Links » Crème » Top-of-the-Week Links: Bo Xilai and the Cultural Revolution, FC Shenhua inks another import, and a reminder that Chai Happens
Links » Crème » Top-of-the-Week Links: Bo Xilai and the Cultural Revolution, FC Shenhua inks another import, and a reminder that Chai Happens |
- Top-of-the-Week Links: Bo Xilai and the Cultural Revolution, FC Shenhua inks another import, and a reminder that Chai Happens
- Top Ten Search List (June 25)
- Today’s China Readings June 25, 2012
| Posted: 25 Jun 2012 07:26 AM PDT
Hope everyone enjoyed their Dragon Boat Festival. Here're your post-long-weekend links. A joke about "China": "The government reading is said to be both the most apt in terms of meaning and most accurate in terms of sound. When foreign visitors come to China, everywhere they turn they see the character 拆 painted on buildings, including the homes of many people who are still living in them. Puzzled, they ask their translator what this ubiquitous sign means. Whereupon the translator replies, 'That's the name of our country. From ancient times, the name of our country has been CHINA chāi[nǎ] 拆[哪] ("demolish; tear down") — demolition is absolutely essential.'" [Language Log] Your Dragon Boat Festival read: "Fang Gang (方刚), associate professor of gender studies at Beijing Forestry University, believes that Duanwu Festival is the first gay Valentine's Day in the history of civilisation, and that the recognisation of it as such would be a big move in 'rectifying the name' (正名) of both Qu Yuan and the origins of the festival." [Shanghaiist] Bo Xilai, princelings and the Cultural Revolution. "The Cultural Revolution-era elite alumni of Number Four are part of a generation marked by chaos that has made them less conformist than their predecessors. While Bo's brash ambition was rare among Chinese politicians, his sense of destiny and pragmatism are seen by some as shared princeling traits. // 'Overall, I think, their experience has made them more independent-minded and less trusting of central authority,' Yin Hongbiao, a student at Number Four at the start of the Cultural Revolution, said of politicians from Bo's generation. // …After Bo's dismissal, his wife's sister told friends not to worry about him, said a retired academic who said she overheard their comments at a funeral in March of a fellow princeling. // 'Don't worry about Bo Xilai, he's been through much worse than this,' the academic said, citing the sister's words. 'He's been through the Cultural Revolution. This is nothing.'" [Reuters] Patrick Devillers isn't coming to China after all. "Cambodia said Friday it will not extradite a Frenchman it detained for possible involvement in a murder linked to one of China's biggest political scandals in years. // …Cambodian officials have said they detained Devillers at China's request but needed more evidence of wrongdoing to hand him over to another nation." [AP via Washington Post] Chinese cities and their walkability. "Alfonzo says that there is increasing openness among officials to new ideas about what makes cities more livable and walkable. 'There are a growing number of planners and urban designers who understand these issues,' she says. 'Officials are more and more open to hearing about other policies, even if they're Western.'" [The Atlantic Cities] I'd watch. "One of the first rock 'n' roll films ever authorized by the Chinese Film Bureau, the slight but charmingFollow Follow is not a docu about Beijing's youthful music scene, glimpsed only in passing, but a wry, fetching tale about a lonely girl whose adoration of Kurt Cobain leads her to write a song and sing with a band." [Hollywood Reporter] Stan Abrams responds to Time's recent cover story on Apple in China. "There are many iPhone competitors, for example, and there are many iPhone copycats. Why does the iPhone continue to sell so well in China? Several reasons no doubt, but a lot of the success relates to branding, marketing, image, and consumer trends amongst the upper and middle classes here. Are these things that the government could easily take away, substituting a domestic competitor in Apple's place? I don't think so. // …There is no Communist cabal in China waiting in the wings to sabotage every successful foreign invested enterprise. Even that suggestion smacks of ignorance and misguided ideology. Apple is not being 'allowed' to do well in China, it simply is doing well." [China Hearsay] Where in the world is FC Shenhua getting all its money? "Shanghai Shenhua have made yet another big splash in the transfer market, this time signing Columbian attacking midfielder Giovanni Moreno from Argentian side Racing Club for a fee believed to be $9 million. // The 25-year-old former Atlético Nacional player joins Shenhua hot on the heels of Didier Drogba, and whilst not quite on the same level as the world superstar striker, Moreno is a player approaching his prime and has been capped 15 times for his country." [Wild East Football] Shenzhou-9 manually docking with Tiangong 1 interlude: Magnitude-5.7 earthquakein Ninglang county, Yunnan kills at least four and injures 100. [Xinhua] Brian Glucroft finds a bit of China in Europe. [Isidor's Fugue] 62-year-old buries himself up to head to protest deforestation of his land. [Caijing] Finally, finally…
Images via Adam Minter. "AIRLINE passengers upset at delays and cancellations affecting their holiday plans threw objects at airline ticket counters at Hongqiao International Airport on Thursday, forcing the airport to call in extra police to restore order." [Shanghai Daily] |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:30 AM PDT
