Blogs » Society » Dewey Defeats Truman, Says CNN

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• Dewey Defeats Truman, Says CNN
• China’s So-Called ‘Commercial’ Banks Are Anything But
• Chinas Cooking The Books Again–Or Are They? (Probably, But Not So Much)
• Holding up half the sky, but taking all the rap
• It Really Is This Easy To Block All Lanes of Traffic During Rush Hour
• Chinese New York Times Weibo account suspended and then reinstated
• Female driver strips naked to stop ambulance after hitting a girl, causes death of victim
• Business tries to do what Rio did not
• Chinese Company’s CEO Allegedly Makes Off With Millions
• Our Hong Kong Subsidiary
• Meme Thursday: How Old Do You Suspect These Guys Are?
• Danwei Model Workers 2012 – New additions to the final list
• Corrupt Guangdong official gets 15 years in jail
• Top Ten Search List (June 28)
• Watch: Policeman crushed under a car, escapes with fractured leg
• Develop your students. Develop your career. Teach with EF English First. [Ad]
• London’s Official Olympics Song Is Terrific And Terrible And Really Something

Dewey Defeats Truman, Says CNN Posted: 28 Jun 2012 08:47 PM PDT Politics in the US is messy and often stupid. But what's CNN's excuse? The mandate for universal health care, of course, was upheld by the Supreme Court, 5-4. But hey, we all make mistakes. No worries, CNN — here's a link to your story on the matter. And if you want a China spin, here are reactions from netizens on Weibo, compiled by Tea Leaf Nation. An example of an informed response: "@豆麻麻-Kathy [from Shanghai]：China also needs this kind of leader, someone truly dedicated to helping common people. But it's easy to pass a law [Eds. - not in this Congress!], the real implementation and administration is the hard part." Love it when people are sensible on the Internet. (Image via Imgur, h/t Derrick Sobodash) UPDATE, 11:54 am: Saw this on Gawker right after I posted: CNN, of course, has issued an apology. Fox News, which made the same mistake as CNN, apologies for nothing, according to the Hollywood Reporter, which notes via a Gawker link: The Associated Press, which got the initial story correct, had to tell its newsroom employees to stop taunting CNN for its blown coverage. "Please, immediately, stop taunting on social networks about CNN and others' SCOTUS ruling mistake and the AP getting it right"  AP Central U.S. Region Editor David Scottwrote in a memo to his staff. "That's not the impression we want to reflect as an organization. Let our reporting take the lead." And in that above link, Gawker adds, with a nod to Romenesko (this is how you hyperlink — you paying attention, China blog editors?): For all its braggadocio, the AP wasn't the first news organization to report the ruling: That honor falls to Bloomberg News, which beat the AP by 24 whole seconds.

