ZGBriefs | December 12, 2024

Featured Article

Video – Christian Architecture in Contemporary China: Orthodox Form and Metabollic Practice (December 4, 2024, Initiative for the Study of Asian Catholics)
With the founding of the People’s Republic, the construction of churches by missionaries came to a halt. Existing churches were expropriated, and it was not until 1979, with the readmission of religious practice, that Christians were able to build new ones. These buildings are characterized by references to the formal repertoire of mission churches, which used to be stigmatized for imperialistic connotations. 

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Global Public Opinion Polls Show Polarized Views of China (December 3, 2024, China Digital Times)
A series of public opinion surveys about China have made headlines recently. This week, the Asia Society Policy Institute published the Global Public Opinion on China interactive database, which aggregates worldwide polling data from over 2,500 surveys from 160 countries to show how global views on China have changed over time. It also includes short analyses of COVID-19’s impact on China’s image, public opinion on China in the Global South, and overall global opinion on China.

Constructing a De-Ethnicised Inner Mongolia (December 3, 2024, Made in China Journal)
In this piece, I discuss how the discursive construction of the northern frontier culture anonymises ethnicity and foregrounds locality. I suggest that the making and promotion of a territory-based and de-ethnicised northern frontier culture marginalise and deterritorialise the titular group: ethnic Mongols from Inner Mongolia.

US-China competition will challenge Europe in 2025 (December 5, 2024, Mercator Institute for China Studies)
“China will try to have it both ways next year, stepping up its support for Russia while reaching out to Europe to get relations back on track,” said Helena Legarda, Lead Analyst at MERICS. “If EU member states try to stay on the good side of both the US and China, the EU’s China policy and de-risking strategy could become paralyzed. Without a clear strategy and set of objectives, Europe could turn into an arena of US-China competition.”

Winter is Coming: Beijing Tightens Public Security (December 6, 2024, China Brief Archives – Jamestown Foundation)
A new campaign, “Operation Winter,” has been announced to mobilize public security officials in the wake of deadly attacks across the People’s Republic of China. The operation seeks to mobilize extra human resources and integrated technology to enhance the party-state’s apparatus of “preventive repression,” resolving issues at the earliest opportunity.

Mixing Marx with Confucius: the Heart of the Matter (December 10, 2024, South China Morning Post)
In 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping told the faithful at the five-yearly Communist Party Congress that belief in people’s hearts would give strength to China as a nation.“When people have faith, the country has strength and the Chinese nationality has hope,” he said at the time. The phrase has been cited again and again by state media in the years since. For some time, overseas analysts wondered what “faith” stood for, as the Chinese word xinyang can be translated as either “faith” or “religion”.

China Balances Cautiously Between Russia and North Korea (December 10, 2024, East Asia Forum)
China’s cautious approach to the Russia–North Korea alliance draws on lessons from historical conflicts, especially the Korean War, with Beijing ensuring that its national interests and global ambitions take priority over ideological alliances. In weighing up the potential risks and advantages of the relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang, China is pragmatically manoeuvring within this geopolitical dynamic with an aim to avoid being drawn into a costly conflict.

Religion

When Will the Soldiers Return? (December 5, 2024, China Partnership)
After his friend had spent three years behind bars, Li Yingqiang wrote and shared this letter to his imprisoned comrade. Although Christians may face different battlefields — some in jail, others a part of the wider world — all believers serve and fight for the same Commander. The fight may be different, but God uses all experiences to further his kingdom.

A New Dawn for Chinese Theology: The Inauguration of the IASCC and the Biola Research Initiative for Chinese Theology (December 6, 2024, ChinaSource)
On November 14, 2024, nearly 80 Chinese pastors, church leaders, theologians, and educators from around the world gathered at the picturesque Biola University. Together, they celebrated the historic establishment of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Chinese Christianity (IASCC) and the Biola Research Initiative for Chinese Theology.

