ZGBriefs | July 2, 2015

ZGBriefs is a compilation of news items gathered from published online sources.ChinaSource is not responsible for the content, and inclusion in ZGBriefs does not equal endorsement.

Featured Article

Has China’s ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Experiment Failed? (June 17, 2015, China File)
The ideal scenario for Beijing is that it could establish full, total control of Hong Kong while maintaining the façade of its autonomy. But the Occupy movement and the ever more militant and local nationalist resistance is making this façade difficult to uphold.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

What the West should know about Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader since Mao (June 23, 2015, The New Statesman)
In the two years since he took China’s most important job, Xi Jinping has become the most powerful national leader in the world. He has assumed seven top positions spanning the Communist Party, the state, the economy and the military. He has also displayed an activism that contrasts sharply with his predecessor Hu Jintao, and has promulgated a tough ideological line.

China Aims to Move Beijing Government Out of City’s Crowded Core (June 25, 2015, The New York Times)
For more than 65 years, government officials here have tried to emulate China’s imperial rulers, working and living in the city center near the emperor’s old palace, the Forbidden City. Now, in a telling reversal, officials are finalizing plans to move Beijing’s municipal government, including tens of thousands of civil servants, to a satellite town, Tongzhou.

Experts praise control of Yangtze tragedy (June 26, 2015, China Media Project)
As I argue in an upcoming piece for ChinaFile, Chinese media coverage of the capsizing of the Oriental Star cruise ship earlier this month offered us the clearest indication yet of how rigid restrictions on information are in China under President Xi Jinping.

China and U.S. Accuse Each Other in Rights Reports (June 26, 2015, China Digital Times)
In a report released on Friday by the State Council Information Office, the Chinese government attacked America’s human rights record, citing racial discrimination and police violence, among other issues, as indications of human rights violations in the United States. 

Xi Hosts 56 Nations at Founding of Asian Infrastructure Bank (June 29, 2015, The New York Times)
At a ceremony imbued with quiet triumph at the Great Hall of the People, China’s president, Xi Jinping, hosted 56 member countries on Monday for the founding of a Chinese-led infrastructure bank for Asia, including major American allies from Asia and Europe that Washington had counseled not to join the bank.

China’s Communist Party: Still Big, and Getting Bigger (June 30, 2015, China Real Time)
In a communique released Tuesday, the Organization Department of the Communist Party’s Central Committee said that the party boasted 87.793 million members as of the end of 2014. The figure – which exceeds the entire population of Germany – represents a net increase of 1.1 million from a year earlier.

China Approves Sweeping Security Law, Bolstering Communist Rule (July 1, 2015, The New York Times)
The Chinese government announced Wednesday that it had enacted a new national security law, one that amounts to a sweeping command from President Xi Jinping to maintain the primacy of Communist Party rule across all aspects of society. The law is expected to bolster the power of the domestic security apparatus and the military.

China's military must help Xinjiang modernise, top army officials say (July 1, 2015, Christian Science Monitor)
China’s military must bring “modern civilisation” to the restive southern areas of the Xinjiang region, where Muslim ethnic Uighurs are in a majority, and help develop its economy, two senior army officers wrote in an influential journal.

In Hong Kong, Thousands March Toward a Political Impasse (July 1, 2015, TIME)
In the years since Queen Elizabeth relinquished her last major colony to China in 1997, Hong Kong has frequently commemorated July 1 — the anniversary of the “handover,” as it’s known here — as a day of demonstration, with thousands marching through the sweltering metropolis to air their political grievances.

Religion

Beginning With Impossible (June 24, 2015, Tim Challies)
This week marks the 150th anniversary of Hudson Taylor’s Brighton Beach experience. It was there and then that he made a decision that would forever shape church history

Hudson Taylor And The Gospel To China: 150 Years Ago Today From The Sands Of Brighton Beach {2 videos} (June 25, 2015, The Gospel Coalition)

Becoming a Sending Church (June 26, 2015, From the West Courtyard)
In addition to calling, equipping and sending the cross-cultural workers themselves, it is also necessary to call, equip, and mobilize the local congregations to play their part in the mission project. Sustaining and developing the nascent interest in mission that the Chinese church is now experiencing means mobilizing Chinese believers throughout the country—and not just those willing to go overseas—to join in and do their part for God’s global mission.

