ZGBriefs | December 10, 2015

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Featured Article

In Xinjiang, a Battle Over Bread (December 2015, Ethno Traveler)
When is bread no longer just any old bread? The answer of course, at least in Xinjiang, is when it’s Uyghur Nan. Like many loaves in other cultures, Nan is made with flour, yeast, and water and baked in an oven, but that’s where the similarities end. Nan might look and taste like bread, but for the Uyghurs of far western China, a Muslim minority group at odds with Han Chinese culture, it is a source of ethnic pride — a tasty yet sacred way of asserting independence.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Marquee Xi: The Man in the Headlines (December 4, 2015, Medium)
In a study published earlier this year, CMP director Qian Gang found that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had a much higher profile in the People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, than any of his predecessors going back to Mao Zedong and Hua Guofeng.

On China’s Constitution Day, Book on Constitutionalism Largely Disappears (December 4, 2015, Sinosphere)
China held its second-ever National Constitution Day on Friday, when citizens are supposed to renew their loyalty to the Constitution that both enshrines the Communist Party’s power and promises freedom of expression and other rights — so long as that power is not challenged.

Chinese government adviser denounces fake living Buddhas: media (December 6, 2015, Reuters)
A senior Chinese government official said fake living Buddhas were using donations to support pro-independence activities in Tibet and called on local authorities to take action against them, according to state media.

China Inner Mongolia attack due to border dispute, police say (December 7, 2015, BBC)
Chinese authorities have said an attack on a remote checkpoint in Inner Mongolia was due to a "provincial border dispute", state media reported. The area is said to be claimed by both Inner Mongolians and residents of neighbouring Gansu province.

Chief accuser of fallen Chinese political star Bo Xilai dies in jail (December 7, 2015, The Guardian)
Xu Ming, who gave evidence against Bo at his trial, has died aged 44 of a ‘sudden heart attack’ according to Xinhua news service.

ISIS Extends Recruitment Efforts to China With New Chant (December 8, 2015, Sinosphere)
The Islamic State has been recruiting far and wide for members to join its ranks on the battlefields of Iraq and Syria or elsewhere. Now those efforts are extending to China.

Religion

China's Catholics fear new anti-Christian campaign (December 4, 2015, National Catholic Reporter)
Fr. Paul Han, director of the Catholic church's Jinde Charities organization, fears government moves were underway to reduce the "visibility of Christianity." But he cautions against a militant response, and against reviving "martyr complexes" from the past.

3 Observations from Teaching Biblical Interpretation (December 4, 2015, From the West Courtyard)
Finally, the most difficult question I received appeared at first deceptively simple: why is it that almost all Chinese preaching and small group study relies on allegorical or spiritual readings of the Bible?

Jewish community in Kaifeng celebrates first night of Hanukkah (December 7, 2015, Israel National News)
A few dozen Chinese Jews in Kaifeng, China, gathered on Sunday evening with an emissary of the Shavei Israel organization to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah and light the traditional menorah candles.

Single and Married Christians Relating to One Another (December 8, 2015, Chinese Church Voices)
The blog Building ​Healthy Families recently posted a short piece about the importance of single and married Christians of the opposite sex setting boundaries in how they relate to one another.

Christian Generosity from a Chinese Perspective (December 8, 2015, ChinaSource Quarterly)
As we consider the topic of how Chinese believers might learn biblical generosity, there are four incorrect assumptions that we must overturn. First, is that poverty prevents Chinese believers from learning generosity; second, that prosperity helps Chinese believers learn generosity; third, obligation is the best way to teach Chinese believers about stewardship or generosity, and finally, that it is best they first be saved and then taught generosity later.

Society / Life

Selective Equality? China Retirement Age Plan Sparks Backlash Among Women (December 3, 2015, China Real Time)
China’s policy makers have long accepted the need for workers to delay retirement to ease social and fiscal pressures from a rapidly aging population. Few, however, could agree on how to do it. This week, state-backed researchers fueled fresh debate on the issue with a new proposal on how to coax more productive years out of China’s silver-haired generation. They called for gradually extending the country’s statutory retirement thresholds over the next three decades, culminating in a flat retirement age of 65 years.

