FEATURED ARTICLE
For Chinese students at USC, a tragic circle tightens (August 1, 2014, Los Angeles Times)
The killing of 24-year-old Xinran Ji on July 24 has drawn the community of Chinese students into a circle of sadness and confusion. Ji, an engineering graduate student, was beaten to death with a baseball bat as he walked home from a study group after midnight, police said. Four teenagers have been arrested and charged with his murder. The students, as scholars, are the cream of their country the very smartest in a land of 1.3 billion people. But the killing of their classmate has thrown them into a foreign world that they must struggle to understand, just as they did two years ago.
GOVERNMENT / POLITICS / FOREIGN AFFAIRS
China confirms new generation long range missiles: report (August 1, 2014, AFP)
China has acknowledged the existence of a new intercontinental ballistic missile said to be capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads as far as the United States, state-run media reported Friday.
The War of Words in China (August 2, 2014, The New York Times)
These are challenging days for foreigners in China, who in the past year or so have increasingly found themselves caught up in a war of words that paint Westerners as conscripts in the army of hostile foreign forces seeking to thwart Chinas rise.
Chinas Premier Li Takes Spotlight With Quake Site Visit (August 4, 2014, China Real Time)
For Chinas leaders and the Communist Party, images matter. That was evident on the national evening news broadcast Monday night following the devastating weekend earthquake in southwest Yunnan province that left at least 398 dead and injured 1,800. State-controlled China Central Television dedicated two-thirds of its official nightly broadcast to coverage of the quake. Premier Li Keqiang was shown jetting off to the quake-hit area, where he met with local villagers and delivered instructions on rescue efforts.
China Now Says Almost 100 Were Killed in Xinjiang Violence (August 4, 2014, TIME)
It took a week, but authorities have finally released a death toll for the violence that rocked Chinas far northwestern frontier on July 28. Early reports said dozens were killed or injured; now the government says nearly 100 were killed, and 215 arrested, making it the deadliest single incident since riots hit Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regions capital, Urumqi, in 2009.
China offers $49m rewards for Xinjiang terrorist 'hunt': report (August 4, 2014, AFP)
China is offering more than 300 million yuan ($49 million) for residents of Xinjiang, the homeland of mainly Muslim Uighurs, who help a crackdown on "terrorists", state media reported Monday.A total of 4.23 million yuan was handed out to individuals and government agencies who helped in the killing and capture of 10 "suspected terrorists" in Hotan prefecture last week, the official Xinhua news agency said. Local residents found the suspects in a corn field in Purgakqi last Friday, it said.
Xi Jinping: Ready to Take On Armies of Corruption, Paper Says (August 5, 2014, China Real Time)
Combating corruption has emerged as the signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinpings administration since late 2012, and his efforts appeared to kick into high gear in recent weeks when the Communist Party notched its biggest catches. So it came as a surprise when a newspaper this week reported the president apparently used the word deadlocked to describe a battle more popularly seen as featuring his triumphs. Mr. Xi reportedly went on to suggest that he will combat armies of corruption at the risk of damage to his reputation, or even his life. In order to fight against corruption, a persons life and death, personal praise or blame, do not matter, the paper quoted him as saying.
Canadians detained in China are pawns in a bigger geopolitical game (August 7, 2014, Globe and Mail)
So how is it that the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs news release makes no mention of the Garratts religious work but instead indicates that Kevin and Julia Dawn Garratt are suspected of collecting and stealing intelligence material in Dandong about Chinese military targets and important national defense research projects, and engaging in activities threatening to Chinese national security? The key to understanding this appears to be the reference in the Chinese charge to their alleged gathering of intelligence about important national defense research projects.
Chinese dissident Gao Zhisheng released from prison (August 7, 2014, BBC)
One of China's most prominent dissidents, Gao Zhisheng, has been released after three years in jail.His brother said he left the Xinjiang prison on Thursday morning and was now at his father-in-law's home in Urumqi. Fellow activist and close friend Hu Jia told BBC Chinese that Mr Gao was seeking dental treatment in Urumqi, the region's capital. Mr Gao, a prominent human rights lawyer, was arrested in early 2009. He was accused of inciting subversion.
