The latest COVID-19 variant JN.1 is spreading around the world, leading to growing concerns in Chinese society, following a recent severe wave of respiratory infections. Chinese experts estimate that the variant will cause more infections in the near future, but it is not likely to seriously worsen the current situation.
Named JN.1, this variant was first identified in Luxembourg, before spreading to the UK, Iceland, France, and the US.
By the end of October, JN.1 made up less than 0.1 percent of SARS-CoV-2 viruses circulating in the US. But as of December 8, 2023, the ratio climbed to 15-29 percent, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The US estimated that COVID-19 infections are likely to increase in the next month.
Data in the UK also suggested that the variant is spreading more than every other known strain, making up one in 13 cases in England last month.
The JN.1 variant is part of the BA.2.86 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with an additional L455S mutation in the RBD region. Early studies have shown that BA.2.86 has similar immune escape capabilities as the XBB variants. However, recent research has found that the L455S mutation in the JN.1 variant further enhances its immune evasion ability, allowing it to partially escape the humoral immune response induced by XBB.1.5 breakthrough infections, Lu Hongzhou, head of the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
According to current research, BA.2.86, first identified in August 2023, carries more than 30 mutations in the spike (S) protein compared to the XBB and BA.2 variants, indicating high potential for immune evasion.
Another name of JN.1 is BA.2.86.1.1 and there is only a single change between JN.1 and BA.2.86 in the spike protein, according to current research.
A recent study by Japanese scientists published on bioRxiv on December 8 evaluated the virological characteristics of the omicron subvariant JN.1, which shows robust immune evasion ability compared to other variants. This could be due to the acquisition of the L455S mutation in the spike protein. The study noted that JN.1 has the ability to become a dominant variant worldwide in the future.
But so far, there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health compared to other variants, according to the US CDC.
Currently, the XBB variant of COVID-19 is still the main strain of the local infections in China. Many clinical doctors told the media that they had witnessed an increase in COVID-19 infections recently and they predicted this wave of infections will last till late January 2024 with mortality and severe illness rates likely to increase.
"Since December last year, SARS-CoV-2 has been co-circulating with other respiratory pathogens in China, leading to many domestic residents in the country having experienced two or even three infections. Existing research data indicates that such infection experiences can generate strong and broad-spectrum neutralizing antibodies against different subvariants of Omicron. Furthermore, although JN.1 has increased immune escape ability, there is currently no evidence to suggest an increase in the pathogenicity of the JN.1 variant," Lu explained.
"Therefore, we speculate that the future prevalence of JN.1 in our country may temporarily increase the number of COVID-19 patients and burden hospitals, but it will not significantly worsen the ongoing respiratory disease outbreaks," he said.
Lu reiterated the necessity of vaccination as it is an effective method to improve the speed and intensity of antibody production, providing better protection for the body.
Authorities in multiple cities across China such as Shanghai and Tianjin have sent notices to advise local residents to take COVID-19 vaccines targeting the XBB variant, urging eligible individuals to get the vaccine in a timely manner to enhance their protection against the virus.
Train tickets for the first day of the upcoming New Year's Day holidays went on sale on Saturday, with some popular routes sold out within seconds, data from online travel platforms showed.
As of 10 am, multiple train services departing from Beijing to cities of Zhengzhou and Wuhan, from Nanjing to Hefei and Hangzhou, among others, were already sold out. Notably, tickets for several popular routes were sold out within seconds, Tongcheng Travel Holdings said in a statement it sent to the Global Times.
This year's New Year's Day holidays extends from December 30, 2023, to January 1, 2024.
According to an analysis by the Tongcheng Research Institute, the combination of family visits and tourism during the upcoming holidays, coupled with the popularity of "ice and snow" tourism, is expected to increase traffic on high-speed rail routes from cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Zhengzhou to popular winter destinations including Harbin, Shenyang, Urumqi, and Hulun Buir.
Additionally, there is anticipated high demand for dedicated "ski trains" from Beijing to Zhangjiakou in North China's Hebei Province during the holiday period, Tongcheng said.
