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What Course To Follow For 5G In France?

THINKVIEWS

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October 20, 2020

Apple released its new 5G iPhone, many Chinese are excitedly discussing which new iPhone they will buy but in the Western, people still doubt whether they should jump over 5G now. The huge difference lies in the 5G technology development between China and many Western countries. Many main Chinese cities already use 5G this year, but even in the U.S., in France, in Germany, or many old developed countries, 5G time still seems far away. They may not have 5G in their areas now, but they probably will in the next few years…will they?

American giant technology companies – Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Apple dominate the global cloud computing business, Macron pointed out Europe had lost the global battle in cloud computing and should catch up with the revolution. “If we want our ecosystem to be sustainable, it has to be sovereign,” meaning that Europe should not rely “on any non-European power” for data security and 5G. He announced to start partnerships between Deutsche Telekom and French cloud services provider OVHcloud, from the view of national development, the 5G plan seems inevitable, but in reality, to go 5G or not to go 5G has been debated in France for a few months.

France is the only one of the four most populous European Union countries where 5G is not yet commercially available. Mobile carriers in Germany, Spain, and Italy have all launched it in several cities in 2019. But French people are still hesitating to make a move. “I hear a lot of voices being raised to explain to us that the complexity of contemporary problems should be addressed by going back to the oil lamp. I don’t believe that the Amish model can solve the challenges of contemporary ecology.” “France will move forward with its planned deployment of 5G telecom networks despite detractors who would prefer ‘the Amish model’ and ‘going back to the oil lamp’,” President Emmanuel Macron said in September, referring to communities such as the American community which are very suspicious of technology advancement.

French telecom regulator Arcep had launched the country’s 5G spectrum auction end of last month, which had been delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Operators Bouygues, Orange, Free, and SFR took part in the bidding which will allocate the eleven 10MHz lots still available into the GHz 3.4-3.8 frequency band. After 3 days of bidding, Arcep announced that the main auction was completed on 2nd October, and Orange was the biggest winner. Arcep will issue the new 5G licenses, and “orange will be able to consolidate its leadership in mobile networks and will develop an efficient 5G network,” said Stéphane Richard, chairman and CEO of Orange. Though Arcep’s specifications for the 5G auction requires that each operator must launch 5G services in at least two cities before the end of this year, each carrier should utilize 3,000 sites within 2 years, and 10,5000 sites within 5 years, the applying process doesn’t go well like scheduled.

Locations of Current 5G Experimental Cities
Source: Arcep

Just one week after the auction, on 9th October, the Lille government decided to pause the establishment of 5G as protesters ask not to authorize the installation of test antennas, while a 2-year experiment launched by the operator Orange has just been completed. They have rising doubts about the negative impact of 5G on health, also they question the meaningfulness of massively economic cost of 5G, and they demand a “digital sobriety”, a way promotes using the internet and technology more mindfully and responsibly, the idea is generated from a think tank called “The Shift Project”, created by environmental experts from Paris. The think tank believes that humanity is the victim of ‘addictive design’, an online concept used to maximize the amount of time spent by a user on the platform, such as the mechanism of TikTok, which boosts the consumption of a large number of contents and generates increasing volumes of associated data. If 5G can be launched and applied widely in France, the following internet pollution will get more severe.

Besides the wishes of common people, can mayors who are against 5G use their power to prevent its arrival? The Council of State rules that “only the State authorities designated by law are competent to generally regulate the installation of mobile telephone relay antennas,” which forbids mayors to interfere with 5G advancement. However, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts and the National Frequency Agency need to rely on expertise to “ensure within the framework of their respective competences, the limitation of the exposure of the public to electromagnetic fields and the protection of public health.”

The Council of State also adds that it is up to them “to determine, in a complete manner, the methods of setting up radio stations throughout the territory as well as the measures to protect the public against the effects of radio waves,” which potentially reserves space for following anti-5G movements. 5G in France, even talking about it is a hot debate, achieving it is a tougher journey.

_{(Source: France 24 / RCR Wireless News / Earth / France Bleu / Numerama / Arcep)}

How Shenzhen Made Economic Miracle Within 40 Years?

THINKVIEWS

Freena Blanchard

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October 19, 2020

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How Shenzhen Made Economic Miracle Within 40 Years?

China on 14th October held a grand gathering to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ). On 26th August 1980, the Chinese top legislature approved to establish 4 special economic zones in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shantou in Guangdong Province and Xiamen in Fujian Province. Among all of them, Shenzhen has achieved the most successful development over the past 40 years, between 1979 and 2019 Shenzhen’s gross domestic output grew tp 2.69 trillion yuan, or roughly $390 billion, such an annual growth rate of 21.6% proved again that Shenzhen creates a miracle in the global development history.

Modern Shenzhen changed its shape within a generation, no one could imagine that a historic decision can transform a poorly local fishing village into an advanced modern city worldwide. Since 2000, Shenzhen started to transform from a tax-free manufacturing hub to a modern metropolis. Three pillar industries began to develop here – high-tech, logistics, and financial services, contributing significantly to the Chinese technological innovation, attracting numerous talents from across the mainland which continuously pushes up its population. The city now is often referred to as China’s Silicon Valley as many renowned Chinese technology companies are located here, including Huawei, Xiaomi, Tencent, etc.