China’s So-Called ‘Commercial’ Banks Are Anything But Posted: 28 Jun 2012 08:41 PM PDT Guest post written by Junheng Li Junheng Li is the founder of JL Warren Capital, an equity research consulting firm based in New York. She is a Shanghai native. Riding the high-speed rail from Shanghai to Nanjing, I couldn't help overhearing a conversation between two 40-something loan officers from the Nanjing office of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest state-owned "commercial" bank by total assets. "Our government is running out of money, but we're still underwriting social housing projects. It's a political mandate. The private sector? No chance…No government backing and no collateral…I get fired if they go belly up." That conversation underscores one of the biggest distortions in the Chinese economy: The country's so-called "commercial" banks are by no means commercial at all–they lend at the behest of the state and local governments, and doing so effectively gives them control over the economy's capital allocation and pricing. It also goes a long way toward explaining the effectiveness and timeliness of China's economic stimulus in 2009 to ward off the global financial crisis, especially in comparison to the U.S. Fed's lackluster "quantitative easing" policies. In 2009, once China's central government approved the 4 trillion yuan stimulus package, banks immediately poured money into local governments to build roads, airports and rails. Infrastructure projects sprouted from busy coastal cities to less populated central areas, while capital intensive industries, like automakers and steel mills, expanded production capacity beyond their respective industry's expected demand for years to come. Although most of these crisis investments have not and will likely never generate adequate financial returns, the government frequently extols their positive social impact of boosting employment levels, no matter if those jobs are the equivalent of digging holes so they can be filled back in again later. Local Governments Go Belly Up When China's growth had accelerated in the past, land sales could be relied upon to enrich local governments' tax coffers, enabling them to pay off debt.  However, decelerating growth and a softening real estate market has turned into a drain on local governments' revenue, while at the same time they face increasing pressure to boost investment to ward off the slowdown.  As municipalities increase borrowing and spending, debt catches up with and soon exceeds their ability to service, let alone repay their debt. ICBC, where the two aforementioned loan officers work, typifies the state-owned "commercial" banks that have had to restrict access to credit as a result of rising deficits among local governments.  However, the tightening measure is biased in that they primarily target the private sector. Wenzhou, a coastal city in Zhejiang province that was the birthplace and now serves as a hub for the country's private economy, has been suffering the most. The city has about 400,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs, with signature products ranging from synthetic leather, shoes and apparel, to eyeglasses and cigarette lighters. At the peak of the credit crunch last year, underground funds to SMEs in Zheijang were charging annual interest rates as high as 70%, compared with 7% of the bank lending rate. Patricia Cheng, a China analyst from CLSA Research in Hong Kong wrote during her recent visit to the city: "Prices at a luxurious residence on the riverside have dropped to 50,000 yuan ($7,860) per square meter from more than 70,000 ($11,000) a year ago. Low end, high end, all forms of consumption seems to have hit a wall. It isn't what I expected at all."

Chinas Cooking The Books Again–Or Are They? (Probably, But Not So Much) Posted: 28 Jun 2012 04:19 PM PDT Simon Rabinovitch A few days ago, I highlighted Keith Bradsher's 'Chinese Data Mask Depth of Slowdown, Executives Say' here on CHINA Debate, 'China's Cooking The Books Again, All Is Well With The Economy (In The Last Act). Now, the Financial Times has come out with a rebuttal of sorts, 'Chinese econ stats: to doubt or not to doubt?' In it, Simon Rabinovitch cites some of Mr. Bradsher's article: Indeed, officials in some cities and provinces are also overstating economic output, corporate revenue, corporate profits and tax receipts, the corporate executives and economists said. The officials do so by urging businesses to keep separate sets of books, showing improving business results and tax payments that do not exist. The executives and economists roughly estimated that the effect of the inaccurate statistics was to falsely inflate a variety of economic indicators by 1 or 2 percentage points. That may be enough to make very bad economic news look merely bad. He then provides the counter argument from Lu Ting of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch: Lu Ting of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch countered that it just doesn't make sense that local officials would want to overstate electricity production. Energy use per unit of GDP is an important metric for gauging the environmental record of officials, so exaggerating electricity production would be self-defeating. What's more, local governments would only be too willing to report real numbers: "as many local officials have been pleading Beijing to ease tightening measures, it's not in their interest to massively over-report power data to mask the slowdown". And,  Zhu Haibin of JP Morgan: Zhu Haibin of JP Morgan questioned whether it would even be possible for power companies to distort data to any significant extent: "the power production number is difficult to falsify given the high concentration in the market and big companies report the data directly to the central government via automated computing system." Both echo the argument put forth in Mr. Bradsher's article: Jonathan Sinton, a China energy specialist at the International Energy Agency, said he had not heard of false data in China's electricity sector, and he doubted it would be feasible at the five biggest electricity generation companies that together produce half of China's electricity. "If there is a problem, it is going to be located in the smaller producers," he said, cautioning that even these producers would eventually have to submit accurate information to reconcile fuel, electricity and financial accounts. There is probably some truth in both sides. Goodness knows that Chinese officials cook books. I tend to come down on the side that the overstatement of electricity use, if much, is very local and doesn't include the big generators. Big conspiracies are hard to hide in the best of circumstances. And, in the cutthroat world of Chinese factional politics and the never ending efforts at oneupmanship and pushtheotherguydownmanship, probably impossible. Either way, as I wrote in the earlier, it doesn't matter: I would add to that also that it will recover when the actions that the Central Government dares not call 'stimulus' kicks in. The new stimulus may be better run, better targeted, better fitting the reform agenda, but it will be as big as it needs to be to get the job done. Hu Jintao is not planning to have the legacy: 'He's the guy who drove the Chinese economy into a ditch.'

