a peak with many returning from vacation on February 6
What Jews and the Chinese have in common (February 8, 2014, BBC)
Religion was the reason I had come to Shandong. I was making a programme about the simultaneous origins of Buddhism and Confucianism; Shandong is close to Qufu, Confucius' home town and a centre of modern Confucian scholarship. The university's religion department also houses the Centre for Judaic Studies, China's one and only department of Jewish studies.
China in sex trade crackdown in Dongguan (February 10, 2014, BBC)
Police in China have launched a crackdown on the sex trade in Dongguan, following a state TV report on prostitution in the southern city. Police arrested 67 people and shut down 12 venues, while two police chiefs were suspended, state media report. Prostitution is illegal in China, but the sex trade is widespread.
Guangzhou abandoned-baby station gets 51 kids in 13 days (February 12, 2014, Shanghaiist)
Guangzhou's station for distressed parents to leave their children has received 51 drop-offs in its first 13 days of operation. While most of the abandoned children have been infants, some have been as old as five or six, and all of them have been "critically ill or disabled."
The Taiwan in my mind (February 12, 2014, Foreign Policy)
The opportunity to travel to Taiwan and witness the place firsthand has brought about a fundamental change in my own conception of the island.
Chinese villagers attack factory after reports of polluting (February 12, 2014, The Guardian)
Villagers in south-western China, infuriated by a factory that was polluting the environment, smashed its offices and equipment and later clashed with police. Residents of Baha, a village in Yunnan province, said they had grown increasingly angry over a local metalwork factory that had been coughing up black smoke and discharging polluted wastewater into the rural area.
The Decline of Weibo Doesn't Mean Chinese Authorities Have Tamed the Internet (February 12, 2014, Slate)
Most notable is how the essence of the Chinese Internet story remains the same. Its always been a cat-and-mouse game between online critics and online censors. The Internet is the place where people vent their grievances, share and receive information, and, perhaps most important, find people like themselves. Its where they realize, perhaps for the first time, that they are not alone.
Canada Clamps Down on Rich Chinese Migrants (February 12, 2014, China Real Time)
Canada closed a controversial immigration program popular among rich Chinese that allowed wealthy individuals to effectively buy permanent residency.
Troops, helicopters dispatched to Xinjiang quake zone (February 13, 2014, Xinhua)
More than 180 troops have been sent to the quake zone in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region hit by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday. Rice, flour, cooking oil, mutton and medicine had been rushed to the quake zone and distributed to the local people as of Wednesday night. Two military helicopters were used on Thursday for inspection of reservoirs and mountainous areas near the epicenter.
Photo Essay: In Restive Remote China, Uighurs Piety and Peace (February 13, 2014, The New York Times)
Photographed over a span of seven years, the series shows the daily experiences and rituals of several ancient Uighur villages near Turpan, the desert oasis that was once a flourishing trade center on the historic Silk Road.
Are Ethnic Tensions on the Rise in China? (February 13, 2014, China File)
On December 31, President Xi Jinping appeared on CCTV and extended his New Years wishes to Chinese of all ethnic groups. On January 15, Beijing officials detained Ilham Tohti, a leading Uighur economist and subsequently accused him of separtist offenses; a fresh report shows arrests of Uighurs for endangering state security in Xinjiang rose sharply last year; and the number of Tibetans who have taken their own lives in public protest against Chinese rule has recently surpassed 120 since February 2009.
EDUCATION / HISTORY / CULTURE
Questionable Education Lessons From China (January 21, 2014, EdWeek)
And yet it is our view that the gaokao, which is far from perfect, takes too much of the blame for a series of top-down educational and social reforms that were implemented by the Chinese government in the 1980s and 1990s.
Slideshow: Life on a Peoples Commune, 1975 (February 5, 2014, China Digital Times)
Michael Rank was a British Council student in China from 1974-1976. During his time at Peking University in 1975, he and his classmates visited the Shangnian Brigade of the Beixiaoying Commune in Shunyi County, Beijing. His photos show a rare glimpse of daily life in Chinas peoples communes, which were launched by Mao during the Great Leap Forward in 1958 and lasted until the early 1980s.
Boxers and Saints (February 7, 2014, Frog in a Well)
I did a class that focused on the Boxers last semester, and one of the things I talked about was Gene Luen Yangs Boxers and Saints.
