Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It was once so rich that Concorde used to fly from Caracas to Paris. But in the last three years its economy has collapsed. Hunger has gripped the nation for years. Now, it’s killing people and animals that are dying of starvation. The Venezuelan government knows, but won’t admit it!!! Four in five Venezuelans live in poverty. People queue for hours to buy food. Much of the time they go without. People are also dying from a lack of medicines. Inflation is at 82,766% and there are warnings it could exceed one million per cent by the end of this year. Venezuelans are trying to get out. The UN says 2.3 million people have fled the country - 7% of the population.

Showing posts with label China. Show all posts

Friday, September 14, 2018

FINANCIAL POST

Everyone realizes too late that Stephen Harper was right about Venezuela

by Terence Corcoran

Published: September 13, 2018 9:33 AM EDT

As beleaguered Venezuela lies in socialist ruins and its people plunge deeper into economic chaos, the country’s president announced Wednesday that he was flying off to China in search of another financial rescue. It is not unreasonable to ask: Will he ever return? Are Chinese leaders crazy?

According to Reuters, Nicolas Maduro made the announcement over state media from Caracas airport just before boarding a plane. His parting words could be interpreted: “I am going with great expectations and we will see each other again in a few days with big achievements.” Was that a promise or a hope?

American media have been abuzz with speculation about a coup d’état in recent days at a time when the Venezuelan economy — in collapse for at least a year — seems beyond rescue. The New York Times reported over the weekend that Trump officials met with Venezuelans plotting the overthrow of Maduro’s dictatorship. Trump rejected the idea, but the news has generated new fever about foreign intervention or of a possible internal coup.

A peaceful overthrow of the Maduro regime would be the best outcome for a country that has been in a socialist tailspin for more than two decades — a reign of economic error that might have ended sooner had it not been for the soft-headed support of the world’s leftists, a collection of ideologues that ranged from Canadian mainstream socialists to international economists and a global media all too willing to downplay the scale and causes of Venezuela’s decline.

National income has cratered. The country’s currency is worthless paper with its estimated annual inflation rate of one million per cent. Disease is spreading, corruption is rampant, rule of law non-existent, crime everywhere. It is estimated that 2.3-million Venezuelan refugees have fled the failed state for better lives in Colombia and other South American nations.

Even CBC’s The National has glommed on to Venezuela’s economic disaster, having dispatched star anchor Adrienne Arsenault to the border between Colombia and Venezuela to file reports this week on the human toll of the refugee flood. It’s a big move for The National, which over two decades has rarely raised a concerned eyebrow as Venezuela slid under the tyranny of leftist populism, first under Hugo Chavez, hero of the Canadian left, and then under Maduro, who took power when Chavez died in 2013.

At the time, left-wingers criticized then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper for issuing a statement on Chavez’s death that rightly offered no sympathy: “I hope the people of Venezuela can now build for themselves a better, brighter future based on the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.”

At Rabble.ca, official home of leftist Canadian commentary, a writer implied that Harper could learn a lesson from Chavez, who — among other things — was said to be more representative of democracy since he won elections with big majorities that Harper never matched. In 2014, a Rabble headline read: “NDP should use Venezuelan revolution as inspiration for Canada’s labour struggles.”

The list of Canadian enthusiasts for Chavez-style socialism ranged from journalist Linda McQuaig to celebrity author Naomi Klein. McQuaig devoted 20 pages of her 2004 book “It’s the Crude, Dude: War, Big Oil and the Fight for the Planet,” to Chavez as the hero of nationalization after he took over control of Venezuela’s national oil company, PDVAA — a classic socialist takeover that became the single-largest cause for the country’s decline. Chavez used nationalized revenue from the country’s massive oil reserves to set up social redistribution to buy support among the poor and the masses: free housing, virtually free gasoline, payoffs to supporters. As oil hit US$100 a barrel, the ideology seemed to be paying off. But when the commodity-price bubble burst, it all came crashing down.

McQuaig, Klein and other squishy Canadians were not alone in cheering Venezuela’s Chavez/Maduro takeover. Nobel economist and former Clinton adviser Joseph Stiglitz praised Chavez, claiming he “appears to have had success in bringing health and education to the people in the poor neighbourhoods of Caracas, to those who previously saw few benefits of the country’s oil wealth.”

