Xi declares propaganda decisions correct, propaganda cadres reliable; Porcine pandemic possible?; P2P Mess; Reset of relations with China; Big Data and governance
Xi chaired a propaganda thought work conference on 8.21-22. Wang Huning presided over the meeting, Minister of Propaganda Huang Kunming gave the summing up speech.
Xi was quoted as saying that "practice proves that the Party Center's propaganda thought work decisions and plans are absolutely correct, the numerous cadres on the battlefront of propaganda thought work are totally reliable 实践证明，党中央关于宣传思想工作的决策部署是完全正确的，宣传思想战线广大干部是完全值得信赖的.”
The fact that Xi said that may indicate that whatever criticism there was about the propaganda strategy and Wang Huning has now been completely rejected. If that is case whose head(s) may roll?
I reached out to Chris Johnson, Freeman Chair at CSIS and Sinocism subscriber, for his reaction:
"This would seem to cement the idea that the judgment from the 19th PC [Party Congress], and then validated by FAWC [Foreign Affairs Work Conference] on external and H2 PB [Politburo] meeting on domestic economy, that China is “on the right track” is correct, and that any suggestion of otherwise, whether made internally or externally, is erroneous, and “hostile.” That’s the real point, no?"
Since returning from Beidaihe Xi in just a few days has chaired meetings with the PLA and the propaganda/ideology bureaucracy. He does not look like someone who is weakened, if anything he may be gaining strength. And a gathering, comprehensive conflict with the US may only serve to strengthen him further, as dissenting in the face of an existential struggle with the primary hostile foreign force would be seen as treasonous?
Xi's comment about improving the level of Internet management should be taken as a clear sign more Internet tightening is on the way - 我们必须科学认识网络传播规律，提高用网治网水平，使互联网这个最大变量变成事业发展的最大增量。
Do the Google executives desperate to re-enter China pay attention to these meetings?
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think in the comments.
The Essential Eight
1. Xi declares propaganda decisions correct, propaganda cadres reliable
The report on the meeting took up the top 14 minutes of the Wednesday CCTV Evening News--习近平在全国宣传思想工作会议上强调 举旗帜聚民心育新人兴文化展形象 更好完成新形势下宣传思想工作使命任务_CCTV:
习近平在讲话中指出，党的十八大以来，我们把宣传思想工作摆在全局工作的重要位置，作出一系列重大决策，实施一系列重大举措。在党中央坚强领导下，宣传思想战线积极作为、开拓进取，党的理论创新全面推进，中国特色社会主义和中国梦深入人心，社会主义核心价值观和中华优秀传统文化广泛弘扬，主流思想舆论不断巩固壮大，文化自信得到彰显，国家文化软实力和中华文化影响力大幅提升，全党全社会思想上的团结统一更加巩固。 实践证明，党中央关于宣传思想工作的决策部署是完全正确的，宣传思想战线广大干部是完全值得信赖的。
I still prefer translating 宣传 as propaganda, not publicity.
Xi calls for better fulfilling missions of publicity work - Xinhua:
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing a national conference on publicity and ideological work held in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday.
He called for solid publicity and ideological work to unite the people to embrace shared ideals, convictions, values, and moral standards, thus making greater contributions to the overall situation of the Party and the state.
Xi said decisions and plans made by the CPC Central Committee since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 are correct and that officials on the publicity and ideological front are reliable.
He asked for taking "unity of thinking and gathering strength" as the central part of publicity and ideological work.
In order to do a better publicity and ideological work under the new circumstances, Xi underlined holding high the banner of Marxism and socialism with Chinese characteristics...
"We will improve our ability to engage in international communication so as to tell China's stories well, make the voice of China heard, and present a true, multi-dimensional, and panoramic view of China to the world," Xi said.
Developing a socialist ideology that has the ability to unite and the power to inspire the people is a strategic task for the whole Party, especially those on the publicity and ideological front, Xi noted.
