ZGBriefs | August 18, 2016

ZGBriefs is a compilation of news items gathered from published online sources. ChinaSource is not responsible for the content, and inclusion in ZGBriefs does not equal endorsement. Please go here to support ZGBriefs.

Featured Article

Why China’s Cities Must Maintain Ties With the Countryside (August 16, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Urbanization normally refers to the movement of rural populations toward a city. But Shanghai and other Chinese cities serve as evidence that urbanization is often much more complicated. In essence, it’s about change of lifestyle. The divide between rural and urban is more obvious in China than it is in any Western country.

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Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

China: The People’s Fury (July 28, 2016, China File)
It has long been routine to find in both China’s official news organizations and its social media a barrage of anti-American comment, but rarely has it reached quite the intensity and fury of the last few days.

The Future of China’s Legal System (August 11, 2016, China File)
On April 28 in New York City, ChinaFile and the Asia Law and Justice Program at the Leitner Center at Fordham University Law School co-hosted a conversation on these questions. Asia Society’s Matt Schiavenza moderated, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Neysun Mahboubi and Fordham’s Carl Minzner provided commentary. Following is an edited transcript of their discussion.

A discussion with Cheng Li: Where is Chinese politics going? (August 11, 2016, Sinica Podcast)
This episode of Sinica is a wide-ranging conversation with Cheng Li (李成), one of the most prominent international scholars of elite Chinese politics and its relation to grassroots changes and generational shifts. He discusses the historical rise and fall of technocracy, corruption and the campaigns against it, power factions within the Communist Party and the new dynamics of the Xi Jinping era.

Hong Kong's 'Umbrella Movement' leaders avoid jail time (August 15, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
Three leaders of a rally that sparked huge prodemocracy street protests in 2014 in Hong Kong have been sentenced to community service on Monday.

Foreign NGOs – Wang Daohan, Ford Foundation and the Chinese government’s attitude at the start of Opening and Reform (August 16, 2016, Jerome A. Cohen)
This year’s events in China – including the passage of a law that emphasizes strict control of foreign NGOs and the show trials two weeks ago of Chinese rights activists whom Beijing accused of working with “hostile foreign forces” – have shown that Chinese leadership is extremely wary of a “color revolution” inspired by the outside world. In light of current concerns of the international community, it might be useful to recall the very different situation in 1979.

Why Millennials Are Excited About the 90th Birthday of China’s Ex-President (August 17, 2016, China Real Time)
“It’s very simple,” says Zhang Ming, a political scientist at Beijing’s Renmin University. “People right now aren’t satisfied…When he was in office, everyone said bad things about him. Now people miss him more and more.” “They miss that era,” he said. “It was freer.”

Religion

Video: The Painstaking and Mesmerizing Tradition of the Tibetan Sand Mandala (August 10, 2016, Asia Society)
The mandala is one of the most memorable and visually stimulating symbols of Tibetan Buddhism. The sacred works of art are created by Tibetan monks to serve as an artistic representation of the universe. They can be done in different mediums: painted on walls or on scrolls, and even carved in wood. However, the sand mandala, which takes several days to create, is one of the most popular and unique forms of the mandala, manifesting as both a visual and performance art.

When Families are Separated, How Can We Help? (August 12, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
In all situations, we need to be true friends who will listen to them and pray for them. The paths they're on are not easy ones, and it is very tempting for them to simply give up.

The Li Yan Story (August 16, 2016, Chinese Church Voices)
Earlier this summer, the good folks at Athletes in Action posted a video interview of Li Yan, in which she shares her story of struggle and triumph.

How to Pray for China (August 17, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
“China is one of the most complicated countries in the world…” began the prayer item. “That’s an understatement,” I said under my breath as I continued reading a description that was as confusing as it was enlightening. How should we pray for a nation as complex as China?

Society / Life

Angry Chinese Lady Scolds ‘Shameful’ Chinese Tourists (August 12, 2016, China Real Time)
A Chinese lady has become a hit on social media after filming herself going on a scathing and expletive-laden rant about the misbehavior of her holidaying compatriots.

13 China Mysteries No Expat Can Explain (August 16, 2016, Small Town Laowai)
There’s a lot about China I love, and even many Chinese customs I’d love to see in my own country. Then are also aspects of life here which I don’t particularly like but can understand the cultural, historical, or practical reason behind. And then there are the things about life here that defy explanation.

Kunming exempts seniors of starting taxi fare in a pilot project (August 16, 2016, China Daily)
Seniors aged 70 or above can take taxis for free for the first 3 kilometers of a ride since Aug 15 in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, yunnan.cn reported. The move aims to solve some difficulties in seniors' daily life, such as getting on buses during peak hour, transporting luggage and inability to use the internet to book taxis.

Jiangsu’s Abandoned Girls (August 17, 2016, Sixth Tone)
At that time, there were many families who, like the Wangs, took drastic measures to stay within the good graces of the government. Between 1981 and 1982 alone — even before the one-child policy was officially launched — 4,091 abandoned infants were adopted by welfare institutes in Jiangsu province. Owing to a traditional preference for male offspring, 98.5 percent of them were girls.

