Thursday, September 23, 2021

Xi emphasizes inclusiveness, rejects zero-sum game match his thoughts, while Biden’s speech plays with words and ideas at UN

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President Xi's words match his thoughts, while Biden’s speech plays with words and ideas

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China's President Xi on democracy at the United Nations General Assembly

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Biden vows 'relently diplomacy'

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Speech injects confidence, showing China eyes greater good: expert

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday addresses the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly via video, calling for jointly addressing global threats and challenges to build a better world for all. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a Global Development Initiative in his speech at the 76th general debate of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), injecting confidence and calling to jointly address global threats and challenges to build a better world for all.

In contrast, US President Joe Biden, who spoke before Xi at the same event on Tuesday, focused his remarks justifying US acts that have intensified the tensions worldwide and triggered concerns of a new cold war.

Xi made the remarks via video from Beijing on Tuesday New York time, as the world is facing the combined impacts of changes unseen in a century compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his speech, Xi talked about the fight against the pandemic, economic recovery, international relations and global governance, and proposed a series of new initiatives and measures.

Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the UN, told media that after Xi's speech, many countries' representatives to the UN spoke highly of the speech, "as they consider the remarks… brought confidence and strength, and also showed China's courage and sense of responsibility as a responsible major power."

Observers said when the world is facing serious challenges and needs major powers to play a more responsible role, China is eyeing the greater good for humanity, multilateralism and responsibility, but the US is trying to whitewash problems and mistakes it made that harmed many countries worldwide, including its allies. It is attempting to force the world to accept its problematic and arrogant "leadership."

"The keynote of Xi's speech is moderate and calm in general. China has no intention to spark conflict with any country or alliance formed by multiple states, and China is not interested in having furious debates with any country on international order," said Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University.

China will never exploit the UN platform to accuse others or lecture them, and the message China sent is about positive, inclusive and farsighted initiatives that are able to respond to common challenges and concerns shared by the majority of the international community, Li said.

Comparing the speeches delivered by the two leaders from China and the US, we can find many differences between the two countries' political systems and cultures, said Wang Yiwei, director of the institute of international affairs at the Renmin University of China.

"China can make long-term, certain and verifiable promises to the world as its political system is stable and reliable, but when the US promises something, other countries will definitely question Washington's credibility, because the political system in the US will bring huge uncertainties," Wang noted.

"Some voices from the US might want to hype that China and the US had a war of words at the UN, but it was not the case. Comparing the words and deeds of China and the US, it's obvious who's safeguarding and who's undermining world peace and development," Li told the Global Times

Responsibility

The COVID-19 pandemic that is still raging globally must be addressed with global efforts. "We must beat COVID-19 and win this decisive fight crucial to the future of humanity," Xi said, voicing confidence that "we humanity will surely overcome it and prevail" despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic may appear overwhelming.

Biden also mentioned the pandemic in his speech, but somewhat awkwardly. He said "Indeed, today, many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed through the force of arms. Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants."

"Who uses bombs and bullets to fight COVID-19? This strange thinking could only emerge in the mind of American elites like Biden," Lü Xiang, a research fellow and an expert on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

This shows that the Biden administration has no proper plan to handle the pandemic. Everyone knows the US has done the worst job of containing the pandemic, with the most deaths and infections in the world, "but still, Biden repeatedly says the US will lead the world to fight COVID-19. It's truly a joke," Lü noted.

United States COVID - Worldometer Coronavirus: 43,404,877 Cases and 699,748 Deaths

China COVID: 95,894 Cases and 4,636 Deaths - Worldometer

Xi, in his speech, called to put people and lives first, take a science-based approach in origins tracing, enhance the coordinated global COVID-19 response and minimize the risk of cross-border virus transmission. Noting that vaccination is a powerful weapon against COVID-19, Xi said the pressing priority is to ensure fair and equitable distribution of vaccines globally.

Xi reiterated the pledge that China will strive to provide 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world by the end of this year. "In addition to donating $100 million to COVAX, China will donate 100 million doses of vaccines to other developing countries in the course of this year."

"We should care about the special needs of developing countries. We may employ such means as debt suspension and development aid to help developing countries, particularly vulnerable ones facing exceptional difficulties, with emphasis on addressing unbalanced and inadequate development among and within countries," Xi said.

Vulnerable nations must include countries like Afghanistan, Lü said, stressing the country has been occupied by the US for 20 years when it experienced serious internal chaos. The coming winter will be a challenge for Afghan people. The expert said China offers hope for this kind of vulnerable countries to find a new way when the West, especially the US, failed to help, instead leaving them in turmoil.

Xi's pledge on Tuesday that China will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad is seen by observers as a sign that Beijing is devoted to curbing global warming with the "firmest determination and greatest efforts," in order to achieve its green commitment on schedule and build a better future.

In contrast to Biden's hollow promises on climate change, COVID-19 and global unity, on which the US hasn't contributed much or, in some cases, even sabotaged progress, experts hailed Xi's remarks and said they show a devotion to solving humanity's most crucial issues.

Multilateralism

Biden, the president chanting the slogan "America is back," did not mention the word "multilateralism" in his speech while Xi mentioned it four times and stressed China's stance to uphold this core value of the UN. Biden apparently prefers the word "allies," mentioning it eight times, even as it just betrayed one of its core allies France with the AUKUS deal.

President Xi said "the year 2021 is a truly remarkable one for the Chinese people", as it marks the centenary of the Communist Party of China as well as the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations, a historic event that China will solemnly commemorate.

