भारतीय रोज़ नई ख़बरें – भारतीय रोज़ न्यूज़ भारत की सबसे अधिकारपूर्ण, समय पर और विश्वसनीय समाचार सलाहकार वेबसाइट है

‘If US nukes return, Britain will be on the frontline in a NATO-Russia war’

The Lakenheath Alliance for Peace is launched by a group of activists at Lakenheath, UK on March 26 against the return of US nuclear weapons. Photo: Angie Zelter

Editor’s Note:

Are US nuclear weapons returning to the UK after 16 years? This worries many British people, and one of them is Angie Zelter (
Zelter). Since last year, there have been reports saying that the US is planning to station nuclear weapons in RAF Lakenheath, a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath, which is situated close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Suffolk in England. Recently, a group of activists in the UK, including Zelter, formed the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace to oppose the return of US nukes. As a veteran activist, Zelter was engaged in stopping US nuclear weapons for 33 years in Norfolk. In Global Times (
GT) reporter Wang Wenwen’s I-Talk show, Zelter voiced her concerns about the return of the US nukes.

GT: You were involved in the campaigns at Lakenheath in the 1980s and 1990s. Can you share with me your experience of stopping the US bringing nuclear weapons to the UK?

Zelter: At that time, it was the height of the peace movement. There were lots of actions at US bases. We viewed those US bases as being kind of the launch pads for America. We were the aircraft carriers for America. And many of us really hated that idea. So we got involved in lots of actions. I started the Snowball Civil Disobedience Campaign where we cut fences around the US bases demanding the UK to take one step toward disarmament. In 1989, I took part in a six-week fast outside Lakenheath to protest the breaches of the INF Treaty when they were going to recycle nuclear cruise missiles and put them on the bombers at Lakenheath.

We were talking to the personnel there. All kinds of people were fasting over the six weeks. We recognized that the resources used for nuclear weapons could be better spent on relieving poverty, homelessness and the environmental damage. We were very conscious at that time of the environmental damage caused by the whole nuclear chain across the world, from the mining of uranium, manufacture of the nuclear weapons, the testing of them, the deployment of them, and how that impacted indigenous peoples all around the world.

Then, in the peace movement in Norfolk and Suffolk and around Cambridgeshire, the Lakenheath Action Group was formed. And we all did loads and loads of actions, not only the fast that I talked about earlier but demonstrations and vigils, and also there was an escalation of direct action. That continued until the weapons were taken away in 2008. There were blockades, cutting fences, climbing up on the fences, getting into the high security areas to do war crimes investigations, occupying the runway with bicycles, loads of things.

Basically, we were really concerned about the breaches of international law. Threatening to use nuclear weapons is a crime because they could never be used in accordance with international humanitarian law. I kept that feeling with me over these many decades, as it gets clearer and clearer that more and more countries are breaking international humanitarian law.

GT: What damage could be caused to locals if US nuclear weapons return to Britain?

Zelter: First of all, we have to recognize that there are about 1,000 US foreign bases scattered around the world. They’re not all nuclear, but they all cause tremendous damage. They take over the land and water resources that could be used for life, not death. The noise of the aircraft and in the seas is horrendous for people and animals, but there are also traffic accidents, sexual violence, and drugs. All this happens at most US foreign bases.

But if nuclear weapons came back here to Britain, there will be air pollution caused by the takeoff of even more planes as they do their practice flights. Then there are the radiation risks. For instance, there were two major nuclear accidents in Lakenheath that we were finally made aware of decades later. In 1956, for instance, there was a B-47 bomber that crashed into a storage unit beside the runway containing nuclear weapons. And in January 1961, a plane carrying a 70-kiloton nuclear bomb caught fire. It was later found that a flaw in the wiring of the hydrogen bomb could allow excessive heat to circumvent the weapons safety mechanisms and cause a nuclear detonation.

