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Happy belated PLA Day!
'Tis the month of all things PLA...well, actually it is simply a good month to get away and catch up on reading, relationships, and rest, but we also just passed PLA Day, so this week we highlight some related readings. Also, for job seekers, make sure to check out the cool job at the end.
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This week's readings concern Chinese military strategy. The Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) just ran an interesting series of essays on different facets of Chinese strategy, including articles by a PLA veteran of the 1979 war with Vietnam, beltway analysts, and military officers. The link opens to a page with the titles and authors of each piece. In conjunction, we also suggest reading from "Army Day" articles in Seeking Truth (求是)
that speak to the PLA's role in China's past and future, including an article by Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Fan Changlong.
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Actress Xu Jinglei has revealed that she froze some of her eggs in the U.S. two years ago, spurring state media to remind people that "single women in China are not allowed to use the egg freezing technology to preserve fertility," as the Global Times reported last Monday. Weibo is still buzzing about middle-aged Xu's decision to give herself the option of motherhood regardless of her marital status, while writer/racecar driver Han Han has weighed in to suppo
rt women's choice. Egg freezing allows women to be in charge of their own bodies, many argue on Weibo, rather than what Han Han calls "birth machines and walking wombs" for men. The ban is supposed to rein in the black market, but @用户5225613617 reasons that the law exists "because it's all been determined by men."
Read more about the discussion:
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俗语 in Xi Jinping's Speeches
沆瀣合流
hàngxiè héliú
As you recall, last week we were struggling with the above expression from Xi's SCO speech. We received the following excellent explanation from Prof. Chen Yang of the Graduate School:
First of all, we need to understand that there is no such
成
语
(idiom) as "
沆瀣合流
", but rather "
沆瀣一气
" which means, according to
汉
英
词
典（修
订
版）
(Chinese English Dictionary) (revised edition), 1. be congenial to each other
2. act in collusion
；
wallow in the mire with. "
沆
" and "
瀣
" have similar odors, thus the idiom "
沆瀣一气
" which is usually used in a derogatory
sense.
As I see it, Xi Jinping coined "
沆瀣合流
" by combining two idioms, "
沆瀣一气
"and "
同流合
污
", which means "wallow in the mire with somebody; associate with an evil person; go along with somebody in his evil deeds." What Xi was trying
to state
was that
the
3 threats (violent extremism, ethnic separatism, and religious fundamentalism) collude as they share similar odors and they join forces to
reinforce
one another to cause
difficulties and challenges.
In short,
the 3 evil
forces collude like
"vast expanse
of water and
evening mist confluence."
Original:
同时，也要看到，受国际和地区形势动荡、"三股势力"沆瀣合流、地区国家经济下行压力加大等内外因素影响，本地区安全稳定和经济发展都遇到相当多的困难和挑战，上海合作组织发展面临的外部形势不容乐观。
Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-07/10/c_1115889105.htm
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Documentary of the Week
Beijing will host another military parade, celebrating the end of World War II and the victory over the fascists. The date set for the parade is September 3rd -- the day after Japan's official surrender on deck of the USS Missouri. This parade is coming somewhat out of cycle as military parades have been hosted every ten years on National Day (国庆节). This week's video is about the context and decisions surrounding China's first major military parade, and it
is the first part in a series about China's military parades going up to the present.
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Job of the Week
Atlas China, run by stalwart AMS member Abe Sorock, is looking for candidates for one of their clients in Beijing. The job looks really interesting so we thought we would highlight it here!
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