W W W. B J R E V I E W.C O VM O L . 6 5 N O . 3 2 A U G U S T 1 1 , 2 0 2 2 O P I N I O N: ECO N O M I C U P T U R N A H E A D P. 26 | F E AT U R E S : YO U T H K I CK S I T U P A N OTCH P. 3 0 RMB6 00 USD1 70 AUD3 00 GBP1 20 C AD2 60 CHF2 60 JPY 188 ON A TIGHTROPE
P l e a s e r e c y c l e B R E A K I N G N E W S » S C A N M E » U s i n g a Q R c o d e r e a d e r F o l l o w u s o wn w w . b j r e v i e w . c o m Cover Design: Cui Xiaodong M EDIA PA RTN ER ©202 2 Beijing Review, all rig hts reser ved. OPINION 22 What Is Socialism With Chinese Characteristics? Explaining China’s political theories and policies U.S. Xinjiang related act damages 26 Blip to Boost A rational range for economic growth 27 Bitter Fruits Trust in Western media is falling FEATURES 30 Kicking off the Game A new goal for youth soccer 34 No Respect, No Progress Cooperation is the key for human rights development 36 In-Depth Interaction China and Brazil take their trade relationship to the next level CONTENTS EDITOR’S DESK 02 Perseverance on the Pitch THIS WEEK COVER STORY 12 Provocative Visit Draws Condemnation Pelosi’s political stunt shows contempt for peace in the 16 Veni? Yes. Vidi? Yes. Vici? No One American politician and her disturbing Taiwan trip NEW ERA 18 Building a Strong Force For Peace Military development safeguards sovereignty 38 Port of Call Global youth have an ambitious conversation in Qingdao 40 Intelligent Agriculture How tech is transforming China’s farms 42 Breaking a ‘High’ Fever CULTURE 46 Hearth and Home Traditional tunes tell the story of overseas Chinese EXPAT’S EYE 48 Greeting Cards Pack a Punch Renewed wanderlust takes tourists to Xinjiang
The Chinese have always had a soft spot for football Team China did not qualify for this year’s World Cup, set to take place in Qatar this November, nor has debut in 2002 However, the sport draws as much public attention in China as in football powers such as France, Italy and Brazil T h e l a u n c h o f t h e C h i n a Y o u t h Football League (CYFL), a new event for primary school to college players, in July, is indicative of China’s eagerness both to make football a more popular f o r m o f p h y s i c a l e x e r c i s e f o r y o u n g students and to cultivate future stars that will help Team China excel in the inter national arena In 2015, China adopted a landmark reform plan aiming to overhaul its foot b a l l m a n a g e m e n t s y s t e m . T h e p l a n , which involves almost every aspect of the sport, calls for promoting its develop ment on school campuses Government departments, including the Ministry of Education, have since worked to spark greater interest among students and build the necessary infrastructure To date, more than 30,000 primary and middle schools across the country h a v e b e e n n a m e d s p e c i a l i s t f o o t b a l l schools The schools are required to offer at least one football class each week and encourage their students to participate in training and competitions Some 55 million youngsters play football on cam puses across the nation The CYFL plan was jointly devised by the Ministry of Education, the General Administration of Sport of China and the Chinese Football Association It is de signed as a youth league with the widest coverage, the largest number of partici pants and the greatest social influence i n C h i n a N o t a b l y , t e a m s f r o m s p o r t s s c h o o l s , r e g u l a r s c h o o l s a n d f o o t b a l l clubs compete on a level playing field, an illustration of the idea that sports and academic education should be integrated to help students develop in well rounded manner. Hopes are high that the CYFL will become a window through which more young people embrace and appreciate football, as well as an incubator of out standing players BR
2 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com A News Weekly Magazine Published Since 1958 EDITOR’S DESK CHINA RMB6 00 U S A USD1 70 AUSTRALIA AUD3 00 UK GBP1 20 CANADA CAD2 60 SWITZERLAND CHF2 60 JAPAN JPY188 EUROPE EUR1 90 TURKEY YTL5 00 HK HKD9 30 NEPAL RS40 WRITE TO US Please provide your name and address along with your submissions Submissions may be edited Send an e mail: editorsoffice@cicgamericas com
Perseverance on the Pitch
President: Li Yafang Editor in Chief: Li Jianguo Associate President: Yan Ying Associate Editor in Chief: Liu Yunyun Executive Editor: Yan Wei Associate Executive Editor: Ding Ying Production Director: Yao Bin Editor: Wang Hairong Researcher: Lan Xinzhen Editorial Consultants: Elsbeth van Paridon, G P Wilson Reporters: Ji Jing Li Qing Li Xiaoyang Liang Xiao Lu Yan Ma Miaomiao Pan Xiaoqiao Tang Yuankai Tao Xing Tao Zihui Wang Jun, Yuan Yuan, Zhang Shasha Visual Director: Pamela Tobey Photo Editor: Wang Xiang Photographer: Wei Yao Art: Li Shigong Design Director: Wang Yajuan Chief Designer: Cui Xiaodong Designer: Zhao Boyu Proofreader: Ma X n Editorial Administrator: Zeng Wenhui Planning Director: Xu Bei Deputy Planning Director: Li Nan World News Deputy Director: Li Fangfang Director of Digital Media: Yu Shujun Director of Strategic Research: Zan Jifang Administration: Lu Ling International Cooperation: Sun Xuan Legal Counsel: Yue Cheng North America Bureau (New York City) Chief: Yu Shujun Executive Assistant: Zhao Wei Tel/Fax: 1 201 792 0334 E mail: yushujun@cicgamericas com Latin America Bureau (Mexico City) Chief: Lin Yeqing Tel: 52 55 55127271 Fax: 52 55 55332027 E mail: chinahoymx@gmail com Chief: Meng Kexin Tel: 0051 959212702 E mail: revistachinaperu@gmail com Tel: 86 10 68996252 Fax: 86 10 68326628 Editorial Desk Tel: 86 10 68996250 Partnerships Tel: 86 10 68995807 E mail: yecong@cicgamericas com Distribution Tel: 86 10 68310644 E mail: c rculation@cicgamericas com Published every Thursday by CICG Center for Americas 24 Baiwanzhuang Lu, Beijing 100037 China Overseas Distributor: China International Book Trading Corporat on (Guoji Shudian) P O BOX 399 Beijing 100044 China Tel: 86 10 68413849 1 416 497 8096 (Canada) Fax: 86 10 68412166 E mail: fp@mail cibtc com cn Website: http://www cibtc com General Distributor for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: Peace Book Co Ltd 17/F , Paramount Bldg 12 Ka Yip St, Chai Wan, HK Tel: 852 28046687 Fax: 852 28046409 Beijing Review (ISSN 1000 9140 USPS 2812) is distributed weekly in the United States for US$64 00 per year by Cypress Books 360 Swift Avenue, Suite 48, South San Francisco, CA 94080 News Postage Paid at South San Francisco CA 94080
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AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 3http://www bjreview com THIS WEEK X N H U A DIVING RIGHT IN Tourists transplant corals on the seabed in Lingshui Li Autonomous County in Hainan Province on August 3 A diving festival recently kicked off in the county, attracting tourists to experience diving and coral transplantation.
X I N H U A
Road Chiefs China has established an exten sive network of road chiefs across the country to manage roads in rural areas, Xinhua News Agency reported on August 2. By the end of June, the country had 641,000 of these chiefs, i e , people in counties, townships and villages who are in charge of the maintenance and management of local rural roads, according to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) The road chief scheme covers 95.2 percent of county level governments tasked with man aging rural roads. China has also introduced similar programs, such as river chiefs, to strengthen policy implementation.
A new energy vehicle components factory goes into operation in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, on August 2.
The city has introduced integrated circuit and biomedicine industries in recent years to inject new impetus into its development
The Capital Museum in Beijing has started a worldwide solicita tion of cultural relics to present traditional Chinese culture, Xinhua reported on July 31
Soliciting Cultural Relics
4 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com THIS WEEK SOCIETY
National Archives
Rural infrastructure develop ment, especially building roads, has played an important role in revitalizing rural areas MOT data showed that the combined length of rural roads had increased more than 900,000 km from 2011 to ex ceed 4.46 million km by the end of 2021.
New Growth Drivers
The museum is looking for exhibits including relics of the Grand Canal, a vast waterway connecting the northern and southern parts of China with a history of about 2,500 years, as well as relics related to the capital and its development, said Feng Hao, head of the collec tion department of the Capital Museum Feng added that a wide range of exhibits, including cultural relics, physical evidence, specimens, publications and replicas, will take center stage “To encourage donations, the Capital Museum has further improved donors’ rights and interests. Donors [including individuals and institutions] will themed exhibitions and one digital exhibition These will display collections showcasing social development achieve ments and cultural research projects in Zhejiang, as well as the stories and thoughts of the province’s prominent historical
The China National Archives of Publications and Culture branch in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, is open to visitors from August 1. The Hangzhou branch is dedicated to chinoiserie and China’s traditional culture It is adjacent to the ruins of Liangzhu Ancient City, a UNESCO World Heritage site Its venue integrates a library, museum, art gallery, archives and exhibition, the core functions of which are collection, exhibi tion, research and education. The branch features four on August 3. In 2021, Guizhou’s gross domestic product neared 2 trillion yuan ($295 billion), and the per capita disposable incomes of urban and rural residents in the province were 2.1 times and 2.7 times those in 2012, respectively Over the past 10 years, 9.23 million impoverished residents in Guizhou shook off poverty and achievements have been made in infrastructure development. The digital economy also gained momentum in the prov ince, with a focus on building the national big data comprehensive pilot zone and the digital economy development innova tion zone. Guizhou is also committed to prioritizing ecology and green development and its forest cov erage rate exceeds 62 percent.
The China National Archives of Publications and Culture, headquartered in Beijing, opened on July 30 It has three branches, respectively in the cities of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou in Guangdong Province. Guizhou’s Progress Guizhou Province has made development and poverty al leviation over the past decade, the provincial capital of Guiyang
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 5http://www bjreview com THIS WEEK permanent records, and many other honors and rights,” Feng said. Qi Miyun, Deputy Curator of the museum, said the museum is building its branch in Beijing’s Tongzhou District. The project is expected to complete by the end of 2022, and exhibitions will open to the public in 2023
A campaign combating illegal wildlife trade investigated nearly 12,000 wildlife cases and seized more than 130,000 animals and plants from February 15 to May 15, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said on August 2
In Season
The campaign, which was launched by the administration and 10 other authorities, busted 719 criminal gangs and dealt with more than 14,000 criminals during the period
Wildlife Trade Crackdown
Vegetation Coverage China is becoming greener, with a steady increase in its vegetation coverage from 2000 to 2021, ac released on August 3.
The village has been developing raspberry growing since 2017 to increase farmer incomes. illegal wildlife trade, the adminis tration said. China will launch a national campaign to better mobilize the science and technology sector to contribute to the country’s rural revitalization drive, according to a new set of guidelines, Xinhua reported on August 2
X I N H U A
Tourists read at a bookstore in Da’nanpo Village in Jiaozuo, Henan Province, on July 30. The village once thrived on coal industry. In recent years, its old buildings have been transformed into bookstores, tea houses, exhibition centers and homestays, lifting the living environment of villagers and attracting tourists.
Jointly issued by the China Association for Science and Technology and the National Rural Revitalization Administration, the guidelines specify a series of key tasks, including providing sci tech training, lectures and industry Sci tech associations at all levels are called on to lead grass roots sci tech workers to join in the work of rural revitalization. The guidelines also require the relevant authorities to incorporate the construction of science popularization facilities into the overall layout of rural infrastructure and build more sci tech museums in rural secondary schools.
X I N H U A
During this period, China’s normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), a key indicator of green coverage, reported a steady increase, stated the Blue Book on Climate Change in China (2022) issued by the China Meteorological Administration Compared with the average level from 2001 to 2020, the NDVI rose 7.9 percent in 2021, marking the best performance of vegetation coverage since 2000, according to the report It noted that the average an nual precipitation in China also showed an increasing trend. From 1961 to 2021, the aver age annual precipitation in China registered an average increase of 5.5 mm every 10 years.
The campaign also con ($8.3 million) of illegal gains worth more than 100 million yuan ($15.6 million). Next, China will further improve its law enforcement mechanism and continue to carry out publicity and education activities to help crack down on
A worker showcases newly picked raspberries in Changqing, a village in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on August 2
Coal to Culture
6 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com6 REVIEW
Efforts will be made to promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial struc tures, curb the development of low-level projects with high energy consumption and high emissions, and develop green and low carbon industries, the plan noted By 2030, the proportion of vehicles powered by new energy and clean energy will reach about 40 percent of total new vehicles, and the carbon dioxide emission intensity of passenger cars and commercial vehicles will decrease 25 percent and 20 percent, respectively, compared with 2020. Digital technologies will be further leveraged to empower the green and low carbon trans formation of the industrial sector, with a faster pace in the applica tion and promotion of digital low carbon solutions. Foreign funded companies in China remain upbeat about the country’s development pros pects and market potential, with the vast majority maintaining or expanding their business scale in the second quarter, according to a recent survey. About 72 5 percent of the 500 plus surveyed enterprises maintained their business scale in the second quarter of the year, up 1 5 percentage points over the survey result in the JanuaryMarch period, according to the report released by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Some 18.5 percent saw busi ness expansion in China, marking an increase of 2 1 percentage
Trains
The number of China Europe freight train trips surged 11 percent year on year to a record 1,517 in July, according to China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. on August 2. The trains handled 149,000 twenty foot equivalent units of goods, up 12 percent from a year ago. of the year, the number of China Europe freight train trips rose 3 percent year on year to 8,990. The trains transported a total of 869,000 twenty foot equivalent units of goods, an increase of 4 percent from a year ago. Foreign multinational groups companies directly or through foreign funded investment companies established in China, according to a draft document released by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on July 29 In the draft, the same market access conditions are applied companies and their Chinese counterparts The document, which is now open to the public for feedback, has made provision updates requirements and business regulation. has been raised in line with China’s economic status, with paid in capital requirements for candidate corporate groups, it said.
Transition Goals By 2025, the energy consump tion per unit of the added value of industrial enterprises with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan ($2.96 million) will decrease 13.5 percent compared with 2020, according to a plan released by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Ecology and Environment on August 1
THIS WEEK ECONOMY NUMBERS ($1=6.75 yuan as of August 4) JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL 2021 2022 52 5 China’s Comprehensive Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 51.7 50 8 51 0 48 8 48.4 54 1 52 52 2.4 48.9 52 2 51 2 Over 50 = Expansion Under 50 = Contraction 42.7
The Second China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) concluded in Haikou, capital of Hainan Province, on July 30. Exhibitors from 61 countries and regions attended the six day expo. Some 2,800 brands from 1,955 enterprises, both domestic and international, participated in the exhibitions The event released over 600 new products. Shows featuring over 200 yachts of 50 well known brands were also held alongside the expo, according to the organizer. Thirty one companies from the sectors of fashion, travel services, and jewelry, to name a few, have signed up for the Third CICPE Green Loans
THIS WEEK points over the result of the previ ous survey. It also showed 11 2 percent reported increased investment in the world’s second largest economy in the April June period Over 40 percent of the surveyed companies said they would choose Chengdu and Chongqing in southwest China as the main destinations for investment, the report showed.
