ZGBriefs | January 21, 2016

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Featured Article

Video: His Factory Job Gone, a Chinese Migrant Worker Returns Home (January 19, 2016, The New York Times)
Liu Lang, a Chinese migrant worker, left his rural hometown in Sichuan Province two decades ago to work in the factories of the southern province of Guangdong, China’s manufacturing powerhouse. Now, he is moving back. “I worked my way up from a basic worker to a department head. And my career basically ended today,” Mr. Liu said on the train leaving Guangdong.

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Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Taiwan elects first female president (January 16, 2016, BBC)
Tsai Ing-wen wins historic victory as voters express dissatisfaction with economy and outgoing leader.

Charges Against Chinese Rights Lawyers Draw Foreign Criticism (January 18, 2016, The New York Times)
The recent arrests of Chinese lawyers and their associates on subversion charges drew sharp condemnation from presidents of foreign bar associations, prominent lawyers and former judges in a letter issued on Monday. They said the charges were part of an “unprecedented crackdown” on Chinese advocates who take up contentious human rights cases.

Missing Hong Kong publisher Gui Minhai paraded on China TV (January 18, 2016, BBC)
A Hong Kong publisher reported missing last October has appeared on Chinese state TV saying he voluntarily handed himself over to the authorities. Gui Minhai said he turned himself in after being on the run for 12 years over a drink-driving conviction. Mr Gui, a Swedish national, is one of five Hong Kong booksellers to go missing recently.

Hong Kong bookseller’s televised ‘confession’ was absurd and incoherent — and that’s the point (January 18, 2016, Washington Post)
The narrative seems messy and incoherent, blending possible fact with what seems like outright fiction. It feels illogical, absurd even. But that may be the point. Televised confessions don't tend to trade in logic, or truth. They trade in fear.

China’s Search for Dissidents Has Now Expanded to Foreign Countries (January 18, 2016, TIME)
With Beijing’s dragnet expanding abroad, to include what appears to be both Chinese and Chinese-born foreign citizens, panic is setting in among communities that once considered foreign soil safe ground.

Members of Petitioners Group ‘Rose China’ Detained (January 18, 2016, China Change)
Xu Qin (徐秦), the acting secretary-general of Rose China (玫瑰中国), a human rights organization based in Hubei Province, was taken away by the Beijing police on January 8. Xu’s family later received a notice from the police informing them that Xu was arrested on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” Rose Group’s deputy secretary-general Pan Lu (潘露) told China Change.

Xi Jinping’s Middle East Trip: What to Expect (January 19, 2016, China Real Time)
Mr. Xi’s visit to the region—which along with Saudi Arabia and Iran includes a stop in Egypt before concluding on Saturday—comes at an opportune time if China’s shopping for energy.

Former Xinjiang party chief jailed for corruption (January 19, 2016, BBC)
A former Communist Party chief in China's Xinjiang region has been jailed for 12 years for corruption, state media report. Yang Gang was party secretary in the autonomous region's capital, Urumqi, from 1999 to 2006.

Taiwan election: Beijing holds its fire, but warns pro-independence leader (+video) (January 19, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
China watchers have warned that Beijing and Taipei might be reentering a period of dangerous instability ever since it became clear that Taiwan’s pro-independence party would win Saturday’s presidential election. But in the days since Tsai Ing-wen’s landslide victory, China’s government has responded with restraint. It’s a sign that Beijing, at least for now, doesn’t want to further alienate Taiwanese, who voted by wide margins for Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Crouching Tiger, Sleeping Giant (January 19, 2016, Foreign Policy)
How did the phrase manage to lodge itself in the Chinese and American collective conscious — not just for the last few decades, but for the last 120 years? The reasons are murkier than the cliché’s surface-level meaning, and they’re also far more revealing about the two countries’ fraught relationship.

Swedish activist Peter Dahlin 'confesses' on China TV (January 20, 2015, BBC)
A detained Swedish rights activist has appeared on Chinese state television apparently confessing to breaking the law through his group's activities. Peter Dahlin has been held since early January amid a crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists. State media said his organisation had received foreign funding to "instigate confrontations" and gather information to produce "distorted" reports.

