Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.65/No.16 i Beijing Review

Just some 100 km southwest of Beijing, a new economic zone called Xiongan New Area is dynamically developing. From laying the first brick, this city of the future today enters an important stage of simultaneously taking over non-capital functions from Beijing and advancing its own development. First announced in April 2017, Xiongan New Area serves the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. President Xi Jinping said its establishment marked a strategic choice—one of profound historic significance. The combined forces of Beijing and its environs are important drivers of national economic growth. Yet on the north China spectrum, the two poles of Beijing and Tianjin are too “thick,” whereas the neighboring small and medium-sized cities are too “thin” by comparison. Hebei Province, especially, lags far behind Beijing and Tianjin in development,…

OLYMPIC CHAMPION MAKES MASCOT DONATION Wu Dajing, a winter Olympic champion, announced in a post on social media he had donated all the money from auctioning off the mascot for Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 medalists to charity. He’d received the golden roly-poly panda Bing Dwen Dwen during the games as a souvenir. At an online auction in early April, the mascot, bearing Wu’s signature, was sold to the highest bidder at a cool 920,000 yuan ($144,532). A further eight posters signed by the athlete were auctioned off, bringing the total amount to 969,500 yuan ($152,308). All auction proceeds went to the China Youth Development Foundation. Wu won China the gold in the short track speed skating 2000m mixed relay event at the 2022 Winter Olympics in February. Too Heavy…

Criticism of China in the U.S. mainstream media is a bit like brushing one’s teeth: It happens every day. However, unlike the daily ritual of brushing, chronic negativity about China serves no positive purpose. Though no Western news organization will come right out and say it, there really is no other way to describe their recent coverage of the rise in COVID-19 cases throughout China than this: They revel in it. On April 9, the New York Post claimed that “some 26 million people [in Shanghai] anguish in their apartments… China has unleashed yet another COVID Horror Show on its population.” The Associated Press asserted that “a series of deaths at a hospital for elderly patients in Shanghai is underscoring the dangerous consequences of China’s stubborn pursuit of a zero-COVID…

Shanghai, the economic powerhouse of China, is now the country’s major battlefield against COVID-19. The worst flare-up nationwide since the early days of the pandemic has put the city in a hard place. As of April 13, the city had seen 14,471 confirmed local cases since early March, with 6,646 cured, 7,818 treated in hospital, and seven fatalities; 25,141 local asymptomatic infections remained under medical observation. The city, with a population of over 25 million, has been under lockdown since March 28. Shanghai was previously seen as a prime example of epidemic prevention and control courtesy of its excellent data-based tracing system, swiftly and precisely locating any close contacts and sealing off smaller areas to prevent the virus’ further spread. But this time, the Omicron variant has a stronger transmission…

Shall I compare thee to an April’s day? As the weather slowly warms up in April, seas of blossoming spring flowers capture the Beijing gaze, turning the capital into a tableau coming alive through pulsating colors. Statistics from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism show that under the premise of effective epidemic prevention and control, during the threeday Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) holiday on April 3-5, the city’s 185 tourist attractions received 5.546 million visitors. Beijing residents have seen a massive upgrade in their urban landscape over the past few years. Various urban, country and forest parks are established for and opened to the public every year. Data released by the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission in late 2021 showed that the city’s percapita park green space…

In the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, warplanes, rockets, missiles and artillery units are not the only weapons in use. An information war is proving no less fierce than the fighting taking place on the ground. The information war is being employed not just to affect the morale of the opposite side, but also to present a different version of the same story with the aim of rallying internal and external support to what each side claims to be the truth about the nature of the conflict. Amid inconsistencies in Western media reporting and coverage, skepticism is taking the lead. Those following the conflict have been disconnected from the real picture, which will surely have political and economic repercussions across the globe. Different narratives While Russian state media call it a military…

April 7, news flash: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and second in line for the presidency, said Taiwan would be added to her Asian journey destinations. Hours later, her Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill tweeted Pelosi had tested positive for COVID-19 and would be quarantined; her trip to Asia had been postponed. After four days, on April 11, Pelosi stated her nucleic acid test had turned negative, yet no explanation or clarification was provided for the suspended visit. China said Pelosi’s plan to visit Taiwan had to be canceled, not postponed. Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned on April 7 if Pelosi, a political leader of the United States, were to knowingly visit Taiwan, this would constitute a malicious provocation against China’s sovereignty and gross…

The international community is in shock over the continuing war in Ukraine. Peace is an urgent need but the road ahead remains rough. China and the EU share a common interest in stopping the conflict. However, their interpretations differ on some dimensions. China is following its typical approach to foreign policy. The EU, by contrast, has been put in an awkward and complicated position because of its geographical proximity with Ukraine and its energy dependency on Russia. China has maintained good ties with both Russia and Ukraine. This advantage has the potential to upgrade its international role in the future. Of course, although the Chinese Government supports talks between the two countries, it maintains neutrality on the terms of a ceasefire and its practical implementation. Additionally, it does not seek…

On April 10, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council unveiled a new guideline for fast-tracking the establishment of a unified national market that is efficient, standardized, open and allows fair competition. It is also vital to establish unified market rules and regulations across the country and promote the smooth flow of goods, factors, and resources on a wider scale. The guideline emphasizes that local protection and regional barriers should be broken down. The Chinese Government intends to improve the efficiency and expand the scale of China’s domestic market against the global backdrop of pandemic resurgences and a weak economic recovery. Meanwhile, China itself is plugging a dual circulation development paradigm that takes domestic circulation as the main body, with domestic and international circulations reinforcing…

‘I’m not sure what you mean by indie,” Matteo, the Sardinian bass player of Beijing-based trashcore punk band Deprive, told this musically illiterate author. “To me, there are two main definitions. First, indie as in independent, which could encompass any music genre, any artist or musician not signed to major or big labels. Second, indie as in that genre that puts on the alternative mask but what it really aspires to is airtime.” And so, adhering to the first definition and accompanied by a sneering score of grungy guitar riffs, a voyage into the belly of the beast unfolds: Time to hit those Beijing underground notes. Much like a riff, a pattern of notes repeated throughout a musical piece, yours truly over the years has had the impromptu brush with…

In 2000, I, a Mexican native who today calls Shandong Province’s coastal city of Qingdao “home,” had the opportunity to visit China for the first time, attending the Canton Fair—aka the China Import and Export Fair, a big biannual trade show in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. At this point, I’ve been doing import and export between Mexico and China for more than two decades, witnessing firsthand how the country has evolved from the “made in China” tag to the “designed in China” label. In the past, when talking about China, people would immediately have images of cheap manufacturers and goods flash before the eyes. Quite the accurate portrayal of the nation at that time, but one far from today’s reality. Back in the day, most foreign businesses were on the prowl…