ZGBriefs | August 27, 2015

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.

Featured Article

China's 20 Percent Problem: Millennial Migrants' Discontent (August 25, 2015, Foreign Affairs)
What’s more, a rising generation of “millennial migrants” aspires to the same lifestyle and opportunities afforded their urban contemporaries. As a result, their expectations are shifting rapidly, increasing the possibility that their accumulated discontents will turn into a volatile force that catalyzes social instability.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

The Secretive Beach Retreat Where China Leaders Plot World Domination (August 20, 2015, The Daily Beast)
Welcome to the beach resort where the Chinese Communist Party’s major players convene each year to set the country’s geopolitical and domestic agendas.

What Happened to the Detained Lawyers? (August 20, 2015, China Digital Times)
Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) provides an update on the status of several of the lawyers who were part of the so-called Black Friday round-up that netted more than 300 lawyers and activists in July.

Months of practice so China can show world its 'best image' (August 21, 2015, China Daily)
China is staging the grand parade in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. More than 10,000 military personnel, as well as war veterans and their descendants, will take part. The veterans and their families will ride in military vehicles.

Uncivil society (August 22, 2015, The Economist)
A new draft law spooks foreign not-for-profit groups working in China.

Tianjin Tragedy Is A Painful Reflection Of How China Largely Works (August 23, 2015, NPR)
Even in the middle of the biggest anti-corruption drive in many decades, it's still a corrupt, authoritarian state, where things get done based on relationships and where there's no rule of law or system of independent checks and balances.

Fading Economy and Graft Crackdown Rattle China’s Leaders (August 22, 2015, The New York Times)
Mr. Xi has positioned himself as the chief architect of economic policy — usually the prime minister’s job — and has vowed to reshape the economy, exposing himself to blame if growth continues to sputter. At the same time, Mr. Xi is making enemies with an anticorruption drive that has taken down some of the most powerful men in the country and sidelined more than a hundred thousand lower-ranking officials.

Echoes of Mao as China’s Xi Prepares to Pardon Prisoners (August 25, 2015, China Real Time)
Having already unleashed a procession of extraordinary measures to smooth the way for a military parade next month marking the 70^th anniversary of the end of World War II, Beijing is poised to add another: commuted sentences for some of the prisoners languishing in Chinese prisons.

In Beijing’s World War II Narrative, Communists Get Starring Role (August 25, 2015, China Real Time)
Yet as Beijing gets ready for a huge military parade next week to mark the 70th anniversary of World War II’s end, its version of history reduces the towering figure of Chiang to a minor player.

Why Has China's Government Made Recent Missteps? (August 26, 2015, NPR)
When it comes to economic management, China has been among the world's most competent. But the government appears to have bungled a currency devaluation, a stocks collapse and a chemical explosion.

Map: Who’s Going to Beijing’s World War II Parade? (August 26, 2015, China Real Time)
Beijing on Tuesday revealed the guest list for its much-touted Sept. 3 World War II parade — and there were a few surprises. Who’s going? Who’s not?

Chinese work safety regulator Yang Dongliang is sacked (August 26, 2015, BBC)
China's work safety regulator Yang Dongliang has been sacked by the Communist Party for suspected "serious breaches of discipline and the law", state news agency Xinhua has reported. His dismissal came after blasts in Tianjin killed at least 135 people.

China's Xi vows unceasing fight against Tibet separatism (August 26, 2015, Reuters)
China will wage an unceasing fight against separatism in its restive mountainous region of Tibet, President Xi Jinping said, as the government repeated it would never accept exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's genuine autonomy proposals.

Religion

Learning from a Bad Sermon (August 24, 2015, From the West Courtyard)
More troubling still, it is possible that on that particular Sunday morning the Spirit of God was simply moving in a way that I could/would not see. And so, once again, I am reminded of the limitations of all the theological training we expatriates are doing in China.

This fascinating map shows the new religious breakdown in China (August 24, 2015, Business Insider)
China has historically followed ancient religions like Buddhism and Taoism for about 2,000 years, according to China’s State Council. But a a recent map published by Reuters shows that the country’s belief systems have become increasingly diverse.

Wenzhou Internet Police: May We Follow This User? (August 25, 2015, China Digital Times)
A request from the Wenzhou Internet police to surveil a Weibo user posting about church crosses has been making the rounds on Weibo and Twitter.

A Closer Look at the China Religion Survey (August 25, 2015, Chinese Church Voices)
Summary: 2015 Report on Religion in China: Among traditional religions Buddhism is the most influential; Christianity has shown the greatest ability to adapt to the contemporary social environment.

Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs (August 26, 2015, From the West Courtyard)
An experienced business leader in China remarked that, while there is the expectation that Christians should somehow conduct business differently, the question of what exactly this should look like remains a difficult one.

Society / Life

Here Are 14 of China’s Finest World Monument Replicas (August 20, 2015, TIME)
It's called "duplitecture" — and it can be found across the country.

3 Tips For Hosting Chinese With A Capital H (August 21, 2015, China Partnership)
I have by no means completely figured out how Americans can extend culturally aware hospitality to their Chinese neighbors, but there are a few tips that I’ve learned over the years and I hope they can help you as you seek out friendship with those from the Middle Kingdom.

Beijing Turns Into Forbidden City as War Anniversary Clampdown Widens (August 21, 2015, China Real Time)
Beijing city authorities are all but closing down major portions of the capital and mobilizing street patrols for the two weeks leading up to the 70^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in China.

In Tianjin, Residents Protest Over Blast-Damaged Homes (August 21, 2015, China Real Time)
As authorities in Tianjin shift efforts from rescue to recovery in the wake of deadly warehouse explosions, some locals in the Chinese port city are complaining that officials haven’t done enough to assist those whose homes were ravaged by the blasts.

Chinese mock claims Beijing is most liveable city despite smog lifting (August 22, 2015, The Guardian)
Chinese internet users have mocked a report claiming that Beijing is the country’s most liveable city even as they enjoy unusually blue skies in the lead-up to a major military parade.

Explosion at China chemical plant leaves one dead and nine injured (August 22, 2015, The Guardian)
One person has been killed and nine injured in an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China, state media has said. The fire on Saturday night in Huantai in the eastern province of Shandong was put out after about five hours and authorities said no contamination has been detected, Xinhua said.

Caged bunnies placed at Tianjin blast site to prove everything is just fine (August 23, 2014, The Washington Post)
Chinese authorities recently placed rabbits, chickens and pigeons at the site of the massive, chemical-fueled explosions that rocked Tianjin on Aug. 12, according to state media reports. Because nothing says “everything is fine” like caged bunnies in a burned-out disaster zone.

Toilet adventures in China: Making sense of transnational encounters (August 25, 2015, The China Story)
In this spirit, in 2014 I started working on a documentary film, toilet adventures, that explores the politics of s*** in China. It uses on-camera interviews with dozens of participants to explore the very mundane personal experience of going to the bathroom in the PRC.

Look: Sichuan residents celebrate Ghost Festival by lighting hundreds of fires, smogging up air (August 26, 2015, Shanghaiist)
Dazhou city, Sichuan province glowed orange and red on Monday evening as residents celebrated the annual Ghost Festival by lighting hundreds of fires along the riverside. The flames sent plumes of smoke rising into the air, resulting in the city's AQI soaring.

VPN apps targeted ahead of Beijing's WW2 anniversary parade (August 26, 2015, Shanghaiist)
Beijing authorities are cracking down on anti-censorship apps used to bypass the Great Firewall in China ahead of the upcoming "Victory Day" parade in the capital. A big target is Astrill, a virtual private network (VPN) service, which allows users to connect with servers in various locations around the world while avoiding the servers with restrictions in China.

Education

Fake Peer Review Scandal Shines Spotlight on China (August 25, 2015, China Real Time)
A prominent scientific publisher’s announcement last week that it was retracting 64 articles for false peer reviews made global headlines – yet it is the authors’ identity that is causing a stir in China. Nearly all of the 64 papers appear to have been authored by Chinese academics, based on a search for the retracted articles on the publisher Springer’s website.

Health / Environment

They're Invisible In China: Portraits Of The Mentally Ill (August 22, 2015, NPR)
China has a staggering 173 million people with some sort of diagnosable mental disorder, according to a 2012 study in the journal Lancet. Of those, 158 million have never received any treatment. And China averages one psychiatrist for every 83,000 people. So many patients depend on their families for help.

Economics / Trade / Business

Chinese companies face culture shock in countries that aren’t like China (August 15, 2015, The Washington Post)
As they venture into foreign democracies, many Chinese companies experience culture shock. Having made their money in a one-party state, where political connections are the key to a successful business and the rule of law is easy to sidestep, they are finding things just aren’t as simple abroad.

Is China About to Plunge the World Into Recession? (August 20, 2015, China File)
How real is the threat of a global recession led by a deteriorating Chinese economy? Tea Leaf Nation asked several experts to respond to the recent hand-wringing.

The global impact of China's slowdown (August 25, 2015, BBC)
Hundreds of billions of dollars have been wiped off stock markets around the world. Global investors are worried about growth in the Chinese economy.