Addressing propaganda officials and state media executives, Xi said the mission for the party’s propaganda and ideology work under “new era” was to “unify minds and gather strengths”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“We should adhere to the correct political direction, strengthen propaganda and ideology work to tightly unify the ideals and faith, the values and ideas and the morals and ethics of all our people to make greater contributions to the cause of the party and the country,” the president was quoted as saying...
He also vowed to strengthen the party’s control over propaganda and ideology, and repeated the need to promote Marxism, ensure “correct guidance of public opinion”, and improve China’s image and cultural influence abroad.
Shanghai-based political analyst Chen Daoyin said a recent personnel shuffle could signal some adjustments by the party to its external propaganda.
China's Xi says internet must be 'clean and righteous' | Reuters:
The internet must be “clean and righteous” and vulgar content must be resisted in the field of culture, Chinese President Xi Jinping told a meeting of senior propaganda officials, state media said on Wednesday
2. US-China
US and China to attempt revival of trade negotiations | Financial Times $$:
According to Chinese and US officials, this week’s talks will centre on a list of more than 140 specific demands originally drafted by the Trump administration for the first round of trade talks in May. These included items such as the rapid approval of applications by Mastercard and Visa to enter China’s domestic payments market — and JPMorgan’s plans to take a majority stake in its Chinese securities joint venture.
In private discussions with their US counterparts, Chinese officials have indicated that in less confrontational circumstances, they would be willing to either implement or discuss about two-thirds of the demands. They added that the rest, such as opening China’s cloud computing market to foreign companies, is off-limits because of national security and other concerns.
For U.S. to Stay in WTO, China May Have to Leave - WSJ $$:
Does China “want to be a part of the WTO and just behave like everybody else, or don’t they?” Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said on Fox Business Network last week. “And if they don’t, then we, the community of nations, are we going to let them stay in the WTO?” Before he became Mr. Trump’s trade ambassador, Robert Lighthizer proposed bringing a case against China under Article XXIII.
Japanese and EU trade officials are meeting with their American counterparts in Washington Friday to discuss China. They already have their own reasons for wanting China to change, but now they have another: forcing China to act like it belongs in the WTO may be necessary to keep the U.S. from leaving.
The English-language footage, uploaded on YouTube on Monday night, takes the form of a letter to Donald Trump that thanks him for all the things he has done for China, and highlights many of the country’s concerns in the ongoing trade dispute.
The film by China Global Television Network (CGTN) sarcastically thanks Trump for helping the rest of the world to “bond” and galvanising China into making economic reforms that helped it lure major foreign investors such as Tesla...
“Dear Mr Trump, Thank you for the shock therapy about how far apart China and the US are and why it’s imperative they get on the same page,” the letter, read out by CGTN business anchor Cheng Lei, says.
“Thank you for re-instilling in the Chinese a sense of HUMILITY. How can there be enough gratitude for highlighting the foibles of overconfidence and self-congratulation, never a virtue except in your case,” Cheng, a former reporter for the US CNBC network, continues.
Comment: This is interesting, there has been a ban on attacking directly in Chinese media. It is not clear though if this piece on the English-language propaganda organ indicates broader shift in domestic Chinese media as well, and since it was censored quickly probably not, at least yet.
Chinese State TV Mocks Trump in Sarcastic Video - The New York Times:
And then, as quickly as it began attracting attention, it was gone, pulled from YouTube and Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform.
Two US airlines cut China routes as state-backed rivals turn up heat - Reuters:
American Airlines, the largest U.S. carrier by passengers, said it would drop a route between Chicago and Shanghai, canceling the second direct flight from the U.S. city to China in four months...
Hawaiian Airlines said it would from October suspend its thrice-weekly nonstop service between Honolulu and Beijing, which it opened in 2014, citing slower-than-expected growth in demand.
3. Disengaging China from global pharma supply chain may be a good idea?
Toxin at heart of drug recall shows holes in medical safety net | Reuters:
A toxin inadvertently produced in the manufacture of a widely prescribed medicine but not spotted for years raises questions about regulators’ ability to detect risks in a sprawling global drug supply chain increasingly reliant on factories in China.
