ZGBriefs | July 11, 2024

Featured Article

Archaeologists Recover 900 Artifacts from Ming Dynasty Shipwrecks in South China Sea (June 18, 2024, Smithsonian Magazine)
“The discovery provides evidence that Chinese ancestors developed, utilized, and traveled to and from the South China Sea, with the two shipwrecks serving as important witnesses to trade and cultural exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road,” says Guan Qiang, deputy head of the NCHA, in the agency’s statement.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

China’s New World Order: What Xi’s Vision Would Mean for Human Rights, Security (July 2, 2024, Christian Science Monitor)
Over the past year, Beijing’s authoritarian leadership has grown increasingly bold in challenging the US-led, post-World War II international order and the liberal values that underpin it. Depicting the United States and its allies as defending an unfair and exclusive status quo, it asserts that the Chinese Communist Party has the vision to remake the world system, with China at the center.

US Expels More Than 100 Chinese Migrants in Rare Mass Deportation (July 2, 2024, The Guardian)
In recent years, the US has had a difficult time returning Chinese nationals who do not have the right to stay in America because China has resisted taking them back. Last year, the US saw a surge in the number of Chinese immigrants entering the country illegally from Mexico. US border officials arrested more than 37,000 Chinese nationals on the southern border in 2023, 10 times the number during the previous year.

China Starts Influence Ranking for Cities (July 4, 2024, China Media Project)
Over the past two years, China’s central government has pressed provinces and cities to join the national push for more effective external propaganda, which it sees as essential to building the country’s international soft power. This week, it unveiled one of the first mechanisms to measure and track progress on this strategic goal—an annual ranking to measure the relative success of cities in building their image abroad.

China Rejects Key Western Calls for Human-Rights Reforms at UN Meeting (July 4, 2024, Reuters)
China on Thursday rejected Western-led recommendations for human-rights reforms including calls for greater freedoms in Hong Kong and for Uyghurs in Xinjiang, but accepted others from allies, as it sought to defend its record at a UN meeting.

Religion

God Is on the Move, Part 1 (July 8, 2024, ChinaSource)
The imposition of the zero-COVID policy created chaos for Chinese churches and many cross-cultural workers in China. Congregations were unable to meet in person, leaving believers even more isolated. A large number of cross-cultural workers found themselves unable to return after leaving for short vacations in January 2020. Workers who remained—both Chinese and non-Chinese—faced increased scrutiny, testing, and workloads.

God did not abandon his church in this time of turmoil.

Lighting the Future: A Candle in the Dark, Part 2 (July 3, 2024, ChinaSource)
One candle can light a square, but thousands of candles can illuminate a path out of darkness. This path leads people to the Triune God! These children’s stories invite you to see that God has a great plan to use these Chinese children in his worldwide kingdom expansion!

Home Is the Bridge to Our Hearts (July 5, 2024, ChinaSource)
Home and family are very vital topics to a Chinese person, often providing bridges to their heart’s desires and offering a way to present Christ as the way to give a perfect home and family—the home and family found in knowing him.

Resilience and Renewal (July 9, 2024, Chinese Church Voices)
The gospel gives life to the church, so it should be the gospel that determines the church’s development and opens up its future. If local churches or denominations try to solve their survival crisis first and then address church development, they are putting the cart before the horse. As long as there is the gospel, there will be disciples, and as long as there are disciples, there will be a church.

Chengdu: Relaxed, Comfortable, Leisurely (July 8, 2024, China Partnership)
This July, we are praying for Chengdu. Chengdu is a city of more than 20 million and is widely recognized as one of the most important cities in Western China. Chengdu is seen as a “land of plenty,” and its people are known for enjoying life. It has a strong literary and educational culture and is accepting of new people and new ideas.

Society / Life

Steering Through Shanghai: A Taxi Driver’s Perspective (July 5, 2024, Sixth Tone)
In my career as a taxi driver, I haven’t encountered any arrogant, out-of-touch passengers like Takeshi, but I have run into many interesting passengers. They tell stories, some peaceful and light yet profound, and some so complicated they lead you to ask yourself in astonishment if it’s taxi driving that allows you to meet such interesting people.

World Swimming Federation Confirms US Federal Investigation Into Chinese Swimmers’ Doping Tests (July 4, 2024, AP News)
The international swimming federation says its top administrator has been ordered to testify as a witness in a US criminal investigation into the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who failed doping tests in 2021 yet were allowed to continue competing. The news comes just three weeks before the Paris Olympics, where 11 of the Chinese swimmers who tested positive for the banned heart medication three years ago are set to compete.

Angels and Demons (July 3, 2024, China Media Project)
In the early post-Mao era a quarter century ago, China began experimenting with the idea of independent, bottom-up civil society organizations. Since that time, China’s relationship with civil society, and with global organizations, has been a study in contrasts—between the benefits to society and the potential dangers to the state.

China Targets Lavish “Revolutionary” Tourism Funded by Taxpayer (July 5, 2024, Radio Free Asia)
China has stepped up punishments for officials who take gifts or go on lavish tours of Communist Party revolutionary sites in the name of “patriotic education,” according to the latest figures from the party’s disciplinary arm.

