In the disguise of maintaining national security, the US has been ratcheting up chip export control measures against China and unreasonably suppressing Chinese semiconductor companies, which is a genuine act of economic bullying, Mao Ning, a spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry, told a press conference on Monday.
Noting that the US often talks about international rules, but what it really does is to ignore the rules and violate them, Mao said the implementation by the US of semiconductor export control measures against Chinese companies constitutes a discriminatory practice against China and violates the principle of most-favored-nation treatment under Article I of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Its blacklisting of relevant Chinese telecommunication equipment enterprises and banning of the entry of Chinese telecommunication equipment into the US market under the pretext of threatening its information security is a contravention of the principle of the general elimination of quantitative restrictions stipulated in Article XI of the GATT, the spokesperson said.
"The US uses 'national security' as a pretext to restrict chip exports to China, but in fact its relevant initiatives completely go beyond the boundaries of the concept of national security, so that the normal trade of ordinary civilian-use chips is significantly restricted," Mao said.
The Nvidia RTX4090 chip is positioned as a consumer-grade graphics card, which is mainly designed for gamers. However, due to the impact of US export control measures, the chip was forced to be taken off the shelves in the Chinese market.
In addition, the US also blackmailed a number of other countries to suppress Chinese enterprises, which has nothing to do with security, but is of typical economic coercion, Mao said.
The facts clearly show that the US' deliberate suppression of the development of China's chip industry is not based on national security considerations, let alone legitimate competitive behavior, but rather unilateral bullying act without any principle or bottom line. It is aimed to deprive emerging markets and developing countries of the right to pursue a happy life, the spokesperson noted.
"The actions of the US have seriously impacted the stability of the international production and supply chain, poisoned the atmosphere of international cooperation and fostered division and confrontation, and this self-serving approach is destined to lead to shooting itself in the foot," said Mao.
The market watchdog in a county in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province sealed up joss paper shops and confiscated paper money in an effort to eliminate fire hazards, ahead of the traditional Chinese Winter Solstice, or Dongzhi, which falls on December 22 this year, when Chinese people burn ghost money to honor their deceased family members.
Some joss paper merchants in Huanan county in Jiamusi city, Heilongjiang, told Chengdu-based Red Star News that their shops, warehouses and production workshops were closed down and their commodities were confiscated.
Some photos provided by the sellers show that large quantities of confiscated ghost money were seen piled up in the courtyard of the local market supervision bureau.
While the local market watchdog declined the interview request from media, the local government’s citizen service hotline told the media that it was a move to remove security hazards and advocated to discard outdated superstitions.
A joss paper merchant surnamed Wang told the Red Star News that the shutting down of the paper money businesses in the county started in early December. Several major wholesalers’ shops and warehouses with particularly huge inventories have been closed down. The value of their goods amounts up to 1 million yuan ($139,237).
According to Wang, the market supervision bureau employee told him that decision to suspend paper money shops came after a fire disaster happened to a ghost money warehouse in Zhaozhou county in Daqing city, Heilongjiang. The Huanan county market watchdog took the action in a bid to remove security risks.
According to a news report by China Central Television (CCTV), a fire disaster causing seven deaths occurred in an aging wooden warehouse built illegally for storing ghost money in Zhaozhou county on November 20.
The warehouse was built with poor quality and highly flammable material which was identified for the reason for multiple casualties, thepaper.cn reported on Wednesday.
A joss paper warehouse operator surnamed Zhao from Huanan county said his processing equipment of joss paper used to produce ghost money provided to surrounding villages and towns. His warehouse was closed down around December 1 and his inventory was confiscated and that he would also be fined possibly.
According to Wang, the local authorities in Jiamusi issued regulations on the civilized sacrifices and worshipping in 2020. According to the regulations enacted on January 1, 2021, those who produce or sell feudal superstitious sacrificial articles shall be punished with confiscation of their goods by the local market supervision and administration department together with the civil affairs department. They may also be imposed a fine of with the amount of higher than one time and lower than three times the value of the production and sales.
