Xi Jinping vs. Jeremy Lin, and other juxtapositioning

Your Xi Jinping article of the week: "It was here in the village of Liangjiahe that Xi Jinping (pronounced shee jin ping) spent seven of his most formative years after being sent into the countryside at the age of 15 along with millions of other students during Chairman Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. // And it was here, while digging ditches and extracting methane from pig waste, that he made the decision to pursue a political career—despite the persecution of his own father, Xi Zhongxun, a revolutionary hero purged and imprisoned by Chairman Mao.... Elsewhere, however, a handful of Mr. Xi's family friends were willing to discuss his past, on condition of anonymity, and they all pointed to his time in the countryside as a turning point in his life—and the origin of his political ambitions." [Wall Street Journal]

Your Jeremy Lin story of the day, properly placed beneath Xi Jingping: "Most fans appear to have readily claimed Lin as Chinese, though some have taken note of the fact that he is American-born, with parents from the breakaway island of Taiwan. As one commentator put it: 'Do Africans jump up to claim Kobe as one of their countrymen?'" [Evan Osnos]

In case you forgot, some media organizations made huge asses of themselves recently by reporting on a ridiculous tweet. "Jaundiced irony is hardly a monopoly of the Western press when covering North Korea, but some of the analysis of the Kim Jong-un rumors was, frankly, a little embarrassing. Gawker, Huffington Post and Reuters, all weighed in, sometimes inexplicably relying on unedited Google translations. Apparently content with the 'Babel,' no one bothered to check or cite the North Korean state organ, the Rodong Sinmun (the newspaper does, after all, have a website). On the day he was supposedly killed, Kim Jong-un was on the website’s front page – he had received a gift from Kuwait – although there was no clear evidence he was actually there for the event." [Adam Cathcart, The Diplomat]

Chinese students in America. "While it has been a few weeks since Dan at CLB posted his article (and I posted my response) about commonly held stereotypes held by American students of their Chinese cohorts on campus, I thought I would post a part two as I cam across a couple of interesting articles that offered more insights into the complexity of the issue.. as well as the Chinese student perspective." [All Roads Lead to China]

Eric Abrahamsen, master translator. "Jackie Chan’s unfortunate 2009 statement that “Chinese people need to be controlled” sounds a little different when you consider that in Chinese he used the term guǎn rather than the word for “control” (控制, kòngzhì). Instead of advocating a police state, he was implying that the Chinese people need to be told what to do because they don’t know what’s best for them. Only marginally less distasteful a comment, perhaps; still, the distinction is worth making." [Latitude, International Herald Tribune]

A proper Whitney Houston tribute:

Corollary: The Wall Street Journal has info about the kid.

China Debate reminds us that Elizabeth C. Economy is good at what she does. Liz's blog here. [China Debate]

A week-in-review weekend links edition

Via the recently launched Somo Gallery

For those who want a rundown of this whole Wang Lijun escapade: C. Custer has you covered. [China Geeks]

Corollary: Wang's (fake?) open letter via sociologist Li Yinhe begins: "When everyone sees this letter, I’ll either be dead or have lost my freedom. I want to explain to the whole world the reasons behind my actions. In short: I don’t want to see the Party’s biggest hypocrite Bo Xilai carry on performing: When such evil officials ruling the state, it will lead to calamity for China and disaster for our nation." [Danwei]

You had me at "Cormac McCarthy": "Some 20 million people lost their lives, many of them in grotesque ways. There are enough beheadings, flayings, rapes, suicides, disembowelments, mass killings and acts of cannibalism in 'Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom' — more about these things in a moment — that it can seem like a version of Sun Tzu’s 'Art of War' spat into being by Cormac McCarthy." [NY Times]

This month in history, and such. "Westerners still tend to underestimate Chinese military prowess, viewing China as a historically peaceful nation frequently invaded by bellicose neighbors: Huns, Mongols, Manchus, and, of course, Japanese. During World War II, U.S. and British propaganda strengthened this image by depicting China as a hapless victim of a modernized, assertive, and militarily effective Japan. // Most westerners even believe that the Chinese invented gunpowder but never used it in weapons, reserving it for fireworks. In fact, the first guns were developed in China, as were the first cannons, rockets, grenades, and land mines." [The Diplomat]

Well, if you need a reminder that in this city of ours they tear shit down, Jonathan Kaiman is here. "The demolition of Beijing's historical courtyard alleyways, called hutong, has long been one of the city's most controversial issues. At the height of the city's headlong rush to modernity in the 1990s, about 600 hutong were destroyed each year, displacing an estimated 500,000 residents. Seemingly overnight, the city was transformed from a warren of Ming dynasty-era neighborhoods into an ultramodern urban sprawl, pocked with gleaming office towers and traversed by eight-lane highways." [The Atlantic]

The Economist launches China blog: Banyan.

Your Jeremy Lin reads of the day: Deadspin, China Smack, Yahoo. Also from Deadspin: "What appears to be New York Knicks superstar Jeremy Lin's Xanga—chinkballa88.xanga.com, naturally—popped up on Reddit earlier this week, but somehow we missed it, and now it's password-protected. Drat."

Rupert Hoogewerf on China's super rich: "...the second thing is that these people are sending their children to study overseas. This is a phenomenon that's unbelievable. We estimate that 85 per cent of the millionaire class in China are now thinking of sending their children to study in, it's America, UK, Australia, Canada are the big four." [Shanghaiist]

NON-CHINA READ: Because no doubt you will have found James Fallows's analysis of Obama's presidency through other means, I present you this: "The injections came without warning or explanation. As a low-ranking soldier in the Guatemalan army in 1948, Federico Ramos was preparing for weekend leave one Friday when he was ordered to report to a clinic run by US doctors. // Ramos walked to the medical station, where he was given an injection in his right arm and told to return for another after his leave. As compensation, Ramos's commanding officer gave him a few coins to spend on prostitutes. The same thing happened several times during the early months of Ramos's two years of military service. He believes that the doctors were deliberately infecting him with venereal disease." [Nature]

"Is Michigan suddenly going to outcompete SE Asia in deepwater rice production?"

