Blogs » Society » Zoo in Sendai, Japan says no to giant pandas from China

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• Zoo in Sendai, Japan says no to giant pandas from China
• Box on Head
• 328 Jianguo: Standard Shanghainese in a Lovely Environment
• Must See: The Holiday Inn's Glass Bottom Pool
• China’s Peasant Olympics Are Sandbags Of Fun, Assuming One Enjoys Hauling Bags Of Sand, Literally
• ‘The Economics Behind the China-Japan Dispute’: Yukon Huang
• Acid Dumplings [31]
• Homer Simpson Visits A Foxconn Factory “Somewhere In China”
• Watch: Wukan Documentary By iSun TV
• Watch: Chinese restaurateur invents noodle-making robots
• Former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun sentenced to 15 years in prison
• A joke currently making the rounds on Sina Weibo
• Putting a price on nature could “expel" people from common lands
• Hong Kong cyclists stuck at government red light
• Top-of-the-Week Links: Gearing up for the National Congress, Japanese response to China’s anti-Japan protests, and a conversation with Chen Guangcheng
• Solid China Business Advice
• Get Your Next Floral Arrangement on Weibo
• Flag raising ceremony held on China’s first aircraft carrier
• Wang Lijun Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison, Might Be The Most Interesting Man In China
• Japan Knocks China Out Of FIBA Asia Cup, Netizens React As Only They Know How

Zoo in Sendai, Japan says no to giant pandas from China Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:47 PM PDT Not only are Japanese businesses adversely affected by the Sino-Japanese tensions due to the Diaoyu Islands dispute, so are bilateral cultural exchanges. While anti-Japan fervor is still running high in China now, anti-China sentiment in Japan is also flaring up. Sendai City, which was supposed to welcome a pair of giant pandas from China later this year, had no choice but to reject the pair of cuddly visitors from Sichuan. [ more › ]

Box on Head Posted: 23 Sep 2012 06:00 PM PDT You know the tin-foil hat wearing, conspiracy-paranoid crowd that started showing up almost overnight when X-Files became mainstream and that you'll still run into every now and again in the States, and especially if you live in San Francisco? Well... the good news is that China doesn't really have this kind of counterculture yet. The paranoid life is simpler here. More direct. And much less high-tech. Learning Chinese? The elementary level at Popup Chinese is where we get most of our grammar out-of-the-way, and today's lesson is no exception, focusing on what you'll come to know and love as the continuous aspect: the Chinese way of communicating than an action is ongoing. In this lesson we cover two common ways of doing this and talk about both the similarities and slight differences between these techniques. This is rarely taught in textbooks, but its the sort of thing that separates native speakers from second-language learners, so if you're working towards fluency be sure to give it a listen, and let us know what you think. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

328 Jianguo: Standard Shanghainese in a Lovely Environment Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:21 PM PDT Date: Sep 25th 2012 10:21a.m. Contributed by: miss_ng_in_action

Must See: The Holiday Inn's Glass Bottom Pool Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:09 PM PDT Date: Sep 25th 2012 10:59a.m. Contributed by: tifftc

China’s Peasant Olympics Are Sandbags Of Fun, Assuming One Enjoys Hauling Bags Of Sand, Literally Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:30 PM PDT Something called the "National Peasants' Games" — the 7th edition, in fact — is currently being held in Nanyang, Henan province, which People's Daily Online describes as a "quadrennial multi- "in which sport event… in which competitors from among the country's rural residents take part in sports, both conventional, including basketball, athletics, table tennis, shooting, xiangqi (Chinese chess) and Tai Chi, and folk sports and games, such as wushu, tire pushing, food-carrying, rice planting, kite flying, jianzi (kick shuttlecock) and tug of war." It's all about "fun," People's Daily tells us. But a slightly different picture emerges when one reads longtime USA Today China correspondent Calum MacLeod's story: Nanyang made way for a 35,000-seat arena and other facilities by knocking down the homes of over 50,000 people in Wancheng district, mostly peasants according to the local government website. Can't be bothered by that though, nor the fact that, according to MacLeod's article, "anger is simmering" because "rapid urbanization has eaten up acres of farmland. Who cares, right? As People's Daily tells us, "the games emphasize recreation more than results." Recreation, you hear? Fun! I have just one question though. Does this look fun to you? Who doesn't love backbreaking labor? Buckets of fun. For best results, completely shut off your mind and accept the fun you're having. Sad are those misfortunate souls who never know the special fun of bag-hauling. The man second from the left in the back row is having the most fun of them all. Too much fun for one man or woman to take, honestly.