According to a law enforcement notification issued by the Huanan county people’s government, the production and sales of ghost money, joss paper, and gold and silver ingots made of tin foil, paper figures, paper cows, paper horses and all kinds of houses, transportation tools, daily necessities, certificates made of paper and other feudal superstitious sacrificial articles, are prohibited in the administrative area of the county. Burning and using sacrificial articles are prohibited in the whole county under the regulation.
According to Red Star News, the county has carried out multiple rectification campaigns over the past two years to prohibit business of feudal superstitious sacrificial articles.
Chinese mainland has detected seven cases of contracting COVID-19 subvariant JN.1 in about one month. The possibility of the variant becoming a dominant strain in the country cannot be ruled out, according to the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration.
Experts suggested the public not to overact about the new variant as infectious diseases are inevitable for all mankind but warned health threats posed by overlapping of various pathogens, including the dominant influenza and mycoplasma pneumonia with COVID-19.
Outside of China, since November this year, the proportion of JN.1 variant as a share of circulating strains has increased rapidly, from about 4 percent in early November to about 30 percent in early December. As of December 10, the variant has been detected in at least 40 countries worldwide.
The proportion of JN.1 variant in Europe was the highest, and its proportion in the US and other continents also showed a rapid growth trend.
On the Chinese mainland, the main strains at this stage are still EG.5 and its subvariants. Since the local JN.1 variant was first discovered in November, as of December 10, a total of seven JN.1 variants have been detected in the country.
"Although the current prevalence level of the JN.1 variant in China is extremely low, due to the subsequent impact of international epidemic strains and imported cases, the possibility of the JN.1 variant becoming a dominant epidemic strain in the country cannot be ruled out," the administration noted.
A Beijing-based immunologist who preferred not to be named told the Global Times more cases of JN.1 variant are expected as virus has no boundary and infectious diseases are the common destiny of all mankind. But it is not a concern of the public because new variants of the novel coronavirus can appear in the future anytime.
Only by improving immunity system can the public manage various pathogens infection and improve overall resistance to respiratory infections, the immunologist said.
Lu Hongzhou, head of the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, pointed out that although the immune escape ability of JN.1 had increased, there was no evidence to show that the pathogenicity of JN.1 variant had increased. According to the ministry, the seven JN.1 infections are mild and asymptomatic cases.
Some Chinese experts said people who have had the flu are more susceptible to contracting COVID-19. After being infected with the flu, it takes several months for CD4+ T cells in the body to recover. During the recovery process, the body's immune system is weaker, making it more susceptible to infection with the COVID-19.
According to latest weekly report by China CDC, the positive rate of influenza virus in southern and northern provinces of China slowed down between December 4 and 10, and some provinces showed a downward trend. The subtype A(H3N2) was predominant, followed by B(Victoria).
The internationalization of Chinese football youth training is very important, said Chinese Football Association (CFA) President Song Kai at a launch ceremony for the Bundesliga Dream project in Shanghai on Wednesday. "We are working on it by both introducing international youth football coaches to China, and sending young athletes and coaches to learn and train abroad, including in Germany," Song told the Global Times.
Song noted the significance of strengthening youth training and overseas cooperation for the development of Chinese football. "Germany's youth football training system is probably the most advanced in the world, and it is worth learning from it," Song said in a speech at the ceremony.
Bundesliga Dream is a cooperative project between Bundesliga International and the CFA. Set to take place between February and March in 2024, a group of talented Chinese players from the U16 national team will train at the youth academies of several Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs, as well as playing against youth teams from around Germany, according to Bundesliga International.
Under the project, Chinese youth players will follow a structured training plan curated by the CFA in collaboration with the Bundesliga and participating clubs. This plan focuses on several key in-match scenarios, including the transition from defense to attack.
"We also encourage young football players from all cities, especially from our 16 key 'football cities,' to have the opportunity to get trained in countries like Germany," Song said, in response to a question raised by the Global Times at the Wednesday ceremony.
Song mentioned China's 3-0 home loss to South Korea in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Zone qualifying tournament second stage on the previous evening.
"That match made me feel deeply that if Chinese football wants to improve, first, we must do a good job in cultivating the young people; and second, we must examine the development of our youth football from a global perspective," he said.
