Blogs » Politics » Photo: Xi Jinping, by Jan Zdzarski Jr

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• Photo: Xi Jinping, by Jan Zdzarski Jr
• Bloomberg Blocked After Revealing Xi Family Wealth
• Bloomberg Blocked After Revealing Xi Family Wealth
• China in Africa: Voices of Approval
• The Rise of Innovative State Capitalism
• Prominent Economist Returns to Weibo, Says China Needs New Social Order
• China Tries to Breathe Free
• World’s Oldest Pottery Confirmed in Jiangxi
• No Weibo for the New York Times
• The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay links) – 6/29/12
• Hu Arrives in HK for Handover Celebrations
• China May Continue to Send Women into Space. Wait, what?
• Shenzhou 9 Makes Triumphant Return
• Photo: Face of Kashgar, by iamuday
• Looking Ahead to the Next Shenzhou Mission: Expats in Space!
• China:Famous School Teacher Harassed Boys

Photo: Xi Jinping, by Jan Zdzarski Jr Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:59 PM PDT Xi Jinping © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Bloomberg Blocked After Revealing Xi Family Wealth Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:29 PM PDT Bloomberg ran a lengthy report on Xi Jinping – the presumed heir to the title of China's paramount leader, digging deep into the business connections of his family. After outlining Xi's reputation for being a clean, moral politician who championed an anti-graft campaign, the article airs the extensive business relations and enormous reserves of wealth connected to the Xi family: As Xi climbed the Communist Party ranks, his extended family expanded their business interests to include minerals, real estate and mobile-phone equipment, according to public documents compiled by Bloomberg. Those interests include investments in companies with total assets of $376 million; an 18 percent indirect stake in a rare- earths company with $1.73 billion in assets; and a $20.2 million holding in a publicly traded technology company. The figures don't account for liabilities and thus don't reflect the family's net worth. No assets were traced to Xi, who turns 59 this month; his wife Peng Liyuan, 49, a famous People's Liberation Army singer; or their daughter, the documents show. There is no indication Xi intervened to advance his relatives' business transactions, or of any wrongdoing by Xi or his extended family.[...] After Bloomberg makes the important note that none of these assets can be tied directly to Xi, it offers a contextual picture of a China rife with tension surrounding wealth and corruption. The in-depth piece of investigative reporting outlines the Xi family's revolutionary history and Jinping's "princeling" status before diving into the massive business holdings of his extended family: Xi and his siblings are the children of the late Xi Zhongxun, a revolutionary fighter who helped Mao Zedong win control of China in 1949 with a pledge to end centuries of inequality and abuse of power for personal gain. That makes them "princelings," scions of top officials and party figures whose lineages can help them wield influence in politics and business. The Guardian briefly summarizes some of Bloomberg's findings: The Bloomberg report said most of the assets it traced were owned by Xi's older sister, Qi Qiaoqiao, her husband, Deng Jiagui, and Qi's daughter, Zhang Yannan. It said Deng held an indirect 18% stake in a rare earth firm with $1.7bn (£1.1bn) in assets, while the couple held 1.83bn yuan (£184m) of the assets of the Shenzhen Yuanwei Investment Company and wholly owned the Yuanwei group, which had assets worth at least 539m yuan (£55m). The report did not assess the liabilities of relatives and so could not calculate their net worth. Deng told the agency he was retired and it was "not convenient" to talk much about the couple's business interests. The Chinese government refused to comment when the agency provided a list showing the Xi family's holdings to the foreign ministry. Shortly after the piece went online, Bloomberg found its website on the harmonious side of the Great Firewall. AP reports: China blocked access to Bloomberg's website on the mainland after the business and financial news agency published a report Friday detailing the multimillion-dollar assets of relatives of the man set to become the country's next president. Bloomberg noted that no assets were traced to Xi, his wife, or their daughter and said in the report that there was no indication of any wrongdoing by Xi or his extended family. Still, the move to block access to Bloomberg's main website, on which the Xi story was the lead news item, underscores the government's sensitivity to such exposure of wealth belonging to people linked to top leaders amid a burgeoning gap between rich and poor and rampant official corruption. "The government has always been very careful in, on the one hand, emphasizing how they want to contain corruption but yet also worrying about how reports of this nature might galvanize public opinion against the Communist Party," said Dali Yang, a political scientist at University of Chicago Center in Beijing. © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: anti-corruption, Bloomberg, censorship, corruption, Great Firewall, princelings, Xi Jinping Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Bloomberg Blocked After Revealing Xi Family Wealth Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:19 