International support for Venezuelan socialism continued over two decades and up till recently. British Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn hailed Venezuela as a socialist model and Chavez for showing the world there is a better way of doing things. “It’s called socialism,” Corbyn said.

In a commentary last week, Harvard Economist Kenneth Rogoff spread the net of complicity wide:

“Altogether too many left-leaning economists (including some who ultimately worked on the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders in the US) were diehard supporters of the Venezuelan regime. There were also opportunistic enablers, including Goldman Sachs (with its ill-considered purchase that propped up Venezuelan bond prices), and some on the right, such as the inauguration committee for US President Donald Trump, which accepted a large donation from Citgo, the US-based subsidiary of Venezuelan oil company Petróleos de Venezuela.”

Are the Chinese crazy enough that they will sink more cash into a destitute and failed economy?

All through the Chavez/Maduro regime, Venezuela has been forming military and financial ties with Russia and China. Russia has supplied billions of dollars to Venezuela while pressuring the country to nationalize industries and mines, including Chrystellex, the Canadian gold operator that last month won another U.S. court case seeking US$1.2-billion compensation for the government takeover.

Russia’s involvement in Venezuela runs deep, leading some to speculate that a new clash with the United States in taking shape over the future of South America. China has also funded Venezuela, based on the assumption that there will in future be cash to extract from the country’s massive oil reserves.

Can Maduro, if he is indeed off to China, secure more stopgap funding from Chinese leaders? Are the Chinese crazy enough that they will sink more cash into a destitute and failed economy in the hope that the investment will be returned once some form of stability is achieved?

Venezuela has a lot of oil, but its current government has so many growing liabilities tied to that oil, sorting out the debts in future will not be easy, especially given the failed nation’s current state of law and monetary policy. It is possible that China and Russia might find themselves coexisting as the backers of a regime that neither would claim is an economic success, even by the miserable standards of Latin America.

Meanwhile, Maduro recently launched a farcical reform of the valueless Venezuelan Bolivar, including the launch of a cryptocurrency called the Petro — described by Johns Hopkins University economist Steve Hanke as a scam.

Whether or not Maduro ever returns from China with his “great expectations” fulfilled may not matter. From what we know of Venezuela’s economic plight, there is more than a good chance that the end is near for the glorious socialist model that never existed.

More info: https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/terence-corcoran-everyone-realizes-too-late-that-stephen-harper-was-right-about-venezuela
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China says promise of more money for Venezuela part of ‘mutually beneficial cooperation’

Premier Li Keqiang says Beijing will support South American country’s efforts to develop its economy, improve people’s livelihoods

PUBLISHED : Friday, 14 September, 2018, 10:03pm

UPDATED : Friday, 14 September, 2018, 11:08pm

by Teddy Ng

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Beijing promises financial support for Venezuela

China on Friday extended its offer of financial support to Venezuela as the South American nation’s President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders.

Developing relations with Venezuela was a strategic decision for China, Xi said during the meeting, extracts of which were shown by state broadcaster CCTV.

“China and Venezuela have to enhance friendly mutual trust and push for mutually beneficial cooperation,” he said.

Maduro was in Beijing mainly to seek economic cooperation for his country, which is mired in debt and battling hyperinflation.

Over the past decade, China has loaned US$50 billion to Venezuela, and while Caracas has been gradually paying off that debt with oil shipments, it still owes Beijing about US$20 billion.

Earlier in the day, Maduro visited Mao Zedong’s mausoleum in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, where he bowed three times before laying a wreath and hailing the founder of the People’s Republic of China as a “giant of the homeland of humanity”.

“We are beginning this state visit in the best way because we have come to pay tribute to the great helmsman Mao Zedong,” Maduro said in comments broadcast by Venezuela’s official VTV network.

“I was very moved because it really reminds me of one of the great founders of a multipolar 21st century,” he said, adding that Mao had been a “giant of revolutionary ideas”.

In a separate meeting, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said bilateral relations between Beijing and Caracas had good momentum.

“China will provide assistance to Venezuela within its capacity,” he said in the CCTV footage. “China will support Venezuela’s efforts to develop its economy and improve people’s livelihoods.”

