1 The harm of the new crown epidemic is rare in history
As of December 30, Beijing time, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of the new crown in the world exceeded 80 million, and the cumulative number of deaths exceeded 1.77 million. The wide impact, severe harm, and difficulty in prevention and control of this global public health crisis are rare in human history. The United Nations has politically characterized the COVID-19 pandemic as the most serious international crisis since World War II. The WHO calls it one of the most serious public health crises in human history. The International Monetary Fund has economically and financially characterized it as the "Great Quarantine" economic and financial crisis in 2020 after the "Great Depression" in 1929 and the "Great Recession" in 2008.
The United States and Europe have always been swaying between "helping life and saving the economy", resulting in the out-of-control epidemic and various deep-seated social problems have been exposed one after another. The International Monetary Fund expects a global recession of about 5%, while the United States and Europe are recessions of 6.5% and 8.4% respectively. Countries have invested huge amounts of funds to help them, causing huge deficits and approaching the "fiscal cliff". The World Bank report believes that the epidemic has put 150 million people in absolute poverty around the world, and nearly 2 billion people's employment has been affected to varying degrees.
2 China has made decisive contributions to the world's fight against the epidemic
China's outstanding anti-epidemic achievements and economic development are the biggest highlight of the international situation in 2020 and attracting worldwide attention. China shares its anti-epidemic experience with the world without reservation. President Xi Jinping has intensively carried out heads of state diplomacy, took responsibility for the country, fulfilled his responsibilities to the world, and made new contributions to defending national interests and maintaining global stability. China launched the largest global humanitarian action since the founding of New China, provided anti-epidemic assistance to more than 150 countries and 9 international organizations, and sent 36 medical expert teams to 34 countries in need. China has leveraged its advantages in the country with the largest medical assets and provided more than 200 billion masks, 2 billion protective clothing, and 800 million testing kits to various countries. China actively promotes drug and vaccine research and development cooperation and international joint prevention and control, extending the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind to the field of health and health. The "Belt and Road" cooperation has shown strong resilience and vigorous vitality. The number of containers transported by China-Europe freight trains has increased by more than 50% year-on-year, becoming a "steel camel fleet" that helps countries along the route work together to fight the epidemic. China is the only major economy to achieve positive growth, has become the main engine of world economic recovery in the post-epidemic era, and is an important guarantee for world peace and stability, prosperity and growth.
3 RCEP signed, and the negotiations on the China-EU Investment Agreement were completed
0, Singapore's Brazilian Banerang Container Terminal, photographed on August 17. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Deng Zhiwei)
On November 15, 15 member states signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP). The region has a population of nearly 3 billion and an industrial output value of about 5.3 trillion US dollars (a total of 4.3 trillion US dollars in Europe and the United States), making it the world's free trade zone with the greatest development potential. In the first three quarters of 2020, ASEAN became China's largest trading partner historicly. China's total trade volume with other RCEP member countries reached US$1055 billion, accounting for about one-third of China's total foreign trade. A huge trading volume will produce a huge "trade creation" effect. Asia is not only a huge production base, but also an important scientific development and innovation base.
International public opinion points out that the center of gravity of the world economy is accelerating its shift from the west to the east. The future of the world economy in the Asia-Pacific region will contribute 60% of global economic growth in the next decade.
Last night, the leaders of China and Europe jointly announced that the negotiations on the China-EU Investment Agreement will be completed as scheduled, which will provide greater market access, a higher level of business environment, stronger institutional guarantees, and brighter cooperation prospects for China and Europe to invest in each other, and will also effectively drive the world economic recovery in the post-epidemic period.
4 The situation in the Middle East is even more turbulent
Trump unilaterally withdrew from Iran's comprehensive nuclear agreement, which was unanimously opposed by the international community, including France, Germany, Britain and other allies. Iran criticizes the United States for its implementation of "national and economic terrorism." At the beginning of the year, the United States used drones to kill senior Iranian general Soleimani. In late November, Fakrizade, a famous Iranian nuclear scientist, was assassinated by a long-range automatic machine gun. The situation in the Middle East is on the verge of explosion again. Trump once summoned the military to discuss using force against Iran, but was tried hard to dissuade him.
