| Wanda Looks West With AMC Play Posted: 25 May 2012 01:28 AM PDT The New York Times profiles Chinese real estate magnate Wang Jianlin, whose Wanda Group has entered into an agreement to take over U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment: Mr. Wang, 57, is regarded as one of the most successful Chinese real estate tycoons. His $17 billion empire includes huge commercial property developments, five-star hotels, tourist resorts, a film and television production company and Asia's largest cinema network. Now, by paying $2.6 billion to acquire AMC, the Wanda Group is extending its reach globally. The deal, announced Sunday, is still subject to the approval of United States regulators, though there are no hints it will be blocked. The purchase signifies a new era for Mr. Wang and in China's development. Companies here are moving away from low-cost manufacturing and going abroad in search of natural resources and global consumer brands, part of an effort to upgrade the nation's economy. … Wanda is a private company in a nation dominated by state-owned enterprises. But the AMC deal is closely aligned with the Chinese government's priorities, which include encouraging Chinese companies to "go global," pushing an overhaul of Chinese media and entertainment properties and placing greater emphasis on consumer spending. Policy makers in Beijing also want to bolster China's "soft power" capabilities to extend its cultural influence internationally, and the film industry is considered one of the most promising avenues for doing so.
The article also notes that Wang got his start in Dalian, the coastal city where Bo Xilai kickstarted his political career, though Wang dismissed any notion that his ties to Bo would threaten Wanda. AMC's chief executive hailed the proposed deal, which both sides claim will create the world's largest cinema operator, as a "unique combination." For the Los Angeles Times, Richard Verrier and David Pierson write that Wanda's bid for AMC may spur other purchases by Chinese investors: The deal announced Sunday — which pairs China's biggest theater operator with the second-largest chain in the U.S. — marks the largest investment to date by a Chinese company in the U.S. entertainment industry. Most of the deal making has been Hollywood companies striking business deals in China. But Wanda's move to buy AMC could turn the traffic in the other direction, setting the stage for a string of similar moves by other Chinese investors looking to diversify and raise their global profile by scooping up blue-chip American entertainment properties. AMC is owned by Apollo Investment Fund, Carlyle Group and other investors who bought the company in 2004. Some see parallels with the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Japanese companies acquired a number of prized U.S. assets, including Hollywood studios such as MCA-Universal and Columbia Pictures and crown jewels such as New York's Rockefeller Center and California's Pebble Beach golf course. "More and more Chinese companies are going to try to come in and buy American businesses, just like Japanese companies did in the 1980s," said Sean Yu, a Los Angeles-based executive director at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney who advises Chinese investors. "They want to increase their prestige and their reputation."
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: AMC Entertainment, Bo Xilai, dalian, hollywood, soft power, Wanda Group, Wang Jianlin
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| Photo: A street in Kaifeng, Henan, by takwing.kwong Posted: 24 May 2012 11:34 PM PDT |
| Documenting China’s Lost History of Famine Posted: 24 May 2012 11:21 PM PDT |
| China, Israel Pledge Closer Military Ties Posted: 24 May 2012 10:41 PM PDT China and Israel are taking steps to thaw a frosty relationship with a visit between the two countries' chiefs of staff. From the Washington Post: The improved ties have been highlighted by this week's visit to Beijing by Israel's military chief and a training mission to Israel by the Chinese paramilitary force that, among other things, polices the restive Tibetan and Muslim Uighur regions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to China in the coming weeks. [...] Chen told the official China Daily that China "attaches importance to the ties with the Israeli military and is willing to make concerted efforts with the Israeli side to deepen pragmatic cooperation." In a statement released by the Israeli military, Gantz mentioned a commitment to developing the relationship, including "joint courses that are scheduled to take place." It did not elaborate. Such comments are a remarkable turnaround from just a few years ago, when ties deteriorated after the failed arms deals.
In recent years, China has often found itself in the middle of tensions between Israel and Iran, which has bought Chinese military technology despite objections from the U.S. and other countries. For more on this, see a previous CDT post, "Beijing Steers 'Tricky Path' With Iran." Read more about Chinese relations with Israel via CDT.
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| Bo Guagua Graduates From Harvard Posted: 24 May 2012 09:28 PM PDT With his parents embroiled in China's biggest political scandal in decades, Bo Guagua accepted his diploma at Harvard University's Kennedy School on Thursday. From The Wall Street Journal: Bo, 24 years old, appeared at ease as shook the hands of faculty and walked across the platform during commencement for Harvard's Kennedy School, where he earned his master's in public policy during the ceremony at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park. Bo is the son of Bo Xilai, the ousted party chief of Chongqing, China, and his wife Gu Kailai, who is under suspicion in China over the killing of a British businessman. After the ceremony, Bo, wearing a black gradation robe and crimson hood, declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal. "I'd just like to have my own day today," he said, as he walked with two friends and joined a group of others to chatting outside the commencement tent.
