Innehållsförteckning för Vol.66/No.34 från Beijing Review

Heavy rainfalls in north and northeast China in recent weeks have caused casualties and severe losses, and China is not alone. This summer, heatwaves swept East Asia, Western Europe and the west coast of North America, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed July 2023 as the world’s hottest month on record. Extreme weather events are occurring frequently around the world, inflicting great harm. According to a study by the World Health Organization, between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress. In addition, ecosystems and agriculture in many regions will be unable to adapt quickly enough to the changes in global temperatures and rainfall patterns, which will in turn affect food crop…

During those times when the United States is not at war—and let’s be honest and admit that there are not many—the war machine must carry on. Weapons must be produced, and then they must be either used or sold to an ally. And, yes, advocates for the war machine consistently play their role in this farce by claiming that the production of such weapons is the only way to prevent aggressive acts by America’s “enemies.” China’s Taiwan region continues to be one of the narratives the U.S. uses to argue for arms sales. Over the past six-and-half years, a period that covers all of Donald Trump’s presidency and the first two-and-half years of Joe Biden’s, the United States has shipped an estimated $22.5 billion (approximately $18.7 billion under Trump and…

By forging partnerships with other Chinese electric vehicle (EV) brands, BYD is pushing China’s auto industry to new heights and transcending its reputation as an affordable car brand. At an event marking the production of BYD’s 5 millionth new-energy vehicle (NEV) on August 9, founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu’s emotional recollection of the company’s achievements was combined with a promotional video that highlighted BYD’s potential partnerships with rival brands and echoed the Chinese desire for a homemade world-class brand. He unabashedly positioned the brand as a pioneer in the revolution of the entire industry. Many brands featured in the promotional video responded positively. Founders of leading Chinese EV brands, such as Li Auto’s Li Xiang and Nio’s Li Bin, commended the manufacturer’s trailblazing spirit and recognized the longterm benefits their…

In the dense forest of the Daxiangling Mountains in Sichuan Province grows the favorite food of giant pandas—bamboo. In the wild, giant pandas generally live at relatively high altitudes and prefer cool environments with rugged terrain and abundant food and water, making the mountain range an ideal habitat. The Daxiangling Mountains are part of the Giant Panda National Park, which straddles the borders of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Nestled in the mountain range is the Daxiangling Giant Panda Wild Training and Releasing Base, the largest of its kind in the nation. The base sits in Yingjing County of Ya’an City in Sichuan. The mission of the training base is to prepare captive-bred giant pandas for life in the wild. “After the population of giant pandas in captivity has grown…

You never know what fate has in store for you, which is especially true in the case of Viviana Cardozo who, after more than 15 years in China, has become quite the celebrity in Fujian Province, southeast China. Budding love It’s hard to imagine how Cardozo, originally from Argentina, ended up in Changting, a small riverside county on the edge of Fujian. It all started in late 2004, when she met her future husband, Yang Cong, or Pablo, in an evangelical church of the Chinese community in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. Although they only met once a week, this was enough for Pablo to notice her and make the first move. By late 2006, a year after the couple had started dating, Cardozo became pregnant with their first…

Bora Shnitman, Vice President of Destination Marketing at Beijing-based travel company Dragon Trail International, first got to know China through maps. Interested in geography since his childhood, he found the big country in East Asia mysterious. To satisfy his own curiosity, he decided to visit China. “It was exciting to get to know the country’s history and culture, practice writing Chinese characters and discover similarities and differences between China and my country Israel. It was even more exciting to come and visit China after my graduation and to travel around this beautiful country,” Shnitman told the Global Young Leaders Dialogue Forum, held in Beijing on August 12. With the theme of Global Development and the Power of Youth, the forum, hosted by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), drew…

PIANIST HONORED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Liu Shikun, an 84-year-old Chinese piano maestro, was honored on August 12 with the Most Outstanding Asian Artist Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the most significant honors in the U.S. dedicated to recognizing excellence in the Asian arts community. Liu has been a judge of many international piano competitions and his albums have been released internationally. He is not only a pianist, composer, music educator and entrepreneur, but also a pioneer in China-U.S. cultural exchange. In 1978, Liu toured the U.S. as the deputy head and chief performer of a delegation of Chinese artists, becoming one of the first artists from the People’s Republic of China to visit the country. He was received by then U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Beware of Shared Chairs Guangzhou…

The Ministry of Commerce released a report on the World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance of the United States on August 11, the first of its kind. The report reviewed U.S. adherence to WTO rules, and expressed concerns over U.S. policy measures that undermine the multilateral trading rules, impose unilateral sanctions, leverage double standards in industrial policies, and disturb global industrial and supply chains. While some Western media understand this report as a retort to the U.S. accusations against China, it actually represents China’s efforts to exhort the United States to move in the right direction. On the same day the report was released, the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of WTO Affairs said that China would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the U.S. to correct its behaviors and…

Thierry Meyrat Personal envoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President to China and head of the ICRC’s Regional Delegation for East Asia Climate change and environmental degradation threaten the survival of humanity. All dimensions of our lives are affected, from our physical and mental health to our food, water and economic security. While the crises are impacting everyone, those who have contributed the least to the problem are hit the hardest, and it is only getting worse. Among countries with enduring armed conflict and other violence, the vast majority are among the world’s least developed and some of the most vulnerable to the climate crisis—Afghanistan, Somalia, Mali and Yemen. Such countries are vulnerable to drought, floods, insect plagues and changing rainfall patterns. Unfortunately, the list can…

Ablack slate, an alloy steel needle and decades of practice. This is Li Yahua’s recipe for creating the perfect Huihe stone shadow carving work of art. With her left hand gently leaning against the mirror-like slate to support the heavy chisel she’s holding in her right hand, the artist creates a black-and-white landscape by meticulously chiseling dots of various sizes and density on the stone. Derived from Huian stone carving in Fujian Province, southeast China, stone shadow carving was developed by Li’s grandfather. Different from traditional Chinese art genres that emphasize the beauty of lines, it highlights the size and depth of dots. “We use an alloy steel needle to chisel white dots to create images on a polished and smooth black slate,” Li explained, adding the pressure used to…

Recently, offline classes of New Oriental, a Beijing-based education giant, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, have been suspended in the wake of a complaint lodged to local authorities by an Internet influencer with the username Tietou, literally meaning iron head. LI SHIGONG The complaint claimed that the company violated a set of guidelines issued by the central authorities in 2021 that aimed to ease the burden of excessive homework and offcampus tutoring for students undergoing compulsory education—those in primary and middle schools (first-ninth graders). The guidelines, known as the “double reduction” policy, stipulate that no new institutions providing tutoring in academic subjects to students in grades one to nine will be granted approval and already operational ones must be registered as nonprofits. They also forbid off-campus tutoring institutions to organize academic…