Worshipping cats, via China Hush

Chinese reactions are, predictably, divided, as they often are. China joined Russia in vetoing a UN Security Council resolution to condemn Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. [Ministry of Tofu]

Food safety in China: an infographic. "Even Confucius was aware that wine in China is not always wine and beef is not always beef. A disciple, describing Confucius, said, 'He wouldn’t drink wine bought from a wine shop or eat dried meat bought in a market.' If Confucius lived today, he would have to considerably expand his list of risky products." [ChinaShmina]

Boy, the owner of this YouTube video must feel silly about now. "At some point in this frantic and peculiar season, a less likely, less expected story may arise from the chaos. But it will be difficult to beat a night when an undrafted prospect from Harvard took over Madison Square Garden, outshined three of the N.B.A.’s biggest stars and ignited an instant love affair with New York." [NY Times]

Corollary: Jeremy Lin just dropped 28 in his first career start in a Knicks win.

"Restoration" plans in place for Drum and Bell neighborhood. "A 'style restoration project' in the works will knock down five hutong neighborhoods around the Drum and Bell Towers. Some of the housing will be rebuilt, but the majority of the space will be used for a square, roadwork and a small museum. Officials have stated that this will 'restore the area to how it looked in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.'" [the Beijinger]

This comes late, but Malcolm Riddell makes a fine recommendation. USC's US-China Today website is a fine resource, as is its YouTube channel. [China Debate]

And finally, the featured YouTube comments on that dumb Peter Hoekstra political video:

You ready for the Super Bowl? No? Here are some China links

Picture via China Smack

The infamous -- and now viral -- Zhu Yufu poem in full. Someone may well have reported on this earlier, but I got this from Seeing Red in China:

It's Time

It’s time, Chinese!
The time is now
The square belongs to all, and the feet are yours
It’s time to walk to the square to make a choice

It’s time, Chinese!
The time is now
The song is for all, but the throat is yours
It’s time to sing the song from the bottom of your heart

It’s time, Chinese!
The time is now
China belongs to all of us, but the choice is yours
It’s time for you to choose the future of China

Although methinks Zhu Yufu is late. The Chinese have chosen, and now they're wiping the KFC grease off their fingers.

Is Wu Ying being scapegoated... with the death penalty? There's so much corruption in Chinese business that I find myself unable to buy any other explanation for why Wu Ying is getting the death penalty other than the one supplied by Ye Kuangzheng: "The government officials' joint letter demanding Wu Ying's death is not just to silence her but to threaten others." [Global Voices]

Jim Yardley on basketball in China: "The N.B.A. Is Missing Its Shots in China." [NY Times Magazine]

Another good read from Sinostand. "But in spite of what many Chinese and most foreigners seem to think, China has one of the weakest central governments in the world. It must oversee tens of thousands of local fiefdoms, so even when the top leaders try to do the right thing, their orders get diluted, reinterpreted or ignored through multiple levels of corrupted bureaucracy. // Like most groups throughout history though, the party is reluctant to give up any of its absolute power. It clings to the notion that it can use its power to launch internal crackdowns and scare corrupt officials straight. But this approach has been failing for decades. For every situation it rectifies, dozens more pop up. // Only by outsourcing its supervisory role to commoners and media empowered by a rule of law enforced from the top can China’s model become sustainable. China is the frog in heating water and time is running out. Hopefully the laobaixing will realize stability at all costs is usually the most potent recipe for chaos." [Sinostand]

Two shorties but goodies from China Hearsay: "Irresponsible Reporting on Apple-Foxconn" and Hong Kong vs. mainland. [China Hearsay]

Slightly late with this, but it's quite good. Begin reading here: "The older generation -- which largely controls the Chinese Communist Party -- is worried that it is losing control of the media and is trying to bring television back to its traditional socialist roots. Under this paradigm, the function of the media is not to entertain the masses, but to educate the people, build social solidarity, and bolster state power. For these individuals, Chinese television has grown too western and culturally degrading. // There seems to be a very real fear among Beijing's elite that if left unchecked, television programming could lead to Chinese cultural decline. Some may quickly dismiss or even ridicule this concern, however it becomes more understandable if we consider the content of much of American television programming today -- such as Jersey Shore, Jerry Springer, Mob Wives and Toddlers and Tiaras.... The officials in Beijing look at the United States and see a nation with a failing economy, a burgeoning deficit, and a dysfunctional political system. They also see an American media replete with trashy television, scandal-prone Hollywood stars, and drug addicted pop stars. Although many Americans may not necessarily see a connection between the two, the officials in Beijing do." [Daniel Wagner and Michael Doyle, Huffington Post]

"Well, we’d rather die in Beijing than live in Shanghai." Well said, Jonny White. [the Beijinger]

NON-CHINA READ: "If [Israel attacks Iran] does happen, many Americans will undoubtedly be entirely supportive because they know (at least the ones who read American newspapers and listen to their government officials) that Iran is the Evil-est since Saddam’s Iraq." [Glenn Greenwald, Salon]

Your Mid-Week Links

Yet another difference between Hong Kong and the mainland: Some Hong Kong people raised HK$100,000 to buy an ad in Apple Daily denouncing mainland Chinese births in Hong Kong. Mainland Chinese would go to the local print shop and drop 20 RMB for a design, then post onto an Internet forum where the ad gets seen by about four times more people. But, whatever, it's not like HK$100,000 can buy food or anything. [Shanghaiist]

Global Times editor-in-chief joins Twitter. Welcome, @HuXijinGT. I wonder how long the poor chap will last. [China Rises]

Corollary: "Two jokes are currently circulating in Chinese cyberspace which take on current events: // The first one refers to recent tensions over the East China Sea. // [Diaoyu Islands belong to which country?] Answer: Bring a laptop computer there. If you can open Twitter, they belong to Japan. If you can’t open Twitter, they belong to China!" [China Digital Times]

Ai Weiwei on Chen Guangcheng: "Chen Guangcheng is an activist from Shandong who lost his sight as a child; but he is a bright light that shines in the darkness." [Wired]

MSNBC jumps into Foxconn reporting. Nothing interesting or new to report until the paragraph that starts: "On Monday, tens of thousands of people lined up outside a job agency to apply for an estimated 100,000 new jobs Foxconn is seeking to fill at its factory in Zhengzhou, the capital of central Henan province." Tens of thousands of people. [Behind the Wall, MSNBC]

A nice book review of a bad book. Charles Custer takes on Tony Parfitt's Why China Will Never Rule the World. Turns out you can judge a book by its title. [China Geeks]

New to the blogroll: All Roads Lead to China, Hidden Harmonies.

