ZGBriefs | September 19, 2024

Featured Article

Beijing releases long-jailed US citizen (September 15, 2024, Politico)
The Chinese government has released 68-year-old Orange County resident David Lin, who has been behind bars since 2006 serving a life sentence for what the U.S. government says are bogus charges of contract fraud.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

China to Train Thousands of Overseas Law Enforcement Officers to Create ‘More Fair’ World Order (September 11, 2024, The Guardian)
China will train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers so as to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction”, its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” minister Wang Xiaohong told an annual global security forum. The forum is part of ongoing efforts by China’s ruling Communist party to position itself as a global security leader.

How Do Americans View #China (September 16, 2024, The National Committee On United States–China Relations)
American ratings on #China have plummeted to an average of 32/100, according to a new survey by the Chicago Council. It’s the lowest that views on China have been for decades. How have American views changed since 2019? Craig Kafura (Chicago Council) joins us to discuss the latest survey data on U.S. public attitudes towards China.

Religion

Reaffirming the Lausanne Covenant (September 17, 2024, ChinaSource)
The Lausanne Movement is 50 years old and continues to challenge and inspire Christians around the world to find their role in the Great Commission. As we look forward to the 4th Lausanne Congress, to be held in Incheon, South Korea September 22–28, we are reprinting this article from Christianity Today. Dr. Swamidass looks at the strengths of the movement and how it continues to inspire Christians around the world.

What’s the Finish Line of the Great Commission? (September 16, 2024, ChinaSource)
Engagement and evangelism are crucial, but they are not the finish line of the Great Commission. As we deepen our commitment to the unreached people groups in China, we must not only go, send, pray, and give; we must also plant healthy churches and develop mature disciples who can lead these churches.

From Confucian Scholar to a Servant of Christ (September 13, 2024, ChinaSource)
He placed the Bible respectfully in front of him and knelt down. He read the Bible like this, all the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, where the very presence of God came upon him. He heard the Savior’s cry, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death” (Matthew 26:38), and realized “He loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). In that small room, he yielded himself to the Redeemer.

Lanzhou: The Blessing in the Challenge (September 16, 2024, China Partnership)
After the church was banned in 2018, our church and other churches in similar situations have gone underground. Although we now meet in a non-public way, our churches have never stopped meeting.

Dragon Leaders or Oldest Sons? (September 12, 2024, China Partnership)
Chenxing has been pastoring his church for more than fifteen years. Now his church has more than ten gathering places across the city. I still remember what he shared four years ago in our training class: “I am so tired, so tired. I can’t even do anything, I still feel tired. A mountain is on me.” This mountain is the pressure from his people, the pressure from himself, and the pressure of playing a dragon hero before his congregation.

Society / Life

China Raises Retirement Age for the First Time Since the 1950s (September 13, 2024, NY Times)
The Chinese government on Friday approved a plan to raise the country’s statutory retirement age, currently among the lowest in the world, in a long-awaited but broadly unpopular effort to address the challenge of its rapidly aging population. This is the first time China has raised its retirement age since the 1950s. It will be phased in gradually, starting on Jan. 1, 2025.

Farmers and Students Star in China’s Viral New Football League (September 12, 2024, BBC News)
It is a hot night and thousands of fans have packed into Rongjiang’s football ground for the final of the Guizhou Village Super League.

Dongmen village is up against Dangxiang village in the climax of this hyper rowdy, very local competition.

This small, weekly, village football festival has become a viral sensation in China, as images have spread across social media of fans dressed in traditional ethnic costume, banging drums and cheering on the players who might be farmers, students or shopkeepers.

A New Shade of Chinese Feminism (September 5, 2024, Sixth Tone)
China’s nascent feminist movement has been one of the many victims of authorities’ crackdown on independent civil society and other perceived threats to Communist Party rule over the past decade. In recent years, the tightening of state controls and the introduction of restrictive laws on domestic NGOs has led to a new stage where digital platforms are more crucial than ever for feminist expression. Coupled with the rise of online nationalism, this has given rise to what media scholar Eva Liu of Ohio University calls “pink feminism.”

Netizen Voices: Chinese Football Again In Turmoil Over Corruption and “Humiliating” Defeats (September 12, 2024, China Digital Times)
There was no hiding how bad things had become. “China has made a habit of plumbing new depths in recent years, but this does seem to be a new low,” Mark Dreyer told Nikkei Asia, adding, “Both the scale of the defeat and that it was against its historical rival Japan makes this a particularly galling result.” Former China captain Fan Zhiyi said, “If it weren’t far from here, I would have really jumped into the Huangpu river,”

China Should Not Let Its Children Be Treated as a Public Nuisance (September 14, 2024, South China Morning Post)
What may seem like disruptive behaviour is often just a child exploring the environment or coping with the discomforts of an unfamiliar setting. It’s important to remember that children are not miniature adults. A society that expects toddlers to behave like adults is not only unreasonable but also inhumane. The idea that children should be “disciplined” for simply being children speaks to a larger societal problem.

Economics / Trade / Business

This Holiday, Mooncake Vouchers Fuel a Secret Gray Economy (September 17, 2024, Sixth Tone)
The simple tradition of gifting mooncakes has evolved into a thriving resale market, where vouchers pass through manufacturers, dealers, consumers, and scalpers, with each party earning a profit—often without a single mooncake being bought or sold.

