FEATURED ARTICLE
The China-Vietnam Standoff: How Will It End? (May 9, 2014, China File)
But if such steps fail and China moves forward with drilling, a military confrontation is not out of the question. China would likely win an armed clash, but it could prove an empty victory, pushing Beijings fearful neighbors to build up their militaries and pursue even closer ties with the United States.
GOVERNMENT / POLITICS / FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Chinas relations with Muslim Uighurs worsen as tensions rise after attacks (May 9, 2014, Washington Post)
By conflating extremism and terrorism with regular Uighur customs such as wearing long beards and with religious practices such as praying, the government has decided that nearly every Uighur is complicit in illegal religious activity and forces Uighur believers to abandon their faith in order to avoid state punishment, Seytoff said.
China to extend over $12 bln in aid to Africa (May 9, 2014, Reuters)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang unveiled extra aid for Africa totalling at least $12 billion on Monday, and offered to share advance technology with the continent to help with development of high-speed rail, state media reported.
What Will Chinas National Security Commission Do? (May 12, 2014, Tea Leaf Nation)
On May 6, China published its first national security blue book. The book outlined problems Beijing sees itself facing in internal security including Western nations cultural hegemony threatening Chinas socialist values, terrorism, and the export of Western democracy threatening Chinese ideology, among others. Perhaps more importantly, it outlines the role of Chinas National Security Commission. Announced in November, helmed by Chinas President Xi Jinping and influenced by the United States National Security Council, little is known about what it will do or how it will operate.
China tightens security in Beijing (May 12, 2014, BBC)
China has deployed armed police patrol vehicles in Beijing after three attacks at transport hubs around the country. The 150 vehicles are tasked with "countering street terrorism and fighting severe violence", state-run Xinhua news agency said. Petrol purchases would also be tightened, with buyers required to register with police, reports said.
Five-Star Hotels, Flashy Clothes: Chinas Cadres Confess Their Sins (May 12, 2014, China Real Time)
Such so-called self-criticism sessions were a Marxist-Leninist practice endorsed by Mao Zedong, in which party members confess to any sins that might undermine the image of the Communist Party. As Mao described it in 1949, such self-criticisms can get rid of a bad style and keep the good. More recently, similarly styled sessions have become a key element of a campaign by Mr. Xi to strengthen the partys reputation, amid an effort to crack down on official excesses and graft.
US warns Beijing on South China Sea tensions (May 13, 2014, BBC)
The US has warned China that moving a drilling rig into seas disputed with Vietnam was "provocative". In a telephone call, US Secretary of State John Kerry told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi the US had "strong concerns" over recent developments. Last week, Chinese and Vietnamese ships clashed over the drilling rig that China has placed in waters near the disputed Paracel Islands.
China's Communist Party Learns The Fine Art Of Public Relations (May 13, 2014, NPR)
Openness doesn't come naturally to China's Communist Party. After all, China is an authoritarian state where people have little right to know how they are governed. But Communist Party schools have been trying to change that over the years by teaching officials how to deal with the news media. Earlier this month, Qin Chang, a host at Shanghai People's Radio, taught a class on the art of the press conference at China Executive Leadership Academy in Shanghai's sprawling Pudong district and I was invited to watch.
Islamist group claims Urumqi bombing (May 14, 2014, The Guardian)
An Islamist militant group called the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) claimed responsibility for a bomb attack at a train station in China's western city of Urumqi in late April that killed one person and injured 79, the Site Monitoring service said. China had said the attack in its restive Xinjiang region, home to the Muslim Uighur ethnic group, was carried out by two religious extremists who were killed in the blast.
China Puts Brass On Trial In Fight Against Military Corruption (May 14, 2014, NPR)
China's leaders are worried that graft may be one of the most serious challenges to its armed forces' effectiveness. And they are aware that the double-digit increases in military spending are only making the problem worse.
Tibet propaganda boss vows to "seal" internet to stop separatists (May 14, 2014, Reuters)
Tibet's top propaganda official vowed to "seal and stifle" the internet in an effort to defang separatist groups in the Himalayan region, China's cabinet said on Wednesday. Dong Yunhu, Tibet's propaganda department head, made the remarks at a meeting on Monday, the State Council's information office said, as China seeks to stamp out ethnic unrest after a string of violent attacks it has blamed on separatists from the far-western region of Xinjiang.