The UK was so worried about these accidents, it decided to take immediate steps, deny everything and block US authorities from ordering evacuations if an accident occurred. This problem of secrecy surrounding nuclear weapons is terrible. For instance, we have a lot of US bases. We had many in the 1980s and 1990s, and still have lots. RAF Lakenheath is the largest airforce base in Europe but we still don’t publicly know what is in the memorandum of understanding between the US and Britain. The last time I was at Lakenheath, just recently, there was a white line just in front of the main gate, and the US personnel inside said “If you come over here, you’re on US soil.” That is disgusting. This is Britain, not US soil. They even pretend it’s called an RAF base. It’s not an RAF base, it’s a USAF base. So there’s all this secrecy and lies going on, which I find horrendous.

GT: Do you think US nuclear weapons stationed in the UK could make the UK more secure or less secure?

Zelter: It will make it less secure. And not just for us, the whole world is less secure with a new nuclear arms race going on. Lakenheath hosting nuclear weapons makes it even more of a prime target. If just one Russian warhead was dropped on Lakenheath, it would be catastrophic for the local community and environment, and the radioactive impact would spread far and wide depending on the wind. That’s only the start. If nuclear weapons start being used, they are most likely to be used against the major cities, killing millions, and then there will be a global nuclear exchange and billions will die. US nuclear weapons here undermine our safety and any prospect for global peace. The US is the only country to have nuclear weapons outside its own borders. This major increase in NATO’s capacity to wage nuclear war in Europe is dangerously destabilizing. Their return will increase global tensions and put Britain on the frontline in a NATO-Russia war.

GT: The official excuse for the US to station nukes in the UK is the threat from Russia. Which poses a bigger threat, Russia or US nukes? Is the US just fanning anti-Russia flames to excuse its moves?

Zelter: The fact that the US is bringing its nuclear weapons to us here in Britain is a dangerous escalation. We should be negotiating for peace and listening to all sides. What is it that drives the wars around here? The main driver is actually the arms industry and the profits it generates for big corporations. So we have to kind of get a hold of that. It’s actually part of the whole outdated and catastrophic mind-set of militaristic empire building that the US and the UK are still mired in, and other major countries are buying into all of this. It is about resources – who gets the water or the minerals or the forests or whatever. It’s about the corporations making money from all of these things.

For a long time now, we have considered Russia an enemy, ever since the Russian revolution in the early 20th century. Do we have to have this enemy? No. Actually, they are people just like us. Why was NATO not disbanded, as it should have been, when the Warsaw Pact finished? We just expanded right up to the borders. So we are now in the middle of the beginning of four months of huge military exercises in the Scandinavian countries and right up against the Russian border. That is putting pressure on Russia. We’re doing the same thing with China. The US is sending loads and loads of ships and building up bases all around China. All of these US bases are not what we need in the world today. It is a huge escalation. I don’t know how we’re going to stop NATO, but we have to stop NATO.

GT: Do you think the British government will pay heed to your demand? What will you do to stop the US bringing nuclear weapons back to the UK?

Zelter: The British government doesn’t pay heed to anyone, except their funders, their supporters, and the corporations and big businesses. The British government does not pay heed to their people. We don’t live in a democracy. We have had a failing democracy for a very long time. It is horrible.

They won’t take heed of us, but other people here might. We have some influence, but not much influence unless loads of people join us and sustain the pressure by constant direct action to disrupt the flights from taking off.

The British people are not given any choice over our disastrous foreign and defence policies. So we all have to work together to dismantle this military industrial complex ourselves. If we don’t, we’re not going to survive. We will have an impact on public opinion. And if enough people rise up in a non-violent manner – rise up and protest – then who knows what will happen. But the main thing is we have to show that it’s not being done in our name. It’s up to everybody else to join in and see what will come from that. I always live in hope.

The tale of three generations of the De Gaulle family’s friendship with Chinese people

Gregoire de Gaulle Photo: Li Hao/GT

Standing in the streets of Beijing in 1978, Gregoire de Gaulle, a 23-year-old French young man, was on his first visit to the faraway country and was eager to take everything he saw with a camera in hand.

Before that, his father went to China in 1964. “I was still young at that time, but I know it was a rare trip for him. My father brought back many posters, books, photos, and important videos he took while in China,” Gregoire told the Global Times on Wednesday in Beijing. “It made our whole family very excited and our lives started to be connected to China.”

Fascination with a country

China has been an integral part of French photographer Gregoire de Gaulle’s entire life, thanks to his father, Bernard de Gaulle. His family has made great contributions to the relationship between China and France.

