FEATURED ARTICLE
Lessons from the Chinese Church: Listen and Become Wise (May 1, 2014, The ChinaSource Blog)
A few weeks ago my wife and I were asked to speak with some young Chinese families about our experiences (successes and failures) in parenting. Initially I was a bit apprehensive, particularly because we had never met these families and because I am not a Chinese parent confronting the unique challenges and pressures that Chinese parents face. I imagined myself in a Wednesday night small group at a church somewhere in suburban America listening to a small group leader say: "Next week a young Chinese couple will be joining us to talk about their parenting experiences. They have some really great stuff to share. Their English is decent, but they do have a bit of an accent and sometimes they use words and phrases incorrectly. But, they have some good things to share and the time should be quite beneficial."
GOVERNMENT / POLITICS / FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Tiananmen Square protest museum opens in Hong Kong (April 26, 2014, BBC)
The world's first museum dedicated to the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square has opened in Hong Kong. Organisers hope in particular to attract visitors from mainland China. The protests are still a taboo topic in Mainland China but Hong Kong operates under a more liberal legal system.
China's Rising Influence Looms Over Obama's Asia Trip (April 26, 2014, NPR)
President Obama is in Southeast Asia on the third leg of a four-nation tour of Asia. The visit is aimed at reassuring U.S. allies of its support and its intention to remain the primary power in the Asia Pacific. The president's itinerary does not include China but of course, China's rising influence looms over the entire trip. The president's also trying to move forward on a major trade pact in the region.
China's Government: Weak or Strong? (April 28, 2014, The Diplomat)
It was a tough question, but it sounded innocuous enough when first asked by a Chinese guest. Why, the guest said, does the world outside China think our government is very strong, while people in China always feel that the government is actually weak?
Journalist Missing Ahead of Tiananmen Anniversary (April 29, 2014, The New York Times)
Gao Yu, a prominent Chinese journalist who was imprisoned following the 1989 suppression of the student protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, is missing, with friends saying she may have been detained ahead of the 25th anniversary of the crackdown.
China corruption: Sichuan deputy chief under investigation (April 30, 2014, BBC)
China's top prosecution body says it is formally investigating a top provincial chief linked to former security tsar Zhou Yongkang. The Supreme People's Procuratorate said that Li Chuncheng was being investigated for bribe-taking. The announcement comes a day after the ruling Communist Party expelled Mr Li, 56.
China to conduct naval drills with Russia in East China Sea (April 30, 204, Reuters)
China said on Wednesday it would conduct joint naval drills with Russia in the East China Sea off Shanghai in late May, in what it called a bid to deepen military cooperation. China's defense ministry did not give an exact location in the East China Sea, where Beijing is locked in an increasingly bitter dispute with Japan over the ownership of a group of uninhabited islets.
Chinese activist Xu Wanping freed amid clampdown (April 30, 2014, BBC)
Chinese political activist Xu Wanping has been released early from jail, even as the authorities detain others ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests. His wife told the BBC that his release on Tuesday was for "good behaviour". She added he was in poor health while in jail. Xu has spent most of the past 20 years in prison and labour camps.
Video: Xinjiang station attack: President Xi Jinping urges action (May 1, 2014, BBC)
An explosion at a train station in Urumqi in China's troubled Xinjiang region has killed three people and injured nearly 80 others. State media described it as a terrorist incident in which the attackers also slashed people with knives. The blast took place just as President Xi Jinping completed a visit to the region.
Bloombergs folly (May 1, 2014, Columbia Journalism Review)
For foreign correspondents in China, breaking stories that the censored Chinese press cant touch has long been a core part of the mission.
Photos: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Urban Farmers in Chongqing (May 1, 2014, China File)
Tim Franco, a Shanghai-based photographer, has spent time on these micro-farms in the heart of the megacity Chongqing, where the changes underway across the country appear especially stark. Some farmers grow food to feed their families, others to supplement their incomes, and some because, with the city closing in all around them, its the only thing that makes them feel at home.
RELIGION
Beijing attacks claim China could become 'world's most Christian nation' (April 25, 2014, The Telegraph)
A top Communist Party official hits back at predictions highlighted by the Telegraph that an explosion in the number of churchgoers will see China become the world's largest Christian nation by 2025.
China accused of anti-Christian campaign as church demolition begins (April 28, 2014, The Telegraph)
Demolition teams began destroying parts of a Chinese church that has become a symbol of resistance to the Communist Partys draconian clutch on religion, activists and witnesses said on Monday. […] Church members accused Communist leaders in Zhejiang province of ordering an anti-church crackdown and claimed there were plans to completely or partially demolish at least 10 places of worship. Officials rejected those accusations, alleging the church had violated building codes.