Credit to its economic model, in 2018, Shenzhen’s economy surpassed Hong Kong’s for the first time. “Hong Kong is heavily reliant on traditional industries such as financial and real estate, which covers about 70% of the economy. Shenzhen’s economy is mainly supported by manufacturing and technology, which contributes about 70%,” said Hong Hao, the director and head of research at Bocom International. If the different economic structures of the two cities maintain so, Shenzhen’s economy will remain ahead of Hong Kong’s in the coming year, if including political factors, the stable and open environment of Shenzhen is surely more attractive to the foreign investors.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Between Shenzhen And Hong Kong
Source: South China Morning Post

Shenzhen has built a deeply interactive economy model among technology, finance, and logistics. One of the places to give an insight into this new world is Huaqiangbei electronic markets, the world’s largest electronic market, virtually nothing coming under the electronics products that cannot be found here. These markets in the Huaqiangbei area supply millions of electronics products across the world. Each year, hundreds of thousands of businessmen and resellers visit these markets, and they may place, send, and track orders via Wechat or Alipay. Not everyone has been to Shenzhen, but everyone definitely has used things produced or shipped from Shenzhen. Many times you may need to wait longer when you buy some local things online than buy similar items from China. The economic influence of Shenzhen applies wider and deeper ranges than we can imagine.

Chinese media uses 9 keywords to demonstrate the success of Shenzhen
Source: ChinaNews

“特 (Special)”, Shenzhen couldn’t have made such achievements without being a Special Economic Zone. The special position provides Shenzhen uncountable advantages in policies.

“改 (Change)”, Shenzhen is a trail of changing the way to develop Chinese economy and society, and it proves as long as a country always follows the right trend, and make good changes, it will get better.

“勇 (Brave)”, 40 years before no one knew how to transform a poor village into the current modern city, the earlier just pictured a blueprint and went ahead without stepping back, this braveness has encouraged people till now.

“智 (Wisdom)”, three generations deepen their thoughts here, and in the future, more younger generations will join, their efforts and achievements are the best proofs of their wisdom.

“先 (Advance)”, Shenzhen is always the first city to apply every new policy or to experiment with new things, which brings it more risks but also more advancements.

“搏 (Effort)”, from extremely poor to relevant wealthy, people overcame too many obstacles by holding a belief that a better life needs efforts.

“快 (Speed)”, “time is money, efficiency is life”, this phrase is widely spread and deeply remarked in Shenzhen’s people. They try to grasp every chance and gaze every moment to make some difference.

“创 (Innovative)”, by insisting on an innovative economy model, Shenzhen becomes the best place for startups and young people, their innovations are pushing the city and even the country more and more forward.

“新 (New)”, Shenzhen continuously makes new targets and new plans for a better future. But which direction Shenzhen is exactly heading to?

Last August, China’s State Council and the Central Committee issued a new guideline outlining an ambitious plan for the future of Shenzhen. The plan wishes to transform Shenzhen into a leading city globally in terms of economic might and development quality, specifically focusing on academic research, industrial innovation, public services, and ecological environment.

_{(Source: XINHUANET / CGTN / South China Morning Post / China News)}

China Impression Survey

THINKVIEWS

Freena Blanchard

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October 15, 2020

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On 6^th October, Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank seeking to promote a deeper understanding of issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs, published its latest research relating to the international views of China entitled “Unfavourable Views of China Reach Historic Highs in Many Countries.” The analysis is based on data from nationally representative surveys of 14,276 adults from June 10th to August 3rd this year, in 14 developed countries including the U.S., Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Australia, Japan , and South Korea.

The organization finds that a majority in each of the surveyed countries has a negative opinion of China. After comparing it with its previously similar studies, the institute points out that negative views of China increased most in Australia, where 81% don’t like the country, up 24% since 2019. In the U.S., the anti-China atmosphere has increased by almost 20% since President Donald Trump entered the White House, climbing 13% compared with last year.

The rise in unfavorable views comes firstly on how China has handled the Coronavirus pandemic. A median of 61% across the countries surveyed, accuse China has done a bad job dealing with the outbreak, which is more judgemental than how they think about the handling by their own country or WHO or EU. Though the Chinese government has taken the spread of virus under the control, many around the world questioned the hesitation to handle the outbreak at the beginning of this year, and others critiqued some strict measures applied by the Chinese government during the pandemic. China has basically back to the usual path while the remaining parts of the world still suffer from the pandemic, which is praised as a national effort for Chinese but many countries blamed China for opening a Pandora’s box by pulling others into this disaster and staying safe alone.

Perceptions of what China has done handling the Coronavirus pandemic color people’s overall insights of the country. Some views intense international relations like the Chinese economy benefits from others during the international Coronavirus pandemic going viral this year. The Chinese government wishes to change it by using social media platforms like twitter to defend Chinese national interests, but based on the research the effect is quite unsatisfied, and maybe even worse, especially after the Chinese foreign ministry has taken an increasingly strident tone against the accusations of the U.S., Australia, and other countries during the pandemic.

Such actions wouldn’t likely happened before President Xi, when China used “conservative, passive, and low-key diplomacy, current assertive, proactive, and high-profile approach is called “wolf-warrior diplomacy”. This change didn’t occur suddenly. Since 2010 when China’s GDP overtook Japan’s as the world’s second-largest, the Chinese have felt more confident about national power, and the Chinese government started to fight harder to protect the national interests, which is seen as a result of applying Deng Xiaoping’s ”韬光养晦(Tao Guang Yang Hui)” dictum for decades. The dictum has been translated as “temporary retirement to bide China’s time before going on the offensive”, “hide ability and pretend to be weak”, “conceal one’s true intention” and “hide ambitions and disguise its claws”, such widely used but inaccurate translations misled the international views, said Xiong Guangkai, a retired Chinese general.

The national image transmitted from President Xi, a strong, tough, and ambitious China, rises the national confidence and pride of Chinese but strengthens the fear of other countries’ people. Across the countries surveyed, a median of 78% doesn’t trust President Xi to make the right decisions about international affairs. The survey also asked about confidence in some other world leaders. The American President Trump gets the least confidence after President Xi, and German leader Merkel, French leader Macron, and the UK leader Johnson are at least twice as high as in Xi.

Considering China as a threat seems to be a census of many major economies, especially during this year when they are experiencing economic drops but China has overcome the pandemic and expects to achieve positive growth. Across the 14 countries surveyed, a median of 48% define China as the world’s leading economic power, and a median of 35% see the U.S. as the world’s top economy. However, in most European countries surveyed, at least half take China as the world’s top economy rather than the U.S., which is supported as the top one with around 30%.

