Blogs » Politics » Photo: PLA soldiers in Beijing, by Jan Zdzarski Jr
Blogs » Politics » Photo: PLA soldiers in Beijing, by Jan Zdzarski Jr |
- Photo: PLA soldiers in Beijing, by Jan Zdzarski Jr
- Gaokao May Now Be Holding China Back
- Top brands fail tests for quality, city finds
- Netizen Rips China’s Blogosphere: Men Think Women Are Sex Tools, Fear Our Success
- Riots in Guangdong Escalate, Overwhelm Shaxi
- Riot in Guangdong Village Over Sale of Land
- Plan to reduce minimum stay for foreign workers
- Tale of the Dragon Lady
- Sheng Shuren: A Journalist in New China – Part 3 – Working for Xinhua
- Public Outreach Grant
- China: Local Residents Clash with Police in Shaxi, Guangdong
- Eight Questions: James Fallows, ‘China Airborne’
- China Urged to Protect Kachin Refugees
- China Hails Space and Sea Exploits
- BBC TV Interviews Editor David Wertime re: Women’s Rights in China
- The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay links) – 6/26/12
- China: Shanghai Metro Blames Sexual Harassment on Women's Immodest Clothing
- [Bilingual Brew] Why China’s Health Care Reform Has A Long Way To Go
- CDT Money: The Numbers Game
- Actress Gong Xinliang makes braless appearance at film festival
| Photo: PLA soldiers in Beijing, by Jan Zdzarski Jr Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:41 PM PDT  PLA soldiers in Beijing © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Gaokao May Now Be Holding China Back Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:21 PM PDT Gaokao, the annual nationwide college entrance exam in China, might be holding the world's fastest developing country back, because the education system built around the memorization-heavy gaokao encourages neither creativity nor entrepreneurship. From Helen Gao at The Atlantic:
The author compares the education system in China with that of the U.S, saying that American high schools emphasize more on developing critical thinking skills, whereas Chinese students are trained to memorize all the key points in the textbook to crack multiple choice questions in exams. Some students have realized the limits of the system and rebelled in their own way. The author invokes Han Han's experience as an example — the maverick young writer dropped out of high school as he felt that the system "left too little room for his more disruptive style of thinking". From The Atlantic:
Read more about gaokao via China Digital Times. © Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Top brands fail tests for quality, city finds Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:40 PM PDT
Brands such as New Balance, Edc by Esprit and Mogg Pink were also on the list for quality problems including color fastness, fiber content and pH index, the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said. Edc by Esprit trousers sold at the Pacific Department Store on Huaihai Road and Vero Moda jacket samples sold at the Next Age Department Store in the Pudong New Area failed the inspection for color fastness. A set of Zara trousers and a jacket that were tested were found to have poor color fastness as well. The dye in clothing with poor color fastness will bleed out of the fabric and onto the skin, which can be harmful. Among the 43 batches of garments on the poor quality list, 21 had that same problem. Knitted vests for men by New Balance sold at Huijin Department Store and skirts by Vero Moda and Mogg Pink were found to have engaged in false labeling. They had less of certain types of fiber than what was marked on their labels. The tag of jeans produced by a garments company in Hangzhou indicated that they were made of 90 percent cotton, but the tests found only 78 percent was cotton, and the rest rayon. Some brands, such as H&M, failed tests of durability such as for stitching, and some for exceeding the national pH standard for textiles, which is 7.5 at the upper permitted limit. Substandard dye or materials can cause a high pH. Doctors also said that a high pH index can lead to skin allergies and make people vulnerable to bacteria. Zhang Yusong, an official with the bureau, said the bureau ordered that the substandard products be taken off shelves. It was not the first time that popular brands failed quality tests. At an inspection in late May, Zara and Disney were on the substandard list. A Zara shirt was found to contain less of some types of fiber than its label indicated, while a Disney T-shirt and a pair of Jacadi shorts had a high pH index. Officials remind people to pay close attention to garment tags' explanation of textiles used, washing instructions and quality levels. Also, consumers should be on guard for bad or strange smells and stitching problems at seams. Source: Shanghai Daily |
