1. China Focus: Xi calls on China, U.S. to respect each other’s core interests – Xinhua President Xi Jinping on Monday called on China and the United States to effectively manage their differences and respect each other’s core interests. Xi made the remarks when meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. China-U.S. common interests outweigh their differences, Xi said, noting that both sides needed more mutual trust and cooperation. // Has the US ever articulated a set of “core interests” to the PRC? If so, what are they?

Related: Statement by NSC Spokesperson Ned Price on National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice’s Meetings in Beijing, China | whitehouse.gov In Ambassador Rice’s fruitful meeting with President Xi, they noted with satisfaction the substantial progress in the development of bilateral relations through deepened cooperation in areas of overlapping interest and agreed on the value of forthright and constructive management of our differences. Ambassador Rice affirmed that the United States is committed to deepening our bilateral relationship, including through the President’s visit in September. // wonder what “fruitful” meeting with Xi means

Related: 习近平会见美国总统国家安全事务助理CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1央视网(cctv.com) 习近平指出，过去3年来，我同奥巴马总统多次会晤，达成诸多重要共识。特别是我们决定共同努力构建中美新型大国关系，推动两国关系取得许多实实在在的成果。中方高度重视中美关系，愿同美方一道努力，牢牢把握两国关系发展大方向，坚持不冲突不对抗、相互尊重、合作共赢的原则，增进互信，深化合作，以建设性方式管控分歧，推动中美关系持续稳定发展。// Xi-Rice meeting was top item on the July 25 CCTV Evening News. Has Jim Brown finally retired as the top US interpreter? Who is doing the interpreting for Rice?

Related: U.S. praises confidence-building measures with Chinese military | Reuters Visiting U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said confidence-building measures had reduced risks and the United States valued progress in improving military-to-military ties. “Our military leaders communicate more frequently and more directly than ever before in the past,” Rice said in a meeting with a vice chairman of China’s powerful Central Military Commission, Fan Changlong. “While our forces operate in closer proximity to each other, the risk of unintended consequences has gone down thanks to the confidence-building measures that our two sides have put in place.”

2. Guo Boxiong, Ex-Top Military Official in China, Gets Life Sentence for Graft – The New York Times Guo Boxiong, the most senior Chinese military commander ever tried for corruption, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison after a military court found him guilty of taking “huge” amounts in bribes in return for giving military promotions and transfers. General Guo rose as high in the People’s Liberation Army as a career military officer can go, serving as a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission for a decade until 2012, when he retired.  // who is next? noteworthy no one has been executed in Xi’s corruption crackdown; the sums would allow it in some of the cases, including this one, and especially under military discipline

Related: China Headlines: Guo Boxiong gets life sentence for taking bribes – Xinhua Guo’s bribes were “extremely huge” and his crimes were “extremely serious,” however, he confessed, owned up to his misdeeds, repented in good faith, and all the proceeds of his crimes have been recovered, the statement read. The court carried out a closed trial as military secrets were involved. The trial has been conducted in a fair and independent manner, and its verdict could be tested by the law and time, said the statement.

郭伯雄案件一审宣判后军事法院负责人答记者问 – 中国军网 Xinhua Q&A on the Guo sentence

Related: 人民日报评论员：有腐必反 违法必惩-中新网 共产党与腐败水火不容，人民群众对腐败深恶痛绝。我们党作为执政党，面临的最大威胁就是腐败。走过95年风雨历程，站在新的起点，我们必须始终坚持反腐倡廉、拒腐防变警钟长鸣，让腐败分子在党内没有任何藏身之地。全党同志坚守共产党人拒腐蚀、永不沾的政治本色，敬畏人民、敬畏组织、敬畏法纪，各级领导干部牢固树立正确权力观，做到公正用权、依法用权、为民用权、廉洁用权，我们党就将永葆先进性和纯洁性，成为更加坚强的领导核心。深入推进政治建军、改革强军、依法治军，人民军队必将以铁一般信仰、铁一般信念、铁一般纪律、铁一般担当巍然屹立，永远立于不败之地。// page 1 July 26 People’s Daily on the Guo verdict

3. China Clamps Down on Online News Reporting – The New York Times Sun Xuyang, a former investigative reporter for Beijing News and Southern Metropolis Daily, was more pessimistic, saying by telephone that Monday’s announcement was a signal that the space for original reporting was being eroded. “There are no more illusions,” Mr. Sun said. The news sites targeted by the Cyberspace Administration include Sina’s “News Geek,” which this month published a story, later deleted, about a chemical contamination at a Beijing school, and “Landmark,” run by NetEase, that last year scooped the official news media in reporting the arrest of the brother-in-law of a jailed former top official.

Related: 国家网信办：确保网站总编辑负责制有效执行国内新京报网 新京报快讯(记者李丹丹)据国家互联网信息管理办公室官网消息，近日，国家网信办会同北京市网信办和广东省网信办，对新浪、搜狐、网易、百度、腾讯、凤凰、今日头条和一点资讯等8家商业网站和客户端进行内容管理制度专项检查。检查发现，这些网站在落实管理规范、总编辑负责制、值班制度以及人员培训等方面还存在一些亟待解决的问题。 检查组认为，这次被检查的网站出现这些问题，既有思想认识高度不够、盲目追求经济利益的主观原因，也有监督制约力度不强、基本规范依据不健全的客观原因;既有新技术新应用迅猛发展引发的新问题，也有法规滞后、队伍建设不强等现实问题。// crackdown also against Baidu, Tencent, Today’s Headlines and “Yidian Information”, emphasizes need for effective implentation of the “editorial responsibility system”

4. Assessing ASEAN’s South China Sea Position in its Post-Ruling Statement | The Diplomat Before taking ASEAN to task on what was missing, it is also important to evaluate the regional grouping in perspective. For example, it must be stressed that although several media outlets have already begun noting that the statement did not mention China or the ruling, this is a somewhat unreasonable standard. It is not traditional practice for ASEAN to mention China by name in the South China Sea language of a general joint communique (as opposed to a statement to be issued at a meeting like in Yuxi, which did mention Beijing directly). And noting specific events like the ruling would be more likely in a separate statement as opposed to the usual joint communique. Where the organization does deserve scrutiny regarding the statement is the fact that language on ASEAN’s commitment to principles was watered down and there was no mention of respect for legal and diplomatic processes – seen as a way to generally reference the ruling without directly doing so. While the Yuxi non-statement referenced “ASEAN’s commitment” to certain principles, the AMM statement ends up only “reaffirming the need” for them, which reads like a slightly less firm formulation. More consequentially, while both the US-ASEAN Sunnylands Summit statement and the Yuxi non-statement contained the phrase “full respect for legal and diplomatic processes” within a list of principles, this phrasing was removed in its entirety from the AMM statement

Related: China, ASEAN vow to promote peace, stability in South China Sea – Xinhua A joint statement was issued after the meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterparts from 10 ASEAN members in the Lao capital during the 49th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting. The countries recognize that “maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea region serves the fundamental interests of ASEAN member states and China as well as the international community.” They are also committed to the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and working substantively toward the early adoption of a Code of Conduct (COC) based on consensus.

Related: After Days of Deadlock, ASEAN Releases Statement on South China Sea Dispute | TIME The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) released a watered-down joint statement regarding territorial disputes in the South China Sea on Monday, neglecting to refer to a recent court ruling against Beijing, following pressure from China.

Related: 东盟外长声明没提仲裁案 西方媒体叹中国赢得胜利国际新闻环球网 美国媒体的评论也充满意图破灭后的遗憾，《西雅图邮报》25日评论称，“中国25日赢得毫不含糊的外交胜利”，阻止了东盟批评其在南海的领土扩张活动，即使东盟有成员国是这些活动的“受害者”。美联社称，经过“面红耳赤的磋商”，东盟最终的声明对中国的指责被稀释，只是具有象征意义。这也暴露了东盟引以为傲的团结背后深深的分裂。东盟只是说对南海最新的进展“依然严重担忧”。最重要的是，声明没提南海仲裁结果。分析人士称，这是东盟面对中国的再一次投降。新加坡东南亚研究所研究员伊安·沃德认为，“声明未能提及中国，反映东盟没有能力在面对中国时组成统一战线”。

5. UK explores multi-billion pound free trade deal with China – BBC News Chancellor Philip Hammond has begun discussions with China on an ambitious free trade deal which could see greater access for major Chinese banks and businesses to the UK economy. The Chancellor told the BBC it was time to explore “new opportunities” across the world, including with China, one of the UK’s biggest inward investors.

6. Sinica Podcast: Whose century is it, anyway? This live recording of Sinica at the Smyth Hotel in New York City on July 13 features the journalists Mary Kay Magistad and Gady Epstein discussing the increasingly complex “frenemyship” of China and the United States. They also talk about the South China Sea, the role of “old China hands,” and how the Middle Kingdom is changing the world and being changed by it. The title of the episode is taken from Mary Kay’s radio show and podcast, Whose Century Is it?  // I think I count as one of those people now “inside the beltway” whose views have changed. Had I been on the show I would have again emphasized the point that people need to pay far more attention to the revival of the Communist Party under Xi and its impact on how the PRC conducts itself domestically and politically…still surprised by how many people seem to elide over the Party and Xi’s attempts at restoring it to its full glory

7. Are China’s Most Extreme Nationalists Actually Foreign Stooges? | Foreign Policy That’s not just because China’s government fears nationalist protests might interfere with its foreign-policy making. It’s also because of a widely held suspicion that China’s wildest, most demonstrative nationalist protesters are actually anti-government activists in disguise. An article published July 16 on the Weibo account of the Communist Youth League, the ruling party’s key youth organization, offers a primer on this bizarre but surprisingly popular conspiracy theory. The article, titled “Life’s-a-game memes and the hijacking of youth patriotism by ‘crazy uncles’” (more on that later), argues that much of the extreme nationalist outbursts within China are in fact the work of those engaged in gaojihei, which roughly translates to “high-level smearing” of good Chinese patriots by anti-party elements. The article, which has been read more than 2.6 million times, suggests that counterfeit patriots affect an exaggerated and ridiculous nationalism in order to critique party ideology through parody, blacken the name of true patriots, foment domestic chaos that risks destabilizing party rule, and even to use public opinion to push the government into a war that would have disastrous consequences for the party.

8. Chinese scientists to pioneer first human CRISPR trial : Nature  Chinese scientists are on the verge of being first in the world to inject people with cells modified using the CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing technique. A team led by Lu You, an oncologist at Sichuan University’s West China Hospital in Chengdu, plans to start testing such cells in people with lung cancer next month. The clinical trial received ethical approval from the hospital’s review board on 6 July. “It’s an exciting step forward,” says Carl June, a clinical researcher in immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

You can read the rest of today’s newsletter here.

The post The Sinocism China Newsletter – July 25, 2016 appeared first on The Nanfang.

