FEATURED ARTICLEFour Issues for the Chinese Church (November 5, 2012, Chinese Church Voices)Today in China, a rising urban church has appeared suddenly and is undergoing a refining process. What path will the Chinese Church choose? This is a question that the entire Chinese Church needs to consider. Although each church has their own vision, the Chinese Church as a whole needs to have a common responsibility toward this age and a vision for this age.Zhang Yongsheng, head pastor at the Beijing Gospel Missionary Church, has a burden for how the Chinese Church will develop in the future. In exploring his own church and its development, he also pondered four major tasks that the Chinese Church will encounter soon:SPECIAL SECTION: 18TH CPC NATIONAL CONGRESSSpecial Report on 18th CPC National Congress(Xinhua News)18 Reforms for the Party’s 18th Congress (November 2, 2012, Caixin)The leadership handover coincides with China arriving at critical social and economic junctures. The following are suggestions for the changes it should make.The Five Vermin Threatening China(November 4, 2012, The China Story)Yuan Pengs 2012 repertoire of what are now popularly known as the New Black Five Categories of People includes: rights lawyers, underground religious activities, dissidents, Internet leaders and vulnerable groups .China’s Communist leaders formally purge Bo Xilai from party (November 4, 2012, The Guardian)Bo Xilai was accused in September of corruption and of bending the law to hush up his wife’s murder of a British businessman. China’s leaders have ended a closed-door conclave with a decision to formally expel disgraced politician Bo Xilai from the party, paving the way for his criminal prosecution, state media said on Sunday. China’s ruling Communist party ratified the expulsion from the party of Bo, the former party boss of Chongqing, and also Liu Zhijun, one-time railway minister, who was sacked last year for “serious disciplinary violations”, state news agency Xinhua said at the end of the secret four-day meeting.So Much for Stability: Reality Catching Up With the Communist Party(November 5, 2012, China Real Time Report)But the most pressing issueand the one that could well play havoc with consensus among policy-makers at the Congress and beyondis how to handle signs of creeping gloom in Chinese society and the sense among some cadres that shortfalls in Party governance are bringing it about.The Big Enterprise (November 5, 2012, ChinaFile)Now, for the first time in Chinese Communist Party history, there is no real big leader, and thus no such source of legitimacy for a new leadership. Nor is there any confirmed system. There is neither a bloodline, relied on during dynastic times, nor the elections upon which democracies rely.All change in China (November 5, 2012, The Telegraph)For the first time in a decade and only the second time in history the men at the top of the Chinese Communist Party will step down, voluntarily, and hand over power to a new generation.Chinas Hu seeks to exert influence long after he leaves power (November 5, 2012, Washington Post)But some political watchers caution that Hu may be playing a deeper game, bargaining away slots on the Standing Committee for seats on the less powerful but more plentiful Politburo or perhaps preserving a seat for himself or Li on the commission that oversees the military.Viewpoint: The powerful factions among China’s rulers (November 5, 2012, BBC News)China’s political elite is dominated by two factions. But once the new leaders are unveiled, who will have the upper hand, and how will competing factions balance power? As part of a series on challenges for China’s new leaders, political analyst Cheng Li says the country’s future could be decided by a tussle at the top.Sacred Maos (November 5, 2012, Rectified.Name)Dropping Mao from a few documents is not a harbinger of great change, nor does it mean that the specter of Mao does not still loom large over Chinese politics.Video: China’s leaders: What you need to know(November 6, 2012, BBC News)China’s Party Congress normally convenes once every five years, but this year it’s attracting particular attention as it will oversee a once in a decade leadership transition. The man widely tipped to lead China for the next 10 years, 59 year-old Xi Jinping, is expected to be formally endorsed as party general secretary along with his team. BBC Chinese’s Weiliang Nie explains about the Party Congress meeting, and the men waiting to lead China.Hu Jintaos Legacy: A Strong but Strained China (November 7, 2012, AP)In media commentaries, think-tank position papers and the less censored blogosphere, Hus reign is being portrayed as a missed opportunity to tackle longstanding problems grown more deep-seated, from a yawning rich-poor gulf and worsening environmental degradation to stiffly authoritarian politics. One commentary has referred to the period as a lost decade.Who are the Chinese Communist Party? (November 7, 2012, Offbeat China)According to Chinas Organization Department, China has a total of 82.602 million party members as of the end of 2011, a number that is nearly as big as the population of the UK and France combined. In China, approximately one out of fifteen is a party member. A party member is much more likely to be a Han male aged 35+ who doesnt have a college degree and works as a farmer.China wants no surprises at Communist Party congress (November 7, 2012, The Los Angeles Times)Yet beneath the placid surface, political intrigue is roiling like at no other time in recent Chinese history. This year saw the downfall of Bo Xilai, a telegenic Maoist whose wife was recently convicted of fatally poisoning an English businessman; and the forced resignation of Hu’s chief of staff, Ling Jihua, whose son was killed in a fiery Ferrari crash. The cascading scandals have served to strengthen and weaken various contenders for the Politburo Standing Committee.Chinese Internet Connections Unreliable in Run-Up to Party Congress (November 7, 2012, Tech