Blogs » Politics » Breaking: China Retaliates against Activist

---

• Breaking: China Retaliates against Activist
• Will Hu Jintao’s Taiwan Strategy See Results?
• China: Ai Weiwei's Tax Evasion Case
• Photo: Red, by Christopher Cherry
• Ai Weiwei Tax Evasion Appeal Rejected
• Does U.S. Olympic Uniform Hoopla Miss the Point?
• Luxury Loses As China Slowdown Reinforces Regime Change
• Frenchman Linked to Bo Arrives in China
• China and Russia Again Veto Syria Resolution
• What Happens Now in the South China Sea?
• Aspen Ideas Festival Debate between Eric X Li and Minxin Pei on “China and Democracy” (Video)
• Precious trees imported from Vietnam die in Hefei
• The Daily Twit – 7/19/12: Rising Costs, Increased Lending and More CO2
• New iPad China Launch is Nigh. Break Out the Water Cannon and Teargas.
• Sheldon Adelson’s Macanese Hooker Problem
• Program funds wildlife protection
• Nude cosplayer makes a mess at anime festival in Shenzhen

Breaking: China Retaliates against Activist Posted: 19 Jul 2012 11:10 PM PDT A few hours ago this morning, China time, veteran activist Xiao Yong (肖勇) made calls to fellow activists and told them that he was on a vehicle to Shaoyang, Hunan (湖南邵阳), and that Shaoyang Public Security Bureau issued him a notification for two-year reform-through-labor, a form of jailing widely used on dissidents and activists, and a notification of rights which states that he may request for an administrative review within three days. He told Wen Yunchao (@wenyunchao), renowned media professional and activist based in Hong Kong, that the decision was based on his purchase of three motorcycles three years ago. At the time he reported the case of his own initiative and the local prosecutors had decided not to bring charges against him. However the public security told Xiao Yong today that the decision for reform-through-labor was based on his failure to report illegal incomes from that incident. Xiao Yong has been an activist based in Guangzhou for the last few years. According to a friend of his with whom I spoke just a short while ago, he had traveled to many places in China to participate in rights struggles. While on trains, the friend said, he would engage travelers in conversations about freedoms and rights. And he had been frequently summoned by police to "hecha", or to be interrogated, warned and threatened. On March 30th this year, shortly after the Two Meetings (两会) in Beijing concluded where Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao once again spoke of the urgent need for political reform and called upon the people to push for it, Xiao Yong and a dozen or so others were on street in Guangzhou holding signs such as "No vote, no future", "Hu Jintao leads the way to disclose assets" and more. Six were detained on allegations of "illegally gathering, marching or demonstrating," including Xiao Yong. They were released after a month or so on probation. Xiao Yong was forced to go back to his hometown in Shaoyang, Hunan, where he has sustained a lot of pressure from not just authorities but also relatives and friends, his friend told me over the phone. He told friends that he felt the authorities were out to get him and they probably would throw him in jail as soon as this year. The news of Xiao Yong's abrupt two-year reform-through-labor came as a shock today. In Twitter's Chinese community, people expressed disbelief and anger over such despicable abuses of power on the part of the Chinese government. Some remind us that this has been a pattern used on many other activists, while others see it as an attempt to terrify other activists. For those of you who follow China's human rights situation closely, Shaoyang has been in the news lately for the death of Li Wangyang (李旺阳), a dissident from the 1989 movement who was found dead in early June. Police insisted he had committed suicide, but too many questions are pointing to murder. His relatives and friends who brought the news his death to the world have since been held illegally without anyone being able to reach them. Xiao Yong made it clear in his calls that he wants to get legal assistance to challenge his case. Our readers may have already come across two headlines about China today: China, along with Russia, again vetoed a UN resolution seeking to sanction against Syria; the famed artist Ai Weiwei is being prevented by police from going to the court to hear the very verdict in his own case. Today is one of those days that afford you a better look at the people running China.