The majority of countries in the world worry what China will do with continuously rising national power and unbeatable uniting efforts from the Chinese. Will China become the next dominant power? Will the Chinese government want to influence or even change other countries to satisfy its need as the U.S. government did? They seem to forget one important fact that China was the leading world power for thousands of years, and lost it within two centuries because old governments ceased to advance, especially in technology. All efforts China has made till now is catchup, to recover its strength and wealth. There is no problem a country and its people want to be better and stronger. Other countries need to question themselves before to doubt China: what they did to cease the pandemic? What they tried to develop economy? What their people sacrificed to advance the country?

_{(Source:Pew Research / BBC / The Diplomat / Translators Association of China)}

Geopolitische Implikationen des Berg-Karabach-Konflikts

POLITIK

Stephan Ossenkopp

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October 13, 2020

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Geopolitische Implikationen des Berg-Karabach-Konflikts

Der Kaukasus ist seit der Antike ein Schauplatz für Auseinandersetzungen. Laut dem Geschichtsschreiber Herodot sollen dort bereits die Griechen und Perser sich die Köpfe eingehauen haben, wobei das griechische Heer sich nach verlorenen Schlachten nach Armenien zurückzog. In späteren Jahrhunderten haben dann russisch-persische und russisch-türkische Konflikte dort ihre Spuren hinterlassen. Die Ansprüche der christlich geprägten Armenier auf ihr ehemaliges Königreich Arzach, das heutige Berg-Karabach, gehen darauf zurück, dass nach armenischer Auffassung Berg-Karabach mindestens seit dem Mittelalter mehrheitlich armenisch besiedelt gewesen sei.

Doch seit der Seldschuken-Invasion im 14. Jahrhundert siedeln auch muslimische Turkvölker in der Gegend und stellen teilweise die ethnische Mehrheit. Nicht zuletzt rangen auch Osmanen, die Vorfahren der heutigen Türken, um die Vorherrschaft in dem südkaukasischen Gebiet. Es begegneten sich hier im Laufe der Geschichte also die unterschiedlichsten Kulturen und Völker, und das geschah eben nicht immer friedlich.

Nach der kommunistischen Revolution von 1917 wurden die Sowjetrepubliken Armenien und Aserbeidschan gegründet, und das von beiden beanspruchte Gebiet Berg-Karabach zwischen ihnen aufgeteilt. Nach dem Zerfall der Sowjetunion im Jahre 1991 brach ein Krieg zwischen den beiden nunmehr unabhängig gewordenen Ländern aus, der zwischen 1992-94 wütete und zehntausende Tote zur Folge hatte. Im Zuge dieses Krieges besetzte Armenien weite Gebiete Berg-Karabachs militärisch. Hunderttausende aserbeidschanische Zivilisten flohen.

Später wurde dort sogar die Republik Arzach ausgerufen, die jedoch international nicht anerkannt wurde. Zwar wurde 1994 ein Waffenstillstandsabkommen vermittelt, doch der seit nunmehr 25 Jahren schwelende Konflikt brach jüngst, am 27. September 2020, wieder voll aus, nachdem sich bereits im Juli Zwischenfälle an der Waffenstillstandslinie ereignet hatten, für die sich beide Länder gegenseitig verantwortlich machten. Aserbeidschan behauptet nun, Armenien wolle Berg-Karabach annektieren, und Armenien behauptet wiederum, Aserbeidschan wolle sämtliche verlorenen Gebiete zurückerobern und ethnisch von Armeniern säubern. Die Sache ist festgefahren.

Seit Juli dieses Jahres begann dann die Türkei, sich immer stärker auf der Seite seines Verbündeten Aserbeidschan einzumischen. Bei mehreren hochrangigen Treffen türkischer und aserbeidschanischer Vertreter wurde Armeniern mit außerordentlich scharfen Worten verurteilt. Die Türkei leistet militärischen Beistand und nutzt den Konflikt, um seine Ambitionen zu verwirklichen, die Region zwischen Nordafrika und dem Kaspischen Meer politisch stärker in seinem Interesse zu beeinflussen.

Auf der anderen Seite ist Armenien in einem Militärbündnis mit der Russischen Föderation, und zwar über die Mitgliedschaft bei der „Organisation des Vertrags über kollektive Sicherheit“, aus dem Aserbeidschan gemeinsam mit Georgien 1999 ausgeschieden ist. Russland hat Truppen auf armenischem Territorium stationiert. Armenien ist auch Mitglied der von Russland, Kasachstan und anderen angeführten Eurasischen Wirtschaftsunion. Die Türkei wiederum ist Mitglied der NATO und unterhält eine der größten und modernsten Armeen der Welt. Der Konflikt birgt also eine globale geopolitische Dimension, die die bereits bestehenden Reibereien zwischen NATO und Russland noch erhöhen könnten. Sollte es zu einem Aufeinandertreffen russischer und türkischer Kräfte kommen, so beschwören manche bereits eine potenzielle internationale Ausweitung des Konflikts herauf. Deeskalation ist also das Gebot der Stunde.

Deshalb gaben Trump, Putin und Macron, die drei Staatchefs der Staaten, die die Minsker Gruppe der OECD ausmachen, und unter deren Federführung die Friedensvermittlungen zwischen den verfeindeten Parteien organisiert werden, am 1. Oktober eine klare Warnung vor jeglicher weiteren Eskalation heraus. Darauf folgte eine ähnliche Erklärung der Außenminister dieser drei Staaten am 5. Oktober.