PM PDT Bloomberg ran a lengthy report on Xi Jinping – the presumed heir to the title of China's paramount leader, digging deep into the business connections of his family. After outlining Xi's reputation for being a clean, moral politician who championed an anti-graft campaign, the article airs the extensive business relations and enormous reserves of wealth connected to the Xi family: As Xi climbed the Communist Party ranks, his extended family expanded their business interests to include minerals, real estate and mobile-phone equipment, according to public documents compiled by Bloomberg. Those interests include investments in companies with total assets of $376 million; an 18 percent indirect stake in a rare- earths company with $1.73 billion in assets; and a $20.2 million holding in a publicly traded technology company. The figures don't account for liabilities and thus don't reflect the family's net worth. No assets were traced to Xi, who turns 59 this month; his wife Peng Liyuan, 49, a famous People's Liberation Army singer; or their daughter, the documents show. There is no indication Xi intervened to advance his relatives' business transactions, or of any wrongdoing by Xi or his extended family.[...] After Bloomberg makes the important note that none of these assets can be tied directly to Xi, it offers a contextual picture of a China rife with tension surrounding wealth and corruption. The in-depth piece of investigative reporting outlines the Xi family's revolutionary history and Jinping's "princeling" status before diving into the massive business holdings of his extended family: Xi and his siblings are the children of the late Xi Zhongxun, a revolutionary fighter who helped Mao Zedong win control of China in 1949 with a pledge to end centuries of inequality and abuse of power for personal gain. That makes them "princelings," scions of top officials and party figures whose lineages can help them wield influence in politics and business. The Guardian briefly summarizes some of Bloomberg's findings: The Bloomberg report said most of the assets it traced were owned by Xi's older sister, Qi Qiaoqiao, her husband, Deng Jiagui, and Qi's daughter, Zhang Yannan. It said Deng held an indirect 18% stake in a rare earth firm with $1.7bn (£1.1bn) in assets, while the couple held 1.83bn yuan (£184m) of the assets of the Shenzhen Yuanwei Investment Company and wholly owned the Yuanwei group, which had assets worth at least 539m yuan (£55m). The report did not assess the liabilities of relatives and so could not calculate their net worth. Deng told the agency he was retired and it was "not convenient" to talk much about the couple's business interests. The Chinese government refused to comment when the agency provided a list showing the Xi family's holdings to the foreign ministry. Shortly after the piece went online, Bloomberg found its website on the harmonious side of the Great Firewall. AP reports: China blocked access to Bloomberg's website on the mainland after the business and financial news agency published a report Friday detailing the multimillion-dollar assets of relatives of the man set to become the country's next president. Bloomberg noted that no assets were traced to Xi, his wife, or their daughter and said in the report that there was no indication of any wrongdoing by Xi or his extended family. Still, the move to block access to Bloomberg's main website, on which the Xi story was the lead news item, underscores the government's sensitivity to such exposure of wealth belonging to people linked to top leaders amid a burgeoning gap between rich and poor and rampant official corruption. "The government has always been very careful in, on the one hand, emphasizing how they want to contain corruption but yet also worrying about how reports of this nature might galvanize public opinion against the Communist Party," said Dali Yang, a political scientist at University of Chicago Center in Beijing. © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: anti-corruption, Bloomberg, censorship, corruption, Great Firewall, princeling, princelings, Xi Jinping Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

China in Africa: Voices of Approval Posted: 29 Jun 2012 02:41 PM PDT An ongoing debate has long revolved around China's investment of cultural, economic, and military resources in Africa. Western politicians have warned African states to be wary of a "Chinese Invasion", and African statesmen are sometimes ambiguous in their stance – playing a hard line while campaigning and then affirming the importance of ties to Beijing once in office. There are, however, those who lucidly see positive light in China's African campaigns. In a New York Times op-ed, international economist Dambisa Moyo takes on the "scaremongering", and emphasizes the needed accountability to which African leaders should be held: Despite all the scaremongering, China's motives for investing in Africa are actually quite pure. To satisfy China's population and prevent a crisis of legitimacy for their rule, leaders in Beijing need to keep economic growth rates high and continue to bring hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. And to do so, China needs arable land, oil and minerals. Pursuing imperial or colonial ambitions with masses of impoverished people at home would be wholly irrational and out