Principia Discordia

Principia Discordia => Aneristic Illusions => Topic started by: Cain on April 02, 2012, 05:53:01 PM

Title: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 02, 2012, 05:53:01 PM
I don't follow Chinese politics or the Sinosphere as closely as I should.  This is terrible of me, I know.  On the other hand, I suspect I'm still more well-informed than the average pundit or generic foreign correspondent on the state of play in China, so there is that, at least.

The major news is that Bo Xilai, the highly controversial boss of Chongqing, was deposed two weeks ago.  Aptly enough on the Ides of March, though I think I'm the only one to specifically note that.  Bo had been upsetting modernisers for a long time with his retro use of Maoist slogans and propaganda, and his anti-corruption campaigns, which relied heavily on mass arrests and coerced confessions.  Bo was one of the CCP "princelings", and made no secret of his desire to gain a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee, no doubt supporting the "Chinese New Left" faction that heavily criticised the economic liberalisation of China.

Bo fell from grace when one of his top lieutenants apparently dropped off information at the Chengdu US consulate with proof that Bo was the "biggest gangster of them all" and allegedly tried to gain political asylum.

Bo was deposed from his Chongqin position, though he still retains his Politburo seat.  Still, on the Saturday following his removal and ritual scrubbing from the internet, a red Ferrari crashed in Beijing, and the word Ferrari was added to the censors.  That Bo's son was rumoured to enjoy reaching high speeds in his ref Ferrari (which his father insisted he does not own) has led to a flurry of speculation that Bo's son was taken out.

A British businessman and suspected SIS intelligence asset or bagman, Neil Heywood, was also found dead in Chongqing.  Heywood had significant links with Bo Xilai, so, of course, the rumours have been flying about that.

There were also disturbing rumours about a coup in Beijing around the 20th of March.  Taiwanese papers reported that security forces were massing in the capital, amid the sound of gunfire.  There are also rumours that open factional warfare has broken out within the Politburo.

Weibo, the Chinese Twitter, has been shut down, and several people arrested for "spreading false rumours" about a coup plot.   
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Doktor Howl on April 02, 2012, 05:55:17 PM
Interesting.

China offed Heywood, do you think?  Or was it more of a gangster thing?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 02, 2012, 05:59:52 PM
Could be either.  I tend towards the latter, though the Sinosphere's favourite theory was that Heywood "knew too much" and was bumped off by Bo's allies.

Of course, this is the same Sinosphere who assumed Heywood was the family butler at first, so that should give a clue as to their powers of observation.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 02, 2012, 06:14:34 PM
Cain, could you suggest any sources that would help get an idiots guide to politics in this part of the world? I have pretty much no idea where to begin or what could be regarded as trustworthy.

I've got an inherent suspicion of Taiwanese reports, but armed coups and changes with extreme prejudice aren't in the realms of implausible.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 02, 2012, 06:23:37 PM
Taiwan are actually on pretty good terms with China, nowadays.  It could all go to shit again, of course, but they're a lot closer than many observers realise.

I've found http://shanghaiist.com/ and http://bloodandtreasure.typepad.com/blood_treasure/ and http://chinamatters.blogspot.com/ and atimes.com and http://chinadigitaltimes.net/ to be pretty useful.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 02, 2012, 06:31:38 PM
Thanks, I'll try and get a handle on some of that. I'm pretty ignorant in this area. If stuff like this is going on though it probably deserves more attention than I've given it.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 03, 2012, 08:14:16 PM
Wang Jisi is China's top foreign affairs analyst.  Jisi speak, you listen

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/world/asia/chinese-insider-offers-rare-glimpse-of-us-china-frictions.html?ref=world

QuoteThe senior leadership of the Chinese government increasingly views the competition between the United States and China as a zero-sum game, with China the likely long-range winner if the American economy and domestic political system continue to stumble, according to an influential Chinese policy analyst.

China views the United States as a declining power, but at the same time believes that Washington is trying to fight back to undermine, and even disrupt, the economic and military growth that point to China's becoming the world's most powerful country, according to the analyst, Wang Jisi, the co-author of "Addressing U.S.-China Strategic Distrust, a monograph published this week by the Brookings Institution in Washington and the Institute for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University.

The United States is no longer seen as "that awesome, nor is it trustworthy, and its example to the world and admonitions to China should therefore be much discounted," Mr. Wang writes of the general view of China's leadership.

In contrast, China has mounting self-confidence in its own economic and military strides, particularly the closing power gap since the start of the Iraq war. In 2003, he argues, America's gross domestic product was eight times as large as China's, but today it is less than three times larger.

The candid writing by Mr. Wang is striking because of his influence and access, in Washington as well as in Beijing. Mr. Wang, who is dean of Peking University's School of International Studies and a guest professor at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, has wide access to senior American policy makers, making him an unusual repository of information about the thinking in both countries. Mr. Wang said he did not seek approval from the Chinese government to write the study, nor did he consult the government about it.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 03, 2012, 08:32:00 PM
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2012/0330_china_lieberthal/0330_china_lieberthal.pdf full text of the above.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: LMNO on April 03, 2012, 08:34:22 PM
So, the US is trying to :thunder, lightning: SOW DISCORD?


Honestly though, in what ways are the US disrupting China? by being massively in debt?

I guess I should read the whole Brookings release, huh?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 03, 2012, 09:08:05 PM
I presume it has more to do with the trade disputes, fake currency controversies and strategic positioning against China that have characterized Obama's administration.

Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on April 03, 2012, 10:40:20 PM
Fascinating information... this is a great thread, Cain. Thank you for starting it. I think people tend to see China as "The place wuts been taking all our jerbs" and I know that the common perception of it is as a third-world country rather than as a large re-emerging world power.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Deepthroat Chopra on April 04, 2012, 05:14:38 AM
I was reading about the Bo stuff in the Sydney Herald on the weekend. By default, I've pictured the Chinese government as a being a giant united front, where it's obvious from incidents such as these it's likely as pluralistic as any. In-fights, power struggles, factions, that are likely to get more dramatic as China continues to power up. They've done a decent job of keeping it behind bamboo curtains, unless it's just slackness and disinterest from our media's and their consumers.

Here we can get all the news we want about Santorum/Gingrich/Romney/Obama until we're sick of it, but I'd only ever heard of these two Chinese power-brokers and their factions last weekend. Which set of bickering politicians will be weilding the most influence over satellite countries like Australia in the near future?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: hirley0 on April 04, 2012, 05:22:51 AM
I do think the Chineese are honest business people &I do trust them.
i do not say the same about 2Km or 20Km tails from Across the water.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Deepthroat Chopra on April 04, 2012, 05:39:54 AM
Quote from: hirley0 on April 04, 2012, 05:22:51 AM
I do think the Chineese are honest business people &I do trust them.
i do not say the same about 2Km or 20Km tails from Across the water.

Wot? All of 'em? Ain't dat bein' a bit racialist?
                       
               
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 05, 2012, 01:53:37 PM
Quote from: Nigel on April 03, 2012, 10:40:20 PM
Fascinating information... this is a great thread, Cain. Thank you for starting it. I think people tend to see China as "The place wuts been taking all our jerbs" and I know that the common perception of it is as a third-world country rather than as a large re-emerging world power.

To be fair, a lot of it is still a third-world country.

But then again, any large country is going to have massive variation.  Depending on where you looked, and at what demographic, you could make the case for China, Russia, India, the USA and Brazil all being third world countries, or up and coming regional/global powers.  I mean, Russia does have Krokodil....but on the other hand, it's creating the first fifth-gen fighter outside of the USA.  And so on and so forth.  The Soviets back in the day used to use pictures of inner-city American life and treatment of blacks as proof of US political and social inferiority.

Also, an ally of Bo Xilai has been detained

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9180677/Chinese-billionaire-linked-to-Bo-Xilai-detained.html
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: navkat on April 05, 2012, 02:32:32 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on April 03, 2012, 08:34:22 PM
So, the US is trying to :thunder, lightning: SOW DISCORD?


I wish I were at my lappy and not on this silly phone. I got a sudden image of your face p'shopped onto the body of a caped, viking mage with thunder and lightening going off all around you. Someone WOMP this, please.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: LMNO on April 05, 2012, 05:58:11 PM
Make sure I have a big package, while you're at it.

[re-jack]

Quote from: Cain on April 05, 2012, 01:53:37 PM
To be fair, a lot of it is still a third-world country.

But then again, any large country is going to have massive variation.  Depending on where you looked, and at what demographic, you could make the case for China, Russia, India, the USA and Brazil all being third world countries, or up and coming regional/global powers.  I mean, Russia does have Krokodil....but on the other hand, it's creating the first fifth-gen fighter outside of the USA.  And so on and so forth.  The Soviets back in the day used to use pictures of inner-city American life and treatment of blacks as proof of US political and social inferiority.

Also, an ally of Bo Xilai has been detained

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9180677/Chinese-billionaire-linked-to-Bo-Xilai-detained.html

This is the only charge leveled, as far as I can find:
QuoteXu Ming, 41, is thought to have paid for Mr Bo's son, Bo Guagua, to study at Harrow, Oxford and now Harvard, according to a report
I must be off my meds, because how is that a crime?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 05, 2012, 06:02:11 PM
Scholarships given by foundations financed via a business ally to the son of a powerful political leader?  Sounds at the very least unethical to me.

Or a very good way of processing bribes.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: LMNO on April 05, 2012, 06:12:56 PM
These point you make.  They seem so... prescient.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 05, 2012, 06:15:14 PM
It is a fairly common way of making a bribe look legit.  I know an Italian journalist used to get people he had material on buy one of his paintings, for a massively above-market value price.  This could be a more subtle version of that.

On the other hand, given the number of fake and plaigarized PhDs involving Chinese businessmen and politicians children nowadays, to think this is only an isolated incident would be extremely naive.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 05, 2012, 06:19:39 PM
This paragraph, in Wang Jisai's paper, makes sense.

QuoteAmerican involvement in the "color revolutions" in Central Asian states and some other former Soviet states, as well as the American attitude toward the Arab Spring in 2011, have further solidified the notion that the United States would sabotage the rule of the CPC if it saw similar developments and opportunities in China.

One of Romney's foreign policy advisors helpfully said, not so long ago...

QuoteStripped of diplomatic niceties, the ultimate aim of the American strategy [toward China] is to hasten a revolution, albeit a peaceful one, that will sweep away China's one-party authoritarian state and leave a liberal democracy in its place.

So yeah.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: hirley0 on April 09, 2012, 07:41:46 AM
My A2 Lincoln ? NOt very Long
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Nephew Twiddleton on April 09, 2012, 05:40:49 PM
We need to abolish this one party dictatorship and replace it with a two party dictatorship!
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: navkat on April 10, 2012, 12:09:42 PM
That'll throw em off the scent for a couple centuries, at least!
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 14, 2012, 11:03:58 AM
http://offbeatchina.com/cultural-revolution-3-0-firmly-support-ccp-central-committee-becomes-new-internet-meme

Quote"Yalin Home Fabrics Flagship Store. We firmly support CCP Central Committee's decision regarding Bo Xilai. Spend 400 in our store and you can 100 back. To satisfy the people!"
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 15, 2012, 12:00:59 PM
"Anonymous China" quite possibly has some kind of US government sanction

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/ND14Ad01.html

QuoteThe high-profile intrusion into the e-mail server of China Electronics Import & Export Corporation by "Hardcore Charlie" may mark the coming out party for America's own band of patriotic hackers.

Documents obtained through the hack were posted on file-sharing sites. For the most part, they are a bewildering grab bag of seemingly inconsequential documents. One folder contains regulations concerning the privatization of public universities in Vietnam; another reveals the monthly salary of an English teacher working for Ivanhoe Copper in Myanmar.

Then there are the somewhat more disturbing documents: pages and pages of spreadsheets and US military Acrobat files detailing the recent movements of the quaintly-named "jingle trucks" operated by local companies delivering supplies to the network of US facilities inside Afghanistan. The documents are not marked secret, and the US government has apparently still not taken steps to remove them from the file-sharing services a week after they were posted.

QuoteBeyond these apocalyptic economic and military scenarios, we might also descend to the personal and political and point out that Google, a favorite target of Chinese cyber-attacks, is Obama's friend, indispensable ally, brain trust and source of personnel in the high-tech sector.

Connect the dots, and it is clear that the Obama administration, in its usual meticulous way, is escalating the rhetoric and preparing the public and the behind-the-scenes groundwork for major pushback against China in the cyber-arena.

Beyond moves in the legal arena such as the aggressive prosecution of the DuPont industrial espionage case - alleging that China orchestrated a program to steal DuPont's titanium dioxide technology - it is interesting to speculate what other moves the Obama administration might make.

The United States is undoubtedly already doing its best to penetrate China's government, military and scientific networks.