‘The Economics Behind the China-Japan Dispute’: Yukon Huang Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:04 PM PDT Yukon Huang After any good bender, there's a whale of a hangover. Probably some regrets, too. The same might be true of both Japan's actions in the Diaoyutai and China's recent anti-Japanese demonstrations and especially violence. Yukon Huang of the Carnegie Endowment takes a step back and looks at the both side's  in 'The Economics Behind the China-Japan Dispute.' Japan has a much more substantial economic presence in China's domestic market than vice versa. Japanese chain restaurants are quite popular and their retail outlets sell everything from cars to electronics in China. …[O]n this score Japan could be more vulnerable to a trade breakdown or boycott. However, China also stands to lose – most of these goods are produced by Chinese-owned companies with local labour and materials – and thus the second-round effects would take a toll on China's interests. The more important consequences in terms of the impact on growth, however, come from the complementary roles that the two countries play in the east Asian production network. China may be the face of this network, as the assembly plant for the world, but the largest share of the sophisticated components for assembly originates from Japan…. [paragraphs mine] As I noted in 'Disputed Territories: Hamlet And Diaoyoutai': Captain: Truly to speak, and with no addition, We go to gain a little patch of ground That hath in it no profit but the name. And, in this situation, no profit but also the potential for loss for both Japan and China.

Acid Dumplings [31] Posted: 24 Sep 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Homer Simpson Visits A Foxconn Factory “Somewhere In China” Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT In case you've forgotten, The Simpsons is set to begin its 24th season this Sunday, which is an amazing accomplishment no matter much you've complained about its last 15 seasons as being "not what it used to be." As a preview, the producers have released this short — viewed 2.7 million times already in four days — to satirize the good ol' American election process. While the blunt of the ridicule is aimed at the Voter ID laws that threaten to disenfranchise Americans in key swing states, which one prominent observer has deemed more "menacing" than Watergate, China makes a cameo at the end in the form of Foxconn. No matter our politics, I think you and I can agree that the suicide nets are a nice touch. Youku video for those in China after the jump.

Watch: Wukan Documentary By iSun TV Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:53 AM PDT The Wukan protests that began last year over illegal land seizure might have seemed, at the start, unspectacular, merely another in the hundreds of rallies that happen every year in China. But with each passing day — and each development reported breathlessly by embedded reporters — the demonstrations revealed themselves to be a bit more unique, with the power to effect actual change. Most important, the protests proved different in the result: the villagers won. Instead of crushing dissent, provincial Party officials agreed to punish those responsible, and return land. Elections were held — yes, elections — to determine new local leaders, and just like that, Wukan became a de facto experiment in small-scale democracy with Chinese characteristics. Whether you believe the experiment is working — or at least willing to give it more time, such as the Atlantic, which writes, "it wouldn't be democracy without efforts by citizens to hold their elected officials accountable" — or not working — like Reuters, which reports, "On the first anniversary of an uprising that gave birth to the experiment, more than 100 villagers rallied outside Wukan's Communist Party offices to express anger at what they saw as slow progress by the village's democratically elected governing committee to resolve local land disputes" — the journey has been quite remarkable. So on this, the one-year anniversary (give or take) of the start of the Wukan protests, we'd like to present the documentary Wukan, produced by iSun TV. It's a chance to revisit the protests from the start and get a rare on-the-ground look at the people involved. The DVD will be released in Hong Kong on October 14, but you can watch the film in its entirety, with English subtitles, on YouTube (embedded above). (H/T Alicia)

