上海花千坊会所

China and ASEAN countries have the ability and wisdom to reach a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) and safeguard peace and stability, freedoms of navigation and overflight, and the legitimate rights and interests of other countries in the region, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the 60th Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

A Chinese maritime expert attending the conference noted that China has always advocated resolving South China Sea disputes through peaceful means. However, if extraterritorial countries continue to send wrong signals, leading to the Philippines taking risky actions and escalating tensions at sea, China will inevitably take necessary actions to defend its own rights.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, refuted the fallacy of China's so-called aggression in the South China Sea when answering questions following his keynote speech during the "China in the World" session.

He said that China is working with ASEAN countries to accelerate consultations on the COC and striving to reach an early agreement on regional rules which are effective, substantive, and in line with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which will be more conducive to managing differences, stabilizing the South China Sea, and promoting cooperation.

Wu Shicun, chairman of the Huayang Research Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance and founding president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, is also attending the 60th Munich Security Conference. He told the Global Times in an exclusive interview that "a most significant external factor currently threatening the stability of the South China Sea is the militarization encouraged or even led by the US. Besides, some claimant countries, with the Philippines being the most prominent one, have intensified their unilateral infringements and consolidated and expanded their vested interests during the window period before the completion of the COC."
Wu also introduced the obstacles faced by the COC negotiation.

Currently, the Philippines has revved up unilateral infringement of the South China Sea. From February 2 to 9, the Philippine Coast Guard Ship 9701 repeatedly trespassed on the waters adjacent to China's Huangyan Dao (also known as Huangyan Island) ignoring verbal warnings from the China Coast Guard (CCG), and the CCG took route control and repelling measures in accordance with the law, CCG spokesperson Gan Yu said in a statement issued on February 11, stressing that the CCG's on-site operations were professional and up to standard.

Then on Thursday, Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ship 3005 trespassed on the waters adjacent to China's Huangyan Dao, and the CCG again took similar measures after verbal warnings went ignored, Gan said in a statement on the day.

Talking about the possible risks that may occur in the South China Sea, Wu said that the US plays a very important role. For example, in the Ren'ai Jiao (also known as Ren'ai Reef), the US continuously sends out wrong signals, showing bias and even supporting the provocative actions of the Philippines. The continuous strengthening of these signals will lead to the Philippines taking risks and escalating tensions at sea. In response, China will take necessary measures to defend its rights and claims.

"Many representatives from Southeast Asian countries, the US and Europe to the Munich Security Conference meeting have military backgrounds. I hope to clarify the current risks and main factors that the South China Sea is facing by introducing the situation in the South China Sea at the conference," Wu said.

He explained that if the US and its allies continue to send out the wrong message and do not adjust their policies, China will have to take necessary measures. The South China Sea issue is no longer just a dispute between China and relevant claimant countries over the sovereignty of certain islands and reefs, but also a major tool for the US to contain China's maritime power and undermine China's relations with ASEAN countries, especially with the claimant countries.

"Therefore, we need to voice China's position on such an important occasion and reiterate China's claims," he reiterated.

Wu responded to the misunderstandings of Western societies regarding the South China Sea one by one.

He first said that Western countries, including the US, often accuse China of bullying smaller countries in the South China Sea, and even resorting to the use of force. However, in reality, disputes over the South China Sea are primarily territorial disputes, especially regarding the ownership of islands and reefs. China has always advocated for the resolution of these disputes through peaceful means and emphasizes the importance of bilateral negotiations and the construction of rules-based mechanisms to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.

Secondly, the US has long used "freedom of navigation" as a pretext, but in fact, freedom of navigation in the South China Sea has never been affected by territorial disputes over islands and reefs. As the biggest beneficiary of the security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, China reaffirms its position and claims every year to give confidence to the international community and emphasize the stability and security of the South China Sea.

"China advocates for resolving the issue through peaceful negotiations, avoiding the use of force and the introduction of third-party mechanisms, so as not to further complicate the issue," Wu noted. He took the so-called South China Sea arbitration case initiated by the Philippines in 2013 as an example. The arbitration not only failed to resolve the disputes, but made the situation in the South China Sea more complicated, affecting China-Philippine relations.

This fully proves that the attempt to resolve the South China Sea issue through third-party mechanisms is not feasible and will only add chaos, which is of no help to the resolution of the South China Sea issue, he stressed.

Wu expressed his belief that the possibility of a military clash between China and the US in the South China Sea airspace is very low, but the intensity of the competition will increase.

A main basis for this conclusion is the important consensus reached between the leaders of China and the US during their meeting in San Francisco in 2023 to restore military communication and exchanges.

Wu said that the two sides are currently working to restore the dialogue mechanism between their militaries, and contacts at the working level have basically been restored. It is catastrophic for China, the US, and global stability if a military conflict occurs, even if it is just a minor incident. Therefore, the US is also making every effort to avoid a military conflict.

"However, due to the South China Sea being an important shipping and strategic channel, the frontline military forces of both sides can directly come into contact, so there is still a certain level of risk. For example, when the US takes so-called freedom of navigation actions or conducts close-in reconnaissance, China has to take measures such as tracking, identification, warning, and expulsion. In this situation, if any party does not abide by the rules, a military clash may occur," Wu said. He noted that only through joint efforts, strengthened communication and coordination can we ensure stability and security in the region.