His great-uncle, former French president Charles de Gaulle, was the first Western leader to establish diplomatic ties between his country and the People’s Republic of China in 1964. By September of that year, Gregoire’s father had organized the first ever exhibition of French industrial tools in China with a second the following year.

Bernard de Gaulle was the former chairman of the Comité France Chine and was known as a China-France friendship messenger.

Ever since he was a young boy, Gregoire was deeply affected by the Chinese stories and travel experiences recounted by his father. “My father’s fascination with China and love for Chinese culture filled me with expectations and curiosity,” Gregoire recalled.

When he had a two-month vacation after service in Karachi, Pakistan in 1978, he decided to start his own China story and do something that his great-uncle, Charles de Gaulle had wanted to do before his passing in 1970. He didn’t even think about where he would go as he had only ever heard of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

“I was lucky then because, starting from 1978, China started the opening-up policy. I was able to explore the whole of China.” For Gregoire at that time, China “was a completely new world, a world that I did not understand at all.”

At that time, the roads were very wide, but there were few cars. “People’s main means of transportation were bicycles. As a foreigner, I also joined them. I made many friends in Beijing, and we took trains and boats together, from Beijing to Xi’an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Shanghai and Guangzhou.”

He was deeply attracted by the scenes in front of Chinese houses: Children set up benches on the roadside to do their homework, adults were busy washing and hanging clothes, and the elderly were playing chess and cards.

A visitor explores an exhibition showcasing the ties between the De Gaulle family and the Chinese people at Beijing’s He Art Museum on April 24, 2024. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Continued friendship

“I have always been moved by small things in daily lives of ordinary people when visiting China,” he told the Global Times at a new photo exhibition in Beijing on Wednesday, which pays tribute to his family’s contribution to the China-France friendship.

“From a human perspective, it is a grand narrative; but from a small, individual perspective, it also has a very unique charm.”

Therefore, Gregoire focused his lens on the daily lives of ordinary Chinese people. “There was no big difference between China in 1978 and China in 1964 in terms of architectural design, people’s clothing, and transportation methods,” as he had seen so many photos and videos taken by his father in China in the 1960s. However, since 1978, “I could deeply feel the huge changes every time I went to China.”

He was shocked by China’s rapid development in recent decades, from infrastructural transformations to an improvement in people’s daily lives. “And the cities have since become so large and people are full of vigor.”

In 2013, Bernard de Gaulle planned to visit his eldest son Remi de Gaulle who was working in Shanghai. Gregoire was worried that his 90-year-old father would not be able to complete the trip by himself, so he came to China to accompany his father. They visited Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hong Kong, taking many photos during their travels.

One year later, an exhibition featuring two groups of photos that Gregoire took in 1978 and 2013 respectively kicked off in Shanghai. His photos of China were also exhibited in 2019.

Despite the great changes in the cities, he was happy to see that the enchanting simplicities of life had remained largely the same. These little things still “fascinated me.” “China’s fine traditions and the kind and positive spirit of the Chinese people have never changed,” he told the Global Times.

The year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France. He accepted an invitation from Southwest China’s Guizhou Province to take photos of China’s Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge, still under construction and set to be world’s highest bridge, to highlight China’s fast development and introduce it to the world.

Although he only met his great-uncle (General De Gaulle) three times, he shared the same sincere feelings toward China as his father, great-uncle, and other family members including the fourth generation.

“I have always felt a great friendship between my family and the Chinese people. I find Chinese people have really deep emotions toward our family. I hope that in the future, there will be a fourth generation to carry on our friendship,” he said, adding that his children are already interested in promoting cultural and artistic exchanges between the two countries. His nephew is married to a Chinese woman.

Gregoire also said that he knows he’s better known in China than in France because of his great-uncle.

“So the story between our family and China continues.”

800,000 copies of pirated film, TV works seized in crackdown

Promotional materials for Chinese movie YOLO Photo: Courtesy of Douban

China’s Ministry of Public Security has recently revealed that more than 40,000 cases of copyright infringement and counterfeiting were handled nationwide in 2023, involving the seizure of products like bootleg films and forged food brand packaging.

Investigations targeting these fraud cases were carried out under a nationwide special operation called “Kunlun 2023.” The operation continues in 2024 with the unchanged goal of fighting “intellectual property infringement.”

