Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.65/No.14 i Beijing Review

PEOPLE & POINTS

SCHOLAR WINS PRESTIGIOUS SCIENCE AWARD Lu Ke, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has been honored with this year’s Institute of Metals/Robert Franklin Mehl Award for his research in nano-metal materials, making him the second-ever Chinese scientist to win the prestigious award. Lu, born in 1965, was elected as a CAS academician in 2003 and has been director of the Shenyang National Laboratory of Materials Science since 2018. That same year, he became vice governor of Liaoning Province in northeast China. The scholar is also a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and a foreign member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. Lu was the 101st recipient of the award, the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in…

History Rhymes: The Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict first erupted on February 24, with many Western mainstream media denouncing Russia under Vladimir Putin’s leadership as an “invader.” Yet what we must understand, are the developments and issues that led to its outbreak. The origins can be traced back some 30 years, when the Cold War ended in 1991 due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union (USSR). The disbanding also contributed to the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance established in May 1951 by the USSR alongside East-Central European countries such as Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. The pact, as a balance of power against the military threat from NATO, was created in 1949. The Cold War era saw ideological strife as well as an arms race between the two blocs.…

American Ambition or Naïve Assumption?

One month after the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted in full force, U.S. President Joe Biden flew to Europe to call on American allies to impose tougher sanctions against Russia. During a meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels, Belgium, Biden once again uttered his proposal that Russia should be removed from the Group of 20 (G20) major world economies. Yet America’s goal in se seems unattainable. The 17th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit will take place in November in Bali, Indonesia. As rotating presiding country, Indonesia has made it clear that the event is a gathering to discuss global economic issues. It should therefore not include the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, nor be pressured into excluding Russia from the organization. Brazil, India and China also believe that according to…

On Guard, En Garde!

At a press conference on March 29, Liu Renyuan, Deputy Secretary General of the municipal government of Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, expressed apologies for the grocery shortages related to lockdowns, and more specifically the closure of two vegetable wholesale markets during the city’s most recent COVID-19 resurgence. “We are particularly anxious and concerned and we want to express our sincerest apologies to the public for the inconvenience caused,” Liu said. Since early March, Changchun, with a population of over 8 million, has been tackling complex challenges brought on by the coronavirus’ Omicron variant. At the height of this wave of infections, the city saw over 2,000 confirmed locally transmitted cases every day. To contain the spread, residential communities in urban areas and villages were placed under lockdown. All public…

6 min

Minor Players, Major Drivers

If light is the way to dispel darkness, then Beijing-based Landsky Technology Group Co. Ltd. narrates a bright and fascinating way of displaying optical technology. “Light is no longer just for illuminating objects. A well-designed lighting scheme can make people truly sense their surroundings,” Liang Ye, a senior manager at Landsky, told Beijing Review. Coming in from this perspective, the hi-tech enterprise in the field of lighting technology has focused its research and development (R&D) efforts on enriching the relationship between light and life, light and space, as well as that between light and nature. An official provider of the creative light and shadow show services for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Landsky undertook more than 10 lighting projects, including those of the National Speed Skating Oval,…

Carving Out A Craft

Following three years of renovations, the China National Arts and Crafts Museum and China Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, the first national-level venue of its kind in the country, recently opened to the public. With a total floor area of 91,126 square meters, the museum stands on the northern part of Beijing’s central axis. Exactly 1,298 objects are on display, 80 percent of which are making their public debut, spanning time, space and cultural craftsmanship alike. The grand opening saw the museum divided into seven sections: arts and crafts since 1949, guqin (a seven-string traditional Chinese musical instrument), musical instruments and scores, murals of the Mogao Grottoes, traditional Chinese operas, seal-cutting, and Chinese New Year paintings. The space further features ethnic instrument performances and hi-tech devices for visitor interaction. Four jadeite…