How could the US escalate, especially in the industrial and commercial sphere, where the US mindset is that everything worthwhile the Chinese have was stolen from us, so what's worth stealing back?

Maybe the answer is cyber-harassment, turning a blind eye - or actively egging on - non-government hackers to embarrass, inconvenience, humiliate and perhaps even destabilize the Chinese regime.

Consider this April 4 report by Emil Prodalinski at ZDNet on an explosion in hacking against China since a Twitter account was launched on March 30:

   
QuoteThe hacktivist group Anonymous now has a Chinese branch. An Anonymous China Twitter account was created late last month ... Boy have they been busy. Hundreds of Chinese government, company, and other general websites have been hacked and defaced in the span of a few days. A couple have also had their administrator accounts, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses posted publicly. On the hacked sites, the group even posted tips for how to circumvent the Great Firewall of China.

    A long Pastebin post lists all the websites that were targeted. It contains 327 websites in total, but an updated list, also on Pastebin, brings that number to 485. Most of these websites are operational once again, but many have been defaced a second time after they were brought back. Not all of them were hacked and defaced; some were treated with more viciousness than others. [8]

Prodalinski subsequently wrote that the attacks had not abated and China, in an interesting case of public relations jiu jitsu, was using the campaign as evidence that it was one of the world's many victims of cyber-misbehavior (and, by implication, not a major perpetrator):

QuoteWhile Anonymous was not specifically mentioned, it's obvious what China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was referring to during a briefing on Thursday, given the events during the last week. "First of all, China's Internet is open to all, users enjoy total freedom online. China has gained 500 million netizens and 300 million bloggers in a very short period of time, which shows the attraction and openness of China's Internet," spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement, according to CNN. "Secondly, the Chinese government manages the Internet according to law and regulations. Thirdly, certain reports prove again that China is a victim of Internet hacker attacks." [9]

It will be interesting to see how sympathetic the Obama administration will be if the Chinese government begins squealing to it about this outbreak of anti-PRC hacking.

Further reading of the article will reveal that "Hardcore Charlie" has said he is a friend of the leader of Lulzsec.  You know, the one who turned traitor and ran to the protection of the FBI?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 15, 2012, 12:21:33 PM
Lots of news coming in that Neil Heywood was killed by cyanide drops....source seems to be an American based, Chinese language news site, so I cannot speak as to how credible they are just yet.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: hirley0 on April 15, 2012, 09:07:59 PM
14:45pdT My coverage of the TV news coverage of Sea of Japan  ?  North China Sea.
in other words how long did it take for Cs to travel from 1
to the other?1 how much was there THERE?2 & WHEN WAS THE 1st TV
documentary of this event broadcast?3 WhiTch Country?idrift  (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,31346.msg1165174.html#msg1165174) frag  :fnord:
:45 North Korea attempted to orbit a satellite with an Unha (or "Galaxy", identified as "Unha 3") rocket from its new Sohae Satellite Launching Station near Tongchang-ri in the northwest corner of the country on April 12, 2012, REPORT :fnord:  (http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/)OBE2  :fnord:  (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,32003.0/msg,1165177.html)Me4 :fnord:  (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,31346.45/msg,1165174.html) {12:45:00 bT
:08 I DID NOT SEE: Rocket anywhere 11 ?TRUE only ocket Mine page2
yeah? i 4gotNOw i 'member Answer 4 How Long
Quote from: hirley0 on April 09, 2012, 07:41:46 AM
My A2 Lincoln ? NOt very Long
? i guess this is A  ^ READ UP ^ SERIAL
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 26, 2012, 05:36:56 PM
Heywood has been confirmed as not an intelligence agent on a British government payroll.

Those with half a brain will of course note this is not the same as him not being a British covert agent of some kind. 
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on April 27, 2012, 06:41:02 AM
Quote from: Cain on April 15, 2012, 12:00:59 PM
"Anonymous China" quite possibly has some kind of US government sanction

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/ND14Ad01.html

QuoteThe high-profile intrusion into the e-mail server of China Electronics Import & Export Corporation by "Hardcore Charlie" may mark the coming out party for America's own band of patriotic hackers.

Documents obtained through the hack were posted on file-sharing sites. For the most part, they are a bewildering grab bag of seemingly inconsequential documents. One folder contains regulations concerning the privatization of public universities in Vietnam; another reveals the monthly salary of an English teacher working for Ivanhoe Copper in Myanmar.

Then there are the somewhat more disturbing documents: pages and pages of spreadsheets and US military Acrobat files detailing the recent movements of the quaintly-named "jingle trucks" operated by local companies delivering supplies to the network of US facilities inside Afghanistan. The documents are not marked secret, and the US government has apparently still not taken steps to remove them from the file-sharing services a week after they were posted.

QuoteBeyond these apocalyptic economic and military scenarios, we might also descend to the personal and political and point out that Google, a favorite target of Chinese cyber-attacks, is Obama's friend, indispensable ally, brain trust and source of personnel in the high-tech sector.

Connect the dots, and it is clear that the Obama administration, in its usual meticulous way, is escalating the rhetoric and preparing the public and the behind-the-scenes groundwork for major pushback against China in the cyber-arena.

Beyond moves in the legal arena such as the aggressive prosecution of the DuPont industrial espionage case - alleging that China orchestrated a program to steal DuPont's titanium dioxide technology - it is interesting to speculate what other moves the Obama administration might make.

The United States is undoubtedly already doing its best to penetrate China's government, military and scientific networks.

How could the US escalate, especially in the industrial and commercial sphere, where the US mindset is that everything worthwhile the Chinese have was stolen from us, so what's worth stealing back?

Maybe the answer is cyber-harassment, turning a blind eye - or actively egging on - non-government hackers to embarrass, inconvenience, humiliate and perhaps even destabilize the Chinese regime.

Consider this April 4 report by Emil Prodalinski at ZDNet on an explosion in hacking against China since a Twitter account was launched on March 30:

   
QuoteThe hacktivist group Anonymous now has a Chinese branch. An Anonymous China Twitter account was created late last month ... Boy have they been busy. Hundreds of Chinese government, company, and other general websites have been hacked and defaced in the span of a few days. A couple have also had their administrator accounts, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses posted publicly. On the hacked sites, the group even posted tips for how to circumvent the Great Firewall of China.

    A long Pastebin post lists all the websites that were targeted. It contains 327 websites in total, but an updated list, also on Pastebin, brings that number to 485. Most of these websites are operational once again, but many have been defaced a second time after they were brought back. Not all of them were hacked and defaced; some were treated with more viciousness than others. [8]

Prodalinski subsequently wrote that the attacks had not abated and China, in an interesting case of public relations jiu jitsu, was using the campaign as evidence that it was one of the world's many victims of cyber-misbehavior (and, by implication, not a major perpetrator):

QuoteWhile Anonymous was not specifically mentioned, it's obvious what China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was referring to during a briefing on Thursday, given the events during the last week. "First of all, China's Internet is open to all, users enjoy total freedom online. China has gained 500 million netizens and 300 million bloggers in a very short period of time, which shows the attraction and openness of China's Internet," spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement, according to CNN. "Secondly, the Chinese government manages the Internet according to law and regulations. Thirdly, certain reports prove again that China is a victim of Internet hacker attacks." [9]

It will be interesting to see how sympathetic the Obama administration will be if the Chinese government begins squealing to it about this outbreak of anti-PRC hacking.

Further reading of the article will reveal that "Hardcore Charlie" has said he is a friend of the leader of Lulzsec.  You know, the one who turned traitor and ran to the protection of the FBI?

Whoaaaaa

That is fucked up. Unsurprising, but fucked up.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round
Post by: hirley0 on April 27, 2012, 02:38:08 PM
Yeah i think the 12 yeat Chinese ROUND{Astrology
has as much relevance as the 12 Month Middle Eastern thoughts
about what the future holds  & Although i AM not sure
As i recall this is the year of the dragon |=| Beware October ?
Or was it Augest?/?   /-/

As far as -Mail, my pdx.edu account has been turned off
i cant find the gals e-m on the web or i would write
3? i DO hope they{ the Chinese devise an OS | 4 usb  | no Hd
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 28, 2012, 06:22:32 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/world/asia/bo-xilai-said-to-have-spied-on-top-china-officials.html

QuoteOne political analyst with senior-level ties, citing information obtained from a colonel he recently dined with, said Mr. Bo had tried to tap the phones of virtually all high-ranking leaders who visited Chongqing in recent years, including Zhou Yongkang, the law-and-order czar who was said to have backed Mr. Bo as his potential successor. "Bo wanted to be extremely clear about what leaders' attitudes toward him were," the analyst said.

Tapping Zhou Yongkang is essentially the equivalent of tapping the Director of National Intelligence would be in the United States...if that's true, no wonder the Politburo wanted him done in.

Also note the mention of Fang Binxing.  You may know him as the man who invented the Great Firewall of China.

China has a highly sophisticated information operations system - far more so than almost any other country in the world.  The Great Firewall is not your average DNS-blacklisting method, far from it.  It's also allied with PR firms, the Ministry of Information, the police, large website owners, moderators, China's infamous troll army etc

A suspicious person might think that Bo or a network involving him was trying to usurp the control of information flow in Chinese society.  And the CCP thrive precisely because they consider every possible scenario, and act accordingly.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on May 12, 2012, 10:21:14 PM
It's been all but confirmed that Bo Xilai was on the shortlist for a CPC ruling seat before the crisis that deposed him.

In other news

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/world/asia/chinas-unique-economic-model-gets-new-scrutiny.html?hp&pagewanted=all

QuoteAfter the economies of Western nations imploded in late 2008, Chinese leaders began boasting of their nation's supremacy. Talk spread, not only in China but also across the West, of the advantages of the so-called China model — a vaguely defined combination of authoritarian politics and state-driven capitalism — that was to be the guiding light for this century.

But now, with the recent political upheavals, and a growing number of influential voices demanding a resurrection of freer economic policies, it appears that the sense of triumphalism was, at best, premature, and perhaps seriously misguided. Chinese leaders are grappling with a range of uncertainties, from the once-a-decade leadership transition this year that has been marred by a seismic political scandal, to a slowdown of growth in an economy in which deeply entrenched state-owned enterprises and their political patrons have hobbled market forces and private entrepreneurship.

"Many economic problems that we face are actually political problems in disguise, such as the nature of the economy, the nature of the ownership system in the country and groups of vested interests," said Zhang Ming, a political scientist at Renmin University in Beijing. "The problems are so serious that they have to be solved now and can no longer be put off." 

Clyde Prestowitz does an analysis on what the Chen Guangcheng debacle actually accomplished

http://prestowitz.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/08/double_debacle_in_beijing

QuoteWhat is clear is that a great sigh of relief went up from the U.S. delegation when the Chinese proceeded to move ahead with the Strategic and Economic Dialogue on schedule. There had been concern that they might postpone or call the whole thing off in response to the U.S. handling of Chen.

Perhaps out of gratitude and certainly to prove to themselves that it had all been worth the effort, the U.S. team then proceeded to present the Dialogue as an outstanding success -- one obviously worth the ambiguity with Chen.

So of what did all this success consist? According to the Wall Street Journal, China agreed to consider making changes to boost domestic consumption, to rely more on domestic consumption than investment or exports for growth, to boost dividends paid by state owned companies to the national treasury to support social spending that arguably will enable Chinese consumers to spend more of their earnings instead of saving, and slightly open the Chinese economy to additional competition.

For instance, foreign financial firms will now be allowed to increase their stake in Chinese firms to a maximum of 49 percent from the current 33 percent. There was also agreement to consider reducing some of the favorable export financing provided to Chinese exporters and thereby bring China's practice into conformity with global standards. China will also give consideration to removing or reducing advantageous financial and regulatory standards for state owned enterprises. And, although there was no Chinese commitment of any kind on currency valuation, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner could not repress the urge to point out that the yuan has appreciated by 13 percent in real terms over the past two years.

Some of this may indeed be useful, although Chinese and American analysts differ about the likely effects. Americans think increased Chinese consumption will boost U.S. exports and jobs. The Chinese don't believe that but think the increased consumption might make for more balanced and stable domestic growth. But in any case none of it is game changing in the least, partly because, as the Journal's Bob Davis was quick to note, none of the agreements to consider doing various things are at all binding on Beijing, or the United States for that matter.

More important, however, are the questions of framework, direction, and impact on long term wealth creation and power. Clinton could not repress a telling burst of clichés. "Our countries," she said, "have become thoroughly, inescapably interdependent." And, "the United States believes that a thriving China is good for America, and a thriving America is good for China."

I guess, she has to say that, but why does she particularly want to celebrate this interdependence? China is clearly doing its best to become less interdependent. And is it true that a thriving China is good for America and vice versa? Well, it may or may not be true. It depends on circumstances. And Clinton's job is quintessentially to assure that circumstances in China are favorable to making America thrive and perhaps making America less interdependent.