Exclusive: China police investigate U.S. citizen near border with North Korea source (August 7, 2014, Reuters)
A Korean-American who runs a Christian NGO in a Chinese city on the border with North Korea is being investigated by Chinese authorities and has had his bank accounts frozen, a source with direct knowledge of the case told Reuters on Thursday. Peter Hahn, a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been under interrogation by Chinese authorities for the last three weeks and is not permitted to leave the country, said the source, who requested anonymity, citing the sensitive nature of the case.
A Chechnya in the making (August 9, 2014, The Economist)
The Uighurs have never been particularly comfortable in China. Xinjiang, the region where these Turkic Muslims once formed the vast majority, came unwillingly into the Chinese empire. Rebels in parts of it even set up independent republics; a short-lived one was snuffed out by the Communist Party in 1949. Since then the regime in Beijing, 1,000 miles (1,600km) to the east, has sought to keep Xinjiang quiet. The policy is not working. The presidency of Xi Jinping risks sinking into a quagmire of ethnic strife. This could be Chinas Chechnya.
RELIGION
Ningbos Sacred Heart Church Gutted by Fire (August 3, 2014, China Rhyming)
The Catholic Scared Heart (Sacre Coeur) Church was built in 1872 by French missionaries. As well as a Christian tradition it was used as a base by communists so had a level of protection. Like so many churches and religious institutions across China it was mindlessly damaged during the Cultural Revolution. The church was returned to the Catholic community in 1980.
Consumerism and the Church in China (August 4, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
Materialism is already noted by many pastors today as perhaps the church's greatest threat. Pastors bemoan the relatively shallow spiritual experience of many of the millions of adherents who come to church each Sunday but whose lives during the week exhibit little difference from those of China's nonbelieving urban citizens.
Pastor Steve Um Talks about the Chinese Church (August 5, 2104, ChinaSource Blog)
Rev. Stephen Um, pastor of City Life Presbyterian Church in Boston, recently talked with the folks at China Partnership about his observations and hope for the Chinese church.
Video: Why Christ, Mao And The Buddha Are Making A Comeback In China (August 6, 2014, Huffington Post)
"On the surface we've achieved the goals, but no one is happy," the professor, who goes by the English name Luke, told The WorldPost. "There's no love, no hope. For more than 100 years we Chinese have been trying to catch up with Western countries. We want science, technology and military power. But the most important thing is the soul of the culture. The mind is based on the soul, and we've lost our souls."
Thinking the Unthinkable (August 6, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
Planning effectively for work in China requires that one also be willing to think the unthinkable. Although one can point to many continuities in China's long history, it has also been marked by a number of jarring discontinuities. Identifying current trends and assuming that they will continue to play out in a linear fashion may provide some sense of reassurance about the future, but in the end one may be caught totally unprepared by events that no one saw coming.
Growth of Protestants in China: the frustrations of Wang Zuoan (August 7, 2014, AsiaNews.it)
As news about churches being demolished in Zhejiang (and elsewhere) and Christians arrested and tortured makes global headlines, the Beijing government vows to continue to promote the development of a Chinese Christian theology according to the national policy on religion. This was stated by Wang Zuoan, head of the State Religious Affairs (ASAR). Speaking two days ago at a seminar in Shanghai, he stressed that "over the past decades, the Protestant churches in China have developed very quickly with the implementation of the country's religious policy. In the future, we will continue to boost the development of Christianity in China."
SOCIETY / LIFETaiwans Crippling Gas Explosion Caught On Camera (August 2, 2014, TIME)
Kaohsiung, Taiwans second largest city, is currently in a state of disarray due to blasts caused by a gas explosion. The number of casualties has now surpassed 250, with bodies continuing to be discovered as the day progresses.
Video: China Experiences a Booming Underground Market in Surrogate Motherhood (August 2, 2014, The New York Times)
As in most countries, surrogacy is illegal in China. But a combination of rising infertility, a recent relaxation of the one-child-per-family policy and a cultural imperative to have children has given rise to a booming black market in surrogacy that experts say produces well over 10,000 births a year. The trade links couples desperate for children with poor women desperate for cash in a murky world of online brokers, dubious private clinics and expensive trips to foreign countries.