The operation hit a new milestone in February. A total of 800,000 films, predominately bootlegs of movies like YOLO and Article 20, were seized by police departments in the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangsu.

The bootleg films were those that debuted during the 2024 Chinese Spring Festival holiday. They were mainly shared illegally online. Besides bootleg video recordings and pirated disk versions of these movies, 230 online shops illegally distributing such contents were included in the crackdown.

Cultural policy expert Song Weiping told the Global Times that such unlawful bootleg films sustain a “lucrative yet unethical market.” Taking bootleg films as an example, he noted their prices online are usually “much less than half” of the price for a cinema ticket, the expert emphasized.

“Some of those films were even circulated for free. Also, story-based films are more easily to be devalued in the pirate market since they do not boast the same visual effects that are exclusive to cinematic blockbusters,” Song remarked.

The unlawful reproduction of films is a topic that can always spark a wide spectrum of public debate in China. Xue Zhiqian, a popular Chinese singer was slammed by netizens in February on the internet after he snapped photos of the film Pegasus 2 in a cinema and then posted them on China’s X-like Sina Weibo.

Although law expert Xu Xinmin told the Global Times that a few individual photos can hardly constitute copyright infringement, netizens’ criticism of Xue is still trending, especially posts accusing him of being “ignorant of copyright’s importance” and “misleading the public.”

“Copyright infringement is extremely harmful to creative works, including art, films and so forth. To protect a work’s copyright is not the author’s own responsibility, but also that of the creative industry,” Xu told the Global Times.

Other than taking care of the film sector, the special operation also included crack down on intellectual property infringement related to sectors such as software, makeup, food and household appliances.

A total of 1,168 counterfeit hair dryers imitating a popular English brand were seized by police. The profit of sales of such counterfeits reached more than 40 million yuan ($5.5 million). In Central China’s Henan Province, four food processing spots were discovered that specialized in making counterfeit seasoning products of a popular Chinese food brand.

Those results were achieved through a close collaboration between China’s Ministry of Public Security and its deployed sub-provincial organs throughout the country.

“Such a deployment enlarges the scope of discovering potential crimes, and also reveals China’s nationwide efforts in cracking down on piracy,” Xu told the Global Times. The expert also added that these cases were chosen to be revealed around World Intellectual Property Day (WIPO) to show China’s dedication to protecting intellectual property rights. WIPO falls annually on April 26.

GT Voice: Weakening yen sends signal of danger to central banks

The rate of the yen against the US dollar was displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com Co. in Tokyo, Japan, on April 25, 2024. Photo: VCG

Many Asian currencies have been hit this year by the strength of the US dollar, and it seems especially so for the Japanese currency. The yen hit a fresh 34-year low against the dollar on Thursday. This added to market pessimism, which had already been exacerbated by the recent depreciation of the currency.

A day earlier, the yen weakened to the 155 range against the US dollar, marking the first time since June 1990 that the yen had crossed the psychologically important 155 level. Although a depreciation of the yen is likely to make Japanese exports more competitive, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, because Japan relies heavily on imports for energy, food and raw materials.

In general, the yen’s depreciation will increase the import costs of these items, exacerbate already-high imported inflation and force enterprises to cut production capacity.

The decline in the yen comes after stronger-than-expected US inflation data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve may be not in a rush to cut interest rates and the US dollar will remain strong over the coming months. In addition to the yen, some other Asian currencies are under pressure.

For instance, the South Korean won recently breached a key psychological mark of 1,400 versus the dollar, the weakest since late 2022. The stronger dollar has also weighed on other Asian currencies such as the Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit.

Depreciation pressure limits central banks’ room to maneuver on monetary policy, forcing them to consider interest rate hikes, although the tightening of monetary policy will have a negative impact on these economies.

In 2023, GDP growth in many developing countries in Asia rebounded from the impact of COVID-19. Many economists believe that this trend will continue. The Asian economy was forecast to grow by about 4.5 percent in 2024, faster than in 2023, and to remain the largest contributor to global economic growth.