Xi said "we must improve global governance and practice true multilateralism. In the world, there is only one international system, i.e. the international system with the United Nations at its core. There is only one international order, i.e. the international order underpinned by international law. And there is only one set of rules, i.e. the basic norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter."

Biden said in his speech the US will cooperate with multilateral institutions like the UN, but the word "multilateralism" in the White House vocabulary has a different definition compared to the Chinese one, said experts, as the international system that the US prefers is one with "the US at the core," but the one that China advocates is "with the UN at its core."

As long as the US keeps its exclusive alliances that target other countries, there will be no real multilateralism in US diplomacy and strategy, and even within the US-led alliances, the US will still harm and cheat its allies, Lü said.

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Speeches of Xi, Biden show different patterns of China, US: Global Times editorial

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly via video, in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a vital address by video on Tuesday at the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). As US President Joe Biden had made a speech to the UNGA just hours earlier, in comparison, Xi's speech reflects the broad-mindedness of the Chinese top leader, and his fairness and reason when he discussed issues and challenges. The two speeches demonstrated the different political thinking and working logic between China and the US, as well as the different values of the two countries' foreign policies.

Xi's speech was based on the idea of a community with a shared future for mankind. From its theme to the specific initiatives, it focused on the common interests of mankind and the world. The Global Development Initiative, which Xi proposed, is for all countries. To promote the initiative, Xi called for staying committed to development as a priority, a people-centered approach, benefits for all, and result-oriented actions. Xi also highlighted the importance of innovation-driven development and the harmony between humanity and nature. They are universal and do not contain any political exclusion. They are a true practice of strengthening international solidarity and meeting challenges together.

Biden also mentioned the phrase "all people" a lot in his speech. But this was more like the sentimental "rhetoric" part of the whole speech. The actual subject of Biden's speech is the US, together with its allies and partners. From making rules to seeking benefits, it all revolves around this chain of subjects. Other countries are either foils or the challengers of the US that Biden did not name.

President Xi stressed in his speech that the world should embrace civilizations of various forms, and must accommodate diverse paths to modernization. He then emphasized that democracy is not a special right reserved to an individual country, but a right for the people of all countries to enjoy. And military intervention from the outside and the so-called democratic transformation will entail nothing but harm. In the speech, Xi promotes the common values of humanity and rejects the practice of forming small circles and zero-sum games. Such claims either vividly reflect various practices of countries or summarize some important lessons from today's world. For instance, while defending the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the Biden administration has admitted that it is impossible to remake other countries through large-scale military operations.

Biden's speech not only distinguished its allies and partners from other countries. Disregarding the fact that the US just encountered the fiasco of democratic reconstruction in Afghanistan, Biden continued to blaze the dichotomy which divides the world into "democracy" and "authoritarianism." He gave some of the worst turmoil and wars a fancy label of "democratic vitality." Joint development is the main thread for China to drive global change, while that of the US is to engage in a "democracy movement." China advocates construction, but the US incites contradiction and destruction. The victims of destruction are the vast majority of the developing countries, while the US and the Western world have benefited from it.

Xi's speech is backed and followed up by China's solid actions. For example, China is responding to the UN climate action. It is accelerating the transition to a green and low-carbon economy, and all Chinese people can feel this change. In his remarks, Xi also promised that China would not build new coal-fired power projects abroad. This is widely seen as the latest major commitment China has made.

The incumbent US government is keen on "leading" the global climate action. It has announced its "grand" targets of emissions for 2030 and 2050, and used them to force other countries to take actions. But it's highly uncertain whether the US will accomplish its own goals. The previous Trump administration even pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement. If the next US administration is again a Republican one, the promises Biden made will be very likely rescinded. Even if another Democratic administration is elected, what kind of confidence and resources will it have and use to honor its emissions reduction commitments?

China's deeds match its words, while the US says one thing but does another. A promise made by China is worth a thousand ounces of gold, but the succeeding US government often doesn't admit what its predecessor said and it dares to say anything in order to win an election. This has become an increasingly stereotyped and prominent distinction between China's international images and those of the US.

Neither the Chinese leader nor the US leader named the other's country and capital in their speeches at UNGA. But Biden mentioned "Xinjiang," an autonomous region in Northwest China. By comparison, the contents of both addresses can be widely interpreted as "targeting China" in the speech of the US was greater than"targeting the US" in the speech of China. Biden said the US isn't "seeking a new Cold War," but it's obvious that Washington is on the offensive that launches an all-round crackdown on China. The US has kept advocating suppressing China. Although the latest remarks by Biden have shown some restraint, the content still conveyed the often-seen US aggressiveness.

Justice naturally inhabits man's mind. The heads of state of China and the US both addressed the UN at this special occasion. It's believed the world has the ability to judge who the true defender and promoter of peace and development is, and who the instigator and initiator of division and confrontation is.

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Overcoming challenges together | The Star

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Wednesday, September 22, 2021

The Mid-Autumn Festival-GBA gala cheers nation as it emphasizes positive energy, enhances regional cohesion

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Photo: A screenshot from Sina Weibo

The Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, which ended on Tuesday this year, have witnessed a tendency that this traditional Chinese festival was celebrated by galas that focused on sending out positive energy and inviting competent singers, rather than wasting money on idols in a bid for ratings.

