FEATURED ARTICLE
Letter from Beijing: Prejudice against out-of-towners (May 22, 2014, The Prospect)
Waidiren, or people from out of town, is a common phrase in Beijing, where the 21m population includes eight million migrants from other provinces. They are separated from local residents by the hukou system, a household registration status that denies them full access to local health care services and their children free public schooling. The policy has attracted much criticism in recent years, generating momentum for reform in key cities. Less discussed, however, is the casual discrimination they encounter.
GOVERNMENT / POLITICS / FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Chinas Leader, Seeking to Build Its Muscle, Pushes Overhaul of the Military (May 24, 2014, The New York Times)
Mr. Xi wants a military that can project power across the Pacific and face regional rivals like Japan in defense of Chinese interests. To get it, he means to strengthen Chinas naval and air forces, which have been subordinate to the Peoples Liberation Armys land forces, and to get the military branches to work in close coordination, the way advanced Western militaries do.
China says scrambled jets in response to Japanese air intrusion (May 25, 2014, Reuters)
China said on Sunday it scrambled jets in the East China Sea after Japanese aircraft intruded into its air defense zone and carried out "dangerous actions" during a joint maritime exercise with Russia. The Defense Ministry said on its website that the Japanese aircraft had entered the zone on Saturday despite "no fly" notices issued before the exercises. China declared the zone last year despite protests by Japan and the United States.
China vows year-long terrorism crackdown after attack (May 25, 2014, AFP)
China on Sunday vowed a year-long campaign against terrorism, days after attackers in the western region of Xinjiang killed 39 people in a suicide raid. "With Xinjiang as the centre, and with cooperation from other provinces, we will start a year-long specialised hard-strike campaign against violent terrorism," the ministry of public security said on its website.
For Chinas Communist Party, Stability as Usual Isnt Enough (May 26, 2014, China Real Time)
Stability maintenancethe practice of making sure that local opposition to authority and policies in China stays localhas been Beijings default approach to potential unrest under previous leaderships. Under President Xi Jinping, the same strategy has emboldened cadres to repel calls for political change, especially from activists. But too often, the commentary says, this pursuit of stability has compelled officials to simply stay with the status quo. Thats unhelpful because social stability shouldnt be something blindly sought, or be without brave advances and progress.
White paper: Progress made in protecting people's rights (May 27, 2014, China Daily)
China has effectively safeguarded its citizens' rights of life and health, personal liberty, personal dignity and other rights, according to a government report published on Monday.
Vietnam boat sinks after collision with Chinese vessel (May 27, 2014, BBC)
A Vietnamese fishing boat has sunk after it collided with a Chinese vessel near a controversial oil rig in the South China Sea, amid tensions between the two nations. Both countries are blaming the other for the incident. Vietnam's coast guard said the boat was encircled by 40 Chinese vessels before it was rammed, reports said. But Chinese state media outlet Xinhua said Vietnam's boat collided with its vessel after "engaging in harassment".
Politburo Vows to Improve Living Standards in Xinjiang (May 27, 2014, Sinosphere)
Days after a deadly blast in Xinjiang killed scores of people in a busy market, Chinas ruling Communist Party vowed to increase employment and educational opportunities in the region, in a sign that it recognizes that it must improve living standards for the regions ethnic Uighur minority to combat an increasingly violent separatist movement.
Tiananmen Square Anniversary Prompts Campaign of Silence (May 27, 2014, The New York Times)
Even by the standards of the clampdowns that routinely mark politically sensitive dates in China, the approach this year to June 4, the anniversary of the day in 1989 when soldiers brutally ended student-led protests in Tiananmen Square, has been particularly severe.
Meet Chinas Legions of Military Fanboys (May 28, 2014, Tea Leaf Nation)
The posts read like a cross between an intelligence report, a video game, and a niche photo-sharing site. Ive got pictures of the Global Liberation Armys littoral combat ships, one anonymous Chinese Internet user boasts. Another shares images of F-16 fighter planes and offers to exchange them with men who like the pomegranate sister. This argot may mean little to most Chinese netizens and indeed, the vast majority of Americans but its catnip for the junmi, the military geeks, who obsess over the latest technology and developments among Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) and other forces around the world.