But Li also called on Caracas to improve its policies and legal protection for Chinese businesses operating in Venezuela.

During the talks, the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding with regards to cooperation on China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” – a massive development programme Beijing initiated to boost infrastructure and trade links with more than 65 countries and regions.

Maduro also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and National Development and Reform Commission chairman He Lifeng.

While no information was released about the deals the two nations reached, Venezuelan consultancy Ecoanalitica said Maduro may return home with a new US$5 billion loan and a six-month extension to the grace period to service Venezuela’s existing debts.

The Venezuelan government has been desperately trying to curb soaring inflation, with a series of measures including devaluing its currency, which shaved five zeros off the value of the bolívar, and raising the minimum wage by 3,500 per cent.

The International Monetary Fund projects Venezuela’s inflation rate will reach 1 million per cent by the end of the year.

Maduro’s trip comes as China is seeking to extend its presence in Latin America, with investment pledges totalling US$500 billion. The United States has expressed its concern at Beijing’s moves, with former secretary of state Rex Tillerson warning of China’s “imperial ambitions” in the region.

But Xi told Maduro that China’s relationship with Latin America was based on the principle of equality.

Maduro’s trip to China is his first outside the country since he was allegedly targeted by exploding drones while watching a military parade in Caracas on August 4.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

More info: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2164321/china-says-promise-more-money-venezuela-part-mutually
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MIAMI HERALD - Desperate for cash, Venezuela threatens to sue its neighbors
BY JIM WYSS

September 14, 2018 02:30 PM

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

As Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro spends the weekend in China nailing down a $5 billion emergency loan, his cash-strapped administration is floating another money-making scheme: suing its neighbors.

In recent days, Maduro and his cabinet have said they might sue Colombia, Ecuador and Perú for their “xenophobic” treatment of Venezuelan migrants. And on Tuesday, Maduro ordered his justice department to sue Colombia to claw back money he says his administration has spent providing social services to millions of Colombians living in Venezuela.

The legal threats come as Venezuela seems increasingly desperate for cash. Once wealthy, the country is being slammed with chronic food and medicine shortages. Its foreign cash reserves are at their lowest levels since the 1980s. And oil output, the country’s lifeblood, is down to levels not seen since a 2002 oil-worker strike. In addition, U.S. sanctions have been keeping the country from finding fresh funds.

That could change this weekend, with Maduro in Beijing finalizing a $5 billion loan the government says it will use to boost crude production.

More info: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article218324270.html
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AFM: Hype, Hope and Business as Usual with China as Part of the New Normal...

Deals steady, rather than spectacular. Money flowing into co-prods and property too
AFM Adjusts to Life After Focus Features Int'lThe Great Wall of Chinese money has not exactly washed away the American Film Market this week. Rather, it has seeped into every conversation and every deal permutation.

Chinese companies are attending the AFM in record numbers, according to market organizers. Certainly every restaurant and every Loews elevator seems to be 50% occupied by mainland Chinese.
But instead of making a quick grab for any title that moved, the Chinese are becoming more discerning and more multi-faceted.

"Everyone is here, that's certainly true. A lot of top producers have been in town with all the U.S.-China events this week, but so far the buying action has been nothing unusual," said Leslie Chen, IM Global China executive.

Trade may pick up by Monday, when more deals are expected to close. The deal of reference for several players may be the expected sale of Lionsgate's Johnny Depp project "Mortdecai."

Not only is Depp a big draw for Chinese audiences, Lionsgate has strong China connections and has the option to co-distribute in China if it does not get the price and terms it seeks. However, Lionsgate sources say they expect to complete a "Mortdecai" sales deal by the end of the market.

"Chinese buyers are now talking more about the quality of the project than the number of distribution slots," said Gary Hamilton, CEO of production-sales group Arclight Films. "It is really important to them that this is a global project, rather than something niche. The first three questions they ask are: `Who is in it?' `Who is distributing in the States' and `What's the budget?'"

David U. Lee of independent Chinese distributor Leeding Media says that the boost to the market that some sellers anticipated from last year's change to the import quotas — from 20 to 34 — has now peaked.