One of the most-anticipated galas was the Mid-Autumn Festival Concert in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) 2021, jointly held by the Bauhinia Culture Holdings Limited and China Central Television in Shenzhen,South China's Guangdong Province,on Tuesday night.

Featuring some 200 top singers from the Chinese mainland, the island of Taiwan and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, such as Jackie Chan, Wang Fei and TFBOYS, the gala was anticipated by many Chinese audience as a rare gathering of top musicians from across the country, given the tough period of the COVID-19 epidemic.

"In my eyes, apart from showing the development of the GBA, the highlight of the gala was the gathering of stars from the mainland, Taiwan island, Hong Kong and Macao. Among those, I most looked forward to their chorus of the songs Pearl of the Orient and Country," Lin Yumei, 26, a lawyer from Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province, told the Global Times.

On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong officially returned to the motherland. That night, Hong Kong hosted its largest-ever "TV karaoke," with millions of Hong Kong residents singing along to Pearl of the Orient while it played simultaneously on TV.

"Although I was only 2 years old at the time and don't have many memories of the momentous occasion, I grew up listening to my parents and teachers describe the exhilaration of that time. Today I can finally enjoy and witness a great cast perform this significant song once again," she added.

Lin noted that Country is a song dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the original intention of the creation was to reflect on the fate of China and its people standing together after the earthquake, snow disaster and hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

"These songs with strong positive energy, and performed by representative stars from all over the country, are bound to resonate with the feelings of family and country, and the homesickness of our compatriots in different places," Lin said.

The gala was held as some in Hong Kong were being reported to have helped incite violence in the 2019 anti-extradition bill movement in the city, such as Anthony Wong Yiu-ming.

It also followed recent controversies involving some Taiwan entertainers, for example female host Dee Hsu and singer Jolin Tsai, over their political stances.

It was viewed as a great opportunity to enhance cohesion and convey patriotism amid the controversies.

Five middle-aged entertainers who recently rebranded themselves as the boy band GBA on the latest episode of the variety show Call Me by Fire, were also scheduled to attend the gala.

The five members of GBA, which include 54-year-old Jordan Chan and 49-year-old Julian Cheung, aroused Chinese netizens' nostalgia for the heydays of the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

Besides the GBA gala, galas held by the Henan provincial TV station and the Bilibili website also attracted much attention.

While galas held by Chinese online platforms and TV stations used to be luxury events that involved heavy spending for popular idols to ensure high audience ratings, these galas focused on restoring traditional Chinese programs and scenes of how people celebrated the festival in ancient times.

Under the "Clear and Bright" campaign led by the relevant departments, those in the Chinese entertainment industry who received invitations to perform at the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala this year were mainly powerful singers and actors with representative works.

There were fewer idols with huge fan bases, and the concept behind the galas was also more exquisite, no longer simply competing with the popularity of the artists, but emphasizing themes and presentation, a senior entertainment industry insider surnamed Sun told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Sun noted that this year's show also brought more attention to truly talented but relatively unknown artists, and allowed the audiences to enjoy a higher level of performance.

"The performance of the galas highlighted family sentiment and traditional Chinese culture. There was less controversy among netizens on social platforms, and the discussion of the Mid-Autumn Festival Galas was more focused on the festival and the performances.

"This is a pleasing phenomenon for the entire entertainment industry," Sun said.

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China successfully launches Tianzhou-3 for second space station supply mission; to support upcoming six-month Shenzhou-13 manned mission

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Photo:Hu Xujie

Photo:Hu Xujie

Knock knock. This is your delivery-man Tianzhou-3, and please confirm your package receipt and may you have a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Carrying the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft, the Long March-7 Y4 rocket lifted off from Wenchang Space Launch Center located in South China's Hainan Province on Monday afternoon, one day ahead of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival - one of the happiest family reunion holidays for the Chinese people.

The lift-off gave the nearby forest of palm trees quite a shake in the Hainan tropical haze, the same way it excited many who came to witness the historic moment at the Wenchang beach on Monday afternoon.

As the fourth of 11 missions scheduled to build China's three-module space station, Tianzhou-3 mission came shortly after the historic Shenzhou-12 mission in which three taikonauts spent a record 90 days in the China's space station core module and safely returned to Earth on Friday.

After a flight time of around 597 seconds, the spacecraft separated with the rocket and entered preset orbit. At 3:22 pm, the solar panels onboard the spacecraft smoothly unfolded, with all functions in normal operating condition, marking the success of the third launch of a spaceship to the space station core cabin, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA.)

The Monday mission is tasked to bring supplies, equipment and propellant to get Tianhe ready for the next three-taikonaut Shenzhou-13 mission in October for their six-month stay. It is the Tianzhou spacecraft series second supply delivery run to the orbiting Tianhe module following a first by the Tianzhou-2 mission launched on May 29.

Although the launch of Tianzhou-2 by Long March-7 Y3 rocket was a successful one, it experienced two delays and met problems of leaking of injected fuels.

The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft was originally slated to be launched at around 1:30 am on May 20 and to head to China's Tianhe space station core cabin, which was launched into orbit on April 29, for a supply run. However, the launch was scrubbed narrowly following an announcement from CMSA on the early morning of May 20 for "technical reasons."

Research teams were dispatched immediately to check system functions, while the command center prepared for an attempt to recover the mission, which had been set to a day later in the early morning of May 21. However, after liquid oxygen was refueled eight hours before the scheduled launch time, abnormal signals once again occurred.

