This week on Sinica, Chinese economic growth is on the rocks, ASEAN tensions are breaking through the facade of East-Asian political unity, a major Chinese telecom company is implicated in an international trade scandal, and man-eating fish have escaped into the wilds of Guangxi, prompting a profusion of local get-rich-quick schemes and threatening our plans to take a break from it all with a swimming vacation in southern China.Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn for this week's wide-ranging show is public relations expert and amateur ichthyologist Will Moss, a frequent Sinica guest you might also recognize through his other life as a blogger on Imagethief and Rectified.name. We're also delighted to be joined by Tania Branigan, Beijing correspondent for The Guardian and now-connoisseur of fish-eats-man stories.Like Sinica? One easy way to stay in touch with all things China is to subscribe to our podcast via iTunes. To do this, open iTunes and click on the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu. iTunes will prompt you to provide the address of your desired podcast. Give it the address http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica and -- voila -- subscribing couldn't be easier. Of course, those without iTunes are welcome to download this show as a standalone mp3 file as always.
lz
said on July 20, 2012
Hi Jeremy!Nice one. I've read so much garbage on this piranha story, but you guys nailed it. The story was amusing on one level, but I'm glad you followed up with the whole invasive species issue.But I still haven't seen anyone mention the real reason the local government panicked. It was certainly not out of concern for the welfare of octogenarian swimmers, but more about the upcoming 2nd International Water Sports Carnival in which they have invested millions. The city has been promoting the river as a major international sports centre for the last few years, with some success, and I'm sure they saw all of that (and their careers) being chewed up by the piranha. Ken (Liuzhou Laowai)http://www.liuzhou.co.uk/wordpress
zjv5002
said on July 21, 2012
Ken, great perspective on the story. The Guardian needs you on the Liuzhou beat!
laywah
said on July 24, 2012
Can you list the recommendations again? I couldn't catch Ms. Branigan's. Thanks.
Sinica
said on July 28, 2012
MENTIONSGDP growth dips below 8%, China Real Time Reporthttp://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/07/13/chinas-economy-the-second-quarter/South Africa: Chinese Account of Attacks on Foreign-Owned Businesses, Global Voiceshttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/09/south-africa-chinese-account-of-attacks-on-foreign-owned-businesses/ Meltdown for Asean over South China Sea, Asia Sentinelhttp://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4706&Itemid=175~Piranhas in Liuzhou~Chinese piranha attack leads to fish hunt, The Guardianhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/11/china-piranha-attack-rewardAttack of the Eat People Fish, Liuzhou Laowaihttp://liuzhou.co.uk/wordpress/2012/07/09/attack-of-the-eat-people-fish/¥1000 Bounty per Piranha, Liuzhou Laowaihttp://liuzhou.co.uk/wordpress/2012/07/11/%C2%A51000-bounty-per-piranha/Piranhas on Probation, Liuzhou Laowaihttp://liuzhou.co.uk/wordpress/2012/07/13/piranhas-on-probation/Piranhas become get-rich-quick scheme, Global Timeshttp://www.globaltimes.cn/content/721425.shtmlNO LINKS, PAPER REFERENCESChina’s Booming Economy Is Sparking and Accelerating Biological Invasions by Jianqing Ding, Richard N. Mack, Ping Lu, Mingxun Ren, And Hongwen Huang (BioScience, April 2008 / Vol. 58 No. 4 )Invasive species in China – an overview by Xie Yan, Li Zhenyu, William P. Gregg And Li Dianmo (Biodiversity and Conservation 10, 2001)~ZTE Iran gate~Coverup? Huawei Should Send Its PR Bill to ZTE, Rectified.namehttp://www.rectified.name/?p=956RECOMMENDATIONSJeremy's recommendation Hadrian's Wall - Melvyn Bragg 'In Our Time' podcasthttp://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio4/2012/07/editors_note_in_thursdays_prog.htmlTania's recommendation From the Ruins of Empire by Pankaj Mishra – review by Julia Lovell http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jul/19/from-ruins-empire-pankaj-mishra-reviewWill's recommendationHamish McKenzie's China reporting for Pando Dailyhttp://pandodaily.com/author/hamishmck/