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Checkpoint on the Road to Lhasa

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:06 PM PDT

In the New Statesman, Tibetan dissident Tsering Woeser writes about the tightening government control over Tibet as a result of recent protests:

Early one summer morning in August, travelling from Golmud to on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, we came across the first checkpoint. A police officer wearing a dark cotton uniform used a flashlight to inspect our identity cards: "There's a Tibetan? Tibetan, get out of the vehicle! Do you have a permit to enter Tibet? If not, you can't enter!"

[...] Around the checkpoint there were all kinds of blockades. I said pointedly: "I'm not from the 'four major Tibetan regions'." This was because, one day in May, two Tibetans from other regions, doing contract work in Lhasa, self-immolated between the Jokhang Temple and the police station on Barkhor Street, where it was busiest with the military, police, tourists and believers. This brought the number of Tibetans who had self-immolated in recent years to 39. It is an unprecedented action of personal sacrifice and protest against the Chinese government.

Such protests have moved from the borders of Tibet to the hinterland, and the Tibet Autonomous Region issued an urgent notice requesting that Tibetans in the "four major Tibetan regions" of China, namely in the four provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan, must have a certificate from the public security bureau of the local county to enter Lhasa. After this decision, another 14 Tibetans self-immolated, one of whom was a herdsman from near Lhasa.

[...] I once discussed an important question with Tibetans from the Amdo, U-Tsang and Kham regions: had Tibetans been right to protest in 2008? Some think the protest incurred severe repression and even tougher policy reform, so that the little space that had previously been won rapidly diminished. But we think this outcome was not related to the protest. It just turned the lukewarm water used to boil a frog into boiling water.

In March 2008, widespread protests broke out in Tibet ahead of the Olympic torch relay's trip across China. Since 2009, more than 60 Tibetans have self-immolated in protest against Beijing's policies in the region. See more on Tibet protests via CDT.

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One Party, Two Coalitions

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 10:57 PM PDT

Although CCP leaders have been trying to present themselves as a unified entity, the behind-the-scenes power struggle appears to be heating up as the draws near. CNN's Alexis Lai analyzes the split between Hu Jintao's populist faction and Jiang Zemin's princeling faction:

The Chinese Communist Party is broadly divided between informal "elitist" and "populist" coalitions, according to China expert and Brookings Institution analyst Cheng Li. Other analysts conceive of the split in different terms, such as between liberal-minded reformist and conservative hard-liner camps.

[...] Hu's heir apparent, Xi, is a princeling, whereas Wen's likely successor, Li Keqiang, represents the tuanpai.

[...] Their factional inclinations are reflected in their policy priorities, says Li of the Brookings Institution. Xi is focused on the private sector, market liberation in foreign investment, and Shanghai's role as a financial and shipping center. In contrast, Li Keqiang emphasizes affordable housing, basic health care and clean energy.

This equilibrium extends within the upper echelons of the leadership, which is about evenly split between the elitists and populists, according to Li. Most analysts concur that the era of charismatic, paramount leaders ended after Deng Xiaoping, replaced by relatively colorless technocrats who governed through collective leadership.

John Garnaut at the Sydney Morning Herald offers more details about the effects of the political jockeying for the 18th Party Congress personnel lineup:

Earlier, President 's key powerbroker, , was removed as head of the party's General Office after being implicated in a cover-up of his son's death in a high-speed Ferrari accident.

[...] "It is a state of extreme chaos," said political watcher Li Weidong. "There is no absolute authority, otherwise two sides won't bite each other like this."

[...] Mr Hu appears to have won crucial appointments in the People's Liberation Army, particularly the new Chief of the General Staff, Fang Fenghui, as first reported by the Age last Tuesday.

This would suggest Mr Hu is gaining strength in the military while losing it at party central.

See more on the 18th Party Congress via CDT.

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Coming out in the countryside

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 07:28 PM PDT

Several years ago, when I was working in a very rural university, I hosted a group of college graduates from the United States. They were invited to visit with the students, and one of them became very popular with the girls in class. He always had more attention than any of the others, perhaps because he was incredibly friendly, had a bright smile, and was by most accounts handsome. However, what the fawning girls didn't notice was that my friend was gay.

So after a week or so of having girls ask for his QQ number, I asked if he would be willing to host a very special English corner. Even though it was specifically in my contract that I was not to challenge traditional Chinese ideas about homosexuality* (which Richard Burger would point out, are actually a new construction), I decided that the students would find such a conversation interesting and hoped that it would expand their world view.

So after closing the doors and the windows, my friend explained to fifty students from rural China what it meant to be a gay man in the United States. He wasn't quite sure what their reaction would be, but it was far more supportive than either one of us had expected. The students didn't seem to understand why anyone would care. The questions focused mostly on how his family reacted, and several students wondered whether or not I was scared to be friends with a gay man. One girl after the session, who clearly didn't quite get it, slipped him a note telling him how attractive he was and gave him her number just in case he wasn't really gay.

Several hours later I received a text from a student who had grown up in the countryside asking if he could meet with my friend and I. That night he told us a truth about himself that he had never admitted to another person, that he too was homosexual. He said it was something he had always known, but had been too afraid to say out loud. That was until he heard a story that sounded so much like his own.