The Sanjiang Church Demolition: All of the Above. (April 28, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
It's hard to know exactly what triggered this apparent reversal. I can think of four possibilities, all plausible, and not necessarily mutually exclusive:
All Those Chinese Christians Can't Be Wrong (April 28, 2014, Breakpoint)
This harassment is by and large an acknowledgment by the Communist government of Christianity's ability to shape a culture. William Jeynes of California State University at Long Beach has written about how, on the one hand, Chinese officials are warily open to Christianity, because they see the link between Christianity and the Wests economic success.But on the other hand, they also see a link between Christianity and Western freedoms, which is why they try to control the practice of Christianity.
Around China: The Lisu Christian Choir (April 29, 2014, Shanghai Daily)
Deep in a mountain of Mongkuan County, Yunnan Province, an elegant Christian church echoes with the refrain of cappella psalms. The four voices belong to a choir of the local Lisu people, one of Yunnan' s ethnic groups with a population of more than 600,000.
An Overview of the Church in China (April 30, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
On Saturday night, April 26, 2014, Brent Fulton and I gave a talk at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, titled "The Chinese Church and the Global Body of Christ." For those who were not able to attend, here is a recap, as well as links to some of the ChinaSource resources which we drew from.
Church demolition illuminates China's religious tensions (April 30, 2014, AFP)
The destruction of a towering church by Chinese authorities has sown fear in a thriving the Christian community and highlighted tensions between a rapidly growing number of worshippers and the Communist state.
China destroys statues as 'anti-Christian' campaign widens (May 1, 2014, The Telegraph)
Chinese Catholics weep as statues depicting the Passion of Christ are removed or hidden from public view in what they say is reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution.
Chinas Catholic churches in reserved response to canonizations (April 28, 2014, Global Times)
Hundreds of thousands of Catholics flooded into St. Peter's Square in the Vatican on Sunday to see the canonizations of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, but Catholic churches in China showed a reserved response toward the ceremony in public. The Sunday canonization by Pope Francis is believed to be the first time two pontiffs were declared saints at the same time. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who stepped down last year, also attended the ceremony.Chinese Catholics reached by the Global Times expressed their appreciation for the late Polish pontiff.
SOCIETY / LIFE
I sold out to China (April 24, 2014, Aeon Magazine)You know that censorship has won its war on truth-telling when journalists happily police themselves.
Young Chinese Maoists set up 'hippy' commune (April 24, 2014, The Telegraph)
Filled with nostalgia for an era they never experienced, admirers of Chairman Mao have set up a commune where young Chinese can escape the pressures of capitalism.
A Peek into the world of Chinese Hostesses (April 25, 2014, The World of Chinese)
Hostess clubs in China are nightlife entertainment that only the rich can afford. Similar to the hostess clubs in Japan, in Chinese establishments the rich men pay for an attractive womans company, service, and conversations. [] Recently, the top hostess club in Zhengzhou was shut down by the government, and Sohu News created an infographic to explain the modern world of Chinese hostesses.
How peeing in public divided China and Hong Kong (April 26, 2014, BBC)
It's a scene familiar to all parents of young children: you're in a busy shopping street and your child decides they just can't hold it in any longer. But one couple's decision to let their child relieve himself has caused a huge schism on Chinese social media.
A Guide to Social Class in Modern China (April 28, 2014, Tea Leaf Nation)
On the Chinese web, a popular (anonymous) post currently making the rounds offers a revealing dissection of Chinas current class structure, dividing society into nine tiers, describing the first three tiers as the ruling class and the bottom three as the underclass. The division is based on political power and connection as much as wealth and prestige, reflecting the fact that the ruling Communist Party plays an extraordinarily large role in the distribution of social goods in China.
Why Chinas Government Is Scared of Rumors in One Video (April 28, 2014, China Real Time)
Earlier this month, thousands of people crowded around a group of chengguan in southern China, severely beating and bloodying the officers. This week, the countrys state broadcaster issued footage of the incident that shows just how deeply on edge many segments of society are, and how quickly they can be inflamed.
Chinas Ongoing Battle with Illegal Fundraising (April 28, 2014, The Diplomat)
As its economy grows, China is grappling with increasing instances of fraudulent behavior in its shadow banking sector.