Can Chinese migrants integrate in Africa? (December 4, 2015, BBC)
It's been seven years since Lu Cheng's parents waved goodbye to China and headed west to find better business opportunities. They now run a successful chicken feed factory, and although her father Lu Jin says he has made a few Zambian friends, he relies largely on his wife and daughter for company.

One Is the Loneliest Number: China’s Single Population Nears 200 Million (December 7, 2015, China Real Time)
China is quickly becoming a nation of singles. There are nearly 200 million single adults in the world’s most populous country, accounting for 14.6% of the total population, according to local media reports, which cite data from China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. The percentage has skyrocketed from 6% in 1990, reports say.

Who’s Not Left Behind? (December 7, 2015, From the West Courtyard)
Lately I’ve noticed a spate of stories that refer to some segment of the Chinese population as being “left-behind” or “left-over.”

China’s 'loneliest generation': what it was like growing up under the one-child policy (December 7, 2015, The Guardian)
In October, after 35 years, China scrapped its radical measure to contain population growth. Some of the only children born under that rule share their experiences.

The cost of living in smog-choked Beijing (December 7, 2015, The Globe and Mail)
Most of Beijing, though, lives in the smog equivalent of a tent, unprotected from the elements. When the air goes bad, there is little difference between inside and outside. In glittering shopping malls, milky air smudges the storefronts of luxury brands.

‘Airpocalypse’: Beijing Smog Red Alert on Social Media (December 8, 2015, The New York Times)
As Beijing enacted emergency measures on Tuesday to cope with the city’s first “red alert” over air pollution, images and stories of woe on social media documented the smog that is keeping schoolchildren and factory workers at home and some vehicles off the roads.

Beijing residents blanketed by pollution – in pictures (December 8, 2015, The Guardian)

A New Frontier for the American West, in the Far East (December 8, 2015, The New York Times)
Yearning to breathe untainted air, the band of harried urbanites flocked to this parched, wild land, bringing along their dreams of a free and uncomplicated life. But unlike the bedraggled pioneers who settled the American West two centuries ago, the first inhabitants of Jackson Hole, a resort community on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, arrived by Audi and Land Rover, their trunks filled with French wine and their bank accounts flush with cash.

Economics / Trade / Business

Money is flying out of China (December 7, 2015, CNN)
Many investors are trying to get at least some of their money out of the country. Many Chinese see better opportunities abroad, whether it's real estate in New York or London, pricey art, or stocks and bonds in other countries.

China’s Low-Cost Carriers Are Remaking the Country’s Aviation Market (December 7, 2015, Skift)
Since late 2013, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has encouraged budget airlines as Beijing has seen how they have taken off elsewhere. Freeing up new routes for low-cost carriers also helps develop economic growth in western China.

Video: China’s Stock Market Turns 25 (December 8, 2015, China Real Time)
China’s stock market is the world’s second biggest by capitalization. Even so, hundreds of companies are waiting to go public, thanks in part to the government’s tight control of the initial public offering process. At 25, does China’s stock market still need such controlling parents?

China's Steel Industry Is A Classic Tale Of Overbuilding (December 8, 2015, NPR)
China's steel sector used to be one of the country's industrial champs, growing at double-digit rates year after year. This year, however, demand has fallen for the first time in two decades.

Google Tests the Waters in Shanghai’s Free-Trade Zone (December 8, 2015, China Real Time)
The jury is still out on the business benefits of Shanghai’s free-trade zone — but one notable U.S. tech giant is among the firms that has dipped a toe into the pilot area’s waters. Google, of Mountain View, Calif., set up a company in Shanghai’s pioneer free-trade zone last year, according to online filings reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Education

Bribery Confession in China Calls Into Question Integrity of College Admissions (December 4, 2015, The New York Times)
Mr. Cai, 50, acknowledged to a court in Nanjing, where he is on trial, that he had accepted more than $3.6 million in illegal payments between 2005 to 2013, in exchange for helping 44 students obtain spots at Renmin, a prestigious school in Beijing, or to allow students already there to change their majors, the website of the state-run China News Service reported.

