FEATURED ARTICLEA Point Of View: Making sense of China(October 12, 2012, BBC)The great task facing the West over the next century will be to make sense of China – not in our terms but in theirs. We have to understand China as it is and as it has been, not project our own history, culture, institutions and values onto it. It will always fail that test. In truth such a mentality tells us more about our own arrogance and lack of curiosity than anything about China.GOVERNMENT / POLITICS / FOREIGN AFFAIRSNew Details of How Wife of Chinese Politician Thought She Was Poisoned (October 12, 2012, The New York Times)The wife of Bo Xilai, the disgraced Chinese politician, was told several years ago by a doctor that her nervous system had suffered irreversible damage because she had been steadily ingesting poison that someone had slipped into the capsules of her daily herbal medicine, one of her lawyers said in an interview this week.Tibet man dies in self-immolation in China (October 13, 2012, BBC)An ethnic Tibetan man has died after setting himself on fire in protest at Chinese rule over his homeland, Tibetan rights campaigners say. Tamdrin Dorjee killed himself near the Tsoe monastery in China’s north-west Gansu province. Tibet campaigners said an increased military presence was reported to have been deployed around the monastery. More than 50 ethnic Tibetans have set themselves on fire since such protests began in 2009.Chinas mid-level party officials spend professional training time cultivating allies (October 13, 2012, Washington Post)For decades, professors at the Central Party School have safeguarded the ideology of Chinas Communist Party, indoctrinating each generation of officials in the teachings of Marx, Lenin and Mao. The school has persevered in its mission despite massive changes in society and the economy. But in recent years, it has faced a new and insidious threat: students intent on networking.Politics on Chongqing’s Streets (October 14, 2012, Inside-Out)They were all men, most looking to be of retirement age. No women in the talkers’ circles, though I saw a couple sitting under a tree nearby, not paying attention. My appearance thus caused a small disturbance. A few men approached me, and I asked them what they were talking about. I’m not sure what they thought I was a journalist perhaps? but they immediately started to voice their opinions, nearly shouting: “We want a multi-party system!” “We want democracy!”China IMF boycott ‘sign of things to come’: analysts (October 15, 2012, AFP)China’s top level boycott of global financial meetings in Japan this week is a sign of things to come, analysts say, as an economically emboldened Beijing shows struggling Western nations it doesn’t need to play by their rules.Chinese Elite Politics: Its Still A Mans World (October 16, 2012, Time)Leadership transitions only happen once a decade in China. This year, Liu is the only female with an outside chance of landing a position at the top, and if she does, she will have made history. But rocketing into space seems simple compared to busting into the boys club of Chinese politics. Its relatively easy to have a Chinese female astronaut because thats only about winning glory for China and not about actually divvying up political power, said Feng Yuan, a Beijing-based womens rights advocate.Chinese business, political elite flaunt their success with mistresses(October 17, 2012, Globe and Mail)If Mr. Bo had numerous mistresses, as Xinhua implied, the news would shock few people here. For Chinas business and political elite, keeping multiple mistresses and doing little, if anything, to hide it is as much a part of the package as the bling watches, the flashy sports cars and the offspring attending expensive Western universities.Xi to guide CCP from revolution to rule(October 17, 2012, Asia Times Online)Long-held views of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping that the Chinese Communist Party must evolve from a “revolutionary” to a “ruling” party are being idealized, with top scholars backing an emphasize reforms and democracy in a new political outlook. While stopping far short of a multi-party system, incoming leader Xi’s plan envisions the CCP abandoning revolutionary trappingsAs China Readies for Leadership Handover, Where are Marx and Mao? (October 17, 2012, Time)Marxist ideas, which normally enjoy public celebration before major political events in the Peoples Republic, have been curiously diminished on the eve of China’s once-in-a-decade leadership transition.Chen Guangcheng’s brother sues police for storming his home (October 17, 2012, The Guardian)The eldest brother of the blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is suing the police and local government that oversees his village in north-east China for barging into his house unlawfully after his brother’s escape.