China sentences 55 people in mass Xinjiang trial (May 28, 2014, BBC)
Fifty-five people in China's north-western Xinjiang province have been found guilty of terrorism, separatism and murder, state media report. The defendants, who appeared to be from the region's Muslim Uighur community, were presented to a stadium holding about 7,000 spectators. Three of the prisoners were sentenced to death.
RELIGION
Grace to the City in Hong Kong (May 28, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
In March of this year, more than 1500 pastors and church leaders from around China gathered at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong for a conference called Grace to the City Convention. The keynote speaker was Dr. Timothy Keller, of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City who, with the assistance of a phenomenal interpreter, spoke on the themes of grace, contextualization, integration, and movement. In addition, the participants heard four pastors from four different areas of China give their perspectives on these themes. A team of musicians from Harbin led the worship.
SOCIETY / LIFE
Dont try and outrun bullets, dont tweet, and other tips from Chinas terrorist survival guide (May 23, 2014, The Nanfang Insider)
Terror attacks have occurred again in Urumqi, Xinjiang in which the [loss of] life reminds us that we must remain vigilant at all times in public places. Even though the chance of getting involved in a terrorist attack is less than winning the grand prize in a lottery, we should nonetheless prepare ourselves with survival knowledge and tips in order to make losses as minimal as possible.
In Chinas Far West, a City Struggles to Move On (May 23, 2014, The New York Times)
These days, he said, any attempt to stir up trouble would end badly for Uighurs, who are increasingly outnumbered in Urumqi and other big cities in the north of Xinjiang. Were all human beings, he said. We all have mothers and we all just want to live our lives. But if it comes to war, and we start killing each other, the Han will come out ahead.
Circumstances of My Dismissal from Tencent (May 24, 2014, China Change)
On May 20th, I was notified by the department head at Tencent that I was being suspended, citing radical expressions I made in my meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this year and the propaganda directives I publicized online. I was told that I would receive a final decision after Tencent coordinated with the propaganda authorities.
Update on Urumqi, Xinjiang attacks {Can I still travel to Xinjiang?} (May 25, 2014, Far West China)
But I'm not interested in re-hashing what you can easily read online. As someone who calls Urumqi my home, I just wanted to share some updates on what's really happening on the ground here in Xinjiang – things that most reporters either don't see or don't find worthy to report on.If you plan on traveling to Xinjiang or if you have any interest in this part of the world, I think you'll find my answers to these questions interesting especially the last question.
Is there an expat exodus from China? My gut says yes. (May 26, 2014, China Law Blog)
The Nanfang Insider recently did a post entitled, Is There an Expat Exodus in China? Not Quite. The post used a bunch of pretty much irrelevant statistics to argue that there is no such exodus. I would contend that there has been and is continuing to be an exodus of Americans from China.
Blue Skies, Safe Food: The Chinese Dream in Song (May 27, 2014, China Real Time)
Why talk about the Chinese dream when you can sing about it?
How to Succeed at Philanthropy in China (May 27, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
In our previous post, "How to Fail at Philanthropy in China," we shared some insights from Clare Pearson of Charitarian Magazine in Beijing, based on her experience with corporate donors in China. Clare presented these last month at Philanthropy and China: A Time of Promise, a conference sponsored by the International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy (AiP). Here we follow up with Clare's tips on how to do it right (in this order):
China to crack down on mobile instant messaging apps (May 27, 2014, PCWorld)
China is starting a month-long crack down on illegal content circulating through local instant messaging services. The latest crackdown, announced Tuesday, comes after a terrorist attack in Chinas Xinjiang region killed 43 people. Police later arrested over 200 suspected militants, who had been chatting over local instant messaging services to organize their activities, according to the nations state-controlled press. Among the messaging services used were WeChat and QQ, two of the most popular in the nation and developed by local Internet giant Tencent.