There are "solid bits of evidence" proving that India supports terrorist forces in some Pakistani areas like Balochistan province, providing them with money, weapons, and training, some sources close to the matter told the Global Times.

While continually suppressing some of its rivals and neighbors in the international community with the excuse of anti-terrorism, India has secretly funded terrorist forces in Pakistan, in various parts of the South Asian country, such as its separatist-plagued Balochistan, inciting local secessionists to undermine regional stability through terrorist attacks, they revealed.

Through looking into historical materials and related news reports from both Pakistani and Indian media sources, as well as speaking with sources and observers who are familiar with the situation in Balochistan, the Global Times found that India has a long history of backing terrorism in Pakistan.

'Concrete evidence'

In December 2023, a commander of the Baloch National Army (BNA) separatist militant group, who had surrendered himself to the Pakistani government, disclosed that India has been secretly supporting terrorist activities in Balochistan and financing separatist forces in the region.

According to Pakistani media sources, commander Sarfraz Ahmed Bungulzai made the announcement at a press conference in Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan. Bungulzai said that he thought his armed struggle was for Baloch rights, but later he realized that "India is involved in all these conspiracies."

Bungulzai mentioned a helicopter crash in 2022, in which six Pakistani army officials, including a general, were martyred. He said at the press conference that the secessionist group Baloch Raj Aajoi Sangar (BRAS) had taken responsibility for the incident at India's command.

"And after taking money from India, they shed the blood of their own Baloch," said Bungulzai, according to Pakistani news website Dawn.

A Pakistani source told the Global Times that once again, it shone a light on India's behind-the-scenes villainy.

However, Chinese observers said the commander's surrender does not mean the collapse of the BNA, the group may have an impact on similar terrorist and separatist forces there.

Apart from the latest case pointing to India, a few years back, there was another case that indicated that India was probably supporting terrorism in Pakistan.

In March 2016, Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations released a confessional video statement of an Indian spy agent named Kulbhushan Yadav, who was reportedly arrested red-handed earlier that month while attempting to infiltrate Pakistan from the border area.

According to an article by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Yadav said in the video that he was a serving officer of the Indian Navy, and did intelligence gathering for Indian agencies under the cover name Hussein Mubarik Patel.

"I was picked up by RAW (the Research and Analysis Wing, India's alleged external intelligence agency) in 2013 end," Yadav said. "My purpose was to hold meetings with Baloch insurgents and carry out activities with their collaboration. These activities have been of [a] criminal nature, leading to the killing of or maiming of Pakistani citizens."

Multiple instances have been highlighted by Pakistan's security authorities on some international forums, illustrating how the RAW funds elements in Pakistan to spread unrest, observer Ali Abbas Ramay, a journalist with the City News Network Pakistan, told the Global Times.

"Proof of India's involvement in creating the BLA has been presented, including Yadav's confessions," Ramay said.

The clues of India's connection with terrorist forces in Pakistan could also be found in a few Indian media reports.

The Hindu, for instance, published an article in July 2019, stating "It is established that BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) commanders, in the past, had sought medical treatment in India's hospitals, often under disguise or with fake identities." Pakistan designated the BLA as a terrorist organization in 2006.

The Hindu article referred to BLA's militant commander who "was based in Delhi for at least six months in 2017," to receive "extensive treatment for kidney-related ailments." It is known that Baloch sardars "maintained warm personal ties with various Indian political figures," the article said.

Some of the related evidence has been made public. Many other concrete forms of evidence show that India backs terrorism in Pakistan, although they have not yet been released for a variety of reasons, said a source close to the situation in Balochistan.

"We have had the evidence long before," the source told the Global Times. He said that he was "100 percent" sure that India has been funding the terrorist forces in Balochistan.

Double standard in fighting terrorism

Some Pakistani scholars believe that India has a long history of continuous interference in Pakistan's affairs.

For example, scholar M. Ikram Rabbani wrote in his book Comprehensive Pakistan Studies that the interference "can be traced back to the times of independence from the British rule."

In his book, Rabbani cited Subrahmaniyam, a former director of the then Indian Institute of Defence Studies, who said during a symposium in March 1971 that "what India must realize that the breakup of Pakistan is in our interest and an opportunity which will never come again."

Worse still, while supporting separatist groups to commit terrorist attacks in regions like Balochistan, India is good at taking the habitual tactic of a thief crying "stop thief" in the international community, while slinging mad at Pakistan, Pakistani and Chinese observers noted.

India employs a consistent double standard toward terrorism, said Ye Hailin, deputy director of the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "If you look at India's media and think tank reports, you will find that their descriptions of the terrorist attacks in Balochistan are completely different from those of the situation in Kashmir," Ye told the Global Times.

Ramay echoed Ye's words, saying the evidence of India's adoption of double standard in countering terrorism "is evident."

He pointed out that India has sought to tarnish Pakistan's image globally by leveling serious allegations of terrorism, aiming to deter investments and striving to include Pakistan in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist.

