In the first article, the newspaper reports that China’s Vice-Foreign Minister, Song Tao, held an emergency meeting with the British Ambassador to express the nation’s opposition to Prime Minister David Cameron meeting the Dalai Lama in London on May 14. This was done despite China’s repeated attempts to prevent it, and flies in the face of the countries’ bilateral relations. It represents a serious interference within China’s internal affairs, undermined China’s core interests, and “hurt the Chinese people’s feelings,” Song complained. (See Mapping the hurt feelings of the Chinese people for a history of similar hurtful acts by various countries.)

The next headline, which announces that those receiving subsidized housing must report to the government if they lease out or do not inhabit their apartments. This announcement is probably connected to a recent government initiative to extend subsidized housing to another 130,000 Beijing households by 2015. The article states that those receiving subsidized housing can expect regular home visits and routine inspections to make sure they are using the housing as intended. Any violation, such as selling, lending, renting, or leaving the apartment empty will be reported to the Municipal Housing Commission. Tenants will also have to report changes to their income, assets, or status of other family members in a timely manner.

The featured photo shows an immigration official holding up an example of China’s new standard passports (ie: not diplomatic or fancy in any way). As of today, the Ministry of Public Security will begin issuing these passports, equipped with an embedded electronic chip that stores information on the bearer’s name, date of birth, photograph and other details. It will also contain records of the person’s fingerprints and signature. These new e-passports will provide increased security and will allow for self-clearance, so the bearer can just swipe his passport and walk through immigration.

Links and Sources
Beijing Morning Post: 中方强烈谴责英首相见达赖 ; 经适房闲置或出租 物业须上报 ; 电子护照来了！
Danwei: Beijing to provide subsidized housing to 130,000 households by 2015, Mapping the hurt feelings of the Chinese people

Wang was recently reelected to the post of Guangdong Party Secretary, and yesterday was the first meeting of the new Provincial Standing Committee. In his opening speech, he told the new Standing Committee they must fulfill their responsibilities while making a collective effort to communicate online with those they govern.

Wang noted that Guangdong has one hundred million people living in it, and 63 million of them are online. These netizens encourage, support and, of course, criticize the government. Provincial leaders, Wang said, should make use of this feedback for cautious introspection, and deepen their online interaction with netizens to institutionalize the direction of development. Wang is known for developing the ‘Guangdong Model,’ a much more liberal alternative to the fallen Bo Xilai’s state-led, neo-Maoist ‘Chongqing Model’ of development. He made a splash across the Chinese blogosphere last week, when he commented that it was not the Party’s role to bestow happiness on the people.

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Also on the front page: a food-safety story about the distribution of fake pig’s ears in Jiangxi province; and an article about a man who bombed a bank in hopes of robbing it. He was sentenced to death.

In the food-safety story, the Food Safety Office of Jiangxi Province apprehended a man for peddling fake pig’s ears made from a combination of gelatin and sodium oleate. Sodium oleate is slightly toxic, and will irritate the skin upon contact. If ingested in small doses, it will cause slight irritation to the mouth. In large doses, it can be lethal. The culprit was caught when someone ate one of the ears and noticed an unpleasant chemical taste.

In the second story, a man called Wang Hai, responsible for bombing the Wuhan branch of China Construction Bank, was sentenced to death. His two accomplices, Wang Wei, and Wang Anan were sentenced to 10 and 6 years in prison respectively. The three had started studying how to manufacture explosives together in 2010, and in July 2011 plotted to blow up a Bank’s armored car. By August, both Wang Wei and Wang Anan had backed out. Wang Hai carried out the December 2011 bombing solo. The homemade bombs were placed on the sidewalk and detonated by remote control when the bank’s armored car came to collect its cash box. Two people died in the explosion and 15 were injured. Wang Hai then grabbed the cash box and attempted to flee on a motorcycle.

