Chinese Tycoon Wang Jianlin Blames ‘Western Schooling’ for Son’s Comments About Wanting a Girlfriend With Big Boobs
Posted: February 25, 2015 Filed under: Asia, China, Education, Humor, Mediasphere | Tags: Beijing, Boobs, breasts, Bust, China, Chinese, college, Dalian Wanda Group, Hong Kong, Real estate development, Schooling, South China Morning Post, Sports marketing, Switzerland, Tycoon, Wang Jianlin Leave a comment
Wang Jianlin blames Western education for his son’s controversial remark that potential girlfriends needed to be “buxom”
Wang, one of the richest men in China, used an interview on state television on Tuesday evening to publicly defend his son, whose remark caused a furore on social media and led to condemnation by a state news agency. He also said he preferred to stay away from politics and said businessmen should “refrain from bribes”.
Wang said his son, Wang Sicong , had spent years studying overseas and had got into the habit of speaking whatever was on his mind.
Tycoon takes to TV to defend offspring who caused uproar by saying he preferred ‘buxom’ girlfriends; his overseas schooling is to blame
The younger Wang was lambasted after making the remark on Valentine’s Day, with the state-run news agency Xinhua publishing a 1,287-word commentary condemning his remarks.
His father, who runs a property and cinema empire, said he was always ready to “take a hint” from others and not “speak carelessly”, but his son was more direct and had not learnt Chinese subtlety.
“He is smart. He went overseas to study at grade one and he has a Western-style of thinking,” said Wang.
“Maybe after spending five or eight years in China, he will truly become Chinese.”
Wang Sicong, a board member of his father’s Wanda Group and the chairman of the private investment firm Prometheus Capital, is well-known for his outspoken comments on social media.
He made his latest eyebrow-raising remark after helping to raise more than 500,000 yuan (HK$630,000) for charity by auctioning the chance for a member of the public to watch a film with him.
Wang Jianlin’s son Wang Sicong, a board member at his father’s company, was chastised by state media and the public for a ‘crude’ comment about women. Wang Sicong said it was made in jest. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The senior Wang said he wanted his son to succeed in his own right in business, but would give him only two opportunities. “The third time he fails, he comes to work at Wanda,” he said.
The tycoon’s comments appeared to question Western customs and values, echoing remarks by government officials in recent months.
Education Minister Yuan Guiren said last month that universities must tightly control the use of text books from overseas that spread “Western values”. Read the rest of this entry »
Historians Denied: China’s Archives Increasingly Off-Limits
Posted: August 18, 2014 Filed under: Asia, Censorship, China | Tags: Beijing, China, Chinese, History of China, Research, Shandong, Shanghai, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Zuma Press 1 Comment
The original document of Japanese war criminals in Jinan, Shandong Province.The Shandong Provincial Archives would reveal archives of ten Japanese war criminals since Aug. 15. Zuma Press
“China has long complained about an anti-Beijing bias among Western scholars of the country, and has a clear interest in encouraging narratives its sees as correctives to foreign historians who are critical of the Communist Party.”
For WSJ, Maura Cunningham writes: At last week’s meeting of the Historical Society for Twentieth-Century China in Taipei, roughly 200 historians from Asia, the United States and Europe gathered to share their latest research. But during lunch hours and coffee breaks, the 
one question that kept popping up wasn’t about any given paper or project. Instead it was: “How’s your archival access been lately?”
This wasn’t just idle conference chitchat.
“As one commenter at H-PRC noted, the mandate of archives now seems to be “wei dang shou dang; wei guo shou shi” (为党守档，为国守史), or “Defend the archives for the Party; defend history for the nation.”
Over the past few years, historians of China have grown increasingly worried about changes they’ve seen at Chinese archives that threaten to impede understanding of China at a time when such understanding is taking on a growing importance. Many archives in mainland China have been tightening access and imposing new restrictions on scholars, which can make conducting academic research in China a time-consuming and frustrating experience.