An earlier report released by Tongcheng showed that travel enthusiasm for the New Year's Day holidays has seen a year-on-year increase of 465 percent in the seven days leading up to Monday.
In addition, higher hotel booking volumes for the New Year's Eve were observed in cities like Harbin, Nanjing, Wuhan, Shanghai, and Beijing, travel platform Qunar said in a statement it sent to the Global Times on Saturday.
Over the past few days, many travelers have already begun making reservations for tickets through third-party platforms. As of Friday, the pre-booked travel orders for 2024 New Year's Day holidays' train tickets have shown a remarkable 194-percent year-on-year increase compared to the same period last year, according to data from the online travel agency Trip.com.
With the holidays approaching and the "ice and snow" tourism season gaining momentum, enthusiasm for travel remains unabated despite falling temperatures, promising to further stimulate consumption growth, experts said.
A Beijing resident surnamed Yao told the Global Times that he had booked tickets for his family to Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The primary purpose is to visit his parents at home, and additionally, they plan to take their four-year-old son to the Harbin Ice-Snow World. He said that this would be his son's first visit to the theme park, with the entire family eagerly anticipating the trip.
Another Beijing-resident surnamed Fu said that she plans to go skiing in Zhangjiakou with her friends during the upcoming holiday. "Skiing, hot springs, and gourmet food will be the three main themes of our trip," Fu told the Global Times.
The New Year's Day holidays is a traditional golden season for consumption. Meanwhile, it is the first complete winter consumption season after the pandemic, and it is expected to extend retail spending momentum of consumption in the year, driving a spike in winter-themed spending, Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Saturday.
Per data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday, the service industry experienced rapid growth in November, as year-on-year growth of the national service industry production index came in at 9.3 percent, accelerating 1.6 percentage points compared to the previous month.
Breaking down by industry, the production index of the accommodation and catering industry increased by 30.6 percent year-on-year, showing a 9.3 percentage point acceleration compared to the previous month.
Total retail sales of consumer goods reached 4.25 trillion yuan in the month, representing a year-on-year growth of 10.1 percent, accelerating by 2.5 percentage points compared to October, NBS data showed.
In recent years, the "ice and snow" consumption season has been rapidly growing across China, especially in the northern regions. It typically kicks off in winter and extends through to the following spring, Zhang said.
China's "ice and snow" consumption market has now developed a relatively complete consumer ecosystem, including tourism, sports, related equipment, and culture, he said, noting that compared to summer consumption, the development of "ice and snow" consumption has only recently gained steam but it possesses strong potential for future growth.
Rescue and disaster relief forces, medical teams and urgent supplies are pouring into Northwest China's Gansu Province and the neighboring Qianghai Province after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted a Gansu county at a depth of 10 kilometers at 11:59 pm Monday, causing 127 deaths as of press time.
More than 700 people were injured in the two provinces and dozens more were reported missing; more than 155,000 houses were damaged or collapsed, according to media reports. Infrastructure related to water, electricity, telecommunication, and roads around the epicenter of Jishishan county of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu have also been damaged to varying degrees.
President Xi Jinping has urged all-out search and rescue efforts and proper arrangements for affected people to ensure the safety of people's lives and property. He also urged allocation of relief supplies to the affected regions as soon as possible, repair of damaged infrastructure such as electricity, communications, transportation and heating, and proper accommodation of the affected people to ensure their basic living needs, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management allocated on Tuesday 200 million yuan ($28 million) of central emergency response fund to the quake-stricken areas.
The State Council's Earthquake Relief Command and the Ministry of Emergency Management have raised the national earthquake emergency response to Level II. The national disaster relief emergency response has also been elevated to Level III.
A Y-20 large transport aircraft from the Air Force of the People's Liberation Army Western Theater Command arrived in Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu, on Tuesday noon to deliver the emergency command group and supplies.
China's home-developed Wing Loong-2H emergency relief unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) have also been deployed, the Global Times learned from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. Upon arrival at the disaster zone, the drones will carry out emergency communication support and disaster reconnaissance, among other tasks.
