Bullying practices to maintain hegemony only makes U.S. utterly isolated

By ZhongSheng (Peoples Daily)09:08, August 04, 2020

Certain politicians in the U.S. have fully unmasked their Cold War mentality and attempt to maintain hegemony with a series of crazy talks in the recent days.

Clearly, it鈥檚 the U.S. who has been wielding the big stick against China, trying to obstruct the latter鈥檚 development in all respects for no reason whatsoever. Shockingly, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shamelessly accused the Communist Party of China (CPC) of pursuing hegemony.

What those U.S. politicians like Pompeo have done represents their bald-faced and authentic intentions to pursue hegemony and power politics, and has grossly trampled on the bottom line of the basic norms governing international relations, and posed serious threats to world peace and development. The international community should be on high alert for them.

Setting up traps is a frequent trick used by hegemonists.

Trying every means to relate China to a hegemonic power, certain politicians in the U.S. have attempted to drag the whole world into their well-designed narrative trap. However, these politicians have obviously overestimated their ability to lie and deceive.

鈥淗is credibility is so diminished, any statements he makes are met with skepticism,鈥?pointed out an article published on U.S. magazine Vanity Fair, noting that Pompeo鈥檚 unrelenting fixation with punishing China is leaving the U.S. exposed and isolated.

Pompeo鈥檚 China-bashing speech was an 鈥渁ngry lament鈥?and 鈥渆xtended ideological rant鈥? said Daniel Russel, former U.S. assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

The reason why the CPC is far more powerful than the U.S. imagines is exactly that it doesn鈥檛 want to dominate the world, said Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean scholar.

The Chinese nation is a peace-loving nation, and the Chinese dream is a dream about peace. China has explicitly stated its commitment to adhering to the path of peaceful development and resolve to oppose hegemonism in both the Constitution of the CPC and the Constitution of the People鈥檚 Republic of China.

China鈥檚 development creates opportunities for the world, while the Chinese dream is closely connected with the beautiful dreams of peoples in various countries around the world.

鈥淣o matter how much progress China has made in development, China will not threaten anyone else, attempt to overturn the existing international system, or seek spheres of influence,鈥?Chinese President Xi Jinping told the world in his speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018 two years ago.

Misrepresenting China鈥檚 normal development as a threat to interests of the U.S. and playing up China鈥檚 active participation in global governance as competing with the U.S. for hegemony, these U.S. politicians are just suffering persecution mania.

Hegemonists never conceal their ambition to seek hegemony.

Shouting 鈥淎merica First鈥?all over the world, the U.S. has long been criticized by the international community for its terribly self-conceited mindset and hegemonic acts.

In order to tout for the so-called anti-China alliance, certain politicians in the U.S. have openly forced other countries into choosing a side at the expense of their interests.

The U.S. has publicly boasted that British officials鈥?attitude towards Huawei was the result of lobbying from the U.S. side, feeling proud of its despicable acts of suppressing the Chinese sci-tech enterprise through political tricks.

The U.S. has become an extreme example of 鈥渉egemonic panic鈥? criticized British scholar Martin Jacques.

The international community is increasingly aware of the fact that the ever-growing hegemonic ambitions and arbitrary misdeeds of Pompeo and the likes of him have become a destructive force that can鈥檛 be ignored.

As COVID-19 is still raging across the globe, the U.S. are making groundless accusations against the efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote global solidarity and cooperation for fighting the pandemic.

After making indiscreet remarks about the work of the WHO in protecting the world from the catastrophe and halting its funding to the organization, the U.S. even announced its decision to withdraw from the UN health body.

It must be seen that any country鈥檚 arbitrarily cutting off funding, reducing financial support, and exiting from an international organization is regarded as shirking from its international responsibilities and obligations. Such misdeeds are unilateral acts that will never be tolerated by the international community.

These moves of the U.S. destroyed the global efforts to combat the virus and caused severe negative influence on developing countries that have been in urgent need of international support.

