China news round-up: Scholar Zhang Xuezhong fired, Chinese vessels enter disputed waters

Trending topics on weibo
TV hosts Wu Xin and Du Haitao deny getting married
Jang Song-thaek's ouster in North Korea
Gymnast Liu Xuan's wedding
Ma Lin, Wang Liqin leave national table tennis team
Death of Cantonese opera singer Hung Sin-nui

Politics
Xinhua
Couples will allowed to have a second child if either the father or mother is themselves an only child in early 2014.
Caijing
China is getting ready to launch a tax-differed corporate annuity, its own 401-style pension scheme, in an effort to consummate a multi-tiered pension system.
Sina Weibo*
East China University of Politics and Law in Shanghai terminates outspoken law professor Zhang Xuezhong's teaching contract.
China News Service*
The PLA announces one month of military exercises in the South China Sea.

Society
New Republic
Life without the internet in the Tibetan county Aba in Sichuan province.
New York Times - Sinosphere
Survey among female factory workers: 70 per cent said they had experienced "annoying whistling, shouts and lewd jokes", 32 per cent had experienced “annoying touching,” and 9 per cent had been asked for sex.
China Change
translated journalist Wang Qinglei's farewell letter to CCTV.
Dahe Daily*
Online sales of air purifiers has increased by 910 per cent over the last week.

Economy
Bloomberg
The yuan’s surge to a 20-year high signals policy makers are becoming more willing to let investment and trade flows determine the exchange rate.
Financial Times
Inflation in China slowed in November, giving the government more room to push ahead with its slate of financial reforms.
Wall Street Journal
Alternative explanation for surprisingly good export data: Companies overstating the value of exports as a way to circumvent rules that restrict the flow of capital into the country.
Caixin
"The law on illegal fundraising keeps public deposits from fleeing their arranged marriage with state-owned banks, stifling fresh ideas in finance," writes columnist Wang Yong.

Foreign affairs
Asahi Shimbun
Chinese Coast Guard vessels return to disputed waters near Diaoyu Islands for the first time since Beijing set ADIZ.
Foreign Affairs
"ADIZs can increase transparency, predictability, and strategic stability by reducing uncertainty on both sides," writes David A. Welch.
NK News
North Korean éminence grise Jang Song-thaek had been executed for trying to get rid of Kim Jong-un "in association with China", an unnamed source told Free North Korea Radio.
China Post (Taiwan)
Taiwan is hoping to send a delegation to join Nelson Mandela's funeral to be held later this month, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

* denotes articles in Chinese language.