| MOOve Over Miss World Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:58 AM PDT While Miss China took the Miss World 2012 title, cows in Shanxi Province also had the opportunity to be crowned the winner in the Miss Dairy Cow Pageant, from The New York Daily News: Cows in China got the chance to strut their stuff Saturday at the "Miss Dairy Cow Pageant" in the city of Shuozhou in Shanxi Province. The competition, complete with models clad in teenie-weenie bikinis, featured 200 dairy 'dames' from 11 different farms, according to Want China Times. The cows were judged based on their milk quality, appearance and pedigree. The bovine beauty found worthy of first place took home not only the honor but also 50,000 yuan – approximately $7,900.
Aside from the cows, the models that appeared alongside the competitors have stirred up some controversy. The Wall Street Journal reports: For years China has been known for its generous deployment of bikini models to spice up industry conferences and meetings. But news that scantily clad models were recently recruited to enliven the country's first "dairy cow beauty pageant" is being described some as utterly — or should that be udderly? — ridiculous. Photos of the girls — all of them, perhaps understandably, wearing masks — spread around traditional and social media websites on Monday, and even earned an editorialon the website of the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily. While noting that the popularity of beauty contests has been rising (China's Yu Wenxiawon the Miss World pageant over the weekend), the editorial argues that in this case things seem to have gone a bit too far. "Beautiful girls have far greater ability to attract attention that the milk cow contestants," it reads. "How do you think that makes the cows feel?" On Sina Corp.'s popular Weibo microblogging service, most users milked the ample potential to make puns about the contest, but a few were more critical of the proceedings. "Shanxi's 'cow models" — an inconceivable objectification of women,"wrote one user posting under the screen name Ariel_Meow.
© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: animals, beauty contest, Shanxi Province, women
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| Chinese Visa Plan Poses ‘Security Threat’ Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:50 AM PDT The United Kingdom's Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is trying to 'turbo-charge' tourism to the UK by capitalizing on fervor surrounding the Olympics. According to The Guardian, despite the high demand for Chinese tourists, many obstacles still prevent tourists from visiting Britain: Chinese tourists are much in demand these days – not least among Britain's government. The reasons for this are obvious: Chinese visitors tend to spend on average three times more than other overseas visitors, yet at the moment France receives 25-30% more visitors than Britain. This is why a division appears to be emerging within the government, with culture secretary Jeremy Hunt trying to make it easier for Chinese tourists to obtain visas, while home secretary Theresa May has been blocking such changes. The main problem for Chinese tourists is a matter of logistics – the UK is not included in the Schengen visa, which allows access to a host of European countries such as France and Germany. What this means is that an entirely separate process is required to gain entry into the UK. Although an overhaul earlier this year means that visa applications are now completed online, visitors are still required to visit one of 12 UK centres across the country for a face-to-face interview and fingerprinting. If you don't live near one of these centres already, you'd have to travel some distance to get there. Another problem is that Chinese people want to visit more than one country if they are going to make it all the way out to Europe – travel abroad for leisure is still a relatively new concept, so many want to cover as much ground as possible. Going to the extra trouble of seeing a country the size of a large province in China (of which there are 33), when the Schengen visa will get you into 26 countries, makes the former seem a less worth it. There is also the issue of cost: £47 for a Schengen visa, £82 for the UK. On top of this, the UK is viewed as stricter in its handling of visas compared with the rest of Europe, fed by urban legends of rejected applications. In the end, the decision comes down to one question: is Britain worth the hassle?
While some are trying to boost tourism to the UK, Theresa May, the Secretary of State for the Home Department and Minister for Women and Equality, warns of the security threat from the impending Chinese visa plan in a letter. The letter written by Katherine Hammond, May's private secretary, can be read in its entirety on The Telegraph. From the BBC: There are already 400 Chinese criminals awaiting deportation and 1,000 asylum applications from Chinese citizens last year, it said. "The proposal… is not acceptable to the home secretary for national security reasons," the letter said. "We also face significant challenges with foreign national offenders and organised crime, including drugs, money laundering, fraud, criminal finances, intellectual property, immigration and cyber crime." But Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), said: "In the absence of concrete data about visa abuse, it is impossible to determine whether the right balance is being struck between the UK's commercial interests and its security needs."
