Blogs » Society » Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin Makes List Of “10 Most Horrid People Of 2012,” TAR Nation Rejoices

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• Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin Makes List Of “10 Most Horrid People Of 2012,” TAR Nation Rejoices
• Top 10 Search List (November 26, 2012)
• The Guangzhou Marathon Has Now Killed Two Young Men
• S.T.D's Reggie Talks to CW About their New Livehouse, Arkham
• Starbucks to expand, become more Chinese
• Pasha: We Revisit this Turkish Spot on Nanchang Lu
• Watch an NFL Game With Hall of Famer Barry Sanders In Pudong
• Sir Elton John In Beijing, Reviewed (Newsflash: He’s Old)
• Acid Dumplings [39]
• Two Fights: In The Countryside Between Extended Family, And Drunken Girls Beat Up Cabbie
• CCTV Sends Reporter Out To Ask About Sex Ed, Discovers Horrible, Hilarious Truths About How Babies Are Made
• Why What You Are Reading On China Law Is Probably WRONG.
• Justin Quek's Chef Table (and other food events)
• Top-of-the-Week Links: More sex tapes of Chongqing officials exist, if you can stand them; China is killing manta rays, and Ai Weiwei screws with Party Congress
• Jailed Chongqing mafia boss claims he was forced to frame lawyer
• China Trademarks. When To Go Full Class.
• China’s uncomfortable diplomacy keeps South Sudan’s oil flowing
• Chongqing promises probe into scandal as cadres worry their sex lives will be exposed next
• The Pleasure Boat Party
• Zhengzhou market hands out free cabbages as vegetable prices plummet

Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin Makes List Of “10 Most Horrid People Of 2012,” TAR Nation Rejoices Posted: 26 Nov 2012 09:46 PM PST Despite censorship, the Chinese Internet is still capable of producing gem. On Sina Weibo, an Anhui-based user, @每周评论 wrote a short-lived post that identified the "10 Most Horrid People of 2012." Hong Kong-based China Media Project tells us the post was deleted "sometime before 12:05 p.m. yesterday," but not before they were to extract and translate the list. Coming at No. 1: Sima Nan. But it's No. 9 — Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin — who has at least one of us cackling with joy. "That made my day," said TAR Nation. If you agree with him, you might enjoy: In Defense Of The French, At Least Hu Xijin Isn't French Chinese History, Hu Xijin, And The National Human Rights Action Plan of China Hu: The Man Who Lets the Dogs Out You're advised that the above columns may contain R-rated language. (H/T Alicia)

Top 10 Search List (November 26, 2012) Posted: 26 Nov 2012 03:48 AM PST 1) 火箭队教练女儿(huójiànduì jiàoliàn nǘ' ér, the daughter of Rockets coach) – The Huston Rockets coach Kevin McHale's daughter Sasha passed away yesterday. The 23-year-old died of lupus, an auto immune disease. English story here. 2) 罗阳(Luó Yáng, Luo Yang) – Luo Yang is the chairman and general manager of the Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group, which develops the J-15 carrier-based fighter-bomber. The 51-year-old engineer died of heart attack yesterday. As the man in charge of the development program, Luo was there to witness two J-15 fighter jets landed and taken off from the Liaoning carrier and was rushed to the hospital after the carrier returned to Dalian Port. English story here. 3) 航母style(hángmú style, carrier style) – Two months after China's first carrier, the Liaoning, entered service, two J-15 fighter jets deputed in a landing and take-off exercise, marking a milestone on the vessel's path to full combat ability. As the exercise was broadcast on TV, internet users started uploading photos of them posing like the engineers in the exercise and naming the meme "Carrier Style". Chinese story here. 4) 干露露(Gān Lùlù, Gan Lulu) – Gan Lulu is a car model who became well-known after modeling for an auto show with her body barely covered by a small piece of fabric. Making public appearances in a near-naked state has been her signature ever since. Yesterday in a local TV variety show, she said she is going to help her younger sister become famous. Her younger sister was often seen in photos with her, also in near-naked clothes. Chinese story here. 5) 撞人裸女(zhuàngrénluǒnǘ, the naked female driver who hit people) –Zhang Yan, a local university teacher who hit two of her neighbors, a mother and her daughter, near their home, stripped herself naked and lied in front of the ambulance to block rescue. Zhang also snatched the little girl from the ambulance and pulled her to the ground. The four-year-old later died in the hospital and the mother is in a coma. Five months after the tragedy, an evaluation for Zhang's mental state concluded that she was suffering from acute mental disorder and should not be held responsible for what she did. The victims' family accused Zhang of faking a mental disorder to avoid punishment. Chinese story here. 6) 邯钢坍塌(Hángāng tāntā, Handan Steel Group construction collapse) – An under-construction facility in Handan, Hebei Province collapsed and buried eight construction workers on Saturday. Three of them have been extricated. An under-construction overpass collapsed in the city three month ago, burying four workers. Chinese story here. 7) 林志颖妹妹大婚(Lín Zhìyíng mèimèi dàhūn, the wedding of Lin Zhiying's younger sister) – Taiwanese star Lin Zhiying (Jimmy Lin) showed up for the wedding of his younger sister, who, according to Lin's fans, looked like his older sister from the wedding photos posted on his weibo account. Chinese story here. 8）146职位无人报考(146 zhíweì wúrénbàokáo, 146 posts have no applicant) – 1.5 million people attended the national civil service exam over the weekend, hoping to enjoy the money and stability brought by one of the 20,800 civil servant jobs. Also, 146 posts, usually positions in more remote regions, have no applicants. Chinese story here. 9) 王志文妻子(Wáng Zhìwén qīzí, wife of Wang Zhiwen) – Wang Zhiwen, the mainland actor has been seen playing with golf with his wife recently, who is said to a rich business woman worth hundreds of millions. Chinese story here. 10) 金喜善女儿(Jīn Xíshàn nǘ' ér, Kim Hee-sun's daughter) Kim Hee-sun, a South Korean actress, recently revealed on a television show that she deeply regretted posting her daughter's photo online and the malicious comments on the baby girl's look were so bad that she wanted to move out of the country. Some of the comments said that the face of her daughter is the best evidence that Kim has gone under the knife for the beauty she has. Chinese story here. READ MORE