Chinese Officials Head to Countryside to Try to Win Over Locals (May 15, 2014, China Real Time)
Some 200,000 officials in Xinjiang, the western region of China that has seen a rising tide of unrest, will be sent to live in rural areas over the next three years, the Global Times reported this week. So far, the paper reports, more than 70,000 have already arrived.
The Last Time China Got Into a Fight With Vietnam, It Was a Disaster (May 15, 2014, TIME)
Current Sino-Vietnamese tensions are merely the latest in a series of bitter conflicts between the two countries. The last time Hanoi and Beijing pushed each other to the brink, tens of thousands perished.
Anti-Foreigner Violence Turns Deadly and Spreads in Vietnam (may 15, 2014, The New York Times)
Violence against foreign-owned factories has spread across Vietnam and taken a deadly turn, with officials saying on Thursday that at least one Chinese worker had been killed and scores more injured when hundreds of protesting Vietnamese rampaged through a steel plant.
Chinese Nationals Flee Vietnam As Unrest Intensifies (May 15, 2014, NPR)
A second day of violence in Vietnam has seen mobs singling out Chinese workers for attack, killing at least one and injuring dozens, as hundreds of Chinese nationals fled the country by land and air. A major foreign-owned steel operation was set ablaze in the country's north. The unrest has been sparked by China's efforts to deploy an oil platform in disputed waters in the South China Sea, putting tensions on boil and spreading fear of a possible conflict between the neighboring countries that fought a brief border war in 1979.
Dozens Of Protesters Picked Up Ahead Of Tiananmen Anniversary (May 15, 2014, NPR)
Chinese authorities have arrested or detained dozens of people ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. This is an annual ritual ahead of a sensitive political date in China.
RELIGION
Incarceration Time Increases for Three Members of Shouwang Church in China (May 7, 2014, Morning Star News)
In a higher level of punishment since Beijings Shouwang Church began meeting outdoors in April 2011, three members of the congregation on Monday (May 5) have been placed in detention for five days, sources said.
China's 'anti-church' campaign continues with demolitions and arrests (May 9, 2014, The Telegraph)
Fears of a widening campaign against China's fast growing Christian population grew this week as demolition teams moved in on four more churches in the country's east and three Christians were arrested in Beijing for holding an outdoor service. The Longwan Hebin church in Wenzhou, a city in the eastern province of Zhejiang known as "China's Jerusalem", was totally destroyed by government teams on Thursday, according to a local church leader who asked not to be named.
Five things you need to know about faith in China (May 14, 2014, On Faith)
Osnos writes that, beneath the physical changes, Chinas rise is a story of spiritual revival comparable to Americas Great Awakening in the nineteenth century, an attempt to fill a hole in Chinese life that people named the jingshen kongxu the spiritual void. In this adaptation from Age of Ambition, he explains the five essential dynamics in Chinas quest for meaning.
SOCIETY / LIFE
New barriers go up along Tiananmen Square as 25th anniversary of crackdown nears (May 9, 2014, Washington Post)
In time for the 25th anniversary of Chinas bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators at Tiananmen Square, the government has unveiled shiny, new golden railings along the square.Authorities say the new yellow barriers were installed to enhance car safety as well as aesthetics, but many bloggers and critics think it is more likely a reaction to an apparent protest attack last year in which three people crashed a jeep into Tiananmen Square, killing themselves and two pedestrians and injuring at least 38.
The children airbrushed from the story of Chinas devastating quake (May 11, 2014, The Telegraph)
At least 5,335 children were killed, many crushed by shoddily constructed buildings that became known as tofu schools and to this day their deaths remain one of the most contentious issues surrounding the earthquake. Beichuans memorial provides an extensive breakdown of the government workers who lost their lives and an exhaustive account of the rescue effort. But there is scant mention of the infant victims and no permanent memorial plaques marking their diabolical graves.
China waste plant protest in Hangzhou 'injures dozens' (May 11, 2014, BBC)
At least 39 people have been hurt and dozens of vehicles damaged in a protest against a planned waste incinerator in a Chinese city, state media report. The violence broke out on Saturday in Yuhang district of Hangzhou city, in the eastern province of Zhejiang. The injured included 29 police officers. Local authorities say the project will not go ahead without public support.