Treatment of Foreigners in China a ‘Worrying Trend,’ E.U. Envoy Says (January 20, 2016, The New York Times)
At a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday focusing on market access, trade and international security cooperation between the European Union and China, the bloc’s ambassador to China, Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, said that China’s economy was headed toward “a new normal” as the country seeks to turn toward services and research, among other sectors, and away from low-end manufacturing.

Religion

Christmas Crowds in China | Part 1: Crowds of Security Forces (January 15, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
he crowds of security personnel visible around the church and throughout the city on Christmas Eve were the physical representation of this desire to control. As I wove my way through the throngs that evening, I could feel the weight of a state working hard to control what happens on Christmas.

Christmas Crowds in China | Part 2: Crowds of Apples (January 18, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
Walking past the piles of apples glowing in the light of the church Christmas program projected outside of the church for all to see, I was forced to recognize that I was witnessing an explicitly Chinese Christmas, and that my experience or understanding of the holiday was not normative in this context. My initial frustration at Christmas being reduced to romantic apples soon gave way to eager anticipation as I wondered what other innovations we will see in the Chinese church as our brothers and sisters increasingly take ownership of all aspects of their faith.

Christmas Crowds in China | Part 3: Crowds of New Believers (January 20, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
Moreover, this crowd represents the future of the church in China, and it represents the true gift of Christmas. This last crowd is also proof of God’s faithfulness, and it fills me with great hope for the future of both China and her church.

China’s Conflicting Signals (January, 2016, Lausanne Global Analysis)
Even the experts are baffled. Legally registered Three-Self Patriotic churches are under attack while the illegal house churches are invited into official dialogue. Is China heading for another Mao-era persecution or opening up to an era of religious freedom? With conflicting signals seen across a range of other social, economic, and political issues, times are confusing and nothing is certain. However, there is reason for optimism. The gospel is alive and something is about to happen.

The next big mission field (Chinese Diaspora Infographic) (January 13, 2016, East Asian Peoples)

China publishes 'verified living Buddha' list (January 18, 2016, BBC)
China has published its first list of "authentic living buddhas", saying that growing numbers of fraudulent buddhas are using their status to swindle money from believers.

Society / Life

Venerating Mao, Even Where Famine Remains a Memory (January 13, 2016, The New York Times)
Despite the horror of those years, like many villagers here, Ms. Yang keeps a large portrait of Mao above the family shrine, along with figurines of the goddess of mercy, Guan Yin, and the 12th-century general Yue Fei, a Henan native. “He’s become like a god to us,” she said of Mao. “He won the world for the people.”

Before Debris Collapse in China, Safety Fears Were Discussed (January 16, 2016, The New York Times)
Four days before a mountain of dirt and debris collapsed here, killing at least 69 people, the government agency in charge of the construction dump convened a meeting to discuss safety concerns. In attendance were representatives of the company with the contract to manage the site and the independent engineering firm paid to monitor its work.

The 5 Most Dreaded Questions for Chinese New Year (January 18, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
The count-down has started for China’s most important event of the year. Chinese New Year, also called Spring Festival, starts February 8. Although the anticipation of Spring Festival is evident on Sina Weibo, there are also netizens who dread going home, in fear of the questions that await them…

What 30 Seconds in an Elevator Teaches You About China Today (January 18, 2016, Smalltown Laowai)
Our apartment building’s elevator, like so many in China, is equipped with a small TV to play ads for passengers. Captive audience done right, yo. So, every day for about 30 seconds per ride, we get to have short glimpses into the minds of Chinese consumers. Or at least the minds of Chinese advertisers. Here’s what was playing recently, and what it tells me about China today.

‘Chunyun’: Spring Festival’s Mass Migration (January 19, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
‘Chunyun’ (春运), the passenger transportation around Chinese New Year, is the biggest annual mass migration of the world. The travel season starts this Sunday.