NON-CHINA READ (HT@Alicia): "It was over the last century, says Cain, that society began reshaping itself as an extrovert’s paradise—to the introvert’s demise. She explains that before the twentieth century, we lived in what historians called a 'culture of character,' when you were expected to conduct yourself morally with quiet integrity. But when people starting flocking to the cities and working for big businesses the question became, how do I stand out in a crowd? We morphed into a 'culture of personality,' which she says sparked a fascination with glittering movie stars, bubbly employees and outgoing leadership." [Forbes]

Chinese readers react to NYT Foxconn story

Via Forbes

Americans really don't understand China. That's my takeaway message. ["People Are Spouting Nonsense about Chinese Manufacturing," Forbes]

Corollary: Remember the New York Times's big piece to kick off its iEconomy series? Of course you do. Well, they've collaborated with Caixin to translate the article into Chinese, and here were some of the hundreds of comments from Chinese readers (translated, of course):

Without Apple, Chinese workers will be worse off. I hope China can some day soon have dozens of its own companies like Apple, who (only) work on high-end research and development and send manufacturing lines to Africa. — Anonymous

Even though Apple should be ethically condemned, the key point is: whether the working conditions inside the factories are supervised by law. This (supervision) is the duty of judicial officers and labor unions. Now everything is driven only by G.D.P., so which government official would dare supervise those companies? They (the governments) have long reduced themselves to the servant of the giant enterprises. — Occasional Think

If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist. — Zhengchu1982

When the explosion happened, I was working for media in Chengdu. Domestic media were all silenced and only allowed to use the (Xinhua) official report, because that (Foxconn factory) was a key project. Compare to what The New York Times wrote, the gap really saddened my heart. — Chen Qiye

Well worth a look. [The Lede, NY Times]

Also see: Stan Abrams, China Hearsay.

Firecracker kills 1 in Beijing. In classic Xinhua-speak: "The holiday firecracker casualties this year, however, were down nearly 50 percent from a year earlier, according to the municipal health bureau." [Xinhua]

Corollary: From China Daily: "On average, a family may spend hundreds of yuan on firecrackers during the Spring Festival, with some paying more than 10,000 yuan (about $1,500) for the seasonal spree." From China Daily Show: "Man blows family’s entire food budget on fireworks."

Wukan update. "It is too easy to assume that the initial resolution of a problem in China represents the last word. That’s almost never the case. Now we know that we should continue to pay attention to what happens in Wukan. It matters a lot -- not only for the people of Wukan but also for our understanding of the evolving debate and real potential for wide scale political change in China." [Elizabeth C. Economy, Council on Foreign Relations]

Flowers of War flops in U.S. "'The Flowers of War,' a dark and violent Chinese-language movie about the Rape of Nanking that cost more than $90 million to produce, grossed an anemic $48,558 in 30 U.S. locations last weekend. Its per-location average: A mere $1,619." [Reuters]

Twitter: China thinks you're doing something right. (Pssst... that means you're not.) "It is important for it to respect the cultures and ideas of different countries so as to blend into local environments harmoniously. This is normal practice. To some extent, it is a necessary step in the evolution of Twitter. But many of its users, particularly some political activists and dissidents, have found it unacceptable." [Global Times, via Sinocism]

Also see: Wall Street Journal.

New to blogroll: Institute for New Economic Thinking.

If your sort of thing is an image of a doctor ("doctor"?) removing an organ from a boy's chest... Have at it [warning: GRAPHIC]. Via Seagull Reference.

NON-CHINA READ: "[Salman] Rushdie has had a flat in London for decades, but tells me he spends more and more time in New York. Like Martin Amis, he finds the viciousness of the British media towards writers mystifying. Journalists who rely on their exercise of freedom of speech to put food on their tables and clothes on their children's backs hate a man who had to risk his life to defend the liberties they so thoughtlessly take for granted. I am not going to go into why English literature's first great Asian novelist is the object of such venom, and was cheered to find that Rushdie did not want to speculate either. Aware of the danger of sounding like a moaner, he adds that Americans may not turn on their writers with the passion of the British because they care so little about what novelists have to say that they lack the energy even to loathe them." [The Guardian]

Your Happy-Times-Back-at-Work Links Edition

Photo by Ren Hang via NeochaEDGE

Yesterday, most Chinese returned to work. By yesterday I do indeed mean Sunday. The holiday schedule is fucked up, don't ask questions.

Oops. "[Famous architect] Liang [Sicheng's] 'siheyuan,' the traditional courtyard home, was reportedly bulldozed by a real estate developer on Thursday in the name of preservation. // The former rectangle brick structure in Beizongbu hutong where Liang and his also architect wife Lin Huiyin (Phyllis Lin) resided and started the unprecedented profiling of ancient Chinese architecture during the 1930s was reduced to piles of rubble surrounding a lone wooden gate. // The government said Saturday that the demolition was not approved by the cultural heritage authorities and officials would investigate and deal with the case in accordance of the law." [Xinhua via China Daily]

Piss

Well, this pretty much sucks a big stinky asshole. "Obama... made it a point to remind the world that though the defence budget had been trimmed, U.S. defence spending would still continue to remain higher than the combined defence budgets of the next 14 biggest militaries in the world.... // The latest Pentagon doctrine identifies China as the enemy the U.S. will have to confront. 'Over the long term, China's emergence as a regional power will have the potential to affect the U.S. economy and our security in a variety of ways…. The U.S. will continue to make a variety of investments to ensure that we maintain regional access and the ability to operate freely,' the document states. 'The growth of China's military power must be accompanied by greater clarity of its strategic intentions in order to avoid causing friction in the region.' Though U.S. officials keep on harping about the China threat, they do concede that the country is far away from achieving any kind of parity in military capabilities with the U.S." [Frontline, "India's national magazine"]

Corollary: "China should impose 'sanctions' against the Philippines after it offered to allow more US troops on its soil, state media said Sunday, amid growing tensions over disputed waters in the South China Sea." [AFP]

Shit

Interview about democracy in China. Uh-oh. "I still think China needs democracy, that it needs to change."

Fuc... wait a minute. This is actually intelligent...

Ian Johnson interviews former deputy editor of Southern Metropolis Weekly Zhang Ping in the New York Review of Books.

I really oppose several arguments [that are commonly made] about why China can’t have democracy, such as the argument that China is unique—that Chinese people need to wait because their “quality” [a Chinese term, suzhi, that implies everything from educational level to manners] isn’t high enough and other ridiculous things like that. Some people said that democracy wasn’t part of Chinese culture, and then Taiwan became democratic. Then they said that Taiwan was a special case. Now look at Wukan. They had their own elections. People say it’s special, but in fact Wukan is really typically Chinese. It’s a Chinese town but they organized everything. So what argument are you left with? If Wukan can have democracy so can other parts of China.