"The last market was overhyped. Prices are now flat or up only slightly, the big acceleration may be over," said Lee. "Actually the increase in quotas has made our (independently sourced) films less competitive. That's because we now have 14 more studio-level pictures per year coming into the country against us."

A slowdown or reality check may be a welcome change as the Chinese distribution scene is still very far from being a free market — there's the quota restrictions on the number of revenue-sharing films that can be imported, censorship that is liberalizing only slowly and direct government intervention in the releasing calendar designed to favor local films.

Still, the Chinese theatrical market has become simply too big to ignore. By the end of September, box office had equalled last year's 12-month total of $2.7 billion, putting it on course for a full year total worth $3.2 billion.

"In one significant way things are changing. Many of the Chinese firms here at AFM seem as interested in co-production as they do in outright acquisition," said Ying Ye, Hamilton's partner in Arclight's specialty Asian label, Easternlight. "We have licensed our John Cusack movie `Reclaim' but we will do `Priority Run' as a co-production. It is in pre-production with Donnie Yen set and a U.S. actor yet to be cast."

The Chinese partner is likely to have a say in who gets cast. Arclight/Easternlight already have Nicolas Cage actioner "Outcast" and thriller "The Nest 3D," which is in development, structured as Chinese co-ventures.

Still other insiders point out that filmmaking and buying is only part of the reason the Chinese are in L.A. "It's the money business, not the movie business," says one. "Many Chinese still have strong reasons to want to get money offshore and out of China."
Michael J. Werner, chairman of Fortissimo Films, said, "What are the Chinese buying? Properties in Beverly Hills."

After the show-stopping announcements by Chinese property and film group Wanda — last year it paid $2.3 billion for North American theater chain AMC, and in September this year called up a dozen Hollywood A-listers to celebrate its new studio facility-cum-yacht brokerage — China has become a more frequent port of call for U.S. movie companies.

"Actually we don't expect much buying here at AFM, all the big sales companies now will travel to China and speak directly to the distributors," said another source.

That's true of Lionsgate, Arclight and IM Global, which now all have China offices. They will be joined by Universal Pictures, which this week also announced it would set up permanently in Beijing.

Thank you Variety

More info:
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U.K., South Korea Sign Cultural Agreement...

Mainland Chinese opportunities have led to a filmmaking exodus, but the territory is thriving as a shooting destination.
Mainland China's industry is hogging the limelight, but Hong Kong is the most efficient gateway into the booming market north of the border, industryites from the territory said Thursday during an AFM panel discussion.

Michael Bay Hails Hong Kong Despite 'Scary' 'Transformers' AttackHong Kong Directors Guild Boss Calls 'Transformers 4' Incident 'Ridiculous'Michael Mann's 'Cyber' Film Shoot Moves to Hong KongThe number of local productions in Hong Kong has fallen as directors and producers turn their attention to the world's second-largest film market in China.

STORY: Michael Bay Hails Hong Kong Despite 'Scary' 'Transformers' Attack

Independent filmmaker Maria Lo Orzel spoke of how almost all Hong Kong filmmakers are working with China.

"Going from 300 to 50 films a year shows that most of the local filmmakers have moved north, but they will mostly come to Hong Kong to help start their projects.

"We cannot survive without China," she told the gathering.

Film productions from Hong Kong can take advantage of CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement), which affords them special status.

Hong Kong also is proving itself to be a popular location. Recent projects that shot there include Transformers: Age of Extinction, Cyber, Pacific Rim and Fast & Furious 6.

STORY: Michael Mann's 'Cyber' Film Shoot Moves to Hong Kong

Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that one of the most eagerly listened to figures on the panel was Zhou Tiedong, president of China Film Promotion International.

"Hong Kong has been acting as a major production force -- Hong Kong filmmakers made the only Chinese genre that can travel internationally: the kung fu movie. It is a better way to go through Hong Kong filmmakers," said Zhou.

He said a ratings system would probably happen in China, but only if the market wants it. "The audience is always right," he joked.

Panelist Jeffrey Chan, COO of Bona Film Group, said Hong Kong still has plenty to offer that China does not.

"I rarely find people who don't like Hong Kong; it's a base camp. It's efficient, it's quick to set up a company, it was under British rule so it has common law. The Chinese yuan is not an internationally convertible currency," he said.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

China's Internet Video Giant Youku Tudou Rewards Content Creators With Revenue..