At the moment, the circumstances are such that most of the incentives in the U.S. -China relationship are to move the production of tradable goods and the provision of tradable services and the related jobs out of the United States to China. Under those circumstances a thriving China does not necessarily result in a thriving America. What are those incentives? Regardless of Geithner's praise of the revaluation of the yuan in real terms, it is still undervalued. Moreover, the markets know that the Chinese can and will increase the undervaluation whenever it suits them.

So the initiative and the dynamics are with China. Investment incentives of both the financial and administrative guidance type are set in a pro-China anti-America direction. In many industries like avionics and aerospace, it is clear to market players that if they want to sell in China they will need to produce in China because of both overt and covert Buy China policies and attitudes. By the same token, it is also the case that China provides very aggressive tax, investment grant, and other financial investment incentives that are usually unmatched by the United States. The use by China of Value Added Taxes combined with their non-existence in the United States is a powerful incentive to move production to China.

Until these fundamental factors change, no amount of agreements to consider having state owned enterprises pay more dividends to the Chinese national treasury and to allow foreign financial firms to invest up to 49 percent in Chinese firms is going to change any important trajectories. In particular, they will not change the trajectory of loss of American wealth producing capability and global influence.

Not only have our "top diplomats" led by Clinton given us a feckless performance in Beijing. They are leading to nowhere in particular. They are captives of the status quo, of slogans and shibboleths and the march of events. No one is thinking. They're all too busy doing Dialogues.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on May 12, 2012, 10:26:12 PM
Interesting.  Bo Xilai's fall means that China appears to be allowing much greater discussion about the negative aspects of the Cultural Revolution - Bo being on the left of the CPC meant he thought it was great, and made constant reference to it.  Interesting way of delegitimizing Bo without being explicit about it.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on May 16, 2012, 07:14:43 PM
Suicide bombing in China

http://english.caixin.com/2012-05-14/100390024.html

QuoteOn the day of the blast, both state-run national and local media reported that a local woman carrying her one-year-old son detonated explosives at the meeting after failing to reach an agreement with officials over forced evictions and relocation plans.

A reporter with the Kunming-based Spring City Evening News, Huang Xingneng, wrote on his microblogging account May 10, "Witnesses at the explosion site said they saw a woman ignite explosives after she was told her family would not be given compensation for her demolished home."
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Doktor Howl on May 16, 2012, 07:26:01 PM
Quote from: Cain on May 16, 2012, 07:14:43 PM
Suicide bombing in China

http://english.caixin.com/2012-05-14/100390024.html

QuoteOn the day of the blast, both state-run national and local media reported that a local woman carrying her one-year-old son detonated explosives at the meeting after failing to reach an agreement with officials over forced evictions and relocation plans.

A reporter with the Kunming-based Spring City Evening News, Huang Xingneng, wrote on his microblogging account May 10, "Witnesses at the explosion site said they saw a woman ignite explosives after she was told her family would not be given compensation for her demolished home."

You can only push people so far.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on May 20, 2012, 12:14:25 PM
More proof of Chinese developement

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/18/state-tv-host-offers-advice-on-how-to-throw-out-foreign-trash/

QuoteThe Public Security Bureau wants to clean out the foreign trash: To arrest foreign thugs and protect innocent girls, they need to concentrate on the disaster zones in [student district] Wudaokou and [drinking district] Sanlitun. Cut off the foreign snake heads. People who can't find jobs in the U.S. and Europe come to China to grab our money, engage in human trafficking and spread deceitful lies to encourage emigration. Foreign spies seek out Chinese girls to mask their espionage and pretend to be tourists while compiling maps and GPS data for Japan, Korea and the West. We kicked out that foreign bitch and closed Al-Jazeera's Beijing bureau. We should shut up those who demonize China and send them packing.

It seems to me at least that every advanced country has a core of reactionary media blowhards who hate foreigners.  Admittedly, his delivery is a bit rough around the edges, but this is new territory for China, it's going to take time for these things to become more polished and smooth.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Doktor Howl on May 22, 2012, 11:53:07 PM
Quote from: Cain on May 20, 2012, 12:14:25 PM
More proof of Chinese developement

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/18/state-tv-host-offers-advice-on-how-to-throw-out-foreign-trash/

QuoteThe Public Security Bureau wants to clean out the foreign trash: To arrest foreign thugs and protect innocent girls, they need to concentrate on the disaster zones in [student district] Wudaokou and [drinking district] Sanlitun. Cut off the foreign snake heads. People who can't find jobs in the U.S. and Europe come to China to grab our money, engage in human trafficking and spread deceitful lies to encourage emigration. Foreign spies seek out Chinese girls to mask their espionage and pretend to be tourists while compiling maps and GPS data for Japan, Korea and the West. We kicked out that foreign bitch and closed Al-Jazeera's Beijing bureau. We should shut up those who demonize China and send them packing.

It seems to me at least that every advanced country has a core of reactionary media blowhards who hate foreigners.  Admittedly, his delivery is a bit rough around the edges, but this is new territory for China, it's going to take time for these things to become more polished and smooth.

:lulz:

Has anyone seen Enrico?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Anna Mae Bollocks on May 23, 2012, 01:12:15 AM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 22, 2012, 11:53:07 PM
Quote from: Cain on May 20, 2012, 12:14:25 PM
More proof of Chinese developement

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/18/state-tv-host-offers-advice-on-how-to-throw-out-foreign-trash/

QuoteThe Public Security Bureau wants to clean out the foreign trash: To arrest foreign thugs and protect innocent girls, they need to concentrate on the disaster zones in [student district] Wudaokou and [drinking district] Sanlitun. Cut off the foreign snake heads. People who can't find jobs in the U.S. and Europe come to China to grab our money, engage in human trafficking and spread deceitful lies to encourage emigration. Foreign spies seek out Chinese girls to mask their espionage and pretend to be tourists while compiling maps and GPS data for Japan, Korea and the West. We kicked out that foreign bitch and closed Al-Jazeera's Beijing bureau. We should shut up those who demonize China and send them packing.

It seems to me at least that every advanced country has a core of reactionary media blowhards who hate foreigners.  Admittedly, his delivery is a bit rough around the edges, but this is new territory for China, it's going to take time for these things to become more polished and smooth.

:lulz:

Has anyone seen Enrico?

:spittake:









Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Prince Glittersnatch III on May 23, 2012, 02:26:06 AM
Quote from: Cain on May 20, 2012, 12:14:25 PM
More proof of Chinese developement

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/18/state-tv-host-offers-advice-on-how-to-throw-out-foreign-trash/

QuoteThe Public Security Bureau wants to clean out the foreign trash: To arrest foreign thugs and protect innocent girls, they need to concentrate on the disaster zones in [student district] Wudaokou and [drinking district] Sanlitun. Cut off the foreign snake heads. People who can't find jobs in the U.S. and Europe come to China to grab our money, engage in human trafficking and spread deceitful lies to encourage emigration. Foreign spies seek out Chinese girls to mask their espionage and pretend to be tourists while compiling maps and GPS data for Japan, Korea and the West. We kicked out that foreign bitch and closed Al-Jazeera's Beijing bureau. We should shut up those who demonize China and send them packing.

It seems to me at least that every advanced country has a core of reactionary media blowhards who hate foreigners.  Admittedly, his delivery is a bit rough around the edges, but this is new territory for China, it's going to take time for these things to become more polished and smooth.

For a first time gig this shows a lot of promise. He managed to combine the "stealing our women" meme with the "commiecapitalist infiltrator" meme.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Doktor Howl on May 23, 2012, 02:27:27 AM
Quote from: Prince Glittersnatch III on May 23, 2012, 02:26:06 AM
Quote from: Cain on May 20, 2012, 12:14:25 PM
More proof of Chinese developement

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/18/state-tv-host-offers-advice-on-how-to-throw-out-foreign-trash/

QuoteThe Public Security Bureau wants to clean out the foreign trash: To arrest foreign thugs and protect innocent girls, they need to concentrate on the disaster zones in [student district] Wudaokou and [drinking district] Sanlitun. Cut off the foreign snake heads. People who can't find jobs in the U.S. and Europe come to China to grab our money, engage in human trafficking and spread deceitful lies to encourage emigration. Foreign spies seek out Chinese girls to mask their espionage and pretend to be tourists while compiling maps and GPS data for Japan, Korea and the West. We kicked out that foreign bitch and closed Al-Jazeera's Beijing bureau. We should shut up those who demonize China and send them packing.

It seems to me at least that every advanced country has a core of reactionary media blowhards who hate foreigners.  Admittedly, his delivery is a bit rough around the edges, but this is new territory for China, it's going to take time for these things to become more polished and smooth.

For a first time gig this shows a lot of promise. He managed to combine the "stealing our women" meme with the "commiecapitalist infiltrator" meme.

He seems to have a firm grasp of the basics, yes.  :lulz:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on May 25, 2012, 08:24:40 AM
Part-time jobs going in China for tall, white, male, Jewish, Harvard-educated fluent Mandarin speakers.

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/23/the_worlds_most_racist_job_ad

QuoteI hope all is going well with you. The reason I'm contacting you is because today I had a meeting with a contact of mine (deleted) who asked me for some assistance in finding people for some part-time work in Beijing. Essentially they are in the business of (deleted.) They are looking for some Americans to act as assistants in meetings with potential investors, and essentially act as the "white face" to give some more credibility to the project. He said it would need assistance for about 3-4 meetings per month, maybe more, maybe less - it all depends on how the business goes. Of course this will be a paid job, but I have not discussed any payment amount or payment terms so you would have to negotiate that yourself. 

The first requirement of the job is that you must be an advanced Mandarin Chinese speaker, since the meetings will all be with Chinese people. Also men only, no females. The other requirement is that you must have some sort of background that Chinese people typically value. My contact is (deleted) and is slightly obsessed with Jewish people and thinks they are the smartest, so he naturally prefers this person to be Jewish. If he can't get someone Jewish, he would also like someone who went to a famous university -- Harvard, Yale, etc. Besides those 2 qualifications, I'm sure he'd be happy with someone who has some sort of connection to someone famous or important, or maybe someone who is really tall and handsome. Basically any characteristic that Chinese people are impressed by - he is looking for in this person. Of course it wouldn't hurt if this person was good-looking, well-dressed, etc. - I think you can get it.  (deleted).
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: hirley0 on May 25, 2012, 11:12:31 AM
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/22/world_of_fakes


Yeah, new 21St cent song writers have a place to stand!


C.H.2ch4- :fnord:   (http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,11728.1230/msg,1175466.html)
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on May 31, 2012, 12:25:31 PM
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cef3a89a-a9a9-11e1-a6a7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1wJ96ki3t

Quote"Around 1,000 migrant workers rushed the government office building, turning over an iron fence gate and damaging over a dozen cars with stones and bricks," Xinhua's English language report said.

"Local government sources said the protest was sparked by the death of 19-year-old migrant worker Yang Zhi, allegedly killed by his employer Xu Qiyin during a dispute over salary," it said.

The protest ended just before midday after the family of the dead man was given 300,000 yuan ($47,300) in compensation, Xinhua said.

The usual Chinese construction sham is "payment upon completion", which usually involves being jumped by the hired goons of the employer on the way to pick up your wages.

Instead of doing that, the workers banded together and put pressure on the local government to initiate the change they wanted.  Smart, and political.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 09, 2012, 10:20:29 PM
Gu Kailai's trial for the killing of British businessman Neil Heywood is over.

According to a court official, she did not deny the charges.

My personal belief is, regardless of who killed Heywood, Kailai is being used as a stand-in for Bo.  The Chinese government has a strict no bloodshed rule within its own top ranks, because...well, look at how bloody things were when there was no rule like that.  That means executing Bo Xilai is a no-go, even if he was attempting to usurp China's strategic information management infrastructure for his own ends, as I speculated above.

But you can't just let people off that easy.  There needs to be some deterrent.  So executing Kailai will send a suitable warning to all the other Ambitious Young Things who want to play at subterfuge: if you get caught, your family will suffer the consequences.

Now, we don't know for sure what verdict the court will pass.  But given how Kailai has been villified in the press and on the internet, her prospects do not look good.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Nephew Twiddleton on August 09, 2012, 10:32:51 PM
Comsidering that china executes more people than all other nations combined id say her  prospects arent good.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 09, 2012, 10:48:32 PM
The Supreme Court did ban executions for two years in 2011, except in the most serious of cases.

