Innehållsförteckning för Vol.67/No.26 från Beijing Review

Fifty-six ethnicities, one nation. This phrase captures the diversity and unity of China, a multiethnic nation of 1.4 billion people. Besides the Han, who make up some 91 percent of the population, 55 other ethnic groups, collectively known as ethnic minorities, call the country home. Their population ranges from 19.6 million for the Zhuang, the largest, to 3,544 for the Tatar, the smallest, according to the 2020 national census. Most Zhuang people live in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, whereas the Tatar inhabit the north of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The ethnic groups were identified based on field research after the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. Their ancestors have coexisted on this land since antiquity. When the Qin Dynasty unified the country for the first time in 221…

Chinese Premier Li Qiang paid official visits to New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia from June 13 to 20. The visits were the first by a Chinese premier to either Australia or New Zealand since 2017 and the first to Malaysia since 2015. “From New Zealand to Australia to Malaysia, Li’s weeklong trip connects the Asia-Pacific region, showcasing the strategic vision of China’s diplomatic planning,” Chen Hong, Director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, told Chinese newspaper Global Times. Consolidated relations Li arrived in New Zealand on June 13 and met with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Wellington. Li and Luxon agreed that the development of China-New Zealand relationship has achieved significant results. Both sides will continue to view and manage the relationship from a…

Roughly the size of Europe but home to around twice as many people, China is diverse not only in geography, but also in language, culture and ethnicity. Addressing domestic ethnic affairs in contemporary China is the country’s system of regional ethnic autonomy. This system is administered through five autonomous regions, 30 autonomous prefectures and 120 autonomous counties or banners, which are collectively referred to as ethnic autonomous areas. The origins of China’s system of regional ethnic autonomy lie in the long history of exchange between its ethnicities, which differs greatly from that of Europe. The European experience The concept of national autonomy arose in Europe as a result of the interplay between the quest for national independence and the dominance of imperial rule. Beginning with the Roman Empire, different linguistic…

A mid outbursts of racial violence, the term “Blaxit” gained prominence in the United States around 2016-17 through (social) media discourse, although its origins date back to earlier discussions in the 2000s. The word “Blaxit” describes the hypothetical or actual departure of African Americans, who make up 14 percent of the U.S. population, from the U.S. to other countries, particularly African nations, driven by aspirations for improved quality of life, job opportunities, favorable tax policies, and to escape racial discrimination. The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2023, issued by China’s State Council Information office on May 29, highlighted the prevalence of the Blaxit trend in American society. A growing number of black Americans dissatisfied with U.S. politics and racial discrimination are choosing to leave, including…

Every day at noon, about 150 elderly villagers pour into the canteen of a rural community in Yiyuan County, Shandong Province in east China, for a nutritious lunch. The seniors pay a maximum of 2 yuan ($0.27) for each meal, and those over 80 eat for free. Community-based welfare canteens like this one usually cater to elderly whose children are off working in other regions where they have found better job opportunities. As of this year, over 200 rural community canteens cater to around 85,000 senior villagers in 446 villages in Yiyuan. China’s population has been aging rapidly in recent years. According to the Seventh National Population Census of China conducted in 2020, the population aged 60 and above exceeded 264 million, accounting for 18.7 percent of the country’s total…

What kind of artwork can grace the Great Hall of the People, a state building that functions as a meeting place for national-level events in China? The answer is the large mural Magnificent China, 18 meters long and 3.72 meters wide, located in the Golden Hall of this great hall. Its creator is a self-taught painter with no academic art training background. Not only that, this painter, named Zhong Kaitian, also has eight other works (including one calligraphy work) hanging in the hall. Born in Kunming, Yunnan Province in southwest China, Zhong joined the People’s Liberation Army at age 18 after graduating from high school, and was stationed in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, in the extreme south of Yunnan, bordering both Myanmar and Laos. This area is noted…

Book Fair The 30th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) commenced in Beijing on June 19, drawing a wider participation of foreign exhibitors compared with last year. With an expanded exhibition area of 55,000 square meters this year, the five-day event gathered around 1,600 exhibitors from 71 countries and regions, showcasing 220,000 Chinese and foreign publications to visitors, according to the organizers. The fair saw an increase of 150 overseas participants compared to the previous year, featuring 1,050 exhibitors from abroad, accounting for 66 percent of the total participants. Compared to 2023, this year’s event welcomed 15 new participating countries, including Azerbaijan, Qatar, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Nigeria. More than 20 countries, including France, Germany and Italy, hosted national booths. Saudi Arabia was this year’s Country of Honor. The BIBF,…