Six elderly people in China kill themselves 'before burial ban' (May 28, 2014, The Guardian)
Six elderly people in China are said to have killed themselves to ensure they died before new regulations banning coffin burials come into force, a newspaper has reported. China has a tradition dating back thousands of years of ancestor worship, which usually requires families to bury their relatives and construct a tomb. But in recent years local governments across the country have demolished tombs as part of a national campaign encouraging cremation, in an attempt to save on limited land resources. Government officials in Anqing, a city in the eastern province of Anhui, ordered that all locals who die after 1 June should be cremated, the Beijing News daily reported.
Beijing Commutes Get Even Longer With Stepped-Up Subway Security (May 28, 2014, China Real Time)
Already difficult commutes in Chinas capital became even more punishing this week, as Beijing beefed up subway security checks in the wake of deadly attacks targeting civilians. Hundreds of unhappy commuters stood in long lines across the city Wednesday morning to undergo enhanced security screenings, which now include body checks as well as bag screenings in several stations. At stations in the citys north, subway staff said passengers had to wait between 20-30 minutes to get through the security line, up from about 10-15 minutes prior to the new screening requirements.
EDUCATION / HISTORY
'Operation Yellow Bird': How Tiananmen activists fled to freedom through Hong Kong (May 26, 2014, South China Morning Post)
It still seems an impossible feat: a group of courageous Hongkongers helping to spirit hundreds of dissidents out of the mainland after the June 4 crackdown under the nose of the authorities. As the 25th anniversary of the military action looms, evidence obtained by the Post fills in some of the gaps of the rescue codenamed "Operation Yellow Bird". Activists would first be rescued and brought to Hong Kong, where they would be placed in safe houses before seeking political asylum overseas.
4 Things We Overlook About Tiananmen (May 27, 2014, Sinostand)
In the lead up to the Tiananmen crackdowns anniversary, there have been a lot of articles looking back on the event some with new interesting angles, some just dusting off stories from five years ago. But in reading this stuff, Ive noticed that some things tend to get overlooked or remembered in a skewed way. I think oversimplified media coverage of the protests at the beginning plays a major role. Images of Tank Man and Democracy banners in the heart of Red China offered a narrative too appealing to complicate with the finer details. This list (which is admittedly also pretty simplified) is a reminder of some of those details that we tend to neglect about Tiananmen and its legacy.
Forgotten Negatives From the Tank Man Photographer (May 28, 2014, China Real Time)
Jeff Widener is the photographer who took the famous Tank Man photograph near Beijings Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, during a crackdown on pro-democracy students that stunned the world. Mr. Widener, then a photographer for the Associated Press, recently returned to the region on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the crackdown for a Hong Kong exhibition of his work from the era. He spoke with China Real Time about the lesser-known images he took in 1989, the upcoming Hong Kong vigil and his experiences in the country since that period.
Photographer Documents Bound Feet as Living History (May 28, 2014, China Real Time)
In 2005, Jo Farrell took a two-hour bus ride to a village in Chinas central Shandong province. There, she met an old woman called Zhang Yun Ying who allowed Ms. Farrell to take pictures of her lotus feet. Since then, the Hong Kong-based photographer has gone back to Ms. Zhangs village every year. [We] celebrated her 80th birthday four years ago, Ms. Farrell said. I always look forward to going back. [] Now, Ms. Farrell is on a mission to document Chinas remaining women with bound feet, most of whom are in their 80s and 90s. She doesnt know how many are left. Up to now she has documented dozens of them, mostly in Shandong but also Yunnan, using black-and-white film processed in her own darkroom.
HEALTH
China reports 3 new human H7N9 cases (May 22, 2014, Xinahu)
Health authorities in east China's Anhui Province on Thursday reported three more human cases of H7N9 bird flu. A 40-year-old man surnamed Yang, a native of Taihu County, was confirmed to have been infected with the H7N9 virus on Monday and is in a critical condition, the provincial health and family planning commission announced on Tuesday.
