Dedicated to the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
This week we focus on themes of cooperative security in China, a chengyu delivered by Xi Jinping on April 26, and a documentary film on startups in China.
Weekly Readings
On June 9th and 10th, Xi Jinping presided over the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Qingdao. His speech presented China's version of cooperative security, and the People's Daily ran a series of articles expanding on the different aspects of the speech. Xi presented a mixture of traditional Chinese Communist Party diplomacy and a defense of some international institutions. Xi's reassuring messages cannot help but be contrasted to the fracturing of the West, both among and within nations.
Meaning: literally, for the warrior to cut off his own wrist [after a snake bite], but figuratively, to take quick and decisive action to prevent greater problems.
In the same April 26 speech (that was not released by Xinhua until June 13) we highlighted last week, Xi Jinping uses this chengyu to emphasize the drastic measures needed to economically and ecologically transform and upgrade the Yangtze Economic Belt. This chengyu is often used together, as it was this time, with 刮骨疗伤, to scrape the bone to heal the wound.
The documentary film
Too Big for China focuses on the mainland startup industry. Viewers can follow several investors and startup companies through the process of securing and giving out funding.
Given the characteristics of the Chinese national banking system, the film details how private investors fill a void in China's financial system by providing small loans with lower barriers to entry.
This documentary features a good amount of Chinese dialogue (with subtitles), and will be suitable for those interested in startup culture and investor-startup relationships in China.
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