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U.S. shut out in EU list of countries approved for entry

(Xinhua)09:54, July 01, 2020

BRUSSELS, June 30 (Xinhua) — The Council of the European Union (EU) on Tuesday adopted a recommendation to lift entry restrictions for residents of some third countries starting Wednesday, and the United States is noticeably shut out.

The council recommended the lifting of travel restrictions for residents of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay. Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican are to be considered as EU residents for the purpose of the recommendation.

The United States, a traditional ally of the EU and a significant source of tourism, is not on the list.

The external borders of the bloc have been closed since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The council said the criteria to determine the group of countries for which current travel restrictions should be lifted cover, in particular, their epidemiological situations and containment measures. The list of safe third countries will be reviewed every two weeks.

The council also recommended that residents of China be allowed to travel to the EU, subject to confirmation of reciprocity.

While highly anticipated, the councils recommendations are not legally binding, since border control is still its member states competency, the council said.

The member states may, in full transparency, lift only progressively travel restrictions towards countries listed. A Member State should not decide to lift the travel restrictions for non-listed third countries before this has been decided in a coordinated manner, the council said.

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U.S. image worsens in Europe amid pandemic, poll says

(Xinhua)16:42, July 01, 2020

BRUSSELS, July 1 (Xinhua) — A pan-European poll has found that the majority of respondents hold an increasingly negative view of the United States amid the coronavirus outbreak, U.S. media CNBC reported on Monday.

The survey, commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Relations, a pan-European think tank, interviewed 11,000 people from nine European countries from the last week of April this year to early May, reported CNBC.

Around two-thirds of respondents in Denmark, Portugal, France, Germany and Spain said the U.S. image has been damaged in their mind, while only 2 percent of people surveyed said the United States was helpful in the battle against the novel coronavirus, the poll showed.

Around 46 percent of the French people surveyed said their view of the United States has worsened a lot, while 42 percent of the German respondents said the U.S. reputation has been deteriorated a lot during the coronavirus outbreak, the poll said.

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Worst is yet to come WHO chief advocates for solidarity to fight the coronavirus

(CGTN)16:55, July 01, 2020

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,the World Health Organizations (WHO) Director-General(Xinhua/File Photo)

The World Health Organizations (WHO) Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic is speeding up and the worst is yet to come.

Tedros also noted in his daily briefing that the lack of national unity and lack of global solidarity was actually helping the virus spread.

The WHO chief pointed out five priorities that every single country must focus on now to save lives. And the politicization of the pandemic is not one of them.

Some countries are now experiencing a resurgence of cases as they start to re-open their economies and societies. Most people remain susceptible. The virus still has a lot of room to move, he said. But the hard reality is: This is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.

Please quarantine COVID politics, he said, adding that the virus has two dangerous combinations 鈥?one is its fast, its contagious and second is, its a killer. It can exploit divisions.

Your health is in your hands 鈥?That includes physical distancing, hand hygiene, covering coughs, staying home if you feel sick, wearing masks when appropriate, and only sharing information from reliable sources.

You may be in a low-risk category, but the choices you make could be the difference between life and death for someone else, he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also remarked that theres no reason to suspect that the coronavirus was introduced deliberately and that nothing good would come out of anyone insisting otherwise, during an interview with Rossiya 1 TV channel.

As the president explained, in their current predicament, countries should join forces instead of accusing one another.

We need to do everything that leads us to deliverance from this threat, Putin said, adding that thats where success awaits us rather than on the way of confrontation.

The second priority marked by Tedros is to improve surveillance to find cases, he added while repeatedly stressing on the importance of tracing and quarantining.

He added that if any country is saying contact tracing is difficult, it is a lame excuse.

The lame excuse is there are too many 鈥?Trust me there are not too many in war situations. If contact tracing helps you to win the fight, you do it even risking your life鈥?

The third priority should be to save lives. Early identification and clinical care saves lives. Providing oxygen and dexamethasone to people with severe and critical disease, saves lives, he said and advised countries to pay special attention to high-risk groups.

Fourth is to accelerate research, while fifth is political leadership.

He emphasized that global solidarity was crucial to the pandemic response and to implement a comprehensive strategy to suppress transmission.

Weve already learned a lot about this virus, but theres still a lot we dont know 鈥?and there are still tools we need, concluded the WHO chief.

