ZGBriefs | September 29, 2016

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Featured Article

Video: China’s Quest for Scientific Glory and Aliens (September 27, 2016, The Guardian)
China’s new radio telescope, the largest in the world—and the latest marker of Beijing’s ambition to become a global player in science—began its search for signals from distant galaxies on Sunday.

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Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

Japan scrambles fighter jets as China gets too close (September 26, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
Japanese fighter jets were sent to respond to Chinese forces coming too close to contested islands in the East China sea on Sunday. China has been conducting drills in the region.

‘Independence is not an option’: meet the star of Hong Kong's pro-Beijing party (September 27, 2016, The Guardian)
Holden Chow, an unapologetic supporter of one-party China, names Tony Blair as an inspiration and says Beijing is becoming more open-minded.

U.S. Says Chinese Executive Helped North Korea Dodge Sanctions (September 27, 2016, The New York Times)
The United States Justice Department has filed criminal charges against a Chinese executive, accusing her, the company she owns and several of her colleagues of violating American sanctions meant to choke off funding to North Korean companies that help Pyongyang develop nuclear weapons.

China labor activists sentenced for helping workers in wage dispute (September 27,  2016, The Guardian)
Three labour activists have been given suspended sentences of up to three years, Chinese state media said on Tuesday, citing their involvement with “overseas organisations hostile to China”.

Hong Kong's 'face of protest' Joshua Wong considers a future away from politics (September 27, 2016, The Guardian)
Two years on from Hong Kong’s umbrella revolution, the student leader and thorn in Beijing’s side speaks to Jason Y Ng about passing on the baton and whether his fame has closed off any career other than protest.

Religion

Chinese Jews of Ancient Lineage Huddle Under Pressure (September 24, 2016, The New York Times)
The government has shut down organizations that helped foster Jewish rediscovery, prohibited residents from gathering to worship for Passover and other holidays, and removed signs and relics of the city’s Jewish past from public places.

Leaving Parents (September 25, 2016, Chinese Church Voices)
In a culture that values filial piety, how do Christian couples live out the Biblical teaching that “a man shall leave his father and his mother.” Does it simply refer to geographical leaving, or does it also encompass emotional and psychological leaving?

Video: Communism and the Meteoric Rise of Christianity in China (September 25, 2016, BBC)
Danny Vincent meets the people worshipping in the shadows, out of sight of the government who have decreed that practising their faith is illegal. Danny asks whether the state is worried that Chinese Christians will shift their loyalty from the ideals of the Communist state to the word of God.

Draft of New Religious Regulations (September 26, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
The draft that has been released is for deliberation; it will be interesting to see if/how they are further modified, and once ratified, what the impact will be. 

The Need for Chinese Students to Prepare for Their Return (September 27, 2016, ChinaSource Quarterly)
Let us now quickly survey some of the challenges that Christian returnees face in China. Wei, thankfully, will not have to contend with all of these, but he will certainly have enough to keep him busy.

Functioning as the Body to Build the Body: Working Together for Chinese Returnees (September 27, 2016, ChinaSource Quarterly)
In many countries, churches in cities with universities have seen students from China profess faith in Christ. Sadly, although some returnees to China settle in churches there and contribute to God’s kingdom, many do not. They encounter challenges including: family and work demands, materialism, lack of Christian contacts, and differences in church experience.

Returnees Committing to Church in China (September 27, 2016, ChinaSource Quarterly)
Many believers returning to China fail to appreciate the significance and dignity of gathering as God’s people, as an outpost of his kingdom. Compared to the surrounding temples of consumerism, such meetings often appear distinctly unremarkable, and yet according to God’s word they are “God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15)

Will New Regulations Tighten the State’s Grip on Religion? (September 28, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
On September 8, 2016 China's State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) sent a draft amendment for religious affairs administration to the Legal Office of the State Council. The amendments were posted online through the State Council website, requesting public opinions on the draft before October 7 of this year. 

Society / Life

Chinese City Urges People To 'Appreciate The Significance Of Having Two Children' (September 22, 2016, NPR)
Less than a year after China suspended its one-child policy, officials in the central Chinese city of Yichang are asking public servants to have two children. The request came in a public memo from municipal officials posted to the city government website.