“By restricting access, will China get the history it wants? That’s doubtful…”
At the Dissertation Reviews website, which provides information about archival access in countries around the world, students of Chinese history have written in to warn fellow scholars about new regulations that make navigating the archives trickier than before. Read the rest of this entry »
On the night of June 3rd 1989 the Chinese army unleashed its tanks in Beijing
Posted: June 3, 2014 Filed under: Asia, Censorship, China, Global, History | Tags: Beijing, Chinese, Communist Party of China, June 3 2014, People's Liberation Army, Tiananmen, Tiananmen Square 1 CommentOn the night of June 3rd 1989 the Chinese army unleashed its tanks in Beijing http://t.co/898M1MLF09 #Tiananmen pic.twitter.com/KtQBiS8ygc
— The Economist (@EconCulture) June 3, 2014
The X-51A Waverider: Pentagon’s Hypersonic Long-Range Rapid Attack Weapon
Posted: March 20, 2014 Filed under: Guns and Gadgets, Space & Aviation | Tags: Boeing X-51, Chad, China, Chinese, Hypersonic speed, Pacific Ocean, Pentagon, United States Air Force 1 Comment
The X-51A Waverider, carried under the wing of a B-52H Stratofortress bomber, prepares to launch the fourth and final flight over the Pacific Ocean. The X-51A, an experimental, unmanned aircraft, went hypersonic during a test off the Southern California coast, traveling at more than 3,000 mph. (U.S. Air Force) Photo: Bobbi Zapka
Bill Gertz reports: An experimental scramjet-powered, ultrahigh speed strike vehicle is emerging as the Pentagon’s main choice for a new long-range, rapid attack weapon, a seniorPentagon official says.
Alan R. Shaffer, principal deputy assistant defense secretary for research and engineering, told a defense industry conference that prototypes and recent tests proved concepts for hypersonic arms, and several systems are part of a high-priority effort by Pentagon weapons developers, despite the era of sharply-diminished defense spending.
Hypersonic vehicles can deliver nuclear or conventional payloads in precision strikes against increasingly hard-to-penetrate air defenses of countries like China,Russia and Iran, he said.
“We, the U.S., do not want to be the second country to understand how to have controlled scramjet hypersonics,” Mr. Shaffer told the Precision Strike Association’s annual review on Tuesday.
Photo by: Chad Bellay
The comments come 2 1/2 months after China’s surprise Jan. 9 test of a new hypersonic glide vehicle, dubbed the Wu-14. That ultrahigh speed maneuvering vehicle test represents a major challenge for current U.S. missile defenses, which are designed to counter non-maneuvering ballistic missile threats. Read the rest of this entry »
Bunny Reboots: China Space Fans Cheer as Jade Rabbit Moon Rover Awakens, Tweets, Rolls Back into Action
Posted: February 13, 2014 Filed under: Asia, China, Science & Technology, Space & Aviation | Tags: China, Chinese, Earth, Jade Rabbit, Lunar rover, Moon, Moon rabbit, Twitter 1 Comment
There has been tender outpouring of adoration for China’s Moon rover
“It’s alive!! The rabbit is still alive!! The rabbit’s awake!! It’s really awake!!”
wrote one user on weibo.
“Wake up darling baby…Billions of people are calling out to you!”
What, pray tell, were they speaking to? China’s Moon rover, of course.
Jade Rabbit, named after the mythical pet of China’s Moon goddess, is equipped with multiple cameras
The Jade Rabbit, named after the mythical pet of China’s Moon goddess, has captured the attention of millions in China.
The six-wheeled exploration vehicle is equipped with cutting-edge radars that allow it to study the Moon’s crust. Multiple cameras on the rover’s exterior allow it to photograph its surroundings and beam them back to Earth.
If You Think Being Ruled by Obama Is Bad, Try Being Ruled by the Chinese
Posted: December 28, 2013 Filed under: Global, History, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Camille Paglia, China, Chinese, National Security Agency, Paglia, United States, World War II, ZDNet 3 Comments
Hamilton writes: Camille Paglia, the liberal-conservative lesbian who adores men, observed recently that nations must never neglect their basic strengths and survival skills. As she put it, “The earth is littered with the ruins of empires that believed they were eternal.” Perhaps she was thinking of the United States; this is, after all, a time when the gap between our towering international presumption is being undermined by our crumbling domestic reality.
The same Paglia-esque thoughts of political mortality came into Hamilton’s mind when he read the news about the near collision, on December 5, of a US Navy ship and a Chinese Navy ship.
Hamilton is reminded that plenty of American conflicts–including the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, World War One, World War Two, and Vietnam–started with naval incidents.