Watch: Chinese restaurateur invents noodle-making robots Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:30 AM PDT In what sounds like the rejected pitch for a dystopian future-centered blockbuster directed by Michael Bay and Iron Chef, a Chinese restaurateur has created an army of "noodle-bots" to replace workers in noodle factories. Somewhere lurks an ironic hipster-t-shirt zinger with which to tie this into the whole outsourcing jobs debate. [ more › ]

Former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun sentenced to 15 years in prison Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:00 AM PDT Opening yet another chapter in the political saga that has had China watchers gripped for months, former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for the four charges of "bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking". [ more › ]

A joke currently making the rounds on Sina Weibo Posted: 24 Sep 2012 05:51 AM PDT Said the government official to his secretary, "What Japanese products do I have on me? Run a check." The secretary reported, "Check complete. Not a single item. Your car is from Germany, your watch is from Switzerland, your clothes are from France, your mobile phone is Apple, your child is in the United States, your property is in Australia, and your bank account is in Hong Kong. And your mistresses -- they're all made in China." "Great," said the official, "Then let's unite the people and let's all boycott Japanese products!" [ more › ]

Putting a price on nature could “expel" people from common lands Posted: 24 Sep 2012 03:43 AM PDT Turning ecosystems into commodities undermines collective ownership of natural resources, argues Barbara Unmüßig of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Barbara Unmüßig is co-president of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and co-author of the pamphlet "Critique of the Green Economy". She spoke to German website Schattenblick about the state of the green agenda. Here are translated excerpts from the interview. Schattenblick: Recently you published the booklet "Critique of the Green Economy". Do you think that your critical stance concerning green projects has deepened in recent years? Barbara Unmüßig: Our critique doesn't aim at green projects, it is targeted at numerous concepts for a green economy proposed by, among others, UNEP, OECD, and, most recently, the World Bank. It is my deeply held conviction that we urgently need a greener economy, or rather, a more ecological world economy. In our essay we are trying to answer the question what such a green economy may look like. Is this a paradigm shift? Is it possible to scale back our economic activity – or is it all just about "greening" existing structures? This is what the controversy is about. I do argue that because of the limited nature of our planet and the ecological challenges facing us, we have to reconsider the fundamentals of our economy. In that respect, I think, the existing blueprints for a green economy do not go far enough. SB: In your opening remarks at the McPlanet.com conference [in Berlin in April] you used the term "pacified growth". Is that something that simultaneously denotes anti-capitalism and sustainability? BU: "Pacified growth" certainly doesn't mean the end of capitalism. We know that growth is inherent to capitalism, and that is how it goes. It's a law. Capital has to yield a profit and that means – especially where credit is involved – that there has to be growth and expansion. We thus have to consider how to scale down our economic activities in a way that respects the limits of our planet, with the art of restraint as part of the vision of a viable economy. In this context, people are thankfully once again trying to find new solutions. This is why there is debate about prosperity without growth; this is why there is debate about how to design a post-growth economy; this is why there is a movement for de-growth as well as a "slow movement". There is a global renaissance of the commons. All of these are part of a search for ways to escape our present, destructive model of production and consumption. I think this is one of the most positive developments – the re-emergence of people trying to find solutions, of pioneers who seriously think about how to get away from the constraints of the markets, the pressures for efficiency, the modes of production that deplete resources. SB: Do you think that capitalism bears a fundamental responsibility for the degradation of the environment? Will certain precepts such as the maximising of profits have to go – or be overhauled? BU: As I said before, capitalism as we know it today needs profits, otherwise it will be unable to pay the interest on the loans it needs for investments. How to escape from this necessity for growth, how to stay within ecological limits, that is the crucial question for the twenty-first century. And this is why I take part in and support all efforts to think about how to overcome the necessity for growth. Still, I don't use the term "anti-capitalism" as I do not yet know what the "anti" – the opposite, the alternative – would be. We have to reflect; we cannot act as if we knew the answer. The old answer of the Left, that nationalisation will solve the problem of private property, doesn't lead anywhere. What's central are social, democratic, and participative innovations – and such approaches are being shunned by policies for a green economy that promote nothing but technological