China’s ‘Conscientious Economist’ Goes Viral by Speaking the Truth (September 13, 2024, South China Morning Post)
An outspoken economist has gone viral on Chinese social media as his down-to-earth comments about China’s slowing economy struck a chord with the general public. Fu Peng, chief economist at brokerage firm Northeast Securities, addressed a slew of issues, including the stock market slump and the real estate crisis, at the 2024 Phoenix Financial Forum for the Greater Bay Area at the start of September.

Biden Is Taking on Cheap Products from China. It Could Mean Higher Prices (September 13, 2024, AP News)
President Joe Biden’s proposed rule says foreign companies can’t avoid tariffs simply by shipping goods that they claim to be worth $800 or less. Sellers mainly from China have used the so-called de minimis exemption to flood the U.S. market, shipping dresses, shoes, toys and bags directly to American shoppers in small packages.

The number of these shipments has jumped from 140 million annually to over 1 billion last year, according to a White House statement.

Education

China Wants Academic Exchange but Historians Say Increased Censorship Makes Research Hard (September 13, 2024, Reuters)
On one hand, Beijing wants to increase academic exchange and President Xi Jinping last November invited 50,000 American students to China over the next five years—a massive jump from about 800 currently. How much steam that will gather is very much an open question. But scholars of modern Chinese history in particular—arguably among the people most interested in China—fear that tightened censorship is extinguishing avenues for independent research into the country’s past.

Must Have Experience: Impossible Catch for Pressured Chinese Students Seeking Internships (September 11, 2024, South China Morning Post)
David Ji’s internship ended before it even started. Ji, who is expected to graduate from university next year, had passed an interview for an internship at ByteDance which owns TikTok and is one of the country’s top social media companies, but did not receive an offer.

Health / Environment

Shanghai Hit by Strongest Typhoon Since 1949 (September 16, 2024, NPR News)
The strongest typhoon to hit Shanghai since at least 1949 flooded roads with water and broken tree branches, knocked out power to some homes and injured at least one person as it swept over the financial hub Monday.

More than 414,000 people had been evacuated ahead of the powerful winds and torrential rain. Schools were closed and people were advised to stay indoors.

History / Culture

Mid-Autumn Festival: Mooncakes, Lanterns and So Much More (September 16, 2024, CNN)
It’s time to hang a lantern, share a mooncake and peel a pomelo—Mid-Autumn Festival is here. Falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, it’s celebrated primarily in East and Southeast Asia and is a time for families to gather to sample autumn harvests, light lanterns and admire what’s believed to be the fullest moon of the year. In 2024, the Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Moon Festival, falls on September 17. Here’s a bit of background and a few tips on how to join this massive full moon party.

Our Reporter Finds Community at a Century-Old Chinese Teahouse in Chengdu (August 13, 2024, Christian Science Monitor)
An intriguing tip has led me very early to Heming Tea House, nestled in Chengdu’s lushly verdant People’s Park. A longtime resident of this balmy southwestern Chinese city told me that “old-timers” arrive before six, when tea costs three yuan, or 42 cents.

Language / Language Learning

Three Things I Wish I Had Known as an Intermediate Student of Chinese: The Time Machine, Part 2 (September 9, 2024, Hacking Chinese)
The overarching advice for the intermediate level is to take immersion seriously. This has nothing to do with where you live, as it’s perfectly possible to immerse yourself in Chinese from the comfort of your home. It’s also possible to live in China for ten years and still not learn much Chinese. The only substantial difference between the two is that living in a Chinese-speaking environment tends to increase motivation and makes language immersion more practical.

Travel / Food

How Chinese Food Took Over the Takeaway Market (September 12, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Low-priced Chinese food, delivered to your home in oyster pails, is never far away. It allows friends to share food late at night, Chinese students living abroad to get a taste of home, and countless Asian immigrants to have a place to work. Attempts to offer high-quality Chinese food are certainly laudable, but if one day Chinese food was to become a symbol of “high-end” dining like French cuisine, I think it will have lost more than it has gained.

Growing Wild: Why Young China Can’t Get Enough of Mushroom Hunts (September 12, 2024, Sixth Tone)
This year, media reports indicate that the number of mushroom foraging professionals has increased tenfold, while customer numbers have tripled or quadrupled. During the foraging season, from June to September, experienced guides can earn over 100,000 yuan ($14,000) per month.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

Kanye West Performs in China after Rare Approval by Country’s Censors (September 16, 2024, The Guardian)
When Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, took to the stage in Haikou on Sunday, his Chinese fans could barely believe it. One of the biggest and most controversial foreign acts in the world had been allowed in by China’s notoriously censorious regime.

Resources

Virtual Learning—Redemptive Venture Builder (September–November 2024, Venture Builder Learning Series, Tyndale University)
Want to build a business that integrates the Gospel and blesses the community? The Centre for Redemptive Entrepreneurship is running an 8-week live online course (Sept 26-Nov14) that will teach business building basics but grounded in biblical principles. Methodology will include the use of a Redemptive Business Canvas, a proprietary tool designed to help believers systematically and tactically build businesses with a Kingdom mindset. Whether you’re a Christian entrepreneur or building a business in the mission field, this course will help you think redemptively about your business, and then give you the tools to actually build it out.

Pray for China

September 17 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
On Sept. 17, 1915, Christian artist and evangelist Lin Baosheng (林葆生先生) was born into a Christian family in Fujian. He graduated from the Suzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1938 and became an award-winning teacher and painter. He was also known as a gifted lay preacher. Near the end of his life, he spearheaded the publication of the China Christian Council’s annual calendar for 10 years, illustrating it with his paintings and Bible verses. He went to be with the Lord in 2004 at age 90. Pray for China’s artists to radiate God’s love and beauty.

Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Psalm 96:6-8