The six Cs of the China stock slump (August 25, 2015, BBC)
The repercussions from "Black Monday" – the global markets turmoil caused by a plunge in Chinese stocks – continue to be felt on Tuesday. To the uninitiated, the situation may seem bafflingly complex, here's a breakdown of the issues

How worried should we be about China's stock market turmoil? – video (August 26, 2015, The Guardian)
Billions of dollars were wiped off the value of the Chinese stock market on ‘black Monday’. But what caused it? Is it an indication of another global economic crisis? And what more can the Chinese government do to stop the situation with the world’s second largest economy from getting worse?

False Alarm on a Crisis in China (August 26, 2015, The New York Times)
But the popular narrative is not well supported by the facts. There is little evidence that China’s economy is slowing significantly from the 7 percent pace reported by the government for the first part of the year. Wage growth is running at about 10 percent annually; the pace of creation of nonagricultural jobs is stronger than in any recent year; both real disposable income and consumption expenditures of Chinese households are growing strongly. It is not the picture of an economy heading for a hard landing.

Science / Technology

Chinese Hackers Target U.S. University With Government Ties (August 21, 2015, The Daily Beast)
But unlike some China-based intrusions that attempt to steal personal information such as Social Security and financial account numbers from large numbers of people, this one targeted two university employees “whose work has a connection to China,” university spokesperson Anthony P. de Bruyn told The Daily Beast.

History / Culture

"Zhong Yong": The Moderate Way (August 21, 2015, From the West Courtyard)
Because westerners tend to see the world in more black-and-white terms, one of the most frustrating aspects of living and working in China is the fact that so much of life is lived in the grey zone. The lines that separate what is permissible from what is not are often blurred and movable.

When the US and China Were Allies (August 21, 2015, The Diplomat)
70 years ago, the U.S. was full of pro-Chinese propaganda, encouraging friendship with a wartime ally.

December 1940 – Evacuating American Kids from Shanghai (August 21, 2015, China Rhyming)
As tensions escalated in and around Shanghai in late 1940 the US State Department ordered children (and suggested wives) be evacuated aboard refugee ships back to America.

Looking for my Shanghai father (August 25, 2015, BBC)
After World War Two ended, the British government forcibly repatriated hundreds of Chinese sailors who had been recruited for the Merchant Navy. Their sudden departure had a devastating effect on families left behind, like that of Yvonne Foley.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

Director Q&A: Jean-Jacques Annaud on 'Wolf Totem' (August 19, 2015, Asia Society)
Discussion following the screening of Wolf Totem with film director Jean-Jacques Annaud moderated by Asia Society Film Curator La Frances Hui beginning with Annaud’s introductory remarks.

China’s Party-Run Media Is Silent on Market Mayhem (August 25, 2015, The New York Times)
After China’s stock markets crumpled, prompting a global sell-off, People’s Daily, the premier newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, had other things on its mind.

Warner Bros moves into China (August 26, 2015, The Guardian)
Hollywood studio Warner Bros is set to move into China in a big way, as reports emerge of talks between the US film producers and China Media Capital, a state-backed investment fund, to create a joint venture that will make Chinese-language films aimed at the Chinese domestic market.

Travel / Food

Know Before You Go: The Trans-Mongolian Railroad (August 19, 2015, Roads and Kingdoms)

Direct flight to link Chengdu with Paris (August 21, 2015, China Daily)
A direct flight linking southwest China's Chengdu with Paris will be launched on Jan 28 next year, the southwest branch of Air China said on Friday. An airbus A330-200 will fly the new route three times a week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. It will shorten the one way travel time to about 11 hours.

A Conversation On Food: Do The Things Coming Out Of Your Mouth Affect What Goes Into It? (August 25, 2015, China Partnership)
With the school year starting back up and ministry among Chinese international students launching into full swing, we continue last week’s series offering some practical advice to Americans desiring to make friends with Chinese internationals.

Articles for Researchers

The New “Two Chinas” Question (August 21, 2015, Project-Syndicate)
Today, a new, but very different, “two Chinas” question is emerging. It centers on whether China is best understood as a strong country, with a promising future despite some short-term difficulties, or as a country facing serious structural problems and uncertain long-term prospects. In short, two very different Chinas can now be glimpsed. But which one will prevail?

Resources

“Honor & Shame 101″ – New Ministry Training Video (August 16, 2015, Brigada)
You’ve heard about “honor-shame” cultures. But what does the Bible say about honor and shame? And, what are practical tips for ministry in honor-shame cultures? This 5-minute animation video covers the essentials for ministry in honor-shame contexts. It’s great for training, short-termers and long-termers!

Image credit: A Migrant Worker in Her Dormitory, by World Bank Photo Collection, via Flickr