Realising Chinas urbanisation dream (May 12, 2014, East Asia Forum)
China is experiencing rapid urbanisation. It is the main engine of economic growth in contemporary China, although it is facing some severe challenges. A major problem is that the majority of the 234 million rural migrants in urban areas have not obtained urban permanent resident status, blocked by the hukou or urban household registration system. The newly released urbanisation blueprint by the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council, National New-Type Urbanization Plan 2014-2020, announced the acceleration of the process of turning rural migrants into urban citizens.
Photos: Heavy Rains Pound China (May 12, 2014, China Real Time)
Heavy rains over the weekend affected more than half a million people in southern and eastern China, with 1,400 houses destroyed and more than 50,000 residents forced to evacuated.
China's growing gender gap: women are not just 'leftover' but left out (May 12, 2014, The Guardian)
The spectacular Chinese property boom is almost entirely benefiting men, while government-backed campaigns stigmatise unmarried women over 27 as 'leftover'.
Defiance (May 13, 2014, China Change)
Like the vast majority of Chinese people, I dont like to deal with the police. When the police come to your door, it always means something unusual or inauspicious has occurred. Thats why the police always say, Nothings wrong with you? If theres nothing wrong with you, why are we here? In truth, the Chinese have long cultivated the habits of obedient citizens, and when the police appear, they believe something unlawful must have taken place.
Follow the Money, China-Style (May 11, 2014, The New York Times)
The professors estimate that half of the money supply surplus has been salted away by corrupt officials is a calculation based more on poetic license than empirical evidence, but I have no doubt that the total of stolen cash is big enough to play a role in curbing price inflation at a time of monetary expansion. Like most Chinese, I am sure that those officials who have been brought to justice represent the tip of an iceberg of kickbacks and bribes.
Where is China Going? (May 12, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
Statistics released by a Beijing think-tank in January reveal that emigration from China is at its highest level ever, with 9.34 million leaving the Mainland in 2013. The "immigration deficit," or difference between those immigrating to China and those leaving, has risen 129 percent since 1990, from 3.71 million to 8.5 million. China is the world's fourth largest country for emigration, coming behind, India, Mexico, and Russia.
Zhuhai Bests Hong Kong as Chinas Most Livable City (May 13, 2014, China Real Time)
Hong Kong is no longer Chinas most livable city. Its been knocked out by Zhuhai, which lies on the southern coast of Guangdong province across the border from Macau, according to the latest rankings from the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Factors such as a large proportion of college students, a variety of dining and shopping venues and ample green space gave the city its edge, says Ni Pengfei, the director of the academys Center for City and Competitiveness.
Coming of age in a culture of information paternalism in China (May 13, 2014, 88-Bar)
Tricias research discusses how Chinese youth are experiencing their coming of age in a culture of information paternalism. That she does not call it censorship is an important distinction, because in China today, the dominant narrative around control is father knows whats best for you. Here, father can refer to an actual teens parents, relatives, teachers or the Chinese government.
Lights! Camera! Baby! New Chinese Reality Show Focuses On Childbirth (May 14, 2014, China Real Time)
Childbirth may be a miracle, but that doesnt mean people want to spend their Friday night watching it. Or so you might think. But a new Chinese reality TV show that spotlights women as they undergo labor has gotten widely praised, despite the hard-to-watch nature of some of the footage being aired. Titled Come On, Baby, the show first aired last week, just before Mothers Day.
Is China Anti-Semitic? One Jews Reflections (May 14, 2014, China Real Time)
The surprising poll that found about one-quarter of the worlds population harbored what might be considered anti-Semitic views made me reflect upon my three years in Beijing as one of the several thousand Jews who live here full-time.
Do Chinese NIMBY Protests Actually Work? (May 14, 2014, Tea Leaf Nation)
The Chinese word for NIMBY is linbi, a pairing of the characters for neighbor and avoid that is meant to allude to the original English phrase in both sound and meaning. The word doesnt show up in most Chinese dictionaries, a sign of just how young the phenomenon is there (though the definition can be found online).