The user-generated video site has paid out more than $500,000 to participating contributors, and offers cinematography and digital marketing seminars to top amateur talents.
A new revenue sharing program by China's biggest online video outlet, Youku Tudou, has generated more than $500,000 dollars in income for participating content creators in the four months since the initiative launched.

our editor recommends
Hollywood's New Gold Mine: Youku TudouChina's Suning, Hony Capital to Invest $420M in PPTV as Online Video Market ConsolidatesChinese Online Video Giant Youku's Short Film Project Racks up 10 Million ViewsThe program, which kicked off in June, allows those taking part to earn money generated from advertisements embedded with the content they upload -- much like YouTube.

STORY: Hollywood's New Gold Mine: Youku Tudou

Top video creators have earned between $3,500 and $10,000 per month from diverse content such as education, humor, games and animated commentary, the group said in a statement.

Other content includes web serials from comedians, musicians and original productions.

The figures involved are small, but they are significant.

Hollywood is watching the success of Youku Tudou closely. It is keen to exploit the opportunities offered by China's booming online video market, and it wants a platform and a revenue stream for legitimate content online in the face of rampant piracy.

The program seeks to encourage grassroots video producers to share their work with wider audiences. Youku.com and Tudou.com own the largest platform for user-generated content (UGC) in China. Smartphones and tablets are fueling the fast growth of UGC.

China is the world's largest Internet market with 591 million users, and in the last year the number of people who surf the web from smartphones and tablets rose by 20 percent.

STORY: Youku Tudou Narrows Second-Quarter Loss

Since June, views of videos in the revenue sharing program on Youku.com and Tudou.com have increased 30 percent month to month.

"We are thrilled to see such promising growth of this new initiative to reward talented content creators," said Zhu Xiangyang, chief content officer at Youku Tudou.

"Youku Tudou proudly takes the credit for nurturing China's online video talents since 2008, and we're gratified that more and more people are using video to express their thoughts and creativity," he added. "By rewarding great independent creators through this open revenue sharing platform, we look forward to further unleashing the unlimited power of user-generated content."

The top monthly earner is Li Hongchou, who started creating web serials a few years ago while in college, pulling in $12,000 in the last few months. His first hit web serial, Off-Campus Roommates, looked at young people living together in an apartment, similar to the American television series Friends.

Li now has his own studio and has produced more than 300 web episodes, netting nearly 300 million cumulative views.

Participants' videos have prioritized recommendations as well as search support and a faster upload channel. They are able to monitor their channels, income and marketing results. Youku Tudou also offers participants offline training, including cinematography, digital marketing and case study seminars. Some participants are invited to join in-house production projects initiated by Youku.com and Tudou.com.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Web piracy: Sites in Russia, China, Ukraine, Canada top MPAA list...

Websites registered in China, Russia, Ukraine and Canada continue to dominate the list of "most notorious" markets for distributing pirated movies and TV shows, an industry report shows.

The survey, compiled by the Motion Picture Assn. of America at the request of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, ranked websites and other technologies used to distribute illegal copies of movies and TV show based on how much web traffic they generated, among other indicators.

The MPAA list includes peer-to-peer networks, Bit Torrent portals, infringing download and streaming hubs, linking websites and newsgroups, as well as physical markets located in the Ukraine, Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Ireland, Brazil, Russia, Thailand, Mexico and India.

PHOTOS: Billion-dollar movie club

"The rogue overseas marketplaces highlighted in the filing undermine the people who work hard to create the movies and TV shows audiences love, and jeopardize the billions of dollars they contribute to the U.S. economy," Chris Dodd, chairman of the MPAA said in a statement. "The MPAA commends the USTR's commitment to protect and enforce intellectual property rights abroad and, in so doing, protect U.S. jobs."

Among the top sites identified in the survey were: Extratorrent.com in the Ukraine, which had 16.1 million unique visitors in August, including features highlighting "the most pirate movies" and "first cams," which are camcordings of movies showing in theaters; and Russia-based Rutracker.org, a BitTorrent portal launched in 2010 that is one of the world's most visited sites, with 11.7 million unique visitors in August.

