ZGBriefs | March 15, 2018

Featured Article

Forbidden Feeds: Government Controls on Social Media in China (March 13, 2018, Pen)
Forbidden Feeds: Government Controls on Social Media in China examines the development of the Chinese Communist Party’s system of censorship and surveillance of online expression, in particular on social media platforms.

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Special Section: National People’s Congress

Xi Jinping says China’s authoritarian system can be a model for the world (March 9, 2018, Quartz)
At the big annual gathering of Chinese lawmakers and political advisors that kicked off March 3, Xi said that China is offering a “new type of political party system”—a Chinese solution that contributes to the development of political parties around the world, according to state media.

China allows Xi to remain president indefinitely, tightening his grip on power (March 11, 2018, Reuters)
China removed presidential term limits from its constitution on Sunday, giving President Xi Jinping the right to remain in office indefinitely, and confirming his status as the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong died more than 40 years ago.

China launches mega aid agency in big shift from recipient to donor (March 13, 2018, South China Morning Post)
China is laying the groundwork for a new aid agency to oversee its massive – and opaque – foreign aid programmes as Beijing closes in on Washington as the world’s biggest donor.

New immigration bureau set up to handle growing number of foreigners in China (March 13, 2018, South China Morning Post)
The growing trend of people emigrating to and from China has prompted Beijing to set up a new agency to coordinate immigration policies and their implementation.

Chairman Xi, Chinese Idol (March 14, 2018, New York Review of Books)
Appropriately for a Christian leader, Wang made a theological argument: “Making politics a religion is an evil act of violating the Ten Commandments. It will make the country once again fall into the idolatry of worshipping a single person as a god.”

China Announces Sweeping Overhaul of Government Institutions (March 14, 2018, China Briefing)
China announced a sweeping restructuring of its government institutions at the ongoing Two Sessions meetings in Beijing. The government overhaul is China’s most significant institutional reform in years, with various entities either newly created, merged, restructured, or dissolved.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Chinese History Isn’t Over (March 12, 2018, China File)
But to listen to some commentators, you’d think China’s political evolution is over, that it has now arrived at an endpoint of authoritarianism or Mao-style one-man rule. That’s the wrong conclusion to draw from Xi Jinping’s removal of term limits.

US-backed culture centres under pressure in China (March 13, 2018, South China Morning Post)
The interrogation of the American cultural centre staffer lasted an hour and a half. The Chinese police got straight to the point: where did it get its funding? How did it vet speakers? And most importantly, what was its connection to the US government?

Xi Jinping, China’s Constitutional Reformer (March 13, 2018, China Media Project)
Xi Jinping’s new act, the amendment of China’s Constitution to remove term limits on the country’s presidency, paving the way for his own indefinite period of rule, has been the subject of fevered discussion outside China. Inside China, the topic is virtually impossible to broach, unless privately and in person.

Religion

In China's Crackdown on Religions, Buddhism Gets A Pass (February 5, 2018, World Crunch)
President Xi Jinping demands "inflexible atheism" from his fellow Communist Party members. But he also has a soft spot for Buddhism, sources suggest.

Interview with a Shanghai Pastor – Thoughts on Traditional Chinese Culture and Human Sin (March 3, 2018, China Partnership Blog)
In fact, traditional Chinese culture is all about benevolence, but it is a huge obstacle for one to genuinely understand himself as a sinner. This means your traditional culture could never lead one to see himself as a sinner; and if one cannot see his own sin, he cannot really know himself, and can never really understand the gospel.

China, Vatican talks on bishops ‘in full swing’, Chinese official says (March 9, 2018, South China Morning Post)
Negotiations to broker a framework accord between China and the Vatican on the appointment of bishops are making quick progress towards a deal, a Chinese official said on Friday, in what would be a historic breakthrough in relations.

A Catholic bishop and his rural Chinese parish worry about a deal between Beijing and the Vatican (March 12, 2018, The Washington Post)
The bishop can’t really talk about religion right now. His unofficial church is caught in a fight over the future of the Roman Catholic faith here, a struggle for control between the Vatican and the Communist Party that will determine the fate of the estimated 10 million Catholics in China and shape the legacy of Pope Francis. 

As the Migration Pendulum Swings: Challenges Faced by Rural and Urban Churches (March 13, 2018, ChinaSource Blog)
During Chinese New Year there is a massive population shift from urban to rural areas as Chinese visit their families in their hometowns for the holiday. While cities empty out during this time, so do many urban churches. The rural churches that have been experiencing decline in the past decade see a brief revival as Christians return home.

History and Meaning (March 15, 2018, ChinaSource Blog)
The spring issue of ChinaSource Quarterly takes as its theme “Contextualization and the Chinese Church.” Here’s a sneak preview of what you will find when it is published next week.

Society / Life

Weibo Whack-a-Mole: The Most-Censored Events on Chinese Social Media (March 8, 2018, China File)
Weibo’s most-censored posts can be revealing in that they demonstrate the way the Chinese social media users’ views of current events can veer quickly away from the guardrails that the government’s censors erect to “guide public opinion.” 

A Chinese Mayor-to-Be Tells His Story (March 12, 2018, China File)
Tom’s story—his hopes, fears, and mixed bag of experiences on the way to working for China’s government—reflects the evolving role of the Party in the lives of China’s young people.