China’s Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical (600521.SS), which produces bulk ingredients for drugmakers, told its customers in late June it had found NDMA in its valsartan, an off-patent blood pressure drug originally developed by Novartis (NOVN.S).
The discovery means that some of the 10 billion pills containing valsartan sold worldwide last year to prevent heart attacks and strokes had traces of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), classified as a probable human carcinogen. No one has been reported as sickened by the toxin, once used in the production of liquid rocket fuel.
4. Porcine pandemic possible?
Anything that causes pork inflation in China could politically problematic. Any idea how long the PRC strategic pork reserves would last?
A nightmare is unfolding for animal health experts: African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious, often fatal disease of domestic pigs and wild boars, has appeared in China, the world’s largest pork producer. As of today, ASF has been reported at sites in four provinces in China’s northeast, thousands of kilometers apart. Containing the disease in a population of more than 430 million hogs, many raised in smallholder farmyards with minimal biosecurity, could be a monumental challenge.
“The entry of ASF into China is really a very serious issue,” says Yang Hanchun, a swine viral disease scientist at China Agricultural University in Beijing. Given the scale of China's pork sector, the economic impact could be devastating, Yang says, and the outbreak puts a crucial protein source at risk. From China, the virus could also spread elsewhere; if it becomes endemic, “it will represent a major threat for the rest of the world, including the American continent,” says François Roger, an animal epidemiologist at the Agricultural Research Center for International Development in Montpellier, France...
East Asia’s first confirmed outbreak occurred on 1 August in Shenyang, a city in Liaoning province, China’s Ministry of Agriculture says. Investigators have traced the disease back through sales of pigs and concluded the virus has been circulating in the area since at least March, says Wantanee Kalpravidh, a veterinarian at the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO’s) Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Disease in Bangkok.
Comment: A couple of weeks ago there was a video going around on Wechat of pigs being buried and then burned alive around Shenyang in attempt to stop the spread. It was just awful...
5. P2P Mess
Massive P2P Failures in China: Underground Banks Going Under | PIIE:
Defaults have long been artificially low because cash-strapped borrowers could easily find another platform among thousands to lend them money to pay back previous loans. I suspect those days are over, now that new loans will be harder to come by, just as American homeowners in 2008 took out mortgages they expected to refinance, only to find themselves unable to pay when new credit dried up.
The risk to social stability posed by noncompliant platforms is now abundantly clear to Beijing, though the risk to the economy from even widespread P2P failure is minimal. Outstanding P2P loans add up to less than 1 percent of total bank loans, only a tiny proportion of the Chinese population has invested in P2P loans, and previous multibillion yuan P2P failures did not cause any broader financial instability.
Short-term pain now is necessary to avoid having to deal with instability in an even larger P2P sector in the future. Chinese authorities should move quickly to implement existing rules, which will require centralized supervision of at least the largest P2P platforms.
Next Step to Regulating P2P Lending Platforms — Figuring Out Who Owns Them - Caixin Global:
The National Internet Finance Association of China (NIFA) issued a notice on Monday designed to help it keep tabs on key stakeholders in China’s online P2P lending platforms as financial and legal difficulties continue to engulf the business.
The effort to bring greater clarity to the workings of P2P platforms comes after hundreds of online platforms have encountered financial and legal troubles in the last few months. In July, at least 165 P2P platforms had difficulties meeting cash-withdrawal demands, saw their owners abscond with investor funds, or were investigated by police, according to a report by internet lending research firm Wangdaizhijia. The number was nearly triple that in June, Wangdaizhijia said.
6. Trust companies catch a small break?
Regulators Clarify Rules on Trusts’ Channeling Business to Boost Lending: Report - Caixin Global:
In a sign China’s regulators are concerned that tough controls over shadow banking may be choking off credit and exacerbating a slowdown in economic growth, trust companies have reportedly been told they can carry out some types of channeling business if it serves the real economy...