Will Hu Jintao’s Taiwan Strategy See Results? Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:41 PM PDT Could outgoing Chinese president Hu Jintao be reaching for cross-Strait relations' holy grail before year end? While his policies have sought to reel Taiwan through increased economic ties, Parris H. Chang of The Diplomat ponders the end game of Hu's "new way forward" on reunification: As Hu Jintao comes closer to stepping down from his leadership post at the CCP during its upcoming 18th Party Congress in the fall, he may feel a sense of urgency. There are signs that Beijing is mounting pressure on President Ma and the KMT to accelerate cross-strait political talks, map out confidence-building measures to end hostility, and to conclude a peace agreement that would be meant as a foot in the door for Taiwan's eventual unification with China. Are Hu and his advisers reasoning that through Ma's reelection in Taiwan's democratic process, he now possesses the mandate of the people to decide Taiwan's political future without interference by the U.S. and other foreign influences? If China and Taiwan reach an agreement on national unification through peaceful means, they will sidestep the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act and remove the foundation for the U.S. intervention. For Hu's gambit to work, he will need President Ma's close and active collaboration. But will Taiwan's leader cooperate? At present, Ma has other, more pressing worries at home and the cross-strait relationship is not his top policy priority. In fact, he is suffering from a poor approval rating–as low as 15 percent– due to a string of official corruption scandals, unpopular domestic policy decisions, and his inept leadership. It stands to reason that he has no intention to arouse serious political backlash on the sensitive subject of China-Taiwan ties where many could perceive Taiwan's political talks with Beijing as the prelude to Ma's sellout of Taiwan to China. Hence, Ma has countered with a "three-no" formula consisting of "no independence, no unification, and no use of force" as his cross-strait policy. In essence, Ma wants to freeze the status quo in Taiwan's relations with China and, in a subtle manner, is effectively saying "no" to Hu's offer to engage in political talks with Beijing. © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Cross-Strait relations, cross-strait trade, Hu Jintao, Ma Ying-jeou Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

