Foreign journalists see reporting conditions decline

1. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China released a paper on the deteriorating reporting conditions that face foreign journalists working in China, citing that 80% of those surveyed thought that their work conditions had worsened or stayed the same compared to 2013, and suggesting that rapidly eroding the progress it made in “opening up” to the world prior to the 2008 Olympics.The report is summarized by NYT with examples showing the increasing difficulty for correspondents working in China: // The report, the result of a survey among the organization’s 243 members, paints a portrait of mounting pressure on foreign journalists as the ruling Communist Party seeks to aggressively limit negative coverage abroad and to punish news organizations and reporters who defy warnings to steer clear from so-called sensitive topics, such as the wealth accumulated by relatives of China’s top leaders. […] The report details increasing harassment of foreign journalists by public security personnel, with two-thirds of respondents reporting interference or physical violence in the field. […] In some instances, the police have sought to intimidate reporters by visiting their homes and bureaus. In the weeks before the 25th anniversary of the June 4 military crackdown on student protests in Tiananmen Square, several reporters were summoned to the offices of the Beijing Public Security Bureau and warned against covering the occasion.[…] A number of other American news organizations have been thwarted in their effort to establish bureaus here. According to the report, PBS NewsHour, Huffington Post and the online news organization GlobalPost have been denied licenses to set up offices in China. A reporter for Huffington Post living in Beijing has been granted a six-month temporary journalist’s visa rather than a longer-term journalist’s residency visa. Large portions of the country remain off-limits to foreign correspondents. In addition to the restricted access to Tibet, the government has made it increasingly difficult for reporters to conduct interviews in the far western region of Xinjiang, home to China’s Uighur minority, as well as to heavily Tibetan areas of Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces. The report described such restrictions as “widespread, arbitrary and unexplained” by the authorities. // Source: FCC China, New York Times
2. Following the Foreign Correspondents’ Club’s recent paper, the Overseas Press Club of America issued a statement urging China’s leaders “to reverse course and enforce their own laws requiring free speech and press freedom.” The statement identifies the preservation of Hong Kong’s free press as an essential element for encouraging free speech in the mainland. Source: Overseas Press Club of America

China’s regulatory campaign against foreign firms

1. // China fined GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L) a record 3 billion yuan ($489 million) on Friday for paying bribes to doctors to use its drugs, underlining the risks of doing business there while also ending a damaging chapter for the British drugmaker…Chinese police first accused GSK of bribery in July last year when it said that the firm had funneled up to 3 billion yuan, exactly the same amount as the fine, to travel agencies to facilitate bribes to doctors and officials. // Source: Reuters
2. Sources confirmed to CBC that GSK’s former China manager Mark Reilly would be deported and would avoid prison time in China. Source: CNBC
3. Human Rights Watch’s China Director Sophie Richardson writes at The Globe and Mail that with harsh tactics reported in a string of recent antitrust probes, “in effect, the government’s tactics against human rights activists have now migrated to the private sector”: // In recent weeks, the American Chamber of Commerce, the European Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S.-China Business Council have publicly expressed frustrations over the Chinese government’s targeting of particular firms, denying access to legal counsel, a lack of due process and transparency, and the seemingly arbitrary imposition of fines and other punishments. The companies suggest that laws in China are being misused or distorted in ways that burden them more than domestic firms, and that they have been subject to “intimidation tactics” and denied “full hearings.”// Source: CDT,  The Globe and Mail