From “Hire Me” to Better Call Tang, the Quirky World of Metro Ads (July 9, 2024, Sixth Tone)
To diversify declining revenue streams, one city metro launched a personalized ad service earlier this year, allowing individuals to purchase ad space for messages ranging from birthday greetings and job searches to marriage proposals and quirky jokes.

Economics / Trade / Business

China’s Jobless Struggle Amid Economic Slump (July 4, 2024, Radio Free Asia)
Formerly prosperous workers in China, both white-collar and blue, are struggling with the hard reality of unemployment, interviewees told RFA Mandarin ahead of a major economic policy meeting the government claims will bring a brighter future. The tales of hardship contrast with the upbeat tone of commentaries about economic measures to be announced at the Chinese Communist Party’s third plenum on July 15 that will supposedly make all the difference.

EU Plan to Impose Import Duty on Cheap Goods Could Dent Shein and Temu (July 3, 2024, The Guardian)
The EU is moving forward with plans to impose customs duty on cheap goods in a shift that could hit imports from online retailers and harm a hoped-for London listing by the fast-fashion seller Shein. The potential change comes amid growing disquiet among retailers based in mainland Europe, the UK, and the US about rising competition from the Chinese-linked marketplaces Shein and Temu, which exploit a loophole that excludes low-value items from import duty.

In China’s Guangzhou, a Web of Factories Gives Rise to Fast-Fashion Juggernaut Shein (July 6, 2024, South China Morning Post)
An extensive army of manufacturers, managed through a complex digital system, has fed Shein’s meteoric growth.

Is $20 Billion by 2030 Realistic? Evaluating China-Africa Agricultural Trade Ambitions (July 4, 2024, The Diplomat)
It wasn’t well publicized, but in November 2023, in the second Forum on China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation, China committed to a target with Africa that no other partner has. China committed to “promote trade value in agricultural products to more than US$20 billion within the next decade.

Health / Environment

China Warns Prolonged Heatwave May Damage Rice, Cotton Crops (July 4, 2024, Reuters)
China’s weather bureau warned on Thursday that a prolonged heatwave forecast in the country’s eastern, central, and southern regions in July may hit production of rice and cotton, as extreme weather continues to threaten its food production.

Work Begins Sealing Breach at China’s Second-Largest Freshwater Lake (July 6, 2024, Reuters)
Rescue personnel began sealing a breached dike at China’s second-largest freshwater lake in the south of the country on Saturday afternoon after water levels stabilised on both side of the burst, Chinese state media said.

Science / Technology

Chinese Developers Scramble as OpenAI Blocks Access in China (July 8, 2024, The Guardian)
Chinese attempts to lure domestic developers away from OpenAI—considered the market leader in generative AI—will now be a lot easier, after OpenAI notified its users in China that they would be blocked from using its tools and services from 9 July.

At Shanghai AI Expo, Humanoid Robots Turn Heads, Bake Bread (July 5, 2024, Sixth Tone)
As China races to lead in AI and robotics, multiple domestic companies and startups showcased significant progress at the World AI Conference. But industry insiders say challenges remain in achieving large-scale commercial applications and reducing production costs.

Arts/Entertainment/ Media

China Pulls Plug on “Wild Child,” a Movie About Troubled Street Kids (July 8, 2024, Radio Free Asia)
The movie’s apparent axing comes as the ruling Chinese Communist Party calls on creative industries to produce more content lauding its achievements and offering up “positive energy” to audiences. The party’s censors operate behind the scenes, reviewing movies in production and sometimes making compulsory changes during the editing process.

The Chinese Painter Who Fused East and West (July 8, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Is it possible to redefine what makes a painting, especially a landscape painting, “Chinese”? To Lin Fengmian, who was born in 1900, the answer lay neither in looking back at traditional landscape paintings nor in the wholesale acceptance of Western art but, rather, in the fusion of East and West.

Language / Language Learning

How I Used a Notebook to Learn More Chinese, and Why you Should Too (July 8, 2024, Hacking Chinese)
The humble notebook is a powerful tool for learners of Chinese. Whether an exquisite leather-bound journal or a digital text file, a notebook offers more than a space to record information about vocabulary or grammar. In this article, I want to share my experience using a notebook for learning Chinese. I used to rarely take notes, but I’m now fully convinced that actively writing things down has serious benefits both for learning languages and leading a life without stress.

Education

Up or Out: The Ruthless Tenure Race for Young Chinese Scholars (July 3, 2024, Sixth Tone)
In many Chinese universities, young academics grapple with the pressures of a competitive tenure system, balancing research, teaching, and administrative duties. They have six years to meet specific criteria and secure a promotion, or face dismissal.

Pray for China

July 8 (Pray for China: A Walk Through History)
On July 8, 1803, intrepid pioneer missionary Karl Gützlaff (郭实腊) was born in Prussia. He was one of the first Protestant missionaries to dress in Chinese fashion, and he zealously spread the gospel in coastal voyages made in the face of official resistance. Gützlaff was a great inspiration to young Hudson Taylor, but he died in clouded circumstances in Hong Kong at age 48 soon after discovering that his use of Chinese workers for evangelism backfired when many falsely reported the results of their work. Pray for Chinese Christians to give generously and send out missionaries.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9:6