More than 1,500 firefighters, 1,500 police officers, and 1,000 PLA soldiers have been dispatched to the disaster-stricken area, Gansu authorities revealed. Coordinating departments also urgently transported the first batch of emergency supplies to the affected region, including cotton tents, folding beds, blankets, stoves, and more.
The National Health Commission (NHC) sent out a team of medical experts and ordered medical teams from nearby provinces to assist the affected region. More than 100 ambulances were dispatched to transfer the injured.
NHC is working together with local medical staff to systematically screen for hidden injuries, and has already developed individualized diagnosis and treatment plans.
A total of 386 medics from hospitals within Gansu have formed 19 teams to aid the rescue and treatment in Jishishan county and other places in Linxia prefecture.
According to Xinhua, 279 out of 314 telecommunication base stations in Jishishan county have resumed operation and power supply returned for 88 percent of local households as of Tuesday afternoon.
At a temporary shelter in Dahe village, Jishishan coutnty, the Global Times saw local government staff preparing hot food, drinks and instant noodles for victims. About 130 tents were built and each can accommodate five people.
Dahejia Middle School is located in the severely affected Jishishan county. The school principal, surnamed Ma, told the media that all 2,100 students and 190 teachers have safely returned home without injuries. "We have conducted frequent drills at our school for fire and earthquake safety. In critical situations, our teachers were able to quickly evacuate the students," Ma said, adding that more than 1,500 students and all the teachers in school live on campus.
The principal recalled that when the tremor began late Monday night, they first heard a loud bang and then realized that the entire building was shaking. "The teachers soon found that many doors couldn't be opened as they were deformed by the quake. Several male teachers worked together to strike open all the doors." As the school lost power amid the quake, students helped each other by shaking everyone awake, while the teachers ran into each dormitory to evacuate the students. "It only took about 5 minutes to evacuate the entire school," Ma said.
Preliminary analysis of the cause of the earthquake indicates a thrust rupture. Within a 200-kilometer radius of the epicenter, there have been three quakes measuring magnitude 6 or higher since 1900.
There also remains possibility of strong aftershocks with magnitude 5 or higher in the epicenter in the coming days, based on seismic zone analysis, local officials in Gansu warned.
Hours after the quake in Gansu, another 5.5-magnitude quake struck the city of Artux in the neighboring Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 9:46 am on Tuesday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. No casualties have been reported as of press time.
Relief complex
Analysts explained that the relatively large casualties and losses resulted from its high intensity and the shallow depth of epicenter. The seismic resistance of the affected-region's buildings is lower than that of the developed regions, the epicenter is a densely populated county, and the timing of midnight also aggravated the situation.
Secondary disasters also pose challenges to the disaster relief. Mountain landslide occurred in a village in Minhe county neighboring Jishishan, which trapped residents and buried several houses.
Yan Wei, deputy director of China's civilian rescue organization the Blue Sky Rescue Team's Gansu branch, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the disaster situation in the local region is severe as 70 to 80 percent of the houses have collapsed in areas around the epicenter.
Yan said that local communication and transportation were also damaged to different degrees, but rescue vehicles are still able to reach the epicenter despite the damages.
Experts reached by the Global Times also warned that the sweeping cold wave and the drastic drop in temperatures have posed another major challenge. The typical golden rescue time window for earthquakes is 72 hours, but this time it is likely to be shortened due to the bitter cold weather, analysts said.
The temperatures drop to -14 C at night, which is a big problem, said Yan. "Many villagers were left without shelters after their houses collapsed. The rescue forces, right after arrival, started building hundreds of tents. They also provided instant noodles and hot water. The situation is improving."
South Korean soccer star Son Heung-min's goal celebration in their 3-0 away win over China on Tuesday aroused controversy on Chinese social media.
Chinese team was defeated by South Korea in their second group match of the second stage of 2026 World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers held in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.