of sync with China's current strategic thinking. Moreover, the evidence does not support a claim that Africans themselves feel exploited. To the contrary, China's role is broadly welcomed across the continent. A 2007 Pew Research Center survey of 10 sub-Saharan African countries found that Africans overwhelmingly viewed Chinese economic growth as beneficial. In virtually all countries surveyed, China's involvement was viewed in a much more positive light than America's; in Senegal, 86 percent said China's role in their country helped make things better, compared with 56 percent who felt that way about America's role. In Kenya, 91 percent of respondents said they believed China's influence was positive, versus only 74 percent for the United States. An article from Global Research discussing U.S. plans to expand military activity in Africa points to a difference in aid strategy that may help explain both positive African perceptions of China (as represented by Moyo), and condemnations of China's presence by Western politicians (as represented by Hillary Clinton's statements last year): the difference between "hard" and "soft" power: [...]The big difference in China's attitude as compared to the West, and primarily the U.S., is that it used the so called "soft power" creating a positive impression of itself rather than twisting the arms of its partners and expanding military presence. [...]Feeling that they might lose the competition with China if it continues to move along economic rails only, the West has resorted to the time-tested tactics of increasing its military presence. The pretext may be any – the anti-terrorism fight as in the case of Africa, or even "humanitarian operations" and search for the remnants of U.S. pilots killed in World War II like the one the U.S. is planning to launch in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China and disputed by the latter. But the long term goal is clear – that is, pressing China out of all spheres of vital interest. Whether such development and the substitution of China's "soft power" by the U.S. "hard power" is in vital interests of the affected countries themselves, is for the latter to judge. But one thing is clear – while shifting the focus of its strategy to the Asia Pacific (i.e. to China's immediate neighborhood) , the U.S. is ready to start a scramble for influence on "distant playgrounds" as well. For more from an approving stance on China's presence in Africa, lets turn to China Daily. One article in today's edition outlines the history leading up to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and all of the positives that have resulted since the first forum 12-years ago. It ends stressing that, while the forum has been beneficial to Africa, there is room for improvement: After 12 years, the China-Africa cooperation platform has now reached a concrete stage. Multilevel exchanges, bilateral interactions and decision-making processes between the two sides reflect the common goal of scientific cooperation. Project selection under the aegis of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum has also veered more toward African interests. (The African side is permitted to float two or three alternative proposals depending on the need). The real core of China-Africa cooperation can be found in the Four Basic Principles, namely the principles of equal treatment, mutual support, autonomy and common development. Though cooperation between the two sides has notched up many achievements, there are still defects and problems. Due to lack of experience in the initial stages, the forum is not perfect, and it has always been in a process of continuous learning, change and adaptation. Another opinion piece in today's China Daily further applauds China's efforts in Africa: "If you want to be rich, you must first build roads," says a well-known Chinese proverb. Massive investment in road construction has been an important element for China's success in its reform and opening-up. Based on its own successful experience, China has made heavy investment in Africa's infrastructure. The African people and leaders know well that the investment will lay a solid foundation for the continent's economic development in the future. When picking up Chinese visitors at airports, taxi drivers in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, often gladly point at the city's high-quality beltways and say gratefully that they would not have such modern highways without the help of China. Also see prior CDT coverage of soft power and the debate surrounding Chinese investment in Africa. © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Africa investment, Africa relations, soft power Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

The Rise of Innovative State Capitalism Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:46 PM PDT Although government-led economic intervention runs counter to established wisdom that the market is best for promoting ideas, the international rise of state capitalism in recent years has suggested that state-supported industries are indeed capable of fostering innovation. In my new piece for Bloomberg Businessweek, I explore the rise of state capitalism, its innovative potential, and the lessons that U.S. and European businesses and governments should draw from this phenomenon. You can read the piece in its entirety here.