The insightful in more and more countries have realized that indulging the typical hegemonic acts of the U.S. not only cannot guarantee the security of their countries, but will only lead to provocation and sabotage against the common interests of the international community.

In the increasingly multi-polar world, sticking to democracy in international relations and safeguarding international fairness and justice conforms to the interests of the people around the world.

Upholding the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China has carried out international cooperation with countries around the world to cope with common threats and challenges the pandemic has posed to humanity and actively contributed to the building of a global community of health for all.

China鈥檚 unswerving efforts to always adhere to morality and justice have won high praise from the international community.

What鈥檚 is true is that just like justice will never be defeated by evil, multilateral cooperation will never yield to unilateral bullying.

Hegemony is just a spent round when it has to be maintained through bullying practices.

China has always been a constructor of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of international order.

People around the world can see through the tricks of the U.S., and the country will ultimately lose support for its attempts to pursue hegemonism and power politics.

China鈥檚 firm and rational response to the misdeeds of those rude and unreasonable American politicians is totally legitimate, and represents the will of the people.

The farce staged by the U.S. politicians who think their own interests are more important than the common interests of the international community will finally make themselves fools and are doomed to fail.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People鈥檚 Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)

China turns waste tires from black pollution to “black gold”

(Peoples Daily Online)11:31, August 04, 2020

China has made great efforts to turn waste tires, also known as black pollution, into “black gold”, as part of efforts to promote the healthy development of the industry and effectively improve the efficiency of resource utilization.

(Photo/Pixabay.com)

There were about 330 million waste tires produced in 2019, with a total weight of over 10 million tons. Every year, the amount of waste tires produced by scrapping continues to grow at a rate of 6 to 8 percent, according to data.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently issued the standard conditions for the comprehensive utilization of waste tires, which put forward standard requirements for various aspects such as technical equipment and process, ecological environmental protection, product quality control and safety management.

“In the past, local refining workshops for waste tires were rampant, and waste gas was discharged directly into the air, causing serious damage to the environment, said Zhu Jun, president of China’s Tire Recycling Association (CTRA).

Zhu Jun added that in recent years, with key technologies continuing to tackle the problem and environmental protection management being strengthened, new pyrolysis technology has become an important direction that has been taken in the comprehensive utilization of waste tires.

Since the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the access conditions for the comprehensive utilization of waste tires in 2012, it has announced six batches of 80 enterprises that meet these conditions. These enterprises represent the advanced level of the industry and play a leading role in the green recycling of waste tires,” Zhu said.

Under the guidance of the circular economy policy, in recent years, the comprehensive utilization industry of waste tires in China has developed rapidly, and the recycling utilization rate of waste tires has been increasing year by year.

In 2019, there were about 1,500 comprehensive utilization enterprises, and about 200 million waste tires were recovered and reused, with a recycling rate of about 60 percent.

Although many difficult challenges still need to be overcome, the surveyed enterprises in the industry are generally optimistic about the market prospects for the comprehensive utilization of waste tires. With the constant upgrading of national environmental policies and continuous industrial regulation, waste tires are being turned from black pollution to “black gold.

Global COVID-19 deaths surpass 690,000 Johns Hopkins University

(Xinhua)08:29, August 04, 2020

Global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 690,000 on Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Total COVID-19 cases around the world rose to 18,109,901, according to the CSSE, with deaths reaching 690,055 as of 9:34 a.m. (1334 GMT).

The United States reported the most COVID-19 cases and deaths, standing at 4,668,406 and 154,861 respectively, followed by Brazil with 2,733,677 cases and 94,104 deaths.

Other countries with over 30,000 fatalities include Mexico, Britain, India, Italy and France.

Spains ex-king announces leaving country amid financial probe

(Xinhua)08:45, August 04, 2020

Spains former King Juan Carlos I on Monday announced his decision to leave Spain to live in another country in a letter to his son, King Felipe VI.