Drawing lessons from the previous launch, the Long March-7 rocket developer with the China Academy of Launch Vehicles have further optimized the quality examination process before and after the lift-off and make detailed emergency plans. This is to ensure the launch mission is on time with zero errors, the academy told the Global Times on Friday.

Photo:Deng Xiaoci/Global Times

Photo:Deng Xiaoci/Global Times

To sustain Taikonauts' longer stay in space

Global Times learned from the mission insiders that Tianzhou-3 mission will lay ground for the upcoming October Shenzhou-13 mission, just the way Tianzhou-2 mission prepared for the epic Shenzohu-12 manned spaceflight mission. The October mission is expected to last six months, renewing the record of the longest stay in space for a Chinese astronaut in a single mission.

The spacecraft developer China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) told the Global Times in a statement that just like the Tianzhou-2, Tianzhou-3 will carry a range of goods including daily necessities, drinking water, gas supplies, consumables for extravehicular activities [spacewalk,] as well as experiment payloads.

Yang Sheng, Chief designer of the Tianzhou-3 spacecraft system, told the Global Times that "As Tianzhou-3 mission will sustain taikonauts' 6-month-long stay in space, the density of cargo is greater on Tianzhou-3 than on Tianzhou-2, and Tianzhou-3's loading capability is also higher than that of Tianzhou-2. The number of packages onboard Tianzhou-3 is 25 percent more than on Tianzhou-2."

There were 6.8 tons of supplies onboard the Tianzhou-2, including some 160 parcels of goods and two tons of propellants, CAST told the Global Times previously.

One of the most expensive items to be onboard the Tianzhou-3 would be one piece of spacesuit specially designed for spacewalk missions that weighs some 90 kilograms, the CAST highlighted in the Friday statement. Tianzhou-2 had sent two pieces of spacesuits for Taikonauts' spacewalk with each weighing some 100 kilograms.

Also, onboard Tianzhou-3 is the replacement parts of the urine treatment system to ensure the device is in the best condition for the Shenzhou-13 crew, Global Times learned from the system developer 206 Research Institute of the Second Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC).

"The system has processed some 600 liters of urine into over 500 liters of water which was used to generate oxygen and for clean-up purpose during the Shenzhou-12 crew's three-month stay. Shenzhou-13 crew will install those parts when moving into the China's space station core module," Cui Guangzhi, the project leader, told the Global Times.

The Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft is expected to also execute a fast and automatic rendezvous and docking with the Tianhe core module, just like the Tianzhou-2 spacecraft did in May, which took some eight hours after lift-off,according to Deng Kaiwen, assistant of the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft's chief commander from the spacecraft developer

Compared to the Tianzhou-1's rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-2 in 2017, which took about two days, Tianzhou-2 took a mere eight hours to achieve the feat in May.

Tianzhou-3 will dock to the Tianhe module from the rear. Before such development, CMSA updated on Saturday, Tianzhou-2 had flown around Tianhe and conducted an automatic docking to the craft's front, which took four hours.

Shenzhou-13 will later rendezvous with the Tianhe module and conduct a R-Bar or vertical docking with the orbiting craft, which Shenzhou-12 had practiced on Friday before heading back to Earth.

Graphic: Wu Tiantong/GT

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AUKUS plans to provide nuclear submarines to Australia seriously endangers nuclear non-proliferation

Renovating democracy and the China challenge

Sunday, September 19, 2021

AUKUS plans to provide nuclear submarines to Australia seriously endangers nuclear non-proliferation

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The world needs to prepare for the arrival of the coming nuclear submarine craze

The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee returns to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, U.S., Feb. 6, 2013. (Xinhua/REUTERS

The US, UK, and Australia have announced the establishment of a security alliance known as AUKUS. One of the key elements of this military alliance is that Washington and London will help Canberra develop nuclear-powered submarines.

It is an act by the US and UK, two nuclear-weapon states, to secretly support and provide carriers of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear technology, and nuclear materials to Australia, a non-nuclear-weapon state, within the Anglosphere. But the move apparently runs counter to the objectives and core obligations set by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

First, the AUKUS move will lead to the proliferation of carriers of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the world. Although the nuclear-powered submarine is not a type of nuclear weapon itself, it still has the potential to carry nuclear weapons. It also belongs to an important platform for carrying WMD.

There are only six countries in the world that have nuclear submarines, including China, the US, Russia, the UK, France, and India, all of which possess nuclear weapons as well. It is clear that nuclear-powered submarines and nuclear weapons are inextricably linked with each other.b

Second, AUKUS will spread fissionable material that could be used to make nuclear weapons. The second paragraph of Article III of the NPT states that each member party to the Treaty undertakes not to provide special fissionable material to any non-nuclear-weapon state unless subject to various safeguards.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has no authority to supervise nuclear materials for submarines because of their military implications, which has objectively created conditions for Australia to make nuclear weapons. In history, Australia once planned to build up its own nuclear arsenal, while the UK conducted its first nuclear test in Australia in 1952.

Third, the partnership between the UK, the US and Australia may lead to the proliferation of uranium enrichment technology.

Washington and London's nuclear-powered submarines run on highly enriched uranium, while Canberra is rich in uranium deposits. If the US and the UK transfer the uranium-enriching technology to Australia to help it become self-sufficient in nuclear fuel, it would be no better than the international nuclear black market reported by the media in the early 2000s.

Fourth, the AUKUS move will negatively impact the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. Since Australia can openly acquire nuclear materials by developing nuclear-powered submarines, other non-nuclear-weapon states may follow suit, resulting in the endless risks of nuclear proliferation on our living planet. Therefore, James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called the recent action of the three countries "a terrible precedent."