Prominent Economist Returns to Weibo, Says China Needs New Social Order Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:14 PM PDT Han Zhiguo He's back! The outspoken and social media-savvy economist Han Zhiguo (@韩志国) left Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, on February 21, 2012. At that time, he penned a parting shot (translated here) that made clear his departure was anything but voluntary.  But on June 17, Han returned to his 3.8-million-plus followers with these words: "How has Sina Weibo lasted up until now? What the heck is Sina doing this year?" [Ch1]  Since then, Han has resumed tweeting in a manner as prolific, and dark, as before. But his latest tweet caught our attention. With recent hand-wringing about an economic slowdown, it's perhaps fitting that Han has chosen this Friday to issue this sharp critique of China's system: "China needs an entirely new social order. Patronage of bigwigs; layer after layer of dependence; the dilution of human rights; ignoring rule of law; these are the most obvious characteristics of a society run by men. This is the root of the inability to progress and to build a democratic system ruled by law. As long as power is at the center, it inevitably forms a distribution of administrative power and personal dependencies where might and power replaces human rights and runs amok." [Ch2] Han shared this image days ago, which appears to summarize his view of much of China Then comes the money line: "Reform has gone on for 30 years now, but the system is far from balanced. China needs a completely new social order." [Ch3] It's reminiscent of Han's February 21 farewell note, where he noted China's lack of progress on free speech after 30 years of reforms. Will it catch the attention of censors? Or does its provenance on a Friday night (when Weibo users, including censors, tend to relax) make it less likely to get noticed? Tea Leaf Nation will keep its dear readers up to speed on Han's online fate. For now, let us just say to Mr. Han: You've been missed. Footnotes    (? returns to text) 新浪微博走到今天，原因到底在哪里？在这一年间，新浪到底在干什么？? 【 中国需要一种全新的社会秩序 】 攀龙附凤、层层依附、淡化人权、漠视法治是人治社会的显著特点，这是民主与法治难以推进和建立的制度根源。以权力为本位，就必然形成层层行政支配和人身依附，威权就会取代人权而横行无忌。? 改革已走过30多年，但制度制衡却遥不可及。中国，需要一种全新的社会秩序。?

China Tries to Breathe Free Posted: 29 Jun 2012 11:30 AM PDT After one day in Beijing, I had a sore throat. After two days, I had a cough. In nine days, the sun never made an appearance. So, when I returned to New York from Beijing earlier this week, I wasn't surprised to learn from a friend who tracks China's air quality that the pollution in the country's capital during my stay had been among the worst since 2007. There really isn't any mystery as to why Beijing's air pollution is so bad. Crawling in traffic from one corner of Beijing to another, it's clear that vehicle emissions are a top culprit. Add in coal burning, dust from the Gobi desert and construction, and industrial pollution, and you have a potent mix of polluted particulates. There also isn't much mystery as to what this pollution means for the health of Beijing residents—increased lung and respiratory problems, higher hospital admissions, and even premature death. The real question is: What can Beijing—and other Chinese cities facing such severe air pollution—do about the problem? First, they need to move beyond petty politics. Earlier this year, Beijing was dragged into releasing statistics on the pollutant PM 2.5 (which is particularly hazardous to people's health) through a combination of pressure from the U.S. embassy in Beijing—which was already tweeting PM 2.5 levels in its vicinity on an hourly basis—and popular agitation by the Chinese people who wanted to know what they were really up against in terms of their pollution problem. Now, six months later, Beijing is trying to shut down the U.S. embassy (and various Consulate) tweets, arguing that they contravene the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, in which "foreign diplomats are required to respect and follow local laws and cannot interfere in internal affairs." As a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin stated, "If the Foreign embassies want to collect this kind of information for their own staff and diplomats, I think it's up to them. They can't release this information to the outside world." Why this new assault on transparency? There are a couple of likely reasons: Beijing has argued that the reporting from the U.S. embassy is based on only one site and therefore not representative of the whole city and misleading to the Chinese public. The embassy makes clear, however, that its reporting is relevant only for the area in which the embassy is located. Second, Beijing is annoyed because China and the United States often characterize the same level of pollution differently. What constitutes "good" in China can be rated "unhealthy" in the U.S. system.  Of course, the impact on health is the same, whatever the rating. As one Chinese netizen wrote, "I never understand the Environmental Protection Ministry, especially this sentence: 'They use their own country's air quality standards to evaluate ours, which is clearly unreasonable.' Does this mean Americans are higher human beings or lower human beings than Chinese?" And finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Foreign Ministry and some within the Ministry of Environmental Protection are undoubtedly irritated by the fact that the United States feels it necessary to continue publicizing its own measurements, thereby implicitly suggesting a lack of trust in Beijing's own monitoring and reporting. The reaction from the Chinese people to this diplomatic tempest is not surprising. As others have reported, Weibo has been full of comments mocking Beijing's stance. What the people want is not political blame but a plan of action. The non-governmental organization (NGO) Greenpeace, which has a top-notch team in Beijing, has several practical suggestions, some of which are already underway: set clear targets to limit coal consumption; have the major cities within particular regions formulate and coordinate legally binding plans to reach national air quality standards (for Beijing this will mean Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei); and introduce policies to limit the rapid growth of vehicle usage. All of this is easier said than done, of course, but as the head of the NGO Greener Beijing has noted, the environmental community is just waiting for the government to accept its offer of help. The Chinese government now has at its disposal an informed and engaged public along with NGOs committed to a better environment. So instead of wasting time, Beijing should seize the moment, tap into the energy and concern of the Chinese people, and mobilize them around a real initiative to address the challenge at hand.

