- Washington's reactive parroting of a 'new type of great power relations' is costly, so the US should put forward its own version of China-US great power relations, argue Andrew Erickson and Adam Liff.
- China's Central Bank sees very little chance of a hard landing.
- Economics professor Li Gan contends China's urbanisation will not drive as much demand for new housing as many think, in part because some researchers neglect reclassification of land as a source of new city dwellers, and these people already have housing on the urban fringe.
- Chinese banks are wary of lending to Russia: 'They seem both afraid of the potential political risk and not especially impressed with the value of the new business they might earn from Russia.' (Paywall)
- China's military authority has sent a document to military units detailing 40 weaknesses in current training methods.
- Is it springtime for microfinance in China?
- Rumours that a book will be banned in China often boosts overseas sales. It can be a marketing coup on the mainland too.
- PRC intelligence gathering in Taiwan generally uses 'oriented professionals' and not a broad effort by low-level, often amateur sources, as is frequently depicted in the media.
- Chris Buckley has compiled a great set of his own photos and tweets from the Hong Kong protests.
- A fascinating if somewhat random collection of China photos from 1870 to1930. (Warning: there is one disturbing image of a beheading.)
- Chris Buckley writes that Xi Jinping is turning to Chinese classics to legitimise CPC power. The article quotes Yan Xuetong of Tsinghua University:
Where can China's leaders find their ideas?” he [Yan] said. “They can't possibly find them nowadays from Western liberal thought, and so the only source they can look to is ancient Chinese political thinking.”