China Controls narrative of violence in tense west (August 4, 2014, AP)
The Chinese government uses expansive controls and propaganda to maintain a virtual monopoly on the narrative in the tense region of Xinjiang, where minority Uighurs complain of oppression under Beijing's rule. This limits outsiders to a one-sided view on escalating ethnic unrest that has killed dozens of people over the past year and poses a major test to Beijing's rule.
Suicide among elderly increases (August 4, 2014, China Daily)
The suicide rate among elderly people in rural China has increased greatly in the past 20 years.Even more shocking is the lack of concern about the deaths, says sociologist Liu Yanwu, who has spent six years studying the issue. Liu, a researcher at Wuhan University, found that the suicide rate among the rural elderly has increased from 100 per 100,000 to 500 per 100,000 in two decades.
Chinas Hukou Reform Plan Starts to Take Shape
(August 4, 2014, China Real Time)
Last week China put some flesh on the bones of its plans to reform its hukou, or household-registration, system, which determines where people can settle based on a series of exacting requirements akin to many countries visa rules. Under the hukou regime, which dates back to the 1950s, migrants have limited access to health care, education and other social benefits outside their hometowns. This forces many migrant workers to leave their children behind when they move to cities to find work so they can attend school. Switching a hukou can be extremely challenging.
Roads Clogged as Eager Volunteers Flood Chinas Quake Zone (August 5, 2014, China Real Time)
Already beset by aftershocks, incessant rain and mudslides, relief efforts in Chinas quake-stricken Yunnan province have run into another impediment: a flood of do-gooders champing at the bit to help. Authorities in northern Yunnans Ludian county temporarily closed down access to the quake zone Tuesday morning because traffic from volunteers pouring in had made the already damaged access road all but impassable. Yuan Yao, an local official involved in directing the volunteer effort, said traffic was backed up for several kilometers.
Earthquake Death Toll Rises to Nearly 600 in China (August 6, 2014, The New York Times)
The death toll from an earthquake that struck Yunnan Province in southwestern China on Sunday has jumped to 589 as rescuers reached isolated villages and recovered the bodies of 179 more victims, state media reported Wednesday. Officials said at least nine people remained missing.
Photos: Earthquake Strikes Chinas Southwestern Yunnan Province (August 4, 2014, China Real Time)
Metal dust 'behind deadly China blast' (August 4, 2014, BBC)
A metal dust explosion was probably to blame for the blast that tore through a plant in eastern China on Saturday, killing dozens, officials say. State media said the death toll from Saturday's explosion had risen to 75. More than 180 other people were hurt in the blast at the car parts factory in Kunshan in Jiangsu province.
Xinjiang Chief Signals New Curbs on Births for Minorities (August 6, 2014, Bloomberg)
China plans to adopt the same family planning policies for all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, the western provinces Communist Party chief wrote in an essay, signaling further curbs for the Uighur Muslim minority. Southern Xinjiang will implement family planning policy equally on all ethnic groups, to lower and stabilize an appropriate birth rate, Zhang Chunxian wrote in the August edition of Qiushi, an official magazine of the party.
China Tightens Restrictions on Messaging Apps (August 7, 2014, China Real Time)
China for the first time placed restrictions on instant-messaging servicesan increasingly popular platform in the country for discussion and debate. Beijing said the restrictions were instituted to "help build a clean cyberspace" and safeguard national security. The rules apply to users with special accounts that let them post messages broadly on chat apps such as Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Laiwang.
10 Top Misconceptions About China (August 7, 2014, China Whisper)
Misconceptions about China abound, most likely because China is still a mystery to most of us in the United States, and when our curiosity isnt satisfied, our minds fill in the blanks. If the perceived truth is repeated enough times, we start believing it; its just human nature. However, many of these theories and fallacies that many of us have come to accept as truth simply arent.
Uighurs in China in pictures (August 8, 2014, The Guardian)Kevin Frayer from Getty Images documents the life of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province, in northern China.