"So I'm glad to sign a long-term cooperation agreement with the Bundesliga," Song said. "Last night, German Jurgen Klinsmann led the South Korean team to a 3-0 victory over the Chinese team. I hope that one day, there will be a German head coach who leads the Chinese football team to a 4-0 victory over South Korea," he joked, drawing laughter and applause.
Peer Naubert, head of marketing at Bundesliga International, said that the Bundesliga Dream is mostly committed to working with Chinese football in supporting its youth development system and projects on a long-term basis. "We aim to create a long-term pathway for talented Chinese players … hopefully following the path of former Chinese players such as Shao Jiayi, Yang Chen, and more recently Liu Shaoziyang, who signed for Bayern Munich in 2021," Naubert said in a speech at the ceremony.
Renowned Bundesliga stars Shao and Lothar Matthäus also attended the ceremony.
"I'm happy to have this Bundesliga Dream for the Chinese young generation," Matthäus said. When the young Chinese players go to Germany, they will have the opportunities of playing against stronger players, and the competition can make them better, he added.
The Inter-Civilizational Communication and Global Development Forumkicked offin Beijing on Tuesday, attractingaround 150 experts from more than 30 countries.
The three-day event, hosted by the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), takes"tradition of civilization and paths to modernization" as its theme.Politicians, entrepreneurs, think tank experts, scholars, culturalambassadorsand diplomatic envoysfrom China and abroad have gathered togetherto discuss issues concerning communication among civilizations and global development.
“The purpose of hosting this forum is to establish an international exchange platform for various parties to participate and converse with each other, contributing wisdom and strength to promote the exchange and mutual learning of civilizations among nations and to build a community with a shared future for humanity,” said Xie Chuntao,vice president of the Party School of the Central Committee of theCPC.
Dilma Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank and who gave a speech at the opening ceremony, noted that frank and respectful dialogue between different civilizations and countries will promote consensus and cooperation. She added that it is a guiding principle that the world needs to systematically follow.
“The rich diversity of human civilizations can no longer be dismissive. The different objectives and development models followed by different nations cannot be ignored. It is not possible for a multicultural world to be forced to choose a single path. Often, they are looking with a single view of democracy, which actually leads to the weakening of democracies in many countries,” she said, commenting on the significance of the forum.
Herta Daubler-Gmelin, former German justice minister, pointed out that besides cooperation in the field of economics and politics, people-to-people cooperation in fields such as academia is very crucial.
“We can do more. We can do better. This means information, as well as transparency in communication. And the recognition that every civilization contains dynamic elements. It’s not frozen. It can open itself to converse with others,” she said.
China's State Council Information Office released a white paper titledA Global Community of Shared Future: China's Proposals and Actionsin September. John L. Thornton, chair emeritus of The Brookings Institution and Co-Chair of the Asia Society, quoted the white paper, pointing out that the most pressing task is to find a guiding beacon for the sustainable development of human civilization.
“There is no more important topic than the one we will be discussing this morning. I think of it as discussing the world we wish to be in, the world we wish to create for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren, and all future generations,” said Thornton.
He also applauded for the Global Civilization Initiative and Global Initiative. “The aspiration China has is admirable. If it can be achieved, it will be a step forward for mankind, for the world,” Thornton told the Global Times.
Three sub-forums on civilizational communication between China and Europe, China-Central Asia modernization development and leadership building, and China-Arab civilization exchange and modernization development, as well as a round-table discussion, will be held during this forum.
The final competition of the Beijing Central Axis Culture Communication Young Envoy, a sub-track of the 2023 Beijing Central Axis Cultural Heritage Inheritance and Innovation Competition, was held over the weekend.
The event attracted hundreds of young artists from home and abroad to participate in the talent show named: "My Story with the Beijing Central Axis."
The Beijing Central Axis is a 7.8-kilometer-long area that runs through the center of the city from the Drum Tower and Bell Tower north of the Forbidden City to Yongding Gate in the south.
A total of 650 groups from 16 districts were selected to enter the semi-finals. Among these 120 groups of Chinese and foreign contestants entered the final round, including contestants from the US, the Philippines, Canada, Russia, South Korea and Azerbaijan.
