爱上海龙凤

Yumai used to be a township with only one family of three people.

The small village in Lhunze county, Shannan Prefecture, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, used to be the smallest township population-wise in China.

Nowadays, thanks to improved transportation and infrastructure, the remote area has undergone a transformation. The streets and alleys are clean and tidy, with two-story Tibetan-style buildings that show elegance and charm at the foot of a mix of green and snow mountains.

Today, over 200 residents call this place home. They run a variety of businesses, including shops, restaurants, family inns, and teahouses. Local people wear confident and proud expressions on their faces as they warmly welcome visitors.

Yumai has become the epitome of how China's border regions have dramatically developed.

The story of Yumai begins with the family of three: Sangye Chopa, the household's father; and his daughters Drolkar and Yangzom. Sangye Chopa was the first head of the township.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Yumai, with its harsh natural conditions and extremely poor transportation, presented a formidable challenge. In 1964, Sangye Chopa, along with his wife and daughters, embarked on a challenging journey, crossing snowy mountains with a herd of cattle, to settle in Yumai.

Today, next to the Yumai township government, the Sangye Chopa Residence Memorial Hall faithfully recreates the poor living conditions of this family back in the day when they had to dry firewood in the damp and cold environment of Yumai.

Between 1964 and 1996, the Sangye Chopa family was the only household in this vast territory of Yumai. For over half a century, this father and his two daughters guarded thousands of square kilometers of the motherland. The national flag they sewed by hand flew proudly in the remote southwestern regions of China.

Yumai's development has never ceased. In 1996, the first group of resettlement families arrived in Yumai, consisting of two households made up of 11 individuals.

In 2001, before Sangye Chopa passed away, a road leading to Yumai was finally completed, ending the township's history of no road access, and the first car entered the town. In 2003, Yumai had its first telephone.

In 2017, through a reply letter, Chinese President Xi Jinping encouraged the family of Drolkar and Yangzom, to set down roots in the border area, safeguard the Chinese territory and develop their hometown. Xi hoped that the family would motivate more herders to set down roots in the border area "like galsang flowers," and become guardians of the Chinese territory and constructors of a happy hometown.

In 2019, Yumai was officially designated as a model township for achieving happiness, beauty, and a comfortable life. In April of the same year, a new group of resettlement households arrived in Yumai, increasing the population to 56 households for a total of 191 individuals. On July 3, 2020, a new road leading to Yumai was completed, putting an end to the township's history of being cut off by heavy snow for over six months of the year.

Currently, there are more than 230 people in 67 households living in Yumai township, and its infrastructure, including the electricity grid, roads, 5G network, medical care and financial services facilities, have all been improved.

The giant red slogan on the hillside that reads "Home is Yumai, country is China" is now the most famous landmark in Yumai. These were the words once spoken by Sangye Chopa, and now represents the spirit of people guarding Yumai.

"When I was young, my only playmate was my grandpa Sangye Chopa," Yangzom's son, Sonam Dondrup recalled while taking with the Global Times on Wednesday. "I never imagined life in Yumai could be like this today, nor had my grandpa."

"To me, the biggest change is school. I used to cross two mountains to go to school, which would take me three days," Sonam Dondrup said. "But now, children go to kindergarten right in our town, a couple of steps from home."

At the school in Yumai, the Global Times reporters observed several children playing on the slides and chasing each other in a warm, spacious, and brightly colored playground enclosed by glass walls. Upstairs, in a second-grade classroom with only six students, children were learning a Tibetan pop song expressing gratitude to their parents.

Pedma Tsamjo moved to Yumai in 2019. He runs a family hotel with his wife. "In border regions there are good policies for residents, that was why we moved here," in the cozy, well-decorated living room, Pedma Tsamjo told the Global Times, adding that all the subsidies combined for each adult amount to 30,000 yuan ($4,651) per year.

Pedma Tsamjo's family was sitting around the fireplace, watching martial arts dramas on a smart television, while his child slept beside them. In another year, she will also be able to attend the nearby kindergarten.