Also on the list were two sites from Canada: Kickass.to, which changed names after U.S. authorities seized its previous domain; and Torrentz.eu, one of the most popular BitTorrent websites on the Internet, which had 45.5 million visitors in August.

China also two websites on the list: Xunlei.com, which features a high speed file sharing system that distributes unauthorized copies of movies and TV shows; and QVOD, or Kuaibo.com, widely used by Chinese rogues linking sites.

"The criminals who profit from the most notorious markets through the world threaten the very heart of our industry and in doing so threaten the livelihoods of the people who give it life," wrote the MPAA's Michael O'Leary, the report's author. "These markets are an immediate threat to legitimate commerce, impairing legitimate markets' viability and curbing U.S. competitiveness."

Thank you Los Angeles Times

Study: Chinese Censors Police Social Media with Blinding Speed...

A new U.S. study explores the mechanisms used by censors to filter the 70,000 posts that are made each minute on China's wildly popular Sina Weibo service.

While Chinese hackers were topping global headlines for poking around the computer systems of the United States' most valuable tech and media companies -- and movie studios -- a team of American researchers was busy carrying out its own clandestine inquiry into Chinese tech territory.

A new study published on Monday by independent researcher, Tao Zhu, and four U.S. academics details the workings of China's most politically sensitive online activity: social media censorship.

PHOTOS: Cut, Censored, Changed: 10 Hollywood Films Tweaked for International Release

Analyzing 2.38 million posts on China's most popular social media platform, Sina Weibo -- a service similar to Twitter -- the researches break down the methods used by censors to police the millions of comments made by users on the site every day.
China is known for having the world's most comprehensive and sophisticated Internet censorship system. But what's often left out of the conversation is that it's rarely the government itself doing the censoring when it comes to social media. Rather, the companies offering the services -- Sina, Tencent, NetEase, all of which offer their own `Weibo' or micro-blog platform -- operate aggressive operations of self-censorship as part of a tacit agreement with the government, which essentially says: "we'll let you stay in business, if you make sure your users don't cause us too much trouble." Government censors are presumed to only get involved when they feel the service providers aren't doing a good enough job of scrubbing their portals clean of offending social and political commentary.
The main takeaway from the inquiry is a palpable sense of awe over how fast censors are able to filter the service given the massive volume of postings. With Weibo messages posted at an average rate of 70,000 per minute, the researchers found that "nearly 30 percent of the total deletion events occur within 5-30 minutes, and nearly 90 percent of the deletions happen within the first 24 hours."
STORY: Hollywood Targeted by Chinese Hackers
It goes on: "Considering the big data set that Weibo has to process, the speed -- especially at the 5 to 10 minutes peak -- is fast, especially [since] it cannot be processed in a fully automated way."
With this speed in mind, the researchers speculate that censors likely use automated lists of sensitive keywords and prioritize users who have a history of politically affronting activity. When they discover an offending post, they delete it and quickly chase down all of the retweets -- usually eliminating them all within five minutes.
Only 10 percent of the posts aren't deleted until after 24 hours. Those posts typically contain clever neologisms invented by users to sneak past the censors' automated keyword filtering. For example, last year, many micro-bloggers employed the word "tomato" to refer to disgraced Chinese leader Bo Xilai, because of the similarity of the pronunciation of one element of Chongqing, the city Bo ruled, and the Chinese word for the color red. "Bo" also happens to mean "thin" in Chinese, so some users briefly used the expression "the not thick king" to make reference to the fallen political star.
The researchers say that once Chinese censors discover the widespread use of a new code word, they quickly add it to their automated list and scan and delete all past instances.
STORY: Bo Xilai Murder Scandal a Game Changer for Chinese Social Media
To prevent users from finding sensitive information, they also constantly update a list of key words that are rendered unsearchable on the service.
When a user is highlighted as a repeat offender, their entire account is deleted. The researchers say this happened to 300 of the 3,500 accounts they tracked for the study.
Pity the Chinese tomato farmer attempting his first foray into social media.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

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Chinese government launches screenwriting contest for U.S. writers...

In the latest effort by China to expand its cultural influence and build stronger ties to Hollywood, government officials in Beijing are looking for U.S.-based screenwriters to help tell their stories.