1. ASEAN deadlocked on South China Sea, Cambodia blocks statement | Reuters The Philippines and Vietnam both wanted the communique issued by ASEAN foreign ministers after their meeting to refer to the ruling and the need to respect international law, ASEAN diplomats said. Their foreign ministers both discussed the ruling with ASEAN counterparts in the Laotian capital. But before the meeting, China’s closest ASEAN ally Cambodia opposed the proposed wording, throwing the group into disarray. Phnom Penh supports Beijing’s opposition to any ASEAN stand on the South China Sea, and its preference for dealing with the disputed claims on a bilateral basis. // poor if predictable performance by ASEAN

Related: Former Philippine leader Ramos accepts post as special envoy to Beijing over South China Sea dispute: reports | The Japan Times Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos has accepted a position as special envoy to China after an international tribunal ruled that Beijing’s claims to much of the South China Sea had no legal basis, local media reports said Sunday. Ramos reportedly accepted the offer to lead a team that will open bilateral talks with China when he met with President Rodrigo Duterte in Davao City on Saturday night.

Related: Podcast on Arbitration Outcomes with Paul Reichler, Philippines’ Lead Counsel | cogitASIA CSIS Asia Policy Blog CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative director Greg Poling and Paul Reichler, partner at Foley Hoag and lead counsel for the Philippines’ in its recently-concluded arbitration case against China, discuss the tribunal’s judgment

Related: Philippines’ oil still in troubled waters after South China Sea ruling | Reuters China’s Foreign Ministry did not directly answer a question submitted by Reuters about whether the government would permit a Chinese firm to join up with Philex, but said in a faxed statement that Reed Bank was Chinese territory.

2. Flooding in China’s Hebei Kills 114, Causes $2.5 Billion Losses – Bloomberg Separately, the Xinhua News Agency Sunday reported that four officials have been suspended for what it said was inadequate handling of the crisis. They are currently being being investigated, the state-run agency said, adding that Beijing has sent in state councilor Wang Yong to oversee disaster relief and relocation work. China’s worst flooding since 1998 may cut third-quarter economic growth by as much as 0.2 percentage points, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Related: 邢台暴雨泄洪 河道被堵致下游大贤村损失惨重_政经频道_财新网 与此前网上传言不同，根据多位村民叙述和记者现场走访，这场洪水并非上游水库泄洪直接造成的，大贤村距离水库至少有三四十公里，中间有多处乡镇。之所以大贤村损失最重，是因为泄洪的洪水沿七里河至大贤村时，河道大幅度变窄，河北岸堤坝被铲，河道内更因铺设热力管线被渣土和热力管严重堵塞，洪水迅猛漫过河岸，向北横扫大贤村。// Caixin story on the Xingtai floods

Related: Without government warning, late-night floods swept away young and old, survivors in China say – LA Times At a news conference on Saturday night, Xingtai’s mayor and other officials offered their remorse for not doing more to protect residents and bowed to citizens in apology. But Gao is not satisfied. “Villagers and I think the apology from the mayor is only a political show to reduce his political mistakes; it’s useless,” Gao said Sunday in a phone interview. “He didn’t do anything helpful to us. My house is destroyed, and some families even lost their sons and daughters. We need the government to help us and give us confidence to rebuild our home.” On Sunday, four officials were suspended from their posts because of their inadequate performance during the floods. Among them was Duan Xiaoyong, a senior Communist Party official in charge of an economic development zone in Xingtai that includes Daxian.

Related: 市长公开道歉 邢台启动追责_国内_新京报网 7月18日至21日，河北大部地区出现降雨过程，造成省内部分地区出现洪涝灾害。截至23日18时，全省因灾死亡114人、失踪111人。截至23日9时，邢台死亡25人，失踪13人，邢台方面还就七里河洪水漫入大贤村等12个村等问题进行回应，官方认定为自然原因。邢台市长公开道歉，称启动追责程序。

Related: [视频]河北省委省政府工作组初步认定七里河决堤由洪峰所致_CCTV节目官网-CCTV- 工作组调阅了有关气象资料，实地查看了七里河河道、决堤口及上游东川口水库等，对决口原因进行会商分析。初步认定，7月19日晚七里河决堤是由于局地强降雨形成的洪峰所致，非人为原因造成。对预警通知、群众疏散等问题正在加紧核查中。

Related: Flood Buffer | Chublic Opinion The complex, ambiguous undertones of such posts provide opening for multiple interpretations. By somehow linking the current situation with the 1998 campaign, which was preserved in the national memory largely as a monument of national unity and struggle untainted by the whines and ridicules nowadays, they introduce the positive elements of state strength and legitimacy into today’s discourse that is facing increasing difficulty of erecting that kind of narratives. On the other hand, highlighting the historical feat of a previous administration always invites comparison and contrast. And when public narratives about party leaders are infested by the frame of power struggle among cliques, boosting the legacy of one former leader often has the effect (intended or unintended) of jeopardizing, if not outright undermining, the stature of their successors.

3. Discord Between China’s Top Two Leaders Spills Into the Open – WSJ China’s social-media users are cautious in discussing the divide, using coded references to a split between the southern and northern parts of the party and government’s Zhongnanhai leadership compound, where Messrs. Xi and Li work, respectively, In what people familiar with the matter depict as a subtle response by Mr. Li to criticism in the People’s Daily article, four words were added to a state-media news report about a May 9 conference call led by the premier. The words, which these people say weren’t part of the call, were xiang ren wei guo, an idiom loosely translated as “the premier endures for the nation.” They say Mr. Li personally vetted the media report before it went out. This month, Mr. Xi held a meeting with more than two dozen of the country’s top economists and analysts. Mr. Li wasn’t invited, according to people with knowledge of the matter. “It’s a meeting held by Xi Dada,” one of the people said, using a popular nickname for Mr. Xi. “It’s not necessary for Li to attend.” // hard to see what Li can do about it other than insert phrases into Xinhua copy, he doesn’t seem to have much influence over the sources of hard power–the security services and the PLA

Related: 國策透視：李克強的相忍為國 | 蘋果日報 | 財經地產 | 20160512 《人民日報》5月9日頭版刊登「權威人士」經濟講話，幾乎是對總理李克強近期樓股滙政策的全面否定。該日上午，李克強主持全國電話會議，內容為優化政府服務。出奇是李克強在會議總結指，要「相忍為國」。不少分析認為，是對該疑似習近平「權威人士」的回應。他的「相忍為國」能否解決問題？ 「相忍為國」典出《左傳》，通常指政治人物為顧全大局，放棄一時矛盾，並有委屈求全的意味在內。 //  May 12 Apple Daily on the “相忍为国“, one of several examples in overseas Chinese media at the time, guess should have paid more attention to it

4. MERICS China Monitor No. 34 – Boosting The Party’s Voice: China’s quest for global ideological dominance The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees China involved in an ideological confrontation with „the West“, which primarily refers to the United States, but also includes Europe. Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, the CCP’s propaganda apparatus works hard to create and promote a set of Chinese values and norms to present an alternative to Western“ concepts of democracy, free markets and civil liberties and to discredit Western institutions.

Related: Foreign Agent Registration Act Frequently-Asked Questions The purpose of FARA is to insure that the U.S. Government and the people of the United States are informed of the source of information (propaganda) and the identity of persons attempting to influence U.S. public opinion, policy, and laws. In 1938, FARA was Congress’ response to the large number of German propaganda agents in the pre-WWII U.S..  //  Surprised no one in Congress has suggested this should apply to employees in America of Party external propaganda organs like CCTV America, China Daily, etc, probably politically/diplomatically unpalatable…

5. India asks 3 Chinese Xinhua journalists ‘who met Tibetan activists’ to leave country by end of July | South China Morning Post The Indian government has asked three Chinese journalists working for Xinhua to leave the country by the end of July and refused to extend their visas, Indian media reported on Sunday. They came under the “adverse attention of security agencies” for allegedly indulging in activities beyond their journalistic brief, the English-language Hindustan Times quoted an anonymous source as saying…A Hindu newspaper report said the three travelled to the southern Indian city of Bangalore recently and met exiled Tibetan activists, which became an issue with India’s government.

Related: 社评：印度拒延新华社记者签证很是小气_评论_环球网 比如这次印度不延长3名新华社记者的签证，中方既不应毫无反应，也不必反应过度。做出一个动作，让印度人感知到那似乎是中国针对他们要求3名新华社记者离开的反应，就够了。另外，去年印度旅游签证改成了电子签，方便了很多。但仍有部分负有公务的中国人抱怨印度的签证难办。我们也应当让相应的少数印度人感觉办中国签证不容易。印度人很聪明，他们会明白的。

6. [视频]习近平主持召开中央全面深化改革领导小组第二十六次会议强调 以更大的决心和气力抓好改革督察工作 使改革精准对接发展所需基层所盼民心所向_CCTV 会议指出，当前和今后一个时期，要按照把改革主体框架搭建起来这一阶段性目标，排出督察优先顺序，聚焦重点难点。要抓问题要害，做到眼睛向下、脚步向下，既要发现实施中的共性问题，也要关注群众反映强烈的热点难点问题，找出症结，提出对策。要抓整改落实，督促真抓真改，对改革抓得实、有效果的要表扬，对执行不力、落实不到位的要问责追责。要抓统筹联动，完善督察职能，发挥社会和群众监督作用，做到上下贯通、内外结合。

Related: 今天新闻联播的主要内容是：深改组会议聚焦改革督查，世界财经大佬汇聚中国，刘云山周末开两学一做座谈会 说一千道一万，改革的推动主题关键在干部，如果干部的问题都解决不好，积极性调动不起来，再加上习大大的改革不左不右，又很难把控方向，怎么还能发挥干部的主观能动性，推动改革取得实效呢？干部、干部、干部，重要的事情说三遍，只要干部的问题解决好，中国没有办不成的事。

7. Asia Unbound » Podcast: The Dictator’s Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party’s Strategy for Survival Are Chinese citizens unhappy with their government? Media coverage of corruption, pollution, and censorship might lead outsiders to believe that they are. But on this week’s Asia Unbound podcast, Bruce Dickson, professor of political science and international affairs and director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University, offers evidence to the contrary. In 2010 and 2014, in collaboration with Chinese scholars, Dickson conducted two broad public opinion surveys of thousands of Chinese urbanites that culminated in his new book, The Dictator’s Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party’s Strategy for Survival. What he found will likely surprise many

Related: The Dictator’s Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party’s Strategy for Survival: Bruce Dickson: Amazon In The Dictator’s Dilemma, eminent China scholar Bruce Dickson provides a comprehensive explanation for regime’s continued survival and prosperity. Dickson contends that the popular media narrative of the party’s impending implosion ignores some basic facts. The regime’s policies may generate resentment and protest, but the CCP still enjoys a surprisingly high level of popular support. Nor is the party is not cut off from the people it governs. It consults with a wide range of specialists, stakeholders, and members of the general public in a selective yet extensive manner. Further, it tolerates and even encourages a growing and diverse civil society, even while restricting access to it. Today, the majority of Chinese people see the regime as increasingly democratic even though it does not allow political competition and its leaders are not accountable to the electorate. In short, while the Chinese people may prefer change, they prefer that it occurs within the existing political framework.

8. Vladivostok Lures Chinese Tourists (Many Think It’s Theirs) – The New York Times Chinese social media, however, bubble with demands that territory ceded to the Russian Empire in the 19th century not be forgotten. A posting on a popular Chinese internet forum, for example, claimed that the Chinese people “are all in tears” when they see that the “table of unrecovered territory” includes Vladivostok and other lands now controlled by Russia. Young Chinese, who, unlike older generations, rarely speak any Russian and have no rose-tinted memories of Sino-Soviet friendship in the 1950s, are particularly prone to nationalist fervor. “A new, English-speaking generation of young people with weak or distorted notions of Russian history, culture and politics is forming in China,” lamented a report on relations between the two countries by the Russian International Affairs Council. // nice piece by Andrew Higgins, too bad the PRC never let him back in as a journalist

The post The Sinocism China Newsletter – July 24, 2016 appeared first on The Nanfang.