And, finally, the trilateral security partnership is almost certain to trigger a regional arms race.

Canberra's peace record in the Indo-Pacific region is not unblemished. There were Australian troops participating in unjust wars in countries such as Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. Thus, Australia's enhanced underwater attack capability is no good news for its neighbors that may be forced into a vicious circle of the arms race to protect their own national security.

Looking at the latest changes in nuclear policies of the US and the UK, it is needless to say that what these countries have done has disappointed the world. US President Joe Biden once campaigned in his election campaign to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in the US security policy. However, less than eight months after entering the White House, he is eating his campaign pledge.

The same is also true with the UK. In March this year, the country adjusted its nuclear strategy drastically and took a significant step backward in its nuclear arms control. It not only increased its nuclear weapon stockpile cap from 180 to 260 warheads, but moved to lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

Peace, development, and nuclear non-proliferation are what most countries in the world yearn for. The actions of the US, the UK, and Australia to challenge the bottom line of nuclear non-proliferation, won't bode well for our living world.

The author is director of Arms Control Studies Center, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

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We must warn solemnly Japan, India and Australia not to follow the US too far in confronting China. Once they step on the red line of China's core interests, China will not care about their relations with the US, and China will not hesitate to punish the

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Evergrande 'not too big to fail': Chinese analyst responds to foreign hype

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Renovating democracy and the China challenge

To break out of its paralysis, the West needs to take a hard look and address three key challenges

The rise of the populist variant in the West and the rapid ascent of China in the East have prompted a rethinking of how democratic systems work - or don't. The creation of new classes of winners and losers as a consequence of globalisation and digital capitalism is also challenging how we think about the social contract and how wealth is shared. - Nathan Gardels and Nicolas Berggruen

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Rethinking Democracy, the Social Contract, and Globalization

The rise of populism in the West, the rise of China in the East and the spread of peer-driven social media everywhere have stirred a rethinking of how democratic systems work—or don’t. The creation of new classes of winners and losers as a result of globalization and digital capitalism is also challenging how we think about the social contract and how wealth is shared.

The worst fear of America’s Founders—that democracy would empower demagogues—was realized in the 2016 US presidential election, when the ballot box unleashed some of the darkest forces in the body politic. Similarly, in Europe an anti-establishment political awakening of both populism and right-wing neonationalism is consigning the mainstream centrist political parties that once dominated the post–World War II political order to the margins.

Donald Trump’s election and the populist surge in Europe did not cause this crisis of governance. They are symptoms of the decay of democratic institutions across the West that, captured by the organized special interests of an insider establishment have failed to address the dislocations of globalization and the disruptions of rapid technological change. To add danger to decay, the fevered partisans of populism are throwing out the baby with the bathwater, assaulting the very integrity of institutional checks and balances that guarantee the enduring survival of republics. The revolt against a moribund political class has transmuted into a revolt against governance itself.

Because neither the stakeholders of the waning status quo nor the upstarts of populism have offered any effective, systemic solutions to what ails the West, protracted polarization and paralysis have set in.

The Paradoxes of Governance in the Digital Age

These trials of the West are bound up with, and to a significant extent driven by, two related developments: the growing fragmentation of mass society into diverse tribes fortified by the participatory power of social media, and the advent of digital capitalism, which is divorcing productivity and wealth creation from employment and income.

We argue that these shifts present twin paradoxical challenges for governance.

First, the paradox of democracy in the age of peer-driven social networks is that, because there is more participation than ever before, never has the need been greater for countervailing practices and institutions to impartially establish facts, deliberate wise choices, mediate fair trade-offs, and forge consensus that can sustain long-term implementation of policies. Despite expectations that the Internet Age would create an informed public more capable of self-government than ever before in history, fake news, hate speech, and “alternative facts” have seriously degraded the civic discourse.

Second, the paradox of the political economy in the age of digital capitalism is that the more dynamic a perpetually innovating knowledge-driven economy is, the more robust a redefined safety net and opportunity web must be to cope with the steady disruption and gaps in wealth and power that will result.

To meet these challenges, we propose a novel approach to renovating democratic institutions that integrates new forms of direct participation into present practices of representative government while restoring to popular sovereignty the kind of deliberative ballast the American Founding Fathers thought so crucial to avoiding the suicide of republics. We further propose ways to spread wealth and opportunity fairly in a future in which intelligent machines are on track to displace labor, depress wages, and transform the nature of work to an unprecedented degree.

Where China Comes In

When populists rail against globalization that has undermined their standard of living through trade agreements, they mostly have China in mind. Few reflect that China was able to take maximum advantage of the post–Cold War US-led world order that promoted open trade and free markets precisely because of its consensus-driven and long-term-oriented one-party political system. China has shown the path to prosperity is not incompatible with authoritarian rule.

In this sense, China’s tenacious rise over the past three decades holds up a harsh mirror to an increasingly dysfunctional West. The current US president, who rode an anti-globalization wave to power, relishes battling his way through every twenty-four-hour news cycle by firing off barbed tweets at sundry foes. By contrast, China’s near-dictatorial leader has used his amassed clout to lay out a roadmap for the next thirty years.