Here's the top ten real-time search list for today, recorded at 10:56AM. 1. 巩新亮不穿内衣 Gǒng Xīnliàng bùchuān nèiyī – Chinese actress Gong Xinliang, known for her appearance in hit Chinese movie Feng Xiaogang's "If You Are the One" (非诚勿扰), is now also known for a recent braless walk down the red carpet. At the closing ceremony of the15th Shanghai International Film Festival last week, Gong showed up in a white dress which accidentally exposed her right breast to cameras. Here's the story in Chinese. 2. 云南地震 Yúnnán dìzhèn – Yesterday at 11:30PM, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit the border of Sichuan and Yunnan. 3 residents of Ninglang, Yunnan were killed, 20 have been seriously injured, and 82 others have been reported wounded. Here's the story in Chinese. 3. 遗传性性吸引 yíchuán xìngxìng xīyǐn – News from the Daily Mail of Mistie Atkinson has made it to China. Mistie, the 32 year-old woman who recently made a sex tape with her son in a California motel room upon reuniting with him after 15 years of separation, claims that the act did not count as incest, as there is such a thing as "genetic sexual attraction" between family members who come together again after long periods of separation. (Her line of defense failed to clear her name and she has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison). Search volume is high today for "Genetic Sexual Attraction." Here's the story in Chinese. 4. 周董华仔结仇 Zhōu Dǒng Huá Zǐ jié chóu – Taiwanese talkshow host Jacky Wu has been talking smack about Taiwanese singer Jay Chou and Hong Kong Cantopop singer Andy Lau, exposing and thus further exacerbating what is apparently a long-standing tension between the two. While hosting an episode of the Taiwanese variety show "Power Sunday," Wu, known for his big mouth, let slip that just when Chou's career was first taking off, he wrote songs for Lau which Lau immediately rejected, ridiculing Chou's lyrics to his face. Here's the story in Chinese. 5. 上海地铁二运Shànghǎi dìtiě èryùn – On June 20th, the operating company of Shanghai's underground subway system tweeted a post on one of its official Weibo pages that has subsequently provoked the anger of scores of netizens. The Shanghai Metro posted a picture of a scantily clad woman waiting for the subway and wrote, "Boarding the train dressed like this, how could you not end up getting harassed?" and warned female passengers to cover up, lest they incur the wrath of the subway's countless male predators. Netizens are outraged by the post, many asserting that the way a woman dresses is her own choice, and that the Shanghai Metro is merely shirking its responsibility to protect passengers by placing blame on the victims. One user commented, "If women in revealing outfits are asking for harassment, why doesn't every man at the local swimming pool turn into Mr. Grabbyhands?" Here's the story in Chinese. 6.丁雅琦Dīng Yǎqí – Ding Yaqi, a female high school student from Wuhu, Anhui province, is now famous nationwide for her Gaokao results (the gāokǎo = China's national standardized college entrance examination), after obtaining the number one score in science in all of Anhui province. As Ding, who has chosen to matriculate at Tsinghua University, modestly basks in the glory of her success, reporters ask her about her study methods and her proficiency as an electric keyboard player. Raised in a single-parent home, articles say, she has had to "grow up fast." Here's the story in Chinese. 7. 8个月女婴家中被剁双手8 gè yuè nǚyīng jiāzhōng bèi duò shuāngshǒu – This past weekend in Jinan, Shandong, a grandmother chopped off the hands of her eight-month old baby granddaughter, also injuring her self in the process. The baby girl's parents both work during the day, and left her in the care of her grandmother. It is still unclear how this happened, and both baby and grandma are still in the hospital. Here's the story in Chinese. 8. 勺子点球sháozi diǎnqiú – "Spoon Penalty": Andrea Pirlo's penalty to help take Italy to the win over England in the Euro 2012 quarter-final has everyone searching for "Spoon"—a reference to Pirlo's nonchalant chip and effortless goal, putting the pressure on England's Ashley Young,who was next up in the shoot-out. Here's the story in Chinese. 9. 中国超速最高纪录 Zhōngguó chāosù zuìgāo jìlù – Two twenty-somethings driving through Zhejiang broke the Ningbo high-speed record before being pulled over for driving at the speed of airplanes just before take-off. One young man, in a white Mercedes-Benz SLS, was going 235 km/hr, while the other, in an Aston Martin, was going 258 km/hr. They were apparently racing each other. Here's the story in Chinese. 10. 章子怡恋上孙宝奇 Zhāng Zǐyí liànshàng Sūn Bǎoqí – Rumors have begun to circulate that the new object of Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi's affection is widely beloved Chinese male singer Sun Baoqi. Here's the story in Chinese.        |
| Today’s China Readings June 25, 2012 Posted: 24 Jun 2012 05:51 PM PDT I am heading to the US later today for a few weeks. Posting will be light to non-existent for the next couple of days but will resume from DC. Stock market reaction to Saturday's New York Times report alleging data manipulation and a deeper economic slowdown than anticipated should be interesting. It is quite possible that Hong Kong and China markets will rise as investors believe this news will make a bigger stimulus a near certainty. Then again, they could either drop or stay flat. (How is that for hedging a market prediction?)