ZGBriefs | March 24, 2016

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Featured Article

The Long March From China To The Ivies (April/May 2016, The Economist)
It is one of China’s curious contradictions that, even as the government tries to eradicate foreign influences from the country’s universities, the flood of Chinese students leaving for the West continues to rise. Over the past decade, the number of Mainland Chinese students enrolled in American colleges and universities has nearly quintupled, from 62,523 in 2005 to 304,040 last year, according to the Institute of International Education.

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Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

China Resumes Diplomatic Relations With Gambia, Shutting Out Taiwan (March 18, 2016, The New York Times)
China announced on Thursday that it had resumed diplomatic relations with Gambia, an African nation that had maintained ties with Taiwan for nearly two decades. As Taiwan prepares to transition from a president who has deepened links with China to one who is far more cautious about cross-strait ties, the move signals a possible resumption of the contest between China and Taiwan to woo countries around the world.

U.S. Casts Wary Eye on Australian Port Leased by Chinese (March 20, 2016, The New York Times)
But the decision has catapulted the port of Darwin into a geopolitical tussle pulling in the United States, China and Australia. This month, the United States said it was concerned that China’s “port access could facilitate intelligence collection on U.S. and Australian military forces stationed nearby.”

China’s Coast Guard Rams Fishing Boat to Free It From Indonesian Authorities (March 21, 2016, The New York Times)
China’s Coast Guard rammed one of the country’s fishing boats to pry it free from the Indonesian authorities who had seized it over the weekend, angering the Indonesian government and heightening yet another diplomatic dispute over the South China Sea.

People’s Daily Chief Warns of ‘Historic Mistake’ if China Loses Grip on New Media (March 21, 2016, China Real Time)
China’s propaganda mouthpiece is in some ways just your typical, old-school news outlet, stumbling its way through the brave new world of social media. The difference from other newspapers is that from the perspective of the People’s Daily, losing control over the online conversation could have dire consequences.

China columnist Jia Jia detained by Beijing police, his lawyer says (March 21, 2016, BBC)
Mr Jia is said to be linked to a letter calling for the resignation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, published on a state-linked site earlier this month.

China v the rest (March 26, 2016, The Economist)
For years China has sought to divide and rule in the South China Sea. It worked hard to prevent the countries challenging it over some or all of its absurdly aggrandising territorial claims in the sea from ganging up against it. So when tensions with one rival claimant were high, it tended not to provoke others. Not any more. In a kind of united-front policy in reverse, it now seems content to antagonise them all at the same time.

Cracks in Xi Jinping’s Fortress? (March 21, 2016, China File)
Two remarkable documents emerged from China last week: the first is the essay “A Thousand Yes-Men Cannot Equal One Honest Advisor”—available here in Chinese and translated here into English—which appeared on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The second is an open letter calling for Xi Jinping’s resignation, penned by a group describing themselves as “loyal Party members.” What, if anything, do these documents suggest about the stability of Xi’s regime?

Religion

Dr. Lewis and the Chinese Church (March 21, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
In 1954 Arthur Lewis, a lecturer in Economics at Manchester University in the UK, published a landmark paper on what happens when industrializing economies begin to run out of cheap labor.

What Should the Chinese Church Pass on to the Nations? Part 1 (March 22, 2016, Chinese Church Voices)
Ultimately, the Chinese church will have to give an account before God for what it has passed on to the nations. Is it truly God's work, or a man-made imitation?

From the Pulpit to the Marketplace (March 23, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
Yu contrasts the approach of workplace ministry in his hometown of Hong Kong with that of mainland China, noting the great potential for a complimentary relationship between the two.

Society / Life

Story of cities #4: Beijing and the earliest planning document in history (March 17, 2016, The Guardian)
The seemingly incoherent sprawl of modern Beijing is based on meticulous plans to bind citizens together under imperial rule. Conceived as a means of enforcing social order, the impact of planning remains strong in the city today

Miner Protests in the Northeast and the End of China’s Economic Boom (March 17, 2016, China Change)
After 25 years of continual growth beginning in 1992, China’s period of economic prosperity has ended, and now the decline has begun. China will face a future downward trajectory that will have far reaching implications for its own political system, and for the economic and political configuration of the world.

Cooking Ham (March 18, 2016, Outside-In)
If you’re looking for a new way to cook your Easter ham, give this a try.

Chinese City Publicly Shames Migrant Workers Who Protested Unpaid Wages (March 18, 2016, China Real Time)
Wednesday’s spectacle, described as a public sentencing rally, was meant to cow and educate. The masses instead responded with righteous fury.