The Guangzhou Marathon Has Now Killed Two Young Men Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:38 PM PST The Guangzhou Marathon on November 18 attracted more than 20,000 runners, the vast majority of whom ran without health complications. Two young men, however, died. The first, Chen Jie, was a 19-year-old student at Guangdong AIB Polytechnic College from Maoming, Guangdong province (he was initially identified as 21 years old). Shortly after finishing his 10-kilometer race, he suffered cardiac arrest, and efforts to restart his heart resulted in fatal organ damage. The second victim, 25-year-old Ding Xixiao, fell unconscious just before the finish line last Sunday in his 5-kilometer race and reportedly remained untreated for 20 minutes. This employee of a real estate company passed away earlier today, according to Xinhua via Nanfang Metropolis Daily. South China Morning Post columnist Li Jing wrote about this on Friday: A colleague of Ding's, Chen Yangjie, said the runner lay on the ground untreated for 20 minutes, waiting for emergency personnel to respond. "Ding fell down on the ground at about 8.06am, but the first ambulance only arrived at 8.27am," Chen Yangjie told the Nanfang Daily. When an ambulance finally did arrived, it was not equipped with a respirator, he said. Medical staff performed CPR, while they waited for a second ambulance equipped with defibrillators and respirators to arrive, Chen said. The runner was not admitted to hospital until 9.10am – an hour after his collapse. This second tragedy has turned public attention, again, on race management and safety issues that were first brought to light last week. Chen's family reportedly demanded 1 million yuan in compensation after he died; Shenzhen Daily reports that organizers agreed to offer 300,000 yuan. It begs the question: why would they offer even that? Perhaps because the organization wasn't up to snuff. Shenzhen Daily again: A netizen called "aeleven" wrote on www.doyouhike.net that Guangzhou's marathon wasn't professionally held and lacked road directions and volunteers at Metro stations. Organizers provided water in 500-ml bottles along the route, the netizen said, rather than in paper cups that runners could easily discard during the race. "It was impossible for runners to finish a bottle all at once or carry the bottle while running," aeleven complained, adding the bottles also were a waste of plastic. Netizens alleged that there were very little, or no, water or medical supplies offered in the second half of the marathon, and that there weren't enough distance signs to help runners know their position or adjust their pace. In the interest of fairness, it must be said that all runners were probably aware of the risks of long-distance running, and that heart attacks do happen, with or without marathons. But if what netziens say is true about the lack of water and signposts, we can at least conclude that Guangzhou did one heck of a shoddy job putting together such a large-scale event. No officially sanctioned event — this one recently received formal recognition from the International Association of Athletics Federations — should expose so many people to health risks. Marathon organizers have issued a statement, but what's glaring, as SCMP's Li Jing points out, is what was not addressed: Not only does that statement fail to answer the complaints about the medical response and lack of water, it also failed to promise that there would be review of the marathon's practices before next year's event. Hong Kong's Amateur Athletic Association, in contrast, responded to this year's death of a male participant by bolstering efforts to educate runners about the health risks. Meanwhile, the Beijing Marathon went off without a hitch this past Sunday. Note that the Beijing race is an IAAF "Gold Label" event. Perhaps there's the difference.

