Foreign Correspondents' Club of China

FCCC Talk: Understanding the Beijing-Moscow Axis by Jakub Jakóbowski
2022-02-18 17:00 - 18:30 (Asia/Shanghai) | Google Meet
The latest Xi-Putin summit, held right in the middle of Europe’s biggest security crisis in decades, marked an important milestone in the China-Russia relationship. In what Xi Jinping described as ‘back-to-back’ strategic coordination in their fight with the West, Beijing openly supported Moscow’s demands for’ security guarantees’ in Europe. This carefully planned display of unity is a product of a long and unevenly paced process of relation-building that led to the formation of the Beijing-Moscow axis – an informal alliance of two autocracies, bound by the strategic conflict with the US and ideological affection. Jakub Jakóbowski will present the diplomatic, military and economic aspects of the Beijing-Moscow axis, exploring both the foundations and the limits of this world-defining relationship.

About the Speaker: Jakub Jakóbowski is a Senior Fellow with the China Programme at The Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), a Polish state analytical center based in Warsaw, covering the political and economic developments in Central and Eastern Europe, the post-Soviet space and China.

FCCC Talk: Reading the China Dream with David Ownby
2022-02-10 09:00 - 10:00 | Google Meet
Chinese leaders talk a big talk on the world stage, but its interior world is more subtle. Our speaker, David Ownby, lays out the landscape of China’s marketplace of ideas, introducing us to public intellectuals who talk past the Communist Party to advance alternative agendas. He will discuss the “republic of letters” in China that exists alongside Party-State propaganda organs. Genuine debates take place over important issues within academic halls and philosophical magazines – what is democracy? What is reform? What should Sino-American relations look like? – suggesting that China is more diverse and fluid than we tend to assume from reading the People’s Daily.
About our speaker: David Ownby is a professor of history of religion in modern and contemporary China at the University of Montreal, where he researches social movements and the history of intellectual thought. Currently, with colleagues from York University and UBC, he has launched a new research program on contemporary intellectual life in China. The project explores the complex relations between the growing freedom of expression for intellectuals, the cultural search for an identity that will be both modern and Chinese, and the pressing need for Chinese political authorities to find a new ideological legitimacy. You can read some of David’s translation of contemporary Chinese philosophical essays, at his blog Reading the China Dream.

FCCC in-person Talk. Sporting Superpower: An Insider’s View on China’s Quest to be the Best by Mark Dreyer
2022-01-28 16:00 - 17:30 | Embassy near Sanlitun, Beijing, China
As Beijing prepares to become the first city in history to host both a Summer and a Winter Olympics, the eyes of the sporting world—and beyond—will be on China come February 2022. Despite international calls for a boycott due to human rights violations, Beijing is determined to show that it has conquered COVID-19 and can host another spectacular Olympics. But behind all the politics and the soft power, China’s sports industry has changed dramatically since those first Games in 2008:
• A drive to promote soccer with the ultimate goal of winning the World Cup has already gone through both boom and bust.
• International leagues such as the NBA, the WTA and the English Premier League now must tread through a minefield of nationalistic fervor.
• Sportswear companies like Li-Ning and Anta have ridden a wave of domestic support in an ongoing bid to topple Nike and Adidas in the world’s largest consumer market.
• Ski resorts have sprung up across the country as the winter sports market takes off.
Weaving together the parallel threads of sports, business and politics, internationally-renowned China-based sports journalist Mark Dreyer—the China Sports Insider—who first moved to Beijing to cover the 2008 Olympics, takes us on the rollercoaster ride of China’s burgeoning sports industry. Through a series of tales from industry insiders, Dreyer not only paints a picture of China’s quest for dominance in yet another sector, but also sheds light on the growing pains and global implications of China’s modernization.
About the author: Formerly a football reporter with Sky Sports in the UK, Mark Dreyer has been covering sports around the world for close to 20 years. A veteran of three Olympic and Paralympic Games (Beijing, Vancouver, London 2008-12), where he was an accredited journalist, he has also been a reporter and producer for both Fox Sports and AP Sports in the US. A multi-sports specialist who has reported on sports events in five different continents, his first love is football and he has previously interviewed stars including Pele and David Beckham. He has worked with a number of media outlets in China and is regularly asked to comment on the Chinese sports industry for BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times and many others. He runs the China Sports Insider website and co-hosts the China Sports Insider Podcast on the Sinica Network. Mark has been based in China since 2007.