Total trading value also hit a historical high of 581.2 trillion yuan ($86 trillion) in 2021 cables in China reached 57.9 million km at the end of June, an increase of 3 03 million km from the end of 2021, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed. The number of mobile phone base stations stood at 10.35 million, up 390,000 from the end of last year. The country had 1 03 billion units of Internet broadband access ports as of late June, up 16.85 million units from late 2021 China’s
http://www.bjreview.com (Source: National Bureau of Statistics) JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL 2021 2022 JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL 2021 2022 50.1 China’s Manufacturing PMI
New Legislation
China’s green loans maintained fast expansion from the end of June 2021 to the end of June 2022 as the country steps up green growth efforts, a central bank report showed on July 29. Outstanding green loans in yuan and foreign currencies reached 19.55 trillion yuan ($2.9 trillion) by the end of June, jumping 40.4 percent from the previous year, according to the People’s Bank of China. A green loan refers to a form areas such as energy conserva tion and clean energy that make contributions to environmental protection and improvement. projects with direct or indirect at 8 trillion yuan ($1 25 trillion) and 4 93 trillion yuan ($771 billion), respectively. Together, they accounted for 66.2 percent of the total green loans, the report showed country saw its outstanding green loans increase by 3 53 trillion yuan ($552 billion) China has advanced rapidly system and markets, as part of efforts to achieve its carbon peaking and neutrality goals.
Non-Manufacturing PMI 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 49.6 49.2 50 3 50.1 50.2 49 5 47 4 49.6 50.2 549.0 0 4 50.1 53 2 52.4 52 7 51 1 51 6 48 4 41 9 47 8 54 7 53 58 3 3 47 5 52 3
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 7http://www bjreview com REVIEW 7
China’s law on futures and de rivatives took effect on August 1 in the country since futures and derivatives trading commenced about three decades ago, was approved at a session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in April It is expected to help build a more regulated and open capital market and serve the sustained development of the real economy According to the China Futures Association, the country’s futures trading volume topped a record 7 5 billion lots last year
The 10th Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference opens at the UN headquarters in New York City on August 1. The event, originally scheduled for April May 2020, had to be postponed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Until then, NPT review conferences had taken place
X N H U A X I N H U A X I N H U A
8 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com THIS WEEK WORLD
ALBANIA Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (right) and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez attend a joint press conference in Tirana on August 1. Sanchez said Spain is ready to support Albania’s integration into the EU
UNITED NATIONS
ASEAN Attendees of the 55th ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting pose for a group photo in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on August 3. The meeting and related events focused on post pandemic recovery and key regional and global challenges
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 9http://www bjreview com THIS WEEK EGYPT An aircraft performs aerobatics during the Pyramids Air Show 2022 at the Giza Pyramids scenic spot on August 3 UNITED STATES in Central Appalachia in Kentucky on July 30 The disaster claimed at least 25 lives in east Kentucky, including four children from one family X I N H U A X I N H U A X I N H U A
KENYA A worker packs up fresh avocados at a factory in Limuru Town, Kiambu County, batch of avocados grown in Kenya was sent off to the Chinese African country to export the fresh produce to China
Born in Siping, Jilin Province, in 1963, Gao graduated from the Beijing Sport University at the age of 25. He has spent his career at the GASC, including heading the department in charge of the country’s shooting and archery disciplines In 2016, he became the GASC’s deputy director, and served in that capacity right up to his recent promotion As deputy director, Gao was responsible for competition affairs, interna tional cooperation and the daily undertakings of the Chinese Olympic Committee Gao has also overseen the country’s winter sports development.
Gao Zhidan has been promoted to head the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC).
POINTS
PEOPLE
Moving Forward in Stable Steps China Newsweek July 25 Bucking the trend, the Chinese economy has registered positive growth despite the pressures of shrinking demand, shocks to supply and de clining expectations In the second quarter, its NEW SPORT ADMINISTRATOR
Geng Shuang &
China grabbed nine gold medals and 15 overall at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, both record highs for a single Olympic Winter event
The Business of Homestay Guangming Daily August 1 In recent years, excursions, particularly coun tryside visits, have become the first choice for city dwellers looking for relaxation. During holidays, homestay bookings tend to skyrocket. Homestays have become a key feature of countryside tourism, contributing greatly to villagers’ incomes. In some areas, villages have developed ways of operating such businesses based on local natural and cultural resources and be coming known for their specialties. In other places, however, the further development of this industry is plagued by problems like lim ited scope to grow, a lack of local attractions, poor quality and underdeveloped supportive facilities On the whole, country homestays have a broad market and are now in a prime period of growth Rapid and healthy development requires guidance from the government and market oriented adjustments As part of local economies, homestay businesses may not be sustainable without the revitalization of the rural areas in which they operate. It’s important to incorporate their growth into the overall planning of rural development. In return, booming businesses will lift rural economies to higher levels.
10 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com THIS WEEK António Guterres Conference on August 1 “We must not let the Ukraine crisis kick off a new
Currently, policies to give businesses a little nudge focus on fee cuts and tax rebates However, some small and micro enterprises feel they have benefited little, and therefore supportive policies must be more accurately crafted and effectively implemented Classes Guangzhou Daily July 27 B y t a p p i n g i n t o p u b l i c w e l f a r e f u n d s raised from lotteries, Jiangsu Province in east China has allocated 13 million yuan ( $ 1 . 9 2 m i l l i o n ) t o r u n s u m m e r c l a s s e s .
Specifically, infrastructure investment part of fixed assets investment is performing well, countering the downward pressures on the economy China is embracing another strong cycle of infrastructure investment, and employment is also improving. As more pro growth policies take effect, an increasing number of job opportunities will be created in the coming months
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 11http://www bjreview com
These classes are designed to look after children whose parents are unable to take care of them in the daytime during the summer vacation, mainly those of working ing from this service. These summer classes have helped re lieve working parents of a pressing concern: Children left alone may be exposed to danger
THIS WEEK
“No child should be born with or Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus AIDS Conference on August 1 “The most miserable life is not being Zhang Junli GDP rose by 0 4 percent over the same period of last year, and the rate for the first half of this year is 2 5 percent The economy has stabilized and begun to bounce back, suggesting that re cent policies for this purpose are working well, as they have coordinated the need to respond to possible COVID 19 resurgences and overall social and economic development. Despite this upbeat momentum, a lot re mains to be done in the second half of this year to bring the Chinese economy back on track
CELEBRATED PHYSICIST DIES AGED 101
Accidents can only be avoided by the provi sion of proper supervision Now, when they have places to study and play during the long holiday, their safety is ensured and they are also given quality lessons This project will do them a lot of good during their childhood and perhaps even have a long term impact on their life.
Zhang Xingqian, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed away at the age of 101 in Beijing on July 29 Zhang dedicated his career to the development of nuclear materials and explosion phys ics, and played an important role in securing valuable experimental data for nuclear device design and production. Born in Wuyi, Hebei Province, Zhang graduated from Wuhan University in 1942 and received his Ph.D. in physical metallurgy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U S , in 1952 In 1955, Zhang returned to China and served as a professor of metal physics at a college now known as the University of Science and Technology Beijing Later, he worked as an engineer at several research institutes and government departments He was a recipient of the National Science Prize and the National Award for Science and Technology Progress
A submarine detachment of the Chinese Navy in the Eastern Theater Command June
In response, the Chinese Government has unveiled a series of countermeasures. These include staging military drills near Taiwan, punishing organizations related to die hard “Taiwan independence” elements, suspending the sale of natural sand, a vital construction material, to Taiwan, as well as suspending the purchase of some farm produce from the island.
12 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com
PROVOCATIVE VISIT DRAWS CONDEMNATION
21, 2021 COVER STORY X I N H U A
In disregard of China’s opposition, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, went to China’s Taiwan region on August 2 3. The move was a serious infringement upon China’s sovereignty and it sent a wrong signal to the separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence.”
on
The introduction of the Taiwan question into the regional strategy by the United States, which inflates tensions and stokes confrontation, is against the trend of regional development and goes against the expectations of
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 13http://www bjreview com Wang Yi S t a t e C o u n c i l o r a n d F o r e i g n Minister Pelosi’s visit seriously violated the one China principle, maliciously infringed on China’s sovereignty and blatantly engaged in political provocations, which has aroused strong indigna tion among the Chinese people and widespread opposition from the inter national community. It proves once again that some U S politicians have become troublemakers in China U S relations, and that the United States has become the biggest destroyer of peace across the Taiwan Straits and of regional stability.
The U S side claimed there was a precedent of the U.S. House speaker visiting Taiwan. Yet the basic truth is past mistakes cannot be used as an excuse to repeat them today.
T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s s h o u l d n o t dream of obstructing China’s reunifi cation Taiwan is a part of China The trend of the times and an inevitability of history. We will leave no room for “Taiwan independence” forces and external interference. No matter how the United States supports or connives at the “Taiwan independence” forces, it will be all in vain The United States will only leave more ugly records of gross meddling in other countries’ internal affairs in his tory. The Taiwan question arose when the country was weak and chaotic, and will surely end with national rejuvena tion
the Chinese people have the guts not to be misled by fallacies or scared by evils, the ambition to never be intimi dated or crushed, the determination to unite as one and the ability to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and na tional dignity Ministry of Foreign Affairs
T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s s h o u l d n o t fantasize about undermining China’s development and revitalization. China has found a correct development path in line with its own national conditions. Under the leadership of the Communist P a r t y o f C h i n a ( C P C ) , 1 . 4 b i l l i o n Chinese people are striding toward Chinese style modernization. We develop our country and nation on the basis of our own strength, and are willing to coexist peacefully and develop together with other countries. But we will never allow any country to undermine China’s stability and devel opment
Provoking trouble on the Taiwan question in an at tempt to delay China’s development and undermine China’s peaceful rise will be totally futile and will surely lead to total failure.
The United States should not fantasize about distort ing facts at will The U S side claimed China is escalating the situation, but the basic facts are that the United States violated China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The U S side claimed it cannot restrain the Congress due to the separation of powers. But the basic norm of international obligations, and key politicians should not misbehave It also claimed that China’s pursuit of reunification is a “threat” to Taiwan, but the basic logic is that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory and the Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China It is lawful and justified that China upholds territorial integrity and opposes secession I want to stress that the one China principle is the key stabilizing force for peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, and the three China U S joint communiqués (the 1972 Shanghai Communiqué, the 1979 Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and the 1982 Communiqué) are the real guardrails for peaceful coexis tence between China and the United States Clinging to the United States to seek “independence” is a dead end, and attempts to use the Taiwan question to contain China are doomed to failure.
What the United States should do is immediately stop violating the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and stop playing the “Taiwan card” to disrupt the Asia
There is but one China in the world, T a i w a n i s a n i n a l i e n a b l e p a r t o f China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government represent ing the whole of China. This has been c l e a r l y r e c o g n i z e d b y t h e U n i t e d Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971 Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one China principle The one China principle is a universal con sensus of the international community and a basic norm in international rela tions I n 1 9 7 9 , t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s m a d e a c l e a r c o m m i t m e n t i n t h e China U S Joint Communiqué on t h e E s t a b l i s h m e n t o f D i p l o m a t i c Relations “The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, lations with the people of Taiwan.” Congress, as a part of the U S Government, is inherently obliged to strictly observe the one China policy of the U.S. Government and refrain from having any official exchanges with China’s Taiwan region. China i s a l l a l o n g o p p o s e d t o t h e v i s i t t o T a i w a n b y U . S . c o n g r e s s i o n a l m e m b e r s , a n d t h e U S e x e c u t i v e branch has the responsibility to stop s u c h v i s i t s S i n c e S p e a k e r P e l o s i is the incumbent leader of the U S Congress, her visit to and activities
The one China principle has become a basic norm governing international relations and an integral part of the post World War II international order
The United States should not fantasize about ma nipulating geopolitical games Seeking peace, stability, development and win win cooperation is the common aspiration of regional countries
The Taiwan question is the most important and most sensitive issue at the very heart of China U S relations The Taiwan Straits are facing a new round of tensions and severe challeng es, and the fundamental cause is the repeated moves by the Taiwan authori ties and the United States to change the status quo T h e T a i w a n a u t h o r i t i e s h a v e kept seeking U S support for their “independence agenda.” They refuse t o r e c o g n i z e t h e 1 9 9 2 C o n s e n s u s (the consensus reached in 1992 by the mainland based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Taiwan based Straits Exchange Foundation; they agreed to state that “the two sides of the Taiwan Straits b o t h s t i c k t o t h e o n e C h i n a p r i n ciple”), go all out to push forward “de sinicization,” and promote “incremental independence ”
X N H U A
National People’s Congress Standing Committee
August 4
dling on Taiwan and interfering in China’s internal affairs It should stop supporting and conniving at “Taiwan independence” separatist forces in any form. It should stop its acts of saying one thing but doing the opposite on the Taiwan question. It should stop distorting, obscuring and hollowing out the one China principle. It must take credible actions to observe strictly the one China principle and the provisions of the three China U S joint com muniqués, deliver on the “five noes” commitment made by the U S leader ship (not seeking a new cold war; not seeking to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not against China; not supporting “Taiwan with China), and not go further down the wrong and dangerous path.
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The Taiwan question bears on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity For China, there is zero room for com promise and not an inch to give. The Anti Secession Law has made clear stipulations on major issues including upholding the one China principle, deterring separatist moves toward “Taiwan independence” and opposing interference in the Taiwan question by external forces The stance of the Chinese Government and the Chinese people on the Taiwan question has been consistent. It is the firm will of over 1 4 billion Chinese people to resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity Any attempt to obstruct China’s com plete reunification and great national rejuvenation is doomed to fail.
Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee The separatist attempt seeking “Taiwan independence” is the biggest obstacle and poses a serious potential danger i n T a i w a n , i n w h a t e v e r f o r m a n d f o r w h a t e v e r r e a s o n , a r e a m a j o r political provocation to upgrade U S o f f i c i a l e x c h a n g e s w i t h T a i w a n . C h i n a a b s o l u t e l y d o e s n o t a c c e p t this, and the Chinese people abso lutely reject this
The position of the Chinese Government and people commitment of the more than 1 4 billion Chinese people to resolutely safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity It is the common aspiration and sacred respon sibility of all Chinese sons and daughters to realize the not be reversed. No country, no forces and no individual great capability of the Chinese Government and people to defend state sovereignty and territorial integrity and to guard its sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the U S House speaker’s visit All the consequences arising therefrom must be borne by the U.S. side and the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces China and the United States are two major countries.