1 in 3 Chinese College Students Sexually Harassed, Survey Says (September 26, 2016, Sixth Tone)
More than a third of college students in China have experienced sexual violence or sexual harassment, according to a report released in Beijing on Monday and widely reported in Chinese media. The majority of perpetrators were friends, partners, and classmates.

Chinese Tourists Encouraged to Behave Ahead of Mass Vacation (September 28, 2016, China Real Time)
Urinating on the streets of Hong Kong? Hurling hot water at flight attendants? Stealing wood from Lovers’ Beach in Thailand? These are the kind of mainland-Chinese tourist antics that the motherland is looking to stub out ahead of the week-long national holiday known as Golden Week, when throngs of citizens travel both domestically and abroad.

A Chinese Scholar on the Changing World of the Yugur Nomads (September 28, 2016, The New York Times)
There are fewer than 15,000 Yugurs in China, making the ethnic group one of the smallest of the 56 officially recognized by the government. For centuries they were nomads, moving among pastures at the foot of the snowcapped Qilian Mountains in Gansu Province. Some spoke a language related to Mongolian, while others spoke a Turkic one. They practiced shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism.

Dozens missing after Typhoon Megi causes landslide in China (September 28, 2016, UPI)
Dozens of people were reported missing and at least 20 buildings destroyed after Typhoon Megi caused a landslide in eastern China's Zhejiang province Wednesday. Rescue operations were underway in Suichang county and 27 people were confirmed missing, according to the People's Daily in China.

Economics / Trade / Business

How the middle of nowhere could become a major trade corridor (September 23, 2016, Brookings)
Three economic trends motivate China’s orientation towards Central Asia.

China police uncover $6m supermarket gift card scam (September 28, 2016, BBC)
Police in China say they've detained a group of former supermarket employees for allegedly stealing 40m yuan ($6m; £4.6m) using fraudulently topped-up gift cards. The six suspects are accused of hacking into computer systems to add credit to 6,000 cards and using them to fund shopping sprees at supermarkets across Beijing.

Billionaire: Chinese real estate is 'biggest bubble in history' (September 28, 2016, CNN)
Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin made his fortune in the country's real estate market — and now he's warning that it's spiraling out of control. It's the "biggest bubble in history," he told CNNMoney in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

Education

A Harrowing, Mountain-Scaling Commute For Chinese Schoolkids (September 25, 2016, NPR)
If you have kids or know kids who complain about their commute to school, then consider the challenges facing the children in the Atule'er village in southwest China's Sichuan province. The schoolkids are walking half-a-mile vertically each way, and they must navigate steep cliffs, hundreds of feet high, on rickety wooden ladders to get to and from school.

Military Instructors Out of Line for Falling for Students (September 27, 2016, Sixth Tone)
A university and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are investigating photos of military training instructors giving roses and making other expressions of love to female freshmen students, a local newspaper reported Monday. The incidents happened at the Linyi Campus of the Qingdao University of Science and Technology, in eastern China’s Shandong province.

Health / Environment

China tops WHO list for deadly outdoor air pollution (September 27, 2016, The Guardian)
More than 1 million people died from dirty air in one year, according to World Health Organisation.

Science / Technology

China launches second trial space station (September 15, 2016, BBC)
China has launched a second experimental space station, as it looks to have a crewed outpost by 2022. The Tiangong 2 blasted off just after 22:00 local time on Thursday from the Gobi desert. Next month, two astronauts will go to the station to conduct research.

Chinese space station set to fall out of sky. How did that happen? (September 21, 2016, Christian Science Monitor)
Officials appear to have confirmed the fears of astrophysicists and amateur astronomers that the country has lost control of the 34-foot-long, 8.5 metric ton spacecraft. The unmanned station will likely crash into Earth in late 2017, but scientists don't know where that would be, Chinese officials said in a news conference in the Gobi desert Wednesday.