World’s Oldest Pottery Confirmed in Jiangxi Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:04 PM PDT An report released today in Science details the dating efforts that have confirmed pottery fragments found in Jiangxi province's Xianren Cave (仙人洞) to be the world's oldest. Radiocarbon samples have proven the fragments to be 20,000 years old, at least 2,000 years older than shards found in Hunan, previously thought to be from the world's oldest pots. The Guardian reports on the groundbreaking archaeological theory that this new evidence speaks to: The findings, which appear in the journal Science on Friday, add to recent efforts that have dated pottery piles in east Asia to more than 15,000 years ago, refuting conventional theories that the invention of pottery correlates to the period about 10,000 years ago when humans moved from being hunter-gatherers to farmers. The research by a team of Chinese and American scientists also pushes the emergence of pottery back to the last ice age, which might provide new explanations for the creation of pottery, said Gideon Shelach, chair of the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies at The Hebrew University in Israel. "The focus of research has to change," Shelach, who is not involved in the research project in China, said by telephone. An AP article further quotes Shelach on the significance of the confirmation, and talks to a leading researcher on the project: In an accompanying Science article, Shelach wrote that such research efforts "are fundamental for a better understanding of socio-economic change (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) and the development that led to the emergency of sedentary agricultural societies." He said the disconnection between pottery and agriculture as shown in east Asia might shed light on specifics of human development in the region. Wu Xiaohong, professor of archaeology and museology at Peking University and the lead author of the Science article that details the radiocarbon dating efforts, told The Associated Press that her team was eager to build on the research. "We are very excited about the findings. The paper is the result of efforts done by generations of scholars," Wu said. "Now we can explore why there was pottery in that particular time, what were the uses of the vessels, and what role they played in the survival of human beings." © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: archaeology, Jiangxi Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

No Weibo for the New York Times Posted: 29 Jun 2012 10:18 AM PDT "This user doesn't exist " The New York Times Chinese-language venture, launched this Wednesday, is off to a bumpy start. While the website itself is running, the site's Sina Weibo account went down just hours after its launch. It was up again on Thursday evening. "Given that the site was brand new, they could not have possibly posted anything controversial," says Philip Chun at Shanghaiist. But Chun, CDT and other media outlets spoke too soon. @nytchinese is down again. The Times Weibo account may have been shuttered not for anything it said, but for its mere presence. Times Foreign Editor Joseph Kahn says "We're not tailoring it to the demands of the Chinese government." The cn.nytimes.com server is based outside of China. In a blog post announcing the launch, staff writer Christine Haughney notes the Chinese site will adhere to the same standards as the English-language edition. The Times gained 25,195 followers before the second shut-down. Its Tencent Weibo account is still up, with nearly 7900 followers, but its Sohu and NetEase Weibos are both down. The Times Chinese edition includes translated articles and original Chinese-language content. It seeks a middle-class, urbane audience, as can be seen from its advertisers: Salvatore Ferragamo, Cartier and other luxury companies. That same audience thirsts for high-quality, incisive reporting. The question is, will the Chinese censors allow it to deliver, or continue to cut off major platforms like Weibo? As the Times faces pressure to clean up for the authorities, Zhang Zhi'an, an associate professor at the Sun Yat-Sen University School of Communication and Design, sees the paper's experiment as a litmus test for foreign media in China: ZhangZhi'an: The New York Times Chinese edition has two issues worth paying attention to: 1) Will the Times translate and publish articles on sensitive subjects or which report negatively on China? 2) Which discrepancies will there be between the English and Chinese versions of the same article? These questions may offer a window onto the monitoring pressure and self-censorship of foreign Chinese-language media. 张志安：「纽约时报中文版」有两个问题值得关注：1、纽约时报那些关于中国的敏感报道、负面报道，能翻译成中文放这么？2、关于中国报道的中文版经「翻译」后和英文版有何差异？从这点或可管窥外媒中文网的监管压力及自我审查。 The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal both have Chinese-language editions, each with fully functional Weibo accounts. It's unclear what the Times could have done to cross the censors. Hopefully, the paper will get a chance to answer Dr. Zhang's questions. Zhang Zhi'an Weibo post via SneezeBloid. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: netease, new york times, sensitive words, sina weibo, SneezeBloid, sohu, tencent, weibo Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay links) – 6/29/12 Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:51 AM PDT The big news of the day was the safe splashdown of the Shenzhou 9, ending another of China's manned space flights and marking the successful journey of the first female taikonaut. State media made some confusing noises about whether other women would be included in future missions, and there's also the possibility that foreigners might participate as well. Down here on the ground, we're talking about the following: Reuters: U.S. grants Iran sanctions exceptions to China — This has been in the news a lot lately, and the predictions that the US was not going to confront China on this policy were spot on. Economist: China's security state: Guarding the guardians — reform of China's security apparatus, including the role played by provincial police chiefs. Diplomat: Zhou Yongkang's Successor — another look at security reforms, this time focused on how the job of the nation's top security official will change this year once Zhou steps down. CNN: U.S. firm, subsidiaries admit role in sending military software to China — The US government is not amused, catching Pratt & Whitney (Canada) in a violation of technology export bans when P&W sold software to China that was used to develop an advanced attack helicopter. Economist: India and China: Friend, enemy, rival, investor — Talk about a complicated relationship! A lot of people are waiting to see when/if these two nations will establish better relations. If that can happen, and if economic cooperation can strengthen, the possibilities are endless. Lots of media-related stories out there today: Asia Sentinel: Prize-Winning Reporter Driven out of SCMP — Hong Kong-based SCMP is taking a beating these days, with accusations that the new owners/editorial staff is sucking up to Beijing in a big way. Foreign Policy: The Old Grey Lady in Red China — Isaac Stone Fish takes a look at the New York Times' new Chinese-language site — cn.nytimes.com. AP: China Blogger Says Court Overturns His Conviction — Amazing story of a blogger from Chongqing who spent a year in a labor camp after writing a post that mocked Bo Xilai. He got out, went to court to challenge the detention, and won. Surprising, until you realize who was ultimately responsible for putting him in jail in the first place — it pays to be on the winning team. Last but not least, if you've been hearing about strange goings-on with access to Bloomberg news here in China, the mystery has been solved. One of the cardinal rules of China journalism is that you don't go after national leaders (or their families). Bloomberg made the decision to do it anyway; one assumes that the fallout will not be pleasant. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

Hu Arrives in HK for Handover Celebrations Posted: 29 Jun 2012 02:29 AM PDT Ahead of this weekend's 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the mainland, the city's outgoing and incoming chief executives welcomed President Hu Jintao and an entourage of other CCP officials at Hong Kong International Airport on Friday. From Xinhua News: HKSAR Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen mounted the special plane to welcome Hu, also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission. HKSAR Chief Executive-elect Leung Chun-ying and a group of high- ranking officials were also present at the airport to greet Hu. Upon his arrival at the Hong Kong International Airport, Hu said he hoped to witness the city's latest development and progress and have a better understanding of the citizens' life and expectations. Hu said the central government is willing to work with the Hong Kong people from all walks of life to draw up the "precious experiences" in carrying out the "one country, two systems" policy over the past 15 years for further development. Despite Hu's call for unity in his airport speech, he arrives at a time of strain between Hong Kong and the mainland. For BBC News, Juliana Liu reports that an independent poll shows that the Hong Kong public's mistrust of the Chinese government stands at a post handover high. The Financial Times' Enid Tsui writes that Hu's arrival is arousing mixed reactions: Local officials, business tycoons and pro-Beijing politicians have literally painted the town red to mark the occasion. But tens of thousands of ordinary citizens plan to welcome the Chinese leader by taking to the streets in protest. The July 1 anniversary has traditionally been the biggest day for protests in Hong Kong since the handover, and turnout this year is expected to be bigger than usual. Protesters are calling for the resignation of Leung Chun-ying, who is scheduled to be inaugurated as Hong Kong chief executive on Sunday, over concerns that he misled the public about several illegal structures at his home. However, the main target is the Chinese Communist party, which they believe is undermining the "one-country, two-system" framework that Britain and China agreed before the handover to ensure Hong Kong retained a high degree of autonomy. Hu will also oversee the swearing-in of Leung Chun-ying, who in March won a campaign marked by scandals and protest and who faces a number of issues as he takes office. Reuters reports that for Leung, who has given inconsistent explanations for a series of illegal housing structures in his Victoria Peak villa, the honeymoon is over before it's begun: China had been hoping for a smooth transition of power from outgoing Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang to his Beijing-backed successor, Leung Chun-ying, but a series of scandals that has infuriated the public, and undermined the government's reputation as clean and honest, makes that unlikely. "He (Leung) will have a very difficult, if not turbulent, one or two years," said political analyst Willy Lam. "The honeymoon has gone before he's even started."   © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Donald Tsang, hong kong chief executive, hong kong elections, Hong Kong handover, Hong Kong mainland relations, Hu Jintao, Leung Chun-ying Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

China May Continue to Send Women into Space. Wait, what? Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:12 AM PDT China may continue to send female astronauts into space in future space missions, an official responsible for selecting and training Chinese astronauts said Friday. Chen Shanguang, director of the Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Center, told a post-mission press conference that "the specific plan will be decided after research". (China Daily) May continue? May!?! What the fudge is that all about? The suggestion here is that China may decide not to send women on future space missions. Why would this happen? Well, we're not told, but the decision will be made "after research." Are you as curious as I am about what that research will entail? A partial explanation might be found in CCTV commentary from this morning. Canadian journalist Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) Tweeted the following: "Females are having a harder time adapting to gravity than males," CCTV anchor informs. "Of course, their muscles are much less strong." Jeebus. The old "women are too weak" excuse, and I don't think they're talking about reduction in bone density or something. This is always a superficially attractive "argument," but it's ultimately useless when applied on a case-by-case basis. Moreover, just what sort of heavy lifting are these spacers doing out there? Or perhaps they need to be tough enough to fight off typical space threats, like interstellar salt monsters and felonious Kryptonians? It's great that China finally sent a woman into space, but I'm glad the whole exercise is over. The thinly-veiled misogyny from some folks was getting on my nerves. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

Shenzhou 9 Makes Triumphant Return Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:27 AM PDT The Shenzhou 9 capsule touched down in Inner Mongolia just after 10 a.m. local time on Friday, successfully completing a mission that saw China dock its first manned spacecraft since 2008 with the help of the country's first female astronaut. From Xinhua News: Medical staff entered the capsule and reported the astronauts were in good conditions. While in the capsule, the astronauts reported to the command center "We have returned, and we feel good." Jing Haipeng, commander of the Shenzhou-9 crew, was the first to come out of the return capsule, followed by Liu Wang and the country's first woman astronaut Liu Yang. The three will fly to Beijing after taking physical examinations in ambulance helicopters at the landing site. Xinhua also reported that Premier Wen Jiabao, Zhou Yongkang and other Chinese leaders watched the re-entry from the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, and posted a number of video grabs (including the above and below photos) from Shenzhou 9′s return. Wen delivered a congratulatory address after China's manned space program chief delivered announced the mission's successful conclusion, according to Xinhua: The success of the docking mission also constitutes a new achievement in China's effort to build an innovation-driven country, a new significant step in China's scientific development, and an important contribution to human exploration of the outer space, said Wen. This is of major and far-reaching significance to boosting China's comprehensive national strength, invigorating the nation, and inspiring the whole nation to strive for new victories in building a moderately prosperous society in a all-around way and pushing forwad the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, he added. The contributions of Chinese aerospace scientists and working staff will be remembered by the country and its people, he said. The pursuit of scientific progress is a never-ending journey, and there remains a long way to go in exploring outer space, he said, expressing hopes that more efforts will be made to boost the leapfrog development of China's space program. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout reflects on the week that was, and asks whether Shenzhou 9′s success will usher in a new age of adventure for China: According to Chinese explorer Wong How Man, the answer is an emphatic yes. "We're in space… not just making cellphones," he told CNN. As the President of the China Exploration and Research Society, Wong has been leading expeditions in China since he founded the group in 1986. In June 2005, he discovered the new source of the mighty Yangtze River. The veteran explorer said China's landmark journeys in recent years have shored up not only national pride but an individual desire to venture forth. "On a grassroots level, there's this huge urge to explore our own vast country," he said. © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Liu Yang, Shenzhou 9, space exploration, space program, Wen Jiabao, Zhou Yongkang Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Photo: Face of Kashgar, by iamuday Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:30 AM PDT © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Looking Ahead to the Next Shenzhou Mission: Expats in Space! Posted: 28 Jun 2012 11:40 PM PDT Now that the Shenzhou spacecraft has returned safely to earth with China's first female taikonaut, we can feel free to think about what the future of China's space program might entail. An article in the state media from earlier in the week holds some intriguing possibilities: It is believed that China will be able to train foreign astronauts with its own space technology and send them to space by Shenzhou spacecraft someday, the spokeswoman of China's manned space program said Sunday. Wu Ping told a press conference in Beijing that she believed China's aerospace technology will become more and more mature along with the development of its manned space technology. China has completed limited number of space missions and will continue to conduct numerous manned space technological tests, she said. Whoa. Foreign astronauts. Yeah, I can see that happening. China has a long history of including hand-picked foreigners to fill special roles. Consider Edgar Snow, an American journalist who reported, quite favorably, on the rise of China's Communist Party. Snow was given special recognition later on when he was included on the dais next to Chairman Mao during the 1970 National Day celebrations. Or how about Da Shan (Canadian Mark Rowswell), who rose to fame because of his special combination of Chinese fluency and extraordinarily Caucasian appearance? For a few years there, Rowswell participated in just about every significant nationally-televised cultural event. And we can't forget about the Olympic torch relay in 2008. The search for suitable expats brought all the sycophants and China apologists out of the proverbial woodwork. Luckily the final cut was not made up entirely of lackeys. So what can we expect from a foreign astronaut who gets a ticket to ride Shenzhou? Well, conventional wisdom would say that the person will be a professional, a member of a foreign country's space program (e.g. Russian, maybe even Japanese). Doubtful that this person would be an expat, then. But you never know. And if, perhaps as a publicity stunt, China decided to send an expat to space (hopefully not as a deportation measure), I would suggest the following criteria to get the ball rolling: 1. Must have been on at least one CCTV-9 program at least three times. Preferably Dialogue on a weekday. 2. Must have written at least two columns in either China Daily or Global Times extolling the virtues of: Chinese food; the rustic peacefulness of Yangshuo; or the cultural oasis that is Beijing. Alternatively, a screed against Western trade protectionism. 3. Only foreign-looking expats may apply. ABCs or others of Asian ancestry will not be considered as the publicity photos would be rather underwhelming. Expats of mixed ethnicity, Asian or otherwise, will be considered on a case-by-case basis, with points awarded for general attractiveness and non-Asian features (e.g. Mariah Carey or Derek Jeter — yes; Charles Bronson or Olivia Munn (for different reasons) — no). 4. Chinese language skills must be good, but not so good that TV appearances cannot include a slightly-demeaning "Oh, your Chinese is so good! {giggle giggle}" 5. Residency in China between 18 months and five years is preferred. Shorter than that, the candidate will lack credibility. Longer than that, the cynicism kicks in and press interviews will be disastrous. All candidates who make the first cut will then be interviewed by Yang Rui (extended bio here), who will winnow the list down to three (if he can stomach talking to that many foreigners at one time). The final selection will be made via reality television show, unless SARFT bans it. Good luck, everyone! © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: expatriates, Shenzhou, space

China:Famous School Teacher Harassed Boys Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:48 PM PDT FMN reported that a deputy principal of high school affiliated with East China Normal University has been accused of having harassing his male students at school. Several victims decided to break the silence after 15 years. Official news says Zhang is fired from his position now. Read the full story on Offbeat China.   Written by Gloria Wong · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

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