I am happy to share this essay from Christopher K. Johnson (bio) in the latest installment of Sinocism’s occasional guest expert series.

The post President Xi’s Assault on China’s Security Services: Grasping Tightly the Key Levers of Power appeared first on The Nanfang.

1. Xi urges inclusive development on Ningxia tour – Xinhua No region or ethnic group should be left behind in China’s drive to build a moderately prosperous society by 2020, President Xi Jinping said during a tour of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region that ended on Wednesday. Xi spent three days in Ningxia, a less developed area with a high concentration of ethnic minorities in northwest China. He called on local officials to implement the central authorities’ policies and national development strategies to achieve economic prosperity and unity among ethnic groups…During his tour in Ningxia, Xi arrived in Jiangtaipu in Xiji County, Guyuan City, to visit the memorial site commemorating the joining together of forces in the Long March. He laid a wreath at the monument, and called for carrying forward the spirit of old revolutionaries.

Related: [视频]习近平在宁夏考察时强调 解放思想真抓实干奋力前进 确保与全国同步建成全面小康社会_CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1_央视网(cctv.com) nearly 17 minutes at the top of the Wednesday CCTV Evening News on Xi’s Ningxia inspection tour…during his visit he commented that China is on a “new Long March”, one toward the two centenary goals (starting at the 2:10 mark in the CCTV Evening News report)…not sure the cadres or populace are ready for the kinds of struggles they faced on the first long march…he also said that China is poised to “burst out 爆发” into its Great Rejuvenation…

Related: 今天新闻联播的主要内容是：习大大视察宁夏释放什么信息，国务院部署稳经济增长系列举措 首先，是级别较以往更高。除了常规要带的栗战书和王沪宁之外，还带上了汪洋，表明扶贫是这次考察的重要主题。事实上，今天新闻联播的第二条也低调披露，在宁夏考察期间，习大大的确召开了东西部扶贫协作座谈会，但为了不冲击今天习大大考察的头条，照例会放到明天的新闻联播中播出..第二，视察的点位有针对性。看红军长征会师纪念碑是既是为了弘扬红色传统，体现习大大一贯对于革命先烈的崇敬心态，另一方面也是引出永远在社会主义建设的长征路上的重要论述。今年是长征胜利80周年，这一论述很有可能成为长征80周年纪念的主题思想…第三，视察牢牢呼应东西部扶贫协作这一主题。这次视察中最重要的部分其实是东西部扶贫协作座谈会，多位地方政治局委员级大佬都有出席，其实这次选择视察宁夏的一个重要原因，就是宁夏与习大大在地方工作时期的福建和浙江都有扶贫项目合作。// a big fan of this Wechat account that analyzes each day’s CCTV Evening News

2. Defining the post-arbitration nine-dash line: more clarity and more complication | southseaconversations 讨论南海 On Monday an article published on p.6 of the PLA’s official newspaper offered a clear and detailed post-ruling definition of the nine-dash line from authors at the Central Party School. One of its main purposes was to refute the Tribunal’s inferred reading of the nine-dash line as a blanket claim to historic rights within the area it encloses…The writing of this article is attributed to CPS Postgraduate Studies Institute Deputy Dean Wang Junmin 王军敏, but the newspaper byline attributes it collectively to the CPS Center for Research on the Theoretical System of Socialism With Chinese Characteristics. It is, as such, not a government statement, but it’s very detailed, takes into account the Tribunal ruling, and could end up being close to the interpretation the PRC goes forward with in the wake of the ruling.

Related: During US Navy visit, China vows ‘never to stop’ island buildup – Pacific – Stripes Richardson said he supports “a continued and deepening navy-to-navy relationship.” “But I will be continuously reassessing my support conditioned on continued safe and professional interactions at sea,” the admiral said. “In this area, we must judge each other by our deeds and actions, not just by our words.”

Related: CNO visits Chinese North Sea Fleet; Underscores Importance of International Law-Navy News During the meeting with Yuan, CNO underscored the importance of lawful and safe operations in the South China Sea and elsewhere professional navies operate. He also reiterated that U.S. forces will continue to sail, fly and operate wherever international law allows–a point emphasized by U.S. officials during recent visits to Asia. “The U.S. Navy will continue to conduct routine and lawful operations around the world, including in the South China Sea, in order to protect the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of sea and airspace guaranteed to all,” said Richardson. “This will not change.”

Related: 南海仲裁后中国释放三大善意，菲律宾却要对抗到底_凤凰聚焦 倒是是菲律宾方面，仍然坚持拿仲裁结果说事，拒绝中方进行对话的合理建议。如果菲律宾真的要顽固对抗的话，解放军轰6K巡航黄岩岛等岛礁附近空域只是一个小小的警告。

Related: “起底临时仲裁庭”之六：国际法治的“癌细胞”-新华网 Xinhua continues its shameless smearing of the South China Sea tribunal… //  　菲律宾南海仲裁案的肇始、演进、终了和贻害，堪比癌细胞入侵健康机体的过程。《联合国海洋法公约》（以下简称《公约》）好比健康机体，其薄弱处成为“致癌病原体”侵入的突破口，内外诱因促发病变扩散，最终遗毒《公约》乃至国际法治。

Related: 谈判协商才是解决问题之道（钟声）–国际–人民网 People’s Daily Zhongsheng reiterates that the only way to resolve the diferences with the Philippines over the South China Sea is through negotiation and consulation// 人们注意到，菲律宾总统杜特尔特和菲新政府已作出有关妥善处理中菲分歧、推动中菲关系改善的积极表态，这是值得欢迎的信息。人们更期待，菲律宾新一届领导人和新政府展现政治智慧，从中菲两国和两国人民的共同利益出发，为中菲关系未来和两国人民福祉做出正确选择。 南海仲裁案不过是场政治闹剧。中菲切实回到谈判协商解决分歧的正确轨道上，才是对两国关系的长远发展负责，对两国人民的福祉负责。

Related: Netizens demand celebs defend China, boycott foreign goods – Global Times After the arbitration result, Net users have leveled false accusations against public figures and have lead people into boycotting foreign products and brands such as Philippine bananas, iPhones and KFC. “Our online shop will not sell Cebu mangoes from the Philippines and will not sell any snacks imported from the country anymore,” a Shanghai-based Taobao vendor who declined to be identified, told the Global Times. Another vendor in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, put a notice on its online shop, saying that “this shop will no longer sell dried mangoes imported from the Philippines and will give any snacks now in stock to consumers who provide their address for free.” The hashtag “strike down China” has garnered 2.4 million views on Sina Weibo, with some netizens claiming when you type “strike down” in Chinese in an iPhone, the phone will automatically add the word “China.” However, this is an automatic association based on users’ search history rather than a conspiracy led by US-based Apple, the People’s Daily reported Monday.

Related: ‘Patriotic’ Chinese company warns staff they face sack if they buy yet-to-be released iPhone 7 | South China Morning Post Hangzhou Bina Industrial Technology Company, which employs 50 people, issued its stern warning in what it called a “Patriotic Notice”, which was sent to all employees on Monday, the news portal Sohu.com reported…The move appears to be in response to widespread anger on mainland social media over what appeared to be an apparent iPhone software “glitch. When iPhone users typed out the Chinese pinyin word “jichen”, meaning “hit and sink”, the word “China” would automatically appear as the first recommended word of choice.  //  Unfortunately Apple likely has bigger problems than this in China

Related: 河南濮阳：3男子组织网民非法围堵肯德基门店，被行政拘留_一号专案_澎湃新闻-The Paper three administratively detained in Puyang, Henan, for illegally organizing protest in front of a KFC

3. Brussels prepares market economy compromise for China — FT.com Brussels is drawing up a plan to treat China as a market economy in trade disputes, but only in tandem with US-style anti-dumping duties and big cuts to steel overproduction by Beijing. The European Commission is seeking a middle way between China’s clamour to be treated the same as advanced economies and complaints from European member states and industrial groups that surging imports from China are to blame for the collapse in steel prices.  //  where is the US on this “compromise”?

Related: Commentary: EU should grant China market economy status – Xinhua The European Commission is set to debate its stance on China’s market economy status on Wednesday, the latest move after a non-binding vote in May rejected the loosening of trade defenses. The EU Parliament said in a resolution in May that China’s excess production capacity and cheap exports are hurting EU employment, urging that China not be granted MES. Facts speak louder than words, however, and, taking the much debated steel industry as an example, China’s steel exports to the EU are small compared with other countries and its low value-added steel products are complementary to the EU’s steel market portfolio.

Related: U.S. warns at WTO of China backsliding on economic openness | Reuters The United States is worried that China is retreating from pledges to open its economy to market forces as it tries to cope with a slowdown in growth, U.S. trade diplomat Chris Wilson told the World Trade Organization on Tuesday. China is undergoing a regular two-yearly review of its trade policies at the WTO this week, in which the body’s other 162 members get to quiz its officials and critique its policies.

Related: Juncker tells China to cut steel production or be frozen out of global trade club Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, used blunt language in a speech in China warning that the country’s chances of gaining market economy status are directly related to its steel exports. “I do not want to dramatise this issue… but there is a clear link between the steel overcapacity of China and the market economy status for China,” Mr Juncker said.

Related: Chinese media view EU crises as sign of failing “Western system” – MERICS Blog The study’s most striking finding was the difference between party-state media and more market-oriented outlets when it came to assessing events in Europe. Commercial media like “Caixin” or blogs like “Sohu” tried to give more differentiated accounts and took a closer look at internal European debates. Party-state media on the other hand clearly used coverage on crisis phenomena to discredit “the West” and its values. “People’s Daily” or “Xinhua” described the EU and Europe as being “in a state of decay, like the West as a whole”, as Lang pointed out. He added that some official commentators went a step further and took “the moral high ground to promote Chinese concepts of authoritarian rule as an alternative to Western ones”.

4. Sinica Podcast: The Kaiser Kuo exit interview This week, Kaiser sits in the guest chair and tells us about his 20-plus years of living in China. He recounts being the front man for the heavy metal band Tang Dynasty and the group’s tour stops in China’s backwater towns, shares his feelings on moving back to the United States with his family, and discusses the future of the Sinica Podcast. The conversation with Jeremy, Ada Shen and David Moser is one of many ‘exit interview’ episodes with journalists who are departing China after a long stay. It took place in June 2016, shortly after Kaiser’s reentry to the U.S.

Related: Bill Bishop: The Exodus-Sinica Podcast my exit interview 11 months ago…anyone know of a service that can produce a transcript of the recording? Apologies if yesterday‘s commentary was a bit ranty, I am just deeply frustrated with the trajectory of US-China relations, and sad that it is even worse than I expected when we did this podcast last August  //  While not exactly your requisite “Why I Am Leaving China” blog post, this show gives Kaiser Kuo and David Moser the chance to talk to Bill about the reasons behind his decision, and explore why he sees an increasingly strained relationship between China and the United States over the next few years.