Regulations issued in April to overhaul the country’s unwieldy asset management industry included measures to curb the channeling business, which banks had been using to hide risks off their balance sheets. Institutions have been given a grace period for compliance that extends to the end of 2020.
The rules created significant uncertainty in the trust industry, prompting regulators to issue guidelines recently in an effort to clarify what companies can and can’t do. The China Securities Journal reported on Wednesday that trusts will be able to conduct some service management, a type of channeling business, as long as it complies with regulations and provides funds to the real economy.
7. Reset of relations with China
This came out while was on vacation, if you have not seen it I highly recommend it...
The three senior princelings who sat in the seven-man Politburo Standing Committee from 2012 were the sons of men who did not earn their seats at the revolutionary head table by feats of military prowess on the battlefield. Rather, Xi Zhongxun (father of President Xi Jinping), Huang Jing (father of Yu Zhengsheng) and Yao Yilin (father-in-law of Wang Qishan) were masters of United Front work and earned their stripes by massaging and manipulating the language, perceptions and actions of the Party’s adversaries. Xi Zhongxun, for example, fomented a mutiny behind enemy lines in the early 1930s. He kept this line of “enemy work” responsibility right up until the 1980s, when he attended the inauguration of the PLA intelligence front that later hosted the Australian businessmen at the Bo’ao Forum. The children inherited not only their party status but also their work specialisation...
The Party’s contemporary institutions, ideology and methodologies continue to reflect its origins as an underground organisation. The essential facts are engraved in the CCP’s Organisation Chart. None of the Party’s core externally facing departments are service-delivery portfolios like health, or education, or finance. Nor are they responsible for ordinary diplomacy. Rather, the Propaganda Department, the United Front Work Department and the International Liaison Department – and also important departments of the People’s Liberation Army – all engage in United Front work (typically known as “political warfare” in the military and “people-to-people diplomacy” in the International Liaison Department). They routinely deploy a range of non-conventional tools – including covert operations aided by intelligence agencies such as the Ministry of State Security – to influence the perceptions and internal decision-making of foreign actors. All of the Party’s 86 million members are expected to take on United Front responsibilities in their dealings with non-party members. In short, influence work is the Party’s stock-in-trade.
Whatever the future holds for U.S.-Chinese relations, the status quo has been broken. The unaddressed inadequacies of engagement eroded the policy consensus around bilateral relations to such an extent that, even without a clear policy alternative, engagement has ended. Henry Kissinger, one of the original architects of the U.S. policy toward China that persisted through seven administrations, aptly described the current moment: “I think Trump may be one of those figures in history who appears from time to time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give up its old pretenses.”
8. Big Data and governance
Who needs democracy when you have data? - MIT Technology Review:
The idea of using networked technology as a tool of governance in China goes back to at least the mid-1980s. As Harvard historian Julian Gewirtz explains, “When the Chinese government saw that information technology was becoming a part of daily life, it realized it would have a powerful new tool for both gathering information and controlling culture, for making Chinese people more ‘modern’ and more ‘governable’—which have been perennial obsessions of the leadership.” Subsequent advances, including progress in AI and faster processors, have brought that vision closer.
As far as we know, there is no single master blueprint linking technology and governance in China. But there are several initiatives that share a common strategy of harvesting data about people and companies to inform decision-making and create systems of incentives and punishments to influence behavior.
"As far as we know"
In ancient China, there was a joint liability system under which three to five households were linked together. If a member of one household committed an offense, all the households were punished. During the Cultural Revolution, punishments for political dissenters were routinely meted out to their immediate family members. The political system compensated for a lack of data on individual activities by deterring dissent broadly and harshly.
Big data would be a threat if Chinese citizens could be expected to have an abundance of political and civil liberties in its absence. But China is a repressive, authoritarian society with or without big data. Technology has made the repression more precise, but precise repression might be an improvement over indiscriminate repression.