The blacklist contains countries that the FATF deems to be non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

"China firmly opposes double standard in counterterrorism," noted Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning at a press conference on December 27, 2023, while responding to a question asking about its comments on then-recent media reports, which said that the surrendered BNA commander disclosed that India has been secretly supporting terrorist activities in Balochistan.

"Terrorism is humanity's common enemy," Mao said. "To support and use terrorist groups and let them thrive out of one's selfish interests at the expense of international and regional security benefits no one and will only backfire."
China-aid projects become targets of terror attacks

For years, China has been helping in economic development that has benefited local people through various investment and assistance projects across Pakistan.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), for instance, is a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China. Launched in 2013, it connects Pakistan's southwest Gwadar Port with Kashi in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, contributing to Pakistan's infrastructure through energy, transport, and industrial cooperation.

China has been a true development partner to Pakistan through the CPEC and BRI projects, said Nouman Rashid, a media advisor of Pakistani media GNN News. "No matter how many problems may come up or whichever Pakistani political party comes into power, these projects are of the people and for the people," Rashid told the Global Times.

However, these projects became a target of some terrorist forces in Pakistan, who "believe that if they can hurt the Chinese nationals in Pakistan through terrorism, the BRI and CPEC projects can be compromised," Moiz Farooq, executive editor of Pakistan-based Daily Ittehad Medis Group, told the Global Times.

Some terrorist activities are supported by Pakistan's rivals who "always intend to sabotage the friendship between China and Pakistan," he added.

The suicide bombing which took place outside the University of Karachi's Confucius Institute on April 26, 2022, was a typical tragedy targeting Chinese nationals in Pakistan, which killed three Chinese nationals and a local driver. The BLA claimed responsibility for the bombing the following day, and warned of more deadly attacks on Chinese targets.

Trying to split and destabilize Pakistan is the main purpose behind India's backing of terrorism in regions like Balochistan, said Liu Zongyi, director of the Center for South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. "And now there is another purpose: To obstruct and undermine the construction of the CPEC."

Balochistan is a key region of the CPEC, Liu said. "India supports separatism and terrorism in Balochistan and other regions in Pakistan, so as to weaken both Pakistan and China," he told the Global Times. "From the beginning, India has seen the CPEC as a geopolitical project that will hurt its so-called new opportunities in South Asia."

To help maintain regional stability in some Pakistani areas, apart from the current anti-terrorism cooperation, China has made great efforts to support local economic and social development, and improve the living standards of the people there, trying hard to eliminate the root causes of terrorism and separatism at the source, Liu said.

"China's projects are most beneficial for the people of Balochistan," noted Ramay. He mentioned that the Pakistan-China Friendship Hospital in Balochistan was recently completed, saying the hospital is "a major project to improve access to quality medical services in the region."

"Today, the [China-aided] New Gwadar International Airport, hospitals, and mega projects for clean water, have been completed, bringing relief to the people of Balochistan," said Ramay.

As the last magnet of China's High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) was successfully installed in the Huairou Science City in Beijing on December 11, 2023, the first step of the HEPS storage ring installation was officially completed. The HEPS, after completion, will stand as one of the brightest synchrotron radiation (SR) sources in the world and the first high-energy synchrotron radiation facility in China.

Pan Weimin, the chief manager of the HEPS project, along with the audience, toured the HEPS project via video footage at a New Year's Eve event hosted by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology, demonstrating an important development in China's high-tech fields.

"The HEPS, once completed, will become one of the brightest synchrotron radiation light sources in the world. This will underline that China has become one of the frontrunners in the field of X-ray-based forms of research," Pan told the Global Times.

The HEPS is designed with the capacity to emit X-ray beams that are a trillion times brighter than those of the sun. From an aerial view, the HEPS consists of three main buildings, with an overall shape resembling a magnifying glass, symbolizing "a tool for exploring the microscopic world."

Pan introduced that the HEPS has the characteristics of high energy, high brightness, and high repetition frequency, which means scientists can observe the deep internal structures of microscopic substances more clearly and characterize the microscopic structures in multiple dimensions, real-time, and in-situ.

The photon source is scheduled to accelerate the storage ring in July 2024, and emit its first SR light by the end of the year. The quality of the SR X-ray will be continuously improved to reach its design specifications from then on, according to Pan.

Once completed, HEPS will be one of the world's top five high-energy SR light sources and one of the few fourth-generation SR light sources. "This would greatly enhance China's scientific and technological status and promote technological innovation in fields related to people's livelihoods such as life sciences and energy," Pan said.

At the same time, as an open user facility, the HEPS will also attract more scientists from all over the world to conduct SR-based research projects, and pave the way for ground-breaking research, Pan noted.

The brighter light source requires more advanced technologies. The HEPS is mainly comprised of an electron accelerator complex and beamlines. The electron accelerator complex includes a linear accelerator, booster, and storage ring. Among them, the storage ring is the core part of the light source, producing a bright SR beam and requiring greater advancements in technologies.

With a circumference of approximately 1,360 meters, the storage ring contains more than 1,700 high-precision magnets and other important accelerator elements. It is required that the alignment errors of most of these elements must be controlled within 50 micrometers, which is less than the diameter of the human hair over such a large scale, according to Pan.