In 2022, the per capita annual income in Yumai township reached nearly 44,000 yuan, and the average living space per person was 40 square meters, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Since 2012, border villages, townships, and counties in Xizang region have benefited from more preferential policies for infrastructure construction, covering water, electricity, roads, and housing, according to the white paper, Tibet Since 1951: Liberation, Development, and Prosperity, published by China's State Council Information Office in May 2021.

China-Angola economic and trade ties have entered a new stage with vast areas of cooperation to explore, ranging from oil and gas to manufacturing and trading for win-win outcomes, Chinese and Angolan businesspeople told the Global Times at a high-level business forum on Saturday.

The remarks came amid the state visit of the President of Angola Joao Lourenco to China from Thursday to Sunday, as the two countries announced the elevation of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, charting a course for even brighter economic and trade cooperation.

During the presidential visit, a two-day business forum was held on Saturday and Sunday, focusing on deepening bilateral cooperation in core areas such as energy and mining among other sectors, drawing the participation of hundreds of government officials and business representatives from both sides.

At Saturday's event, Lourenco said that the presence of Chinese enterprises in Angola is significant and cannot be overlooked. He welcomes more Chinese companies to come to invest in Angola.

The president also noted good examples of bilateral cooperation, including projects such as the construction of the new Luanda Airport by Chinese firms, in addition to road, railway and hydroelectric power projects.

Angola hopes to attract more Chinese investors who can bring capital and technology as well as expertise to enhance production efficiency, while assisting Angola in achieving economic diversification, Lourenco said.

The positive and warm atmosphere of bilateral economic cooperation has sent a very positive message to businesses.

Companies from both sides expressed their eagerness to tap into the greater potential for economic and trade cooperation as bilateral ties get stronger.

Manuel Francisco Pedro, chairman of the board of directors of the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone in the capital city of Luanda, told the Global Times that more Chinese companies are coming to Angola to invest these days.

"Last year, we approved 17 new Chinese projects in our economic zone. Now, we have about 25 Chinese companies in total that are involved in wide range of fields," Pedro said.

"So far, we have about $3 billion worth of investment from Chinese companies, and we are here to attract more investment from businesses of all sectors," Pedro said.

"I believe that as our bilateral relationship has come to this high level, it opens more opportunities for businesses and investment," said Pedro, who has visited China many times.

Chinese companies are equally enthused about the reinforced bonds underscored by the high-level visit and eagerly anticipate capitalizing on this opportune moment to tap into the potential in the deeply complementary relationship between China and Angola.

The leaders of the two countries signed a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, which means that bilateral cooperation in various fields will be even stronger, which is very beneficial for Chinese nationals and enterprises in Angola, Huang Yuequan, a vice president of the Angola-China Chamber of Commerce, told the Global Times at the forum.

The Angolan government strongly encourages Chinese investment, primarily focusing on the mineral and energy sectors, which offer broad prospects. Additionally, cooperation in agriculture holds great potential, as Angola has relatively undeveloped agricultural resources compared with China's mature industry, Huang said.

More Chinese companies are coming to the African country for investment, which is reflected in the current situation in the Chinatown. The Chinatown is now fully saturated with companies mostly from China. In response to the growing expansion of investors, the construction of a new commercial zone is in progress, which will be three times larger than the current Chinatown, according to Huang, who is also a shareholder of the Chinatown in Luanda,.

"In addition to the huge market potential in Angola, the country can be a stepping stone for foreign businesses extending to other neighboring countries in Africa," said Huang.

Dongying Ruifeng Petroleum Technology Development Co is exploring an entry into the Angolan market. The company's senior advisor, Zha Houbao, told the Global Times that as bilateral relations continue to improve, companies feel more confident about investing in Angola.

"Our next step is to delve into the market, understand their more nuanced needs, and design products tailored to the local market need, which is a win-win outcome for both sides," said Zha.

Angola stands as China's second-largest trading partner in Africa and an important investment destination for Chinese companies, with bilateral trade exceeding $23 billion last year.

During the president's visit, China and Angola signed documents regarding the Belt and Road Initiative cooperation plan, as well as plans for the economy and trade, agriculture, green development and other fields, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Bilateral cooperation has emerged as a robust engine driving economic and social development in Angola, generating substantial employment opportunities locally and delivering tangible benefits to the peoples of both nations, Liu Yuxi, special representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs, said at Saturday's business forum.