I’m not saying that China should have western-style democracy. In fact, there’s not a single western model. What do they mean? Germany didn’t copy America and America didn’t copy Britain. The issue isn’t copying. It’s do you or don’t you want democracy? Of course democracy has a lot of problems but it’s a way forward.

Who knew, democracy really is sunshine.

A Global Times editorial done right... not by Global Times, of course. Oh no -- if you want something done right, you gotta let someone like Eric from Sinostand do it (I'm assuming Eric, who owns the site, wrote the post, but if not, apologies to the real author). "I’ve taken the liberty of re-writing it so that it has a chance of actually influencing some people toward GT’s viewpoint," the author writes. Go compare the results: Original vs. Modified. [Sinostand]

The Economist just can't catch a break. This is the third straight links post in which the London-based news magazine has been dissed. "Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi derided western economic prescriptions of the late 20th century as 'medicine that turned out to be worse than the disease.' // He singled out The Economist magazine for criticism, saying policies it advocated a decade ago had set the continent on the path to recolonization." By the way, the story is about the African Union's new headquarters in Ethiopia, and yes, it is somehow related to China. [Voices of America]

Gingrich and Romney [EDIT: Sorry, no Romney] try to out-dumb one another, and NY Times goes after Apple again

Via Shanghaiist, from the ATV 20th Miss Asia Awards in Hainan province

These are America's leaders:

"And I'd like to have an American on the moon before the Chinese get there." Newt Gingrich, everyone.

"I do not want to be the country that having gotten to the moon first, turn around and say, 'It doesn't really matter. Let the Chinese dominate space. What do we care?' I think that is a path of national decline. And I am for America being a great country, not a country in decline." Mitt RomneyGingrich, everyone.

THESE ARE AMERICA'S LEADERS.

Do you hear that, Chinese people? You have absolutely nothing to fear from the U.S. Now get off its back.

[Quotes via Shanghaiist]

EDIT: Well, that's embarrassing. Thanks to Kenneth Tan for pointing out my quote attribution error. But my feelings about the Republican field of nominees remains the same.

The NY Times on Apple, China... again. "People like Ms. White of Harvard say that until consumers demand better conditions in overseas factories -- as they did for companies like Nike and Gap, which today have overhauled conditions among suppliers -- or regulators act, there is little impetus for radical change. Some Apple insiders agree." Meanwhile, other Apple insiders designed to drink some orange juice. [NY Times]

The first thing that should signal something is awry is the subhead: "For China's rise to continue, the country needs to move away from the model that has served it so well." Stop doing what works... OK, gotcha. But I hate this headline for another reason. The Economist is implying that there are only two options: 1. Western, the model we know; 2. Anything else. And if you're doing "anything else," there's no chance of you succeeding, or mending the model so that it guarantees future success. Why? Because it's not the model we know. [The Economist]

Stan Abrams of China Hearsay then finishes the takedown. "Fourth, religion. Not surprisingly, I find this one laughable. China needs religion to help the poor and to offer people a meaning to their lives beyond economic growth? From reading The Economist over many years, I thought economic growth was an end in and of itself! // But seriously, the government is certainly capable of dealing with poverty on its own; indeed, modern China can boast of having lifted more people out of poverty than any other nation in the history of the world. Thanks, but no thanks, religion. As to the meaning of life, this was a throwaway line in the article not elaborated upon, so I think I’ll ignore it." [China Hearsay]

Paper Republic's Eric Abrahamsen writes about Han Han. "'When the drivers in China turn their high-beams down as they pass each other on the road, they will be ready for revolution,' writes Han Han. 'Of course, by then, revolution won’t be necessary.' Instead, he argues, the process will be a gradual one, in which the cultural values conducive to democracy evolve along with democracy itself. 'Democracy is a long process of negotiation.'" [LA Times blog]

The death penalty. The Economist reports on netizens' support for 31-year-old Wu Ying, sentenced to death for "illegal fundraising." Really, China should practice more leniency, and judging by many of the comments in these two China Smack posts, it seems the people feel the same. I know the government really, really hates drugs and all, but smuggling doesn't warrant a death penalty. Sorry, it doesn't.

A glowing review of James Palmer's Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes. [The Peking Duck]

NON-CHINA READ: "The accelerating rate of incarceration over the past few decades is just as startling as the number of people jailed: in 1980, there were about two hundred and twenty people incarcerated for every hundred thousand Americans; by 2010, the number had more than tripled, to seven hundred and thirty-one. No other country even approaches that. In the past two decades, the money that states spend on prisons has risen at six times the rate of spending on higher education. Ours is, bottom to top, a 'carceral state,' in the flat verdict of Conrad Black, the former conservative press lord and newly minted reformer, who right now finds himself imprisoned in Florida, thereby adding a new twist to an old joke: A conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged; a liberal is a conservative who’s been indicted; and a passionate prison reformer is a conservative who’s in one." [New Yorker]

This is what happens when you criticize America, and Reporters Without Borders's bit of ridiculousness

Via Global Voices

This is rich. Sima Nan, a vocal American critic in China (so, like every liberal American, I guess), got his head pinched between an escalator and wall last Friday. In America. Wait, I italicized the wrong thing. Got his head pinched between an escalator and wall. Global Voices has a translated piece from blogger Yu Xiaoping in which Yu writes, "I deeply sympathize with the injured person, and I don't think this is the time to be ridiculing him." REALLLLY? I can't think of a BETTER time. I'm not familiar with Sima Nan's work, but dude -- you got your head stuck on an escalator. The equivalent on the stupidity scale has to be blowing off a digit while mixing dry ice and Coke.

China is 6th worst country for press freedom, according to organization that knows nothing about China. Even for an organization that only gets news through a Western filter, this is beyond ridiculous -- and I say this as someone who fully realizes how bad the Chinese press is, seeing as I work inside the machine and also hate censorship. Russia, a country in which journalists are murdered for doing their jobs, is 32 places above China. Mexico, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq are ranked 149-150-151-152, which is bad, but hang on... Somalia is 164... Egyptians raped Lara Logan, but that country is 166... Cuba is 167... Sudan is 170... Vietnam is 172. And then, after Vietnam, is Bahrain. Then China. [Reporters Without Borders]

Wait, you mean Americans don't like menial labor? I'm not going to quote from this rather bland Forbes article, but the author's point basically is: Americans are too good for those crappy iPhone manufacturing jobs in Shenzhen. I think the most telling thing he says is, "I would rather my children designed iPhones than made them."