Chinese Student’s Shooting Death in Arizona Sparks Gun Debate (January 20, 2016, China Real Time)
In the days since the shooting, gun control has become a major topic of debate among Chinese students on social media, and some have been circulating how-to guides on legally possessing and using a gun in the U.S.

China to introduce real-name registration for migrant workers (January 20, 2016, China Daily)
China is set to introduce a real-name registration system for migrant workers to better protect their rights in cases of salary cuts or pay defaults, according to a document issued by the State Council.

Tackling China’s demographic challenges (January 20, 2016, East Asia Forum)
The phenomenal pace of China’s ageing has put great pressure on its socio-economic development. China is facing enormous challenges in establishing a nationwide pension or superannuation system that will provide adequate financial support for its rapidly growing elderly population. There are also great challenges in consolidating, and further improving, China’s now nationwide health care system.

33 million left-over men lead to marriage conundrum (January 20, 2016, China Daily)
Men in Chinese mainland outnumbered women by 33.66 million in a country of more than 1.37 billion by the end of 2015. This imbalance has led to great concern over the difficulty of finding a partner for the left-over men, chinanews.com reported.

Economics / Trade / Business

Get used to living with Chinese economic tremors (January 18, 2016, East Asia Forum)
The economic tremors that accompanied the New Year falls in the Chinese stock market have spooked markets and policymakers around the world. Get used to it.

Video: China economic slowdown: Can it avoid a crash? (January 19, 2016, BBC)
The country's previous rapid growth was unsustainable but can it make the change to a more normal rate of growth without a crash?

China's Economy Grows At Its Slowest Rate In 25 Years (January 20, 2016, NPR)
China's annual growth dipped to 6.9 percent. Not since China faced international sanctions over the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has its economy grown at such a slow pace.

As Labor Unrest Looms, China Vows to Target Deadbeat Employers (January 20, 2016, China Real Time)
China is urging fresh efforts to curb unpaid wages among its vast and increasingly disgruntled migrant work force, as the government braces for a seasonal surge in labor unrest ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Smog, Censorship, Antiforeign Sentiment: U.S. Firms’ China Woes (January 20, 2016, China Real Time)
U.S. businesses in China are voicing increased concern about unclear laws, perceived antiforeign sentiment and industrial overcapacity, adding to worries about uncertainty over the slowing Chinese economy. Here are five charts breaking down the concerns they voiced in an annual survey of members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China released Wednesday.

Education

You want to teach English in Shanghai? Read this first: (January 19, 2016, New Life ESL)
Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and the like are great places to visit for sure. But I wouldn’t want to live there. Whenever I arrive back in my humble, frozen city of Daqing, I always let out a sigh of relief. It’s nice to be home.

Health / Environment

Waking the Green Tiger: The Rise of a Green Movement in China (January 14, 2016, China File)
This documentary—available in full on ChinaFile throughout January courtesy of filmmaker Gary Marcuse—follows a group of environmental activists trying to prevent the construction of dams on the Nu (Salween) and the Upper Yangtze (Jinsha) rivers in Yunnan province in southwest China.

China Healthcare Reform Sparks Feud Between Foreign Drug Firms, Hospital (January 18, 2016, China Real Time)
At the center of the debate is a new push to require drug makers to pay a “deposit” of as much as tens of thousands of dollars per product in order to have their drugs sold in Chinese hospitals, which are under increasing financial strain as a result of the country’s efforts to clean up the corruption-ridden healthcare industry.

Trouble in Tibet (January 13, 2016, Nature)
Rapid changes in Tibetan grasslands are threatening Asia's main water supply and the livelihood of nomads.

What is China doing to tackle its air pollution? (January 20, 2016, BBC)
In a country where millions of people still look to industrialisation to lift them from poverty, what can China do to clear the air for good? Four experts talk to the BBC World Service Inquiry programme.

Science / Technology

China aims to make first landing on dark side of moon (January 15, 2016, The Guardian)
China will launch a mission to land on the dark side of the moon in two years’ time, state media has reported, in what will be a first for humanity. The moon’s far hemisphere is never directly visible from Earth and while it has been photographed, with the first images appearing in 1959, it has never been explored.