| Netizen Rips China’s Blogosphere: Men Think Women Are Sex Tools, Fear Our Success Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:51 PM PDT With gender suddenly a hot issue in China, anger over sex discrimination has generated what can only be called a world-class smackdown on Chinese social media.  It has fewer users than Weibo, but is very influential among its crowd China's media and blogosphere have roiled with the recent contrast between female taikonaut Liu Yang's ascension to space with the forced abortion of rural resident Feng Jianmei's seven-month-old fetus. Netizens have eagerly critiqued the Chinese government's expenditures on its space program as a waste of money, while defending Feng Jianmei's right to bring her baby to term. Some feel these critiques have a dark side. Writing just days ago on Douban.com, a social-networking platform for many in the Chinese intelligentsia, one blogger wrote a Chinese-language essay roughly titled "Female Taikonaut, 7-month fetus abortion, and other thoughts." The blogger calls herself a "cold-blooded female scholar" [冷血女才]. Indeed, whether you agree with the author's characterization of male netizens, it's hard to deny her words are angry and eloquent. The writer begins by explaining how a reporter, Cao Linhua, got himself into hot water with an insensitive joke. (As discussed here in Global Voices, Cao has since been dismissed from his post.) "On June 12, a Beijing-based reporter for Southern People Weekly, Cao Linhua, tweeted the following on Weibo: 'Two men and one woman went into space; if they come back and an exam shows the woman is pregnant, what's to be done? Did the country consider it when training these astronauts?' Then, on June 18, a certain person surnamed Liu, reporter for a certain government bureau, tweeted this: 'Papa, why are they bringing a woman into space?' 'Because [due to food safety issues] you can't drink Mengniu or Yili [dairy products]!'" In a recent interview before his dismissal, Cao averred, "When I posted that weibo it was as a public citizen." But that is a rather thin defense. "Cao's use of the term 'public citizen' is extremely disappointing. While expressing his dissatisfaction for the ZF [code for China's government], he remained totally unaware of his own serious gender discrimination. This is common among certain 'public intellectuals' [slang for well known critics of the Chinese government]. Their opposition to dictatorship has found them an audience, but their gender attitudes are backwards and disgusting. When a 'public intellectual' has his mouth full of high-sounding words about freedom and equality, yet believes that one half of the human race is inherently inferior to the other, I question the quality of his views." The author then turns her attention to netizen responses to these tweets: "That is what's so awful about these jokes. They not only deny or refuse to acknowledge that a woman can be an accomplished professional in society, but define her entirely by her biological characteristics, as if she were just a fleshy tool for relieving male sexual urges and producing children." The cold-blooded scholar recalls a rumor from two years ago, which charged that "70% of female PHDs got their degrees from their advisors in exchange for sex." Again, netizen outrage seemed to be a mere pretext: "While people purported to be complaining about sexual harassment, in fact they were implying that women lacked skill as scholars, and could only attain status in the academic community by selling their bodies." The writer proceeds to bring out the heavy artillery: "What makes many men unable to accept Liu Yang is the fact that her accomplishments actually surpass those of most men, even to the point that China's national machinery has decided to support her."  Liu Yang, taikonaut and full-time human being But didn't netizens rush to defend Feng Jianmei, the victim of a recent forced abortion? The cold-blooded scholar isn't buying it. "A number of angry youth [愤青], in particular men, were much angrier about this than they were about the insults directed at Liu Yang. Even though every available fact suggests that the people involved were highly suspicious (including…a delayed application for their second child, spending habits which strongly contradict their pleas of being 'unable' to produce 40,000 RMB, and a recent loss of employment suggesting they wanted to avail themselves of the one-child policy to get a free abortion to exercise sex selection), this did not stop the angry youth from turning her into the classic 'tragic mother.'" The cold-blooded scholar's grim conclusion: "Behind these two incidents is the same logic: Women are only allowed to fulfill the role of wife, defined for them by a male-dominated society. When frustrated in their efforts to become a mother, women find men rushing to defend their 'rights and interests.' But as soon as a woman decides not to play the role of mother, and instead progresses down a professional path and in fact surpasses the majority of men, she will endure their widespread hatred." The cold-blooded scholar is not the only one angry about the recent treatment of women in China. Several others have spoken out on this issue, particularly on the Douban site--which, unlike China's Weibo microblogging platforms, lends itself to long-form arguments. Tea Leaf Nation will continue to watch this space.         |
| Riots in Guangdong Escalate, Overwhelm Shaxi Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:56 PM PDT First posted on CDT Chinese. via Molihua.org:  Protester overturning a car in Shaxi, Guangdong.