Dann trafen am 10. Oktober in Moskau die Außenminister Armeniens und Aserbeidschans mit den Verhandlungsführern der Minsker Gruppe zusammen und verabredeten nach zehnstündiger Verhandlungszeit eine Feuerpause. Damit sollte dem Roten Kreuz ermöglicht werden, die humanitäre Versorgung der durch die Kriegshandlungen betroffene Bevölkerung durchzuführen. Gleichzeitig sollte die Waffenruhe zum Austausch von Kriegsgefangenen und Gefallenen dienen. Der Waffenstillstand ist jedoch äußerst brüchig und wird immer wieder von Zwischenfällen unterbrochen, für die sich wie gewohnt beide Seiten jeweils die Schuld geben.

Wegen des ungeheuren Reichtums der Region an Rohstoffen, vor allem was fossile Brennstoffe wie Erdöl und Erdgas angeht, streckte in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten auch der Westen, allen voran die Briten und Amerikaner, zunehmend seine Hände aus. British Petroleum ist bei der Ölförderung in der Kaspischen Senke sehr aktiv; und die Amerikaner drängten Aserbeidschan zum Bau der Ölpipeline von der Hauptstadt Baku am Kaspischen Meer nach Tiflis und weiter nach Ceyhan in der Türkei.

Die Bodenschätze des Kaukasus auszubeuten und gleichzeitig das Feuer anzufachen, um Russland in seiner südwestlichen Flanke zu destabilisieren, war bereits der Gedanke des damaligen Beraters der US-Regierung, Zbigniew Brzezinski, als er in den 1990er Jahren das verstärkte Engagement der USA in der Region des Kaukasus, des Kaspischen Meeres und Zentralasiens einleitete. Brzezinski bezeichnete des Kaukasus als eine Gegend, die mit dem Balkan vergleichbar sei: ein ethnischer Flickenteppich, hochgradig instabil, und damit offen für geopolitische Spielchen zugunsten der „einzig verbliebenen Weltmacht“, den Vereinigten Staaten.

Doch die Region hat auch das Potenzial zu etwas anderem, positivem. Die Infrastrukturinvestitionen, die im Rahmen der südlichen Route der Neuen Seidenstraße und im Zuge des Nord-Süd-Korridors anvisiert werden, könnten den Kaukasus stattdessen zu einem wirtschaftlichen Drehkreuz zwischen Ost und West, Nord und Süd werden lassen. Von den dort in der Region entstehenden wirtschaftlichen Möglichkeiten würden alle Beteiligten profitieren. Entstehender Wohlstand würde für neue Friedensoptionen sorgen und Organisationsformen wie gemeinsame Verwaltungsregionen und Konföderationen ermöglichen, in denen die Entwicklung der Völker im Vordergrund stünde.

Wenngleich dies utopisch klingt, könnte die Furcht vor einem unkontrollierbaren überregionalen Krieg einer solchen Möglichkeit durchaus den Weg ebnen.

^{(Quelle: orientaldaily.com)}

Reserving A Seat In Justice May Be The Most Important Part To Help Trump’s Election

THINKVIEWS

Freena Blanchard

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October 11, 2020

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Reserving A Seat In Justice May Be The Most Important Part To Help Trump’s Election

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died because of complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer at her home in Washington on 18^th September. She had fought with serval cancers over two decades, even in the past few months when she had non-surgical treatment for a gallbladder condition in Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital, she still took part in the court’s work remotely there. She continuously heard arguments of the deadly Coronavirus outbreak and she considered a case relating to the Affordable Care Act. As the court’s most senior liberal justice, her health was closely watched but her death still causes social panic, untill now people are worring about the future of the US. Why is the position so important?

Usually, the American Supreme Court justices serve for life or until they choose to retire. Seeing her conditions got worse, supporters expressed their concerns that if she couldn’t get it through, a more conservative judge might be a suitable replacement. “I can’t imagine what this place would be – I can’t imagine what the country would be – with Donald Trump as our president. For the country, it would be four years. For the court, it could be – I don’t even want to contemplate that,” said Ginsburg in an interview with The New York Times four years before.

The American Supreme Court has been the battleground of many crucial issues of American society, including gender equality and abortion, voting rights, discriminators, gun laws, homosexual rights, healthcare, etc. Therefore, the choice of nine justices reflects the ideology of the president who nominated them and the Senate which confirmed them. President Trump wants a new Supreme Court Justice confirmed before the election to be able to break potential ties on the court over election litigation.

“Donald Trump isn’t just trying to steal a Supreme Court seat, he’s trying to steal the election along with it,” said executive director Brian Fallon. Justice Ginsburg had acknowledged the intention of President Trump for a long term, She had determined to oppose Trump to influence the US longer, just a few days before her death, she shared her last wish that her replacement to the highest court in the land should be picked by a president other than Trump. However, President Trump has chosen Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat, he has moved one step closer to his goal.

Barrett, a judge on the Seventh US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago without a long judicial record. In 2017, she was confirmed to have her first judgeship. Since then, she’s voted in two abortion cases with strong preferences in abortion restrictions. Plus, she has actively made a number of public statements on Roe and abortion over years. She is a Catholic and a member of the religious group People of Praise, known for its rigid gender roles and lifelong loyalty oaths, which deeply affects and reflects the thoughts of Barrett, and surely will lead her in many important judicial decisions.

“Many people call it a community, but I describe it as a cult,” said Coral Anika Theill, who was a member of People of Praise from 1979 to 1984 and is now public against the organization. She described the experience in the organization as “didn’t have any rights due to being married”, and “under the authority of the husband and his authoritarian head.” She tried to leave the group earlier, but the organization gave her “special counseling” as she was “mentally ill”. She pointed out that the community is similar to the Jim Jones cult – People Temple of the Disciples of Christ, which spread a message that combined elements of Christianity with an emphasis on racial equality.

Without a doubt, choosing Barrett is very controversial. Ever since the Supreme Court legalized abortion in its 1973 Roe versus Wade ruling, conservative activists have sought to overturn the decision, if Trump successfully replaces Ginsburg with Barrett, the chances of the court drastically curbing abortion rights become ever more likely. Similarly, with Barrett, the conservative wing of the court can be emboldened to make sweeping changes on other social issues, such as gender equality, religious rights, voting rights, guy rights, etc.