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Europeans view of U.S. has worsened after COVID-19 pandemic

(CGTN)17:04, July 01, 2020

（Photo/Xinhua）

A majority of Europeans are having an increasingly negative perception of the U.S. as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent poll commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

The pan-European survey was conducted by Datapraxis and YouGov in nine EU member states in the last week of April 2020, and into early May. The research was published on Monday by ECFR under the title European foreign and security policy.

The survey for 11,000 people revealed that respondents from almost all nine countries had a worsened view of the United States.

Participants in France and Germany, 46 percent and 42 percent respectively, said their view of the U.S. had worsened a lot as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Poland and Bulgaria were the only countries where the most people said there had been no change in their view of the United States.

It also shows that only two percent of Europeans surveyed expressed the view that the U.S. was a helpful ally in the fight against COVID-19.

Author of the research, Susi Dennison and Pawel Zerka, noted: The proportion of respondents who felt that the U.S. had been a key ally through the crisis was vanishingly small, with the largest proportion in Italy, at just six percent.

Meanwhile, 25 percent of respondents from Italy saw China as the most useful ally in the crisis, as China was seen sending ventilators, medical experts and personal protective equipment to Italy and some other European countries.

In a frightening world, one looks around for friends. But Europeans are uncertain who they can rely on. As a pan-European poll ECFR carried out in 2019 showed, Europeans preferred the idea of an EU that was strong enough not to be forced to choose sides in a conflict but, ultimately, would usually side with the United States over any other ally. Now, Europeans trust in Trumps America is gone.

On Tuesday, European Union approved to exclude the United States from its initial safe list of countries from which the bloc will allow non-essential travel from Wednesday.

The reports authors also said that many respondents were appalled by the U.S.s response to tackling the coronavirus crisis at a global level, although the White House has repeatedly denied that it has mishandled the pandemic.

Although, the coronavirus crisis had appeared to galvanize public support for the European Union to take more coordinated action to tackle global threats, as few respondents to the survey had a positive view of the EUs coronavirus response.

However, and when asked who has been your countrys greatest ally during the coronavirus crisis a majority of respondents from seven countries answered no one.

Europeans have digested the fact that the U.S. is no longer necessarily a friend for Europe in times of need. As Germany takes over the Presidency of the EU, next month, this important shift in public opinion towards the U.S. may push European governments to pursue a more independent line in the rebuilding of the international order after COVID-19.

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Panda cub born in US named ‘Little Miracle’

(Peoples Daily)11:32, November 24, 2020

Photo: Giant panda cub Xiao Qiji.

Washington (People’s Daily) – After five days of voting and just under 135,000 votes, Xiao Qiji, which means “little miracle” in Chinese, on Monday became the name of the 3-month-old giant panda cub born in the US.

Photo: Giant panda cub Xiao Qiji and his mother Mei Xiang.

This is the latest progress in the joint research of giant pandas between China the US, bringing joy to fans in China and the US.

Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the US, said that Xiao Qiji’s birth is a true miracle that has been so uplifting to all of us during the pandemic. “Both our American friends and people back in China care about him. We watch him on webcams, and get excited about his teething, practice of crawling and every step of his life. We are connected again in the growth of our little ambassador, and in our shared joy and friendship,” said Cui.

Photo: Giant panda cub Xiao Qiji and his mother Mei Xiang.

According the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, giant pandas are an international symbol of endangered wildlife and hope, and Xiao Qiji’s birth offered the world a much-needed moment of joy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Steve Monfort, John and Adrienne Mars director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, said this cub represents another achievement in their decades-long partnership with China Wildlife Conservation Association. He said the pandas are the symbol of partnership and friendship between China and the US.

Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, said “We are so excited to have you (Xiao Qiji) as our neighbor in Washington DC. You are the cutest and most popular bear in the nation.”

Photo: Giant panda cub Xiao Qiji.

Xiao Qiji was born at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat on 6:35 pm on August 21, to mother Mei Xiang and father Tian Tian. His birth was livestreamed on the zoo’s Giant Panda Cam, and since then more than 1.5 million virtual visitors have tuned in to watch him grow. Giant panda fans can see Xiao Qiji, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian via the Giant Panda Cam, one of five live animal webcams hosted on the zoo’s website.

However, the cooperative breeding agreement of panda between US National Zoo and China Wildlife Conservation Association will expire on December 7. Monfort said they want to extend the agreement and the zoo is currently discussing a potential extension of agreement with colleagues in China. It is our hope that we will have these pandas for just a few more years, said Monfort.