So suppose we did end up in a war with China–maybe not today, but in five or 10 years. Who would win? Let’s remember, this hypothetical war wouldn’t necessarily be anything like what we have seen before; it could be waged with little more than cyber-hacking, satellite-blinding,and a few long-range missiles–which could be enough to establish military dominance.
In the meantime, we can see plenty of signs that our ability to prevail is ebbing. In 2010, for example, the website ZDNet reported that 80 percent of the world’s communications have a Chinese “back door”–and that China is working on accessing the remaining 20 percent. In other words, America could pass a law preventing the US National Security Agency from snooping on us, but we would still not be able to stop the Chinese from snooping on us.
Here’s What a Shooting War in the East China Sea Might Look Like
Posted: December 2, 2013 Filed under: Asia, China, War Room | Tags: Air Defense Identification Zone, China, Chinese, East China Sea, Japan, John Kerry, Senkaku Islands, United States 2 CommentsTensions are escalating as China tries to claim a new zone of airspace authority—which the U.S. promptly ignores. Here’s what to expect if this cold war involving Japan, China, the U.S., and other East Asian nations heats up.
A Taiwan navy Kidd-class destroyer launches a SM-2 surface to air missile during a livefire drill at sea near the east coast of Taiwan on September 26, 2013. Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images
Joe Pappalardo writes: This past weekend China escalated tensions in the East China Sea by unilaterally establishing what it calls an Air Defense Identification Zone that includes islands claimed by other nations. China released a map and coordinates of this zone, demanding that any aircraft report to China before entering the airspace, declaring that its armed forces “will adopt defensive emergency measures to respond to aircraft that do not cooperate in the identification or refuse to follow the instructions.”
This posturing got an early test on Monday when the United States flew two B-52s straight through the zone China has claimed, with no response from China. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has said the flight, which took off from Guam, was part of a prescheduled exercise. But it seems clear that the U.S. is also sending a message that it won’t respect such a claim. “We view this development as a destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo in the region,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said this weekend. “This unilateral action increases the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculations.”
Birth Tourism: Chinese Flock to the U.S. to Have Babies
Posted: November 29, 2013 Filed under: Asia, China | Tags: Birth Tourism, Boston Consulting Group, China, Chinese, Chinese school, United States 1 Comment
A woman feeds a baby in a residential area in Beijing on Aug. 8, 2013 Wang Zhao / AFP / Getty Images
Jiang Wenjun was getting ready to go to America. His wife, due to give birth to their son any day, was already there. Like any expectant parents, the Shanghai couple agonized over how best to prepare for the arrival — and upbringing — of their firstborn child. American citizenship, they decided, was one of the finest gifts they could bestow. “America is the strongest country in the world,” says Jiang, whose son was born just days after he eventually arrived in California this month. “We want our child to have the best future.”
The U.S. is one of the few nations where simply being born on its soil confers citizenship on a newborn. That policy has spawned a birth-tourism industry, in which pregnant foreigners flock to American hospitals to secure U.S. passports for their babies. Although the foreign couple can’t acquire U.S. nationality themselves, once their American-born offspring turn 21 they can theoretically sponsor their parents for future U.S. citizenship. Another perk: these American-born kids can take advantage of the U.S. education system, even paying lower in-state fees for public universities, depending on where they were delivered. (California is a popular birth-tourism destination because of its well-known university system.)
More rich Chinese than ever are sending their families and money abroad. One study of Chinese millionaires found that half had either emigrated or were thinking of doing so. Boston Consulting Group estimates that Chinese have some $450 billion stockpiled overseas. Read the rest of this entry »
BBC and China Central TV to Open Story Development Center
Posted: November 17, 2013 Filed under: Asia, China, Entertainment | Tags: BBC, CCTV, Chengdu, China, China Central Television, Chinese, Liu Wen, Paul Dempsey 2 Comments
HONG KONG —Patrick Frater reports: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and China Central Television (CCTV) are to set up a center for story development.
The center is part of an agreement between the two state-backed broadcast giants that was signed Monday (Nov. 18) at the Sichuan TV Festival in Chengdu, China.