So to summarize:

PEOPLE WHO DO NOT WANT iPHONES MADE IN CHINA:

Liberals: The jobs are inhumane

Conservatives: These are jobs Americans should have

PEOPLE WHO WANT iPHONES MADE IN CHINA:

Liberals: I would rather my children designed iPhones than made them

Conservatives: See above

And meanwhile, factory workers clock in and clock out, eke out a living, do the best they can.

Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan goes to a CCP school, puts her lead at the very end of article: "For hundreds, if not thousands of years, China has always had the challenging business of governing a large population." [Al Jazeera]

I tried forcing myself to watch the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, I really did. But I haven't. Maybe I will next week. Maybe I won't. It depends how drunk I get. Have at it if you'd like.

Corollary: "Sleeping Sister" via China Smack.

Falun Gong apply to march in Chinese New Year parade in New York. Well, what could possibly happen? Maybe aliens. Yes, maybe aliens alone can spare us from this stupid, stupid shit. [Wall Street Journal, subscription required (don't bother subscribing; Alicia Factiva'ed it for me, and it's stupid shit)]

NON-CHINA READ OF THE DAY: Cats. The link is full of cat videos. HT: Alicia. [The Telegraph]

An economics-heavy links edition, except for the one about the zombies... and Ai Weiwei

Via Zero Hedge

In case you'd forgotten that Ai Weiwei is the most beloved Chinese person in the West: Alison Klayman's documentary about him, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, got a standing ovation at Sundance. [LA Times's 24 Frames]

The race toward the Zombie Apocalypse: virus vs. bacteria -- who will win? "The WHO says the effectiveness of antibiotics is under threat from overuse in China, as diseases mutate to develop immunity. It estimates that 6.8 per cent of Tuberculosis cases in China are multi-drug resistant, compared just 2 per cent in developed countries. Experts believe that diseases as diverse as syphilis and the hospital super-bug MRSA are thriving as they adapt to China's antibiotic-heavy environment. 'We are now on the brink of losing this precious arsenal of medicines,' Dr Michael O'Leary, the World Health Organization's China representative said in a 2011 statement calling for more responsible use of antibiotics. 'The speed with which these drugs are being lost far outpaces the development of replacement drugs.'" [Time]

This Global Times (Chinese edition, translated to China Digital Times) editorial makes a couple of interesting points -- if only the author could have done it without stroking his woody: "As far as the issue of speech is concerned, in recent years there are two groups that felt the effects most deeply. One group comprises hundreds of millions of Internet users, and the Internet has opened a completely new environment for speech and a new platform for expressing opinions. There is a world of difference between their freedom of speech on the Internet and in Chinese society of yesteryear. While occasionally their online speech may be subject to keyword restrictions, nevertheless, they have all kinds of means of skirting them. // It may not be the government’s desire to provide these freedoms, but the overall facts are taking shape: it is inevitable that the Internet will bring about open speech for China." [China Digital Times]

The Beijinger wasted an entire blog post on Dashan, asking questions such as "Is it time to stop hating him already?" and "Or is it just jealousy?" They completely miss the point. Most mammals feel a natural aversion to Dashan because he looks like this:

Chinese Grammar Wiki via Sinosplice founder: John Pasden introduces this new tool in this blog post.

A Rabble-Rouser's Trip to Linyi. "'If [only] there should come a day when we are ready to die and can tell our children’s children that when we were young in 2011, we once did a little something for a fat, blind man, and we did it without the intention of changing much, but only because we wanted inner peace and to prove that in a land rife with injustice, the blossom of morality is ever opening in our hearts.' Yes, no matter how dark the skies, the flowering of justice is within us." [China Digital Times]

Deborah Brautigam, Africa expert, takes down Economist story. "The Economist still doesn't get it on China's foreign aid. They merrily mix apples and lychees in a new special report..." [China in Africa: The Real Story]

The China Growth Story. [Naked Capitalism]

Corollary: Two comments from the above link to highlight. The first is the graph that appears at the top of this post. The second is from commenter YankeeFrank, something worth remembering: "Let’s be clear: GDP, as Robert Kennedy made clear over 40 years ago, measures everything except what is important to a happy life."

If GDP is really your thing though, check this out: A debate about Chinese economics. (What, you were expecting?) [China Debate]

Because you absolutely did not ask for this, here was the musical playlist to this year's Hong Kong Chinese New Year fireworks extravaganza:

1.

财伸到 Caishen Dao
Money God is Here (translations are mine, completely unofficial)

2.
家大欢喜 Jiada Huanxi
Everyone is Happy

3.
春天的故事 Chuntian de Gushi
Spring Story

4.

龙的傳人 Long de Chuanren
Dragon Ancestor

5.
和兰花一起 He Lanhua Yiqi
Together with Orchids

6.
功夫熊猫 Gongfu Xiongmao
Kung-fu Panda

7.
马照跑 Ma Zhao Pao
Horse Races Continue

8.
Theme (all the segments had a theme, but only the last one was worth noting): 炮声“龙龙” The Sound of Fireworks is Very Loud ("Double Dragon")

大峡谷 Da Xiagu
Big Canyon

NON-CHINA READ: "'I can’t make that movie,' Lucas recalled thinking when he read the scripts. 'I’m going to have make this kind of . . . entertainment movie.' So Lucas focused on the middle chapter: the dogfights and the Nazi-hunting black pilots who shout, 'How you like that, Mr. Hitler!'" About George Lucas's new film, Red Tails, about the Tuskegee Airmen. [NY Times Magazine]

Couple things: I'm fully aware Star Wars was revolutionary for its era. But it's a bad series of films. There's a ridiculous plot and hicks in white metallic suits who can't hit the broadside of Jabba the Hutt. The dialogue was also written by a 14-year-old.

Second: There's already been a movie about Tuskegee Airmen, a version for adults as opposed to teenagers, and you can see all of it starting here. It's good.

Cantonese is the most annoying sound in the world. Apologies to Cantonese people

Bengali white tiger cubs [International Business Times]

Puerile shit: This video's been making its rounds. Quick background: mainland bitch eats on subway, Hong Kong bitch be like, "Hey, no eating on subway," then official subway shows up to mediate. Whatever. It's stupid, inconsequential, and stupid. But after watching, I do want to say: HOLY SHIT does Cantonese suck. I'm sure the people are first-rate and all, but how can anyone trust human beings who have acclimated to such vulgar racket as the spoken Cantonese word? Are we sure Hong Kongers aren't a subspecies evolving into Gears of War-like Grubs? I've noted before that Cantonese sounds worse than "leather-clad S&M kooks with mohawks descending upon elderly women with chain-saws," but let me amend. Cantonese is a geyser of head-on car crashes. It is the incendiary bomb of our ear canals. Hong Kong's poets could start a world war by publishing a podcast. It's naaaasty, like Big Nasty Kevin Nash nasty if you happened to picture him romantically sexing a seal elephant. If someone used a Cantonese accent to tell me to stop eating when I was hungry, I'd probably flip my shit as well. You literally could not attach ten thousand vuvuzelas end to end next to a speaker spewing microphone feedback at a Nickelback concert attended by braying donkeys and produce a series of sounds worse than a Cantonese sentence. Hey, wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world? Go to Hong Kong.

