| Dangerous Boredom: Ye Shiwen and the Olympian Racists Posted: 31 Jul 2012 12:03 AM PDT  The human mind craves stimulation, and if it stays bored too long, it will naturally seek out just about anything, no matter how incidental and ridiculous, that catches its attention. Case in point, the London Olympics and the latest "drama" concerning Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen.
I'm probably not the best person to talk about the Olympics. I generally ignore the games. In 2008 here in Beijing, I only went to one event after I was offered free tickets. In 1984 in LA, my family and I fled the scene for the entire week. I don't think I've watched television coverage of the Olympics since the Dream Team. Be that as it may, this silliness deserves a quick comment: When China's Ye Shiwen glided to the finish line in the 400-meter individual medley race Saturday, breaking both the world and Olympics record, BBC commentator Clare Balding questioned how she was able to perform so well. Ms. Balding asked former British Olympian Mark Foster, "How many questions will there be, Mark, about somebody who can suddenly swim so much faster than she has ever swum before?"
Heads exploded shortly thereafter, with Balding being accused of both jealousy (the UK isn't exactly an Olympian powerhouse) and racism. There's a very good chance here that Balding may have {gasp} hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. Between Balding, the angry Chinese weibots who have assailed her since she made her comments, and the 3,285,692 pundits who have chimed in thus far on the story, I haven't seen too many that come off well for the effort. Let's start with Balding herself. Her language was like something said by a political reporter. You see, she didn't actually accuse Ye of doping, she merely pointed out that there will be questions! Just being a good reporter, right? No matter that most of the subsequent chatter were responses to her commentary. Very slick. I personally find the comments ugly. You don't accuse a 16-year-old of breaking the rules just when she's broken a world record at the freakin' Olympics, perhaps the best moment of her life. If nothing else, that's simply impolite and in poor taste. If there are doping problems, let the system deal with it; that's what the mandatory tests are for. Poor kid. Whatever happens now, her Olympics will be forever tarnished. That's inexcusable. As to the online weibots who immediately screamed racism? Please, stop embarrassing yourselves. Balding may have said something inappropriate, but it was hardly made in a vacuum. We all know about China's history of doping, specifically its Olympic swim teams. This was not about ethnicity or race, although we could use the term "stereotyping," as in all Chinese swimmers who do spectacularly well may have doping problems, given the history of that program. Not fair at all, but hardly racist. Finally, for all those commentators who have spoken at nauseating length about Ye's race, her recent competitive record, and comparisons to Phelps and others, all I have to ask is why bother? A simple "Ye is the record holder and medalist until the IOC says differently" seems appropriate to me. All the rest is just filling air time at 24/7 CNN. This whole issue should never have been brought up in the first place. And for all those people who are so painfully bored that this controversy proved so titillating, try watching something a little more exciting. Here's my recommendation.
© Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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| Why is China Still Receiving Development Assistance? Posted: 30 Jul 2012 10:14 PM PDT  Is China, with the world's second-largest economy, a global leader, or does it remain a developing nation? Many would say that it is both.
In an article posted yesterday on the Huffington Post, Daniel Wagner, discussing modern China's position on the world stage, made this observation: China's debut as a global player over the past decade has been complicated by its chosen dual role as both a developed and developing nation. It is at once a major donor to poor nations and a recipient of multilateral aid from development banks — in essence, the 'poor' developing country that seeks to combat poverty at home and the global superpower that projects its power skillfully. China's leadership promotes this duality — wanting to be thought of as a country that must continually strive to 'develop,' while at the same time acting like a superpower. This duality naturally makes it more difficult for China to achieve its international economic objectives, from the perspective of developed countries, since China can be accused of wanting to have its cake and eat it, too. It wants to have the benefits of multilateral development assistance normally afforded to 'developing' countries, while wanting to be able to flex its muscles in international fiscal and monetary affairs.
In addition to the foreign policy issues is a simple question about fairness. Is it "right" that China should receive development assistance when it has a great deal of resources that are being sent abroad and spent on other policy priorities? This is a very basic question for the development assistance community and the international development banks, one that has been discussed many times, including in academic works. It would be easier if we could just come up with a definition of "developing nation," check China's poverty statistics and other economic indicators against the standard, and come up with a simple "yes it is still poor" or "no, it isn't any longer." This sort of analysis actually does work for many countries, but as is the case with several other issues, China is different. Former World Bank President Bob Zoellick was over here in China a couple years ago and simplified the issue with the following statement: "China has scored amazing economic success for the past three decades, not only in terms of high growth rates, but also in poverty reduction and other areas," Zoellick told Xinhua in an exclusive interview ahead of his week-long visit to China scheduled for September 9 to 15. However, he said he believes China is still a developing country. Tremendous changes have taken place in China over the past decades, but there are still many people in China's poor rural areas that don't even have access to electricity, he said.