Business, Economy, Finance And Trade
The Chinese Are Coming - #25 — ZoZo Go Last week I attended the 2018 Jakarta Motor Show. Indonesian auto dealers and industry leaders shared with me some of the surprising advances the Chinese have already made. Wuling Motors, which opened a factory 60 miles from Jakarta in 2017, and Dongfeng Koson ("DFSK") are winning a record number of Indonesian customers. Their secret sauce: Irresistibly low prices. Wuling and Dongfeng Sokon offer small 7-seater vans and SUVs for as little as $11,000 in Indonesia. Perennial market leader, Toyota, has lost 6 points of market share in the past 12 months, an almost unthinkable change of fortunes. Demand for MPV's ("multi-person vehicles") remains exceptionally high in Indonesia, thanks to a tax system that makes people-movers more affordable than sedans.
Vice Premier stresses wider opening-up, better environment for foreign firms - Xinhua Vice Premier Hu Chunhua said China will continue to open wider, offer a better business environment, and bring more opportunities for foreign companies. Hu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during his inspection tour in northeast China's Liaoning Province from Monday to Tuesday. The Chinese government will consistently protect the interests of foreign-funded enterprises, Hu said after hearing reports on the operation of foreign companies in the province.
Foreign Money Pours Into China Despite Market Wobbles - WSJ $$ Foreigners are loading up on Chinese shares and bonds to address gaps in their portfolios. That comes despite signs of economic softness, recent weakness in the currency and a broader selloff in emerging markets.
Surge in Big City Rents Raises Questions About Official Inflation Figures - Caixin Global *The actual rise of big city rents and the rise given by the official consumer price index are out of step, with the actual July rise in Beijing rents around nine times larger than that in the index *This has raised fears the government may underestimate inflation and make policy missteps, with some calling on the government to change how it calculates rent levels
Anbang to Shed Stake in Rural Bank as Asset Sales Pick Up - Caixin Global Anbang’s asset-shedding plan also comes as a Shanghai court on Thursday rejected the appeal (link in Chinese) of the conviction of the firm’s founder, Wu Xiaohui, which means Wu faces 18 years in prison for fundraising fraud and embezzlement. Anbang plans to pare its controlling stake in Chengdu Rural Commercial Bank Co. Ltd., which was previously controlled by the government of Chengdu, the capital city of South China’s Sichuan province, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin.
Politics, Law And Ideology
China’s Strongman May Need A Rest, But He is Hardly in Need of Rescue | RUSI Xi Jinping’s hardline policies seem appear to be creating unnecessary discontent. A crackdown on Christianity risks alienating tens of millions. Persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslims not just in Xinjiang but in the rest of China and increasingly abroad is likely to exacerbate the split between ethnic minorities and the dominant Han ethnic group, possibly spurring extremism, ‘splittism’ (self-determination) and terrorism – an unpleasant irony, given that the Party is committed to eliminating those ‘Three Evils’. But none of this is likely to lead to a major challenge to Xi Jinping’s leadership. Such a challenge would require a challenger. Some top candidates for the post are already languishing in prison; the fate of Bo Xilai, Zhou Yongkang, Sun Zhengcai and others is a sharp lesson on the dangers of opposition. Moreover, Party disunity might lead to its overthrow, to the detriment of all leaders.
China's Jilin province govt. removed its food and drug safety head: Xinhua | Reuters The Xinhua report did not state the reasons for the dismissal of Guo Hongzhi, head of the provincial food and drug safety body, or two deputies at the agency. But dozens of public officials have either resigned or been dismissed in the wake of scandal at vaccine maker Changsheng Bio-technology Co Ltd, which Chinese authorities said made nearly 500,000 sub-standard vaccines for children. Changsheng is based in the city of Changchun in Jilin province.
Legislator Says ‘Hukou’ System Is Squandering China’s Labor - Caixin Global “The system shortens the work life of migrant laborers by one-third, or 15 years of their work life,” said Huang Qifan, a vice chairman of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress.