S.T.D's Reggie Talks to CW About their New Livehouse, Arkham Posted: 26 Nov 2012 07:30 PM PST Date: Nov 27th 2012 10a.m. Contributed by: katvelayo

Starbucks to expand, become more Chinese Posted: 26 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST Starbucks plans to double its number of stores in China over the next three years and transform them to better suit Chinese tastes, according to the Wall Street Journal. The chain already features sino-centric tastes like the Red Bean Frappuccino, and has promised to expand regional options instead of a "one-size-fits all" menu. [ more › ]

Pasha: We Revisit this Turkish Spot on Nanchang Lu Posted: 26 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PST Date: Nov 27th 2012 9:31a.m. Contributed by: electronicdrew Pasha has been serving up Turkish fare over on Nanchang Lu for a while now. And with a younger sibling (Garlic) , we came back for another visit.

Watch an NFL Game With Hall of Famer Barry Sanders In Pudong Posted: 26 Nov 2012 05:47 PM PST Date: Nov 27th 2012 9:15a.m. Contributed by: andrewchin City Weekend gets hyped for NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders upcoming visit to Shanghai.

Sir Elton John In Beijing, Reviewed (Newsflash: He’s Old) Posted: 26 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST Video by Katie By Kelly Mason Still a legend, but Sir Elton John was looking slightly less fabulous than usual Sunday night despite his electric blue glittery jacket and matching glasses. This was my first major concert in China, so I was prepared for the unexpected. After all these years, I wondered if he'd still have it. I wondered how Chinese crowds would respond to such a legend, and I really wondered if he was going to play his Lion King stuff. I'll be honest, I completely, unashamedly love the Lion King soundtrack. First, the crowds. I got to the concert late, and as I ran through the ampitheater lobby, I couldn't even be sure the concert had started. Where was the cheering? I could hear music, but no other signs of life. Were they playing recordings of his songs before he started? No… they wouldn't. Would they? But then again, it's a concert. And it's Elton John. Shouldn't I hear people going NUTS? Welcome to concerts in China. You don't get out of your seat and act a fool and yell things at the stage from three levels up, as I sadly realized when my friend and I were sssh'ed by all the people around us for our attempts at witty remarks in reaction to the huge neon "EJ <3 BJ" sign on the ground just in front of the stage. Mind-blowing. Nope, instead you sit quietly and observe. Standing up and dancing is really only for the truly dedicated fans who paid the eleventy billion kuai to get floor seats, and loud talking will get you a lot of mean looks. It's nothing like going to a movie theatre here, where it's probable that in your immediate vicinity someone is talking on the phone or snoring because his girlfriend dragged him to some lame rom-com. Anyway, my point is that the crowd experience was super awkward. Elton dedicated the concert to Ai Weiwei, who watched from backstage. I'll let others comment on that, but I'll just mention that it was definitely a good move in terms of the crowd and publicity. If you got there late and missed it like I did, don't fret – every news source will fill you in soon. So on to the important question – was the performance worth it? And the answer is… kind of. I don't want to take anything away from Elton John as a musician. The guy is a legend for a reason. His songs are still great, and he's still a great pianist (chuckle if you must). Get ready, because here comes the but. BUT he showed no excitement, just like a lot of people had feared. I will say he looked and sounded like he was sick, in which case he was a real trooper. Regardless, there was no energy. And exactly zero high notes. What's Crocodile Rock without the high notes? I'll tell you. Because it happened. It's a quiet, confused stadium with a few people singing the "lalalalala" at various pitches and tempos. It was awkward – even Elton looked uncomfortable and unsure what to do. Naturally this didn't stop me from belting it out and playing the air piano like the other slightly-too-dedicated fans (I'll be honest, I do that at home, too), but that's not what I went to see Elton John for. I paid to see the fabulousness that is Elton John complete with his sparkly clothes, ridiculous glasses, AND school-girl octave high notes (pretty sure that's the term for it). Luckily, his supporting band was phenomenal and partially made up for Elton John's lethargy. Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone, the drummer and guitarist, have been with Elton on and off for over 40 years. Along with 51-year-old newcomer Matt Bisonette on bass guitar, these senior citizens still pack a lot of flair. My personal favorite was Johnstone, who, by the way, from three levels up looks exactly like Tom Petty. I've never seen an old man look so cool rocking a banjo. The backup singers, including Sly (of Sly and the Family Stone) did a good job of picking up the slack on the upper registers. If only everyone had been there to see the band. In hindsight it was a pretty cool experience and I'm really glad that I saw Elton John in concert, all things considered. But maybe I'm biased: he played Circle of Life as his finale. Kelly works as a freelancer on a smorgasbord of projects. She can be reached at mason.kelly.m@gmail.com.