solutions. There are a number of leftist governments around the world, in Latin America and elsewhere, that have successfully implemented redistribution policies, among others Lula da Silva in Brazil. The Brazilians have managed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty in their country by 2015, yet this social redistribution that is taking place – and I cannot stress enough rightly so – is based on the extraction of resources and thus on the economic model that depletes resources, depletes the land and exploits the people. This has to be made very clear. If this weren't the case, there would be no movements such as those of the indigenous or landless who, in Brazil, fight against this model of development that promotes redistribution by degrading the environment. SB: Deutsche Bank commissioned Pavan Sukhdev to put so-called ecosystem services and biodiversity on a new economic footing. Don't you think there's a conflict of interest here? [Sukhdev worked for Deutsche Bank for 14 years before taking on the TEEB study] BU: Deutsche Bank had released Mr Sukhdev so that he could be in charge of UNEP's major study on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity [TEEB]. I do not want to speculate about a conflict of interest – that is something you would have to ask Mr Sukhdev himself. I think much of the criticism of the "Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity" initiative is valid. A main point of contention is that this will intensify the economisation and mercantilisation of nature and environmental policies. Today there are still millions of people who make use of nature without destroying it. They don't need new market-based approaches such as those that are now being suggested from many quarters. Shouldn't it be possible just to leave nature alone, that is, not to extract resources from the Arctic or virgin forest areas? Whoever puts economic principles first, thus turning ecosystems and biodiversity into commodities – or "assets" as they're already being called – needs ownership structures to enable trade. This, unfortunately, has the effect to destroy commons, to expel and disenfranchise people. SB: Do you know of any positive examples where such economic principles have been applied – possibly on a small scale? BU: We're still in the very early stages of dealing with the economisation of nature. For example, there is something Mr Sukhdev has pointed out: it might make sense to evaluate what services some ecosystems generate, especially in the case of certain accidents, let's say shipping disasters, where an insurance company has to know how much it will cost to repair certain types of damage. This may be especially useful where ecosystems such as the oceans are involved, and here it may make sense to have bases for calculation. This is why, for some time now, economists have tried to evaluate ecosystem services. Another attempt to evaluate ecosystem services is Ecuador's proposition not to exploit its rainforest oil in order to preserve local habitats. This is the famous case of the Yasuni oilfields, and the slogan is "leave the oil in the soil". Here, the question is to gauge the value of the forest for humanity against the value the oil would generate if extracted. This is a positive example and it goes to show that whenever nature is to be evaluated one has to ask: who is it good for? Who owns what? Who's in control? Such questions point to the greater question of ownership and distributive justice. I would like to see similar moves in Brazil concerning their offshore oil, which should not be exploited; drilling for oil underneath the seafloor, 1,800 metres below the sea, is such a risky endeavour that it should not be attempted. This is even deeper than Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico – and we know what happened there. If those offshore fields were left untouched, there would have to be calculations concerning the economic impact of not exploiting them. SB: Isn't it terribly difficult to make such calculations, as there are so many risk factors involved, some of which we're not even aware of? BU: That's right. Unfortunately our approach is trying to find technological solutions for global environmental crises instead of considering scaled-down economic activity, savings, and doing with less – in one word: sufficiency. The point is not to claim that technology can never offer solutions; the challenge is to ask, again and again, what technologies we support and who controls them. Plus, what will be the social and environmental consequences? What worries me is this trend to regard technology as a panacea, to make it an absolute, without ever discussing lifestyles and patterns of consumption. Many technologies are high-risk – nevertheless they are being introduced with utter recklessness. The consequences such technologies have are hardly ever being evaluated. All governments in the [global] north, and some in the [global] south, too, spend huge amounts on research and development for high-tech solutions – instead of giving money to research into plants adapted to climate change that then may be cultivated by peasant farmers. Which, once again, poses the question: what research and for whom? Who's helped by what technology? And who will be responsible for high-risk technologies? This interview first appeared in German on Schattenblick. It is translated into English by Bernd Herrmann, and into Chinese by Qi Fang (奇芳). Homepage image by Heinrich Böll Stiftung