Holding up half the sky, but taking all the rap Posted: 28 Jun 2012 12:56 PM PDT This is Danwei Week, a summary of the most important China stories from the last seven days. We'll choose a maximum of five topics per week, and try to link to the best coverage of them in English. If this new weekly feature works, it will become a standard part of the Sinica podcast. Depressing news about women in China The Global Times has a story titled Sexual abuse of children 'left behind' by migrant worker parents on rise which suggests that child sexual abuse is more rampant than statistics and news reports portray, particularly amongst the children of migrant workers. As these children are often raised by grandparents or sometimes even live on their own, they are more vulnerable to sexual assault. These cases often go unreported, due to shame or even just naivety of the children involved, although several high profile cases over the last few years have begun to heighten awareness, such as that of 12 year old 'Xiaoli' from the Guxian township of Yanshi in Henan Province , who was found to be four months pregnant after prolonged abuse by a man in her county. Feng Jianmei remains in the news: Feng, a resident of rural Shaanxi, was forced to abort her seven-month old fetus after failed to pay a 40,000 yuan fine. Although yesterday the BBC reported that the head of the family planning bureau in Zhenping county had been sacked, it seems Feng Jianmei's family's ordeal is not yet over. After her husband was interviewed by German reporters, a protest was staged outside his home, the centerpiece being large red banners with the motto 'Strike down the traitors; Kick them out of Zengjia township.' The Ministry of Tofu has photos of the banners and translations: Forced abortion victim branded 'traitor' for talking to foreign media. In Shanghai, Subway Line Two official Weibo account posted a picture of a female passenger in a semi-transparent outfit, along with comments that included the following:  "If that's what you wear on a subway, then no wonder you will be sexually harassed!" Tea Leaf Nation has rounded up Internet reactions, along with the photo originally posted by the Shanghai subway staff. In an opinion piece on Foreign Policy, Paul French looks at the media obsession with Bo Xilai's wife Gu Kailai, accused of and widely believed to be guilty of murder despite the lack of a trial or any evidence in the public domain. Is she just the latest 'dragon lady' who is blamed for the failings of the men around her? Finally, The Economist's Analects blog has a piece titled Girl power up, which looks at the some of issues above and more about the place of young women in Chinese society. Shaxi: Another Riot in Guangdong Reports claim that thousands of people have been involved in riots in the town of Shaxi in Zhongshan City, Guangdong, with several protestors reported dead and hundreds injured. The riots were allegedly sparked by a fight between a 13 year old and a 15 year old on Monday evening, and descended into a fully fledged brawl between different factions of workers from Sichuan and Guangdong. Armed police from Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Foshan were been called in. China Digital Times has translations, coverage and photos; Beijing Cream has video. The BBC also has a report: China shows force in Shaxi after worker riots. SARFT announces crackdown on media bribery On June 13th, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television announced a crackdown on unethical practices in the media, focusing on three areas: individuals that falsely pose as investigative journalists, individuals that receive cash envelopes for interviews and media organizations that engage in corrupt practices. The news comes after a barrage of media bribery related scandals this year. If past crackdowns are any indication, SARFT's new campaign is unlikely to have any effect at all. Caixin has a short report on the crackdown. South China Morning Post self-censorship blues Further information about self-censorship at the SCMP (covered in last week's edition of Danwei Week) with this story by veteran China reporter Paul Mooney: Prize-winning reporter driven out of SCMP.

