China

Move over WhatsApp, look out Facebook. China's WeChat could become the world's most popular talk-and-text app. The WSJ's Diana Jou explains how the Chinese-made app combined different social networking functions to build its 300 million user base.

Having trouble borrowing from the banks? Or trusts? Or pawn shops, underground lenders, wealth management products, corporate finance companies, or small-loan companies? Don’t worry. China’s securities companies are also in the loan game.

Amid a sharp increase in sexual assault cases in Hong Kong in recent months, a top city official drew criticism this week for warning that women should drink less to avoid becoming victims.

Under China’s Corporate Income Tax Law, a non-resident enterprise without an establishment or venue in China is subject to CIT at a withholding rate of 10 percent on their China-sourced income. A non-resident enterprise with an establishment or venue in China is taxable on all of its China-sourced income, as well as non-China sourced income that has an actual connection to the Chinese establishment or site, at 25 percent CIT. Continue reading →

Wednesday is expected [see update below] to see a decision by the eight member states of the Arctic Council on China’s third bid for observer status. Japan, South Korea, India, the E.U., Greenpeace and others have also applied to join the twenty organizations and six nations—France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom— already admitted as observers. From Alistair Macdonald and Ellen Emmerentze Jervell at The Wall Street Journal:

The Arctic Council, a once-obscure regional forum that had little to show for itself, has nations queuing to participate, as melting ice makes shipping, tourism and resource extraction a reality in the nebulously delineated region.

Among the 14 countries and organizations seeking so-called observer status at a meeting this week in Kiruna, northern Sweden, will be China, whose increased interest in the Arctic underscores the region’s re-emergence as an area of potential geopolitical intrigue.

The council’s eight permanent members—the U.S., Canada, Russia and five Nordic nations—must agree to admit the new observers. The Nordic nations, which have been courted aggressively by China, say they will. Canada has expressed reservations on expansion. It is unclear whether the U.S., which is sending Secretary of State John Kerry to Sweden, and Russia will agree, as they wake up to the increased economic, and perhaps military, potential of the vast stretches of Arctic territory within and north of their borders. [Source]

At Caixin, Martin Breum explained the murky positions of the various Council member states, and fears that failure to admit China might ultimately render the Council irrelevant:

Over recent years […] persistent reports have clarified that Russia has been actively blocking China’s bid for enhanced status. Russia fears, among other factors, that China will try to influence the drawing of borders in the Arctic Ocean, where it is still not clear which states own what.

But others may also feel reluctant to let China in. High politics in the Arctic is a relatively new game and the AC member states still struggle to balance power between themselves and between themselves and the native peoples of the region. While the Nordic countries – Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland – are all explicitly in favor of China’s wish for a seat at the table, the positions of the United States and Canada are less advertised.

Among the Nordic countries the worry has been for years that China would eventually take the entire discussion of the Arctic’s future to other forums – most likely the United Nations – if it was denied influence in the AC. A UN discussion on everything from polar bears, oil and fisheries to environmental protection and the rights of ethnic minorities could threaten the Arctic countries’ privileged access to the riches in the region and their ability to design for themselves the development of the Arctic societies. [Source]

Bloomberg’s Isabel Reynolds surveyed the economic stakes, and gave more details on the arguments for and against admitting China and the others, including the shadow cast by disputes in the South and East China Seas:

Having cultivated ties with Nordic nations and exploration deals with Russia, China has sparked concern partly because of its “perceived belligerence” in maritime territorial claims, [the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Toronto's James] Manicom said in a report published last month.

[… But] Arctic nations would benefit by admitting East Asian countries as observers, who don’t have voting rights, [the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney's Linda] Jakobson and Manicom said.

“It’s much better to engage with them and know what they’re doing in the Arctic than keep them out,” Jakobson said. “No one’s giving up any power by letting them in.” [Source]

Jakobson elaborated at the Lowy Interpreter, while wondering what exactly all the fuss is about:

The hype about China’s permanent observer bid is far-fetched. It’s not as if the Arctic Council has far-flung powers. Swedish Arctic Ambassador Gustaf Lind’s comment at a gathering of Arctic experts last November is telling: one of the achievements of the Sweden’s two-year Arctic Council chairmanship has been to ensure that document pages are now numbered.

The hype reflects two anxieties. Or, to quote Dr Kristian Kristensen of the University of Copenhagen, twin fears are feeding each other. China evokes anxiety because no one knows what kind of power China will evolve into over the coming decades. And there is uncertainty and anxiety about the consequences of the melting Arctic ice.

Rejecting China’s desire to participate as an observer in discussions pertaining to the Arctic future is not a sensible approach. As I have argued, Arctic Council member states can both protect their own interests and support permanent observer status for China and others. By backing China’s application, Arctic Council members would give up little in the way of direct influence on Arctic matters, while benefiting from substantial discussions with Beijing to better understand its Arctic intentions. Furthermore, engaging China more deeply in Arctic Council activities will encourage Beijing to pay serious attention to legitimate environmental concerns pertaining to shipping and possible resource exploration in the fragile Arctic environment. [Source]

See also ‘Why China oh-so-desperately wants a claim to the Arctic Ocean‘ by Gwynn Guilford at Quartz, and more on China in the Arctic via CDT.

Updated at 8:40 a.m. PST on May 15th: The Arctic Council approved China’s application, as well as those of India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. From Matt McGrath at the BBC:

The meeting in Kiruna, Sweden also agreed on a new manual that will govern the activities and roles of the observers. They will not be able to directly raise issues but will have to bring them forward through one of the eight core members.