REELECTED CHAIRMAN OF CHINA UNICOM Chen Zhongyue has been reelected as chairman of the eighth board of directors of China United Network Communications Group (China Unicom), one of the country’s big three telecommunications providers. Chen has extensive experience in management and the telecommunications industry. He joined Beijing-based China Unicom in January 2021 as an executive director. Before that, he served in several posts at China Telecommunications Corp. Ltd., another leading Chinese telecommunications company, including as its executive vice president. Born in 1971, Chen began his professional career in 1990 after graduating from Shanghai Post and Telecommunications School with a major in international mail and telecommunications services. Chen attained a master’s degree in economics at Zhejiang University in 1998 and another in business administration for senior executives at Xiamen University in…

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will convene in Beijing in July. The session will focus on further deepening reform and promoting Chinese modernization. CPC Central Committee plenums, held at least once a year, are important in outlining the trajectory for China’s political, economic and social development. The CPC National Congress and the Central Committee it elects are the highest leading bodies of China’s governing Party, with the five-yearly congress setting the national agenda. In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee inaugurated China’s reform and opening up. The third plenum of each CPC Central Committee has focused on reform and the economy ever since, lifting the country’s economic and social development to higher levels. After…

From June 6 to 9, voters from over two dozen European countries cast their ballots to elect lawmakers to the European Parliament for the next five years, with the largest political groups in the new European Parliament, the European Union’s only directly elected institute, remaining those in the center-left and center-right. The EU is an economic and political union between 27 European countries. Roughly 370 million eligible voters chose 720 parliamentary members, 15 more than the 2019 election, from member states. But the results did reveal a shift to the right, with both center-right and far-right groups gaining more seats. This election outcome also delivered a domestic setback to the leaders of both France and Germany. Political analysts believe a three-group majority of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), center-left…

In the early 2010s, the hashtag “tiger parenting” swept through China’s online communities and media landscape. The term refers to an extremely strict approach of parents toward their children, especially regarding their academic achievement. At that time, many parents believed that grades were the most essential elements determining a student’s future, and a wave of extra classes on major subjects took over many regions, with millions of parents thrusting their kids into these classes after school and on weekends. In recent years, however, parents are turning their attention toward children’s health, sporting abilities and aesthetics ideas, and tend to share experiences with their children in nature. These, and many other activities which academically minded parents had deemed useless, are on the rise, according to a report on young parents’ changing…

At just 28, Heitor Santos has managed to make his way in an industry with a great prospect for future growth, serving as a link between Brazil, his country of origin, and China, where he currently resides. Like many expats, Santos’ connection with China developed gradually and, at first, with little idea of what the future would hold. It all began when he was a senior-year student of biological sciences at the University of Pernambuco in the Brazilian city of Recife. The university had a special cooperation program with the Confucius Institute, giving students the opportunity to study Chinese for free for one year. Confucius Institutes, named after ancient Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551-479 B.C.), serve as nonprofit public institutions to help people better understand China by teaching the…

A traditional Chinese painting exhibition at the Capital Museum highlights the enduring charm of Beijing’s historic Central Axis through the lens of contemporary artists. The axis is a 7.8-km-long symbolic line bisecting ancient Beijing. It starts in the south from the Yongding Gate, running across the Zhengyang Gate, Tiananmen Square, the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, and Jingshan Park, and ends at the Bell and Drum Towers in the north. Many of Beijing’s quintessential gems stand along this city stem. If extended northward, it also passes the National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, and the National Aquatics Center, aka the Water Cube, both main Olympic venues. The exhibition, from June 8 to July 31, features 175 artworks by some 90 career painters from across China.…

Recently, a 17-year-old fashion design student from the Lianshui Secondary Vocational School in Jiangsu Province grabbed widespread attention in China by reaching the 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition finals. Jiang Ping ranked 12th out of a total of 801 finalists. Her secondary vocational school background distinguishes her from the other finalists, who come from elite universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. She is also the first secondary school student in history to have reached the finals of the competition. Her exceptional performance has sparked public debate. Tu Turong (Guancha.gmw.cn): Jiang’s story reminds us that secondary vocational schools or schools of the kind, which were once overlooked or even looked down upon, also house hidden talent. With aptitude and hard work, these…