As Chinese tourists are being courted by the UK, tourists going to China may run into some additional red tape. This change to the visa rules comes amid concerns about foreign journalists' safety in China. The Los Angeles Times reports: On Aug. 1, the Chinese government started requiring that travelers seeking tourist visas, officially known as L visas, submit a letter of invitation and photocopies of the traveler's round-trip ticket and hotel reservations. To obtain a business, or F Visa, applicants must now have an invitation letter or "confirmation letter of invitation" issued by an authorized Chinese agency. This is in addition to an invitation letter issued by a Chinese local government, company, corporation or institution. For tourists, the invitation letter can come from a "duly authorized tourism unit" or it can be issued by a company, corporation, institution or individual in China. If the letter comes from an individual, a photocopy of her or his identification must also be provided. The new, more complicated rules, unfortunately, don't completely spell out what is considered a "duly authorized tourism unit" or what constitutes a "letter of invitation." Consulate officials did not respond to our request for additional clarification.
All of the new requirements for the visa can be found on the English website for the People's Republic of China.
© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Britain, London Olympics, Olympics, Olympics business, tourism, tourists, United Kingdom
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| The Daily Twit – 8/21/12: The Two Chinas, Journalist Smackdowns, and Junk Patents Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:58 AM PDT What, still with the Gu Kailai stories today? Yeah, still a few dribbling out here and there. Media organizations can't just let the Trial of the Millennium go without milking it for all it's worth, can they? Two standouts from the New York Times: Memo From Beijing: In China, Gu Kailai's Reprieve Reinforces Cynicism — Some folks aren't too thrilled that a murderer might get as little as a decade or so in jail while others get life or execution. A Look Inside China's 'Club Fed' — The obligatory "where will she stay" piece. Elsewhere in the world of China news: Wall Street Journal: China Says US Clean-Energy Projects Violate WTO Rules — Dumping, subsidies, this industry has it all. Almost as contentious as the chicken trade. China Daily: Experts say 'fake' porcelains at exhibit are actually real — One of those "Only in China" stories. Exhibition on fake vs. real porcelain scandalized because the "fakes" accused of being real. Even if it isn't true, wow. Damien Ma: The Two Chinas at the Olympics — Nice concept, comparing the significance of "made in China" stuff at the Olympics to the contributions/participation of the national team. AFP: Foreign journalists 'intimidated' in China: press groups — This seems to be getting worse. You can also read up on another incident in this Guardian article: German TV crew attacked while filming at Chinese factory. Global Times: Dependence on confessions persists despite legal reforms — Efforts to prevent prisoner abuse continue, albeit slowly. Caijing: Motorola Adds More to Layoff Compensation Package Following Protests in China — Apparently a little labor unrest does wonders for wages and compensation. Too bad Americans forgot that lesson a couple decades ago. Xinhua: Satellites to help Beijing expose fake afforestation — Hey, not everything about the surveillance state is bad. Reuters: China's patent targets mask weak innovation – study — Not exactly news that there are a lot of junk patents out there, but here's additional evidence.
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| Yang Rui Needs to Call the Atone Phone Posted: 21 Aug 2012 04:44 AM PDT  CCTV host Yang Rui, noted most recently for his anti-foreign and anti-Semitic remarks, is attempting to rehabilitate himself, unfortunately without the aid of Stephen Colbert's Atone Phone. Shanghaiist has the scoop, or should I say poop?, on Yang's latest epic fail, ironically from the original scene of the crime, Sina weibo:
Recently, I discussed my views on Israel and the Jewish people with a renowned American Jewish scholar who I greatly respect: During World War II, China took great risk to protect the Jewish people. I deeply empathise with the unfortunate circumstances the Jews then found themselves in, and I respect their unity and the great contributions they have made to the world of commerce. I also have great admiration for the China-Israeli bilateral relation. He was full of praise for our show Dialogue. I emphasised that I was deeply sorry if my remarks had caused any misunderstanding. Dialogue and communication are very important!