History / Culture

Before Beijing: A Rare View of China's Last Dynasty (September 22, 2016, Atlantic)

Call It The Great Sidewalk: Chinese Officials Under Fire For 'Repairs' To Great Wall (September 22, 2016, NPR)
Chinese officials are under fire after a local government tried to repair a section of the Great Wall by apparently just paving it over. Now, a centuries-old stretch of the wall looks more like a gray sidewalk than a global treasure.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

China's Wanda in talks to buy Hollywood's Dick Clark Productions (September 27, 2016, Reuters)
Chinese property-to-entertainment conglomerate Dalian Wanda is in talks to buy a controlling stake in Dick Clark Productions, the company that runs the Golden Globe awards and Miss America pageants, as it expands a growing Hollywood portfolio.

Godfather of Chinese Rock Previews Sep 30 Beijing Concert By Breaking World Record (September 28, 2016, The Beijinger)
On September 26, the pioneering rock star performed with a 953 member band (yes, you read that right) from the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy at a venue in Tianjin. That roster was stacked with 349 singers, 154 guitarists, 151 drummers, 101 bassists, 100 keyboardists, and 98 wind instrumentalists.

Travel / Food

Sanya! (September 23, 2016, From the West Courtyard)
But as is often the case, China had the last laugh. Sanya, and the surrounding beaches, in fact become the Hawaii of China, complete with 5-star resorts and tourist attractions.

Is Xinjiang China's best-kept secret? (September 26, 2016, BBC)
Once a vital stretch of the ancient Silk Road network of trade routes, today the province is notorious for violent ethnic tensions between the indigenous Turkic Uyghurs and swelling Han population, which have choked tourism in recent years. Many of its people's faces bear the hallmark of Central Asia, its food has clear Turkish influences and the landscape is arid, fiery, and punctuated by Islamic, Turkic and Kyrgyz architecture.

Learn How to Make Everyone's Favorite Chinese Chicken Dish: Kungpao Chicken (September 26, 2016, The Beijinger)
Although originally a Sichuan dish, gongbao jiding is available in some shape or form at pretty much any restaurant across China. That being said, it is very easy to recreate at home provided you remember the three key words of cooking Chinese dishes: preparation, preparation, preparation.

For South Koreans, a Long Detour to Their Holy Mountain (September 26, 2016, The New York Times)
At 7,185 feet above sea level, the 3.8-square-mile caldera lake, called Cheonji in Korean and Tianchi in Chinese, was created a thousand years ago in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in history. […] But for Koreans from both North and South, Cheonji and the 9,029-foot-tall Baekdusan are much more than natural wonders. They are viewed with a near-religious reverence and are considered the spiritual home of their respective nations.

Long Absent In China, Tipping Makes A Comeback At A Few Trendy Restaurants (September 27, 2016, NPR)
Young Chinese restaurant customers willing to pay for better service are leading a small-scale revival of tipping not seen in Chinese restaurants for decades. The trend began at this restaurant last October, and is so far confined to Beijing, Shanghai and other top-tier cities.

Chinese Tourists Pump Cash Into a Hot Destination: China (September 27, 2016, The New York Times)
In 2009, the national government designated Hainan for development as an “international tourism island” and unleashed a torrent of investment to support its travel industry.

What Apps Should I Have For a Trip to China? (September 28, 2016, Wild China Blog)
To help you get the most out of your time in China and to make your trip easier, more fun and more convenient, here are a few handy apps that you should load onto your smartphone before you leave home.

Instant Not Fast Enough for China’s Coffee Drinkers (September 28, 2016, Sixth Tone)
Li Song could neither remember the last time he had tried Maxwell House, the instant coffee brand introduced to China in 1984, nor feel sorry for its imminent departure. Despite Chinese consumers’ growing love for morning pick-me-ups ranging from Americanos to Frappuccinos, instant coffeemaker Maxwell House is getting ready to withdraw from the country, with plans to shut down its instant coffee plant in Guangzhou, in southern China’s Guangdong province, early next year

Books

Travel Book of the Week: Etiquette Guide to China (September 27, 2016, Johnny Jet)
If you’re headed to China either for business or pleasure, it’s a good idea to read up on the customs.