The right way for them to deal with each other lies only in mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, no confrontation and win win cooperation The Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China, and no other country is entitled to act as a judge on the Taiwan question China strongly urges the United States to stop playing the “Taiwan card” and using Taiwan to contain China It should stop med in the Taiwan Straits on
The United States, for its part, has been attempting to use Taiwan to contain China It constantly distorts, obscures and hollows with Taiwan, and emboldens “Taiwan independence” perish by it
Ministry of National Defense T a i w a n ’ s D P P a u t h o r i t i e s h a v e s o l i c i t e d f o r e i g n s u p p o r t , c o l luded with external forces to stir up t r o u b l e a n d b e e n b e n t o n i n v i t i n g Pelosi to visit Taiwan Such acts are very dangerous and will inevitably lead to serious consequences The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is on high alert and will undertake a series of targeted military operations in response to resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and resolutely thwart the interference by external forces and s e p a r a t i s t s c h e m e s f o r “ T a i w a n independence ” BR Copyedited by G P Wilson Comments to yanwei@cicgamericas com to China’s national rejuvenation The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have entrenched themselves in the erroneous position of “Taiwan independence,” served as a tool for anti China forces in the United States to contain China, and become even more utterly brazen in the provocative attempt to seek “independence.” This is a total misjudgment and miscalcula tion of the situation. Out of selfish motives, the DPP authorities have been headstrong in challenging the one China principle, re fused to recognize the 1992 Consensus, ignited cross Straits confrontation, and clung to U.S. support to seek “indepen dence ” The DPP authorities’ separatist actions and collusion with the United States, which betrays China’s national interests, will only plunge Taiwan into the abyss of disaster, and bring great suffering to Taiwan compatriots. The reunification of the moth erland and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation have become a his torical inevitability China must be and will surely be reunified This will not change regardless of the will of some die hard anti China forces from the U S side or the illusion of separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence ” The time and tide motherland have always been held firmly in our hands. The fact that Taiwan is part of China will not be changed no matter what actions are t a k e n b y t h e a n t i C h i n a f o r c e s i n the United States and by the DPP authorities The historical process of China’s reunification will not be stopped no matter how Pelosi and her likes attempt to “contain China by supporting Taiwan ” We urge the U.S. side to stay clear eyed about the historical ins and outs of the Taiwan question, recognize the fact and the status quo that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one and the same China, strictly abide by the one China principle with concrete actions, implement the three China U S joint communiqués, and refrain from sliding further down the wrong path We urge the DPP authorities to completely give up the separatist schemes seeking “Taiwan independence,” and stop going further down on the doomed path of “Taiwan independence” to the point of no return Any activity seeking “Taiwan independence” will be smashed by the Chinese people Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee Regarding the Taiwan question, the current U.S. admin istration has on multiple occasions made the commitment to adhere to the one China policy and not support “Taiwan independence ” However, some recent remarks and actions from the U S side are in stark contrast to said commitment. We urge the U.S. side to honor its words, region, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, stop sending any wrong signal to “Taiwan independence” “The policy of the United Nations on this issue is that we are guided by the General Assembly Resolution 2758 from 1971 on [the] one China [principle].”
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary General António Guterres
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 15http://www bjreview com separatist forces, and not to go further down this dangerous path.
Zhang Ming, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organizationports China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity… Pakistan strongly believes that interstate relations should be based on mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs, and a peaceful resolution of issues by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, international law and bilateral agreements.”
Foreign Ministry of Pakistan China’s domestic affair. The Chinese side is entitled to take any measures neces sary to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Foreign Ministry of Russia International Response
“The Shanghai Cooperation Organization adheres to the one-China principle, nal force, supports all member states in safeguarding national unity and defending their own sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will continue to promote fur ther cooperation among member states in this regard to ensure peace, security and stability in the region.”
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Next, consider that the White House fum bled the message about her visit On August 1, the White House offered a strong signal of Pelosi’s plans when it said that President Joe Biden would not prevent her from going where she wished. According to CNN, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, referencing the White House, said, “We do not know what Speaker Pelosi intends to do ” Baloney. The U.S. military paid close attention to any Chinese military movement in the Taiwan Straits in response to Pelosi being in Asia. In addition, when one rec ognizes that the spokesperson for the National Security Council asked China not to twist a “visit consistent with longstanding U S policies into some sort of crisis,” there is every reason to believe that Pelosi care fully, albeit quietly, coordinated her plans for a visit to Taiwan with the White House. Any other conclusion common sense. There remains no legitimate reason for Pelosi to visit Taiwan, no matter how much she trip Her most obvious purpose for going: to irritate Beijing. Pelosi’s a n t i C h i n a s e n t i m e n t s a r e w e l l k n o w n t h r o u g h o u t A s i a a n d t h e West; now, there is nothing more she can do to validate her disdain for Beijing What we do not yet know is how badly she has dam aged Sino American relations This cannot be ignored, especially real izing her visit came mere days after the presidents of both nations spoke via video conference Her visit will be seen as con sistent with Biden’s foreign policy aims, which include demanding that China keep its hands off Taiwan But lost in such rhetorical niceties is the reality that Taiwan is part of China The U S often publicly states it has no interest in undercutting the one China policy it has supported for well over 40 years, but it also supports numerous current and former political officials talking up Taiwan There is a healthy irony when the National Security Council can demand China not create a “crisis” when in fact the U S set the stage for one. I n t h e d a y s t o c o m e , w e w i l l s e e h o w
American audiences react to Pelosi’s poor attempt at diplomacy and whether they rally around her and the president. We know Biden is in trouble in the polls His favorability rating continues to hover near 40 percent, a danger ously low figure with the midterm elections less than 100 days away. Americans remain The Federal Reserve recently announced two large interest rate increases, hoping to tamp Americans are also aware that COVID 19 v a r i a n t s c o n t i n u e t o s i c k e n p e o p l e . I n a d dition, three of America’s largest states by p o p u l a t i o n C a l i f o r n i a , I l l i n o i s a n d N e w York have declared states of emergency as monkeypox cases surge. One public health cri sis lingers and another might soon explode Instead of focusing on domestic problems, Pelosi wasted hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars on a trip to Singapore, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea and Japan And, yes, China’s Taiwan
The Latin phrase veni, vidi, vici can be translated into English as I came, I saw, I conquered Speaker of the U S House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has come and she has seen, but she most defi nitely will not conquer China’s Taiwan. Any claim to victory she will make about visiting t h e i s l a n d i s e m p t y S o m e t h i n g s o t i g h t l y wrapped in symbolism must lack substance As we dissect the different elements along her trip, curiosity abounds. Consider first that she arrived late in the evening, and then remember that legitimate dignitaries do not do that: A daylight arrival, allowing for significant pomp and circum stance and plenty of encomium, is the norm there were no bands, no smiling children, and no words such as “I am so excited to be here” spoken In the coming days, there will likely be an answer as to why this abnormal arrival plan was selected Perhaps the often used, yet du bious, “safety” theme will be employed Or effort was made to not antagonize China The sarcasm attached to any such suggestion would have to be noted.
VENI? YES. VIDI? YES. VICI? NO
The author is an associate professor with the School of Informatics, Humanities and Social Sciences at Robert Morris University in the U.S. Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon Comments to yanwei@cicgamericas com
Something so tightly wrapped in symbolism must lack substance COVER STORY
By Anthony Moretti
The governments and peoples of the coun tries in the region are not likely to be fooled by her smiling optimism BR
By Wang Hairong Committee, Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), has emphasized the country’s need to build a strong military on numerous occasions “We must accelerate the mod ernization of national defense and the armed forces A strong country must have a strong military, as only then can it guarantee the security of the nation,” Xi said at the ceremony marking the CPC’s centenary on July 1, 2021. in important Party documents. The R e s o l u t i o n o f t h e C P C C e n t r a l
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) celebrated the 95th anniversary of its founding on August 1 The people’s a r m e d f o r c e s f o u n d e d b y t h e C o m m u n i s t Party of China (CPC) have made indelible achievements in realizing national indepen d e n c e , l i b e r a t i n g t h e C h i n e s e p e o p l e , a n d making the country prosperous and strong, M i n i s t e r o f N a t i o n a l D e f e n s e W e i F e n g h e said at a celebratory reception in Beijing on July 31. Wei called for the thorough implementation of Xi Jinping’s thought on strengthening the military and speeding up the modernization of national defense and the armed forces. Xi, General Secretary of the CPC Central
Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party Over the Past Century, adopted in November 2021, states the Party’s goal of building a strong military in the new era is to build the people’s forces into a world class military that obeys the Party’s com conduct Militar y revamp China’s armed forces are composed of the PLA, the People’s Armed Police Force and the militia. China pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, and follows the principle of never seeking hegemony, ex A three step development strategy for mod ernizing national defense and the armed forces has been mapped out in the resolution, which is to achieve the centenary objectives of the PLA by 2027, complete the modernization of national defense and the armed forces by 2035, and trans form the armed forces into world class forces by the mid 21st century To achieve these goals, a number of reform measures have been taken since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. Xi has led the most extensive and profound reform of national de fense and the military since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Wu Qian, a spokes person for the Ministry of National Defense (MND), said at a press conference on July 28 The armed forces have pushed forward p o l i t i c a l w o r k , d e e p e n e d m i l i t a r y r e f o r m s , applied more advanced science and technol ogy, given greater play to the role of talented people, run the armed forces in accordance with the law, strengthened troop training, and X N H U A
18 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com NEW ERA NATIONAL DEFENSE
Building a Strong Force for Peace Drive to modernize China’s national defense and armed forces shows results
N
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 19http://www bjreview com NEW ERA
The PLA has abolished the long established systems of general departments and military area commands, and set up new systems following the principle of “the CMC exercising overall leader ship, the theater commands being responsible for military operations, and the services focusing on developing capabilities ”
X H U A enhanced combat readiness, according to Wu A conference on military political work took place in Gutian, a famous old revolutionary base cal loyalty and Party leadership He also warned that the PLA risked degradation and deviation if some outstanding problems were not tackled right away. In the past decade, some high ranking mili for grave violations of Party discipline and state laws. Political and disciplinary inspections as well Meanwhile, the PLA has constantly im proved its combat capability The chains of command are more streamlined, and the respon sibilities are more properly delegated, according to China’s National Defense in the New Era, a white paper published in July 2019
The four general departments were replaced with 15 functional departments under the CMC A new CMC Services Troops leadership and management system has been formulated Previously, the PLA consisted of the army, navy, air force and the Second Artillery Force (SAF) After the reform, the SAF was renamed the PLA Rocket Force, the PLA Strategic Support Force was established by combining strategic support forces across the services and CMC organs, and the PLA Joint Logistics Support Force was set up mainly for general purpose support
A CMC Theater Commands Troops opera tions command system has also been put into place, with the former seven military area com charge of defense of the eastern, southern, west ern, northern and central regions of the country By improving the joint operations command organ of the CMC and setting up those at the theater level, the PLA has established a lean and efficient joint operations command system for both peacetime and wartime operations Moreover, the scale and structure of the military forces have been adjusted. In September 2015, Xi announced a cut of 300,000 personnel which would downsize the total active force to 2 million According to the 2019 defense white paper, the number of person nel in leading organs at and above regiment level was cut by about 25 percent and that of non combat units by almost 50 percent The PLA army was significantly downsized; the air force maintained its scale; the size of the navy and rocket force was moderately increased; and new types of combat forces have been formed to conduct amphibious, far sea and other special operations, thus optimiz ing the force structures of all services and arms The PLA has strived to transform from being personnel intensive to science and technology intensive, in light of a prevailing international trend to develop long range precision, intelligent, stealthy and unmanned weaponry and equipment in preparation for infor mationized and intelligent warfare.
Chinese peacekeepers train at a shooting range in Mali on July 28, 2015
China has been pushing forward innovation driven military building and efficiency oriented military management revolution, Wu said In January 2016, the Science and Technology Commission and Office for Strategic Planning debuted along with other functional departments under the CMC. To generally achieve mechanization by the year 2020 was part of the strategic goals for the development of China’s national defense and military spelled out in the report to the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017 In November 2020, the MND announced the goal had been achieved Old equipment is being phased out, and new and hi tech weaponry and equipment are being created. Type 15 tanks, Type 052D destroyers, range ballistic missiles have been commissioned This June, China launched its third aircraft car rier Fujian, while the first one, Liaoning, was commissioned in 2012, and the second one, Shandong one, was commissioned in 2019. All weaponry and equipment reviewed by
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X N H U A NEW ERA NATIONAL DEFENSE
MND spokesperson Tan Kefei on October 28, has participated in peacekeeping missions in Syria, Mali and the Central African Republic China’s peacekeepers have built and repaired roads, cleared and disposed of mines and vari ous items of unexploded ordnance, transported materials, treated patients and carried out armed escorts and long or short distance patrols, among other tasks With tenacious fighting spirit and prag matic actions, the people’s armed forces have safeguarded national sovereignty, security and development interests, and made great contribu tions to maintaining world and regional peace and stability as the military of a responsible large country, Wu said BR Copyedited by G P Wilson Comments to wanghairong@cicgamericas com Xi during the military parades in 2015, 2017 and 2019, were domestically produced, and respec tively 84 percent, nearly half and 40 percent were PLA Daily Multitasked forces In the new era, the Chinese military performs a wide range of tasks, including responding t o e x t e r n a l m i l i t a r y p r o v o c a t i o n s , d e t e r ring “Taiwan independence” separatist acts, a n d e n g a g i n g i n m a r i t i m e r i g h t s p r o t e c tion, counter terrorism, disaster rescue and relief, epidemic control, peacekeeping, hu manitarian relief and international military cooperation, Wu said Most recently, from the evening of August 2, the PLA Eastern Theater Command carried out a series of joint military drills around Taiwan Island “The military operations are a stern deter rent against the recent major escalation of the negative acts by the United States on the Taiwan question, and a serious warning against separatist activities seeking ‘Taiwan independence’,” read a statement of the command. Earlier Speaker of the U S House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited China’s Taiwan, a move seriously violating the one China principle and the provisions of the three China U S joint communiqués. China has actively participated in UN Peacekeeping operations since 1990 It is a major contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the largest troop contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council China had participated in 25 UN peacekeep ing missions and contributed nearly 50,000 peacekeepers, said another A military parade in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 2019
Characteristics?