China: Ai Weiwei's Tax Evasion Case Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:07 PM PDT In April last year, prominent artist Ai Weiwei was detained by the Beijing authority without giving any reason and eventually state-run media said that he was under investigation for tax evasion, bigamy and 'spreading porn. In June 2011, Ai was asked to pay 12 million yuan ($1.85 million) in back taxes and fines and his lawyer decided to file a review for the tax evasion charge. Today, the court ruled that it would not over-rule the fine. The case's detail is documented in "The Fake Case". Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Photo: Red, by Christopher Cherry Posted: 19 Jul 2012 09:36 PM PDT © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Ai Weiwei Tax Evasion Appeal Rejected Posted: 19 Jul 2012 09:23 PM PDT A court in Beijing's Chaoyang district has rejected Ai Weiwei's appeal of a 15 million yuan fine for tax evasion, according to BBC: Supporters say the fine is politically motivated and Mr Ai wanted the court to overrule the penalty. "We will keep appealing, until the day comes when we cannot lose," Mr Ai said via Twitter. His lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, who was in court for the verdict, told reporters that the ruling was "totally without reason". Ai also claimed on his Twitter account Thursday that he was barred from appearing in the Beijing court to hear the verdict [translated by CDT]: Today, I was once again confined to my house, and police did not allow me to appear before the court to receive the judgment. This country has once again proved to the world that law and fairness do not exist here. Speaking to reporters from his Beijing studio after the verdict, Ai reiterated his disappointment. From AFP: "China keeps telling other countries they are a rule of law country… But we only hope they implement the laws they themselves drew up," he added. See also previous CDT coverage of Ai Weiwei and his detention on tax evasion charges last year.   © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Ai Weiwei, dissidents, rule of law, tax evasion Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Does U.S. Olympic Uniform Hoopla Miss the Point? Posted: 19 Jul 2012 07:56 PM PDT Despite the raucous raised by U.S. politicians over the revelation that America's Olympic uniforms are made in China, The Wall Street Journal's John Bussey asks: Who Cares? Election seasons often bend sensibility, and this year is no different. Populism gets votes. It also distracts from tackling the big China issues that actually matter to U.S. business: protection of intellectual-property rights, market access, forced transfer of U.S. technology to China, and the ability of China's state-owned enterprises to crush competitors. These days that agenda is largely on the back burner. Says an executive with a U.S. manufacturer that has operations in China: "The comments reflect either a lack of understanding of comparative advantage and how trade works (the Chinese are really good at producing low-cost uniforms, the U.S. is really good at innovative technology and advanced manufacturing—which would you rather be?), or cynical politics. More likely both." He doesn't want to be named and get his company in trouble with the politicians. It's "grandstanding," says another manager with a tech multinational. "There are far more important bilateral business and trade issues for both countries." Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has stayed silent on the issue, which The Guardian ties to his involvement in a similar uniform controversy during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, and Bloomberg Businessweek's Larry Popelka urges readers to stop whining about a few "Made in China" tags because outsourcing is good for American businesses. For the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, however, Robert J.S. Ross writes that critics should focus less on where the uniforms are madeand more on how they are made: Lost in the wind of words is what should be central to the question of sourcing: conditions for the workers. If China's workers were sharing in the full fruits of growth, we would have a much smaller volume of American clothing made there. As it is, more than 98% of the dollar value of the Ralph Lauren clothing line is made abroad, much of it in China. Without more disclosure from the company as to which firms and factories make its goods, we can know only that Chinese apparel workers earn, officially, somewhere between 93 cents to just over $1 an hour; unofficially, they are often paid less than the official minimum, which varies by province and city. Days off are rare, despite laws that entitle them to one day off a week. A late 2011 investigation by China Labor Watch of factories producing for major American brands found employees who said they worked 30 days a month. There is a reason for this: Because wages fall so far behind rising living costs, workers need overtime pay to survive. Many other abuses are common in China's export factories. Workers are housed in dorms where conditions are often crowded and the food poor. The first month's wages are often withheld, so if the workers quit because of bad conditions, they must forfeit a month's wages. There is no right to form independent unions in China; only theCommunist Party'sAll-China Federation of Trade Unions is permitted, and it is usually a part of management, not responsible (or even known) to the workers. Exhaustion haunts the factory floors of China's export sector, and since last year, allegations of suicides caused by desperation have received worldwide attention. Bloomberg's Adam Minter, meanwhile, points out that the Chinese media feels burned by the uniform debate: Most commentators focused on what they perceive to be the narrow-minded hypocrisy of cynical American politicians. Take this inflammatory but representative tweet on Sina Weibo, China's most popular microblog, from Yang Rui, a notoriously jingoistic host on the English-language channel of the state-owned China Central Television: I just finished the live London Olympic countdown broadcast. Regarding American senators wanting to burn those "made-in-China" uniforms in an election year, I just said one sentence in the prologue: It's a joke, right? I asked: Would they like to burn those "made-in-China" iPhones? Most iPhones are made in China, so they also take away Americans' jobs? How much does Apple earn in China? This publicity stunt in an election year is so disgusting. Yang's tirade is extreme only in tone. Insofar as he blames Reid's comment on the overheated rhetoric that emerges from U.S. presidential campaigns, he's fully in the mainstream. The more moderate "CCTV Commentators," a group Sina Weibo account registered to CCTV's stable of editorial commentators, tweeted this wary observation on July 17: Some American politicians complain about the made-in-China uniforms. There will always be voices that attack globalization during election years, or when the U.S. economy is in the doldrums. © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: London Olympics, outsourcing, Ralph Lauren, sweat shop, U.S. election 2012 Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Luxury Loses As China Slowdown Reinforces Regime Change Posted: 19 Jul 2012 04:05 PM PDT China has a unique relationship between its politics and certain high-end industries. Bloomberg reporters Vinicy Chan and Crystal Chui suggest that anti-graft measures have dampened the luxury market to some extent: [Mainland customers'] pullback shows how the slowest economic expansion in three years and an effort to curb corruption are starting to ripple through China's 22-billion euro ($27 billion) luxury market, where CLSA Ltd. estimates that almost a fifth of spending is on corporate gifts. That will likely hurt makers of pricey brands such as Cartier seller Cie. Financiere Richemont SA (CFR), Swatch Group AG (UHR) and Hong Kong jewelerLuk Fook Holdings International Ltd. (590) "Lower earnings resulting from China's economic slowdown may lead to companies spending less on business gifts," said Luk Fook Chief Financial Officer Paul Law. "Corporate gifting helps foster business relationships: You can cut the red tape and speed up approval processes when you have good relations." These gifts include cigarettes, Maotai liquor, Rolex and Longines watches, Louis Vuitton wallets, and gold bars carved with lucky characters. Some disagree over the factors that caused the decrease in China's appetite for luxury goods: Gifting is important in Chinese personal and professional life and is centered around the idea of reciprocity. Even though companies and government officials may be under public scrutiny there will still be demand for gifts because "corporate gifting is so prevalent in China's business practices," said Law, who sees economic pressures as a bigger threat than the anti-graft measures, which can be hard to enforce. In what could be perceived as an attempt to win back the China market, Louis Vuitton today took the unprecedented move of running a full-page ad on the front cover of the official China Daily newspaper. In response to reports of an industry slowdown, several luxury brands announced today that their sales in China are still robust and not experiencing a downturn. See Also: Officials' Luxury Watches Set Off Alarms and China Targets Corruption With Expense Crackdown via China Digital Times. © Wendy Qian for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: alcohol, anti-corruption, anti-graft, luxury goods, official corruption Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Frenchman Linked to Bo Arrives in China Posted: 19 Jul 2012 03:52 PM PDT According to AFP's interviews with Cambodian police, Frenchman Patrick Henri Devillers, who is believed to have close ties to Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai, has returned to China to help the investigation into the political scandal involving the couple. Bo, former Party Secretary of Chongqing, is being investigated for several disciplinary problems, while Gu has been accused of involvement in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood: Architect Patrick Devillers, arrested in Phnom Penh last month at Beijing's request, was freed on Monday and he boarded a flight for Shanghai the following day "by his own will," deputy national police chief Sok Phal said. "He said he is going there to be a witness," the official said, adding that China had asked for his release. "The French embassy supported this 100 percent." [...] China had requested Devillers' extradition and his arrest on June 13 for unspecified offenses, sparking a diplomatic tussle between Beijing and Paris, which warned Cambodia not to send the architect anywhere without a clear legal basis. Financial Times reporters Hugh Carnegy and Gwen Robinson have additional details about the extradition: However, some government officials privately told western business sources in Phnom Penh that there was a lot of negotiation between the French government and the Chinese to persuade Mr Devillers to go. They suggested that certain guarantees had been negotiated, including for Mr Devillers' safety. [...] The French ministry said: "In the framework of this consular protection, we have made sure that Mr Devillers' rights would be respected. In particular, we have ensured that he has been able to choose his own lawyer and to receive from his lawyer the appropriate advice regarding his situation. See also: Frenchman with Ties to Bo Arrested in Cambodia via China Digital Times and Bo Family Bought Luxury Flats in London via the Financial Times. Read more about the role of both Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai in the ongoing scandal. © Wendy Qian for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Bo Xilai, cambodia, corruption, extradition, France, gu kailai, Neil Heywood, Patrick Henri Devillers Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