‘On China:’ Experts discuss new generation of leaders (October 17, 2012, CNN)A long way from the big-spending, flag-waving spectacle of competing U.S. presidential campaigns, a momentous leadership change is quietly unfolding in the world’s second largest economy. In November, thousands of specially chosen members of China’s Communist Party will converge on Beijing for the 18th National Congress. There, they’ll announce who’ll fill the soon-to-be-vacant roles of president, vice president, premier and assorted chiefs of important government departments. Ahead of the congress, CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout sat down with three prominent China watchersVictor Gao, Hung Huang and John Pomfretto discuss the leadership change and their views on the fate of the country and its ruling Communist Party.U.S. Ambassador Confirms Meeting With Tibetans in Western China (October 18, 2012, The New York Times)The United States ambassador to China made a recent visit to a mountainous region of western China, where dozens of Tibetans disaffected with Chinese rule have set themselves on fire. The visit occurred in late September, and the ambassador confirmed it publicly on Wednesday. The ambassador, Gary F. Locke, visited two Tibetan monasteries on Sept. 26 as part of a trip to western China. The monasteries, which have not been involved in the 55 self-immolations across the Tibetan plateau since 2009, are in Aba Prefecture of Sichuan Province, the area where almost two-thirds of the Tibetans who have set themselves on fire lived. It was Mr. Lockes first trip as ambassador to a part of China where most of the people are ethnic Tibetans.Debate Blues: Chinese Web Commenters Bemoan Obama, Romneys Increasingly Hard China Line(October 18, 2012, Tea Leaf Nation)But Weibo chatter understandably focused on the fact that both candidates utilized their speaking time to reiterate a hard line on China. Governor Romney twice stated that he plans to crack down on China when they cheat, promising that on day one [as president], [he] will label China a currency manipulator.RELIGIONNew CCTA Book Warns Chinese Church is in Danger of Following Patriotic Heresy Like the German Church Did under Nazism (October 14, 2012, Christian Post)The church in China is in danger of walking down the same dark path of the German Church under Nazi rule, warns the latest English-language book published by the Chinese Christian Theological Association. The author of Beware of Patriotic Heresy in the Chinese Church: Drawing on the historical lessons of the Nazis Volk Church in analyzing the Zhao Xiao phenomenon, Mark C.H. Shan, sounds a sharp warning that an insidious danger lurks in the Chinese church, both Chinas official church and the burgeoning house churches, as well as the overseas Chinese church. This danger has been adeptly utilized and manipulated by the Communist government such that patriotism is already starting to replace Gods rightful place in the Chinese church.Zhao Xiao: The Role that Workplace Missionaries Play in the 30-30 Vision (October 15, 2012, Chinese Church Voices)During this period of rapid development, the Chinese church is facing many challenges, and they will not be solved in a short period of time. How can we bring about the vision that 30% of all Chinese people will be Christians by the year 2030? Dr. Zhao, who initiated the 30-30 Vision, believes that the key to success depends on the rise of Chinese workplace missionaries.Sustainability and Long-Term Effectiveness: the Role of Business (October 17, 2012, ChinaSource Blog)Amidst the rapid and relentless change taking place in China today, three dynamics in particular are profoundly affecting the role of traditional nonprofit efforts in the country. This raises the question of what sort of entities will allow for sustainable engagement in the future.HEALTH9 confirmed dead with cholera (October 14, 2012, Shanghai Daily)NINE cases of cholera have been confirmed in central China’s Hubei Province, health authorities said yesterday. Nine people were diagnosed with the infectious disease after attending a wedding banquet at a hotel restaurant in the city of Huangshi on October 3, according to a statement from the provincial health department. An investigation showed that a hotel employee who served cold dishes at the banquet was a carrier, spreading the infection to some of the people who ate the dishes, according to the statement. Restaurants have been to stop serving cold dishes and hospitals asked to monitor patients with diarrhea. Restaurant employees who have high fevers, diarrhea or infected wounds must stop working and go for a medical check, the statement said. The city is carrying out food inspections and monitoring water supplies and waste.EDUCATION / CULTURE2 mln expected to compete in civil servant recruitment: experts (October 15, 2012, Xinhua)A record-high 2 million candidates are expected to register and apply for China’s annual civil servant recruitment exam to be administered in November, an expert on the exam said Monday. National-level government agencies, their affiliated public institutions and local branches will recruit 20,839 civil servants in 2013, nearly 3,000 more than this year. However, more vacancies does not mean applicants will have better chances of securing a position, as the number of applicants may top 2 million, up from 1.3 million last year, said Li Yongxin, chief research fellow of Zhonggong Education, a training company focused on civil service applicants. Therefore, only one in every 90 applicants will get the jobs in the end, said Li.Chinese Education: From Hallowed to Hollow (October 16, 2012, ChinaSource Blog)For the fourth straight year in row, the