The Cultural Assets Office of the Beijing Municipal Government on Monday will announce the 2013 Beijing International Screenwriting Competition, which organizers called a "groundbreaking initiative" to foster artistic collaboration and an ongoing creative dialogue between China and the U.S.
Open to U.S.-based contestants of all nationalities, the competition will consider screenplays for feature films and short films centered on Beijing and its culture. Finalists will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Beijing in June to meet with potential investors in their movies. Winners will receive cash prizes totaling more than $100,000.

"This Competition is one of the first established routes for U.S. filmmakers to obtain direct access to the Chinese market," said Competition Chairman Kevin Niu. "It will serve as a model for future cultural collaboration between the U.S. and China — one that bridges the gap between our two cultures."

The endeavor underscores the expanding relationship between China and Hollywood. Several Hollywood studios are building operations in China, which took steps last year to ease restrictions on the number of foreign movies it allows into the country. China also is rapidly expanding its own theater industry to cater to an expanding middle class, and its media companies are heavily investing in the U.S. Dalian Wanda Group last year spent $2.6 billion to acquire AMC Entertainment.

Honorary competition presidents will include Vice-Mayor of Beijing Wei Lu and two-time Academy Award-winning director Mark Harris. Harris and Tracey Trench, producer of "The Pink Panther" and "Ever After," will serve as the competition's grand judges.

Proposals for the first round of the feature film competition are due April 7, and short-film screenplays are due April 20. Up to seven short film grand prize winners will receive financing for the production of their films.
The competition is sponsored by the state-owned Beijing International Creative Industry Corporation. Other partners include LeTV, China's biggest online video content distributor for TV dramas and movies, and Harvardwood, a nonprofit organization for Harvard University alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends working or strongly interested in the arts, media, and entertainment.

Thank you Los Angeles Times

Busan 2012: Chinese Indies Struggle to Go Global...

Despite no shortage of quality content, independent filmmakers still rely on overseas sales companies for international exposure.

Boasting a wide array of entries at BIFF this year – including films by Zhang Yuan, Wang Ping, Lou Ye and Emily Tang, among others – independent Chinese filmmakers have again shown themselves to be a force in global cinema.

Pluto (Myungwangsung): Busan Review

But there's a missing link there: most, if not all, of these directors are heavily reliant on international sales companies to bring their work onto the global stage.
"It's true there aren't that many important strong Asian sales companies – and there is almost none in China, where you mostly have companies selling their own films," said Isabelle Glachant, the long-time Beijing-based French producer of Wang Xiaoshuai's films through her Chinese Shadows shingle. "You don't have a [Chinese equivalent of] Film Distribution or Celluloid Dream or Finecut; you have Huayi Brothers selling their own films."

STORY: Can Korean Film Go Global on Psy's Coattails?
In mainland China, Glachant said, the norm – in the mainstream, at least – is for vertically integrated companies to handle production, distribution and sales, as well as agents of actors.

"It totally makes sense for Bona or Huayi, but outside of those top five companies, when you're outside their slots, what can you do? The ones who do best in selling arthouse films are Europeans, the exception being [Hong Kong's] Fortissimo and [South Korea's] Finecut."

Indeed, Fortissimo is attending to Zhang's Beijing Flickers, Wang's An End to Killing (which counts among its co-producers Japan's Satoru Iseki and Korea's Jooick Lee) and Zhang Yang's Full Circle, despite its financing by China Film Group. Another Hong Kong-based outfit, PAD International, is marketing Tang's All Apologies, Peng Tao's The Cremator and Li Ruijun's Fly with the Crane. France's Wild Bunch, meanwhile, is pushing Lou's Mystery.

While it's true that the same situation is present for indie productions in the region – the films of Thailand's Palme d'Or winner, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, are also sold by European companies, Glachant pointed out – the mainland Chinese scenario is peculiar, given the widely-documented abundance of "soft money" accorded to directors in the country today.

While Glachant admitted the dependence on foreign sales companies might be perceived as a visible weakness for mainland Chinese indie filmmakers, she said what they need the most is advice on how to tailor scripts and editing for audiences beyond their home country.
"It's fine to make a Chinese film, but you have to be careful that it's the way cinema [language] is used outside China. It's a problem if foreign audiences don't get into the emotion of the film."

