ZGBriefs | August 11, 2016

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Featured Article

Why Won’t China Stop Moaning About the Rio Olympics? (August 9, 2015, Sixth Tone)
There were only two ways of concealing this embarrassment. The first was to admit that China had overemphasized the importance of the Olympics — that what we had treasured was just average in everyone else’s eyes. Obviously, we couldn’t do this: we would look foolish. The other was to moan about everyone else, making them the fools instead. Hosting the Olympics is an honor: we treated them with respect, and so should you.

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Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

US criticises China's 'political' trials as fourth activist punished for subversion (August 5, 2016, The Guardian)
A Chinese human rights activist was on Friday given a three-year suspended prison sentence for subversion, state media said – the fourth such case this week as authorities crack down on dissent. Christian activist Gou Hongguo had gone abroad to be trained in “subverting state power”, the second intermediate people’s court in the northern city of Tianjin said on Friday on a verified social media account.

On Gaige Kaifang (August 7, 2016, Forgotten Archipelago)
Reform and opening up (gaige kaifang) are words commonly used to refer to processes of change that have been active in China's legal, political, social and economic systems since 1978. These words occupy a very important place in the daily vocabulary of China scholars, yet they have become 'worn out' by their repeated use.

The complete guide to China’s propaganda videos blaming the West for almost everything (August 8, 2016, Quartz)
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been working full speed the past few months to produce videos blaming “foreign hostile forces,” especially the US, for everything from inciting separatism to stealing territory in the South China Sea. […] The videos usually surface on the social media platform Weibo and go viral after being promoted by state organs like the Communist Youth League. And they appear to be working.

China and South Korea trade barbs over US missile-defense system (August 8, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
China said South Korea is to blame for the regional instability, but South Korea's presidential office said China should do more to curb North Korea's provocations. 

US destroyer visit latest twist in China-US military ties (August 9, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
The visit of the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Benfold to the northern Chinese port of Qingdao this week is the latest development in a long-term effort to build trust between the countries' militaries amid tensions and a rivalry for dominance in Asia.

Photos suggest China built reinforced hangars on disputed islands: CSIS (August 9, 2016, Reuters)
Satellite photographs taken in late July show China appears to have built reinforced aircraft hangars on its holdings in disputed South China Sea islands, a Washington-based research group said.

China is Turning Its Once Powerful Communist Youth League Into an Online Campaign Machine (August 10, 2016, Global Voices Online)
The reform plan, outlined by the Communist Party of China (CPC) on August 2, is based on an internet-focused strategy to turn the bureaucratic organization into an online campaign movement that “reinforces youth belief in the CPC and pumps vigor into the cause of national rejuvenation.”

Religion

China willing to reach 'understanding' with Vatican: cardinal (August 5, 2016, France 24)
The head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong has said the Chinese government is willing to reach an "understanding" with the Vatican over the contentious issue of the appointment of bishops. It comes amid unease among some Catholics who fear that a deal with Beijing may compromise the Church.

The Day China Changed Me (August 5, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
It was June 2000. I was on my first trip to China. In fact, it was my first time to leave the United States. My team and I spent six weeks meeting students, sharing the gospel, and helping in other ways.

Reconstructing Taoism’s Transformation in China (August 8, 2016, The New York Times)
In an interview, Professor Kleeman discussed how Taoism provided an alternative political model to the Confucian-based imperial order, how Taoist texts can help deepen our understanding of early Chinese history and why today’s Communist government seeks to control Taoist practices.

Yu Jie: A Christian Future for China (August 9, 2016, Chinese Church Voices)
In August, First Things published an article penned by the Chinese Christian intellectual Yu Jie titled  “China’s Christian Future.” He begins by giving some historical background to the current growth of Christianity in China, rooting it in the disillusionment that took root during the Cultural Revolution.

We've Come this Way Before (August 10, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
Throughout history as various attempts have been made to introduce the gospel to China, a series of “perennial questions” have arisen regarding the relationship between the Christian faith and Chinese culture. Understanding the background behind these big questions is essential to addressing them as they appear in China today.

Society / Life

In China, Rejuvenating a Classical Music Heritage Linked to a Jewish Community (August 9, 2016, The New York Times)
The arts — and especially classical music — flourished here throughout the early 20th century. Nicknamed the St. Petersburg of the East, Harbin was home to a thriving Jewish community that helped build a rich cultural scene, including China’s first symphony orchestra, made up of mostly Russian musicians.

Pregnant Women Can’t Keep Waiting for Two-Child Policy (August 9, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Many provinces specified that couples who remarry would be permitted to have two children if their previous relationships had produced one or no children, or one child regardless of how many children they’d had in the past. But Guangdong hasn’t yet released a policy on second marriages, leaving many uncertain of their rights.