number of college hopefuls taking the national university entrance exam, or gaokao, has dropped. Analysts trace the decline to a corresponding drop in the number of children born at the beginning of the last decade due to China’s one-child policy. However, the decrease also suggests two realities facing young people in China today.In 3 Awards, 3 Ways of Seeing China (October 17, 2012, The New York Times)Literature is not a boxing match, though sometimes it can appear that way given the polarizing passions it can generate. Such was the case in recent days, as two very different Chinese writers, one feted by the ruling Communist Party and the other spurned by it, received prestigious international awards.Hong Xiuquan: The rebel who thought he was Jesus’s brother (October 17, 2012, BBC)Chinese history can be read as a series of peasant rebellions. One in the 19th Century, led by a man who thought he was Christ’s brother, lasted 15 years and caused at least 10 million deaths. It taught the Communists lessons a century later, and is one reason why China’s leaders keep a close eye on rural unrest today.Tsinghua EMBA program ranked No 4 in the world (October 17, 2012, China Daily)China’s executive MBA courses are winning growing global recognition, occupying five of the top 11 places in the 2012 Financial Times EMBA ranking of the worlds top programs. Business schools in China run a variety of programs, but executive MBA (EMBA) education is the top course of study and can be considered China’s contribution to the world of business education, said Qian Yingyi, dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.Guidelines give ABCs on education (August 17, 2012, China Daily)What should a 3-year-old child know about math? If they are unable to count from one to 100 should the child be viewed as unintelligent or not diligent? According to the Ministry of Education, a 3-year-old only needs to be able to count one to five, and be able to calculate simple sums using these numbers. In a rare move, the ministry released guidelines on early childhood education on Monday, in an effort to curb the growing practice of young children being educated in a way that pushes them beyond what children at their age should learn.SOCIETY / LIFECriticising China(September 12, 2012, Prospect)For the August issue of Prospect I wrote an article entitled, Youll never be Chinese. I expressed thoughts and ideas I have held for some time, backed up by observations and personal experiences from 16 years in China. It was not easy to write. Much of it was negative. I was keenly aware that I might upset my friends and family in China. I had also naively expected the words to come flooding out, rather like a sigh of relief. I found myself choking on them. Its hard to say goodbye.The article is proving a challenge to live with as well.‘Netizen’: Why Is This Goofy-Sounding Word So Important in China? (October 11, 2012, The Atlantic)A set of buzzwords has grown up to describe this specialized cohort. Among the most popular terms? Netizen, or in Chinese, wangmin a portmanteau that literally means a citizen of the Internet. Although Web users in China naturally prefer the non-English phrase to refer to themselves, the terms are synonymous and each is a direct translation of the other.Let a Hundred Volunteers Bloom (October 11, 2012, Foreign Affairs)At first, Alison Klaymans new documentary, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, seems to fit this perspective, by focusing on the singular work, political activism, and daily life of Ai Weiwei, the world-famous Beijing-based artist and outspoken government critic. In raising subjects that are usually airbrushed from the Chinese media, the film contains much that the Chinese leadership will dislike. It highlights Ais international celebrity and his ability to mobilize large numbers of people through social media, the naked brutality of the Chinese police, and the still-debilitating aftereffects of Maos Cultural Revolution.Changing China seen from the ‘hard seats’ of a train (October 12, 2012, BBC)Travelling with a cheap rail ticket provides a snapshot of any country’s underbelly. Doing it twice at an interval of 26 years, in a country like China, provides a fascinating snapshot of the country’s rapid development.China now eats twice as much meat as the United States(October 12, 2012, The Telegraph)In the last 30 years, Chinese demand for meat has quadrupled, according to figures from the US Agriculture department. The country now eats a quarter of the world supply, or 71 million tons a year. By contrast, in 1982 each Chinese ate just 13kg of meat, the equivalent of one tenth of a pig, a year. Beef was so rare it was nicknamed “Millionaire’s meat”. With vastly more money in their pockets, many Chinese have turned away from their traditional diet of rice and vegetables, flavoured with a small quantity of meat, to embrace Western diets and fast food.Rare Chinese Cultural Revolution photos on display (October 12, 2012, BBC)A collection of rare photographs from China’s Cultural Revolution is on display in London for the first time since they were hidden for safekeeping nearly 45 years ago.Watch: The Great Firewall of China Anthem (October 12, 2012, Shanghaiist)Silicon Valley’s “site of record” Pando