ZGBriefs | July 4, 2024

Featured Article

What You Need to Know about China’s Terra-Cotta Warriors and the First Qin Emperor (Updated April 19, 2024, Smithsonian Magazine)
In March 1974, a group of peasants digging a well in China’s drought-parched Shaanxi province unearthed fragments of a clay figure—the first evidence of what would turn out to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of modern times. Near the unexcavated tomb of Qin Shi Huang—who proclaimed himself first emperor of China in 221 BCE—lay an extraordinary underground treasure: an entire army of life-size terra-cotta soldiers and horses, interred for more than 2,000 years.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Breathing Life into Northeast Asia Alliances (July 2, 2024, East Asia Forum)
After the May 2024 China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit in Seoul, some may be disappointed that the summit amounted to a diplomatic gesture rather than a forum for serious progress. But given the complex dynamics in Northeast Asia and the ongoing US–China rivalry, the summit’s emphasis on cooperation could pave the way for more stable relations between the three countries.

Making Sense of Xi’s Claim That the US Is “Goading” China to Invade Taiwan (June 27, 2024, The Diplomat)
Xi Jinping’s statement reflects long established and now widely held Chinese elite perceptions of US motives in the “Taiwan question.”

Scams, Weapons, and Resource Extraction Entangle Chinese Actors in Myanmar Civil War (June 25, 2024, China Digital Times)
China has more leverage in Myanmar than any other foreign power, and the ongoing crisis along the China-Myanmar border has pushed China to take on a larger role in the conflict. Thus far, China has pursued a delicate balancing act by attempting to “play all sides” and safeguard its economic interests while calling for a peaceful resolution. But these political and economic imperatives have occasionally clashed with each other and with China’s domestic concerns, to the detriment of individuals caught in the crossfire.

Norwegian Man Accused of Spying for China Appears in Court (July 2, 2024, Reuters)
A Norwegian man appeared in an Oslo court on Tuesday to face accusations of espionage on behalf of China and will be detained for an initial four weeks, a police official said, in the latest case involving alleged spying by China in Europe.

School Children Sang Anthem Too Softly—Hong Kong (June 27, 2024, BBC News)
Officials said students’ voices at the Hong Kong and Macau Lutheran Church Primary School were “soft and weak” and “should be strengthened.” At Yan Chai Hospital Lim Por Yen Secondary School, teachers were told to “help students develop the habit of singing the national anthem loudly in unison.”

Chinese Communist Party Expels Two Ex-Defense Ministers for Corruption (June 27, 2024, The Guardian)
On Thursday, Chinese state media said that Li and Wei Fenghe, another former defense minister, had been expelled from the CCP for “serious violation of party discipline and the law.” The accusations against the two men include accepting gifts and money and facilitating improper benefits for others.

Religion

A New Blueprint for Chinese Churches: Beyond the Four Walls (June 28, 2024, Christianity Today)
One of the big ideas that I try to bring across is the very European notion that the church is a piece of public infrastructure. It’s part of the city, and it’s there to service the city visually but also spatially and functionally. Even though Christianity is a minority religion in China, a church building can still be appealing to a broader public. This idea has been received very favorably by the local congregations.

Collective Misunderstanding (June 26, 2024, ChinaSource)
Towering majestically amidst a forest of stone monuments on display in China’s ancient capital city of Xi’an, the “Nestorian Tablet,” as it is typically called, tells the story of Christianity’s entrance into the Middle Kingdom during the Tang Dynasty. Its cryptic presentation of the gospel and how it first came to China, hotly debated among historians ever since the tablet was unearthed in the seventeenth century, raises as many questions as it provides answers.

Creating a Truly Chinese Church (June 28, 2024, ChinaSource)
The missionaries of the Church of the East who planted Christianity in China in the seventh century faced an especially challenging situation. Their liturgical language was Syriac, a dialect closely akin to Hebrew and Aramaic. Their mother church was Middle Eastern. Their leaders, mostly non-Chinese, had a shaky grasp, at best, on Chinese language and culture. But with guidance from the Spirit and the permission of the Tang emperors, they established the first Chinese church, calling it the Jingjiao, the Luminous Teaching.