More than 500 researchers have been involved in the HEPS project, which consists of multiple disciplines such as magnets, vacuum, power supply, mechanics, and X-ray optics and detection. How to integrate various technologies and let talents from various disciplines collaborate with each other are the keys to realizing a large-scale scientific project such as HEPS, Pan noted.

"It is the golden age of science. Participating in the construction of such a large-scale scientific facility is not only an honor for a scientist, but also an opportunity to exercise, improve, and showcase oneself, especially for young scientists," he said.

The Austrian Cultural Center in Beijing recently invited artists Honey and Bunny to organize the performance art exhibition "Diets, resources, and aesthetics" at the Markor Cave Museum. This exciting event was organized to commemorate the International Day of Food Loss and Waste Awareness. 

Food waste, environmental protection, food distribution, and sustainable use of resources are global issues that have attracted the attention of all sectors of society, and can be viewed from a variety of perspectives, including ethics, science, and art. This theme was deeply explored through "eating" art performances and food design, which were rich, revelatory experiences for audiences.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relationships between China and Austria in 1971, cultural exchanges between the two countries have been very active, and this performance art exhibition is a witness to the friendly exchanges between the two peoples.

A series of photographic artworks created by the artists Honey and Bunny on the subject of food are on display at the exhibition, complimenting wonderful performances through conversation sessions and performance art pieces, inspiring a deep understanding among audience and their reflections on "Diets, resources, and aesthetics." This exhibition is not only a friendly international art and culture exchange feast, but also deepens cultural cooperation between China and Europe.

Trees cast shadows on the alamedas in a residential community in Shanghai's Minhang district. Close to Jindu Huahaoyueyuan community's main gate, are three fragrant camphor trees marked by somewhat special signs, which read: "receding trimming," "deep trimming," and "regular trimming," indicating the trimming degree of each tree.

Tree trimming, a seemingly trivial matter, used to be the community's long-unsolved problem due to different preferences and demands by local residents. Those who enjoy the shade beneath trees tend to trim the trees less, while those who prefer natural brightness employ heavy-handed trimming, two contradictory opinions often resulting in numerous quarrels in the community over the last decade.

Recently, an in-depth report published by Shanghai-based newspaper Jiefang Daily highlighted the story of "tree trimming," providing a detailed account of how the community found a solution to a seemingly mundane problem, thanks to the joint efforts of the community residents, managers, as well as related urban planning and greening departments.

The three trees, along with their signs, are hailed as a microcosm of whole-process people's democracy, as well as a vivid embodiment of the wisdom of grassroots management in Chinese cities. The "tree trimming" story laid out in the Jiefang Daily report has also played out in other residential communities across Shanghai, which experts said demonstrated the country's great progress in improving whole process people's democracy and strengthening governance at the grassroots level.

Whole-process people's democracy, the defining feature of a socialist democracy, is best reflected in people's participation in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight in accordance with the law. As a major summary of the theory and practice of Chinese democracy, whole-process people's democracy is also China's answer to the chaos of the West and the confusion of Western democracy.

From attraction to 'obstacles'

One day after dinner, some Jindu Huahaoyueyuan community residents gathered in the community's park for a chat. An elderly man in the crowd seemed somewhat displeased, saying, "They stopped trimming the trees. I wonder what the issue is this time?"

Trimming trees, more than a decade ago, was a source of anger in the community, according to the article published by Jiefang Daily.

Back then, the lush trees in the neighborhood provided shade, a significant attraction for newcomers to settle in this area. However, after more than a decade since the community was established, the camphor trees grew so tall that they blocked the sunlight for residents in lower-level apartments. An overwhelmingly successful greening project therefore became an "obstacle" for some residents.

"We can hardly see sunlight all year round, and it's so dark inside," said one resident, a sentiment echoed by almost all those who suggested tree trimming.

In 2018, a "conflict" erupted in the community over tree trimming. At that time, the Shanghai government issued a three-year action plan for building beautiful homes in Shanghai residential communities. Jindu Huahaoyueyuan community then received project funding, and the community owners' committee took this opportunity to propose tree trimming.

But after trimming fewer than 10 trees, the project was halted and later abandoned due to residents' complaints. Some people said the primary reason was "haphazard trimming."

"For some trees, they directly cut off lower branches, which certainly deviated from the standards for trimming," assessed Wang Lanhua who participated in the tree trimming project.

Consequently, when the tree trimming project was paused during the summer due to high temperatures this year, residents became especially incensed. Wang explained that in early 2022, Shanghai issued a notice which stipulated that the trimming of residential area trees should take place before spring budding or after autumn tree growth stops to avoid extreme cold and hot weather.

"The workers sweat a lot up there and can get dehydrated. Besides, the trees can't endure it; they lose moisture too quickly," he explained to the residents.

Zhang Chao, a member of the community owners' committee, pointed out that "the issue of tree trimming in this community is particularly sensitive, and a small problem can trigger larger issues."

Previously, most residents' attitude has been an eagerness for tree trimming coupled with a distrust of the community owners' committee.