The contestants showed their understanding of the Beijing Central Axis culture through on-site displays of paper-cut art, Beijing wool monkey art, silk wrapping crafts, fashion shows, piano performances, lyric, street dance and dramatic performances, and for the shows they used Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Korean and other languages to tell their stories and express their love for the Beijing Central Axis.
The sub-track was officially launched on June 15 and received strong support from the district education commissions and primary and secondary schools in Beijing.
Additionally, it also collected works based on the Beijing Central Axis Heritage Culture Protection Base Schools.
The organizing committee of the event invited 23 experts from the fields of education, culture and history to serve as the final judges for the three sessions of this sub-track.
"Compared with last year, the overall quality of this year's competition has improved significantly and this was reflected in their understanding of the concept of the Beijing Central Axis," said Yu Dan, a Chinese cultural scholar and professor of Beijing Normal University.
"The understanding of the central axis is not simply in language, but more importantly, a lifestyle. The inheritance of the Beijing Central Axis requires the participation of the public, and this competition starts from the children," Yu said.
During the competition, a special contestant impressed the judges. Wei Jiahong, a hearing-impaired student from the Dongcheng District Special Education School in Beijing, who brought a sketch of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests inside the Temple of Heaven, explained his work and background in his own language.
Guo Hongxia, the principal of Haidian Experimental Second Elementary School, told the Global Times that as a child who has grown and lived in Beijing, he feels obligation to inherit the central axis culture.
"I think the Beijing Central Axis is a tangible line, and the children are the 'extension line' of the Chinese culture gene," he said.
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez visited the Memorial of the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s First National Congress in downtown Shanghai, on October 15, before he attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.
Staffers at the memorial shared stories of how the young CPC pioneers founded the Party a century ago with Fernandez during his visit. At the hall in the memorial, Fernandez took photos of the full-body bronze statues of the 13 delegates of the CPC's first National Congress.
According to the memorial's staffers, Fernandez carefully listened to the docent's introduction and periodically asked questions. He inquired about the statue of Li Hanjun, who was one of the 13 delegates and the site's owner at that time. The site of the CPC's first National Congress was originally a traditional Shanghai-style "shikumen" apartment.
"The memorial's display and presentation are very well done," praised Fernandez.
Argentine Ambassador to China Sabino Vaca Narvaja also accompanied the Argentine President on the Sunday visit.
During the visit to the memorial, Narvaja shared that his Chinese name "Niu Wangdao" came from a renowned Chinese translator Chen Wangdao, who was the first person to translate The Communist Manifesto into Chinese in 1920. Shanghai was the first stop on Fernandez's China tour.
Amid torrential rain, rivers surged, houses collapsed and communications were disrupted... Under the influence of Typhoon Doksuri, heavy rainfall has persisted in Northern China, impacting regions like Beijing, the neighboring Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province and setting records that haven't been seen in a century. Rescuers are racing against time, fighting to establish a "lifeline" to save lives and property.
From 8 pm on July 29 to 7 am on August 2, extreme heavy rainfall has drenched China's capital city. The highest recorded rainfall was at the Wangjiayuan Reservoir in the Changping district, being a total of 744.8 millimeters over this period, the local meteorological department reported on Wednesday.
This extreme rainfall has significantly exceeded historical records, ranking it as the highest recorded rainfall in the past 140 years.
In Beijing, multiple areas in Mentougou district in western Beijing faced dangerous situations, while communications were disrupted in 62 villages across seven townships in Fangshan district in southwestern Beijing.
The water level of the Yongding River, the main waterway in Beijing, surged, while a bridge over the Xiaoqing River located west of Lugou Bridge collapsed.
In response to the torrential rainstorms and floods that have wreaked havoc in Beijing and its surrounding regions, authorities are mobilizing an all-out effort to safeguard the people from the impact of disasters. Various rescue teams have been working tirelessly to provide assistance.
On Thursday, the Global Times reporters saw People's Armed Police soldiers assist in the relocation of disaster-affected residents in Liulihe township, Fangshan district.
Fortunately, as water levels gradually recede, rescue operations in Fangshan are nearing completion.
Simultaneously, to alleviate flood control pressure on Beijing and Tianjin, Hebei has activated seven flood water detention areas and relocated 1.2 million residents, according to a report from the Hebei Daily on Wednesday.