China's Elusive Elevated Bus Accused of Being Not Only Phony, But Also Fraudulent (August 10, 2016, The Beijinger)
Those criticisms seemed to gain further traction when Asia One reported on August 9 that the bus' production center appeared to be abandoned, full of thick weeds and even farmers who had come to let their sheep graze.

‘Primordial Girl’ or: How China Learned to Stop Gold-Medal Worship and Love Sporting Effort (August 10, 2016, China Real Time)
China has a new sports star, and never mind that she didn’t finish first. In a country long obsessed with winning gold medals, Ms. Fu’s newfound fame seemed to signal shifting social perceptions about the meaning of sport.

Video: For These African Migrants, Life In China Isn’t What They Were Promised (August 10, 2016, Huffington Post)
Through a series of interviews and letters obtained by researchers, these Gambian migrants explained how they were lured by deceptive visa brokers who charged them a small fortune to pay for the long journey from Banjul to Guangzhou.

Chinese City Backs Down on Proposed Nuclear Fuel Plant After Protests (August 10, 2016, The New York Times)
Bowing to days of passionate street protests, a city government in eastern China said Wednesday that it had halted any plans to build a nuclear fuel plant there. The reversal was the latest indication of how public distrust could hold back China’s ambitious plans for expanding its nuclear power industry.

Economics / Trade / Business

Why Uber has been taken for a ride in China (August 7, 2016, The Guardian)
In the first place it confirms that the plans for world domination cherished by all the US-based tech giants come to a juddering halt when they reach the Chinese border.

Hiring Foreign Employees In China (August 8, 2016, China Law Blog)
Gone are the days when China allowed pretty much any foreigner to work in China, with or without the proper visa. Foreigners may be employed in China only if all of the following conditions are met:

Baidu Struggles With Medical Business Fallout (August 8, 2016, China Real Time)
The country’s dominant search engine uses third-party operators to run online community forums on such health subjects as hemophilia and cancer. These are profitable ventures for Baidu because they can reap fairly high fees for advertising. The problem is that users have complained about operators filling the forums with dubious medical information.

Chinese Tech Firms Forced to Choose Market: Home or Everywhere Else (August 8, 2016, The New York Times)
Two decades after Beijing began walling off its homegrown internet from the rest of the planet, the digital world has split between China and everybody else. That has prevented American technology companies like Facebook and Uber, which recently agreed to sell its China operations, from independently being able to tap the Chinese market. For China’s web companies, the divide may have even more significant implications.

Why Beijing is Spending $13 Billion on a New Airport (August 9, 2016, China Real Time)
Six years after Beijing spent $3.5 billion to build what was then the world’s largest airport passenger terminal, China’s national planning agency has green-lit a new airport that will cost nearly four times as much.

Education

In China, Some Schools Are Playing With More Creativity, Less Cramming (August 8, 2016, NPR)
Education professionals are hopeful that these new teaching methods will benefit both public and private school students and produce future generations of Chinese young people who are curious, self-motivated and independent critical thinkers.

14-year-old boy genius admitted to prestigious University of Science and Technology of China (August 9, 2016, Shanghaiist)
Meet Zhou Tian from Heze city in Shandong province. He's only 14 years old and was recently admitted into the University of Science and Technology of China, one of the nation's most elite universities.

The Long March To Education Reform (August 10, 2016, The World of Chinese)
Sanyi Santan, “three inquiries, three explorations”, is an innovative learning method that contains involves answering self-raised questions; discussing questions as a team; reconsidering conclusions and further investigation; applying and expanding knowledge that has been learned—basically an interactive classroom where the teacher no longer has the absolute authority.

Science / Technology

These viral selfie apps with 1 billion downloads are shaping China’s start-up culture (August 3, 2016, The Washington Post)
Their eye-widening, skin-lightening, chin-narrowing photo apps and “beautifying” video platform are ubiquitous in China, downloaded a billion times in total, according to the company. They are known by fans as “zipai shenqi,” or “godly tools for selfies.”

History / Culture

Science and History Align to Hint at China’s Founding Legend (August 5, 2016, China Real Time)
Like Noah and his animal-laden ark, China has its own creation legends. Thousands of years ago, one story goes, a man named Yu tamed the country’s terrible flooding with the assistance of a dragon and was ultimately named emperor.

A History of China's 'Humiliation' and 'Hurt Feelings' at the Olympics (August 9, 2016, Asia Society)
China’s swim team manager invoked a frequently used phrase for responding to foreign criticism, saying that Horton “hurt the feelings” of the Chinese swimmers. Such reactions to fairly standard trash talk may strike some as thin-skinned. But to many Chinese people, slights like Horton’s can evoke strong connections to a historic “humiliation” narrative pushed in schools, museums, and media — one in which Westerners look down upon China, insult it, and conspire to keep it down.

