July 28,
2015

ISSUE
No. 52

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Supporting the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
Summer Reading
As things slow down in August we have some great reading suggestions for you. Also, for students looking for a cool internship, 100K Strong is looking for a fall research assistant. See below for details.

Weekly Readings

With August nearly upon us and vacation days ahead, we thought it appropriate to suggest a few books to read during the coming month. These suggestions are not endorsements of the perspectives in these books, but, again, are suggestions because we think that they will provoke your thinking about China and U.S.-China relations.

First up, Thomas J. Christensen's The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power. The author is a Princeton professor and served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bush (43) administration, and his diligent work has earned him the right to be taken seriously: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393081133/

Second, Lyle Goldstein's Meeting China Halfway: How to Defuse the Emerging U.S.-China Rivalry. Goldstein has long argued that the current contradictions in U.S. China policy are leading to rivalry, and he proposes a series of measures for how to untangle the situation that neither Beijing or Washington ate likely to find particularly palatable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1626161607/

Third, Jonathan Holslag's China's Coming War with Asia. Holslag's slim volume presents a structural international relations theory-based argument for why China is on a collision course with its neighbors, and, unlike similar works, backs it up with current developments: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/074568825X/

Fourth, Daniel Bell's The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy. Although some have criticized this book's presentation of both the Chinese and U.S. political systems, Bell invites the reader to think more deeply about the nature of both systems: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691166455/

Remember, in the words of Sir Francis Bacon, "Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention."


Social Media Watch

A sex tape filmed in a Beijing Uniqlo ignited Weibo and WeChat last week. The one-minute video, taken in a dressing room in the capital's trendy Sanlitun district, lead many Internet users to suspect the Japanese clothing company leaked it as a publicity stunt. Uniqlo has denied any involvement, while the Beijing police have detained four suspects for possibly making or distributing the video. The Cyberspace Administration of China is investigating the incident and will meet with Sina and Tencent representatives to discuss their "social responsibility." Both Internet companies have deleted the video and related posts en masse. But photos snapped outside the "landmark" Uniqlo, and even in its dressing rooms, still pepper Weibo. "I hear it's popular to take photos at Uniqlo right now," writes @干小熊饼, captioning his suggestive selfie with a friend in a dressing room (http://www.weibo.com/2649407964/CsbnZmucd).
 


俗语 in Xi Jinping's  Speeches

 

锲而不舍
qiè ér bù shě

Meaning: to keep on chipping away at something, to persevere

 

It has been a quiet week for Xi's public  speeches, but maybe this week Beidaihe is filled with his chengyu, who knows? In any case, we had to reach back a bit to find this week's. It was in a speech on June 25th to a working group on anti-drug policy. He follows this chengyu with with other similar ones.

 

Original: 

各地区各有关部门要切实增强做好禁毒工作的政治责任感,以更加坚定的决心、更加有力的措施、更加扎实的工作,坚持严打方针不动摇,坚持多策并举、综合治理,坚持部门协同、社会共治,保持对毒品的"零容忍",锲而不舍,常抓不懈,坚定不移打赢禁毒人民战争,不获全胜决不收兵。

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-06/25/c_1115726852.htm


Documentary of the Week

This week's documentary is a CCTV news broadcast on the Fengrui Law Firm that was at the center of the arrests of rights protection lawyers in recent weeks. This video obviously comes at the issue a very different way than most of what you might have heard or read in English (and possibly in Chinese). Like other readings and videos posted, it is here because there is value for a China-watcher to viewing how Beijing presents current developments with politi cal sensitivity. Implicit, and sometimes explicit, in these presentations is a debate over political values and how a government should be judged.
Internship Opportunity

The 100K Strong Foundation is now seeking a research assistant for the fall. It is an unpaid internship, but is a great way to get started in the DC China community. See the link below for more details:
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