22 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com OPINION GOVERNANCE
In early 1848, Karl Marx finished The C o m m u n i s t M a n i f e s t o w h i l e E u r o p e s e e t h e d w i t h c l a s s c o n f l i c t A s t h e manifesto famously intoned, the “specter of communism” was haunting Europe a per fect expression of the Zeitgeist culminating in continent wide workers’ revolutions later that year What the landmark document got wrong, however, was its optimism those revolutions would succeed they did not and underly i n g t h i s , i t s s t i l l i n c o m p l e t e u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the relationship between politics and eco nomics. This is to say, despite the manifesto insisting so clearly as it did on its rendition of scientific socialism, despite working so h a r d t o r e s i s t c r i t i c i s m s o f u t o p i a n i s m , i t s idealism ultimately fell short of reality. Marx t h e n s p e n t t h e n e x t d e c a d e p l u s f i g u r i n g o u t w h a t h e g o t w r o n g , u l t i m a t e l y f i n d i n g both the theoretical and practical means for grounding his theories more deeply in real ity, thereby offering those who followed a b e t t e r f o o t h o l d a s t h e y s t r u g g l e d t o c r e a t e socialism W h i l e t h e t i m e , p l a c e a n d c o n d i t i o n s were quite different, a similar development can be observed in the evolution of Chinese s o c i a l i s m O n t h e o n e h a n d , t h e C h i n e s e had long held traditional concepts of social j u s t i c e t h a t w e r e b r o a d l y c o n s i s t e n t w i t h m o d e r n c o n c e p t s o f s o c i a l i s m . T h e s e c a n b e f o u n d i n a n c i e n t w o r k s l i k e T h e B o o k o f R i t e s , l i k e l y c o m p i l e d m o r e t h a n 2 , 0 0 0 y e a r s a g o d u r i n g t h e t u m u l t u o u s W a r r i n g S t a t e s p e r i o d ( 4 7 5 2 2 1 B . C . ) , w h e r e c o n c e p t s l i k e x i a o k a n g a n d d a t o n g s o c i e t i e s Confucius described establishing a xiao k a n g s o c i e t y a s r e a c h i n g a n e w t h r e s h o l d of social and political development after a period of relative chaos In such a society, the basic and increasing needs of society are reliably met a n d t r e n d i n g p o s i t i v e l y , w i t h a capable state that is well ordered a n d e f f e c t i v e a t t h e h e l m T h i s state must be capable of solving p r o b l e m s p r o g r e s s i v e l y , t h e r e b y advancing toward datong great h a r m o n y a r g u a b l y b e s t d e scribed in contemporary language as a relatively advanced stage of s o c i a l i s t d e v e l o p m e n t a n d c o m mon prosperity. T h e s e t e r m s h a d c u r r e n c y i n t h e l a t e 1 9 t h a n d e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r i e s , w h e n C h i n a w a s i n disarray as various invading pow e r s h a d b e g u n t o p a r t i t i o n t h e c o u n t r y a m o n g t h e m s e l v e s O n e e x a m p l e h e r e w a s t h e i n f l u e n c e o f D a t o n g s h u o r T h e B o o k o f Great Unity, i n w h i c h l a t e Q i n g Dynasty (1644 1911) intellectual Kang Youwei envisioned the cre ation of a utopian society through incremental reform Additionally, s o c i a l i s t i c p r a c t i c e s w e r e n o t u n c o m m o n i n s o m e o f C h i n a ’ s h i s t o r i c a l p e a s a n t u p r i s i n g s , n o r were they unfamiliar to a similar uprising Mao Zedong observed in h i s n a t i v e p r o v i n c e o f H u n a n i n the 1920s. Early explorations T h r o u g h t h e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e Soviet Union and Marxist theory, t h e C o m m u n i s t P a r t y o f C h i n a ( C P C ) i n i t s e a r l y y e a r s w a s heavily influenced by non native theories and solutions that ultimately proved out of step with Chinese realities Generally speaking, these inadequacies were revealed at two points in time First, they came into view in the wake of the Moscow directed communist uprisings i n C h i n e s e c i t i e s i n 1 9 2 7 2 8 , r e s u l t i n g i n many CPC members being massacred, and a g a i n i n 1 9 3 4 , w h e n M o s c o w e l e m e n t s i n the CPC decided disastrously to defend the Jiangxi Soviet area against the Kuomintang regime’s encirclement campaign. That pre cipitated the Long March, in the middle of which the Party realigned itself under Mao’s l e a d e r s h i p , a n d t h e l a t t e r ’ s e m p h a s i s o n formulating more effective tactics based on China’s realities. During the Yan’an period that followed, the Party began to experiment w i t h s o m e b a s i c f o r m s o f s o c i a l i s m i n t h e areas it controlled. S e c o n d , i n t h e m i d 1 9 5 0 s , w h i l e f o l l o w i n g S o v i e t g u i d a n c e d u r i n g t h e F i r s t Five Year Plan (1953 57), the CPC became i n c r e a s i n g l y a w a r e t h a t C h i n a ’ s d e v e l o p ment path necessitated different approaches. I n t h e t w o d e c a d e s t h a t f o l l o w e d , C h i n a experimented with new, sometimes radical, methods intended to leverage as quickly as p o s s i b l e i t s w o r k i n g m a s s e s i n t o a d e v e l o p i n g a n d d u r a b l e s o c i a l i s t s t a t e . I n s o m e respects these efforts proved a spectacular success but in others they failed tragically, as the Party subsequently has assessed the p o l i c i e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e G r e a t L e a p F o r w a r d , a f a i l e d c a m p a i g n l a u n c h e d i n 1958 to quickly modernize the country, and the “cultural revolution” (1966 76) B y t h e e a r l y 1 9 6 0 s , a t t h e l a t e s t , t h e break with the Soviet Union was clear and by the late 1960s had generated open con
What Is Socialism With Chinese By Josef Gregory Mahoney
The author is a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University and a senior research fellow with the Institute for the Development of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics at Southeast University Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon Comments to yanwei@cicgamericas com the hard path of discovering its own devel o p m e n t m o d e l . T h e s e e f f o r t s , b y t r i a l a n d error, were important forerunners of “social i s m w i t h C h i n e s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , ” a n d i t that this new concept was then crystalized in Deng Xiaoping Theory during the early days o f C h i n a ’ s r e f o r m a n d o p e n i n g u p p e r i o d , starting in 1978 New approach The incredible arc of Chinese development that followed is relatively well known and w i l l n o t b e r e c o u n t e d i n d e t a i l h e r e W h a t should be noted is that some observers, in the West especially, wrongly concluded for various reasons that socialism with Chinese c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s w a s a d e l i b e r a t e m i s n o m e r and that what materialized as China increas ingly embraced a socialist market economy w a s i n f a c t c a p i t a l i s m a n d t h e o p p o s i t e o f socialism. T o b e s u r e , a l o t o f w h a t h a d b e e n erected as socialism previously was swept aside for solutions that could accelerate na tional development and raise both incomes a n d g o v e r n m e n t c a p a c i t i e s t o c r e a t e m o r e d u r a b l e p u b l i c g o o d s a n d s o c i a l w e l f a r e . Furthermore, there was a lot of new experi m e n t a t i o n , a l o t o f “ c r o s s i n g t h e r i v e r b y feeling the stones,” as Deng put it, as China developed new approaches. Along the way, new concepts, goals and o b j e c t i v e s w e r e i n t r o d u c e d . F o r e x a m p l e , under the rubric of socialism with Chinese c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , s p e c i f i c o b j e c t i v e s w e r e formulated They include the two centenary g o a l s : t h e f i r s t f o r 2 0 2 1 , a c e n t u r y s i n c e t h e C P C ’ s f o u n d i n g , w h e n a m o d e r n v e r sion of Confucius’ xiaokang or moderately p r o s p e r o u s s o c i e t y w a s a c h i e v e d ; a n d t h e second for 2049, a century since the found i n g o f t h e P e o p l e ’ s R e p u b l i c o f C h i n a , w h e n a f u l l y d e v e l o p e d , m o d e r n s o c i a l i s t society is expected. So what, then, is socialism with Chinese characteristics? Fundamentally, it’s a social and political development concept innovated by the CPC, one that connects a socialistic v i s i o n w i t h C h i n e s e r e a l i t i e s I t s f u n d a m e n t a l a i m i s t o r e a l i z e C h i n a ’ s n a t i o n a l r e j u v e n a t i o n , o r r e a c h t h e c o u n try’s full potential to better meet i t s p e o p l e ’ s n e e d s a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s I t d o e s s o b y a c h i e v i n g development goals that link with socialistic progress, like eliminat i n g e x t r e m e p o v e r t y , p u r s u i n g g r e e n d e v e l o p m e n t , e x p a n d i n g access to healthcare and health in surance, improving the quality of education, advancing rural devel o p m e n t , e f f e c t i v e l y c o n f r o n t i n g disease outbreaks, and providing an adequate national defense, to name a few O v e r t i m e , t h e c o n c e p t h a s b e c o m e m o r e c o n c r e t e a n d c o n f i d e n t . T h i s i s s i g n i f i e d i n p a r t b y t h e r e c e n t a c h i e v e m e n t s o f e s t a b l i s h i n g a x i a o k a n g s o c i e t y , a n d c o n t a i n i n g a n d r e c o v e r i n g f r o m C O V I D 1 9 A n d i t m o v e s f o r w a r d , i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y e v e n , b y p u r s u i n g t r u e m u l t i l a t e r a l i s m , c o n s i s t e n t l y s u p p o r t i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l e f f o r t s a g a i n s t t h e p a n d e m i c a n d c l i m a t e c h a n g e , a n d p r o m o t i n g w i n w i n d e v e l o p m e n t p r o j e c t s l i k e t h o s e associated with the Belt and Road Initiative This initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to boost connectivity along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes But according to some scholars, having reached some of these milestones, socialism w i t h C h i n e s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i s l e s s n o w a matter of theory and more so an established Xi Jinping’s declaration that China is now i n a n e w e r a a n d c o n f i d e n t i n i t s d e v e l o p ment path and that national rejuvenation has become an unstoppable reality. It’s reason able to conclude that these accomplishments are consistent in part with the aim and spirit of The Communist Manifesto, but represent more closely the mature materialism Marx d e s c r i b e d i n h i s l a t e r y e a r s a n d v a r i o u s communist parties since then have tried to accomplish On this account, through the ups and downs and not in spite of them, the CPC scores very well And in this sense, Chinese socialism today is not a specter but a grow ing reality BR Enthusiasts practice Tai Chi at a square in Xingtai, Hebei Province, on June 11
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AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 23http://www bjreview com OPINION
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The United States’ so called “Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act” (UFLPA) took effect on June 21. The act bans goods wholly or in part mined, produced, or manufactured in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from entering the U.S. market, citing unfounded accusations of forced labor in Xinjiang. This U.S. move is bound to disrupt the global industrial chain. p r i l , t h e C h i n a C h a m b e r o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o m m e r c ( O I a t t t hearing of the new law in Washington, D.C. as the only interested party from China. Peng Jun e n i o r a r t n e r w i t e i a l a w f i r m J i n c h e n g To n d a e a l , a s s i s t e d t e C C O I C submitting their written opinions and speaking out on behalf of Chinese entities. Review reporters Li Fangfang and Zhang Shasha recently had an exclusive interview with Peng on the consequences of the U.S. legislation and his suggestions for the enterprises
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24 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com OPINION XINJIANG B e i j i n g R e v i e w : Why is the UFLPA unreasonable and where does the act prove inaccurate? Peng Jun: First of all, the basic assumption o f t h e U F L P A i s w r o n g T h e a c t a s s u m e s that almost all, if not all, Xinjiang entities use forced labor for their production and that the poverty alleviation programs are equated with forced labor These presumptions are wide of the mark because they completely i g n o r e t h e l a r g e n u m b e r o f c o n t r a r y f a c t s that are publicly available Meanwhile, the UFLPA provides U.S. importers rather than C h i n e s e e x p o r t e r s w h i c h a r e w r o n g l y p r e sumed to use forced labor with a channel to refute the allegations And when the U.S. Customs and Border i m p o r t t o g o t h r o u g h b a s e d o n t h e t e r m s o f e x c e p t i o n s , i t h a s t o h a n d i n a d e t a i l e d r e p o r t t o t h e U . S . C o n g r e s s . T h e o v e r a l l process puts great pressure on the CBP and it will therefore be very cautious in giving permission In addition, requirements on supply chain traceability and compliance mean companies should not only prove they do not use forced labor, but also that the overall industrial chain, including multiple levels of upstream suppli ers, does not either Moreover, their control Bound to Backfire over suppliers doesn’t stretch be yond the contracts signed with the pliers can cooperate, they, too, will need to trace their suppliers; the “running costs” will be extremely high W h a t a r e t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f t h e UFLPA? The UFLPA does not do anyone any favors I n o t h e r w o r d s , t h i s d e c r e e w i l l h a v e a n a d v e r s e i m p a c t b o t h o n C h i n e s e a n d U . S . enterprises T h e a c t w i l l d i r e c t l y i m p a c t t h e s a l e s
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 25http://www bjreview com OPINION Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon Comments to zhangshsh@cicgamericas com of Xinjiang enterprises The UFLPA’s po t e n t i a l e f f e c t s m a y p r o v e s i m i l a r t o t h o s e of the CBP issued Withhold Release Order against cotton products and tomato products produced in Xinjiang which came into force on January 13, 2021 in response to so called “forced labor” concerns W e h a v e c o m p a r e d t h e e x p o r t s o f Xinjiang cotton products to the U S in the second half of 2020 and in the first half of 2 0 2 1 T h e X i n j i a n g e x p o r t s o f 2 9 p r o d u c t c a t e g o r i e s , i n c l u d i n g c o t t o n s o c k s , c o t t o n T shirts and cotton bed sheets, to the U S decreased tremendously, with many exports r e d u c e d t o z e r o ; t o t a l e x p o r t s d e c r e a s e d b y 8 8 p e r c e n t W e c a n i n f e r t h a t w i t h t h e UFLPA in full effect, Xinjiang’s exports to t h e U S w i l l d e c l i n e r a p i d l y a n d s h a r p l y , hugely affecting Xinjiang’s foreign trade S m a l l a n d m e d i u m s i z e d e n t e r p r i s e s ( S M E s ) w i l l b e “ k i c k e d o u t ” o f t h e U S s u p p l y c h a i n L a r g e e n t e r p r i s e s m i g h t b e c a p a b l e o f u n d e r t a k i n g a n d d i g e s t i n g t h e extremely high costs of supply chain tracing and compliance, but SMEs who fall short of subjective willingness and objective capac ity to afford the costs will be excluded from the supply chain as a result T h e e x c l u s i o n o f X i n j i a n g e n t i t i e s w i l l seriously damage the region’s economy and lower the living standards of its residents F o r U S e n t e r p r i s e s , t h e e x clusion of SMEs will result in a supply reduction, in turn leading to an increase in prices of import ed goods If things continue this way, only a handful of large en terprises will come to monopolize t h e w h o l e s u p p l y c h a i n , f u r t h e r d r i v i n g u p p r i c e s a n d i n t e n s i f y i n g i n f l a t i o n T h i s w i l l d i s t r e s s t h e e f f i c i e n c y a n d i n n o v a t i o n capacity of participants across the s u p p l y c h a i n I n t e r f e r i n g w i t h a normal and dynamic supply chain t h r o u g h i n c o r r e c t a s s u m p t i o n s a n d n o n e c o n o m i c m e a n s w i l l only distort, even destroy, healthy competition How do you suggest enterprises respond to the UFLPA? Enterprises have to recognize the a c t ’ s u n d e r l y i n g p o l i t i c a l t o n e W h i l e p o l i t i c a l m a t t e r s a r e f o r governments to solve, enterprises should focus on coping with eco nomic matters In other words, no m a t t e r t h e o u t c o m e , e n t e r p r i s e s should adopt economic and legal measures to maintain their market shares and exports to the U S despite complications and costs O n e p r a g m a t i c a p p r o a c h f o r t h e e n t e r prises would be to create a “dual circulation” supply chain: one for U S business and an other for non U S business Suppliers on the U S side should then forge closer coopera tive ties to provide the required documents I n r e a l i t y , a n u m b e r o f e n t e r p r i s e s h a v e already been doing this P r o s e c u t i n g t h e U F L P A t h r o u g h i n t e r n a t i o n a l p l a t f o r m s m a y b e a n o t h e r o p t i o n N o n d i s c r i m i n a t i o n i s a k e y p r i n c i p l e o f t h e W o r l d T r a d e O r g a n i z a t i o n ( W T O ) I t stipulates a country should not discriminate between its trading partners and between its o w n a n d f o r e i g n p r o d u c t s , s e r v i c e s o r n a Xinjiang, evidently going against this basic principle T r a n s p a r e n c y i s a n o t h e r c r i t i c a l W T O member obligation, defined as “the degree to which trade policies and practices, and the process by which they are established, are open and predictable.” The UFLPA’s provi sions for enforcement oppose its purpose of protecting the rights of Xinjiang residents and workers, and it can’t provide enterprises with either transparency or predictability. BR marked the end of absolute poverty in Xinjiang The end of 2020 All of the 3.06 mln poor rural population had been lifted out of poverty Human Rights Development in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Sources: ) 2014 2020 11.35 mln Total employed population 13.56 mln 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Per capita disposable income of urban residents 23,000 yuan 37,600 yuan 2014 2021 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 Per capita disposable income of rural residents 8,700 yuan 15,600 yuan 2014 2021 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000
