Innehållsförteckning för Vol.66/No.18 från Beijing Review

April 22 is Earth Day, an annual celebration to protect the environment, which dates back to the 1970s. Every year on this day, China organizes activities throughout the country to raise public awareness of environmental protection. China has made great contributions to global ecological conservation. For instance, its afforestation program has created more new forest than in any other country. The total area of wetlands under protection in China ranks among the largest worldwide. Three of China’s recent environmental initiatives deserve attention. The first is the Shan-Shui Initiative. Shan-Shui means mountains and rivers. The initiative is the largest ecological restoration project in China. Since 2016, the Central Government has supported 44 projects for restoring vital ecosystems, including forests, grasslands and waterways in regions of importance to national ecological security such…

During a debate comparing Chinese and Western systems of governance, held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by the American nonprofit educational organization Intercollegiate Studies Institute on April 5, French entrepreneur and Internet influencer Arnaud Bertrand made a case for the suitability of China’s system for promoting the flourishing of its people. Edited excerpts of his presentation follow: One unstated idea that derives from comparisons between political systems is that models compete against each other and, if one is indeed better, it has the potential to take over the world. I don’t believe this to be true at all. Take the Chinese model for example. It applies uniquely and only to China. It is the product of China’s very long and unique history, and it also fits the very particular economic and geopolitical…

On April 20, the world witnessed a “successful failure” via a live webcast. With a height of 120 meters and a full-load thrust of 150 tons, Starship, the largest rocket in human history, manufactured by SpaceX, exploded and disintegrated about four minutes after liftoff. But the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, already said before the launch that the mission would be considered a success as long as the spacecraft could blast off without destroying the launch pad. The engineers at SpaceX even uncorked champagne to celebrate their achievements after the explosion. After all, continuous trial and error is what is believed to be the key to success. On the other side of the Pacific, Chinese space enthusiasts were also following the news of Starship’s launch. Many of them might not care…

On the southern side of the estuary of the Yangtze River, a colossal white luxury liner sits in a shipyard of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (SWS). More than 3,000 workers are working around the clock to complete the vessel as it will commence its sea trials in July and is slated for delivery by the end of this year. The Vista-class ship has a gross tonnage, or the measure of a ship’s overall internal volume, of 135,500 tons, a length of 323.6 meters and a width of 37.2 meters. With a height of 70 meters, the ship is almost as tall as a 24-story building. Vista-class ships are named after a group of large cruise vessels built by Italian ship-building company Fincantieri S.p.A and operated by Carnival Cruise Line,…

Zhang Jianyi, a college sophomore in Handan, Hebei Province, has developed an eating ritual. In addition to a comfortable chair and table, and delicious dishes, a smartphone or tablet is indispensable. With her favorite show, Empresses in the Palace on the small screen, she finds her meal tastier. Debuted in 2011, the popular Chinese costume drama tells the story of a woman’s survival amid jealous intrigue and betrayal within the imperial palace walls. Zhang said she has watched the 76-episode show 10 times, if not more, not only when she eats, but also when she cleans her room and in bed before falling asleep. “If I don’t watch those videos when I have my meal, I feel like everything is wrong and has no flavor,” Zhang told Beijing Review. She…

One sunny spring day, I visited Longhua Temple in Shanghai, a historical Buddhist temple known for its stunning architecture and serene atmosphere. As I wandered through the temple’s lush gardens and dazzlingly yellow-and-red-colored buildings, where young people were taking photos and older people were praying for good fortune, I could not help but feel a sense of peace. However, the highlight of my visit was eating their delicious vegan noodles. Packed with veggies, tofu and mushrooms and served in a savory, yet slightly sweet broth, it was the perfect way to end my temple trip. As a vegetarian of almost a decade, visiting temples and trying their meatless, cruelty-free dishes has become one of my favorite things to do in China. Various forms of vegetarianism and veganism have been a…

America’s military and political elite are again trying to explain away a leaked documents scandal. For now, a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman is believed responsible for the latest leak and was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 13. However, the story is most definitely a familiar one. We should start there. In 2013, Edward Snowden unleashed an international firestorm with his public announcement that he was responsible for the release of an unknown number of items relating to Washington’s efforts at domestic and international surveillance; operations of the National Security Agency; attempts to track groups such as the “Islamic State” and more. By one estimate, Snowden had distributed 1.7 million documents and files. America’s friends and foes were left to contemplate the depth and determination of U.S.…