An Alternative to Being Marginalized (July 1, 2024, ChinaSource)
The love of Christ should be brought to light, not confined to the four-walled gathering venue. Therefore, we must find an alternative to restore the momentum for preaching. An outreach approach acceptable to the government and public interest will be a solution. The police can block a venue, but charity, merciful actions, and care for neighbors can gain societal support.

Chengdu: A Church Built on Prayer (July 1, 2024, China Partnership)
Prayer is especially important to the Chinese church because we are spiritual infants. The shorter the church’s history…the more we need the spiritual promises and supernatural guidance God grants through prayer.

Society / Life

China Tries to Boost Property Sales with “Farms for Apartments” Deal (June 25, 2024, Radio Free Asia)
Local governments in China are offering to buy up farms from rural families, offering vouchers for apartments in smaller cities in a bid to encourage more people to give up farming and move into urban areas, according to official announcements posted online this month.

Shanghai’s Forgotten Ferries: A Commuter’s Tale (June 26, 2024, Sixth Tone)
In the 1980s, the Huangpu River Ferry transported more than 1 million people daily between the city’s Puxi and Pudong districts, sitting to the west and east of the Huangpu River, respectively. It was the golden age of the Shanghai ferry as well as its busiest

China’s Anguished Debate: Do Its Children Have a Crime Problem? (June 26, 2024, The New York Times)
For nearly two years, Gong Junli has been waiting. Since his 8-year-old daughter, Xinyue, was stabbed multiple times and her body left in a grove of poplar trees in northwestern China, he has imagined her killer finally being brought to justice. But justice is complicated when the accused is also a child.

Swimmer Michael Phelps Says China Doping Scandal Threatens the Olympic Movement (June 26, 2024, NPR News)
The World Anti-Doping Agency known as WADA acknowledges some elite Chinese swimmers tested positive for two banned substances over a period of years.

The results of the tests were kept secret, and the athletes were allowed to compete in 2021 at the Tokyo Summer Games.

Police Bust Gang Using Luxury Cars to Smuggle Chinese Migrants Into Italy (June 26, 2024, The Guardian)
Investigators were alerted to a possible ring after a Chinese citizen was stopped at the border between Italy and Slovenia in April during routine checks and found to be transporting four undocumented Chinese. They uncovered “the existence of a consistent, continuous flow of irregular Chinese citizens who, in small groups, were flown to the external European borders in countries (mainly Serbia) where they entered with a visa exemption,” a statement said.

Economics / Trade / Business

Video—Kenya’s $3.8 Billion Chinese-Built Railway Shows Why Belt and Road Is Being Reworked (May 22, 2022, The Wall Street Journal)
The Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway connecting Nairobi and Mombasa was supposed to provide an economic boost to Kenya. Instead, it’s become a case study in some of the problems China’s Belt and Road Initiative can create. So is Xi Jinping’s ambitious global infrastructure expansion over, or is the BRI program only just getting started?

Prospect of Low-Priced Chinese EVs Reaching US from Mexico Poses Threat to Automakers (June 27, 2024, AP News)
It’s a scenario that terrifies America’s auto industry.

Chinese carmakers set up shop in Mexico to exploit North American trade rules. Once in place, they send ultra-low-priced electric vehicles streaming into the United States.

As the Chinese EVs go on sale across the country, America’s homegrown EVs—costing an average of $55,000, roughly double the price of their Chinese counterparts—struggle to compete. Factories close. Workers lose jobs across America’s industrial heartland.

China Advises “Softer Approach” to Law Enforcement to Ease Jitters in Private Sector (June 27, 2024, South China Morning Post)
An editorial in the Study Times—the newspaper of China’s chief ideological training institution—has called for a “softer approach” to law enforcement, joining other government bodies in demanding a pullback from the heavy-handed treatment of some firms which has generated panic in the private sector.