Corruption in China’s media

1. Several editors at Shanghai-based business news website 21cbh.com were detained last week for allegedly blackmailing enterprises. According to the police, the case involved a huge amount of money. Xinhua News Agency’s branch in Shanghai “automatically” ended a 3.5 million yuan ($590,000) contract with Bank of Communications last week after the central authority’s disciplinary inspection team found the contract actually was a way for the bank to buy good news or ignorance from the State-run media. The two cases came after President Xi Jinping vowed to reform the media last month and are believed to be a starting point for the authorities to deal with corruption in the media. Source: China Daily
2. Veteran journalist Zhu Xuedong wrote on China Media Project: //The recent investigation into alleged news extortion at 21cbh.com, a financial news website under the auspices of China’s 21st Century Business Herald newspaper, is just the latest smudge on the grubby surface of China’s media industry. We can add it to a long list of desecrations, including the shameless media mudfest over the televised confession of socialite Guo Meimei (郭美美) and sensational coverage of prison escapee Gao Yulun (高玉伦). The 21cbh.com case stands as further proof positive that China’s media has entered an era of corruption. In the coming years, I’m afraid, we will continue to see cases and stories like these. “Age of Corruption” was the cover of the April 2013 edition of China Weekly, the magazine where until recently I was editor-in-chief. Our coverage in that issue sketched an outline of the present age in which we have found ourselves. In our political, economic and cultural life, we are in an age of corruption. And there is no better phrase to capture the ethos of our present-day media industry. // Source: CMP
3. Another essay explains why news extortion is so hard to uncover: // Even so, the number of those committing acts of news extortion who eventually face prosecution is still very small. The reason is for this is that the practice is largely concealed with the idea that “flies don’t swarm around eggs without cracks.” In other words, there often are problems at the business and government offices targeted by these acts of news extortion. And the so-called victims generally go into self-preservation mode, not wanting allegations that may have some basis to be aired out publicly. Another aspect of this practice is that it has become a guns-for-hire atmosphere, in which one side effectively engages a media outfit to dig around the foundations of another — [a business competitor or political rival, for example.] The media in this case are often in alliance with or hired by one party, and the other party has no idea what the situation is behind the scenes. // Source: CMP
4. Beijing forms city’s own media watchdog to run after ‘immoral’ journalists, as SCMP reports: // The media ethics commission – comprising newspaper executives and reporters, media academics and spokespeople of government departments – was formed to place “more emphasis on ethics in the media industry of the city”, the Beijing Times reported. // Source: SCMP

Ilham Tohti awaits verdict as trial ends

1. The trial of Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti on separatism charges has concluded in Urumqi, Xinjiang, though no verdict has yet been announced. Media were not allowed in the court room, but his lawyer, Li Fangping, told reporters that the defendant spoke to the court for 90 minutes and vehemently denied the charges against him. Source: CDT
2. // Ilham Tohti, a former University professor and outspoken critic of China’s policies in the vast western region, told the court in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi he had “always opposed separatism and terrorism, and that not a single one of his articles supported separatism,” according to his lawyer Li Fangping. The United States, the European Union, and several human rights groups have called for the release of Tohti, who stated his opposition to independence for Xinjiang in interviews, and now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. // Source: AFP
3. Meanwhile, human rights activists also criticized the decision to hold the trial in Urumqi. //“Ilham Tohti is a Beijing intellectual whose household registration is here, whose job is here, and whose website, work unit and students are all based here,” [activist] Hu [Jia] said. “This is the most important political case in China this year, and it shouldn’t be treated as a local affair,” he said. […] Sichuan-based rights activist Pu Fei said the authorities were likely seeking to isolate Tohti by holding the trial in Urumqi. “I think the real reason is that they want to stop people converging [on Beijing] for the Tohti trial,” Pu said. “[If that happened], the impact of this case would be much greater.” Source: RFA
4. Ilham Tohti’s lawyers were not optimistic about the outcome of the trial as they awaited the verdict. // Although the court has not yet announced a verdict, Tohti’s lawyers said he would likely be found guilty and sentenced to 10 years to life in prison. // Source: Guardian