A Church Celebrates 80 Years (June 29, 2015, Chinese Church Voices)
On May 28, the Gospel Times reported on the 80th anniversary celebrations of a church in Yunnan Province. The church’s history is an interesting window into the denominational twists and turns (some might say confusion) that were often a part of church growth and development in China.

Toward a Chinese Theology (June 29, 2015, ChinaSource Quarterly)
In its journey toward a theology that is uniquely “Chinese” the Chinese church has at various times clashed with longstanding cultural and religious traditions, weathered and responded to severe domestic turmoil, and intersected with a range of theological influences from abroad.

Vatican’s China Outreach Roils Hong Kong’s Pro-Democracy Catholics (July 1, 2015, World Politics Review)
But since Pope Francis’ election in March 2013, Vatican policy toward China’s communist leadership has softened. In March 2015, Cardinal Parolin maintained that talks with the Chinese leadership were underway. Now rumors are swirling in the Italian press that an agreement for mutual diplomatic recognition between the Holy See and China is at hand, and that Pope Francis could visit China by the end of the year, if not by next summer.

Society / Life

First report on China's drug situation released (June 25, 2015, ecns.cn)
Chinese authorities, for the first time, have released a report connected to the drug trade in China.The report covers four main areas, including drug abuse, where drugs are sourced, the trafficking of the drugs and the overall situation. Liu Yuejin with the Ministry of Public Security says drug abuse still remains a serious problem in China.

Why is China's female prison population growing? (June 25, 2015, BBC)
She's a particularly flashy example of a new kind of Chinese prisoner: a woman put behind bars for a non-violent crime. It's an unlikely symbol of how China is changing.

Liu Xiang’s Divorce Sparks Explosive Titters on Weibo (June 25, 2015, China Real Time)
Nearly three months after he retired from the track, China’s former star hurdler Liu Xiang is calling it quits in his marriage. The former Olympic champion announced his impending divorce Thursday afternoon on his Weibo microblog, saying the couple’s “personalities didn’t match after the wedding.”

On the Kang: A Chinese Family Album – Portraits from the Heart of the Home (June 28, 2015, China File)
n rural northern China, the kang is the heart of the home. The two meter wide brick platforms, heated beneath by a coal, wood, straw, or corn cob fire, are hearth, family bed, and living room all rolled into one. Especially during the winter when fields are frozen and work can be scarce, families often spend the better part of the day on the kang, chatting, dining, and playing, before returning to sleep.

How I Met Your Father: Love in 1980s China — A true story  (June 29, 2015, The Nanfang Insider)
While watching the American TV show “How I Met Your Mother,” I asked my mom how she met my father. “Why do you want to know that? It is not romantic at all,” she asked. “Oh, come on, I just want to hear your story,” I replied.

Rumor Has It: Tall Tales Thrive on China’s WeChat, Researchers Say (June 29, 2015, China Real Time)
If gossip is the lifeblood of society, then WeChat is fast becoming one of China’s most vital arteries. The country’s most popular mobile-messaging app is fast becoming the rumor mill of choice among its Chinese social-media users, superseding other platforms in trustworthiness and challenging them in popularity, a state-backed think tank says in a new study.

Education

National Soul Searching Underway to Explain Why So Many Chinese Students Misbehave Abroad (June 26, 2015, Nanfang Insider)
The trend of sending Chinese students abroad to study has often been viewed as a sign of China’s growing influence, but it has also brought a number of troubling developments that has sparked a bout of national soul searching.

The Satirical Relief After China’s Pressure-Cooker College Exam (June 29, 2015, Sinosphere)
Every June, millions of students in China take the all-important gaokao, the national university entrance exam that determines whether they can continue their educations and where. And just as regularly, the essay questions on the exam become the target of social commentary and a brand of humor known as the “zero-point composition.”

Top Chinese Universities’ Recruitment Battle Turns Ugly (June 30, 2015, China Real Time)
China’s version of the Ivy League found itself splattered in mud this week, as top schools Peking University and Tsinghua University accused each other of turning to unsavory recruiting strategies. The schools are among China’s best, guaranteed to attract the students who score highest on the gaokao, the country’s national college entrance exam.

Health / Environment

Armed police move in against Chinese anti-plant protesters (June 29, 2015, BBC)
Jinshan's protests attracted thousands more people every day. They appeared to be tolerated by the authorities until they moved to heart of Shanghai, the city's financial centre. Then, armed police swept in to shut down the demonstration. They arrested dozens of people on Saturday, hauling them away in three city buses.

