Innehållsförteckning för Vol.69/No.3 från Beijing Review

Major-country competition, geopolitical conflict, hegemonism and unilateralism all intensified in 2025. The deficits of peace, development, security and governance all increased. In this increasingly unstable global environment, China’s aim has been to act as a stabilizing and balancing force, supporting constructive cooperation and shared benefit. In September 2025, China put forward the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), presenting a systematic solution to address global disorder. The Group of Friends of Global Governance, established in December 2025 under the United Nations framework, currently has 43 member countries and will be a core platform for promoting GGI cooperation. China has also put forward solutions for climate change and AI governance, and submitted its new nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, setting a target to reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10…

POLIO VACCINE PIONEER TO BE COMMEMORATED GLOBALLY The centenary of Gu Fangzhou (1926-2019), the revered Chinese scientist known as Sugar Pill Grandpa, will be commemorated in UNESCO’s official calendar of anniversaries for 2026-27 in honor of his contributions to global public health. In the 1950s, poliomyelitis was a dreaded disease in China, with a high mortality and disability rate among children. Gu led a research team that developed the first live polio vaccine in the early 1960s. His most famous innovation was transforming the liquid vaccine into a stable, sweet-tasting sugar pill. This drastically simplified transportation, storage and administration, enabling mass vaccination across China and benefiting numerous other developing countries. China was certified polio-free in 2000. Gu was posthumously awarded the national honorary title of People’s Scientist in 2019. National…

The U.S. bombing of Caracas, Venezuela, and kidnapping of its democratically elected president Nicolás Maduro in the early hours of January 3, of course, violated an international law regime that the U.S. Government has never had much respect for. Nonetheless, the openness of the discourse surrounding the U.S.’ imperial bellicosity is novel in the modern era. The campaign against Venezuela began with discourse about drug trafficking and the Cartel de los Soles, an entity whose existence is unsubstantiated. The hollowness of these justifications was quickly apparent, as online commentators would make note that there are no labs to make drugs in Venezuela, and no significant volume of drugs flows through the country into the U.S. A comparable strategy can be seen in U.S. accusations against China regarding fentanyl. In both…

Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong has been a hit among gaming enthusiasts world wide since its release in 2024, its breakout success demonstrating the potential global appeal of traditional Chinese culture. Based on 16th-century classic novel Journey to the West, the game is not only introducing international audiences to Chinese literature, but has also become a far-reaching platform for traditional Chinese music. The ethereal, Zen-style music that plays when the main character Monkey King Wukong meditates on his cushion is not produced by a synthesizer—it is the konghou, a traditional Chinese plucked instrument with more than 2,700 years of history. Shi Jing, a konghou player born in the 1990s, contributed her music to the game’s soundtrack. As the first graduate with a bachelor’s degree in konghou performance from the…

Rising Connectivity The Zhuhai land port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge had handled over 100 million in-and outbound passenger trips as of January 6, since the mega project opened to traffic in October 2018—a milestone that mirrors the advancement of regional connectivity and integration. The 55-km bridge links Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. As the world’s longest bridge-and-tunnel sea crossing, it has drastically reduced travel times between Hong Kong and Zhuhai, and between Hong Kong and Macao, from three hours to about 45 minutes. According to the bridge’s Zhuhai border inspection station in Guangdong, it took over five years to reach the 50-millionth passenger crossing, and just one year and eight months to reach another 50 millionth trip. Residents of…

On January 3, the United States launched a military operation against the sovereign nation of Venezuela, “capturing” its president, Nicolás Maduro. This event is far from a mere isolated “law enforcement operation”; it represents a blatant challenge to the international legal system centered around the United Nations Charter and a thorough and dangerous trampling of the fundamental principles of international relations. From the perspective of international law and national sovereignty, this action sets an extremely harmful precedent, marking a setback for multilateralism and the rule of international law. Its consequences may ripple across the globe, ultimately affecting every nation that yearns to survive and thrive in a stable order. Crumbling foundations The modern international order rests upon hard-won foundations, anchored in two interdependent principles: the sovereign equality of states and…