Liu Junli, who lived in the community for a long time, is now the director of the owners' committee. She said that the previous owners' committee had a poor reputation among residents. "So whenever they undertook a project, people would say they were just trying to make money."

Zhu Fang, a member of the committee, standing nearby, chuckled, indicating that she had grown used to hearing such comments.

Back on agenda

In 2020, the election of the new owners' committee began and it took over a year to successfully form the new committee.

Restoring trust between the residents and the committee was just the first step. Liu decided to start small, initially addressing issues like unruly parking at the entrance and problems with garbage disposal in the community, "To at least make residents feel that the community committee is taking action," she told Jiefang Daily.

After successfully handling those issues, the members of the committee felt that this was the time to reintroduce tree trimming into the agenda. With a large number of trees in the community and a substantial amount of money involved, a public bidding process was necessary. Drafting a proposal was the first step. At the time, the committee requested that the bidding companies provide detailed plans before the owners' meeting, enabling residents to vote on the refined proposals.

Communicating with the residents was done through real-time updates on the community's WeChat account, and the tree-trimming plan was a crucial topic during offline resident reception days.

During these reception days, there were occasions when residents voiced their opposition to tree trimming. Then the committee arranged for residents who supported and opposed the tree trimming to exchange views face-to-face in the meeting room, dispelling residents' preconceptions about the committee profiting from these decisions. Often, residents who were initially opposed to tree trimming would be convinced after hearing comprehensive reasons in favor of the trimming from others.

To prevent a repeat of what happened in 2018, Zhang sought help from friends working in related fields and invited experts to conduct an on-site inspection to determine "which trees need trimming and how they should be trimmed."

Based on the experts' advice, three demonstration trees appeared at the entrance of the committee. These three trees, pruned to varying degrees, were accompanied with printed explanations on receding trimming, deep trimming, and regular trimming.

Open-eared

During two resident reception days, the registration form of the owners' committee spanned 14 pages, filled with detailed notes.

After summarizing, it was discovered that residents' tree-trimming needs primarily fell into two categories. Trimming was requested due to lack of sunlight, branches extending to balconies, or potential window breakages. However, some residents wished for shade on the main road and requested there be no trimming.

"If a tree is situated both on the main road and extends to residents' balconies, we trim the balcony-facing branches and try to preserve the road-facing branches as much as possible," Zhang said.
On April 2, 2023, the vote result from the owners' meeting agenda was announced: 1,273 votes were in favor of the proposal, accounting for 67.68 percent, while 150 votes were opposed, at 7.97 percent, making it one of the most highly approved proposals during the owners' meeting.

Gradually, community cooperation around tree-trimming increased. Zhang sought the advice of experts and found a site-specific solution - deep pruning, which is essentially still a form of receding trimming, but it involves leaving more branches compared to receding trimming. This method strikes a balance between meeting regulatory requirements and addressing residents' demands.

Wang, with years of tree-trimming experience, noted that in recent years, newly constructed communities began to avoid the problems encountered in older communities during their landscaping planning. Meanwhile, government recommendations are becoming increasingly standardized, with clearer numerical regulations in landscaping ordinances.

Template practice

Similar tree trimming stories have also been seen in other residential communities across Shanghai, Global Times reporters found.

In the city's downtown Hongkou district, there is a residential community named Tianshui, where many residents are senior citizens. For the elderly, reasonable tree trimming is not only about sunlight and visibility, but also about personal safety.

It's not easy to satisfy every resident. Usually, those who live on higher floors don't want the trees trimmed nearly as much as those living on lower floors do, according to local community managers.

Cui Fenglin, the then community Party branch secretary, decided to address the main security concerns first. He invited landscapers to prune the tree branches near the community's anti-theft electric fence, so as to eliminate the security risks.

"Then, we went doors to doors, collecting various suggestions from people living on different floors," Cui told the Global Times. Thanks to Cui and his coworkers' effort, "the vast majority of the residents no longer had a problem with that [tree trimming]."

The tree trimming issue is a very typical example that reflects the whole-process people's democracy, which is the broadest, truest, and most effective form of democracy, commented public policy expert Peng Xizhe, the executive vice dean of the Shanghai-based Fudan Development Institute.

"Some people may think of significant national affairs when they think of democracy. Actually, democracy has been reflected in all aspects of people's daily lives," Peng told the Global Times. "Like the tree trimming, it is a community affair that eventually reaches a consensus, after going through a democratic process that allows everyone to express their views. During the process, people's democratic awareness is naturally built and increased."

Also, various forms of grass-roots governance, such as owners' and neighborhood committees, have blossomed in recent years along with China's development. They have provided a practical way for the general public to participate in social governance at the grassroots level, Peng noted.

Echoing Peng, Shanghai-based lawyer Wu Xinhui said that the neighborhood committee is a self-governing organization by the residents, and the owners' committee is the self-governing organization of the property owners. The tree trimming issue illustrates how these two grassroots self-governing organizations in China practice whole-process people's democracy.

Wu also serves as an expert and a "legislative coordinator" at a national grassroots-level legislation contact stations in Shanghai's Hongqiao subdistrict. The subdistrict is a township-level administrative division in China's urban areas.