Links and Sources
Dongguan Times: 汪洋：网友批评可便我们更清醒 , 武汉建行爆炸案主犯王海剑一审获死刑 , 江西公布人造猪耳检测结果 成分为明胶和油酸钠
Danwei: Wang Yang says its not the Party’s role to bestow happiness on the people
National Library of Medicine HSDB Database: aArticle on Sodium Oleate 

A number of cases have recently emerged where patients violently attack medical personnel at hospitals across China, because they are unsatisfied with the treatment received. Today, China Daily reported that a woman tried to stab an emergency-room nurse at a hospital in Nanjing, because she believed herself to be suffering from negative consequences of a caesarean operation she’d undergone at the hospital 16 years earlier. Other recent examples of patient-to-doctor violence include an April 13 incident, where a patient named Lu Fuke stabbed two Beijing doctors in the neck; and a case in Harbin, where a seventeen year-old patient named Li Mengnan stabbed one hospital intern to death and injured three other staff members, because he felt he had not received immediate care.

The China Youth Daily offered several reasons for the deterioration of the doctor-patient relationship in China. Most of these related to the long waits and high costs of most medical visits. Corruption also plays a role: doctors will commonly over-prescribe drugs, or unnecessarily prescribe the most expensive drugs, in order to supplement their own incomes through kickbacks. According to several of the experts interviewed in the article, one of the largest problems plaguing the system is that doctors’ legitimate incomes are not high enough; and their grey incomes are much higher.

The mandate for increased security is just the latest in a slew of reforms intended ease tension at hospitals, including stricter punishments for hospital ticket-scalpers that came out last week.

Links and Sources
中国青年报： 和谐医患如何回归  
China Daily: today’s article on hospital stabbing
Danwei:  article on increased punishments for hospital ticket-scalpers

According to the article, Khan is accused of murder, as well as trafficking illicit drugs, kidnapping, robbery, extortion and several other violent crimes. He was sought after by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand in a joint effort to fight transnational crime, and was finally apprehended along with several of his group members, through cooperation by Laos, Burma and Thailand police. He has now been transferred into Chinese custody, and will be tried according to Chinese laws.

Also on the front page, on the top left, is a headline that Nanjing plans to launch an initiative to encourage entrepreneurship among college students. According to the article, the Nanjing Municipal Government announced the implementation of its “Million Young Collegiate Business Plan,” which intends to support 10,000 students to start their own businesses, and thereby promote the employment of 50,000 people by 2015.

Links and Sources
China Youth Daily: 湄公河血案主犯糯康被押解到京, 南京实施万名青年大学生创业计划
World News Forum: An article on last year’s Mekong murders

Wang Yang is the Provincial Party Secretary of Guangdong Province, and a member of the CPC Central Committee. He is the representative of what has been called the “Guangdong Model’. In contrast to Bo Xilai’s state-led, neo-Maoist ‘Chongqing Model,’ Wang’s way is seen as more private enterprise-friendly and politically liberal.

What has got Chinese netizens so excited about this headline is the idea that a government official is finally acknowledging it is not the government’s role to give and take happiness like a feudal ruler.

The Southen Metropolis Daily is generally liberal, but it is controlled by the Guangdong provincial government. The fact that it chose to highlight this particular comment is significant: The comment itself was just a small feature of Wang Yang’s speech, which covered the standard topics in ordinary Partyspeak: persist with reform and opening up, continue scientific development, promote social harmony, and maintain the power of the Party. He highlighted a range of new accomplishments by the Guangdong government, but also assigned agency to the people themselves, saying, “reform and innovation must rely on the creation of the masses.”

Links and Sources
Southern Metropolis Daily:  汪洋在省党代会报告能出： 必须破除人民幸福是党和政府恩赐的错误认识
The New York Times: A comprehensive account of the recent Bo Xilai scandal

The China Medical Society has found that 60% of people working white-collar jobs suffer from overwork. They compiled a list of the top ten most overworked sectors. In order, these were: manufacturing, finance, education, media, law, IT, advertising, high-speed consumer service, and real estate.

Also on the front page was an article on a recent controversy over housing incentives in Yangzhou, that will be provided by the Provincial Real Estate Board. Officially, the incentives are designed to promote the completion of housing projects. Beginning on July 1, any personal purchase of a finished house will receive a refund of 4 to 6% in government subsidies. This is highly controversial since many people are questioning whether government funds should be used in this way. They are also skeptical of the true purposes behind the policy. As one interviewee put it: “If you can afford a 2 million yuan house, you don’t care about an 8000 yuan discount.”

