ZGBriefs | June 13, 2024

Featured Article

A Cartoon Cat Has Been Vexing China’s Censors—Now He Says They Are On his Tail (June 9, 2024, BBC News)
On X, unfettered by China’s censors, yet accessible through virtual private networks, Mr. Li’s following grew. But it only really exploded, to more than a million, in late 2022 during the White Paper protests against China’s punishing zero-COVID measures.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

The New Reality of Dealing with a China in Decline (June 7, 2024, The Diplomat)
China’s rapid rise is slowing down, and incumbent global powers that have dominated political, military, and economic spheres for decades are scrambling to respond.

US, “Five Eyes” Allies Warn China Recruiting Western Military Trainers (June 5, 2024, Reuters)
The US and other “Five Eyes” countries on Wednesday warned that China has been circumventing measures aimed at halting its recruitment of current and former Western military pilots and other personnel to train the Chinese military.

Man Arrested After Four US Academics Stabbed in Park During China Visit (June 11, 2024, The Guardian)
The tutors from Cornell College in Iowa were at the park in Jilin province, north-eastern China with a faculty member from Beihua University on Monday when the attack occurred, college president Jonathan Brand said in a statement. The private college in Iowa partners with the university near Jilin City.

Chinese Armed Vessels Patrol Waters Around Disputed Islands, Angering Japan (June 7, 2024, Reuters)
Japan lodged a protest against Beijing on Friday after four armed Chinese coastguard vessels entered waters that Tokyo considers its territory.

Religion

A Beijing Pastor Reflects on Running, Staying, and Returning (June 7, 2024, Chinese Church Voices)
Ultimately, all instances of running, staying, and returning are in God’s hands. It’s crucial to understand God’s will, have a clear heavenly vision, and discern the mysteries behind our circumstances. Whether we choose running, staying, or returning, we should choose the path of death on the cross.

Does China Alter the Bible? Distorted Passage of Jesus Killing Adulterous Woman Denied as Legal Publication Again (May 27, 2024, China Christian Daily)
In 2020, news about a Chinese vocational school book falsifying the biblical account of John 8:3–11 circulated on the internet. Since then, this news has been considered China’s attempt to alter the Bible. Some religious people have commented on this act as “blasphemy.” The account was denied as part of a legal publication shortly after the news broke. Recently, the denial was given again by the book’s publisher.

This Is the Way: How the Dao Helps Chinese People Understand Christ (June 5, 2024, Christianity Today)
When I lived and taught in China, I encountered many sensitive hearts and inquisitive minds that were open to spiritual matters. Yet these seekers would often turn to the traditions of their ancestors for answers before considering the Christian gospel. My lack of familiarity with Chinese religion and philosophy hindered my witness, and so I decided to become a serious student of Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions.

The Hidden Love Behind Festival Foods (June 10, 2024, Chinese Church Voices)
Like the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival is marked by a specific food—zongzi (粽子). While not every place has dragon boat racing, almost every place eats zongzi.

Nanjing: A Welcoming City of Newcomers (June 10, 2024, China Partnership)
This June, we are praying for Nanjing, an ancient and important city in eastern China. Nanjing is a port on the Yangtze River and has a population of nearly 10 million. In this introductory post, several Nanjing pastors talk about the accepting attitude that makes their city special, as well as some of the tragic historical reasons for that openness.

Society / Life

Quote of the Day: “Not So Much ‘Lying Down’ as Finding It Impossible to Get Ahead” (June 10, 2024, China Digital Times)
Today’s so-called “Four Won’t Youth”—those who won’t date, get married, buy homes, or have children—aren’t so much “lying down” as finding that it is impossible to get ahead, mired as they are in a struggle to financially support themselves.

A Cartoon Cat Has Been Vexing China’s Censors—Now He Says They Are On his Tail (June 9, 2024, BBC News)
On X, unfettered by China’s censors, yet accessible through virtual private networks, Mr. Li’s following grew. But it only really exploded, to more than a million, in late 2022 during the White Paper protests against China’s punishing zero-COVID measures.

The Biopolitics of the Three-Child Policy (June 6, 2024, Made in China Journal)
Since the 1980 launch of the One-Child Policy, population has been a fraught domain of Chinese politics. An analysis of Weibo comments suggests that the announcement in the mid-2010s of the Two-Child Policy was met with excitement and hope—a sign that the government had heard the people’s demands and opened the circle of freedom after a long winter of reproductive discontent (Yang et al. 2022). Five years later, the Three-Child Policy (一对夫妻可以生育三个子女政策) came as a gut punch.