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Chinas 2020 box office tops 16 bln yuan

(Xinhua)14:35, November 24, 2020

BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) — Chinas 2020 box office revenue has exceeded 16 billion yuan (about 2.43 billion U.S. dollars), with the top four earners contributing more than half of the earnings.

The yearly box office collection totaled 16.02 billion yuan as of Tuesday morning after crossing the 16-billion-yuan mark Monday, data compiled by the China Movie Data Information Network showed.

War epic The Eight Hundred by Guan Hu topped the 2020 list, grossing more than 3.1 billion yuan to date, followed by comedy anthology My People, My Homeland and animated feature Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification, raking in more than 2.8 billion yuan and 1.6 billion yuan, respectively.

The Sacrifice, a film set during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953), ranked fourth, with more than 1 billion yuan.

Leap, a sports film that recounts the stories of the Chinese national womens volleyball team over the last 40 years, came in fifth, with more than 800 million yuan.

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Beijingers spend more on culture, entertainment report

(Xinhua)15:57, November 24, 2020

BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) — Beijing residents per capita spending on education, culture and entertainment rose to 4,311 yuan (about 655 U.S. dollars) last year, up 7.8 percent year on year, according to a report published on Tuesday.

The per capita spending was around 72 percent higher than the national average, reflecting Beijing residents strong desire for cultural consumption and spending power, said the report on Beijings cultural industry development.

The report was jointly launched by the Beijing State-owned Cultural Assets Management Center together with the School of Cultural Industries Management under the Communication University of China.

In recent years, the development of Beijings cultural industry has maintained a good momentum, with an optimized industrial structure. From 2013 to 2018, the added value of Beijings cultural industry registered an average annual growth of 13.3 percent, the report noted.

Creative design services, news and information services, content creation and production, and cultural communication channels have become leading sectors to promote the high-quality development of cultural industries in the national capital, it said.

With growing cultural consumption demand, the country has seen continuous increases in its per capita expenditure on the consumption of education, culture and entertainment products.

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China’s cultural consumption lights up the night economy

(Peoples Daily Online)09:09, August 24, 2020

As COVID-19 wanes in China, cinemas, bookstores, bars, sports centers and other public cultural spaces in various cities have been reopened, launching various activities. The glowing night economy lights up the cities evening sky again.

A musical performance at a scenic spot in Zhoushan city, Zhejiang province. (Photo/Xinhua)

During the epidemic, normal prevention and control measures, such as home quarantine, have curbed peoples offline consumption activities, whereas online shopping and online movie watching have become the normal life consumption.

According to statistics, retail sales of consumer goods in Beijing in the first six months of this year totaled 597.3 billion yuan (about $ 86.5 billion), down 16.3 percent year-on-year. As the epidemic wanes, residents restrained enthusiasm for consumption has begun to release, and the night economy has become an important engine to accelerate the recovery of consumption, stimulating urban vitality.

Cities across the country have launched projects such as scenic spot night tours and cultural night markets, which organically integrates local culture, themed landscapes, performing arts, entertainment, catering and other forms of business, highlighting the cultural elements of the night economy.

Citizens visit Qingming Bridge historical and cultural Street in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on Aug. 8, 2020. (Photo/Xinhua)

The economic forms at night are rich and diverse, and the urban space can be both lively and noisy, as well as quiet and indifferent. The late night study of Sanlian Taofen Bookstore is open 24 hours a day in Beijing; named Page One, the bookstore has become a cultural landmark of the city during the evening; 45 museums in Shanghai have opened night shows and 35 bookstores have held evening reading meetings , enriching the forms of the night economy while meeting the diversified spiritual needs of the people.

Culture is constantly integrated into the urban night economy, constituting its core element. The Night Tour to Jinjiang project in Chengdu of southwest Chinas Sichuan province integrates the local culture into the night economic form; ice and snow world in Harbin of northeast Chinas Heilongjiang province attracts tourists from all over the country with a variety of lights and shapes.

Beijing citizens watch a performance in Wangjing Commercial Street on Aug. 8, 2020. (Photo/Xinhua)

While the Grand Tang Dynasty Ever-bright City night excursion project in Xian, northwest China’s Shaanxi province is also favored by tourists, the Night Touring of Qinhuai project in Nanjing in east China’s Jiangsu province has become a name card for local night tourism.

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Creative products give murals of ancient grottoes a modern spin

(Xinhua)16:48, September 14, 2020

LANZHOU, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) — Born and raised in Dunhuang, northwest Chinas Gansu Province, Yao Yanbei has long been immersed in the cultural heritage of the city.