My friend, who was leaving the next day, worked frantically with this student to try and come up with some sort of plan. They knew it was too risky for him to come out to his classmates even though it meant suffering through another two years of people wondering where his girlfriend was, and his only hope was to move to a big city like Shanghai or better yet, overseas. The student though was far more realistic, he said, "I should just marry a woman, it would be too hard for my family to accept a gay son." None of us tried to deny the fact that homosexuality is not tolerated in rural China, but we also didn't want him (and his wife) to live that lie.

As Richard Burger details competently in his book, Behind the Red Door, attitudes towards homosexuality are changing quickly in China and this seems to be supported (not everywhere), but not when it comes to one's own family. The sentiment seems to be "why would I care if someone in another family is gay?" but there's a markedly different attitude if it is their relative. As my student lamented, "My parents want me to have kids, and I should just make them happy." To which my friend replied, "But what about your happiness?"

I'm glad to say several years later my student has given up the notion that his parents' desires for his life trump who he is.

*This part of the contract was not from my church, we believe that all people are created by God as they are.


Filed under: Life in China Tagged: Behind the Red Door, China, Gay, Homosexuality, Richard Burger, Student, United States

At 79, Ex-Party Official Lambastes Chinese Leaders

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 05:38 PM PDT

On NPR, Louisa Lim interviews Bao Tong, former aide to former CCP General Secretary , about the current state of the Communist Party and the new generation of leadership who is slated to take power early next year:

Bao is damning in his assessment of the current administration: "There's no ideology, there's no socialism, there's no communism. All that's left is power."

[...]

"The party is more powerful than an emperor. No emperor could mobilize and organize 80 million people. Every company and every law court has a party branch. They're all under the party's control, including lawyers and newspapers. What emperor could do that?" he asks.

[...]

But Bao still has hopes for the new administration that will be headed by a new president, . He believes that if the administration can act fast in pushing through reforms, it may be able to claw back some legitimacy.

"They need to be pro-active," he says. "If they admit that many mistakes were made in the past, the people would immediately forgive them."

Read more about Bao Tong, via CDT, including an interview with Ian Johnson in the New York Review of Books.

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Photo: Street food, in Shangqiu, Henan, by Mark Hobbs

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 05:42 PM PDT

Street food, Shangqiu, Henan

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China: Ningbo Protests Point to Middle Class Discontent

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:32 PM PDT

Over the weekend, residents took to the streets in Ningbo, Zhejiang, to protest against the expansion of a paraxylene (PX) plant in their city. Sophie Beach from China Digital Times highlights the middle class discontent reflected in the protest.

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Buddhist Monks and Militant Violence in Laos

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 02:29 PM PDT

Memo #185

By Ian G. Baird – ibaird [at] wisc.edu

Many, especially outside Asia, are under the mistaken impression that Buddhists are inherently non-violent, especially in comparison with other world religions such as Christianity and Islam. Despite this impression, violence is often linked with Buddhism and perpetrated by Buddhists. Monks in Theravada lineages are not allowed to directly engage in violence, but some have become involved with militancy. Although I am unaware of any Lao monks who have directly participated in violent acts, a few have been shot in Thailand by those opposed to them for providing support to insurgents. This indicates that their support is perceived as substantial and significant.

The Thai Theravada Buddhist monk, Kittivuddho, famously stated in 1976 that it was not a sin to kill a communist. Militant monks in Sri Lanka and Burma have been covered by international media. But much less is known about the role of ethnic Lao Buddhist monks in supporting militant violence directed against the communist Lao People's Democratic Republic government and their Vietnamese allies since 1975.

Some Lao monks have refused to assist insurgents directly, but a number have provided food, shelter, and medicine to insurgents and their families. Others have helped raise funds for insurgents. Some have provided spiritual support, including providing insurgents with protective charms. A few have even given advice designed to directly assist in military operations. Some monks have justified providing material support to insurgents by arguing that it is "humanitarian," and thus permitted by Buddhist (vinaya) monastic rules. In a similar vein, some claim that they "never told them to use the money to buy weapons" – again remaining within the letter of the vinaya. Clearly, there are various views about what constitutes appropriate practice, and not surprisingly, Buddhist doctrine is not always interpreted in the same ways.

Many have justified their support for insurgents on nationalist grounds, and some have presented themselves as being a positive influence by urging militant insurgents to not commit atrocities against "innocent people." Some monks have relaxed their observance of Buddhist practice due to "exceptional circumstances" – circumstances which these monks believe threaten the Lao nation and even Lao Buddhism itself. Nationalistic concerns sometimes dominate.

Dr. Ian G. Baird is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has lived in Thailand and Laos for most of the past 25 years.

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Achan Chanh Ly (left) and Achan Ky (right) receiving offerings from a Lao insurgent at Wat Pa Sanamsai in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand (1982).

Achan Sounthone, an ethnic Lao Buddhist monk living in Canada, speaks at a political rally in Seattle, Washington in the late 1990s

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Chinese Web Users’ Funny and Disturbing Responses to Sandy’s Impact

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 01:21 PM PDT

A reporter for China's Central Television (CCTV) reports on Sandy from U.S. shores. (Via Weibo)

In an interconnected world, it's perhaps small surprise that many of China's web users were well aware of hurricane Sandy's fierce impact on American shores. Over the past 24 hours, thousands of Sandy-related comments have appeared on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter. 

While responses have been all over the proverbial map, a good deal of discussion has centered on Beijing's own response to torrential rains that hit the Chinese capital on July 21, 2012, causing 77 deaths. At that time, some netizens, including "public intellectuals" (i.e. liberals and reformists) decried Beijing's lack of a proper drainage system, with some comparing the U.S. favorably to their country. Certain netizens took Sandy's impact and toll as a chance to strike back.