ECONOMICS / BUSINESS / TRADE
Real Estate Tycoon Sees Titanic Moment for Chinas Housing Market (May 26, 2014, China Real Time)
Chinas once buoyant property market is facing some rough sailing. In fact, according to one tycoon Soho Chinas chief Pan Shiyi the real estate market is looking more like the Titanic headed in the direction of an iceberg. Mr. Pan, the co-founder and chairman of Soho China Ltd., is taking a very bearish view on the housing market, which has struggled this year. In the first four months of the year, home sales were down 9.9% from the same period a year ago in value terms, official data shows. New construction starts as calculated by area were down almost 25% year over year in the same period.
China pushing banks to drop IBM servers in hacking dispute: report (May 27, 2014, Reuters)China is pressuring its banks to remove high-end servers made by IBM IBM.N and replace them with a local brand, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, as tensions rise between Beijing and Washington over allegations of cyber espionage. A spokesman for International Business Machines Corp said the U.S. technology company was not aware of any such demands by the Chinese government.
11 Chinese startups to look out for in 2014 (May 27, 2014, Nanjing Marketing Group)
Every year new startups in China get funding. Some go on to become well known money making brands and others fall into the dustbin of history. Three startups of note that were predicted to do well in 2013 and indeed did were Xiaomi, Wandoujia and Momo. All three have blossomed and are now used by huge numbers of people. In this blog post Ill look at 11 startups that I think will do well in China in 2014 and beyond.
SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY / ENVIRONMENT
Sinica Podcast: History of the Internet in China (May 25, 2014)
The Internet has always been near and dear to our hearts here at Sinica. Four years ago, our very first show covered Google China and the fracas that followed their decision to pull out of China. And in the years since, we've frequently talked about Twitter and Weibo and now Weixin. With various anniversaries looming and our Internet connections getting almost as bad as they were ten years ago, today we wanted to take a step back and chat about how the Internet has grown and changed China.
China to scrap millions of cars to improve air quality (May 26, 2014, BBC)China plans to remove six million vehicles that do not meet exhaust emission standards by the end of the year as a way of improving air quality. More than 300,000 vehicles will be decommissioned in the capital Beijing. Recent findings from the state's environmental agency showed that 31% of the air pollution in Beijing comes from vehicle exhaust fumes.Next year, the government plans to scrap up to five million vehicles from other regions.
FOOD / TRAVEL / CULTURE
In China, Pork Fat Inspires Poetry, Art and Literature (May 23, 2014, China Real Time)
A table without pork fat is like literature without poetry. Say the word pork fat and you might conjure up queasy thoughts of high cholesterol and hypertension to the minds of many. But a new book about just that subject has sparked a wave of nostalgia among some of Chinas writers, painters and performers.
Culture insider: Top 10 Chinese cultural symbols (May 26, 2014, China Daily)
When mentioning China, what comes to mind? As a country with a history of more than 5,000 years, China is rich in civilization and culture. What best represents China? Here we list the top 10 cultural symbols of China.
Photoessay: A Feast for the Eyes – The Incredible Spectacle of the Ten Miao Parade (May 27. 2014, Life on Nanchang Lu)
As part of the Sister's Meal Festival Celebrations, the Ten Miao Parade takes place in Taijiang, Guizhou. Miao groups from ten different village areas – women, men and children, all in their best festival dress – dance and march through the streets to the town square. It is simply the most rich, colourful, and spectacular display of ethnic dress I have ever witnessed.
LANGUAGE / LANGUAGE LEARNING
How do Chinese mothers nag? (May 22, 2014, The World of Chinese)
Due to Mothers Day recently, many Chinese have started discussing (moms pet phrases) on Weibo, and listing the gentle, or not so gentle, messages our mothers fire our way has become all the rage. So what do Chinese moms love saying and just what are their favorite ways to nag? You could probably use some on your own child or, in fact, anyone you care enough to nag.