If the price of political freedom is division and polarization, it comes at a steep opportunity cost. As the West—including Europe, riven now by populist and separatist movements—stalls in internal acrimony, China is boldly striding ahead. It has proactively set its sights on conquering the latest artificial intelligence technology, reviving the ancient Silk Road as “the next phase of globalization,” taking the lead on climate change, and shaping the next world order in its image. If the West does not hear this wake-up call loud and clear, it is destined to somnambulate into second-class status on the world stage.

This is not, of course, to suggest in any way that the West turn toward autocracy and authoritarianism. Rather, it is to say that unless democracies look beyond the short-term horizon of the next election cycle and find ways to reach a governing consensus, they will be left in the dust by the oncoming future. If the discourse continues to deteriorate into a contest over who dominates the viral memes of the moment, and if democracy comes to mean sanctifying the splintering of society into a plethora of special interests, partisan tribes, and endless acronymic identities instead of seeking common ground, there is little hope of competing successfully with a unified juggernaut like China. Waiting for China to stumble is a foolish fallback.

Unlike the Soviet Union at the time of the Sputnik challenge in the late 1950s and early 1960s, China today possesses an economic and technological prowess the Soviet Union never remotely approached. Whether in conflict or cooperation, China will be a large presence in our future.

It is in that context that we examine the strengths and weakness of China’s system as a spur to thinking through our own challenges. To turn the old Chinese saying toward ourselves, “The stones from hills yonder can polish jade at home.”

Taking Back Control

To set the frame for rethinking democracy and the political economy, we argue that the anxiety behind the populist reaction is rooted in the uncertainties posed by the great transformations under way, from the intrusions of globalization on how sovereign communities govern their affairs, to such rapid advances in technology as social media and robotics, to the increasingly multicultural composition of all societies. Change is so enormous that individuals and communities alike feel they are drowning in the swell of seemingly anonymous forces and want to “take back control” of their lives at a scale and stride they can manage. They crave the dignity of living in a society in which their identity matters and that attends to their concerns. Effectively aligning political practices and institutions so as to confront these challenges head-on will make the difference between a world falling apart and a world coming together.

Critics of globalization argue that nation-states and communities must retrieve the capacity to make decisions that reflect their way of life and maintain the integrity of their norms and institutions, decisions the maligned cosmopolitan caste has handed over to distant trade tribunals or other global institutions managed by strangers. Those decisions, they rightly say, ought to be made through “democratic deliberation” by sovereign peoples. Yet that neat logic ignores the reality of decay and dysfunction we have already noted. Therefore, “taking back control” must, first and foremost, mean renovating democratic practices and institutions themselves.

The Politics of Renovation

The most responsible course of change in modern societies is renovation.

Renovation is the point of equilibrium between creation and destruction, whereby what is valuable is saved and what is outmoded or dysfunctional is discarded. It entails a long march through society’s institutions at a pace of change our incremental natures can absorb. Renovation shepherds the new into the old, buffering the damage of dislocation that at first outweighs longer-term benefits. In the new age of perpetual disruption, renovation is the constant of governance. Its aim is transition through evolutionary stability, within societies and in relations among nation-states and global networks.

In this book, we propose three ways to think about how to renovate democracy, the social contract, and global interconnectivity in order to take back control:

Empowering participation without populism by integrating social networks and direct democracy into the system through the establishment of new mediating institutions that complement representative government
Reconfiguring the social contract to protect workers instead of jobs while spreading the wealth of digital capitalism by providing all citizens not only with the skills of the future but also with an equity share in “owning the robots.” We call this universal basic capital. The aim here is to enhance the skills and asserts of the less well-off in the first place – predistribution – as a complement to redistribution of wealth for public higher education or other public goods. The best way to fight inequality in the digital age is to spread the equity around.
Harnessing globalization through “positive nationalism,” which means an allegiance to the values of an inclusive society instead of nationalistic incantation, albeit tempered by an understanding that open societies need defined borders. It also means dialing back the hyper-globalization of “one size fits all” global trade agreements to leave room for industrial policies that compensate for the dislocations of integrated global markets. To temper the deepening rivalry, even economic decoupling underway between the US and China, we call for a “partnership of rivals” on climate action. If there is not some area of common intents, all else will dwell in the shadow of distrust and lead to a new Cold War, the breakup of the world into geopolitical blocs and worse.

These proposals, of course, do not exhaust the answers to the panoply of daunting challenges we have raised. But they do suggest ways we might think about how to change present social and political arrangements for addressing those challenges. We do not insist that we are somehow the font of all wisdom but regard our endeavor as a point of departure that deepens and expands the debate. Without concrete propositions to criticize and amend, the discourse about change is only an airy exchange that fails to move the needle.

Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels are the founders of the Berggruen Institute and the authors of Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way between West and East (2012). Their latest work, Renovating Democracy: Governing in the Age of Globalization and Digital Capitalism (2019), is the first in a Berggruen Institute series on the “Great Transformations” published by the University of California Press (UC

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Saturday, September 18, 2021

RM500mil Grant to revive SMEs to be given out from Sept 21, ensure no delays in aid rollout to B40, says PM

Help at hand: The Prime Minister joins in via video conferencing as Tengku Zafrul (second from right) witnesses the first day of BKC payments to recipients at the BSN Putrajaya branch. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: The government will channel RM500mil of assistance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the Prihatin Special Grant (GKP) 4.0 beginning Sept 21, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“With this aid, it is hoped that small businesses such as food stalls, barbers, workshops and cake shops will be able to reduce their burden and help in their cash flow,” he said.

Each payment of RM500 will be given out in September and November.