Do you side with Zoellick on this? Is China still developing? If so, this would justify continued funding of projects by the World Bank. But how far does China need to go in terms of overall wealth or per capita income to get off that "developing country" list? Intrigued by Zoellick's black-and-white answer, I checked out the World Bank's China page, which never really addresses what China is and why it deserves assistance. The World Bank's "About Us" page, which contains some mission statement language, states that: Six strategic themes drive the Bank's work, focusing on the poorest countries, fragile and conflict-affected states, the Arab world, middle-income countries, global public goods issues, and delivery of knowledge and learning services.
China could qualify under several of these categories, and based on what Zoellick said, presumably China fits under the "poorest countries" label. If so, just what makes a "poor" country? One clue might be to look at what the World Bank actually does in China. The bank's country strategy page gives us the basics, which is yet another list of policy priorities: This Country partnership Strategy for China focuses on five thematic areas of engagement that build on the Bank Group's international expertise while maximizing the creation and dissemination of knowledge of China's development processes inside and outside China. In particular, the Bank Group aims to help: 1) Integrate China into the world economy by deepening its participation in multilateral economic institutions, reducing internal and external barriers to trade and investment, and contributing to its overseas development efforts (pillar 1); 2) Reduce poverty, inequality and social exclusion, through promoting balanced urbanization, sustaining rural livelihoods, and expanding access to basic social and infrastructure services, particularly in the rural areas (pillar 2); 3) Manage resource scarcity and environmental challenges, through reducing air pollution, conserving water resources and optimizing energy use (partly through pricing reforms), improving land administration and management, and observing international environmental conventions (pillar 3); 4) Deepen financial intermediation, by expanding access to financial services (especially among small and medium enterprises), developing the capital markets, managing systemic risks, and maintaining financial stability (pillar 4); and 5) Improving public and market institutions, by improving firm competitiveness, reforming public sector units, and rationalizing intergovernmental fiscal relations (pillar 5).
So, based on that list, does the World Bank really see China as one of the "poorest countries," a nation that is already developed, or something else? Despite what Zoellick said two years ago, I'm going to go with "something else." You can't look at a list that includes both poverty reduction and access to financial services as anything other than a hybridized approach to a unique situation. And let's face it, the evidence is a bit mixed. Just take a trip to Shanghai or Shenzhen, and then give me your opinion on whether China is still a developing nation. Visit some of the African or South American countries who owe their brand-new, multi-million dollar football stadiums to China's financial largess and tell me if you still think China needs help from the World Bank to build that water treatment facility. Once you think you know the answer, then we'll send you out to the Chinese hinterlands, where you can choose to visit any number of villages where the residents still do not have access to clean drinking water, electricity or adequate education or healthcare. Are we closer to answering the question as to why China still receives development aid? No, not really. That leads us back to my above observation: China is different. If I'm the World Bank, my job is to help poor people. Generally speaking, second-guessing domestic policy is outside the scope and expertise of the institution. However, once a nation reaches a certain income level, it simply doesn't require additional help. If it chooses to spend its money unwisely, and millions of people remain in poverty, that's really not an issue a development bank can deal with. For example, the U.S. has a lot of poor people these days, folks that perhaps wouldn't be in such dire straits if the U.S. government had made different foreign and domestic policy choices over the past 30 years. Should the development banks get involved? Most people would say no, the U.S. is a wealthy nation and should be left to set its own priorities. How about China? Should it spend another $40 million on a new sports facility for an African ally in order to lock up another friendly face in multilateral institutions? Again, many people would say China is a sovereign nation and should be left to set its own priorities. Given that, shouldn't the development banks politely step back from China with the excuse that it is a sovereign nation with sufficient resources, able to alleviate poverty on its own now? Perhaps, but they don't, and frankly, Zoellick's pronouncement that China is still a developing nation is not very helpful in figuring this out, particularly since the World Bank currently classifies China as an "upper middle income" nation. That simply doesn't mesh with the term "poorest countries." Or does it? China is an upper middle income nation in terms of wealth, but in terms of the number of poor people, it still has huge problems. Quantifying those problems is extremely difficult, but even small percentages of the population in China measures up to tens of millions of people (other studies go much higher). If you're in the business of helping poor people, aren't you going to go where there are a lot of them? Although this may answer the question of why China is still receiving development assistance, we are left hanging with the fairness issue. If China chooses not to spend a certain sum on a vanity project instead of poverty reduction, should a development bank still offer assistance instead of sending that money to another needy country? To put it another way, is the World Bank indirectly subsidizing that vanity project? There are good arguments on both sides of this, but keep one thing in mind. If those development bank dollars are withdrawn from China, that does not guarantee that Beijing will step in and fill the gap, foregoing other spending.
© Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: development, poverty, world bank
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| Gu Kailai and the Rise of Elite Insecurity Posted: 30 Jul 2012 09:17 PM PDT Reaching back into the days of Mao, The Diplomat's Minxin Pei ponders what the murder charges brought against Gu Kailai say about the political security of China's top leaders: Some observers may object by saying that purging senior officials on corruption charges is quite different from sacking them because of ideological disloyalty or factional power struggle, as was the case during the Maoist era. This difference may be technically true but substantively and politically irrelevant. In terms of fostering a dreaded sense of insecurity among the top ruling elites, corruption charges and alleged political offenses are no different. First, like political offenses, corruption charges can be concocted. The alleged evidence against the two Chens, for example, revealed two far-fetched and weak cases. It is common knowledge that the two Chens fell not because of corruption, but because of their political ambitions and disloyalty. The same could be said of the causes of Bo's collapse. Second, because China's top elites, who personally or directly may have little involvement in corrupt activities but who all have family members and relatives who engage in questionable or illegal business deals, no one at the top is absolutely safe. At the moment, the Party seems to have drawn the line at the Politburo Standing Committee level — Politburo members are not safe, but Politburo Standing Committee members enjoy absolute immunity, because purges at the highest level of the Party would be too destabilizing. But since this arrangement is not ironclad, who knows when the Party will decide to go after one of the top nine leaders in the future? Third, once brought down in a power struggle, even China's top rulers lack minimal legal protection. They cannot pick lawyers or have the ability to challenge the charges against them in an independent judiciary. Their verdict and penalty are typically decided, not by professional judges after the conclusion of the proceedings, but by top political leaders behind closed doors. What this analysis reveals — and what the case against Bo and his wife shows — is that political security for China's top rulers today has deteriorated so much that, in some crucial ways, they might feel that they are back to the bad old Maoist days. Elite disunity and vicious infighting is now the rule, not the exception. This cannot be reassuring news for a regime ruled by individuals whose daily nightmare is that they will one day become another Bo Xilai.
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bo Xilai, corruption, gu kailai, Mao Zedong, murder, political security, scandal
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| China’s Economy, Through Private Lenses Posted: 30 Jul 2012 08:25 PM PDT With China's official economic data coming under scrutiny in recent weeks, The Wall Street Journal dances around Zhongnanhai to take an unfiltered look at China's economic health: Private surveys and company data might be free from fears of political manipulation, but they have their own problems. Survey sample sizes are small (420 firms for the HSBC PMI and even less for the MNI survey) while company results are not necessarily representative of the sector as a whole. That said, the independent data paints a picture that – with a couple of notable exceptions – is broadly consistent with the official data. Industrial output growth is decelerating , and perhaps more quickly than the government data suggests. But investment and demand for industrial commodities continue to grow, consumers are hitting the shops, and exports are flowing through the ports.
Despite second quarter GDP growth dipping to its lowest level in three years, a weekend piece in The China Daily cautioned against panic: On July 16, The Wall Street Journal said China would drag the world economy into "another recession". On the same day, a commentary in Germany's Die Frankfurter Zeitung titled "The fear of China crash" even warned that China is facing a catastrophic economic crash. Some people in China, too, are worried about the continuous slowdown and a possible hard landing, and have appealed to the government to take necessary actions to sustain the 8-percent growth rate for the whole of 2012. However, these reports do not reflect the current state of the Chinese economy. China has set this year's growth target at 7.5 percent. So, even if the economy continues to grow at 7.6 percent in the second half, the entire year's average will be 7.7 percent. China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) envisages an annual growth rate of 7 percent. Hence, if 2012 has a growth rate of 7.7 percent, the economy needs to grow only by 6.4 percent a year from 2013 to 2015. An 8-percent growth rate was the "red line" for China during the 1997-99 Asian financial crisis and the 2009 global financial crisis. But that's no longer the case because China is shifting its focus from rapid economic growth to a more sustainable development model.
