The China Thread

[Capetan Mihali]

They all seem to be having good fun.

[Josquius]

Sounds like a postapocalyptic wasteland. China's Polluted Soil[/, though experts say they expect it would likely cost much more than that.

In Beijing, residents greeted the report with a dose of skepticism and resignation.

"I'm concerned, but I can't fix it. The whole country is the same. You have to eat or you'll starve," said Xiang Ju, a 29-year-old fruit vendor. He added that he thought the problem was probably more serious than the report indicated. "There must be places that haven't been investigated or reported."

Nan Li, a 26-year-old who works in information technology, said he was surprised by the figure but that it ultimately didn't matter whether the government released. "I mean, even if you want to avoid it, there's no way you'll always be able to," he said.

—Joy Ma, Fanfan Wang and Yang Jie contributed to this article.

[/quote]

I do worry about the Chinese environment.
I suppose back in te 70s the same sort of thing applied to japan and it has recovered...ish. 

[Jacob]

So this is a little bizarre:
http://slide.news.sina.com.cn/s/slide_1_46203_60589.html#p=21
Apparently this is high school students in Sichuan re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus for their athletics day

Though... to be honest... it isn't that much more bizarre than the various cultural representations my peers and I engaged in during school international theme days et. al. when I was growing up.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, you gotta love how elementary school presentations have the same production value as "It's a Small World After All";  Dutch?  Make a papier-mâché windmill.  Spanish?  Lulz, red bullfight bed sheet.

[Valmy]

Though... to be honest... it isn't that much more bizarre than the various cultural representations my peers and I engaged in during school international theme days et. al. when I was growing up.

Why are female Caesars following him holding books?  Are those little red bibles?

[jimmy olsen]

Let's color the map a lovely shade of red

http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-map-gives-greater-play-south-china-sea-080455527.html

New Chinese map gives greater play to South China Sea claims

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has unveiled a new official map of the country giving greater play to its claims on the South China Sea, state media said on Wednesday, making the disputed waters and its numerous islets and reefs more clearly seem like national territory.

Previous maps published by the government already include China's claims to most of the South China Sea, but in a little box normally in a bottom corner to enable the rest of the country to fit on the map.

The new, longer map dispenses with the box, and shows continental China along with its self-declared sea boundary in the South China Sea - stretching right down to the coasts of Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines - on one complete map.

"The islands of the South China Sea on the traditional map of China are shown in a cut-away box, and readers cannot fully, directly know the full map of China," the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily said on its website.

Old maps make the South China Sea's islands appear more like an appendage rather than an integral part of the country, which the new map makes "obvious with a single glance", the report added.

"This vertical map of China has important meaning for promoting citizens' better understanding of ... maintaining (our) maritime rights and territorial integrity," an unnamed official with the map's publishers told the newspaper.

China's foreign ministry said people should not read too much into the issuing of the new map.

"The goal is to serve the Chinese public. As for the intentions, I think there is no need to make too much of any association here," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.

"China's position on the South China Sea issue is consistent and extremely clear. Our stance has not changed."

Beijing claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, but parts of the potentially energy-rich waters are also subject to claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Tensions have risen sharply in the region in recent months, especially between China and both Vietnam and the Philippines.

China's positioning of an oil rig in waters claimed by both Beijing and Hanoi last month has lead to rammings at sea between ships from both countries and anti-Chinese violence in Vietnam.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Ron Popeski)

[Josquius]

I thought the update to this thread was to be about the sperm extractor

[Syt]

What's their explanation for extending the sea borders so far out from their claimed territories that they can practically wade ashore in Malaysia and the Philippines?

[Duque de Bragança]

What's their explanation for extending the sea borders so far out from their claimed territories that they can practically wade ashore in Malaysia and the Philippines?

It's called South CHINA sea?

[The Minsky Moment]

What's their explanation for extending the sea borders so far out from their claimed territories that they can practically wade ashore in Malaysia and the Philippines?

Chinese oceanic geography is more art than science.

[Josquius]

With the Senkakus they've got a half decent geographic argument (the Japanese arguments are better, but the Chinese aren't without validity).
In the South China sea though their entire argument is based on a bunch of Chinese guys having visited there 500 years ago.

Too many people just don't understand the way China historically viewed the world. To
the China of old the world was subservient to China by default. Thus arguments that old Chinese dynasties 'ruled' areas must be taken with a huge pinch of salt.
For some reason though you don't see anyone pointing this out internationally.

[The Brain]

What's their explanation for extending the sea borders so far out from their claimed territories that they can practically wade ashore in Malaysia and the Philippines?

