Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.64/No.20 i Beijing Review

The seventh national population census, conducted in 2020, registered a population of over 1.4 billion, still the largest in the world. The results were released on May 11. Compared with the sixth census carried out in 2010, the latest one shows several new features. While the total population maintained a mild growth momentum in the past decade, the ethnic minorities grew at a higher rate. The national population increased by 72.06 million persons compared with 2010, with an average annual growth rate of 0.53 percent, down by 0.04 percentage point. While the Han population grew by 4.93 percent, the ethnic minorities increased by 10.26 percent, taking their presence in the national population up by 0.4 percentage point. China still holds a demographic dividend. The 15-59 age group accounted for 63.35…

CHINESE TYCOON BUILDS NEW UNIVERSITY IN FUJIAN The Heren Charitable Foundation, started by Cao Dewang, Chairman of Fuyao Group, recently announced a plan to invest 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) to build the Fuyao University of Science and Technology in Fujian Province. The 65-year-old initiated the group in 1987, which eventually became the world’s second largest supplier of automotive glass. Cao and his wife decided in 2011 to donate 300 million shares of Fuyao Group, a market value of 3.5 billion yuan ($544.2 million), for the creation of their own charitable foundation. The foundation, whose donation priorities include the educational sector, became the first privately held charitable foundation under State Council approval. The program will focus on new ways of running a public university on the basis of being “high…

As U.S. President Joe Biden and his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken attempt to rebrand post-Donald Trump America through new policies and narratives at home and abroad, the topic of “human rights” has become, once again, a focal point of Washington’s propaganda. China should welcome this discussion and join it robustly. A dark history From what pedestal does the U.S. preach and point? Which president in American history had clean hands? Which president did not preside over a nation with systemic abuse of its own people, especially the poor, women and minorities? Which have avoided war and aggression? The U.S. came into being through genocide against Native Americans, shady deals with despots that more than doubled the nation’s size, aggressive wars against Mexico and Spain, and invasions and suppressions as…

(Excerpts) My first connection to China was a spiritual journey over 35 years ago. I wanted to identify with and learn from the lives of individuals who ‘died with a smile.’ That journey took me east, to Taoism and the Tao Te Ching written by Lao-tzu in the 6th century B.C. Since then I have taken over 80 trips to China, connecting with hundreds of individuals: Chinese business executives and managers, regulators and other governmental officials, experts in a wide range of social and economic fields, and many individuals interested in Taoism. I gained a very positive impression of China through three and a half decades of relationships and interactions. I witnessed highly competent and educated executives and government officials, happy and optimistic people with a high level of pride…

China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 and the abolition of restrictions under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing in 2005 marked the end of an era for the apparel industry across developed economies. Manufacturers in those countries ceased almost all production activity in favor of low-cost sourcing from emerging countries, including China. By 2020, China had become the world’s largest producer and exporter of textiles and apparel, with an export value of nearly $291 billion. Nevertheless, with the onset of accelerated population aging, the demographic dividend China had previously enjoyed, referring to the rapidly growing young population, is beginning to decline. Moreover, as a result of rising labor costs, the country is losing its former comparative advantage. Facing stiff competition, Chinese manufacturers are not sitting back. They…

When A33, a theater in Beijing, hosted a stand-up comedy show on May 10, to the surprise of the organizers, nearly 250 people turned up to laugh at the punchlines. Six years ago, such attendance would have been unbelievable. Indeed, there were even instances of shows having more comedians than viewers. At the show, Wan Da was one of the performers. The 58-year-old is a member of Beijing Comedy Center, a stand-up comedy club established in 2015. Wan articulated the concern of the industry. “Many people are worried about the future of stand-up comedy, a genre that is very popular in the U.S., after its introduction in China. Can it adapt itself here?” he said. Then he answered his own query. “As the results show, there is no need to…

Very recently, the acknowledgement section in a doctoral dissertation managed to stir up an online sensation. Huang Guoping, a Ph.D graduating from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2017, wrote in this part that he had toiled away for 22 years before he was finally able to hand in his doctoral dissertation. He further acknowledged the countless difficulties he’d encountered along the 22-year-long path of receiving education from primary school, across the mountains surrounding his village all the way to the CAS. Huang is now working with Tencent AI Lab, successfully transforming his life and fate. His bylines went viral and a growing number of people across Chinese society began to ponder the question: How can people change their fate through education? Zhao Zhijiang (news.chengdu.cn): For thousands of years,…

The worst pandemic in a century coupled with drastic changes in the international landscape poses unprecedented challenges. At the United Nations Security Council high-level meeting on May 7, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated the need to follow the basic norms governing international relations built around the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. He also said that international rules must be based on international law, and must be written by all. They are not the patent or privilege of a few. They must be applicable to all countries, and there should be no exceptionalism or double standard. However, during a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) foreign and development ministers on May 4, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that while they were trying…

‘Quick, someone get Adrian Zenz on the phone! To investigate and see if ‘genocide’ is taking place in the U.S.” Readers were joking in the comment sections of several Western media outlets in response to reports covering the declining birth rate in the U.S. A drop in birth rates was in fact one of Zenz’s main reasons underpinning his claim that “genocide” occurred in China’s Xinjiang region. According to a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 5, the number of births in the country in 2020 fell by 4 percent from the previous year, hitting a new record low since 1979. In fact, since 2007, the U.S. has remained below the fertility replacement level, meaning on a daily average there are more…

Anti-pandemic supplies including oxygen concentrators and ventilators donated by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) arrived in India on May 9. The shipment from the southwestern city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, was the first batch of supplies donated by the RCSC to India, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong said in a tweet. Sun also said the RCSC will provide $1 million in cash to the Indian Red Cross Society through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. “In the past two weeks, 61 cargo flights have been in operation from China to India, transporting various urgently needed medical supplies for India,” Sun tweeted on May 8. India became the second country after the United States to record more than…

Soon after taking office, questions began to swirl around President Joe Biden and his team of advisors, about how they might lower the temperature and resume a cordial, constructive relationship with China after the incendiary rhetoric of the Donald Trump-era. Now, several months in, the heat might be lower but little else has happened beyond a few pledges from the two superpowers to work together to improve the environment. Some of this immobilism is surely explained by President Biden’s focus on the American economy and COVID-19 recovery. Some of it might also be written off as a wish not to be perceived as being soft on China. Still, such a slow shift toward constructive engagement may well reflect deeper problems having to do with some fundamentally flawed assumptions about China,…

Nowadays, the Internet has become a place people easily use to abuse, show off, attack others through cyber manhunting, spread rumors, advertise child pornography and violence, or invent false traffic by hiring digital ghostwriters. In other words, damaging behavior and information pollute the environment of the cyberspace on a daily basis. For example, wildly popular iQiyi talent show Youth With You 3 has been suspended days before its season finale due to a voting promotion that led crazed fans to waste huge quantities of milk. Young fans went out of their way to hire people to open bottles of milk, just to spill them down the drain all because they sought to obtain and scan the QR codes printed on the inside of bottle caps to vote for their favorite…

One day every three weeks, Shi Hua spends six hours commuting to and from an island on the outskirts of Shanghai. The 33-year-old Shanghai local has been making the trip for the past three years as part of her work for Chinese telecom carrier, China Mobile. The island of Hengsha lies 60 km north of down-town Shanghai and is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Shi and five of her colleagues take turns to work in the only China Mobile service office located on the island, open just two days a week. The only way to get to Hengsha is by ferry. Shi, who lives in the Shanghai district of Pudong, takes two buses to the ferry station and then catches the ferry to the island. She normally…