China will continue to take proactive measures to support and encourage more capable and reputable enterprises to invest and operate in Angola, creating more new highlights of cooperation, said Liu.

The assertion that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has become a "ruin of an international financial center" is groundless, as the basic elements underpinning Hong Kong's status as a global financial center have not changed, and the region has been further leveraging its role as a super connector between the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world, Brian David Li Man-bun, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and co-chief executive of the Bank of East Asia (BEA), told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Hong Kong has a number of competitive edges in the global financial market, including the common law system, a simple low tax system and professional services and regulatory systems that are in line with international standards," Li said.

BEA is a Hong Kong public bank based in the HKSAR.

He also highlighted the guarantee on free flows of capital under the Basic Law, good financial infrastructure, a stable and favorable business environment as well as a stable and efficient banking system, among other things.

In 2022, Hong Kong received a total of $117.7 billion in foreign direct investment, ranking fourth in the world after the US, the Chinese mainland and Singapore, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

In addition, "Hong Kong has made significant progress in such finance-related sectors as green finance, fintech and offshore yuan business, which also paves the way for its development," Li added.

As a next step, Li suggested that Hong Kong integrate further into the national development, and make a greater contribution to the country's high-level opening-up. These efforts would also be conducive to enhancing the city's global financial status, while providing a solid foundation for its economic recovery this year.

The Central Financial Work Conference held last October called for accelerating the building of a nation with a strong financial sector. Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC), the country's central bank, said at a press briefing on Wednesday that expanding opening-up is an important propeller and assurance of the high-quality development of China's financial industry.

Li noted that Hong Kong, as the world's largest offshore yuan business center, has an outsize role to play in facilitating the globalization of the yuan.

"More countries and regions have shown concern about excessive reliance on the US dollar amid rising geopolitical tensions, and many, having strong confidence in the Chinese mainland's economic outlook, have boosted their use of the yuan in payments, investments and reserves," Li explained.

Li also urged Hong Kong to double down on its efforts to expand issues of yuan-denominated financial products, such as promoting the Hong Kong dollar-yuan dual-currency share counter service across the equity market.

Li, as a veteran banker, has witnessed the rising asset management demand of Chinese mainland residents in the past decade, which he said was partly thanks to the expansion of the 400 million middle-income populations.

He suggested expanding the scope of the financial connect programs between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, in addition to the Stock, Bond and Cross-Boundary Wealth Management connects.

The Stock Connect, announced in 2014, now contributes 11 percent of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd's revenue, and 15 percent of average daily turnover in Hong Kong, according to a report by Fitch Ratings.

The average daily turnover of the Bond Connect surged to almost 49 billion yuan in January 2024 from 3.6 billion yuan in 2018, the report said.

The elections of the Taiwan region are China's internal affairs and regardless of the result, it will not change the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China and there is only one China in the world, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference on Friday.

Mao's remarks came in response to a question about how the results of the regional leader election on the island of Taiwan, scheduled on Saturday, will affect the cross-Straits relations.

During the press conference, a reporter also mentioned an anonymous official from the White House reportedly said that the US is committed to the one-China policy, does not support "Taiwan independence" and supports cross-Straits dialogue.

Mao said that the one-China principle is a prevailing international consensus and the political foundation of the China-US relationship. "Taiwan independence" is the biggest threat to cross-Straits peace and stability and is doomed to failure.

US leaders have repeatedly said that they are committed to the one-China policy, do not support "Taiwan independence," do not support "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan," and do not seek to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China, said Mao.

We hope the US will honor these commitments, handle Taiwan-related issues prudently and properly, stop official interactions with Taiwan, stop sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and refrain from interfering in the elections of the Taiwan region in any form, the spokesperson said.

If the US truly hopes to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, it needs to explicitly oppose "Taiwan independence" and support China's peaceful reunification, said Mao.

China's central bank and top financial regulator on Friday issued a guideline on stepping up financial support for the housing rental market, vowing to offer more innovative credit products and services for housing rentals and to expand financing channels for the housing rental market.

The guideline from the People's Bank of China (PBC) and the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) is the latest effort by Chinese policymakers to stabilize the real estate market, by both defusing risks and meeting housing needs for key population groups such as young workers.