5. Report: More Than 100 Chinese Muslims Have Joined the Islamic State | Foreign Policy A July 20 report from New America, a think tank in Washington, DC, examined more than 4,000 registration records of fighters who joined the Islamic State between mid-2013 and mid-2014. These rudimentary questionnaires asked basic questions of each fighter, including origin, travel history, level of education, former employment, and previous jihad experience. Analysis of the records revealed that at least 114 Chinese Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim Turkic-speaking ethnic group concentrated in the northwestern Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang, entered Islamic State territory during that time period. Nate Rosenblatt, the author of the report and an independent Middle East/North Africa researcher, obtained the data from contacts made during his previous research in Syria.

Related: Britain adds Chinese militant group to terror list | Reuters Britain has listed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) as a terrorist organization, pleasing China, which had demanded Western support for its fight against a group it says seeks to split off its western region of Xinjiang.

6. Behind the Webcam with China’s Live-Streaming Stars – That’s Beijing In recent months, live-streaming apps like the one Jiang uses have exploded in popularity. Douyu TV, YY and Ingkee have 200 million registered users between them, but these are just three out of hundreds of platforms. These apps have spawned ‘streaming stars’ who perform for hundreds of thousands of people every day. Some sing and dance. Some tell jokes. Some play video games. Some teach classes. The result is a new online world that is being subjected to criticism and censorship – but also one that has given entertainers a wide-reaching platform never before seen in China.

7. Investors Seek Liaoning Debt Boycott As Bond Default Battle Heats Up-Caixin Bond holders burned by the defaults of a state-owned steel maker in Liaoning province are calling for a boycott of all new bond issuances by the local government and provincial enterprises amid increasing frustration at local officials’ efforts to resolve the company’s debt problem. They will also ask regulators to suspend the issuance of all debt financing instruments by enterprises in the northeastern province, according to a proposal put together for discussion at an upcoming meeting of investors who hold bonds issued by Dongbei Special Steel Group Co. Sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin that all bond investors who plan to attend the meeting have agreed on the proposal.

8. Two Trains Running: Supply-Side Reform, SOE Reform and the Authoritative Personage | Hoover Institution by Barry Naughton Tuesday, July 19, 2016 The publication of a new article by “Authoritative Personage” on May 9, 2016, threw into the open two unresolved issues of Chinese policy: Who is making economic reform policy?  What is the mix between reform and growth?  These two unresolved issues lie behind the enormous difficulty policy-makers have had in coming up with a coherent reform strategy lately. This difficulty is most manifest in the case of state-owned enterprise reform, which is floundering.

You can read the rest of today’s newsletter here.

The post The Sinocism China Newsletter – July 20, 2016 appeared first on The Nanfang.

Newsletter frequency will continue to be very inconsistent for at least the next month. We are on the road for just over three weeks starting Thursday, including a long overdue trip to Beijing. Twitter is easier to use when traveling so I will still be tweeting things I find interesting @niubi.

I conveniently missed publishing during the week the South China Sea tribunal news broke.

Beijing’s propaganda tsunami of shrill, shameless sophistry ahead of the South China Sea tribunal decision is a sign of the contempt it holds for non-Communist Party-led rule of law.

Some are speculating that Xi will be hurt politically by the tribunal rebuke, but Xi appears to have neutralized any elders who might be able to restrain him if they are unhappy with the direction he is taking the PRC, perhaps even at the upcoming rumored Beidahe meetings, but that assumes there are people at or near the top of the Communist China system who don’t share his xenophobic jingoism. I would like to believe there are but am skeptical, and even if there are some they are likely so cowed by Xi that it is politically and personally much safer to toe the line. Again, I hope I am wrong but it is hard to keep making that argument after decades of people looking for the “reformers” in power and never really finding one. (See this April 2011 Sinocism post–Views On Political Reform And Leadership Splits In China for an earlier discussion of this more hopeful approach to viewing elite Chinese politics.)

It is worth remembering that China’s decision to become a maritime power and to build out the capabilities needed to assert and protect its claimed maritime rights and sovereignty in the South China Sea long predate the ascension of Xi in 2012.

I’d bet that the tribunal loss may strengthen Xi and the other hardline jingoist xenophobes who manipulate the idea of the West keeping the PRC down to further their illiberal, authoritarian China dream.

Beijing’s lack of any real substantive response since the ruling should not be taken as a sign that it is changing its long-term goals. It is certainly positive that Communist Party censors have tamped down some of the worst of the online jingoism and xenophobia and not arranged or allowed any street protests so far but it is much too early to conclude that the PRC is somehow backing away from some of its claims or going to change its behavior.

I want to go back to Maine…

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

1. China: Disregard the South China Sea ruling. The Philippines: No. – The Washington Post On Tuesday, the Filipino foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, went public with an account of their conversation, telling ABS-CBN, a local news channel, that China offered conditional talks. “[China’s foreign minister] had asked us to open ourselves for bilateral negotiations but outside, or [in] disregard of, the arbitral ruling,” Yasay told the cameras. “This is something I told him was not consistent with our constitution and our national interest.”

Related: China admiral warns freedom of navigation patrols could end ‘in disaster’ | Reuters China is the biggest beneficiary of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and won’t let anybody damage it, Sun said. “But China consistently opposes so-called military freedom of navigation which brings with it a military threat, and which challenges and disrespects the international law of the sea,” Sun said. “This kind of military freedom of navigation is damaging to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, and it could even play out in a disastrous way,” he added, without elaborating.  //  making up the law as it goes along?

Related: PLA navy chief urges China-U.S. cooperation in handling South China Sea – Xinhua Describing the current security situation in waters around China as “complicated and sensitive” and noting the escalating South China Sea issue, Wu said Richardson’s visit will be beneficial for the two countries to strengthen communication, promote trust, resolve doubts and avoid misjudgments. “We will never sacrifice our sovereignty and interests in the South China Sea,” Wu said, stressing that it is China’s “core interest” and concerns the foundation of the Party’s governance, the country’s security and stability and the Chinese nation’s basic interests. Wu said that China will not recede over territorial sovereignty or fear any military provocation, which the Chinese navy is fully prepared to cope with. “We will never stop our construction on the Nansha Islands halfway… the Nansha Islands are China’s inherent territory, and our necessary construction on the islands is reasonable, justified and lawful,” Wu said.

Related: China to Close Part of South China Sea for Military Exercise – ABC News Hainan’s maritime administration said an area southeast of the island province would be closed from Monday to Thursday, but gave no details about the nature of the exercises. The navy and Defense Ministry had no immediate comment.

Related: China Begins Air Patrols Over Disputed Area of the South China Sea – The New York Times China’s air force flew a “combat air patrol” over the South China Sea “recently,” Xinhua, the official news agency, reported, citing Shen Jinke, an air force spokesman. The patrol consisted of bombers, fighters, “scouts” and tankers and would become “regular practice,” Mr. Shen said, according to Xinhua. The announcement of the air patrols, plus a separate statement that China would conduct military exercises in the South China Sea off the coast of Hainan Island, came as Adm. John M. Richardson, the chief of United States naval operations, was in Beijing to discuss the South China Sea and other issues that arose after the tribunal rebuked China’s claims over the waters on July 12. //[视频]中国空军赴南海常态化战斗巡航CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1央视网(cctv.com) CCTV Evening News Monday on the PLAAF flights in South China Sea, says will become routine

Related: 中国不接受南海仲裁案裁决具有法理正当性 -军报记者 来源：解放军报作者：党校理论体系研究中心

Related: Senior military officer urges combat preparedness – Xinhua Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), has called for troops to be ready for combat and for improvements to equipment and logistical preparation. Fan made the remarks, which were carried in a statement released on Tuesday, in an recent inspection tour of the Southern Theater Command. Officers and soldiers need to be aware of current threats to China’s sovereignty, security and interests, he said, urging the military to research combat methods and strategies pertinent to different situations and foster special forces reserved for key missions and scenarios. // 范长龙：不断深化海上方向军事斗争准备

Related: Can China Enforce a South China Sea ADIZ? – USNI News Taken together, these developments would appear to indicate that, should China declare a South China Sea ADIZ, it is well on its way to being able to properly police and enforce it, unlike the case with its East China Sea equivalent. As noted by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, the development of new runways and air-defense capabilities appear to be part of a long-term anti-access strategy by China which “would see it establish effective control over the sea and airspace throughout the South China Sea.”

2. 新的历史起点上全面推进国防和军队建设的科学指南–军事–人民网  ——深入学习贯彻习主席国防和军队建设重要论述 中央军委政治工作部－关于贯彻新形势下军事战略方针。强国强军，战略先行。习主席着眼实现党和国家战略目标新要求，与时俱进创新军事战略指导。指出要有效履行新的历史时期军队使命任务，为全面建成小康社会、实现中华民族伟大复兴提供坚强保障；毫不动摇坚持积极防御战略思想，同时不断丰富和发展这一思想的内涵；将军事斗争准备基点放在打赢信息化局部战争上，突出海上军事斗争和军事斗争准备；加强现代战争作战指导，创新基本作战思想，实施信息主导、精打要害、联合制胜的体系作战，发挥人民战争的整体威力；优化军事战略布局，构建全局统筹、分区负责，相互策应、互为一体的战略部署和军事布势，等等。这进一步丰富发展了积极防御战略方针的时代内涵，确立起新形势下统揽军事力量建设和运用的总纲。

3. KFC Targeted in Protests Over South China Sea – The New York Times “As Chinese people, our hearts are tied up with the country’s fate, exposing the injustice behind the ‘South China Sea arbitration farce’ is the embodiment of patriotic feeling,” Xinhua, the state news service, said on Tuesday. “But if that feeling leads to illegal behavior that destroys social order, then it’s mistaken to label it ‘patriotic.’ ” The state-run newspaper China Daily warned that such protests would also harm Chinese citizens. Many “foreign-funded enterprises in China, such as KFC, have been localized and mostly employ local people and purchase raw materials from China,” it said. // Disturbing Miaopai video via Weibo  of one protest where there crowd berates the police taking down the banners, almost physically attack the police. the police look to have been extricated by someone more senior in plainclothes…so much anger, so much danger from any protests

Related: 人民日报谈抵制肯德基：爱国不是“糊涂的爱” 在地球已成“村”的今天，爱国决不是抱团封闭、一叶障目，而是开放包容、宽厚自信。今天的中国，已进入与世界深度互动阶段。中国是现行国际体系的参与者、建设者、贡献者，同时也是受益者。以世界眼光审时度势，在全球范围谋篇布局，是走上世界舞台的中国必然的选择。“把弘扬爱国主义精神与扩大对外开放结合进来……善于从不同文明中寻求智慧、汲取营养，增强中华文明生机活力”，习近平总书记的论述告诉我们，大国心态既是捍卫自身利益和尊严的坚定和果敢，也是微笑着拥抱世界的从容和自信；既是弘扬民族文化和价值观的矢志不渝，也是兼收并蓄各国文化的海纳百川。

Related: 多地抵制肯德基 “爱国”还是炒作？国内新京报网 据媒体报道，近期包括湖南长沙、郴州，浙江杭州、浦江，江苏扬州、连云港、泗洪，山东临沂、安徽滁州、广德、宁国等地，全国至少11个地方发生了抵制肯德基事件。警方表示爱国可以，但不允许做出过激行为，这样不能提升爱国认知，反而助长了社会暴戾气氛。

Related: The “next level smearing” of Chinese patriotism: a view from the Communist Youth League | southseaconversations 讨论南海 While the Global Times hailed the “new wave of patriotism,” it was clear that, like in 2001, the party-state did not want real-world demonstrations. Municipal and university authorities were reportedly instructed to stay vigilantly on guard against potential mass gatherings. Nor, it seems, was online warmongering particularly desirable from the party’s perspective, with extreme nationalist Weibos encountering censorship. An article published on the Communist Youth League’s Weibo, illuminates some of the reasoning behind this desire to keep the patriotic outbursts relatively mild. It argues that much of the extreme nationalist outbursts are in fact “next-level smearing” (高级黑, gaojihei below) of China’s good patriots by anti-party elements posing as extreme nationalists.