In The Diplomat, however, Barry Eichengreen questions how committed China's leadership really is to sacrificing high growth and restructuring its economy: At one level, it is a good thing that Chinese officials have these policy levers to pull, unlike their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe, whose policy room for maneuver is all but exhausted. The policy response prevents China from suffering unnecessary economic damage from events in Europe and the United States. Insofar as growth faster than seven percent is important for social stability, even graver risks are averted. But at another level, the policy response is only storing up problems for the future. Prior to the current slowdown, the Chinese authorities had committed to restructuring their economy. Restructuring meant redirecting Chinese output from foreign to domestic markets, which implied a change in the product mix, given differences in Chinese and foreign spending patterns. Restructuring meant rebalancing domestic spending from investment to consumption. The investment rate would be lowered from a stratospheric 50 percent, given that no economy can productively invest such a large share of its national income for any length of time. There would be no more construction of ghost towns and no more bullet trains running off the rails, in other words. As wages rose, the share of consumption would be allowed to rise from 1/3 of GDP toward the 2/3 that is the international norm. Bank balance sheets would be strengthened by holding financial institutions to stricter reserve requirements and higher lending standards. The result was to be a better balanced, more stable, and less financially vulnerable Chinese economy. Given the global slowdown and the Chinese policy response, this restructuring agenda is now on hold. The new measures will succeed in keeping high single-digit growth going for a time, as they did in 2009-10. But they will do so by aggravating the economy's imbalances and storing up problems for the future. This is not good news for those of us concerned with China's longer run prospects.
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: economic slowdown, GDP growth, government data, hard landing
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| Doping Accusations Dog Chinese Swim Champion Posted: 30 Jul 2012 07:26 PM PDT With the London Olympics underway, the first doping scandal of the games seems to have hit and it involves 16-year-old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen. Ye won a gold on Saturday after making record time in the 400 meter medley, beating the times of gold medalist men's swimmers Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps. American swim coach John Leonard stopped short of accusing Ye of using banned performance-enhancing substances but said her win was "disturbing." From the Guardian: The American John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, said the 16-year-old's performance was "suspicious" and said it brought back "a lot of awful memories" of the Irish swimmer Michelle Smith's race in the same event at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Smith, now Michelle de Bruin, was banned for four years in 1998 after testing positive for an anabolic steroid. Ye stunned world swimming on Saturday by winning gold in the 400m individual medley in a world-record time. It was her final 100m of freestyle, in which she recorded a split time of 58.68sec, that aroused Leonard's suspicion. Over the last 50m she was quicker than the American Ryan Lochte, who won the men's 400m individual medley in the second-fastest time in history . "We want to be very careful about calling it doping," said Leonard, who is also the executive director of the USA Swimming Coaches Association. "The one thing I will say is that history in our sport will tell you that every time we see something, and I will put quotation marks around this, 'unbelievable', history shows us that it turns out later on there was doping involved. That last 100m was reminiscent of some old East German swimmers, for people who have been around a while. It was reminiscent of the 400m individual medley by a young Irish woman in Atlanta."
Yet others defended Ye and disagreed that her performance was suspicious, including Australian coach Ken Wood who has worked in China since 2008. From the New Zealand Herald: "In the 1990s, the reputation of Chinese swimming wasn't good. There were a lot of doping problems. But it really is very different now. A lot of attention is paid to training. And despite breaking the world record, Ye Shiwen didn't come out of nowhere. Her results have steadily been improving," he said. "So I think it is down to training, not other methods."
The National Post reports on the response from Arne Ljungqvist, the International Olympic Committee medical chief: "I say no," Arne Ljungqvist told reporters when asked whether her dazzling swim had raised suspicions of doping. "I have personally no reason other than to applaud until I have further facts." "Should a sudden raise in performance or a win be primarily suspect of being a cheat then sport is in danger because this ruins the charm of sport," said Ljungqvist, who has 40 years experience in anti-doping. [...] Ye, already nicknamed the "young general" back home after shaving an amazing five seconds off her personal best in her gold medal race, can win another medal after posting the fastest qualifying time in the preliminaries of the women's 200 metres individual medley on Monday. [...] "My results come from hard work and training and I would never used any banned drugs. The Chinese people have clean hands," she told reporters.
But a former Chinese Olympic doctor tells a different story in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, accusing China of running "a state-sponsored doping regime": Steroids and human growth hormones were officially treated as part of "scientific training" as China emerged as a sporting power through the 1980s and into the 1990s, she says. Athletes often did not know what they were being injected with and medical staff who refused to participate were marginalised, she says. 1998 world swimming championships in Perth … Chinese swimmers Wang Luna and Zhang Yi failed drug tests. Photo: Craig Golding
"It was rampant in the 1980s," Xue Yinxian told Fairfax, in her home in Beijing's eastern suburbs. "One had to accept it." The testimony of Dr Xue, whose elite roles included chief medical supervisor for the Chinese gymnastic team as it vied with the former Soviet Union for gold medals in the 1980s, will not surprise many veterans of Olympic sports.