The guideline contains a total of 17 measures in four areas. Financial support will focus on key areas and weak links in the housing rental market, mainly in large cities, and will focus on addressing housing difficulties for groups such as new urban residents and young workers.

The guideline aims to offer financial support for various entities to build, renovate and operate long-term rental housing, revitalize exiting housing inventory, and increase the supply of affordable and commercial rental housing.

Among the main measures, the guideline, which was sent to the PBC and the NAFR's local branches and various types of banks, calls for an increase in credit support for housing rental development and construction. Commercial banks are being encouraged to extend loans for entities, including real estate developers, for developing and constructing rental housing projects. The standard loan term would be three years and will not exceed five years.

On the purchasing side, the guideline also encouraged commercial banks to extend loans for entities that purchase housing rental for employees. The term for such loans cannot exceed 30 years and the amount should not exceed 80 percent of the property value.

China has made stabilizing the real estate market a top priority for economic work in 2024. The tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference held in December called for active and prudent efforts to defuse risks in the property sector, address the reasonable financing needs of real estate enterprises, and accelerate the development of a new model for the real estate sector.

Also on Friday, following a national central bank meeting, the PBC vowed to actively support the stable and sound development of the real estate market, strengthen monitoring, and take various credit policies to meet the reasonable financial needs of various types of real estate companies.

The US military has grounded its entire fleet of Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft after a deadly crash off Japan last week. Sputnik spoke to veteran Russian combat aircraft pilot Vladimir Popov to get a better sense of the problems associated with the fledgling technology, and why the US refuses to just close the Osprey program down.

A US Air Force Special Operations CV-22B Osprey flying from Yokota Air Base in Tokyo to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on Okinawa went down over the East China Sea on November 29, killing all eight airmen onboard.

The crash was at least the 40th accident involving an Osprey since the aircraft's introduction into service with the US military in 2007, with crashes killing at least 53 US service members to date.

The Osprey program is the realization of an idea going back over a century ago of a tiltrotor, also known as a convertiplane - an aircraft with the ability to take off and land vertically using helicopter-style rotors attached to its wings, and which can adjust them during flight to a something closer to an airplane turboprop engine-style configuration. This dramatically increases the convertiplane's speed characteristics relative to those of an ordinary helicopter (up to doubling them).

The United States, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Britain were the first countries to begin experimenting with tiltrotor designs, with each country building prototypes from the 1930s into the early post-war period before concluding the technology was too revolutionary to be implemented effectively using equipment and materials that existed at the time.

The USSR began work on a modern-day iteration of the convertiplane in the 1970s with the Mil Mi-30 Vintoplan (lit. 'Rotorplane') project, which featured an airplane-style fuselage design and characteristics allowing it to carry up to 32 people or up to five tons of cargo. The project, envisioned as a prospective replacement for the Soviet and Russian rugged Mi-8 workhorse series fleet of helicopters, was abandoned in the mid-1990s due to lack of funding after the USSR's collapse.
The Osprey project, designed by Bell and Boeing in the 1980s and first flown in March 1989, entered mass production in 2007, and has since been introduced into service with the US Marines Corps, Air Force, Navy, and Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. The aircraft can carry up to 24 combat troops or nine tons of cargo. The V-22 is the only convertiplane to be mass produced by any nation, with over 400 built to date.

But as often happens with complex, innovative engineering designs, the glory of having the first fully operational, mass-produced convertiplane is also a heavy burden to bear, with the United States military not only reveling in the Osprey's advantages, but suffering from its flaws, with the V-22 suffering dozens of crashes and at least 16 hull losses to date.

Last week's crash in the East China Sea was the fourth fatal incident involving a V-22 in less than two years, and follows the August 2023 Marine MV-22B crash on Melville Island, Australia during an exercise, killing three service members, the June 2022 crash of a Marine MV-22B in California, killing five troops, and an MV-22B crash in Beiarn, Norway in March 2022, which killed another four Marines.

Investigations into the latest incidents have pointed to technical problems (including a drive system failure caused by a malfunctioning gearbox in the case of the June 2022 incident in California), and pilot error in the case of the March 2022 crash in Norway.