Oy, so many things to say. I'm perilously close to being farklemt here. As to Yang's specific words, I'll limit myself to four items. First, is Yang actually using the "I have a black friend" excuse? It's a classic, I'll give him that, but it has been so overused that it is now a cliche. Someone should tell Yang he's crossing over into self-satire. Second, um, the "contributions they have made to the world of commerce" — WTF? Seriously, someone needs to stop this guy from digging this hole. Maybe Sina could put a temporary "pity hold" on his weibo account? Third, Yang is taking credit for what China did for Jews in WWII? Nice. Does that mean I can take credit for the Marshall Plan? How about the polio vaccine? Viagra? Fourth, "I respect their unity"??? Since when have Jews been united about anything? Hell, we can't even agree on a good recipe for lokshen kugel. (I'm partial to ricotta cheese myself.) I understand that most Chinese would not consider these remarks anti-Semitic, and indeed might see Yang's post as complementary to Jews. News flash: it isn't. Just stop trying, for God's sake. I think Yang is getting dangerously close to hurting the feelings of the children of Israel. If he keeps this up, someone a lot more Jewish than me is going to open up a big can of kvetch on his ass. Yang's whole shtick is his ability to communicate with foreigners. But as I've said many times, language skills are not the same thing as communication skills, particularly when one's ego and arrogant attitude get in the way. I dislike using terms like douchebag and gaping asshole when criticizing goyim, particularly if it's a macher like Yang Rui, so I won't go there in this post. I wouldn't want to be accused of being foreign trash, or Jewish trash, or just plain meshuga. Suffice it to say, though, that someone at CCTV needs to do an intervention and get this guy to a cultural sensitivity course. If not, he'll end up doing the Lou Dobbs downward career spiral of shame.
© Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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| Mass Effect: Chinese Protesters Rack Up Another Win Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:46 AM PDT There are a lot of reasons for public protests in China, and they'll continue until certain big ticket items are fixed, like pollution and land dispossession. But in addition to the underlying dissatisfaction, I'm starting to wonder whether we're seeing an uptick in mass incidents simply because they seem to be very effective. Think about it. Just recently, quite a few NIMBY protests have been successful, although some just temporarily. From Shifang to Qidong, it seems as though this is a good tactic. And when it comes to labor relations, making a scene in public looks like a good idea these days as well: Motorola added more terms to its compensation package following protests in Beijing and Nanjing against its recent decision to lay off over 1000 workers in China, a newspaper in Beijing reported. The new plan added solutions for employees' unused annual leave and reimbursement of housing subsidy, which would raise the compensation for each employee by 30,000-40,000 yuan. (Caijing)
If a little complaining achieves results like that, why not do it? Granted, protesting against a company that is now owned by Public Enemy Number One (i.e., Google) is not exactly fraught with danger, at least compared with going up against a powerful factory out in the sticks where the owner is in cahoots with local government. So when you wonder why these folks are putting themselves out there, it's not just because they're pissed off at Problem X, Y or Z, but rather that they believe that protesting might actually achieve some results for themselves and their community.
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| State Media Mixed About Myanmar Press Freedom Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:55 AM PDT Myanmar ended press censorship on Monday, and The Wall Street Journal reports that Chinese state media presented conflicting views of the news: The website of the People's Daily, the Communist Party's mouthpiece newspaper, covered the news in a fairly evenhanded way on Monday, going so far as to quote a local journalist in Rangoon saying, "this is a great day for all Myanmar journalists." The newspaper also posted the quote on its account on Sina Corp.'s Weibo microblogging service on Monday, winning praise from other microbloggers. "Kudos to the People's Daily website for going further than other media with this quote," wrote Kai Fu Lee, the former president of Google China, who has more than 10 million followers on the site. … The Global Times, a nationalist-leaning tabloid published by the People's Daily, was less supportive. In an editorial on Tuesday, it said China should never follow Myanmar's model. "China's reform process has been baptized and tested thousands of times, while Myanmar's reform is just about to bud," read the editorial. "We would be naïve and childish if we doubt ourselves because we, a well-grown tree, look different from a flower bud."
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, Global Times, microblogging, Myanmar, online public opinion, people's daily, press freedom, sina weibo, state media
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| Photo: Diaoyu Islands Dispute Goes Local…In Flushing, by flippy whale Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:40 AM PDT |
| U.S. Looms Large Over China’s Sovereignty Disputes Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:36 AM PDT As tensions between China and Japan hit a new recent high this week over the disputed Diaoyu Islands, and with Japanese forces joining U.S. marines in the west Pacific today for the start of a month-long military drill, Xinhua News warned the Americans to stop adding fuel to the diplomatic fire: Though no country was named as the imaginary occupier, an official with the Japanese Ministry of Defense hinted that the war game is targeted at China, according to a report by Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun. Given the recent flaring tensions over the Diaoyu Islands, the deliberate decision to carry out such an agitative drill serves nothing but fuels the fire, as it will aggravate the situation and jeopardize any future efforts for a peaceful settlement. The move also gives the lie to Washington's alleged neutral stance towards the China-Japan dispute and gives birth to more suspicion over the United States' true intentions in the Asia-Pacific.
