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1 Talking Point 5 The Week in 60 Seconds 6 Banking and Finance Week in China 8 China Consumer 9 Economy 11 Energy and Resources 13 China and the World 24 February 2012 14 Society and Culture Issue 139 17 And Finally www.weekinchina.com 18 The Back Page A new Chinese hero? m o c . n i e t s p e a t i n e b . w w w y b g u in Why Beijing’s in a quandary over Jeremy Lin’s heritage o k y n o a t B s t l t h a e g b k u o r o l a r G M B C d B n S a H Week in China Talking Point 24 February 2012 China feels the Lintensity Why Zhejiang, Taiwan and the US all lay claim to basketball hero Lin All the right moves: Jeremy Lin has rekindled interest in the NBA in China with his performances he first time that she watched costing Yu just Rmb4,460 ($708) for straight wins, scoring more points TJeremy Lin on television, Yu the trademark rights till 2021. in his first five games than any Minjie, a small business owner in Forbes magazine has suggested that debutant since 1976. Wuxi, thought she might be onto the Jeremy Lin brand is already That has stirred Chinese pride, es - something. This was two years ago, worth $14 million and expects it to pecially in Taiwan (Lin is Los Ange - but Yu told the Modern Express be worth a whole lot more. les-born of Taiwanese immigrant that she was already so impressed Mrs Yu’s investment looks like a parents). Pictures of the new NBA with what she saw from Lin that pretty smart one... icon have made the front pages of all she applied for a trademark imme - the Taiwanese newspapers. Local diately. She was granted domestic So what’s with all the Lin hype? malls have also taken to broadcast - rights to ‘Jeremy S.H.L’ (the initials “Linsanity” is the Western media’s ing Knicks games to customers stand for Shuhao Lin). More impor - preferred label, with the New York around the clock. P h o t o tantly, she secured the accompany - Knicks’ point guard exploding in Not to be bested, the people of S o u r ing Chinese characters for the popularity in less than two weeks. Zhejiang province have also been c e : R e basketballer’s name. After February 4, when Lin made his claiming affinity with Lin, as the an - u t e r s That now looks like a bargain, debut, he led his team to seven cestral home of his maternal grand - 1 Week in China Talking Point 24 February 2012 mother. To back up the claim, a local newspaper has been posting photos from Lin’s visit to his mother’s hometown last May. Lin is also proving to be wildly popular across China in general. He already has more than 2 million fol - lowers on his Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like equivalent. And on Taobao, the leading e-commerce site, Lin’s Knicks jersey (bearing his num - ber “17”), as well as assorted T-shirts and sweatshirts were soon selling out – and that included the counter - feit versions too. But the Chinese media is being careful with its Lin coverage? Despite Lin’s popularity, there has been uncertainty about how best to Best Bank for Best Bank for FX report on the breakout star. Xinhua Corporate Clients Structured Products has lauded Lin’s educational back - ground (he graduated from Har - vard), citing his academic success as a possible advantage on court. The Global Times has also praised Lin’s hardworking and humble de - meanour, saying that he embodies Confucian values. But state media gets more un - comfortable mentioning Lin’s Dim Sum Bond House Bond House of the Year of the Year parental background and CCTV sems to be keeping the references to Taiwan to a minimum, dodging the question of Lin’s heritage by identi - fying him as “ethnically Chinese”. For his part Lin has tried to steer clear of controversy by giving the nod to the full range of his Chinese heritage. “It’s humbling, a privilege and an honour. I’m really proud of Best Offshore RMB Best International being Chinese, I’m really proud of Bond House Bond House my parents being from Taiwan,” Lin told one interviewer, in a comment crafted as carefully as the 1972 Shanghai Communiqué. Lin will do well to stay out of the political limelight, if Yani Tseng’s experience is anything to go by. In 2010 controversy broke out when Tseng, a Taiwanese golf prodigy and HSBC operates in various jurisdictions through its affiliates, including, but not limited to, HSBC Bank plc, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., member of