… Regular readers of Sinocism know that I disagree with some of the foreign media reports about senior leaders pushing for Western-style political reform. Last year's Views On Political Reform And Leadership Splits In China is just one of several comments I have made on the subject. In the latest issue of the Jamestown Foundation's always excellent China Brief, Peter Mattis discusses the prospects for political reform in Central Party School's Critiques Suggest New Leadership Dynamics: Political reform in China since Deng Xiaoping's "Southern Tour" in 1992 has seemed a distant if always tempting narrative for analysts and observers. The cycles of foreign hope and disappointment with Chinese leadership attest to this. The most recent stirrings of political reform discussion may be keeping within strict boundaries that do not challenge the CCP's right to rule, but recent articles in the official Chinese media suggest this discussion is more than mere rhetoric—or, at least, has political implications for the 18th Party Congress… An article in the latest issue of the school's journal, Red Flag, posed the question of whether Deng Xiaoping would approve of structural political reform. The answer, unsurprisingly, was "no," at least as Westerners understand it. The CCP's rule "suits China's national conditions and is in accord with the fundamental interests of the people" (Red Flag, June 12). Structural political reform—if it did not include removing the CCP from power or implementing anarchy-causing, Western-style democracy—however, could be understood as China's adaptation to the structural changes in society as well as dealing with the problems of bureaucracy, excessive concentration of power, corruption and local officials carving out exploitative fiefdoms. Combined with an attack on those who would walk away from the CCP's leadership, the article seemed to be critical of those who supported the ousted Chongqing Secretary Bo Xilai and other counter-reformers…. True systemic political reform may not be in China's near future; however, the discussion inside China suggests the status quo is increasingly unacceptable to China's leaders. Structural political reform may remain elusive, but the CCP appears to be engaged in a serious debate about the future of China—serious enough that Beijing is concerned leadership splits may emerge that would damage Chinese stability. Without a loyal PLA, the party leadership may not have the confidence to continue their discussion, leading once again to political stagnation. The Central Party School attacks could indicate a new alignment between Hu and Xi, disrupting conventional wisdom about factional divides. Although uncertain, this possible realignment would have profound implications for the makeup of the next Politburo Standing Committee and the prospects of even limited CCP-centric reforms. As I wrote last month, there is no question there are differences at the top, but I wish someone would produce evidence that the differences are ideological ones as opposed to battles over personal interests and political advantages. Speeches about reform are not evidence someone is a reformer. We may see debates and eventually reforms around intra-Party democracy, but the idea that anyone at the top is seriously pushing for western-style political reforms seems rooted more in hope, manipulation and confusion than any evidence-based reality. Wang Xiaolu (王小鲁), author of the 2010 study looking at China's grey income, posted on his blog a recent interview he did about income distribution in China–答《时代周报》：收入分配改革为何迟迟不出台？. The National People's Congress, for the eighth time since 2004, is debating a salary reform plan. Wang is not confident of its passage because the true reforms needed to improve income distribution touch too many vested interests. A report today makes the passage of the proposed plan even less likely. According to Economic Reference News (经济参考报), authorities in 12 provinces so far have requested permission to reduce the mandated increase in the minimum wage, in response to the slowdown in the economy–12省区工资指导线涨幅下调 经济减速或为主因. Rising wages are key for the much needed economic rebalancing, and worker expectations for salary increases are such that any reductions in the rate of growth could upset a lot of people. We have two sets of assholes du jour. First, residents in the hometown of Feng Jianmei, victim of the recent forced abortion at 7 months, unveiled a banner calling on people to "beat the traitors, expel them from Zengjia Township". The reason? The family did an interview with a foreign correspondent (a German one according to Weibo). Per Weibo, the aborted child's father was forced to flee. The reaction on Weibo is decidedly in opposition to the villagers' actions, and those villagers clearly did not get the memo about the policy that Bloomberg discusses in Traitor Gets Treated to Lunch as One-Child China Seen Softening. Second, Chinese supercar drivers set speed record, lose licenses: Chinese police have fined two drivers 2,200 yuan (US$346) and revoked their licenses after they were caught speeding in their "supercars," reaching 258 kilometers per hour on the G15 Shenyang-Haikou expressway, setting a speed record for the country's highway system. "Off with their heads" is something a lot of people could probably get behind these days… The best way to read this blog is to subscribe by email, especially if you are in China, as Sinocism is still mostly blocked by the GFW. The email signup page is here, outside the GFW. You can also follow me on @niubi or Sina Weibo @billbishop. Comments/tips/suggestions/donations are welcome, and feel free to forward/recommend to friends. Thanks for reading. Today's links:
The best way to read this blog is to subscribe by email, especially if you are in China, as Sinocism is still mostly blocked by the GFW. The email signup page is here, outside the GFW. You can also follow me on @niubi or Sina Weibo @billbishop. Comments/tips/suggestions/donations are welcome, and feel free to forward/recommend to friends. Thanks for reading. Digest powered by RSS Digest No related posts. |
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