Tea Leaf Nation has selected and translated some of the most interesting, representative and revealing Sandy-related posts from Weibo.

It would have been worse in China

@Michael_heroes, Beijing: The American hurricane Sandy has killed 18 people at present [it has since climbed]; a hurricane that big and only 18 people dead. I don't dare think about what would happen here.

@易者凡心-HuaQiaoU, Fujian: If China were the one being attacked [by Sandy], I trust a lot of numbers [relating to victims and destruction] would be at least double. 

@我想当个大好人, Xinjiang: The transportation system isn't working, but at least they have a transportation system. Our nation's transportation system operates without any system at all. The U.S.. definitely has a lot of flaws, but they're prosperous because they encourage questions to be raised, while our country is precisely the opposite. 

A touch (or heaping helping) of schadenfreude

@出家人慈悲为怀V, Guangdong: The fiercer the better, blow away all those American devils. 

@染香, Beijing: China's public intellectuals told us that the pipes were the city's conscience; I'd like to ask those intellectuals, where's New York's conscience?

@李二虎Johnny, Beijing: Since there are so many people in this country who love the Americans, hurry up and go over there and save them.

 @坚持阳光, Gansu: Serves you right, Yankees.

A dash of humor

@王者润之, Sichuan: As to the dispute between the United States and Sandy, we do not take a position. We hope that both sides see the situation clearly, see peace and unity as the main aim, and manage their previous conflicts.  

@发条蔡, Fujian: I'm worried for officials of the Celestial Dynasty [slang for China], their children and family members are all there.

@蒋岩VIP, Liaoning: The American imperialists haven't learned [enough] from comrade Ahmadinejad to say it's a conspiracy among the socialist countries?

@我有小克拉, Jiangsu: What does the New York Times have to say? I want to follow! [NB: The New York Times' English and Chinese-language sites have been blocked in China since the paper's expose of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's family finances.]

@yumail312, Shanghai: It seems being covered in water is not just a Chinese speciality!

Clearly not from around here

@Suen-Y, Shanghai: Will the U.S. have to postpone its election because of this?

@Underworld, Sichuan: [In English] I want to know why the name of it is sandy. So Q [i.e. cute] 

We knew that already; but thanks!

@DamoN蕭_毅, Beijing: [In English] Blessing……..[You are] people. 

 

Australia Spells Out Asia Blueprint

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 12:08 PM PDT

The Wall Street Journal reports Australia plans to grow business with Asian countries, including China and India, to a third of its economy. This plan comes amid growing anxieties over China's increasing influence in Australia:

"The world economy is coming our way," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a speech Sunday to launch a long-term policy document called " in the Asian Century".

"We are living through an economic and social transformation on a scale and at a speed which defies comparison," Ms. Gillard said of the reforms underway in countries such as China which are shifting the base of global power eastwards.

China is already Australia's biggest trading partner due mainly to demand for raw materials like iron ore and coal, helping cushion the resource-rich economy from the recent economic woes in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere.

Tensions have also arisen in recent times over the thorny issue of foreign investment. Rural-based lawmakers have been critical of the Chinese buying farmland and agricultural businesses, an attitude Ms. Gillard's Labor government has described as "xenophobic clap-trap".

As China is undergoing a change in leadership, Australian Treasurer, Wayne Swan, expects new challenges and opportunities to arise from cooperation between the two countries, from The Australian:

But he told a conference in Canberra on Tuesday regardless of who is at the helm, China and Australia will "remain intertwined".

Mr Swan told the 2012 China Advanced Leadership Program conference strong relationships have been formed between the leaders of its two countries.

"We will continue to build and strengthen these relationships so we can manage the transitions that come with a close and evolving partnership," Mr Swan said.

"As we forge further ahead into the 21st century, China's transformations – its urbanisation, its extraordinary mega-cities, the growing middle class – are not just a sign of progress, they also symbolise China's return to pre-eminence in the global economy," he said.

Aside from economic ties, Australia also plans to build diplomatic ties with its Asian partners, from Bloomberg Businessweek:

Australia also plans to improve diplomatic relations with China, its top trading partner, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea, while expanding ties with countries in the region including Vietnam and Mongolia, Gillard said.

By the end of the decade, Asia will surpass Europe and North America combined in economic output, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said yesterday. Asia's middle class is forecast to rise by more than 2.5 billion people by 2030, he said.

"A consumer boom is fast gathering momentum," Swan said in an e-mailed statement. "This will increase demand for a diverse range of goods and services, like health, aged care, education, tourism and financial services."

"We will continue to support a greater role for Asian countries in a rules-based regional and global order," according to the report, entitled 'Australia in the Asian Century.' "Australia's alliance with the U.S. and a strong U.S. presence in Asia will support regional stability, as will China's full participation in regional developments."

According to China Daily, Canberra plans  to emphasize education and language studies to better embrace the 'Asian Century':

To better embrace the Asian Century, the Australian government plans to put a renewed emphasis on Asian studies in schools and universities, according to the white paper Australia in the Asian Century released on Sunday.

All Australian students will have the opportunity, and be encouraged, to undertake a continuous course of study in an Asian language throughout their schooling, said the white paper.

The white paper points out that the number of Australian students studying languages other than English is declining, with less than 6 percent studying Mandarin and other Asian languages in 2008.