In an interview with China Hoy (a Spanish-language sister publication of Beijing Review) reporter An Xinzhu, Demétrio Toledo, a professor of international relations at Brazil’s Federal University of ABC, explored the broader implications of the recent U.S. attack on Venezuela. Edited and translated excerpts of their conversation follow: China Hoy: How do you interpret the motives behind the military actions carried out by the United States against Venezuela and their impact on Latin America? Demétrio Toledo: In very concise terms, this represents the practical application of the Monroe Doctrine combined with what could be called the Trump Corollary, as outlined in the latest U.S. National Security Strategy, which asserts that the United States has the right to intervene—even militarily—throughout the Western Hemisphere. The context for this application of the Monroe…

Trade-in Program China’s policy-backed consumer goods trade-in program generated sales of 3.92 trillion yuan ($559 billion) in 2024 and 2025, benefiting consumers on 494 million occasions, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce at a press conference on January 6. The initiative has helped drive industrial upgrading and the green transition. Some 18.3 million automobiles were purchased through the trade-in program during the period, with new-energy vehicles (NEV) accounting for nearly 60 percent of the total. Under the program, 192 million home appliances were purchased through trade ins during the period, with 90 percent being top-tier, energy-efficient models. Over the same period, more than 17.67 million scrapped automobiles were recycled nationwide, registering an average annual growth rate of 45.8 percent. Meanwhile, nearly 39.69 million second-hand vehicle transactions were…

On December 30, 2025, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, addressed a symposium in Beijing on the international situation and China’s foreign relations in 2025. Edited excerpts of Wang’s remarks follow: China’s actions Facing a troubled world where peace is under threat, China acted as an anchor for stability. As once-in-acentury transformations accelerate, international relations are being reshaped amid turbulence, and the risks of conflict or confrontation between major countries are clearly on the rise. China, as a key major country and a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, remains committed to upholding world peace. It has taken concrete steps to foster a new type of major-country relations, promoted dialogue and peace…

On January 4, the State Council, China’s highest state administrative organ, unveiled the solid waste comprehensive management action plan, China’s first policy document systematically outlining comprehensive treatment of solid waste. The action plan sets out detailed measures to improve resource utilization, enhance the source control and reduction of solid waste, regulate its collection, transportation and storage, and strengthen the capacity for safe disposal. The category of solid waste also includes gaseous or liquid substances in containers. Treatment of solid waste is a global challenge and one of the most serious environmental issues facing the world today. Driven by accelerated urbanization, population growth and shifts in consumption patterns such as packaging-intensive lifestyles, the volumes of scrapped vehicles, household appliances, electronics, plastics and construction waste have risen sharply. This surge has led…

In 2021, the relatives of 16 international friends of China jointly sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, congratulating the Communist Party of China (CPC) on its 100th anniversary. These are the sons and daughters and family members of those who helped China in its times of need. Eric Foster, nephew of renowned U.S. journalist Helen Foster-Snow, was one of them. “We all signed it and sent it to President Xi. And it was surprising and amazing that we got a return from him,” Foster said, recalling the moment he received Xi’s reply. A family tie Foster-Snow was the wife of Edgar Snow, an American journalist who came to China in 1928, and spent the next 13 years living in and reporting on the country. He traveled deep into…

East China Normal University (ECNU) has received more than 700 submissions from around the world over the past three months, after calling for papers that have AI as the first author, an experimental move to challenge conventional definitions of authorship. As AI use increasingly becomes the norm and is deeply embedded in every stage—from conception to expression and knowledge production—preserving academic authenticity and human ingenuity has become a heated topic of discussion. Tang Zheng (Rednet.cn): No matter how much AI aids expression, genuine innovation in terms of evidence and interpretation still stems from the researcher’s deep command of the field and keen insight. What matters is whether the study provides irreplaceable academic value. The focus should shift from the unanswerable question of whether the writing was entirely humanmade to the…