Almost One-Third of All Foreign Students in U.S. Are From China (February 7, 2014, Chronicle of Higher Education)
More than a quarter of a million Chinese students (287,260, to be exact) hold active U.S. student visas, which is more than the number of students from Europe, South America, Africa, Australia, and elsewhere in North America combined. In fact, Chinese students account for 29 percent of all foreign students studying in the United States.
What Jews and the Chinese have in common (February 8, 2014, BBC)
Religion was the reason I had come to Shandong. I was making a programme about the simultaneous origins of Buddhism and Confucianism; Shandong is close to Qufu, Confucius' home town and a centre of modern Confucian scholarship. The university's religion department also houses the Centre for Judaic Studies, China's one and only department of Jewish studies.
Rural China's tough lessons in resilience (February 11, 2014, BBC)
Students in Shanghai have the highest results in international Pisa tests. But what is the state of education for China's rural poor, far away from the showcase cities? Andreas Schleicher, who runs the Pisa tests, went to find out.
The great Chinese reform of prostitution in 20th century: 33 amazing pictures (China Underground)
HEALTH
Stubbing out Mao's smoky legacy (February 9, 2014, Al Jazeera)
Starting next year, smoking in public will be illegal in China, meaning an end to 'ashtray diplomacy'.
Illegal Beijing bird markets the source of exported H5N1 influenza virus (February 11, 2014, China Medical News)
A backstreet illegal poultry market stall in Beijing was the likely source of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection that killed a Canadian visitor, infectious disease specialists have suggested.
Chinese Police Arrest Man for Spreading Bird Flu Panic (February 12, 2014, Time)
Authorities in central China have detained a man accused of claiming social media Webchat that bird flu had come to his province. The man in question, identified only as Zhou, was cited by the state press agency Xinhua as saying over the weekend that a pregnant doctor at the Yichang Peoples Hospital in Hubei had died of the H7N9 virus, Reuters reports. He is also accused of having said that multiple cases of the infection were found in other regions of the province.
ECONOMICS / BUSINESS / TRADE
Could the Yuan Be Overvalued? (February 11, 2014, China Real Time)
The yuan isnt too cheap but too expensive, and poised for a fall, Diana Choyleva of London-based analysis firm Lombard Street Research argued in a report last week.
Strong China January trade data sparks cheers, doubts (February 12, 2014, Reuters)
China surprised markets with a thumping trade performance in January as import growth hit a six-month high, drawing some skepticism about the data but still allaying fears of a deepening economic malaise.
China trade surplus jumps to $32bn (February 12, 2014, BBC)
China's trade surplus jumped to $31.9bn (19.4bn) in January, easing concerns the world's second-largest economy may be stuck in a slowdown. The figure was up 14% from a year earlier and stronger than forecasts for a $23.7bn surplus.
Chinas Big Overseas Spending Spree (February 13, 2014, The Diplomat)
While the Chinese government uses its vast financial resources to secure Beijings interests abroad, wealthy private Chinese citizens and corporations are on an international buying frenzy. Chinas ever-increasing purchasing power is influencing every region of the globe, with some striking parallels between its overseas acquisitions and Japans international investments in the 1980s. However, Chinas political system, a foreign policy that is often at odds with Western interests, and (counter-intuitively) its relative poverty mean that Chinas global shopping spree may effect the balance of global politics in a way Japan never could.
SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY / ENVIRONMENT
Doing Business In China. Get Your Legal Act Together Or Get Out. (February 6, 2014, China Law Blog)
Just sent an email to an American company setting out the basics of what it should be looking for in the initial stages of determining whether it wants to invest in another American company that has a WFOE in China. The list included that the American company make sure that the China WFOE is properly registered and structured.
China's Moon Rover Wakes Up, But Isn't Out Of The Woods Yet (February 13, 2014, NPR)
China's troubled Jade Rabbit lunar rover has woken from its hibernation on the moon, sending a message back to its handlers. But its problems aren't over yet. "Hi, anyone there?" was the post on Jade Rabbit's unofficial Weibo account on Thursday, which got thousands of responses from enthusiastic followers. Xinhua quoted space program spokesman Pei Zhaoyu as saying that the rover had "come back to life" and was sending and receiving messages but that scientists were still investigating its mechanical difficulties.
Bing's Chinese enigma (February 12, 2014, Analects)
AMERICAN internet companies that operate in China have long endured criticism for co-operating with the country's internet censors. But Microsoft's Bing search engine also seems to be applying Chinese censorship rules to the results of at least some Chinese-language searches conducted from Europe, America and elsewhere. Greatfire.org, a Chinese censorship watchdog, discovered the problem on February 4th and announced its findings in a blog post on February 11th, after receiving an initial "no comment" from Microsoft. The company has since issued a statement saying that an error caused Bing to state, incorrectly, that some search results had been censored. But Microsoft insists that the results themselves remain unaltered outside China.