The United States "withdrew" in the Middle East, and the Sunnis and Shiites in Islam are in a stalemate.Israel has established diplomatic relations with some Arab countries, and its fingers are directed at Iran. Türkiye explores natural gas resources in disputed waters with Greece and Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and purchases Russian S-400 missile defense system. The EU and the United States have successively imposed sanctions on Turkey, which is the first time in the history of the United States, allies and NATO. Turkey angrily said that the sanctions "will definitely fail." French teachers were "beheaded" by terrorists for teaching Mohammed's cartoons, and terrorist attacks occurred one after another in Nice and Vienna. The EU summit resolution will never compromise, and France vowed to defend "freedom of speech." Anti-Western marches broke out in several Islamic countries. Iraq launches a campaign to pursue war crimes in the United States.
5 The US election intensifies political polarization and people's division
The Trump administration implements the "America First" and unilateralism policies, launches a global trade war, and withdraws from the group and abolishes the contract. The international political and economic and financial order has been severely damaged, and the United States has fallen into unprecedented isolation. Trump is unwilling to fight the epidemic. The United States has become the "episode" of the epidemic after Europe. At the end of 2020, the number of infections and deaths was nearly 20 million and 350,000 respectively, ranking first in the world, far exceeding the number of casualties during World War II.
When the most turbulent and uncertain presidential election in American history came to an end, the Trump campaign filed lawsuits one after another, demanding that the election results be overturned. Fierce political parties' struggles and social divisions are spiraling up, and voters from both parties are constantly experiencing large-scale conflicts on the streets. The political polarization and social rift in the United States are at its worst, and polarization spreads across all classes. The American people's political trust has reached its lowest level in history.
6 The strategic confrontation between the United States and Russia continues to escalate
Trump proposed the idea of improving relations with Russia to reduce strategic spending in the United States in his early years, which was strongly opposed by traditional domestic forces and European allies. Trump has successively withdrawn from the Intermediate-Fuel Treaty and the Open Air Treaty, threatening to suspend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty from 2021 and establish a space force, which has seriously impacted the strategic balance between the United States and Russia and caused serious uneasiness in the international community. The Trump administration has continuously increased sanctions on Russia, and has put pressure on Germany to suspend the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project with Russia, and sanctions against European companies involved in the construction of the pipeline.
Russia wield the big stick of sanctions and strategic coercion against the United States to counteract, actively develop strategic deterrent forces, and held the largest strategic exercise after the Cold War. Russian and American fighter jets and warships "have been approaching dangerously" many times. Russia has launched a strategic battle with the United States in the Middle East, selling the S-400 missile defense system to Türkiye, tearing a gap in NATO's military integration. Russia firmly supports the Belarusian government to smash the color revolutionary conspiracy between the United States and Europe, and the United States and Russia are in a deadlock on the Ukraine issue.
7 U.S.-EU relations have deteriorated unprecedentedly
On December 24, the UK and the EU reached a historic agreement on a series of cooperative relations issues including trade and security, so that both sides avoid losing both sides due to the "no-deal Brexit". The picture shows the UK officially "Brexit" on the evening of January 31, changing the EU territory and having a far-reaching impact on the political and economic structure of Europe and even the world. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Stephen Cheng)
Trump successively proposed "NATO is outdated", threatening to withdraw from NATO and have been criticizing and splitting the EU, praising Brexit. Trump has suppressed European allies to increase military spending and pay protection fees to the United States, and the global trade war is first targeting allies. Every time Trump goes to Europe, his personal relationship with the leaders of major European powers continues to deteriorate, which has affected the overall atmosphere of European and American relations. The EU is deeply dissatisfied with Trump's unilateral move to withdraw from the group and abolish the treaty, especially the WHO, as well as withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq and favoring Israel. After the outbreak of the epidemic, the United States and Europe did not have any consultation or coordination, and the competition for sanitary products and vaccines was very fierce.