Coupled with an increased educational focus on Asian languages, the Australian government will finance and boost the number of Australian students studying in Asia to let them better experience Asian culture.

Read more about China's ties with Australia, via CDT.

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China Tries Building Jet Engine

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:59 AM PDT

While China was able to blast its astronauts into space and send a submarine down into the depths of the sea, it has yet to build a successful jet engine. Previously, China has relied on Russia for advanced fighter aircraft. According to Reuters, Beijing is evaluating a 100 billion yuan plan to galvanize the engine research effort, which is dominated by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China:

The engine financing plan is under high-level discussion in Beijing, said Zhao Yuxing, an official at the securities office of Shanghai-listed Xi'an Aero-Engine Plc (600893.SS), a key military engine-making unit of AVIC. "What we know is our company has been included in the strategic programme, which is designed to greatly develop and support the engine industry," he said by phone from his company's headquarters in the northwestern city of Xi'an.

Some Chinese industry specialists forecast that Beijing will eventually spend up to 300 billion yuan on jet engine development over the next two decades.

"China's aircraft engines have obviously been under-invested," said Wang Tianyi, a defence sector analyst with Shanghai's Orient Securities. "One hundred billion yuan is not a huge amount of money in the engine world."

Foreign engine manufacturers including General Electric (GE.N), Snecma, a subsidiary of French aerospace group Safran (SAF.PA), Rolls Royce Plc (RR.L) and Pratt & Whitney – a unit of United Technology Corp (UTX.N), jealously guard their industrial secrets, limiting the transfer of know-how and opportunities for intellectual property theft.

While the priority has been put on building military aircraft, China's aviation industry is also interested in building commercial aircraft. Despite the plan to expand the budget for engine research, China is still reliant on foreign companies for its commercial planes. Boeing, an American company, recently delivered a new jet to Air China, from China Daily:

Co formally delivered one of its 777-300ER jets to , the nation's flag carrier, at a ceremony on Monday at Seattle's Future of Flight Aviation Center.

Chi Zhihang, vice-president and general manager of Air China North America, said the Boeing 777-300ER provides a better customer experience and offers more legroom for passengers.

The extended-range aircraft, which can fly up to 7,900 nautical miles (about 14,500 kilometers) before refueling, sports a distinctive paint job: Forty smiling faces of Chinese people adorn the exterior to honor the national aviation industry's role in linking China to the world.

The airplane delivered Monday is the tenth of 19 Boeing 777-300ERs that Air China has ordered since 2008. The carrier received its first 777-300ER in the Chinese mainland in July 2011. Air China has been using the planes to expand routes, particularly in Europe.

See also China advances its aviation dream, via CDT.

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As Handover Looms, China Enters Extreme Lockdown

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT

A Chinese policeman guarding the southern entrance of the Forbidden City in Beijing. (Christophe Meneboeuf/Wikimedia Commons)

It's a state of lockdown so extreme that it feels like war. With China's change in leadership at the 18th National Party Congress just nine days away, "stability and security" has become the number-one issue for all levels of Chinese government. Although "stability preservation" ("维稳") is always a high priority in China, it has now become the singular priority, affecting the lives of countless Chinese officials and citizens.  

In mid-October, the Beijing police department held a kick-off meeting for a one-month security project. At the meeting, more than eight hundred police representatives swore their determination to keep Beijing secure during the Congress. Guo Jinlong, the Beijing party secretary, said during the meeting that the security officers should forcefully prohibit any politically sensitive event, social violence, terrorist act or mass demonstration that might affect the progress of the Congress.  

On Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, a journalist who attended the meeting with the handle @红缨老枪 recounted in detail: "Some new phrases appeared at the meeting this morning: Act preemptively, fight actively; check everyone, follow every clue to its utmost; no carelessness is allowed, no room for error; neither big nor small incidents are allowed to take place." 

This kind of discourse, more appropriate to a foreign war than to internal security affairs, has led many to question whether the government regards its own citizens as enemies. Ma Yong (@旁观者马勇), a professor of history at Chinese Social Science Academy, writes that the government is simply overacting. "These kind of meetings have been held seventeen times over more than ninety years, under a variety of circumstances. Is there any need for such a degree of sensitivity? Why not treat it as normal?" 

This warlike attitude has spread all over the country. On October 15, the national railway police system said it would treat the undertaking of Congress-related security as if it were actual combat. Special attention would be paid to the provinces surrounding Beijing. On October 20, Hubei province announced that the police would enter "a state of war" to ensure security until the end of the Convention. All police vacations falling in this time period would be cancelled. In the past month, declarations of similar commitments from other government organs have been prevalent. 

In this high-pressure atmosphere, political dissidents and civil rights activists are the most likely to be targeted. Under the special security measures, many of them enjoy limited personal freedom or live under daily supervision by security officers. Those who live outside Beijing are denied entry to the city, while those living in Beijing are forced to travel out. Teng Biao (@滕＿彪), a human right lawyer, gives this summary of the "18th Congress Syndrome": "When I was [recently] in Shenyang, I couldn't get access to Skype via the Internet provided by the hotel. Many web pages which had not been blocked before were blocked then. It makes me think of some friends of mine who are under house arrest, are forced to travel or work elsewhere, are driven out of their homes, are denied access to the Internet, are silenced, or are denied entry to Beijing." 