As one of China's first set of four national grassroots-level legislation contact stations in use by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the Hongqiao neighborhood, as of early September, had solicited opinions from residents on 84 draft laws over the last eight years.

Including Wu, the several hundred "legislative coordinators" who voluntarily collect and sort through these grassroots opinions, the station in Hongqiao has submitted more than 2,600 suggestions on the country's various draft laws to the NPC, 180 of which have been adopted.

"We serve as a bridge that directly links China's top legislature to the general public," Wu told the Global Times.

It seems that the US can't come up with a solution to improve its manufacturing sector without scapegoating China. This has become a disease spreading from US politicians to industries.

The US Steelworkers and other unions on Tuesday filed a petition with the US Trade Representative (USTR) office calling for an investigation into what they allege as China's "unreasonable and discriminatory" practices in the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

The petition, which was filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, even asks the USTR to impose docking fees on Chinese vessels in US ports.

The unions appear to be seeking measures and support to help the American shipbuilding industry and its workers, but they are actually deceiving themselves in targeting China. This only reflects their own anxiety and frustration over the lack of a solution to boost US manufacturing.

Amid the distorted atmosphere toward China in the US, blaming China is the easiest and cheapest way to gain support, but this will only further lead the US astray, instead of addressing its real problems.

For instance, the idea of imposing docking fees, which is another form of tariffs, is ridiculous, as its potential effect is nothing but increased international shipping costs for US imported goods and a heavier burden on American consumers. Wouldn't it put the US economy, which is still struggling with inflation, into another hole?

Chinese shipbuilding companies have maintained the leading position in global market competition. In 2023, China's shipyards accounted for 50.2 percent of the world's completed volume, 66.6 percent of new orders, and 55 percent of order backlogs, pushing the nation's market share to a record high. 

The booming performance of Chinese shipbuilders reflects the country's many skilled workers, manufacturing strengths and advanced technologies, as well as the close cooperation with other global suppliers in the shipbuilding industrial chain. 

It's blind and arrogant for some to claim that these competitive advantages are due to "unreasonable and discriminatory" practices.

The US seems to be trapped in a strange logic. It presumes that as long as Chinese manufacturing goes down, American manufacturing will rise. From the former Trump administration to the incumbent Biden administration, Washington has used this logic to justify the imposition of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports worth billions of dollars and take various measures to suppress Chinese manufacturing. 

US politicians have created many labels to smear Chinese manufacturing, such as "unfair subsidies," "national security threats" and "forced labor." For instance, anti-China US politicians have claimed that heavy-duty cranes produced by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co can act as a "Trojan horse," making a fuss over common sensors installed for the maintenance of equipment and operational safety.

But it is impossible for anyone with a rational mind to fail to see the obvious fact that there is no way to boost American manufacturing by cracking down on Chinese manufacturing. Focusing their efforts on China is a lame cover for their inability to find a real solution to the decline of American manufacturing, while protectionism is self-deception.

Numerous examples have proven that the more an industry is protected, the less likely it is to become strong and competitive in the market. Take the US steel industry.

When the US steel industry turned to the US government for help, Washington often imposed high tariffs to protect the industry. In March 2018, former US president Donald Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on the import of virtually all steel products. This did not alter the fate of the US steel industry but instead accelerated its decline. 

In December 2023, Japan's Nippon Steel announced plans to reach a deal to buy US Steel for $14.9 billion in cash, Reuters reported. While there may be some controversy over the deal, the lack of competitiveness of the US steel industry is undeniable. 

In this sense, protectionism seems to be hurting others, but it is actually at the expense of America's own industries.

Chinese officials on Monday vowed to make concrete efforts to mitigate financial and other risks and boost high-quality development following the two sessions, which concluded on the day in Beijing, where a slew of social and economic development targets were determined for the year.

As the Government Work Report approved by the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, called for greater efforts to effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas, officials in various economic and financial fields stressed that they are rolling out a slew of measures to help tackle risks and will be able to ensure security and stability.

With the two sessions successfully concluded, the top priority for officials at all levels is to carry out policy measures to make sure that various development goals outlined in the Government Work Report will be met, economists said, as officials have plenty of tools at their disposal to do so thanks to the country's solid economic foundation.

"As the two sessions have concluded, the next step is to focus on implementation," Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), told reporters on Monday afternoon, after the closing meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC. He remarked that China's financial risks are generally controllable.

Noting that China's long-term positive development trend has remained unchanged and the NFRA has more tools to prevent and resolve financial risks, Li said that "China has the confidence, conditions and capabilities to maintain financial security," according to a Xinhua report.

Tackling financial and other risks has become a top priority, as the Government Work Report called to better coordinate development and security, and to effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas. Specifically, the report urged to address both the symptoms and root causes to resolve risks in areas such as real estate, local debt, and small and medium-sized financial institutions, so as to maintain overall economic and financial stability.

Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, said China has been focused on tackling risks in various areas, including in real estate and local government debts, and has achieved "quite good" results. Though further efforts are still needed, "generally speaking, the risks are controllable," Cong told the Global Times on Monday, noting that the Government Work Report also contained various major measures to tackle risks.