It Really Is This Easy To Block All Lanes of Traffic During Rush Hour Posted: 28 Jun 2012 12:21 PM PDT A road called commonly known as Guijie is one of the busiest streets in Beijing every evening thanks to the overwhelming number of restaurants on either side. In fact, that's all the street is known for — restaurants, usually catering toward tourists and expensive. Well last week, bicycling through Guijie in the late evening, I noticed standstill traffic. Traffic is usually somewhere between bad and terrible, but standstill was unusual, considering there aren't that many stoplights. I navigated my bike around the mess, then realized the problem: because a bus had scraped against the side of a taxi, the taxi driver refused to move his car, fearing that would alter precious evidence that could be used against the bus driver. As a result, no one could get through, and this is what I saw in front of me: Absolutely nothing. Again, thanks to the one cabbie who wouldn't pull forward. I had nothing but the open road — Guijie during evening rush hour. The thought made me giddy. I don't know what happened with the taxi and bike driver. I think the cabbie did agree to move aside, eventually, because one by one, slowly, cars passed me on the road. But imagine if you were stuck behind that debacle. Imagine your anger. How would you possibly cope?

Chinese New York Times Weibo account suspended and then reinstated Posted: 28 Jun 2012 06:41 AM PDT The New York Times has just launched a Chinese language web site, targeting China's "educated, affluent, global citizens." On Thursday, cn.nytimes.com went up in an effort to expand its reach into international markets and to gain revenue from luxury ads targeting China's growing upper echelon. The site will be a combination of translations from the New York Times main website as well as articles written by Chinese editors and local freelance journalists. [ more › ]

Female driver strips naked to stop ambulance after hitting a girl, causes death of victim Posted: 27 Jun 2012 10:15 PM PDT June 27th, 2012 by Key | Posted in News | 1 Comment » From Sohu and various sites: A latest video about a traffic accident aroused the sympathy of millions of netizens. After the female driver hit a girl and her mom, she did not try to save the injured; instead, she ran naked onto the ambulance to "grab" the heavily injured girl and lay at the wheel of the ambulance to stop it from leaving. The girl was dead while her mom is still in a coma. Many netizens criticized that the driver was lack of conscience, and even compared her cruelty with that of Yaojiaxin. Witnesses claimed that the psychiatry teacher "went mad" and she even yelled "bitch, I want to kill you." According to Guangzhou Daily, this traffic accident took place in front of a government kindergarten in Lanshan District, Linyi City, Shandong Province. The mom of the girl lay flat on her back beside a white car. Her legs twisted, with a part of an electronic bike under her right leg. People nearby hurried to raise the car together and a man in camouflage coat carried the girl from out from under the car. The girl's face was full of blood, and she was already dying. Due to the harsh crash, the car windows cracked while the car body bended. Suddenly something shocking happened – the female driver took off her own clothes and lay naked at the front wheel of the ambulance. With the assistance of a hospital staff, a man in grey T-Shirt took the heavily injured girl onto the ambulance. To people's surprise, the female driver got up, rushed onto the ambulance and tried to pull the girl out. The nurses and other people on the spot hurried to take the girl back. After she failed to grab the girl, the female driver lay down again to stop the ambulance from leaving. The ambulance had to drive backward in order to leave. Yesterday, this incident spread widely online. Netizens condemned the female driver for "deliberately delaying the rescue of the injured and lacking conscience". It is reported that the female driver was once a psychiatry teacher and many netizens suspected that she pretended to be insane, attempting to shirk responsibility for her crime. Tags: accident, Crazy, Crime, Death, girl, Society, tragedy