26 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com OPINION FACT CHECK
Several economic indicators took a dive in March and April and then showed signs of rebounding in May. In June, this upturn m o m e n t u m w a s e v e n m o r e s t r i k i n g W i t h t h e p a n d e m i c t a m e d a n d p r o d u c t i o n b a c k to normal, the Chinese economy’s odds of m a i n t a i n i n g a n u p w a r d s p i r a l a r e l o o k i n g good And a rosier picture now unfolds across s e v e r a l s e c t o r s T h e p r i m a r y i n d u s t r y i s o p e r a t i n g s m o o t h l y , b o a s t i n g a b u m p e r s u m m e r h a r v e s t a n d e x p e c t i n g a s i m i l a r l y big autumn harvest The secondary industry soon bounced back after experiencing a blip in April, evidenced by rising industrial pow er consumption The tertiary industry, too, has turned the corner Much of the service sector is reopening in line with COVID 19 p r e v e n t i o n a n d m a n a g e m e n t m e a s u r e s Resident spending is also on the up. E v e r y t h i n g p o i n t s t o C h i n a s e e i n g a smooth upturn of its overall economy in the following months But what constitutes a rational range for China’s economic growth? Here, what mat ters is not the year on year GDP growth rate but the quarter on quarter rate If the GDP growth rate for one year is set at 5.5 percent, China will have to hit a rate of 8 percent (or a b o v e ) i n H 2 ; t h i s i s n e i t h e r p r a c t i c a l n o r realistic T h e r e c e n t m e e t i n g s i g n a l s t h a t t h e c o u n t r y i s t o p u r s u e t h e “ b e s t p o s s i b l e ” economic outcome within the most rational r a n g e G i v e n t h e t a r g e t o f 5 5 p e r c e n t f o r t h i s y e a r , a s l o n g a s t h e f o u r t h q u a r t e r ’ s GDP growth is 5 5 percent higher than that of the same period last year, it will mark the b e s t p o s s i b l e r e s u l t A n d c u r r e n t i n t e r n a l and external economic conditions allow for this to happen BR to Boost By Lan Xinzhen Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon Comments to lanxinzhen@cicgamericas com
What China pursues is a stable and sound economic environment, stressing a month-on-month growth rate that can extent of economic recovery than the year-on-year rate against the backdrop of domestic and international economic turmoil Du r i n g i t s m e e t i n g o n J u l y 2 8 , t h e P o l i t i c a l B u r e a u o f t h e C e n t r a l Committee of the Communist Party o f C h i n a d i s c u s s e d C h i n a ’ s c u r r e n t e c o n o m i c s i t u a t i o n a n d o u t l i n e d i t s e c o n o m i c work for the second half of this year (H2) Tasks include always keeping an eye on the COVID 19 pandemic, sustaining economic growth for an upbeat momentum, ensuring production safety, stabilizing prices and en suring the economy operates within a rational range. The meeting came at a time when the Chinese economy operates under huge pres sures and needs to be revved up. T h e f i r s t h a l f o f t h i s y e a r p r e s e n t e d a challenging outlook, with GDP up by only 2 5 percent year on year, much lower than t h e 5 . 5 p e r c e n t t a r g e t s e t e a r l i e r t h i s y e a r . Two factors are to blame for this: The resur gence of COVID 19 cases in big cities like B e i j i n g a n d S h a n g h a i h a s w e i g h e d o n t h e overall economy Additionally, the Russia Ukraine conflict has sent energy and grain prices soaring, catapulting the international e c o n o m y i n t o c h a o s . W i t h i n t h i s c o m p l i cated context, the 2 5 percent rate is no easy feat. These clouds continue to hover over the Chinese economy in H2, with the pandemic still casting a big shadow I n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h i s m e e t i n g , m a c r o e c o n o m i c p o l i c i e s s h o u l d h e l p b o o s t cal and monetary policies. Monetary policy s h o u l d g u a r a n t e e a r e a s o n a b l e l e v e l o f l i quidity and ramp up support for businesses. It’s important to enhance the industrial and s u p p l y c h a i n s a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m p e t i tion, and help China’s central and western r e g i o n s i m p r o v e t h e i r i n f r a s t r u c t u r e a n d business environment The coming months will see almost no additional policies to those proposed at the beginning of the year. What China pursues i s a s t a b l e a n d s o u n d e c o n o m i c e n v i r o n m e n t , s t r e s s i n g a m o n t h o n m o n t h g r o w t h r a t e t h a t c a n b e t t e r r e f l e c t t h e e x t e n t o f e c o nomic recovery than the year on year rate against the backdrop of d o m e s t i c a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l e c o nomic turmoil.
Blip
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 27http://www bjreview com POPINION ACIFIC DIALOGUE Bitter Fruits By Zhao Wei COVID 19, the Russia Ukraine con g l o b a l c h a l l e n g e s h a v e c o n t i n u e d u n a b a t e d t h i s y e a r H o w e v e r , t h e s e b i g e v e n t s a r e f a i l i n g t o a r o u s e t h e i n t e r e s t o f news audiences, with those in many coun t r i e s b e g i n n i n g t o d e m o n s t r a t e i n c r e a s e d levels of selective news avoidance. T h e p h e n o m e n o n w a s r e v e a l e d i n t h e 2 0 2 2 D i g i t a l N e w s R e p o r t , p u b l i s h e d i n June by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford T h e s t u d y , w h i c h b e g a n i n F e b r u a r y , s u r v e y e d m o r e t h a n 9 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e i n 4 6 countries and regions online According to the report, the trend of se lective news avoidance has been increasing i n s e v e r a l n a t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g B r a z i l , S p a i n and Britain While in the United States, 67 p e r c e n t o f t h e s a m p l e i n d i c a t e d t h e y w e r e very or extremely engaged in news in 2015; Also revealed by the report, news trust in the U.S. has fallen by a further 3 percent age points from last year and was the lowest among all nations surveyed, at 26 percent. A n o t h e r n o t a b l e f i n d i n g w a s t h a t t r u s t i n BBC News has fallen 20 percentage points percent Copyedited by G P Wilson Comments to zhaowei@cicgamericas com So, why is the Western media s e e m i n g l y l o s i n g i t s o f t p r o claimed mandate to represent the p e o p l e a n d l e a d s o c i a l p r o g r e s s , a n d h o w h a s i t l o s t i t s a b i l i t y t o r e s p o n d t o t h e s u f f e r i n g o f t h e underclass? This trend is not a product of t h e e v e n t s o f t h e l a s t t w o y e a r s . S i n c e 2 0 1 6 , p u b l i c p o l i t i c a l events in the West have revolved a r o u n d t h e r i g h t w i n g p o p u l i s t m o v e m e n t a n d t h e “ p o s t t r u t h e r a , ” t h e m o s t n o t a b l e o f t h e s e events being Trump’s presidential win and Brexit. The rebuke of the “ i g n o r a n t m a s s e s ” b y t h e i n t e l lectual elite in journalism and the rejection of the “lying media” by the less educated working classes were early signs of the dramatic tearing that has occurred in soci eties of the West. I n i t s c o v e r a g e o f i n t e r n a tional events, the Western media h a s l o s t p u b l i c t r u s t t h r o u g h i t s r e g u l a r e m p l o y m e n t o f d o u b l e standards and bias O n F e b r u a r y 2 5 , o n e s e n i o r f o r e i g n c o r r e s p o n d e n t o f U S news platform CBS News stated on air that Ukraine “isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen con c i v i l i z e d , r e l a t i v e l y E u r o p e a n I h a v e t o c h o o s e t h o s e w o r d s c a r e f u l l y , t o o c i t y , o n e w h e r e y o u w o u l d n ’ t e x p e c t t h a t , o r hope that it’s going to happen ” This was far from an isolated case, with media outlets throughout the Western world using Ukrainians’ identity as Europeans or e v e n a s C a u c a s i a n s a s a r e a s o n a u d i e n c e s should care more. Prior to this, in October 2 0 1 9 , t h e B B C t a r n i s h e d i t s o w n n a m e i n East Asia by refusing to apologize for mis identifying 39 deceased Vietnamese victims of human trafficking in Britain as Chinese nationals T h e c o n c e p t t h a t a l l m e n a r e c r e a t e d e q u a l i s o n e o f t h e v a l u e s m o s t c e n t r a l t o t h e A m e r i c a n n a t i o n a n d , a l o n g w i t h t h e concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity, i s h e l d u p a s a g u i d i n g p r i n c i p l e t h r o u g h o u t t h e W e s t e r n w o r l d W h y t h e n d o e s i t s m e d i a , t h e p u r p o r t e d c h a m p i o n s o f t h e s e p r i n c i p l e s , g r a d e s u f f e r i n g b y s k i n c o l o r , grade concerns by geography, and grade the guiding role of news by interest? Some Western media outlets, especially U S o r g a n i z a t i o n s , h a v e a l w a y s r e g a r d e d n e w s a s a n i m p o r t a n t t o o l f o r e x p o r t i n g ideology The lack of objectivity when re p o r t i n g o n a p e r c e i v e d r i v a l s t a t e a n d t h e relentless pursuit of the “when it bleeds, it leads” doctrine have turned away their tar get readers The trend of selective news avoidance and the rising distrust in the news are the bitter fruits the Western media must now harvest from the seeds it has long been sowing BR
Some Western media outlets, especially U.S. organizations, have always regarded news as an important tool for exporting ideology. The lack of objectivity when reporting on a rival state and the relentless pursuit of the “when it bleeds, it leads” doctrine have turned away their target readers
Kicking off the Game
National football league aims to popularize the sport among the young By Lu Yan Players come from elementary, junior high and high schools, as well as uni the qualifying teams proceeding to the national championship tournament The “I believe this league will be conducive to the expansion of China’s football playing population and the search for and development of talented players for as long as we continue running it,” said Wang Liwei, Director of the Youth Sports Department of the General Administration of Sport
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Prior to the CYFL, China already had football competitions at school, city and provincial levels However, these competitions were usually administered A child holds a football in Shuanghu County, Tibet Autonomous Region, on July 12
30 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com FEATURES SPORT
On August 1, Lin’s team of 13 year olds from Fujian Xishan School in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, was defeated in the first round of the competi tion by a team from a football club in Shanghai However, Lin saw this defeat as a new starting point and was optimistic that competing against teams from around the country would see his play ers develop more quickly. “Sure, losing the game might hurt their morale for a bit, but they should also learn to grow from failure,” Lin said The CYFL, co organized by the Ministry of Education, the General Administration of Sport of China and the Chinese Football Association (CFA), is the first football competition open to all youth teams nationwide “Whoever the team represents, whether a public school, a training academy or a professional club, who is in charge of the organization of the league, adding the league aims to be the nation’s premier youth football event, with the most players and most extensive coverage. “The CYFL allows all youngsters to participate in football competitions, to enjoy the beauty of the sport and to foster young talent I hope it can open a new chapter in Chinese youth football develop ment,” Chen Xuyuan, CFA President and CYFL league in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on July 10 The youthful game A c c o r d i n g t o t h e C Y F L s c h e d u l e , t h e l e a g u e m a t c h e s a r e c a t e g o r i z e d i n t o 1 8 g r o u p s , n i n e for boys and men and nine for girls and women
Lin Enxiang, a school football coach, was especially proud this year to see his team participate in the China Youth Football League (CYFL) “This new league is a perfect platform for our students to interact with counterparts from other regions and learn from more professional players,” Lin told Beijing Review
Students train at a primary school in Jiaozuo, Henan Province, on July 21
The pain point China’s National Men’s Team has long been criticized by the public for its disappointing performance According to the FIFA rankings announced on June 23, the men’s team ranked 78th in the world and 11th in Asia, its lowest point in the last four years; while the female team ranked 16th globally and fourth in Asia.
The men’s team’s greatest accomplishment was FIFA World Cup However, it subsequently lost all of its matches in that tournament and has never made it to the World Cup again Its performance i n r e c e n t y e a r s h a s b e e n l e s s t h a n s a t i s f a c t o r y .
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 31http://www bjreview com FEATURES independently from one another
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Even with an unprecedented number of naturalized players, Team China still lost its chance to qualify directly for the Qatar 2022 World Cup after a 2 0 T h e c o u n t r y ’ s w o m e n ’ s t e a m h a s a c h i e v e d
more satisfying results In the 2022 Asian Football Confederation Women’s Asian Cup final in Navi years as well as China’s ninth Asian Cup trophy.
China has vowed to raise its football team to world class level. To this end, authorities have re leased a number of guiding policy documents since
Additionally, campus football league regulations often restricted players who had participated in professional or international competitions on behalf of national youth teams from playing. The new league, together with the existing ones, provides a broader platform for more players to join, according to Wang Dengfeng, Deputy Director of the tion at the Ministry of Education. The CYFL has also made some innovations For example, after the matches, some age groups will also have 25 minute performance games that offer more opportunities for players to showcase their skills; the results of these extra games are not included in the total score.
The ministry also said China aims to have 50,000 schools specializing in youth Li Chunman (center) trains football coaches in Qingdao, Shandong Province, in July
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Echoing Wang Dengfeng, Li Chunman, a pro fessor at Beijing Sport University and deputy head of the CFA’s technical committee, said training the scouts are needed Additionally, funding can be a challenge for schools Take Fujian Xishan, a private school, as an example. Coach Lin said the school has invested more than 3 million yuan ($444,600) in football training and matches, including facilities, travel and accommoda tion for away matches “Government subsidies cover a little, but are far from enough,” Lin said. ers operate out of the owner’s love for football, and they struggle to make ends meet, according to Li “We should cultivate football culture across society and increase the public to invest and donate,” Li added.
“A key issue facing Chinese football now is whether more children will join the sport,” Wang Dengfeng said.
32 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com 2015, including reforming the CFA and the profes sional leagues, improving campus and community football and increasing the number of facilities available to players, teams and clubs at all levels of the sport One of the goals of the CYFL is to spot outstanding players and enlarge the pool of young talent
Schools putting the football course in their curriculums and seeing it as equal to other courses is a head start, Zhang said. So far, China had named more than 30,000 primary and middle schools across the country as specialist football schools to spearhead youth football development, according to the Ministry of Education These schools are required to offer at least one football class each week and encourage their students to participate in training and competition.
