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).

A cup of tea for dissidents: From Mure Dickie in The Financial Times:

China’s foreign minister on Thursday scornfully waved aside criticism of his country’s human rights record, suggesting local police would be more likely to give dissidents a cup of tea than to arrest them.

The comments by Yang Jiechi come amid what human rights groups have called a crackdown on ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August, including the recent detention of several high-profile social activists.

Lijiang's war on "white pollution": Do new regulations actually have a chance of eradicating plastic grocery bags? At China Dialogue, Xuedong Ke looks at Lijiang's five-year experience with a plastic bag ban:

on April 1, 2003, Gucheng district announced its ban on "production, sale and use of disposable, non-biodegradable polystyrene and plastic packaging." A small group was established to monitor the ban, and the first battle in Lijiang’s war on white pollution had begun. Soon environmental workers and volunteers were distributing leaflets about "white pollution". There were announcements on the local television station every hour.

The ban came into formal effect on July 1. At the time, Zhang was deputy head of group behind the huge political offensive, which saw posters put up across the city explaining the ban. "Using plastic bags is extremely convenient; it was an ingrained habit," he said. "Without pressure no one would change. So we had to get everybody involved, and make sure the message was spread into every single household."

One child policy to be amended?: From Mure Duckie of The Financial Times:

China is considering a gradual raising of its limits on the number of children a couple can have, according to a senior of the National Population and Family Planning Commission.

The comments by Zhao Baige, family planning vice-minister, highlight growing concern about the demographic implications of the strict and sometimes harshly enforced population control rules that are a cornerstone of Chinese social policy.