Daily channels They Might Be Giants in this music video explaining the Great Firewall of China.Restaurant Etiquette in China (October 15, 2012, Lets Eat China)Eating out in China is nearly always an interesting experience and often quite different to anything back home. As the cuisine varies from one country to another so do the customs and etiquette. Something unacceptable back home may be perfectly acceptable here.China inequality causes unease – Pew survey (October 16, 2012, BBC)Despite more than 90% of Chinese feeling that they enjoy a higher standard of living than their parents, concerns over corruption, social inequality and food safety are growing, according to a Pew Global Attitudes Survey. Most presidents and prime ministers would love to have the kind of GDP growth China’s incoming leader Xi Jinping will inherit.Photos: Race between 10 Ferraris on Shaanxi highway ends in crash (October 16, 2012, Shanghaiist)China to open atomic bomb site to tourists (October 16, 2012, BBC)China has unveiled a plan to open the site where it detonated its first atomic bomb to tourists, state-run media reports. About 6m yuan ($960,000, 595,000) will be spent making the remote Malan base in Xinjiang region tourist-friendly, an official told Xinhua news agency. Visitors will be able to see scientists’ laboratories and a 300-metre tunnel used for air strikes. China tested its first atomic bomb on 16 October 1964.Driver’s death sparks protest in China’s Luzhou city (October 18, 2012, BBC)The death of a truck driver sparked violent protests overnight in Luzhou city in Sichuan province, Chinese reports say. Local officials said a truck driver fell ill and died after scuffling with police. Protests broke out amid claims the driver had been beaten to death. Photos circulating online showed large crowds of people, as well as cars being overturned and set on fire. State media said calm had been restored by dawn on Thursday. The official Global Times said in a report published on its accredited microblog that up to 10,000 people had taken part in the protests. The report was later removed.SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY / ENVIRONMENTChina launches 2 satellites (October 14, 2012, Shanghai Daily)China successfully launched the Practice-9 A and Practice-9 B satellites into space at 11:25am today, the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center said. The satellites, launched from the center in north China’s Shanxi Province, were boosted by a Long March-2C carrier rocket and sent into a predetermined orbit. The Practice-9 A and B are the first in a series of civilian satellites designed for technological experimentation. Developed by an affiliate company of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the satellites will be used to experiment with domestically developed components, satellite formations and inter-satellite measurement, the center said.BUSINESS / ECONOMICS / FOREIGN TRADEThe new normal of Chinese growth (October 14, 2012, East Asia Forum)Growth of Chinese GDP decelerated to 7.8 per cent in the first half of 2012 from 9.6 per cent a year ago. But the government has remained relatively calm, taking only measured steps to stabilise growth. This so-called policy paralysis does appear odd given the Chinese governments emphasis of GDP growth in the past. Some market participants argue that the policy makers are way behind the curve because of the once-a-decade leadership transition.China central bank says currency near equilibrium (October 14, 2012, AP)China’s currency has reached its equilibrium rate and its value is mainly determined by the market, rather than intervention, Beijing’s central bank chief said Sunday, signaling there is little likelihood of major movement in the yuan’s value in the near future. In a speech delivered by one of his deputies, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, also warned that too much monetary easing by major economies puts inflationary pressure on China at a time when it is striving to boost growth while keeping prices under control.China says inflation slows to 1.9% in September (October 15, 2012, AFP)China’s inflation rate slowed in September, government data showed on Monday, satisfying an official desire to control price gains, but highlighting overall weakness in the world’s second-largest economy. The consumer price index rose 1.9 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, slightly down from 2.0 percent in August. While the figure was in line with a forecast of economists by Dow Jones Newswires, the data showed producer pricesa measure of the cost of goods leaving factories, and a key indicator of price trendsfell 3.6 percent year-on-year. That marked a seventh straight monthly contraction and follow a 3.5 percent drop in August.All is not well at Chinas bellwether Canton trade fair (October 15, 2012, Globe andMail)The amount of traffic each spring and fall at what is officially known as the China Import and Export Fair is where foreign firms come to connect to Chinese suppliers many of whom keep factories here in Guangdong province. Demand here is often a predictor of where the worlds No. 2 economy, which is still dangerously reliant on exports, is going. []The bad news is that sentiment on the first day