A worrying and dangerous trend has been noticed among media outlets and the political establishment in Australia, which threatens to squander what the country has achieved from its healthy and growing partnership with China. On June 5, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, through one of its programs, accused China of trying to influence the Australian political system, among other means, by prompting Australian businessmen of Chinese origin to make donations to the country's political parties.
Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's visit to China has been another precious step forward in the two countries' joint endeavors to repair their ties that have been bruised by a number of unpleasant episodes concerning the South China Sea.
At a recent international round-table conference on energy and climate change in Beijing, Zhang Guobao, former chief of the National Energy Administration, told participants that China has suspended the building of as many as 105 already-approved coal power plants and hoped such a message can be transmitted to US President Donald Trump to rectify his previous misperception that China still plans to build a number of new plants that would increase China's carbon emissions.
ON JUNE 1, 2008, a national regulation was introduced forbidding stores from providing plastic grocery bags to customers for free. The regulation requires supermarkets or shops to charge customers for such bags in order to reduce their use. However, People's Daily recently reported that large quantities of such carrier bags are still being used in supermarkets and shops every day. Beijing News comments:
TO AVOID HITTING AN OLD WOMAN who was jaywalking, a bus driver in Tianjin was forced to swerve, injuring a pedestrian on the sidewalk and a few passengers on the bus. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Monday:
A BRIDESMAID IN XI'AN, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, decided not to call the police or press charges against two male guests who sexually harassed her at a wedding. Beijing News commented on Monday:
The deep rift between Qatar and major Arab powers has triggered a crisis, arguably the biggest, for the 36-year-old Gulf Cooperation Council. Accusing Doha of supporting "terrorism" and financing "groups" linked to Iran, eight countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic relations and transport links with Qatar despite the latter's vehement denial that it had such links.
US President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, the landmark United Nations treaty that many of us worked so hard to achieve. Trump is making a mistake that will have grave repercussions for his country as well as the rest of the world.
China has a lot of amazing tourist attractions, but both domestic and foreign tourists usually have unpleasant experience or impressions with its public toilets - "inadequate, dirty and chaotic".
The European Union is at a crossroad, with member states pondering the twists and turns of the transatlantic relationship, the United Kingdom's departure from the bloc, and a worsening geopolitical environment. Since the astonishing outcome of last year's Brexit vote, the 27 remaining EU member states are debating the bloc's future while sticking together.
On June 2 in the Rose Garden of the White House, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would leave the Paris climate agreement, struck between 197 countries in December 2015.
All of a sudden, the world's power axis is shifting, with China and to a lesser extent the European Union the main beneficiaries.
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