Economics Professor Expelled for ‘Politically Harmful’ Expressions, Including Estimate of Staggering Cost to Maintain the Communist Party Apparatus « China Change Yang Shaozheng (杨绍政), a couple of months shy of 49, was for 11 years a professor of good standing in the College of Economics at Guizhou University. He taught game theory and advanced microeconomics, focused his research on optimization theory and mechanism design theory, and managed numerous provincial- and state-funded research projects. On August 15, however, Guizhou University made a decision to expel him for “long-running publication and spreading online of politically mistaken speech, writing a large number of politically harmful articles, and creating a deleterious influence on campus and in society.” He was also guilty of “being unrepentant” and refusing to accept “educational help.”...Last November, Yang submitted to New Tang Dynasty Television, a station affiliated with Falun Gong, a persecuted spiritual practice, a short article titled: “Can We Really Leave the Party Out of Our Economic Research?” (《我们经济研究中政党真的可以被忽略？》)
从“全面领导”看中国共产党领导力--理论-人民网 - 李君如 Li Junru in People's Daily on the Party leading everything and why it is the right decision to rollback the separation of of Party and State powers Deng advocated // 第五，应该看到，加强党的全面领导不仅是这场党和国家机构改革的核心问题，而且是实现这场伟大变革的根本保证。党和国家机构改革，属于党和国家领导制度改革范畴，是政治体制改革的重要任务。改革开放以来，党中央部门已经进行了4次机构改革，国务院部门进行了7次机构改革。这一次党和国家机构改革，涉及党、人大、政府、政协、司法、事业单位、群团、社会组织以及跨军地等众多方面，涉及部门之多、职能调整之大、影响面之广，可谓“前所未有”。要顺利完成这样的改革，必须有党的强有力的全面领导。 这里，必须澄清的是，党中央的这一举措和邓小平当年关于党和国家领导制度改革的精神是一致的。邓小平1980年8月18日提出党和国家制度改革的构想时，明确指出：“改革党和国家领导制度，不是要削弱党的领导，涣散党的纪律，而正是为了坚持和加强党的领导，坚持和加强党的纪律。”他还说：“在中国这样的大国，要把几亿人口的思想和力量统一起来建设社会主义，没有一个由具有高度觉悟性、纪律性和自我牺牲精神的党员组成的能够真正代表和团结人民群众的党，没有这样一个党的统一领导，是不可能设想的，那就只会四分五裂、一事无成。这是全国各族人民在长期的奋斗实践中深刻认识到的真理。”
Foreign and Military Affairs
China’s new alliance stirs US worries over possible ‘military base’ in El Salvador | South China Morning Post Last month, Manes had warned about China’s intentions to turn the La Union commercial port in El Salvador’s east into a “military base”, according to US-based MintPress News.
Gertz: China’s ‘Influence Operations Have Been Extremely Effective’ on U.S. Policy Washington Free Beacon senior editor Bill Gertz appeared on Fox News’ "Tucker Carlson Tonight" to discuss Chinese lobbying efforts in the United States. China has enfolded many former U.S. officials as part of its lobbying efforts and influence operations. Gertz said China has used coercive measures on Americans to serve its own interests. "It's a huge problem. China's information and influence operations have been extremely effective," Gertz said. "They are literally buying up former officials. They are utilizing coercive measures to get U.S. businessmen who have interests in China to do their bidding and very little is being done about it." // Comment: Fox News coverage of China is interesting
Buzzfeed reporter Megha Rajagopalan forced to leave China after being denied visa renewal – Shanghaiist Megha Rajagopalan, Buzzfeed’s China bureau chief, is now being forced to leave China after the renewal of her journalist visa was denied by Chinese authorities. On Twitter, Rajagopalan writes that China’s Foreign Ministry did not give her an explanation for the decision, only saying that it was a “process thing.”