1 min

SOCIETY

Fitness Facilities China plans to build 2,000 fitness facilities, including sports parks, across the country by 2025, a sports official said on March 30. The country will also complete 5,000 projects addressing weaknesses in sports and fitness facilities at the township level, said Li Jianming, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Sport, at a press conference regarding a newly-released guideline on building a higherlevel public service system for fitness and physical activity. Priority should be given to allocating resources to ensure that urban and rural residents can enjoy equal access to basic public services, with policymaking weighted toward the country’s western regions, rural areas and areas with financial difficulties, Li added. The guideline emphasizes efforts in promoting social sports organizations and communitylevel fitness, and bringing more benefits of competitive…

4 min

FROM ONE TO THREE

Xiong Yue has made up her mind not to have a second child. “It’s too energyconsuming and my family has reached a consensus not to have another kid,” the 33-year-old stay-at-home mother of a 2-year-old in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, told Beijing Review. Young people’s willingness to have children is declining in China. According to a press conference held by the National Health Commission in January, the number of children that the surveyed women of childbearing age planned to have on average was 1.76, 1.73, and 1.64 in 2017, 2019 and 2021, respectively. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the number of newborns fell to 10.62 million in 2021, marking a decline for five consecutive years, and the birthrate was 7.52 per 1,000. Both the number of newborns and…

9 min

Crisis Trigger: NATO Reneged on Promise

When the Soviet Union disintegrated, Russia inherited its “one-vote veto” status on the UN Security Council, as well as most of the Soviet territory, overseas assets and debts. At the same time, Russia was also left with the great power and historical leanings of the former state, as well as the promises, grievances and hatreds surrounding the dissolution. Among these, NATO’s eastward expansion may have been the most jolting for Russia. In the eyes of President Vladimir Putin and other Russian political elites, the West has reneged on promises made before the Soviet Union’s disintegration. Instead, it has, for the past three decades, continually been hemming in Russia’s strategic security space. This is not only a result of U.S. and NATO arrogance, but also marks a betrayal Russia can never…

6 min

Trade on Track

The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced on March 23 it would reinstate 352 of the 549 previously granted and extended product exclusions under the China Section 301 Investigation, covering electronic components, bike parts, electric machines and seafood products. This decision on the part of the U.S. comes for the sake of its own interests, but will also benefit overall trade between both countries. China believes the American practice of imposing higher tariffs on Chinese exports is in neither party’s interests. With rising inflation and a sluggish global economic recovery, the U.S. should cancel all additional tariffs it previously slapped on Chinese exports to the U.S. and push bilateral trade relations back on track, for the fundamental good of all consumers and producers involved. China considers the Sino-American…

Borderless, Not Lawless

It was a movie-worthy drama that played out in real life. On the night of March 15, online celebrity Wuwu made her usual appearance on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok. As a livestreamer with a loyal following, she was singing and chatting with her followers, mostly men, to get more “tips,” as she did almost every day. At that very same moment, a live broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV) exposed Wuwu as a prime example of live-streamers tricking their followers into “tipping” them. The annual program, specially produced in light of World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, sets out to blow the lid off various consumer traps. As the CCTV program went on to reveal, in a bid to maintain more intimate connections with her followers, Wuwu had…

4 min

Go With the Flow

One can easily find Terry Crossman wandering around Shichahai, a picturesque area in downtown Beijing’s Xicheng District. Wearing a red uniform with armband, he blends right into the team of community volunteers, a group of retirees still eager to contribute to society. This 67-year-old American has a very natural Chinese name, Gao Tianrui, which sounds very similar to his original name. Adding to his almost undetectable true identity are his fluent Chinese and familiarity with Beijing’s intricate routes. But eventually, the blue eyes peering out from under the red cap give him away. Twenty-seven years of living in Beijing have enabled him become a native—well, almost. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in Chinese studies, Crossman’s first job took him to Hong Kong where he engaged…

ECONOMY

Financing Support Private enterprises in hi-tech and strategic emerging industries will receive support in issuing bonds to raise funds, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on March 27. It added that efforts will be made to further optimize the financing service mechanism and improve the efficiency of financing. The CSRC encourages market and policy institutions to provide credit-enhancement support for the bond financing of private enterprises. Other measures include facilitating the repurchase financing mechanism, encouraging financial institutions to expand business engagement with private firms, and improving the quality of information disclosure. Industrial Profits Profits of major industrial firms rose 5 percent year on year in the first two months of 2022, official data showed on March 27. Industrial firms, each with annual main business revenue of at least 20…