But the Council was unable to agree on the application from the European Union. It is believed that Canada, which has now assumed the chairmanship of the Council was strongly opposed to the EU getting a permanent observer seat.

There have been ongoing disputes between the two over an EU ban on seal fur and other products. The EU is also poised to restrict imports of oil produced in the Alberta tar sands.

At CBC, meanwhile, Daniel Schwartz listed issues from ocean acidification to food chain contamination that would be priorities for the Arctic Council over the two years of Canada’s chairmanship and beyond.

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Post tags: Arctic, Arctic Council, Canada, Europe, natural resources, oil, Russia, shipping, tourism, U.N., United States
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Starfish

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Post tags: Kenneth Moore
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A short film in the New York Times’ OpDoc series looks at blogger Zhang Shihe, also known as Tiger Temple, who rides his bicycle through China’s countryside and documents the lives of villagers:

In a country with one of the most sophisticated media and Internet censorship systems, Mr. Zhang and other bloggers must exercise great caution when writing about politically sensitive content — often skirting the label “citizen reporter.” But as Mr. Zhang told me during filming: “If they want to get you, they can find a way. Not even a wise man can be wise all the time.”

In 2010, he was taken by the police and put under house arrest for 10 days, during the country’s annual parliamentary meetings. News spread quickly. That day he received more than 2,000 text messages — good wishes poured in from concerned friends and readers who supported his efforts to help flooded villagers, defrauded farmers and the Beijing homeless. On this day, he said, he “felt the true power of the Internet.” [Source]

Zhang was the subject of a recent full-length documentary film, High Tech, Low Life, about citizen journalists in China. In 2007, CDT translated a series of posts by Zhang documenting his travels. Read the introductory post here.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bloggers, citizen journalism, Laohumiao
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On Wednesday morning, one passionate question united China’s microbloggers: What happened to the big yellow duck?

Bloomberg News

Yum Brands Inc. was cleared last week of meat quality issues in its Little Sheep Group Ltd. chain of restaurants in China, after Shanghai food safety regulators had earlier said the company received shipments labeled as lamb meat, but which also contained pork and duck, from a wholesaler. Although Yum was cleared in the latest case, the incident underscored the challenge of maintaining quality through its supply chain in China, where many producers lack the technology platforms to track the movement of animal products before and after slaughter.

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

When Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced in Oct. 2008 that Peter Voser would serve as its next chief executive, the company’s press release detailed his experience and education, and even noted Mr. Voser was married and the father of three children. When China National Petroleum Corp. announced on Tuesday that Liao Yongyuan would be promoted to the company’s No. 2 position as part of a leadership shakeup at the oil-and-gas major, its statement quoted an official from the Communist Party’s Organization Department as complimenting Mr. Liao’s outstanding political caliber, his solidarity with fellow oil workers and resolute decision-making. CNPC’s announcement, while hardly unusual for such a critical role in China’s ecosystem of state-owned enterprises, is a reminder of how deeply entwined the Communist Party, government and its biggest state-owned enterprises remain.

A Nevada jury ordered Las Vegas Sands to pay a businessman $70 million for helping the casino giant enter the Macau market; China on Tuesday urged the European Union not to engage in trade protectionism.

World’s biggest distiller becomes the latest casualty of China’s crackdown on conspicuous consumption as its sales of baiju slump 40%

Home Office under pressure from luxury retailers to streamline process for Asia’s high-spending shoppers who enter most of Europe with just one visa

Standard & Poor’s report says that in terms of outstanding non-financial debt the US will slip into second place in 2014-15

Working from home is getting its first tentative trials in China – but it’s not a wholly appealing prospect, Patti Waldmeir says

Chinese netizens have recently discovered the public petition system on the White House website, and several petitions created by Chinese citizens have gone viral, notably one calling for an investigation of a 1994 poisoning death of a college student named Zhu Ling. Another petition, opposing a petrochemical plant in Pengzhou, outside Chengdu, has caused some trouble for its author. From the South China Morning Post:

She was contacted days after the city of Chengdu mobilised thousands of police officers and security agents to quell a protest against the 40 billion yuan (HK$50 billion) plant – now in its final construction phase – that eventually fizzled out on May 4.

“Please delete the petition,” a security agent told the blogger. The blogger, who did not want to be named, told the South China Morning Post that the agent had tracked her down from her registration information on Weibo and invited her to “tea”, an euphemism for a police interrogation. The agent had insisted that she withdraw the post from the White House website, she said.

But the US website does not allow petitions to be deleted. Frustrated and fearing retaliation, the blogger posted again on Weibo:

“Help needed! Will someone please tell me how to delete a White House petition? The police have talked to me, and I am scared.”

Another blogger responded: “Looks like you need to start another White House petition to have the first one deleted.” [Source]

Read the petition here. It currently has more than 2,000 signatures, but requires 200,000 by June 6 in order to get an official White House response.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bloggers, Chengdu PX, petitions, White House
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Anti-graft agency will run a criminal probe against Timothy Tong Hin-ming following revelations that he spent HK$220,000 on gifts to officials

A Japanese leader’s defense of the use of Chinese and Korean sex slaves to service Japanese soldiers during World War II has drawn angry responses from Beijing and Seoul, aggravating already-high tensions in the region.

Human Rights Watch says China's crackdown on prostitution has led to police abuse of accused sex workers.

China issued the "Announcement on Individual Income Tax Declaration Form" on May 9, which is scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2013. Detailed information can be found here. Continue reading →