The decision taken by Juan Carlos I, who abdicated in 2014, came amid a judicial investigation into possible financial irregularities.

The probe looks into money laundering and tax avoidance related to the former kings foreign bank accounts, according to El Pais newspaper.

In the letter — published by the Spanish Royal Household — Juan Carlos I wrote that in the face of the public repercussion which are being generated by certain events in the past, he would leave the country in order to facilitate the work of his son.

A year ago I expressed my will to no longer carry out institutional activities; now, guided by the need to do my best service to the Spanish, to their institutions and to you as King, I am communicating my considered decision to move, at this moment, away from Spain, read the letter.

The letter didnt mention where the former monarch will reside.

The Royal Household expressed its respect and gratitude at this decision and highlighted Juan Carlos I role in Spains transition from the military rule of General Francisco Franco to democracy in the late 1970s and 1980s.

WHO to launch mask challenge with partners this week

(Xinhua)09:07, August 04, 2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) will launch a mask challenge this week with partners from around the world to encourage people to send in photos of themselves wearing a mask, the organizations Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Monday.

As well as hand sanitizer, I carry a mask with me all the time and use it when Im in places where there are crowds, said Tedros at a virtual press conference from Geneva, noting By wearing a mask, youre sending a powerful message to those around you that were all in this together.

According to the WHO chief, the mask has come to represent solidarity, as well as being one of the key tools to stop COVID-19.

Like the stagehands and HealthyAtHome challenges, were going to be spreading further positive messages about how everyone has a role to play in breaking chains of transmission, he added.

Pandemic leaves older people poorer, sicker and lonelier study

(Xinhua)09:40, January 14, 2021

GENEVA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — The COVID-19 pandemic leaves older people poorer, sicker and more isolated, according to a study conducted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and published on Wednesday.

Focusing on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the research involving 2,200 elderly persons, health care workers and volunteer aged-care workers found that the pandemic has had dramatic impacts on the health and the social and financial situation of older people.

The consequences of COVID-19 are being borne disproportionately by poor and older people who have become poorer, sicker and more isolated, the study said.

The study found that older peoples ability to cover basic expenses has dropped significantly; their mental and physical health has deteriorated; their access to health care services has become significantly more difficult; their social contacts have decreased; and many of them have become subject to various forms of physical and financial abuses.

People aged over 65 represent a growing proportion of society in these countries. In Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, they made up, respectively, 15 percent, 11 percent and six percent of the total population in 2019, according to the World DataBank.

Nurses worldwide facing mass trauma amid COVID-19 pandemic report

(Xinhua)09:53, January 14, 2021

GENEVA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — COVID-19 is causing mass trauma among the worlds nurses, and the global number of confirmed nurse deaths now exceeds 2,200, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) said Wednesday in a report.

With high levels of infections in the nursing workforce continuing, overstretched staff are experiencing increasing psychological distress in the face of ever-increasing workloads, continued abuse and protests by anti-vaccinators, the council said.

Preliminary findings from the councils new survey of its 130-plus national nurses associations (NNAs), coupled with studies by its NNAs and other sources, suggest that the COVID-19 effect is a unique and complex form of trauma, with potentially devastating consequences in both the short- and long-term for individual nurses and healthcare systems they work in, it said.

The councils data showed that, since the first wave of the pandemic, the proportion of nurses reporting mental health distress has risen from 60 percent to 80 percent in many countries.

The pandemic risks damaging the nursing profession for generations to come unless governments take action now to address the COVID-19 effect, it said.

The world is already short of six million nurses, with another four million due to reach retirement age in the next ten years. With the COVID-19 effect potentially leading to even more nurses leaving the profession, governments must act now to protect the nursing profession, it said.

According to the council, the Japanese Nursing Association says 15 percent of hospitals across Japan had nurses resigning their jobs, and some 20 percent of nurses reported that they had experienced discrimination or prejudice amid the spread of the first wave of the pandemic.