Slate's William J. Dobson details the decade-long link between the Chinese Communist Party and Harvard University, looking beyond the educations of "princelings" such as Bo Guagua to call attention to a much less publicized but far more important training program for future party leaders: A little more than 10 years ago, the Chinese Communist Party embarked on an ambitious effort to give its public officials the training, skills, and expertise they need to govern in the increasingly complex situations that test an authoritarian regime's resilience. Carefully vetted officials—a selection of some of the regime's rising stars—were sent abroad to study in specially designed programs at some of the world's finest universities. The first crop was sent to Harvard. Today, Chinese authorities have expanded the program to include Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Tokyo, and others. A year ago I met with Lu Mai, the head of the China Development Research Foundation, who oversees the program. "This was a big decision," he told me. "We have already sent more than 4,000 [officials]. I don't know any other country that sends on that scale." The Harvard curriculum, specially designed for this program, resembles a midcareer executive course. Housed at the Kennedy School's Ash Center—the same graduate school Bo Xilai's son attended—Harvard faculty teach Chinese officials leadership, strategy, and public management. Some of the lectures are given by big-name Harvard professors, including Roger Porter and Joseph Nye. Although the classes are restricted to Chinese officials, these party members have ample opportunity to mix with the school's faculty and general student body. Borrowing from the case-study method made famous at the university's business school, the coursework zeroes in on specific topics such as U.S. policy and government, how the media operates, negotiation strategy, and even social media. The classroom work is supplemented by site visits to places like the Massachusetts State House, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and larger institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations. Besides its main leadership program, which lasts eight weeks, Harvard runs more tailored courses, too. One is focused on crisis management. Another is entirely devoted to the Shanghai municipal government. A new energy program will bring together executives from the China Southern Grid Power Corporation. "The goal is to help the Chinese government work in this environment of globalization," says Lu. "To catch up." Harvard may be a competitive institution, but it's nothing compared to being selected by the party's Central Organization Department—the highly secretive body that is in charge of making all party appointments across China and chooses the handful of officials sent abroad to study each year. (The department's work is done almost entirely in secret. It is housed in an unmarked building less than a mile from Tiananmen Square. A phone call from the Organization Department shows up on your phone as a string of zeroes.) The officials selected can vary: They include municipal officers, mayors, provincial governors, all the way up to central government vice ministers. It's worth remembering that in a country as populous as China, even a very junior official can have a portfolio that affects millions of people. What they all have in common is that they distinguished themselves as comers. Lu sits proudly when he tells me more than half of the officials sent to Harvard receive a promotion not long after they return to their duties at home, although he admits, "We don't know if it's because of the training or because they are already so good. But we try to claim it is because of the training."
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bo Guagua, Bo Xilai, chinese communist party, education, gu kailai, Harvard, princelings, scandal
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| China Says U.S. Subsidies Violate Trade Rules Posted: 24 May 2012 01:18 PM PDT In the latest missive in an ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China over renewable energy issues, China has filed a complaint with the WTO over U.S. subsidies to clean energy projects. From Bloomberg: The ministry identified programs supporting renewable power, including wind and solar, in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio and California that violate World Trade Organization policies and trade treaties, according to a preliminary finding on the agency's website today. The finding comes a week after the U.S. Commerce Department announced tariffs as high as 250 percent on Chinese solar cells and is the latest salvo in a renewable-energy trade dispute, according to Theodore O'Neill, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities Inc. in New York. "It's a long, slow escalation of trade and currency wars as we race to the bottom," O'Neill said today in an interview.
Chinese solar companies have criticized Commerce's preliminary decision May 18 that they improperly benefit from government subsidies and sell solar cells below cost. At least four U.S. solar manufacturers filed for bankruptcy in the past year.
MarketWatch has more on the background of the dispute: The U.S. Commerce Department last week announced a preliminary decision to impose 31% tariffs on several of China's largest solar-panel companies that it had found guilty of dumping. The Chinese government blasted the U.S. decision as "protectionist" and "unreasonable," saying it provoked trade friction and would hurt both Chinese and U.S. companies as well as the clean energy sector. The Ministry of Commerce didn't say Thursday how it might respond to the U.S. trade violations it had uncovered. Four Chinese solar companies plan to hold a news conference later Thursday to respond to the U.S. Commerce Department's decision on tariffs, which followed U.S. antisubsidy tariffs of 3% to 5% on Chinese solar companies in March.
Read more about renewable energy in China, cooperation with the U.S. over environmental issues, and about U.S. trade with China, via CDT.
© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: clean energy, renewable energy, U.S trade, U.S. environment
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| The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay Twitter feed) – 2012-05-24 Posted: 23 May 2012 08:59 PM PDT |
| Sensitive Words: Show-Off Girl and More Posted: 24 May 2012 07:59 AM PDT As of May 15, the following search terms are blocked on Weibo (not including the "search for user" function):  I'm taking my Godfather into battle! Hot Topics: - BJDaily (BJ日报): Beijing Daily
- Show-Off Girl (炫富女), Ma Lihong (马力宏): Weibo user Yang Zilu (@杨紫璐) wrote that her godfather chartered a plane for 8.88 million yuan for himself and Yang to see the London Olympics, posting snazzy photos as well. Some netizens think the "Lihong" Yang mentions is not the pop star Wang Lihong, but instead Zhejiang Province Communist Party Party Provost Ma Lihong.
- Ma Chi + Ferrari + Singapore (马驰+法拉利+新加坡): Reportedly, Ma Chi is the wealthy Sichuan man who died while driving recklessly in Singapore.
- Liu Mingze (刘明泽): Blogger Han Han sued Liu Mingze in January following allegations by Fang Zhouzi that Han Han's writing is produced by ghostwriters. Liu is said to have sent information about the ghostwriters to Fang. But Han Han withdrew his case against Liu just one day after he had filed at the Shanghai Putuo District Court. Danwei details the Han Han v. Fang case.
Internet "Nicknames" for Security Chief Zhou Yongkang, an alleged backer of Bo Xilai: - Zhouyong (周永)
- zyKang (zy康)
- zYongK (z永K)
Note: All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results. CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information.
© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing Daily, Bo Xilai, Fang Zhouzi, Ferrari, filtered words, Han Han, sensitive words, sina weibo, Wang Lihong, weibo, Zhou Yongkang
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| Chen Guangcheng’s Brother Escapes Village Posted: 24 May 2012 02:54 AM PDT Chen Guangcheng's older brother, Chen Guangfu, has also escaped their home village of Dongshigu and made his way to Beijing, where he met with his son's would-be lawyers. Chen Kegui is in custody awaiting trial for the attempted murder of a guard involved in a raid on the family's home. From Tania Branigan at The Guardian: "I met Chen Guangfu this morning. His health situation is okay," said Ding Xikui, a lawyer authorised by Chen Kegui's wife to represent her husband. "His family are not allowed to leave the village. Chen escaped secretly. He came here to tell us what happened that night [when people broke in] and seeks help from the lawyer. He also supports the request from Chen Kegui's wife to engage us as his lawyer in this case." Chen Kegui's wife hired Ding and Si Weijiang after two other lawyers she had appointed were intimidated and harassed. But officials told the men that they could not act for Chen Kegui unless his wife came to the police station to file paperwork. She is currently in hiding due to fears for her safety.
Reuters' Sui-Lee Wee met with Chen Guangfu to discuss his son's case, his own reported torture, his brother's departure, and other events of the past month. He said he was restricted from leaving the village and that police in Shandong warned him they would increase the sentence for his son, Chen Kegui, who is being held on an attempted murder charge, if he gave interviews. "I feel since they are already doing this, why can't I say something?" Chen Guangfu said late on Wednesday in a teahouse in western Beijing. "I have the power to speak up." "I told them their claims have no legal basis, but are based on power or by their will to determine Kegui's sentence. On this point, I'll never be able to accept it," he said, adding he planned to return to his village soon. Local government and public security bureau officials were not immediately available for comment.
Chen Guangfu said that the security presence around Dongshigu has only intensified since his brother's escape. As Charles Custer commented at ChinaGeeks in the immediate aftermath of Chen Guangcheng's escape, this security apparatus had become a significant factor in the local economy, which various parties had a strong interest in sustaining. McClatchy's Tom Lasseter reported from the area last week on the persistent cordon around the village. A reporter attempting on Wednesday to walk the stretch of farm fields and groves between [Pengjiazhai] village and Chen's hometown of Dongshigu was intercepted by two guards at a turn on a small dirt track. Their stools were positioned so that they could easily see anyone crossing to Dongshigu across a remaining flat expanse, the length of about six and a half football fields. On the highway to Dongshigu, police cars and vans still zipped back and forth, their lights flashing. Men lurked in the meadows. The continued siege of Dongshigu underscores the punishing weight with which China enforces its version of social order. It suggests, too, the steep costs of such an approach – the inertia of an authoritarian system that becomes difficult to change, and a messy legacy that it must then try to conceal.
See also Chen Guangfu's earlier account of his torture by local security officers, news of Chen Guangcheng's arrival in New York and the start of his family's new life there and more on the Chen Guangcheng saga via CDT.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing, Chen Guangcheng, Dongshigu, house arrest, legal defense, security guards, torture
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