History / Culture

Photo: Receiving communion at a Beijing church 1978 (January 15, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

A People’s Friendship (January 18, 2016, China File)
Across the frozen Ussuri River that marked the boundary between China and Russia, two armies stared each other down. Soon they would clash, as they did almost every week, on the ice. The Chinese swung halberds and hooks; the Russians advanced like medieval knights with great spears, while others stood by to knock down with maces any Chinese warrior brave or lucky enough to make it through.

How Charlie Chaplin Nearly Retired to China (January 19, 2016, China Rhyming)
It’s well known that Charlie Chaplin spent one day (or a little less than a day, more an evening and night) in Shanghai in 1936 (if you don’t know about it the story is told here rather well). What I think is less well known is that he once considered chucking in the moving pictures business and retiring to China. He didn’t obviously, but he apparently, according to himself did consider it.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

Looking for laughs in the Middle Kingdom (January 15, 2016, Globe and Mail)
Mark Rowswell, the most famous Canadian in China, is changing his shtick to stand-up comedy

Travel / Food

New China High-Speed Rail Connections Making Travel Even Easier (January 14, 2016, Wild China Blog)
In 2016, China will be crisscrossing the country with even more high-speed railways. This is good news for travelers because rail is a great way to see China. There are no delays and no tedious check-in lines. You get to see so much of the country as you travel, plus, with high-speed trains that zoom up to 300kph/180mph it’s faster than ever. We’re particularly excited about these three new lines scheduled to open in 2016:

On the trail of General Tso (January 14, 2016, The World of Chinese)
He is arguably one of the most famous Chinese historical figures in the world. Outside of China, however, General Zuo Zongtang (A.K.A. General Tso) is known almost entirely by his namesake, a chicken dish as ubiquitous in America as it is unknown in China.

China Embraces Craft Beers, and Brewing Giants Take Notice (January 15, 2016, The New York Times)
As tastes rapidly change, Chinese consumers are swapping mass-produced local beers for imports and local craft beers.

Chinese Holidays – Celebrations & Dates You Need To Know (January 17, 2016, Peanuts or Pretzels)
To help you with your planning and timing of your trip to China or Asia, we have put together a list of all the Chinese Holidays that you should know about.

Street Foods of Kashgar (January 19, 2016, Life on Nanchang Lu)
And the food? The food is as glorious as ever. Smoky lamb kebabs, great flat rounds of crisp nan bread, mounds of buttery rice polo, and browned pockets of samsas – Kashgar remains one of the best cities in China, if not the world, for street food. 

Chinese Tourists to Japan Doubled in 2015 (January 20, 2016, China Real Time)
About 5 million visitors came from China to Japan in 2015, up from 2.4 million the previous year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. South Korea ranked second with about 4 million visitors, while arrivals from Taiwan totaled 3.7 million.

Language / Language Learning

Can you use English learning materials to study Chinese? (January 14, 2016, Hacking Chinese)
These books are written for educated native speakers and the sole purpose of including Chinese text is to allow the student to understand what’s going on. To put it briefly, even if the book is aimed at intermediate learners of English, it will not be suitable for intermediate learners of Chinese!

Top 20 Most Common Pronunciation Errors by Chinese Learners (January 18, 2016, Carl Gene)

Books

The Last Days of Old Kashgar (January 18, 2016, China Rhyming)
I don’t really review books on contemporary China on this blog but I will mention Nick Holdstock’s China’s Forgotten People: Xinjiang, Terror and the Chinese State – primarily because (apart from being a good and insightful study of the Chinese colonial experience in Xinjiang and the simmering resentments and resistance by the Uyghur people of the East Turkestan region) it does mention the horrific and wanton destruction of Kashgar.

Links for Researchers

Russia, China and the Far East Question (January 20, 2015, The Diplomat)
The Sino-Russian border dynamic in the Far East have received relatively little attention in the past decade, even though it has the potential to be a hotbed for tensions between the two geopolitical giants as the century approaches maturity.

Image credit: China Supertrends, via Flickr