“I don’t know that you’d get that. I think it should be eight-nothing or nine-nothing,” “but just in case it would be more political than it should be, I think it’s very important to have a ninth justice,” said Trump.

The high court effectively decided the 2000 election when it voted 5-4 in Bush vs Gore, which resulted in George W. Bush securing the state of Florida and an Electoral College majority. Trump is pushing for his decision being confirmed before the election, gaining more chance to beat Biden, and to rule the US in an opposite way than Ginsburg, and many other reasonable people wished.

_{(Source: BBC / rollcall / wikipedia / democracynow / usatoday / claytoonz / moustique / The New York Times)}

Uyghurs For Sale, ‘Re-education’?

THINKVIEWS

Freena Blanchard

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October 9, 2020

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In February 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASP) published a report entitled “Uyghurs for sale – ‘Re-education,’ forced labor and surveillance beyond Xinjiang,” in which the institute states that “between 2017 and 2019, at least 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang and assigned to factories through labor transfer programs under a central government policy known as ‘Xinjiang Aid’,” under this “revived, exploitative government-led labor transfer scheme,” Uyghur workers being employed under forced labor conditions in China, the products made by them will supply 83 famous brands globally, including Adidas, Amazon, Apple, General Electric, Google, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, Nike, Nintendo, The North Face, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Zara, etc, some brands are linked with multiple factories.

According to the institute, “the data is based on published supplier lists, media reports, and the factories’ claimed suppliers,” but if checking its references the data and information are about policies and achievements to improve the employment situation in Xinjiang mainly by encouraging companies to provide positions with basic training to low education people from countryside in Xinjiang. Such a policy aims to help Xinjiang to get rid of poorness and ignorance which exists for long.

Part of References Listed in the Report
Source: the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASP)

The “Xinjiang Aid” in fact is officially called as “pairing assistance” program, which “should thoroughly implement the Party’s policy for governing Xinjiang in the new era,” said Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at the seventh meeting on pairing-assistance to Xinjiang held in 2019 in Hotan, a city in the south of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The program has been applied for decades of years, since 1997, China has been channeling financial support to Xinjiang from other provinces and sending cadres and professionals to work and hold tenures there. “The program should adopt a new vision for development, contribute to economic development and people’s well-being, and help unify people”, said Wang. Xinjiang has a relatively low level of industrial development and a high level of poverty due to strong religious influence and wake education system, the gap between Xinjiang and other provinces increases rapidly, especially after China started to reform and opeing-up since the 1980s. “Efforts should be made to promote exchanges among different ethnic groups as well as between people in Xinjiang and other regions and encourage people from ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang to seek development in other regions of the country,” Wang wished.

Xinjiang is located in the northwest of China. Hotan, Kashgar, Aksu, and Kizilsu Kirgiz, the four prefectures in southern Xinjiang, have a particularly bad natural environment, and weak economic foundations along with a serious shortfall in employment carrying capacity. These areas are identified as extreme poverty areas.

The worse part is, terrorists, separatists, and religious extremists have educated local people for a long term about “the afterlife is fated” and “religious teaching is superior to state laws,” inciting the local to resist learning the standard spoken and written Mandarin, deny modern science and technology, and reject to improve their vocational skills. All of these negative actions directly deepen and widen the gaps between Xinjiang people and people from more advanced provinces.

The Australian report ignored the severe reality of Xinjiang and misinterpreted the efforts of the Chinese government, causing intensely international controversy of employment and labor rights in Xinjiang, many companies are forced to decide not to hire workers from Xinjiang, which obviously make Xinjiang people’s situations worse.

To clarify the fake news and to continually help Xinjiang people, The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China published a white paper entitled “Employment and Labor Rights in Xinjiang” in September 2020. The white paper is divided into six parts, covering the employment situation in Xinjiang, positive employment policies applied in Xinjiang, respect for workers’ job preferences and willingnesses, labor rights protection, encouragement of doing better jobs to build better lives, and application of international labor and human rights standards.

The white paper points out that credit to the “pairing assistance” program along with series of policies, including “the Opinions of the CPC Committee and the People’s Government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Further Facilitating Employment and Business Startups”, “the 13th Five-Year Plan of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region for Facilitating Employment,” the scale of employment in Xinjiang has expanded continuously. From 2014 to 2019, the total number of people employed in Xinjiang rose from 11.35 million to 13.3 million, an increase of 17.2 percent. The average annual increase in urban employment was more than 471,200 people (148,000 in southern Xinjiang, accounting for 31.4 percent); and the average annual relocation of surplus rural labor was more than 2.76 million people, of which over 60% were in southern Xinjiang.

Xinjiang ensures that there is no discrimination against workers due to ethnicity, region, gender, physical condition, and religion. No organization or individual can interfere with the freedom to choose religions and to use language in work while learning Chinese is necessary to unite the Xinjiang people and other people in China. China applies international labor and human rights standards, it’s prohibited to use child labor, to force labor, to do sexual harassment, to illegally work, and to make any kinds of violations and crimes concerning employment.

_{(Source: Xinhuanet / Business & Human Rights Resource Centre / The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China)}

Trump Has Coronavirus, A Strategy Or A Fact?

THINKVIEWS

Claudie Dubois

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October 7, 2020

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Trump Has Coronavirus, A Strategy Or A Fact?

At 6:54 am (Central European Time), on 2^nd October, President Trump announced on Twitter that he and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19, and they would start quarantine immediately.

As usual, Trump believes that he can recover soon and he underestimates the severity of Coronavirus, he did not lock himself down when he already had symptoms of Coronavirus but attended many important events to gain higher approval ratings without informing others or wearing masks. Credit to his ignorance and arrogance, many significant people in Trump’s close circle, or in the same events with him, gradually announced their positive results of Coronavirus test.