A Migrant Mothers Poem: My Child, I Am Sorry (August 8, 2014, China Digital Times)
As the school year begins in China, the children of migrant workers face a harsh reality: without an urban household registration (hukou), they will not be able to go to school. Illegal schools for migrant children have even been demolished in recent years. The central government recently announced that it will unify the hukou system, but this will not represent progress if the way public services are doled out is not changed, reports Caixin. This spring, Weibo user shared a poem, said to be written by a mother living in Beijing without the right hukou, at the end of the spring semester:
EDUCATION / HISTORY
Lesson from a Pool in Wenzhou: Opportunities for Chinese Students in American High Schools (July 21, 2014, ChinaSource Quarterly)
Keith believes that international students, particularly from China, with the strengths of their home culture and educational system plus the implementing of the "6 C's plus Leadership" learned in America, will eventually become the leaders of tomorrow in their country. The American Christian school movement has a unique opportunity to invest in Chinese teenagers who may someday lead one of the most important countries of the world.
Love the Party removed from code for students (August 2, 2014, Global Times)
New revisions to the code of behavior for primary and middle school students no longer require them to "love the Chinese people and love the Communist Party of China (CPC)." A new draft of the code of behavior for primary and middle school students will be open for public opinion online till August 20, after the Ministry of Education (MOE) published the draft online on Friday.
Star Fujian student denied admission to university because she's disabled (August 5, 2014, Shanghaiist)
A handicapped girl from Zhangzhou city, Fujiang province who scored 549 in the gaokao has been denied by the university she applied to because "she'd failed to meet the physical fitness test," CCTV News reports.
Sichuan history in photos: Chengdu in 1980(August 7, 2014, Go Chengdoo)
Moroccan-born French photographer Bruno Barbey visited Sichuan province in 1980 as part of a trip in which he documented lives of everyday residents of Shanghai and Sichuan and Guizhou provinces.
China exchange student drowns in pool of California host family (August 7, 2014, Reuters)
An exchange student from China who recently arrived in the United States has drowned in a swimming pool belonging to his Southern California host family, police said on Thursday.The family found the 16-year-old student at the bottom of their backyard pool in Anaheim on Wednesday evening and called police, Anaheim Police Department spokesman Lieutenant Bob Dunn said.
Meet Chinas Boomerang Kids: One-Third of Graduates Still Rely on Parents, Survey Says (August 7, 2014, China Real Time)
Caught amid a glut of job applicants fresh out of college, many of Chinas newly minted graduates are choosing a time-worn path the world over: relying on their parents for hand-outs. According to a new survey conducted by Peking University, more than one-third of recent Chinese graduates continue to live off their parents. A still-greater number are failing to save any money, the survey found, with 40% reporting that they live paycheck to paycheck.
HEALTH
Chinas Guangzhou, Popular African Destination, Worried About Ebola (August 1, 2014, China Real Time)
A Chinese city that has been ground zero for outbreaks including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bird flu is now on guard against a disease more frightening than either of those. The southern metropolis of Guangzhou has instituted precautionary measures to protect the city against the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, the state-run China Daily said Friday. Since February, the world has been faced with one of the worst Ebola outbreaks in recent memory, with more than 1,300 people in West Africa infected and at least 729 killed.
New To China? Heres Some Health Advice (August 4, 2014, My Health Beijing)
Most people who are new to Beijing and China, no matter where they are from, have the same health concerns: How can I make my kids safe? Where can I find good foods? Just how bad is the air? As a long-term expat and as a family doctor at BJU, Ive tried to summarize here the top issues that newcomers should be aware of and how we all can stay healthy.
ECONOMICS / BUSINESS / TRADE
History Suggests China Is on Verge of Banking Crisis (August 1, 2014, China Real Time)
One of the most striking facts unearthed by the International Monetary Fund in its recent review of Chinas economy was how much of a risk Beijing was taking by not aggressively deflating its credit bubble. IMF economists looked at 43 countries over 50 years and found that just four had seen credit grow as rapidly as China had in the past five years and all four faced banking crises within three years of such supercharged growth.