Biden listed improving relations with allies as his primary foreign policy goal, which is in line with the EU's expectations for the United States. However, there are differences in the views of the United States and Europe on the world, and there are differences in domestic and foreign policies. Market and industrial competition remains, and the differences in interests and the struggle between control and anti-control will not change.
8 China's scientific and technological development achievements have exploded
In the early morning of December 17, the Chang'e-5 returner carried lunar samples and landed safely in the pre-ordered area of Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia.Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen
Chang'e-5 lunar exploration project has created many new records in China's aerospace: for the first time, it realizes automatic sampling and packaging on the lunar surface, takes off on extraterrestrial celestial bodies for the first time, docking in the lunar orbit for the first time, it realizes storage, research and analysis of samples for the first time, and brings samples back to Earth for the first time. China's first operational, full-sea-deep autonomous remote-controlled submersible "Haidou-1", achieved four 10,000-meter dives in the Mariana Trench, with a maximum dive depth of 10,907 meters. It completed the first 10,000-meter sea trial and experimental application task, filling the gap in China's 10,000-meter operating unmanned submersible, and created many firsts. The "Struggler" manned submersible successfully sat at the bottom in the Mariana Trench with a depth of 10,909 meters.
Beidou system entered a new era of global service, the quantum computing prototype "Nine Chapters" was launched, the Gaofen 14 satellite entered a predetermined orbit, the third-generation nuclear power "Hualong 1" achieved great success, the new generation of "artificial sun" discharged, the Mars rover "Tianwen 1" operated well, exceeding 100 million kilometers from the earth, the "China Sky Eye" (500-meter-caliber spherical radio telescope) was open to the world, and the new crown vaccine was ready for large-scale production.
China's high-tech achievements "blow up", fully demonstrating China's scientific and technological strength. The United States' unreasonable suppression of Huawei's 5G technology on the grounds of false so-called national security has further confirmed its anxious mentality in the face of the rapid development of China's high-tech technology.
9 G20 has become the most active and promising international organization
Trump's "America First" policy has caused great damage to the international order and international cooperation. Under the obstruction of the United States, important international organizations not only failed to play their due role, but also fell into a state of failure. The UN Security Council summit was aborted, Western countries' G7 did nothing, and the WHO was restricted due to the US withdrawal and slander attacks. Under this situation, the G20 took the lead in taking action and responded actively, playing an irreplaceable role.
At the G20 Leaders’ Special Summit on Responding to COVID-19, President Xi Jinping introduced China’s experience, elaborated on China’s propositions, and put forward China’s initiatives. At the first phase of the 15th G20 Leaders' Summit, President Xi put forward four suggestions, including building a global firewall for anti-epidemic prevention, smoothing the operation of the world economy, giving full play to the role of the digital economy, and achieving more inclusive development. The G20 Leaders Riyadh Summit Declaration put forward the goal of "committing to playing a leading role in jointly building a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive post-COVID-19 era." The international community highly praised China's contribution to promoting the G20 to play a leading role.
10 Racial conflicts expose chronic human rights problems in the United States
On June 8, a man held a slogan "Black Lives Matter" near the White House in Washington, USA to protest violent police enforcement. Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
The video of George Floyd, a black American, being "killed" by a white policeman using his knee to lock his throat. Protracted and large-scale protests against violent law enforcement by police and anti-racial discrimination broke out across the United States, fierce conflicts with the police and evolved into mass smashing, looting and burning incidents, which then developed into a campaign to overthrow the "great man" statues of US President Washington, and a campaign to liquidate the sins of colonial history. Some cities even named the streets "Black Lives Matter". The true face and double standards of the United States' "human rights defender" are fully exposed.
As the US protest movement deepens, protest movements have also taken place in Africa, the Middle East and even Europe to protest violent police law enforcement and liquidate colonial crimes, and many statues of "great men and celebrities" in Britain were pushed down. The African Union passed a resolution condemning racial discrimination in the United States, and African countries collectively demanded that the UN Human Rights Commission discuss racism and condemn racial discrimination atrocities in the United States.
Original title: Finding cooperation and confidence in crisis and turmoil - Top 10 international news inventory in 2020
Source: Beijing Daily
Process Editor: u004
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