Though a White House team of doctors said that Trump is doing well in the treatment, and he was already planning to return the White House, his chef of staff Mark Meadows was caught asking to go off the record with White House reporters as an ‘anonymous’ source and he revealed that “the president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.” This statement pissed Trump, he posted a 4-minute video from the hospital shortly to give a speech without coughs or pauses, and the White House also posted two pictures later to show Trump works hardly as usual since his condition gets better during treatment. Judd Deere, an American political advisor recognized his spirit as “the man never stops working,” Ivanka Trump commented as “nothing can stop him from working for the American people. RELENTLESS.”

However, many people checked the video and pictures over and over, they found out that first, Trump was signing his name on a blank sheet of paper; second, according to the basic image information of two pictures, the White House just moved him in different rooms within 10 minutes to take pictures in different clothes; third, at the 1:04 minuets Trump obviously coughed when he said “therapeutics”, but his emotion and body movement were edited out to show he is healthier than he actually is.

According to the records of doctors, Trump had a high fever on 2^nd October, and his blood oxygen levels dropped twice on 2^nd October and 4^th October, around 93% at one point, usually below 95% is considered the lower limit of the normal range, and below 94% can be diagnosed as having severe Covid-19. On 2^nd October, he accepted an experimental antibody cocktail that is being tested in Covid-19 patients. He also uses remdesivir, a commonly used antiviral with dexamethasone, which tamps down the body’s immune response and is given later in the illness, especially when patients’ immune systems go into overdrive and attack their vital organs. Trump’s situation seems to get worse, but doctors have suggested that he can return to the White House as early as 5^th October. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of the division of infectious disease at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, commented on the mysterious situation of Trump as “when I think about people needing dexamethasone, I think about people who are escalating their condition, who are heading closer to I.C.U. level than to home.” “You’re giving remdesivir, you’re giving dexamethasone, and you’re giving monoclonal antibodies. No one’s ever done that, not to mention famotidine and some zinc and a mix of cocktails, or whatever else he’s on,” said by Dr. Thomas McGinn, physician-in-chief at Northwell Health, the largest health care provider in New York State.

The 5^th October was the last day to register to vote in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Texas, which are often considered as swing states, these states could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican presidential candidates by a swing in votes, so every party aims to win more approvals there. Yesterday within 24 hours, Trump posted over 30 twitters, including twitters compared his promises and competitor’s disadvantages, and videos in which he stood up and gave a speech to thank everyone who supports him, and he returned the White House just 3 days after he was confirmed to have Coronavirus. He also defended his decision to continue traveling and holding events without informing others of his situation, which is criticized by many common people and medical experts, saying he “knew there’s a danger to it, but I headed to it. I stood out front. I led.” Trump has a reputation to underestimate the severity of the Coronavirus, he also gave many stupid advice to cure it. After his treatment, his attitude seems to remain the same as before, not like Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the UK, who also underestimated the virus then suffered severe pain in the hospital, and now applied strict policies to control the pandemic.

The Battleground States Biden and Trump Need to Win 270
Source: The New York Times

All updates of Trump are seen as to save the mess caused by his test result, his supporters felt desperate earlier and now many of them picked up hopes again, they believe that Trump perfectly shows he beat the Coronavirus. Is he really safe now? Or everyone around him was safe all the time? Is he using it to gain preference in the election?

His mysterious situation remains a story, “but such health crises in the White House have been rarer in recent times. Since Reagan was shot in 1981, no president has been known to confront a life-threatening condition while in office,” pointed out in an article of the New York Times earlier.

_{(Source: New Scientist / Live Science / The New York Times / BBC / Twitter)}

Die Zeit vor der Qin-Dynastie

KULTUR

LHCH

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October 6, 2020

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Die lange Geschichte vor der Vereinigung Chinas durch Qin Shi Huangdi

Wussten Sie, dass die frühesten Vorfahren der Chinesen vor rund 700.000 Jahren im heutigen Distrikt Yuanmou in der Provinz Yunnan lebten? Das war der Beginn einer ursprünglichen Gesellschaft in China.

Rund 15.000 Jahre vor unserer Zeitrechnung haben die Menschen im Tal des Gelben Flusses Wildgetreide zerkleinert, darunter auch Samen von Wildhirse. Diese Jäger und Sammler kannten sich bereits mit Keramik aus.

Wildreis wurde vor etwa 7000 Jahren zum ersten Mal verzehrt. Tausend Jahre später war China im Begriff, sich von einer Gesellschaft aus Jägern und Sammlern zu einer auf Hirse, Schweinefleisch und Huhn basierenden Agrarproduktionswirtschaft zu entwickeln.

5000 v. Chr. erschien kultivierter Reis auf der Bildfläche! 2600 v. Chr. wurde in der Region des Gelben Flusses eher Weizen angebaut.

Die erste chinesische Xia-Dynastie wurde 2070 v. Chr. gegründet. Sie blieb über 400 Jahre an der Macht.

Es folgte die Dynastie der Shang, auch Yin genannt, nach dem Namen der Hauptstadt, die nach mehr als 300 Jahren definitiv und für mehr als 300 Jahre in Yin, dem heutigen Anyang, Provinz Henan, festgelegt wurde, nachdem sie mehrmals ihren Standort gewechselt hatte. Sie bestand über 400 Jahre lang, von 1500 bis 1000 v. Chr. Sie herrschte damals über eines der mächtigsten Länder der Erde. Aus jener Zeit blieben viele äußerst wertvolle historische Gegenstände und archäologische Bronzestücke erhalten. Dazu gehören die „Jiaguwen“, Inschriften auf Schildkrötenpanzern und auf Tierknochen, mit denen die Shang Wahrsagerei praktizierten (Skapulomanie).

Dazu gehören die „Jiaguwen“, Inschriften auf Schildkrötenpanzern und auf Tierknochen, mit denen die Shang Wahrsagerei praktizierten (Skapulimantie).