We hope that growth of 4.5 percent can be achieved, but at a time when Asian currencies are being hit by a delayed Federal Reserve easing cycle and sustained strength in the dollar, depreciation pressures add uncertainty to the recovery of the Asian economy.

Some economists believe that raising interest rates to increase government intervention in the foreign exchange market is not a fundamental solution. The region’s tumbling currencies suggest that it’s crucial to strengthen industry and supply chains in Asia to withstand external shocks such as a strong dollar.

There is no need to deny that the risk of a financial crisis has risen in some Asian countries, especially those with small economies. The question is, can they afford a stronger greenback, accelerated capital outflows and higher borrowing costs?

Faced with uncertainties, Asian economies also need to consider enhancing financial cooperation and diversifying the currency composition of their reserves.

In Asia, the yuan has become one of the alternatives to the US dollar in trade settlements. China’s relatively steady economic development and robust trade with Asian countries have laid a solid foundation for the yuan to be accepted by those countries.

The yuan is facing renewed depreciation pressure after stronger-than-expected US inflation bolstered the dollar, but China is fully capable of stabilizing the market and keeping the yuan steady at a reasonable and balanced level. Other Asian countries should consider expanding currency swaps between the yuan and their currencies.

There is a solid foundation for a stable and improving Chinese economy throughout this year. China is anticipated to make more contributions to safeguard regional financial stability amid recent currency depreciation in some Asian countries.

Unfair finger-pointing

Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

Global car producers in launch fever for NEV models at Beijing auto show

Photo: Li Hao/GT

After a four-year absence of its offline show, China’s largest auto show, or 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, which kicked off in Beijing on Thursday, has regained global attention. Global players such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are signaling their entry into NEVs on a large scale, highlighting their confidence in the Chinese market.

Such moves are in contrast with the so-called “overcapacity” cited by some US officials, which primarily pertains to industries such as electric vehicles (EVs). Chinese market observers said that it’s groundless to hype the overcapacity narrative, because the production capacity of NEVs to meet consumers’ upgrading demand remains insufficient.

A total of 44 models from the Volkswagen Group’s brands are on display at the ongoing show, 11 of which are making their debuts, according to information that Volkswagen Group shared with the Global Times. Among the total, there are 18 NEV models.

The group said it is accelerating the process of electrification. Starting from 2026, at least eight pure electric models specially developed for the Chinese local market will be launched. By 2030, the group will provide at least 30 pure electric models in the Chinese market.

Such moves are shared by other global players. BMW and MINI, the two brands under the BMW Group, brought their new models on Thursday, including BMW’s BEV model- the new BMW i4 had its world premiere, and MINI’s first all-electric crossover – the all new, all electric MINI Aceman, also made its world debut in Beijing.

Electrification, digitalization and sustainable development are the current major trends in the automobile industry. The BMW Group’s goal is to achieve more than 50 percent of sales from electric vehicles by 2030, said Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of BMW AG, in Beijing on Wednesday night.

Mercedes-Benz brought 21 new models to the show, including the world’s first pure electric G-Class off-road vehicle. Maybach’s first mass-produced pure electric model, the Maybach EQS pure electric sport utility vehicle, hit the Chinese market at the show.

Photo: Li Hao/GT

China is the world’s second-largest market for G-class off-road vehicles. We will increase our input in the Chinese market and build our electric era with Chinese speed, said Hubertus Troska, member of the board of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

Automakers from China and abroad are set to unveil 117 new models versus 93 at last year’s show in Shanghai, while a total of 278 NEVs will go on display, seven more than last year, according to the organizers.

The timing of the show comes as China’s NEV market shows fast development. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that NEVs accounted for 30 percent of cars sold in China in the first two months of this year.

“Four years ago, when I came here, the NEV models of Chinese brands accounted for a large part of the show, but this time, many foreign companies are actively promoting their NEV products,” a visitor surnamed Li told the Global Times on Thursday.

The fever of foreign car producers for NEVs in China is in contrast with the so-called overcapacity hype by some Western countries, in which they focus on the growth of Chinese manufacturing in new industries represented by EVs, lithium-ion batteries and solar panels.

There is no such thing as “overcapacity” in China’s NEV sector. As a matter of fact, the production capacity of NEVs to meet consumers’ upgrading demand remains insufficient, Wu Shuocheng, a veteran automobile analyst, told the Global Times on Thursday.

