April 18,
2016
ISSUE
No. 72
AMS Weekly Newsletter
Dedicated to the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
大家好! This is our first newsletter since the soft launch of the new website. If you haven't signed up on the new website ( www.mandarinsociety.org) yet,  please do so asap , as we will be closing down the old one soon. And thanks for your patience while we work out some of the kinks and continue to populate new content. 

 Also, if you are in DC join us this Thursday for an AMS event, details below.
Weekly Readings

One of China's diplomatic heavyweights, Wu Jianmin, kicked off a provocative debate in China after he criticized Hu Xijin and Hu's Global Times for misinforming its readership about the complexities of international affairs. There are two takeaways from the discussion. First, Wu's speech contains useful characterizations of how Beijing historically understood the world sit uation and the transition from "war and revolution" to "peace and development." Second, the Wu-Hu debate raises the issue of whether the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has an institutional understanding of Chinese propaganda for domestic and foreign audiences. Is this a broader disconnect between the two sets of institutions speaking on behalf of China? If so, what does this mean for Beijing's ability to execute coherent policy?

 
俗语 in Xi Jinping's  Speeches

两学一做
liǎng xué yī zuò
 
Instead of our usual 成语 or 俗语 offering, this week we highlight yet another policy catch phrase from Xi. Appearing first (?) in early March but then "emphasized" by Xi on April 6, this is part of the fourth comprehensive, 从严治党.  It says: 学习章党规，学习列讲话，做合格党员。
For those of you looking for more details, you can find a more complete explanation 

Original: 中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平对在全党开展"两学一做"学习教育作出重要指示强调，"两学一做"学习教育是加强党的思想政治建设的一项重大部署，是协调推进"四个全面"战略布局特别是推动全面从严治党向基层延伸的有力抓手，基础在学，关键在做，各级党组织要履行抓好"两学一做"学习教育的主体责任，坚持区分层次，突出问题导向，确保取得实际成效。 


Video of the Week

This 4-minute video produced by Japanese cosmetics brand SK-II highlights attitudes and issues relating to 剩女. It has gone viral in China and is worth a watch. In Chinese with English subtitles:


AMS Event Thursday in DC

J oin us this Thursday, April 21, 5:30pm at CSIS for a talk ( in Chinese, of course ) by Dr. Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization. Dr. Wang's talk is titled "Chinese Outbound Businesses: Opportunities and Challenges." Dr. Wang has just authored a new book, 
China Goes Global: How China's Overseas Investment is Transforming Its Business Enterprises.  The book contains detailed case studies, so this is a chance to discuss some of the deeper firm-level issues rather  than simply the quantity of investment, the usual focus of attention. RSVP here!

Young Scholar Opportunity
 
There is still time to submit applications for this great program run by the Carter Center: 

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The American Mandarin Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
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