Ordinary people are also experiencing the effects. @王瑛006, who lives in the Chongwen district of Beijing, tells her story: "Yesterday three people from the neighborhood committee entered my household to do a registration for safety concerns before the Congress. They asked my name, whether I was the household leader, where I was registered, my cell phone number, and how many people lived with me, whether they were male or female. In order to save time and energy, they also asked information about my father's, daughter's and son's households. I asked them whether it is really so unsafe before the Congress. They said they would even take turns to stand guard some days later."

Travelers face stricter measures as well. The Beijing News (@新京报) reports that from October 20 to November 18, travelers are prohibited from taking kitchen knives, scissors, or hammers with them on railways. The Southern Metropolis (@南都深度) tweets that window cranks or electronic window openers on back seats of all the taxis in Beijing have been de-mounted in order to prevent travelers from handing leaflets out of taxi windows.

Photos that claim to show Beijing military police on October 29 in preparations for the 18th Party Congress. (via Weibo)

"Potentially dangerous" objects are also off-limits in stores. @杰人微语 recaps his experience. "The kitchen knife was broken yesterday. I went to two stores to look for a knife and the salespeople told me that even pencil sharpeners were not allowed to be sold, let alone kitchen knives." @集贤承韵 writes, "I went to buy my son toys, but found out that all the remote control airplane models had been removed from the shelf. The salesperson said that they would be available again after the Congress."

Lawyer Yang Xuelin (@杨学林律师) adds that some courts have postponed ruling on some sensitive cases. "The court postponed one case of mine, which was planned to be tried in late October, for 'reasons which the collegiate bench couldn't control.' It had already happened to some of my other cases."

In short, it seems that the Chinese government has tried to eliminate every possible risk from the public sphere. The breathtaking scope of its intervention extends even to the music industry. Musician Gao Xiaosong recently posted (@高晓松) a warning to music professionals via Weibo: "Censorship of the music industry has become more rigid recently. Songs broadcasted by big televisions mustn't contain 'die,' 'down' or other inauspicious words. I just witnessed that a singer who sang 'Die for love' had his performance killed. Colleagues should take this as a lesson."

Perversely, the government's fear of potentially destabilizing factors and its desperate measures to keep society under control reflect just how unstable Chinese society actually is. According to the South China Morning Post, the annual number of Chinese mass disturbances reached 90,000 in 2006 and has continued to increase. It's a trend resulting from spiraling social inequality–BBC reports that China's GINI Coefficient, a score of economic inequality, was a dangerous 0.47 in 2010–and snowballing social conflicts. The government's "stability maintenance" strategy worsens social tensions by pushing them further beneath the surface and invalidating institutional channels for conflict resolution. 

In this way, what is happening before the Congress is a microcosm of the past ten years under China's Hu-Wen administration. Cui Weiping (@北京崔卫平), a liberal intellectual, characterizes the contemporary era this way: "It's the era of stability preservation now. The era's characteristic is that the government sees every disadvantaged person as a target for precaution and supervision. One of the results is that everyone, especially industrial workers or farmers, can become a potential enemy to public power. Another is the lack of sympathy and an overflow of indifference toward people at the bottom of society."

China-U.S. Live Discussion: Postponed

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 06:06 AM PDT

Due to power outages for a number of participants relating to Hurricane Sandy, we will be forced to reschedule "China-U.S.: A live discussion on elections, energy and climate change" for a date in the near future. Stay tuned for the new timing; we will have an announcement soon!

Beijing AIC Fines Nike for Having Double Standard: Update

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:46 AM PDT

You remember this story from last week, right? Nike was fined by the Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) for . . . well, for something. It wasn't entirely clear to me, although a lot of folks were complaining about Nike having a "double standard."

Nike did falsely advertise that a shoe here had two air cushions in the sole, when there was really only one. I'm sure that makes a huge difference (yes, I'm being sarcastic). So we've got false advertising, potentially fraud. Advertising Law, Consumer Law violations, blah blah blah.

But what bothered me was the rhetoric from the AIC, which specifically included this "double standard" language. Apparently the two-air-cushion version of the shoe is being sold overseas, and at a lower price than the crappy, single bladder China version. The official said that China would not accept double standards.

I've kept my eye on some of the press reports on this ever since. It seems to me that multinational corporations have a whole lot of double standards when it comes to pricing and product features, but unless the products in question fall under specific regulations (e.g., price controls), I fail to see why this should trigger any sort of fine.

So here are a few choice quotes from the usual English-language local sources. If this makes any sense to you, please let me know:

International companies should increase their respect for the Chinese market as authorities begin to punish those who do business with a double standard in China, analysts told the Global Times[.]

Question: why?

According to China's Consumer Protection Law, Nike should pay one to five times the selling price in fines, and the consumers could be compensated with twice the selling price, according to Qiu Baochang, president of the legal panel at China Consumers' Association.

This has nothing to do with a "double standard," but rather the false claim made about the shoe's features.

Legal experts are calling for tougher punishments for companies that sell substandard and overpriced products in China.

When was it decided that one air cushion was substandard? And who determined that the price was unacceptably high?

"This is not only discriminatory to Chinese consumers, but also a violation of Chinese laws and regulations," said Yi Shenghua, a lawyer at Yingke Law Firm in Beijing.

"We should reflect on the regulatory system and government standards in the country while stepping up punishment for this kind of behavior," he said.

It might be a violation of law, but not one that involves discrimination. I think this guy is talking about two different things.

Xue Guifang, director of the board of consumer rights protection at the China Law Society, agreed, saying: "Industries, especially world-renowned businesses, should not only provide world-class products, but also first-class respect to consumers."