Actually, Superflak Liu Weimin of the Foreign Ministry might be more annoying than Cantonese. He commented on Christian Bale like the Superflak he is. Now he's at it in reply to Gary Locke: "As for some individuals that have been punished by law, I don't think it means their freedom of speech or religion is suppressed, but because they violated Chinese laws." I don't wish for your death, Liu Weimin, I really don't. I am simply saddened by your existence. [Global Times]

Taiwanese film -- not mainland Chinese -- gets shortlisted for Oscar. Out: The Flowers of War. In: Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (賽德克‧巴萊). I said in my Flowers review that it had no shot at an Oscar, but to not even make the shortlisted top 9? I'm reminded of Harvey Weingard leaning over to tell Ari Gold after Medellin's flop at Cannes: "It ain't easy making a movie." [WSJ]

Corollary: This is a very telling quote from director Zhang Yimou:

Asked why he chose to film “Flowers”–based on a novel by Yan Geling–when so many films had already been made about the Japanese occupation of Nanjing, Mr. Zhang said it was because good stories have become difficult to find in China. “Good writers have all been signed away by the big companies,” he said, citing the rapid growth and industrialization of Chinese film.”

"Freedom." Below is a blog post by Eric Abrahamsen of Paper Republic reproduced in toto:

How to feel like a complete noob at the Chinese internet:

Step One: Browse weibo. Notice heated discussions about something called 目田, which apparently means "eye field". Have the vague feeling that you're not getting the joke.

Step Two: Finally catch on that 目田 (eye field) is just 自由 (freedom), with bits missing.

If only the internet censors were this slow…

Now click over to Paper Republic to give that excellent site its deserved pageview.

Headline says it all (not really). "Fake petitioners offered free rides home." [China Daily Show]

And the original Daily Show: On Foxconn. [dGenerate Films]

A Spring Festival Story. "I’m amused by the annual Ayi exodus. Since it’s rare to see a Beijing expat lift anything heavier than money, this seasonal retreat of our nannies, waitresses, cooks, cleaners, drivers, dry cleaners, convenience store owners, and jianbing purveyors is a useful exercise in deprivation and self-reliance…like an outward bound experience for the neo-colonialist in all of us." [Jottings from the Granite Studio]

New to the blogroll: Ministry of Tofu (really no excuse for this not being on the blogroll earlier); Hexie Farm, a Chinese blog of political cartoons (via McClatchy's China Rises blog); and ChinaB.

NON-CHINA READ: "Are we sick? Are we all sick?" The Tommy Craggs era is well on its way, and you'll rue not following it from the beginning if you don't start now. [Deadspin]

POSTSCRIPT: Welcome, readers of the Viva Vince Hamilton Yahoo! fantasy basketball league.

Yao Ming, cyber nationalists, Jonathan Levine, anger, Peng Yu, Wukan, prostitution, etc.

Picture via China Daily

You can't be as intelligent, worldly and well-connected as Yao Ming and not enter politics. I think he can have influence if he doesn't let himself get pushed around... "dunked on," if you will. Please insert your own Shaquille O'Neal/Charles Barkley joke here.

YOUR MID-WEEK LINKS

I really wish an editor could have cut half this article and just left the good stuff, such as: "I want to take up one concrete example from the 'dark side'.... Over the past four years, I have been engaged in a type of digital ethnography, which has taken me deep inside one of the small corners of the Chinese internet -- a rather dark, sobering periphery inhabited by an increasingly truculent community of Han nationalists." Although it bears noting that these nationalists are somewhat the equivalent of America's dumb YouTube commenters, so I have to ask: Is it really all that insightful plumbing these depths? "I found myself banished from Hanwang.... In response to a plea from one overseas-based members about upholding freedom of speech on Hanwang, the administrator asserted: 'Hanwang isn’t a place where 'free discussion can occur,' and that overseas members could not possibly understand the difficulties faced by those living and writing inside 'the shield.' 'In order to make sure that other netizens don’t lose out,' he concluded, 'I ask you to go elsewhere to explain yourself. Thanks for your cooperation.'" [James Leibold, The China Beat]

A response to Jonathan Levine's infamous NY Times editorial that predates him by a month: This one-post blog called Dontmovetochina.com is just a plain and simple takedown of Levine... but, as mentioned, written nearly a month before Levin's article came out. Imagine that.

I'm still angry because of this. "He changed history so that it would look like the Chinese soldiers were outwitting the Japanese, eschewing the much better scene -- both in terms of art and historical accuracy -- in which viewers might have gotten the faintest idea that perhaps not all Japanese soldiers were heartless homicidal pathological psychotic raping devils." [Heart of Beijing]

NOW this comes out? "But in retrospect, everyone did seem to take for granted that Peng Yu was innocent from the beginning. In Peng Yu’s original version of the incident, he was the first to get off a bus and saw the fallen woman. He accompanied her to the hospital, gave her 200 yuan and stayed with her until after her treatment – saying she didn’t need to repay the cash. The woman said that he had knocked her down while getting off the bus." [Sinostand] Also see: Adam Minter on Bloomberg.

Wukan resolved? Last month I wrote: "In a country whose citizens are as outwardly apolitical as here, no one wants to risk their livelihoods over ideology. People would much rather cooperate, get what's theirs.... Expect a compromise in which some profit while most get just barely enough to begrudgingly stop their demonstrations."

As the dust clears completely, it's probably worthwhile to note that, according to AFP (via China Digital Times), "One of the men behind a rare revolt against local Communist officials has been named party head of a Chinese village whose protest against land grabs became a symbol of public anger over corruption."

His name is Lin Zuluan, "who was named the new party chief on Sunday, replacing the businessman who had been Wukan's leader for 42 years and who was accused of stealing village land and selling it to developers." The pessimist would say let's see how long Lin lasts before he dips his hand into the cookie jar. After all, I've heard stories about officials feeling the necessity to take red packets ("bribes," if you want to be harsh) because if they didn't, they wouldn't really be "trying." You know the saying: if you don't cheat, you're not trying hard enough.