The American Nurses Association reports 51 percent overwhelmed. Other reports from the U.S. show 93 percent of healthcare workers were experiencing stress, 76 percent reported exhaustion and burnout, and nurse-to-patient ratios increased three-fold.

Howard Catton, CEO of the council, explained that not only nurses are dealing with relentless, unprecedented demands from their patients, resulting in physical exhaustion, they also have to deal with rising death numbers, distress from patients relatives, concern about lack of equipment and abuse from various communities.

We are witnessing a unique and complex occupational trauma that is affecting the global nursing workforce, he said.

COVID-19 has exposed the fault lines in our healthcare systems, but if nations do not take immediate action to shore them up unbreachable chasms will be created with potentially devastating effects, Catton said.

Chinese student becomes online sensation over ‘vegetable field’ infrastructure models

(Peoples Daily Online)10:01, July 28, 2020

A Chinese college student recently attracted widespread attention online for building miniature models of infrastructure, including facilities such as high-speed railways, tunnels, and bridges in his family’s vegetable field, Beijing-based media platform btime.com reported on July 25.

(Photo/btime.com)

Zhang Yadong is a freshman at the Zhengzhou Electric Power Technology College in Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan province.

For the last three years, Zhang has been fascinated by electromechanical modeling. He started exploring the building of miniature models of railways, bridges, and tunnels at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, using his family’s vegetable field as the “construction site”.

So far, Zhang has laid down the tracks for a railway stretching more than 70 meters and built six models of bridges.

A video of Zhang’s models has won wide praise from netizens, with many saying “Masters often live among the people,” and “He has amazing practical abilities.”

COVID-19 outbreak prompts young Chinese to start ‘slash’ careers

(Peoples Daily Online)11:25, July 27, 2020

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic causing a reduction in incomes for many people, a large number of young Chinese have started looking for second careers to guarantee their quality of life, Chinanews.com reported.

A live-streaming host introduces food to consumers. (File photo/Zhang Hengwei)

Thanks to the rapid emergence of new industries and models of business, which have played indispensable roles in driving economic recovery and stabilizing the country’s employment market, many young people have successfully started “slash” careers, becoming “slash people” who juggle multiple jobs.

Model by day and live-streamer by night

“I’ve been walking the runway at catwalk shows and hosting live-streaming shows lately. The auto shows usually start at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m., while my live-streaming shows are often held between 8 p.m. and midnight. Sometimes I also host live-streaming shows during the backstage breaks at auto shows,” said Ming Ming (pseudonym), a model/live-streaming host, describing her daily routine to Chinanews.com.

Three years ago, Ming Ming graduated in fashion modelling, and started her career as a professional model, a job that required a great deal of travel around the country.

After getting tired of all the traveling, Ming Ming found a nine-to-five job at an e-cigarette company in Beijing last year.

However, her life of stability didn’t last long. As a result of relevant policies rolled out by the country and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, business at the company stagnated. On top of that, many auto shows were also postponed due to the pandemic. For a month, Ming Ming idled her days away.

“While I was trying to find a new job, many of my friends started to host live-streaming shows,” Ming Ming said, revealing that she decided to give it a try when her friend said she would make a good host.

In March, Ming Ming started hosting live-streaming shows on Douyin, one of the leading video-sharing platforms in China.

As the epidemic situation was gradually brought under control in the country, there was a revival of commercial shows, and Ming Ming went back to her old job modelling at auto shows.

“I got more opportunities by hosting live-streaming shows, while my modelling job brought more viewers to my live-streaming shows,” Ming Ming said, noting that her income from the two jobs is nearly 10 times what she made in her previous job.

“I fired my boss and made an offer for myself”

“I arrived in Lhasa recently. No altitude sickness. Everything is fine. Now I’m going to officially start the third chapter of my life—photo-shooting tour,” Ma Jun (pseudonym) wrote in a post on his WeChat Moments on July 17.