This guy is a "legal expert"? That quote is suspiciously bereft of any reference to an actual law. "World-class" and "first-class"? Please.

You know, I was beginning to be really disheartened by all this horrible news coverage and blather, but the Beijing News finally came through with a reasonable description of what actually happened:

Nike has been fined 4.87 million yuan ($779,700) for deceptive advertising in China, according to the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce recently.

One of Nike's high-end basketball shoes, which was advertised as double air cushioned, was sold at 1,299 yuan in China, more than 500 yuan higher than the price of the same model abroad. Moreover, the footwear sold in China only contained one air cushion.

Chinese consumers have long been annoyed by foreign brands' "double standards." However, the reason for Nike's fine this time is not double standards, but deceptive advertising. (from a Global Times translation) [my emphasis]

Finally, someone willing to be honest about what this incident was and what is wasn't. However, before I had a chance to get too excited, I read on and ran into this:

If we want to end foreign companies' "double standards," we have to make efforts in legal procedures.

I'm not sure what legal procedures or new laws would be appropriate, but at least this is an acknowledgment that Nike did not violate current law because of a "double standard."

I would question, though, what sort of legal regime people want. Chinese consumers should be guaranteed the lowest global price for any consumer product? If a product feature is offered to a consumer anywhere in the world, should the law mandate that the company offer that feature in China as well?

That sounds crazy, but maybe I'm missing something here.

© Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Taiwan Arrests Three Suspected Spies

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:43 AM PDT

has arrested a retired Taiwanese naval officer and two others on suspicion of spying for China, according to The Wall Street Journal:

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said in a statement Monday that Lt. Col. Chang Chih-hsin was suspected of "spying for officials at the Communist Party in China" and "bribing other officers in the navy for illegal gains" during his tenure, which ended in May, at the Naval Meteorological & Oceanographic Office. The office provides mapping data for the military.

Authorities arrested Lt. Col. Chang after "gathering evidence of Chang's illegal behavior" following a report the ministry received in March, the statement said, but added "there was no leakage of confidential information and [the behavior] didn't involve any officials currently serving in the navy." It didn't elaborate further.

The ministry didn't make Mr. Chang available to comment, and said he will be tried by a military court, but the date hasn't been set. The ministry said the two others arrested were also retired military officials but declined to identify them.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of China's denied any knowledge of the spy case to the Global Times, and its spokesman declined to comment. The Taiwan-based China Post has more on the case:

According to Luo, the case came to light after the 45-year-old Chang was accused of attempting to collect information for the Beijing government from military personnel.

The MND's anti- system received tips on Chang's alleged misconduct as early as this March.

The ministry later turned the case over to prosecutors for further investigation on the alleged spying attempt. Initial probes showed no confidential military intelligence was leaked to Beijing via Chang, he said.

Chang, who filed for retirement this May, was reportedly recruited by a Chinese intelligence agency before his discharge from the Naval office that is responsible for mapping the maritime areas surrounded Taiwan.

In 2011, Taiwanese Military High Court sentenced General Lo-Hsein Che to life in prison after he admitted to selling military secrets to China since 2004.

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Grassroots Democracy Challenges New Leaders

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 01:14 AM PDT

The growing number of mass incidents around China might show people's impatience with the slow pace of top-down political reforms, but the bottom-up approach is not progressing smoothly either. At Reuters, John Ruwitch and James Pomfret look into the development of grassroots democracy movements in China's rural areas, focusing on the cases of in and Huangshan in .

Large-scale protests have increased in China, reflecting anger over and the lack of government accountability and transparency – the kind of unrest that experiments in grassroots , like the one Hua Youjuan participated in, were meant to help short-circuit.

Instead, Hua said democracy in her home village of Huangshan, in eastern Zhejiang province, was never allowed to fully succeed, thwarted by senior party officials who she accused of resisting her campaign to root out corruption.

[…] Hua's frustrations are shared in other villages that have been to the ballot box, including China's most famous testing ground for greater democracy, the southern fishing village of Wukan where a violent standoff over government land seizures led last year to the sacking of local leaders and elections.

[…E]ven in Wukan the new officials have had a tough time achieving their goals – partly, some say, for the same reason Hua is frustrated: higher-ranking party officials are opposed.

[…] "If after the there isn't further progress in getting back our land, more will quit," said Zhang Jiancheng, another democratically elected member of the new Wukan village administration.

See more on Wukan and village elections in China via CDT.

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Who is Xi Jinping? Good Luck!

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 01:08 AM PDT

For The Diplomat, A. Greer Meisels feels the pain of China-watchers struggling to figure out what actually believes and where he may lead China when he assumes power:

It is hard to know what a politician really thinks. Even in a country like the United States, which likes to bombard its electorate with an endless stream of campaign ads, when you scrape off their polished veneers, peel back the layers from their stump speeches, turn off their mics, and get right down to it, one would be hard pressed to find too many people who actually know what a politician thinks and feels. Sure people may claim to have deep insight into Candidate X or Candidate Y – the former schoolmates, teachers, employers, and drinking buddies like to come out of the woodwork to pontificate – but at the end of the day, it is hard to know what really makes the man or woman tick.

Multiply this phenomenon by a hundred or a thousand.

Now you are probably at the starting point when it comes to what we really know about the "would be" next generation leaders in China. In fact, aside from Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, it is hard to say with absolute certainty who will even be handed the reins of power in the upcoming .