One Uighur Mans Journey in Two Cultures (May 15, 2014, Tea Leaf Nation)
Kurbanjan settled in Beijing, which lies more than 2,600 miles to the east of Hotan. In part to reach out to Han who might want to gain more insight into what is happening in Xinjiang, he spoke with journalist Zhang Chi in a lengthy first-person narrative article that was published in the April 30 issue of Phoenix Weekly, a Hong Kong-based news magazine.
The modern Chinese youth who never venture outside (May 15, 2014, The World of Chinese)
They are addicted to the the internet, rarely go out, and are almost proud of the fact: Zhainan and zhainu are Chinese slang words given to any number of people who are addicted to things such as anime, computer games, TV dramas or internet novels.
EDUCATION / HISTORY
Chinese railroad workers honored for linking East and West (May 9, 2014, Salt Lake Tribune)
A two-day celebration of the indispensable but often ignored role played by Chinese workers in building the transcontinental railroad completed 145 years ago Saturday began Friday at Utahs state Capitol. These workers, more than 11,000 in all, didnt just brave dangerous labor conditions to link the East and West coasts of the United States in 1869, said Margaret Yee, a former state Asian affairs adviser who has railroad workers on both sides of her family tree.
US to get more Confucius Institutes (May 9, 2014, China Daily)
Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) and the US College Board announced five new Confucius Institutes and 15 new Confucius Classrooms in nine US states on Thursday. It marked the first time the College Board establish Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms within its network collaborating with Hanban.
Tiananmen at 25: China's next revolution may already be underway (May 10, 2014, Global Post)
GlobalPost spoke with three vocal critics of Chinas political status quo: a Tiananmen survivor, a lawyer, and a writer. Despite diverse backgrounds, they agree that the party will not reform itself of its own free will, nor will outside pressure force it to do so. Change is necessary, they say, and must come from the Chinese people.
What Three College Pals Say About Their Dreams In China (May 11, 2014, NPR)
My friends and I graduated from college five years ago, embarking on lives that we hoped would be full of promise, excitement and opportunity. We all went to Minzu University of China (formerly known as the Central University for Nationalities), a prestigious school in Beijing. But now many of my friends find their dreams unfulfilled, and hopes for a better life slipping away.
China youth suicides blamed on education system (May 14, 2014, Channel News Asia)
China's high-pressure, exam-driven education system is responsible for the vast majority of suicides by schoolchildren in the country, state media said Wednesday, citing a study. Official statistics on youth suicides are hard to obtain, but a health ministry journal said that about 500 primary and middle school students kill themselves every year. A study of 79 such suicides last year found that almost 93 per cent happened following arguments between the pupils and their teachers, or after the students experienced heavy pressure with their studies.
ECONOMICS / BUSINESS / TRADE
A growing headache for the Chinese economy (May 10, 2014, The Guardian)
Its people won't stop saving and spend their money, while local authorites and state businesses won't stop borrowing.
China housing apocalypse: Could it happen? (May 12, 2014, Market Watch)
The possibility of a collapse in Chinas bubbly housing market has long been a threat hanging over the nations markets and economy. But exactly what would happen if the bubble bursts in a messy way? Barclays sent a note out Friday looking at a trio of scenarios: a base case in which housing prices continue their slow-but-steady path lower, a downside risk case in which prices drop by 10% or so, and a hard landing situation in which a housing crash tanks the economy.
Mapping Chinas Wealth (May 13, 2014, Tea Leaf Nation)
Conversations about China have long stopped asking if decades of breakneck growth have widened the gap between rich and poor. English-language media is now more likely to focus on whether the countrys inequality is merely as deplorable as the United States, or if it has already joined Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa to become one of the globes most socially stratified places. The map below gives a vivid picture of that.
China's property market: deflating or worse? (May 13, 2014, BBC)
Latest figures show a continued slowdown in credit in China. Aggregate financing, which captures allegedly both official and unofficial lending, fell to 1.55 trillion RMB (148bn or $249bn) last month from just over 2 trillion RMB in March. It's pushing down property prices as intended, but could it also burst a bubble?
China manufacturing growth slows in April (May 13, 2014, BBC)
China has released weaker-than-expected manufacturing data, reinforcing concerns the world's second-largest economy is losing steam. Industrial output rose by 8.7% in April from a year earlier, compared with estimates for an 8.9% increase. Retail sales and fixed-asset investment spending also came in below forecasts.