Xiamen: Financial Pressure, Spiritual Distraction (December 9, 2024, China Partnership)
We’ve noticed many brothers and sisters talking about their financial pressures. Some are unemployed and having a hard time finding suitable work. This has impacted their spiritual state, shifting their attention to basic necessities. It is harder to get people involved in ministry because they are working longer hours to earn more – or are afraid of losing their jobs if they don’t. Spiritual pursuits have been pushed lower on the priority list.

Insights into the Sojourn of Chinese Returnees (December 9, 2024, ChinaSource)
Having been on a sojourn implies having been in a place long enough to learn something about the new location, and perhaps even absorbing some of the values of a place. A sojourn abroad almost always changes people in some way. Maybe they learn new ways of eating or speaking. Maybe they learn new ways of thinking. As you will see in the articles in this issue, many Chinese people encounter Christ during their time as sojourners.

How Should Chinese Urban Churches Confront Anxieties in Today’s Era (December 10, 2024, Chinese Church Voices)
Over the past forty years, China has undergone tremendous historical transformations. Amidst the sweeping tides of history, individuals have struggled to discern the direction of social progress, and anxiety has become a collective mentality in China’s society. Reflecting on the development of Christianity in China during this period, it is evident that anxiety has had a profound impact on the church.

Society / Life

China’s Aging Population Fuels ‘Silver Economy’ Boom, but Profits Can Prove Elusive (November 28, 2024, AP News)
Many older Chinese are looking beyond traditional nursing homes, afraid of abandonment by their families and quality issues. That’s driving a boom in universities, home care services, and communities catering to older adults. Though some providers struggle to turn a profit, they persist because they see promise in the growing market.

China’s Facebook Goes Dark, Taking a Generation’s Memories With It (December 4, 2024, Sixth Tone)
For Chinese millennials, Renren was more than a social media platform — it was a digital diary, a link to their classmates, and a snapshot of their youth. But in recent days, users have discovered that the site, once dubbed “China’s Facebook,” is no longer accessible, raising questions about the future of a platform that shaped an era of online socializing in China.

China Half Marathon Offers Cows, Wild Fish and Chickens as Prizes (December 9, 2024, Reuters)
A half marathon in China’s northeast province of Jilin announced an unusual selection of prizes, with first over the line winning a cow and other runners getting wild fish, geese or roosters, in a bid to attract more participants and promote local produce.

‘It’s the Moon’s Fault’: China to Skip New Year’s Eve for Next 5 Years (December 10, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Chinese social media has reacted with amusement — and some confusion — to the news that one of the nation’s most important holidays will technically disappear from the calendar for five years starting from 2025.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

After Telling Zhejiang’s Story (November 26, 2024, China Media Project)
International communication centers, or ICC’s, are sprouting up all over China. These centers, a crucial piece in the leadership’s bid to remake its external propaganda matrix, have opened in nearly every province and dozens of cities nationwide. Their spread has been expansive — but far from even. One province, coastal Zhejiang, now hosts 16 “local international communication centers” (地方国际传播中心) at the municipal level or lower — five times the national average.

Top Chinese Language Novelist Dies in Apparent Suicide (December 4, 2024, BBC News)
Chiung Yao, arguably the world’s most popular Chinese language romance novelist has died in an apparent suicide. Chiung Yao started writing at 18 and published more than 60 novels, many of which were adapted into movies and TV series and remained popular for decades. 

NBA to Return to China with Preseason Games for First Time Since 2019 Fallout (December 6, 2024, The Guardian)
The NBA will stage two pre-season games in Macau next October, its deputy commissioner said on Friday, marking its return to China after being frozen out for more than five years. No NBA games have been held in China since two pre-season contests in 2019 after a tweet from then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

 Art: Precarity and Expulsion in Songzhuang (December 10, 2024, Made in China Journal)
How has Songzhuang gone from representing ‘a well-institutionalized location for contemporary Chinese art’ and ‘a model for developing cultural industry’, as Meiqin Wang (2010: 188, 196) described it, to its current state of decline and even ruin? Based on field research conducted in Songzhuang and Beijing between 2014 and 2024, this essay tries to complicate both narratives, as it sheds light on how changes in local leadership, the role of international galleries, and cultural narratives of nostalgia and struggle weave the precarious conditions of life and creativity in this town where thousands of artists continue to work and live.