FCCC Happy Hour
2022-01-27 18:30 - 22:00 | JingA Kerry Center, Beijing Kerry Center, North Tower 1, Beijing, China
Join the fellow FCCC members for drinks at the Jing-A microbrewery in the Kerry Center from 6:30 pm this Thursday, January 27th. This event is also open to friends and colleagues of FCCC members, no need to register.

FCCC Talk. The Pursuit of Soft Power Through Sport Mega-Events: Lessons from China by Susan Brownell
2022-01-21 09:00 - 10:00 | Google Meet
Since the end of the Cold War, Olympic Games have entered a new era in which governments see the games as a form of “public diplomacy” and non-governmental organizations target the games in publicity campaigns. The Chinese leadership intended the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to serve the pursuit of “soft power.” In the leadup to the Beijing 2022 Olympics, what has changed and what has stayed the same since 2008, and what are the lessons going forward for China and other nations strategizing to increase their “soft power” through hosting sport mega-events? And how should the members of the media see their role in this process?
About our speaker: Susan Brownell is a professor of Anthropology at the University of Missouri – St. Louis and a former nationally-ranked track and field athlete in the U.S. She has been researching sports and Olympic Games in China since she won a gold medal in the 1986 Chinese College Games while representing Peking University. In 2007-08, she joined Chinese colleagues collaborating with BOCOG and the municipal government, and she also had rare access to internal decision-making at the International Olympic Committee.

《冰上时刻》/ BURNING ICE Press Screening
2022-01-20 18:00 - 19:30 | 北京市朝阳区工体东路6号中国红街大厦1号楼F9, 北京市朝阳区工体东路6号中国红街大厦1号楼F9
《冰上时刻》/ BURNING ICE
Synopsis: Ice hockey has been professionalized gradually in China since Beijing had successfully bid for the Olympic Winter Games. Qu Ruichen (Richard), Yu Lifan (Steven), and Zhai Zinan (Jason) are three nine-year-old strikers for a Beijing junior ice hockey team. While the three strikers are clenching their teeth and giving their best on the court, their parents also stand at a crossroads: should they support their children to become professional athletes or to force them to forget their dreams?
Award: 2019 Xining FIRST Film Festival Best Documentary Pitch
Director: Liu Hanxiang (刘汉祥)
Executive Producer: Fan Lixin (范立欣)
Production Company: InHope Pictures (www.inhope.net)

FCCC Talk. How to Read The People’s Daily by Manoj Kewalramani
2022-01-18 18:00 - 19:00 | Google Meet
In his studies of Chinese politics, Indian researcher Manoj Kewalramani felt that national reportage and discourse often overlooked the analysis of primary source materials and open source Chinese language materials. This was the impetus behind his work on reading the People’s Daily and putting it in the public domain in the form of a daily blog. He will talk about the different lenses through which he views the newspaper and what are some of his learnings from this process. And also, why he feels it is important to develop an Indian perspective on the threats and opportunities that China’s rise brings.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Manoj Kewalramani is the Chairperson of the Indo-Pacific Studies Programme at the Takshashila Institution, a centre for public policy education based in Bengaluru, India. His research interests range from Chinese politics, foreign policy and approaches to new technologies to addressing questions of how India can work with like-minded partners to deal with the challenges presented by China’s rise. Manoj is the author of Smokeless War: China’s Quest for Geopolitical Dominance, which discusses China’s political, diplomatic, economic and narrative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining Takshashila, he spent over a decade working as a journalist in India and China, where he helped set up digital newsrooms and train young journalists.