Worked for the Argies.

[Syt]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/26/china-sends-dissidents-on-paid-holidays

China sends dissidents on free holidays

Activists tell of 'being travelled' – sent on lavish trips, chaperoned by police – to keep them out of the government's way


As top Communist leaders gathered in Beijing the veteran Chinese political activist He Depu was obliged to leave town – on an all-expenses-paid holiday to the tropical island of Hainan, complete with police escorts.

It is an unusual method of muzzling dissent, but He is one of dozens of campaigners who rights groups say have been forced to take vacations – sometimes featuring luxurious hotels beside sun-drenched beaches, trips to tourist sites and lavish dinners – courtesy of the authorities.

It happens so often that dissidents have coined a phrase for it: "being travelled".

He, 57, had not been charged with any crime but officers took him 1,400 miles (2,300km) to Hainan for 10 days to ensure he was not in the capital for this year's annual meeting of China's legislature, he said.

Two policemen accompanied him, his wife and another dissident for dips in the ocean and visits to a large Buddha statue, he said.

"We had a pretty good time because a decent amount of money was spent on the trip – the local government paid for everything."

Altogether eight activists have told Agence France-Presse of being forced on holiday in recent years.

"Every time there is an important national event I'm taken on vacation," said Xu Xiangyu, who has long campaigned against officials she accuses of demolishing her house without any compensation.

In 2011 police and court staff announced they would be taking Xu, with her family, on a trip to Hainan – a place of internal exile for criminals, disgraced officials and renegade poets as early as the Tang dynasty of 618-907.

She has holiday snaps showing her posing at a seaside park, and with her chaperones around a table heaped with empty plates.

"The hotel was luxurious and we ate excellent food – they paid for everything," she said of her guides. "We would spend up to 1,000 yuan ($160) on a single meal."

Over the last decade domestic security spending has soared, regularly exceeding Beijing's declared military outlays, as China's ruling Communist party seeks to maintain its tight grip on power. Those who speak out against government abuses are routinely detained.

The regime has built a vast "stability maintenance" apparatus and President Xi Jinping has sought to further stifle dissent since his 2012 ascension to the top of the ruling party.

State-enforced travel spiked this year ahead of the 25th anniversary on 4 June of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. According to US-based advocacy group Human Rights in China 15 people were taken on forced vacations beforehand.

"I've just returned from Beijing after being travelled," Yan Zhengxue, a painter and government critic, told AFP.

Police "went with me every day and paid for everything" on a trip to Ningxia in the north-west that took in the towering dunes of the Tengger desert.

"If you refuse to go travelling there will be consequences," he said. "You have to go. Even though you are at tourist sites, you have been forced to go, so you're not in the mood to enjoy it."

Government personnel relish the trips, some regular forced travellers suggest. "We ate the best food and drank the best alcohol. The security officials enjoyed it too. Not just any security official can go on this kind of trip, they need to be above a certain rank," said the environmental campaigner Wu Lihong, adding he was taken to the ancient city of Xian for two weeks in March.

"Quite a few" officials from Beijing's secretive ministry of state security accompanied him, he said.

They stayed at Xian's "best hotel", he said, and saw the Unesco-listed Terracotta Warriors, as well as the "Wild Goose Pagoda", a Tang dynasty tower that hosts night-time laser shows.

"They are usually stuck inside using their computers and reading the papers, but by accompanying me they have a chance to travel and eat well," he added.

When Chinese citizens travel to Beijing seeking redress from higher authorities for local government abuses they risk detention in makeshift "black jails", where they are sometimes beaten before being sent home. More persistent ones, though, are targeted for holidays.

"If you're really grassroots you'll be held in a black jail. Forced travel is for fairly well-known activists," said Maya Wang, of US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch.

"It's a form of illegal detention," she added. "This kind of forced travel depriving people of their freedom is unlawful."

China's foreign ministry often says that detained activists are treated according to the law. The public security ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Wang Rongwen, a longtime petitioner from Sichuan in the southwest, had her third trip ahead of the Tiananmen anniversary, with six officials taking her to the majestic peaks and gurgling waterfalls of the Tiantai mountains.

During the Communist party's 2012 congress she was brought to a hotel that boasts a chandeliered restaurant, marble-floored lobby and king-sized beds.

But she did not enjoy the experience, she said. "Being travelled is no better than being in a moving jail.

[garbon]

Where's my luxury vacation, Obama?

[Ed Anger]

Where's my luxury vacation, Obama?

You get to visit the Florida Panhandle. The sweaty redneck panhandle.