China vows to drive 'smart aleck' lecturers from its universities (December 4, 2015, The Guardian)
China’s education minister has vowed to drive ‘smart alecks’, dissenters and thieves from the country’s classrooms as Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign came knocking at some of the country’s top universities.

Health / Environment

Sex in China: Abortion, Infection and Lack of Education (December 8, 2015, China Real Time)
The World Health Organization is launching a new sex education campaign in China, which is facing a sex problem. The country’s youth are hit with unwanted pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted diseases, according to the WHO. One in every five sexually active young women has an unplanned pregnancy in China — and the vast majority of those pregnancies result in abortion, the WHO said in a recent statement.

Beijing, With Red Alert for Smog in Full Force, Closes Schools and Limits Traffic (December 8, 2015, The New York Times)
Emergency measures adopted for Beijing’s first “red alert” over air pollution left millions of schoolchildren cooped up at home, forced motorists off the roads and shut down factories across the region on Tuesday, but they failed to dispel the toxic air that shrouded the Chinese capital in a soupy, metallic haze.

Beijing smog that triggered pollution alert – video (December 8, 2015, The Guardian)
Vehicles are ordered off the roads and schools and factories closed after polluting smog triggered Beijing’s first red alert. A red alert means businesses are urged to implement flexible working hours and all large-scale outdoor activities are cancelled. Greenpeace says the Chinese government should consider a cap on coal consumption, warning that a red alert is only a short-term measure.

‘Feed the People Smog’: Beijing’s Red Alert Spurs Online Derision (December 8, 2015, China Real Time)
As Beijing found itself wrapped again in a morbid blanket of smog on Tuesday, residents dodged online censors to voice their frustration — along with a hefty dose of gallows humor.

History / Culture

Exploring Hong Kong's derelict and abandoned history (December 7, 2015, BBC)
One group in Hong Kong – HK Urbex – has explored ruined residences, old movie theatres and even an abandoned prison.

A parade to celebrate’s Shanghai liberation in 1949 (December 8, 2015, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

China: Images of the 1970’s, by Sheldon Breiner, via Dropbox

Arts / Entertainment / Media

China box office grows by 48% (December 4, 2015, BBC)
China's box office takings have gone up by 48% this year, with total sales now in excess of 40 billion yuan ($6.3 billion / £4.1 billion). The country has seen a huge boost in attendances in recent years, boosted by new cinemas opening every week and its vast population's increased affluence.

Travel / Food

China's beauty by rail (December 8, 2015, China Daily)

The Great Wall of China Jinshanling (December 8, 2015, New Life ESL)
But Beijing, like most metropolises, will suck the humanity out of you, leaving you with a hunger for nature. Before I was nearly rendered lifeless, I made a trip to the The Great Wall of China Jinshanling.

Language / Language Learning

The tone training course is now open (December 4, 2015, Hacking Chinese)
I hereby announce the opening of the tone training course, presented in cooperation with Kevin Bullaughey through the language learning platform WordSwing (more about this below).

Chinese reading challenge, December 10th to 31^st (December 8, 2015, Hacking Chinese)
To encourage you to read more, this month’s challenge on Hacking Chinese is about reading ability. Join or be left in the dust!

Books

Chinese Language Education in the United States (Multilingual Education) (Amazon)

Articles for Researchers

The Future of Canada’s Relationship with China (November 17, 2015, Institute for Research on Public Policy)
The re-emergence of China has geopolitical implications that pose significant challenges to the world order constructed out of the ashes of the Second World War. Canadians, secure in their North American location and well-tended trans-Atlantic ties, have yet to fully grasp the potentially profound implications of these changes for our nation, our economy and our security.

China’s Anti-Graft Campaign in Review (December 7, 2015, China Brief)

From Academia to Politics: When Scholars Rule China (December 7, 2015, China Brief)

Events

Culture and Faith in China Vision Tour (Hospitality Center for Chinese)
Join staff and friends of the Hospitality Center for Chinese (Minneapolis) on a vision tour to learn about the culture and faith of China. The trip is being co-sponsored by ChinaSource. 
Dates: May 5-17, 2016. Contact TakeMeToChina@hcchinese.org for more information.

Image credit: Joann Pittman, via Flickr