Danwei Picks is a daily digest of the "From the Web" links found on the Danwei homepage. A feed for the links as they are posted throughout the day is available at Feedsky (in China) or Feedburner (outside China).

CPC brushes off border dispute in the media: At the Zhongnanhai blog, Paul summarizes the half century of acrimony between India and the PRC but predicts that China may be pursuing a more feel-good approach through the media in the near future:

For reasons that were unexplained, (discussion surrounding the border dispute in the state media was allowed before his arrival) the Foreign Ministry issued an edict for the media not to focus on the border dispute issue in reports during Dr. Singh's time here. The reason was obviously to try to keep the focus on the economic issues, and an attempt by the government to help soften ties with India. And while it does make for better political ties, I find the Chinese government's move a bit curious.

Internet censor's latest "working instructions": China Digital Times presents two lists of directions for handling content on online news portals and forums. Editors are warned to stay away from sensitive topics and are encouraged to use their influence to skew an online poll.

My enemies, my teachers: The Paris Review translates a speech by the poet Liao Yiwu, who was about to accept the Freedom to Write Award from the Independent Chinese PEN Center in Beijing for his long-form non-fiction when he was escorted back to Sichuan by the police. Liao reveals how his work has been influenced by the hardships he has endure in his life:

When I was nine, my mother was accused of being an escaped landowner and living in the city without a permit. Members of the public security bureau took her away one night for detention and interrogation. Since then, this special Chinese terminology, "Hei-ren-hei-hu" or "Person and a family without a residential permit" has been engraved forever on my mind, becoming my second teacher in life. Perhaps in order to cleanse my inward shame at this status, I have allowed myself to sink deeper into this muddy hole of disgrace and have become acquainted with other "persons without permits." Nowadays, scholars refer to us as "the silent majority."

The journal also presents an excerpt from The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China from the Bottom Up, a translation of some of Liao's "encounters with people on the margins of Chinese society." In the encounter published in the magazine, Liao talks to a man who proclaimed himself Emperor of three counties in Sichuan in 1985.

Regional president of Danone resigns: The Shanghai Daily reports:

The president of Danone Asia Pacific, Emmanuel Faber, one of the key persons in the French food and beverage maker's estranged dispute with Hangzhou Wahaha Group, has resigned his position in their Chinese ventures.

The move is widely considered by analysts as one in which the French food and dairy maker hopes will settle the row with its Chinese partner as soon as possible as the dispute has hurt sales and reputation of Danone.

Solving a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a cookie: The New York Times puts to rest the idea that fortune cookies originated from Chinese cuisine. Yasuko Nakamachi discovered references to the sweet in Japanese texts from the 19th Century, including one illustration from 1878:

The apprentice appears to be grilling wafers in black irons over coals, the same way they are made in Hogyokudo and other present-day bakeries. A sign above him reads "tsujiura senbei" and next to him are tubs filled with little round shapes — the tsujiura senbei themselves.

The book, story and illustration are all dated 1878. The families of Japanese or Chinese immigrants in California that claim to have invented or popularized fortune cookies all date the cookie’s appearance between 1907 and 1914.