FCCC Talk. How Beijing Won the 2022 Winter Olympics by Heather Dichter
2022-01-11 18:00 - 19:00 | Google Meet
On February 4 the XXIV Olympic Winter Games will open in Beijing, marking the first time a city will host both the summer and winter Olympic Games. Politics — both within China and the Olympic movement more broadly — have been a major point of discussion, when the International Olympic Committee selected China to host the Games as well as with more recent announcements of diplomatic boycotts of the event. Professor Dichter will discuss how politics influenced the 2022 Olympic Winter Games selection process, resulting in Beijing’s victory, and how efforts to use the Olympic Games for political reasons historically have fared.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Heather Dichter is Associate Professor of sport history and sport management in the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK. She has published widely on international sport and diplomacy, including her recent book, Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO (Massachusetts, 2021). Her edited book,Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football since 1914 (Kentucky, 2020) was shortlisted for The Telegraph Sports Book Awards Football Book of the Year.

FCCC Winter Party
2021-12-18 19:00 - 23:00 | Germany Embassy in Beijing, 17 Dongzhimen Outer Street/东直门外大街17号, Beijing, beijing, 100027, China
’Tis soon the season of good cheer
That joyful happy time of year
To lift a mug of tea (or beer…?)
Our Winter Party’s drawing near!

December 18th is the date
That we will meet to celebrate.
Don’t push your luck and don’t tempt fate.
We’ll sell out fast, so don’t be late!

The venue will be Aotu Space.
Reserve right now, secure your place.
Live music! Food! Beer by the case!
Wear something special — silk or lace?

You know that it’s the place to be.
You’ll see your friends. And they’ll see thee.
We’ll sing, we’ll dance most merrily.
Come party with FCCC!

By Ted Plafker

End 2021 on a high note with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China. Live music, canapes, and drinks at Aotu Space kick off at 7 PM on December 18.

Tickets to the FCCC’s annual Winter Party are still on sale. FCCC members can purchase a maximum of TWO member-priced tickets but can purchase non-member tickets for additional guests.

Due to limited space available, priority may be given to tickets purchased by Club members. All party attendees must have a valid Green Health Code the day of the event.

FCCC TALK: In the Camps - A Discussion with Darren Byler
2021-12-14 09:00 - 10:00
Darren Byler spent years living in Xinjiang and befriending the Uyghur communities there. Soon after leaving the region to continue his doctoral studies, Chinese authorities began a massive detention and incarceration campaign in the region. Byler became one of the earliest scholars to monitor and analyze the latest crackdown in Xinjiang. He joins the club to explain the matrix of state control and economic incentives which produce and maintain and ongoing police state in the region and his deeply personal connection to the people most deeply affected.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Darren Byler holds a PhD from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington in 2018. His research focuses on Uyghur dispossession, infrastructural power and what Byler has termed “terror capitalism”. He teaches anthropology at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the author of two books on Xinjiang: “Terror Capitalism” (2022) and “In The Camps.” (2021). Byler has also helped translate “The Backstreets,” from the renowned Uyghur writer Perhat Tursun.

FCCC TALK: China's Leaders: From Mao to Now (Polity Press 2021)
2021-12-09 09:00 - 10:00
The Communist Party’s newest “historical resolution” is a crucial step towards consolidating Xi Jinping’s power and status to equal that of Mao and Deng. In his new book Professor Shambaugh surveys China’s leaders and their times from Mao through Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. He will speak about his book and these Chinese leaders, and will take questions concerning all of them (not only Xi Jinping).
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: David Shambaugh is Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science & International Affairs and Director of the China Policy Program in the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Professor Shambaugh has published more than 30 books, including most recently Where Great Powers Meet: America & China in Southeast Asia, China & the World (both 2020).

FCCC Talk: How long can China keep up its ‘zero Covid’ strategy?
2021-12-02 12:30 - 13:30
While many countries are cautiously opening their borders and relying on high vaccination rates, China is one of the few to persist with a ‘zero Covid’ policy. How long can it hold out given the high socioeconomic costs of such a method and the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant?
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Ivan Hung, Professor in Health Sciences Pedagogy, Chief of Infectious Diseases Division, University of Hong Kong. Professor Hung is a dual-specialist in Infectious Disease and Gastroenterology & Hepatology and has published more than 150 international peer reviewed original articles. His research includes vaccines, innovative treatment of severe influenza and prevention of pneumococcal infection. He is the Board and Founding Member of the World Association for Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders.