Closure of rural library

1. The non-profit China Rural Library (CRL) will suspend operation of its 11 village libraries, located across China to serve children and educators. One library in Xiaojia, Chongqing was shut down in May, and another five suspended operation last month.
2. SCMP: //A Chinese pro-literacy non-profit has seen its sixth library shut down by authorities this year without any explanation given – sending a chilling message following reports of raids on its centres. China Rural Library (CRL), a government-sanctioned grass-roots group that seeks to boost literacy and education in the country’s impoverished rural areas, said its Shanxi library was shut down last Thursday. CRL said that around 10 days before the closure, “CRL’s 11 libraries across the country have [experienced] raids more than once” from local education and culture authorities. That would mean five libraries – one in Shanxi province and the remaining four in Sichuan – had suspended operations since late August, according to its official Weibo account. Adding the shutdown of the Lu Zuofu library in Xiaojia town, Chongqing, on May 30 brings the total to six. CRL’s management did not explain the reasons behind the shutdowns, but in a hint that it was forced said “none of its libraries are voluntarily closed for mismanagement reasons”, according to its Weibo….Separately, Tang Shuangfei, manager of the Lu Zuofu centre, said in a lengthy post that the Xiaojia library was accused by local authorities of “circulating religious books” and that among those officials confiscated during an inspection was a book on Christianity written by German political economist Max Weber. // Source: SCMP
3. CRL has issued a statement [Chinese] citing intense pressure since 2011 to shutter libraries in Xi’an, Chongqing, Hubei, and Shanxi: //On this special day, we issue three public statements whereby we hope to explain why we have proactively dismantled CRL, as well as to protest and condemn the authorities responsible for years of harassment and forced closure of libraries, illegal confiscation of books, and threatening and even repatriating staff and volunteers. First, the immense, sustained pressure exerted on CRL is unjust. The concerned authorities who pressured CRL have violated national law and natural conscience, and have done great harm to the project of transforming society. […] Second, under this enormous weight, the social foundation for CRL’s village libraries does not exist, and CRL does not have room to run the organization, educate and explore, or raise funds. It is better to say goodbye than to carry on so pitifully. […] Third, helping others is one of the key issues in China’s transformation. After the death of CRL [whose Chinese name is literally « Helping Others Library »], perhaps another group of people will revive it in the future. If the experience CRL has accumulated is of use to society, then after one library dies, hundreds of thousands of libraries will spring up.// Source: http://www.xctsg.org/archives/55633

Democracy is not a decoration, said Xi

1. // President Xi Jinping said « democracy is not a decoration » yesterday as he delivered a speech to the government’s political advisers on his approach to developing China’s consultative political institution. Speaking at the 65th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Xi called for building a practical political system to embody « consultative democracy », one that included all levels of society. « Democracy is defined not only by people’s right to vote in an election but also the right to participate in political affairs on a daily basis, » Xinhua quoted Xi as saying. « Democracy is not a decoration … it’s for solving people’s problems. » Xi added that citizens should be consulted before the authorities made key decisions. He said local party agencies, governments and judicial departments should improve the transparency of their work so that common people would be well informed. // Source: SCMP

Alibaba Group listed in the US, said to raise $21.8 Billion in record U.S. IPO

1. The sale, which values Alibaba at $167.6 billion, is already the largest by any company in the U.S., and has the potential to break the global record — currently held by Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.’s $22 billion IPO in 2010 — if underwriters issue more shares. Source: Bloomberg