More than competition Zhang Lu, a renowned football commentator, believes while youth training to date has focused on developing talented players for careers in football, making football universal means doing more than that. “Why should we encourage thousands of kids to play football? How many of them can get into the professional team? Not many. Now we should popular ize football so that children can improve their health and happiness by playing football,” Zhang told China Central Television.
Copyedited by G P Wilson Comments to luyan@cicgamericas com happy to welcome them.”
Liu Yu is one such parent, the father of a fourth grader at a primary school in Beijing. His son was a bit “unsocial and odd” in his words, which became apparent when the child was sent to kindergarten at 4 “It didn’t take long for the teacher to talk to my wife and me, saying our child was always alone in class and never talked to other children, so we tried every means to encourage him and get him to play with others, but the effect was mediocre,” Liu said The situation improved after they introduced or follow the coach. But after becoming acquainted with the sport, he became more and more inter ested and now sticks to a tight schedule balancing it with his schoolwork Today, he’s more outgoing Football changed him,” Liu said BR football by the end of 2025. “In the past, many sporty students who were trained professionally didn’t pay much attention to their academic studies This hindered their careers in the long term and their work after they retired as professionals,” Li said, adding he believes that general knowledge courses should not be ignored “Now, a number of parties, including the government departments, football organizations and schools, are aware of the situation and are making changes,” he added. ball players, with curriculums slightly different from those offered to other students. Students in these classes participate in football training for nearly two hours every day after school “Many children face excessive school workloads and suffer from weight problems, nearsightedness and mental health issues. Encouraging them to play football and other sports can help them be healthier,” Li told Beijing Review, adding that the sport can also cultivate children and teenagers’ sense of responsi bility, teamwork spirit and tenacity.
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Li Zhao, founder of Beijing’s HiKicker Youth Football Club, said many par ents who send their children to the club are not football fans nor are they even familiar with the sport. “They support their children’s interest in football because they realize it brings them joy,” Li told China Youth Daily “We are more than Football League match in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, on July 30
“The most fundamental human right is to be alive,” Ross said For example, COVID 19 related deaths in China were less than 4 per million; in the U.S. they were 3,077 per million. The U.S. death rate from the virus was over 800 times higher than China’s But the U S claims it has a better record on human rights than China because, to safeguard popu lation in areas at risk of COVID 19 infection, China A staff member answers questions about medical insurance reimbursement policies at a hospital in Sanming, Fujian Province, on November 18, 2020
The international community needs to respect diversity in human rights de velopment as different countries have different paths and focuses, many of the participants mentioned at the forum What are human rights and what should be done to develop them? Officials and experts from China and other countries shared their views at the Beijing Forum on Human Rights in Beijing on July 26
While agreeing that global cooperation is needed to facilitate human rights development, the participants denounced politicizing human rights and called not to use them to create division and confrontation “When it comes to human rights, the world does not need any country to tell others what to do,” Padma Choling, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legisla ture, and President of China Society for Human Rights Studies, said “Human rights should never be used by any country to exert pressure on others or interfere in other states’ internal affairs ”
34 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com HUMAN FRIGHTS EATURES No Respect, No Progress
Real human rights development needs assistance, not interference By Tao Xing had to impose restrictions on their movement.
“For the U S concept of human rights, saving millions of lives is not an issue, but individual restrictions on movement are,” Ross said. “This shows its absurdity.”
Danilo Turk, former President of Slovenia, stressed that when developing a global human rights system, many voices and many new ideas could be heard. Priorities for human rights development vary from one society to another and from one country to another, he said. In areas that suffer from pervasive poverty, it’s important to give priority to respect for human life, liberty and security of the human being is paramount, Turk added. Each country has the right to choose its own human rights development path and its choices should be respected, Padma Choling said.
The annual event has taken place since 2008 and provides a platform for the international community to communicate with each other and lay the foundations for future cooperation. The real definition International governance on human rights is insepa rable from the real definition of human rights, said John Ross, former Director of Economic and Business Policy for the Mayor of London and senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China purely formal, concept of human rights, leaving out human beings’ most important real needs and rights In contrast, China and most of the Global South prioritize a concept of the real rights of the people.
The CPC regards the rights to subsistence and de velopment as the primary and basic human rights, and believes that living a life of contentment is the ultimate human right It promotes the well rounded develop ment of the individual, and strives to give every person a stronger sense of gain, happiness and security, the white paper said.
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John Ross, senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China
Unilateral coercive measures constitute today one of the most serious challenges to solidarity, uni versality, development and human rights protection, according to Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur n t h e N e g a t i v e I m p a c t o f U n i l a t e r a l C o e r c i v e
For 100 years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has always put people first, applying the principle of universality of human rights in the context of the national conditions, according to a white paper on the practice of the CPC in respecting and protecting hu man rights The document was released by the State
All parties should advocate real multilateralism and strengthen cooperation in fields such as poverty reduction, food security, public health, clean energy and the digital economy, Du Zhanyuan, President of China International Communications Group, said “We should also promote development outcomes that fairly China’s contribution
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Copyedited by G P Wilson Comments to taoxing@cicgamericas com
Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights
The Chinese Government has been instrumental in the empowerment activities of women and children in Liberia, he said China’s concept of human rights is of the real lives of human beings, Ross said For example, China has performed well in eliminating absolute poverty, guar anteeing women’s rights and protecting its people’s lives during the COVID 19 pandemic. The facts show that China has delivered great contributions to the im provement of human rights, Ross concluded.
Attendees also commended China’s contribu tion toward improving human rights internally and globally Over the past four decades since the launch of re form and opening up, China has lifted over 700 million people out of poverty, accounting for over 70 percent of poverty reduction worldwide “This makes China the largest contributor to the global effort of poverty eradication. China has created jobs for 770 million people, and has established the world’s largest education, social insurance and prima ry level democratic election systems,” Tahir Farooq, Editor in Chief of Pakistan’s Daily Ittehad newspaper, noted “It can be enthusiastically and proudly stated that China has made and continues to make worthy con tributions towards the promotion and protection of global human rights,” Bhofal Chambers, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Liberia, said via video link at the forum
Unilateral sanctions shall still be viewed as a com mon and easy to use political tool. Nevertheless, the application of unilateral sanctions affects the enjoyment of a broad scope of human rights, including the right to development, and impedes the achievement of a broad number of sustainable development goals, Douhan said She further pointed out that the obligation to promote and protect fundamental human rights is universal. It should be implemented by all states and even private companies “Human rights can only be protected and achieved if cooperation, dialogue, the rule of law and prohibition of discrimination and of double standards are applied by every state and every international organization [as a basis] for international relations,” Douhan added The cause of human rights will be best served when global cooperation improves and when geopoliti cal and ideological tensions decrease, the participants said They urged the human rights bodies of the United Nations to put more effort into minimizing the dangers of politicization.
“For the U.S. concept of human rights, saving millions of lives is not an issue, but individual restrictions on movement are.”
Cooperation, not politicization
At this moment, the world has entered a new period of turbulent change and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been hindered, Padma Choling said. Therefore, all countries should work together to seek common ground while putting aside differences, build consensus on human rights development, better enhance people’s wellbeing, and improve global governance on human rights.
o
Due to the unilateralism and power politics prac ticed by a few countries, the international order of human rights and the basis for better global governance are facing serious challenges, said Huang Mengfu, Vice Chairman of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, China’s top political advisory body, and Chairman of the China Foundation for Human Rights Development.
According to the sixth meeting of the China Brazil High Level Coordination and Cooperation Committee in May, the countries will jointly improve tax services for cross border businesses, strengthen bilateral trade on agricultural products, further coop eration on pesticides and boost investment in the low carbon and clean technology sector. The two countries will also team up in the digital ply chains, and enhance digital technology exchanges, the meeting said Extensive ties
Data from the Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretariat showed that bilateral trade totaled over $130 billion in 2021. Brazilian exports to China mainly include agricultural products like beef and soybeans, as well as ores and petroleum; China’s exports to Brazil consist of mechanical and chemical products and transporta tion equipment As China keeps opening up its market, many Brazilian products have reached Chinese consumers
According to Brazil beef industry group Abrafrigo, China imported around 140,000 tons of beef from Brazil in January February this year, accounting for 41 percent of Brazil’s total beef exports The introduction “I have been in China for many years and have witnessed its rapid development as well as the rising import of Brazilian products. Both countries’ complementary economies will improve China-Brazil ties ”
China and Brazil seek to expand cooperation to more fields By Li Xiaoyang of Brazilian agricultural products has met upgraded consumption demand in China Moreover, Brazil has a booming market for ma chinery products, with China being one of its major providers. Many Chinese enterprises have invested in Brazilian energy, infrastructure and new energy ve hicle sectors “I have been in China for many years and have witnessed its rapid development as well as the ris ing import of Brazilian products. Both countries’ complementary economies will improve China Brazil ties,” José Mário Moccia Antunes, an official with the Investment Promotion Agency of the State of São Paulo in Shanghai, told Beijing Review Chinese firms had invested over $60 billion in Brazil as of late 2020, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said at a meeting of the China Brazil Entrepreneurs Committee (CEBC) in May Brazil is the top partner of China in Latin America in cooperation on building laboratories The two countries have also collaborated in the fields of During the COVID 19 pandemic, China and Brazil both saw thriving digital economy and e com merce Enterprises of the two countries are supposed economy, the Internet of Things (IoT) and new energy, Wang said New frontiers China Brazil cooperation on cutting edge technologies is another aspect worth exploring Since the commercialization of 5G in China in 2019, its application has been expanded to fields including education, healthcare, tourism and trans portation, which has boosted the IoT. Brazil has also proposed goals to further develop the IoT, Jin Hongjun, Chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Brazil, told a forum held via video link on July 27 The event was co hosted by the CEBC and the Chinese Embassy in Brazil “China Brazil cooperation on the IoT will boost bilateral synergy in trade, agriculture, infrastructure and While a Chinese person may have a bite of Brazilian beef here in China, a Brazilian across the ocean may be using a phone made by China’s tech company Xiaomi This is the fruit of robust bilateral trade between both countries terials, the two sides have been seeking to expand their cooperation in recent years. Despite the COVID 19 pandemic, China and Brazil expect to shore up mutual ties in several sectors this year
In-Depth Interaction
José Mário Moccia Antunes, an official with the Investment Promotion Agency of the State of São Paulo in Shanghai
36 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com FPARTNERSHIP EATURES
Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1974, China and Brazil have developed a close trade relationship. China has been Brazil’s largest trading partner since 2009 and has been a steady supplier of a wide range of products to the Latin American country Brazil is China’s most important trading partner in the Latin American and Caribbean region
Some 300 Chinese enterprises have established business cooperation with their Brazilian counter parts, mainly in the fields of agriculture, animal h u s b a n d r y a n d r e t a i l , a c c o r d i n g t o L i u Y u s h u ,
Director of the Macro Research Department at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China Only three of them are hi tech companies, showing much room for growth. The two countries are now supposed to lift cooperation in digital infrastructure and economy. He suggested that both countries should improve their exchanges on the regulation of cross border data flow, jointly formulate rules and promote experi ence sharing to improve collaboration in the digital economy
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 37http://www bjreview com FEATURES energy, and drive green and sustainable development We expect more cooperative programs on the IoT and data security between both sides,” Jin said. Pan Helin, Co Director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University, pointed out at the forum that the IoT can be applied in the development of smart cities, smart vehicles and wearable devices, and can empower traditional industries. In Brazil, with its population of 216 million, IoT application scenarios are similar to those in China Chinese tech companies are vying to enter the emerging Brazilian market Huawei is a leader in 5G technologies As agriculture contributes a large proportion to Brazil’s GDP growth, the company has worked with local agricultural research centers to im prove grain output In December 2020, for example, the Brazilian farm state of Goias rolled out a pilot project to increase productivity and take swift action against disease using Huawei’s 5G technologies and equipment, Bruno Zitnick, Huawei Director of Public Relations in Brazil, told the forum duced to two hours,” Zitnick added. Xu Lei, Xiaomi Director of Public Relations in Latin America, told the forum that his company focuses on smart products ranging from phones to IoT based home appliances It is currently working on providing products in line with Latin American tous, Xiaomi’s smart scooter has become a big hit on the market, Xu said Xiaomi opened its first brick and mortar store in Brazil in 2019. According to the company, phone purchases account for half of its total sales in Brazil, while smart products like wearable bands and smart lights are close runners up. Its sales rank third in Brazil’s smartphone market
On the other hand, Brazil has made much techno logical progress in recent years It ranked 57th on the Global Innovation Index last year, up from 62nd place in 2020 technologies to cut energy consumption during the utilization process Brazilian firms have also realized a range of agricultural innovations, including the cre ation of photovoltaic tiles that are both affordable and eco friendly. These achievements prove valuable to China’s ongoing industrial transformation “To advance technological cooperation, China and Brazil should launch exchange centers Given China’s Macao Special Administrative Region has been a hub for exchanges between the country and Portuguese speaking states, the role of the region should be given fuller play in this drive,” Yuan Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, said at a forum last year BR Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon Comments to lixiaoyang@cicgamericas com
The Brazil booth at the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing on September 5, 2021
38 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com FEATURES Port of Call Qingdao’s SCO collaboration dovetails with the global dreams of young adults By Tao Xing The fully automated container terminal at Q i n g d a o P o r t i n S h a n d o n g P r o v i n c e ’ s Q i n g d a o , w h i c h w e n t i n t o c o m m e r c i a l operation in 2017, deeply impressed a group of young adults from 10 countries. than that of its traditional counterpart, the termi nal saves a whopping 80 percent of manpower. t h e w o r l d t o e x c e e d t h e l o a d i n g a n d u n l o a d i n g efficiency of the manual terminal, with highest productivity reaching 60 18 containers per hour I n 2 0 2 1 , Q i n g d a o P o r t ’ s c o n t a i n e r t h r o u g h p u t ranked sixth in the world, and its cargo volume took fourth place.
“ I t h i n k m y c o u n t r y , t h e i s l a n d s t a t e o f S r i Lanka, also needs such a port,” Hasini Vidumini Weerawarna Pattiyakumburage, a lecturer teach ing at the National Construction Association of Sri Lanka, told Beijing Review. She hopes to gain m o r e k n o w l e d g e i n C h i n a a n d c o n t r i b u t e h e r newly acquired skillset to her country after she returns S r i L a n k a i s a d i a l o g u e p a r t n e r o f t h e S h a n g h a i C o o p e r a t i o n O r g a n i z a t i o n ( S C O ) , one of the largest regional organizations in the w o r l d i n t e r m s o f g e o g r a p h i c a l c o v e r a g e a n d population Pattiyakumburage, together with other young adults, attended a youth themed activity between J u l y 2 9 a n d 3 1 i n Q i n g d a o , o r g a n i z e d b y t h e A c a d e m y o f C o n t e m p o r a r y C h i n a a n d W o r l d S t u d i e s ( A C C W S ) , a B e i j i n g b a s e d t h i n k t a n k , and the Administrative Committee of the China S C O L o c a l E c o n o m i c a n d T r a d e C o o p e r a t i o n D e m o n s t r a t i o n A r e a ( S C O D A ) T h r o u g h t h e a c t i v i t y , s h e l e a r n e d m o r e a b o u t e c o n o m i c c o operation within the SCO framework as well as Qingdao’s development.
