Oct. 20,
2016

ISSUE
No. 82

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Dedicated to the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
Your editor is just back from Yan'an (very interesting for students of CCP history!), so apologies for the late newsletter. First things first:
  • Make sure to read the article Language and U.S. National Interests that describes the importance of AMS' mission.We hope you agree!
  • Due to the difficulty some people had signing up on our website over the last couple days we are extending the Fellows Program deadline one more day to Saturday Oct. 22. For those that have yet to apply, get on it!
 
Weekly Readings

The cracks appearing in China's economic facade over the last 18 months have invited analysts to pile on. Pei Minxin's latest book describes China's corruption problem as "rapacious crony capitalism" driving the decay of the Chinese Communist Party and the country's eventual political collapse. In a larger sense, what does it matter until the day if and when the party breaks down completely? How does the corruption affect the United State s or U.S.-China relations? Interactions between the two countries seem to proceed apace in both the public and private sectors even with the friction caused by corruption. How does domestic Chinese corruption impact international behavior? These are some of the questions Pei leaves unanswered but he provides a lot of data from which one begin to think more about the "so what?" of Chinese corruption.
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For a series of other essays by David Shambaugh, Mike Lampton, Jeffrey Wasserstrom, and Orville Schell, see: https://twq.elliott.gwu.edu/ 
俗语 in Xi Jinping's  Speeches

树大根深
shù dà gēn shēn
 
Meaning: a big tree with deep roots (an influential person or organization)

On October 16 Xi Jinping gave a speech in Goa at the BRICS Summit. In the speech he recognized that the global economy presented a challenging environment and headwinds for the BRICS countries, and warned of growing protectionist attitudes and anti-globalization.
There are a few other chengyus in the original sentence below as well.

Original:  经过10年发展,金砖国家合作已经是枝繁叶茂、树大根深。我们完全有能力化挑战为机遇,化压力为动力,同舟共济,共克时艰。我们要贡献金砖国家的智慧和力量,携手寻找应对之道

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-10/16/c_1119727543.htm
Social Media Watch
 
When he's not at his day job as editor of the bilingual environmental website China Dialogue, Ma Tianjie blogs about Chinese social media at Chublic Opinion. Ma is one of the most astute analysts of Weibo and WeChat phenomena right now, earning him a second appearance this week on the Sinica podcast. Listen to him talk about three major social media events from the summer at
Video of the Week
 
This month 80 years ago, the Red Army arrived in Yan'an, marking the end of the Long March. This week's video interviews several Long Marchers about their early experiences in what would become the People's Liberation Army. Many, like one of those interviewed, joined as young teenagers. Although the program is filled with over-the-top slogans, their experiences hardly could be called part of a normal childhood.
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