Images from Weibo:
AFP also reports on the incident:
© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Riot in Guangdong Village Over Sale of Land Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:22 PM PDT Caijing reports:
Some netizens speculate that the village secretary is a "naked official" whose family lives in Australia. Sina Weibo has already blocked "Zuotan" (左滩) from search results and deleted posts showing photos from the conflict. Photos from the scene via Weibo:  Overturned police car labelled a "thief's car" by protesters.  The visible part of the banner directly above says "Give me back my land." The banner fifth from the bottom reads "Collusion between the government and business is inhumane and destroys families."  "Unite to kick out corrupt officials and profiteers; fight to the death for your homes." Via CDT Chinese. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Plan to reduce minimum stay for foreign workers Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:20 PM PDT
Experts see this adjustment as a regulation complementing the crackdown on illegal foreign immigrants to China in several cities. The draft indicates that Chinese authorities will be stricter, more standard and more fine-tuned when dealing with matters concerning expats and foreign immigrants. Several recent public cases involving foreign residents in China, and the related treatment by authorities, have led to repercussions both in Chinese and expat communities. While the Chinese public has complained about the preferable conditions long enjoyed by foreign residents, immigrants seeking residency or jobs are whining about the vagueness of regulations and fickle policies. The recent demonstration by African residents against the death of a Nigerian in Guangzhou is an example of how tense the situation can become. Clearer administrative and legislative efforts from the government are the only way to ease doubts on both sides. It is hoped that there will be more detailed, systematic rules and regulations dealing with the administration of foreigners in China. The new rules should emphasize both regulation and service, and take into consideration the customs of foreign residents. As China continues to open up, more foreigners are coming to China, and accordingly cases of foreigners violating laws are also rising. It is a new management challenge for metropolises in China. Local residents no longer see aliens as objects of pure curiosity, but are increasingly facing problems brought by the growing foreign population. Sweeping the problem under the carpet is not an option. But it is not necessary to see the entire foreign community in a negative light. The problems should be tackled under a standardized legal framework, so all interested parties can have a clear path to chart. Source: Global Times |
| Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:46 PM PDT Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking, writes for Foreign Policy on perception of women in Chinese politics:
Paul French traces female figures in politics through Cixi the Dowager, Chiang Kai-shek's wife Soong Mei-Ling, Mao's wife Jiang Qing, and up to today's Gu Kailai:
© Wendy Qian for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Sheng Shuren: A Journalist in New China – Part 3 – Working for Xinhua Posted: 26 Jun 2012 05:38 PM PDT On the morning of Christmas Eve as my family and I were getting ready to go to North Carolina to visit my parents-in-law, I received an email from Mr. Sheng Liren whose information I had found on the same school alumni page. He is Sheng Shuren's brother, seventeen years his junior, a retired professor of mathematics. Before I accidentally heard Sheng Shuren's story from Erjia, he seemed to be the only person I could potentially find, so I wrote him a letter and sent it to the School of Mathematical Sciences of Anhui University where he had taught before retiring. I did this just to give a try without really expecting too much—perhaps he had moved; even if he got it, it didn't mean he would respond. I said in my letter that I wanted to write the story of Mr. Sheng Shuren; but he could be one of those people who tells you to "stay away from history," or even if he wanted to tell the story of his brother, it was entirely another matter whether he would entrust it to a stranger. Narrative is such a dangerous thing. Something happens, seemingly straightforward, but how it can surprise us when it is narrated. It can be a pleasant, even amazing, surprise of course; but more often, god knows what it will become when breathed out through a narrator's words, and how it can, in a hundred different ways, make one feel wrong. He said he and his wife had recently come back from visiting their son in Washington, DC's Maryland suburbs, and it would have been so easy for us to meet. But then again, he said, the letter might get lost if he was not around. To my surprise, the arrest and dismissal I knew and referred to in my letter was the second time for his brother. The first time, he was removed from the Xinhua News Agency on Trotskyite spy suspicion. Both times when he went to Xinhua, said Mr. Sheng, my father advised him not to go, but both times he didn't listen, and it must be fate for him to end like that. He said, my brother died on the streets of Shanghai without a family member at his side and a stranger closed his eyes for him. As though to soothe himself, Mr. Sheng added, perhaps it was his luck that the good god took him to heaven with a pair of wheels from a life worse than death. It was a comfort to me that Mr. Sheng also mentioned "the responsibility not to forget," even though I myself didn't say so in my letter. It would be too much of a goal for me to lay claim