Hong Kong cyclists stuck at government red light Posted: 24 Sep 2012 05:08 AM PDT On Hong Kong's traffic-heavy streets, horns blare as red taxis, double-decker buses and minivans shuttle people to work. But there is one thing missing -- bicycles. And cycle campaigners say it is time the government got in gear. [AFP] [ more › ]

Top-of-the-Week Links: Gearing up for the National Congress, Japanese response to China’s anti-Japan protests, and a conversation with Chen Guangcheng Posted: 24 Sep 2012 05:00 AM PDT From CRI, anti-Japan body painting at "2012 Nanjing Autumn Real Estate Trade Fair," via Shanghaiist Diaoyu Island stories are winding down for sure, but the National Congress is right around the corner. We keep chugging along with links. "Of course, recent demonstrations are not the first warning sign that the possibility of a revived Cultural Revolution remains latent." "As @王冉 points out on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, the only way to prevent the kind of unconstrained and irrational violence manifested in this round of anti-Japan protests from reappearing is to thoroughly reflect on the lessons of history and start restructuring China's political system. 'We shouldn't misinterpret history,' he writes. 'What the damaged property of our compatriots and the fires of violence show us is not the indispensability of unlimited government power or the importance of 'preserving stability.' Instead, [it shows] precisely that we should clean up the evil legacy of the Cultural Revolution, bravely push forward political reforms, expose politics to sunshine, force the government to take responsibility and let rule by law prevail. All of these are important and urgent.'" [Yueran Zhang, Tea Leaf Nation] Ideas. "It may or may not surprise readers to know that the Chinese Communist Party has its own version of 'separation of powers.' This is the idea of a tripartite functioning of power within the Party itself, the three powers being: power of decision-making; power of administration; power of monitoring. // …If separation of powers occurred within the Party, this would effectively mean victory over the existing, entrenched system of concentration of power within the executive. That is something that won't happen at the upcoming 18th National Congress. Nevertheless, the watchword 'three powers' is one to watch carefully at the 18th National Congress. Will the phrase that was included in the political report five years ago make it into the upcoming political report? If it does, will the phrasing change in any way, and how? Will the idea of three powers edge closer to the idea – and perhaps even the likelihood – of their independent exercise?" [Qian Gang, China Media Project] On how the Japanese saw the Chinese protests last week. "First of all, the Japanese don't see China as a victim. China's nationalism, as belligerent as it may appear, is rooted in a sense of suffering from a "century of humiliation" that goes back to the First Opium War and the British acquisition of Hong Kong in 1842. What some of the more rabid Chinese don't appreciate, however, is that the rest of the world—especially Japan—does not see China as the underdog. " [Slate] Pizza with Chen Guangcheng. "As we start our meal, I ask Chen how he likes the food in New York. His wife gives him a piece of pizza, telling him what it is and that he can use his hands to eat it. He smiles and says he likes all kinds of cuisine, especially Japanese and Indian. He explains that, while under house arrest in his village, he was regularly stopped from going out to buy food and supplies, and he and his family often went hungry. // In his simple, aphoristic style he continues, 'Sour, sweet, bitter and spicy – they all have their own nutritional value, and it's the same in a person's life – eating some bitterness [having bitter experiences] also has its benefits and value.' // I ask about his first impressions of America. Chen says he's impressed by the freedom of speech and expression he has witnessed. 'Ordinary people in the US are not afraid to express their own opinions," he says. "It comes so naturally; I think it's one of the most important factors that have made the US the world's most powerful country.'" [Jamil Anderlini, Financial Times] Right, "Democracy" isn't easy. "On the first anniversary of an uprising that gave birth to the experiment, more than 100 villagers rallied outside Wukan's Communist Party offices to express anger at what they saw as slow progress by the village's democratically elected governing committee to resolve local land disputes. // 'We still haven't got our land back,' shouted Liu Hancai, a retired 62-year-old party member, one of many villagers fighting to win back land that was seized by Wukan's previous administration and illegally sold for development." [Reuters] Oh dear. "In the morning of Aug 28, 3-year-old little girl, Qingqing (alias) got on the shuttle bus to go to her kindergarten. But when her parents saw her again in the afternoon, she had already stopped breathing, her scared body was covered with someone else's clothes. The police said that she died of heat stroke when she was left inside the bus accidentally by her teachers. But her parents could not accept this because the lower part of her body had blood which indicated sexual assault." [China Hush] This man really loves roller coasters. "He Kuiming comes from Shenyang City and after retiring he came to Dongguan to live with his daughter. From 2:45 p.m. until around 7 p.m. he rode the roller coaster, occasionally snacking on bread during intervals." [The Nanfang] Al-Jazeera's The Stream on China's anti-Japan protests interlude: Finally… Microsoft asks Chinese firms to please stop pirating, maybe? [Bloomberg] Interview with Dongguan coach Brian Goorjian. [NiuBBall] Kiwi drug convict on death row in China. [New Zealand Herald] Finally, finally… Mop via Car News China: "A food delivery company in the great city of Hangzhou wanted to earn money and came up with the only solution: sex and cars."