Ismail Sabri said the aid will be channelled directly into the bank accounts registered with the GKP system and that the status of the GKP 4.0 can be checked at gkp.hasil.gov.my.

The Prime Minister said the grant, which is a component of the Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih), will benefit more than one million recipients.

In a statement yesterday, he said the aid would be transferred directly into bank accounts registered with the GKP system.

The status of the GKP 4.0 can be checked at gkp.hasil.gov.my.

So far, he said RM6.08bil had been channelled to SMEs under the GKP since the pandemic began.

“I hope this aid will be able to revive the SME sector, which is the engine of economic growth for the Malaysian family.”

The government, he said, would give priority to industry players who were among those most affected during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the status of those who applied and then appealed for the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) can be checked at bpr.hasil.gov.my starting today.

This will involve almost 200,000 BPR recipients with an estimated allocation of RM240mil, said Tengku Zafrul, adding that the payments would be credited at the end of this month into accounts registered with the BPR.

The payments, he said, would be credited into bank accounts registered during the BPR appeals at the end of this month, together with the recipients of the third phase of the BPR.

He said in a statement the payout would also be given to recipients of the third phase of the BPR.

Tengku Zafrul said the government had updated the data of the B40 group eligible to receive the BPR after their appeals were submitted from June 15 to June 30.

The appeals were verified by the Inland Revenue Board to ensure that the aid would benefit those who qualified for it.

“The government hopes that this cash assistance totalling RM17.1bil until the end of the year can assist Malaysian families in managing their expenses,” he said.

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Govt to channel RM500mil aid to SMEs from Sept 21, says PM

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/09/17/govt-to-channel-rm500mil-aid-to-smes-from-sept-21-says-pm

SMEs in dire need of assistance | The Star

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/09/18/smes-in-dire-need-of-assistance

PM: Ensure no delays in aid rollout

More assistance coming after BKC next month, says Ismail Sabri

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. - Bernama filepic

PUTRAJAYA: The Special Covid-19 Aid (BKC) cash vouchers prepared by the Finance Ministry must reach the recipients without any delay, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Having witnessed the Phase One payments of the BKC being credited into the accounts of 10 million recipients from yesterday, the Prime Minister also urged the ministry to ensure the smooth running of the BKC payments, especially for recipients residing in rural areas with limited banking access or those without bank accounts.

Data from the ministry shows there are 708,223 eligible BKC recipients who do not have bank accounts.

Ismail Sabri also said the government would be channelling more assistance to the people starting next month.

In a video conference from his residence in Petaling Jaya with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) staffers to check on the BKC payment process, Ismail Sabri said BKC was among the assistance given to help ease the burden of the people affected by Covid-19.

“Hopefully, nothing untoward happens that can cause delays and so on,” he said.

Ismail Sabri, who initiated the video conference call because he is still undergoing self-quarantine, also advised BSN staffers to ensure BKC recipients who come to collect the aid complied with standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent Covid-19 transmission.

Joining the video conference call were Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who was at BSN Putrajaya here, and Deputy Finance Minister Mohd Shahar Abdullah, who was at the BSN branch in Bera, Pahang.

“Hopefully, what the government is giving today (yesterday) – although not much – can at least help reduce the people’s burden,” said Ismail Sabri, who also referred to information from Tengku Zafrul that more assistance was forthcoming for the people.

On Sept 1, Ismail Sabri announced that the BKC would be paid in stages with Phase One payments being credited from Sept 6 to 10.

Funds amounting to RM3.1bil have already been channelled to the relevant banking institutions for BKC payments.

The BKC is paid out to assist the hardcore poor, B40 households with total monthly income of RM5,000 and below and senior citizens as well as singles with a monthly income of RM2,500 and below, based on the eligibility criteria under the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR 2021) aid package.

Those in the M40 group who report income tax with a total household income of RM5,001 to RM9,000 and RM2,501 to RM5,000 for singles are also eligible to receive BKC.

Under the BKC, hardcore poor category households will receive RM1,300; eligible senior citizens and singles (RM500).

For the B40 category, households will receive RM800, eligible senior citizens and singles (RM200); while in the M40 category, households will receive RM250 and qualified senior citizens and singles (RM100).

Details on the BKC, including payment status, can be viewed at https://bkc.hasil.gov.my.Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said the government would distribute various forms of assistance that have been planned until the end of this year.

Among the assistance that will be distributed is Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat phase three amounting to RM2.32bil, which will be channelled at the end of this month, and assistance for the loss of income in October.

In a post on his official Facebook page, Ismail Sabri said he had the opportunity to virtually review the Phase One payment process of BKC which would be implemented in stages through selected financial institutions involving the RM3.1bil allocation.

He also said that he was informed that the Finance Ministry would facilitate distribution to the rural community by paying cash to BKC recipients who did not have bank accounts.

“I hope this assistance can alleviate the burden of the ‘Malaysian Family’ affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. — Bernama

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Friday, September 17, 2021

Taikonauts' mission accomplished, safely back on earth from Chinese home in space

Safety prioritized, inclusiveness stressed in China's manned space missions

Photo:Xinhua

Having extended the record of Chinese Taikonauts' longest stay in space in a single flight mission to 90 days, the Shenzhou-12 mission crew returned to Earth at the designated Dongfeng landing site in the Gobi Desert, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, marking a successful conclusion of the first crewed mission at the country's space station building stage.