Business tries to do what Rio did not Posted: 27 Jun 2012 11:07 PM PDT That corporations emerged from last week's summit looking more far-sighted than governments signals the depth of frustration with the paralysed UN system, says Isabel Hilton. A chorus of disappointment greeted the close of the Rio+20 conference last week. The Brazilian hosts, perhaps concerned to avoid a repetition of the dramas that attended the final hours of the COP15 climate meeting in Copenhagen, had lowered their ambitions for the summit to the point that they seemed unprepared to fight for anything that any country objected to. The result was a document heavy on words and almost devoid of any prospect of action. Delegates who had endured long flights and difficult conditions to be there might well ask what was achieved in the biggest UN conference of all time, beyond a substantial contribution to the planet's carbon emissions.  One remarkable sign of the general frustration was that business, not widely regarded as leaders in sustainability, emerged from Rio looking more far-sighted and progressive than governments. Business frustration with the UN process had already surfaced at a meeting at Copenhagen University earlier this month, when John Kornerup Bang, chief climate adviser at the global shipping company AP Moller Maersk, predicted correctly that Rio's problem would be the failure of governments to agree. It would be up to companies, he said, to take the initiative. Multinational corporations are beginning to respond. For many years, business leaders have appealed to governments to lay down clear regulations. Without them, they said, business found it difficult to reduce emissions and energy use and become more sustainable. Now, a growing number of companies are taking unilateral action. In one surprising example, Microsoft announced that from July 1 it will start to tax itself on its own carbon emissions. Microsoft's main global offices and data centres will pay a tax for every tonne of carbon they produce; the tax will be used to buy carbon dioxide credits, which the company claims will make Microsoft carbon neutral. Other companies are well into their own sustainability plans: the British retailer Marks and Spencer, for example, has just celebrated the fifth anniversary of Plan A, the company's effort to integrate sustainability into all aspects of its operations. Marks and Spencer set itself 100 commitments in 2007, grouping them under five broad objectives that included becoming carbon neutral and sending no waste to landfill. A further 80 commitments were added in 2010 as they declared their ambition to be the world's most sustainable major retailer by 2015. Progress is closely monitored and externally audited, and counts towards employee bonuses. Over the first five years, according to the company's report, the plan generated £185 million (US$288 million) for the company. The company also reports that it has achieved 138 of the 180 commitments, with a further 30 on plan, six behind plan and six not achieved. The giant retailer has become carbon neutral and sends no waste to landfill and recent further initiatives include asking customers to donate used clothing to be recycled or re-used when they come to shop: so far, 21 million customers have participated. In its supply chain, the company has achieved a 50% reduction in the water used to grow its cotton and an 80% drop in pesticide use. It has also raised more than £100 million (US$156 million) for charity. Initiatives like this are a growing trend for global businesses frustrated with the inability of the UN system to act. While multilateral negotiations have been increasingly afflicted with paralysis, almost 7,000 major companies have signed up for the UN Global Compact, which encourages companies voluntarily to make progress in human rights, anti-corruption and the environment. Those who participate argue that their reputations and their operations are at risk in a future of resource and energy constraints, and that the businesses best equipped to survive changing conditions in the future will be those that have prepared for and adapted to those conditions.  It is unrealistic to expect that business will achieve all that is required for global sustainability. But if governments cannot even agree to stop the overfishing catastrophe that is overtaking the world's oceans, or to end the US$600 billion in global fossil-fuel subsidies, condemned in 2009 by the G-20, the contribution that business can make looks increasingly significant.  Isabel Hilton is editor of chinadialogue. Homepage image by youthpolicy.org

Chinese Company’s CEO Allegedly Makes Off With Millions Posted: 28 Jun 2012 04:30 AM PDT The High Court in Hong Kong(Image credit: AFP via @daylife) Another day, and another scandal-plagued Chinese company gets delisted from the Nasdaq. This time, ChinaCast Education Corp. has the ignominious fate of watching its shares tumble 87% to $0.54 in over the counter trading while hunting for millions of dollars gone missing. The Chinese provider of post-secondary education and e-learning services has been suffering from an internal struggle since early last year, when its former Chairman and CEO Ron Chan Tze Ngon was sacked by the board and accused of pilfering the company's coffers of more than half-billion yuan ($78.6 million). Chan, a Hong Kong citizen who co-founded ChinaCast in 1999, had been leading the firm since its establishment. But last March, he was removed from his position after repeatedly hindering an audit to the company's two subsidiaries in Shanghai. So far, the company estimates that roughly 700 million yuan ($110 million) has gone missing, in which more than 70% is thought to have been embezzled by Chan, according to the company's legal adviser in Shanghai. Chan also allegedly spirited away company chops, business licenses and destroyed operational records, making it far more difficult for his former colleagues to check the accounts and track down the vanished money. A statement released by ChinaCast said, "Chan's behavior not only harmed the interests of the company's shareholders and employees but also posed a threat to those honest Chinese firms who aim to enter foreign capital markets." However, Chan denied the accusation during an interview with China Business News, adding that the reason behind his ouster was because the board had tried to seize control of the company. ChinaCast and several of its subsidiaries filed an application with the High Court in Hong Kong last week, alleging Chan along with the company's former Chief Financial Officer Antonio Sena, former Chief Accounting Officer Jim Ma and former President-China Jiang Xiangyuan had committed tortious wrongs against the company in transferring the company's cash and assets. As part of the application, the company also sought an injunction to freeze the assets of these executives that are located in Hong Kong, up to a value of 800 million yuan. In addition, the court has scheduled a hearing for July 6.