Solid China Business Advice Posted: 24 Sep 2012 03:58 AM PDT I'm like a kid in a candy shop when I learn of some new source for China business or law information and I just got a new one.  The new source is Tony Alexander, the Chief Economist at the Bank of New Zealand. A long-time New Zealand client of mine sent me a newsletter from Mr. Alexander and when I responded with raves, he sent me another.  And now I am hooked on his down to earth/common sense China writings. One of the writings my client sent me was an piece called "Opening Doors to China."  This article though is not actually written by Alexnder, but rather by Patrick English, New Zealand's Consul-General out of Guangzhou.  Nothing earth shatteringly new in the article, but it is an excellently put together reality check on what foreign companies should be thinking about in formulating their strategies in planning out whether and how to do business in China. In other words, it makes for very solid China business advice. I summarize Mr. English's key points below and then, in italics, toss in my own two cents. When developing a China strategy, companies focus on the China "Window of Opportunity." They are not wrong to do so, but they should first "look in the mirror and ask whether they "have the people, the resources, the time, the funds, the commitment, the product or service?"  "The question companies really need to ask themselves is; does my company have what it takes to meet the China challenge?  This is great advice.  Yes, China has great opportunities, but is YOUR company really ready to do what it will take to seize them. As a business owner myself, trust me when I say that I understand how easy it can be to spread a company too thin out of an excitement for growth and opportunity.  But on the flip side, if you only commit to China half-way, you would be better off not even bothering.   The home office has to commit to being involved in China. "The business will be positively impacted by the support the China-based team gets from senior New Zealand-based management and specialists through regular visits or, even better, by posting senior management to China. All the board and/or senior management must agree on the strategy and operational plan." Or as one of my law firm's China based lawyers is always saying, "we are the advance troops and when the home office fails to respond to us, we feel like we are out here on the front lines without any air cover."   "Companies need to work out approximately what their China strategy is going to cost, how much time they're going to put into it and over what period of time – then triple it."  Absolutely, but I would actually say it should be multiplied by five.  I say this because after starting a law firm in the United States, I always tell people that estimating start-up costs and time, they need to triple whatever number they end up on.  If you are going to triple those things in the United States, you need to multiple it for five in China, where things are far more complicated and where there will be even less familiarity.  "One of the myths is that (professional) Chinese labour is cheap and that it's a cheap place to do business. It's not. The regulatory environment is more complex than I've seen in over 23 years It's also more time consuming and more expensive. So companies need to do their homework to make sure they're not making mistakes." Get expert advice on tax, customs and the law, including on contracts and intellectual property.  I agree 110 percent. "Many companies take the approach that "my product or service is world class" and they're probably right….in New Zealand. However, what do your Chinese customers think of your product or service? If you're asking them to pay a premium, a discerning Chinese consumer is going to ask for their preferences to be taken into consideration."  I absolutely love this advice as I cannot tell you how many times companies have told me that they will succeed in China because they are known for having the best such and such.  So what?  If you are not known for that in China, that won't help you in China.  And even if you are known for that in China, that just means you have a chance if you can, among other things, handle the distribution and succeed in convincing buyers of your product's value proposition.  You are not in Kansas anymore.   "They will want supporting material in Chinese. If you have a software or engineering product, are the manuals in Chinese? How are you going to support it in China? Do your support staff speak Chinese or do you have a help desk in China? Customising colours is also important. Kiwis love black (and rightly so), but Chinese sometimes look at our branding and packaging and think it's too dark. They want to see gold and red, with vibrant greens (although not green hats!) and piercing blues. New Zealand packaging can be fairly austere and this should be expected in relation to the environmental impact, but is there a point ofadaptation where standards can be maintained and consumer expectations met?"  Absolutely.  In other words, you must adapt to China.   Preserve your core business, but customise the parts you need to in order to be successful in China. Absolutely.  Adapt to China, but realize that you will never be Chinese, nor must you be to succeed in China.    What do you think?