The optimist, I guess, would just shrug. Good for the villagers. They "won." I guess.

Make love, not raids. "Well-known blogger and feminist activist Ye Haiyan, also known as Liumang Yan (Hooligan Sparrow), decided to provide sexual services to rural peasant workers on January 11 in defense of sex workers' rights after she witnessed a recent raid by police officers in a brothel in Guangxi province.... Master Meng Jianzhu [Translator note: Meng is China's Minister of Public Security]: Hope you can understand the pain of the grassroots. Don't exploit administrative fees from sex workers, especially the poorest among them. I wish that the Public Security Bureau could issue an internal notice and ask the police officers to stop raiding poor sex workers, particular as the new year approaches. A humble plea from Ye Haiyan, Chinese grassroots women's rights defender." [Global Voices Online]

Highlights of Chinese cinema 2011: A nice video by Youtube user ginsengkingdom via Shanghaiist:

... "Young mom cuts off baby's penis because she preferred a daughter" [Shanghaiist]

For you Beijing-based alcoholics, start weeping now. "A management rift at Fubar has reached the point where the police showed up tonight to deal with a dispute over one of the partners comping drinks. The incident extends to a bigger dispute late last week between original partners Chad Lager and Kevin Zhang -- some say Lager was kicked out, Zhang says he quit. In either case, the situation is a mess, and a sad one given this place ranks among the city’s success stories of the past three years." [Beijing Boyce]

Because we all like poetry, except the bad kind: The Guardian reports on Zhu Yufu, who has been indicted for writing a Jasmine Revolution poem. Excerpt:

It's time, Chinese people!

the square belongs to everyone

the feet are yours

it's time to use your feet and take to the square to make a choice

No word on whether the rest of the poem is this poor.

Rebecca MacKinnon's new blog: Consent of the Networked.

NON-CHINA READ: Not really a "read" per se, but for those who like HTML games, check this.

Chinese superheroes

Picture from 21CB

There's been quite a bit of news recently about China's "real" superheroes, people like the "Bauhinia Heroine" (the bauhinia is the rose that appears on Hong Kong's flag, so the Bauhinia Heroine's name has been translated -- I think kind of clunkily -- as "Chinese Redbud Woman"), who first appeared in Hong Kong in May looking exactly like the picture above.

According to Want China Times:

While Hong Kong's media have been speculating as to the identity of the masked crusader for the poor — ranging from the granddaughter of the former head of China's National People's Congress to a local socialite — Bauhinia Woman has refused to confirm or deny the veracity of any of the speculations.

The laudable lady's getup has been compared to that of Black Rose, the title heroine of a 1965 film in which the protagonist is a Robin Hood-like figure who steals from the rich to give to the poor. Personally, I think her mask should be red, but who am I to judge a woman's choice of colors.

(There's a Chinese car commercial featuring a similarly masked woman that you can watch as soon as I find it online.) UPDATE, 1/23: Here.

Recently, mainland China got its own version of Redbud, who looks awfully similar to the Bauhinia Heroine, except maybe a bit younger. Witness:

China Hush has more photos, if you haven't already seen them.

And then came "Incredible Shining Knight" (seriously, where do these translators get their material?) who wears a black cape and cap and goes around doing Good Samaritan things. All very nice. There's a movie here, I think. (Oh wait...)

Anyway, this is all a very roundabout way for me to say: sometimes Wikipedia is worth reading. Here's your entry of the day (HT: Alicia): The Great Ten:

The Great Ten, (Shi Hao Xia) or (十豪侠) are a team of fictional Chinese comic book superheroes in the DC Comics Universe, who are sponsored by the government of the People's Republic of China.

...

First appearing in 52 #6, the Great Ten's actions are hampered by bureaucracy. Three of the team's members were forced to sit out a battle with Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart because they had not completed the required paperwork.

And now, your late afternoon reads of the day (it's a Sunday, you're bleary-eyed from waking up for Saints-49ers [what, you didn't see it?], and, yeah, it's Sunday, so only three links here):

China shoots messenger. "Fifteen years after taking back Hong Kong amid a blaze of fireworks and patriotic fervor, China is battling what it sees as a subversive challenge: an academic survey showing that many in this former British colony identify little with China.... Infuriated by the results, Chinese officials have orchestrated a campaign of denunciation -- the latest blast in a barrage of verbal and written broadsides against alleged disloyalty in Hong Kong.... [academic survey director Robert] Chung declined to speculate on why Hong Kong’s residents appear to identify less with China but said he stands by his findings. // 'I am not a politician,' he said. 'I will let history tell the true value of my work.'" [Washington Post]

Corollary: The comments, per usual in these big-media news stories about China, range somewhere between stupid and retarded, but one blind squirrel almost managed to stick a nut: "The manifestations of Chinese nationalism and patriotism generally suggest deep-seated insecurity and resentment. Not a good trend given their growing power in Asia & the Pacific. Add in the tens of millions of young men with no prospects for marriage since decades of selective aborting or infanticide of girls has left far more males than females in that country and you have a recipe for militarism."

Basically anytime James Fallows posts about China, you should probably check it out. Even if it's links to the Daily Show (have I mentioned Mitt Romney is a hack?) and a strange, borderline erotic Chinese language video that most people (our age) have seen. [James Fallows]

And finally, just a friendly word of advice for those who need it: if you have a gun, don't fire it into a crowd of people who do not have guns. Thanks. "Chinese security forces on Saturday fired into a crowd of Tibetans in a restive area of Sichuan Province after they tried to take away the body of a Tibetan man who had died after setting himself on fire that morning to protest Chinese policies in the Tibetan areas, according to reports from two Tibet advocacy groups and Tibetan officials in the exile government in India." [New York Times]

Stupid people turn Sanlitun Apple Store into goddamn Guangzhou Railway Station

Picture from the Beijinger

The only thing about the iPhone 4S Beijing launch that you need to read. "Cold and hunger? Next time, pack a goddamn sandwich and wear a hat, Einstein." [Stan Abrams, China Hearsay]

Best candidate for China, Taiwan, and U.S. wins Taiwan presidential election."Taiwan’s incumbent president Ma Ying-jeou won re-election Saturday, a result that will delight China and calm worries in Washington that this island of 23 million people might veer away from a policy of rapprochement with its giant neighbor.... 'China will be very happy,' said Yen Chen-shen of the Institute of International Relations at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University. Ma’s victory, he added, shows 'Beijing doesn’t need to use missiles but can buy Taiwan through business.'" [Washington Post]

Are mainland Chinese international students failing America's higher education system? Another thought-provoking post by Dan Harris. [China Law Blog]

Paul Manfredi, in an introduction for the poet Xi Chuan: "Journalism, regrettably, is similarly ensconced in something un-viable, at least in terms of what is printed (virtually and non) in China. And this corruption of language is not restricted to Chinese case, as in outside journalism (by which I mean that written by authors in sites beyond China’s borders) we find the same problem. In Western-press writing about China we find language suffering less from calculated or otherwise strategized intent to mislead, and more from the unwitting and unfortunate failure to grasp what is really happening." [china Avant-garde]

Events That Don't Suck: Time Out is teaming up with The Hutong and Electric Shadows to present a series of films related to Spring Festival. They'll be shown at different times, so check the schedule. I'll definitely be attending at least a few of these. [Time Out]

New to the blogroll: The very heady China Debate. Here, you can start with this post about Nobel Prizes in economics, specifically why the committee is ignoring Chinese economics.