On Social Media in China, Size 0 Doesn’t Make the Cut (March 18, 2016, The New York Times)
In the latest beauty craze sweeping social media in China, women — and some men — are boasting that they are paper thin, by posting photographs of their waists behind a vertical piece of A4 paper.

Across China: Rural wife hunt has bachelors on hot bricks (March 21, 2016, China Daily)
China has more than 30 million males for whom there is no complementary female and who therefore have almost no chance of starting a family. Though most young people now advocate the freedom to marry their own choice of partner, rural people still often resort to matchmakers.

Yi Fuxian, Critic of China’s Birth Policy, Returns as an Invited Guest (March 23, 2016, The New York Times)
Dr. Yi has a message for Boao: Because of China’s birth control policies beginning in 1980, there is no way its economy will overtake that of the United States. Growth is already beginning to fall amid a distorted demographic structure, he said.

China Aims to Tighten Its Borders Against Foreign Place Names (March 23, 2016, The New York Times)
There is a Vancouver Forest in Beijing, a Thames Town in Shanghai and an Oriental Yosemite in Dalian, China. But the wave of names like those that have been tacked onto new housing developments around China in recent years could end after a call to stamp out “foreign” and “bizarre” names.

An isolated 'Shangri-la' in China now faces worldly influx (March 23, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
The town of Dali in Yunnan Province has been a mecca for foreign backpackers and independent-thinking Chinese with money. But there's trouble in paradise with a deluge of tourists and rising rents.

Shanghai smooths divorce procedure (March 23, 2016, China Daily)
Shanghai plans to introduce an online appointment booking service for people wanting a divorce, in a bid to make the process more organized and convenient for the growing number of couples in the city looking to end their marriages.

Economics / Trade / Business

How to Create the Best Wechat Marketing Strategy (March 10, 2016, In Other Words)
Owing to the sheer size of the population, the Chinese market is certainly worth targeting. Although there are cultural factors that impose barriers to reaching out to the Chinese market, if a business can successfully do so, they will undoubtedly be rewarded in long run.

5 Things to Know About Chinese Consumers (March 17, 2016, China Real Time)
The world is watching a slowing China and is increasingly concerned that China’s consumers are about to close their wallets. A new report from consultancy McKinsey & Co. says that won’t likely be the case. Here are five takeaways from the report, which surveyed 10,000 consumers, ages 18 to 65, across 44 Chinese cities.

Video: China’s Aviation Dreams Hit Turbulence (March 21, 2016, China Real Time)
Beijing has long wanted to develop an advanced aerospace industry capable of rivaling Western giants such as Airbus and Boeing. Here is a look back at some of China’s efforts so far.

Dyson sales boosted by pollution in China (March 21, 2016, BBC)
Dyson said total sales of its environmental control products grew by 35% over the year, underpinned by strong growth in Asia, and it expects demand for purifiers to increase in 2016.

Will Apple’s ‘Cheapest iPhone in History’ Satisfy Chinese Consumers? (March 22, 2016, China Real Time)
The topic “cheapest iPhone in history” is trending today on Chinese social network Weibo. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Apple’s new 4-inch iPhone SE is what most Chinese consumers want.

Video: China's challenges: A bumpy road ahead (March 22, 2016, BBC)
China's current economic problems are almost certainly at the top of its leaders minds as they gather in Boao this week. It is an annual meeting of the who's who in China's political and economic circles, and most years it has been an opportunity to take in the balmy Hainan breeze, an escape from the end of the brutal Beijing winter.

China Launches New “Three-in-One” Business License (March 23, 2016, China Briefing)
The Chinese government has recently instituted administrative reforms simplifying the country’s business establishment and registration procedures. As of October 1, 2015, newly established companies in China must apply for a single integrated business license in place of three separate certificates when registering with authorities.

Education

Heavy Recruitment of Chinese Students Sows Discord on U.S. Campuses (March 17, 2016, The Wall Street Journal)
Chutian Shao moved from China to the Midwest college town of Champaign, Ill., a few years ago. Some days, he says, it feels as if he hasn’t traveled very far at all.

Tee Time: At Some Chinese Schools, Golf Gets the Green Light (March 23, 2016, China Real Time)
Ever since Mao Zedong once called golf “too bourgeois,” China has had a fraught relationship with the sport. But that isn’t stopping Chinese students from taking a swing. One public elementary school in Shanghai is now officially teaching students the finer points of the game.

Spotted: 62 kids squeezed into a 19-seat school bus (March 23, 2016, Shanghaiist)
Hawk-eyed police in Anhui managed to spot a school bus driving around last week with 43 more kids on board than regulations and good sense would allow.