Whether China likes it or not, however, the U.S. is entrenched in Asia Pacific's brewing maritime sovereignty storm. For The Wall Street Journal on Monday, U.S. Senator James Webb puts the latest round of tensions in context: In truth, American vacillations have for years emboldened China. U.S. policy with respect to sovereignty issues in Asian-Pacific waters has been that we take no sides, that such matters must be settled peacefully among the parties involved. Smaller, weaker countries have repeatedly called for greater international involvement. China, meanwhile, has insisted that all such issues be resolved bilaterally, which means either never or only under its own terms. Due to China's growing power in the region, by taking no position Washington has by default become an enabler of China's ever more aggressive acts. The U.S., China and all of East Asia have now reached an unavoidable moment of truth. Sovereignty disputes in which parties seek peaceful resolution are one thing; flagrant, belligerent acts are quite another. How this challenge is addressed will have implications not only for the South China Sea, but also for the stability of East Asia and for the future of U.S.-China relations.
What if China and Japan did trade naval blows, as they did during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895? While unlikely, James Holmes of the Naval War College handicaps the fight for Foreign Policy: Whoever forges sea, land, and air forces into the sharpest weapon of sea combat stands a good chance of prevailing. That could be Japan if its political and military leaders think creatively, procure the right hardware, and arrange it on the map for maximum effect. After all, Japan doesn't need to defeat China's military in order to win a showdown at sea, because it already holds the contested real estate; all it needs to do is deny China access. If Northeast Asian seas became a no-man's land but Japanese forces hung on, the political victory would be Tokyo's. Japan also enjoys the luxury of concentrating its forces at home, whereas the PLA Navy is dispersed into three fleets spread along China's lengthy coastline. Chinese commanders face a dilemma: If they concentrate forces to amass numerical superiority during hostilities with Japan, they risk leaving other interests uncovered. It would hazardous for Beijing to leave, say, the South China Sea unguarded during a conflict in the northeast. And finally, Chinese leaders would be forced to consider how far a marine war would set back their sea-power project. China has staked its economic and diplomatic future in large part on a powerful oceangoing navy. In December 2006, President Hu Jintao ordered PLA commanders to construct "a powerful people's navy" that could defend the nation's maritime lifelines — in particular sea lanes that connect Indian Ocean energy exporters with users in China — "at any time." That takes lots of ships. If it lost much of the fleet in a Sino-Japanese clash — even in a winning effort — Beijing could see its momentum toward world-power status reversed in an afternoon. Here's hoping China's political and military leaders understand all this. If so, the Great Sino-Japanese Naval War of 2012 won't be happening outside these pages.
See also a People's Daily piece from Tuesday in which Peking University professor Liang Yunxiang details the legal basis of China's sovereignty claim over the Diaoyu Islands.
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: diaoyu islands, east china sea, maritime disputes, People's Liberation Army, Sino-Japanese relations, Sino-U.S. Relations, South China Sea
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| Concern at Abuse of Foreign Journalists in China Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:04 AM PDT Three China-based Foreign Correspondents' Clubs have issued a joint statement condemning "alarming" recent episodes of harassment against foreign reporters. From the Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong: On July 28th, a Shanghai based journalist from Japan's Asahi Shimbun was beaten by police in Nantong while covering a demonstration. His equipment, worth several thousand dollars, was taken and has not been returned. On August 10th a reporter for Hong Kong's Asia Television was assaulted by plain clothes police outside a courthouse in Hefei as he filmed members of the public being arrested. On August 11th, in Henan province a television crew from ARD German television was attacked by a mob, accused of being spies and forcibly detained for 9 hours at a chemical factory before police escorted them to their vehicles. On August 13th two reporters from Poland and the United States reporting in Ordos were followed and intimidated by three cars and at least eight individuals in the middle of the night.
While the organisations expressed particular concern that "a number of these incidents have involved members of the official security forces and associated elements", the German reporters in Henan were rescued by police from an angry mob. From Tania Branigan at The Guardian: Broadcaster ARD said angry workers shouted "kill the foreign spies" as the four-person team was held at the Do-Fluoride plant near Jiaozuo in Zhongzhan county, Henan province. Reporter Christine Adelhardt said security guards detained them as they filmed a story on pollution outside the factory. […] The German crew escaped only when a team of armed police arrived to escort them off the premises, saying later: "Factory officials appeared to have misinformed workers and agitated against us. "We were considered spies who had tried to gather intelligence regarding Do-Flouride's technology."