Yet there is sometimes another reason Chinese athletes test positive for performance-enhancing drugs: contaminated food. AFP reported earlier that Chinese Olympians have been on a strict meat free diet in order to avoid the additive clenbuterol, a substance banned under anti-doping rules but often found in Chinese meat: At least 196 competitors under China's National Aquatics Centre, which governs swimming, diving and other water sports, have been off meat for the past 40 days, the report said. The London Games are 100 days away. China's food production industry is notorious for frequent scandals involving producers who illegally or excessively use various additives in the raising of livestock. Authorities are particularly concerned that athletes could unwittingly consume clenbuterol, which is banned for food production in China but has been found in contaminated pork. Clenbuterol can speed up muscle-building and fat-burning to produce leaner meat but has also been used by athletes as a performance-enhancer. It is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
With China currently in the lead of the gold medal count, the Globe and Mail takes a look at the system under which Chinese athletes are identified and trained to reach Olympic glory.
© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: doping, olympics 2012, Olympics doping, swimming
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| Photo: 麦积山石窟 (Maijishan Grottoes), by shizhao Posted: 30 Jul 2012 06:07 PM PDT |
| Apple’s Slowing Growth in China Posted: 30 Jul 2012 06:02 PM PDT The Atlantic's Derek Thompson attributes Apple's disappointing performance last quarter to economic slowdown in China and elsewhere in Asia: Apple future, to the extent that it can continue to be the world's most profitable company, is in Asia. That's where the people are and that's where the growth is. [… N]ot only did Apple's YoY revenue decline across the world in the global slowdown, but also its Asian revenue growth slowed wayyyyy down. In China, Apple's second biggest market, revenue rose about 50% from 2011, but that growth was way down from the second quarter. Evidence abounds that the Chinese economy is worse than the government will let on and weaker than its been since the recession in 2008. [… T]his quarter's announcement was a reminder that the most successful tech company in the world is still in the world, and when the whole world slows down, Apple feels it. Although it's essentially an American hardware company, Apple's future makes it look more like an Asian phone company. In its historically profitable quarters, Asian revenue growth outstrips the Americas by two or three to one. Without a new phone or strong Asian growth, it can disappoint — even at $8 billion quarterly profit.
The Economist reports that, despite the disappointing results and dents in its reputation from environmental and labour controversies, the Chinese market for Apple's and others' gadgets is booming: A survey last year by researchers at Stanford University found that iPad penetration was greater at an elite high school in Beijing than at one in Palo Alto, California. In the first quarter of this year Apple earned $7.9 billion in greater China, making it the firm's second-biggest market (see chart). The latest iPad was launched on the mainland on July 20th. […] Sales of smartphones (of all brands) in China are soaring: they rose by 288% in April, year-on-year, and for the first time outpaced the sales of dumbphones. Sanford C. Bernstein, an investment bank, estimates that 270m people in China can already afford Apple's products, and that each year another 57m will be able to. Many Chinese are desperate for its gadgets. This year a boy from Anhui, one of China's poorest provinces, reportedly sold one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone and iPad. [… One] problem for Apple is that smartphone sales in China are driven mostly by cheap handsets. Sanford C. Bernstein estimates that two-thirds of smartphones sold last year in the country cost less than $300; the latest iPhone costs $800. Baidu, Alibaba and other local internet firms have introduced cheap cloud-connected handsets. Price competition at the bottom end of the market is so fierce that ZTE, a local handset maker, is thought to be losing money.
Apple's roughly annual release cycle and tendency to refresh devices' cosmetic design even less frequently has also given competitors an opening. From Reuters: "The (iPhone 4S) model is a little bit too long in the tooth when compared to other phones with better specs," said TZ Wong, a Beijing-based analyst from research firm IDC. "To put it plainly, consumers are getting a little bit tired of the look of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S." […] Apple is expected to release its next iPhone around October, according to sources, about a year after the launch of the 4S, which was a hot seller in the first three months of 2012 and helped to drive Apple's stellar earnings in that period.