to, not to say it is all but impossible as generations of people have already vanished, the last of them on the brink of vanishing, along with their stories. Most of the survivors, during the last years of their life when they had been reinstated and enjoyed "freedom," kept complete silence about what they had gone through. If possible, I just want to tell, if only obliquely, the story of one man that I happen to have stumbled onto that hurt me deeply and will not go away. At the end of his letter, Mr. Sheng apologized for writing so much the first time and for the little outburst he could not contain. I wrote him back immediately thanking him for his reply, so much more on a day when lights decorated everything, the smell of roasted turkey and the sound of Christmas carols wafted in the air, and everyone was on their way home for the holiday. When I called Mr. Sheng after the Christmas, we started from Sheng Shuren's two stints at Xinhua. My brother graduated from St. John's around 1942, Mr. Sheng said, I was only a little boy and I remember my family attending his graduation ceremony and him wearing the robe and holding me up for pictures. Shanghai then was under Japanese occupation; jobs were hard to come by. His first job was as a translator at the Gorden Road Police Station [see a photo here]. Later, he passed exams to work first for the North China Daily News and then The China Weekly Review. Perhaps it paid too little to work for the papers, Mr. Sheng said, he found employment at the British Consulate in Shanghai on The Bund. That was the last job he held before Shanghai was liberated. He had already married then and had two children. When Shanghai was liberated, he was very happy. The Communists weren't strangers to him: he had developed good feelings toward them at The China Weekly Review, and Qian Zhengying, the younger sister of his best friend Qian Weifan from St. John's, was a communist party member while studying at Datong University in Shanghai and later became the Deputy Minister of Water Resources of the republic. The Qians frequented our house when I was little, said Mr. Sheng, and they spent time together all the time. At the same time, his jobs had exposed him to the elite of the ruling Nationalists and he loathed their rottenness. Now the country had a new regime, he could finally have a career in journalism that he wanted so badly, so he set his mind on working for the Xinhua News Agency which, in turn, welcomed him with equal enthusiasm. My father had his reservations, Mr. Sheng said, and advised him not to go, while his friends from the Consulate, which had moved to Hong Kong, urged him to join them. He expressly rejected them all.  Xinhua News Agency in 1950s, on the site of the National Congress of the Republic of China that communist China ended. Up until now, Mr. Sheng had been speaking evenly and matter-of-factly, a sudden stress then fell on the word "expressly", ejecting it out of the sentence. I totally understand the choice of the man, a journalist by training: Now that China is unified, has a better regime, if I can work for the highest news agency in my own country, why do I want to be employed by a foreign consulate where I, a foreign national, don't have a viable prospect? When in 1950 Sheng Shuren moved to Beijing, with his wife and two young children, how he envisioned his career at Xinhua as a journalist, I can only imagine. The news from Beijing was that, his job was listening, all day long wearing headphones, to the English broadcast of the western countries, especially the Voice of America, transcribing, translating and presenting it to the leaders of the Communist Central Committee. And the head of the Agency thought highly of him. From what I have read, the International Department of the Xinhua News Agency was, at the time, the only place in China that had access to foreign media, and three binders of Information Compendium for Reference, over ten thousand words together, were produced and sent to the desks of the Party's leaders each and every day at fixed hours in the morning, afternoon and evening. Of the non-stop waves of political campaigns in the 1950s, I know the Land Reform, Suppression of the Anti-revolutionary, Three-Antis and Five-Antis Campaigns, Purge of the Anti-revolutionary Within, Anti-Rightist Campaign, and the Anti-Right-leaning Campaign, but I have never heard of the Purge of the Trotskyites. It refers to the sudden arrest and the subsequent imprisonment of so-called Trotskyite suspects that occurred simultaneously in major cities nationwide in the evening of December 22, 1952. It was the day after Stalin's birthday, and it is said to be Mao's birthday gift to Stalin. Like all purges of the Communists, it was violent and presumes people guilty for their faintest associations. My brother was suspected of being a Trotskyite spy, said Mr. Sheng, because there were self-proclaimed Trotskyites among St. John's students who might have been his classmates or even friends; also, all the jobs my brother had had before the Liberation had to do with foreigners one way or the other, and in the eyes of the Party, every square inch of him was suspicious. After his arrest, his wife returned to Shanghai with their three children—the third was born in Beijing and still a baby. The review of him went on for over a year, said Mr. Sheng, and during that time my mother travelled to Beijing to visit him, staying with my eldest sister. After obtaining a referral from Xinhua for her visit, a rickshaw my sister had hired took her to a prison. My mother showed the people there her referral but was turned down. She sat outside the prison gate without leaving, hoping to try her luck again in a while. But before long, two female