Spurs star Son, who captains South Korean national team, bagged a first half brace before setting up teammate Jung Seung-hyun to add a third, putting South Korea on top of the group and in pole position to a secure spot at the 2026 World Cup.
However, Son's goal celebration caused uproars on Chinese social media with fans saying his gesture is highly disrespectful to the crowd.
Playing in front of a sell-out crowd of more than 40,000 in Shenzhen, Son opened the scoring with a penalty on the 11th minute. In celebration, the man of the match rushed close to the stand and made a gesture of shushing to the Chinese fans. The gesture was met with jeers from the crowd.
Chinese strikers Wu Lei and Tan Long immediately went to argue with Son on the pitch over his provoking gesture.
"We need to respond to Son's disrespectful gesture by scoring and winning the match," said one user on China's Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo.
"It was a really difficult game today and obviously coming to China, it's a great experience and they have amazing fans," said Son after the match.
Having defeated Thailand 2-1 in the first match, China now stands third in Group C, level on points with the second-placed Thailand.
The top two teams from the nine groups progress to the third qualifying stage for the 2026 World Cup in North America.
After disqualification in the 100m hurdles final sparked widespread discussion, Chinese national team athlete Wu Yanni posted an apology on Monday, expressing respect for the referee's final decision, and a determination to face failure and start over.
Chinese netizens expressed support for Wu and encouraged her to prepare better for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
According to media reports, an unexpected incident occurred in the women's 100m hurdles final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sunday. After the gun went off, Wu appeared to have set off early.
Following discussion, the referees decided to let all the athletes compete first and make the judgment afterwards. In the end, Chinese athlete Lin Yuwei crossed the finish line first with a time of 12.74 seconds, achieving a personal best. Wu closely followed with a time of 12.77 seconds, finishing second. However, the referee panel ultimately made the decision to disqualify Wu from the event.
"I am very sorry that my result was disqualified due to a false start, disappointing everyone's expectations. I deeply apologize to all my friends who have supported me and to the competitors in tonight's race. I respect the referee's final decision, respect the rules and the competition, and congratulate my teammates and opponents who finished the race," Wu wrote on her official account on Weibo, Chinese Twitter-like social media platform.
After the race, my coach and I have conducted a preliminary review. I need to improve my starting technique and adjust my mentality. I have burdened myself with a heavy load, which ultimately crushed me. But I will not give up. What sports has taught me is to get up where I fall, accept failure, face failure, and start over, Wu said in the post.
Netizens expressed their support and encouragement for Wu, with one saying that "mistakes in sports competitions can be understood, but what's more important is the intention to bring glory to the country. Wherever you fall, get up from there. We hope Wu can adjust her mentality and strive for the Paris Olympics."
The first leg of the 8th EU-China Literary Festival took place at the Xi Yue Tang Library, Cultural, and Creative Park in Beijing, on Tuesday, to further deepen contemporary literary dialogue between China and Europe.
With the theme "Voices of the Present: Contemporary Literature," and an emphasis on the diversity of the contemporary literary landscape, the festival aims to depict the perspectives and cultural nuances of contemporary European writers.
Renowned Greek author Amanda Michalopoulou, participated in the 8th EU-China Literature Festival along with well-known Chinese writer Sheng Keyi. Together they engaged in a literary dialogue, on issues related to "Identity and Belonging" in contemporary European literature. Diplomats from the Greek Embassy attended the event.
Michalopoulou also discussed "Gender and Sexuality" with the Chinese writer and literary critic Wang Hongtu on Thursday at Shanghai's Fandeng Bookstore - C·PARK.
Aside from the writer dialogue, people have the opportunity to enjoy reading Greek books and participate in the "European literature reading corners" in six well-known bookstores throughout the country in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou, in a series of events that promoted cultural and literary exchanges between China, Greece, and Europe.
The reading corners activity runs until November 30.
In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, proposed to comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization - the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development.
Advancing Chinese modernization is a systematic endeavor and also an exploratory undertaking. It is through this framework that we wish to illustrate the process of the Chinese path to modernization through a series of landmark projects, touching stories, and visionary plans.