I think it all depends exactly how hardball they want to play this game.  The argumemt could be made that the heinous murder of a foreign investor at the hands of the wife of a member of the political elite is exceptionally serious (on economic grounds) while avoiding the unspoken, yet real reason for why it would be administered.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Nephew Twiddleton on August 09, 2012, 10:51:31 PM
Huh. I must have missed the two year ban thing.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Golden Applesauce on August 11, 2012, 04:50:24 PM
Probably a bit late to be asking this  -

I understand that the murder case is a proxy issue for internal power struggles, but why would anyone kill Neil Heywood in the first place? Was he just incidental to this whole thing, or did he have some importance in his own right that would make assassinating him beneficial for Bo Xilai's faction or the Party leadership?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 11, 2012, 04:52:14 PM
Notes from the trial:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/china_law_prof_blog/2012/08/unofficial-report-of-proceedings-in-the-gu-kailai-trial.html

QuoteHeywood thereupon sent an email to Bo Guagua demanding 10% of his expected profit, i.e., 14 million pounds. Bo Guagua conceded that his family should bear partial responsibility, but there was a great deal of disagreement over the specific amount. After a number of communications back and forth that produced no result, Heywood turned to threats, and held Bo Guagua in soft detention (软禁) at his [referent unclear] home in England, using this to pressure Gu Kailai.

Bo Guagua then telephoned his mother to report his having been detained and kidnapped. Gu was afraid of her son being kidnapped and killed [or] suffering bodily harm. First, she reported the case to the Chongqing police, and the then police chief, Wang Lijun, took the case. But because the case took place in England, and there was not any solid proof, it was impossible to take coercive measures. This then gave her the motive for getting rid of Heywood in order to protect her son.

QuoteGu Kailai entered Heywood's room by herself while the other three waited outside. She drank together with him – about 350 ml. of 80-proof (40% alcohol) whiskey. Heywood's alcohol tolerance was low, and he got drunk and vomited (a great deal of vomit was found on the scene). He was woozy and lost the ability to resist. At this point Zhang Xiaojun came onto the scene of the crime and gave the poison to Gu Kailai. He also dragged Heywood from the bathroom to the bed. When Heywood wanted water after vomiting, Gu Kailai took the opportunity to give him the poison. She also dumped at the scene some drugs she had prepared beforehand in order to create the impression that Heywood was a drug dealer. When the two discovered the Heywood had no blood pressure (they could not be sure he was dead), they left the scene. Gu switched on the "Do Not Disturbed" indicator and told the hotel staff that Heywood was drunk and was not to be disturbed. At 11:38 p.m. that evening, the four left the scene.

Essentially, the story we are getting here paints Gu Kailai as a somewhat psychopathic Big Mama Bear type. 

I'm not sure why Heywood would agree to have drinks with the Party Secretary's wife after threatening harm to her son, on her home turf, but people do do stupid things like that.

Either way, it looks like the sentence is probably going to be relatively lenient - the comments about how Heywood has to bear some of the responsibility for his own murder are especially suggestive of this.  Also Gu Kailai made some reference to "other people's crimes" - could just be desperately making shit up, but then again, she could have legitimate info.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 11, 2012, 04:58:34 PM
Quote from: Golden Applesauce on August 11, 2012, 04:50:24 PM
Probably a bit late to be asking this  -

I understand that the murder case is a proxy issue for internal power struggles, but why would anyone kill Neil Heywood in the first place? Was he just incidental to this whole thing, or did he have some importance in his own right that would make assassinating him beneficial for Bo Xilai's faction or the Party leadership?

See above.  Apparently Heywood was threatening Bo's son, so Gu Kailai murdered him.

I don't know how much I trust that story, but it makes a superficial amount of sense.  I understand Heywood had business contacts in China, so perhaps there is an economic angle to it all.  Or it could be just as simple as that.

I definitely don't trust Heywood's bodyguard's account of events though, especially his fantastic account of fighting off three Chinese assassins in Bournemouth.  If you want someone in Bournemouth dead, you see the Somalis, for starters.  And they'll show up with guns, not elite kung fu skillz like these purported assassins did.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on August 11, 2012, 06:35:21 PM
That is a really interesting tale... it's like something from a movie.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 19, 2012, 09:53:15 PM
Riots in China over the Japanese nationalists occupying the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.

Naturally, the usual idiots are coming out of the woodwork and claiming that the riots are sponsored by the Chinese government.  This position, the ever-tedious one that Chinese citizens are empty vessels for the positions of the Communist Party, is rather undermined by two basic facts: news of the riots is being suppressed in the Chinese media, and the main form the protest is taking is destroying Japanese cars - and the Chinese police use Japanese cars, and have been targeted.

There is an even more insidious/stupid theory, that somehow the Chinese government had a hand in instigating the Japanese nationalists.  Sometimes, you know, the Chinese government isn't actually responsible for everything that happens in China, and isn't always the bad guy.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on August 19, 2012, 10:03:08 PM
Quote from: Cain on August 19, 2012, 09:53:15 PM
Riots in China over the Japanese nationalists occupying the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.

Naturally, the usual idiots are coming out of the woodwork and claiming that the riots are sponsored by the Chinese government.  This position, the ever-tedious one that Chinese citizens are empty vessels for the positions of the Communist Party, is rather undermined by two basic facts: news of the riots is being suppressed in the Chinese media, and the main form the protest is taking is destroying Japanese cars - and the Chinese police use Japanese cars, and have been targeted.

There is an even more insidious/stupid theory, that somehow the Chinese government had a hand in instigating the Japanese nationalists.  Sometimes, you know, the Chinese government isn't actually responsible for everything that happens in China, and isn't always the bad guy.

CT has never been about the facts.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 19, 2012, 10:08:23 PM
Of course.  Watching people twist themselves in knots trying to blame the CCP for things it's not guilty of, when the list of things it is guilty of is damning enough, is rather amusing though.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 20, 2012, 03:06:15 AM
Gu Kailai gets a suspended death sentence.  According to the BBC, these are usually commuted to life imprisonment.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on September 01, 2012, 10:14:22 PM
Oh LOL

http://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/how-china-sees-america/

QuoteAmerican theories of international relations have become popular among younger Chinese policy analysts, many of whom have earned advanced degrees in the United States. The most influential body of international relations theory in China is so-called offensive realism, which holds that a country will try to control its security environment to the full extent that its capabilities permit. According to this theory, the United States cannot be satisfied with the existence of a powerful China and therefore seeks to make the ruling regime there weaker and more pro-American. Chinese analysts see evidence of this intent in Washington's calls for democracy and its support for what China sees as separatist movements in Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on September 05, 2012, 03:20:32 PM
Another suicide bombing in China

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/731038.shtml

QuoteA villager in Shandong Province detonated a home-made bomb in front of the town government building on Monday morning, killing himself and injuring six over medical compensation dispute.

Qu Huaqiang from Tengjia town, Shandong, had previously threatened to blow up the local government building if he was not compensated, according to Chinese media
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Prince Glittersnatch III on September 05, 2012, 11:47:49 PM
Quote from: Cain on September 05, 2012, 03:20:32 PM
Another suicide bombing in China

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/731038.shtml

QuoteA villager in Shandong Province detonated a home-made bomb in front of the town government building on Monday morning, killing himself and injuring six over medical compensation dispute.

Qu Huaqiang from Tengjia town, Shandong, had previously threatened to blow up the local government building if he was not compensated, according to Chinese media

Are these incidents being reported by the national media and inspiring copy-cats, or is the Chinese media censoring it and its just a case of people completely independent of each other snapping at the same time?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on September 06, 2012, 12:10:48 AM
Well, I got that from a Chinese news site, so I doubt it is being censored.  And it has sparked something of a debate in China, over so-called "petitioning syndrom", the apparent Chinese inclination to go to extreme measures over percieved injustice by the authorities.

Assuming that is in fact a cultural trait in China, the prevalence of such bombings could have something to do with the materials for a home made bomb being readily available in most rural areas.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on September 16, 2012, 12:25:05 AM
More anti-Japanese riots.  "Free rage eggs" are being handed out at the Beijing protest.

No, really

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/09/15/161191153/anti-japan-protests-erupt-in-china-over-disputed-islands?sc=tw&cc=share

QuoteClose to the demonstration in Beijing on Saturday, cartons of "free rage eggs" were being given out for protesters to throw at the embassy.

Apparently there have been violent protests in 40 Chinese cities today.  I very much doubt the government there will let this continue.  There has already been a groundswell of "patriotic criticism" of rioters and looters.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on September 16, 2012, 04:25:53 AM
They are UNINHABITED ROCKS. Just to heighten the absurdity of all this.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on September 16, 2012, 05:43:31 AM
Who just happen to be sitting on possible oil reserves.

Oh, and were historically owned by a country which was cruelly invaded and pillaged by another country, which to this day still downplays the atrocities it committed against the former.  And the islands were purchased by a man who denies the worst of those crimes even occured at all, loudly and repeatedly.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on September 16, 2012, 03:54:38 PM
Quote from: Cain on September 16, 2012, 05:43:31 AM
Who just happen to be sitting on possible oil reserves.

Oh, and were historically owned by a country which was cruelly invaded and pillaged by another country, which to this day still downplays the atrocities it committed against the former.  And the islands were purchased by a man who denies the worst of those crimes even occured at all, loudly and repeatedly.

That makes the brouhaha make a lot more sense.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on September 16, 2012, 05:11:32 PM
Yes.  According to the Tokyo Governor, who kicked up this fuss with his purchase of the islands, the Rape of Nanking never happened, it was a vicious lie spread about by enemies of the Glorious Japanese Empire.

For about a thousand years or so, the islands were considered, by treaty and custom, a Chinese territory.  The Japanese took over in one of their bouts of expansionist insanity in the 19th century, I believe, taking advantage of China's "collapse the Kingdom of Heaven every 50 years" policy of continual civil wars.

It's worth noting that entire region is a clusterfuck of competing claims, with Russia and Japan claiming the same islands, China and Japan, South Korea and Japan and....well, you can see a pattern here.  And given Japan's compete and utter inability to accept the historical record the rest of the world does, they will never break down and admit these islands were captured as part of a policy of imperialism and conquest.

Japanese revisionism is going to be a major headache in the coming years.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on November 02, 2012, 08:50:53 AM
So, the next ruler of China is pretty rich on the quiet:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-29/xi-jinping-millionaire-relations-reveal-fortunes-of-elite.html

Quote
Xi Jinping Millionaire Relations Reveal Fortunes of Elite
By Bloomberg News - 2012-06-29T07:32:32Z

Xi Jinping, the man in line to be China's next president, warned officials on a 2004 anti-graft conference call: "Rein in your spouses, children, relatives, friends and staff, and vow not to use power for personal gain."

As Xi climbed the Communist Party ranks, his extended family expanded their business interests to include minerals, real estate and mobile-phone equipment, according to public documents compiled by Bloomberg.

Those interests include investments in companies with total assets of $376 million; an 18 percent indirect stake in a rare- earths company with $1.73 billion in assets; and a $20.2 million holding in a publicly traded technology company. The figures don't account for liabilities and thus don't reflect the family's net worth.

No assets were traced to Xi, who turns 59 this month; his wife Peng Liyuan, 49, a famous People's Liberation Army singer; or their daughter, the documents show. There is no indication Xi intervened to advance his relatives' business transactions, or of any wrongdoing by Xi or his extended family.

While the investments are obscured from public view by multiple holding companies, government restrictions on access to company documents and in some cases online censorship, they are identified in thousands of pages of regulatory filings.

The trail also leads to a hillside villa overlooking the South China Sea in Hong Kong, with an estimated value of $31.5 million. The doorbell ringer dangles from its wires, and neighbors say the house has been empty for years. The family owns at least six other Hong Kong properties with a combined estimated value of $24.1 million.

At first glance, this seems to be just an informative but not especially interesting piece on the Chinese financial elite.  No major hints of corruption etc

But then!

http://shanghaiist.com/2012/10/30/bloomberg_reporter_received_death_t.php

QuoteLeta Hong Fincher (previously), who is married to Bloomberg reporter Mike Forsythe, has revealed on Twitter that their family received death threats after Forsythe's dramatic Xi Jinping expose, which also resulted in Bloomberg being harmonised off the Chinese internet.

Associates of Xi's family apparently did not take kindly to having their assets discussed in the world news.

All of this means this story is far more important than the New York Times' piece on the assets of Wen Jiabao, which they are hilariously trumpeting as the most importance piece of investigative journalism since the Pentagon Papers.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Prince Glittersnatch III on November 02, 2012, 05:03:55 PM
Damn, between this and that guy who ordered the attack on Google I think China may have the most easily butthurt politicians in the world.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on November 03, 2012, 10:27:40 PM
It certainly seems to be competing with the USA, Russia and Iran for those honours.
Title: China gets MAYAN CALENDAR FEVER
Post by: Cain on December 13, 2012, 10:22:08 AM
Oh yes

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-12/11/content_16007713.htm

I like how the guy building the arks has confused the Mayan calendar prophecies with the film 2012, too.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on December 16, 2012, 09:37:29 PM
I am confused about why people are so willing to believe that the Mayans accurately predicted the end of the world, when they failed to predict the end of their own civilization.