guards came out and drove her away harshly. My mother went back to my sister's, saying she had heard the sound of hammers crushing stones and was convinced that her son was being subjected to punitive labor. Even more upset now, said Mr. Sheng, she went again to see my brother. Once again, they turned her down. And my mother began to cry. Who knows, said Mr. Sheng, perhaps the two women guards felt pity for her, they let the mother and son meet. My mother asked my brother whether he was doing forced labor, my brother said, No, no, I am just reading inside. (I have learned from the memoirs of other arrested Trotskyite suspects that the books they were given to read included a booklet titled Flushing out the Imperialist Spies Trotskyite Gang of Bandits.) But we would never know the truth, said Mr. Sheng, because with the guards standing next to them, he wouldn't dare to speak the truth. I chorused in agreement. Having read enough accounts of similar meetings, I can very well imagine how those few minutes, no more than ten, of the mother and son's meeting went, the short words and the long silence, and I have never come upon a single account of a private meeting. A year or so later, Sheng Shuren's case was closed, they concluded that he was not a Trotskyite, but removed him from the Xinhua News Agency anyway. In other words, the spy suspicion was still there even though they had found no evidence to support it. Returning to Shanghai, Mr. Sheng said, his brother found a job in a high school and taught Chinese. Chinese? I was surprised. Of course, don't you know? Said Mr. Sheng, schools then taught Russian only, and English was deemed a reactionary, capitalist language. Of course I know, but how easily we forget things. He taught for a while, said Mr. Sheng, and around 1956, the Xinhua News Agency wanted him back. This time, my father opposed it vehemently, arguing he would be better off staying in his teaching job in Shanghai. Once again, he didn't listen. Two years later, said Mr. Sheng, we learned from a letter of his that things had gone wrong yet again. To be continued tomorrow… Kindle version of Sheng Shuren Filed under: history Tagged: Beijing, China, History, journalism, North China Daily News, Shanghai, Sheng, Sheng Shuren, Xinhua News Agency         |
| Posted: 26 Jun 2012 03:27 PM PDT Memo #166 asiapacific.memo [at] ubc.ca We are thrilled to announce that Asia Pacific Memo (APM) has been awarded a grant that will allow it to develop visualizations and expand its audience in a targeted manner. APM will continue to translate academic research on contemporary Asia after receiving a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Public Outreach Grant, "Asia Pacific Memo Phase Two – Expanding the Reach and Impact of Research on Contemporary Asia through Social Media, Visualizations, and Outreach to Secondary Schools." See the full announcement (including details on visualizations and outreach to secondary schools). If you enjoyed this memo, subscribe to our e-newsletter for free and receive new memos 2+ times per week via email. |
| China: Local Residents Clash with Police in Shaxi, Guangdong Posted: 26 Jun 2012 01:38 PM PDT Police from Shaxi, a city in China Guangdong Province, confirmed on their official Weibo account a barrage of police officers during a public protest. The protest was sparked on Monday, by the beating of a local elementary school students by a teenager from Chongqing. The local officers came to tie the teenager up and injured his face, which triggered the clash and a hot debate of status of migrant workers in the city . FMS has the full story. Written by Gloria Wong · comments (0) |
| Eight Questions: James Fallows, ‘China Airborne’ Posted: 26 Jun 2012 01:44 PM PDT China Real Time blog interviews James Fallows about his new book China Airborne and about the aviation industry in China:
Last month in Wired, Fallows wrote an essay which explained why the success of China's aviation industry will determine the future course of the country's economy as a whole:
Read more by and about James Fallows via CDT, including a preview of China Airborne. © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| China Urged to Protect Kachin Refugees Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:45 AM PDT As China's relationship with Myanmar [aka Burma] is being examined by Myanmar's parliament, human rights groups are urging China to safeguard Kachin refugees. The Kachin minority ethnic group has been fighting for more autonomy in Myanmar in a year-long conflict. From The Voice of America:
While China is allowing some refugees to stay until the violence ends, reports say at least 300 refugees have been detained or sent back to Myanmar. The Associated Press adds:
According to the BBC, China is helping to mediate the conflict between the Burmese government and Kachin rebels:
The state of Kachin is also the location of the controversial Myitsone dam. Although China and Myanmar have strong ties, the Kachin refugees and poppy cultivation seem to be points of contention between the two countries. Reuters reports:
See also the full Human Rights Watch report Isolated in Kachin. Read more about China's relations with Myanmar, aka Burma, via CDT. © Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| China Hails Space and Sea Exploits Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:44 AM PDT While China blasts into space and dives into the sea, Chinese President, Hu Jintao, spoke to the astronauts and praised them for their successful docking mission. From Xinhua:
According to AFP, the conversation between Hu and the astronauts was broadcast on live television:
Aside from being congratulated by Hu, the astronauts also received greetings from the oceanauts from the Jiaolong submarine, but there have been mixed reactions from netizens. CNN adds:
From another Xinhua article, the astronauts also sent congratulatory messages to the oceanauts:
© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| BBC TV Interviews Editor David Wertime re: Women’s Rights in China Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:07 AM PDT It's the offensive tweet that ricocheted around the world in just days. After a spate of recent incidents of sexual harassment and indecency, the Shanghai subway system took to Weibo, China's Twitter, to tweet word of warning. But there were directed not at the perpetrators, but would be victims. As TLN reported, the tweet showed a photograph of a young woman in a translucent dress and warned, "If that's what you wear on a subway, then no wonder you will be sexually harassed! There are too many perverts riding the subway every day, and we can't catch them all. Girl, you've got to respect yourself!" This tweet now has China, indeed the world, wondering aloud about women's rights in the Middle Kingdom. What level of attire is appropriate? What really are the social norms in fast-changing China? And what does this all tell us about the importance of social media? Editor and co-founder David Wertime recently sat down with BBC World News to discuss this tweet heard 'round the world.     |
| The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay links) – 6/26/12 Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:05 AM PDT For me, today's big story was the continuing clusterf&#$ that is ChinaCast Education. The sordid tale involves all the things I enjoy talking about: US-listed Chinese companies, VIE corporate structures, multi-jurisdictional litigation, and executives behaving badly. Basically your average tale of China foreign investment woe. You can read my post here. As to the other newsish flotsam and jetsam . . . Reuters: China IPO Pipeline — a list of what's coming down the line. Good for reference. Xinhua: China to revise funds law to protect investors' interests, reduce financial risks — We're still in the early years of fund regulation, and the government has already discovered that a lot of shenanigans are going on, including illegal fundraising and insider trading. The new rules are designed to better protect investors and inject some stability into the system. Lots of other draft rules and regulations floating around at the moment because the government body that vets new laws is meeting this week. For example, the whole issue of expat passport/document control is still being tossed out as a legislative priority. A new set of draft rules was issued today — New proposals for foreign visitors. What worries me is the proposal to start collecting "biological data" on foreigners; I hope that just means fingerprints. While I do not believe that expat immigration control is a genuinely important legislative item, a new draft rule concerning seniors is certainly higher on the list, given the rapidly aging population and changing social patterns in China — China mulls amending law to protect seniors' welfare. Caixin: Regulator Announces Crackdown on Media Bribery — I guess the journo blackmail and threats have gotten out of hand, or perhaps the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television just wanted to remind media outlets who's the boss. Either way, I assume SARFT will find some folks to punish before long. The Diplomat: Is China a Bad Investor? — China has been buying a lot of energy resources from Burma, which is currently experiencing blackouts and other power problems. The Burmese are not happy with their government, but their criticisms are now starting to include China. China Economic Review: Local officials auction luxury fleets to pad finances — We knew that finances were bad for local governments, but this surprised me. It's hard to separate a local official from his Audi, so I guess times really are pretty tough. Bloomberg: China Scraps Trial Of Local Government Bonds, Studies Risks — Speaking of local governments' financial problems, Beijing has decided that debt levels are too high to allow localities to float their own bonds. For the time being, Beijing is going to manage that process itself. New York Times: A Weapon We Can't Control — If you're into cyberwarfare, you may find this article interesting. The article's subtitle, "Stuxnet Will Come Back to Haunt Us," pretty much tells you the the thrust of the argument. Certainly U.S. actions with Stuxnet make it easier for countries like China to continue their own cybersecurity programs, knowing that any U.S. criticism can be countered with a charge of hypocrisy. Xinhua: China to accelerate shale gas industrialization — More indications that China will be doing some big time fracking in the near future. Reuters: Angry Birds sweet-talk copycats in booming China market — Discussion of Rovio's China IP strategy, which can be summarized as "cooperation, not confrontation." They're trying to work with infringers instead of suing them. Good luck. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| China: Shanghai Metro Blames Sexual Harassment on Women's Immodest Clothing Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:19 AM PDT Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu reported a debate in reaction to Shanghai Metro's microblog post, which blames sexual harassment on women's immodest dressing. While some women have stood up to protest against the sexual discrimination, the popular sentiment online has sided with the Metro company. Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0) |