Investigators are yet to offer details on what may have caused the November 29 CV-22B crash off Japan, although eyewitnesses have reported fire coming from one of the aircraft's engines and the Osprey reportedly flying upside down before an explosion spewed wreckage into the surrounding water.

Sunk Costs

Speaking to Sputnik about last week's Osprey crash, and asked why the US military continues to use the convertiplanes despite their crash-prone nature, Honored Military Pilot of Russia Vladimir Popov explained that it likely has to do with the resources the Pentagon has expended on the project.

"The fact is that financial resources have already been invested into the aircraft's creation and implementation," the retired Air Force Major-General with decades of service under his belt told Sputnik.

"Most likely, the engineers, designers, technologists and everyone who took part in the Osprey's development decided that its reliability can be assured, and that it can be improved in the course of operations," Popov said.

"They are likely hoping to get an effective machine, but everything remains in the stages of development and refinement. For now, of course, such an aircraft cannot really be used anywhere, since doing so means losses of personnel and money down the drain. The idea is good, but the implementation, not so much," the veteran pilot explained.

The problem with convertiplane technology at its current stage lies with the components allowing the aircraft to switch from vertical to horizontal flight mode, Popov said. "This node is 'charged' with a great deal of energy, because large loads hang on it. It may not be able to process the transition quite correctly" at times, resulting in accidents.

"Tiltrotors have been flying for a very long time, and they have a short service life. Thus, it's too early to say that it has already reached the peak of its operational maturity. What needs to be done is to clarify what went wrong in each specific case, and to approach the issue carefully and get to the bottom of it. What's also needed is to improve working with personnel, to conduct additional tests, and change the training of the pilot and crew members. The US may continue to operate Ospreys, but they need to think long and hard about how to do so without making sacrifices. Sometimes it's enough to replace only one bolt and everything will work as it should," Popov stressed.

Last week's accident may have been the result of any number of factors, from pilot error and equipment failure to errors in the mathematical calculations by the Osprey's onboard computer, Popov believes.

That said, the veteran pilot is convinced that tiltrotor technology has good prospects for the future, given its status as what is effectively a hybrid airplane/helicopter design that can accelerate to speeds of up over 550 km per hour, far above the roughly 300 km per hour achieved by modern helicopters, which have now maxed out as far as further improvements in speed characteristics go.

COVID-19 infections in China are at a low epidemic level and no unknown viruses or bacteria have been found during the monitoring of respiratory pathogens in China, according to Chinese health authorities on Sunday.

BA.2.86 and its subvariants, including JN.1 variant, have become the dominant variants in some countries, yet, their public health risk in China is low given their low proportion, Chang Zhaorui, a research fellow from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) told a press briefing on Sunday.

The proportion of BA.2.86 variant strains in the reported sequences in China is very low, but the proportion among imported cases has increased rapidly since November, and the growth trend has gradually converged with that of the world, Chang noted, 

Since the first imported case of BA.2.86 variant strain was reported on August 31, a total of 160 sequences of BA.2.86 and its subbranches have been reported in China, including 148 imported case sequences and 12 local case sequences, but no severe or critical cases have been found, the research fellow from the China CDC noted.

According to a statement published by National Disease Control and Prevention Administration on Friday, the possibility of the JN.1 variant, a branch variant of BA.2.86, becoming a dominant strain in the country cannot be ruled out due to the subsequent impact of international strains and imported cases.

On November 21, the World Health Organization (WHO) adjusted BA.2.86 from a variant requiring global surveillance to a variant requiring attention, evaluating the risk of clinical severe infection as low and the overall assessment of public health risk as low.

Experts reached by the Global Times said infectious diseases are common throughout the world. New variants of the novel coronavirus can appear in the future at any time and people should get used to their existence. More attention should be paid to overlapping infections of influenza and other respiratory diseases. 

In the past months, China has been experiencing a spike in respiratory disease. 

Mi Feng, a spokesperson from National Health Commission, said on Sunday's press briefing that hospital visits for respiratory diseases across China have shown a downward trend. 

Mi said that local medical institutes have been doing their part to ease pressure on major hospitals, accounting for 44 percent of total fever and outpatient visits.

