October 6,
2014

ISSUE
No. 25

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Supporting the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
This week's newsletter comes to you a couple days late for no good reason other than it was that kind of week last week. 请原谅!

Weekly Readings
 
All eyes were on Hong Kong last week as protests continued under the banner of Occupy Central. The demonstrations resulted in clashes with police, arrests, and tear gas in the streets. As this week begins, civil servants are heading back to work and the protests seem to be thinning. What will happen next is still unclear. Following the 2003 demonstrations over security legislation, senior Hong Kong officials----most notably Secretary for Security Regina Ip----resigned and senior resignations may be the most likely outcome here if the protests continue. Beijing, however, continues to see these feelings as something other than genuine Hong Kong reactions to Chinese policy.




Weibo Watch
 
While international media focused on HK, Weibo was active with more prosaic topics. Single or double eyelid? Many Asians have a "single eyelid," while some have a "double eyelid," or a crease in the upper eyelid. Blepharoplasty, a plastic surgery procedure to create a double eyelid, has become popular in East Asia. As of 9:30 a.m. EST, over 11,000 users have voted on the page "Single Eyelid Versus Double Eyelid" (#单眼皮PK双眼皮#), with 65% voting the double eyelid "prettier." The moderator is offering portable batteries to some lucky winners who follow her and post on the discussion page.

"I have one of each," 岁月且留下 writes below his selfie. "What do you say?" Plenty of commenters write that they have both, too. 
木予林myl tells him, "You win." Some tell 岁月且留下 he looks great, but others have nothing nice to say.

One woman, -H皢妹, posts a selfie and proclaims, "Not only a single eyelid, but a small eye. Looks like I have the winning ticket." While lots of commenters snark that they can't tell if she is a man of a woman, 宇宙无解超级美少 comes to her defense: "Better to take a good look at yourself than to call other people ugly."

成语 in Xi Jinping's speeches

扬汤止沸,不如釜底抽薪

y�ng tāng zhǐ f�i, b� r� fǔ dǐ chōu xīn


In a speech last year to the Central Commission for Discipline and Inspection Xi used these two 成语 to say that you need to get to the root of the problem, not just attack the symptoms. It is better to remove the firewood from under the pot than to scoop out the boiling water and pour it back in. Or something like that...this is one of those cases where it is perhaps best left in Chinese!

 

原文: 要善于用法治思维和法治方式反对腐败,加强反腐败国家立法,加强反腐倡廉党内法规制度建设,让法律制度刚性运行。扬汤止沸,不如釜底抽薪。要从源头上有效防治腐败,加强对典型案例的剖析,从中找出规律性的东西,深化腐败问题多发领域和环节的改革,最大限度减少体制障碍和制度漏洞。

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-09/29/c_1112682972.htm
 

Documentary of the Week

This week's documentary is about Huawei, the controversial Chinese telecommunications giant. The company is a symbol of post-Mao China, involving a potent mix of entrepreneurship, government relationships, and learning by doing. The documentary looks at the background of Huawei and its rise to international prominence. 


For further reading on Huawei, read this CSIS case study on the company as part of the think tank's study on Chinese competitiveness.
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