Our Hong Kong Subsidiary Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT While the financial meltdown ravaged Squire and Huddington's continental operations, the transnational's activities in Hong Kong remained surprisingly resilient to slumping European demand. Western analysts attributed the growth to continued growth to demand-pull in Asia and management's hands-off attitude towards letting its Hong Kong subsidiary refocus on the Asian market, and there may even be some truth to that.... Learning Chinese? Our show today is about lies, gossip and rumors. If you're a Chinese learner at the intermediate level or above and feel comfortable listening to a show that is half in Chinese and half in English, join us for a bilingual discussion of the Chinese rumor mill. We'll cover some practical vocabulary for spreading malicious gossip yourselves, and take a quick look at some of the more outlandish rumors that have circulated on the Chinese Internet in recent years. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Meme Thursday: How Old Do You Suspect These Guys Are? Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:38 AM PDT Yeah, we know this usually runs on Wednesdays. You'll live. Sources: MyLaowai, We Know Memes, China Memes

Danwei Model Workers 2012 – New additions to the final list Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:43 AM PDT Since publishing Model Workers 2012 we have received a number of comments and emails suggesting that other blogs be included. We also realized that there a few sites that we omitted in error. As promised, we're going to add to the Model Workers list 2012: the final edition will be published next week. Below are some of those suggested and some of our own. Please let us know in the comments or by email to feedback -at- danwei dot com which ones you think should be included, and feel free to add additional suggestions. We do not usually open comments at Danwei, and the comments section here will be not publish any abusive comments, or anything of which we don't like the tone. ★★★★★ Free More News The new English section of a Chinese blog-style news portal devoted to publishing articles about sensitive issues, scandals and breaking news. China Accounting Blog Paul Gillis' blog provides detailed insight and accessible commentary on topical accounting issues in China. This is an especially useful resource for those following the Big Four corruption scandal. Hao Hao Report, Lost Laowai and China Blog Network Old standbys of the Model Workers list and omitted this year through a clerical error, these sites are run by Canadian Ryan McLaughlin who lives on Hainan island, and have for many years encouraged foreigners resident in China to blog about it. The Hao Hao Report is something like Digg.com for English stories about China; Lost Laowai is a group blog and forum that disseminates information and writing about life in China for foreigners, including useful information for newcomers such as how to set up an English QQ account. China Blog Network is a platform for finding and promoting blogs about China. Beijing Boyce The Boyce narrowly missed a place on Model Workers, and maybe that was unfair. Boyce has been delivering useful information on Beijing's bar scene since 2005 and continues to do so. His posts are archived under venue names if you want the skinny on a place you're being dragged to. Boyce also runs Grape Wall of China, a blog about wine. Maosuit Fashion and couture from an expat seasoned in the industry. Includes plenty of photos and some commentary on the latest Beijing fashion shows and private screenings. Jing Daily Anxious to get on Model Workers judging from the emails we received, Jing Daily has a range of interviews, articles and news about luxury products, marketing and business in China. China in Africa podcast The Podcast series connected to the China Africa Project by Eric Olander. Should this go in the Podcast section, or the China Abroad section? Adam Minter on Bloomberg Although Shanghai-based journalist has neglected his Shanghai Scrap blog since starting his Bloomberg column, we think the latter should have been on our big media list. His Bloomberg opinion pieces often examine in detail important issues that are being discussed on Weibo but not covered by English language news reporting. ★★★★★ Anything missing? Do let us know.