Why China Is Investigating Microsoft and Symantec (August 5, 2014, Business Week)
For years, U.S. politicians have been calling Chinese telecom-equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE threats to American security. But making charges about national security is a game that China can play, too. Following Edward Snowdens disclosures of U.S. spying, the Chinese government seems eager to show American companies that they will pay a price for U.S. government actions.
Priceline Group in $500m Ctrip investment (August 7, 2014, BBC)
Priceline Group, owner of travel websites including Booking.com and Agoda, has agreed to invest $500m (297m) in China's biggest online travel company Ctrip. Priceline has also gained rights to buy Ctrip shares over the next 12 months and take its holding to up to 10%. The two companies also agreed to expand a deal, struck two years ago, to cross-promote their hotel room inventory.The move comes as demand for travel to and from China has been growing.
What the Latest Economic Data Say About Chinas Changing Growth Model (August 8, 2014, China Real Time)
Even as the Chinese economy has grown into the worlds second-largest and growth has slowed from the double-digit levels enjoyed in decades past, Beijing has sought to expand consumption, services and high-tech entrepreneurship. It wants to move away from its traditional dependence on exports and investment in unneeded real estate projects, belching steel mills and metal-bashing state-owned companies to create a new growth paradigm. But its continued reliance on exports and investment-led growth seen in recent statistics raise concerns that its putting off painful but necessary reform under pressure to reach short-term targets. Chinese officials say they havent given up on their reform agenda and argue that they can promote growth and enact reform simultaneously.
SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY / ENVIRONMENT
China Will Ban All Coal Use In Beijing By 2020 (August 6, 2014, AP)
China's smog-plagued capital has announced plans to ban the use of coal by the end of 2020 as the country fights deadly levels of pollution, especially in major cities. Beijing's Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau posted the plan on its website Monday, saying the city would instead prioritize electricity and natural gas for heating.
FOOD / TRAVEL / CULTURE
Biking the Silk Road (August 1, 2014, Foonson Bikes)
Camping at Turpans Bezeklik Caves (August 4, 2014, Far West China)
I bought four bottles of ice cold water, shook hands with the driver and, in a few minutes, we were rattling along in an old white van. We sped out of Turpan and onto the highway leading east, the new silk road, a thin spit of pavement rimming the northern edge of the Takalamakan Desert. The Flaming Mountains, shades of red whipping up the sides of their canyons, appeared on our left as we moved deeper into the desert.
LANGUAGE / LANGUAGE LEARNING
250 Physical Verbs in English and Chinese (August 4, 2014, carlegene.com)
Theyre tricky because, although theyre the kind of things we do on a daily basis, we rarely think about how to express them clearly in our first language let alone our second.
Is speaking more important than listening when learning Chinese? (August 7, 2014, Hacking Chinese)
What languages do you speak? Do you speak Chinese? These questions are common and they both involve the word speak, even though they typically imply listening ability as well. We normally dont ask about someones listening ability in specific languages, probably because its assumed that someone who can speak a language well can also understand it to a similar degree.
BOOKS
Eastern Versus Western Learning Approaches (July 21, 2014, ChinaSource Quarterly)
Cultural Foundations of Learning: East and West by Jin Li. Cambridge University Press; 1st edition, 2012, 400 pages. ISBN-10: 0521160626, ISBN-13: 978-0521160629. Paperback; $32.39 at Amazon.comThere are deep cultural differences between Eastern and Western societies regarding learning and development. The notion of whether creativity is learned or not is just one of these. This book explores some of the differing approaches to learning found in these cultures and concludes with a look at them in the twenty-first century.
Han Han: This Generation (August 4, 2014, Contemporary China)
Although some famous pieces are absent (for instance critiques of Chen Kaige, Bai Ye and Robin Li), as a representation of Hans blogging oeuvre, This Generation is a useful collection for readers in English, especially for those coming to Han for the first time. Organized chronologically, the collection gives a strong sense of Hans preoccupations and his changing personality over time. Notably, as he discusses in Talking About Democracy (Dec 24 2011) it is a period in which he has become increasingly realistic, losing much of his previous idealism and refocusing his expectations and exhortations on the Chinese people as well as criticizing the Party-State.
Image credit: Joann Pittman