Related:  China’s citizens are livid about the South China Sea ruling because of what they’re taught in government schools — Quartz Other official textbooks have also played a part in asserting China’s South China Sea claims. “The Rich Xisha [Paracel] Islands,” an article in People’s Education Press’s Chinese textbook for 9-year-olds said that the islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam, are “our country’s coast defense outpost” with “beautiful scenery” and “rich natural resources.” On the islands, “sea turtles are turned upside-down by fishermen, with their four legs in the air—there’s no way to escape,” the article said, describing how they’re caught. “The rich Xisha Islands are the place where we have lived generation to generation,” it concludes. “With the development of our motherland’s construction, the lovely Xisha Islands will definitely become more beautiful and richer.”  //  my kids studied this chapter when they were in third grade in Beijing

Related:  海军霸气宣言：别在我家门口惹事新闻腾讯网 海军发布霸气MV《别在我家门口惹事》，不但歌词雄壮，视频中还有大量罕见的解放军海军实战演习镜头，看得人热血沸腾。 //  PLAN puts out a music video after tribunal decision, “Don’t cause trouble in front of our house”…no doubt further stirring the loins of online patriots

4. Xi invokes spirit of ‘new Long March’ to reach Communist Party goals | South China Morning Post The trip was seen by analysts as an attempt to bolster his image as an inheritor of the party’s legacy. Xi carried out an inspection tour in Ningxia on Monday and visited a memorial hall where the three main Red Army forces converged in October 1936, marking the end of the Long March. // full propaganda rollout not yet underway // some pics of his visit from Xinhua http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-07/19/c_1119239676.htm

Related: 习近平：中华民族能量积蓄太久了，要爆发出来实现伟大中国梦中南海澎湃新闻-The Paper scenes from Xi’s Ningxia inspection tour, including to a visit to a mosque

5. China to hold Party officials accountable for poor leadership – Xinhua The new regulation, summing up the existing Party rules and stressing strictly governing the Party, further clarified the subjects, situations and punishments in the accountability mechanism. For instance, the Party will hold officials and party organizations accountable for failing to implement Party guidelines and policies; failure to discipline subordinates or identify and address loopholes in Party management; or corruption in their own departments. Leading officials will face punishment according to the severity of their wrongdoings, such as being named and shamed within certain ranks, receiving oral or written warnings, being suspended from their posts, transferred, forced to resign, demotion or dismissal. They are also subject to punishment for violating party discipline. // the new regs: 中国共产党问责条例  and a helpful infographic explainer from the CCDI一图读懂《中国共产党问责条例》 Looks to be another attempt to create a lever to not only enforce ideological conformity but also force compliance with policies coming out of Beijing

Related: 王岐山同志在《人民日报》发表署名文章：用担当的行动诠释对党和人民的忠诚—中央纪委监察部网站 中央巡视省区市、中央部委和中央企事业单位党组织，发现的一个突出问题就是贯彻党的路线方针政策不坚决、不全面、不到位，以官僚主义、形式主义的错误方式应对。有的以会议贯彻会议、以文件落实文件，更有甚者索性把党中央决策部署变成标语和口号、不贯彻不落实，有的贯彻执行不力，有的在贯彻中走样。群众听到党中央为民务实的政策无不为之高兴，但由于有的领导干部不担当不尽责，致使党的好政策得不到落实，人民群众就没有获得感。同党中央保持高度一致，不仅要听表态、更要见行动，看是否把中央精神同本地区本部门本单位实际紧密联系起来，实事求是、求真务实，见诸行动、落到实处。全面从严治党必须坚持问题导向，以强有力的问责督促责任落实，维护党中央集中统一领导，确保中央政令畅通。

6. Liberal Chinese Journal’s Purged Editors Declare Publication Dissolved – The New York Times “From now on, if any periodical comes out with the name Yanhuang Chunqiu, it has nothing to do with us,” reads the statement, released on Sunday. The announcement comes after the dismissal last week of Yanhuang Chunqiu’s founding publisher, Du Daozheng, and the demotion of its chief editor by its sponsoring institution, the Chinese National Academy of Arts, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture. The academy also assigned four of its own staff members to important editorial positions.

Related: The Death of a Liberal Chinese Magazine | The Diplomat One of the seven taboo issues listed in an internal party document called Document No 9 was “historical nihilism” — which effectively bans any versions of history other than the official one. A senior official at the Central Party School this month railed against “historical nihilism,” quoting Xi as having said that “hostile forces” like to use historical issues to “attack, smear and slander” the country. Public discussion and publication on the dark side of party history such as the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the anti-rightist movement in 1957 that sent intellectuals to hard labor, and the Great Famine (1958-1961)  remain mostly banned in China, but Yanhuang Chunqiu repeatedly carried articles on historical issues like these, believing that reflections on past mistakes would help steer the country back on the reformist path. “I feel very hurt and sad.  In the past 25 years, my friends and I were just trying to do something good for the party and the country,” said Du despondently. “We’ve tried our best and have a clear conscience… but I can’t do much any more.” Du and several editors at the journal believe that the order to force new management on Yanhuang Chunqiu was a well-planned, coordinated effort by several government organs that has the endorsement of high-ranking authorities. // I don’t buy the idea that the shutdown the result of “factional infighting”; the crackdown on “historical nihilism” is coming straight from the top

7. Follow the Money » China’s Asymmetric Basket Peg The reason why the renminbi is down against all the major currencies, obviously, is that managing the renminbi “with reference to a basket” hasn’t meant targeting stability against a basket. As the chart above illustrates, over the last seven months the renminbi has slowly depreciated against the CFETS basket. The renminbi has now depreciated by about 5 percent against the CFETS basket since last December, and by about 10 percent since last summer. How? No doubt there are many tricks up the PBOC’s sleeve. But one is straightforward. When the dollar goes down, China hasn’t appreciated its currency by all that much against the dollar. And when the dollar goes up, China has depreciated against the dollar in a way that is consistent with management “with reference to a basket.”

Related: China state banks sharply push up yuan after key level breached | Reuters The yuan slipped below 6.7 per dollar for the first time since late 2010 on Monday after state-bank support tapered off, but on Tuesday they appeared more persistent.

Related: Brexit upsides, RMB devaluation edition | FT Alphaville Upsides for whom, you ask? For Chinese policymakers, we respond. As do Deutsche Bank: More subtly, Brexit indirectly helped reduce concerns of a ‘risk off’ shock from China thanks to the stealthy RMB devaluation around the UK vote. This has confirmed a new-found market tolerance of China currency slippage, at least when it looks controlled by policymakers.

8. The Remarkable Forgotten Life of H. T. Tsiang – The New Yorker This piece is adapted from “A Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure across the Pacific,” recently published by Harvard University Press

You can read the rest of today’s newsletter here.

The post The Sinocism China Newsletter – July 19, 2016 appeared first on The Nanfang.

Some are speculating that Xi will be hurt politically by the tribunal rebuke, but Xi appears to have neutralized any elders who might be able to restrain him if they are unhappy with the direction he is taking the PRC, but that assumes there are people at or near the top of the Communist China system who don’t share his xenophobic jingoism. I would like to believe there are but am skeptical, and even if there are some they are likely so cowed by Xi that is politically and personally much safer to toe the line. Again, I hope I am wrong but it is hard to keep making that argument after decades of people looking for the “reformers” in power and never really finding one. (See this April 2011 Sinocism post–Views On Political Reform And Leadership Splits In China for an earlier discussion of this more hopeful approach to viewing elite Chinese politics.)

And of course we have to remember that China’s decision to become a maritime power and to build out the capabilities needed to assert and protect its claimed maritime rights and sovereignty in the South China Sea long predate the ascension of Xi in 2012.

I’d bet that the tribunal loss may strengthen Xi and the other hardline jingoist xenophobes who manipulate the idea of the West keeping the PRC down to further their illiberal, authoritarian China dream.

Beijing’s lack of any real substantive response since the ruling should not be taken as a sign that it is changing its long-term goals. It is certainly positive that communist party censors have tamped down some of the worst of the online jingoism and xenophobia and not arranged or allowed any street protests so far but it is much too early to conclude that the PRC is somehow backing away from some of its claims or going to change its behavior.

The post China Likely Won’t Change its Behavior in Light of South China Sea Ruling appeared first on The Nanfang.

1. Key MSCI emerging markets index rejects Chinese mainland stocks, again “International institutional investors clearly indicated that they would like to see further improvements in the accessibility of the China A shares market before its inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index,” Remy Briand, MSCI Managing Director and Global Head of Research, said in the release. “In keeping with its standard practice, MSCI will monitor the implementation of the recently announced policy changes and will seek feedback from market participants.” // the full release (PDF). Good for the MSCI, time for China to prove its seriousness about reforms, the IMF must be feeling even more embarrassed now about its RMB SDR inclusion decision…

2. Push to Widen College Access Suffers Setback–Caixin Provincial officials shelved a university admissions quota adjustment as the struggle for equal opportunity continues…Liu Chuantie, director of the Hubei education bureau, told reporters that the province’s seven, central government-backed universities would not change admission quotas as previously planned. Other universities had not been included in the proposed quota adjustment. An admissions officer at one of the seven universities who asked not to be named told Caixin that provincial officials had acted on an order from the central government that reversed a Beijing decision handed down less than a month earlier. Central government education officials did not respond to a Caixin request for comments on the university quota issue.

Related: The Death and Life of Middle Class Politics in China « China Change As public contention surrounding the death of Lei Yang’s continues to grow, something new is developing in China’s political scene: the middle class is speaking out and asserting its own demands, even as the rights defense movement continues to suffer a sustained crackdown….With all this in mind, we can safely predict that middle class political resistance is going to emerge as a major force in China. A political opposition may emerge out of the demand for equal rights to education, personal freedom, and civil rights, competing with the Communist Party for the role of middle class’ protector, thus influencing China’s political future.  // interesting piece though I think the conclusion is more likely wishful thinking…the middle class is actually one of the biggest support blocs for continued CCP rule, so long as the Party and government deliver the goods…Xi and the Party understand this very clearly, which is why one of its main goals is improving governance (he does have a book under his name about governance that is worth reading…) through building a more responsive and efficient authoritarian government, while also reminding everyone of the personal costs involved with pushing too hard against Party rule. If he and the Party fail all bets are off, but I would not put my money on the inevitability of the rise of the middle class leading to political liberalization in the PRC.