Meisels suggests looking into Xi's past, and a rare interview from a dozen years ago may provide clues. Xi gave the interview to the Chinese magazine Zhonghua Ernü in August 2000, during which he spoke at length about his upbringing, and Danish newspaper Politiken published the translated version via the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies on Sunday:

Yang: Of course I do not know your entire background, but you have had a career as an official for over 20 years. Is it not true that – unlike some officials who have promotion as their ultimate goal – you have a fundamental wish to do something good for society?

Xi: That is true. It is a highly relevant question. It is about a decisive choice in life, which I myself – already before I went into politics – thought a lot about. First and foremost over such questions as: Which way do you want to go? What do you want to do with your life? What goals do you want to achieve? Personally I set several goals. One of them was doing something important for society. When that is the goal of your life, you must at the same time be aware that you can't have your cake and eat it. If you go into politics, it mustn't be for money. Sun Yatsen[8] said the same thing, namely that one has to make up one's mind to accomplish something and not go for a high position as an official. If you wish to make money, there are many legal ways of becoming rich. Becoming rich in a legal way is worth all honour and respect. Later the taxation authorities will also respect you because you are contributing to the economic development of the country. But you should not go into politics if you wish to become wealthy. In that case you will inevitably become a corrupt and filthy official. A corrupt official with a bad reputation who will always be afraid of being arrested, and who must envisage having a bad posthumous reputation.

If you go into politics to make a career, you must give up any thought of personal advantages. That is out of the question. An official may not through a long career have achieved very great things, but at least he has not put something up his sleeve. He is upright. In a political career you can never go for personal advantages or promotion. It is just like that. It can't be done. These are the rules.

See also "The Creation Myth of Xi Jinping", and other recent CDT coverage of China's presumed president-in-waiting.

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Me and My Censor

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 12:43 AM PDT

At Foreign Policy, Eveline Chao recalls working with a censor as an English-language magazine editor in Beijing:

Our censor, an employee of MOFCOMM, was a nervous, flighty woman in her forties with long, frizzy hair and a high, childlike voice, whose name was Snow. (Snow requested I only use her English name for this article.) In late September of this year, I learned that Snow left the magazine, enabling me to finally write this story without fear that it would affect her job.

[…] In our December 2007 issue, we had a paragraph saying that the Chinese oil and gas giant PetroChina had been pushing forward aggressively in its overseas acquisitions. Earlier that year it had bought a 67 percent stake in PetroKazakhstan, and it had plans to buy more oil and gas assets in Africa, Northern Europe, and Southeast Asia. Snow wrote, "Better to delete, it is an oral request that the energy sector's overseas acquisition is not encouraged to report." In other words, we wouldn't find any overt directives in writing anywhere, but those in the know understood that this subject was touchy.

All of this pointed to the petty human dynamics that underscored the censorship. The things Snow flagged were rarely taboo because of any overt directive from above. More often, it seemed to me that she thought it might offend another government ministry, which would bring retaliation upon her own ministry. Or, if Snow personally didn't find a statement sensitive, she worried that her boss might, or her boss thought that his boss might. Everyone was guessing where the line fell, taking two steps back from it to be extra safe, and self-censoring accordingly.

A similar pattern can be seen ahead of next month's in Beijing, where fruit knives have been removed from store shelves and window handles from the rear doors of taxis. Li Dan, of the Dongjen Center for Human Rights Education, told the Los Angeles Times' Barbara Demick that "it has become a habit over the years. At the lower levels, officials are afraid they will be punished if anything goes wrong at a crucial moment. There is always, every year, some big reason they claim they cannot be relaxed."

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CDT Money: Bridging The Great Divide

Posted: 30 Oct 2012 12:36 AM PDT

During a week in which Xinhua News called out the resentment brewing in China over the country's "yawning wealth gap", and the China Daily reported that Premier told a economic conference that the government would press ahead with drafting a "wide-ranging reform of the income distribution system" before the end of the year, The New York Times nabbed control of the weekend's news cycle when it published the findings of David Barboza's year-long investigation into the massive wealth accumulated by Wen's family under his leadership.

That the relatives of a powerful Chinese politician have used their connections to enrich themselves probably surprised nobody – the staggering net worth of China's top public servants is well known – but the timing of the report, with the just two weeks away, clearly rankled a Communist Party hoping for a smooth path into its once-a-decade leadership transition. Furthermore, Wen had championed himself as a reform-minded man of the people from humble roots.

The report also did no favors for a Communist Party trying to distance itself from the fallout of the scandal, a tale of corruption that the party would like to convey as isolated and not indicative of systemic impropriety at the upper levels of its leadership. And as The Economist points out, "will be among those squirming" as he gets set to take over for Wen. A recently-published Brookings Institution report claims Li faces a conflict of interest as he pursues healthcare reform while his younger brother maintains an influential role in China's tobacco industry.

Chinese censors worked overtime to quash the Wen story over the weekend, and Wen's family lawyers issued a statement challenging its allegations, as the story diverted a fair amount of attention away from the debate over whether China's economy has indeed turned a corner and begun to stabilize heading into year-end. HSBC had published its flash purchasing managers index () data for October, which showed that China's factory sector had remained in contractionary territory but had shrunk at a slower pace than in previous months. So is the glass half full? The Financial Times' Kate MacKenzie dove into HSBC's summary, which showed falling inventories and rising input and output prices, but also showed a shrinking labor force, and concluded that "it's a little too early to say if manufacturing is truly recovering" on the mainland.