Guns for Hire: China’s Social Media Militia Engage on Command (March 12, 2018, Sixth Tone)
Laoxie had joined the ranks of the wangluo shuijun, or “internet water army.” China has innumerable organized groups of these unscrupulous paid posters, ready to inundate the internet for whoever is willing to cough up cash.

China’s Communist Party Centralizes Power Over Finance and Pollution Control (March 12, 2018, The New York Times)
The Chinese government said on Tuesday that it planned to overhaul supervision of the country’s debt-ridden financial sector, its environmental regulators and other essential government agencies in a broad move intended to further consolidate the Communist Party’s hold on official levers of power.

Why Meeting the In-Laws Makes Young Couples Revert to Tradition (March 12, 2018, Sixth Tone)
Generally speaking, Chinese couples wait until they are considering marriage before introducing their partners to their parents. While most young Chinese nowadays believe in the freedom to choose one’s partner and shun the use of professional matchmakers, many still emphasize the need to get their parents’ approval prior to marriage.

Outcry Over Beijing Authorities Limiting Number of Foreign Patrons in Popular Wudaokou Venues (March 13, 2018, The Beijinger)
Sources in Wudaokou say that authorities brought in the temporary measure so as to protect any "soft targets" and to reduce the risk of danger, apparently to foreign students, who make up a large portion of Pyro and Lush's clientele.

A Reporter Rolled Her Eyes, and China’s Internet Broke (March 13, 2018, The New York Times)
With a fellow reporter’s fawning question to a Chinese official pushing past the 30-second mark, Liang Xiangyi, of the financial news site Yicai, began scoffing to herself. Then she turned to scrutinize the questioner in disbelief.

The Cabbage Villages Uprooted Over Olympic Dreams (March 14, 2018, Sixth Tone)
Over the coming years, the unassuming cabbage farming village, currently home to a few hundred people, will be transformed into a utopian hamlet, fit to impress the thousands of government officials, athletes, journalists, and spectators who will zip past on their way to the Olympic Games.

How Urban Villages Give Life to Modern Cookie-Cutter Cities (March 14, 2018, Sixth Tone)
Once on the fringes of development, some villages have become prime downtown real estate. Due to the low cost of living, urban villages are the first stop for many migrants to Shenzhen — a driving force behind the city’s growth.

Education

Lessons in education from post-Mao China (March 10, 2018, East Asia Forum)
Educational expansion has thus been associated with the emergence of a new middle class, but one radically alienated from — and fearful of — a vast underclass of rural dwellers and migrant labourers. The related fragmentation of Chinese citizenship has been deliberate and ultimately stems from the imperative of maintaining Communist Party control.

Health / Environment

China to Build Gene Database for Diagnosing Rare Diseases (March 13, 2018, Sixth Tone)
China launched its first major project aimed at diagnosing rare children’s diseases on Saturday. The country’s pediatric experts will use a technique called whole genome sequencing (WGS) to begin building a database of rare and undiagnosed conditions, including mental disorders and physical deformities.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

China’s ‘One Window, One Form’ to Streamline Foreign Business Registration (March 13, 2018, China Briefing)
China will implement a “One Window, One Form” policy for registering foreign-funded enterprises, according to a recently released circular. The circular, which was issued jointly by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), will be implemented nationally from June 30, 2018.

History / Culture

The Forgotten History of Sikhs in Shanghai (November 9, 2018, Sixth Tone)
The Sikh history in China is not a mainstream topic, usually being limited to academic papers and personal projects. The men, highly recognizable by their red turbans — a part of the uniform for Sikh policemen back then — later migrated west seeking better economic prospects. 

Travel / Food

Dreading a Visit to the Forbidden City? Try These Imperial Alternatives Instead (March 10, 2018, The Beijinger)
That dreaded feeling: You have friends/relatives coming to Beijing and they all want to see the Forbidden City. You, a savvy Beijing resident, would rather gargle Houhai lake water than spend an hour wrestling with the ticket reservation website just for the privilege of joining a traveling rugby scrum of tourists through the gates of the old palace.

Living Cross-culturally

Stop with the Thank Yous! (March 11, 2018, Taking Route)
Xie xie is one of the first phrases foreigners learn when they get to China. We get taught that xie xiemeans thank you. And it does. But for English speakers, it’s easy to make the assumption that you can use xie xie in all the bajillion ways that English speakers use thank you. And we say thank you A LOT.

Books

End of an Era How China’s Authoritarian Revival is Undermining Its Rise (March 9, 2018, China File)
The post-1978 era of “reform and opening up” is ending. China is closing down. Uncertainty hangs in the air as a new future slouches towards Beijing to be born. End of an Era explains how China arrived at this dangerous turning point, and outlines the potential outcomes that could result.

Review: The flimsy finances behind China's miracle (March 9, 2018, Reuters)
In his view, China’s economy has spent years locked in continuous stimulus mode, accumulating bad debts and generating great economic imbalances along the way. This is not an original thesis. But it’s a welcome reality check on the current China hype.

Newsletters as an Adventure? A Book Review (March 9, 2018, ChinaSource Blog)
Laughing, cringing, reminiscing, and learning; reading my way through Amy Young’s Love, Amy: An Accidental Memoir told in Newsletters from China was indeed an adventure.

We Write Books, Too (March 12, 2018, ChinaSource Blog)
Many of our contributors are also authors and we now have a dedicated page on our website where you can see the collection of books that our contributors (and team) have written.