This year's Government Work Report, budget report, and the economic and social development plan report approved by the NPC have all laid out comprehensive strategies to prevent and resolve local debt risks. Among various measures, the central government plans to issue ultra-long special treasury bonds starting this year and over each of the next several years, which analysts said could help ease local government debt pressures.

"Thanks to efforts to tackle financial risks in recent years, our risk-fighting tools are advanced and there are also more tools in our tool box," Li Chang'an, a professor with the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Monday.

Li said on Monday that the NFRA is working with local authorities to implement precise measures to effectively resolve risks in an orderly manner. The financial regulator will also step up financial support for major projects and further implement the financing coordination mechanism for the real estate sector.

The NFRA will also fully support scientific and technological innovation to help develop new quality productive forces and expand effective consumption, Li said.

Boosting growth

Accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, which focuses on sci-tech innovation and breakthroughs, and expanding effective consumption have also become a key theme at the just-concluded two sessions and the top priorities for China's economic agenda for 2024 and beyond, as the country aims to boost high-quality development.

In order to speed up the development of new quality productive forces, Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), said on Monday that the CNIPA will further bolster the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and treat all state-owned enterprises, private businesses and foreign companies equally in terms of IPR protection.

Shen said China will also step up the transformation and application of patents and cultivate more specialized small and medium-sized enterprises in the high-tech sector. At the end of 2023, China owned more than 4 million domestic valid invention patents, up 22.4 percent year-on-year, according to the CNIPA.

Chinese officials have also vowed to step up efforts to support various aspects of the Chinese economy, from tourism to exports, as China has set a GDP growth target of around 5 percent this year.

Yu Jianhua, head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), said on Monday that China's trade sector has got off to a solid start in 2024, and imports and exports are expected to remain on a growth trend in the first half of the year.

Also speaking to reporters after the closing meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC, Yu said that in order to achieve the full-year development goals laid out in the Government Work Report, the GAC will roll out targeted policy measures to boost cross-border trade and improve services to support businesses' operations.

According to the GAC, China's imports and exports of goods in the first two months of 2024 hit a record high of 6.61 trillion yuan ($918.3 billion), up 8.7 percent year-on-year, beating forecasts and singling a positive start to the new year.

Also, in a bid to boost domestic tourism, Sun Yeli, minister of culture and tourism, said on Monday that China's tourism industry has seen a robust recovery over the past year, particularly since the beginning of 2024, and given Chinese consumer's enthusiasm to travel, "the tourism boom" will continue.

Beyond the support measures for specific areas, China also has plenty of macro-policy tools to support the economic recovery and ensure that the growth target will be met at the end of 2024, economists said.

For example, given the low inflation, "we still have plenty of room for monetary policy," during this phase of economic recovery, Cong said.

During a press conference on Wednesday on the sidelines of the two sessions, China's monetary policymakers said they have a rich toolbox and ample options, and there is still further room to slash the reserve requirement ratio.

Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC), a major global maker of ship-to-shore cargo cranes, said in a statement on Sunday that its cranes do not pose a cybersecurity risk to any port, responding to the US government's reported plan to invest billions in its own cargo cranes to replace ZPMC cranes.

The company said that it takes the concerns of the US into serious consideration, while the US government allegations about its products, not supported by the facts, could easily mislead the general public. ZPMC has strictly abided by the laws and regulations of relevant countries and regions and is operating in compliance with local laws.

Industry observers said that the so-called cybersecurity threat was categorically groundless, and it will be difficult to replace China-made cranes across ports in the US due to the high cost of localization.

The Biden administration plans to invest billions of dollars in America's own manufacturing of cargo cranes, amid the government's narrative that the prevalent use of China-built cranes with advanced software at many US ports could pose a potential "national security risk," the Wall Street Journal reported on February 21.

US wages have been increasing, so the cost of human labor has been rising fast, especially for American manufacturing enterprises planning to build plants there, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Hu said that the US ports can hardly find products with comparable prices and performances as the high-quality and inexpensive cranes that are manufactured by Chinese companies like ZPMC.

Hu said that the US allegation was just political hype. "US port data is usually publicized by the US customs authority, and there is no point for China to monitor those data," he said.

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday that the US is struggling to rebuild its manufacturing sector but it always blames the difficulty on China.

"China has the world's largest shipping industry, most powerful capacity for shipbuilding  and related equipment, and is the major trade partner of more than 140 countries and regions, so it will be very difficult and costly to move away from Chinese supplies," said Wang.

Chinese officials have firmly rejected the "China threat" hype by the US. 

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said in January that some US politicians have been blowing up a bubble of the "China threat," while exposing their real aim of suppressing China's development in the name of national security. 

Two US congressional committees have looked into Swiss engineering group ABB's operations in China, regarding the installation of ABB equipment by ZPMC on ship-to-shore cranes bound for the US.

"If China-made cranes are alleged to have national security risks for the US, it means US-made Tesla electric cars and iPhones are also transmitting Chinese users'data back to the US," Hu noted.