FCCC Talk: Working with North Korea
2021-11-29 18:00 - 19:30 | Dutch Embassy, Beijing, China
For years, Koryo Group has ferried people into North Korea, working with a variety of North Korean organizations and individuals in tourism, sports, and culture. The reality of working on the ground can be very different than the general assumptions Westerners hold regarding the Hermit Kingdom and its autocratic ruling family, the Kims. Koryo’s general manager walks us through the surprisingly diverse experiences of dealing with North Koreans.
Drinks and pizza will be provided by our generous Dutch Embassy hosts.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Simon Cockerell is the general manager for Koryo Tours. He moved to Beijing in 2000 and has made over 175 trips to North Korea since then.

FCCC Happy Hour
2021-11-25 18:00 - 23:00 | Beijing Intercontinental Hotel Sanlitun, No. 1 South Sanlitun Road, Beijing, China
Top Bar will be reserved for the FCCC members and their guests. Special deals on selected cocktails, wine and beer. Come and mingle with fellow colleagues while admiring the panorama of Beijing by night.

Renewal Season
2021-11-19 08:00 - 2022-01-31 23:30
RENEW HERE
We would like to thank you for your support in 2021 and to ask you to renew your support for our community in 2022.
It is now the time to renew your FCCC membership: your 2021 subscription ends on December 31st. We know next year will also be tough – and the Club needs you!
We ask that you renew as early as possible, as this allows us to plan for next year and organize even more speaker events and social gatherings. As a bonus, all those who renew before November 30th will be entered into an early bird raffle to win six bottles of the finest wine available to the Club. All renewals also get a FCCC lapel pin.
We hope to see you again soon again at one of our upcoming FCCC-events.
With kind regards,
Dana, Emily, Javi, Kirsi, Koichi, Marcelo, Simina, Simon, Thomas and Yuan

FCCC Talk: China’s hold on data by Kendra Schaefer
2021-11-15 16:00 - 17:00
IN PERSON EVENT: China’s hold on data
Join us in person for a talk on China’s overall data strategy. In the last few months, China has enacted sweeping data storage and privacy regulations that in many cases surpass similar policies proposed in Europe and North America. How should we make sense of these new rules? What are their ultimate aims and how do we see firms shifting to comply?
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Kendra Schaefer is head of Tech Policy Research at the consultancy Trivium China. She focuses on Chinese data infrastructure policies and is based in Beijing.
WHERE: Belgian Embassy in Beijing
Sanlitun Dongsan Jie 3, 100600 Chaoyang, Beijing | 三里屯东三街3号朝阳区北京市
WHEN: Monday November 15, 2021 from 4-5 PM
RSVP to fcccadmin@gmail.com

FCCC Talk: Germany's post-Merkel China policy by Noah Barkin
2021-11-11 16:00 - 17:00
FCCC ONLINE EVENT: Germany’s post-Merkel China policy
Join us for an online talk about Germany’s potential China policy after the election and its implications for Europe-China relations.
When: November 11, 4 PM Beijing time
Where: Google Hangouts or Zoom
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Noah Barkin is a Managing Editor with Rhodium Group’s China practice based in Berlin, Germany. He coordinates Rhodium’s editorial and strategic outreach work on China and contributes to the firm’s research on Europe-China relations, transatlantic China policy and emerging technologies. Previously he worked as a bureau chief, regional editor and European correspondent for Reuters based in Berlin, Paris, London and New York.
RSVP to fcccadmin@gmail.com

FCCC Talk: China, Climate, and Coal by Li Shuo
2021-10-28 16:00 - 17:30
IN-PERSON EVENT: China, Climate, and Coal
Join us in-person at the Brazilian Embassy to discuss the latest on China’s quest to move away from carbon-based fuels. The country has just hosted the first half of COP15. But it also is suffering power shortages driven by an over-reliance on coal. How can China navigate the painful transition to clean energy?
About the speaker: Li Shuo is the Senior Climate & Energy Policy Officer for Greenpeace East Asia. He oversees Greenpeace’s work on air pollution, water, and renewable energy. He is a frequent speaker at international climate conferences.
When: October 28, 4-5:30 PM
Where: Brazilian Embassy in Beijing
光华路27号
27 Guanghua Road
RSVP by October 27th to fcccadmin@gmail.com

