Indholdsfortegnelse for Vol.66/No.15 i Beijing Review

NATO Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto (left) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meet the press at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 4, the same day Finland formally became the 31st member state of the military alliance, ending its military non-alignment following the fastest ratification process in NATO’s history EGYPT Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (right) talks with visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on April 1. Mekdad’s visit to Cairo was the first in more than 10 years for a top Syrian diplomat SENEGAL Soldiers participate in a military parade in Dakar on April 4 as the country marked its 63rd anniversary of independence CAMBODIA A contestant races his oxcart in Kampong Speu Province on April 2. Local villagers took part in a centuries-long tradition of oxcart racing…

Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, is a city of poetry for many visitors, particularly in spring. Its romance not only comes from flowers blooming against the background of traditional Chinese gardens and architecture, but also from its rich cultural heritage. The literati of ancient China had a penchant for spring in Yangzhou, which makes the city a must-visit destination for exploring ancient Chinese literature, culture and lifestyle. There have also been many well-known historical figures whose legacies are still sources of local pride, including Jianzhen, a Tang Dynasty (618-907) monk who helped propagate Buddhism in Japan, and Italian traveler Marco Polo, who served as a government official in Yangzhou for three years. Comments to ffli@cicgamericas.com…

Four months have passed since ChatGPT stepped into the spotlight. The advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot trained by U.S. company OpenAI has become a global hit thanks to its surprising capabilities, including writing essays, poems and computer code, as well as pooling data. It has generated a lot of discussion about its business value, the progress of AI and the revolution of the Internet. During this year’s Translators Association of China (TAC) Annual Conference, one main concern stood out: Will advanced technologies such as ChatGPT replace translators and interpreters and put them out of work? Fortunately, the answer most experts gave was “No.” But that does not mean industry stakeholders can breathe a sigh of relief, as there are still many tough tasks in store for them. For instance, how…

In Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of an ancient port to the south of the Oujiang River. After more than a year of archaeological excavation, a site consisting of wengchengs (enclosures for defense usually outside city gates), docks and sunken ships has emerged. Located in modern-day Lucheng District, the port ruins are located outside Shuomen Gate, the north gate of the ancient city of Wenzhou. The site has therefore come to be known as the Shuomen Ancient Port. The site was listed among the Top 10 New Archaeological Discoveries of 2022, announced by the National Cultural Heritage Administration on March 28. The annual list, first launched in 1990, is considered one of the most important honors that can be bestowed on an archaeological project in China.…

Great Expectations China’s urban residents were more upbeat about the country’s employment situation in the first quarter of 2023 than the previous quarter, according to a survey by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, Xinhua News Agency reported on April 5. The employment expectation index stood at 52.3 percent in the first quarter of 2023, increasing by 9.4 percentage points from that in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the survey among 20,000 urban households in 50 cities. The index gauging the households’ feelings about the current employment situation also moved in a positive direction, up to 39.9 percent, 6.8 percentage points higher from the previous quarter. Of those polled, 85.6 percent said their incomes had either increased or remained basically the same. Film Festival The…

Tulip-shaped wind turbines quietly pirouetting in the ocean breeze, new-energy vehicles shuttling between venues glazed with solar reflective roofs, lush green gardens juxtaposed with photovoltaic power stations—these scenes belong not to some fictional city set far into the future, but a zero-carbon demonstration zone that is under construction in Boao, a seaside resort in China’s southern island province of Hainan. With 16 projects already completed and other projects underway, the zone offers a sneak peek of what the future may look like. “The quest for sustainability at once constitutes part of the uncertainties and confusions we are now facing and anchors us in a sense of purpose,” Danilo Türk, former President of Slovenia and President of Club de Madrid, a nonprofit forum for former heads of state, said at a…

An exhibition that opened at the Capital Museum on March 28 is bringing the origins of Beijing’s layout into the spotlight. One notable exhibit is a 16-meter-long table-top model of its famed Central Axis, a 7.8-km-long line that runs through the center of the city, upon which are built ancient landmarks including the Drum and Bell towers in the north, Jingshan Park and the Palace Museum, and Yongding Gate in the south. The exhibition is in celebration of the 870th anniversary of Beijing being named the capital of the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). Jin Emperor Wanyan Liang moved the nation’s capital to the site that is now Beijing in 1153, the first time for the city to become a dynastic capital. Comments to weiyao@cicgamericas.com…

Trade Agreement Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Singaporean Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong signed a memorandum of understanding on April 1 to announce the conclusion of latest negotiations on an upgraded bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). The upgraded FTA, which will boost market access for businesses from both countries, adds a new standalone chapter on telecommunications and incorporates high-level economic and trade rules on national treatment, market access, transparency and the digital economy, among others, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. The two sides also confirmed that there will be no rollback of opening-up measures in the services trade and investment sectors. The FTA is one of China’s practical actions to align with high-standard international economic and trade rules and open wider to…

Upon arriving in Lijiang, a famed tourist city in Yunnan Province, Vietnamese travel professional Dao Mai Dung saw not only pleasant scenery and climate, but also business opportunities. Dao, who is the manager of Nam Thanh Travel, a Vietnamese tour organizer, went to Lijiang with around 70 other travel agents from Viet Nam on March 30 for a one-week tour of familiarization. The delegation visited hotels and scenic spots to better promote destinations in Yunnan to the Vietnamese market. “I really like Yunnan and have been thinking about how to help more Vietnamese people learn about its beauty and culture. After this tour, I will go back to tell travel agencies in Viet Nam how to apply for visas and develop routes,” Dao told Lijiang.cn, a local news portal. He…

Kevin McCarthy, current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, hosted a meeting with Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen in California on April 5 as Tsai made a “transit” through the U.S. en route to Central America. Washington has been rife with speculation about whether McCarthy will still visit Taipei later this year, with critics arguing that any high-profile visits would only further strain the Sino-American relationship. Then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022 led to escalated tensions across the Taiwan Straits. The Chinese Government and military forces undertook the necessary responses to this action of crossing the red line that undermines China’s sovereignty and national security. In his quest to lock down the House speakership, McCarthy announced that a Taiwan visit would be a key…

U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the second “Summit for Democracy” from March 28 to 30. In the lead-up to the event, which first took place virtually in December 2021, the U.S. Department of State had promoted the three-day meeting as “a multilateral collaboration” between the U.S. and cohosts spanning four continents—Zambia, the Republic of Korea, Costa Rica and the Netherlands. But nothing could be further from the truth. The gathering proved an exercise in unilateralism that sought to reestablish the American monopoly on democracy, and a failed one at that. The troubles for the meeting had already begun well before it got underway. Mainstream U.S. media as well as many in the U.S. foreign policy establishment questioned Biden’s decision to host the event during such a delicate period for his…

Xiao Mingna is a 27-year-old college graduate working as a forklift driver in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province. Driving a forklift had never been on her career bucket list until she saw an online stunt featuring a forklift in an amusing way. The humorous video had a serious impact on Xiao, leading her to consider a job in forklift driving. At that point, she had just quit her third marketing job and was at a loss for what to do next. “My major in college was marketing,” she told Beijing Review. “But I am more of an introvert, rather than being the kind of extrovert required for marketing. I wanted to find a job that involved more technical skills and less communication with people.” She was willing to consider manual…