South China Morning Post reports that North Korea is offended by Chinese tourists' behavior while visiting the Hermit Kingdom. One common type of behavior that offends, Chinese tourists toss candy at North Korean children “like they're feeding ducks.”
In related news, the Wall Street Journal reports that there is “an all-out war” for Chinese immigrants being waged by cash-strapped governments.
South China Morning Post also points out that the China Daily and Study Times, the Central Party School’s paper, ran sharply contrasting editorials on the issue of constitutionalism. The former argued that constitutionalism was a Western construct being pushed covertly by Western intelligence agencies to undermine China. Study Times was more favorable to the concept.
Meanwhile, the People’s Daily has an editorial that is similar to China Daily's, which calls on the Chinese nation to “break the hegemony of Western discourse.”
Bill Bishop argues that Apple is losing its appeal in China as Android and domestic companies produce both capable and cheap smartphones, as well as better high-end ones. He goes on to write, “The iPhone is no longer the most sought after phone in the country, and the company still does not have a relationship with China Mobile, the country’s largest mobile operator…. When the iPhone 4 was the hottest phone in the world, Apple might have had some leverage in negotiating a favorable deal with China Mobile. But that is no longer true.”
Over at East Asia Forum, Australia’s Hugh White argues that the talk about whether the U.S. is pursuing “containment” or “counterbalancing” misses the point. According to White, “What we need to do first is clarify the policy that lies behind these strategies. So let’s put the word ‘containment’ to one side and instead explore the key questions about the policy itself. The key questions are pretty simple: what is the aim of the current US policy towards China? What are its likely costs? Will it succeed? What if it fails? And what are the alternatives?”
A new article in the journal of the Brunswick Group argues that “China is taking steps to exert more cultural influence on the international stage.” It points to China’s first lady, Peng, as an excellent example.