Corrupt Guangdong official gets 15 years in jail Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:43 AM PDT by Allison Carroll Goldman on June 28, 2012 The front page of the Guangzhou Daily today announces that Ni Junxiong, the former Bureau Chief of Public Security in Maoming city, Guangdong province, has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to 15 years in jail. He will also be fined 3 million RMB and have another 3.38 million RMB worth of illegal income confiscated. Ni was found guilty of accepting bribes, and "selling" positions in public security offices at the county level, from Chief of District Public Security Bureau, to deputy chief. These appointments varied in price from 300,000 RMB to 20,000 RMB. He would also demand bribes from officials looking to take time off, whether to visit a relative in the hospital or to celebrate a holiday like Spring Festival or Mid-Autumn festival. Bribes were required in exchange for any promotions, letters of recommendation, or appointments, as well as any private-sector ventures that needed government approval. Ni has served in various positions of local-level politics in the past ten years: He sat on the Maoming City Communist Party Municipal Committee from December 2002, to July 2009; served part time as the secretary to the city's Politics and Law Committee starting in 2005; and in 2009 became Deputy Director of comprehensive management of the Public Security Office of Guangdong province. The Guangzhou Daily article reports that the trial found evidence of Ni's corruption dating back to 2002. The headline at the top of the front page: "Guangzhou held celebration activities in recognition of the 91st anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China." Links and Sources Guangzhou Daily: 茂名"卖官"公安局长判了15年 , 广州召开庆祝中国共产党成立91周年暨创先争优活动表彰大会  China Daily: Officials to be required to report assets  New York Review of Books: " 'In the current system, I'd be corrupt too': an interview with Bao Tong"

