Mid-Week Links: Father travels across country to find missing daughter, a Mo Yan excerpt, and people want democracy, not economic development

Mid-Week Links: Father travels across country to find missing daughter, a Mo Yan excerpt, and people want democracy, not economic development
What Did We Learn From the Aokang Anti-dumping Verdict? Not so Much.
Top 10 Search List (November 21, 2012)

Mid-Week Links: Father travels across country to find missing daughter, a Mo Yan excerpt, and people want democracy, not economic development

Posted: 21 Nov 2012 04:00 AM PST

White Collar Boxing in Beijing on Saturday, "Brawl on the Wall" (pic by Svante, via YJ)

Monday was World Toilet Day and we did nothing with it. Here are your Thanksgiving eve links.

People's Daily put out a poll asking netizens what they want. Netizens replied. "The winner? Democracy, in a landslide. Out of a healthy 187,000-plus votes cast, Democracy ranked first with over 61,000. This was followed by anti-corruption, which garnered over 38,000 votes, then "social livelihood" with more than 33,000. Although economic development has been the focus of much of China's policy-making in recent years, that concern ranked a distant fourth." [Tea Leaf Nation]

Political tea-leaf reading. "It is not surprising that many Chinese believe that their leaders are keener on enriching themselves than governing. This is a dangerous current building under apparent political apathy. It could be unleashed at any time. Already, earlier this year, the case of Bo Xilai, a previous contender for the Chinese Communist Party's top office, was exposed for his involvement in corruption and a murder, causing a public uproar that sent censors scrambling. // In other words, a party that boasts its proletariat roots and pledges to 'serve the people' is quickly losing credibility among the masses, a crisis that, as Hu warned at the congress, could 'cause the collapse of the party and the fall of the state.'" [Helen Gao, Foreign Affairs]

We'll talk more about @stariver soon. "China has launched an official crackdown on poor-quality humour, after a particularly lame joke about Mao Zedong visiting a bar with Henry Kissinger and Deng Xiaoping led to the jailing of a 17-year-old female student who 're-Tweeted' it to friends." [China Daily Show]

Uplifting story in British tabloids? Yup. "A father determined to find his missing daughter has reunited nine families with their lost children as he travels China hunting for his own. // Feng Jianlin's daughter Feng Yun was kidnapped at the age of nine by human traffickers in 2008. // Three months after his daughter's disappearance, Jianlin closed his tyre shop in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, and decorated his small truck with pictures of the girl and his phone number. // He has since travelled thousands of miles around China in a bid to find her." [Daily Mail]

Only linking to this here so you have the chance to go reread TAR Nation's piece on the guy. "Jonathan Kos-Read frequently appears on TV and cinema screens across China. The enthusiastic photographer and doting father could be a script writer or a DJ, but he has chosen to be a full-time actor." [Shanghai Daily]

This is what we mean when we call corruption endemic. "The head of a local urban management team in the southern city of Guangzhou has been detained on allegations of accepting multimillion-yuan bribes. At court on November 15, he said that he did not dare turn down the bribes for fear of offending some people. He also blamed the system for nourishing corruption." [Southern Weekend via Ministry of Tofu]

CCTV is not like Western TV stations. "China Central Television, the foremost State television broadcaster, raised record revenue of 15.88 billion yuan ($2.54 billion) during the pre-sale auction held Sunday for its 2013 prime-time advertisement slots, up 11.39 percent year-on-year. // Top bidders during the 14-hour auction came, like last year, from industries such as food and beverage, finance and home appliances. Sichuan-based liquor maker Jiannanchun ranked No.1 with ad spending of 608 million yuan for several slots." [Global Times]

Strange. "October 27, Qingdao university freshman girl Liu Xiao'ao along with 5 other schoolmates were asked out to 'have dinner' by 6 college teachers. Afterwards, she mysteriously fell off the building from a 4th floor restroom and died. This reporter got in contact with the Party committee secretary of the school involved, but when he heard that this reporter wanted an interview, he scolded this reporter: 'Why the hell do you report this for? Don't go looking for trouble!' This reporter investigated and discovered that Liu Xiao'ao isn't the only one who died from this school within the past year." [NetEase via chinaSMACK]

Obama meets Wen Jiabao. "Wen and Obama met at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, as tensions rise over maritime territorial disputes in the region which are nagging the always friction-prone relations between Washington and Beijing. // Both men stuck to familiar talking points in a short photo-op, and ignored questions shouted by reporters about South China Sea showdowns which have centre stage at the summit." [AFP]

With all the usual caveats concerning these things. "One of China's more influential experimental writers was beaten unconscious in Xishuangbanna yesterday, possibly by local mafia. Novelist Ma Yuan (马原) had only been living in the small town of Nannuoshan Guniangzhai (南糯山姑娘寨) for five days before running afoul of local thugs, People's Net is reporting." [Go Kunming]