The spokesperson called for the continued strengthening of surveillance and overall situation analysis for respiratory diseases and the allocation of medical resources to cope with the spike.

According to latest weekly report by the China CDC, the positive rate of influenza virus in the southern and northern provinces of China slowed down between December 4 and 10, and some provinces showed a downward trend. 

China's Olympic champions believe the universal language of sport is a key to bridge communications for athletes as well as people of different countries and regions, as they continue their preparations for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.

"Winning or losing is indeed the essence of competitive sports, but now I no longer think it's everything because we have something more valuable than victory," swimming queen Zhang Yufei told reporters at a forum held by the China Public Diplomacy Association in Beijing on November 22.

The essence of competitive sports goes beyond winning and losing, believed Zhang, who won six gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games. 

Zhang's touching moment with Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where they embraced despite being rivals, became a memorable scene. 

"We participated in the same discipline but it was until the final day of 50 meters butterfly final that she made onto the podium," Zhang said. 

"Her ability to return to the competition is a miracle. It is her perseverance that inspired me to continue when facing a bad situation."

Zhang was referring a fever she caught on day four of her competitions at the Asian Games, when she had to continue to achieve her personal goal of becoming the MVP of the event, which required more gold medals at the time. 

"It is her perseverance she demonstrated after wading through leukemia which sidelined her from competing after achieving six gold and two silver medals at 2018 Asian Games," Zhang noted. 

Zhang's teammate Qin Haiyang, a breaststroke specialist who set a new 200 meters world record this year, noted that he hopes to inspire more people to participate in sports activities, expressing his desire to showcase not only athletic achievements but also the confidence, unity and friendship of Chinese athletes on the international stage.

The power of role models is limitless as gymnasts Zou Jingyuan and Zhang Boheng mentioned the influential figures in their sport, such as Li Ning, Li Xiaoshuang and Japan's Kohei Uchimura.

"Although we are competitors on the field, off the field, we are friends. Athletes worldwide share a common philosophy of developing modern gymnastics, innovating movements, and spreading the love for sports globally," Zou said.

All-rounder Zhang is often linked to Japanese gymnast Hashimoto Daiki, as the duo  are being considered the top athletes in the sport. This year they have competed head-to-head in China at the Chengdu Universiade and the Hangzhou Asian Games.

"Although this year I won, but I don't think he is at top form. I expect to compete with him when both of us are in-form. Maybe the stage will be the Olympics next year," Zhang said. 

"All the gymnasts in the world share a common philosophy, that is, to develop modern competitive gymnastics, constantly innovate movements, share our understanding of gymnastics, and our love for sports with the world," Zou added.

Off the field, interactions and friendships among athletes from different countries and regions highlight the Olympic spirit that unites the world, as two-time Olympic taekwondo champion Wu Jingyu, now chair of World Taekwondo Athletes Committee, underlines the communication among the athletes facilitate the Olympic spirit. 

"In addition to athletic achievements, athletes' perseverance and pursuit of dreams are also part of the Olympic spirit. This Olympic family allows athletes to freely show and express the spirit of sports, inspire more people with spiritual strength," Wu said. 

The China Academy of Art has welcomed the celebration of its 95th anniversary since its ­establishment in the recently inaugurated Liangzhu campus in East ­China's Zhejiang Province. As the nation's first comprehensive national institution for higher artistic education, the art academy mirrors the evolution of contemporary Chinese art and artistic education over the last century.

Gao Shiming, president of the academy, told the Global Times that Chinese President Xi Jinping's emphasis on the need to combine fine traditional culture with the Marxist stand, viewpoint and approach, also known as the "second integration," holds significant implications for art education. In addition, humanity is entering the "second Renaissance," to which China is making global contributions. 

At a meeting on cultural inheritance and development in June, Xi called for the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with traditional Chinese culture, known as the "second integration," which builds on the Communist Party of China's "first integration" of theoretical synthesis - the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific reality, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Ma Yifu, a renowned Chinese scholar, once asserted that Marxism has reactivated a socialist gene that exists in Chinese traditional cultural thought and social history, Gao said. 

Common core values

Traditional Chinese culture and Marxism share common core values, such as the concept of equality. Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming's proposal of "cultivating moral consciousness, envisioning every individual as a saint," aligns with Marx's perspective on equality.

