China on the Rise

By Cristina Garafola This blog hosts a collection of mostly China-related articles and links as China rises and the world responds to that process.

[cristinagarafola]

Transition to Twitter

I've mostly transitioned over to Twitter with this blog, so feel free to check me out there @CLGarafola! 

[cristinagarafola]

"To Play The Part, Actors Must Talk The Talk — In Chinese"

This is the first article I've seen addressing the gradual trend towards comprehensible--if not exactly "authentic" (though good luck figuring out what that is)--Chinese pronunciation in U.S. TV shows and movies:

As Hollywood and China grow closer, more roles are opening up for Asian-American actors to play Chinese-speaking characters. But before they can sound fluent on screen, some turn to dialect coaches.

[cristinagarafola]

Damaged Chinese rover likely to suffer frozen demise, though lander mission will continue

This weekend, the Yutu lunar rover failed to complete preparations for its second night on the moon (each night lasts about 14 days), which began the 25th.  This means that it will likely freeze to "death" during the -292 degree Fahrenheit lunar night and lose all functionality, ending the rover's mission about six weeks earlier than originally planned.  However, the lunar lander appears to have successfully entered hibernation and will continue its mission, which is expected to run until December 2014.  To read more, check out an official Xinhua English-language release or a detailed story from a Western site that covers space issues.  For some reason, a major Chinese language article on the incident describes Yutu's impending doom in the first person, so Chinese readers may enjoy that one.  In the "words" of the rover: "Farewell, Earth.  Farewell, humankind." 

[cristinagarafola]

More details emerge on December 5th USS Cowpens incident

The commander of U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Locklear, commented yesterday at a naval symposium about the late 2013 incident in which a Chinese warship maneuvered in front of the USS Cowpens and then halted, forcing the captain of the Cowpens to order an "all stop" to avoid a collision.  Admiral Locklear stated that Chinese operational inexperience and language barriers (on both sides) were a factor.  "The bottom line," he said, is: 

to make sure that all parties of the world understand ... that we operate freely in international waters and that ... we will act professionally, and that we'll act respectfully ... and not in a dangerous way unless necessary and we expect that of other navies as well.

[cristinagarafola]

The video at this link details the first exercise conducted by the PLA Navy (PLAN) in 2014.  Set to the rousing strains of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme song, the "Military Affairs 360" (军情360) clip describes the exercise.  The three ships involved in the exercise were from China's South Sea Fleet and included the Changbai Shan, a Type 071 amphibious warfare ship, the Haikou, a Type 052C destroyer, and the Wuhan, a Type 052B destroyer.  The ships left Sanya on January 20th to conduct open water exercises.  In the video, commentator Cao Weidong (曹卫东), a vice president at Beijing Normal University, notes that with the addition of a submarine, this type of formation would be "suited for... China's coastal defense and capabilities for cooperation in more distant waters (远海合作的能力)."

[cristinagarafola]

A December 9th "early operational assessment" of the new Gerald Ford-class aircraft carriers by the Pentagon called into question the improved sortie generation rates--the rate at which the carrier can launch and recover aircraft--of the Ford class as compared to the current Nimitz class.  Chinese media has already picked up the story (Chinese reporting here), which is unsurprising given China's interest in the U.S. program as China continues working on its own carrier program.

[cristinagarafola]

Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZs) aren't new, and a lot of countries have them, including Japan and the United States.  This article from the Lowy Interpreter explains why China's new ADIZ is different.

[cristinagarafola]

Photos of Chinese trains and their passengers, by Wang Fuchun.

[cristinagarafola]

China on the Rise turned 3 today!  In true Chinese fashion, we're also looking forward to celebrating our 800th blog post in the upcoming months.  Thanks for reading!

[cristinagarafola]

The main responsibilities of the national security commission will include construction of the rule of law system concerning state security, research, resolving major issues of national security, setting principles and policies, as well as stipulating and implementing strategies, according to the explanation.

"Xi Jinping expounds security comission role," Xinhua (November 15, 2013) gives some new detailed on the "state security commission," which is now being translated as "national security commission."  It sounds awfully like a national security council with Chinese characteristics (i.e., domestic security concerns), which is interesting given that Japan is also in the process of standing up a national security council.  Thanks to Sinocism for the link.

[cristinagarafola]

The Peace Ark, busy not steaming its way toward the Philippines

After criticism that its initial $100,000 aid donation to typhoon-ravaged Philippines was too low (it was less than a third of the Starbucks Foundation's $350,000 donation, for example), China upped its aid and relief package by $1.6 million.  However, other critics have noted that China has also not sent its military hospital ship, the Peace Ark (和平方舟), to the Philippines to participate in relief efforts.  With 300 hospital beds, 8 ICU units, and more than 100 medical staff, the Peace Ark could bring relief to injured storm victims while providing a valuable MOOTW (military operations other than war) training opportunity for China's navy.  Even a recent op-ed in the Global Times points out that "China should provide timely aid to disaster-struck regions. It could enhance its national image as a responsible power and help extend the spectrum of Chinese military missions."  Guess that won't be happening this time.

[cristinagarafola]

Unpacking the Plenum

Western China watchers have largely been disappointed by the apparent lack of reforms in the recent communique released on the Third Plenum, but a longer document has now been released with juicier details.  This Bloomberg article highlights changes to the one child policy (before: you can have two kids if you and your spouse are both only children (in some pilot areas); after: only one parent has to be an only child), but the big changes are actually the abolishing of "reeducation through labor" camps, improvements to farmers' rights, the beginnings of relaxing the hukou system, additional market and health care reforms, and expanding officials' performance benchmarks to include environmental concerns (not just economic growth).

In other news, the U.S. Treasury (among others, I'm sure) wants to know what exactly these reforms will bring.  Good luck with that, Secretary Lew!

[cristinagarafola]

After an epic struggle, giant rubber duck defeated by Taiwanese earthquake

However, fear not:

As it turns out, the Kaohsiung city government has a spare giant inflatable duck, which will be up and smiling in no time.

[cristinagarafola]

"Danger zone": China's "Top Gun" is pretty much the worst movie ever

For Friday's fun news, here's a scathing review of "Sky Fighters," an homage/rip off of legendary '80's film "Top Gun."  

[cristinagarafola]

Chinese billionaire plans to build 178-mile long canal in Nicaragua, because of reasons

The project is estimated to cost about $40 billion, though the final canal route has not been selected yet.  Read more about the plan here as well.  Nicaragua doesn't even officially recognize China since it has formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which is a bit awkward, but the project is reportedly not government sponsored.  I guess we'll have to wait and see if it gets off the ground.

[cristinagarafola]

"A game of shark and minnow" showcases interactive reporting on the South China Sea

The New York Times has a new interactive feature on competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, complete with short video clips and animated maps to explain the situation.  Is this hinting at the future of online news reporting?  I sure hope so.

[cristinagarafola]

Sums it up:

The announcement that the president could not travel due to Washington’s partisan wrangling fit perfectly into a Beijing narrative that includes the United States not being able, for a number of reasons from financial health to political determination, to sustain a high level focus on the Indo-Pacific. China does not care, and frankly neither do U.S. allies, strategic partners and close friends, what the details are, but the bottom line is that as Asia organizes itself, the president of the United States is not able to attend the annual board meeting. The message has been sent.