Die dritte Dynastie war die westliche Zhou-Dynastie, deren Hauptstadt sich ganz in der Nähe der heutigen Stadt Xi’an befand. Die Zhou schufen ein zentralisiertes bürokratisches Regierungssystem und nannten die Könige „Tian zi“ („Sohn des Himmels“) und legitimierten ihre Macht mit einem himmlischen Mandat. Diese Vorstellung hielt sich bis zum Ende des chinesischen Reiches 1911.

Die Zhou wurden von den ethnischen Minderheiten, die Xi’an eingenommen hatten, vertrieben und waren gezwungen, ihre Hauptstadt im heutigen Luoyang anzusiedeln. Die Dynastie wurde dann von Historikern als die östliche Zhou-Dynastie bezeichnet. Die beiden Zhou-Dynastien herrschten etwa 800 Jahre lang. Die östliche Zhou-Dynastie selbst ist in zwei Perioden unterteilt: die Frühlings- und Herbstperiode (770-476 v. Chr.) und die Periode der kriegführenden Staaten (475-221 v. Chr.).

Während der Frühlings- und Herbstperiode, der Periode der Philosophen Lao Zi und Konfuzius, wurde China in mehrere kleine Staaten aufgeteilt, die während der Periode der kriegführenden Staaten in sieben mächtige Königreiche fusionierten. Infolge der Reformen wurde in diesen Königreichen der Feudalismus etabliert, der eine solide Grundlage für die imperiale Vereinigung Chinas durch Qin Shi Huangdi bildete.

Wenn wir die Geschichte im globalen Maßstab betrachten, stellen wir fest, dass die ersten antiken Zivilisationen Ägyptens, Mesopotamiens und des Indus-Tals Zeitgenossen der chinesischen Zivilisation sind, die unter den Dynastien der Xia, der westlichen Shang und der Zhou einen ungeheuren Aufstieg erlebte. Die griechischen und römischen Städte erlebten ihre Blütezeit gleichzeitig mit den Frühlings- und Herbstperioden und den sich bekriegenden Königreichen in China, wo Denksysteme und Kulturen neu entstanden. Der Osten und der Westen erstrahlten gleichzeitig, und so waren der Mittelmeerraum und China damals zwei sehr wichtige Zivilisationspole in der Welt.

_{(Quelle: britannica.com / allthatsinteresting.com)}

European Child Abandonment: A Controversial But Long Existed Story

THINKVIEWS

Freena Blanchard

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October 2, 2020

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European Child Abandonment: A Controversial But Long Existed Story

At the beginning of this month, a Belgian non-profit organization, Corvia, was authorized to set “baby box” in Brussels, to give parents the right to abandon their newborns anonymously. Mathilde Pelsers, from the organization, said “we are very delighted because every child should have the right to a future” and they “hope to be able to officially open at the beginning of October.” The first “baby box” in the Brussels region will be located at No. 405 Rue du Tilleul in Evere.

The box should have been installed on September 21, 2017, but the former mayor of the commune banned it as it could a way to encourage child abandonment, which Corvia strongly disagrees as if parents already think about abandoning their children, banning the behavior will only push them to try other ways to get rid of children as soon as possible rather than take their responsibility, thus setting a legal box can “offer an opportunity for lazy mothers to leave their children safe.” the former ban has now been adjusted and the current mayor of Evere, Ridouane Chahid, supports the initiative of Corvia, following arrangement will be discussed shortly to reach a proper and legal framework. It is not the first time to install a “baby box” in Belgium, in fact, its first “baby box” was installed in Antwerp 20 years ago, even in Europe, Child abandonment has a long history.

In the 12^th century, many Italian towns faced economic problems, the decreasing income of families brought difficulties to even satisfy the basic needs of their children, therefore many families started to abandon babies in the center of the city or just threw them into the river. In 1198, Pope Innocent III promulgated a decree for all churches in Italy that each church must install a “foundling wheels” on the street-facing wall of a church. Though this small, wooden architectural feature was roughly two feet tall, large enough to receive a newborn baby abandoned by parents anonymously. Churches received many babies with different body conditions, but many of them had diseases or disabilities which often caused early deaths of babies. Some parents did not have other choices instead of leaving their children there, they would leave notes and something to the churches, and sometimes visited children, but most time the origin of the baby was non-traceable.

“Foulding Wheels” in Italy in the 12th Century
Source: Grand Voyage Italy

Old “foundling wheels” still exist in many European countries today but changes names such as “baby flaps” in Germany, and “windows of life” in Poland. In modern society, these baby hatches do not entirely belong to churches like before, more are attached to government, hospitals, or some non-profit organizations. It is hard to know the exact number of abandoned children as even now, the majority of European countries do not keep national records of the number of children aged up to 3 abandoned at maternity units, among others who do have records, Romania had the most serious problems, 3.6 abandoned per 1,000 live births), followed by Slovakia, 3.3 abandoned per 1,000 live births, Poland and Lithuania, 1.7 abandoned per 1,000 live births, and France, 1 abandoned per 1,000 live births.

European Commission defines child abandonment in two parts:

Open abandonment as a child being knowingly left behind his or her parent, who can be identified, and whose intention is not to return but to willingly relinquish parental responsibility. Plus, no other family members are able or willing to take on the responsibility to parent and care for the child.

Secret abandonment as a child being secretly left behind by his or her parent, who cannot be identified, and whose intention is not to return but to willingly relinquish parental responsibility anonymously.

Though there may have many reasonable motivations abandon children, the behavior itself has never been considered as the best solution, the capacity and the ability of kinds of associations are too limited to take care of all abandoned children, birth control is considered as a proper way to avoid the dilemma with less moral and financial problems for every side. Baby hatches can be seen as the last step to resolve the problem, but its existence is facing more and more judgments. Some groups argue that baby hatches compromise the human rights of the child to know their family under the secret abandonment case, while in open abandonment, these rights are ensured in open adoption practices that parents and children can make ongoing contacts.