Xi Jinping starts first presidential tour of India

1. Xi visited India last week and was personally received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This marks the first visit by a Chinese president in eight years, and the third in the modern history of the two nations.
2. NY Times looks at what is at stake: // China has the ability to channel billions of dollars into Indian infrastructure and manufacturing projects, allowing Mr. Modi to pursue the jobs-creation agenda that was at the heart of his campaign. China needs calm on its southwestern border to offset tense relationships with Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and the United States. State-run Chinese newspapers have lavished praise on Mr. Modi, implying that he has the potential to set India on a trajectory of economic growth similar to the one that China has followed. But those interests are balanced by deep mistrust on security matters.” The matters at stake include disputed borders between China and India, India’s maritime cooperation with Australia and Japan as well as defense and energy ties with Vietnam, and China aggressive expansion of presence in South Asia – a strategy called the “string of pearls. // Source: NY Times
3. Prior to his election as Indian Prime Minister in May, Modi had serve as Chief Minister of Gujarat, where he began forming a relationship with Beijing. SCMP: // Long before Modi fashioned himself as a national leader, Beijing’s talent scouts zeroed in on him when he began to reach out to China for investment in the western Indian state of Gujarat, of which Modi was chief minister. The initial attraction was his pro-business approach and a no-nonsense administrative style that makes the state a rare investor-friendly island in a sea of bureaucratic sloth. But Beijing was also acutely aware that, as a rising star in India’s then main opposition party, Modi brought more to the table than an investor’s paradise, and began to cultivate him. Modi has visited China four times. In 2011, he made a particularly high-profile five-day trip in which he was accorded a welcome generally reserved for heads of state. For his part, Modi carried red visiting cards printed in Chinese. // Source: SCMP
4. CDT provides more background on Xi’s trip to India. //Modi meets with Xi shortly after an amiable encounter with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe prompted speculation that the Indian leader could be on board to help counter China, a view that others rejected. For his part, Xi stressed Sino-Indian friendship ahead of the trip, and postponed a stopover to longtime ally Pakistan. Modi’s reception of Xi also showed affinity; Xi was met by the Indian leader personally—a rarity for Indian heads of state—on his 64th birthday and in his home state of Gujarat. // Source: CDT
5. As Xi and his wife enjoyed an honorific welcome, news of a skirmish on the Sino-Indian border had just broken, putting the countries’ long running territorial dispute on display. The Guardian // More than 200 soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army entered what India considers its territory last week and used cranes and bulldozers to build a 1.2-mile road, the Hindustan Times reported. Indian soldiers challenged the Chinese troops and asked them to withdraw, before demolishing a temporary track they had built, said the report, which has not been denied by Indian authorities. // Source: Guardian
6. Meanwhile, Tibetans in the Indian capital have staged a protest against the visit, as Wall Street Journal reports: // On Wednesday morning, Indian television network NDTV showed footage of what it described as a group of protesters near the Chinese embassy in New Delhi being escorted away by police while shouting anti-China slogans. At New Delhi’s main Tibetan neighborhood, Majnu Ka Tilla, activist groups reported increased police presence. …The Tibetan Youth Congress, an organization calling for Tibetan independence, last week dispatched a letter to India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to raise the Tibet issue with Mr. Xi.” The Indian government reportedly asked the Dalai Lama to reschedule a planned gathering in Delhi that would overlap with Xi’s visit. Source: WSJ, Reuters
7. South China Morning Post reports on why Modi sees economic opportunity in his relationship with China. Source: SCMP
8. Xi Jinping too sees economic opportunity in the bilateral relationship. The Hindu published an op-ed written by Xi himself today, entitled “Towards an Asian Century of Prosperity”. // As the two engines of the Asian economy, we need to become cooperation partners spearheading growth. I believe that the combination of China’s energy plus India’s wisdom will release massive potential. We need to jointly develop the BCIM Economic Corridor, discuss the initiatives of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and lead the sustainable growth of the Asian economy. As two important forces in a world that moves towards multipolarity, we need to become global partners having strategic coordination. According to Prime Minister Modi, China and India are “two bodies, one spirit.” I appreciate this comment. Despite their distinctive features, the “Chinese Dragon” and the “Indian Elephant” both cherish peace, equity and justice. // Source: The Hindu
9. In a speech delivered at the Indian Council of World Affairs, Xi Jinping said that China and India should be partners for peace and development. “When China and India join hands for cooperation, it will benefit not only the two countries but also the entire Asia and the world at large,” said Xi. He said China-India relations have gone well beyond the bilateral scope and have assumed broad regional and global significance as they have become two major forces in the world’s multi-polarization process and two vibrant forces driving Asian and global economic growth. China and India should become closer partners for development while jointly pursuing their respective national renewal. Source: Xinhua
10. More reading

i.     A Brookings primer to “The Modi-Xi Summit and China-India Relations”. Source: Brookings

ii.     A post from the Council on Foreign Relations’ senior South Asia fellow Alyssa Ayres on the mixed messages China is sending to India. Source: Council on Foreign Relations

Week-long class boycott for democracy began yesterday, as HK tycoons meet Xi Jinping in Beijing

