Over 5 million Chinese petition WHO to probe Fort Detrick lab on COVID-19 origins by Xu Zihe Jul 22 2021

Chronicle of COVID-19 Outbreak by Feng Qingyin Jul 21 2021

How heavy is Zhengzhou’s rain? By Wu Tiantong Jul 21 2021

Video: Just like Vietnam War, Afghan War has no reason and no purpose ends in complete defeat and failure. ‘One hundred percent, we lost the war’: U.S. veteran Jason Lilley who had to work through feelings of anger and betrayal for fighting a war says the blood spilled in Afghanistan was wasted. 21 Jul 2021 ‘We lost’: Some U.S. veterans say blood spilled in Afghanistan was wasted
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/we-lost-some-us-veterans-say-blood-spilled-afghanistan-was-wasted-2021-07-20/ 👈
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Video: US Senator Rand Paul attempted to promote fake news on Wuhan Laboratory debunked by Dr. Fauci. 參議員蘭德保羅試圖用武漢實驗室宣傳假新聞被福奇博士揭穿.

Watch: Dr. Fauci, Sen. Rand Paul Clash During Congressional Hearing.

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., clashed with Dr. Anthony Fauci over claims about funding the National Institutes of Health gain of function research at a Wuhan lab during a Senate hearing on the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci refuted claims made and told the senator “you do not know what you are talking about.”

佛奇怒駁資助中實驗 批共和黨參議員保羅「說謊」國家過敏和傳染病研究院院長佛奇(如圖)20日與共和黨籍聯邦參議員保羅在國會聽證時激烈交鋒。(路透) 國家過敏和傳染病研究院(NIAID)院長佛奇(Anthony Fauci)20日與共和黨籍聯邦參議員保羅(Rand Paul，肯塔基州)在國會山莊激烈交鋒，佛奇怒斥保羅影射美國資助可能造成新冠肺炎疫情爆發的中國實驗室研究項目。

保羅表示，佛奇5月時在眾院聽證會上說謊，否認國家衛生研究院(National Institutes of Health)資助「機能獲得」(gain of function)研究，在中國武漢病毒實驗室進行強化病毒以了解其影響世界潛力的研究。國家過敏和傳染病研究院院長佛奇20日與共和黨籍聯邦參議員保羅(如圖)在國會聽證時激烈交鋒。(路透) 美國情報單位正在研議這項理論的可能性，推測新冠病毒可能從實驗室外洩而造成全球疫情。

佛奇在參院的健康、教育、勞工和退休金委員會(Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee)聽證會上告訴保羅：「我沒有在眾院說謊，我從未說謊，絕對沒有在眾院之前，案件結束。」

佛奇表示，參議員提及的病毒，與造成新冠肺炎疫情爆發的病毒截然不同。

「保羅參議員，你顯然不知道自己在說什麼」；佛奇說：「我要正式地說，你不知所云。」

這不是保羅與佛奇第一次就新冠肺炎疫情的病毒起源唇槍舌戰，佛奇補充說道：「假如有人在此說謊，那就是你。」

Narcissistic Western elites regard themselves ‘civilized’ in face of China, Russia by Lin Lan Jul 20 2021

“Civilized nations’ efforts to deter Russia and China are starting to add up” – this is the title of an opinion written by George Will in the Washington Post on Friday. The article took the examples of the British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender’s Black Sea mission, the HMS Queen Elizabeth’s acts in the South China Sea and US-Japan joint military exercises, trying to explain how “civilized nations are, in word and deed, taking small but cumulatively consequential measures that serve deterrence” of China and Russia.

By using the word “civilized,” the author is obviously implying China and Russia are the “uncivilized” ones. This is a typical Western condescension, with a strong sense of superiority that tries to conceal its inner anxiety.

The title has also triggered criticism from many Chinese and foreign netizens. A comment on Twitter reads, “So it seems the Washington Post isn’t even bothering to hide its imperialism anymore. This narrative of ‘civilized’ countries versus the implied ‘uncivilized’ is a racist and Western-centric narrative.”

The US and some Western countries regard themselves as “civilized,” but their acts are brutal. The examples mentioned in the article prove how barbaric these countries are. These countries have wantonly interfered in other countries’ internal affairs and even promoted law of the jungle in the international community. As a Chinese netizen commented on Weibo, “The US and the West have stigmatized concepts of freedom and democracy, and now they are doing the same thing to the word ‘civilized.'”