Also, I really hope the world doesn't end on the 21st, because I'm having a dinner party that night.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on January 12, 2013, 11:42:42 AM
Because WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS.

Kinda like how the Egyptians could predict the end of the world, but not the battlefield tactics of Alexander the Great.  That sorta thing.

Anyway....

http://www.businessinsider.com/china-fighter-jet-flights-diaoyu-senkaku-islands-2013-1

QuoteAfter repeatedly flying surveillance aircraft into disputed airspace with Japan, and Tokyo scrambling F-15s in response, China's now sending fighters of its own on "routine flights" into the East China Sea.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on January 12, 2013, 07:20:23 PM
Quote from: Cain on January 12, 2013, 11:42:42 AM
Because WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS.

Kinda like how the Egyptians could predict the end of the world, but not the battlefield tactics of Alexander the Great.  That sorta thing.

Anyway....

http://www.businessinsider.com/china-fighter-jet-flights-diaoyu-senkaku-islands-2013-1

QuoteAfter repeatedly flying surveillance aircraft into disputed airspace with Japan, and Tokyo scrambling F-15s in response, China's now sending fighters of its own on "routine flights" into the East China Sea.

OK, that REALLY doesn't seem good.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on March 08, 2013, 12:16:49 AM
This amuses:

QuoteIronically, the children of army officers seem especially pudgy. The teachers at a senior academy attached to an army base described their bullet-headed charges to me as looking like 'stubby wobbling penises,' and held private competitions as to which student was the most 'sausagey'

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/living-together/james-palmer-chinese-youth/
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on March 08, 2013, 12:32:35 AM
Quote from: Cain on March 08, 2013, 12:16:49 AM
This amuses:

QuoteIronically, the children of army officers seem especially pudgy. The teachers at a senior academy attached to an army base described their bullet-headed charges to me as looking like 'stubby wobbling penises,' and held private competitions as to which student was the most 'sausagey'

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/living-together/james-palmer-chinese-youth/

:lulz:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Aucoq on March 08, 2013, 02:17:59 PM
Quote from: Cain on March 08, 2013, 12:16:49 AM
This amuses:

QuoteIronically, the children of army officers seem especially pudgy. The teachers at a senior academy attached to an army base described their bullet-headed charges to me as looking like 'stubby wobbling penises,' and held private competitions as to which student was the most 'sausagey'

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/living-together/james-palmer-chinese-youth/

That's great. :lulz:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on March 10, 2013, 07:46:47 PM
China is sometimes a little like Florida.  Strange shit happens there, and no-one knows why.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21732457

QuoteAn inquiry has been launched in China after more than 900 dead pigs were found floating in a river near the eastern city of Shanghai.

No evidence has been found that the animals in the Huangpu river were dumped there or died of any animal epidemic, officials say.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: East Coast Hustle on March 10, 2013, 07:55:43 PM
I've heard that the citizenry in the cities is starting to get a little twitchy about the air pollution. Any truth to that? And if so, do you see it as something that could force the Party to actually respond to environmental concerns?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on March 10, 2013, 08:02:06 PM
Possibly.

There have been a lot of what the CCP charmingly refers to as "mass incidents" this year - lowball estimates put it at 40k, though other experienced China watchers put the number as high as 200k.

Chen Jiping recently told reporters at the Chinese People's Political and Consultative Conference that the major cause for this is environmental concerns.

The problem is mass incidents tend to be very local in terms of concerns, and often dealt with at the lowest level.  I imagine the CCP is keen to reduce the number of incidents, but since they are often caused by local corruption, and solved by local people power, I don't see any kind of nationwide approach taking off any time soon.  Perhaps if Chinese environmental activists start networking and supporting each other...but that doesn't seem likely, at the moment.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on March 13, 2013, 09:36:40 AM
Quote from: Cain on March 10, 2013, 07:46:47 PM
China is sometimes a little like Florida.  Strange shit happens there, and no-one knows why.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21732457

QuoteAn inquiry has been launched in China after more than 900 dead pigs were found floating in a river near the eastern city of Shanghai.

No evidence has been found that the animals in the Huangpu river were dumped there or died of any animal epidemic, officials say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21766377

Now nearly 6000 pigs. Smart money is now on finding over 9000.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on March 13, 2013, 03:01:42 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on March 13, 2013, 09:36:40 AM
Quote from: Cain on March 10, 2013, 07:46:47 PM
China is sometimes a little like Florida.  Strange shit happens there, and no-one knows why.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21732457

QuoteAn inquiry has been launched in China after more than 900 dead pigs were found floating in a river near the eastern city of Shanghai.

No evidence has been found that the animals in the Huangpu river were dumped there or died of any animal epidemic, officials say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21766377

Now nearly 6000 pigs. Smart money is now on finding over 9000.

:horrormirth:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Elder Iptuous on March 13, 2013, 05:08:07 PM
strategic pork reserve mishap?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Elder Iptuous on March 13, 2013, 05:14:04 PM
wait.
WHAT‽
QuoteThe general mood is of concern, rather than outrage or panic, reports the BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai, as the Chinese public are well used to food scandals, such as the use of oil scraped from sewers for cooking, and plasticiser found in baby formula.
:vomit:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Eater of Clowns on March 13, 2013, 05:18:21 PM
I think China reached the future before us.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on March 13, 2013, 08:52:08 PM
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on March 13, 2013, 05:18:21 PM
I think China reached the future before us.

It does kind of seem that way.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on March 13, 2013, 08:56:39 PM
Quote from: Elder Iptuous on March 13, 2013, 05:14:04 PM
wait.
WHAT‽
QuoteThe general mood is of concern, rather than outrage or panic, reports the BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai, as the Chinese public are well used to food scandals, such as the use of oil scraped from sewers for cooking, and plasticiser found in baby formula.
:vomit:

New idea for a tv show- extreme recycling. How many times can you eat the same thing?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on March 13, 2013, 09:05:29 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on March 13, 2013, 08:56:39 PM
Quote from: Elder Iptuous on March 13, 2013, 05:14:04 PM
wait.
WHAT‽
QuoteThe general mood is of concern, rather than outrage or panic, reports the BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai, as the Chinese public are well used to food scandals, such as the use of oil scraped from sewers for cooking, and plasticiser found in baby formula.
:vomit:

New idea for a tv show- extreme recycling. How many times can you eat the same thing?

Noooooooo  :horrormirth:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on March 13, 2013, 09:12:19 PM
Fun fact about reality TV shows: things that researchers can't do with research subjects because they're ILLEGAL AND VIOLATE ETHICAL CODES are totally A-OK to do to an unsuspecting public in the name of "entertainment".

I just learned this on Monday, actually. So, like, say you want to recreate the Milgram or Zimbardo experiments. NO CAN DO, LITTLE SCIENTIST! You can't just DO shit like that to people... remember that NIH ethics in research training? NO, you need to observe things like full disclosure and informed consent. After all, those people ended up in serious psychological distress and some of them had PTSD.

BUT, give an untrained jackass a camera, and he can do WHATEVER THE FUCK HE WANTS with people, because that's ENTERTAINMENT. You just go right ahead with your prison-abuse recreation and making people think they're shocking other people to death with electricity.

Good job, human beings. Good fucking job.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on March 13, 2013, 09:17:57 PM
Google glass is going to do some interesting things then. Everything is "entertainment" to someone.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on March 14, 2013, 11:42:54 AM
Quote from: Junkenstein on March 13, 2013, 09:17:57 PM
Google glass is going to do some interesting things then. Everything is "entertainment" to someone.

Mobile phones and GoPro's have already raised the bar. Now people can do stupid shit and fuck themselves up completely and it's on Youtube even before the paramedics arrive on scene. Google Glass is the next step.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on March 14, 2013, 11:45:48 AM
POV stupidity videos are going to become vastly more prevalent.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on March 14, 2013, 12:03:53 PM
QuoteThe government statement said that the number of pigs being salvaged from the river appeared to be decreasing.

Proof that the Chinese will fish anything to extinction  :argh!:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on March 14, 2013, 12:19:31 PM
"This pork has been fished from sustainable sources." Lies, all of it.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on March 14, 2013, 06:51:35 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on March 14, 2013, 12:03:53 PM
QuoteThe government statement said that the number of pigs being salvaged from the river appeared to be decreasing.

Proof that the Chinese will fish anything to extinction  :argh!:

:lulz:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on March 15, 2013, 12:12:21 AM
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/03/15/question-as-xi-is-elected-who-cast-the-no-vote/?mod=WSJBlog&utm_source=buffer&buffer_share=117ae

QuoteAs expected, China's new Communist Party chief Xi Jinping was elected president of China on Thursday by a landslide. The final tally: 2,952 in favor, with one opposed and three abstentions.

In other words, Mr. Xi nabbed 99.86% of the vote, beating out electoral luminaries like Paul Kagame, who was elected president of Rwanda with 95% of the vote in 2003, and Syria's Bashar al-Assad, who won re-election with 97.6% of the vote in 2007.

The question now burning up Chinese social media sites: Who was the lone voter who dared vote against the country's anointed leader?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on March 15, 2013, 12:15:13 AM
I have to say, I like Jamie K's take (http://bloodandtreasure.typepad.com/blood_treasure/2013/03/the-other-one-thought-he-should-go-to-argentina.html) on Hu Jintao:

QuoteI found Hu's deliberate cultivation of anti-charisma fascinating. One European leader supposedly called him the most boring man he ever met, which is no doubt true, but it would be humanly impossible to be quite as boring as Hu seemed to be. Writers are supposed to cultivate negative capability. Hu cultivated negative personality.

There was something obsessive-compulsive about it all. It's speculated that people with OCD adopt rituals and rigid patterns as a kind of evocation, to keep their world from spinning apart and Hu's use of Chinese communist jargon and ritual seemed to have a lot of the same quality. He preached the 'peaceful rise' but as the man behind the curtain he knew that China's rise had a heaving, protean quality of almost Lovecraftain dimensions. So he preached stability even as he couldn't help spreading anxiety.

Xi is an altogether smoother chap. Perhaps he's already come to terms with Chulthu. He smiles because he nows that when the time comes, he will be eaten first.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on March 15, 2013, 05:41:56 AM
Quote from: Cain on March 15, 2013, 12:15:13 AM
I have to say, I like Jamie K's take (http://bloodandtreasure.typepad.com/blood_treasure/2013/03/the-other-one-thought-he-should-go-to-argentina.html) on Hu Jintao:

QuoteI found Hu's deliberate cultivation of anti-charisma fascinating. One European leader supposedly called him the most boring man he ever met, which is no doubt true, but it would be humanly impossible to be quite as boring as Hu seemed to be. Writers are supposed to cultivate negative capability. Hu cultivated negative personality.

There was something obsessive-compulsive about it all. It's speculated that people with OCD adopt rituals and rigid patterns as a kind of evocation, to keep their world from spinning apart and Hu's use of Chinese communist jargon and ritual seemed to have a lot of the same quality. He preached the 'peaceful rise' but as the man behind the curtain he knew that China's rise had a heaving, protean quality of almost Lovecraftain dimensions. So he preached stability even as he couldn't help spreading anxiety.

Xi is an altogether smoother chap. Perhaps he's already come to terms with Chulthu. He smiles because he nows that when the time comes, he will be eaten first.

That... is all rather lovely.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Telarus on March 15, 2013, 07:23:47 AM
 :lulz: :evil:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on March 20, 2013, 01:19:09 PM
China is discovering some of the downsides (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9937121/The-fake-minister-who-duped-Chinas-Communist-party-for-years.html) to mindless authoritariansim and obedience to authority:

QuoteWith his bouffant black hair, white short-sleeve shirt and endless boring speeches, he certainly seemed like a high-ranking Communist party official.

But Zhao Xiyong, who has claimed since 2010 to be the head of China's State Council Research Office - giving him the rank of vice-minister - was an artful impostor.

For years, Mr Zhao pulled off a pitch-perfect impersonation of a leader from Beijing that local officials in the south western province of Yunnan, being subordinate in rank, did not dare to question.

He was allowed to give keynote talks at important conferences, seated with pride of place at the banquet table, and grovelled to by local officials.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: LMNO on March 20, 2013, 01:49:14 PM
That's kind of awesome.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Elder Iptuous on March 20, 2013, 01:50:52 PM
wow. that's impressive.  :lol:
three years of obeisance, and he's on the lam now rather than being in a labor camp!
i am rather disappointed at what they are calling a bouffant, though.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on March 20, 2013, 01:52:20 PM
I sense his key mistake was not picking a title that didn't exist. I hope there's a few still in the system who are smarter and never get caught.

Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on March 20, 2013, 04:41:57 PM
Wow.  :lulz:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 08, 2013, 09:13:40 AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-22056661

QuoteChina is to begin running tourism cruises to a chain of disputed islands in the South China Sea by next month, state media reports.