China and Russia Again Veto Syria Resolution Posted: 19 Jul 2012 02:41 PM PDT Following Wednesday's bomb attack on the Syrian parliament which killed key members of the ruling party, the longstanding conflict there between rebels and the government has sharply deteriorated as violence spiraled out of control. In response, the United Nations Security Council today voted on a resolution to permit sanctions against the Syrian government, but it was voted down by Rusiia and China, President Bashir al-Assad's staunchest allies. From AP: The 11-2 vote, with two abstentions from South Africa and Pakistan, was the third double veto of a resolution addressing the Syria crisis, now in its 17th month, by Damascus' most important allies. The key stumbling block was the West's insistence that a new resolution be drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which could eventually allow the use of force to end the conflict, and threaten non-military sanctions against the Syrian regime if it didn't withdraw troops and heavy weapons from populated areas within 10 days. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the resolution should never have been put to a vote because the sponsors knew it had no chance of adoption. "We simply cannot accept a document under Chapter 7, one which would open the path for the pressure of sanctions and further to external military involvement in Syrian domestic affairs," he said. The official Xinhua News Agency defended the Chinese government's position in an editorial on Friday: The draft resolution proposed by Western countries is "seriously problematic", with uneven content that is intended to put pressure on only one party in Syria, China's permanent representative to the UN Li Baodong said here Thursday after exercising veto over the draft resolution. "Experience has proven that such practice would not help resolve the Syrian issue, but instead would only derail the issue from the track of political settlement," Li said, adding "It will not only further aggravate the turmoil, but also result in spillover of the problem to other countries in the region, undermine regional peace and stability, and ultimately impair the interests of the people in Syria and the region at large." But China's decision – the third such veto on Syria – was strongly criticized by other Security Council members. From Bloomberg: Western diplomats today attacked Russia for putting first its historic links and economic interests with Assad. Syria is an arms customer and hosts Russia's only military base outside the former Soviet Union in the port of Tartus. "The effect of their actions is to protect a brutal regime," U.K. Ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant told the council after the vote. "They have chosen to put their national interests ahead of the lives of millions of Syrians." Read more about China's role in the Syria crisis and in the United Nations Security Council via CDT. See live updates on the situation from The Guardian. © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: diplomacy, middle east, Syria, UNSC Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