Related: 新华社打脸啪啪啪：我们情绪不稳定 北京实验二小白云路小学的“毒跑道”事件，舆情还在发酵，孩子们在流鼻血，家长们五内俱焚，但管理者却似乎若无其事，以至于日前公开回应：操场标准合格！ 真的合格吗？穿越得让常识都不够用了，以至于有几个微信群里，一些体制内的父母都焦虑发狠：真恨不得上街了…… 上街，肯定不是解决问题的办法。 人们迫切期待着政府的回应，但政府迟迟千呼万唤不出来的背景下，新华社的发声显得尤为重要，因为这是舆情监督，这是在倒逼真相。 不发声则已，6月13日，新华社一发声就是五问：

3. US to counter China uncertainty with combined Pacific Fleet- Nikkei Asian Review The increased integration of the 7th and 3rd Fleets should mean more 3rd Fleet vessels operating in the western Pacific, which is traditionally the 7th Fleet’s area. One such operation is the deployment of the Pacific Surface Action Group, under which the destroyers USS Spruance, USS Decatur and USS Momsen have embarked on a seven-month tour of Asia. The ships will conduct a broad range of operations in the 7th Fleet’s area, while remaining under the operational control of 3rd Fleet commander Vice Adm. Nora Tyson.

Related: 中国公开航母杀手东风21D 韩媒:回应美部署航母|航母杀手|东风21D|美军_新浪新闻 参考消息网6月15日报道 韩媒称，中国官媒中央电视台6月11日在军事频道中公开被称为“航母杀手”的“东风21D”反舰弹道导弹部队的训练情况。// CCTV 6.11 report shows training with the DF-21D, speculation that signaling to the US with a carrier group in the South China Sea?

Related: A Guide to Stepping it Up in the South China Sea-War on the Rocks failing to take stronger action also runs the very serious risk that the Chinese will gradually but inevitably gain control of this critical maritime region. That would weaken the regional position of U.S. allies and partners, but even more importantly, it would challenge the vital and longstanding U.S. interest in maintaining global freedom of navigation. We suggest six options that the United States and its partners should now consider, listed in increasing order of assertiveness.

4. Asean rebukes Beijing in South China Sea dispute | Bangkok Post: news In a rare diplomatic slap in the face for Beijing — issued on its own territory — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) offered a sharp rebuke over China’s actions in the waterway. “We expressed our serious concerns over recent and ongoing developments, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and which may have the potential to undermine peace, security and stability in the South China Sea,” its communique said without mentioning China by name.

Related: ASEAN retracts South China Sea criticism: Malaysia – Channel NewsAsia Southeast Asian countries have reversed course on a statement that expressed deep concern over events in the South China Sea, where Beijing is embroiled in territorial rows, Malaysia said on Tuesday, adding that “urgent amendments” would be made. //pathetic

Related: China will reject any outside ‘disturbance’ to Southeast Asia’s peace and stability: foreign minister | South China Morning Post Wang Yi’s comments made at Special Asean-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting before court ruling on Beijing’s South China Sea territorial dispute with Philippines

Related: Related: China voices appreciation for support on South China Sea issue – Xinhua China Tuesday thanked countries for their support on the South China Sea issue. Sierra Leone and Kenya recently announced their approval of China’s stance. The number of countries that support China now amounts to 60.

5. How China Won the Keys to Disney’s Magic Kingdom – The New York Times Disney hired former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and mounted an intense lobbying effort. In October 1998, Mr. Eisner met Zhu Rongji, who had just been named prime minister, at China’s leadership compound in Beijing. Mr. Eisner apologized for “Kundun,” calling it a “stupid mistake,” according to a transcript of the meeting. “This film was a form of insult to our friends, but other than journalists, very few people in the world ever saw it,” Mr. Eisner said during the meeting. (“Kundun” bombed, taking in just $5.7 million against a production budget of about $30 million.) Mr. Eisner said the company had learned a lesson. And he introduced Mr. Iger, then Disney’s international president, as the person who would carry on negotiations for a theme park.

Related: China’s Content Crackdown Forces Western Media Concessions – WSJ Rules barring foreign media companies from licenses to operate video-streaming services in China, and from showing content online or via cable as stand-alone brands, have been in place for several years. Recently they have been more strictly enforced. China’s regulators in April unplugged two recent entrants, in moves that showed no company is immune: Apple Inc.’s online book and movie services and a smart-TV streaming service under the Walt Disney Co. brand. Disney started the Disney Life streaming service in partnership with China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. People familiar with the matter said it was taken down in China primarily due to the ban on online or cable content under foreign brands

6. AP Interview: Chinese lawyer not giving up despite torture In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Gao Zhisheng, 52, who has been living under near-constant surveillance by Chinese authorities since his release from jail in 2014, said he wrote his book “to expose the truth and crimes of this regime.” The Chinese-language book, titled “Stand Up China 2017 — China’s Hope: What I Learned During Five Years as a Political Prisoner,” was launched in Hong Kong on Tuesday at an event attended by Gao’s daughter. “This book is my way of posing resistance,” Gao said in Monday night’s interview, which was conducted over a messaging app instead of by phone to circumvent surveillance and interruption. “I wrote it secretly because I had to hide from the minders who watch me around the clock.”

Related: Incendiary Memoir by Chinese Rights Lawyer Reaches Bookshelves Abroad – The New York Times Mr. Gao, 52, became increasingly critical of the Communist Party and renounced his membership. Detained in 2006, he recanted his confession upon release and described the abuse he received from the police. In early 2009, he disappeared, with the government providing no explanation of his whereabouts for more than a year, prompting international condemnation. After being briefly released from prison in 2010, he disappeared into police custody again, only to be released again in 2014 and transferred to house arrest. Mr. Gao’s imprisonment was a prelude to the far more extensive crackdown on Chinese human rights lawyers under President Xi Jinping.

Related: Police in China Want Rights Lawyer Prosecuted on Subversion Charge – The New York Times The Chinese police have recommended prosecution on a charge of subversion for Zhou Shifeng, a prominent lawyer whose arrest last year formed the focus of a campaign to discredit and dissolve networks of rights-focused defense lawyers who challenged the government, one of his former colleagues said on Monday.

7. 我们党为什么总能战胜风险力挽狂澜（纪念中国共产党成立95周年）–时政–人民网 ——写在中国共产党成立95周年之际 欧阳淞-（作者为中国中共党史学会会长、中央党史研究室原主任）《 人民日报 》（ 2016年06月14日 07 版）

8. Sichuan Cuisine, Imperiled by Success – The New York Times along with all the pungent aromas, a whiff of panic is in the air here in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in southwest China. “Sichuanese cuisine really faces a crisis,” said Wang Kaifa, a 71-year-old chef who has been leading a campaign against what he sees as the creeping debasement of the region’s celebrated cooking. “The scene feels like it’s booming, but this is a chaotic boom that has had a lot of negatives,” he said, drawing out his vowels and emphasizing high notes in the region’s lilting accent  // with a video that will make you hungry and, if you are in a Chinese food desert like DC, frustrated…and gotta love the shot of the guy getting his ear cleaned

You can read the rest of today’s newsletter here.

The post The Sinocism China Newsletter – June 14, 2016 appeared first on The Nanfang.

1. 王岐山：党中央对问责是动真格的-搜狐新闻 京华时报讯日前，中共中央政治局常委、中央纪委书记王岐山在京主持召开部分中央部委负责同志座谈会，并到辽宁省召开座谈会，就制定中国共产党问责条例征求意见。王岐山指出，制定问责条例就是要把利剑高悬起来，告诫和警示全党，党中央对问责是动真格的，党的领导干部不担当、不负责就要被追责。这是中央首次透露条例制定进展。今年1月14日发布的十八届中纪委六次全会公报提出，今年要制定党内问责条例，让失责必问成为常态。 // the CCP party member accountability rules that Wang Qishan is working on may institutionalize ability to punish party members for not implementing party center policies, which potentially could help with Xi’s mooted reform program

Related: 王岐山出手解中共困境 中纪委“权杖”加持_中国-多维新闻网 其实除了这些之外，诸多迹象中还暗示着另一个非常重要的政治动向。简单来说，2015年印发的《中国共产党廉洁自律准则》与《中国共产党纪律处分条例》，分别是关于“哪些不得做”和“做了之后怎么办”。而“中国共产党问责条例”，则是关于“应该做什么”，或许还有“没有做会怎么办”的内容。 结合当下政治形势来看，“问责条例”的制定，应该是针对近年来的制度性顽疾“政令不出中南海”和“为官不为”现象。因此也是对全面深化改革开放事业，以及破解当下经济发展乏力困境的精准助力。

Related: 问责条例剑指为官乱象 习近平刻画党员担当底线新闻频道中国青年网 中国青年网北京6月13日电（记者 李拓）日前，制定中国共产党问责条例征求意见的座谈会先后在北京和辽宁召开。会上强调，问责条例是全面从严治党重要的制度笼子，制定条例的过程就是统一思想认识、释放失责必问强烈信号的过程。  有权就有责，权责要对等。在习近平心中，只有担当起该担当的责任，才是合格的党员领导干部。对于为官不为、为官乱为，习近平则直接指出，要以问责常态化促进履职到位，促进党的纪律执行到位。 // more on the impending CCP party member accountability rules

2. China spent $470bn to maintain confidence in renminbi – FT.com The People’s Bank of China has spent about $473bn in foreign exchange reserves since it surprised global markets last August by changing the way it sets its daily guidance rate for the currency, according to Financial Times estimates based on official data. The August move sparked fears that China would permit or even actively encourage a sharp devaluation, leading to a wave of renminbi selling.  “The most important factor is confidence, both globally and within China,” said one central bank official. “The cost of intervention in terms of reserves has been high but this policy can’t be evaluated just in terms of numbers. Once confidence is lost it can’t be easily restored. Then a lot of bad things can happen.”

3. Chinese government attacks own propaganda department | News | DW.COM After a two-month investigation into the work of the ruling Communist party’s Propaganda department, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) posted an article on its website on Thursday criticizing its work. “[The propaganda department] lacks depth in its research into developing contemporary China’s Marxism,” the report read. // The original- 中央第一巡视组向中央宣传部反馈专项巡视情况  Will culture be on the agenda for the upcoming 6th Plenum, as it was for the 6th Plenum of the 17th Party Congress in October 2011? If so, what new restrictions and regulations may be on the table?

4. China’s $10bn propaganda push spreads Down Under – FT.com China’s “soft power” strategy has for years funded Chinese language lessons in schools and supported local think-tanks. But now, as Beijing is raising hackles over territorial claims at sea, it is extending its propaganda tentacles into independent media. The Australian deals — which follow similar pacts with Washington Post, the UK’s Daily Telegraph and Le Figaro in France — illustrate that reach. China Watch, the new monthly pullout in Fairfax Media newspapers, marked its inaugural issue with favourable coverage of China, including an article backing Beijing in its stand-off over contested waters in the South China Sea.

5. Under new chief, China’s securities regulator pushes fixes ahead of MSCI deadline | Reuters The New York-based index provider will announce on June 14 if China has done enough to overcome investor concerns, which were heightened by its heavy-handed response last year to a stock market crash. A decision to allow yuan-denominated shares – or A shares – into its widely used Emerging Markets Index, could draw $400 billion into Chinese shares in the next decade, MSCI estimates show. Still, while China has met some key requirements of the MSCI, other concerns remain unaddressed, investors and people familiar with the discussions said, making the widely anticipated decision far from certain.  // Seems premature for MSCI to include given what has happened over the last year. China has to prove it is ready with a consistent track record, not just more reform promises, and ones made in just the last few months at that.