A week earlier, Ma quit his job and left the trading company he had been working at for two years, according to his WeChat Moments posts.

Ma majored in economics in college, and had begun working at the company in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong province, soon after graduation. At the same time, he took a part-time job in a local photography studio, as he has been unwilling to give up a hobby that he had been very enthusiastic about.

Ma’s photography skills brought him more and more clients. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, he and his friends jointly started an online training course on photography, teaching people who are interested in the field. The course has received widespread praise.

Seeing that his part-time job in photography brought him a monthly income of nearly 20,000 yuan ($2,852), which was far more than what he earned from his main job, Ma resigned from his previous company this summer after saving enough money.

He then decided to take on a new job as travel photographer.

Ma taught his first online class in Lhasa recently, capital of southwest China’s Tibet autonomous region, thanks to the extensive network coverage and good reception in the region.

Ma’s goal for the next stage is to continue his online teaching while going on photo-shooting tours around the country.

“I’m enjoying my life and the career I’m passionate about,” Ma said.

Despite the impact of COVID-19 on the Chinese economy, the country’s booming new economy has generated important opportunities for economic recovery and for people in the country to plan new careers.

Many people in the country have embraced “slash” careers, with hotel employees becoming assembly line workers, salespeople in guest rooms doubling as deliverymen, and white-collar workers starting to host live-streaming shows.

Some companies in the country have even come up with the idea of “sharing employees”.

According to a survey of deliverymen working for China’s online food delivery platform Eleme, more than half of the food delivery drivers on the platform have more than one job.

26 percent of the drivers are small and micro business entrepreneurs, while 4 percent are WeMedia bloggers, according to the report on the survey, which said that these deliverymen have a variety of jobs, such as drivers and even white-collar jobs.

Guangxi’s snail noodles become popular at home and abroad

(Peoples Daily Online)09:33, July 29, 2020

Rice noodles cooked with river snails, a signature street food of Liuzhou in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is becoming an increasingly popular snack at home and abroad.

(Photo/Xinhua)

Known as “luosifen” in Chinese, the dish is usually sold from roadside stands in night markets in Guangxi.

The delicacy was listed as part of Liuzhou’s intangible cultural heritage in 2008 and became popular after being recommended in the hit food show “A Bite of China” in 2012. Since then, luosifen restaurants have developed rapidly across the country.

The specialty has gained greater popularity thanks to its prepackaged versions, which resembles instant noodles.

Data from e-commerce giant Taobao showed that 28.4 million packets of luosifen were sold on the platform last year, becoming the most popular snack on the online marketplace.

According to the commerce office in Liuzhou, the value of prepackaged luosifen reached about 5 billion yuan (over $700 million) in the first half of the year.

It was also one of the best-selling, ready-to-serve foods during the novel coronavirus epidemic in China.

The dish has seen its popularity soar further outside of China as customs statistics showed that a total of around 7.5 million yuan (about $1.1 million) worth of luosifen were exported from Liuzhou from January to June this year, eight times the total export value in 2019.

In addition to the traditional export markets, including the U.S., Australia and some European countries, shipments of the iconic dish have also been delivered to new markets such as Singapore and New Zealand.

On July 14, over 14,000 packets of prepackaged luosifen produced by Guangxi Luobawang Food Co., Ltd. were exported to Russia.

“We almost exported our products to the U.S. each week this year, and a batch of 40,000 packets of luosifen sold out just three days after they were shipped in the country,” said Chen Zihao, a member of the company.

The company is expected to export 350,000 packets of the sought after food in the first half of the year, 29 times of last year’s total, thanks to the rapid growth of the overseas market, Chen noted.

The company has also modified the recipes to cater to the taste of overseas foodies, Chen said, adding that it has received orders from countries including Japan, South Korea and Italy.

Liuzhou Customs has simplified procedures for companies to export luosifen, and more than 20 companies have been authorized to export the specialty.