Steven Schwankert and the HMS Poseidon

By Kaiser Kuo & Jeremy Goldkorn on October 11, 2013

When the HMS Poseidon struck a Chinese freighter in the Gulf of Bohai in 1931, the collision sparked a devastating accident that would see the British submarine plunge to the ocean floor in mere minutes, claiming the lives of nearly half the crew, but then making history through the daring escape of six submariners who found themselves trapped in the torpedo room of the doomed vessel and made their way to the surface nearly an hour after its sinking.

CCTV Network News Broadcast

Rough transcript, September 30, 2103

on October 10, 2013

Following is a transcript of the network news broadcast of China Central Television on September 30, 2013:

央视网消息(新闻联播)： 9月30日上午，在中华人民共和国64周年国庆前夕，

On the morning of September 30th, on the eve of the 64th anniversary of the People's Republic of China National Day,

中共中央政治局以实施创新驱动发展战略为题举行第九次集体学习。

The political bureau of the CPC central committee implemented the ninth collective study entitled "Strategies for Innovation-Driven Development".

Congressional-Executive Commission on China: 2013 Annual Report

on October 10, 2013

The Commission notes China’s lack of progress in guaranteeing Chinese citizens’ freedom of expression, assembly, and religion; restraining the power of the Chinese Communist Party; and establishing the rule of law under the new leadership of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Official rhetoric at the start of their tenure suggested openness to reforms and limits on the power of officials, sparking public discussion across China. But the new leadership soon cracked down on growing calls for human rights and the rule of law and reiterated the Party’s dominance over public affairs. Despite widespread acknowledgement that loosening restrictions on society to encourage public participation, lessening state control over the economy, and enforcing the rule of law are essential to China’s economic development, China continues to pursue economic modernization without political reform or guarantees to fundamental human rights.

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United States Congress

Shandong Shipyard’s Lesson: Don’t Rock the Bank

A Shipbuilder Stung by European Clients Spends Years Fighting a Major Bank, So Far In Vain

on October 8, 2013

What was initially billed as a lucrative order from a European customer has pushed a Shandong Province shipbuilding company to the brink of bankruptcy and ruined its relationship with one of China’s biggest banks.

Rushan City Shipbuilding Co. is fighting for survival after filing a lawsuit recently against the Rushan branch of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC)—the latest in a series of ugly legal battles involving the bank and shipping companies that began in 2010.