China’s Economic Conundrum Under Xi Jinping (June 30, 2024, East Asia Forum)
China’s economic predicament is rooted in a struggling real estate sector and a strategy predicated on a shift towards high-tech industries. President Xi Jinping’s prioritization of national security and skepticism of market forces is exacerbating the problem and leading to tensions between political will and economic imperatives.

Health / Environment

Sky Farmers: The Rise of China’s Agricultural Drone Pilots (June 27, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Wang Jiansen, a 33-year-old agricultural drone pilot from Taizhou in the eastern Jiangsu province, bridges two worlds. With his feet on the ground and his eyes on the sky, he links new technologies with traditional agriculture through the device in his hands: Wang and his fellow pilots make their living by flying agricultural drones, following the seasons to farms across the country.

China Gives Cities Over $316 Mln in Emergency Relief Amid Deadly Floods (June 26, 2024, Reuters)
China has provided more than 2.3 billion yuan ($316.4 million) in funds to help with rescue efforts, emergency supplies, and planning as deadly floods and landslides caused by almost two weeks of torrential rain ravage several parts of the country.

Science / Technology

China’s Lunar Exploration Program Delivers Milestone, Sparks Geopolitical Anxiety in US (June 27, 2024, China Digital Times)
This week, China’s lunar probe returned to Earth with the first ever samples from the surface of the far side of the moon. This historic feat is a milestone for China’s space program, but it has provoked anxiety among US leaders fearful that they are now trailing in a geopolitical space race.

Logout Log: The Insider Tracking Resignations in China’s Big Tech (June 28, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Wang Jian catalogs social media posts of individuals who quit their tech jobs to escape the corporate grind. Over the last month, his blog has surged in popularity among those disillusioned by high-pressure careers.

Chinese Rocket Crashes After “Accidental” Launch (July 1, 2024, BBC News)
A rocket that accidentally launched after getting separated from its launch pad crashed in China on Sunday. Footage on social media shows the Tianlong-3 rocket falling back to Earth and exploding in a hillside in central China’s Henan province.

Travel / Food

Lonely Planet Reaches the End of the Road in China (June 27, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Renowned travel guide publisher Lonely Planet announced on Wednesday that it is pulling out of the Chinese market, triggering an outpouring of nostalgia among the country’s millennials.

Arts/Entertainment/ Media

Video Interview—Literature Connecting Across Cultures (June 28, 2024, National Committee on US-China Relations)
American writer and journalist Peter Hessler helps us in understanding the importance of literature and literary exchange between the United States and China.

Sound Check: How High Costs Are Silencing China’s Music Festivals (July 2, 2024, Sixth Tone)
In 2023, despite a record-setting 560 music festivals across the nation, 91 were either postponed or canceled, according to Xiaolujiao, a domestic research institute focusing on the Chinese music industry.

Language / Language Learning

Podcast—Student Q&A, July 2024: Reading Speed, Children’s Books and Chinese Literature (July 1, 2024, Hacking Chinese)
How can you read Chinese faster? Which children’s books are best for second-language learners? And what’s the ideal entry point into Chinese literature?

Books

The Appeal of the Pentecostal Movement in Hong Kong—The Kaleidoscopic City: A Book Review (July 2, 2024, ChinaSource)
The Kaleidoscopic City, Alex Mayfield’s history of early Pentecostal missions in Hong Kong (1907–1942), is a treasure trove of stimulating stories, thoughtful analysis, and powerful prose. This riveting history instructs and edifies.

Pray for China

July 1 (Pray for China: A Walk through History)
On June 30 & July 1, 1900, 15 foreign missionaries were killed in Baoding during the Boxer Uprising. Boxers and Imperial troops killed over 32,000 Chinese Christians and 235 foreign Christians that summer. Even so, the following decades saw major growth of the church and the emergence of national Christian leaders like Wang Mingdao (王明道先生), Dr. Song Shangjie (宋尚节博士- John Sung), and Ni Tuosheng (倪柝声弟兄-Watchman Nee). Pray that Christians in China would not let their hearts be troubled, but would take hope in what the Lord has done for them.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:1-3