6. China’s Ridiculously Weak Legal Argument Against Complying with the South China Sea Arbitration Award-Dr. Julian Ku-Lawfare To weaken the legitimacy of any negative arbitral award, China has launched an impressive diplomatic and global public relations campaign denigrating the legal basis for the tribunal’s award. The Philippines has launched a much less impressive campaign in defense of the award that has mostly just asserted that China should “follow international law” without actually explaining why China’s legal arguments are wrong. While I have expressed strong criticism of the Philippines’ use of arbitration (and the U.S. role in supporting it) from a strategic perspective, I don’t have any such criticism of their legal arguments. China’s claim that it can legally ignore the pending arbitral award is not only wrong, it is legally insupportable. But because this claim is repeated again and again by Chinese diplomats, scholars, and journalists, outside observers might find China’s legal arguments persuasive or at least plausible. Indeed, a former Singaporean foreign minister has said so just this week. So as a public service to journalists, policy analysts, and other non-lawyers, I offer a simple legal primer on why China has a very weak, or even ridiculous, argument for why it is allowed to legally boycott the South China Sea arbitration.

Related: The Tribunal’s Award in the “South China Sea Arbitration” Initiated by the Philippines Is Null and Void – People’s Daily Online Chinese Society of International Law 10 June 2016

Related: Picking sides: A world of opinions on South China Sea case – AP a look at where dozens of countries stand

Related: The dangerous arbitration of Beijing-Manila dispute – The Jakarta Post Xie Feng China’s ambassador to Indonesia…seems like every PRC ambassador has to write an oped about this issue

Related: Musings on the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Opinion News & Top Stories – The Straits Times There was a third undercurrent. This was that the US would make a lot of noise but back off ultimately from taking any decisive action against China, should the arbitral panel rule overwhelmingly for the Philippines, and China ignores the decision. Indeed, in private conversation some Chinese were sure that their aggressive tailing of US patrol craft in the air and in the sea had already begun to have an impact on Washington, which did not wish to provoke an incident. But that, too, may be a miscalculation.

7. What China’s Big Nation Complex Means for the Future of Asia-War on the Rocks The past decade in the South China Sea (whether conceptualized in China as such or not) can also be seen as a giant experiment — a test of the international system. We should consider what lessons China takes from its experience. First, you are strongest when you change the facts on the ground (or on the seas). The map of the South China Sea is physically different now due to China’s extensive reclamation efforts. Other claimants are building, too, but the scale of their construction is miniscule in comparison. Second, you must be willing to lose in other areas in order to accomplish priority goals. China calculates that whatever punitive measures coming its way (if any) are tolerable in comparison to the value it attaches to its South China Sea claims. Third, being the number one trading partner, by far, with neighboring countries provides for significant leverage. And fourth, the international community may organize and may speak out with one voice, but then the years pass and actions, or lack thereof, speak louder than words. A consideration of these lessons is in order when we contemplate, as France’s defense minister advised, what might come next. Though his statements apply to the international legal system writ large, China’s actions were clearly the focus. China is not rushed. It is deliberate. As it gains strength and capability, and as its interests expand, it has pushed outward. China has core interests, of which the South China Sea is one, but so are Tibet, Xinjiang, and Taiwan. It has been describing them as such for many years. Observing the South China Sea, we see forward motion from China, permitted by the current international system. Why stop when no one is stopping you?

8. Xi Jinping’s economic inner circle comes under the spotlight | South China Morning Post A semi-official magazine has shone the light on President Xi Jinping’s inner circle of economic advisors, publishing long profiles of the officials yesterday ahead of a key party meeting this summer. The China Newsweek profiles of economist Liu He and his team from the General Office of the Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs highlighted the body’s influence as it presses ahead with the tough task of shifting the economy onto a sustainable and healthier track. It comes a month after Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily published an interview with an unnamed authoritative source on the future direction of the mainland’s economy and reform. // the original 中财办掌门人刘鹤：中国经济转型必然成功 

Related: 中南海智囊释信 北京给富人吃定心丸_中国-多维新闻网 作为公认的习近平的首席经济智囊，拥有多重身份的刘鹤，日前在发改委会议上再度强调产权保护法治化。这无疑释放出重要政治信号，此举被认为展现北京对促进民企发展、推动创业创新的重视，观察人士认为，更为重要的是，中南海的意图是给中国社会的富裕阶层吃“定心丸”。 据中国发改委网站6月6日的消息，北京时间5月31日，国家发展改革委党组副书记、副主任、中央财经领导小组办公室主任刘鹤，主持召开委内改革专题会议，研究推动今年中央交办改革任务，研究审议改革方案。会议研究审议的一项重要改革方案是产权保护法治化、促进创业投资发展。

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1. U.S., China Trade Barbs Over South China Sea at Shangri-La Dialogue – WSJ “The timing of this conference was very sensitive for China,” coming just ahead of the tribunal ruling, said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The Chinese were very much on the defensive.” A senior Chinese delegate admitted as much, saying they face an uphill task in overcoming foreign “propaganda” against Beijing. “International public opinion is still being controlled by the Western world,” said Maj. Gen. Jin Yinan, a professor at China’s National Defense University. “In such unfavorable circumstances, we must still do our best to use public forums to explain China’s position.” // no sign of any sort of solution, if anything further divergence and hardening of positions, grim

Related: Remarks on “Asia-Pacific’s Principled Security Network” at 2016 IISS Shangri-La Dialogue > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Singapore, June 04, 2016 // video of his speech and Q&A on Youtube

Related: Joint Press Conference with Secretary Carter, Adm. Harris and Adm. Richardson at the Shangri-la Dialogue, Singapore > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Secretary of Defense Ash Carter; Admiral Harry Harris, U.S. Pacific Command commander; Admiral John Richardson, chief of naval operations

Related: 孙建国在第十五届香格里拉对话会大会演讲全文 – 中国军网 full Chinese text of Adm. Sun Jianguo’s Shangri-La Dialogue Speech, video with translation here

Related: 北大教授质问美防长卡特为何抵近侦察 卡特结巴回应新闻腾讯网 CCTV News interviews with Jin Yinan, Lu Yin worth watching…such a concerted propaganda effort underway

Related: China refutes U.S. defense secretary’s China “self-isolation” claims – Xinhua A high-ranking Chinese military official Saturday refuted U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s “self-isolation” claims about China. “Carter’s claims are incorrect and do not accord with the actual situation,” Guan Youfei, director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the Chinese Central Military Commission, told the media. Guan’s comments came after Carter’s claims at the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue that China’s military activities in the South China Sea would isolate itself. Guan said the United States should learn lessons from the wars it had waged in the Asia-Pacific region after World War II and play a constructive role in the region.

Related: Kerry warns Beijing over air defense zone for South China Sea | Reuters “We would consider an ADIZ…over portions of the South China Sea as a provocative and destabilizing act which would automatically raise tensions and call into serious question China’s commitment to diplomatically manage the territorial disputes of the South China Sea,” Kerry said during a visit to Mongolia. // so Obama administration appears to have set red lines around an SCS ADIZ and any PRC moves to reclaim Scarborough Shoal/Huangyan Island? Expect Beijing to test if they are red dashed lines 

Related: Carter to visit Beijing, increase US-China security exercises – Pacific – Stripes At a press briefing in Singapore, U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Harry Harris said the exercises reflect a strategy of “cooperation where we can – but we have to confront [China] if we must,” Harris said. Harris said despite increased concern over China’s militarization of the South China Sea, “We’ve  seen positive behavior in the last several months with China. Every now and then …  you’ll see an incident in the air that we may judge to be unsafe – but those really over the course of time are rare.” “We want to cooperate with China in all domains as much as possible,” Harris said. As part of the White House’s “Pacific pivot,” Carter has visited the region five times in his 16 months in office, making it a top priority to shore up key alliances in response to a rising China.

Related: How to Bridge the Divide Over the South China Sea – Bloomberg View By Ambassador to US Cui Tiankai // Shorter version: “it is all America’s fault but China remains willing to talk as long as you submit to our terms”?

Related: China urges U.S., Japan to stop pointing fingers on South China Sea – Xinhua “Countries from outside should honor their commitments and not make irresponsible remarks on issues involving territorial sovereignty,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in Beijing in response to remarks of U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani at a security summit in Singapore. According to a press release from the ministry, during the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, Carter and Nakatani talked about the South China Sea issue and hurled unreasonable accusations at China. “We have noted relevant remarks. They were mostly repeating their old tunes, which have no fact in them and are full of groundless accusations against China’s legitimate construction activities on relevant islands and reefs.” Hua said.

Related: 社评：美日休想在南海纠集“新八国联军”评论环球网 中央军委联合参谋部副参谋长孙建国5日在新加坡香格里拉对话会上发表演讲，不点名批评美国一方面公然炫耀武力，一方面拉帮结派，支持其盟国对抗中国，压中国接受并执行南海仲裁案仲裁结果，中国对此坚决反对。另据《环球时报》了解，孙建国4日会见日本防卫官员时表示，“如果日方与美方在南海开展所谓联合巡航或其他军事行动，中方更不会坐视不理”。

Related: Obama tells Congress to ratify U.N. maritime rules in bid to back South China Sea position | The Japan Times “If we are truly concerned about China’s actions in the South China Sea for example, the Senate should help strengthen our case by approving the law of the sea convention,” Obama said. Obama’s call comes at a particularly sensitive time, ahead of a landmark international panel ruling on a dispute between the Philippines and China over the Spratly Islands.

Related: The Scholar’s Stage: China Does Not Want Your Rules Based Order Observers of Chinese affairs have come to recognize two uncomfortable truths. The first is that China is a growing power whose might will continue to grow in every dimension we can measure for decades. The second is that the Chinese system of government is a fundamentally illiberal one, and the system of international relations the leaders of this system prefer reflects their illiberalism. These two things are not determined in the stars; either may change, and may change quite suddenly. But Americans will be better served if we plan as if both of these truths will remain true to the end of our lives. This is not what we have been doing. For the most part Americans were able to accommodate themselves to the first of these realities by pretending that the second was not true. China could become more powerful, we said, because it will not be illiberal for long. After all, on this Earth the arc of history bends towards justice. Those on the ‘wrong side’ of history do not last long. How can the illiberal hope to endure?  Last spring it finally sunk in. Chinese illiberalism not only can endure, it is enduring. The old consensus cracked apart. No new consensus on how to deal with China has yet formed to take its place. // expect that any possible compromise by the US would be seen as and used by the PRC as more proof the US is a paper tiger, and be used by Beijing as another wedge between the US and its allies in the region. Clearly part of the PRC’s strategy here is to demonstrate to the other countries in the region that the US is an unreliable ally. Compromise that acknowledges and legitimizes China’s recent actions in the region would only serve to prove that point for the PRC.

