ZGBriefs

ZGBriefs | June 27, 2024

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Featured Article

In China, Even Stanford Grads Are Fighting for Civil Service Jobs (June 19, 2024, Sixth Tone)
China’s intense competition for civil service jobs appeared to hit new heights this week after it emerged that a world top university’s graduate had chosen to take a job with an obscure township government in the eastern Anhui province.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Caught Between Allies: China’s North Korea Dilemma (June 22, 2024, The Diplomat)
The deepening ties between Russia and North Korea have sparked significant concerns in the United States regarding the potential impact on the war in Ukraine and security on the Korean Peninsula.

But the rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang has also caused mixed feelings in Beijing, as they create new uncertainty for China. Despite being North Korea’s neighbor, economic lifeline, and formal ally, China’s relations with North Korea are far from close, as recent developments indicate.

Censorship and Isolation as China Bans Thousands of Mobile Apps (June 25, 2024, Global Voices)
A recent research report on Apple censorship in China, “Isolation by Design,” conducted by the App Censorship project under GreatFire, a censorship monitor group based in China, indicates that more than 60 percent of the world’s top 100 apps in China Apple App stores are either unavailable or inaccessible in China.

Fear a Militarily Weak China (June 19, 2024, The Diplomat)
Is China’s military the juggernaut some imagine, or a paper tiger like Russia’s degraded armed forces? Either way, getting a definitive answer would be terrible for almost everyone.

Bookstores Become Sites of Subtle Protest Against Xi Jinping (June 18, 2024, China Digital Times)
Chinese bookstore shelf arrangements rarely go viral—that is, unless they contain a hidden message calling for Xi Jinping to step down. Since Xi has risen to power, placing Xi’s works next to other books to make a political point has become a relatively common, low-key mode of political dissent.

Ecuador Reinstates Visa Requirement for Chinese Travelers (June 18, 2024, Reuters)
Ecuador’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said that it was effectively reinstating a visa requirement for travelers from China, citing an increase in irregular migratory flows from the Asian nation.

I Was “Political Football” Says UK Woman Branded a Chinese Spy (June 18, 2024, Reuters)
A woman publicly branded a Chinese spy and a threat to the nation’s security by Britain’s intelligence agency MI5 says the “politically-motivated” decision had destroyed her life and left her a prisoner in her own home.

Religion

A Cautionary Tale: Reacting to Rumors That China Alters the Bible (June 21, 2024, Chinese Church Voices)
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.

Crossing Cultures: Conveying the Gospel (June 24, 2024, ChinaSource Blog)
Now, as China’s church reengages in mission, the question of how the gospel will be conveyed cross culturally and what kinds of churches will result is central to the long-term success of the Chinese mission movement.

The Predicament of Young Pastors in Contemporary China (June 25, 2024, Chinese Church Voices)
The landscape has shifted. Following the US-China trade conflict and the restrictions imposed by the three-year pandemic, it’s evident that Chinese society has transitioned from a period of rapid growth to one of inevitable decline. Economic downturn, stalled reforms, and a distant recovery paint a bleak picture. This societal shift is mirrored within the church. The Chinese church, as a whole, finds itself caught in a similar downward spiral of decline: dwindling numbers of seekers, shrinking congregations, and a weakening of believers’ spiritual vitality.

Nanjing: Loving People through Prayer (June 24, 2024, China Partnership)
This June, China Partnership is continuing a year of praying for cities around China with a month of prayer for Nanjing. We are again re-running a 2018 interview with a Nanjing pastor’s wife. She shares how her church prays, and how she has experienced God’s supernatural work through prayer. Prayer gives us God’s vision for our neighbors, both next door and around the world. Through prayer, we can know both God and others more intimately.

Nanjing: Love under Pressure (June 20, 2024, China Partnership)
This June, we are praying for Nanjing.

In this portion of our interview, the pastors shared about the stress and pressure they sense within Nanjing, and how people struggle to find hope. They also talked about how they desire to shepherd their churches, and raise up people who are passionate about loving, not using, their city. They especially asked for prayer for unity.

Society / Life

Inside the Chinese Funded and Staffed Marijuana Farms Springing Up across the US (June 24, 2024, NPR News)
Last summer, New Mexico state special agents inspecting a farm found thousands more cannabis plants than state laws allow. Then on subsequent visits, they made another unexpected discovery: dozens of underfed, shell-shocked Chinese workers.

China Has Renamed Hundreds of Uyghur Villages and Towns, Says Human Rights Groups (June 18, 2024, The Guardian)
Hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns have been renamed by Chinese authorities to remove religious or cultural references, with many replaced by names reflecting Communist Party ideology, a report has found.

China Sees a Sharp Drop in Marriages (June 20, 2024, Radio Free Asia)
Unlike their parents, young Chinese are increasingly avoiding marriage and the other traditional milestones such as buying a house and having children for both philosophical and economic reasons.

Patriotism and Patriarchy on Chinese Social Media (June 25, 2024, East Asia Forum)
In late April 2024, a man committed suicide after allegedly being swindled by his girlfriend, igniting gender tensions on the Chinese internet. Millions of online comments defended the man, known as “Fat Cat,” and attacked the girlfriend—discourse that quickly grew into generalized criticism of all women, accusing them of having a “money-worshiping” mentality and squeezing men out of the dating market.