The Yellow River, known as the Cradle of Chinese Civilization, is not just a long and winding icon of China, but also a symbol of the Chinese spirit: bearing burdens (its sedimentation), adaptation (its shifting course) and perseverance (its continual flow). The second longest river in China originates at an elevation above 4,600 meters on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Qinghai Province and flows from west to east through eight more provinces and autonomous regions—Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong. For thousands of years, the river has been admired by great poets and artists, with their words and melodies telling of the spirit of the Yellow River and Chinese people. For thousands of years, the country’s Mother River, the most sediment-laden stream in the world, has been…

RENOWNED DIRECTOR HEADS FILM AWARD JURY Zhang Yimou, one of China’s most prominent directors, for the first time served as the jury president of the Tiantan Award, granted at the Beijing International Film Festival, which took place in late April. Initiated in 2011, the festival aims to boost international exchange in the film industry. A record-breaking 1,488 films from 93 countries and regions were submitted for entry to the competition this year. In addition to directing many well-known films, such as Full River Red and Hero, Zhang masterminded the pageantry of the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Zhang, 73, has recently revealed plans to direct an online drama on e-sports, inspired by the video game League of Legends. Pounding…

Dimitri de Boer, chief representative of London-headquartered environmental law organization ClientEarth in China, has been supporting intergovernmental cooperation on environmental and ecological protection between China and European countries. He is also team leader of the EU-China Environment Project, which is funded by the EU. In a recent exclusive interview with Beijing Review reporter Li Xiaoyang, he shared his views on China’s efforts to improve biodiversity and curb pollution, as well as China-Europe green cooperation. Edited excerpts from their conversation follow: Beijing Review: How do you view the results of China’s biodiversity protection and efforts targeting environmental pollution in recent years? Dimitri de Boer: I’ve worked in China for 20 years for ClientEarth. When I first came to Beijing in 2002, the sky was often hazy. In the following years, an…

On March 31, during his recent visit to China, Neil Bush, founder and Chair of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations, spoke with Beijing Review reporter Tao Xing and shared his views on bilateral relations as well as China’s green development. Edited excerpts from the interview follow: Beijing Review: Since your first trip to China in 1975, you reportedly have visited over 140 times and seen more than 40 Chinese cities. What keeps you coming back? Neil Bush: My first trip to China was in 1975, when my father was representing the United States as chief liaison officer in China. He was commonly known as the “bicycling ambassador” because our family would ride our bikes in a sea of bikers from the ambassador’s residence to Tiananmen Square or…

In 1970, then 31-year-old German Peter Jungen took a slow train from Hong Kong, a Chinese territory under British colonial rule at that point, to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, to participate in the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, which takes place twice a year. Ever since, his bond with China has been unbreakable. Jungen was named one of the 100 most important people shaping the future of the new economy—i.e., a service- and knowledge-based economy in contrast to a traditional manufacturing-based economy—by German business newsweekly Wirtschaftswoche in September 2000. Now 80, he is chairman of Peter Jungen Holding GmbH and a founding board member of the China Business Angels Network, an angel investor group. Jungen attended the Understanding China: Greater Bay Area Dialogue…

Bundled with ambitions and dreams, 23-year-old Lee Hiu Feng, born and raised in Hong Kong, arrived in Dongguan, Guangdong Province on the Chinese mainland, in 2021. Home to over 190,000 industrial enterprises, Dongguan stands out as a major manufacturing hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), which consists of Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) and nine cities in Guangdong. Lee’s destination was one of those companies. His decision to live in Dongguan was not merely a whim. “My sister has been living and working on the mainland for over a decade since she graduated from Beijing Language and Culture University. She often shared what she saw and heard there with me, so I had been looking forward to experiencing it myself for a long time,”…

Through a lifetime of effort and dedication, young Chilean David Bobadilla has established himself as a wushu champion and now dedicates himself to training the next generation of athletes who love traditional Chinese martial arts. Popularly known as kungfu, wushu, which translates as “martial technique,” integrates the range of Chinese martial arts, where not only the physical skills of the practitioner come into play, but also philosophical vision and martial ethics. It features two modalities: the taolu, which refers to the set routine practice, and the sanda, in which two athletes compete. Bobadilla owes everything he has achieved so far to wushu. For him, it is not just a physical activity that he has been practicing since he was 13, but rather a lifestyle that has taught him many lessons…