What Happens Now in the South China Sea? Posted: 19 Jul 2012 11:41 AM PDT Although the meltdown of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh last week seemed like an unmitigated disaster, and already has resulted in a flurry of press coverage blasting the organization, the situation in the South China Sea is not necessarily headed for a steep descent into real conflict. To be sure, both sides seem likely to send more "fishing vessels" and other boats that straddle the line between civilian and military vessels into the disputed waters, raising the possibility of further skirmishes. Meanwhile, in the wake of the summit Philippine opinion leaders, and the Philippine media, are both livid at Cambodia for allegedly scuttling any joint position and increasingly aware of how vulnerable the Philippines is, having allowed their armed forces to deteriorate badly over the past two decades. I am hardly interested in absolving either China or ASEAN, an organization poorly prepared for dealing with 21st century challenges like a rising China, but in the near term, it is not unimaginable that all sides in the dispute will cool down. Indeed, there remains some room for compromise between all Sea claimants and the United States, in order to avoid any real shooting war in the Sea. While it is unlikely that Beijing will give up its claims to the entire Sea anytime soon, Chinese officials recognize that their forceful, increasingly vocal positions on the Sea have alienated many Southeast Asian nations and pushed countries like Vietnam and the Philippines closer to the United States, exactly what China, which has ambitions of denying the U.S. access to and control of Southeast Asian waterways, does not want. Already,China has lost much of the regional good will it fostered in the late 1990s and early 2000s by agreeing, in theory, to work for a code of conduct on the South China Sea, as well as by launching a "charm offensive" of aid, diplomacy, and cultural diplomacy inSoutheast Asia. At the same time, though some ASEAN nations like Cambodia are drawing nearer to China, while others such as the Philippines are moving closer to the United States, all ASEAN nations value the organization's coherence, and realize that Southeast Asian states must generally provide a united front on issues if they are to be treated as a major power in East Asia, and if they hope to be the center of any future Asian regional security architecture. The savviest ASEAN officials realize this, which is why everyone from Indonesia's foreign minister to the ASEAN Secretary-General has, in the wake of the summit, been engaged in back-and-forth diplomacy among ASEAN members to try to get them to agree to some kind of joint position on the Sea, even if that position is weaker than what the Philippines and Vietnam would have wanted.

Aspen Ideas Festival Debate between Eric X Li and Minxin Pei on “China and Democracy” (Video) Posted: 19 Jul 2012 10:48 AM PDT Aspen Institute has just released the debate between Eric X Li and Minxin Pei, moderated by James Fallows. See my earlier reaction to JJ Gould's take (who was in the audience), when this video was still not yet available. Now that I have watched it, I think it is clear that Li trounced Minxin Pei. (JJ Gould clearly ignored many great points Li made; a reminder we should be getting our news more directly rather through journalists.) Li's arguments were much more grounded in reality whereas Pei's were – well, often times religious. Notice at the very end when Fallows polled the audience, more people changed their minds following the debate in siding with Li. People also applauded Li when he explained that a system must fit the country's unique history, culture, and current circumstances. It was in response to whether China's system is exportable. That particular question struck me once more that Americans tend to think in black and white terms; if you don't follow my religion, you must be against my religion. Our world need not work in that dichotomy. Another person asked what China could teach America. Li essentially said, accept and tolerate other forms of government. By the way, being tolerant is very much what true democracy strives for, isn't it?