Economics / Trade / Business

China’s EV Drive Accelerates in Latin America (June 21, 2024, East Asia Forum)
As the United States slaps tariffs on Chinese electronic vehicles (EV) and the EU increases its own protective measures, the Latin American market remains relatively open to imports of Chinese cars and investment in local EV production and critical minerals.

Quote of the Day: “Collecting 30-Year-Old Tax Debts, and Issuing 50-Year Bonds” (June 18, 2024, China Digital Times)
As Chinese local governments struggle with high levels of debt, moribund infrastructure projects, falling tax revenues, shrinking land-use fees, and increased demands for local welfare spending, some local government departments and state-owned enterprises have been exploring creative ways to replenish their depleted coffers.

China Eyes Plan to Connect Southeast Asian Rail Links (June 19, 2024, Reuters)
China said it was willing to study a plan to connect Malaysia’s $10-billion East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) to other China-backed railway projects in Laos and Thailand, potentially expanding Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative across Southeast Asia.

Education

China’s Secondary Schools Are Not Equal (June 18, 2024, Foreign Policy)
An unexpected result in a math competition has made a Chinese student a hero while also calling attention to inequalities in the country’s education system.

Xi Jinping’s Ideologization of the Chinese Academy (June 22, 2024, The Diplomat)
Under Xi Jinping, Beijing has sought to strengthen ideological and political education in universities throughout China. More robust emphasis on ideology in Chinese universities has come hand-in-hand with the development of a higher education system characterized by increasing insularity, exemplified by turns away from global rankings, less emphasis on English-language course instruction, and new regulations that hamper international research collaboration.

Health / Environment

Weather Tracker: Southern China Hit by Floods as North Suffers from Drought (June 24, 2024, The Guardian)
Guangdong province in southern China has once more experienced severe flooding, two months after the late April floods and landslides led to more than 50 deaths.

Meanwhile, northern China is suffering from severe drought after weeks of scarce rainfall and extreme heat.

Science / Technology

China Has Just Returned the First-Ever Samples from the Far Side of the Moon (June 25, 2024, NPR)
A Chinese probe has returned to Earth carrying the first samples ever taken from the far side of the moon. Chinese state television broadcast images Tuesday of the capsule holding the samples, as it floated down under parachute onto the grassy steppe of Inner Mongolia.

Geologists Raise Concerns over Possible Censorship and Bias in Chinese Chatbot (June 24, 2024, The Guardian)
Part of the underlying AI for GeoGPT is Qwen, a large language model built by the Chinese tech company Alibaba. One of those who had tested a pre-release version of the chatbot, Prof. Paul Cleverley, a geologist and computer scientist, claimed in an article recently published in the Geoscientist, the magazine of the Geological Society, the UK’s professional association for geologists, that GeoGPT had “serious issues around a lack of transparency, state censorship, and potential copyright infringement.”

China Has a Problem with AI Fraud. Can a Browser Plugin Solve It? (June 24, 2024, Sixth Tone)
The rise of artificial intelligence is driving rapid changes in industries across the economy. And organized crime is no exception. This year, China has witnessed a surge in fraud cases involving AI, as scammers use new content generation tools to swindle consumers.

Travel / Food

Video—Finding the “Real” Kung Pao Chicken (June 20, 2024, Sixth Tone)
Gongbao jiding, or kung pao chicken, is one of the most iconic Chinese dishes worldwide. And while it takes on various forms across the globe—even in its native country—there is no consensus on where it comes from or what it should taste like. Eager to get to the truth of the matter, historian Thomas DuBois set out to find the most “authentic” version of the dish.

Arts/Entertainment/ Media

US Comedian Helen Chu Takes to the Beijing Stage for the First Time (June 19, 2024, The Beijinger Blog)
Originally born in Beijing, comedian Helen Chu moved to California when she was in the sixth grade and has lived there ever since. Now, she is returning to Beijing and will be performing her first ever Beijing comedy show this Friday (June 21) at Greenbox, Nanyang Hutong #6! Ahead of her show, we reached out to Chu to find out more about her comedy journey.

Eight Decades On, an Iconic Chinese Animation Gets a 4K Makeover (June 20, 2024, Sixth Tone)
The 4K restoration of Princess Iron Fan at the Shanghai International Film Festival underscores the film’s historical importance as Asia’s first animated feature and its pivotal role in the development of Chinese animation.

Pray for China

June 24 (Pray for China: A Walk Through History)
On June 24, 1797, Mary Ann Aldersey (艾迪绥) was born in England. In 1844, she became the first single female Protestant missionary to serve in China when she moved to the newly opened treaty port of Ningbo, Zhejiang. Among other pioneer missionaries in Ningbo at the time were Divie Bethune McCartee (麦嘉缔) and Dr. & Mrs. Daniel J. MacGowan (玛高温). Aldersey retired to Australia in 1861 and lived there until her death seven years later. Pray for single women faithfully serving Christ to have strength to overcome loneliness and demonic opposition.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Colossians 2:15

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Image credit: Hatice Baran via UnSplash+

Jon Kuert

After his first trip to China in 2001, Jon Kuert served as the director of AFC Global for seven years and was responsible for sending teams of students and volunteers to China and other parts of Asia. After that, he and his wife Elissa moved to Yunnan province where they …View Full Bio