| [Bilingual Brew] Why China’s Health Care Reform Has A Long Way To Go Posted: 25 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT [Please enjoy this Tea Leaf Nation bilingual brew. The article is first shown in English, and then in the original Chinese. 亲爱的读者，欢迎享受我们的 "双语茗茶"。英文翻译在上，中文原文在下。]  After a spate of violence, these nurses in Shenzhen wore hard hats to work "Doctor-patient relationship" is a popular term on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter. Recently, among more than 940,000 microblogs related to this word, a new topic has emerged: Relatives of a patient in the city of Suzhou recently slapped a doctor and knocked four teeth from a security guard's mouth after being told there were not enough hospital beds for their loved one. This was not the first incidence of violence in Chinese hospitals. In March this year, a patient at Harbin Medical University No. 1 Hospital Affiliated stabbed four doctors with a knife. One of the doctors, an intern in his twenties, died from the wounds. After the incident, hospitals started tightening up security, while doctors and nurses panicked. Surprisingly, facing the death of a young doctor, not all Chinese netizens felt pity or condemned the stabber. According to a report in China Youth Daily, 65% of readers voting in a poll described themselves as "Happy" when asked about their feelings after reading the news. What exactly is the "doctor-patient relationship?" Netizens on Weibo offered definitions. @最爱香草奶昔 tweeted, "It is a bit after 12 p.m., the children's hospital is still crowded. Parents who bring their children over are all very anxious, but no one from the hospital is working. They are back home for lunch and a nap. 'Come after 2:30 for check-ups and diagnoses!'—This is the 'doctor-patient relationship' in China." @走猫步的天使 said, "A nurse called Yan Ni was beaten to hematuria… this is the current 'Doctor-Patient Relationship'!" These tweets evince opposite understandings of the current relationship between doctors and patients. One distrusts the doctors and thinks they are not being responsible. Besides extremely long wait times and the doctors' cold or indifferent attitudes, many patients complain about under-the-table deals where doctors receive "red envelopes," essentially bribes for doing their job. The other tries to understand doctors and finds it unreasonable to blame only doctors for the deterioration of relations with patients. It's not easy on anyone, and not all doctors are villains. Online, many doctors and medical students worry about the future of their chosen profession, and even their personal safety. @天使Li468 tweeted, "As the relationship between doctors and patients becomes tenser, and as violence in hospitals becomes more severe, it is hard to [fully] understand the pressure that public opinion places on health workers. We need to reflect and ask what really caused the current situation. Only those who've studied medicine themselves can understand, and they don't want their children to take the same path." Much like in the U.S., it costs a fortune to be a Chinese medical school student. The pressure is intense, and the amount of work a student does is clearly disproportionate to how much a student gains in future income. As relationships with patients worsen, doctors now must also seriously consider their personal safety as well.  Step 1: Stuff with money. Step 2: Give to doctor As the daughter of a doctor, I've heard many similar complaints. My mother and her colleagues complain that all problems come from management. Many doctors' explanation for the high price of medicine is similar to that of netizen @古三思's: "Medicine factories need to raise the prices for profit. [Competing with others, ] they have to fight their way into the hospitals. And since the hospitals have no better way to generate income, make the prices even higher. Doctors are only the last part of the chain of benefit. The solution to the problem is medical reforms. Make competition between medicine factories fair. Standardize treatment processes. The government should pay the doctors, so that hospitals don't have to earn money from high medicine prices to pay their employees." In fact, medicine factories have their own representatives who are responsible for the promotion of their medicine in hospitals. For those doctors who have the right to prescribe, each prescription brings them a commission from the company representative. However, these doctors are not the majority in any hospital. As for the "red envelope" money, one of my mother's colleagues says that she often has to drive to a city two or three hours away for a diagnosis. If the inviting hospital doesn't provide "red envelope" money, the money my mother's own hospital gives her isn't even enough to purchase gas for the trip. Even if patients and their families understand that their pain comes more from the system than from health workers, medical reform is difficult. In the U.S., discussion about health insurance reforms started at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it is still a focal point in elections. In Berlin, my friend once had to wait for over three hours to get a doctor to see her sprained foot. In China, there are perhaps more problems as conflicts between doctors and patients mount. But when comparing China with developed countries, remember that her medical reforms only started in 1985. There is still a long way to go.