Precious trees imported from Vietnam die in Hefei Posted: 19 Jul 2012 01:02 AM PDT Chinese netizens are furious at the local government of Hefei city, Anhui province, for wasting a large amount of public money, after it was founded that a big quantity of high-cost Crape Myrtle trees the government imported from Vietnam have died. Reportedly, Heifei city constructed a forest nursery, and "brought in a hefty shipping of crap myrtle trees from Vietnam" for it last December. The precious shrubs are an average of 100 years old, and cost as high as 400,000 RMB each tree. Unfortunately however, the local residents have found out that the first group of trees to be planted have died, due to various reasons such as "an inappropriate transplanting season"! Check the picture above.

The Daily Twit – 7/19/12: Rising Costs, Increased Lending and More CO2 Posted: 19 Jul 2012 05:41 AM PDT The big China story today? Dunno. You tell me. Here are a few things worth reading: Want China Times: Adidas to leave China for Southeast Asia amid rising costs — Sign of the times. Something tells me that if you sat down a typical China basher from the West and forced them to read about how labor and other costs in China are forcing some manufacturers to other countries, they'd pass out in shock. Foreign Policy: China catches up with Europe on C02-per-capita, Australia still on top — Sounds like a big headline, but a lot of folks today have been poking holes in the methodology. Either way, I'm scared. LA Times: Warner, China Film clash on 'Dark Knight' debut against 'Spider-Man' — China Film Group apparently doesn't yet understand the movie biz. And @bokane asks the rhetorical question whether Warner Bros. or CFG has more leverage in this negotiation. Indeed. Guardian: Chinese newspaper shakeups raise fears of growing pressure on media — Tania Branigan discusses the latest industry news. Lots of folks hunkered down waiting for this year to just be over with already. Also Sprach Analyst: China's big 4 banks doubled lending in 1st half of July — And so it begins. Good news or bad, depending on your perspective. Caijing: PE Insider：Nothing Wrong with VIE Itself — A VIE apology column. Intriguing. I still might blog on this, if I can ever figure out what the author is trying to say. Forbes: Stock Bearers Think They've "Learned" About New Oriental Education — Things already seemed pretty bad for New Oriental after the SEC investigation of their VIE was announced. Now Muddy Waters is getting in on the action. Reuters: US SEC delays court action seeking Deloitte China audit papers — Your latest dose of news on the continuing auditor oversight fun and games. Bloomberg: California Shark Fin Sales Ban Challenged in Group's Suit (h/t @niubi) — Fascinating, although ultimately a loser. This is a U.S. federal case citing commerce clause and equal protection violations brought by a San Francisco Chinatown association. China Daily Show: Tibet closed for routine maintenance — I for one am glad that they're fixing the place up. That's nice. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