Acid Dumplings [39] Posted: 26 Nov 2012 02:00 PM PST

Two Fights: In The Countryside Between Extended Family, And Drunken Girls Beat Up Cabbie Posted: 26 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST Every family feuds, but few do it so well: with knives. In this scene here, from a village in Sichuan province, two elders roll around, fighting. And then in-laws get into the action, and you know how they be. They bring out the weapons. This scene reminds me of the best and worst of drawn-out suspense serials. The drama builds and builds, and just when you think you're at a resolution, the screen goes blank as a narrator says, "See you next week!" Youku video for those in China after the jump, plus the other fight. The other fight comes via The Nanfang: Two women dragged a cab driver out of his car and beat him for around 20 minutes after last Wednesday (November 22), according to Shenzhen Satellite Television. The women accused the driver of sexually harrassing them but the taxi company expressed doubt over these claims, noting both women sat in the back of the cab. A representative of the taxi company, Mr. Zheng, said the cause of the dispute was the women's inability to pay the fare after arriving at their destination. According to one witness, the women dragged the driver out of the car and beat him for around 20 minutes. The driver did not retaliate. The witness said he could smell the alcohol on the women despite being a few yards away. Sing with Kanye now: We go through too much bullshit just to mess with these drunk and hot girls… Girls beat up cabbie:

CCTV Sends Reporter Out To Ask About Sex Ed, Discovers Horrible, Hilarious Truths About How Babies Are Made Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:02 AM PST How did you learn about sex? At school, from a teacher? Or at home, from parent? Maybe a relative, or a cousin, or sibling? Or perhaps you discovered it by accident, around the same time you discovered a titty magazine, glossed with the allure of eroticism: the power of posture, the penetrative glance, deep-plunging appeal. All of these possibilities are considered natural. Perhaps they come with embarrassment — what we'll chalk up to growing pains, most plainly illustrated by the mother who walks in on her masturbating son — but even then, it's normal, it's nothing to cut your penis off over. (Ladies, please substitute the gender-equivalent expression of your choice.) But you know what's really not normal? The above segment, first aired on China Central Television (parts 2 and 3 are embedded after the jump, plus Sohu version for those in China), that explores via man-on-the-street interviews how parents approach the most basic of questions. Questioner: "When you were small, did you never ask your parents where you came from?" Lady: <dumbfoundment> <nervous laughter> "I have asked!" Questioner: "Well, how did your parents answer your question?" Lady: "Found." Question: "Well, when your children ask you, how do you answer?" Lady: <face of sobriety> "I don't think he's asked me that question." *** Lady No. 2: "They just said they sprung me from a stone." …Questioner: "Has (your son) asked you this question before?" Lady: "He has asked." Questioner: "How do you answer?" Lady: "I just tell him I found him on the side of the road!" Question: "And what's his reaction?" Lady: "Doesn't believe it. Kids these days aren't like we were back then." *** Lady No. 3: "Flipped out from underneath the bed." *** Man: "My parents said I was from some hole, they found me in a hole." *** Lady No. 4: "Mom will say I was picked out of a garbage dump or fell from some table." Question: "When you heard this answer, what was your reaction, did you believe it?" Lady: "I believed it! And then I was so heartbroken. I said, 'How could I have been picked out of a garbage dump? Sad.' And then mom would say, Aye, people are all picked out of garbage dumps." *** I'd translate the rest for you, but I think you get the picture. One girl thought she appeared one day from a flush of water, and it wasn't until middle school that she felt that maybe she had been, in actuality, birthed. One woman flat-out says she never asked. Another woman — in a rare bit of honesty, or something approximating it — said she told her daughter that a seed was in her belly, and when it germinated, she came out. You can see, perhaps, why more than 13 million abortions are performed in China each year, a number that's on the rise. Just this September, China Daily reported that "only 12 percent of 1,000 Chinese women (aged 20 to 35) polled said they full understand contraception," according to a survey conducted as part of World Contraception Day (September 26). And "in addition to the small percentage sure of their contraceptive knowledge, Chinese women overrate the efficiency of withdrawal, periodic abstinence and emergency contraceptive pills, the survey indicates." Meanwhile, there are indications that porn is increasingly filling the gaps in teenagers' sexual awareness, and as a result, it "has implanted a misperception of sex into students' minds, giving rise to a growing level of sex crimes in China, experts said." Parents here don't like talking about sex, because when they were small, their parents never talked about sex. Forget about nationalism and identity issues or infrastructure or international diplomacy; perhaps the surest sign that a country is maturing is how its society talks about sex and gender issues. South China Morning Post tackled this topic in an article Sunday, with this CCTV video as its news hook: While attitudes have loosened in recent years, human sexuality remains a touchy subject on the mainland. Sexual education, though required for teenage pupils, varies greatly in quality from school to school. Some teachers just tell pupils to read textbooks. So it may come as a surprise that some experts are not only advocating increased sexual education, but starting it earlier, even for kindergarteners. Such early-stage sexual education has been advocated in other countries, including the United States, where Barack Obama was criticised for supporting it during his 2008 presidential campaign. But, with sex still widely seen as a subject of shame and embarrassment, many parents have been wary of the idea. Critics worry that sexual education in kindergarten could encourage children to seek pornography or experiment with sex too early. Others question the need to receive sex education at any age. I almost hesitate to excerpt this next paragraph, but here goes: "I didn't understand sex when I was a child," one parent told CCTV. "In retrospect, it was a good thing. Why can't my son just grow up with the same ignorance as I did?" Yet there's another way to close read this expression of cowardly conservatism. Why can't my son just grow up with the same ignorance? Because that's not how social evolution works. Future generations are all supposed to be bolder, more curious, and as a result, more knowledgeable. But what it really takes is a prod (no pun intended, for the love of God). That prod has yet to come: In the meantime, kindergarten teachers say they are more confused than ever about what they should be teaching. Zhu Yanhong, the head of a kindergarten in Beijing, told CCTV that the debate had been going on for more than two decades with little progress. "We still don't have a textbook," she said. "We don't have professionals to teach us how to teach. We don't know how and to what extent young children should learn about sex." Whether to teach sex ed is a question with high relevance to society at large. Do we want our children to grow up to be mature, confident adults? Or are we to buckle under our own insecurity and discomfort and cower with the mere hope that they'll turn out okay? I could be overreaching. The pop vox, as a journalistic vehicle, is never meant to be taken seriously, as if it could enlighten us to some specific truth. Anchor, Part 2, 2:45 mark: "Of the nearly 200 people interviewed, 85 percent of respondents' parents told them they were found." Wait, what? In conclusion, if you do just one thing with this video, do this: scroll to the 4:35 mark in Part 2, when the journalist asks, "When was the first time you first encountered sex ed?" We made a GIF for you. All three parts in one: (H/T Alicia)