NYSE, FINRA and SIPC, and world number one female golfer, re - HSBC Bank USA, NA. 12-005 portedly rejected an offer of $25 mil - 2 Week in China Talking Point 24 February 2012 lion from a Chinese company to change her citizenship to mainland Chinese. Along similar lines, Xinhua Planet China published an article last week sug - Strange but true stories from the new China gesting that there were “increasing calls” for Lin to do something simi - TIME WARPED. When China’s entertainment watchdog banned the genre lar and give up his US citizenship. of time-travel drama last year (see WiC98 for our article on Gong, one such Why? To become a Chinese citizen show), it said it was doing so in order to prevent belief in the occult from in time to play for the national team spreading. At the time people scoffed but it seems that SARFT’s thinking at the Olympics this year in London. might not have been so far off the mark. Last week, a teenager from the northeastern province of Liaoning was Another issue for state media to lucky to survive after she was dumped in a field, unconscious, in sub-zero ponder is how to handle Lin’s de - temperatures, having been scammed out of Rmb1,800 by two women vout religious belief, especially his offering to send her back to the Qing Dynasty. The teenager had become habit of praising his “Lord and Sav - obsessed with the idea of time-travel after watching shows such as Gong and iour, Jesus Christ” in post-match in - hoped that, like the heroines of similar programmes, she too would find love if terviews. As The Economist she went back in time, the Northeastern News reported. Instead, the women magazine also noted this week: “[In gave her a mixture of wine and sedatives before dumping her outdoors when China] one doesn’t usually see ath - she feel asleep. The girl awoke two hours later. There was no Prince Charming letes thanking God for their gifts; leaning over her. And her mobile phone had gone. their coach and Communist Party leaders, yes, but Jesus Christ the Sav - iour? No.” featuring brief comments from a successful Asian players are a rare Lin is a “trickier fit” for Beijing’s New Yorker applauding him for his sight in the NBA. In fact, there have propagandists, the Financial Times religious faith. But the Chinese sub - only been three other players of agrees. “His Christianity is perhaps titles didn’t tally with the spoken Chinese descent, Yao Ming being more awkward for China’s atheist word, translating the phrase as “I the best-known. Communist rulers. While Beijing of - love him for praising his team” and Of course, Yao was brought up in ficially sanctions some churches, it omitting the religious reference. Shanghai. By contrast, Lin is the first frowns on the spontaneous profes - American-born player of Chinese sions of love for God that pepper Meanwhile, over in the US… ethnicity in the 65-year history of Lin’s postgame comments.” With Lin’s meteoric rise to star - the NBA, although it is still his Chi - As the FT also reported, CCTV did dom comes the inevitable back - nese descent that has been coming air a news report on Lin last Monday lash, if for no other reason than in for most comment. Professional boxer and current welterweight champion Floyd May - weather first stirred debate by sug - gesting that Lin was getting attention more because of his eth - nicity than for his accomplish - ments. Then last Saturday, the sports network ESPN provoked a storm after an ethnic slur appeared on its website following the Knicks defeat to the New Orleans Hornets. The headline – which alluded to a “chink in the armor” – was soon pulled down. ESPN issued a formal apology before firing the writer and sus - P h o t o pending a television anchor who S o u r used the same phrase on the air. c e : R e But then Fox Sports columnist u t e r s Jeremy Lin’s commercial potential is vast Jason Whitlock made an even 3 Week in China Talking Point 24 February 2012 crasser remark (this one anatomical, and managing to be both sexist and racist at the same time) on Twitter. Neither episode did the US media much credit, especially following the controversy over the Deb - biespendit election ad a few weeks ago (see WiC138). The ad for Repub - lican Senate hopeful Pete Hoekstra – aired during the Superbowl – was immediately attacked for its racial angle. Even fellow Republicans con - ceded it was likely to alienate Amer - ica’s own Chinese community.