New iPad China Launch is Nigh. Break Out the Water Cannon and Teargas. Posted: 19 Jul 2012 04:22 AM PDT Paul Mozur of the Wall Street Journal asks a valid question: "Can Apple Launch in China Without Incident?" If you recall, the last one didn't go all that well, depending on your expectations: The big question for the China launch of the new iPad on Friday isn't whether it will sell well, but if the retailer can keep the police out of it. When the iPhone 4S launched in January, hundreds of customers waited overnight outside the Apple store in Beijing's tony Sanlitun shopping district. But when the surrounded store didn't open as expected the next morning, at least one fan pelted the facade with eggs and by midmorning authorities had moved in to disperse the mass of expectant customers thronging the outside of the store. It will probably be different this time. For one thing, demand for the product, which has been on the market in places like Hong Kong for a while now, has slackened. Not only have large numbers of the new iPads been brought into the country to be sold on the gray market, but also lots of folks are not too thrilled to pay Apple prices for an upgrade that many find underwhelming. But just in case, Apple is switching from a fight-through-the-crowds-to-get-your-new-toy approach to something with more control: Apple has decided to institute the reservation policy it used successfully to keep scalpers at bay in the Hong Kong Apple store. Fanbois can request a reservation online, leaving ID details, between the hours of 9am and 12pm to give them a chance of picking up the device in-store the following day. So no problem? Yes, if everyone out there understands the new policy and doesn't show up anyway. "Pre-order" — that's clear, right? It's just like when you "pre-board" an aircraft, which I assume means that you get on before you get on. Makes perfect sense. I'm sure that all those 14-year-old rich kids who are used to immediate gratification will be poring over that reservation policy instead of just going to the Apple Store with outstretched hand and credit card, don't you? This could still be a crowd control problem, so as a public service, here are a few things Apple may wish to consider at its Beijing Sanlitun Village store: 1. Close it. Rent is ridiculously high anyway, and think of all those other things you can do with that rent money. Most of the cultists who show up will keep buying your stuff online anyway, and as for all those folks who show up and never buy anything, screw 'em. 2. With the proceeds from the store closing, hire John Hodgman as your full-time spokesman, and dub him into Chinese. Better yet, buy a high-end Chinese tutor (a pretty one) and get Hodgman fluent in Mandarin as fast as possible. Money well spent, I'd say. 3.  To fight against scalpers, require all pre-order information to include fingerprint and retina scans, which will be hard-coded into a new security layer for all Mac devices sold in the PRC. Then again, scalpers are tough bastards, and Apple may not want to encourage the practice of harvesting migrant laborers' fingers and eyeballs. Ick. 4. Partner with Google and launch an international anti-censorship campaign. Your product launch worries will then be of secondary importance. 5. Give up on the market and turn everything over to Xiaomi. It's inevitable anyway, at least according to some patridiots™ out there. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: apple, ipad

Sheldon Adelson’s Macanese Hooker Problem Posted: 19 Jul 2012 02:43 AM PDT This isn't really a China news topic, but don't you just love a good hooker story? And it does involve Macau, so close enough. The fact that this particular one involves a billionaire American who is one of the largest campaign donors to the Republican Party (motto: "Like it, buy it!") is the icing on top of the cake. You know, one of those huge hollow ones with a hooker inside? Sheldon Adelson, which strangely enough is Woody Allen's real name (well, probably something like that), is in court fighting with an ex-employee, Steven Jacobs. Normally when you seen two names like "Sheldon Adelson" and "Steven Jacobs," you immediately think co-producer credit on a San Fernando Valley skin flick like "Shaving Ryan's Privates" or "Good Will Humping." But no, Adelson and Jacobs aren't in the adult movie industry, nor are they Brooklyn Zionists or in the schmatta business. No, these guys are casino moguls. You see, Jacobs used to run the Macau Sands for Adelson, who owns the Las Vegas Sands empire, and they had a bit of a falling out. In the ensuing litigation, Jacobs has claimed that Adelson personally approved allowing/hiring hookers in the Macau Sands. According to the Associated Press, Adelson is not amused: Las Vegas Sands Corp. chief and leading Republican political donor Sheldon Adelson is firing back at his former Macau casino executive's claim that Adelson personally approved prostitution at company properties in the Chinese gambling enclave. Now, I'm no expert on Macau. Never been there, in fact. I'm also not big on casinos or gambling. So while prostitution is in fact legal in Macau, I normally wouldn't venture my opinion on whether the Sands allowed it. On the other hand, you gotta figure that most of the patrons of the Macau Casino are rich Chinese guys, and I do know something about their proclivities. Let's put it this way. Of the nine different apartment buildings I've lived in over the years in China, I've been deluged with hooker advertisements in at least six of them. Every time I take out the trash, I have to sweep up all the little hooker pics/adverts from in front of my door. I've often wondered where those photos come from and who makes the adverts. Do they swipe pics from social media sites? Is there an online clearinghouse for sultry photos that can be used by aspiring hookers with graphic design needs? And it's not just me. Pretty much anyone you talk to who travels within or to China, particularly on business, will tell stories about the late night phone calls or even the girls who show up at the door unannounced, hoping for a spur-of-the-moment decision. If it's right in front of you, it's very difficult to say no. I have the same problem with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Wait, what were we talking about again? Oh right, Sheldon Adelson's hooker problem. So do I know for sure whether the Macau Sands gave the green light (red light?) to hookers? Not for sure, but this is a guy who gave millions of dollars to help elect Newt Gingrich president. This man is no mensch with high moral standards, although he certainly likes to portray himself as some sort of Super Jew (not to be confused with the 2013 movie of the same name by the Coen Brothers currently in post-production). Do the patrons of the Macau Sands want hookers? Well, look, after a number of years, your nagging Shanghainese wife just doesn't get the job done for you anymore. And sometimes you need a break from both your mistress in Shenzhen and your down-market girlfriend in Zhuhai. A trip down to Macau for some power gambling, karaoke and a bit of the old in-out-in-out might be just what you need. Would Adelson really stand in the way of that sort of pent-up demand? I just don't see it, but I could be wrong. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Sheldon Adelson