Why What You Are Reading On China Law Is Probably WRONG. Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:58 AM PST If I had to list just one thing I love about being an international lawyer, I would answer by saying the uncertainty/ever changing nature of my job.  And with China, those things are on steroids. About a third of the time when I am out speaking on China, someone in the audience (usually near the end of the question and answer session) asks how they can keep up with the law in their particular industry. I usually answer that great question by saying that "you can't."  I then tell the story of how, many years ago, three attorneys in my office were on the phone discussing a China law or regulation.  One lawyer was saying it said "X", another said it said "Y", and I said it said "Z".  I then very confidently added that they were looking at older versions of the law and I was looking at the one that had come down three weeks ago.  One lawyer admitted defeat, but the other lawyer noted that he was looking at the version that had come out yesterday. I then get more serious about answering the question and I talk about how they should be reading their industry trade publications, joining the right industry associations, staying in constant touch with their lawyers, etc. I thought of that question today after reading a China Hearsay post, entitled, China Capital Account Restrictions Loosened for Foreign Investors.  Stan Abrams begins his post by putting the difficulties of staying on top of Chinese foreign investment law in the form of a question: Want to know how difficult it is to teach China foreign investment law? Less than two months ago I told my students about capital account restrictions and the influence of hot money and financial speculators on the approval process for cross-border capital flows. The post then goes on to note how "that information is now out of date": China will clear the way for foreign investors' capital to flow in and out of the country more easily by waiving and simplifying regulations, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, said on Wednesday. Starting on Dec 17, foreign investors won't need to get regulatory approval to open bank accounts, remit profits, and transfer money between different domestic accounts, it said. And the limits on the number of foreign-currency accounts and the amount of money that can be transferred will also be loosened, it added. Stan rightly sees this as "good news" for foreign companies doing business in China but also as something requiring that he supplement his class.  Stan then concludes his post by noting that "the fun, it never ends." Yup. He's got that right. But it is not only China's constantly changing laws that make keeping up so difficult.  The fact that so many of the translations of China's laws are just flat our horrible does not help either.  At least a couple of times a month, I get emails from law students from around the world (sometimes from companies too) asking if I can give them a cite or a link for a good English language translation or explanation of some particular area of Chinese law.  My response is always the same: Sorry but I can't.  We do our China legal research in Chinese because we just cannot risk outsourcing legal translation/interpretation to the web. Because of this, we do not make any real effort to keep up with the English language side of Chinese law and so we are not a good source for English language cites to Chinese law.  If you want to read some really good English language books on Chinese law, I suggest you check out our blog post, Chinese Commercial Law Books In English. An Update. But even the most current Chinese language laws/regulations oftentimes do not provide the whole picture.  The forming of a WFOE provides a great example in that nearly every city has its own unwritten rules regarding its requirements.  Some require audited financial statements and some don't. Some require that the documents be notarized and consularized a particular way and some don't. Some require that a particular officeholder sign particular documents and some don't.  I could go on and on. China law.  The fun, it never ends….