“I do not think that China has excess capacity. It’s better to look at the China’s NEV market from a dynamic and developmental perspective. Through market competition, there will be elimination of outdated production capacity in the sector,” Wu said.

The Ministry of Commerce also slammed so-called overcapacity on Thursday. He Yadong, spokesperson of the ministry, said that the issue of production capacity must be based on the background of economic globalization, and fully consider the reality of the global division of labor and international markets.

From a global perspective, there is no overcapacity, but rather a shortage in the new-energy sector. Currently, the development of green, low-carbon and environmentally friendly new energy is an important global response to climate change, He said.

Global players all emphasize the importance of the Chinese market, and they bolster their competitive positions through local partnerships and innovation.

Volkswagen Group said that it is focusing on its local development capacities and its partnerships with local tech companies and manufacturers such as Horizon Robotics, Thundersoft and XPENG.

“We are accelerating our electric offensive with additional products for new segments. In this way, we are taking advantage of opportunities in the rapidly growing e-market,” Ralf Brandstätter, board member for the China region and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, told the Global Times.

Photo: Li Hao/GT

Graphics: China’s EV ‘overcapacity’ accusations unfounded, data reveals market realities

Recently, some Western politicians and media outlets claimed that Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers’ rapid development was driven by subsidies. They say that excess production capacity is impacting the world market, although China’s current production capacity is far from meeting market demand.

China Passenger Car Association data shows that from 2019 to 2023, China’s car exports accounted for only 15.9 percent of domestic production. The ratio of exports to production is far lower than in other car-producing nations such as Germany, Japan and South Korea. According to Bloomberg analysis, in the EV sector, the capacity usage rates of the majority of China’s leading auto exporters are considered normal.

Graph showing China’s ratio of exports to production is far lower than other car-producing countries such as Japan and Germany. /Designed by Li Jingjie

Overcapacity essentially happens because there is not enough market demand for the products being produced.

However, in the case of EVs, the reality is just the opposite.

Almost 14 million new electric cars were registered globally in 2023, and electric car sales in 2023 were 3.5 million higher than in 2022, a 35 percent year-on-year increase, according to a report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday, indicating that growth remains robust as electric car markets mature.

According to the China Automobile Dealers Association, China’s vehicle inventory alert index, which reflects the inventory pressure on automobile dealers, declined 5.8 percentage points month on month in March this year. The IEA report notes that sales of EVs in China have remained robust. It projects that sales are set to grow by almost 25 percent in 2024 compared to last year, reaching around 10 million.

China’s vehicle inventory alert index from 2022 to 2024. /Designed by Li Jingjie

On April 23, a commentary in the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (New Journal of Zürich) argued that the West’s complaints about China’s “overcapacity” are both hypocritical and shortsighted. Instead of hyping the “Chinese threat,” the Western industrialized countries would do better to face up to the competition, benefit from good and affordable products and push for equal market access in exchange for more Chinese green energy products entering the European market, the article suggests.

(Cover: An electric vehicle. /CFP)

China’s Space Day: Unveiling upcoming space missions in 2024

China launches its Gravity-1 solid rocket from a mobile sea platform off Haiyang City, east China’s Shandong Province, January 11, 2024. /CFP

China announced on its Space Day (April 24) that the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship will be launched on Thursday, and the country is projected to make about 100 space launch missions in 2024, setting a new record in its space history.

Starting in 2016, China chose April 24 as its Space Day to mark the launch of its first satellite Dongfanghong-1 into space on April 24, 1970. The country carried out 67 space launch missions last year, ranking second in the world after the U.S., and put 221 spacecraft into space, and it is striving to make about 100 space launch missions this year.

The launches include the maiden flight from China’s first commercial spacecraft launch site, which is now under construction in the city of Wenchang, in south China’s island province of Hainan, in addition to more satellite lift-offs to form constellations.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country’s rocket series developer and the leading force of the country’s space industry, is scheduled to make nearly 70 space launch missions, putting over 290 spacecraft into space in 2024.