Links and Sources:
现代快报：长期连续加班30岁的外企经理猝死 ； 买成品房有奖励 

The reporter then asked a group of parents what they think of the phenomenon. The parents said copying homework is a form of self-deception, and that the problem runs very deep: students routinely go online to Baidu to find answers. It seems students enjoy the laid-back atmosphere of fast food joints, where they can eat and work comfortably; the phenomenon of copying is unrelated to the environment.

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Also on the front page is the headline: “The countdown has begun: 30 days until the College Entrance Examination.” The College Entrance Examination (gaokao 高考)is given once a year to students across Mainland China, and is the single deciding factor as to what university students will go to, as well as their major. If a student is sick that day, or freezes during the test, they have to wait a full year to take it again. It is highly competitive and extraordinarily stressful. The article discusses what studying strategies are best in these last thirty days leading up to the test.

Links and Sources
Chongqing Evening News: 高考倒计时30天 , 中学生扎堆快餐店互相抄作业(组图)

See also ChinaSMACK: Chinese Students Get IV Drips While Studying for Gaokao Exam

Even the Beijing News, a paper known for its independent mindset, published an editorial condemning the U.S. Embassy’s role. David Bandurski writing at the China Media Project website calls the Beijing News “a paper with a proud though brief tradition of professional journalism”. He also notes that the Beijing News editorial uses “less severe language than the Beijing Daily editorial”. Bandurski’s excellent summary of Chen’s dramatic entry into the Chinese establishment press is titled Behind the Beijing editorial onslaught.

Excerpt:

The editorials, which were all published in top newspapers under the control of Beijing’s city leadership, should be understood, in our view, as China’s attempt to send a strong message on the Chen Guangcheng case while dissociating this criticism from the Chinese state per se in the midst of bilateral meetings.

China Media Project has also published a good summary with translations of “a touching plea for forgiveness” for publishing the editorial that the Beijing News “posted on its Sina Weibo account late Friday night, which has more than 1.38 million followers”:

The Beijing News: a clown with a conscience
The post was accompanied by a black-and-white photo of a circus clown taking a sad and solitary drag on a cigarette, and read:

In the still of the deep night, removing that mask of insincerity, we say to our true selves, “I am sorry.” Goodnight.

The editorials were certainly noticed by many people in Beijing. This writer at least overheard some old men I pass every day in hutong on my cycling route to work discussing the case on the morning of Friday May 4.

Ordinary youth and the rule of law

They may also have seen it on TV: at least some news programs broadcast footage of Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Liu Weimin talking about Chen, including Liu’s memorable assertion that “China is a country under rule of law” (中方强调，中国是法治国家). This statement was roundly mocked in various places online, including this Netease page (screengrab at left), which gives Liu Weimin a ‘ordinary youth’ hero award for the rule of law remark. Netease also has video of Liu’s statements as shown on Dragon TV (东方卫视).

For an explanation of the ‘ordinary youth’ joke and reference, see this post on Ministry of Tofu: The Ordinary, the Artistic and the Idiotic (Putong, Wenyi and Erbi) – the hottest Internet meme happening now in China.

Links and sources

China Media Project
The Beijing News: a clown with a conscience
Behind the Beijing media onslaught

The Beijing News
外交官不能逾越自己的本分

The Global Times
陈光诚和美馆都应保持角色清醒

Beijing Youth Daily
“作秀”无助于维护中美关系大局

Tencent
北京多家媒体评陈光诚事件 点名批评美驻华大使

Netease
英雄帖 – 普通青年
video of Liu Weimin statements
comments on video

China Daily
One-man show just a distraction
Chen Guangcheng reportedly hopes to study abroad
Stop misleading Chen Guangcheng comments, US urged

Global Times
US embassy in a quandary over Chen
China demands US apology on Chen Guangcheng’s entering US embassy
US to arrange for Chen to pursue overseas studies
Chinese media takes nuanced view of Chen case
Chen trump for US in human rights game

Tiannong
陈光诚事件是美国反华战略对中国农村的渗透

The Daily Show
Jon Stewart on Chen Guangcheng

China Daily Show
Following Spring Break, Chen Guangcheng to endure grueling Phi Kappa Delta hazing ritual

The featured picture was taken yesterday, at a meeting of the Beijing Municipal Publicity Department. The meeting discussed plans for a public celebration of “Tiananmen Square,” which has been present for 3,000 years of Beijing history. Olivia Chen, pictured second from the left, is head of the Beijing Performing Arts group. She will direct the large-scale festival of music, dance, poetry and painting that will be unveiled on May 16.