Also for The Financial Times, guest contributor Linda Yueh of Bloomberg TV took a step back from the manufacturing data and asked whether China is destined for a cyclical turnaround or whether it has reached a "new normal" as it continues to structurally evolve to suit its next phase of growth:

Along with getting closer to the technological frontier, which is associated with a growth slowdown as the "catch up" phase begins to end, another reason for China is demography. RBS's Louis Kuijis, the former Beijing-based World Bank economist, estimates that the working-age population is growing at 0.5 per cent per annum, a third of the previous pace when an 8 per cent growth rate was thought to be necessary to maintain employment. He infers that the trend growth rate may now be around 7.5 per cent.

But, it's hard to discern if a slowdown is structural or still predominately cyclical. Another difference with 2008/9 is that the current export slowdown was expected so firms could adjust and there is a more flexible renminbi to help the adjustment in the real economy. It appreciated by a record 4.4 per cent in 2011 alone against the dollar and a wider trading band has helped to better insulate against a balance of payments shock. Export falls require more real adjustment if the currency is less flexible as China's was in 2008/9.

Elsewhere, The New York Times had more on the reaction to the data among the foreign analyst community:

Analysts said the improvement in the October reading reflected the effect of a steady drip of stimulus measures introduced by Beijing. A gradual improvement in overseas demand in recent months also has helped. A subindex measuring new export orders, for example, rose to a five-month high of 47.3 points as orders for the Christmas season came in.

The reading provided a "positive sign," and "further evidence of a pickup for the fourth quarter," economists at & New Zealand Bank in Hong Kong wrote in a research note. At the same time, however, the October number was still below 50 points — the level that separates expansion from contraction, showing that the companies polled in the survey still faced considerable challenges.

Analysts on the mainland also maintained an optimistic tone and suggested that the central government would retain a cautious stance with regards to any near-term fiscal or action. Their comments echo a recent front page article from the People's Bank of China's self-published newspaper, which argued that policymakers have "no grounds for further loosening of monetary policy" to spur growth. And a Bloomberg survey conducted from October 18-22 predicted that China's central bank would likely forego any further cuts to benchmark interest rates or the reserve requirement ratio:

With growth momentum improving and inflation picking up toward the end of the year, "the likelihood of further interest-rate cuts in the rest of 2012 is diminishing," JPMorgan's Zhu said in an Oct. 18 research note.

"In addition, the busy political agenda going ahead also implies that the prospect of meaningful monetary policy easing in the near term becomes more remote," Zhu wrote.

Finally, reform has become as big a buzzword as any as the state propaganda machine churns its way toward next month's party congress. A China Daily piece over the weekend argued that the government should pursue reform to seek new sources of growth, and Xinhua cited a senior official as pledging reforms for state-owned enterprises, from railway, telecom, power and natural sectors as well as others, to lower the barriers to entry in such industries.

A key focus for investors will also be the extent of reform in China's securities industry. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is eyeing new regulations governing credit ratings of bonds traded in the inter-bank market, according to Reuters, and The Global Times reports that the CSRC is also considering a new dividend tax scheme intended to discourage short-selling. Last month, vice premier Wang Qishan spoke of reform in a meeting with the CSRC's International Advisory Council. From The China Daily:

Despite the rapid development and huge changes achieved by the country's capital market in recent years, it still appears comparatively immature, he told the 20-strong delegation.

Wang said China's capital market would learn from successful international capital markets, accelerate institutional innovation, strengthen market regulation and take active and steady steps to open up further to the outside world.

He also called for the protection of investors' interests.

Other News:

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Xiaomi, “The Real Fake” Apple

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 11:18 PM PDT

The New York Times' Sue-Lin Wong profiles Chinese cell phone manufacturer Xiaomi and its flamboyant founder Lei Jun.

Less than three years since it was founded, , meaning "little rice," has become a rising star in the Chinese smartphone market. The company predicts that by the end of 2012, sales will reach nearly seven million phones and revenue will be at 10 billion renminbi — impressive for a company that sold its first smartphone in August 2011.

The scene at a Xiaomi event in August of this year was reminiscent of 's typical product introduction under Mr. Jobs, who died last October. Mr. Lei strode onto a stage in the trendy 798 art district in Beijing to show off the Mi-Two to a roomful of cheering fans. He was dressed in a black polo shirt, jeans and black converse shoes, not much different from Mr. Jobs's trademark outfit.

Xiaomi's marketing strategy has been to ride on the back of the "cult of Apple" and of its creator, said Wei Wuhui, a technology industry expert at Shanghai Jiaotong University.

[…] "Xiaomi is the real fake," Oliver Jin, a university student in Shanghai who hopes to buy a Xiaomi, said approvingly.

See Tech in Asia's coverage of the August event.

Lei—or 'Leibusi', a play on Jobs' Chinese name 'Qiaobusi'—has said that he was originally "very annoyed" by comparisons with the Apple founder but seems, to say the least, to have come to terms with them. In 2011, he lamented that no one else in the industry would be able to emerge from Jobs' shadow while he was still alive. From Charles Custer's translation at Tech in Asia:

I believe Jobs is one of the great men of this age. He's a Hollywood blockbuster. […] But Jobs will die someday, so there are still opportunities for us. The meaning of our existence is just waiting for him to kick the bucket. Of course, on the one hand, we wish him a long life, but on the other hand, we don't want the world to be blinded by his light; we'd rather live in a more colorful world.

See more on Lei Jun at CDT.

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