It will implement the first flight tasks of Long March-12, and complete two cargo spaceship missions, two crewed launch missions, and two crewed return missions for China’s space station. The Long March-12 is China’s first single-core stage liquid launch vehicle with a diameter of 3.8 meters. It has a two-stage configuration propelled by six liquid oxygen/kerosene engines.

The new rocket is designed with a carrying capacity of not less than 10 tonnes in near-Earth orbit and not less than 6 tonnes in 700-km sun-synchronous orbit, which will improve the country’s transport capability in low-orbit satellite constellations and sun-synchronous orbit. The Long March-12 will be launched in the country’s first commercial spacecraft launch site.

In the first half of this year, China launched Queqiao-2, a relay satellite for communications between the far side of the moon and Earth, and it is scheduled to launch the Chang’e-6 lunar probe, a mission to collect samples from the far side of the moon, the first of its kind in human history.

In 2024, the CASC strives to continuously promote the development of more than 200 spacecraft, including the new-generation near-Earth manned spacecraft, the Chang’e-7 lunar probe, the Tianwen-2 probe for asteroid sampling and the geostationary microwave probe satellite.

Scientific instruments from France, Italy and the European Space Agency/Sweden will be onboard the lander of the Chang’e-6 mission, with a Pakistani payload on the orbiter, according to the China National Space Administration. A detection satellite for ocean salinity, an electromagnetic monitoring satellite and an astronomical probe co-developed by China and France are also on CASC’s task list.

New partners for International Lunar Research Station

On this year’s Space Day, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) also declared that more partners, including one country and two international organizations, will participate in the construction and operation of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

The latest progress on the ILRS program, which was initiated by China, was revealed at the launch ceremony of the Space Day of China in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province.

The new partners of the ILRS include Nicaragua, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization and the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences. China will collaborate with these three parties on various issues concerning the ILRS, including its demonstration, engineering implementation, operation and application, according to the CNSA.

The officials at the CNSA have signed agreements and memorandums of understanding on the cooperation on the ILRS with relevant officials from the three sides.

The building of the International Lunar Research Station will be carried out in three phases, with a basic model of the station expected to be completed by around 2030.

According to the CNSA, the research station will operate autonomously for a long period of time, with short-term human participation.

(With input from Xinhua)

BJIFF: French Film Week celebrates 60 years of bilateral ties

As China and France continue to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, French Film Week has taken center stage at the Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), treating audiences to a vibrant showcase of Gallic cinema.

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From timeless classics to the latest works by emerging filmmakers, 30 films will be screened at theaters across Beijing. This cinematic extravaganza serves as a captivating window into the nuances of French culture, from its artistic sensibilities to its social dynamics.

“I would consider a movie ticket as being akin to a plane ticket, where you go to the cinema and discover another world,” said Isabelle Glachant, Unifrance’s Greater China representative. She mentioned that French Film Week was a good opportunity to discover France, as well as French talent.

A still from the film “A Real Job” /Photo provided to CGTN

One of the highlights will be a screening of “A Real Job,” which joins the list of nominees for the prestigious Tiantan Awards at this year’s BJIFF.

“People can empathize with the films’ content no matter where they are. Despite the structural and cultural differences between our two countries, there are many things that can bring us together, and cinema is one such bridge,” said Thomas Lilti, director of “A Real Job.”

Film cooperation between China and France has a long and rich history, exemplified by the joint production of “The Magic of the Kite” in 1958, which became the first co-production between China and another country.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and France, with a series of cultural events are being held to celebrate the occasion. In addition to French Film Week in Beijing, Paris will also host a Chinese Film Festival later in the year.

French director Christian Carion expressed his confidence that French films would continue to captivate Chinese audiences, just as Chinese films screened in many parts of France have resonated with local audiences there.

French Film Week allows Chinese audiences to immerse themselves in the rich cinematic traditions of France. It is a testament to the power of art to bring people together while also fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation between the two nations.

Exploring ancient towns of Jiangnan

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Strolling through the ancient towns of Jiangnan, or regions south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, visitors can not only experience the charm of pavilions, small bridges, flowing water and fragrant ancient trees, but also understand the historical context and appreciate traditional Chinese culture through the preserved cultural relics and ancient buildings. Let’s follow Caroline Wu on a walk through some historical and cultural sites and witness the discoveries made by experts in the restoration and protection of these ancient towns.