January 13,
2015

ISSUE
No. 34

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Supporting the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
新年好!
Welcome to 2015! This is going to be an exciting year for AMS, with lots in the pipeline: a new website, new products and programs, and more events and get-togethers. Stay tuned...

Weekly Readings
 
Xinhua announced selections from President Xi Jinping's speeches and writing on anti-corruption were released. Once again, Xi is establishing a public presence and official markers that shape how the Party functions. This week's readings are selections from those newly-published writings along with four different analyses of the Chinese leader.






Weibo Watch

Five firefighters died in Harbin on January 2 while battling a warehouse blaze, all between the ages of 18 and 22. Now netizens want their sacrifice to be properly honored by the local government. The city issued a statement on January 3 lauding the "valiant struggle" (英勇奋战) of senior officials in the fire department, only mentioning at the end that there were casualties and failing to name the victims. The Harbin police posted the statement to its Weibo, where users left angry comments (http://weibo.com/1887683497/BDLKBtZAW). The Harbin police posted the names of the dead the next day, calling them "martyrs" (烈士). Elsewhere on Weibo, netizens are calling for the leadership to be held accountable.
俗语 in Xi Jinping's  Speeches

猛药去疴
měng y�o q� kē

Meaning: use strong medicine to fight disease

At yesterday's important speech on anti-corruption, General Secretary Xi used an evocative series of linguistic images relating to medicine and curing disease. 

原文:保持高压态势不放松,查处腐败问题,必须坚持零容忍的态度不变、猛药去疴的决心不减、刮骨疗毒的勇气不泄、严厉惩处的尺度不松,发现一起查处一起,发现多少查处多少,把反腐利剑举起来,形成强大震慑。

Documentary of the Week

This week's film is an episode of 纪实 that discusses three episodes of Deng Xiaoping's international experience. The three interactions are with President Jimmy Carter, journalist Oriana Fallaci, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The episodes show some of Deng's guile in dealing with foreign leaders as well as related domestic challenges. Sohu posted the video with the question "Are sovereignty disputes negotiable?" The answer to that question in the video provide an interesting contrast to recent survey data on China's maritime disputes.


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