In China, Another Argument for Peeing in Public (April 29, 2014, China Real Time)
After completing his task, he spotted a colorful object that had been uncovered by the sudden flow. Intrigued, he dug it out, only to find a terracotta figurine. He and co-worker Yi Zhimin who had been riding with him reported the find to the local Bureau of Cultural Relics.
Why some English words are controversial in China (April 30, 2014, BBC)
Nowadays, if you eavesdrop on Chinese people's phone conversations, it is commonplace to hear English phrases popping up here and there, like "Okay", "Cool" and "Bye bye". In today's Chinese publications, English abbreviations and acronyms also pop up frequently without any Chinese translations: GDP, WTO, Wifi, CEO, MBA, VIP and the air pollutant term PM2.5 are among the most popular. This phenomenon, termed "zero translation", has sparked a fierce debate, with the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper People's Daily the latest to join the fray.
Heard in the Hutong: Chinese Workers Reflect on Labor Day (May 1, 2014, China Real Time)
Countries around the world celebrated Labor Day on May 1. Before the break, China Real Time hit the streets to find out more about Beijingers' working conditions and how they feel about the meaning of the holiday.
Sex Abuse and China's Children (May 1, 2014, The New York Times)
According to a Chinese government report, 125 cases of child sex abuse were documented in 2013, a record number for China, where people dont normally talk about these things. There is insufficient data to claim that sex abuse of minors is rising. What has changed is that the issue is finally getting the attention it deserves, and that the government is reacting.
Fake Government Busted in China (May 1, 2014, China Real Time)
China has seen its share of counterfeits, from fake Apple stores to fake reporters to fake Gucci. Now add fake government to that list. State media recently reported that a Peoples Government of Dengzhou set up in central Henan province was toppled after it was found, in fact, to be a fraud.
EDUCATION / HISTORY
Peoples Daily Editorial Fanned Flames of 1989 Protest (April 25, 2014, Sinosphere)
Twenty-five years ago, on the night of April 25, editors in newspaper offices across China received an editorial that was to run in Peoples Daily the next morning, and their papers were ordered to reprint on their front pages the Communist Party newspapers pronouncement on the student demonstrators who had occupied Tiananmen Square for nine days.
Tiananmen Square Memorial Opens in Hong Kong (April 26, 2014, VOA)
A permanent museum to remember the Tiananmen crackdown of 1989 has officially opened in Hong Kong. Organizers say that 25 years after the events, Chinese people need to know more about what happened, and call on Beijing to face its troubled history. The exhibition is the world's first museum dedicated to the brutal crackdown ordered by the Chinese leadership 25 years ago.
The Leshan Buddha: 100 years in photos (May 1, 2014, Go Chengdoo)
Over the millennia, the Buddha's face has been reconstructed numerous times. This photo series shows the changes of the "world's tallest pre-modern statue" over just the past century.
ECONOMICS / BUSINESS / TRADE
Stakes rise in strike at China's Yue Yuen shoe factories (April 25, 2014, BBC)
One of the world's largest group of shoe factories in southern China has gone quiet. In a strike that has dragged on for more than two weeks, more than 40,000 workers at the Yue Yuen shoe factories located in Dongguan, Guangdong province, are refusing to report to work.
WeChat Has Facebook in Its Crosshair (April 25, 2014, Tea Leaf Nation)
Better watch out, Facebook. Chinas hottest mobile messaging-cum-social media app is out on the prowl, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerbergs 1.23 billion user global social networking empire may be in its crosshairs.
Video: Why the Yuans Steep Decline Matters (April 25, 2014, Wall Street Journal)
The WSJ's Jake Lee explains the top three reasons why the Chinese yuan's continuing decline is worrisome for global markets.
Welcome to the Haiyatt. In China, Its Not the Hotel It Sounds Like. (April 28, 2014, The New York Times)
Copying successful brands is a backdoor scheme to make money, and lots of unscrupulous people are doing what they know is wrong, but one of the reasons they can have some success doing it is that there is cultural ambivalence, said Professor Alford.
3 Reasons Why a Chinese Economic Crisis Is Unlikely (April 29, 2014, China Real Time)
Chinas economic growth is slowing, property prices in some smaller cities are declining and companies are starting to default. But Changyong Rhee, director of the International Monetary Funds Asia and Pacific Department, believes the odds of China suffering a full-blown financial crisis remain low. In an interview, Mr. Rhee outlined a number of reason not to sound the alarm bells:
China's economy overtaking the US does not tell the whole story (April 30, 2014, The Guardian)
The second more significant point is that even with the use of the PPP method, real living standards in China remain well behind those in the US. Per capita incomes in China, according to the OECD, are 75% of the global average, whilst those in the US are 370%. China's sheer size and its rapid growth rate mean that it is now a global force to be reckoned with when it comes to talks about economic management, trade and climate change. But on the measure that really matters to people living standards it remains a poor country.
