January 20,
2015

ISSUE
No. 34

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Supporting the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
先实习。。。
Policy careers, especially in D.C., often start with good internships. Not only do these give valuable job experience but they provide you with a great circle of contacts that can stay with you for your career. Check out the internship we highlight at the end of this newsletter; you would be hard pressed to find a more interesting one!

Weekly Readings
 
Under Xi Jinping, coordinated national anti-corruption efforts have impacted the People's Liberation Army (PLA), most notably the high profile cases of Xu Caihou and Gu Junshan. This year began with the announcement that 16 PLA generals were graft suspects, including Gu's successor in the General Logistics Department. This week's articles highlight the integration in Xi's vision for improving PLA fighting quality and leveraging developments in society at large to strengthen the military, including the rule of law mechanisms proposed at the Fourth Plenum.


Weibo Watch

This week, Weibo is celebrating the 110th birthday of Zhou Youguang, the linguist most famous as the "father of pinyin." Born in 1906 (by traditional age reckoning, children turn one year old at birth), in the 1950s Zhou was in charge of the committee to create a romanization system for Mandarin, which lead to the invention of pinyin. Weibo user 北京厨子小号 thanks Zhou for this contribution-"otherwise, we'd be using this keyboard," (s)he muses, sharing a photo of a device combining the Latin alphabet, radicals, and zhuyin fuhao (bopomofo) (http://weibo.com/2382387671/BFwZ7tIgx).

CCTV has created the popular topic page "Zhou Youguang's 110th Birthday" (#周有光110岁生日#), where users have left virtual birthday cakes for the centegenarian. A Weibo search for "Zhou Youguang" returns comments like that of 米家那个山, which share Zhou's birthday wish that "China will move toward democracy and become a happy country in the world" (http://weibo.com/2140415420/BFyiNBshV).

俗语 in Xi Jinping's  Speeches

四风
Four Customs or Four Practices

This week we are taking a break from the 俗语 and 成语 to highlight and explain a term that General Secretary Xi is using a lot these days when discussing corruption. The "four customs" are 形式主义 (formalism),  官僚主义 (bureaucracy), 享乐主义 (pleasure seeking), and 奢靡之风 (extravagance/waste). 

Here is an example:

一种鲜明态度:横下一条心纠正"四风"

【总书记讲话】横下一条心纠正"四风",常抓抓出习惯、抓出长效,在坚持中见常态,向制度建设要长效,强化执纪监督,把顶风违纪搞"四风"列为纪律审查的重点。

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-01/13/c_1113982665.htm


 

Documentary of the Week

Chiang Ching-kuo is a remarkable Chinese figure, who played a significant role on the Kuomintang (KMT) side of the civil war and in shaping the Taiwan of today. On the one hand, Chiang served his father Chiang Kai-shek as a brutal secret police chief; on the other, he cancelled martial law, permitted the formal creation of the Democratic Progressive Party, and selected Lee Teng-hui as his successor. During the 1920s, he also trained in Moscow with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) luminaries like Deng Xiaoping, demonstrating one of the ways in which the CCP and KMT cadre developed close relationships. This week's documentary is the first part of a series on Chiang Ching-kuo.
风中种子-今昔蒋经国 第一集:"总统"蒋经国
S&ED Internships

If you apply, make sure to include "Member, American Mandarin Society" on your resume...

DESCRIPTION:    A Presidential initiative, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) is an ongoing and intensive mechanism for addressing the challenges and opportunities that the United States and China face on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global areas of immediate and long-term strategic and economic interest. The S&ED consists of two "tracks," an Economic track, chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, and a Strategic track, chaired by the Secretary of State.  As the President's Special Representative for the Economic Track, the Secretary of the Treasury is responsible for taking the leading role in developing and driving U.S.-China economic policy for the U.S. government and is responsible for all Economic track-related preparations associated with the S&ED. The S&ED mechanism also provides a forum for ongoing and productive bilateral engagement between U.S. and Chinese officials who have diverse responsibilities for both economic and strategic issues. Specifically, the S&ED is a key part of our ongoing efforts to promote free trade, open markets, and foreign investment opportunities and to protect global economic and financial stability and press for market-determined foreign exchange rates. An S&ED office intern will help support these goals.


 

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES:  
The Treasury Department's Office of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) is seeking 2-3 summer interns. The intern will work both independently and collaboratively to:
Plan, edit, and organize briefing materials for senior U.S. government officials. 
Assist in preparing for and monitoring policy negotiations with Chinese government officials.
Assist and support Treasury staff with ongoing projects as needed; including a variety of logistical tasks related to hosting the S&ED.
Monitor U.S. and Chinese press for pertinent S&ED commentary Juggle a variety of tasks with a sense of humor, collegiality, and humility.


 

EXPERIENCE DESIRED:
A secret-level (or higher) security clearance is preferred but not required.  Chinese language skills are also a plus.  Candidates should have experience:
Operating in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment.
Working on both short-and long-term projects and being involved in the entire lifecycle of a project.
Writing and editing memoranda, briefings, and talking points.
Collaborating closely with multiple offices.
Following economic developments in China and in the U.S.-China bilateral relationship. 

POINT OF CONTACT:
Interested candidates should apply by sending a short statement of interest, resume and writing sample to A. Greer Meisels (amy.meisels at treasury.gov) and Matthew Sullivan (matthew.sullivan at treasury.gov).

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