Five yellow fever cases detected (March 23, 2016, China Daily)
China has reported five yellow fever cases – all from people who were not vaccinated before leaving for areas with epidemics, a senior public health specialist said. The infected Chinese workers were returning from Angola and were detected in Beijing and Shanghai, where they had connecting flights to their hometowns.

Health / Environment

China Says It Found Ring Said to Sell Improperly Stored Vaccines (March 21, 2016, The New York Times)
The police in China say they have uncovered a criminal ring suspected of selling improperly stored vaccines in dozens of provinces. After the arrest of a former doctor and her daughter in Shandong Province, in eastern China, the police said they were searching for 300 suspects across the country.

Chinese Demand for Ivory Alternative Threatens Rare Hornbill Bird (March 22, 2016, The New York Times)
Even as China, the world’s leading market for illegal ivory, promises to help safeguard elephants in Africa, a rare bird in Southeast Asia is in danger because its skull is being sold in China as an ivory alternative, conservationists say.

Is China Exporting Its Environmental Problems? (March 22, 2016, Bloomberg)
One of the best pieces of news in years is that China's finally getting serious about cleaning up its environment. Renewable energy use is growing rapidly while coal use is declining. Air pollution targets are being tightened. Contaminated farmland is finally getting high-level attention. Yet all that good could be undermined if China simply exports its environmental problems elsewhere.

Science / Technology

Chinese Tech Firm Tells Users: We May Hand Over Your Data to the Government (March 18, 2016, China Real Time)
The headline is, “Warning.” Due to Chinese law, Smartisan reminds you, the company may have to disclose uploaded information “to governmental departments of China at their request.”

History / Culture

Navigating the Complexities of Giving and Receiving Gifts (March 18, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
I find the study of Chinese culture both fascinating and challenging. Oftentimes, the more I read and explore a certain aspect of culture, the more unanswered questions arise and possible answers blur into the gray area of ambiguity with multiple levels of complexity.

Everyday Life in Beijing, 1967-1968 (March 20, 2016, Everyday Life in Mao’s China)

The Emperor’s Hooch: China’s Feudal Rulers Liked to Drink, and You Can Sample Their Tipples (March 23, 2016, The Beijinger)
The emperors enjoyed their drink, some more than others. Gao Yang (529-559 CE), an emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty, was a notorious lush who threatened to marry his own mother off to the barbarian tribes when she attempted an intervention.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

Giant Maoist Slogans Form Core of Chinese Director’s New Film (March 17, 2016, The New York Times)
Bare earth cutting through the gravel forms huge Chinese characters that read “Long live Chairman Mao,” “Serve the people,” “Seize the minute, seize the hour,” “Learn from struggles” and “Surmount every difficulty to win victory.” These Maoist slogans now form the core of a new film, “Big Characters,” by the independent director Ju Anqi, who is based in Beijing.

Fifa signs China's Wanda as top level sponsor partner (March 18, 2016, BBC)
Conglomerate Wanda Group has become the first Chinese top-tier partner of world football governing body Fifa. It is the first big deal of new Fifa President Gianni Infantino's reign, and the first since the scandals that engulfed the organisation.

Mark Zuckerberg goes to Beijing (March 20, 2016, China Digital Times)
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg traveled to Beijing this weekend, where he enjoyed a highly publicized jog through the capital, a discussion with Alibaba chief Jack Ma, and a friendly meeting with propaganda czar Liu Yunshan.

The “YouTube Effect” of WeChat & Sina Weibo  (March 23, 2016, What’s on Weibo)
Stories of YouTube stars turning into successful entrepreneurs have become manifold. With the so-called ‘Youtube Effect’, anyone can become an online fashion influencer or money maker from behind their computer. Chinese social media platforms WeChat and Sina Weibo have their own Youtube Effect.

Travel / Food

Top 5 China Experiences – For the First Time Visitor (March 17, 2016, Wild China)
If it’s your first time to China, it can be hard to even know where to start. China is a big, complex country with so much to see and so much to do. It’s hard to give a one-size-fits-all answer to the problem, but here are 5 things that we think can’t be missed by the first-time China visitor.

Language / Language Learning

Learning Chinese through comprehensible input (March 22, 2016, Hacking Chinese)
I often get questions about what students should listen to for optimal learning. There is no simple answer to that question except possible “more”, which is definitely not the desired answer.

Links for Researchers

The End of “Reform and Opening”?: New Political Paradigms and China’s Future. (March 21, 2016, China Institute Policy Blog)
If the narrative of “reforming and opening” China has run its course, what new narrative will replace it? The past week has yielded several important clues in this regard, pointing to the emergence of two new frameworks that we might call “Xi-ist” China and “ideological” China.

TOC Journal of Chinese Religions, Volume 44, Number 1 (2016)

Image credit: by Yu-jen Shih, via Flickr