Western countries have stubbornly ignored the facts, and are obsessed with the dualistic thinking of black or white when it comes to the differences between East and West – civilization and barbarism, progress and degradation, democracy and autocracy. The US and its “like-minded” countries narcissistically regard themselves as the bright side, and others are the dark side. “Washington hopes to form a so-called alliance of global ‘civilizations’ to fight China and Russia,” Zhang Tengjun, an assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

But such an approach of the US is doomed to fail. Andrey Bystritskiy, chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, said in a recent interview with the Global Times: “If I may say so, the United States and its allies are the past, clinging to their privileges. Russia and China are the future.”

Competition among countries as a confrontation between civilization and barbarism reflects the deep-rooted anxiety within the Western world. “The US and the West are now unable to achieve their goals through normal and benign competition. Therefore, they have to use such labeling to demonize other countries, especially China and Russia, to gain some psychological superiority. In essence, this is a manifestation of the end of Western hegemony,” Zhang said.

The US has spared no effort to incite Western hostility toward China and Russia. However, the US and Western society will gradually realize that they cannot forcefully create an international system dominated by themselves, excluding China and Russia. This is an inevitable result of the development of a civilized international society.

The economic, technological and military strengths of China and Russia are not only huge, but also have a wide-ranging influence. The US and the West are increasingly unable to provoke China and Russia at the same time. It will become Washington’s nightmare if its provocation forces Beijing and Moscow to jointly deal with it.

How smart one could be intentionally climbed down the well to see the world. This is what the BNO holders in HK doing, climbed down the well to go to UK to become a 2nd class citizen, their children gotten abused at school by racial slurs, face discrimination everywhere they go. 人最蠢的是拼盡命爬進井底看世界！

Video: World’s first 600 km/h high-speed maglev train rolls off assembly line in China. It travels at the speed of commercial airplanes inches above ground. 視頻：世界首列時速600公里的高速磁懸浮列車在中國下線。 它以離地面幾英寸的商用飛機的速度飛行.

This technology will NEVER allowed in US. The airlines, Boeing, automobiles makers, Highway builders, unions will kill it. That is why China is not US enemy. US is US biggest enemy. 這項技術永遠不會在美國被允許. 航空公司、波音公司、汽車製造商、公路建設者、工會都會扼殺牠。 這就是為什麼中國不是美國的敵人. 美國是美國最大的敵人.
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貼地飛行！世界首套時速600公里高速磁浮交通系統在中國下線. 7月20日，由中國中車承擔研制、具有完全自主知識產權的中國時速600公里高速磁浮交通系統在山東省青島市成功下線。這是世界首套設計時速達600公里的高速磁浮交通系統，標志中國掌握了高速磁浮成套技術和工程化能力。按照此高速磁浮時速，未來從北京到上海只需3.5小時，比飛機更加方便。上海到杭州只需半小時。據悉，該項目歷時5年攻關，於2016年10月啟動，2019年研製出試驗樣車，於2020年6月在上海同濟大學試驗生產成功試跑。

Professor Kiji Noh in San Francisco: “Uighurs are just fine” article that got writer banned from twitter. Professor Timothy Kerswell was banned for writing a calm, cogent article explaining the truth about Xinjiang. Kerswell is a respected scholar on China & India. 舊金山的 Kiji Noh 教授：“維吾爾人很好”的文章讓作家在推特上被禁止。 Timothy Kerswell 教授因為寫了一篇冷靜而有說服力的文章解釋了新疆的真相而被禁。 Kerswell 是一位受人尊敬的中國和印度學者.

Dr. Prerna Bakshi: Talking about Xinjiang’s economic growth, minority language promotion, increasing literacy rate and political representation initiatives is apparently not a suitable narrative that Twitter would like to have. Prerna Bakshi 博士：談論新疆的經濟增長、少數民族語言推廣、提高識字率和政治代表舉措顯然不是 Twitter 想要的合適的敘述.

Xinjiang’s Human Rights Story: The Uygurs are just fine by Timothy Kerswell

Editor’s note: Timothy Kerswell is a research fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). He lived in Macao for seven years, working as an assistant professor at the University of Macao. The article reflects the author’s opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

China took an important step in countering Western disinformation on Xinjiang by publishing “Respecting and Protecting the Rights of All Ethnic Groups in Xinjiang.” This white paper explains how China has promoted rights in Xinjiang for all of its ethnic groups. Xinjiang’s overall human development since 1949 has been remarkable and covers a wide range of rights. It’s another example of how China’s political system accommodates diverse and complex realities, turning them into success stories.