China's Foreign Ministry on Monday refuted recent remarks by high-ranking US officials denigrating Chinese-made cars, noting they are creating a false narrative, and this clearly reflects Washington's practice of making economic and trade issues into ones of politics and security.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, made these remarks after US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a recent interview with US media outlet MSNBC that "cars these days are like an iPhone on wheels… You connect your phone and you might receive the text message… Imagine a world with 3 million Chinese vehicles on the roads of America, and Beijing can turn them off at the same time."

Mao said that by that logic, shouldn't China be more worried about Washington's ability to get hundreds of millions of Apple phones of Chinese users to channel collected information back to the US, or even cause a blanket screen shutdown?

Hua Chunying, another Foreign Ministry spokesperson, on Sunday addressed Raimondo's remarks on X, saying that "cars are like iPhones on wheels? Beijing can turn off millions of Chinese vehicles on US roads at the same time? Kindly remind @SecRaimondo that iPhones are American products. Were you suggesting that iPhones, Tesla and even Boeing… have been sending secret data back to the US and could be shut down at any time by Washington?"
Hua also posted a graphic comparing the behavior of China and the US in the automotive industry, asking "Who is using 'unfair practices' in global auto market?"

The image showed that China's approach is "open to global auto companies," while the US is taking "unprecedented steps" against Chinese vehicles.
The top half of the picture shows Tesla CEO Elon Musk being warmly welcomed in Shanghai during his visit to China in 2023, with Chinese employees posing for photos with him; the bottom half of the picture shows Chinese electric cars labeled as "under investigation."

Hua said, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." The post is accompanied by an image listing the US "China threat" items including Huawei, TikTok, weather balloons, cargo cranes, corn mills, garlic, vehicles and more to come, depending on politics.
The US government plans to investigate Chinese-made electric vehicles to make sure that the vehicles have no data security loopholes. In response, Mao said on Friday that Chinese-made cars are popular globally not by using "unfair practices" but by emerging from fierce market competition with technological innovation and superb quality.

"China's door has been open to global auto companies, including US auto companies, that fully shared in the dividends of China's big market. By contrast, the US has engaged in trade protectionism and set up obstacles including discriminatory subsidy policies to obstruct access to the US market by Chinese-made cars. Such acts of politicizing economic and trade issues will only hinder the development of the US auto industry itself," Mao noted.

China urges the US to respect the laws of the market economy and the principles of fair competition, stop overstretching the concept of national security, stop its discriminatory suppression of Chinese companies, and uphold an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment, the spokesperson added.

The good news is that EU members blocked on Wednesday new rules requiring large companies to check if their supply chains use so-called forced labor or cause environmental damage, but it is not yet time to celebrate, as there are still many tough battles ahead.

The business community had criticized the rules, fearing they will create bureaucracy and legal uncertainties for EU companies. As reported by the SCMP, the rules would have required EU firms with more than 500 staff and 150 million euros ($162.7 million) in net turnover worldwide to conduct detailed audits of their suppliers and partners, including those in China.

The problem is that such detailed audits will put heavy and unnecessary political shackles on EU companies. What's even worse, the audits may be used as tools to politicize the issues of human rights and environmental protection, disrupt global supply chains and hinder normal cooperation between EU enterprises and their partners. There is no doubt that the EU's supply chain rules would result in economic losses for EU enterprises.

A Wednesday vote of the bloc's 27 members in Brussels fell short of the qualified majority required to adopt the rules. It is indeed a positive step by the EU. It proves that at the current time, there are more than a few political elites in the EU who don't want to see a serious conflict between the EU's political strategies and enterprises' business interests. This helps maintain European policymakers' basic strategic sobriety and rationality in the current complex situation of internal and external challenges.

In December 2021, the US signed the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law. While the act is drafted in a way that seemingly only targets certain products made in China's Xinjiang, all enterprises in the supply chain, including Western ones, suffer losses because they must prove themselves "not guilty," against the backdrop that the US government has made a presumption of guilt against them. This would cost companies a lot of time and money, even if they could prove it, which is nearly impossible.

It is not much of a surprise that the US may have hoped Europe could take similar steps to politicize issues such as human rights. So, especially when the US is pushing toward this direction from the outside, it is both timely and necessary for European leaders to have blocked new rules that would hold big companies responsible for so-called human rights and environmental abuses in their supply chains. In the current complex international environment, European leaders' strategic sobriety and rationality will help provide more room for the development of the European economy.

However, although Wednesday's vote fell short of the qualified majority, it is believed there will still be a small group of EU politicians who will try to continue to politicize human rights issues. Especially, Wednesday's vote may make the US more aggressive in pressuring Europe. This will test the independence of Europe's policy.

In recent years, the US has become increasingly unscrupulous in its campaign to contain China's economic rise, but the more the US wants to suppress China, the more it will drive China's development. 

China's Xinjiang is a good example. In 2023, Xinjiang's foreign trade totaled 357.33 billion yuan ($49.71 billion), a year-on-year increase of 45.9 percent, ranking second among China's provincial-level regions in terms of growth. 

Despite Western smears and malicious crackdowns, Xinjiang has entered the fast lane of development. A large number of European companies have invested in Xinjiang. 

The economies of China and Europe have a high degree of complementarity. Both sides should strengthen the complementarity of the market and supply chains, exploring new models of further cooperation.