Program funds wildlife protection Posted: 18 Jul 2012 11:28 PM PDT Police from the Altay Customs, in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, show off the confiscated wild animal skins. Provided to China Daily   The fourth installment of the Wildlife Guard Action, a program to fund individuals and organizations involved in the enforcement of wildlife protection in China, was launched on July 13. Founded in 2008 by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a NGO based in New York, the program has so far awarded 75 "wildlife guards" who carry out enforcement against the illegal wildlife product trade in China. The procedure of applying for the funding started from May 24, and will close on July 31. Qualified applicants will receive equipment and relevant training programs. Elizabeth Bennett, deputy director of WCS, expressed her support to stop the illegal wildlife trade in China in a video played at the news conference to announce the program. She praised the country's determination and endeavors in protecting wildlife. A noted conservationist, Bennett wrote a paper in 2011 emphasizing that sophisticated illegal trading in wildlife parts conducted by organized crime groups, coupled with antiquated enforcement methods, are "decimating the world's most beloved species – including rhinos, tigers and elephants – on a scale never before seen". The paper indicated that much of the trade is driven by wealthy East Asian markets that have a seemingly insatiable appetite for wildlife parts. According to the report, organized crime syndicates using sophisticated smuggling operations have penetrated even previously secure wildlife populations. Some of the elaborate methods include: hidden compartments in shipping containers, rapidly changing smuggling routes, and the use of e-commerce to avert detection of locations. Bennett says an immediate short-term solution to stave off the local extinction of wildlife is through law enforcement. She also stressed the commitment of resources to supersede those of the criminal organizations. The program managed to attract a wide range of agencies in China. They included government agencies such as the law enforcement bureaus from General Administration of Customs and State Forestry Administration, domestic and international NGOs as well as representatives from universities, enterprises and media. Media representative Liu Jing, chief content director of China National Geographic Magazine called on members of the media to focus on and disclose illegal wildlife products trade and related issues. Photographer Liang Yongguang from National Geographic Magazine and Yang Wanguo, an investigative reporter from the Beijing News, shared their experiences of reporting on the frontline of illegal wildlife trade. More than 20 Chinese media indicated their commitment by signing on the wildlife protection proposal. From mid-July, three professional film and media groups will film a documentary of wildlife guards in action. Famous director Feng Xiaoning will be the chief consultant.   More information about the program is available on www.baohu.org. wangru@chinadaily.com.cn Source：China Daily You might also like： New edition of Chinese dictionary reflects changing society Thanks for all the fish Flying Kick Helps Brave Guards Subdue Crazy Campus Attacker Simple life of summer in the mountains Don't be so nervous about the reappearance of Little Red Guards 无觅

Nude cosplayer makes a mess at anime festival in Shenzhen Posted: 18 Jul 2012 04:43 PM PDT A nearly nude crosplayer was taken away by the local police yesterday at the 4th Shenzhen Cartoon and Animation Festival. The five-day event, which opened on July 18 in the city's Convention and Exhibition Center, features cosplay matches, street dances, cartoon and animation innovation for young people as well as electronic games. But only about one hour after the event kicked off, a young girl, who stripped off her clothing and used nipple covers and nude panties to cover her private parts, suddenly appeared in the crowd of attendees, and readily made postures before the cameras.

You are subscribed to email updates from Update » Blogs » Politics To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610