Zhuozhou, a city in Hebei Province that neighbors the Fangshan district of Beijing, has seen over 130,000 people affected by the disaster and is still being heavily impacted by flooding. More than 150 civilian rescue teams arrived, and more have been summoned from across the country.
On Thursday, members of the volunteer rescue team, including the Blue Sky Rescue team, helped transfer flood-affected residents and supplies in Huangjiajie village and Mengjiajie village in Matou township, Zhuozhou. Meanwhile, more rescue supplies were arriving at the scene.
Before the arrival of the flood, residents living on low ground had been notified and relocated to safe places, the Global Times learned from local residents.
On Wednesday evening, the Global Times witnessed villagers from Mentougou district departing from Yanchi township and moving downhill along the railway to safer areas.
Meanwhile, soldiers of the People's Liberation Army rescued villagers from remote mountainous villages, especially elderly people with mobility issues, using military trucks, transporting them to temporary shelters.
During the evacuation process, an interim command center was established in the Mentougou district to coordinate various rescue efforts. Simultaneously, emergency, firefighting, medical, and other rescue and support forces were deployed.
Relief points were set up to provide drinking water, food, medicine, and other supplies to ensure the safety and basic needs of the evacuees.
Chinese people believe that letters are as valuable as gold. For thousands of years, letters, across mountains and oceans, have been delivering writers' sentiments and conveyed friendship and expectations.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, has managed to find time to reply to some letters from different parts of society and the world despite his busy work schedule.
Through his letters, Xi has corresponded with international friends from all walks of life on numerous occasions, part of a series of excellent stories of China's international exchanges in the new era. The letters have also added vivid color to the diplomacy between China and other countries.
The Global Times traced and contacted some of the recipients of Xi's letters, to hear the inspiring stories behind the letters and their communication with the president.
In this installment, Global Times reporters spoke with technicians from the Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) Shenyang Liming Aero-Engine Co, Ltd to learn about their stories of devoting themselves to the research and development of China's domestic aero engines and how Xi encouraged them to inherit and carry forward the spirit of a great country's craftspeople, along with a thorough review of how China gradually created its own aero engines.
"A workman must first sharpen his tools if he wants to do his work well," is a Chinese saying that emphasizes not only the importance of tools of a craft, but indicates the vital role of the craftsman who creates the tools.
"Your work is important and honorable," Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, told technicians at the Li Zhiqiang Class in Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) Shenyang Liming Aero-Engine Co Ltd, while Xi visited the corporation in 2013 to review its work in developing and producing aero engines.
A decade later, in a letter to the class on September 1, Xi spokes highly of the contribution of technicians in the research and development process of China's aero engines.
Xi emphasized that aero engines are a vital national asset and an important reflection of the country's scientific and technological strength and innovation capabilities. "I hope you will remember your mission and responsibilities, firmly uphold the aspiration of serving the aviation industry, promote the spirit of model workers and craftsmen, strive to make more technological breakthroughs, accelerate the pace of independent research and development of aviation engines, and enable Chinese aircraft to have a stronger 'Chinese heart,'" Xi said in the letter.
Until recently, aero engines had been a shortcoming in China's aircraft development, but that impression changed drastically when the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force's most advanced stealth fighter jet, the J-20, made its first public appearance equipped with a pair of domestically developed engines in 2021, replacing imported engines used in the past.
Aero jeweler The aero engine is deemed the "crown jewel" of modern industry. An aero engine is composed of tens of thousands of components of different shapes and materials. The circuit of the engine is like blood vessels around the human body, which requires a very high degree of precision to assemble and allows no room for error.
Technicians from the Li Zhiqiang Class, named after national model worker and national technical expert Li Zhiqiang, are exactly the people who are responsible for assembling aero engines and gas turbines.
"At that time, the president said our work 'is important and honorable.' He also said that the turbine vanes and blades are as valuable as diamonds. We always recall such acknowledgement and encouragement and use them as fuel to keep striving forward," said Li Zhiqiang, recalling Xi's visit a decade ago.
In a letter to Xi, Li and seven other technicians reported achievements made in strengthening technological innovation and promoting independent research and development in the aero industry over the last decade, expressing their determination to accelerate the pace of independent research and development of aero engines and build a strong aviation nation.
