China Now 01-08: Analysis of the Chinese reality and its actuality
The China Now special program informs about this country's news. teleSUR English presents a new episode of “China Now”, a wave media's production that showcases the culture, technology, and politics of the Asian Giant. China Now is a show that explores the past and future of the Asian Giant. teleSUR
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00:00Hello, Teluser English presents a new episode of China Now, a Wave Media's production that
00:11showcases the culture, technology and politics of the Asian giant.
00:15In this first segment, the possibility of the U.S. of being unable to host the Olympics
00:20for non-compliance laws against Chinese athletes, and also the agreement of Hamas and Fatah
00:25signed in Beijing, among other topics.
00:27Let's see.
00:31China Current is a weekly news talk show from China to the world.
00:35We cover viral news about China every week and also give you the newest updates on China's
00:40cutting-edge technologies.
00:42Let's get started.
00:52Welcome to China Current, your weekly news report on what's happening in China.
00:56I'm Lisa.
00:57In this episode, the U.S. could be stripped of the right to host the Olympics for using
01:02non-compliance laws against Chinese athletes.
01:06Hamas and Fatah have signed agreements in Beijing and did Palestine's division.
01:12China's President Xi Jinping expressed sympathies to Donald Trump after shooting.
01:18IMF raises GDP growth forecast for China.
01:22Let's start with the conflict between the U.S. and multiple world anti-doping agencies.
01:28On 16 July, the United States received a stark warning from the world anti-doping agency
01:34WADA that it may not be able to host the Olympics in the future.
01:39The warning stemmed from the concerns over the United States' continued use of non-compliance
01:45laws against Chinese swimmers.
01:47An audit report released that since the beginning of this year, athletes from all over the world
01:53were tested four times by the International Testing Agency.
01:57However, Chinese athletes faced testing frequencies twice that of their international counterparts.
02:03Data from an independent unit of World Aquatics revealed that prominent Chinese swimmers such
02:09as Zhang Yufei, a two-time Olympic champion and women's butterfly, Qin Haiyang, a world
02:15record holder in the men's 200m breaststroke, and Li Bingjie, a female freestyle distance swimmer,
02:23had over 40 anti-doping testing in 2023.
02:27In contrast, American athletes like Li Qin, Caleb Dressel, and Katie Ledecky were tested around 10 times.
02:35So why are Chinese athletes being treated this way?
02:39The origin of this issue traced back to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
02:44Following Chinese women's triumph with three gold medals, American Olympian Paige Madden,
02:50who secured a silver medal, expressed feeling of being cheated by China's victory.
02:56This accusation was echoed in an article by the New York Times released on the 21st of April.
03:03It alleged that seven months before the Tokyo Olympics, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive
03:09for a banned drug, and they were secretly cleared and allowed to continue to compete.
03:15In response to these accusations, the U.S. invoked the Roshinkov Act to intensify testing of Chinese swimmers,
03:22granting the U.S. extensive extraterritorial jurisdiction over international sports competitions
03:29involving only American athletes or those with financial ties to the U.S.
03:35The World Anti-Doping Agency founding president Dick Pound warned that the U.S.' aggressive investigation
03:42into Chinese athletes might jeopardize its chance to host the 2034 Winter Olympics.
03:48In contrast, investigations by multiple major global anti-doping agencies have consistently vindicated the Chinese athletes.
03:57In January 2021, both WADA and World Aquatics confirmed that the positive results of the 23 Chinese swimmers
04:06were due to contaminated food, not athlete negligence, and thus were not pursued as anti-doping rule violations.
04:15The director of WADA's investigations unit, Gunther Younger, pointed out,
04:19The data held by us clearly showed that there had been no attempt to hide the positive test
04:24as they had been reported in the usual way by the Chinese authorities.
04:29A review by Swiss independent prosecutor Eric Cotier looked into WADA's handling of the case
04:36has also concluded that the World Anti-Doping Agency was not biased.
04:41Although the WADA strictly followed the procedure, British gold medalist James Guy still called for a lifetime ban
04:48for the involved Chinese swimmers.
04:50Yet in 2019, American two-time Olympic swimming champion Connor Dwyer,
04:55who admitted to using synthetic testosterone, received only a 20-month ban.
05:01The U.S. panel explained that it was complicated as Dwyer simply did not grasp
05:06that the synthetic performance-enhancing version of testosterone was involved
05:11and he was convinced his use of it had been approved by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
05:18In response, Dwyer said that he was pleased that the panel acknowledged that he made an honest but unfortunate mistake.
05:25For the ongoing Paris Olympics, China will send 405 athletes, including 42 Olympic champions,
05:32to the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.
05:35The delegation will comprise 760 members, with 136 male and 269 female athletes
05:44set to compete in 13 major events, 42 sub-events and 236 minor events.
05:51Let's hope that all athletes around the world enjoy a fair competition and basic respect on the field.
05:57While it might not be a good idea to talk about justice in the United States,
06:01China may be one of the best places to do so. At least, that's what the Palestinian people think.
06:06The Palestinian Hamas and Fatah group met in Beijing from July 20 to 23
06:12and discussed intra-Palestinian reconciliation
06:15and have signed an agreement on ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity,
06:20which named the 2024 Palestinian Reconciliation Agreement.
06:25Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the core outcome is that the Palestine Liberation Organization
06:31is the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people.
06:35Furthermore, the agreement is dedicated to the great reconciliation and unity of all 14 Palestine factions
06:43and has been reached on post-Gaza War governance.