NON-CHINA READ: "But a landmark new research paper underscores that the difference between a strong teacher and a weak teacher lasts a lifetime. Having a good fourth-grade teacher makes a student 1.25 percent more likely to go to college, the research suggests, and 1.25 percent less likely to get pregnant as a teenager. Each of the students will go on as an adult to earn, on average, $25,000 more over a lifetime — or about $700,000 in gains for an average size class — all attributable to that ace teacher back in the fourth grade." [Nicolas Kristof, New York Times]

Serial killers in China

Here's today's frontrunner for "most interesting thing you'll read about China": a lengthy article by Robert Foyle Hunwick in Danwei about notorious serial killers in China. Here's how it begins:

Yang Shubin looked the part: fat and rich. At nightclubs, he would say he ran a power station and buy expensive drinks. Women quickly swarmed around the flashy businessman who offered double the regular price for an evening’s company and would, sometimes[,] even bring gifts. When the long nights drew to an end, Yang had no trouble persuading a girl to leave with him.

They probably thought themselves fortunate to land such a generous customer. After all, becoming mistress to a wealthy businessman is the ultimate career move for a karaoke girl in China. On returning to his apartment, therefore, they would have been surprised to find a woman already at the home: 20-year old Ji Hongzhie, Yang’s girlfriend — and partner-in-crime.

With the help of a pair of childhood friends from Heilongjiang, Wu Hongye and Zhang Yulian, they would tie the woman to a chair, then beat her with sticks and iron bars, demanding bank details. Yang liked to slap their bare flesh with a spatula while his girlfriend needled their breasts, arms and legs. Later, after withdrawing the cash — the amounts ranging from 60,000 to 500,000 yuan — they would force some victims to call their colleagues to persuade them to come over to the trap.

The bodies would later be chopped up, boiled and fed through a meat-mincing machine. Large bones would be crushed up with clamps, and added to the meaty paste which the gang would dump in drains or trash cans outside hotels and restaurants....

This part in particular makes me think a movie could be in the offing:

But Harbin policeman Xu Jianguo did not forget. Having grown up in the same neighborhood as both gang members Yang and Wu, Xu had a personal interest in seeing the case through to the end...

...even if it cost him his life.

I added that last line for dramatic effect. Like?

Here's the link again, for you short-memory people.

Is JR Smith gonna have to choke a bitch?

But no one likes intercultural violence. Well, except maybe JR Smith's sister, pictured above. [Deadspin]

(I'm just paraphrasing Wayne Brady in the title; you can put down the pitchforks, Chinese friends.)

Here's what happens when you criticize someone very high up in the Party: your story disappears. And here's what happens when you try to disappear a story in the age of Internet: people like the good folk at China Media Project rescue it from the brink. The rescued article was from China Youth Daily, but here's how CMP begins its post: "On January 9, the Social Development Task Group of the Sociology Department at Tsinghua University released its 2011 'Research Report Series on Social Progress,' in which it warned that 'powerful vested interests' in China were now 'holding reforms hostage.'" Gee, I wonder what about that phrase could have possibly upset the authorities.

Corollary: this gem from the China Youth Daily article: "The fourth symptom is an overcautious mentality and policies oriented toward 'stability preservation,' which is rooted in misjudgment over social tensions and conflicts."

The things they carried. Prepare to see a spate of Spring Festival Last-Train-Home-type stories now that the travel rush is upon us. This one from Annie Lee over at China Hush: "From our last post about going home for the Spring Festival, it seems that a lot of our readers are curious as for why these long distance home-goers are carrying so many bags despite all the difficulties during the journey. A reporter asked 4 passengers to open their bags to reveal the treasure inside."

A nice piece on Hong Kong and China, aside from the regrettable Quebec reference. "It’s not that Hong Kong people don’t feel 'Chinese'; in fact, there are some who claim Hong Kong is more Chinese than the Mainland, because it was spared Mao and his destructive Cultural Revolution..." [Zhongnanhai]

Possibly the best transition from lead-to-nut-graf you'll see in a while. "Begging in human society, however, is not just a question of self-esteem. Baudelaire seemed to have reduced the elimination of panhandling to a few punches. It is both too peculiar and too simple. Nonetheless, it isn’t just the poet who tries to solve complicated social issues with simple-minded approaches. // A few days back, the Ministry of Public Security cracked down on two child trafficking gangs across 10 provinces, arresting 608 suspects and rescuing 178 children." [Worldcrunch]

If you still haven't gotten over the fact that the air here is sometimes dirty, this article is for you. Rejoice at the "huge" and "terrific" news that Beijing will be monitoring PM2.5. Now let's wait to see how they "monitor" it, really. [livefrombeijing]

NON-CHINA READ OF THE WEEK: A poem from Pyongyang, via Adam Cathcart and the Sino-NK blog... here are the first three stanzas (it goes on [and on, and on] in much the same vein):

Fellow Countrymen, 
General Kim Jong Un Is With Us

Hearts are rending,
Never have we imagined
The snow-sweeping sky
The land frozen by biting cold
Would melt by bitter tears.

Hearts are tearing
Never have we predicted
This land would be frozen hard
With the tears of millions of people
Wailing over their dead father
Never, never have we imagined
There’d be so sad a day in our life

To the welkin and to the earth we are asking;
Is it really possible
That our Kim Jong Il has passed away
Leaving behind his people he loved so warmly
Leaving behind the country he was attached to so much?
Every December was warm to us
With the memory of our beloved Mother Kim Jong Suk,
Every year December came to us
With beautiful flowers in the streets and villages
With songs of celebration loud all over
On the anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s supreme
commandership