Beijing Plans to Spend $14 Billion on Second Airport (May 14, 2014, China Real Time)
Beijing plans to spend around $14 billion to build a new airport in the outskirts of the city to relieve congestion at its air travel gateway, already the worlds second-busiest.
China Inc. Starts to Move Its Factory Floor to Africa (May 15, 2014, China Real Time)
Faced with rising labor costs at home, Chinese companies are setting up new factories in Africa, in an attempt to see whether low-cost manufacturing on the continent can match productivity levels in China. And while China used to dispatch thousands of workers to Africa, increasingly, Chinese companies are starting to hire local African workers, as well.
SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY / ENVIRONMENT
Trash troubles pile up in China (May 14, 2014, Bloomberg)
In January 2013, Xinhua, the state newswire, estimated that Chinese throw away enough food annually to feed 200 million people; in 2012, state-owned China Daily estimated that 70 percent of Chinese solid waste is food.
ARTS / ENTERTAINMENT
China Says Goodbye in the Key of G: Kenny G (May 10, 2014, The New York Times)
There are many things about modern China that defy easy explanation: parents posing their children next to live tigers, the sight of grown women wearing furry cat-ear headbands while shopping, the performance-art-like spectacle of strangers napping together in Ikea display beds.But no mystery is more confounding than that of Chinas most enduring case of cultural diffusion: its love affair with
Going Home, the 1989 smash-hit instrumental by the American saxophone superstar Kenny G.
Top 10 Best Chinese Bands of All Time (May 11, 2014, China Whisper)
FOOD / TRAVEL / CULTURE
Wheat vs. Rice: How Chinas Culinary Divide Shapes Personality (May 9, 2014, China Real Time)
In China, as in many countries, the north-south divide runs deep. People from the north are seen as hale and hearty, while southerners are often portrayed as cunning, cultured traders. Northerners are taller than southerners. The north eats noodles, while the south eats riceand according to new research, when it comes to personality, that difference has meant everything.
As Fondness for Hong Kong Fades, More Chinese Tourists Choose Taiwan (May 13, 2014, China Real Time)
But there are many reasons, besides just escaping the wrath of angry Hong Kongers, that tourists would choose Taiwan, the islands tourism bureau says. The self-ruled democratic island is place about which most Chinese have heard and read almost all their lives, said Chi Yi-ling, a bureau official.
LANGUAGE / LANGUAGE LEARNING
Chinese Find Number URLs Easier Than Letters (May 10, 2014, NPR)
Chinese characters don't readily work with the English-centric Internet. The New Republic's Chris Beam tells NPR's Scott Simon that the Chinese use numbers that when pronounced, sound like words.
BOOKS
Evan Osnos observes China's split personality in 'Age of Ambition' (May 9, 2014, The Los Angeles Times)
The book traces China's 35-year journey from poverty and collective dogmatism to a dynamic if cut-throat era of competition, self-promotion and materialism.
20 Books about Xinjiang and Uyghur (Rated and Ranked) (May 12, 2104, Far West China)
Looking for a book on Xinjiang, either for your own personal use or as a gift for somebody else? It struck me recently that I've reviewed a lot of Xinjiang books here on FarWestChina over the last few years but I've never listed them all on one, comprehensive page. So here's my list of the top 20 books related to Xinjiang, separated into category (Xinjiang Travel, Regional History, Uyghur, Entertainment & Language) and ranked them.
China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa, by Howard French (Amazon)
An exciting, hugely revealing account of Chinas burgeoning presence in Africaa developing empire already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people.
ARTICLES FOR RESEARCHERS
Lecture: The Rise of China and the Future of Liberal World Order (Chatham House, via YouTube)
Professor John Ikenberry examines the challenges to global order that are posed by the rise of China and current shifts in global power. He argues that a liberal-oriented international order, as championed by the United States and Europe over the last century, remains the best hope for stability and growth in the 21st century.Professor Ikenberry will contend that, while non-Western rising states seek greater voice and authority in the global system, theyperhaps surprisinglystill embrace the basic principles and institutions of liberal world order. Thus, the United States and Europe have powerful incentives to work together to reform the world's governance institutions to accommodate new stakeholders and tackle problems of rising economic and security interdependence.
Charlotte "Lottie" Diggs Moon 1840 ~ 1912 (Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity)
Image credit: Joann Pittman