Quotes from around China this week
“Chinese people needed a victory so badly to prove ourselves. I used to think tennis was simply a sport, but the craziness of that match made me realize that it was endowed with meanings that are far more significant.”- Li Na. New York Times
“The market remains almost untouched.”
Gao Haiyan, a Chinese entrepreneur that develops and sells electronic voting systems. Asahi Shimbun
"[Bo Xilai] is a troublemaker. He broke with the original plan, and now there is going to be a big fight within the leadership about how to sentence him. That might only escalate the power struggle."
- Zhang Lifan, a party historian in Beijing, on Bo’s trial. LA Times
“In the eyes of some people, we are dogs. In the eyes of government officials, we are pigs. In our own eyes, we are sheep — sheep for slaughter.”
- Businessman Sun Dawu speaking to a small group of entrepreneurs, economists and lawyers in Beijing last week to discuss property magnate Zeng Chengjie’s execution for fraud in July. Washington Post
“The bills are coming in for the development model of the last three decades, from poisoned soil to toxic air and water. These will be costly and difficult to fix and the modestly prosperous middle class is impatient, if contradictory in its desires: it wants to consume more, drive cars, eat abundant and safe food, enjoy clean air and keep the lights on, all without paying more taxes— a tricky set of aspirations to balance.”
- Isabel Hilton, a London-based journalist and broadcaster. China File
"Chinese people don't know how to date. It's been like that for thousands of years. Young people have higher expectations for marriage now. They want attraction, and their parents don't know what that is."
- Shanghai based family and relationship counselor Wu Di, on services catering to men and women searching for partners. The Atlantic
“We should strengthen the positive energy on the net so that when people notice others spreading online rumors [they] call for their removal, like when you see a rat crossing the street.”
- Liao Hong, president and editor in chief of People.com.cn, the website of Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily. Financial Times