Economics / Trade / Business

China’s Young Unemployed ‘Pretending’ to Work in Libraries, Cafes (November 16, 2024, Radio Free Asia)
Rampant youth unemployment in China has left millions of young people floundering, living at home, relying on delivery jobs or, in a growing trend, “pretending to go to work.” In posts on the video-sharing platform Douyin, young people are creating a routine where none exists out of sessions spent studying or applying for jobs in libraries and internet cafes. Some are even paying for “study rooms” to get them out of the house and give structure to their days, sometimes while they study for highly competitive civil service entrance exams, according to state media reports.

The All-American Oreo Cookie in China: Connecting Through Innovation and Localization (December 5, 2024, ChinaSkinny)
By reducing sweetness levels, introducing smaller package sizes, and launching flavours like lemon to appeal to Chinese palates, Oreo quickly gained traction. These adjustments paid off, with sales increasing by 80% in some regions, and even tripling in others. Oreo’s localization strategy highlighted the importance of adapting to Chinese consumers’ unique tastes. 

Travel / Food 

Chinese Government Leverages Inbound Tourism to Boost External Propaganda (December 6, 2024, China Digital Times)
In a global public opinion climate marked by polarized views of China, one common tactic employed by the Party-state apparatus to dispel potential criticism is encouraging foreigners to come see China in person. Numerous articles and events over the past month have exhibited these external propaganda efforts in the realm of professional, tourist, and academic visits, along with people-to-people exchanges.

Education

China Calls on Universities to Provide ‘Love Education’ (December 3, 2024, Reuters)
China is urging colleges and universities to provide “love education” to emphasise positive views on marriage, love, fertility, and family, in a bid to boost the country’s flagging birth rate. Beijing has been promoting various measures to try to make having children more attractive to young couples after China posted a second consecutive year of population decline in 2023.

Chinese Students in US Advised Not To Leave Campus for Holiday, In Case Trump Bars Returns (December 8, 2024, South China Morning Post)
Chinese students in the United States are postponing plans to return home while American universities advise international students to hustle back to campus after any year-end holidays – before US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration – amid concerns that potential White House travel restrictions could hinder their re-entry.

History / Culture

Scientists Discover 3,000-Year-Old Silk at China’s Mysterious Sanxingdui Ruins (December 10, 2024, South China Morning Post)
“The presence of silk residues detected in the Sanxingdui sacrificial pits … provides archaeological evidence of the Southwest Silk Road, confirming that silk was already used in the ancient Shu state more than 3,000 years ago,” the team wrote in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports last month.

Health / Environment

This River Feeds the World (December 3, 2024, National Committee on U.S. China Relations)
The Mekong River provides millions of people in and beyond Southeast Asia with food, water, and agricultural productivity. 20% of the world’s freshwater fish comes from the Mekong River, supplying the shelves of stores across the globe. However, the river system is actively threatened by climate change and upstream dams. While many countries of the Mekong basin prioritize the health of the river, China places economic growth above those concerns. How can the United States, China, and Lower Mekong River (LMR) countries work together to keep the Mekong healthy? 

Language / Language Learning

Mandarin Monday: All Your Pizza Vocab Essentials (December 9, 2024, The Beijinger Blog)
First things first, pizza in Chinese has a few different transliterations, but the two most common are 披萨 pīsà and 比萨 bǐsà. However, you may also see it sometimes written as 批萨 pīsà, 匹萨 pǐsà and 皮萨 písà. Basically, as long as you’re saying something along the lines of “pisa” you should be fine!

Pray for China

December 11 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
Beginning in Dec. 759, famous Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (杜甫先生) lived as a refugee in the western city of Chengdu for four years during the devastating An Lushan Rebellion (安史之乱) that took millions of lives. Chinese call him the Poet-Historian (诗史) and the Poet-Sage (诗圣), and Westerners compare his influence to Virgil and Shakespeare. A Chinese proverb says, “the mountains are high and the emperor is far away” (天高皇帝远). Pray that visitors to Du Fu’s former home in Chengdu will find refuge under the wings of the Infinite-Personal God. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4