ZGBriefs | February 17, 2022

Featured Article

Keeping the Flies Out (February 3, 202, China File)
COVID-19 in some ways has come as a boon to Chinese leaders who tend towards xenophobia: It provides an excuse to keep foreigners out and, to a large extent, to keep Chinese in. And so China has come full circle, from the bewildered sleeper that emerged from the Cultural Revolution rubbing its collective eyes to the isolated Middle Kingdom it has historically preferred to be, from the Open Door to the nearly closed.

Sponsored Link

Public Lecture: The Rise of China and What it Means for the Church
China’s transformation since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 has been dramatic. What have been the implications of this transformation for the Church in China? How has this affected relations with the Vatican and the wider Christian community? Rev. Paul Mariani will provide an overview of leadership policy in China, then focus on how its current leaders see their “historical mission.” How does this backdrop help us to better understand the developments of the past ten years leading up to today?
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
5:00 pm PT 
Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

A collaborative public lecture series hosted by the US-China Catholic Association, ChinaSource, and the China Academic Consortium​ and co-sponsored by SCU History Department and SCU Sociology Department.

If you or your company/organization would like to sponsor a link in ZGBriefs, please contact info@chinasource.org for more information.

Special Section: Olympics

Fame and fury: China’s wildly different reactions to US-born Olympians (February 11, 2022, CNN)
In the span of a week, three American-born athletes of Chinese descent have been thrust into the spotlight at the Beijing Winter Olympics — to very different reactions in China. […] Once seen as cultural ambassadors who could help build bridges between the two countries, Americans of Chinese descent are now subject to heightened scrutiny — left to straddle political fault lines on both sides.

For China, Hosting the Olympics Is Worth Every Billion (February 14, 2022, The New York Times) (subscription required)
For many cities, the Games make no economic sense. National pride and an enthusiasm for building transportation infrastructure change the equation for Beijing.

Fly High, Frog Princess! Well Done, Chen No. 3! (February 15, 2022, The New York Times) (subscription required)
The world’s most popular Olympians are household names. But to Chinese fans who delight in creating nicknames, they’re different characters entirely.

‘It’s tough work’: China’s workers make big sacrifices at the Olympics (February 15, 2022, Christian Science Monitor)
More than 50,000 workers and volunteers have been living inside 2022 Beijing’s Olympic “bubble” for months cleaning, cooking, and driving to ensure the games go on. Although cut off from family and loved ones, many say they are thrilled to be close to the action.

Fluff Diplomacy (February 15, 2022, China Media Project)
But Bing Dwen Dwen also seems to be serving as an effective distraction at home and abroad, achieving another key objective during the Winter Olympics – ensuring that criticism does not win the day. For China’s government, the chubby panda, enormously popular by all accounts, has been the fluffy friend who launched a thousand fluff pieces.

Weibo is Watching the DJs & Sports Presentation Team at the Winter Olympics Venues (February 15, 2022, What’s on Weibo)
Chinese netizens are not just closely following the athletes, they are also paying more attention to the “atmosphere enliveners” at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Podcast: The Economist’s David Rennie on online nationalism, discourse power, reporting from China, US-China relations (February 10, 2022, Sinocism Podcast)

A Succession Drama, Chinese Style, Starring Xi Jinping (February 14, 2022, The New York Times) (subscription required)
As a party congress approaches, it’s increasingly clear that Xi Jinping plans another five-year term. But if he has ideas about a successor, he has hidden them well.

Religion

Partnership with a Purpose (February 11, 2022, ChinaSource Blog)
Healthy partnership starts with existing strengths and builds from there.

Islam with Chinese Characteristics (February 14, 2022, ChinaSource Blog)
Numbering 10.5 million, the Hui are the largest Muslim minority group in China, just ahead of Uyghurs at 10 million. Hui are scattered throughout China and speak Mandarin. For many Han Chinese Christians, the Hui are their nearest cross-cultural neighbors. Yet they are often overlooked. 

When a Loved One Is Drawn into a Cult (February 15, 2022, Chinese Church Voices)
Heretical cults are active in China. This article from Gospel Times discusses how friends and family members are drawn into cults, how cults can be distinguished from orthodox Christianity, and the importance of being alert and responding quickly when a loved one is drawn in.

Breaking the Ice for Gospel Conversations (February 16, 2022, ChinaSource Blog)
I did not take the success of DLNU icebreaking experience lightly and thought about using parallel strategies for evangelism. What if we could use images to “break the ice” in conversations with unbelievers

The Glorious Gospel of the Son of God (Center for House Church Theology)
“This cultural preference for boys has not only done harm to women, however. It has also done harm to men.”