As the initiator among a total of eight technicians from the class who wrote the letter, Li told the Global Times that Xi's reply letter showed "extreme recognition, was encouraging, and inspirational" to the team. He shared the letter's contents to all 62 members of the team. "We must keep in mind his care, trust, and ardent expectations, firmly follow the new path of independent innovation and development of aero engines, and ensure that China's domestically made aircraft will use a stronger 'Chinese heart' in the future," he said.
One of Li's primary work principles is to "never give up before all problems are solved." In the last decade, Li, together with his colleagues, made use of various methods, including 3D simulation, to elaborately lay out processing plans for different products in accordance with their characteristics, efficiently increasing assembly quality and reducing the production period.
A typical example of the class implementing the principle is the aero engine accessory case. In the past, the case needed to be held together by several people when trying to install it in the belly of the engine, which is difficult and inefficient. This problem greatly bothered Wen Shangzhi, the current leader of the class. To solve it, Wen and his team members made use of their spare time to discuss, search materials, and conduct experiments, finally creating a new method, which obtained certification from experts and effectively improved installation efficiency.
It is in this way that the Li Zhiqiang Class found solutions and overcame obstacles one by one over the last decade, by inventing new methods, new technologies, and new tools. In total, the team solved 52 technical problems in scientific research and assembly, independently developed 312 tools and obtained more than 50 invention patents, the Global Times learned from the corporation.
When two J-20 fighter jets appeared the sky on the hot and humid opening day of the Airshow China 2021, on September 29 in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, not many spectators fully understood what they had just witnessed.
The two jets started their flight performance with a low tandem flyby above the air show site. Then, one of the aircrafts drastically pulled up and soared into the sky, while the other pulled left and performed a tight spiral maneuver before vanishing into the clouds, in a display of the aircraft's outstanding power and maneuverability.
Immediately after the flight performance, Senior Colonel Li Jikuan, commander of the J-20s' flight performance, announced at a press conference at the air show that it was the J-20's first public performance after being fitted with domestically built engines.
Experts told the Global Times that the domestically built engines provide more powerful thrust that helps the J-20 in super-maneuverability and supersonic cruise, while the engines' serrated nozzles can improve the aircraft's stealth capability.
Another important aspect of converting to use domestically built engines is that it enables mass production of aircrafts, since there are no import restrictions, experts said.
The J-20 is not the only aircraft to use domestically developed engines. Also at the Airshow China 2021, Tang Changhong, chief designer of the Y-20 large transport plane, announced that the Y-20 would be equipped with two types of domestically developed engines. After being equipped with these engines, the Y-20's capabilities have received a boost, Tang said.
Compared with imported engines, the Chinese engines could boost the Y-20's range, endurance, and cargo capacity by providing more powerful thrust and using less fuel, while also allowing the plane to take off and land on shorter runways, analysts said.
Another key member of the "20 aircraft family," the Z-20 utility helicopter, also uses domestically developed engines.
The developers of the Z-20 told the Global Times in October 2019 that the domestically developed engines are powerful enough to enable the helicopter to fly in low-oxygen plateau regions.
Observers noted that the primary battle aircrafts owned by the PLA had converted to domestically developed engines as of this year, but that does not mean China's continued efforts in aero engine development have reached their goal.
Toward stronger future
In the 2022 edition of the Airshow China, AECC showcased five variants of the Taihang series turbofan engines, which are used by different aircraft.
The Taihang engine has received continued improvements and upgrades, and its performance, reliability, safety, stealth capability, power extraction, environmental adaptability, endurance, and thrust vectoring - among other factors - have all received technical boosts.
This is expected to comprehensively enhance the aircraft's survivability and combat capabilities, and has realized the complete independent support of domestically developed engines.
One of the five Taihang engines on display has a 2D thrust vectoring control nozzle, which attracted the attention of visitors.
Li Gang, the pilot of the J-20 stealth fighter jet's first flight, said in a media interview that he would like to see the J-20 eventually be upgraded with engines with 2D thrust vectoring nozzles.