According to the Hong Kong Standard, other police also intervened and took away the plain-clothed officer who assaulted the Asia Television cameraman in Hefei. He was covering the trial of four officers later sentenced to prison terms of between five and eleven years for hiding Gu Kailai's murder of Neil Heywood. CNN's Steven Jiang was involved in a separate scuffle with Hefei police while reporting Gu's own trial the previous day. Asahi Shimbun's Atsushi Okudera was beaten while photographing environmental protests in Qidong. According to his follow-up report for the newspaper, many of the officers who assaulted him had removed ID numbers from their uniforms, shielding themselves from any later repercussions. The attack on Okudera and the theft of his camera were likely a further attempt to escape identification, as he "had taken hundreds of digital photos by then of police attacking protesters." (Protesters in Qidong also drew criticism for resorting to violence, which Baixing.com CEO and blogger Jian Shuo Wang wrote "seriously crossed the line".) Kathleen McLaughlin was one of the journalists "chased out of Ordos" during the politically sensitive Miss World pageant. She described her experience on Twitter: In Ordos, the giant property bubble of Inner Mongolia. Construction hasn't stopped, locals say empty buildings starting to fill up. — Kathleen McLaughlin (@kemc) August 12, 2012
Ordos govt apparently very unhappy foreign journalists in town. This from the host of the Miss World contest, — Kathleen McLaughlin (@kemc) August 13, 2012
Walking in Ordos, unsubtly tailed by a Lexus SUV. Fancy! — Kathleen McLaughlin (@kemc) August 13, 2012
Chased out of Ordos last night by a phalanx of cops and thugs. Apparently the host city for Miss World is not foreigner-friendly. — Kathleen McLaughlin (@kemc) August 14, 2012
Have not seen such an outsized security response to my presence since Kasghar in 2010. Nuts. — Kathleen McLaughlin (@kemc) August 14, 2012
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Asahi Shimbun, beauty contest, FCCC, foreign correspondents, foreign journalists, gu kailai, Hefei, Henan, Neil Heywood, news media, Ordos, Qidong, reporting protests
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| Bo Supporters Drawing Battle Lines Within the CCP Posted: 21 Aug 2012 02:44 AM PDT With Gu Kailai's murder trial and conviction yesterday, leftist allies of disgraced former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai remain adamant that he and his wife are victims of a conspiracy to curb his political rise and have dug in for an ideological battle over the future of the Chinese Communist Party. From Reuters: The party's far-leftists have openly accused top leaders of plotting to oust Bo, and even circulated by email and online an extraordinary petition calling for the impeachment of Premier Wen Jiabao. Its reported signatories included two retired senior officials, although this could not be independently confirmed. "At least for now, I believe there are too many doubtful points about the case," said Han Deqiang, an academic in Beijing, who has been one of ardent defenders of Bo's policies in Chongqing, the southwestern city that Bo made into a display case of populist policies and traditional socialist culture. "I believe that this whole incident was intended to eradicate Bo Xilai's Chongqing model," said Han, who teaches at the Beihang University school of business management. "They have destroyed a ray of hope for the Chinese Communist Party." … The uproar over Bo shows that, as the Communist Party weaves between market reforms and state controls, it faces dissent not only from liberals, but also from fervent leftists who see the party as enslaved by capitalist interests.
Bo now awaits his own fate, writes The Australian's Michael Sainsbury, along with former right-hand man Wang Lijun. From Bo to Wang to Neil Heywood, The Globe and Mail's Mark MacKinnon details the characters filling out the cast of China's latest and greatest drama. Even Xi Jinping, China's president-in-waiting, has a part to play: Their fathers stood on the opposite side of some of the key political crises of post-Mao China. While Bo Yibo lead the conservative putsch in 1986, and supported the Tiananmen Square crackdown three years later, Mr. Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun, was a lone dissenting voice among the Communist Party leadership in both instances. Mr. Xi's ascension to the Standing Committee of the Politburo in 2002 is seen as having come at the expense of Mr. Bo. The question many China-watchers are asking now is whether Mr. Xi – who is about to become the most powerful man in China – shares his father's political views, or whether he harbours any sympathy for his fallen fellow princeling.
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bo Xilai, chinese communist party, Chongqing Model, corruption, gu kailai, leftists, liberals, murder, Neil Heywood, party ideology, scandal, Wang Lijun, Wen Jiabao, Xi Jinping
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