Top Ten Search List (June 28) Posted: 28 Jun 2012 02:52 AM PDT Here's the top ten real-time search list for today, recorded at 12:30PM. 1. 双面女婴 shuāngmiàn nǚyīng – "Two-Faced Baby Girl," the most-searched item of the mid-afternoon, makes today a questionable day for journalistic integrity. Starting last evening, more and more articles from a wide range of Chinese news sites have been treating the same outdated story (four years outdated, to be exact) as breaking news. Lali Singh, an Indian baby girl who was born in March of 2008 with Diprosopus—a rare congenital disorder by which the face is duplicated on the head—was considered by many in India to be the reincarnation of the Hindu deity Ganesha. She died two months after her birth, of a heart attack. Again, that was 2008. But over the past 24 hours, report after report has been published in the Chinese news media asserting that Lali was born in March of this year, 2012, and that she recently passed away. So everyone is clicking away (great for website traffic…coincidence?) at four year-old images of Lali, as if they are testaments to a new discovery. And no, it isn't as if the Chinese media missed this the first time around; similar reports came out in the actual year of Lali's birth and death. What's more, some articles from yesterday do cite the correct 2008 date of her birth, which only leads to another question: if you know it happened four years ago, why choose to bring it up again now, with nothing new to add? Something is up, but so far no apparent in-depth discussion on the part of netizens about the glaring bizarreness. Here's the story (again, from another source!) in Chinese. 2. 流动卖淫车 liúdòng màiyín chē – "Traveling Prostitution Salesman": At 10 PM this past Monday during an investigation of an illegal sex "shop" in Hangzhou, police discovered that though negotiations with clients went down on the premises, prostitutes conducted their actual business in a vehicle disguised as a "fire safety equipment inspection" van. Here's the story in Chinese. 3. nexus q – The Nexus Q, the new media-streaming entertainment device in the the Google Nexus product family, is making its way into everybody's search boxes today after its presentation at the Google I/O Conference. Points of discussion in Chinese articles range from the fact that Google wants this product line to spark the revival of "Made in America" products (the bottom of the device is inscribed with the words "Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A") to the question of why the spherical media player, priced at 299 USD, is as pricey as it is. Here's the story in Chinese. 4. 西班牙vs葡萄牙点球 Xībānyá vs Pútáoyá diǎnqiú – "Spain vs. Portugal Penalty Kick": Much discussion of Cristiano Ronaldo—dubbed "C-luó" (short for "C-luónàěrduō" (C·罗纳尔多)) by fans—and Xabi Alonso right now, after Spain's penalty kick win over Portugal after a total of 120 scoreless minutes.  Here's the story in Chinese. 5. 林郑月娥 Lín Zhèngyuè'é – Hong Kong politician Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, currently in charge of land policy, will be promoted to chief secretary, the second-highest ranking position in the Hong Kong government. Here's the story in Chinese. 6. 释永修 Shì Yǒngxiū – Famous Yunnanese Buddhist monk Shi Yongxiu, who was murdered two years ago at the age of 63, left a hefty legacy behind him amounting to 4.74 million RMB. Now, two years later, his daughter (from his family life prior to his 1979 entry into the monastery) is in an intense legal dispute with the monks of the Hongta district temple where he served as head abbot, over who gets to inherit the money. The monks hold that as no monk may have any possessions to his name, the money belongs to the temple. The daughter holds that Shi's property belonged to him as an individual, in spite of his monastic life. The municipal court is mired in a debate 0ver whether the offspring of a deceased holy man has the right to his estate.  Here's the story in Chinese. 7. 朱晓林 Zhū Xiǎolín – Yesterday Forbes China published its 2012 CEO salary list, declaring Zhu Xiaolin, CEO of mining company China Polymetallic Mining Limited, as the "winner" with a yearly salary of 2.35 billion RMB. The list also shows that CEO's of A-shares private enterprises traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges are not getting paid as highly as CEO's of state-owned enterprises. Here's the story in Chinese. 8. 教师边打学生边自夸 jiàoshī biān dǎ xuésheng biān zìkuā – "Teacher Hits Student with One Hand; Toots Own Horn with the Other": On June 11th, a 16 year-old Chongqing high school student put up a post on a BBS forum which read, "I was beaten by my teacher, it was traumatizing." After the post got 13,000 hits, reporters tracked down the student, who disclosed that he had been in homeroom joking around with a fellow classmate when his teacher, Mr. Zhong, came over and grabbed him by the neck. He further provoked Zhong, and after class was called into the office. Zhong beat him while apparently simultaneously bragging, "I already have five houses and a car, now beating you is another notch in my belt." The teacher has been duly fired for mistreating a student, as his belt begins to look increasingly notch-less. Meanwhile netizens continue to take the piss out of him for the sick things he chooses to boast about. Here's the story in Chinese. 9. 小米抽奖 Xiǎomǐ chōujiǎng - "Xiaomi Lottery": To celebrate the recent release of Chinese game developer Kingsoft's martial arts-themed MMORPG JX Online II, titled "Yanyun Jiange,"  Xiaomi (mobile phone developer that was by no coincidence created by Kingsoft CEO Lei Jun) has launched a promotional sweepstakes for give-aways of all kinds of virtual gaming props. Gamers are pumped. Here's the story in Chinese. 10. 贵州记者砍杀前女友事件 Guìzhōu jìzhě kǎnshā qián nǚyǒu shìjiàn – A Guizhou reporter by the name of Yuan Jing has been arrested for the intentional murder of his ex-girlfriend, Zhao Feifei.  Here's the story in Chinese. READ MORE

Watch: Policeman crushed under a car, escapes with fractured leg Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:10 AM PDT Close shave for this policeman in Shandong province who was crushed under a car while in the course of duty, but managed to escape alive with just a fractured leg! [ more › ]

Develop your students. Develop your career. Teach with EF English First. [Ad] Posted: 28 Jun 2012 12:04 AM PDT The following is an advertisement by EF English First. [ more › ]

London’s Official Olympics Song Is Terrific And Terrible And Really Something Posted: 27 Jun 2012 10:00 PM PDT London Olympics organizers have said they wanted to go a completely different direction than Beijing (and everyone ever), and yesterday's release of this year's Olympic theme song, "Survival" by Muse, confirms they're men and women of their word. But really, organizers are a Steps line dance away from being in full fuck-all-y'all mode: they do not give one rat's greypence about what the Olympics were, are, or will be. This year, it's gonna be British, so contemporarily and creatively British that anyone who doesn't like it can make like a tree and naff all the wankbats up Piccadilly. (I have no idea what I'm saying. Sorry. Will try to drag RFH by to give us a proper education later.) By the way, I'm on the record as loving the Olympics. If you do as well — or hate it, for that matter — you're going to really enjoy us next month. Youku video for those in China after the jump.

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