China as a conflict mediator | Mercator Institute for China Studies The increase in Chinese mediation activities began in 2013, the year that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched. Before that, Beijing was relatively reluctant to engage in conflict resolution abroad. As the MERICS mapping shows, the year 2008 is an outlier in that regard. China’s activities at the time – such as its efforts to mediate between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, or between Sudan and South Sudan – were probably part of Beijing’s charm offensive and its drive to gain more international visibility in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
China, India vow to strengthen military exchanges, cooperation - Xinhua When meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two countries, sharing a friendship dating back to ancient times with broad common interests, should join hands and support each other in striving for win-win cooperation of mutual benefit.
Five Things to Know About China-Africa Summit - Caixin Global The summit will be chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and features the rosy theme “China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation.” A major focus will be economic cooperation, at a time when trade tension between China and the U.S. is pushing the Asian country to strengthen ties within the global South.
Chinese army reveals new all-terrain tracked carrier | Jane's 360 A caption accompanying the photograph identified the vehicle, which is painted in PLAGF camouflage, as “an all-terrain crawler-type ammunition supply vehicle attached to a ship group of a coastal defence brigade with the army under the [People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s)] Eastern Theatre Command”.
Commentary: FOCAC Beijing Summit to strengthen China-Africa community of shared future - People's Daily Online Themed "China and Africa: Toward an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future through Win-Win Cooperation," the summit is expected to invigorate joint efforts to build a community with a shared future for humanity. China and Africa have shared weal and woe, and see their future as interwoven, which sustains the lasting resolve of the two sides to cooperate and act on a great vision.
Hong Kong, Macao
The New Thing in Hong Kong’s Public Schools: White Students - The New York Times Tuition at international schools can exceed $42,000 a year, excluding so-called debentures, which can exceed $1 million at the most prestigious and expensive schools...Increasingly, many of the students at international schools are Hong Kong locals or the children of mainland Chinese parents. Foreign students once made up 100 percent of those schools’ populations. In 2017, however, foreigners accounted for less than 75 percent of students at primary international schools. Local students accounted for 21.6 percent of the student body, and “nonlocal Chinese,” a Hong Kong government designation for mainlanders, made up about 4 percent, according to the Education Bureau.
Tech And Media
LeEco founder Jia Yueting will pay debts to Leshi, report claims - China Daily Shenzhen Stock Exchange sent an inquiry to Leshi on Tuesday, asking Leshi to supplement details on issues such as reaching a recognized debt scale of about 6.7 billion yuan with the non-listed LeEco companies, and to verify and explain the differences between its credit rights and liabilities recognized this time and those announced previously. LeEco founder Jia Yueting will reportedly pay the company's debts to Leshi, and that LeEco has already paid 263 million yuan in debt and reached a 4 billion yuan debt repayment plan with Leshi, according to the report.
Apple's possible exclusion of BeiDou navigation sparks debate - Global Times Apple Inc is reportedly poised to release its new lineup of iPhones next month, but some Chinese fans and technology bloggers appear more interested in whether the company will finally include support for China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) than in any new smartphone technologies or designs.
Google Tried to Change China. China May End Up Changing Google. - The New York Times The more plausible conclusion is the more obvious one: Google took on China, and Google lost. “Make no mistake,” said Michael Posner, a professor of ethics and finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “This will be a huge victory for the Chinese government and anyone else who wants to severely restrict the internet.”
Bike-sharing firm Mobike threatens to pull out of Manchester | UK news | The Guardian Manchester could be the first world city abandoned by bike-sharing behemoth Mobike on the grounds of persistent vandalism and theft. The Chinese firm has issued a final warning to Mancunians following a year which has seen substantial numbers of the company’s orange and silver bikes damaged, stolen or thrown in the Manchester Ship Canal.
Chinese Phone Giant Xiaomi Delivers Growth in First Results - Bloomberg Xiaomi Corp. delivered a 68 percent revenue jump and quarterly profit in its maiden earnings report, as the Chinese smartphone giant made strides overseas while fending off a challenge from local rivals such as Oppo. The results -- its first since raising $5.4 billion in an initial public offering -- could help Xiaomi get past an anti-climactic July trading debut. Net income came to 14.7 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in the three months ended June, versus a 12 billion yuan loss a year earlier. Revenue climbed to 45.2 billion yuan, but its pace decelerated from the first quarter.