The Xinhua news agency said tourists would live on board ships, as the largest island has only one hotel and no fresh water.

The islands, known in China as Xisha but the Paracels elsewhere, are claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

China has controlled them since a short war with South Vietnam in 1974.

Didn't China just do this? Cue the reveal of prospecting results....
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 08, 2013, 02:52:44 PM
Also:

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/china-off-balance-sheet-lending-risks-lurk-shadows-073231716--sector.html

QuoteSHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's banks are feeding unwanted assets into the country's "shadow banking system" on an unprecedented scale, reinforcing suspicions that bank balance sheets reflect only a fraction of the actual credit risk lurking in the financial system.
Banks' latest earnings reports only added to concerns. Despite the slowest economic growth in 13 years in 2012, the banking system's official non-performing loan (NPL) ratio actually declined, renewing a debate about how reliable those figures are.
But the key question is no longer how much risk banks are carrying. Rather, it's how many risky loans have been shifted to the lightly regulated shadow banking institutions - mainly trust companies, brokerages and insurance companies.
The risk to the overall financial system is not clear, because of insufficient data about the quality of credit in the shadow banking sector.

Well this sounds perfectly sane.


Quote"They don't share the traditional bank culture - cautious and standardized," said a risk officer at a large commercial bank, referring to bankers involved with passageway loans.
"It's a trading-infused style. As long as the product is well received (by investors), it's all good. They don't pay enough attention to the fundamentals of the loan."

Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 08, 2013, 03:24:05 PM
Yet more:

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/around-28000-rivers-go-missing-chinas-lastest-waterway-survey.html

QuoteUntil recently, China's government estimated that there were over 50,000 rivers and waterways with catchment areas of at least 100 square kilometers. But after sending 800,000 surveyors around China for three years to do the first ever first national census of water, the actual number of rivers that meet that size criteria is lower. Much lower. The revised number is less than half the old one, with only 22,909 rivers and waterways having catchment areas of at least 100 sq km.

No-one has yet suggested that this is due to impromptu livestock damns.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 22, 2013, 01:08:23 PM
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/04/21/chinese-woman-on-trial-for-killing-man-by-squeezing-his-scrotum/

QuoteOn 8 April, the trial began for a woman accused of killing a man in an excruciating fashion.

It all started on 19 April of the previous year. The suspect was picking up her child when she parked an electric bike in front of a shop. The man running the shop came out and shouted "you're blocking my business!"

The resulting argument must have gotten pretty heated as it resulted in the mother clutching the shopkeeper's testicles in her vice-like grip.


As she held the man in a nut lock, witnesses reported her to have shouted, "I'll squeeze it to death, you'll never have children again!"

Apparently she didn't know how right she was, because soon after the man went into shock from the pain. Paramedics rushed to the scene and treated the victim but he was soon pronounced dead.

With the trial ongoing, the result may hinge on the woman's alleged statement of "squeeze it to death." Depending on how it's interpreted, she may be convicted of murder.

Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on April 22, 2013, 03:38:24 PM
Dude showed remarkable restraint, imo. I have a no-hitting-women policy but I think if I was getting my junk squeezed hard enough to kill me I'd be unable to stick to it :eek:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on April 22, 2013, 05:10:15 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on April 22, 2013, 01:08:23 PM
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/04/21/chinese-woman-on-trial-for-killing-man-by-squeezing-his-scrotum/

QuoteOn 8 April, the trial began for a woman accused of killing a man in an excruciating fashion.

It all started on 19 April of the previous year. The suspect was picking up her child when she parked an electric bike in front of a shop. The man running the shop came out and shouted "you're blocking my business!"

The resulting argument must have gotten pretty heated as it resulted in the mother clutching the shopkeeper's testicles in her vice-like grip.


As she held the man in a nut lock, witnesses reported her to have shouted, "I'll squeeze it to death, you'll never have children again!"

Apparently she didn't know how right she was, because soon after the man went into shock from the pain. Paramedics rushed to the scene and treated the victim but he was soon pronounced dead.

With the trial ongoing, the result may hinge on the woman's alleged statement of "squeeze it to death." Depending on how it's interpreted, she may be convicted of murder.

So, I'm not even going to bother researching this one. I'm just going to point out that it hits every single completely classic flag for fake news.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on April 22, 2013, 05:21:11 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on April 22, 2013, 01:08:23 PM
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/04/21/chinese-woman-on-trial-for-killing-man-by-squeezing-his-scrotum/

QuoteOn 8 April, the trial began for a woman accused of killing a man in an excruciating fashion.

It all started on 19 April of the previous year. The suspect was picking up her child when she parked an electric bike in front of a shop. The man running the shop came out and shouted "you're blocking my business!"

The resulting argument must have gotten pretty heated as it resulted in the mother clutching the shopkeeper's testicles in her vice-like grip.


As she held the man in a nut lock, witnesses reported her to have shouted, "I'll squeeze it to death, you'll never have children again!"

Apparently she didn't know how right she was, because soon after the man went into shock from the pain. Paramedics rushed to the scene and treated the victim but he was soon pronounced dead.

With the trial ongoing, the result may hinge on the woman's alleged statement of "squeeze it to death." Depending on how it's interpreted, she may be convicted of murder.

Nice source.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 22, 2013, 07:06:22 PM
Factual, Interesting, Amusing.

I can do 2 out of 3.

Sometimes.

You should all be thankful I manage to make 1 out of 3 any of the fucking time. Ungrateful heathens.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 22, 2013, 10:42:44 PM
There's been a bit too much of this on PD, lately.

I am considering making an UNLIMITED I DON'T CHECK MY NEWSOURCES thread, to name and shame offenders.  Thoughts?
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 22, 2013, 10:48:19 PM
I'd encourage it, I've been pretty lazy checking sources of late.

Above, for example, I just didn't. Copy-paste-post. Cheap laugh, next thing. Not the best of attitudes.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on April 22, 2013, 10:58:13 PM
Quote from: Cain on April 22, 2013, 10:42:44 PM
There's been a bit too much of this on PD, lately.

I am considering making an UNLIMITED I DON'T CHECK MY NEWSOURCES thread, to name and shame offenders.  Thoughts?

Very yes.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: LMNO on April 23, 2013, 02:55:49 AM
Yes very much yes very much.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 24, 2013, 11:57:35 PM
I am amused, for more than one reason (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-22269573):

QuoteA failing student who tried to bribe his tutor while carrying a loaded air pistol has been jailed for 12 months.

Yang Li, 26, placed £5,000 in cash on the professor's table but when he was told to leave, the gun fell from his pocket.

Sentencing Li at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Michael Longman told him the weapon had caused "fear" and "alarm".

Li, who admitted bribery and possessing an imitation firearm, was also ordered to pay £4,800 in costs.

The court heard the innovation and technology management masters student had arranged the meeting with his University of Bath professor on 23 November.

I am amused mostly because I know more than a few people who went to the University of Bath, and I am going to use this to troll their Facebook feeds about the quality of students accepted there.

Also, doing it wrong.  You give £50,000 to the head of department as an endowment via your father, sans imitation firearms, if you want to go about bribing a University in the UK.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on April 25, 2013, 01:43:48 AM
Quote from: Cain on April 22, 2013, 10:42:44 PM
There's been a bit too much of this on PD, lately.

I am considering making an UNLIMITED I DON'T CHECK MY NEWSOURCES thread, to name and shame offenders.  Thoughts?

YESSSSS

I expect better of folks here. I have to be constantly on guard for stupidity everywhere else in my life, this is the place I come to to relax a little, under the assumption that everyone has their critical-thinking cap on.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on April 25, 2013, 10:50:37 PM
Somewhat related:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-22290746

QuoteTwo Tibetan monks have died after setting themselves alight in southern China's Sichuan province, reports say.

The monks, aged 20 and 23, set themselves on fire at the Kirti monastery in Aba county, said Radio Free Asia and Free Tibet.

The monastery has been a focal point of protests in recent months.

More than 100 Tibetans, mostly young monks, have set themselves on fire since 2011 - many fatally - in apparent protest against Chinese rule.

The event isn't particualry new or even that uncommon. Just considering how long it will be until self immolation is classed as an act of terror.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on April 29, 2013, 09:47:00 AM
Thus China's continued evolution towards a Mafia state continues (http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/04/being-a-chinese-official-not-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/275348/?buffer_share=a29de&utm_source=Sinocism+Newsletter):

QuoteLife as a Chinese government official isn't what it used to be. Lavish, liquor-heavy banquets have been outlawed. It will soon be harder to get those handy military license plates, useful for avoiding hassle from traffic police. And these days, with China's army of voracious and ever-watchful bloggers, every inappropriate smile, public temper tantrum, or luxury watch collection soon gets seen by the entire country.

QuoteIn the last two weeks, two Chinese officials have mysteriously died after being detained by authorities under the party's internal discipline system, shuanggui. The family of Jia Jiuxiang, vice president of a court in Henan province, said Jia turned up badly bruised at a local hospital after being detained for 11 days. He died on the morning of April 25.

A week ago, a Chinese official by the name of Yu Qiyi died after arriving in a local hospital in Zhejiang province beaten, with blood coming out of his nose and ears . Chinese state media said Yu had "suffered an accident" while being questioned by party discipline officials. In both cases, reports said the officials were being investigated for corruption, but no more details were given.

Jia and Yu are just two examples of many more officials subject to shuanggui, which translates roughly as "double regulation," a way of keeping cadres in check that is essentially a separate, opaque, judicial system just for party and government officials.

QuoteNow, more officials may be at risk under an anti-corruption campaign launched by China's new leader Xi Jinping. The party appointed one of its most well-respected officials, Wang Qishan, as head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which implements the shuanggui -- a sign some have taken to mean a serious crackdown is underway. Authorities say they have investigated over 660,000 officials over the past five years.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on April 29, 2013, 06:12:55 PM
Wow.  :horrormirth:
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: I_Kicked_Kennedy on April 29, 2013, 09:40:06 PM
What scares me about this is that it is usually indicative of a power structure that is slowly losing its grip. Look at corruption in the states. Fewer bodies (for the most part). If you step out of line, you either end up on page six with a torrid homosexual affair "brought to light", or you find yourself on the main page of CNN after suffering a "mental breakdown", or some financial structure cashes in their chips and empties out your war chest. If the tentacles truly do reach every pipe; it's real easy to cut you off without too much blood.

Usually, they'll even take the plata o plomo approach, which is "hey, you can leave with a few bucks in your pocket, a private "consulting" practice, and a nice place in West Virginia if you hold a press conference and claim you want to spend more time with family. Just play the game, and no one ends up face down in puke on a curb in Kenilworth.

The reason why this scares me is because, as someone with a lot of friends still working in the Shanghai area, there is an increasingly tense unrest in the population, formerly reserved to the young adult demo. At the same time, a large part of the anti-government sentiment comes from those of the NeoMaoist disposition, which is slowly gaining a foothold in the growing industrial class. It's one thing when the government is keeping tabs on a specific group of people, but when there's multiple agitators, with some crossover in areas, it's much harder to do so.

Plus, the things they would need to do to appease these groups would be the direct undoing of the structure. The technology industry has, historically, been funded by having at least a tangential interest in improving the surveillance apparatus which is, by all accounts, massive. To accept the terms and open up the Great Firewall of China would put hundreds of thousands of very intelligent Chinese who have add direct access to a lot of sensitive info on the street, looking for the highest bidder. If they were to appease the Maoists by redistributing the assets of the insanely rich ogliarchy, they would lose the support of many well-financed industries, moving millions of jobs to the DPRK, Vietnam, or anywhere they can get cheap labor... Not to mention the fact many members of the politburo are either the ogliarchs themselves, or reliant upon their backing.

It becomes a ticking time bomb, and too much of the world economy has made themselves dependent on a semi-stable but corrupt China. If one too many heads roll, the cards fall down, and not a single economy won't lose a large amount of their trade in the process.

My friend just wrote a 40 page doc on the coming Great Fall of China. I don't know if I can get access to anything other than the abstract, but if I do, I'll be sure to put it here. He's having trouble getting it published because many replies have come back with a similar "...great work, but is it possible the publication would be the straw that breaks the camel's back? As a scholarly journal, we don't intend to play such an influential role..." (Translation - "Our board of directors could stand to lose serious funds if people buy into what you're saying.")

It's not just stories like the one Cain referenced. And it's not just the dangerous housing/infrastructure bubble. Watch carefully the way the commodities market is shifting. One of the unspoken understandings is China both relies upon and produces obscene percentages of the world's raw material. If the market starts raising or lowering prices at too fast a rate, China's currency will become increasingly difficult to manipulate which is, by all accounts, one of the pillars of their economy's power. Plus, the growth of personal savings is slowing (which, thanks to the nuked numbers suggests it may even be decreasing). Citation: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100678048

TL;DR - I think it would behoove us to keep an eye on some peculiar news coming out of China. They may be the cracks in foundation.

Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: I_Kicked_Kennedy on April 29, 2013, 10:07:44 PM
Oh, and I forgot the huge elephant in the room:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-06/china-local-debt-may-top-estimates-former-minister-says.html

Supposedly, the major difference between the US's municipal debt and China's is that these debts are "...mostly domestic." However, their growth has been hingent upon the massive investment in infrastructure. If that falters, foreign investments dry up, and their currency loses. Meaning, debts they hold over other countries can be bought off for a smaller percentage. To believe this is any less than a potential disaster for China is beyond shortsighted.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on May 15, 2013, 01:33:19 PM
http://www.wheels.ca/news/angry-maserati-owner-destroys-430000-car-with-sledgehammer/

QuoteWhat's that they say about "more money, more problems?" A certain Maserati owner in China might be able to relate.

A man hired "smashers" to help him pound his car to a pulp outside the Qingdao Auto Show on Tuesday in what he says was a protest against bad service by the dealership, the China Car Times reports.

The owner was apparently unhappy with Furi Group, the company responsible for Maserati distribution in the Qingdao area, because they allegedly repaired his  $430,000 Quattroporte with second-hand parts rather than the new parts he paid for and did not make all the repairs he requested.

Fed up, the owner and his assistants showed up at the Auto Show's opening to hammer their point home.

This supercar-smashing is becoming something of a bizarre tradition at the Qingdao Auto Show. The China Car Times says a Lamborghini owner smashed his exotic ride at the show in 2011 to protest apparent dissatisfaction with Lamborghini China, even though he had bought the car second-hand from Germany.

I can only hope this adopted worldwide as the best way to deal with bad customer service, regardless of the product or service.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on June 03, 2013, 09:04:16 AM
http://world.time.com/2013/05/03/china-sex-scandal/?iid=obnetwork

QuoteChina wouldn't be China without the officious slogans that plaster every other wall and railing, educating citizens on the latest government policy or crackdown. But the banners and billboards that began appearing in March all over Shuangfeng, a rural county in central China's Hunan province, bore exhortations more curious than most. "Let all of society take action! Let's engage in a people's war against blackmailing activities using fake obscene pictures," read one. Another urged: "Crack down on the crime of extortion using fabricated obscene photos."

What lies behind these unusual party directives? Proficiency in Photoshop, apparently. Starting in 2011, a number of Shuangfeng residents began supplementing their income by using the popular software to create fake sex photos featuring local officials and businessmen. The images were then sent to those purportedly involved in a crude blackmail scheme, according to government prosecutors. In mid-March, police arrested eight suspects from four gangs that were accused of trying to raise $7.35 million through doctored pornography. Since last year, 37 suspects have been arrested in connection with 127 such extortion cases, according to local media. On its website, the Shuangfeng police department published a list of blackmail suspects still at large.

China's systemic corruption, currently the target of a crackdown by new leader Xi Jinping, is often tied to sexual scandal. In recent months, numerous Chinese officials have been targeted in online show-and-shame campaigns that usually involve images — apparently genuine — of errant cadres in various stages of undress, accompanied by women other than their wives. A survey conducted by Renmin University in January found that 95% of the corrupt officials caught in 2012 maintained mistresses.


Photoshop as a political tool seems to be surprisingly effective. I guess when corruption is well known and widespread, the easiest thing to do is just try and blackmail everyone. Like a 419 scam, only instead of promising wealth just make random accusations until profit.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on June 27, 2013, 08:56:36 AM
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-06/09/big-building

Quote
Broad Sustainable Building, a Chinese company aiming to build the world's tallest building before the end of 2013 in the city of Changsha, has been granted permission to begin construction.

You might think that doesn't give the company much time. After all, the current record-holder, the Burj Khalifa, took five years to put together.

But Broad Sustainable Building (BSB) has pioneered a technique that involves prefabricating large parts of a structure offsite, then transporting them to a chosen location and putting them together very quickly. It used the technique to build a 30-storey apartment building in 15 days in 2011.

China's never backed away from large projects and this seems to step it up a notch. Construction technique if this works out as planned would give China a huge edge in the construction sector in the developing world. Resources for infrastructure seems to be part of the long term plan.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on July 02, 2013, 11:09:19 AM
This could have considerable implications for nations with aging populations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23127936

QuoteA Chinese court has ordered a woman to visit her mother once every two months, state media say, in the first case since a new law on parental visits came into effect on Monday.

The judgement was issued by a court in Wuxi, after a 77-year-old woman brought the case against her daughter.

The court also ruled that the daughter and her husband had to provide financial help, reports said.

The new visitation law has provoked both debate and ridicule online.

Called the "Elderly Rights Law", it is intended to tackle the growing problem of lonely elderly people by ordering adult children to visit their ageing parents.

But many have questioned how it can be enforced, given that the frequency of visits is not spelled out.

Other internet commentators say it intrudes into areas that should be governed by personal choice.

In this case, Xinhua reported that the elderly mother sued her daughter after she refused to care for her any more following a row.

China Daily said the hearing on Monday in Wuxi was held "to highlight the implementation of the law".

"Filial piety, considered a key virtue of traditional Chinese culture, generally means respect for one's parents and ancestors, including being good to one's parents and fulfilling one's duty to take care of them," the paper said.

The law was aimed primarily "at urging all of society to pay more attention to elders", it quoted a professor of population studies as saying.

China's population is aging and in recent years there have been a number of cases of elderly people being poorly treated or neglected that have shocked the nation.

I get the feeling we are going to see these kinds of laws outside of China within the next 5-10 years.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on July 02, 2013, 05:58:29 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on July 02, 2013, 11:09:19 AM
This could have considerable implications for nations with aging populations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23127936

QuoteA Chinese court has ordered a woman to visit her mother once every two months, state media say, in the first case since a new law on parental visits came into effect on Monday.

The judgement was issued by a court in Wuxi, after a 77-year-old woman brought the case against her daughter.

The court also ruled that the daughter and her husband had to provide financial help, reports said.

The new visitation law has provoked both debate and ridicule online.

Called the "Elderly Rights Law", it is intended to tackle the growing problem of lonely elderly people by ordering adult children to visit their ageing parents.

But many have questioned how it can be enforced, given that the frequency of visits is not spelled out.

Other internet commentators say it intrudes into areas that should be governed by personal choice.

In this case, Xinhua reported that the elderly mother sued her daughter after she refused to care for her any more following a row.

China Daily said the hearing on Monday in Wuxi was held "to highlight the implementation of the law".

"Filial piety, considered a key virtue of traditional Chinese culture, generally means respect for one's parents and ancestors, including being good to one's parents and fulfilling one's duty to take care of them," the paper said.

The law was aimed primarily "at urging all of society to pay more attention to elders", it quoted a professor of population studies as saying.

China's population is aging and in recent years there have been a number of cases of elderly people being poorly treated or neglected that have shocked the nation.

I get the feeling we are going to see these kinds of laws outside of China within the next 5-10 years.

It'll open an interesting can of worms if it's tried here in the States, as I presume children will counter-sue over issues like past physical/emotional abuse, neglect, or even things like the parents failing to pay to send them through college, thus not adequately preparing them to be able to support their parents later in life.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on July 02, 2013, 06:44:49 PM
Opens up all the way - Suing parents for sending you to college and debt bondage for example. Every parental act could potentially be examined and questioned by a court.

Parenting on trial, that will surely keep prisons full.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on July 06, 2013, 06:08:44 PM
http://www.duihuahrjournal.org/2013/06/corruption-shuanggui-and-rule-of-law.html

Relevant to our earlier discussions on the shuanggui:

QuoteLi Yongzhong summarized for SR the reasons why shuanggui is such a great deterrent. Based on his own experience handling cases and the results of his research, he has concluded that there is one major principle and three major laws of shuanggui. The principle is that corrupt people become associated with each other out of economic interests, but "they have no lasting friends, only lasting interests." As for the three major laws, the first is the "toilet law": once an official leaves his position of power, it's like standing up after using the toilet—the stench immediately begins to spread, and the signs of criminality then become apparent. The second is the "law of when the tree falls, the apes scatter": once an official under shuanggui is isolated from other persons associated with the case, the "apes" start to panic and it's easy to divide and conquer. The third is the "law of asymmetric information": after being put under shuanggui, an official loses contact with the outside world and the conspiracy of silence surrounding his corruption begins to fall apart on its own.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Salty on July 28, 2013, 05:58:11 PM
This is good. It is easy to think of these workers as stoic autonomatons who just dont know any better, not like us westerners with our labor strikes of old. Hell, there arent any jobs around laborious enough to warrant striking. We should count our blessings, drink another god damned frappé, and STFU.

Except no. They're working at it.

http://jacobinmag.com/2012/08/china-in-revolt/
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Salty on July 28, 2013, 06:02:39 PM
Also, i have things to say about this because it's fascinating  but gotta run.

http://gking.harvard.edu/publications/how-censorship-china-allows-government-criticism-silences-collective-expression

My first thought is how we all get too distracted fighting to engage in that collective expression in such a way that leads to results. Mostly cause of the teevee, imo.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on July 29, 2013, 06:13:55 PM
Cain, Nice find on Shuanggi. I suspect we're going to see a version of something similar in the west quite soon. Probably just working out a bland sounding name for it first.

Alty, excellent links, reading through them now. Thanks!
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 01, 2013, 09:19:11 AM
A Chinese business is using drone aircraft....to deliver cakes

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Metro/2013/07/24/Local%2Bcompany%2Btakes%2Bdelivery%2Bof%2Bcakes%2Bto%2Bnew%2Bheights%2B%2Bliterally/

QuoteA local cake factory is using drones to deliver cakes in Shanghai! And China's civil aviation authorities are not too happy about it.

The factory used remote-controlled aircraft on five different occasions to "fly" cakes across the Huangpu River to customers in downtown, claimed Men Ruifeng, the marketing manager of the Incake company, which only accepts orders online.

Well, it's certainly a step up from Hellfire missiles, I'll give them that.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on August 01, 2013, 03:22:19 PM
Quote from: Cain on August 01, 2013, 09:19:11 AM
A Chinese business is using drone aircraft....to deliver cakes

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Metro/2013/07/24/Local%2Bcompany%2Btakes%2Bdelivery%2Bof%2Bcakes%2Bto%2Bnew%2Bheights%2B%2Bliterally/

QuoteA local cake factory is using drones to deliver cakes in Shanghai! And China's civil aviation authorities are not too happy about it.

The factory used remote-controlled aircraft on five different occasions to "fly" cakes across the Huangpu River to customers in downtown, claimed Men Ruifeng, the marketing manager of the Incake company, which only accepts orders online.

Well, it's certainly a step up from Hellfire missiles, I'll give them that.

:lulz: That's great.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on August 01, 2013, 03:41:20 PM
Quote from: Cain on August 01, 2013, 09:19:11 AM
A Chinese business is using drone aircraft....to deliver cakes

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Metro/2013/07/24/Local%2Bcompany%2Btakes%2Bdelivery%2Bof%2Bcakes%2Bto%2Bnew%2Bheights%2B%2Bliterally/

QuoteA local cake factory is using drones to deliver cakes in Shanghai! And China's civil aviation authorities are not too happy about it.

The factory used remote-controlled aircraft on five different occasions to "fly" cakes across the Huangpu River to customers in downtown, claimed Men Ruifeng, the marketing manager of the Incake company, which only accepts orders online.

Well, it's certainly a step up from Hellfire missiles, I'll give them that.

I've heard Amazon and others making motions about trying to get same-day delivery working again, even if it happens to be a loss leader.

I suspect that this tech could enable that, at least in highly urban areas.

Which could give rise to the crime of "Drone Piracy" Imagine it. Drones designed purely to steal another drones payload. Depending on what you swipe it could be a rather profitable activity.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on August 09, 2013, 08:15:42 AM
More shuanggi antics?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23628085

QuoteA former top economic official in China has been expelled from the Communist Party and removed from public office, state media report.

Liu Tienan, formerly deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, "accepted huge amounts of bribes", Xinhua news agency reported.

Allegations against Mr Liu emerged online in December, when a well-known journalist accused him of corruption.

The move comes amid a high-profile crackdown on corruption.Mr Liu "took advantage of his position to seek profits for others," Xinhua reported, citing the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

QuoteChinese President Xi Jinping has called for a crackdown on corruption, vowing to tackle it from the powerful "tigers" at the top to the "flies" at the bottom of the Communist Party.

I'd guess so. Seems to fit the pattern. I'd guess there to be more to follow now they can shove this guy through the wringer too.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on August 13, 2013, 11:46:38 PM
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/sympathy-for-the-bomber

Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on August 16, 2013, 04:16:38 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23714896

QuoteAn animal described as an African lion at a Chinese zoo was exposed as a fraud - when the creature started barking in front of visitors.