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Hollywood Studios Reach Deal With China's Taobao on Anti-Piracy Efforts...

The Chinese e-commerce giant pledges more aggressive action to curtail counterfeits.

The Motion Picture Association has announced that it has reached a memorandum of understanding with Chinese's largest e-commerce company Taobao to deal with counterfeit and copyright infringing works on the site.

Last year, Taobao appeared on the United States Trade Representative's notorious markets list. Taobao is operated as a unit of the Alibaba Group, which engaged China's Ministry of Commerce to protest the appearance.

Since then, the Chinese company has been negotiating with the MPA, the international counterpart to the MPAA, whose members include Fox, Sony, Disney, and Warner Bros.

STORY: MPAA's Dodd Praises GOP Platform for Protecting Copyrights [4]

The parties have now signed off on a pact.

According to the MPA, Taobao will work with Hollywood studios to identify and remove listings of counterfeits and work with law enforcement to pursue serial offenders. The agreement further calls for shops on Taobao.com to hold a valid "publication license."

Mike Ellis, president and managing director, MPA Asia Pacific, calls the memorandum of understanding a "very significant step in promoting the legitimate sale and distribution of audio-visual content on the Internet. We are very confident of seeing positive and immediate results arising from this initiative.

Taobao holds as much as 70 percent of China's e-commerce marketshare, according to Reuters.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

More info: www.hollywoodreporter.com
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Deals up at Beijing fest: +87%

Deals up at Beijing fest
Fest organizers say deals signed this year up 87%
By CLIFFORD COONAN

The organizers of the Beijing Film Festival have said that the value of deals signed at this year's event, which wraps Saturday, is up 89% to 5.27 billion yuan ($476 million).
There were pacts involving 21 film projects signed at the fest, with six of them co-productions.

More than 600 shingles attended the fest, with more than 2,000 biz figures involved.

Local giant China Film Group announced a pact with the New Deal Studios to co-produce pics in China, including a war movie helmed by Fang Gangliang, which would serve as a test project. "This project is to see if the two parties can collaborate well. We are looking toward a j.v. at our production base in Huairou," said Lan Shujin, chief representative at China Film Group's L.A. office.

Local shingle Galloping Horse formally announced its link up with the vfx and CG animation company Digital Domain to form Digital Domain Galloping Horse Studio. The agreement includes a license for the new j.v. to use Digital Domain's technology for converting images into 3D.

The two also formally bowed their collaboration on "The Legend of Tembo."

Le Vision Pictures said it has picked up mainland Chinese distribution rights to Lionsgate's "The Expendables 2" and plans a day-and-date with its U.S. release on Aug. 17. The first pic in the franchise took $32 million in 2010.

The org said it intended to make the fest the region's main fest, reflecting the growing significance of the Chinese film market, which is reckoned to have overtaken Japan this year to become the second biggest B.O. market in the world.

"We are aiming to develop the Beijing festival into the biggest film festival and film market in Asia in three to five years," said Pang Wei, deputy director of Beijing's Municipal Bureau of Radio, Film and Television.

Thank you Variety

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PayPal shuts down accounts of online retailers selling pirated DVDs...

PayPal is cracking down on Chinese retailers who are using the company's online pay service to sell bootleg DVDs.

The San Jose-based company has closed the accounts of dozens of merchants making unauthorized use of PayPal's global payment service in violation of the company's policy, according to a statement from the Motion Picture Assn. of America's Asia Pacific Office in Singapore.

The action followed a joint operation with the MPAA's Asia Pacific Office that investigated the activities of various merchants, most based in China, which marketed and shipped counterfeit DVDs and Blu-ray discs to retail and wholesale customers worldwide.

"Our action today sends a strong message to all criminals that PayPal does not tolerate such illegal activity on our global pay platform,'' said Julie Bainbridge, PayPal's head of global brand risk management.

"We are very pleased that this joint operation has resulted in the immediate shutdown of dozens of accounts belonging to copyright infringers, many of whom have been exploiting legitimate platforms for years to sell counterfeit material worldwide," said Mike Ellis, president and managing director of the MPAA's Asia Pacific Office.

Thank you Los Angeles Times

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