Get Your Next Floral Arrangement on Weibo Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:39 AM PDT Date: Sep 24th 2012 4:36p.m. Contributed by: mengsta

Flag raising ceremony held on China’s first aircraft carrier Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:19 AM PDT by Barry van Wyk on September 24, 2012 Various front pages in China today feature glowing reports of China's first aircraft carrier on whose platform a flag raising ceremony was held yesterday. Yet the fact that it happened is just about everything we know for sure about the ship. The Shenzhen Evening Post (深圳晚报) has a special feature today on the carrier, filled with speculation as to when the ship will be formally launched and who the captain will be. Officially the ship is called China's first aircraft carrier Platform 16 warship (中国第一艘航母平台16号舰), and yesterday while it was moored in the port of Dalian in Liaoning province a special flag raising ceremony was held on its deck at 4 pm. At 4:26 pm, the five-starred flag of China was raised on the mast on the bridge, while two other military flags were simultaneously raised on the bow and stern of the ship. Speculation on what was going on on the deck became intense on the 19th of September, when pictures started appearing on the Chinese Internet of white-clad sailors rehearsing for a ceremony on the deck of the ship. On the 21st, however, the sailors appeared on the deck dressed in blue training uniforms along with what appeared like factory workers, all working feverishly. A big banner reading China's Aircraft Carriers Sets Sail from Here (中国航母从这里起航) that was purportedly hitherto standing on the deck was now dismantled. With speculation mounting that the ship is about to be formally launched, the journalists were notified on the 21st that the ship actually still formally belonged to the shipyard, and the speculation of its leaving the yard were false. Rumors persist, however, that the ship has completed all of its ten sea trials and would be formally launched on the October 1st National Day holiday. Based on what certain experts have been saying, the name of the ship will be the name of a Chinese province, but who will captain it? The Shenzhen Evening Post highlights recent speculation from various sources that seems to have settled on two candidates: Bai Yaoping (柏耀平) and Li Xiaoyan (李晓岩). A brief bio and picture of Bai recently appeared in the PLA Daily (解放军报); the 49-year old is currently in Dalian serving as deputy president of the naval college in the city. The man said to be another leading light in contention for the job as captain is the so-called 'land, sea and air star commander' Li Xiaoyan. Both Bai and Li graduated as air force pilots. Here's a few other aircraft carrier-themed front pages from around China today: 长江日报 东南快报 武汉晚报 Links and sources Changjiang Ribao (中国首艘航母举行升旗仪式) Chengdu Shangbao (首艘航母平台三旗齐升) Dongnan Kuai Bao (中国航母升起国旗) Shenzhen Wanbao (中国首艘航母平台举行升旗仪式) Wuhan Wanbao (中国航母升军旗)

