March 15,
2017

ISSUE
No. 92

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Dedicated to the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
In this week's newsletter we focus on artificial intelligence, rebirth, the lasting influence of Bo Xilai, and our newly released podcast episode. 
Weekly Readings

Amid the National People's Congress sessions, Beijing expanded on a little line in the premier's work report to announce a plan to boost Chinese research into artificial intelligence (AI). China ranks in the top three of countries raising venture capital, applying for patents, and otherwise devoting research resources. Forms of AI are used in speech recognition, expert systems, and game playing. Beijing's applications will no doubt include the economic cuttin g edge, but, with the data compiled by the Golden Shield project and the emerging social credit system, there will be a darker side as well.

"两会后出台人工智能发展规划," Xinhua, March 12, 2017

"The Future is Here: China Sounds a Clarion Call on AI Funding, Policies to Surpass US," South China Morning Post, March 11, 2017

***

"Beijing to Release National Artificial Intelligence Development Plan," South China Morning Post, March 12, 2017

"万钢:人工智能将引领社会发展 正制定发展规划," China News Service, March 11, 2017

俗语 in Xi Jinping's Speeches
 
浴火重生  
yù huǒ chóng shēng  

Meaning: to be born again from fire (to go through great difficulties/challenges and come out on the other side)

On March 8 Xi Jinping spoke to the Sichuan NPC delegation. Upon being shown a photo of the Lushan earthquake reconstruction results, Xi used this phrase (not really a chengyu). As far as who showed him the picture, let's just say that this must have been a pretty big moment for the 四川雅安汉源县古路村支部书记骆云莲代表.

Original:隆兴中心校校园宽阔整洁、震中青龙场村一排排小楼整齐排列、村口矗立的感恩石上"永远跟党走"5个大字格外醒目、总书记当年在芦山县体育馆安置点帐篷内亲抚的小朋友骆俊诚正在芦山县幼儿园快乐成长......四川雅安汉源县古路村支部书记骆云莲代表发言时,用照片向总书记展现灾区新貌。习近平起身接过照片,仔细地看了起来,说:"非常高兴,浴火重生!"

Video of the Week  

This week's video is a discussion about the political climate in Beijing and elite politics during the "Two Meetings" and five years after the fall of Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai. One of the topics discussed is Bo's influence on the politics and tactics of Xi Jinping's China. Elite politics is difficult if not impossible to interpret correctly with any consistency, but that does not mean we can avoid trying to hypothesize or going back to evaluate w hat happened after more evidence arrives. Only by doing this work can we ever arrive at workable explanations.
New Podcast Episode 
 
A new AMS podcast episode has been released. In this episode, we bring you a recording of our recent event with Chia-Huan Chang, a visiting fellow of the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS and a former instructor at Taiwan's National Defense University. Chia-Huan Chang's research interests include the issues related to the international law of the sea, maritime policies, and the South China Sea disputes.

The episode can be found here. 
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.