Aug. 3,
2015
ISSUE
No. 53
AMS Weekly Newsletter
Supporting the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
The Definitive Chinese Happy Hour! 
For those poor souls stuck in Washington D.C. during August, there is a massive China-focused happy hour this Thursday night, 6pm at Vapiano's:  The Definitive Chinese Happy Hour. Register here for free! It should be a fantastic time, and your editor is very disappointed that he will be in NYC and have to miss it. Do him a favor and 干杯 one for him! 
 
Weekly Readings

China's response to the stock market bubble bursting in Shanghai has refocused attention on Beijing's economic policies. This week's readings cover a range of materials surrounding the events of this summer, including an evaluation of Chinese leaders, a Politburo meeting, a People's Daily commentary, and the role of the China Securities Finance Corporation. One of the stories here is how Beijing balances the need for an economic re-balancing (from inves tment- to consumer-led growth) and Beijing's nationalization of risk at varying levels across varying sectors.

Social Media Watch

Blogging essayists and grassroots media groups, also known as "self-media" (自媒体), thrive in WeChat official accounts (微信公众账号). Official accounts can gain big followings, but they can't be found by searching in WeChat-users can only learn about them from friends or by scanning QR codes. Enter Chuansongmen (传送门, "Portal"), a source for navigating official accounts and getting recommendations on what to read next. Chuansongmen organizes accounts by broad categories, while also recommending the latest posts, most popular accounts, and editor picks. Visit chuansong.me or search for 传送门 in the iTunes store (the app is free).

俗语 in Xi Jinping's  Speeches

 

沆瀣合流
hàngxiè  héliú

We return to Xi Jinping's Shanghai Cooperation Organization speech that we covered a few weeks ago in Issue 50. Then we focused on 三股势力, the 3 threats to stability and development in the region: violent extremism, ethnic separatism, and religious fundamentalism. We now cover the second half of his phrase, which refers the confluence of these related phenomena. We actually are having a tough time finding a good translation for this. Any suggestions? Confluence like evening mist?

Original:
同时，也要看到，受国际和地区形势动荡、"三股势力"沆瀣合流、地区国家经济下行压力加大等内外因素影响，本地区安全稳定和经济发展都遇到相当多的困难和挑战，上海合作组织发展面临的外部形势不容乐观。
Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-07/10/c_1115889105.htm

Documentary of the Week

In case you are wondering whether to buy Thomas Christensen's new book The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power, here is a book talk that Professor Christensen recently gave in New York. In many ways, Christensen offers the most articulate and current argument for the conventional wisdom of China policy. He does not demonstrate the pessimism of some scholars, who see an inevitable clash or that a tipping point has been reached, but believ
es there are ways for the United States and China to cooperate, compete, and coexist.
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