Wang Lijun Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison, Might Be The Most Interesting Man In China Posted: 24 Sep 2012 01:57 AM PDT Via John Saeki Wang Lijun, who will forevermore be known as "flamboyant" in Western media, was sentenced to 15 years in prison today on four counts, "defection" probably being the gravest. That he did not get a more severe sentence is interesting, and bodes unwell for his one-time comrade Bo Xilai, with whom he will always be linked. Before we shift the attention to Bo though — a colorful character in his own right — let us linger a bit on Wang's life and career, as documented in this Reuters article. China will never let a domestic filmmaker touch this subject, which is too bad. The script almost writes itself: Wang had a rather unique upbringing: Wang, an ethnic Mongol, boxed as a teen, served in the People's Liberation Army for three years and worked as a forestry official before becoming a policeman in 1984. Setting the foundations for early success: His crime crackdown in the northeast town of Tieling won him national acclaim. Zhou Lijun, a screenwriter, spent 10 days with Wang in Tieling in 1996 while working on a screenplay for a TV series about his exploits called "Iron Blooded Police Spirits". According to Zhou's account in a Chinese newspaper, Wang had a flair for the dramatic. He would drive to crime scenes in a Mitsubishi jeep modified to carry a double rack of lights on its roof so the locals would know "Chief Wang" was on the case. He absolutely is a screenwriter's best friend: On arrival, he would leap atop the car, draw his gun and fire shots in the air. On a night raid of hair salons thought to be fronts for prostitution, Wang rushed into one and threw a young man with dyed yellow hair to the ground. After a police search for evidence yielded nothing, he told them to take the youth to the police station, saying: "A man with hair like that can't be any good". With success, his ego expanded, and his eccentricities blossomed: Sources said he sometimes did his own post mortems, boasted of being an FBI agent under an exchange program and of being kidnapped by the Italian mafia. He had… interesting demands. He also demanded continuous supplies of fresh flowers and towels, said another source with access to city officials. But above all else, he was a detective at heart: Late last year, problems with the Heywood case surfaced. Wang learnt that some of his officers were refusing to sign off on the police report, which said he had died of natural causes. By January, Wang had set up one of the special case teams that had come to symbolize Chongqing's successes — and excesses — over the years. It determined the death was a case of poisoning. It also determined that Bo's wife was a prime suspect. And that, unfortunately, would be his undoing: Initially, sources have said, the politician reacted angrily but agreed to a police probe of Gu's role in the murder. However, the next morning Bo rebuked his police chief and slapped him in the face, according to the official version. Bo also stripped Wang of his police chief post… Leading to one final, climactic, dead-of-night sprint for law, justice, and freedom… Wang later made his run to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu where he told U.S. diplomats about the Heywood case, according to the British government which was briefed on this episode. …before his epiphany, suffered in the darkness of a "free nation's" embassy, that such values could betray him as easily as he betrayed his friends, colleagues, and countrymen. The entire article is worth a read if you get a chance. The closing scene? "That night, all of the restaurants and karaoke parlors in Chongqing were full — and mostly with police officers." Cue foreboding soundtrack. Finis.

Japan Knocks China Out Of FIBA Asia Cup, Netizens React As Only They Know How Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:46 AM PDT The Chinese Basketball Association doesn't take the FIBA Asia Cup very seriously, as a glance at this year's roster will show: every player under 22 years of age, playing against several countries' senior-level teams. But what happens when your team gets paired against Japan in the knockout round amid nationalistic protests back home against this very country? As Jon Pastuszek of NiuBBall pointed out last week upon learning that China would be facing Japan in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Cup, held in Japan: "Do we really need this right now?" The game, played last Thursday, was itself uneventful, but China's 60-50 loss has — shall we say — miffed some basketball fans over here. Some netizen comments, as translated by Pastuszek: 新浪江西南昌3kfeng: At this time, you can lose to whoever, but you can't lose to Japan. If I was a player on the court from that game, I would retire from the game of basketball. It's really too… I really don't know how to express this. My goodness. If you lose,  hit a random Japanese person, I'll support you. *Sigh…* 新浪广东中山霸龙: Dammit! TMD ["fuck"] who is the coach? Die in Japan and don't come back! 新浪江苏无锡借锋御剑: Die in Japan, don't come back, a bunch of disgraces! 新浪上海嘉定尐輝輝Shine: An unexpected loss to little Japan, you group of retards. Don't you understand that this is a critical moment? You're soft on the basketball court, then you'll be a pussy in deciding the Diaoyu Islands. Oh, sports fans. Never stop being you.

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