06:47Abdel Fattah Dola, a Fatah senior leader, said China hosts a meeting that includes all Palestinian groups
06:54as part of the exerted effort to extend internal division.
06:58We in the Fatah movement are open to solve and dismantle all obstacles in the way of reconciliation
07:05under the difficult condition the Palestinian cause is going through along with the genocidal war on Gaza.
07:12On the 17th, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Chong,
07:18stated that the implementation of the two-state solution is the only feasible solution to the Middle East issue.
07:26Fu Chong remarked that the fundamental reason for the recurrent turmoil in the Palestinian-Israeli situation
07:34over the past decades is the failure to implement the two-state solution,
07:38resulting in the disregard of the Palestinian people's national right to establish an independent state.
07:45He emphasized that Gaza belongs to Palestine and Palestinian people,
07:49and discussion on post-war governance of Gaza must be based on achieving a political solution rather than crisis management.
07:58Such discussion must respect the will of the Palestinian people and consider the concerns of regional countries.
08:05China firmly supports Palestine in achieving independence and self-governance
08:10and advocates for convening a larger-scale, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference
08:18to formulate a specific plan for implementing the two-state solution.
08:23Fu Chong further stated that the immediate achievement of a lasting ceasefire is a significant precondition for saving innocent lives.
08:32When the United States promoted the adoption of the Resolution 2375 by the Security Council,
08:39it repeatedly claimed that Israel had accepted the ceasefire agreement.
08:44However, more than a month has passed and Israel's military operations in Gaza have expanded,
08:49with recent attacks on refugee camps such as al-Mawassi and Nusrat causing significant casualties.
08:56Currently, what Gaza needs is the hope for peace.
09:00Military actions will only result in more innocent civilian casualties
09:05and will not create favorable conditions for the release of detained individuals.
09:10China urges Israel to immediately cease all military actions in Gaza
09:15and stop the indiscriminate strikes on the people in Gaza.
09:19Countries with significant influence must genuinely and responsibly strive to encourage the parties.
09:26Now, still on the subject of gunfire, on 14 July,
09:30after the former US President Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt,
09:35Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed sympathy to him.
09:38However, on Chinese social media, the reactions are mixed with shock, concern and creative humor.
09:45Just after the shooting, some Chinese netizens, imitating the tone of the state news agencies,
09:50commented that the meeting between Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe was postponed due to unforeseen circumstances.
09:57Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese Prime Minister, was fatally shot in 2022.
10:02Those who at least outwardly support Biden suggested that there's only one way to make him as popular as Trump,
10:09which is to get both of his ears shot.
10:12Three hours later, the T-shirts and keychains with Trump's iconic photo went viral on the Chinese social media and e-commerce platform,
10:20which received over 2,000 orders within hours.
10:24Some netizens have taken a professional approach,
10:27analyzing the bullet's trajectories to determine if the assassination was staged or real.
10:33There were also comparisons to past assassinations of notable figures like Kennedy,
10:39eagerly anticipating how this drama would unfold in the next four months.
10:43As Chinese netizens continue to make memes about Trump,
10:47Trump also expressed his concerns about China, especially the Taiwan issue.
10:52In an interview with Bloomberg on the 17th of July,
10:56Trump suggested that Taiwan Island should pay the U.S. for its defense.
11:01He complained that the U.S. was no different than an insurance company,
11:05and that Taiwan Island doesn't give us anything but did take about 100% of the American chip business.
11:12Following Trump's remarks, share in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., TSMC, fell by as much as 3.3% on Wednesday.
11:21Taiwan Island politician responded to Trump's remark by stating that the island is increasing its capability to defend itself,
11:30and that the island and the U.S. have good relations despite the lack of formal ties.
11:36Although TSMC's stock has received a blow from across the ocean,
11:41the China's economy is clearly underestimated in the eyes of the IMF.
11:46On the 16th of July, the International Monetary Fund, IMF,
11:50raised China's GDP growth forecast for 2024 to 5%.
11:55This update, featured in the latest World Economic Outlook,
11:59marks an upward revision of the 0.4% point compared to the April report,
12:05highlighting a steady rebound in Chinese domestic consumption and a surge in exports.
12:11This move signals growing global confidence in the world's second-largest economy.
12:16The revised projection aligned with the IMF's earlier forecast in May and China's own growth target of around 5% for 2024.
12:25The World Economic Outlook notes,
12:27in China, resurgence domestic consumption propelled a positive upside in the first quarter,
12:33aided by what appeared to be a temporary surge in export reconnecting with last year's rise in global demand.
12:40Interestingly, while the IMF has raised China's growth forecast,
12:44it has kept the global growth projection unchanged at 3.2%.
12:49The global economy remains in a sticky spot, according to the IMF,
12:54which has painted a gloomier outlook for the major economies, including the United States.
13:00The report highlights that after a sustained period of strong outperformance,
13:05a sharper-than-expected slowdown in growth reflected moderating consumption and a negative contribution from net trade.
13:14On 18 July, the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
13:20concluded its four-day third plenary session, also known as the Third Plenum,
13:26and highlighted that we must remain firmly committed to accomplishing the goal for this year's economic and social development.
13:33According to the government work report released in March,
13:37it includes realizing GDP growth of about 5%, creating more than 12 million new urban jobs,
13:44and growth in personal income in step with economic growth.
13:49And that is all for today. Thank you for watching this episode of China Current.
13:54If you have any thoughts or comments about our show, please reach us at the email address below.
13:59We look forward to hearing from you and see you next time.