in Asia)Its clear that most people arent experiencing a total internet blackout, but VPNs not working, and Google services not working all seem to be fairly common issues. Moreover, it seems that overseas sites loading more slowly than usual is a nearly universal issue, and many users also reported frequent disconnections when attempting to connect to overseas sites. Users in Beijing and Shanghai seemed to be most affected, with several users outside those two cities reporting no issues.Party planning (November 7, 2012, Analects)But the steps taken by the government to avoid incidents have often tended towards the Kafkaesque. In recent weeks, Beijingers have been alternately exasperated and amused by restrictions on everything from satellite dishes to butter knives.Photos: Getting Ready for a Party in Beijing (November 7, 2012, China Digital Times)Ciceros Advice to Chinas Would-be Leaders (November 7, 2012, The China Story)In mid year the noted pro-government thinker Hu Angang offered a view of how Chinas particular political arrangements are uniquely suited to that country. He claimed that they provide what he calls a collective presidential system, one that is more democratic than that of the American polity. Hu also claims that it is a system that has supposedly liberated China from the long tail of its autocratic political traditions.The Key Players in China’s Power Transition: Inside the ‘Gang of Seven’ (November 7, 2012, The Atlantic)Xi Jinping and Li Kegiang will be elected president and premier at the upcoming Communist Party Congress. But the rest of the Politburo Standing Committee is up for grabs.Meeting lasts 7 days (November 8, 2012, Shanghai Daily)The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China opens today and lasts seven days, until November 14. The event, held every five years, opens at 9am at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. China Central Television will cover the opening ceremony live. China Radio International will also broadcast live in many languages, along with coverage at the central government website.China’s power transfer: infighting and spectacle (November 8, 2012, AP)One thing the party appears to be ruling out is a major shift toward a more open, democratic political system, despite appeals in recent months from commentators, retired party members and government think tanks.China Expert Cheng Li Lays Out The Top Priorities For The New Leadership (November 8, 2012, Business Insider)In a Q&A with Goldman Sachs’ Allison Nathan, Cheng Li, China scholar and Director of Research at the Brookings Institute, said the leadership handover will be watched very carefully for three key reasons.Photos: Party Congresses Through the Years (November 8, 2012, China Real Time Report)GOVERNMENT / POLITICS / FOREIGN AFFAIRSPremier Wen Jiabao calls for party probe into claims of family’s ‘hidden fortune’ (November 5, 2012, South China Morning Post)Premier requests top-level inquiry into claims of US$2.7b assets and is reported to be pushing for long-overdue ‘sunshine law’ to be put into effect.Briton murdered in China fed tips to British intelligence (November 6, 2012, Reuters)A British businessman murdered in China in a high-profile case of political intrigue was an informal source of information for Britain’s foreign intelligence agency, MI6, two sources familiar with the matter said.China party says learns from Bo scandal, vows further reform (November 7, 2012, Reuters)China learnt an “extremely profound” lesson from the Bo Xilai scandal and will make fighting corruption a priority alongside further reform, a Communist Party spokesman said on Wednesday, a day before a key congress opens to usher in a leadership change.China Welcomes Obamas Win, but Hopes for More Balanced Ties With the U.S. (November 7, 2012, The New York Times)With the re-election of President Barack Obama to a second term and the imminent transfer of power in China to a new generation of leaders, one of the biggest challenges facing Mr. Obama will be finding a strategic and economic role for the United States in Asia that is acceptable to its strong network of allies and friends without alienating Beijing, analysts in the region said.CCP congress enters the Weibo era (November 8, 2012, China Media Project)Obviously, conversation about the 18th National Congress will be watched carefully by Chinas social media minders. It is interesting to see already, however, just how much discussion there is about Hu Jintaos political report this morning. Here are a few examples that flitted across our screen.Party report suggests old guard is strong (November 11, 2012, China Media Project)Ahead of the 18th National Congress, which opened in Beijings Great Hall of the People today, I focused on 10 important terms in the Partys political lexicon in my WATCHWORDS series (English and Chinese). Those terms were:RELIGIONA Chinese voice from 120 years ago (November 5, 2012, ChinaSource Blog)The following is a suggestion made by a Chinese pastor to the rest of the attendees at the 1890 Shanghai conference of all the Protestant missionaries in China. It must have taken a lot of courage and strong convictions for him to address the room full of foreigners in this manner (there were only a handful of Chinese delegates at the 1890 Conference). Yan’s purpose in speaking was to remind the missionaries that in addition to attracting new converts, there was still much work to be done to care for the believers already in the churches.Respect for Chinese Culture: The Example of Hudson Taylor, Part Two(November 2, 2012, China Global Center)Now let us turn to Hudson Taylors stance towards Chinese law and the treaties which had been signed between China and the Western powers. At the beginning of his missionary career, he violated the stipulations of the treaties by traveling and preaching outside the boundaries of the designated treaty ports, as he admits himself in his brief autobiography.