They said that the center will develop documentaries for TV audiences which will focus on the Chinese and Asian markets, but also possibly target global audiences. The deal is expected to last an initial three years. Read the rest of this entry »
Why China Wants to Dump the Dollar
Posted: October 17, 2013 Filed under: China, Economics | Tags: China, Chinese, Economy of the People's Republic of China, Japan, Renminbi, United State, United States Treasury security, Washington 2 Comments
Chriss W. Street writes: China’s Dagong credit rating agency on October 17th downgraded its United States sovereign credit rating to A- and maintained its negative outlook on America’s solvency. Dagong warned that despite Washington’s last-minute resolution of the debt ceiling deadlock, “The fundamental situation that the debt growth rate significantly outpaces that of fiscal income and gross domestic product remains unchanged.”
China’s official state-run news agency, Xinhua, reiterated its statements that because of the continuing risk of a U.S. debt default, it is “a good time for the befuddled world to start considering building a de-Americanized world.” This language is code for China wanting to abandon the U.S. dollar as the world’s “reserve currency” and move international financial transactions to the renminbi, the currency of the People’s Republic of China.
WHACK VIDEO: Rich Chinese buying American anchor babies via surrogate mothers
Posted: September 25, 2013 Filed under: China | Tags: Boston, China, Chinese, Chinese language, Reuters, Surrogacy, Tiger Woods, United States 1 CommentWealthy Chinese couples are increasingly spending big on securing surrogate mothers in the United States who can bear them a child on US soil. Children born in the country are automatically conferred US citizenship. With frequent food safety scandals, poor air quality, a presser-cooker education system and the absence of the rule of law, the safety net of permanent residency in a Western country is something many Chinese citizens covet. Greater numbers numbers of affluent Chinese are finding ways to move their cash and families abroad. The recent upward trend in birth tourism and foreign surrogacy reflects this. Read the rest of this entry »
Syrian Rebels Now Picking a Fight with China
Posted: September 14, 2013 Filed under: China, War Room | Tags: China, Chinese, Free Syrian Army, FrontPage Magazine, Global Times, Government of the People's Republic of China, Naw Kham, Syria 3 Comments
Probably not the smartest move ever.
China doesn’t have the same record of killing foreign enemies overseas that Russia does. But it has a large enough overseas network and piles of cash that it could get the job done if it needed to.
Just ask Naw Kham what happened after the Mekong River Massacre.
The bodies of the Chinese, the crew of two cargo boats, were found badly mutilated on the Thai side of the river in early October 2011. The killings, the worst slaughter of Chinese citizens abroad in recent memory, angered the Chinese public. Chinese investigators insist that Mr. Naw Kham was the mastermind of the murders. Read the rest of this entry »
China’s German Ghost City
Posted: August 31, 2013 Filed under: China | Tags: Asia, China, Chinese, German, Shanghai, Thames Town, United States, Volkswagen Leave a comment
It was a German town, designed by German architects next to a Volkswagen factory on the outskirts of Shanghai. The place had everything: housing, parks, canal-side promenades, benches, fences, shops, roads, town squares, statues, office blocks, even a church, but it lacked the one ingredient that makes a city: humans. My species seemed out of place in our own creation here, I felt like an intruder tramping upon a 1:1 scale Teutonic themed still life. Besides a stray car or motorcycle passing by every five minutes or so and an older guy pushing a baby in a stroller three blocks back, I felt all alone while walking through Anting New Town.
This development was conceived in 2001 as part of the “One City, Nine Towns” project which transformed Shanghai’s suburbs into a contrived menagerie of internationalism. In addition to this German town, Shanghai built British, Swedish, Canadian, Spanish, Italian, American, and Dutch styled suburban districts which give the impression of being a remedy for some kind of post-colonial empty nest syndrome. But this cosmopolitan montage had one little quirk:
Nobody really came.
Chen Kaige to Head Tokyo Festival Jury
Posted: August 27, 2013 Filed under: Mediasphere | Tags: Academy Award, Chen Kaige, China, Chinese, Eastern, Ethnicity, Farewell My Concubine, Film, Film Festival, Japan, Movies, Palme d'Or, Social Sciences, Tokyo, Tokyo International Film Festival, Variety Magazine Leave a comment
Chinese director has long association with Japanese event
Tokyo — Chinese director Chen Kaige will head the competition jury at the
26th Tokyo International Film Festival, set to unspool October 22-24, in the Japanese capital.
Chen’s association with the festival goes back to its 6th edition in 1993, when his Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Farewell My Concubine” was screened out of competition. In 2008 he was on hand to receive the Akira Kurosawa Award for lifetime achievement in directing.
pundit from another planet 