World's Top Crypto Miner May Be Losing Its Edge, Bernstein Says - Bloomberg The Beijing-based company, co-founded by 32-year-old billionaire Jihan Wu, may need to write down the value of its inventory as makers of rival mining gear catch up, analysts led by Mark Li at Bernstein wrote in a report dated Wednesday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which produces chips designed by Bitmain, should ask the company to make full prepayments and refrain from adding capacity solely for crypto-related demand, according to the Bernstein analysts.
China shuts down blockchain news accounts, bans hotels in Beijing from hosting cryptocurrency events | South China Morning Post China has shut down numerous blockchain-related news accounts on the WeChat social app, and banned hotels in downtown Beijing from hosting events promoting cryptocurrencies, in a renewed crackdown on activities related to the digital money
Society, Art, Sports, Culture And History
The Last Guardians of China’s Women-Only Script - SixthTone In remote Jiangyong County, the script has been passed down from mother to daughter, elder to younger, for hundreds of years. To get to the downtown area of the county hidden in the hills, visitors must drive some three hours from Guilin, the nearest major city in neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. When they arrive, they’re greeted by a street of nondescript shops, including a takeaway outlet with a storefront mimicking the KFC logo. The town is believed to be the only place in China where women used nüshu — a name coined by academics that means “women’s script.” The locals, whose ancestors likely invented the script, know it by a different name: “long-legged mosquito characters,” due to the elongated, insectlike appearance. He Jinghua is one of only a handful of women who can still read and write nüshu.
Energy, Environment, Science And Health
First organ procurement surgery in Tibet succesfully conducted - Xinhua Medical staff bow to the organ donor before an organ procurement surgery in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Aug. 22, 2018. The first organ procurement surgery in Tibet was succesfully conducted at the People's Hospital of Shannan on Wednesday. The organs obtained will be transplanted to recipients in Anhui and Yunnan respectively.
U.S. Drugmaker to Halve Price of Cutting-Edge Cancer Drug in China - Caixin Global American pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) has halved the price of a key cancer drug for the China market, but professionals said the drug might play only a limited role in one of the world’s largest markets. BMS announced Tuesday that Opidivo, which in June obtained the go-ahead to launch in China to treat a certain type of lung cancer, will cost 9,260 yuan ($1,352) for a 100 mg/10 ml dose, and 4,591 yuan for a 40 mg/4 ml dose.
China develops large aperture optical mirror with high accuracy - Xinhua Developed by Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics, and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the silicon carbide aspheric optical mirror measures 1.6 tonnes. The silicon carbide used in production provides more stability to the surface of the mirror, allowing for greater accuracy at 20 nanometers.
Education
The Challenges of Creating World-Class Universities in China | The World View The obsession with internationalization had resulted in priority being given to overseas scholars and graduates and has diminished many top domestic universities to second or third-class status. Most domestic PhD graduates have faced discrimination in the academic job market in the past few years—the quality of these graduates is not recognized, even by the universities that educated them. The academic employment market is sending a clear message that domestic universities are incapable of producing good, qualified academics, so more students are choosing to study in developed countries. As a result, the challenge domestic universities face is that many of the best students are going abroad for graduate study.
Food And Travel
Chinese tourist numbers surge as overseas travel becomes easier | South China Morning Post Mainland Chinese tourists made more than 71.3 million trips outside their country in the first half of the year, a 15 per cent surge year on year, taking advantage of easier visa approvals and more direct international flights connecting with lower-tier Chinese cities.
"I still prefer translating 宣传 as propaganda, not publicity." Then how would you translate publicity into Chinese? Or is this statement limited to 宣传 originating from official bodies?
"I still prefer translating 宣传 as propaganda, not publicity." As does OSE.