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T h e e v e n t w a s p a r t o f t h i s y e a r ’ s G l o b a l Y o u n g L e a d e r s D i a l o g u e ( G Y L D ) , a p r o g r a m launched in Beijing in 2020 that aims to develop a community driving cross cultural dialogue and communication among global opinion leaders. i n g d a o , a n i n t e r a t i o n a l p o r t c i t y , i s a d d i n g m o m e n t u m o c o o p eration between China and the SCO a s t h e S C O D A w a s i a u g u e d Q i g d a 2 6 m i l l i o n ) i n 2019 to 4 billion yuan ($592 million) in 2021, according to local customs Going international T h e S C O D A r e l i e s o n i t s u n i q u e geographical advantages, with Japan and the Republic of Korea to the east, M o n g o l i a a n d R u s s i a t o t h e n o r t h , and ASEAN to the south, and it is ac cessible to many SCO members plus participant countries of the Belt and R o a d I n i t i a t i v e , a C h i n a p r o p o s e d initiative that aims to boost connectiv ity along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. The SCODA is now lift ing itself to a more international level, aiming to further enhance the area’s global influence and competitiveness and create a new platform for Belt and Road cooperation, according to local news website Qingdaonews.com. T o d a y , t h e S C O D A f e a t u r e s a m u l t i m o d a l t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c e n t e r , w i t h 2 5 d o m e s t i c a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l freight train services that cover 49 cit ies in SCO and other Belt and Road I n i t i a t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i n g c o u n t r i e s , a n a r t i c l e o n C h i n a ’ s S c i e n c e a n d Technology Daily read. M o s t a k A h a m e d G a l i b , Executive Director of Cross Cultural C o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d B e l t a n d R o a d I n i t i a t i v e R e s e a r c h C e n t e r a t t h e Wuhan University of Technology in Liu Liyuan, Director of the SCO Specialty Exhibition Hall in the China SCO Local Economic and Trade Demonstration Area, tells a group of global youth the story of business cooperation between China and other SCO countries in Qingdao on July 30
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0 1 8 a f t e r t h e p r o p o s a l h a d b e e n s u b m i t t e d d u r i n g t h e 1 8 t h SCO Summit held in the city Trade v o l u m e b e t w e e n t h e S C O D A a n d S C O c o u n t r i e s h a s i n c r e a s e d f r o m 8 5 0 m i l l i o n y u a n ( $ 1 2
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S a r a h M a r j o r e y K i s a k y e , a P h . D . s t u d e n t from Uganda currently studying global commu nication and governance at the Communication University of China in Beijing, said even though Uganda is not under the SCO framework, she be lieves African countries, too, can learn from SCO cooperation. Y o u n g p e o p l e w o r l d w i d e h a r b o r d r e a m s o f education, engagement and empowerment; their values, goals and commitment to these will shape the future, Yu said He believes they have the power to generate the merging of different perspectives “This is the way of the youth,” he concluded. BR Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon Comment to taoxing@cicgamericas com Global youth in conversation with Zhang Jun, Vice General Manager of the Qianwan Container Terminal Company of Qingdao Port in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on July 30 C O U R T E S Y P H O T O C O U R T E S Y P H O T O
The SCO countries combined have some 800 million young people, and more in depth communication with young adults c a n p r o v i d e a b e t t e r f o u n d a t i o n f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n ’ s f u t u r e d e v e l o p m e n t , Y u said. “If we can get them to join forces, a new paradigm for international people to people communication will ensue,” he added Youth, with their creativity and imagi nation, can provide novel views on global issues, including on the development of overarching collaborative initiatives such as the SCO, Yu said.
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 39http://www bjreview com FEATURES H u b e i P r o v i n c e ’ s W u h a n C i t y w h o a t t e n d e d t h e a c t i v i t y , t o l d Beijing Review h e w a s s u r p r i s e d b y t h e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n capability in Qingdao and the SCODA “Staff at the Qingdao Port told me that many SCO and Belt and Road Initiative participating countries are landlocked, but Q i n g d a o c o n n e c t s w i t h t h e m v i a i n t e r national freight train So these countries can transport their goods to the Qingdao Port and sail out from there,” Galib said, adding he thinks this kind of international cooperation is “fantastic ” A c c o r d i n g t o l o c a l c u s t o m s , i n t h e E u r o p e f r e i g h t t r a i n s e r v i c e a t t h e S C O D A r e c o r d e d 3 5 7 t r i p s , a y e a r o n year increase of 37 3 percent, accounting f o r 4 7 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f such trips in Shandong and ranking first in the province. P e o p l e t o p e o p l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n i s i m p o r t a n t i n o v e r a l l r e g i o n a l a n d i n t e r national collaboration, and young adults are an emerging and positive force in this communication, Yu Yunquan, President o f t h e A C C W S a n d m e m b e r o f t h e GYLD International Steering Committee, told Beijing Review during the activity’s opening ceremony on July 29. Yu further hopes the activity will en c o u r a g e d e e p e r i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e SCODA and global youth Youth power
H a o G u o x i n , D e p u t y D i r e c t o r o f t h e Administrative Committee of the SCODA, said during the opening ceremony that the youth rep resent hope and a core power in promoting SCO cooperation and sustainable development
Hao welcomes suggestions from international young professionals on the demonstrative area’s future. T h e e v e n t o f f e r e d t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l y o u t h a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o s h a r e t h e i r o b s e r v a t i o n s a n d s u g g e s t i o n s w i t h l o c a l o f f i c i a l s , a n d c r e a t e d a platform for both sides to learn more about each other’s needs and wants In an exchange activ i t y o n J u l y 3 0 , H a o i n t r o d u c e d t h e S C O D A ’ s d e v e l o p m e n t o u t l i n e a n d s o m e o f t h e y o u n g participants chimed in with their ideas and sug gestions on the topic Nafeesa Mughal, a Ph D student from SCO member state Pakistan who is currently studying applied economics at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi Province’s capital city of Xi’an, told B e i j i n g R e v i e w t h a t t h e a c t i v i t y h a s b r o u g h t young talent to the global forefront. are talented, you are unique; just believe in your self This world is yours to conquer,” she said The SCODA is fascinating, modern and in t e r n a t i o n a l , F i l i z U n a l , a n i n t e r p r e t e r w i t h t h e Turkish Culture Center in Beijing, believes.
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I t ’ s t h e s e a s o n h a t n u a now and in Chenjiawan, a village in Zigui, Hubei Province, farmer Chen Yixuan is transporting bas kets of oranges from the mountains to the road via the tracks and cableways he installed earlier this year Previously, Chen’s nearly 3 hectares of oranges were transported by more than 200 workers every year, at a cost of 0 8 yuan ($0 1) per kg Now, he only needs to press a button on a remote control to have them transported down the hillside onto the tracks and then by cableway to the road, where they are loaded onto trucks. At present, Zigui County has 130,000 meters of these transport systems, slashing the cost of trans portation by 0.3 yuan ($0.04) per kg. In 2020, Zigui was listed as a national pilot zone for the digitalization of rural areas
Yandengbao Village in Zigui has 133 hectares of demonstration area for digitalized orange plant phone managing A farmer scans QR code government platform in Yuqing, county in Guizhou Province,
service
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t o o l s f o r c o l l e c t i n g m e t e o r o l o g i c a l data such as temperature and sunshine, monitoring soil moisture and spotting pests T h e r e a r e f o u r b l u e d r o p p e r s f o r w a t e r i n g o r a n g e t r e e s a n d a p p l y i n g fertilizers, which are half buried under each tree and connected with an opera tion room 200 meters away Under this s y s t e m , f a r m e r s c a n r e m o t e l y w a t e r the trees and apply fertilizers through a mobile
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40 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com FEATURES
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The application of digital technologies is giving wings to rural revitalization, a strategy first pro posed in 2017 China is working on consolidating and extending its achievements in poverty allevia tion and driving rural development following the nation’s 2020 victory over absolute poverty Reshaping agriculture
on February 18 RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Digitalization boosts rural development By Ji Jing
When Liu Fuhui, head of a rural coopera tive in Tengzhou, Shandong Province, recently checked the growth of dragon fruits in a greenhouse, he noticed yellow spots on the leaves He picked up his phone, opened an app and consulted an agricultural expert via video link The expert explained that the problem could have been caused by excessive water, lack of sunshine or an improper amount of fertilizer, and gave him sug Through the app, agricultural experts can moni tor the moisture, temperature and carbon dioxide density in greenhouses and provide farmers with the necessary guidance
Intelligent Agriculture
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orchard according to meteorological and soil mois ture data collected by the smart equipment, farmers can reduce water use by 70 percent, fertilizer use by 40 percent and labor cost by more than 90 percent
The county has developed orange processing, producing more than 80 products, including canned oranges and wine Through these value adding pro cessing projects, the county has achieved the zero and peel being fully utilized As of the end of last year, the output of oranges in Zigui reached 800,000 tons and output value 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion). Digital technologies have not only changed the methods of agricultural production, but also the sales models of agricultural products
At the information office of the Zigui County Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, head of the office Chen Li can check data about the county’s orange growing on a screen, including remote sens ing images of the orchards, soil moisture, and basic information about orange farmers Farmers are also able to check the farmgate prices and selling prices on e commerce platforms via a phone app developed by the county The app also shows the price movements to provide refer ence for farmers about when to sell their oranges to make more money. At an orange washing factory in the county, digital technologies are applied to sort the good ones from the bad ones
The factory uses infrared rays to analyze the color, sweetness and water content of the oranges and classify them into different categories. The sys tem has accelerated the standardized production of the fruit in the county
The county now has 2,600 e commerce com panies selling oranges and orange products, which have an annual sales volume of 3 billion yuan ($444 million). In Pizhou, Jiangsu Province, digital technolo gies have been applied to raising chickens Yu Xin, a chicken farmer, said in the past when he went out, he worried about his more than 40,000 chickens. Now, with the “pasture in the cloud” app, he is able to check up on them while he is away. Muyuan Farm in Pizhou, enabled by technolo gies including big data and the Internet of Things, h a s r e a l i z e d t h e w h o l e p r o c e s s m a n a g e m e n t o f chicken farming Bao Feng, head of Muyuan Farm, said while his father relied on experience to raise chickens, he relies on data. In the past the temperature dif ference within a day in the sheds was 3 degrees C e l s i u s , b u t n o w i t ’ s o n l y 0 . 3 d e g r e e C e l s i u s thanks to a smart platform The system can adjust the moisture, carbon dioxide density and light in the sheds to suit the chickens’ needs As a result, the chickens are more comfortable and their sur vival rate has improved I n r e c e n t y e a r s , P i z h o u h a s a d v a n c e d t h e digitalization of its rural areas, with all villages now having 4G coverage. Many local farmers are selling fried nuts through live streaming Li Yu, a local villager, said he live streamed more than 10 hours a day during Spring Festival in February this year and sold more than 20,000 yuan ($2,962) worth of nuts every day Improved governance In addition to facilitating agricultural production and product sales, digital technologies have also helped improve rural governance I n S h a n z h u a n g , a v i l l a g e i n T e n g z h o u , Shandong Province, a loudspeaker automatically b r o a d c a s t s n o t i c e s t o v i l l a g e r s . T h i s h a s b e e n made possible thanks to an app Liu Fayin, a vil ten malfunctioned when it rained Now, with the app, he only needs to type in the notice he wants to broadcast and the app will transmit the mes sage to the speakers. T h e v i l l a g e h a s a l s o i n s t a l l e d 5 G n e t w o r k s a n d v i l l a g e r s c a n c h e c k t h e f o o t a g e o n t h e i r phones via the surveillance cameras in their pri vate properties. Villager Wang Jialun said he can check the a r e a o u t s i d e h i s g a t e o n h i s p h o n e a n d d o e s n ’ t need to worry, not even when he forgets to lock t h e g a t e . H e c a n a l s o a c c e s s t h e f i n a n c i a l a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e i n f o r m a t i o n o f t h e v i l l a g e v i a a mobile app, which has improved village gover nance transparency BR Copyedited by G P Wilson Comments to jijing@cicgamericas com A staff member sells oranges via live streaming in Zigui, Hubei Province, on November 10, 2021 X I N H U A X N H U A
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 41http://www bjreview com FEATURES
42 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com FEATURES Breaking a ‘High’ Fever New ban set to smash China’s super tall construction craze By Yuan Yuan Th e 6 3 2 m e t e r S h a n g h a i T o w e r e a s i l y puts to shame other skyscrapers in China ever since its construction was finished in 2015 Sitting on the Huangpu River bank in Shanghai, it is currently the world’s third highest W h e r e t h e n e x t n e w s u p e r t a l l c o n s t r u c t i o n would come out in China has since been a ques t i o n o n m a n y l i p s a s s e v e r a l c i t i e s a n n o u n c e d their ambitious plans for erecting their own (even taller) landmarks But on July 12, a ban released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on the construction of buildings over 500 meters tall put a definitive halt to the height race The ban also strictly limits the construction of build ings taller than 250 meters and requires that any building over 100 meters must match the spatial scale of the city it’s in and commensurate with High-rises T h i s w a s n ’ t t h e f i r s t t i m e C h i n a i s s u e d s u c h a b a n I n A p r i l 2 0 2 0 , t h e N D R C a n n o u n c e d a r e g u l a t i o n o n r e s t r i c t i n g t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f skyscrapers over 500 meters In July 2021, the c o m m i s s i o n l i f t e d t h i s r e s t r i c t i o n t o a n o f f i c i a l ban. Long Weiding, a professor at Shanghai based Tongji University who has long been engaged in r o n m e n t a l m a n a g e m e n t , t o l d C h i n a N e w s w e e k that before releasing the restrictions, he and sev eral other experts had attended a meeting to offer their suggestions on related measures “All experts at the meeting suggested limiting the number of super tall buildings, as the disad vantages of these constructions far outweigh their advantages,” Long said T h e s k y s c r a p e r s , o n c e c o n s i d e r e d a s i g n o f economic prosperity, have become somewhat of a tool for cities to outcompete one another Wuhan, capital city of Hubei Province in central China, planned to outdo the Shanghai Tower by building a 636 meter tower of its own; Chengdu, cap ital of Sichuan Province in southwest China, voiced the same intention and decided it would be constructing a 677 meter one; Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu Province of east China, had even more ambitious plans: a 729 meter tower. Li Xun, a senior engineer on urban planning from the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, echoed Long’s words. “Some cities blindly their urban context,” Li said. “And to attract attention, some developers and urban planners went to the extremes of novelty and even eccentricity ” URBAN DEVELOPMENT