of this three-week event was downcast. While the number of companies who paid for a booth to exhibit their wares was up slightly to a record 24,840, veterans of the Canton Fair said the number of potential buyers browsing the complex on the south bank of the Pearl River was lower than both the spring session and last falls.In Reversal, Cash Leaks Out of China (October 15, 2012, Wall Street Journal)China, once a catch basin for the world’s money, is now watching cash stream out. Wealthy Chinese citizens are buying beachfront condos in Cyprus, paying big U.S. tuition bills for their children and stocking up on luxury goods in Singapore, frequently moving cash secretly through a flourishing network of money-transfer agents. Chinese companies, for their part, are making big-ticket foreign acquisitions, buying up natural resources and letting foreign profits accumulate overseas.Weather in China Puts Squeeze on Ketchup (October 17, 2012, China Real Time Report)One of the most beloved symbols of modern low-brow cuisine ketchup is getting a squeeze from a drought in China. China accounts for about a fifth of the worlds production of tomato paste, the industry term for the gooey red stuff thats processed into a range of condiments such as ketchup, pizza base and baked bean sauce. The Asian giant is also the worlds biggest tomato paste exporter.China third-quarter GDP growth set for fresh slide below target (October 18, 2012, Reuters)China’s economy likely slowed for a seventh straight quarter in July-September, missing the government’s target for the first time since the depths of the global financial crisis, and data on Thursday could signal still worse to come. “The risks are stacked on the downside,” said Jeremy Stevens, China economist at Standard Bank in Beijing. “Most macro figures, like industrial production, investment, retail sales and so on, have averaged a lower growth rate in the third quarter than in the second, suggesting additional momentum loss over the quarter.”Will the music stop for China’s economy? (October 18, 2012, CNN)For the Communist Party, the country’s unelected supreme leaders, this is the source of their legitimacy and authority: keep the engines of growth turning, and the people busy and prosperous. It has worked, so far. But strains are appearing. The gap between rich and poor is widening and the economy itself is weakening. The growth figures for the latest quarter are at 7.4 %, the slowest in three years.Boss Rail (October 22, 2012, The New Yorker)In 2003, Chinas Minister of Railways, Liu Zhijun, took charge of plans to build seventy-five hundred miles of high-speed railwaymore than could be found in the rest of the world combined. For anyone with experience on Chinese trains, it was hard to picture.ARTICLES IN CHINESE (Pacific Institute for Social Sciences) (Pacific Institute for Social Sciences)LINKS FOR RESEARCHERSHouse Churches: Problems and Solutions (Pacific Institute for Social Sciences)A recent conflict between a church and the state in Beijing shows again that the contradictions between the old religious administrative regime and peoples religious demands amid social development in church-state relations urgently need to be resolved.The Battle for Chinas Top Nine Leadership Posts (CSIS.org, by Cheng Li)RESOURCESBeijing PostcardsBOOKS5 books you should read by Nobel Prize winning Chinese author Mo Yan (October 12, 2012, Shanghaiist)Whether you think Mo Yan is too close to the Chinese government to be getting such a prestigious award as the Nobel Prize for Literature, or you think Mo can’t help living under an authoritarian regime and shouldn’t be criticized for making necessary compromises, no-one is denying that the man can write, and write well (he did, after all, just win a Nobel Prize). If you’ve never read any of Mo’s work, this list should help you get started.Is Mo Yan a Stooge for the Chinese Government? (October 15, 2012, Rectified.Name)Yo, man, Mo Yan. Even before the Swedish Academy announced Mo Yan as the 2012 Nobel Literature Prize winner, the Chinese internet was abuzz with discussion of his work and his relationship with the Chinese government.Dissident writer Liao Yiwu picks up German peace prize (October 15, 2012, Shanghaiist)Another day, another Chinese person wins a peace prize. Dissident writer Liao Yiwu has been named the 2012 winner of the Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels (Peace Prize of the German Book Trade) at the Frankfurt Book Fair. In his speech at the award ceremony yesterday, the outspoken writer slammed China for its “bloody suppression” of critics as well as the West for its misguided belief that doing business with China would help to liberalise it.Restless Empire (October 17, 2012, China Rhyming)Another history of China this one Restless Empire (the touchy Chi-Comms wont like that title!) by (the oddly named geddit!) Odd Arne Westad starts in 1750 and goes through to, well, today the publishers say. Details and blurb as ever.JOB POSTINGEight Blessings, a Beijing based consulting company is looking for a project manager. Responsibilities include developing and managing online and social media platforms for faith-based organizations. Contact info@8-blessings.com ZGBriefs 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.