Justin Quek's Chef Table (and other food events) Posted: 26 Nov 2012 07:05 AM PST This Friday November 30, enjoy French food with an Asian spin prepped by star chef Justin Quek, a man who's cooked for the likes of Jiang Zemin and Bill Gates. [ more › ]

Top-of-the-Week Links: More sex tapes of Chongqing officials exist, if you can stand them; China is killing manta rays, and Ai Weiwei screws with Party Congress Posted: 26 Nov 2012 06:43 AM PST Via MIC Gadget We hope you enjoyed the Elton John concert on Sunday as much as Ai Weiwei and friends. We have more coverage for you forthcoming, but for now, links. If you're an official in Chongqing who has a mistress, ask yourself: is she much hotter than someone you should deserve? Because you're in trouble. "The whistleblower who uploaded a video that led to the sacking of a district Party secretary in southwestern Chongqing City says he has videos featuring five more senior government officials. // Beibei District's Party Secretary Lei Zhengfu was sacked last Friday after he was identified as the person having sex with a young woman in a video which was widely spread on the Internet. // But the whistleblower, Zhu Ruifeng, told Beijing News yesterday that Lei was only one of six senior Chongqing officials who had been recorded in different sex videos he received from a police insider." [Shanghai Daily] We're still holding out hope that Elton John's shout-out to Ai Weiwei won't have consequences, but… "Promoters across China work hard in the margins, trying to incrementally increase their ability to do more and at the same time increase choices for the Chinese public. In fly cosseted stars on their private jets, stay in their Chinese presidential suites for a night and think they will solve the problems of a nation by embarrassing the state in their own back yard. Then fly out, back to their mansions in Cannes surrounded by sycophants that tell them how brave they were and how significant those actions will be, and we are left to clean up the mess. // So what are the consequences likely to be? Most probably an increase in the already expensive and weighty Ministry of Culture approvals process. Most likely more scrutiny for international artists wanting to come and play China and subsequently less variety and frequency of shows. Life post Bjork was tough here in China…" [China Music Radar] Corollary: "Some on the Sina Weibo microblogging service on Monday worried about the impact. 'Bjork, Elton John, I hate you,' wrote one poster. 'Next year to see anything we'll have to go to Hong Kong.'" [WSJ] PSY may or may not play at the Spring Festival Gala, which means the Spring Festival Gala may or may not have, yet again, any viewers under the age of 45. "Others don't like the idea because they think the gala is part of Spring Festival celebration tradition and someone foreign shouldn't be part of a Chinese tradition. Netizen 傅如吟 commented: 'It's a gala for the Chinese people. It's for a happy family reunion. Why invite a South Korean?' 沈文臆的小小罗agreed: 'Spring Festival is a Chinese festival, why invite a South Korean?' 韩乐_Anne said: 'There are many talented performances and singers in China. Please give them more chance and they are much cheaper, too. There is no need to invite an international star.'" [Offbeat China] Manta rays are called "pandas of the ocean." "Anecdotal evidence suggests mantas are under threat, and China may be a major reason for it. // Manta rays are vulnerable on two fronts: as bycatch — getting caught in industrial fishing nets targeting different types of tuna — and, increasingly, because of traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM." [Behind the Wall, MSNBC] Maybe they want to reconsider if they think the Chinese are so good at potty-training? "Called 'elimination training' or 'elimination communication,' the practice encourages babies and toddlers to use the toilet on demand while a caregiver is making whistling or shushing noises. Eventually, the baby learns the cue to 'go' on cue and becomes diaper-free. // Move over, Sigmund Freud. // Using slit-bottom pants called kaidangku, Chinese children have traditionally used very few diapers. Instead, they're encouraged from as early as a few days old to release when they're held over a toilet. And when they're out in public, they often wear kaidangku, which allows them the freedom to do what they need to do in a tree box, on the sidewalk, or while they're being held over a trash can." [Christian-Science Monitor] Government jobs popular again. "On November 25th the national civil-service examinations will take place, and about 1.4m people will sit them, 20 times more than a decade ago. Of that number, only 20,800 will be hired by government (millions more sit the equivalent provincial exams with similarly long odds of being hired). This increase is due in part to a surge in the number of university students entering an intensely competitive market for jobs—nearly 7m graduated this year, compared with 1.5m a decade ago. It is also thanks to health, pension and (sometimes) housing benefits, which are seen as generous and permanent in a society with an underfunded safety net—a modern version of the unbreakable Maoist 'iron rice-bowl' of state employment." [Economist] So… cheap baijiu is safer? "Provincial authorities have confirmed that a high-end band of Chinese liquor contains a harmful chemical, while the liquor association has defended the company saying there is no national standard regulating the use of the plasticizer." [Global Times] Laowai bandit. "Staff at Chill's Bar in Shekou are recovering from having tens of thousands of yuan stolen from them by an American who fled the city last month, according to Shenzhen Daily. Real English, a nearby language training centre, was also a victim of the theft that has caused outrage across Shekou." [The Nanfang] Introducing: "Shi-min Fang has held research posts at the University of Rochester in New York and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. He is now a freelance science writer. He just won the inaugural Maddox Prize for exposing scientific misconduct in his native China." [Slate] Ai Weiwei does thing (via Alicia) interlude: Finally… Will Moss is leaving China after eight and a half years. He's one of the good ones. [Image Thief] "Last Words of 19 Tibetans Who Committed Self-Immolation." [Global Voices] China-related English words on Twitter. [chinaSMACK] Finally, finally… Via Shanghai Daily via Sina: "Netizens are ridiculing a self-acclaimed '7-star' hotel in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, saying it looked like a toilet seat." Every copy of current TIME issue in Beijing bookshop has page 12 ripped out. Reason: article on Tibet cc @austinramzy yfrog.com/h2kolrjj — Ananth Krishnan (@ananthkrishnan) November 24, 2012