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 43http://www bjreview com Among the world’s top 100 tallest completed buildings, about half are in China FEATURES Among the world’s top 100 tallest completed buildings, about half are in China, according to t h e d a t a o f t h e C o u n c i l o n T a l l B u i l d i n g s a n d Urban Habitat (CTBUH), a Chicago based non High costs Getting a solid return on investment has proved e x t r e m e l y c h a l l e n g i n g f o r t h e s e b u i l d i n g s a n d their high vacancy rates have only aggravated the situation. “The vacancy rate of many tall office buildings has now reached 30 percent, in some places even 50 plus percent,” Li said as developers couldn’t get enough money to com plete them in time Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin is one example o f t h e l a t t e r W i t h a n i n v e s t m e n t o f r o u g h l y 7 0 b i l l i o n y u a n ( $ 1 0 3 b i l l i o n ) , i t a i m e d t o b e China’s third tallest tower with a designed height o f 5 9 6 5 m e t e r s B u t e v e n t h o u g h c o n s t r u c t i o n I n f o r m a t i o n f r o m t h e C T B U H s h o w s t h a t as of May this year, China had 81 tall buildings under construction; among them, 66 were left un completed. This has impacted many a developer’s moti vation to get involved in these types of projects a n d s i n c e 2 0 1 6 , t h e m a n a g e m e n t a n d s u s t a i n a b i l i t y o f h i g h r i s e s h a v e b e c o m e a c e n t r a l government concern Many factors, including deeper foundations and longer construction timelines, have largely increased the cost of erecting these giants T h e S h a n g h a i T o w e r , w i t h 1 2 8 f l o o r s , c o s t about 15 billion yuan ($2 2 billion) and construc tion spanned eight years from breaking ground t o c o m p l e t i o n . T h e s o f t a n d w e t s o i l m a d e i t at more than 30 meters below ground level with over 900 bore piles. B u t t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n c o s t i s j u s t t h e b e g i n ning The maintenance and operation fees of these structures are also much higher than those of their normal sized counterparts As most of the buildings are fully enclosed, their energy consumption for heating and air conditioning is much higher than that in lower ones “The energy consumption of super tall build i n g s i s 3 0 p e r c e n t h i g h e r t h a n t h a t i n n o r m a l structures,” Long said. High risks T h e i r h e i g h t a l s o m a k e s t h e m m o r e v u l n e r a b l e to strong winds and earthquakes In May 2021, SEG Plaza, a 355 meter skyscraper in Shenzhen, G u a n g d o n g P r o v i n c e , s t a r t e d s h a k i n g , s e n d i n g ty The culprits included strong winds, subway o p e r a t i o n s , a n d r i s i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s . F o l l o w i n g the scare, the building was closed for four months to undergo inspection and maintenance. Another crucial issue is that it can prove more d i f f i c u l t f o r t a l l b u i l d i n g s t o p o s s e s s a d e q u a t e e m e r g e n c y p r e p a r e d n e s s , l i k e i n t h e e v e n t o f a J i a n g D i n i n g , a m e m b e r o f C h i n a F i r e P r o t e c t i o n A s s o c i a t i o n , r e v e a l e d t h a t r e s c u e r e s p o n s e f o r t a l l s t r u c t u r e s i s a t r i c k y t o p i c g i v e n t h e m a x i m u m h e i g h t f i r e f i g h t i n g t r u c k s can handle is just over 100 meters Smoke rises vertically at a speed roughly 10 times that of its horizontal diffusion, quickly rendering it impos s i b l e f o r p e o p l e o n h i g h e r f l o o r s t o m a k e t h e i r way down In many cases, people inside these tall mar v e l s o n l y h a v e b u i l t i n a u t o m a t i c f i r e f i g h t i n g Moreover, the lifespan of these structures is usually shorter than that of normal sized build i n g s a n d r e n o v a t i n g t h e m a s t h e y a g e c a n s e e costs go through the roof T h e s u p e r t a l l c o n s t r u c t i o n c r a z e d o e s n o t align with China’s green development philoso phy and needs to be tackled at the root, Huang Yan, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban Rural Development, said. BR Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon Comments to yuanyuan@cicgamericas com A cluster of skyscrapers in Shanghai on July 30 V C G
Re c e i v i n g a P l u m B l o s s o m A w a r d , C h i n a ’ s t o p h o n o r f o r opera and drama, is the dream of many an opera performer. Su Yanrong, won hers in 2009 at the age of 30. Gezi is the only traditional Chinese opera origi nating from the southern areas of Fujian Province It then arose from Taiwan and now thrives on both sides of the Straits S u s e e s t h e f o l k a r t a s a n e x t r a o r d i n a r y p a r t o f t r a d i t i o n a l t e m p l e f a i r s , w h e r e p e o p l e d r e s s e d i n b e a u t i f u l c o s tumes came to entertain the crowds with t h e i r m o v i n g m e l o d i e s . “ I t ’ s t r u e t h a t most people today are more familiar with b i g o p e r a s s u c h a s P e k i n g O p e r a a n d Yuju, but in Fujian, Gezi is popular as it absorbs local characteristics,” Su told Beijing Review
Hearth and Home Gezi Opera performance recaps the history of Chinese emigrants By Li Qing Devoted to Gezi Opera for 30 years, S u h a s b r o u g h t t h i s f o l k a r t t o m a n y places, showcasing the beauty of Chinese opera and Fujian’s culture together with h e r c o l l e a g u e s f r o m t h e X i a m e n G e z i Opera Research Center. Q i a o p i , a G e z i O p e r a p e r f o r m a n c e crafted over the past four years, hit the stage at Beijing’s Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on July 16 The play focuses o n t h o s e C h i n e s e w h o l e f t t h e i r n a t i v e country to work across Southeast Asia in the 19th century Qiaopi is the name giv en to the letters written home by Chinese e m i g r a n t s w h i c h a l s o f u n c t i o n e d a s r e m i t t a n c e s T h e i r k e y f u n c t i o n w a s t o preserve family ties Even though most Beijing audiences a r e n ’ t a b l e t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e s i n g i n g and dialogue in Fujian’s local (Hokkien) dialect, Su, one of the leading actresses in Qiaopi, wasn’t too worried about their feedback. Besides the subtitles appearing on LED screens, today’s spectators are m o r e i n t e r e s t e d i n a f o r m o f e n t e r t a i n ment with unique features, she said Hitting home C o m p a r e d w i t h i t s p e e r s , G e z i O p e r a , with about 100 years of history, is a young opera genre It incorporates elements from Peking Opera, Liyuan Opera, popular in south Fujian, and Beiguan Opera which actually has a large Taiwanese fan base It is rich in rustic character with lots of singing and little dialogue. The simple and moving melody is easy to pick up The lyrics are lively and catchy I n 2 0 1 3 , U N E S C O i n c l u d e d qiaopi i n i t s M e m o r y o f t h e W o r l d R e g i s t e r , Y N K A N G A Gezi Opera performance titled Qiaopi takes to the stage in Beijing on July 16
46 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com CULTURE
What hasn’t changed is their love for the Chinese mainland and their heartfelt care for its development, Yang Boxun, E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r o f t h e C h i n e s e Overseas Publishing House, told Beijing R e v i e w . “ A t t h e s a m e t i m e , t h e y h a v e a l s o i n t e g r a t e d w i t h l o c a l s o c i e t y a n d contributed to its development ” Across the Straits Due to COVID 19 induced travel restric tions, many Gezi Opera musicians from C h i n a ’ s T a i w a n , w h o ’ d p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the creation of many works initiated by the Xiamen Gezi Opera Research Center, w e r e u n a b l e t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e l a t e s t showcase Over 100 years ago, the original Gezi b a l l a d t r a v e l e d f r o m s o u t h F u j i a n t o Taiwan. The folksong further developed in Taiwan, transforming itself into a full f l e d g e d o p e r a g e n r e . I t t h e n s p r e a d t o Southeast Asia through overseas Chinese “It embodies the travel of the Hokkien people and records their experiences and emotions during the process,” Zeng said. Exchanges in the field have become more frequent since the 1980s, and both sides of the Taiwan Straits have accel e r a t e d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e f o l k a r t , involving the contribution of many artists and scholars, Zeng said. In Taiwan, where it has a larger fan base, the opera has formed a mature mechanism between market and audience; its mainland branch, on the other hand, receives more government support and has achieved more remarkable results in terms of academic re search, according to Zeng “Analyzing the differences and advan tages of both sides helps combine the art w i t h c o n t e m p o r a r y t o p i c s a n d t r e n d s , f u r t h e r lifting the opera’s p r e s e r v a t i o n a n d promotion,” Zeng said BR Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon Comments to liqing@cicgamericas com C O U R T E S Y P H O T O A poster of Qiaopi
AUGUST 11, 2022 BEIJING REVIEW 47http://www bjreview com CULTURE established in 1992 to preserve the world’s d o c u m e n t a r y h e r i t a g e . Z e n g X u e w e n , a m e m b e r o f t h e X i a m e n G e z i O p e r a Research Center, recognized its potential and created an eponymous play: Qiaopi. “Developing this cultural concept into a play was one of my most challenging undertakings Instead of introducing what qiaopi is, we needed to explain it to audi e n c e s t h r o u g h a t o u c h i n g s t o r y , ” Z e n g told Beijing Review. Based on the true historical figure of Huang Rixing, the play starts with his tale of woe. The folk artist from Fujian travels to Southeast Asia to make money so as to create a better life for his fiancee, Ruyi, portrayed by Su Unfortunately, he is traf ficked as a “coolie,” a derogatory term used to describe unskilled laborers in late 19th century Asia, to work in a mine. Once there, he meets many people who share similar experiences Huang decides to escape and promis es to deliver qiaopis to the homes of other miners who have not been able to contact their families in China for many years He becomes a shuike, someone who travels back and forth to deliver letters for Chinese emigrants and their families, qiaopi delivery agency in Xiamen, Fujian Su considers Gezi Opera the best art f o r m t o i l l u s t r a t e H u a n g ’ s s t o r y a s i t s weeping tunes really manage to hit home, conveying a sense of frustration and trag edy. At the same time, the typical singing also reflects the persistence and strength of Chinese emigrants struggling far away from their motherland Home and away “Qiaopi does not simply retell the trials a n d t r i b u l a t i o n s o f C h i n e s e e m i g r a n t s back in the day. We hope this play can c h a n n e l t h e i r c u l t u r e a n d t h e C h i n e s e spirit. Never did they forget their home land and families,” Zeng said For instance, in their letters, these em igrants always offered instructions about how to use the money they were sending, such as educating children, taking care of seniors and supporting local construction and development, Zeng explained W a n g L i y i n g , D e p u t y S e c r e t a r y General of the Beijing Xiamen Chamber of Commerce, said the performance left him feeling homesick “When the actors were speaking and singing in Fujian dia lect, I was instantly transported back to my childhood ” Feng Xinxin, a member of the council of the China Association for International C u l t u r a l E x c h a n g e s w i t h O v e r s e a s Chinese, said the play channels the spirit a n d h a r d w o r k o f t h e s e C h i n e s e e m i grants, even in the new era “Different from those in the 19th cen tury, today’s generations live good lives in other countries and regions, and con tinuously promote economic cooperation and cultural exchanges with the Chinese mainland,” she said
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The concept of revenge tourism first emerged in 2020 The COVID 19 pandemic closed down the majority of business in the travel sector, borders worldwide were closed and repeated lockdowns and quarantine re quirements meant that people had very few travel prospects. As a result, there was, and still is, a large pent up demand for travel China saw a major rush of revenge tour ism during the May Day holiday (May 1 5) in 2021, with over 230 million traveling domesti cally over the five day holiday, representing a 119.7 percent year on year increase, according to Ministry of Culture and Tourism Chinese wanderlust was further fueled by the relaxation of COVID 19 rules this summer, releasing many previously locked down travel aficionados in mega cities like Shanghai and Beijing back “into the wild ” But alongside the need to make up for lost time, a marked shift in desired destinations now prevails Following the inauguration of the National Rural Revitalization Administration last February, the authority introduced a range of policies to more deeply develop village L S B E T H V A N P A R I D O N
48 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 11, 2022 http://www bjreview com tourism. And Xinjiang, with its many remote townships, seems to be making the most of these new strategies. More than 190 million tourists traveled to the region in 2021, a year on year increase of 20.5 percent, according to a regional government work report
By Elsbeth van Paridon Copyedited by G P Wilson Comments to elsbeth@cicgamericas com
Visitors watch a performance at the gate to the Ancient City of Kashgar (Kashi), a popular tourist destination in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on July 24
Greeting Cards Pack a Punch
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The term daka has become a fixture on Chinese social media in recent years Literally translating as “punching a card,” the expres sion refers to the trend of online influencers taking short trips to popular places and then posting pictures and anecdotes on social media to show their followers what they got up to Their destination du moment? Xinjiang Kashgar is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of south Xinjiang and one of China’s westernmost cities Its location near the na tion’s borders with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan has long made it the convergence point of diverging cultures But the area isn’t just home to lush green vegeta tion and remnants of ancient empires; the city’s tourism, too, is blooming. As China puts COVID 19 resurgences under control, “revenge travel” has emerged as popular netizen speech referring to the na tion’s pent up desire for new travel experiences across dreamy decors from the beautiful and laid back city of Dali in Yunnan Province to the rugged features of south Xinjiang
From July 1 to 21, a total of 25.54 million tourists traveled to Xinjiang, up 15 7 percent year on year with a tourism revenue of 19.1 billion yuan ($2 83 billion), up 16 67 percent year on year, China Central Television report ed last month This overall tourism boom has encouraged more people of different ethnic groups in the region to join the sector, their combined efforts catering to the daka needs of online influencers and relaxation of urbanites seeking to escape the stifling summer heat alike Revenge is sweet like a Hami melon. BR Aw o m a n d r e s s e d t o t h e n i n e s i n t h e v i b r a n t t r a d i t i o n a l d r e s s o f C h i n a ’ s U y g u r e t h n i c g r o u p strikes a pose against the brightly hued b a c k d r o p o f a b u z z i e e i b z r i n K a s h g a r C i t y , X i n j i a n g U y g u r A u t o n o m o u s R e g i o n G o l d e n h o u r i s here and the snap will make for a picture perfect holiday greeting card She quickly polishes the picture and posts it on Douyin, China’s TikTok She’s daka ing
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The Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year generated a boom in ice and snow tour ism and the region possesses an abundance of winter sports facilities During the weeklong Spring Festival holiday in February this year, Xinjiang received about 3 6 million tourists
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The tourism market in Xinjiang now con tinues to heat up with the arrival of the summer peak season With virus prevention and control measures in place, the region offers eager travelers a variety of tourism packages includ ing mountain hiking, desert road trips and folk culture experiences Xinjiang comprises 1.66 million square km or approximately one sixth of China’s total land area. Traveling to the region and visiting its many tourist spots used to be a daunting un dertaking, but, today, that has become a thing of the past Xinjiang features 24 civil airports, with No.24, Tarim Airport in Aral, having commenced operation only in June
Beijing Review is China’s only national English newsweekly published by China International Communications Group Center for the Americas.
In addition to Beijing Review, CICG Americas publishes China Hoy, a monthly publication ublication launched in 1960, aiming to bridge the gap between China and the Spanish-speaking world—particularly Latin-American countries. Websites: http://www.spanish.chinatoday.cn http://www.chinahoy.mx
