Latest Reports

“If the estimates of 210 million victims from just seven of China’s bigger recent frauds is correct, then 15 per cent of the entire population – one in every seven people – may have been a victim. This would have both social and political implications which will be important for the party to study. If the party insists on taking credit for everything which goes well in China, it must inevitably get blamed when matters go wrong.”

“It looks as if the negotiating from North Korea might be ground-breaking. This opens the possibility that the results could be novel. However, any new configurations on the peninsula represent mortal threats to various neighbors. It would also have wider consequences.”

“China’s divorce to marriage rate nationally has climbed to 37 per cent. However, in the major cities it is much higher with rates of 50 or even 60 per cent in Beijing and Tianjin. The cities have always been more prone to divorce and the rates seem to continue growing rapidly.”

“While at some risk of comparing apples with oranges, we might say that if China has forgiven $3bn of public debt on a diverse overseas lending book of $675bn, then it appears something of a laggard compared with the World Bank’s $44bn of debt relief on a book of under $330bn. However, as China’s ‘conditions’ – or expectations – are much more policy-focused than the institutions, it appears to be getting better results for its money.”

“In early 2017, recruiters rejected over half the candidates for the PLA in several areas. This was often on the grounds of weight or eyesight. The PLA Daily newspaper blamed ten factors including insufficient exercise, video games and masturbation.”

“There are now more clinical trials in China than there are in the United States. In terms of getting to market, China has certain advantages: a lighter regulatory administration, considerable experience in manufacturing to precise standards and lower wages. One industry estimate is that Car-T technology may be the only area where it will be practical for China to overtake America in the shorter term.”

“If there were at least two million censors five years ago, it is likely that the current figure is closer to three million. While there are doubtless many right now who will feel that China can get along just fine without Facebook, it is not quite so clear that further restricting freedom of expression is entirely in the country’s best interests.”

“In recent years, the gender pay gap has risen and women’s work status has fallen. Confucian, or neo-Confucian, values seem to have come back into fashion after being disdained in Mao’s time. Today these values are often translated as hierarchy, or patriarchy, domestic life for women and a generally traditional social environment and outlook.”

“Politicians in Europe clearly feel a deep need to evidence some academic distinction and often show no great delicacy over how this is obtained. We are accustomed to pervasive plagiarism in China at the academic level but in Europe it seems quite normal at the government level.”

“What is particularly interesting is that the very success of the battle against other forms of air pollution appears to have accelerated ozone pollution. The paper from Peking University said that “regional declines in the amount of PM2.5 and PM10 have reduced the volume of floating particles and increased the strength of the sunlight required to produce ozone”. So, bluntly, removing the harmful particles has allowed sunlight through in greater amounts to create damaging ozone.”