1. //Thousands of university students from across Hong Kong formed a sea of white as they arrived in Chinese University (CUHK) to join the week-long class boycott for democracy which began at 2pm. Students gathered at the university mall in Sha Tin, wearing white with yellow ribbons pinned to their shirts – the symbol of the city’s democracy movement. Organisers put the turnout at 13,000. // Source: SCMP
2. //More than 80 public lectures are planned, with speakers including Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and more than 100 academics from various disciplines.// Source: SCMP
3. //Tycoons arriving in Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping put on a united front against Occupy Central yesterday and called on Hongkongers to be more « constructive » over political reform. The delegation, comprising over 70 heavyweights from the commercial, industrial and professional sectors, was led by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, who is now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The trip was arranged after Beijing spelt out a restrictive framework for the 2017 chief executive election that sparked protests and a one-week class boycott beginning today. // Source: SCMP
4. During his meeting with the tycoons, President Xi tells tycoons ‘one country, two systems’ will stay, but highlights central government leadership role and need to tailor ‘one man, one vote’. // President Xi Jinping has reiterated that the central government’s policies towards Hong Kong will remain unchanged but hinted that Beijing would play a more active role in the city’s affairs. Speaking to a delegation of senior figures from the city’s business and professional sectors, Xi said the implementation of « one man, one vote » in Hong Kong must be tailored to the specific situation of the country and the city. Xi also vowed to support the Hong Kong government in the face of any activities that destroy social order, an implicit reference to the upcoming Occupy Central protest. // Source: SCMP
5. //The comprehensive nature of the list of Hong Kong business leaders invited to Beijing underlines the central government’s wish to forge a strong united front among the city’s elite amid heated debate over its political future. The delegation to Beijing comprises 70 of the richest and most influential figures in Hong Kong; such an assembly has not been seen since 2003. Among them are many who may not always see eye to eye with Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and some who normally steer clear of politics. // Source: SCMP
6. //Pan-democrats are likely to boycott a visit to the mainland proposed by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, with the Democratic Party saying it would be interested only if food safety and pollution issues were covered. Some lawmakers also felt the trip would be pointless because political reform would not be on the agenda. A government spokesman said yesterday that Leung spoke to Guangdong authorities about a visit to the province by all 70 lawmakers by the end of next month. He also asked Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing to gather views from lawmakers. Leung later said that as Hong Kong and Guangdong forged closer social and economic ties there was a need for deeper understanding on issues such as water supplies and care of the elderly. He hoped that such visits could become regular events. A government source said the three-day trip was likely to take in Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Zhongshan . It could also include a meeting with provincial party secretary Hu Chunhua , a rising star in the Communist Party. // Source: SCMP

1. Xi Jinping made it to the cover page of the Economist again. The articles, “Xi Who Must Be Obeyed” and “The power of Xi Jinping” suggest that the Xi’s cultivation of personal charisma is a striking departure from the collective leadership model. Xi might be popular, but his power is full of perils “If Mr Xi used his power to reform the way power works in China, he could do his country great good. So far, the signs are mixed.” Source: Economist (1), Economist (2)
   • According to the CDT, this is the sixth time that Xi Jinping has appeared on the cover of The Economist (Oct 23, 2010; Oct 27, 2012; May 4, 2013; Jun 8, 2013; Nov 2, 2013). The May 2013 cover, which showed Xi wearing the Qianlong Emperor’s robe under the headline “Let’s Party Like it’s 1793,” irked censors in Beijing. Earlier this month, political news website The Paper, a newly launched site that is part of Xi’s new-media propaganda strategy, attracted netizen criticism after selectively translating The Economist’s August 23 article “What China Wants.” Source: CDT

2. Michael Pillsbury, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a consultant to the U.S. Defense Department, publishes “Misunderstanding China: How did Western policy makers and academics repeatedly get China so wrong?” on the Wall Street Journal // We have projected on the Chinese a pleasing image—a democracy in waiting, or a docile Confucian civilization seeking global harmony. We have been reassured by China’s leaders seeking our economic, scientific and military assistance, and have ignored writings, actions and declarations that warn of growing nationalism. After 65 years, we don’t know what China wants because we haven’t truly listened to some of the powerful voices that undermine our wishful thinking. As China continues its rise, our first step should be to dismantle comfortable assumptions and false realities. We must study China anew and recognize that its Communist rulers are determined not to fade into history. // Source: WSJ

3. On Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell travels with Secretary of State John Kerry to Beijing for meetings with Chinese officials on reducing carbon emissions and other environmental issues. His report examines the efforts being taken within China and on the international stage to reverse climate change. Source: Rolling Stone

4. John Garnaut writes on The Age, titled “The rise and rise of China – can it really continue?” //Of all the messages that Beijing pushes to the world there is one that underpins the rest: China’s rise is inexorable. The rise and rise of China – under the Chinese Communist Party, of course – is the subtext that dissuades democratic governments from talking about Beijing’s relentless assaults on independently-minded lawyers, journalists and bloggers and its underground war against the institutions of civil society in Hong Kong. For Australians, the story of a billion people marching inexorably to urbanised prosperity is also the core assumption that underpins investment decisions, interest rate settings and budget projections. But how do we forecast the future of a market-Leninist economy for which there is no global precedent? This question is coming to the fore as history’s biggest credit and construction boom now turns to bust….It’s arguably harder than it has been in decades to see through China’s fragmentary data, deliberate half-truths and irreconcilable contradictions. So what do we really know? // Source: The Age