2. U.S.-China Talks Set to Open With Fresh Concerns Over Beijing’s Sea Claims – WSJ New developments concerning North Korea will represent another source of strain at this week’s talks. The U.S. and China partnered earlier this year to enact tough sanctions on Pyongyang in response to continued arms and nuclear tests. But in a move that will add to the tension between the two powers, Washington took additional steps last week to further isolate North Korea from the global financial system that could bring Beijing and Washington into direct economic conflict. Pyongyang’s biggest trading partner—China—likely will feel the effects. “China has the ability to both create pressure and use that as a leverage that is a very important part of global efforts to isolate North Korea and get North Korea to change its policies,” a senior Treasury Department official told reporters in Seoul, where Mr. Lew stopped before heading to the talks. The official said Mr. Lew and others would urge China to up the pressure on Pyongyang to denuclearize. // hope this round of the S&ED does not disappoint the already low expectations…be wary of any hype around Bilateral Investment Treaty breakthroughs, would be nice if it happens but think a near impossibility in the current political climates in both countries

Related: Treasury’s Lew: China pause on reforms would have ‘very bad consequences’ | Reuters Lew, in an interview with Reuters in Seoul, said he would “keep the pressure” on Chinese officials during talks in Beijing next week to stick to their reform commitments and execute pledges to reduce excess industrial capacity that is distorting world markets. China faces diminished economic prospects in the medium and long term if it fails to continue its reforms, Lew said. “Frankly, if China takes a time-out or a step back on the reform agenda, that will have very bad consequences for China’s economy and it will flow over and not be good in terms of our bilateral economic relations,” Lew said.

Related: Commentary: 2016 China-U.S. dialogue is of “quintet” significance – Xinhua The eighth Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), which will be held in parallel with the seventh High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE), is of “quintet” significance as it takes place in a crucial year in which the United States is holding presidential elections and China is to host the Group of 20 (G20) summit.

Related: China, U.S. exchange views on maritime security, military relations – Xinhua The strategic security dialogue, co-chaired by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was attended by military and foreign affairs officials from both sides. The two sides discussed security issues relating to sovereignty, maritime interests, the Internet, space and military relations. They agreed that the two sides should continue dialogue and communication on security-related issues, enhance strategic trust and cooperation, properly handle differences, and push for a stable and cooperative China-U.S. strategic security relationship.

3. US Won’t Back Off On Korean Missile Defense, South China Sea: SecDef « Breaking Defense First, this month, South Korea and the US will probably announce the deployment of an American THAAD missile defense system to the peninsula. China has objected that a THAAD battery could potentially shoot down planes in Chinese airspace, not just North Korean missiles. Carter told the press repeatedly that “this is an alliance decision” about self-defense– in other words, Beijing shouldn’t worry and doesn’t get a vote. This is, after all, self-defense and the decisions of two treaty allies.

4. China’s Youth Think Tiananmen Was So 1989 | Foreign Policy It’s also not true that these five have been so exposed to state media that they lack the ability to think for themselves. All five have degrees from elite universities; they all have either studied, traveled to, or lived in other countries. But young people in China today are defined by two major characteristics: caution and ambition. Cui, a young auditor working for accounting firm Ernst & Young, told me the anniversary “isn’t directly related to me, or to my life. I don’t know any young people around me who care about the June fourth anniversary either.” Instead, Chinese youth “think about how to set our roots in the big cities and grab a better position for ourselves in the future. China is still developing fast, and the opportunities to have a better life are now or never,” Cui explained. “Who wants to risk losing everything we have achieved for a vague dream?”

5. U.S. Subpoenas Huawei Over Its Dealings in Iran and North Korea – The New York Times The United States Commerce Department is demanding that the company, based in the south China city of Shenzhen, turn over all information regarding the export or re-export of American technology to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria, according to a subpoena sent to Huawei and viewed by The New York Times. The subpoena is part of an investigation into whether Huawei broke United States export controls.

Related: China’s Huawei Coy About Its Ties to Israeli Firm – WSJ For the past seven years, Huawei has been developing technologies, some potentially sensitive, through a locally registered company called Toga Networks Ltd., according to former and current employees of both companies.

6. Mary Meeker’s new report shows how China supersizes the web-TechInAsia the report gives a great summary and overview of how China’s internet industry is so huge and so pervasive in everyday life – much more so than the US sector is for everyday Americans.

7. Chinese students ‘brainwashed by western theories’, say scholars – FT.com He Ganqiang, a retired economics professor at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics and one of the letter’s authors, said they had written the letter because “the westernisation of economics was one of the reasons for the Soviet Union’s collapse”. // this will help with reform…then again, how would a Marxist solve a debt problem?

8. 抗美援朝电视剧《三八线》上映 刘源任总顾问新闻腾讯网 “The 38th Parallel”, first TV series on China fighting the US in the Korean War (known in the PRC as “War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea”, Liu Yuan is chief advisor to the film…don’t assume Xi et al don’t just hate the US in their bones given everything they learned growing up  // “1950年6月25日凌晨，分裂的朝鲜半岛爆发了战争。次日，美军公开参战，致使朝鲜半岛的内战陷入国际化。6月27日，美国总统杜鲁门命令美国第七舰队开进中国台湾海峡，武装组织中国统一。1950年8月，美军飞机频繁侵入我领空，疯狂轰炸扫射，进行军事示威。” 电视剧《三八线》的故事在这一段旁白中展开，这是首部以抗美援朝为题材的电视剧，以鸭绿江边两个渔民的战争经历为切入点，再现了抗美援朝战争的跌宕起伏。

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The post The Sinocism China Newsletter – June 5, 2016 appeared first on The Nanfang.

1. Beijing works on air defence zone in South China Sea | South China Morning Post China is preparing an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea, two years after it announced a similar one in the East China Sea, according to sources close to the People’s Liberation Army and a defence report. But one source said the timing of any declaration would ­depend on security conditions in the region, particularly the United States’ military presence and diplomatic ties with neighbouring countries. “If the US military keeps making provocative moves to challenge China’s sovereignty in the region, it will give Beijing a good opportunity to declare an ADIZ in the South China Sea,” the source said. // SCMP has an OK track record with breaking PLA news, big deal if this report is correct

Related: PLA admiral to make China’s case at security forum | South China Morning Post Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army, would lead the delegation at the Shangri-La Dialogue, which runs from Friday to Sunday, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. Sun would deliver a speech and take part in bilateral and multilateral meetings with representatives from other countries, it said. US Defence Secretary Ash Carter will also attend the gathering, according to William Choong, the forum’s senior fellow of Asia-Pacific security.

2. Previewing the Strategic and Economic Dialogue with China – YouTube Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Catherine A. Novelli and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel brief the press on U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) followed by brief Q&A at the Department of State on May 31, 2016. // transcript

Related: A preview of the eighth U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue | Brookings Institution On May 24, the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings hosted U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs Nathan Sheets for a discussion on the U.S.-China economic relationship and engagement in preparation for the economic track of the upcoming eighth U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue (S&ED), to be held in Beijing in early June. Senior Fellow and Director of the Brookings China Center Cheng Li provided opening remarks and Senior Fellow David Dollar moderated the discussion.

Related: China to ‘pressure’ U.S. on maritime issues, paper says | Reuters “Beijing will pressure Washington over maritime issues during the upcoming Strategic and Economic Dialogue, as the United States’ increasing military presence in the South China Sea is among China’s major concerns,” the official China Daily said, citing unidentified officials.

3. Concern over China insurance rules ahead of talks with U.S. | Reuters Controversial cyber security regulations for China’s insurance industry, now before the World Trade Organization (WTO), could soon take effect despite efforts by foreign business groups to persuade Beijing to change tack. Those groups say the draft measures are vague and discriminatory, and industry experts say international insurers could be required to source substandard or insecure technology or software in order to do business in China, or use products incompatible with their global operations. // Anyone still think China has backed down on its goal to de-Americanize the country’s IT stack? If you do, I have a Beijing bridge for you, prime location, excellent deal, if you close quickly, in cash, payable offshore…

Related: Foreign Business Groups to Complain About Proposed Chinese Insurance Rules – WSJ Draft insurance rules are part of China’s broader push for control over technology suppliers

4. President Xi says China faces major science, technology “bottleneck” – Xinhua “The situation that our country is under others’ control in core technologies of key fields has not changed fundamentally, and the country’s S&T foundation remains weak,” Xi said at a Monday S&T conference. In his speech, which was made public in full on Tuesday, Xi set the target of China becoming a leading power in S&T by the middle of this century. “Currently, the state needs the strategic support of science and technology more urgently than any other time in the past,” said Xi.

Related: 为建设世界科技强国而奋斗–时政–人民网 ——在全国科技创新大会、两院院士大会、中国科协第九次全国代表大会上的讲话 （2016年5月30日） 习近平–full text of Xi’s science and technology speech

5. China releases new action plan to tackle soil pollution | Reuters The central government will set up a special fund to tackle soil pollution, as well as a separate fund to help upgrade technology and equipment in the heavy metal sector, the cabinet said in a statement on its website (www.gov.cn). // 国务院印发《土壤污染防治行动计划》going to need a lot of science and technology, in addition to political will, to clean up the soil pollution

Related: 解读“土十条”：亮点有哪些_政经频道_财新网 2016年5月31日，国务院印发《土壤污染防治行动计划》。这份环保界期待已久、简称为“土十条”的文件对今后一个时期中国土壤污染防治工作做出了全面战略部署。这是继水十条、大气十条后，中国在环境工作上新的行动指南。

Related: 盘前必读：土壤污染防治行动计划印发_金融频道_财新网 行动计划要求，到2020年，受污染耕地安全利用率达到90%左右

6. What to Make of the Newly Established CyberSecurity Association of China | Center for Strategic and International Studies With all these changes, the creation of the CyberSecurity Association of China (CSAC; 中国网络空间安全协会 ) on March 25 has received far less attention. Yet the CSAC is important, not only as a prominent example of President Xi and his chief cybersecurity deputy Lu Wei’s quest to align government, industry, and academia around a shared set of cyber-governance objectives, but also as a force for shaping both the present and future of Chinese cybersecurity policy and the PRC’s engagement with international stakeholders on cyber issues. This commentary contextualizes the creation of the CSAC within China’s broader drive to strengthen cyber governance and explores the purpose of the CSAC by looking at its mandate and stakeholders. We then assess early indications of its intentions and identify coming signposts to watch in order to gauge the impact of its establishment.

7. Donald Trump Soured on a Deal, and Hong Kong Partners Became Litigants – The New York Times Mr. Lo and Mr. Cheng invited Mr. Trump to dinner at the home of Mr. Cheng’s father, an uncommon honor in Chinese culture. But the evening was a trying experience for Mr. Trump. “He didn’t like the food, and couldn’t use chopsticks,” recalled Mr. Wallach, who was there. “The first course was a whole fish, with the head still on. You could see the face of the fish and the teeth, which really looked grotesque. The servant put the fish in front of Donald. Donald said, ‘The honor belongs to Abe.’ I took my chopsticks and began to pick at it.”

8. What Xi Jinping really said about Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong | Andrew Batson’s Blog I do not see much daylight between Xi Jinping and Deng Xiaoping in terms of their positions on Mao Zedong and Communist Party history. Xi is very much following in Deng’s footsteps here, though he may be departing from Deng’s legacy in other ways.

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The post The Sinocism China Newsletter – May 31, 2016 appeared first on The Nanfang.