Chinese media reports said the zoo had replaced its genuine lion with a Tibetan mastiff dog.

A zoo official in Henan province said the dog - owned by one of the workers - was put in the cage when the real lion was sent away to a breeding centre.

QuoteBut when they got to the cage marked "African lion" - which had a sign describing the range and characteristics of the animal - they were shocked to hear the creature bark.

It was then that zoo keepers revealed the so-called lion was actually a Tibetan mastiff, an animal that can have a furry brown coat, making it look a little like a lion.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on August 25, 2013, 03:38:19 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-23818091

QuoteThey were scandalous photos that almost brought down China's biggest charity - and this week the "Guo Meimei" affair took a new twist.

Screengrab from Time magazine's website
How Time magazine covered the scandal
When the glamorous young woman, whose microblog profile said she worked for a company linked to the country's Red Cross Society, posted photos of herself posing on the bonnet of luxury cars and carrying designer handbags, the public was outraged. They wanted to know how she was funding such a lavish lifestyle. And despite the Red Cross pointing out that she was not employed by the charity, claims of a lack of transparency at the organisation - coupled with the fact that Weibo - China's Twitter equivalent - had incorrectly verified her profile - meant questions persisted.

Quote"Guo became an unwitting poster girl for the murky world of Chinese philanthropy, in which donations have long been suspected of funding more than just charitable causes." She even earned herself a spot on the front of Time - except the cover doing the rounds turned out to be faked.

This week, amid a Chinese government crackdown on "rumour-mongers", Beijing police arrested two men from a PR company they allege exploited the scandal - along with a host of other examples of spreading false information, reports news agency Xinhua. They're alleged to have made up information to influence opinion online, including false rumours that civil servants were obliged to donate to the Red Cross, reports Xinhua.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on August 25, 2013, 10:35:15 PM
-
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on September 09, 2013, 02:38:23 PM
I'm sure this is unrelated to everything else in the thread:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23990674

QuoteChinese officials have issued new guidelines that could see internet users jailed for writing posts that spread rumours online, state media say.

Internet users who make defamatory comments which are visited by 5,000 users or reposted more than 500 times could face up to three years in prison.

Anyone who posts information that leads to protests or ethnic unrest could also face prosecution.

These rules appear part of an official campaign to stop "online rumours".

Quote..., four people were also arrested over posts made on Chinese social media forum weibo. The users were said to have "incited dissatisfaction with the government" by spreading rumours about a "hero" used in various propaganda posters.

I think we've formally reached the point where I can't tell if China is repressive and becoming more repressive than the US, or if China is repressive and is actively learning lessons from the US.

Add this to the potential upcoming fallout from China's compulsive need to build real estate and I think we're looking at fun times here within 5 years.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on September 24, 2013, 11:25:27 AM
Hey Cain,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24203465

QuoteChina's disgraced former politician Bo Xilai is appealing against his sentence, reports say.

The former party chief of Chongqing was sentenced to life imprisonment on Sunday. He was found guilty of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

Care to make any predictions on how that appeal is likely to go? I'm guessing "Badly".

QuoteBo is reported to have erupted in anger as he was sentenced.

I'd also guess that he didn't influence the right guy. I say influence, I mean bribe. 
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on December 27, 2013, 01:32:56 PM
Japan's Prime Minister is going out of his way (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/26/us-japan-shrine-abe-idUSBRE9BP00Q20131226) to rile up China:

QuoteJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a shrine on Thursday that is seen by critics as a symbol of Tokyo's wartime aggression, infuriating China and South Korea and prompting concern from the United States about deteriorating ties between the North Asian neighbours.

China and South Korea have repeatedly expressed anger in the past over Japanese politicians' visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal after World War Two are honoured along with those who died in battle.

The two countries have been especially touchy about visits to the shrine by serving Japanese prime ministers, and Abe is the first leader in office to pay homage at Yasukuni in the past seven years.

The Shrine is far more than just a memorial for the dead in WWII, as this article (http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-12/abe-should-end-the-war-over-yasukuni-shrine.html) explains:

QuoteYasukuni is ground zero for an unrepentant view of Japan's wartime aggression. During World War II, the shrine served as the "command headquarters" of State Shinto, a religion that deified the emperor and mobilized Japanese subjects to fight a holy war at his behest. The private foundation that runs Yasukuni only added the 14 most controversial "souls" [Class A war criminals—ed.] -- surreptitiously -- in 1978.

The shrine's political mission is on blatant display at the adjacent Yushukan museum, run by the same foundation. There, the Class A war criminals are portrayed as martyrs. Japan's war in China is supposed to have suppressed banditry and terrorism, while its invasion of the rest of Asia is represented as a war of liberation from Western colonialism...

[...]

It is telling that Emperor Showa (Hirohito), once the head priest of State Shinto, confided to an aide that he stopped visiting Yasukuni after 1978 precisely because the shrine had been tainted by the presence of the Class A war criminals. This explicit politicization of the site also explains why his son, current Emperor Akihito, has maintained the imperial household's embargo on visits.

But remember, Japan our are allies, against the villainous Chinese.  That their PM is visiting a shrine which strongly implies that he considers America's war against Japan as unmitigated aggression...well, that's just unfortunate.  And that Japan is currently making alliances with countries who resented the British Imperial role in Asia in the WWII period...well, mere coincidence.

It's certainly not that Abe is looking to secure an independent power base in Asia by causing the USA and China to fight with each other, using the tension to justify a Japanese military build-up, escalating regional instability to allow it to eventually assert an independent role.

I'm starting to warm to the idea of a Chinese/US/Australian alliance.  We'd probably have to let Pakistan join the club too, but, well, nothing is perfect in life.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: LMNO on December 28, 2013, 12:13:34 AM
"I'm starting to warm to the idea of a Chinese/US/Australian alliance.  We'd probably have to let Pakistan join the club too, but, well, nothing is perfect in life."

The very concept of this fascinates me.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on December 28, 2013, 10:59:12 AM
Basically, a US-Chinese alliance would have huge military, political and economic clout, with an interest in preserving the status quo.  It would definitely benefit Australia, who is politically close to the US, but economically closer to China.  Pakistan would probably have to join, if for no other reason than being an ally of both the USA and China, and to exert pressure on India.  South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines would likely be involved too.

Of course, nothing is set in stone.  The US will probably drift into opposition with China...the "pivot" to Asia is proving to be a destabilizing influence, with its unspoken assumption of containing China causing China's regional foes to scramble for reasons to push their agenda onto the US budget.  You know, like the last decade in the Middle East, writ large.

But right now, if I were looking for longterm security risks in Asia, it would be Japanese nationalism, militarism and rearmament allied with a nuclear India and a potentially nuclear Burma, with a revisionist understanding of the history of the region and antipathy for both the US and China.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on January 03, 2014, 11:27:24 AM
Potentially nuclear Burma? 2014 - YEAR OF FUN.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on January 03, 2014, 12:16:11 PM
Burma was undertaking some suspicious trading with North Korea, back when the US wanted nothing to do with them and China wasn't much happy with them either.  As Foreign Policy magazine put it in 2011: " In addition to brutally suppressing a pro-democracy movement, the regime's leaders had cultivated ties with North Korea and expressed an unhealthy interest in ballistic missiles and nuclear technology." 

A defector, a certain Major Sai Thein Win left Burma with a lot of photographs of technical workshops in his possession, which he claims are proof of a nascent missile program, and that the technology being put to use there is of a decidedly nuclear nature.

Interestingly the suppliers of some of the equipment also have their doubts...not enough to not actually sell the stuff, of course, but they did note a number of discrepancies when visiting the site to ensure their dual-use tools of destruction were being utilised responsibly.  Like, they thought they were supplying a civilian program, so why did the workshop only contain men of military age and bearing?

Burma has tried to be more open about it's nuclear activities recently...but that's the decision of President Thein Sein, who doesn't seem to control the military very well.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on January 03, 2014, 12:39:41 PM
Quote from: Cain on December 28, 2013, 10:59:12 AM
Basically, a US-Chinese alliance would have huge military, political and economic clout, with an interest in preserving the status quo.  It would definitely benefit Australia, who is politically close to the US, but economically closer to China.  Pakistan would probably have to join, if for no other reason than being an ally of both the USA and China, and to exert pressure on India.  South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines would likely be involved too.

Of course, nothing is set in stone.  The US will probably drift into opposition with China...the "pivot" to Asia is proving to be a destabilizing influence, with its unspoken assumption of containing China causing China's regional foes to scramble for reasons to push their agenda onto the US budget.  You know, like the last decade in the Middle East, writ large.

But right now, if I were looking for longterm security risks in Asia, it would be Japanese nationalism, militarism and rearmament allied with a nuclear India and a potentially nuclear Burma, with a revisionist understanding of the history of the region and antipathy for both the US and China.

This is also fascinating as history seems to show that with the rise of any great alliance between countries a counter forms sooner or later. The EU-Russia and south american countries would be an interesting balance to this. Brazil is rapidly rising and I can see all kinds of interesting deals and compromises if the Falklands oil speculation comes good. If there's any kind of crash in China, and it could be somewhat expected with their property market then all bets are off anyway.

Burma's probably going to have a new president this year too it seems. More to read up on here, Thanks Cain.
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Cain on May 30, 2014, 03:41:30 PM
China is pushing back (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-calls-for-new-security-pact-with-russia-iran/) against the pivot:

QuoteChina's president called Tuesday for the creation of a new Asian structure for security cooperation based on a regional group that includes Russia and Iran and excludes the United States.

President Xi Jinping spoke at a meeting in Shanghai of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building measures in Asia, an obscure group that has taken on significance as Beijing tries to extend its influence and limit the role of the United States, which it sees as a strategic rival.

"We need to innovate our security cooperation (and) establish new regional security cooperation architecture," said Xi, speaking to an audience that included President Vladimir Putin of Russia and leaders of Central Asian countries.

Again, who could've forseen etc...
Title: Re: Your irregular China round-up
Post by: Junkenstein on June 17, 2014, 12:53:47 PM
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/14/national/media-national/vietnam-seen-potential-role-model-japan/#.U6ArgPmwI7o

QuoteAlthough tourism and trade between Japan and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have expanded rapidly in recent years, when compared with other ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Vietnam has maintained a fairly low profile in the Japanese media. But suddenly the country is being admiringly portrayed by some as a kindred spirit, and by a few as a military role model to be emulated.

The reason for this is simple: Japan and Vietnam are both engaged in acrimonious territorial disputes with China — in Japan's case the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu in Chinese), administered as part of Okinawa Prefecture; and in Vietnam's case, two groups of islands and shoals in the South China Sea, the Paracel and Spratley islands (Xisha and Nansha in Chinese). The latter, which encompasses just 4 sq. km of land, are spread over 425,000 sq. km of ocean, and are also claimed by Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

In January 1974, forces of the former Republic of Vietnam were defeated in a naval clash with China over the disputed Paracels.

Last month, rioting by Vietnamese outraged over China's setting up an oil rig between the Paracels and coast of Vietnam resulted in considerable damage to Chinese and Taiwanese-owned factories, including at least two deaths. (Some sources put the number of deaths as high as 21.) China was obliged to send ships to evacuate its nationals.

Mindful that Chinese protesters had meted out similar treatment to Japanese businesses and joint ventures in China in 2010 and 2012 over the Senkaku dispute, the sense of schadenfreude in news coverage of the riots in Vietnam was palpable.

Quote"While it has no naval power or air power to speak of, Vietnam is a country with resolve, and which wages war based on the strategy that 'To deny victory (to an enemy) is to avoid defeat'" — a strategy that's proved to be anathema for larger nations such as France, the United States and China. For Japan, Tamogami suggests, there are lessons to be learned from Vietnam's example.

Weekly Playboy (June 16) examines Vietnam's potential to contend with China in a naval conflict, while also underscoring the potential implications for Japan.

Referring to the incident on Jan. 30, 2013, in which a Chinese naval frigate allegedly locked its weapons-guiding radar onto a Japanese destroyer — an accusation that China's Defense Ministry brushed off as "groundless" — military affairs journalist Mitsuhiro Sera believes a Vietnamese ship would have reacted by attacking pre-emptively, since "Such an act is akin to a declaration of war," as Sera puts it.

"The people of Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Army have esprit de corps, perhaps you could call it 'will power,'" observes Toru Kitsu, editor of the publication "Ships of the World," who adds that its military benefits from the know-how of combat-tested soldiers and leaders who survived the protracted war with the United States.

Seems like these various disputed islands will eventually need sorting out sooner rather than later. If various nations are looking at Vietnam as an example of how not to lose to a superior power then things could become very interesting (read - bloody) in short order.

I seem to recall something about US wargames at sea recently with the "insurgency" side having access to small ships and boats. They beat the "military" side bloody if my memory still works.