Similarly, the integration of Marxism and China's fine traditional culture has been vividly manifested in Chinese art, placing the people at the center and elevating them as the social subjects.

For instance, in the 1950s and 1950s, the Zhejiang school of figure painting, led by Fang Zengxian, employed techniques traditionally used for emperors, bodhisattvas and flora to portray ordinary farmers. This marked a significant period in China's millennia-old art history.

From its inception, the China Academy of Art envisioned an academic mission of "introducing Western art, organizing Chinese art, reconciling Eastern and Western art, and creating contemporary art." Over the last 95 years, the institution has walked alongside the history of modern Chinese art, responding to national crises and reinventing itself in the face of contemporary challenges.

During this period, two scholarly ideas have consistently unfolded: One represented by the inaugural dean, Lin Fengmian, which embodies the "integration of Chinese and Western styles." The other school of thought, pioneered by figures like Huang Binhong and Zhao Wuji, follows the path of "innovation within tradition." Zhao created a form of modern painting from within the folds of Chinese tradition. He activated certain elements of Chinese tradition by using modern art, creating an alternative, distinct and unique form of modern painting that gained global recognition.

"The last 95 years have seen the China Academy of Art charting a path in modern art education deeply rooted in the Chinese soil, reflecting a journey of artistic revival that is both grounded in tradition and independently innovative," Gao said. 

What does a Renaissance require? "Prosperous technology, flourishing arts, developed commerce and a gathering of talents - we have all these elements now," Gao said.

'Second Renaissance'

He explained that the first Renaissance was catalyzed by an external factor - the Age of Discovery. Today, the internet serves as the great navigation of the 21st century. People in the world are not just witnessing a Renaissance in China but a global Renaissance in which China has started contributing to the world. 

In the 21st century, art education in China has taken on a more significant role, serving as a catalyst for societal innovation. The current Chinese society craves innovation, creativity and self-transcendence. Igniting the primitive innovative capabilities of the entire nation is crucial. 

"I often tell students not to confine themselves to being artists within the art realm but to become artists of the world," Gao said, adding that contemporary society demands the need for not just traditional artists but countless art professionals with the ability to innovate and imagine, solving real-world problems. This is the fundamental goal of the China Academy of Art - to foster a culture in which the entire art community contributes to the construction of a beautiful China and the high-quality development of the nation.

In the era of the first ­Renaissance, the world was not peaceful. Today, the world faces constant conflicts, making culture and art even more crucial as forces of reflection and reconciliation, guiding people into a more essential and expansive realm, allowing humanity a sense of transcendence.

The great French writer Flaubert once said, "Art and science met at the foot of the mountain and parted ways at the summit." The difficulty lies in people's journey not yet "reaching the summit," as people have technologized science and turned tools into technology. 

Gao believes there's no need to rush; scientists and artists can engage in more philosophical exchanges. Simultaneously, people can start with specific initiatives, such as promoting a course called "illusion." 

Scientists delve into the internal and physiological mechanisms of illusions, while artists design various illusions. This is a tangible course ­illustrating the fusion of science and art. 

From another perspective, in the era of general artificial intelligence, people might leverage AI to become individuals with more extensive space and creative capabilities, akin to Da Vinci's versatility. 

"As artificial intelligence advances, human artistic intelligence also grows," he said.

The highly anticipated Indonesian cultural festival kicked off in the opera hall of Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music recently to promote cultural exchanges between China and Indonesia and encourage people to learn more about the traditional Indonesian instrument the Kolintang.

Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun, delivered a speech saying that the Indonesian cultural performance held in Beijing is particularly important for the promotion of Indonesia's rich and colorful culture and enhancement of civil relations between Indonesia and China. 

Oratmangun also stated that through this event, he hopes that the Kolintang instrument will be recognized by UNESCO in 2024.

Accompanied by the Kolintang, Oratmangun and his wife sang the Chinese song The Moon Represents My Heart, which resonated with the audiences and received thunderous applause.

This event serves as a bridge for cultural exchange between the two countries, enhancing cultural exchange and mutual learning, and strengthening the friendship between the two peoples, while promoting the healthy development of bilateral relations.