Video: Uncovering China's illegal ivory trade (February 13, 2014, BBC)
A major conference in London is considering how to protect Africa's wildlife, including rhinos and elephants, from an unprecedented surge in illegal trafficking. Conservationists warn that the growth in the illegal ivory trade means elephants could be wiped out in parts of Africa in the next few years. As demand from China pushes levels of poaching and smuggling to new highs, we investigate China's illegal ivory traders.
FOOD / TRAVEL / CULTURE
Shanghai Warms Up To A New Cuisine: Chinese Food, American-Style (February 12, 2014, NPR)
Imagine living in China and missing Chinese food. It happens. American expatriates who grew up with popular takeout dishes like General Tso's chicken can't find it in China because it essentially doesn't exist here. Much of the Chinese food we grew up with isn't really Chinese. It's an American version of Chinese food. Chinese immigrants created it over time, adapting recipes with U.S. ingredients to appeal to American palates. Now, Americans living in Shanghai can get a fix of their beloved Chinatown cuisine at a new restaurant.
2 Russian daredevils scaled Shanghai Tower when nobody was watching and shot this INSANE video (February 13, 2014, Shanghaiist)
Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov make up the duo 'OnTheRoofs' and take badassery to scary high levels. The Russian travelers are experienced climbers who have scaled some of the highest buildings in the world, most recently, the Shanghai Tower.
LANGUAGE / LANGUAGE LEARNING
Learning Chinese pronunciation as a beginner (Learning Chinese Pronunciation as a Beginner)
Some aspects of Chinese arent particularly difficult (see this article for examples), but for most students, pronunciation can be very difficult. Various learners have difficulties in different areas; some think the tones are difficult, others find it hard to distinguish between the many sounds that simply dont exist in their native language.
Learning Chinese in the 1600s (February 8, 2014, Outside-In)
I love history, I love China, and I love maps. This explains why I am currently working my way through a book about the history of a Chinese map! Its called Mr. Seldens Map of China: Decoding the Secrets of a Vanished Cartographer.
120 Daily Used Short Sentences (January 11, 2014, Dig Mandarin)
BOOKS
Ten Best Books On Chinas Economy. Plus Five More (February 8, 2014, China Law Blog)
Mr. Parkers picks, followed by my own two cents on a few of the choices is below, but you will (and you should) go to the full article here to read more about each book and why it was chosen:
A China Story: From Peiping to Beijing (February 13, 2014, China Rhyming)
I noticed James Hendrys A China Story on Amazon the other day. No idea if its any good or not as havent had a chance to read yet but I did, of course, note the Frank Pinkie Dorn 1935 map of Peking on the cover which Ive been known to use myself!
ARTICLES FOR RESEARCHERS
Recent Discussions of the One-Child Policy (The China Story)
Unlike some policies that are ignored by both citizens and officials, the One-Child Policy was and continues to be rigorously enforced with punishments such as high fines and mandatory termination of employment for offenders. Although the logic behind the policy is well understood in China, where there are too many people () is an everyday complaint, the policy has long caused social tensions and always had its critics.
The State of Journalism in China (The Nieman Foundation)
The Communist Party has long striven to control freedom of speech in China. Websites from around the world are blocked. Major social media cannot be accessed, and advanced software is used to delete sensitive entries from the Internet. Domestic journalists who step over the invisible line of whats permissible face being fired or even arrested, while foreign journalists face various forms of government intimidation. How reporters are trying to work around China's resurgent censorship, 25 years after Tiananmen.
Restructuring the Military: Drivers and Prospects for Xis Top-Down Reforms (February 7, 2014, China Brief)
China Thinks It Can Defeat America in Battle (Medium.com)
The bad news first. The Peoples Republic of China now believes it can successfully prevent the United States from intervening in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan or some other military assault by Beijing. Now the good news. China is wrongand for one major reason. It apparently disregards the decisive power of Americas nuclear-powered submarines.
ARTICLES IN CHINESE
未成年人的宗教自由——《中华人民共和国宗教法》草案（公民建议稿）讨论摘要（二) (Pacific Institute for Social Sciences)
共产党不必排斥有神论者入党 (Pacific Institute for Social Sciences)
Image credit: Joann Pittman