See also 'Siri Learns Chinese' and 'Apple Releases 2012 Supplier Responsibility Report' on China Digital Times
© Wendy Qian for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple, consumer electronics, domestic demand, luxury goods, telecommunications
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| Slower Growth Forecast for Macau Posted: 30 Jul 2012 05:33 PM PDT Fitch Ratings recently published a report on Macau's 2012 revenue forecast, expressing concern at the possible slowdown of China's economy: Fitch has revised its 2012 Macau revenue growth forecast to 10%-12% from 15%, reflecting our more cautious view with respect to the near-term impact of the slowdown in China. This is our second downward revision over the last couple of months; as on June 8, 2012 market growth revenue forecast was reduced to 15% from 20% upon initial signs the slowdown was greater than original expectations. Macau market revenues grew 42% in 2011 and 58% in 2010. Overall market revenues were up almost 20% year to date through June. However, the slowdown became noticeable in May when revenues grew only 7.3%, followed by 12.2% in June. We expect July to also reflect a sluggish trend, possibly in the low-single digit range, as Typhoon Vicente had some impact with the disruption of ferry service to Macau from Hong Kong. Our updated forecast implies low-to-mid single-digit market revenue growth for the rest of 2012.
Macau still dominates the international gambling industry, however. Interwoven with the story of larger-than-life gambler Siu Yun Ping, The New Yorker's Evan Osnos captured the gambling culture and growth of Macau in April, and put forward different theories to explain Chinese people's propensity for financial risk: Gary Loveman, the chairman of Caesars Entertainment, was one of the few casino bosses who passed up a chance to build in Macau. "Big mistake," he said later. "I was wrong, I was really wrong." Even by China's standards, the speed of Macau's growth is breathtaking; for a decade, the economy has ballooned, on average, nineteen per cent a year—nearly twice as fast as mainland China's. In 2010, high rollers in Macau wagered about six hundred billion dollars, roughly the amount of cash withdrawn from all the A.T.M.s in America in a year. […] "The economic reforms undertaken by Deng Xiaoping were a gamble in themselves," Ricardo Siu, a business professor at the University of Macau, told me. "So people got the idea that taking a risk is not just O.K., it has utility." For those who have come from poverty to the middle class, he added, "the thinking may be, If I lose half my money, well, I've lived through that. I won't be poor again. And in several years I can earn it back. But if I win? I'm a millionaire!"
See also 'Macau's Gambling Industry: A Window on China' at The Economist
© Wendy Qian for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: colonialism, economic growth, economic slowdown, gambling, macau
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| One Author’s Plea for a Gentler China Posted: 30 Jul 2012 03:32 PM PDT Tea Leaf Nation translates a bleak essay on the state of Chinese society by Murong Xuecun, which was reposted on Sina Weibo over 36,000 times last week before being deleted. We live in an age when dust blocks the sky. Politics is dirty, the economy is dirty, and even culture smells like it's rotten. Our heart is supposed to be clear like the water in the autumn and the unending sky, but if we place it in the dust for a long time, then it can't help but getting dirty and frangible. When we mail fragile items at the post station, the staff there will stamp the image of a red glass on the package to show that what's inside is fragile. I hope everyone stamps a red glass on their heart too. It will remind us that this is a heart that needs sympathy and a heart that needs clarity. It is precious, but it is also fragile. We should take care of it every day and keep it free of dust. It should be as clear as the water in autumn, and as clean as the sky.
The essay echoes a widespread angst about moral decay: […] If you could quantify empathy, it might sadden you to discover that residents of Mainland China rank very low. In the famous Wang Yue incident [CDT's link], a two-year-old girl died in the middle of the road, and 18 people walked by without helping. These 18 people represent a greater number, a very unkind number of people that will yell at beggars, ignore victims of distant disasters, and even lack empathy for their own relatives. If people are beaten, they'll just stand around and watch. If people are complaining, they'll just coldly mock them. […]
A somewhat more optimistic view of the Chinese moral character appeared in Li Chengpeng's recent reaction to the Beijing floods. From chinaSMACK's translation: Chinese people's characters are ordinarily suppressed by a certain power. When a nation is only keen on purchasing cars for officials instead of building up public transportation, when the Ministry of Railways only cares for major construction projects instead of doing a better job on public service, people have to have low characters simply for self-protection. But the humanity is there, like a luminous pearl, normally ordinary and unremarkable like a rock, but in the key moment shining brightly. Everybody knows——that old man in the water clearing the clogged drains and sewers, those sanitation workers who stood in front of the open sewer manholes [to prevent others from falling in], those men carrying bottled water and bread who rushed into the rainy night to search for trapped people, those city residents who normally would be paranoid by by a crossed line at this moment bravely publicizing their own addresses and cell phone numbers to provide food, shelter, and a hot bath ….