What Its Like to Live in China and Speak the Devil-Language (May 23, 2014, China Real Time)
When I tell other Chinese people that I am originally from Wenzhou, I usually get two replies.One, your family must be rich; two, your dialect is basically a foreign language. The first reaction comes from the time-honored reputation that people from my coastal hometown city havenamely that we are good at doing business, which has earned us the nickname of the Jews of China. The other was something that I did not wholly realize until I came to Beijing for college eight years ago.
Push Push, Pull Pull (May 25, 2014, Outside-In)
Once in the building, we had to do a bit of hunting to find the right office, but in the end, we were successful. It was one of those typical Chinese government officesa thick blue haze hanging in the air over 4 totally empty desks around which stood 6 people doing absolutely nothing more than contributing to the blue haze. The woman sitting at the desk glared at us as if we had a sign over our heads that declared, We are here to annoy you, and sort of hissed at us.
How and why to use television to learn Chinese (May 28, 2014, Hacking Chinese)
Television is a valuable asset in the modern language learners toolkit. The medium provides a convenient way to enjoy large volumes of passive listening practice in a stress free environment. The combination of visual and auditory senses makes the medium accessible to the entire spectrum of Chinese learners, from the beginner through to advanced learners.
BOOKS
Chinas Reforming Churches: Mission, Polity, and Ministry in the Next Christendom (Heritage Books)
China is now home to more evangelical believers than any other nation, and the church continues to grow and make inroads in every level of Chinese society. Such dramatic growth, against the backdrop of modern China, has produced profound and urgent church development needs. As faithful Chinese ministers strive to meet these needs, an increasing number are discovering the rich biblical and theological resources of the Reformed tradition and presbyterian polity.
Striving for Wealth and Truth in China, in Face of Monolithic Government (May 25, 2014, The New York Times)
Age of Ambition and Leftover Women Gauge Social Upheaval
Chinas War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival paperback release (May 28, 2014, China Rhyming)
Different countries give different opening dates for the period of the Second World War, but perhaps the most compelling is 1937, when the Marco Polo Bridge Incident plunged China and Japan into a conflict of extraordinary duration and ferocity a war which would result in many millions of deaths and completely reshape East Asia in ways which we continue to confront today.With great vividness and narrative drive Rana Mitters book draws on a huge range of new sources to recreate this terrible conflict.
ARTICLES FOR RESEARCHERS
Beijing, Kunming, Urumqi and Guangzhou: The Changing Landscape of Anti-Chinese Jihadists (May 23, 2014, China Brief)
This article analyzes the political nature of the recent attacks in China, with an emphasis on operational connections between the attackers and international jihadist groups like the TIP and IMU.
What the Chinese people are thinking (1) (May 28, 2014, China Media Project)
Earlier this month, noted political scientist and historian Xu Youyu () was criminally detained by authorities in Beijing after taking part in a forum to commemorate this years 25th anniversary of the June Fourth crackdown on democracy demonstrations. As the anniversary that tragedy nears, CMP honors the intellectual tradition represented by Xu and others present at the May 3 forum including CMP fellow Pu Zhiqiang by publishing Xus 2012 Louis Green Lecture, delivered at Australias Monash University. We have divided the talk, originally titled Intellectual Discourses in post-Mao China and Today, into three parts.
China Country Profile (East Asian Peoples)
ZGBriefs is a free weekly compilation of the news in China, condensed from published online sources. Highlighting articles and commentary from major news sites, and blogs and other new media sites, ZGBriefs brings you not only the most important stories of the week in order to help deepen your understanding of what is happening in China today. Coverage includes domestic and international politics, economics, culture, and social trends, among other areas. Seeking to explore all facets of life in China, ZGBriefs also includes coverage of spiritual movements and the role of religious believers and faith-based groups in China. ZGBriefs is a reader-supported service. If you find this resource useful, please consider making a donation.