Our sentiments exactly. "To be clear: to release a movie today that celebrates the moral right — nay, responsibility — of well-scrubbed American children to kill invaders is like giving a giant middle finger to the people around the world who see us as the invading army, and whose children have died by the thousands already. 'Red Dawn' is a ghoulish parody of reality, served up earnestly and obliviously, to an audience whose enjoyment will, perforce, be directly proportional to its ignorance." [Salon]

Juggling plates interlude:

Finally…

Return of the Beijinger's charity quiz, December 9 at the Hilton Sanyuanqiao. [the Beijinger]

"Bull," by Mo Yan. [The New Yorker]

Employee sues for unlawful termination, wins; gets rehired at same company, leaves, sues again. [Global Times]

Why is Jeremy Lin struggling? [Quora via Huffington Post]

Malcolm Moore of the Telegraph wins a UK Foreign Press Association award for news story of the year for his coverage of Wukan. This story.

Finally, finally…

Sichun activist Li bifeng is sentenced – 12 years imprisonment 四川绵阳民运人士李必丰被判刑12年wqw2010.blogspot.com/2012/11/12.htm… twitter.com/CHRDnet/status…

— CHRD(@CHRDnet) November 20, 2012

What Did We Learn From the Aokang Anti-dumping Verdict? Not so Much.

Posted: 21 Nov 2012 04:11 AM PST

Last week, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down a verdict in favor of Aokang Shoes, a Chinese company from Wenzhou that had been pursuing the anti-dumping case in the EU for the past six years. As you can see from the ruling, this is insanely technical legal jargon, and not something you want to tackle without a bottle of scotch at your side. I wasn't planning on any commentary for two reasons: I'm not familiar with EU law in this area, and there wasn't anything obviously interesting/extraordinary about the case.

But the number of news articles in the state press here, as well as a Xinhua Op/Ed advice column, made me rethink my decision.

However, let me first say that any victory by a Chinese company abroad is a healthy indicator that PRC firms are becoming more comfortable with overseas legal systems and business practices. These companies should be encouraged to participate in these disputes, and to the extent that some of these articles from state media were designed to light a fire under domestic enterprises in this regard, I think that's a good thing.

But wait a second. These articles were run in English state media, like China Daily, Xinhua, Global Times, and CCTV. If the point was to educate local companies about their legal options abroad, why so much attention in English? One simple explanation might be that this is a foreign trade story, so it makes sense to run it in English. But I also suspect that there was a subtle cheerleading aspect to all this (i.e., we won! And we can win again in the future!).

I have a limit when it comes to certain kinds of rhetoric, and stuff like this goes way past:

On Tuesday, the spokesman for China's Commerce Ministry, Shen Danyang said that the victory has three big positive impacts on international trade.

"First of all, it has distinguished right from wrong. The EU Court of Justice's verdict has ruled that the European Union has not treated Chinese firms fairly when it carried out the anti-dumping investigations. In the past, the EU did not admit it was unfair, unequal or discriminating towards Chinese enterprises. So the verdict has drafted a clear line between right and wrong. Secondly, it has given out a warning to the EU, which limits the EU's scope to abuse anti-dumping measures. Thirdly it set out good example for Chinese enterprises to protect their own rights through legal actions," Shen Danyang said.

I'll go along with point #3, but this "right vs. wrong" rhetoric is ridiculous. China and the EU are not at war; this was an anti-dumping case, a kind of dispute that is unfortunately all too common. For a company to win an appeal in an anti-dumping case does not exactly mean that the EU was slapped down by an angry court weary of "abuse." I read the ruling and didn't see this as a Manichaeian struggle. Maybe that's just me.

Which leads me back to this Xinhua Op/Ed, which starts off just fine by introducing the case and explaining why the result sets a good example for other Chinese enterprises. Fair enough, and I agree. But this confused me:

This victory is particularly significant now, as the EU and the United States have launched a series of anti-dumping investigations into Chinese solar panels and other solar products.

Yes, these disputes are ongoing and high profile. But what does the Aokang case have to do with them? Is the author of the Op/Ed worried that Chinese solar manufacturers will not pursue their rights in these cases? I seriously doubt it. Too much at stake in this market sector for these charges to simply be ignored. And let's face it, if the government wants these companies to pursue these claims, it doesn't need to make its case out in the public in Xinhua (in English).

Aokang won its case, so other companies can do the same. Sure. But why have so many Chinese companies not bothered to do so in the past? Here's Xinhua's explanation:

In theory, Chinese companies involved in export businesses do not lack professional legal advice from lawyers, but they still need to better understand the laws of other countries and learn how to more effectively apply them in their own defense.

Concerns for costly input into human resources and the uncertainty of winning lawsuits have dissuaded Chinese companies from embarking on potentially long journeys through the legal process.

Mostly true. Cost and lack of familiarity are important reasons why Chinese firms have failed to pursue foreign legal claims. I would also tack on to that list cultural/business factors, such as lack of transparency and inexperience. I know quite a few foreign trade lawyers who have told me scary, and amusing, stories about representing Chinese enterprises in trade cases. The problem is not lack of lawyers, but not knowing how to work with them.