Will Chinas Economy Be #1 by Dec. 31? (And Does it Matter?)(April 30, 2014, China File)
On April 30, data released by the United Nations International Comparison Program showed Chinas estimated 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rate was twenty percent higher than was estimated in 2005. What does this mean? Chinas economy could become the largest in the world by the end of 2014, unseating the ecomomy of the United States some five years ahead of earlier predictions by the International Monetary Fund. But does that matter?
SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY / ENVIRONMENT
Chinas Next War? (April 29, 2014, ChinaSource Blog)
If China's leaders are to get real about the war on pollution it will require a radical change of direction. Taking this war seriously will mean embracing energy alternatives, taking tough conservation measures, enacting regulations with real teeth and giving local leaders real incentives to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability. None of these measures are easy, but, as Mao said, "Revolution is not a dinner party." China's environmental revolution is long overdue, and this is one war it cannot afford to lose.
ARTS / ENTERTAINMENT
China Set to Punish Web Giant Sina for Pornography (April 24, 2014, ABC News)
China plans to revoke two crucial publication licenses for Sina.com, which might partially ban the web giant's operations, because obscene content was found during an anti-pornography crackdown, state media said Thursday. Sina apologized for "the suspected problem" of pornographic content on its literature and video sites. It said in a statement on its website that it felt "sorry and ashamed" for lax monitoring and that it had moved quickly to rectify the problem.
China bans web streaming of popular US TV shows. So who's watching? (April 28, 2014, Christian Science Monitor)
The surprise ban on 'The Big Bang Theory' and three other American shows may reflect resistance by state-owned broadcasters to the loss of young audiences to streaming websites.
FOOD / TRAVEL / CULTURE
In Land That Values Ivory, Wild Elephants Find a Safe Haven (April 25, 2014, The New York Times)
At a time when tens of thousands of elephants across Africa are being slaughtered to feed the Chinese appetite for ivory, it turns out the best place to be a wild elephant may be here in the tropical forests of southwest China.
China Tightens Law on Eating Rare Animals (April 25, 2014, NBC)
China will jail people who eat rare animals for 10 years or more under a new interpretation of the criminal law, state media reported, as the government seeks to close a legal loophole and better protect the natural environment.
China City Snackage (April 29, 2014, The World of Chinese)
It doesnt matter who you are, we all like a good snack, and where you are is likely to have a big influence on what you eat. A list of the top 15 cities of snacks in China was produced by a Weibo user in April last year, and created quite the stir. [] Heres the lowdown on five of the top snack cities:
Salary Uncle, Puddle of Accumulated Water: The History Behind Some of Beijings Subway Names (April 30, 2014, China Real Time)
Last week, China Real Time published a map of Beijing subway stops, with names literally translated. Inspired by a similar map of Hong Kongs MTR stations, we figured residents of the countrys capital shouldnt be deprived of similar fun. Besides, with names like Salary Uncle, Puddle of Accumulated Water and Southern Gentlemen Road, we couldnt pass up the chance to see what other gems the map had in store. Many readers were amused. Others took exception to some of the literal translations the combined efforts of Baidu translate and the CRT team produced, Huoying ()chief among them, which we translated, with a bit of artistic license, as Cholera Camp.
Community Matters: Gulou Under Lock and Key, Tales of the Night Watch With Bespoke Beijing (April 30, 2014, The Beijinger Blog)
Be transported to an older time when Beijing was one of the most policed cities in the world. Bespoke Beijing joined forces with the historians behind Beijing Postcards to bring you a tour of the surrounding areas of the Bell and Drum Towers, on the beat of the city's night watchmen to uncover this particularly riveting part of Beijing's history.
A Bite of China serves up a positive dose of patriotism (April 30, 2014, Offbeat China)
A Bite of China, a hugely successful documentary series by China Central Television from 2012, makes a comeback with a second season this month, and has received rave reviews so far.
BOOKS
CDT Bookshelf: Interview with Leta Hong Fincher (April 27, 2014, China Digital Times)
Leta Hong Finchers first book Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (Zed Books), sheds light on the issue of womens rights through the lens of home ownership and marital property rights. Hong Finchers research and writing have helped focus media attention on the government propaganda campaign to stigmatize women who wait until they are in their late 20s or later to marry.
Image credit: Joann Pittman