China Could Sell Trump the Brooklyn Bridge
on November 15, 2017
There is a saying, “When you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there,” and it perfectly sums up the contrast between China’s President Xi Jinping and President Trump.
‘Bloodless’ Takeover ‘Won’t Dampen’ Chinese Investment in Zimbabwe
on November 15, 2017
China will continue to invest in its “all-weather friend” Zimbabwe despite a military takeover of the African country’s government, observers said.
The Most Active Chinese Partners for Temporary Activities as of October 2017
on November 15, 2017
Though most Chinese Partner Units (CPUs) working with foreign NGOs have only filed for one temporary activity, approximately 18% of CPUs have filed for multiple temporary activities since the beginning of the year. Below, we list the CPUs that have filed for four or more temporary activities in 2017, according to Ministry of Public Security data covering through the end of October, as well as the foreign NGOs with which they worked.
A Quick Look at the Most Active Chinese Partner Units
on November 15, 2017
We’ve just published a brief analysis looking at those domestic Chinese organizations that have served as foreign NGOs’ temporary activity partners for four or more temporary activities. Check it out here to see which groups have been most active in this space.
Chinese Partner Units Number of Temporary Activities
on November 15, 2017
Location of Activities of Representative Offices Based in Sub-Provincial-Level Cities
on November 15, 2017
A Statistical Analysis of Foreign NGOs’ Registrations and Temporary Activities
on November 15, 2017
China Development Brief (CDB) has translated and published a statistical analysis of foreign NGO representative office registrations and temporary activity filings for the first nine months of the year. The analysis, originally published in Chinese by Tsinghua University researcher Huang Zhen Ping (黄真平), includes a detailed and careful look at some of the more interesting trends in the data, such as the percentage of foreign NGO representative offices carrying out their work nationwide, in multiple provinces, or in only one province.
The Book of Swindles
on November 15, 2017
This is an age of deception. Con men ply the roadways. Bogus alchemists pretend to turn one piece of silver into three. Devious nuns entice young women into adultery. Sorcerers use charmed talismans for mind control and murder. A pair of dubious monks extorts money from a powerful official and then spends it on whoring. A rich student tries to bribe the chief examiner, only to hand his money to an imposter. A eunuch kidnaps boys and consumes their “essence” in an attempt to regrow his penis. These are just a few of the entertaining and surprising tales to be found in this 17th-century work, said to be the earliest Chinese collection of swindle stories.
The Book of Swindles, compiled by an obscure writer from southern China, presents a fascinating tableau of criminal ingenuity. The flourishing economy of the late Ming period created overnight fortunes for merchants—and gave rise to a host of smooth operators, charlatans, forgers, and imposters seeking to siphon off some of the new wealth. The Book of Swindles, which was ostensibly written as a manual for self-protection in this shifting and unstable world, also offers an expert guide to the art of deception. Each story comes with commentary by the author, Zhang Yingyu, who expounds a moral lesson while also speaking as a connoisseur of the swindle. This volume, which contains annotated translations of just over half of the 80-odd stories in Zhang’s original collection, provides a wealth of detail on social life during the late Ming period and offers words of warning for a world in peril. —Columbia University Press
What Happened When Trump Met Xi?
A ChinaFile Transcript
on November 15, 2017
An edited transcript of “ChinaFile Presents: What Happened When Trump Met Xi?” a discussion of Donald Trump’s five-country trip to Asia with Daniel Russel, Bonnie Glaser, and Orville Schell, moderated by Susan Jakes. The panel took place at Asia Society in New York on November 15, 2017, after Trump’s return to the U.S.
China is Challenging the West’s Dominance in Foreign Aid
A China in Africa Podcast
on November 14, 2017
Quietly, and largely out of sight, China has emerged to become a major player in the foreign aid space, challenging institutions and norms long established by the West. Although China’s international development budgets remain a tightly guarded state secret, new data indicates Beijing is spending a lot more money on aid programs than almost anyone had imagined.