Society / Life

In Taobao Villages, Merchants Say They’re Struggling with Livestreaming (February 10, 2022, Sixth Tone)
As live-streaming disrupts China’s e-commerce landscape, gaps between urban and rural sellers may be getting wider.

China’s social credit score – untangling myth from reality (February 11, 2022, MERICS)
The idea that China gives every citizen a “social credit score” continues to capture the horrified imagination of many. But it is more bogeyman than reality. Instead, we should be worrying about other, more invasive surveillance practices – and not just in China, argues MERICS analyst Vincent Brussee.  

Economics / Trade / Business

US accuses China of ‘serious harm’ to workers through trade (February 16, 2022, BBC)
The US Trade Representative accused Beijing of repeatedly failing to live up to trade commitments. It published its annual review of China’s compliance with the deal that gave it membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Wednesday. China said it is a firm supporter of and important contributor to the WTO.

Education

‘My heart is numb’: Chinese students stranded in U.S. by coronavirus (February 16, 2022, NBC News)
Two years into the pandemic, as much of the world is easing restrictions, students like Fan still face great difficulty in traveling home to China. The country’s strict “zero-Covid” strategy includes closing its borders to almost all foreigners, but it creates obstacles for Chinese nationals as well. 

Health / Environment

As Drought Worsens, Guangdong to Face ‘Severe’ Water Shortages (February 14, 2022, Sixth Tone)
The Pearl River Delta, home to more than 78 million people and one of China’s economic engines, will face “severe” water shortages, Li warned. Because of reduced rainfall, 70% less water has flowed into the Pearl River system and the Han River, located in the province’s east, since last fall. 

Xi Urges Hong Kong to Get Control as COVID-19 Cases Surge (February 16, 2022, The Diplomat)
Hong Kong is facing its worst outbreak of the pandemic but doggedly persists in matching the mainland’s “zero-COVID” strategy.

History / Culture

Video: Nixon in China in 1972 (Everyday Life in Maoist China)

Remembering Modern China’s Greatest Poet (February 12, 2022, Sixth Tone)
Scholar and family relative Chen Congzhou remembers Xu Zhimo, one of the most celebrated Chinese poets of the 20th century.

Travel / Food

China says not granting passport renewals for non-essential travel (February 11, 2022, Reuters)
China’s National Immigration Administration said it will not be renewing passports for non-essential travel while the international COVID-19 epidemic situation is still severe and cross border travel poses “great security risks”.

Yuncheng Salt Lake, China’s colorful ‘Dead Sea’ (February 15, 2022, CNN)
Xiechi Lake, also known as Yuncheng Salt Lake in China’s Shanxi province, has become popular on Instagram and other social media websites in recent years thanks to eye-popping aerial photographs of its colorful surface. Now, China wants to convert that online popularity into real-life tourism.

Language / Language Learning

The Fonts That Made China’s Digital Revolution Possible (February 10, 2022, Sixth Tone)
For centuries, the delicate and elegant Songti typeface dominated Chinese printing presses. But on the early digital era’s low resolution monitors, delicacy could be a drawback.

No Excuses: New Workout Phrases for a New Year (February 16, 2022, The World of Chinese)
According to data research software developer Statistica, around 50 percent of Americans made New Year’s Resolutions to exercise more last year, and 48 percent planned to lose weight. In 2016, newspaper China Youth Daily published a similar survey, with 60 percent of Chinese respondents vowing to “keep fit and take care of themselves” after the Lunar New Year.

Books

Christian Social Activism and Rule of Law in Chinese Societies (Lehigh University Press)
The chapters gathered in this collection reveal the vital influence of Christian individuals and groups on social, political, and legal activism in Chinese societies.

Links for Researchers

The long-term effects of Protestant activities in China (January 13, 2022, Journal of Comparative Economics)
Our findings acknowledge the pioneering effects of missionary work in China’s modernization, and imply that China’s recent growth may benefit from of human capital and social values acquired in history.

Pray for China

February 19
On Feb. 19, 1896, Pastor Xi Shengmo (席胜磨牧师) died in Shanxi. Xi was a Confucian scholar and opium addict when he was saved under the ministry of *David Hill (李修善). Xi developed an outreach to addicts that was rooted in fasting and prayer. He and his wife established 45 treatment centers in 4 provinces, and over 300,000 were cured. He once wrote: “On account of many onslaughts of Satan, my wife and I for the space of three years seldom put off our clothing to go to sleep, in order that we might be the more ready to watch and pray. Sometimes in a solitary place, I spent whole nights in prayer…” Pray for Christians in Shanxi to be mighty in the Lord and faithful in prayer. When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Daniel 6:10 
* Hill and Joshua J. Turner (德治安) were the first Protestant missionaries to live in Shanxi.