China Cheat Sheets

Oft-Overlooked Biodiesel May Be Key to Trump’s Bid to Quell Renewable Energy Fight

President Donald Trump hinted last week that he was about to unveil a grand bargain that would settle quarrels between Midwestern farmers who grow biofuel feedstocks, and small petroleum refiners who say the cost of a federal stimulus program to advance renewable fuels falls disproportionately on them and is now leading to refinery shutdowns. The government program at issue is the Renewable Fuel…

The Last Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama was recently hospitalized due to a chest infection. The world renown Buddhist leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient has since recovered but this incident has brought focus to a core doctrine in Buddhism: impermanence. All things are transient, Buddhist scripture states, and that includes the Dalai Lama.

When the Dalai Lama has passed on before, senior monks would go on journey…

Chinese Communist Party Fears Spread of Communism

A new enemy of the state is rising in China, one that appears to have China’s leadership concerned enough to crack down on a fledgling movement and its leaders. These activists, however, aren’t demanding Western-style democracy, religion, or human rights;  rather they are espousing communism.

Video of Jasic workers protest: as workers continue to voice their demands to unionise, the local ACFTU…

Chinese Interpol Leader Missing in China

Interpol President Meng Hongwei has been reported missing by his wife after his return from France to China. His whereabouts are unknown but many believe that he may have been abducted by the ongoing anti corruption action that has swept the nation led by President Xi Jingping. However, no confirmation of this assumption has been proven at this time.

While this is shocking and unexpected it is…

Visitors to the Guishan zoo thought they were going to see rare animals this week. Instead, they got inflatable penguins.

You read that right. Social media is lighting up with photos of inflatable penguins among exhibits of  geese, roosters and a tortoise in a tank sprinkled by money. And while the fake Happy Feet raised some smiles and a couple of laughs, some paying customers were not too…

China is denouncing The United States for placing new sanctions on Chinese and North Korean companies including one linked to weapons of mass destruction.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang on Wednesday said, “We consistently oppose any country adopting unilateral sanctions based on its own domestic laws and regulations and the wrong method of exercising long-arm jurisdiction.”

Sanctio…

Chinese authorities have handed down a two-year sentence to prominent human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong for inciting subversion of state power and defaming the political system. He was also accused of using social media to promote public unrest.

The arrest opens the latest chapter in what activists are calling China’s “War on Law.” The BBC reports that more than 300 lawyers, legal assistants and…

Days after United States President Donald Trump visited his Chinese counterpart, Beijing is sending a special envoy to North Korea.

China’s state-run media announced that Song Tao, head of Beijing’s International Liaison Department, will visit Pyongyang on Friday. According to the New China News Agency, Song will “inform” North Korean officials about the recent 19th party Congress, a major…

China is building a wind tunnel that can simulate winds at multiple times the speed of sound in order to amp up its hypersonic aircraft program.

The new facility, expected to be in operation by 2020, is set to simulate flight speeds at 12 kilometers per second. A vessel traveling at such speed from China can reach the U.S. in 14 minutes.

The ground structure is meant to help scientists detect…

This year, Hong Kongers will be treated to the 15th anniversary of Cantonese Opera Day, a celebration of the art form that ties in with local culture and tradition. It’s among the most popular performance festivals in the region.

Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Cantonese Opera Day is a government initiative meant to expand the art form for fans and newcomers. In fact,…

The disputed South China Sea was a minimal talking point at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as some countries looked to bury the hatchet.  

The Philippines, which hosted this year’s meetings, appears to be changing ties on the issue. “The South China Sea is better left untouched,” Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte told a business conference in Manila on Sunday. “Nobody can afford…

Three UCLA basketball players who were held in China for a week are making their way back home, according to numerous reports.

The Wall Street Journal initially reported that LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley had been seen at a Chinese airport Tuesday night checking into a flight bound for Los Angeles.  

The three freshman were detained by Chinese authorities at a hotel in Hangzhou after…

United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he had frank talks with Chinese officials regarding the disputed South China Sea, which has pitted Beijing against an increasingly irritated group of neighbors.

“We had a frank exchange here in China on maritime security issues and the South China Sea,” Tillerson told reporters during President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing on Thursday.” The…

When the Chinese National Anthem blared through the Mong Kok stadium in Hong Kong during the home team’s match against Bahrain, it was met by a roar nearly just as loud. Fans began to boo, jeer and scream as some flipped their birds.

The move comes after the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, China’s top legislature, incorporated a new national anthem law that aimed to make such acts…

In China, it pays to be single.

The country is known for Singles’ Day sales, similar to Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States—but bigger.

Within the first three minutes of the e-commerce giant Alibaba’s 24-hour sales spree, the company saw people crunch out 10 billion yuan or $1.5 billion. Alibaba is looking to break even more records. Last year, the day’s sales reached a total three…

The U.S. and China Announce Major Trade Deals

The presidents of the United States and China have agreed to take a stronger stance against North Korea for its development of nuclear weapons, while also opening new channels of trade between the two countries.

Key to this economic relationship will be $250 billion in new deals between U.S. companies and Chinese firms, the two leaders announced before reporters at Beijing’s Great Hall of the…

China’s Coal Economy Under Fire

Shanxi Province in the Chinese city of Taiyuan has historically been known as Coal Country. Here, coal doesn’t only put food on the table for millions. It also fuels the region’s culture. In fact, the city houses a national coal museum dedicated to teaching visitors the importance of coal to the entire country.

It is complete with a simulated mine, pieces of coal available in satin-lined gift…