Recently, Global Times reporters visited different key locations across China and detailed their observations in five stories to showcase the diverse aspects of Chinese modernization.
In the first installment, Global Times reporters traveled to Zhangjiakou city in North China's Hebei Province, one of the cities that hosted the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, and met with the designer of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway line, gaining an insight into the country's modernization of a massive population through the kaleidoscope of the Chinese railway industry's rapid development. Over a century ago, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway line, constructed under the leadership of the "Father of Chinese Railways," Zhan Tianyou, became China's first independently designed and built railway line.
However, he probably had never imagined that a century later, advanced Fuxing bullet trains at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour would be running between Zhangjiakou and China's capital city of Beijing, on this line - one of the smartest railway liens in the country, which became one of the highlights of the Beijing Winter Olympics, drawing global attention.
Behind the huge contrast is the development of the innovation of China's railway lines, stands the Chinese path to modernization, which is the modernization of a huge population.
In a country with a large population and a vast territory, many regions face transportation challenges, especially those that are impoverished. However, China has embarked on a unique path of innovation in this field, emerging as a world leader in the high-speed railway industry.
The railway network spans across China, and even across the world, providing people with a fast, convenient, and safe mode of transportation, propelling them toward Chinese modernization.
A tale of two cities
Wang Jiujun stands on a tower at the Great Wall in Zhangjiakou, facing Beijing, but his line of vision is obscured by mountains far away.
More than 110 years ago, these mountains stood as a transport network barrier, making the plan to construct a railway line connecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou an impossible mission. Some people pessimistically opined that "the person who could build such a railway line in China had not yet been born."
The success of the railway line, which was completed in 1909, shattered the misconception that "Chinese people were incapable of building their own railways."
Exactly 110 years later, Wang, the deputy director of the Transportation Safety Department of the China National Railway Group Beijing-Zhangjiakou Intercity Railway Co Ltd, would often think about Zhan's story while resolving new challenges he met in the process of building the new Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway line, with high-speed trains capable of traveling at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The first challenge that Wang and his team had to overcome was how to make the high-speed railway line pass through the core area of the megacity of Beijing using underground tunnels.
A 6,022-meter long tunnel had to traverse an extremely complex underground system of the city. The tunnel intersected with three Beijing subway lines, ran parallel to another line, and crossed underneath numerous major urban roads and underground utility networks.
"If we were to compare Beijing to a human body, we would be performing a bridge surgery in a densely vascularized area," Wang explained.
To conquer such challenges, Wang and his team were brave enough to dare to push the boundaries of railway construction, overcoming some world-level difficulties by tunneling through densely populated areas in Beijing and integrating the new railway line into China's modern high-speed rail network.
With the efforts of over 500 construction workers and within a period of more than 1,000 days, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway line was finally completed and inaugurated in its entirety in 2019.
Based on the BeiDou satellite system and the GIS (Geographic Information System), this high-speed railway line achieved intelligence in construction, operation, scheduling, maintenance, and emergency response.
Various passenger-friendly technological designs made the line a popular attraction for athletes and media professionals alike during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Even after the Olympics, the high-speed railway line continues to provide "Olympic-standard" service to every passenger. With the help of high-speed rail, the winter sports industry in the region has also gained new opportunities.
"Previously, it took over two hours to travel between Beijing and Zhangjiakou, but now the journey has been reduced to one hour, or even 50 minutes. Many people come to Zhangjiakou, to Chongli county, to experience skiing and feel the atmosphere and enthusiasm of the Winter Olympics," Wang said.
Today, plans to further expand the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway line are underway, traversing the mountains and across the grasslands, to finally be connected to Xilinhot city, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. "This way, we can contribute our efforts to the local development and rural revitalization of eastern Inner Mongolia," Wang said.
Deep in the mountains, Wang and his team continue this arduous work, finding ways to surmount arising challenges and difficulties.
"Resolving these difficulties is like eating nuts, right? Each time you crack one open, there is a tasty reward inside. There are always intermediate achievements," Wang concluded.