"医患关系"是一个微博热点词汇。最近，在新浪超过九十四万条与此相关的微博中，又有了一个新话题：苏州某病患家属因为被通知医院床位不够，甩手打了医生一个耳光，而保安人员更是被打掉了四颗牙。［视频在这里］ 如此发生在医院的暴力事件已经不是第一次了。今年三月，一位在哈尔滨医科大学附属第一医院就诊的病人持刀捅伤四位医生，其中一位二十多岁的实习医生不治身亡。这起事件之后，各大医院纷纷加强保安措施，医护人员也人心惶惶。 但是，面对年轻医生被病人持刀捅死的事实，网友们却出乎意料地没有表现出一致的谴责和痛惜；相反，根据《中国青年报》的报道，腾讯网转载的"哈医大杀人事件"新闻报道后，有4018人次在网站设置的"读完这篇文章后，您心情如何"的投票中选择了"高兴"，占投票的共6161人次的65％。(《中国青年报》3月26日) "医患关系"到底代表了什么？新浪微博网友们从各自的角度给出了不同的定义。@最爱香草奶昔_说:"中午12点多，儿童医院内就医的人们依旧是人声鼎沸，陪护着小儿患者的家长们个个心急如焚，但无论是收费、坐诊还是检查的医务工作者们早已纷纷回家吃饭、午休。 '检查、治疗，两点半以后再来！'——这就是中国的医患关系……" @走猫步的天使则称:"沈阳医学院奉天医院急诊室护士燕妮被患者家属殴打至血尿，打人者高喊我老丈人是七路派出所所长，打你也白打，太气愤了。这和我爸是李钢有什么区别？这就是现在的医患关系！" 这两则微博分别展示了对现今医患关系两种截然相反的理解。"最爱香草奶昔_"对医院和医生不信任，不认可。他们认为，医院和医生的所作所为对病人不够负责。除了等待时间过长和对病人态度冷淡以外, 许多患者抱怨医生开后门，收红包，无"医德"。而"走猫步的天使"代表的另外一部分人则表示理解医生这一人群，并表示，病人及家属把不同原因导致的矛盾全部指向医生并不合理。这一群人主要抱有"谁都不容易"的态度，认为医生并不都是"坏人"，光由于某些人的举动而抹杀对这个职业的信任有些矫枉过正。 网络上的在职医生和医学生则对这一职业的前景，甚至自身安危表示了担忧。@天使Li468说: "随着医患关系的紧张医闹的壮大…让医务人员承受的压力与舆论谁能明白…导致这种局面到底是什么造成的值得反思…所以只有学医才能深深体会到所以才不让自己的孩子走自己的路啊…" 而另外几位自称是从事医疗行业的网友也说，尽量不让自己的孩子学医，不仅因为学费高，压力大，工作收入与产出不成比例，也更是因为医患关系让医生们开始严肃考虑自身的性命安危了。
而对于会诊收红包这件事，我妈妈的一位同事则说，她常常需要自己开车去两三个小时外的城市会诊，如果对方医院不提供"红包"这种灰色收入，自己医院给的会诊费根本不够补贴来回开车的汽油钱。 就算患者及其家属意识到他们的痛苦更多来源于体制，而不是医护人员，医疗体制改革本身依旧是艰难的。在美国，关于医疗保险改革的讨论开始于二十世纪初期，一直到最近还是各届总统选举的焦点。在德国柏林，我曾经陪扭伤脚的朋友在医院急诊室排队等了三个多小时才见到医生。而中国患者所面对的。除了排队太久、医疗保险不完善这些体制造成的问题，还有医疗纠纷难以解决，违法订立药价等等在实施中产生的困难。相比与发达国家长达一个世纪的努力，中国的的医疗体制改革却仅仅开始于1985年，这样看来，面前也许还有一条漫长的路。     |
| Posted: 26 Jun 2012 05:47 AM PDT Last week's key data release signaled continued weakness for China's manufacturing sector, with HSBC's preliminary purchasing managers index (PMI) shrinking for an eighth straight month in June. Reuters reports that the 48.1 reading – anything below 50 suggests a contraction – is the lowest in seven months and matches a similar streak during the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. Input and output prices plunged to their lowest level in two years, writes The New York Times. The most troubling figure, export orders, slipped to its lowest level since March 2009. Even with Beijing having already taken steps in the second quarter to offset slumping exports and boost domestic consumption, including its first interest rate cut since late 2008, The Wall Street Journal reports that analysts believe the government still has more tools left in its policy arsenal:
A Reuters piece out Monday asserts that no bottom is in sight as China looks increasingly likely to miss its 2012 growth target. But as bearish as recent data appear, could the real situation on the ground actually be worse? In a New York Times piece over the weekend, Keith Bradsher points out that while doubts have persisted for years about the accuracy of Chinese economic data, this is the first time in several decades that a slowdown has coincided with a leadership change at the top of a Communist Party regime that has long-relied on economic growth for its legitimacy and social stability. As a result, local and regional officials with an eye toward promotion may be fudging the numbers:
Accusations of financial fraud weren't only reserved for Chinese public officials last week, as one of China's largest property developers came under fire in a scathing research report rife with allegations of accounting irregularities, bribery and insolvency. Short seller Citron Research published a 57-page report on Thursday about Evergrande Real Estate Group, a Hong Kong-listed company whose property assets have grown 23x since 2006. The report calls out "at least 6 accounting shenanigans" used to hide an actual equity value well less than zero. From the report:
Evergrande's share price plunged following the report's dissemination, and the company denied the accusations in a brief statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday while reportedly considering legal action against Citron. A number of global investment houses published on the incident and questioned the validity of the report, with some even reiterating their "buy" rating on the stock, a fact that Evergrande hurried to point out in a stronger statement on Friday titled ""Eight Famous Investment Banks Support Evergrande to Dispel Rumors Spread by A Short Seller." Reuters even reported that Evergrande had explored buying back some of its shares on the open market after the beating they took on Thursday, a move that aimed at further bolstering Still, the damage was arguably done anyway. At a time when Chinese companies are suffering perhaps their greatest crisis of credibility in years, Evergrande joins a list of scandal-ridden companies that includes names such as Sino Forest, ChinaCast Education and SinoTech Energy. The difference is that the others were small and obscure companies while Evergrande ranked 5th in market capitalization among Chinese property names before the report. Sino Forest was a junior county-level cadre to Evergrande's Politburo heavyweight. Sino Forest, ChinaCast and SinoTech were, however, listed in the United States, where Patrick Chovanec writes that regulators may have to forcibly delist every Chinese company unless they can reach an agreement with China on a satisfactory way to deal with fraud investigations going forward. While such a "nuclear option" is unlikely, Chovanec writes that few investors or politicians have seriously considered the possibility:
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| Actress Gong Xinliang makes braless appearance at film festival Posted: 25 Jun 2012 09:04 PM PDT Actress Miumiu Gong Xinliang recently has become the topic again for her braless appearance at a film festival in Shanghai. The 25-year-old actress is known for her role as a busty secretary in Feng Xiaogang's If You Are The One 2008 (非诚勿扰), and ever caused quite a buzz in the Entertainment circle for her romantic rumor with pianist Lang Lang (朗朗). On June 24, in an effort to better show off her precious assets, Miu Miu took fans by surprise wearing no bra under her sexy white dress when walking down the red carpet at the closing ceremony of the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival, and accidentally had one of her breast exposed to the cameras. |
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