The Shenzhou-12 return module has separated from the orbiting module at 12:43 pm on Friday, and was then followed by a smooth separation from the propellant, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Carrying the three taikonauts – mission commander Nie Haisheng, and his fellow crew members Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo – the return capsule touched down at the landing site as of 1:34 pm.

Photo:Xinhua

The homecoming heroes did not have to wait too long before the search and rescue squad with the Dongfeng landing site reached them after their landing.

They were confirmed in good condition after they touched down safely at the Dongfeng landing site.

The whole process was so smooth that Tang Hongbo was seen playing with a pen during the process of returning Earth.

"Real gold fears no fire," Nie Haisheng joked with his fellow crew, citing a Chinese proverb as they re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

It also marked the first time the Dongfeng site has received a returning Shenzhou mission, taking the place of the Siziwang Banner site, the traditional go-to landing site for China's manned space flights.

Photo:Deng Xiaoci/GT

The choice of landing site was based on a number of factors, including climate, topography, returning options, and rescue and search equipment, Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based space expert and retired researcher from the China Academy of Space Technology, told the Global Times on Friday.

This return was more difficult than previous missions, Pang noted, as the previous ones all had fixed returning points in orbit, while that of Shenzhou-12, which was attached to the space station, had a changing orbital altitude. What's more, Shenzhou-12 was to return to a different spot from previous times in order to test the search and rescue capabilities of the Dongfeng landing site.

The site is partly surrounded by desert, with a dry desert climate and little rainfall. "As there are mountains and pitted terrain in the area, the search and rescue work was much more challenging," Pang noted.

The safe landing of the return capsule also marked the successful completion of the Shenzhou-12 mission.

"Shenzhou-12 has demonstrated China's capability to perform prolonged human spaceflight missions, including lengthy and challenging operations like extravehicular activities and providing necessary ground support," Andrew Jones, a Finland-based correspondent for space.com and spacenews.com who closely follows China's space industry, told the Global Times.

Photo:Deng Xiaoci/GT

Upcoming missions

China will carry out two more space launches for the building of its own space station this year - the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft via a Long March-7 carrier rocket from Wenchang spaceport in Hainan and another manned flight on a Shenzhou-13 spacecraft via a Long March-2F rocket from Jiuquan center.

An official update by the CMSA on Thursday said that the combo of Tianzhou-3 and Long March 7 Y4 rocket has rolled out to the launch pad in Wenchang and will take off at a suitable time. The Tianzhou-3 mission will be the second supply shipping mission to the Tianhe core module following the first by the Tianzhou-2 on May 29.

Following the Tianzhou-3 mission, the Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft is expected to send another crew of three taikonauts to China's space station complex, which may include the first female taikonaut in the space station building stage. They will live and work in orbit for an even longer stay of six months.

Wang Yaping, who beamed down live from space to 330 elementary and middle school students in Beijing when she was in space onboard the nation's Tiangong-1 space lab module in 2013 and served as the back-up astronaut for the Shenzhou-12 crew, is widely believed to be among the most likely candidates for the mission.

According to mission insiders, the Shenzhou-13 manned space mission will also conduct an R-Bar, also known as vertical docking, with the space station complex, a first at the space station building stage.

Yao Yuanfu, the chief designer of the rendezvous and docking microwave radar system onboard the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview that the spacecraft will face a much more complicated electromagnetic environment than the Shenzhou-12 in its docking mission, as by then the space station complex will have more spacecraft docked than it did before Shenzhou-12's docking and the new docking direction adds to the complexity of the mission.

The institute's radar project has participated in China's heavyweight space programs such as the Chang'e lunar probe as well as Tianwen-1 Mars exploration, and the success of the missions have been a source of confidence for Yao and his team for the Shenzhou-13's successful docking down the road.

The Shenzhou-12 spacecraft also pulled off a vertical docking experiment shortly after separating from the Tianhe core module on Thursday to verify the capability.

Although there has been no official announcement, Shenzhou-13 is expected to be launched in a few weeks given that the Tianhe core cabin cannot be left unattended for a long time, observers noted.

Open, inclusive

Space agencies around the world have put more faith in China becoming a strong space power and they hope to collaborate with China on the space station in terms of manned spaceflights and scientific experimental loads, as the space station may be the only operational one in orbit if the International Space Station (ISS) retires after 2024.

“The construction of the space station is a complex and intensive project. Its completion would be a demonstration of China's ability to execute complex, long-term space projects. It will also bring opportunities for science and international collaboration,” Jones commented, “while also posing challenges to some space agencies in terms of determining their priorities and resources for space activities.”

China has been engaged in exchange and cooperation with international space agencies including Russia's Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA), which played a positive role in the construction of China's space station. "We are willing to work with any space institutes that are peace-loving and devoted to the peaceful use of space," said Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Agency.

Hao also disclosed that "there will be foreign astronauts participating in China's manned space flights, and working and staying in China's space station."

"Many of them have been learning Chinese for this purpose. And China will carry out work to select foreign astronauts for joint flight missions as our construction of the space station proceeds," he said.

Compared to the US-dominated ISS, which has been more of a party of powers, China's space station will be more inclusive in getting developing countries involved, and will provide a platform for anyone on the basis of equality, win-win cooperation and mutual respect, space observers noted.

The first batch of a total of nine international scientific experiments from 17 countries and 23 research bodies have been selected to be carried onboard China’s space station, which is expected to be operational by 2022. The first batch includes Gamma-ray burst polarimetry jointly proposed by Switzerland, Poland, Germany and China and a spectroscopic investigation of nebular gas by India and Russia.