Jailed Chongqing mafia boss claims he was forced to frame lawyer Posted: 26 Nov 2012 05:30 AM PST When Li Zhuang, a 50-year-old lawyer from Beijing, was accused of fabricating testimony in favour of his client as part of Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun's crackdown against the Chongqing mob, there was outcry from both the national and international legal community. [ more › ]

China Trademarks. When To Go Full Class. Posted: The full class registration is the best way to protect the trademark, but it is very high cost. Therefore, in practice, most companies only apply in the four to five most relevant classes. Small to medium companies usually do not need to make the full class registration. Large companies can consider full class registrations for their trade name or main products. Of course, for brands for which large companies plan to make substantial investment or development in the future, it is imperative to make a full class registration before announcement of the product. This is because even if the trademark later becomes a well-known trademark and thus enjoys full class protection, there is no way to protect against similar trademarks before well-know status is attained. So, if the company wishes to avoid imitation by others, it can first make a full class registration.

China’s uncomfortable diplomacy keeps South Sudan’s oil flowing Posted: 26 Nov 2012 02:40 AM PST As South Sudan's biggest oil customer, China has found itself at the centre of attempts to resolve disputes with northern neighbour Sudan.  In January, South Sudan's government brought oil production to a dramatic standstill, accusing its neighbour, Sudan, of charging excessive export fees and seizing oil shipments. A few days later, the head of the major Chinese-led oil consortium was expelled from the country for "non cooperation". Oil companies, caught by surprise, were forced to close wells so quickly that congealing crude oil risked damaging the pipelines, a Chinese oil executive told Reuters. An agreement signed by Sudan and South Sudan at the end of September, backed by Beijing, was due to see production resume last week, pulling the two countries back from the brink of war. China's role in resolving the dispute has prompted speculation that it is ready to take a more active role in conflict resolution in the war-torn region. But is this really the case? China's authorities, in fact, appear reluctant, while larger territory disputes between Sudan and South Sudan, combined with internal ethnic conflict, still threaten to take the region beyond the help of intervention. Chinese diplomacy? South Sudan – which depends on oil revenues for 98% of its annual budget – broke away from Sudan after an independence vote last July, the culmination of a peace deal forged in 2005. It followed decades of war in which more than 2 million people died. Before the country divided in two, Sudan produced around 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The split left 75% of the oil fields in South Sudan and the north in control of a Chinese-built pipeline and port for export. Lack of agreement over how to divide the country's vast oil wealth has become an inevitable flashpoint. To keep the oil flowing, China, as South Sudan's biggest oil investor and consumer (accounting for 82% of its oil exports), has been drawn uncomfortably into the high-stakes conflict between north and south. China's envoy for African affairs, Liu Guijin, was dispatched to break this year's deadlock, warning that if the two sides fail to resolve the problem, the "whole region would be affected; the repercussions would be very serious". The state-owned China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) led the development of Sudan's oil industry during the 1990s in what was then China's first major overseas investment, when raging civil war in Darfur kept most western companies away. Chinese involvement in South Sudan is newer, but nonetheless crucial to the continuity of Beijing's oil investments, which are now situated primarily in the south. Other Chinese companies and private entrepreneurs have flocked to Juba, South Sudan's capital, looking for opportunities in infrastructure and new markets to push their products, along with Indian, Malaysian and other international counterparts. China also has political reasons for intervening, says Luke Patey, expert on oil investment in the Sudans at the Danish Institute of Development Studies. The government wants to be seen as a responsible player by the international community for "doing their share to build peace alongside other international actors, particularly the US," he says.  