[5]Five Tibetans Self-Immolate Today Across Tibetan Regions (November 8, 2012, Voice of America)Three monks from Ngaba, a mother from Rebkong and a Tibetan man from Driru are reported to have self-immolated on Wednesday in an apparent China protest, a day before the Chinese Communist Partys 18th National Congress.EDUCATION / CULTURE / HISTORY30 dramatic images of the 1942 Henan famine (Offbeat China)Hong Kongs vintage style, in photos (November 1, 2012, BBC)The striking thing about Ho Fan‘s photographs of mid-century Hong Kong is how little the city has changed in the last 60 or so years.Aliens in Ebian (November 2, 2012, Life on Nanchang Lu)Meandering south from Leshan’s Giant Buddha, we entered the long river valley of the Dadu River in southern Sichuan, a place very similar to my standard description of Australia – very big, and not many people, even fewer of whom seemed to have heard of my home country. Perhaps it was my accent.SOCIETY / LIFEComing to America (November 1, 2012, Foreign Policy)China wants to buy its way onto your TV screen. Will it work?Photos: Beijings Wettest Cold-Weather Storm in Six Decades (November 5, 2012, China Real Time Report)2 Japanese tourists dead, 1 missing in China snowstorms (November 5, 2012, Xinhua)Two Japanese tourists were killed and one remained missing after being trapped in a snow-covered mountain in north China’s Hebei Province, local authorities said late Sunday night. Two Japanese women, aged 62 and 68, were confirmed dead and a 76-year-old Japanese man remained missing, the Huailai county’s publicity department said in a statement. Another Japanese tourist, 59, and a Chinese man, who works for a Japanese tourist agency, were under treatment at a village clinic as roads out of the mountain were still closed. The four Japanese tourists and two Chinese tourists climbed a mountain from the Beijing side to tour a section of the Great Wall Saturday morning. The six were trapped in snowstorms after reaching a mountainous region in Huailai county in the neighboring province of Hebei, according to the statement.Watch: Beautiful footage of Beijingers going about daily life (November 5, 2012, Shanghaiist)The Best China Tourism Video Ever? Zhangjiajie does Gangnam Style (November 6, 2012, Sinocism)Like all of you I am tired of Gangnam Style knockoffs. But this one from Zhangjiajie () in Hunan is just too good.China’s digital revolution (November 6, 2012, The Telegraph)In the second part of his series on China, Mick Brown considers how the internet became an instrument for control rather than freedomHow Shanghai Saved the Jews (November 7, 2012, Rectified.Name)Before and during World War II tens of thousands of Jews fled Europe and arrived in Shanghai. Stateless, and disconnected from the established Jewish communities, they were settled in a ghetto in Hongkou, north of Suzhou Creek. Constructed in 1927, the elegant, brick Ohel Moishe synagogue served the Russian Jewish refugee community in the ghetto. About ten years ago it was converted to a museum with the support of the Shanghai city government.Highly-Qualified Foreigners to Face Easier Visa Formalities in China (November 7, 2012, China Briefing)Chinas Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) and four other departments of the Chinese government jointly promulgated the Circular on Issues of Facilitating Visas and Residence Permits for Highly-Qualified Foreigners Entry into China (MHRSS Circular [2012] No. 57, hereafter referred to as the Circular) on September 28, 2012.How Chinas Collective Amnesia Hinders Its Development (November 8, 2012, Tea Leaf Nation)If there were a singular problem China should focus on, it is this: How can it come to know its identity when it looks at its history without the aid of memory to help recognize and understand itself?U.S. Election: Political Porn for Chinese Internet Users(November 7, 2012, China Real Time Report)Chinese Internet users flocked to the countrys social-media sites on Wednesday to follow and comment on the U.S. presidential election, with many drawing contrasts with Beijings much more predictable and much less democratic leadership change beginning this week.SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY / ENVIRONMENTWhy Using the Internet in China is So Frustrating These Days (October 7, 2012, China Real Time Report)Data from CloudFlare Inc., a company that provides web performance and security services for hundreds of thousands of websites, confirms that Internet users inside China are not just imagining things. CloudFlare Chief Executive Matthew Prince said the companys engineers and consumers have reported increased difficulties with traffic out of China beginning at the end of August.ARTICLES IN CHINESECCTV (November 7, 2012, Gospel Times) (November 7, 2012, Gospel Times) (Pacific Institute for Social Sciences) (Pacific Institute for Social Sciences) (Pacific Institute for Social Sciences) BOOKSChina: Worse Than You Ever Imagined (New York Review of Books)Originally published in 2008, the Chinese version of Tombstone is a legendary book in China.1 It is hard to find an intellectual in Beijing who has not read it, even though it remains banned and was only published in Hong Kong.Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962, by Jisheng YangZGBriefs is a weekly compilation of the news in China, condensed from published sources and emailed free-of-charge to more than 6,000 readers in China and abroad. ZGBriefs brings you not only the most important stories of the week, but also links to blogs, commentaries, articles, and resources to help fill out your understanding of what is happening in China today. Coverage includes domestic and international politics, economics, culture, and social trends, among other areas. Seeking to explore all facets of life in China, ZGBriefs also includes coverage of spiritual movements and the role of religious believers and faith-based groups in China. The publication of ZGBriefs is supported by readers who find this weekly service useful. ZGBriefs is a publication of ChinaSource.