As a socialist country, China’s human rights approach prioritizes subsistence and development because there’s no point talking about rights in the abstract when people don’t have the resources to enjoy them. Has economic development in Xinjiang created a foundation for the enjoyment of greater rights? Based on GDP per capita in constant prices, Xinjiang is 30 times richer today than in 1955. People have much more disposable, income with the per capita income for urban residents growing from 319 yuan in 1978 to 34,838 yuan in 2020 – 119 yuan to 14,056 yuan for rural residents.

How did China achieve this? It prioritized eradicating poverty, building infrastructure, educating the population, prioritizing employment and providing affordable housing. More than 70 percent of the regional budget in Xinjiang is spent on welfare policies. From 2016-2020, 1.2 million affordable homes were constructed in rural areas and 1.3 million in urban areas. Massive spending in education has increased the skills and employability of workers in Xinjiang. However, government policy also took a fine-grain approach to employment promotion, targeting “zero employment families” so that every household has a family member that works.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to talk about Xinjiang without thinking of its recent experience with religious extremism and terrorism. Religious extremists in Xinjiang attempted to mobilize people based on ethnicity and religion and exploit economic hardship as in many parts of the world. The incitement of hatred and terrorist attacks in the region caused death and dismay across Xinjiang. China responded by using “hard power” to combat organized crime and terrorist groups while providing economic opportunities through vocational education and deradicalizing those who had come under the influence of religious extremism. The overall goal was to provide a vision for sharing a prosperous future with all residents of Xinjiang.

While you’re sure to encounter endless noise from numerous Western sources about this, let me break it down for you. People’s lives are clearly getting better, and there have been no terrorist incidents since 2016. Nobody got bombed into the stone age, like in Iraq or Afghanistan, where millions died. If critics of China’s counter-radicalization strategy have a better way of addressing complex problems, they should explain how their methods have proven better in practice. Otherwise, they should remain silent.

Tourists enjoy a “sea of flowers” in Bazhou, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 10, 2021. /CFP
China practices consultative democracy, where the different levels of government are in dialogue with the people in a process that informs policy development. This approach demands high levels of representation. China’s policies for Xinjiang have been a great success because they are based on close links between the local communities in Xinjiang and the government. Xinjiang has 34 members in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and 52.9 percent are from ethnic minority groups. This is common across the political system, with 62.3 percent of all regional deputies to the 13th National People’s Congress, 64.4 percent of the 13th People’s Congress of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and 73.5 percent of township-level people’s congresses coming from ethnic minority groups.

Since 1949, China has been a world leader in literacy promotion and access to primary education. It is no different in Xinjiang where enrollment in preschools, primary school and secondary school are all well above 90 percent. This is coupled with significant spending on tertiary education, with Xinjiang being home to 56 universities and 37 vocational and technical colleges. An often-discussed policy question about Xinjiang is the maintenance of linguistic diversity. China promotes the use of standard Chinese nationwide. Meanwhile, significant measures guarantee the development and use of ethnic minority languages, including in key spheres like the legal system, education, the media, arts and literature.

Every primary and secondary school has an extensive course structure covering ethnic minority languages. But the promotion of these languages doesn’t end in the classroom, as Xinjiang residents have the right to use their language in the political and legal sphere. Minority languages are part of a thriving public life that includes 52 ethnic minority language newspapers, 120 periodicals, TV and radio stations. Significant funding is also available for arts and culture and the protection of the cultural heritage of Xinjiang’s peoples.

I would be remiss not to mention the stupidity pedaled about family planning policy in Xinjiang and its supposed targeting of ethnic minorities. The family planning policy in China is, simply put, one of the most successful and beneficial social policies in human history and has been key to ending poverty in China. Since its inception, the policy has provided preferential arrangements for ethnic minorities, including those in Xinjiang. It was only in 2017 that the family planning policy was implemented universally in Xinjiang, with a very reasonable limit of two children per urban couple and three children per rural couple. It is a sign of the times that many in Western academia are now proponents of unsustainable family sizes and opponents of contraception and other reproductive health measures.

As a foreign political scientist in China, I’m often asked about Xinjiang and the Uygurs. I’m never surprised, given the amount of disinformation out there, but I always give the same answer. Like every place on Earth, Xinjiang has its share of policy challenges, but Xinjiang and the Uygurs are just fine.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)

US thinks it’s the world’s best. Really? by Wu Tiantong Jul 19 2021