This appears to sit uncomfortably with the cornerstone of China's foreign policy – non-interference in other countries' affairs. Deborah Brautigam, expert in China-Africa relations and author of The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa, said in a recent interview with Voice of America: "Sudan is fascinating because it's a good example of how China is getting pushed out of its comfort zone in its non-interference policy. You can see that in trying to broker this recent agreement. They've had their first special envoy – shuttle diplomacy. The Chinese never did that before." Mounting risks, falling returns The recent oil deal may have soothed international concerns, but the real challenges facing China are framed outside the agreement. "The elephant in the room," explains Daniel Large, a UK based scholar on China-Sudan relations, are the other conflicts in the border region. "The international community have hoped that China could offer 'a quick fix' when really the conflict is down to the two parties involved."  Final status of the contested oil-rich Abyei state remains unresolved, while on the northern side of the border, rebellions in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states are worsening. In South Sudan, independence has inflamed internal conflicts, with militia contesting the legitimacy of central government, and between ethnic groups, fighting over scare resources and access to political power.   Heightened conflict has affected oil production and put workers at huge risk. In January, 29 Chinese construction workers were kidnapped in South Kordofan. In an earlier incident in 2008, Chinese oil workers were kidnapped and killed in the same region, sending shock waves back home.  At the same time, oil in South Sudan is no longer as important as it once was to China's global energy strategy; other regions, such as Iraq and Venezuela, now offer more lucrative opportunities for CNPC. "Oil production in South Sudan was stagnating before the shutdown took place", says Patey. "What the industry needs now is new discoveries…and also a lot of investment in advanced recovery techniques, water and gas pumping, and horizontal drilling." But savvy investors are unlikely to step forward in the current climate. Chinese diplomats also seem to be taking a wait and see approach. The new government in South Sudan, which desperately needs infrastructure, has recognised the necessity of Chinese investment. But an US$8 billion infrastructure package reportedly agreed during South Sudan president Salva Kirr's state visit to Beijing in April notably went unconfirmed by the Chinese government.   Set against these concerns, however, is the symbolic importance China attaches to the region: Sudan is one of the Chinese Communist Party's longest standing allies in Africa and the first site of China's "go out" policy. Every Sudan-watcher chinadialogue spoke to stressed that this status is likely to ensure China takes a long-term perspective and holds out for more peaceful times. Environmental and human impacts of oil investment Even if China gets what it wants – oil pouring out of the country – the environmental and human impacts of oil activities in the region still raise huge concerns. The end of civil war may have stopped the most egregious human rights abuses, the massacres and displacements, associated with oil activities. But significant problems remain, according to Leben Nelson Moro, from the University of Juba. Continued property destruction, land expropriated without compensation and massive environmental damage is serving to fuel local resentment towards oil companies, also seen complicit in the abuses committed during the war.  The extent to which companies act responsibly will, say observers, depend on the strength of local laws. The vast savannah ecosystems and swamplands of South Sudan – home to elephants, giraffe, water buffalo and which hosts the migration of Kob antelopes – are particularly vulnerable in the face of renewed oil activities. "Chinese companies will follow suit on the government's lead," says Dana Wilkins, campaigner at Global Witness, which is preparing to release a report analysing South Sudan's oil laws. "Just look at CNPC at home," says Patey. "They've been involved in major environmental disasters in the past 10 years: oil spills into Bohai Bay, gas spills in rivers, a huge gas explosion that killed people in 2005. So how these companies operate at home does not bode well for how they will operate in Sudan and South Sudan if there is no strong regulation from the government there."

Chongqing promises probe into scandal as cadres worry their sex lives will be exposed next Posted: 26 Nov 2012 03:00 AM PST The second-best Chongqing scandal of the year continues to grow, as authorities in the city have pledged to carry out a thorough investigation into an alleged sex-tape-blackmail ring that has already brought down one official. [ more › ]

The Pleasure Boat Party Posted: 26 Nov 2012 03:27 AM PST Date: Nov 26th 2012 5:27p.m. Contributed by: cityweekend_sh

Zhengzhou market hands out free cabbages as vegetable prices plummet Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:00 AM PST         A Zhengzhou textile company last week bought 50 thousand kilograms of cabbage from local farmers, which they distributed free of charge to local residents. The gesture gained widespread attention as cabbage prices across China have plummeted in recent weeks, spelling disaster for farmers who depend on the crop for their livelihood. [ more › ]

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