Feb. 22,
2017

ISSUE
No. 89

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Dedicated to the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
In this week's newsletter we focus on U.S.-China space relations, economic reform in China, and an upcoming AMS podcast episode.
Weekly Readings

China's industrialization in the 20th Century may have been marked by great tragedy, but the successes also were remarkable. A short time ago, one of the last surviving awardees of the "Two Bombs, One Satellite (两弹一星)" program, Ren Xinmin (任新民), passed away. Whether the program's resources could have been spent better is irrelevant, the accomplishments are those that only a few countries have achieved. Talented people, like Ren Xinmin, drawn back to th e PRC in its heady early days, are what made China's future prosperity possible. They also show the deep connections between the United States and China that bind people of the two countries together.


俗语  in Xi Jinping's Speeches

破茧成蝶

pò jiǎn chéng dié

Meaning: to break through a cocoon and turn into a butterfly

On January 22, Xi Jinping addressed the importance of supply side economic reform during a Politburo study session. He used this chengyu to explain that while there might be short-term pain from such reform, the pain would be temporary and result in something more beautiful.

Original: 破茧成蝶都有伤痛,供给侧结构性改革出现的短期阵痛是必须承受的阵痛,不能因为有阵痛就止步不前。

Video of the Week
 
China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (中共中央纪律检查委员会, zhōng gòng zhōng yāng jì lǜ jiǎn chá wěi yuán huì) produced the following video regarding corruption and economic growth in China. Listeners can learn useful vocabulary surrounding both topics.

REMINDER: Upcoming Stanford Law Seminar at American University 
    
As a reminder, on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 from 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM Stanford Law will host a seminar titled "Growing Significance of Cases in China: Implications for Legal Education and Legal Practice" at American University. The seminar will feature as keynote speaker the Honorable Judge Sidney H. Stein (Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York). For the complete list of speakers and program, please visi t this link.

Registration for this seminar is free but required. To RSVP, please visit
this link.

Kindly note that seats are limited, so please RSVP soon. Light refreshments and hor d'oeuvres will be provided.

UPCOMING AMS PODCAST: Chia-Huan Chang, "A Legal Discussion of China's SCS Land Reclamation(中文) 
  
Look out for an upcoming AMS podcast episode on last night's discussion from Chia-Huan Chang on China's South China Sea maritime reclamation activities at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

I f you have not already subscribed to AMS podcasts, you can do this via iTunes  at this link.
Support the American Mandarin Society!

If you appreciate the effort we put into organizing Chinese-language policy events, providing robust language and policy resources on our website, and the kind of content you see in this newsletter, please consider supporting us with a tax-deductible contribution--every bit helps!

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