A witness of progress
With a population of over 1.4 billion people, China has experience in massive population mobility. In Wang Jiujun's memory, the journey back to home before the Spring Festival used to be a difficult one.
"During the Spring Festival travel rush, people would cram into trains through the doors and squeeze themselves through the windows. It was a real struggle to get on the train, and once on board, it was so crowded that you couldn't even touch the floor. No to mention that the green trains were so slow," he said as he reminisced on the bitter-sweet memories.
Developing high-speed railways has become one of the effective solutions to alleviate the difficulties of the Spring Festival Travel rush, what is considered to be the world's largest annual human migration.
By the end of 2022, China boasted of a railway network spanning 155,000 kilometers, with over 42,000 kilometers dedicated to high-speed rail. This vast network is also being rapidly expanded.
The railway networks are taking people home, as well as taking them to their dreams.
Over recent decades, the "green train" which runs through the Daliang Mountains in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, became an important part of the production activities and lives of the local people, heralding the transformation of the Yi people's way of life.
In December 2022, the new 915-kilometer-long Chengdu-Kunming railway line went into operation, bringing high-speed trains to the hinterland of the Daliang Mountains.
But the traditional "green trains" still serve as important capillaries, ferrying passengers to every corner of the country. In the vast forests of the Greater Hinggan Mountains in northern China, the slow-moving trains not only continue to transport residents of the forest farms to various destinations they need to reach for their livelihoods, but have also become favored tourist route, allowing urban dwellers accustomed to a fast-paced life to slow down.
Chinese high-speed rail has provided the Chinese people with an excellent travel experience and a sense of happiness. The diversification and optimization of online and offline ticket purchase channels have addressed the issue of ticket scarcity. High-quality services and facilities have resolved the issue of travel fatigue.
During the 2023 Spring Festival travel rush, the national railway network in China transported a total of 348 million passengers, with an average of 8.7 million passengers per day. There were 11 days during which the daily passenger volume exceeded 10 million, according to the China News Agency.
A calling card of openness
With the rapid development of China's railway network and the deepening of high-quality construction under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the country's opening-up efforts have expanded continuously. International cooperation has achieved significant results, with more Chinese railway lines taking root in Asia, Europe, Africa, and other regions, yielding fruitful outcomes.
"China has always been an open country. Chinese people desire to make friends, help others, and use our wisdom to assist in global development," Wang said. "That is why we have the BRI and have established railway cooperation with multiple countries regionally and globally."
The China-Laos Railway, for example, has officially opened, and created a transportation artery linking China' southwestern region with Southeast Asia. The opening of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway line will further promote Chinese high-speed rail globally. This will allow more people to see, experience, and share the benefits of Chinese high-speed rail technology.
Moreover, the China-Europe freight trains, shuttling day and night, have rapidly transformed into a vibrant "golden gateway" and an important platform for China's participation in global openness, cooperation, and the construction of the BRI.
The building and upgrading of the railway linking Budapest in Hungary to Belgrade in Serbia, a major project under the BRI, also symbolizes the deep cooperation between China and Europe. The project, aiming to help the two countries build logistics hubs and enhance the construction of infrastructure to boost economic development, will significantly shorten travel time for passengers and cargo from the two cities when completed.
As China vigorously promotes its Chinese path to modernization, the Chinese railway network, as exemplified by high-speed rail, is also embracing open and mutually beneficial development, contributing even more to the building of a community of shared future for mankind.
"By cooperating with other countries and regions, Chinese high-speed rail development can allow more people greater access in travel and rich experiences," Wang said.
The Biden administration's approval of the transferring of cluster munitions to Ukraine has sparked widespread criticism and worry. While the bombs, along with the numerous deadly weapons the US and its Western allies have provided to Ukraine, put civilians and children there in grave danger, their manufacturers are probably busy counting money they've made from the Russia-Ukraine crisis while hoping that the conflict doesn't end any time soon.