Media Freedoms Committee Meeting
2021-10-27 18:30 - 20:00

FCCC Talk Taiwan, the US, and China By Shelley Rigger
2021-10-11 09:00 - 10:00
Taiwan, the US, and China: Over Golden Week, China sent more than 150 fighter planes into airspace monitored by Taiwanese defense forces. The US continues to sell arms to Taiwan and has increased official visits and recognition of the island. China continues to warn that such actions are in violation of their absolute sovereignty of Taiwan. Are these old tensions flaring anew or new risks presaging conflict? Should Taiwan-allied countries, primarily the US, hedge against Chinese political and military influence over Taiwan, or are they exacerbating tensions?
About the speaker: Dr Shelley Rigger is the Brown Professor for Political Science at Davidson College in North Carolina, where she studies the effects of cross-strait economic interactions on Taiwan people’s perceptions of mainland China. A longtime China watcher and one of the global dons of Taiwan studies, she’s the author of Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse (2011) as well as two books on Taiwan’s domestic politics. In June, her latest book, The Tiger Leading the Dragon: How Taiwan Propelled China’s Economic Rise, was published.

FCCC Happy Hour
2021-09-30 18:30 - 22:00 | JingA Kerry Center, Beijing Kerry Center, North Tower 1, Beijing, China
What better way to kick off the Golden Week? Join the fellow FCCC members for drinks at the Jing-A microbrewery in the Kerry Center from 6:30 pm next Thursday, September 30th. This event is also open to friends and colleagues of FCCC members, no need to register.

Evergrande: China’s “Lehman” moment?” By Bo Zhang.
2021-09-27 09:00 - 10:00
Evergrande: China’s “Lehman” moment?
Distraught investors. Unfinished apartment units. Looming bond defaults. Evergrande, China’s second-largest property developer is in dire straits. Could its imminent collapse trigger wider, systemic tremors across China’s financial system? How did the developer trundle on for years under massive debt loads, only to collapse this year? And what do the regulatory winds which brought about its demise portend about the property sector, which had enriched so many? Join us on Monday morning, September 27 for an online chat with Bo Zhuang.
About the speaker: Bo Zhuang is China economist and strategist and based in Singapore for the US investment firm Loomis Sayles. He directs thematic research on China’s impact on the global market and macroeconomy. Before joining Loomis Sayles in 2021, Bo was chief China economist at TS Lombard. He has spent 14 years on the sell-side in London, Beijing and Singapore – working closely with institutional clients, visiting policymakers, and media.

Puppy Night
2021-01-23 08:00 - 17:00
Join us for a night cuddling snuggly, snuffly pups

Criminalising China : The US Department of Justice Vs the China Threat
2020-10-16 15:00 - 16:00

EVENT CALENDAR: Us-China Security Ties In An Era Of Increasing Bilateral Competition
2020-03-10 19:30 - 21:30 | British Embassy Beijing 英国驻华大使馆, 11 Guang Hua Lu, Beijing, 100600, China
While frictions between the United States and China in the areas of
trade and technology are certainly noteworthy, the most critical
driver of potential instability between Washington and Beijing
actually consists of clashing security perceptions and policies. What
is the status of bilateral security ties and how might they develop
going forward? What can be gleaned from China’s 2019 Defense White
Paper about Beijing’s military strategy? Will we see increasing
competition between the two countries in the security arena?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Michael Swaine is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and one of the most prominent American analysts in
Chinese security studies. Formerly a senior policy analyst at the RAND
Corporation, Swaine is a specialist in Chinese defense and foreign
policy, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian international relations.
He has authored and edited more than a dozen books and monographs and
many journal articles and book chapters in these areas, directs
several security-related projects with Chinese partners, and advises
the U.S. government on Asian security issues. He received his
doctorate in government from Harvard University.