4 min

ROAMING FOR ROMANCE

In January 2010, Jiangsu TV released a dating show called You Are the One. A ratings success, the program featured 24 single women vying for the attention of one bachelor all at the same time. After three selection rounds, whittling down the contestants according to his taste, the man could opt to leave alone or with a female guest on his arm. The program, as well as its participants’ opinions, soon became the talk of the nation. Back then, 18-year-old Liu Chen was preparing for her high school entrance examination, and her mother was one of the show’s loyal viewers. “My mother said I should partake in the program in the future as she believed it to be a highly effective way to meet my Mr. Right—as long as I…

Diplomatic Costs of The Domestic Agenda

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed he had declined to meet with the new Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian. In terms of formal diplomatic protocol, this is correct as it is appropriate for the foreign minister to meet with the ambassador and this meeting did take place. From a broader perspective, the prime minister’s reluctance to meet or engage with the ambassador is symptomatic of Australia’s unwillingness to help thaw the current sour Australia-China relations. The Australian Government proclaims that it is open to minister-to-minister conversations and meetings with China, but it constantly sets preconditions for those interactions to take place. These moves are based on an inaccurate interpretation of a 2020 event. By 2020, Australia-China relations were already not smooth. China’s Deputy Head of Mission Wang Xining explained…

Spring Diplomacy

As the spillover effects of the Ukraine crisis continue to spread and world peace and development are facing new challenges, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a visit to Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nepal in March, aiming to enhance mutual trust and consolidate traditional friendship and cooperation. During a media briefing on March 28, Wang said China and its South Asian neighboring countries support one another on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns, and that they are willing to jointly promote prosperity in the region, improve the people’s wellbeing, and maintain a sound environment for regional security and development. Currently, high-level interactions, infrastructure connectivity, personnel exchanges, and economic and trade cooperation between China and some South Asian countries are less dynamic than expected, according to…

A Smart Move

In Yuzhou, a city named after Yu the Great, a legendary ruler famed for taming floods in ancient times, avant-garde digital technology is being used in the court system. Earlier this year, the city, with a population of over 1 million, was put under lockdown due to COVID-19. Confirmed infections were also reported in other parts of Henan Province, where Yuzhou is located. During this trying time, Cao Huijuan, a Yuzhou People’s Court judge, was able to settle a case involving a traffic accident liability dispute with the help of China’s multi-purpose WeChat app. Cao first contacted the plaintiff and defendant via WeChat and telephone, obtaining their consent to settle the dispute through mediation via video link. Subsequently, she led them through the process on an applet called Mobile Micro…

6 min

Savoring the Past

Li Dan stands out among food vloggers. Born in the 1990s, she works as a teacher at East China Jiaotong University in Jiangxi Province, but during her spare time, she recreates ancient Chinese delicacies that have been all but lost to history. Li began working on the project in August 2020, and so far the many traditional dishes she has created have included more than 60 from A Dream of Red Mansions, one of China’s four greatest classic novels, written by Cao Xueqin (1715-63) in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The novel portrays the life of aristocratic families in the period, and goes into great detail on banquets held and dishes consumed. To recreate the dishes she discovered within its pages, she has had to refer to books on traditional recipes,…

How to Turn Vocational Education Into an Effective Tool?

Vocational education plays an important role in nurturing talents across various categories, passing on outstanding techniques and promoting employment and business. China’s annual number of college graduates today exceeds 10 million, but job market demand is not always in-sync with the educational background of these fresh grads. Instead, vocational school and junior college alumni find it much easier to secure a job than their normal college peers. On the one hand, technical talents are popular with employers; on the other, young people are more reluctant to attend technical school. To solve this problem, apart from the usual go-tos like higher wages and a better working environment, today, an emphasis on the importance of undergraduate vocational education prevails. Xiong Bingqi (view.inews.qq.com): The reluctance on the part of Chinese universities to train…