Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.64/No.44 i Beijing Review

On October 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended and addressed a conference in Beijing to mark the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the People’s Republic of China’s lawful seat in the UN. Summarizing China’s philosophy as a major country that pursues peaceful development for the benefit of people worldwide, he called on the international community to dynamically advocate the common values of humanity featuring peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, determinedly defend the authority of the UN Charter and cooperatively observe true multilateralism. For the past 50 years, the Chinese people have promoted economic and social development, with overall national strength continuously on the rise; knowing all too well the value of stability, they have…

SENIOR DIPLOMAT ASSUMES NEW ROLE Head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s information department Hua Chunying has been promoted to assistant foreign minister, according to the ministry’s website. The 51-year-old diplomat stepped into her new role after Qin Gang, former vice foreign minister, was appointed ambassador to the U.S. in July and left for Washington, D.C. Hua’s updated profile reads her areas of responsibility are “information, protocol and translation affairs.” In 1992, Hua graduated from Nanjing University and embarked on her diplomatic career. As the 27th spokesperson responding to questions about China’s foreign policy from home and abroad, she made her first public appearance in that role in November 2012. Before serving as ministry spokeswoman, Hua worked with its Department of European Affairs and once served at the embassy in Singapore…

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the People’s Republic of China’s lawful seat in the UN. With this historic event, the Chinese people, accounting for one fourth of the world’s population, were able to return to the UN family. In the five decades since, China has stood for sovereign equality and non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, while opposing power politics and hegemony. It has safeguarded international justice, adhering to equity and impartiality, and opposed geopolitical rivalry and exclusive blocs. The country has also supported the political settlement of hotspot issues in line with the spirit of the UN Charter and stood up to the use of force or unilateral sanctions. Constructive and comprehensive Strongly committed to democracy, the rule of law and equity in international…

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks that triggered the American “war on terror,” a blanket term for all preemptive military strikes intended to reduce the threat terrorism posed to the U.S. homeland. It was foreshadowed by the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, which had brought about enormous sorrow, wanton destruction and civilian casualties to the Afghan nation before the American troops finally made their chaotic exit two decades later. In retrospect, the war on terror failed to pummel the spread of terrorism. On the contrary, it was the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq that in 2013 triggered the birth of a new extremist group “Islamic State” growing out of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Given the benefits of hindsight, the international…

Despite disruptions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, cooperation between China and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries has continued at an accelerated pace, former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle said at the Fourth Dialogue Between the Civilizations of China and Latin America and the Caribbean on October 22. He was echoed by Ma Peihua, former Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who stressed that in a complex and volatile world, it is never a sustainable solution for countries to detach themselves from the international community. Developing countries, including China and LAC nations, need to work together, support one another, and conduct cooperation and exchanges. Only in this way can we overcome obstacles and achieve common development, Ma added. Both China and LAC nations…

Located 50 minutes by bus from the center of Shanghai is an institution that used to be shrouded in mystery. Its location is better known to Shanghai locals than its name. Over the past decades, its address was commonly used in local jokes or even insults, such as the phrase “You’ll be sent to 600 Wanpingnan Road.” People considered visiting this place, the Shanghai Mental Health Center (SMHC), a disgrace as those suffering from mental illness were labeled as “abnormal people.” Little was known about what went on within the walls of this place, which has been known simply, and pejoratively, as “the mental hospital” since its establishment in 1935. In recent years, however, a growing public awareness of mental health issues has led to a gradual lifting of the…

When the word “battle,” or any other war-affiliated term, pops up in a movie title, you’re usually in for an action-packed, loud, at times cruel, but ever-grand spectacle: Dunkirk, Pearl Harbor, Hacksaw Ridge, Enemy at the Gates. Yet there’s more to it than meets the eye. Three prestigious directors—Chen Kaige, Hark Tsui and Dante Lam—are behind the 176-minute-long war epic The Battle at Lake Changjin, shot with the help of an unprecedented 70,000 extras and China’s largest-ever production budget of $200 million, that follows the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV) who joined the battle at Lake Changjin, or Chosin Reservoir, in the northeast of the Korean Peninsula during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53). With total revenue reaching 5.3 billion yuan ($830 million) as of October 26,…