China Has a Solution for Misleading Tinder Profiles: “Dating Analysts” (June 5, 2024, Sixth Tone)
In recent months, Chinese social media has been flooded with videos posted by self-styled dating gurus who claim they can help their followers work out what their online matches are trying to hide.

Economics / Trade / Business

Why the EU Might Be about to Make Chinese Electric Cars More Expensive (June 10, 2024, 2024, BBC News)
With China accused of selling electric cars at artificially low prices, the European Union is widely expected to hit them with tariffs this week.

Education

Grueling “Gaokao” Test Puts Huge Pressure on China’s Young People (June 10, 2024, Radio Free Asia)
Millions of Chinese teenagers are taking the grueling “gaokao” entrance exam this week, despite fears that the system is rigged against them and amid growing concern over the psychological pressure they exert on young people, students, parents, and educators

Across China, a Test of Futures: The 2024 Gaokao in Photos (June 7, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Starting Friday, a record 13.42 million students across China will face the gaokao, the country’s rigorous college entrance examination. Documenting the first day of exams nationwide, Sixth Tone captured scenes from exam sites in Shanghai and across the country.

Health / Environment

Hiker Finds Pipe Feeding China’s Tallest Waterfall (June 6, 2024, BBC News)
A controversy over a waterfall has cascaded into a social media storm in China, even prompting an explanation from the water body itself.

A hiker posted a video that showed the flow of water from Yuntai Mountain Waterfall—billed as China’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall—was coming from a pipe built high into the rock face.

Obesity Damages Brain Health, Chinese Study Finds (June 7, 2024, Sixth Tone)
According to the study, which was published in the open access science journal Health Data Science, an adult under 45 years of age with a BMI exceeding 26.2 experiences a decline in brain volume equivalent to 12 years of aging on average.

Science / Technology

NewsBreak: Most Downloaded US News App Has Chinese Roots and “Writes Fiction” Using AI (June 5, 2024, Reuters)
Last Christmas Eve, NewsBreak, a free app with roots in China that is the most downloaded news app in the United States, published an alarming piece about a small town shooting. It was headlined “Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns.”

The problem was, no such shooting took place.

Video Interview—How is China Regulating Big Tech (June 7, 2024, National Committee on US-China Relations)
In an interview conducted on May 24, 2024, Angela Zhang, in conversation with Winston Ma, focuses on the recent past, present, and future of China’s tech governance, especially in the realm of generative artificial intelligence.

China’s AI Gambit: Old Tricks for a New Game (June 10, 2024, The Diplomat)
China’s AI journey illustrates that transformative power in technology isn’t solely about cutting-edge innovation. Instead, it’s about utilizing what is already known to achieve strategic goals. Beijing’s approach, though seemingly reactive, is a testament to this principle.

Culture / History

How Zongzi Became the Must-Eat Food During the Dragon Boat Festival(June 4, 2024, Smithsonian Magazine)
Pierogies, cepelinai, mandu. Most cultures have their own version of dumplings. The pillows of deliciousness are the ultimate comfort food for many people around the world. The Chinese have many variations: steamed, fried, grilled on a hot plate, and even served piping hot with soup inside. But the king of all dumplings might just be zongzi, a parcel made of sticky glutinous rice wrapped neatly in a bamboo leaf and filled with umami-rich ingredients, like marinated pork, shiitake mushrooms, peanuts, and beans.

Travel / Food

High Spirits: The American Pondering Baijiu’s Place in the World (June 6, 2024, Sixth Tone)
To prepare Western palates, Derek Sandhaus, author of Drunk in China: Baijiu and the World’s Oldest Drinking Culture and founder of Ming River Sichuan Baijiu, offers a detailed primer on the spirit’s past, present, and future.

China’s Expanding Travel Curbs Are Cutting Off More State Workers from the Rest of the World (June 6, 2024, South China Morning Post)
Workers in the state sector and beyond face stiffer overseas travel barriers as authorities try to reduce corruption and spying risks

Books

Book Review—Africa to China with Love (June 5, 2024, ChinaSource)
Readers who appreciate a detailed, chronological account of Christian work in China over the past few decades and are also interested in [Peter] Anderson’s personal journey, will enjoy this book.

Pray for China

June 13 (Pray for China: A Walk Through History)
In the aftermath of the Second Opium War, on June 11, 1862, the Chinese government opened the Tong Wen Guan (同文馆), a school dedicated initially to learning foreign languages. John S. Burdon (包尔腾), a British missionary, was hired as the first English instructor. Burdon & Dr. William Lockhart (雒魏林) were among the first missionaries to take up residence in Beijing. Pray for effective witness by foreign Christian teachers and students now in Beijing.

For you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. Acts 22:15