Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.63/No.44 i Beijing Review

The U.S. State Department has designated the U.S. operations of six more Chinese media companies as “foreign missions.” According to a list provided to the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., the six media outlets are Beijing Review, Economic Daily, Jiefang Daily, Social Sciences in China Press, Xinmin Evening News and Yicai Global (also known as China Business Network). At a press briefing on October 21, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move was aimed at “pushing back on Chinese Communist propaganda efforts here at home.” In a letter sent to Beijing Review, the State Department said Beijing Review’s U.S. bureau has to register details about its property and travels and visits by its employees with the U.S. Government. It is tantamount to imposing political surveillance over the daily…

Mutellip Toxtiroza got his first job at the age of 22. He was hired as a guard by the Jinken Farming Group, a subsidiary of state-owned enterprise (SOE) Tianjin Food Group, when it opened in Yutian, a county in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in 2018. “I wanted to find a job close to home and then I heard they were hiring local people,” Mutellip said. “I had no diploma or technical training so a guard’s job was good enough for me at that time.” In less than six months, the proactive young man had impressed his bosses and his life has changed. Projects and technology Chen Yuechao, deputy general manager of the company, described how Mutellip caught his eye. “Our company’s main business is mutton sheep breeding,” he said. “One…

To deal with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, over 170 economies formed a multilateral arrangement, known as the Covax Facility, in June to secure vaccines in a cost-effective, targeted way. Proposed by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the World Health Organization (WHO), the facility will seek investment to secure approved vaccines for the most at-risk groups in all participating economies. The Covax Facility is probably the biggest multilateral cooperation initiative since the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015. China joined the Covax Facility on October 8, a follow-up on its commitment that any vaccine developed domestically will be made available as an international public good, especially for developing countries. It is also working with a dozen other economies to develop…

China and the West today once again find themselves at a crossroads of reciprocal understanding. The spirit of classical civilization remains deeply embedded in modern-day civilization. America and Europe inherited the genes of the ancient Greek and Roman societies just as other regions have continued the traditions of their own ancestors. The difference in cultural gene pool more often than not guides countries and regions onto distinct paths of development. Ancient civilizations and their destinies The political order of modern European and American civilization at its core features a combination of ancient Greek and Roman political essentials, Christian beliefs, and industrial culture, with ancient Greece’s society considered the most fundamental source of modern Western civilization. Likewise, the path contemporary China has carved out for itself is deeply rooted in the…

TWO VETERANS HONORED AS ROLE MODELS Two veterans, Sun Jingkun and Xu Zhenming, have been honored with the title “Role Model of Our Time” for their contributions during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53). Sun, 96, born in Dandong, Liaoning Province in northeast China, took part in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea in 1950 as a volunteer and received eight medals. After the war he returned to his hometown and took up farming. Xu, 95, born in Jiangsu Province, east China, fought in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45). He also participated in the ensuing War of Liberation (1945-49) and the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. In 1958, he became a guard at the cemetery of General…

The Lancang-Mekong River flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam, known as Lancang in China and Mekong elsewhere. The U.S. began to meddle over the river in 2009, when it launched the Lower Mekong Initiative with Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam, attempting to curb China’s growing influence in the region. The initiative ran in line with the Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific strategy proposed by then U.S. President Barack Obama, with the aim to modernize and strengthen U.S. alliances. In its early days, the initiative prioritized capacity building in environmental protection, education, public health and infrastructure. Although then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unfoundedly criticized China for its dams on the upper reaches of the river, no substantial cooperation on water resources was conducted.…

China’s housing market remained generally stable in September, with slight month-on-month growth in home prices in major cities, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on October 20. New home prices in the four first-tier cities—Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen—rose by 0.4 percent month on month in September, down 0.2 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the NBS. On a monthly basis, new home prices edged up 0.3 percent in 31 second-tier cities, and rose 0.5 percent in 35 third-tier cities. Prices of resold housing in first-tier cities edged up 0.9 percent month on month in September, with the growth slowing by 0.1 percentage point over the previous month. Second-tier cities saw slower month-on-month growth of resold housing prices, while the price rise in third-tier cities…

The age of criminal responsibility in China is currently 16, with those aged between 14 and 16 facing criminal liability only if they commit serious violent offenses, such as intentional homicide, rape or robbery. China’s criminal code at present holds that no child under the age of 14 can be held criminally liable, which means that children under 14 can’t be arrested or charged with a crime. On October 13, a draft amendment to the Criminal Law was submitted for a second review by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the country’s top legislature. The aim of the amendment is to better respond to serious violent offenses by minors. The news of the age revision in the draft amendment has attracted huge attention, mostly because recent years have seen a…

When reading Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Volume III, one needs to bear in mind two important factors: One is China’s national rejuvenation, and the other is the world experiencing a level of change unseen in a century. Starting a new chapter in building socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era is the first of the 19 topics covered, the key being how to understand the new era. Remaining true to the original aspiration and keeping the mission firmly in mind is the message expounded throughout the volume. It is also the finale of the new book. The third volume, together with the previous two, expounds Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The essentials of the thought are: Historical positioning. This theory…

($1=6.9 yuan) Fixed Assets Investment Growth in China (% y.o.y.) Fixed Assets Investment Growth in China by Sector January-September (% y.o.y.) Primary industry: Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery Secondary industry: Mining, manufacturing, construction, and electricity, thermal, fuel gas and water production and supply Tertiary industry: Services Fixed Assets Investment Growth in China by Region January-September (% y.o.y.) (Source: National Bureau of Statistics) Sales of passenger cars, including sedans, sport utility vehicles, minivans and multipurpose vehicles rose 7.3 percent year on year to 1.91 million units in China in September. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest saw its railway freight top 45.8 million tons in the third quarter of 2020, up 10.6 percent year on year. China’s civil transport airports are expected to reach 241 by the end of…

When President Xi Jinping announced that China would achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, not many people were fully aware what it would mean for the country and the world. Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by balancing greenhouse gas emissions with carbon removal or simply eliminating carbon dioxide emissions altogether. It means having a net-zero carbon footprint. Xi’s pledge came in a speech at the General Debate of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly on September 22, less than an hour after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked China for “rampant pollution.” But Trump conveniently ignored the fact that the economies of the developed world, including the U.S., were powered by coal and petroleum for almost two centuries and their pollution remained completely unchecked in that…