And finally, we have this little nugget:

But companies need to recognize that only by legally defending themselves can they avoid facing similar accusations in the future and expand into even bigger markets.

This presupposes that these companies are being unfairly targeted, partially because they have not fought back in the past. It's the victim mentality which is all too prevalent in state media. I guess the idea here is that once these companies stand up for themselves, the EU and other foreign governments will become less aggressive in imposing anti-dumping duties.

Um, no. I don't think it works that way. Yes, trade disputes can be influenced by politics. But that doesn't mean that there is a master plan out there for dealing with Chinese companies that will be revised if a few PRC firms decide to file appeals. That's a funky conspiracy theory.

The lesson from the Aokang case? Same one I tell my foreign clients who have China disputes: if you use the legal system, you might win. If you don't, you'll definitely lose. Any other rhetoric should be ignored.

Top 10 Search List (November 21, 2012)

Posted: 21 Nov 2012 01:26 AM PST

1) 贵州5名男孩致死有关责任人(Guìzhōuwúmíngnánhái zhìsíyóuguānzérènréng, local officials held responsible for the death of 5 boys in Guizhou) – Local government in Bijie, Guizhou Province, where five runaway boys died of suffocation after burning charcoal to keep warm in a dumpster, suspended fired six local officials, including district governor, heads of the education bureau and civil affairs bureau and two principles of local schools where the boys used to attend school. Two other officials were suspended. Chinese story here.

2) 云南四川同现UFO(Yúnnán Síchuān tóngxiàn UFO) – Two amateur astronomers who were star-gazing with their telescopes separately in Sichuan and Yunnan Province said they saw a UFO around the same time on November 11. One of them took a photo of the object. Experts said what they saw might be a special spacecraft. Chinese story here.

3) 老富翁裸女死于车内(láofùwēng luónǘ síyúchēnèi, old billionaire and naked woman died in a car) – The wife of an old billionaire in Yueyang, Hunan Province opened her garage on one morning to find her husband and a 20-something girl naked and dead in the car. The police have excluded the possibility of a murder. Chinese story here.

4) 武术冠军被砍死(wúshùguànjūn bèikánsí, champion of martial art contest hacked to death) – A martial art lover surnamed Mei was the chairman of local martial art association in Lishui, Zhejiang Province and has won championship in international contests. A quarrel with his neighbor regarding the newly built brick wall between their houses escalated into a bloody fight. Armed with a wooden stick, Mei was heavily injured by the knife used by his neighbor and died in the hospital. Chinese story here.

5) 泸州长江大桥桥墩裂缝(LúzhōuChángjiāngdàqiáo qiáodūnlièfèng, cracks in Luzhou Yangtze River Bridge) – The Luzhou Yangtze River Bridge in Luzhou, Sichuan Province has been closed to vehicles and pedestrians after some cracks were found on the No. 2 bridge pier on November 20. Relevant departments are conducting inspections and a temporary steal bridge for war-time might be built to alleviate the traffic pressure. Chinese stories here.

6) 银川地震 (Yínchuān dìzhèn, Yinchuan earthquake) – An earthquake of 4.5 magnitude hit Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region this morning. Small cracks have been found on buildings and there has been no casualty. Chinese story here.

7) 百万支票求婚(báiwànzhīpiào qiúhūn, proposal with a million- yuan check) – A man wearing a mask waited to propose to a girl while holding a million-yuan check on the campus of a university in Wuhan. The 25-year-old man surnamed Zheng was standing next to an Infinity when he told the story behind his proposal. His high school sweet heart named Fangfang is a student in the university. He failed his college-entrance exam five years ago and Fangfang'a parents stopped their daughter from seeing him unless he can make one million yuan. Zheng promised to come back for Fangfang's hand one day, with one million yuan. As he doesn't know how to contact the girl, Zheng waited for 40 minutes in front of a dormitory building but no fangfang showed up. Chinese story here.

8）日本最受欢迎女优(rìbén zuìshòuhuānyíng nǘyōu, Japan's most popular actresses) – The reason why this newly announced list of favorite Japanese actresses became top search key words is probably that the Japanese word of "actress" is used to refer to "actress for AV (adult video)" in China. Chinese story here.

9) 求包养网站(qiúbāoyáng wángzhàn, "seeking arrangement" websites) – A recent story by the Global Times mentioned a kind of websites where female users posted their information and notes of "seeking arrangement" for registered male users to access. Despite fierce criticism, more and more young and beautiful girls started using such websites, hoping to become paid mistresses of rich male users. Chinese story here.

10) 吴亚军(Wú Yájūn, Wu Yajun) – Longfor Properties co-founder and chairwoman Wu Yajun is no longer China's richest woman after divorcing and transferring part of the jointly-owned stakes to her ex-husband Cai Kui, with whom she co-founded the company. This story made our list yesterday. The latest rumor is that the couple faked the divorce to avoid being targeted for their wealth. Chinese story here.