Arts / Sports / Media

These collages, made from hundreds of news photos, reflect on the ‘Chinese Dream’ (August 6, 2016, PBS)
To try to tell a bigger story — Yuan spent much of the last year and a half looking through the thousands of photos he took between 2004 and 2014 in China. The result of his effort was three collages comprised of hundreds of layers of elements drawn from Yuan’s news photos, each arranged around a different theme. He named the three-piece series “The Chinese Dream” in a reference to a political phrase coined by the current Chinese president Xi Jinping, who defined it as “the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Flag Furor: China Sees Red Over Starry Slip-Up in Rio (August 8, 2016, China Real Time)
Several Chinese flags used by organizers at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil featured wrongly angled stars, a subtle but significant slip that has irked Chinese officials as well as legions of viewers back home. Olympic organizers pledged to rectify the mistake, which came to light on Saturday during the games’ first medal ceremony, where two Chinese shooters celebrated podium finishes beneath a pair of flags with wonky stars.

The Global Times, China’s feisty state tabloid, relies on “foreign experts” to sell China to the world (August 9, 2016, Quartz)
There are currently around twenty foreign editors working with the Global Times who are referred to as “foreign experts,” a clichéd nickname for any foreigner working with Chinese state media. They do everything from assigning stories to reporting to copy editing—as long as the coverage is not about politics.

Ai Weiwei’s Animal Heads Offer Critique of Chinese Nationalism (August 10, 2016, The New York Times)
The heads were designed around 2010 by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, a frequent critic of his country’s Communist Party, and are replicas of the famous zodiac heads looted in the sacking of the Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, by British and French soldiers in 1860.

Travel / Food

Chinese man rides his rickshaw from China to Rio to attend the 2016 Olympic Games (August 3, 2016, Shanghaiist)
Are you a fan of the Olympics? A super fan? Well, no matter what you're probably not as into them as China's own "Olympics Man" — 60-year-old Chen Guanming from Jiangsu province — who wowed everyone by riding his tricycle all the way from China to attend the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

How to Make Uyghur Bread from Xinjiang (August 5, 2016, Far West China)
For years I have walked by countless Uyghur bread stands in Xinjiang, bought the Uyghur flatbread, and continued on my merry way. I’ve always been a bit curious about how to make Uyghur bread but never had the time to really watch the process. All of that changed this week when a friend invited me to spend the afternoon with him making Uyghur bread in his little bakery in Turpan. I was more than happy to learn.

Voicemap’s China Routes (August 5, 2016, China Rhyming)
Alec Ash (author of the recently published Wish Lanterns) has a stroll through the old hutongs (those that are left anyway) around the Drum and Bell Tower ; There’s also a walk – that I can only imagine is excellent – with Katya Knyazeva through Shanghai’s old town (again, probably best to go out and do while it’s still there!)

Hainan Airlines Launching Flights from Beijing to Las Vegas (August 5, 2016, The Points Guy)
Good news for Beijing-based travelers who’d rather visit Las Vegas than Macau: Hainan Airlines just announced that it will launch a new flight between the Chinese capital and Sin City later this year. The carrier will be the first to offer nonstop service between mainland China and Las Vegas.

Luoyang! (August 8, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
Here’s a question for you: what was the capital of China when Jesus was born? If you said Luoyang, in Henan province, then you are correct! It was the capital of the Han Dynasty, which lasted from 206 BC to AD 220.

Language / Language Learning

Escape: A text adventure game for Chinese learners (August 9, 2016, Hacking Chinese)
Below is a 2-minute trailer introducing the most important things. Please note that the game is free, but that you need to sign up to play!

Books

Creativity Class: Art School and Culture Work in Postsocialist China (August 2, 2016, China File)
Drawing on years of fieldwork in China’s leading art academies and art test prep schools, Chumley combines ethnography and oral history with analyses of contemporary avant-garde and official art, popular media, and propaganda. Examining the rise of a Chinese artistic vanguard and creative knowledge-based economy, Creativity Class sheds light on an important facet of today’s China.

Confucius for Christians: What an Ancient Chinese Worldview Can Teach Us about Life in Christ (Themelios)
(Review of Confucius for Christians, by Gregg A. Ten Helsoff)
This book is about how to live a good life with the ideas of Confucian tradition in the “Way of Jesus”––Christianity, Confucian-style. In the chapters that follow, Ten Elshof explained how Christians can learn from Confucian wisdom in the areas of family, learning, ethics, and ritual. As one who grew up in China and later became a Christian in Canada, I found Ten Elshof’s definition of Confucianism unpersuasive.

Can we be Confucian Christians? (August 9, 2016, Jackson Wu)
I am so glad to finally read this concise and exceptional book. Ten Elshof has written exactly the sort of book the church needs to read if we want to utilize global perspectives for the sake of biblically faithful and culturally meaningful theologies. This is why I found Andrew Song’s book review disturbing.

Links for Researchers

Photography of China – list of databases (Photography of China)

Image credit: Rio de Janeiro, by Dan from Indiana, via Flickr