On September 21, during the general debate of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to all member states the building of a global community of development with a shared future. This initiative comes at a time when the world is halfway to meeting the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and at a time when COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on global development, and climate change is bringing both opportunities and challenges. It aims to encourage countries to work together to steer the world toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth. Inadequate, unbalanced and unequal development is a problem faced by many countries and a major challenge to the international community. The solution put forward by Xi underlines the importance of…

Among the many nicknames conjured up by his opponents, “Empty Shelves Joe” may be the harshest on the very dedicated U.S. President Joe Biden. Since taking office, high inflation rates and a serious supply chain crisis linger on, and empty shelves run across stores and markets nationwide. The situation is expected to continue and stands to affect the Christmas shopping season from mid to late December. As usual, China becomes the easy target. Some American politicians claim that the root cause of the ongoing supply chain crisis in the West lies in China’s accomplishment of extreme poverty alleviation. After the living standards of 1.4 billion Chinese people are improved, the population’s consumption of food and energy has amplified. A newfangled conspiracy theory sets forth that the Chinese Government is interfering…

On the sidelines of the Fourth Dialogue Between the Civilizations of China and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Paulo Estivallet de Mesquita, Brazilian Ambassador to China, and Luis Diego Monsalve, Colombian Ambassador to China, shared their thoughts on cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries with Beijing Review. An edited excerpt of their views follows: Paulo Estivallet de Mesquita The fact is that, throughout the years, a lot of communication between Brazil and China was mediated by others. We have to gain a direct perspective on one another and not just hear about the other through the developed countries’ press systems. Today, we have to establish more direct contact. The increase in the number of Confucius institutes in Brazil has been huge, with Brazilian…

We arrived very late to the city shimmering with neon lights. The road was narrow, long and winding, but the driver knew it like the back of his hand. We entered huge gates decorated with flags and the guesthouse owner decked out in traditional attire welcomed us by serving up a late night dinner. Tasty. The place we arrived at was Danba, or Rongzhag, a county of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. Zhonglu is one of the area’s oldest and best preserved villages. In Tibetan, the name means “the promised land.” In the past decade, the region’s residents have switched from growing corn, peppers and raising pigs to the tourism industry. The government has been actively supporting those endeavors as youngsters constantly leave the place in pursuit…

China was one of the architects of the UN. The country was the first signatory of the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945. Yet it was only in October 1971, with the Chinese delegation led by then Vice Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua, that the People’s Republic of China’s representation in the UN was resumed. Since that time, the UN has had the great privilege of witnessing and supporting China in achieving one of the greatest periods of socioeconomic progress in world history. Now, on the 50th anniversary of China’s return to the UN, as we commemorate a half-century of cooperation, the question naturally emerges: Which way now for the UN and China? China and the world are at a critical juncture. Tentatively emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, but with…

Bilateral relations between China and the U.S. have seen their fair share of ups and downs in recent years. Wang Huiyao, President of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based think tank, spoke with John L. Thornton, Chair Emeritus at Brookings Institution, an American think tank, about future ways to break the impasse and move the bilateral relationship forward. An edited excerpt of their dialogue follows: Wang Huiyao: You talked about the deficit of trust between China and the U.S. and how we can once again build this up. Today, we are several months into President Joe Biden’s administration; what more can be done? John Thornton: I am skeptical about the grand sweeping statements about inflection points or decoupling or Cold War analogies. For me, these statements are mostly…

China underwent its eighth trade policy review by the World Trade Organization (WTO) from October 20 to 22. This comprehensive assessment of China’s trade policy came at the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the WTO, a time when certain countries are wielding unilateralism and international trade is being battered by the COVID-19 pandemic; and China’s foreign trade is bucking the trend. China received 2,250 written questions from 39 WTO members. The result of this review shows that the vast majority of WTO members appreciate China’s huge economic and social achievements after the country’s accession to the organization, confirming China’s role as a major engine in boosting the world economy and lauding its efforts to help other developing countries and the least developed countries out of poverty and debt, and…