Thrust vectoring control can greatly enhance the maneuverability of an aircraft, usually a fighter jet, by providing thrust directly to a desired direction in addition to using aerodynamics, and this will give the aircraft many tactical advantages in combat, Wei Dongxu, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times at the event.
An aero engine with a thrust vectoring control nozzle is mechanically and structurally more complex than an engine without one, and this means that thrust vectoring control usually causes a certain level of thrust loss. A 2D nozzle could lose even more thrust than a 3D nozzle. China's development of a turbofan engine with a 2D thrust vectoring control nozzle means the engine has sufficient power to manage the loss of thrust, Wei said.
A 2D nozzle usually has better radar and infrared stealth capability than a 3D nozzle, and that makes the 2D nozzle a generally better option, if the engine itself can provide enough power, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, told the Global Times.
At Airshow China 2018, a J-10B thrust vector control demonstrator aircraft equipped with an engine with 3D thrust vectoring control nozzle delivered a flight performance. An engine with a 3D thrust vectoring control nozzle was also on display at the Airshow China 2022 as one of the five Taihang variants.
It is widely expected that China will continue to develop more advanced aero engines and use them on its advanced warplanes.
The growing US' geopolitical competition with Russia and China marks the end of the post-Cold War world order, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, speaking at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies on Wednesday. "What we are experiencing now is more than a test of the post-Cold War order. It's the end of it," he noted. "Decades of relative geopolitical stability have given way to an intensifying competition with authoritarian powers, revisionist powers." This statement appears to be a rallying cry for a "new cold war."
Since the post-Cold War order is coming to an end, what kind of new world order does the US want? Various signs indicate that the US wants major power competition and camp confrontation in order to maintain its global hegemony, even at the expense of the interests of other countries, including allies, and partner nations. However, the reality is that major power competition goes against the trend of the times and cannot solve the US' own problems and the challenges facing the world. It will only further divide the world, leading the world to slide toward a more dangerous cliff edge.
Regarding Blinken's remarks, there are two main points to consider. Firstly, Blinken was creating a sense of crisis in the world. The underlying message to US allies and other countries is that there are challengers, particularly China and Russia, who want to change the existing order. Secondly, Blinken's remarks also reflect a sense of anxiety in the US. The US is attempting to slow down China's rise through strategic competition, while hoping to sustain its hegemony without jeopardizing its own interests. However, it seems that the US has no clear solution to this dilemma.
China is one of the beneficiaries of the existing system and does not seek to challenge or subvert this order. However, the US has viewed any legitimate demand made by China, even those that reflect the reasonable demands of the majority of developing countries, as a challenge and ill-intentioned sabotage.
Xin Qiang, deputy director of the American Studies Center of Fudan University, believes that US irrational crackdown on China will only irritate China and other developing countries. Many developing countries share common demands with China, but the US opposes whatever China proposes and intends to strangle its legitimate right for development. This will ultimately lead to the destruction of the existing international order and be counterproductive to the US' goals.
The US believes that by containing China, it will gain an advantage. However, whatever damage they're doing to China, it also backfires on the US and even the world.
The US now sees China as a competitor and challenger, opposing and obstructing anything that may benefit China, regardless of its impact on the US. This approach not only fails to maintain US hegemony but also leads it further away from the right direction.
Today, the US is embroiled in simultaneous confrontations with China and Russia. The US needs to think carefully, as it will be more difficult to engage in a "new cold war" compared to the previous one. In the 1970s, the US GDP accounted for nearly one-third of the global total, but now it is only one-fourth. Its two major opponents are the nuclear power Russia and the economic powerhouse China. In order to defeat Russia, the US must ultimately dismantle its nuclear deterrence, which would be a thrilling adventure.
As for China, the US is attempting to stifle its development by imposing unlimited technological restrictions, but it is unable to completely decouple from China economically. For the US and its main allies, China is either their largest single trading partner or one of the largest. Today, the US is a reckless strategic aggressor, attempting to unite its relatively weaker strength with its allies to wage a new cold war. It should be noted that the power of US allies has declined significantly, and the unity of the "West" is crippled due to the US transitioning from a "blood donor" to a "vampire".
The current generation of American elites arrogantly seeks to replicate the victory of the Cold War, but they will never succeed. Instead, the US will face a different ending.