A child placed in a baby hatch means a forever denied existence for the original family and deleted information for the child, no matter how well she or he can be treated in somewhere, the rejection of family, the lack of parental love, the pity of surroundings, and the insecurity of self-meaning will always wake him or her from deep sleeping. The baby hatch can help them to survive, but cannot adjust their whole lives like any other children with proper and lovely parents.

_{(Source: Le Soir / Religion Unplugged / European Commission)}

EU Passes Resolution On Navalny Condemning “Assassination Attempt”

THINKVIEWS

Tendenzblick

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September 28, 2020

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EU Passes Resolution On Navalny Condemning “Assassination Attempt”

RT (Russia Today), an international television network, made a live talk with Dr. Maximilian Krah (MEP) concerning North Stream 2 and Alexie Navalny last week.

Hots: “Let’s go live now to Maximilian Krah, a member of the European parliament for Germany. Sir, thanks for joining us, good to have you on the program today. So the resolution is passed, it’s not unanimous but fairly obvious the majority of opinion there is certainly to take some form of action against Russia. It’s a non-bingding resolution. Do you expect any further steps to be taken against Moscow here?”

Krah: ”No, I don’t. I don’t expect it because the European council has now to decide, and there are the governments in, and I think they are a little bit more reliable than the majority of my colleagues here. So it’s just a statement, and it reflects the entire Russian atmosphere that the majority holds in this parliament.”

Host: “Europe wants Russia to investigate the case and to share the results with the international community but Russia still doesn’t have the evidence on the poisoning from the German side here, despite more than one request here. Why do you think nobody’s listening to Moscow’s request to provide this evidence?”

Krah: ”Look, we don’t have the evidence either. No one of the members of parliament who today are voted in favor of sanctions has seen any evidence, so what we learn is that in politics, sometimes you don’t need evidence, you just need a little bit momentum. I have no clue why the evidence is not shared, so rumors say because the laboratory doesn’t want to tell the Russians how detailed they are able to analyze, but I’m not a chemist, I don’t think that is very convincing. So no one has evidence, neither the U.S. president. We have evidence here, but for a campaign or for a political wave. You don’t need that evidence, at least not in the European parliament. So i don’t expect that you get that evidence, but the same people who say we don’t give you the evidence will tell you we have. We expect from Russia to investigate. That’s part of the game.“

Host: “Russia earlier asked the EU not to politicize this Nevada case, but given the high profile nature of what’s happened, given the previous case with the screw power poisoning. Do you think it was ever realistic for this case not to be politicized?”

Krah: “It was not realistic. It was absolutely clear that this is another chance to push the entire Russian agenda. I followed that debate, especially concerning North Stream 2. In the European, American parliamentary, delegations are for a month, and always, when we ask the US ambassador why they do illegal third party sanctions, the answer is always the same. Our government will do everything it can to stop that project, and if you have a clear goal to stop a project then you take every possibility you get to do so, and of course, that unclear incident that occurred with Mr. Navalny is such an opportunity to push the agenda. So it was clear from the beginning that this chance would be used, so we as the supporters of North Stream 2, I try our best now to stop that wave and to get the project done.”

Host: “There’s no unanimous approach. The condemnation of what happened to Navalny may seem to be more unanimous. North Stream 2, there are some countries that are actively calling for the project to be scrapped or at least put on hold others as yourself that are taking the opposite side. How much do you think that project is actually at risk of being put on hold as a result of what’s happened?”

Krah: “I mean first, the project is always on risk and it will be on risk until it is finalized and that’s the first thing. So the project has two political implications. The first is it is competitive against the U.S. fracking gas and it is also competitive against exsiting pipelines through the Ukraine and through Poland. So if once North Stream 2 is working then of course, the business with transit fees which is a good business for both Poland and Ukraine is not so good anymore, and for the U.S. the same. They want to export their less ecological and less cheap francking gas, so we have an economoc interest against it. And the other part is linking Germany and Russia economically in terms of energy makes Germany more independent from American influence. It strengthens the Eurasia corporation that is something that everyone who dreams about the American empire on both sides of the Altantic cannot wish. So a good business project between Germany and Russia is always a threat to those who don’t want to have stronger ties between Germany and Russia. So we will see that project gets done. There is only 120 kilometres to be built and I’m quite optimistic that we can finalize it by the end of this year or early 2021 but it is really tough and I would say I had a 90% certainty to get it done two months ago, and now let’s say a 65% certainty but I’m still optimistic.”

Host: “Just going back to the question of evidence and results. The OPCW says those results of the analysis will be provided to Berlin shortly. Nothing mentioned about providing the results to Russia to let them carry out their investgation although the resolution actually calls for the evidence to be provided to Russia. What do you think the next stage in the process is going to be? Do you think the evidence will be made public? Do you think it will be provided to Russia? Where do we go from here?“

Krah: “What I expect is that it is only get published and provided to Russia if there is public pressure, especially in Germany. But in the whole of the European Union, the public doesn’t demand transparency and doesn’t demand to cooperate with Russia in investigation, then no one will share it. But if the public says okay we don’t play that silly game any longer, we are not ready to accept anti-russian sanctions without ever having seen evidence, then of course, the pressure will increase and it will be shared, or we will never hear anything from that anymore if the the evidence is weak. But today we have the unpleasant situation that the public believes what the German govegovernnt states and as long as the public remains in the truth in that confidence they won’t share. That is what I expect. So everything what happens will only happen when there is an increasing pressure and we need public pressure. I mean that’s why I’m here and bring that statement, even to make more people aware that we talk about just the suspicion that we don’t have facts, we don’t hace evidence, and I can only ask everyone to demand evidence and then we will see further. Without that demand of evidence, without public pressure I don’t think that the results will be shared.”

_{(Source: RT Producers)}