See more about and by Murong Xuecun via CDT.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: floods, Li Chengpeng, moral crisis, morality, Murong Xuecun, social decay
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| Ni Yulan and the Agonies of Chinese Justice Posted: 30 Jul 2012 02:49 PM PDT At CNN, Human Rights Watch's Phelim Kine details Ni Yulan's activism and the Beijing authorities' retaliation. Ni recently received a small but symbolic two-month reduction to her ongoing 32-month prison sentence. Like other high profile victims of the Chinese government's hostility to peaceful dissent, Ni has been motivated in her work by a powerful sense of injustice. Ni focused on the epidemic of forced evictions and demolitions across vast swathes of Beijing, which accelerated in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In September 2002, that activism, and particularly her filming of a forced eviction, gave her a year in prison for "obstructing official business," along with the revocation of her lawyer's license. Undaunted, Ni continued to denounce illegal evictions and unfair compensation after her release. Just before the Beijing Olympics, Ni was sentenced to two years in prison after trying to stop the demolition of her own home. While in prison, she was tortured and denied adequate medical care. […] As the ruling Chinese Communist Party undertakes its historic transition from the era of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao to presumed successors Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, pundits will spill no shortage of ink trying to define the fruits of the Party's 62-year monopoly on power and its future direction. Ni Yulan, unbowed in her prison cell, could give them an earful.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing, Beijing Olympics, forced demolition, Hu Jintao, human rights watch, lawyers, leadership transition, Li Keqiang, Ni Yulan, Wen Jiabao, Xi Jingping
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| China Plans Moon Probe Landing in 2013 Posted: 30 Jul 2012 02:28 PM PDT China is planning an unmanned moon landing in the second half on next year, according to a brief announcement in state media. From Reuters: In 2007, China launched its first moon orbiter, the Chang'e One orbiter, named after a lunar goddess, which took images of the surface and analyzed the distribution of elements. That launch marked the first step in China's three-stage moon mission, to be followed by an unmanned moon mission and then the retrieval of lunar soil and stone samples around 2017. The official China News Service said that the Chang'e Three would carry out surveys on the surface of the moon when it is launched in 2013.
At The Atlantic, the Council on Foreign Relations' Frank Klotz argues that, although far behind the US and Russia, "China has in many respects already reached the top tier of spacefaring nations". He emphasises the military aspects of China's often opaque space program, and suggests that America's current ban on collaboration is misguided. [… I]n May of last year, the House inserted a provision into the NASA appropriations bill that prohibited it and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from spending any funds "to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China or any Chinese-owned company." It also blocked the hosting of official Chinese visitors at facilities belonging to or used by NASA. This legislative action reportedly reflected deeply held concerns about protecting American intellectual property and sensitive technologies in the face of aggressive Chinese attempts to glean scientific and technical information from abroad. However, in the process, it foreclosed one possible avenue for gaining greater insight into China's intentions with respect to space. […] As the United States pursues its stated policy of devoting greater attention to the Asia-Pacific region and encouraging an increasingly powerful China to support constructive approaches to resolving political and economic differences, it's certainly worth carefully considering whether aspects of the U.S.-Russian experience with space cooperation can be pursued with China in order to serve long-term American interests.
For more on the cooperation ban and tongue-in-cheek speculation about a Chinese moon-grab, see 'Will China Blast Past America In Space?' on CDT.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: moon landing, moon mission, space exploration, space program, United States
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| Directives from the Ministry of Truth: Beijing Floods (2) Posted: 30 Jul 2012 09:48 AM PDT The following examples of censorship instructions, issued to the media and/or Internet companies by various central (and sometimes local) government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as "Directives from the Ministry of Truth." CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation. The following directive was first posted on CDT Chinese on July 24, 2012: Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China: Reduce the volume of reporting on the Beijing flood. Insist on positive reporting. Do not make critical reports or commentary. 中宣部：对北京水灾报道要减少数量，要坚持正面报道，不要搞反思性报道和评论。
© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing, beijing flood 2012, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, floods, Ministry of Truth, natural disasters, weibo
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| Sensitive Words: Qidong Protest, Beijing Flood Posted: 30 Jul 2012 09:15 AM PDT As of July 29, the following search terms are blocked on Weibo (not including the "search for user" function): Qidong Protest: After their formal application to stage a protest was denied, residents of Qidong, Jiangsu province took to the streets in opposition to the planned construction of a paper mill. Fearing water pollution, demonstrators overturned police cars, broke into government buildings and even stripped the mayor. The construction project has since been permanently cancelled. - Sun Jianhua (孙建华): The mayor of Qidong, Sun was stripped and forced to wear a protest shirt by the crowd.