Once an outpost on the ancient Silk Road, Dunhuang boasts exquisite Buddhist art dating back over 1,650 years. Its Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are home to more than 2,000 colored sculptures and 45,000 square meters of murals.

After graduating from a college in the eastern Chinese city of Xiamen, Yao returned to Dunhuang as a promising designer. She was determined to promote her hometown through her creative works.

In 2016, inspired by patterns in Dunhuang murals, Yao created a toy camel embellished with fiery red hair and patterns of honeysuckle on its hump.

Through the toy camel, I intended to convey the spirit of the locals who are usually tough-minded and hard-working, Yao said.

Tourists can take home artistic products like the camel replica as souvenirs after visiting the murals, she said. They help more people know about my hometown.

In August 2017, Yao spent nearly a month inside grottoes sketching the murals, in quest of inspiration from the Buddhist art.

Staying in the grottoes from dawn to dusk, I felt spiritually connected with the ancient artists who painted the murals. It was an amazing experience, she said.

Inspired by the sculptures and murals, Yao later designed an array of innovative products, including tote bags, T-shirts, bookmarks, pocket mirrors and key rings. They all emanate a modern vibe that appeals to the younger generation.

Thanks to the efforts of designers like Yao, the cultural and creative industry began to take root in Dunhuang. Starting from 2018, every year the city has held an international design week to help promote the budding industry.

By pooling the wisdom of designers from home and abroad, we want to make Dunhuangs creative products more fashionable and reflective of the latest trends, said Liu Mengxing, a vice general manager of a local company.

We hope more people can realize that the culture of Dunhuang not only thrives in a remote desert but can also spice up our daily life, Liu added.

Looking ahead at her career in design, Yao plans to explore Dunhuangs ancient art further and apply the wisdom of ancient artists into products of modern life.

I want to design more creative products that appeal to more international customers, said Yao. I hope my design can bring people closer to Dunhuang.

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U.S. to reduce troop presence in Iraq, Afghanistan by November

(Xinhua)09:11, September 10, 2020

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) — Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie confirmed on Wednesday that the United States would withdraw thousands of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan by November, U.S. media reported on Wednesday.

The Politico reported that McKenzie, during a ceremony for Operation Inherent Resolve with the Iraqi minister of defense, said that U.S. troop presence in Iraq would be reduced to 3,000 by the end of September.

The force reduction is due to the great progress the Iraqi forces have made and in consultation and coordination with the Government of Iraq and our coalition partners, he said.

Currently, there are over 5,000 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq to support Iraqi forces in battles against remnants of the Islamic State (IS), mainly for training and advisory purposes.

McKenzie noted that the reduced size of U.S. military presence in Iraq would still be able to advise and assist Iraqi forces in rooting out the IS remnants in Iraq.

The top U.S. general in the Middle East told several media outlets later in the day that U.S. troops in Afghanistan would be decreased to about 4,500 level by early November.

The Pentagon said in mid-July that the United States maintained its force level in Afghanistan at mid-8,000s, meeting the conditions of the U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in late February.

The agreement also called for a full withdrawal of the U.S. military forces from Afghanistan by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.

The numbers and time frame of the troop reduction plan that McKenzie disclosed on Wednesday were mainly in line with previous reports and discussions.

The Wall Street Journal wrote in a late August piece that the Pentagon would reduce military presence in Iraq by roughly one-third over the next two or three months, bringing U.S. troop numbers down to 3,500.

Pentagon chief Mark Esper also confirmed last month that U.S. troops in Afghanistan would be lowered to less than 5,000 by the end of November.

As the presidential election looms, President Donald Trump has doubled down efforts to seek to fulfill his campaign promise to bring troops home and to pull his country out of endless wars.

During his meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi last month, Trump reiterated his intention to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Trump also has sought a full withdrawal from Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan, which has caused about 2,400 U.S. military deaths, is the longest one in U.S. history.

The troop reduction announcement came amid the development of a delicate relationship between Trump and the military.

In Mondays White House briefing, Trump claimed senior leaders in the Pentagon probably didnt like him because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.

Army Chief of Staff James McConville on Tuesday defended military leaders to media outlet Defense One, saying the senior leaders would only recommend sending our troops to combat when it is required in national security and a last resort.

The news also came days after an article published in The Atlantic, quoting anonymous sources, saying that Trump disparaged slain U.S. service members by referring to them as losers and suckers. Trump and White House officials have vehemently denied the report.