Links and Sources:
北京信报： 13万家庭3年住上保障房 ，《天安门》弘扬北京精神

• The growth rate of the Chinese internet economy in the first quarter of 2012 was 68.5%;
• Online video revenues for the same period grew to 1.8 billion yuan (79% year on year growth) • The mobile internet economy grew 167% year on year to 15.9 billion yuan, driven by mobile ads and games;
• The online advertising market expanded 58% year on year to 14.1 billion yuan (but was down 14% quarter on quarter)
• The top four B2C sites are Taobao (52% market share), 360buy (23%), Amazon (4%), and QQbuy / QQ mall, Tencent’s B2C platform (3%).

To this observer, the number that stood out was this: China’s e-commerce market transaction volume totaled 1.8 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2012. That number would scare me if I was in the business of building shopping malls.

Links and sources
iResearch
Globe and Mail: It’s bricks v. clicks as China’s retail war intensifies

Appointment scalping was one item on a list from the Ministries of Health and Public Security detailing activities that are illegal inside medical institutions. Other infractions include the burning of paper money, illegal possession of flammable or explosive substances, insulting, threatening or intimidating staff members, and theft of private or public property.

The notice was meant to inform patients and families of their rights, and remind them to comply with the relevant rules and regulations guiding their medical treatment. The article especially notes the stipulation that bodies of the dead be removed to the morgue in a timely manner.

Below the headline, the photo of shows people flying a kite in Beijing’s Olympic Park, celebrating the three day Labor Day holiday. The caption says Beijing received a total of 48.5 foreign and domestic tourists this weekend, and a total of 1.796 billion yuan in tourism revenues.

Links and sources:
北京晨报： 医闹号贩子可被追刑责, 快乐过节

The article says the bus was a sleeper bus traveling from Kunming to Baoshan Tengchong down a major highway. The accident occurred on the 320 National Road overpass, when the bus went through the fence and off the bridge. It fell 10 meters. The vehicle was overloaded, and at the time of the crash, there were 46 people on the bus, two of them 3 year-old children. Although the official investigation has yet to determine the cause of the accident, local media reports that the bus had been speeding.

The article includes a list of public officials who will be very important in the aftermath of the crash. These include: Governor Qin Guangrong, Provincial Party Secretary Li Jiheng, the Province Political Consultative Conference Chairman, Executive Vice Governor Luo Zhengfu, and many others.

There have recently been several car crashes on roads in that area. The article warns readers to travel safely as the May holiday approaches.

The bottom half of the front page is dedicated to an advertisement for a new Uniqlo store, that will open in Kunming on Saturday, April 28 at 10:00 am.

Links and sources:
Spring City Evening News: 没有终点的旅程 

Every year, the Beijing Auto Show sparks an annual nation-wide debate over whether the nearly-nude models pose a moral threat. This year has been no different. Yet this article actually says nothing of morality. It is more concerned with the details of one model’s dress, saying that the dress is set with more than 10,000 diamonds, and weighs 20 kg. Worth hundreds of millions of yuan, the dress costs more than the most expensive car at the show, which is the UNICAT off-road touring car, priced at 80 million yuan.

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The front headline says, “Hong Kong will next year stop receiving non-resident pregnant couples. Identification will be required.” The policy is intended to prevent pregnant couples from the mainland traveling to Hong Kong to give birth in hopes that their child will have permanent residency there. It further seeks to prevent women from pretending to have a Hong Kong-resident partner in order give birth there.

Under the policy, which applies to all Hong Kong hospitals, public and private, women who want to give birth in Hong Kong will have to book an appointment in advance and submit a marriage certificate and a Hong Kong permanent identity card, as well as a consent form authorizing officials to verify the documents. Dr. Chow of the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) Food and Health Board says that in the past three years, there have been over 6000 cases per year of women and couples entering Hong Kong to give birth.

Links and Sources:
South Eastern Economic Times: 香港明年全面停收“双非”孕妇, 这件小钻裙价值上亿
The Global Times: article on Beijing Auto Show bimbo controversy