Innehållsförteckning för Vol.66/No.20 från Beijing Review

The law on ecological conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, in April, will become effective on September 1. Formulated to improve ecological conservation, control ecological risks and ensure ecological security on the plateau, the law is the latest addition to China’s legislation for specific geographic regions, following the enactment of the Yangtze River Protection Law in 2020 and the Yellow River Protection Law and the Black Soil Protection Law in 2022. The plateau covers the entire Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province, in addition to parts of Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, accounting for roughly a quarter of China’s land territory. The highest one in the world, hence widely known as the Roof…

According to statistics released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on May 7, China’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves had hit $3.2048 trillion by late April, an increase of $20.9 billion or 0.66 percent over the end of March. The U.S. dollar remains the dominant forex reserve of China, and its amount is on the rise. The argument that China is accelerating de-dollarization to ramp up the internationalization of the renminbi (RMB) and American political worries about the RMB’s threat to the status of the dollar are baseless. De-dollarization, a movement to reduce reliance on the dollar, is emerging as a buzzword in global trade. An array of countries like Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Southeast Asian countries have already announced they will start settling trade with China…

China and the United States are engaging in more high-level talks. Wang Yi, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had candid, in-depth, substantive and constructive discussions on bilateral ties in Vienna, Austria, on May 10-11. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and Sullivan held discussions on removing obstacles in the Sino-American relationship and keeping bilateral ties from deteriorating. Earlier, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns in Beijing on May 8. It was the first time Burns had met China’s top diplomat since he took office in April 2022. China-U.S. relations are of great significance…

In early May, as part of a charity experience project launched by China’s tech giant Tencent and Non-Profit Incubator, a Chinese organization committed to promoting social innovation and supporting charity organizations in the country, 50 participants, selected from a wide range of fields including media and public welfare, traveled to 10 cities and regions all over China to visit local charities. Shenzhen in Guangdong Province was one of the destinations. In recent years, Shenzhen’s public welfare and charitable undertakings have developed rapidly. According to a 2021 report by local newspaper Shenzhen Daily, the city had ranked at the forefront in the China City Philanthropy Index for five consecutive sessions and is known as China’s “most caring and generous city.” But the achievement could not have been made without the many…

A highly niche sci-fi movie quietly released on April 1 became a box office dark horse. Journey to the West, the debut of a 34-year-old Chinese film director, fetched 66 million yuan ($9.5 million), a no-big-deal number for blockbusters, but a sweeping win for its initial cost of “just” 2 million yuan ($290,000). Bearing the same English name as the popular ancient Chinese classic novel that is a fictionalized account of the 17-year pilgrimage of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang (602-664) to India during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the movie, or rather mockumentary, is about a sci-fi magazine editor’s trip from Beijing to the countryside in southwest China, looking for signs of alien life. How it all began The movie’s storyline starts at the editorial department of a sci-fi magazine called…

PROMINENT SCHOLAR DONATES TO PEKING UNIVERSITY Archaeologist Fan Jinshi donated 10 million yuan ($1.45 million) to Peking University to promote its research of the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, on May 4. Fan graduated from Peking University as an archaeology major in 1963 and has worked for the Dunhuang Academy for over four decades. The academy is a national institution for the conservation, management and research of the ancient grottoes. Fan is currently the academy’s honorary president. The Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site along the ancient Silk Road, are renowned for their statues, murals and manuscripts in 492 grottoes. The site is a treasure trove of Buddhist art from the fourth to the 14th century. Fan’s donation comes from the proceeds of awards she has won and…

Barbados, an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, established diplomatic relations with China in 1977. In the decades that have followed, the bond between the two countries has tightened. Hallam Henry, Ambassador of Barbados to China, has witnessed China’s development over the past years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 2015 and then a master’s degree in 2017 from Tsinghua University, one of China’s top institutions of higher learning. In an exclusive interview with Beijing Review reporter Li Xiaoyang, he shared his views on China’s development, as well as the Sino-Barbadian bond. Edited excerpts from their conversation follow: Beijing Review: From student to head of the island country’s diplomatic mission in China, how do you view the country today? Hallam Henry: The modernization of China, a country with a…

A recent debate held by two conservative-leaning education nonprofit organizations, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the U.S., drew an audience from around the state and beyond on April 5. The subject of the debate: “Is the Chinese system better than the American/European one at providing stability, prosperity and freedom?” The debate pitted Adrian Zenz, who claims to be an “independent researcher” with a particular interest in China—especially Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, against French entrepreneur and Twitter influencer Arnaud Bertrand. In introducing the context for the debate, the moderator said American and Western supremacy is in doubt today as the peaceful rise of China has launched a great power competitor onto the world stage. “As antagonisms between the systems increase, we must ask which will forge a better future for its people and…

While performing at the Rye Music Festival in Jinan, Shandong Province, on April 29, Lala Hsu, a singer from China’s Taiwan Province, tearfully exclaimed, “It’s been too long!” She voiced the feelings of many live music fans who have long and eagerly been waiting for a musical fête to once again lose themselves in dazzling stage shows—and some pounding beats. After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several popular music festivals have recently gotten back on stage in China, gathering hundreds of thousands of stylish crowds hungry for a stellar musical extravaganza. As festival season got underway, audiences have already had a wonderful musical time at major happenings like the Strawberry Music Festival, one of the nation’s largest outdoor music events that has so far toured some 10…

Once upon a time, ancient Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551-479 B.C.) used the fragrance of orchids, light yet lingering, to express the sublimity, humility and nobility of character for which he believed everyone should strive. This formed the basis of his moral teachings. Confucius is said to have been a great admirer of orchids—and he wasn’t alone. Orchids have been cultivated in China for over 2,000 years. Originally growing in deep mountain valleys, Chinese orchids were gradually moved from wilderness into courtyards through centuries of cultivation. In traditional Chinese culture, the orchid, with its bilateral symmetry and highly modified petal patterns, represents good taste and beauty. Throughout the millennia, the flower’s motifs have frequently popped up in artworks of all shapes and forms—from porcelain production to ink painting. The…

Chinese philosophy has produced a unique world of music, art and literature that never ceases to astonish audiences with its simplicity and tranquility, rendering Chinese art little known to the rest of the world—unfairly so. I worked in the arts for a long time before moving to China to continue my education and naïvely believed the country wouldn’t have too many surprises in store for me. I’d planned to spend just a few hours at the Shanghai Museum when I first arrived, but as soon as I walked into the Chinese Painting Gallery, I completely lost track of time. I noticed a girl gazing on me from behind a glass frame and slowly found myself sinking deeper and deeper into the exhibit. A Lady Holding a Fan by Qing Dynasty…