Cancer leading death cause in Beijing (June 29, 2015, Xinhua)
Cancer has been the leading cause of death among residents in Beijing during the past eight years, Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning said Monday. For every 100,000 people in Beijing, 168.9 died of cancer in 2014, which accounts for 27.1 percent of the total deaths, said Zheng Jinpu, official with the commission.

Economics / Trade / Business

China's aviation boom drives airport building frenzy (June 26, 2015, Reuters)
When Mangshi opened its airport two decades ago, the small tropical city on China's border with Myanmar was served by few airlines. China's recent travel boom has changed that – seven carriers brought in more than 1 million visitors last year.

China encourages privately-owned banks, allows more foreign participation (June 26, 2015, Reuters)
China's banking regulator said on Friday that it will permit the establishment of more privately-owned banks and allow foreign investors to participate in the reform process to help shore up the state-dominated financial sector.

China Cuts Interest Rates After Market Plunge (June 27, 2015, The New York Times)
Acting a day after the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets plunged more than 7 percent, China’s central bank cut interest rates on Saturday and reduced the reserves that certain banks must hold.

China's stock market falls 5% (July 1, 2015, BBC)
Mainland Chinese shares fell 5.2% on Wednesday, reversing most of the gains seen in the previous session. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index closed down at 4,053.70, after having risen more than 5% on Tuesday.

Science / Technology

A Scientific Ethical Divide Between China and West (June 29, 2015, The New York Times)
China is spending hundreds of billions of dollars annually in an effort to become a leader in biomedical research, building scores of laboratories and training thousands of scientists. But the rush to the front ranks of science may come at a price: Some experts worry that medical researchers in China are stepping over ethical boundaries long accepted in the West.

History / Culture

Nearly 2,000 Km of China’s Great Wall Have Crumbled Away Completely (June 30, 2015, TIME)
Figures from China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage show that about 1,961 km (or 30%) of the Great Wall has disappeared in total, local media reported. Another 1,185 km of the fortification are in poor condition, with human activity (like local residents stealing bricks to build their houses) the primary cause of destruction.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

Allen Iverson trip to China ruined by Chinese agents (June 20, 2015, Basketball Buddha)
Iverson was ready for China, and China was ready for him. Upon his arrival to Harbin, a city known for its extremely cold winters in the northern part of China, fans waited at the airport to welcome their basketball hero. There to capture every moment was Abdur-Rahim.

The Yao Ming of Hockey? NHL Hopes So (June 29, 2015, China Real Time) 
Can an 18-year-old do for hockey in China what Yao Ming did for basketball? That’s the hope of the National Hockey League after Song Andong, a Beijing native, was drafted to the New York Islanders in the sixth round over the weekend, making him the league’s first Chinese player.

Travel / Food

The Great Wall Mapped: Tour the Wall from the Comfort of Your Couch (June 30, 2015, The Beijinger)
Although merely a debunked myth that you can see these walls from space, why would we earth-bound beings even concern ourselves with such, especially when we have Google Earth? One enterprising tour company called DrBen.net obviously thought just that and went to the trouble of plotting the whole thing out online.

Books

Clash of Empires: The Allied Nations’ Proxy War with Japan, 1935-1941 (June 29, 2015, China Rhyming)
Franco David Magri’s Clash of Empire in South China examines the military operations that emerged from the Japanese invasion of Southern China.

Articles for Researchers

Where is China headed? (June 25, 2015, East Asia Forum)
Forecasts of China’s future run the gamut. I do not endorse either extreme. There is no significant chance that in the foreseeable future the Communist government will follow the fate of the Soviet Union. Nor do I share the view that the People’s Republic of China is becoming so powerful that it will dominate the world.

Testimony: American Universities Are Chess Pieces in China’s Grand Quest for Advanced Science and Technology (June 27, 2015, China Change)
House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Hearing: Is Academic Freedom Threatened by China’s Influence on U.S. Universities? June 25, 2015 (This is an abbreviation of the full testimony)

Rachel Cowie Milne: 1783 ~ 1819 (Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity)
But, unable to tolerate the tropical climate and frequently ill, she died in 1819, leaving three children. She was the first China missionary wife to die in the mission field.

Opportunity

The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is seeking a Regional Director to direct all aspects of CBN Operations in China and Hong Kong as part of CBN’ s strategy, including production, development of media strategy including internet and television broadcast, humanitarian work, finance department, human resources, IT, and administration.  

Image credit: Spring in Hong Kong, by Voloshin, via Flickr