Economics / Trade / Business

Your China Factory as your Toughest Competitor (August 13, 2016, China Law Project)
As our China lawyers have become fond of pointing out to our clients, “since you will essentially be educating your Chinese manufacturer in how to compete with you, you need contracts that will at least limit what it can do when it does so.”

China police crack down on $30 billion in underground banking (August 17, 2016, Reuters)
Chinese police have busted underground banks that handled 200 billion yuan ($30.2 billion) in illegal money transfers this year, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said on Wednesday. Police said they arrested 450 suspects involved in 158 cases of underground banking and money laundering, according to a notice posted on the MPS official website.

China says cyber rules no cause for foreign business concern (August 17, 2016, Reuters)
More than 40 global business groups last week petitioned Premier Li Keqiang, according to a copy of a letter seen by Reuters, urging China to revise draft cyber rules they believe are vague and discriminate against foreign enterprises. The groups say the pending rules, including a cyber security law that could be passed this year, include provisions for invasive government security reviews and onerous requirements to keep data in China.

Education

China’s E-Learning Revolution: The 10 Hottest Chinese Online Education Companies of 2016 (August 10, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
The increasing popularity of cyber schools is bringing about major changes in China’s education system.

Health / Environment

Beijing Police Can Use Weapons Against Patients Who Abuse Doctors (August 16, 2016, Sixth Tone)
In an effort to reduce the frequent incidents of violence against doctors and other medical personnel, the Beijing municipal government reminded citizens on Monday that its police officers can use weapons when necessary, Sixth Tone’s sister publication The Paper reported.

Man 'accidentally' gets hemorrhoid surgery while waiting for his wife to give birth (August 17, 2016, Shanghaiist)
The absurd incident occurred on August 8th at a hospital in Shenyang. Apparently, the surgery room for pregnant women having cesarean sections is located next to the one for hemorrhoid patients. Right outside, a 29-year-old man surnamed Wang was waiting anxiously for his wife to give birth. After 40 minutes, a nurse finally peaked her head out, asked him to come inside, and then told him drop his pants.

Science / Technology

China launches quantum-enabled satellite Micius (August 16, 2016, BBC)
China has successfully launched the world's first quantum-enabled satellite, state media said. It was carried on a rocket which blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's north west early on Tuesday.

History / Culture

Chinese Court Upholds Ruling Against Historian Who Questioned Tale of Wartime Heroes (August 15, 2016, The New York Times)
In June, a Beijing court ruled that Mr. Hong, a former executive editor of the history journal Yanhuang Chunqiu, had defamed the heroes and ordered him to post a public apology on websites and in news outlets.

Chinese universities break into top 100 global index for first time (August 15, 2016, The Guardian)
China’s prestigious Tsinghua University was 58th, beating Peking University in 71st place, in the Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by the independent Shanghai Ranking Consultancy.

Sports / Entertainment / Media

Did You Catch All the Ways Hollywood Pandered to China This Year? (August 5, 2016, Vanity Fair)
The average film fan may be largely unaware that Hollywood’s biggest movies are being subtly reworked in order to appeal to China, a nation that will reportedly, in 2017, outstrip the U.S. to become the most lucrative moviegoing audience in the world.

Rio 2016: Does the Chinese public have a victim narrative? (August 12, 2016, BBC)
According to one poll, more than 80% of the public think Rio's judges have a sinister bias against China. Only 16% believe other countries might equally be the victim of bad calls.

“Arduous” and “Oppressive”–the Life of a Chinese Athlete (August 15, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
When asked about the life of a professional athlete in China, Ms. Li used two Chinese terms: jianku, meaning arduous; and yapo, meaning oppressive. “The life of the professional athlete is extremely difficult. The training is hard, and we must commit our lives to the sport. We have no free time, and we rarely see our families.  The team becomes our family.” The pressure to succeed is relentless, and the training is often excessive, even to the point of being cruel.

‘Weiqi’ Players Go With the Flow (August 15, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Lee Sedol is one of the world’s best Go players. In March, he lost to the computer program AlphaGo in a widely publicized series of games. This was the first loss of a human of Lee’s ranking to a computer program.

Great fall of China: Beijing's Olympians fail to reach highs of previous Games (August 16, 2016, The Guardian)
Chinese sports fans and status-hungry leaders coming to terms with the fact that Rio 2016 is unlikely to bring medal haul they had hoped for.

Travel / Food

7 Things to Do in Guilin (August 15, 2016, Wild China Blog)
Guilin has much to offer the tourist who wants to see the real, wild heart of China. We’ve compiled the best selections from our tours in Guilin to inspire you to visit this pristine, exotic region.

Language / Language Learning

Transcribing Chinese audio as an active form of listening practice (August 16, 2016, Hacking Chinese)
There are three reasons I think transcribing audio is a good idea for learners on all levels.

Books

A Writer’s Quest to Unearth the Roots of Tibet’s Unrest (August 14, 2016, The New York Times)
In “Tibet in Agony: Lhasa 1959,’’ to be published in October by Harvard University Press, the Chinese-born writer Jianglin Li explores the roots of Tibetan unrest in China’s occupation of Tibet in the 1950s, culminating in March 1959 with the People’s Liberation Army’s shelling of Lhasa and the Dalai Lama’s flight to India. In an interview, she shared her findings.

Image credit: Preparing the Fields, by Tim Zachernuk, via Flickr