- Qidong (启东)
- QD: Pinyin abbreviation for Qidong.
- QDong (Q东)
- QiD (启D)
- Oji Paper (王子造纸): The Japanese company which planned to construct a paper mill in Qidong.
Beijing Flood: - Fu Zhenghua (傅政华): Director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
Note: All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results. CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information. To add words, check out the form at the bottom of CDT Chinese's latest sensitive words post.
© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beijing flood 2012, blocked words, environmental protests, filtered words, Jiangsu, NIMBY, Qidong, sensitive words, sina weibo, Sun Jianhua, weibo
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| The Daily Twit – 7/30/12: NIMBY Success and Insider Trading Posted: 30 Jul 2012 04:52 AM PDT The two big stories over the weekend involved the NIMBY protest near Shanghai and an insider trading investigation involving the CNOOC-Nexen deal. Lots of news out there in the major papers on each story, but here are a couple links from today to get you started. Qidong NIMBY protest — This was another success for a local community. The wastewater pipeline project has been shut down, and the city was calm yesterday and today. New York Times: Taking It to the Street in China — basic news report of what happened in Qidong, why, and the greater context of similar recent events. Ministry of Tofu: Qidong NIMBY protesters raid government offices, mob and strip mayor of clothes — nice set of links, plus photos, etc. Wall Street Journal: Qidong Protest Prompts Anti-Japan Sentiment — The project was supposed to transport waste water from a Japanese-owned paper facility, so now unfortunately we've got the race element coming to the fore. Nexen Insider Trading — I'm no expert on this topic, but I sometimes wonder at these "geniuses" who make huge bets based on inside information, buying up shares just days before important deals are announced, and then dumping everything right after. Do they think no one will notice? Reuters: SEC alleges insider trading ahead of CNOOC-Nexen deal Finance Asia: CNOOC's Nexen acquisition marred by insider trading charges And the rest of today's flotsam and jetsam: CNBC: US Agricultural Exports to China Become Costly in Times of Drought — I found this article fascinating. China relies on a lot of farm products from the U.S., which is experiencing a serious drought. Some interesting indirect effects on food prices over here. China Daily: Education reform would make gaokao only one factor — This story comes up on a regular basis, with folks calling for a de-emphasis of China's all-important college entrance exam. Businessweek: China's Gift to U.S. Homeowners — Rich Chinese going to U.S. to buy a house and get their kid into a good school. I wonder how pissed off they'll be once they figure out that California and other states stopped adequate funding of public education years ago. Sydney Morning Herald: Chinese Olympians subjected to routine doping — You can always rely on John Garnaut for excellent China reporting. This brief look back at doping in the PRC Olympic program is no exception. Bloomberg: China's Energy Grab Is About Know-How, Not Resources — Something I noted in a CNOOC-Nexen post early last week, if I'm not mistaken. Spot on. Newsweek: China Grapples With Issues of Race and Ethnicity — Close look at foreigners and race in China, including the recent policy changes and incidents involving expats.
© Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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| Angry Birds and the Chinese Mystery Meat Posted: 30 Jul 2012 03:06 AM PDT Never know what you might find at the supermarket these days, and with the state of IP infringement as well as some of the more unusual licensing tie-ups these days, it's often hard to tell what's authorized and what isn't. Take this interesting meat product (as usual, if you can't see the images, go to China Hearsay): 
While I was shopping, I had no idea whether this was a real license deal between Rovio and
家佳康, which is owned by COFCO. Rovio has been doing some fairly interesting licensing deals over here in China, so I thought it was possible for them to do a pork product deal. You know, if those birds were angry enough, perhaps that after killing off those pigs, they ground them up into different piggy meat products. Yummy. Notice that we've got not only the name ("Angry Birds" and "愤怒的小鸟") on there, but also several copyrighted cartoons/characters. When I got home, I did a search first under "Joycome," figuring that since this was a foreign company deal, I might find something in English. My search initially turned up several items relating to the "JoyCome Adult Toys Manufactory" in Yiwu (no affiliation with 家佳康!), but eventually I found my way to this blog post, which told me that yes indeed, this was a real deal involving Rovio. Congrats to them for an amusing and nontraditional license. Still no idea about the Olympics logo, but since COFCO is involved, I'll take them on their word that it's authorized. Should be possible to verify fairly quickly, but since it's against my religion to do pork-related research, I'll stop here. 
© Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Angry Birds, copyright license, Rovio, trademark license
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