War is "good for business," a recruiter for BlackRock told the O'Keefe Media Group in June, acknowledging how such turmoil can create opportunities for profit. BlackRock is one of the world's largest asset management company and holds shares in several defense industry enterprises.
The recruiter's words exposed the fact that Ukraine has unfortunately become a gold mine for the US military-industrial complex (MIC). Having seldom bought weapons abroad before the crisis, Ukraine became the world's third biggest arms importer in 2022, ranking fifth among the US' main arms export destinations, according to data from Statista.
It's hard to know exactly know how much money have flowed from the Ukraine frontline into the pockets of US weapon manufacturers. But the Global Times found that most of the MIC giants in the US have enjoyed an income surge or (and) market value increase amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The US is the biggest beneficiary of the conflict. By utilizing proxy war between Russia and Ukraine, the US continues to consolidate its geopolitical interests in Ukraine, and its military industrial enterprises make huge profits by selling weapons, said Yuan Zheng, a research fellow and deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at Chinese the Academy of Social Sciences.
"The US doesn't seem to mind the weapons bringing great loss and safety hazards to Ukraine and the rest of the world," Yuan told the Global Times.
A fruitful year
The US used to have dozens of defense contractors before the post-Cold War merger boom. Nowadays, there are only five MIC giants that jointly dominate the US' huge arms industry - Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.
The "Big Five" alone routinely split more than $150 billion in Pentagon contracts annually, or nearly 20 percent of the total Pentagon budget, said an article published by The Nation in May.
Ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis has brought the "Big Five" even more contracts. Lockheed Martin, for instance, won a $4.8 billion deal from the US Army for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, which "the US has sent in large numbers to Ukraine," reported Defense News in April.
Previously, the US Army had awarded Raytheon Missiles and Defense a contract worth "as much as $1.2 billion" to "deliver six National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System batteries for Ukraine," Defense News said in December 2022. In the same month, website Defense One quoted Greg Hayes, CEO of RTX (Raytheon), as saying that the company expected some $2.5 billion in replenishment weapons deals "over the next 12 months."
The disastrous year of 2022 was a fruitful one for the US MIC. Except for Boeing's market value shrinking because of its alleged "supply chain problems," the other four companies in the "Big Five" all increased by more than $10 billion in annual market value - Northrop Grumman added $16.4 billion, Lockheed Martin $16 billion, Raytheon Technologies $14.8 billion, and General Dynamics $10.8 billion, the Global Times found.
Except Boeing, the four aforementioned giants enjoyed good stock market performance in 2022. The share prices of Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon Technologies respectively grew by 37 percent, 26 percent, 24 percent, and 17 percent in that year.
The future looks promising as well for the US MIC, as the US House and Senate recently approved the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which earmarked a record $886 billion in spending. Some media sources predicted that almost half of the money will go to the arms manufacturers, so that the US government can "sustain its military advantage over China" and pay constant attention to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis is "a huge profit center for the big companies: Lockheed Martin and Raytheon and Boeing," says William Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft (Quincy Institute), where he focuses on the global arms trade and Pentagon spending. "At the moment, I think they're riding the wave," he told nonprofit news organization Analyst News in May.
Lobbying for profits
The US MIC continues to profiteer from the Russia-Ukraine conflict as it heads into its second year. The country's weapons and defense contractors reportedly received nearly half - $400 billion - of the $858 billion earmarked in the 2023 defense budget.
It's not a secret that to put more money into its pockets, US arms industry has maintained deep connections with the country's government officials and opinion leaders through several ways, such as funding lobbyists and think tanks and hiring former government officials through the "revolving door" of the government lobby industry.
Through various lobbying measures, the US weapons industry has acquired more "tools of influence" over the government, the Analyst News quoted Hartung as saying.
An interesting phenomenon that's emerged during the conflict is that some famous lobbying companies are representing Ukraine pro bono, pushing for greater US military support for the Ukrainian military.
Behind their so-called humanitarian care excuses for "aiding" Ukraine are some lobbying firms with obvious financial incentives - they also have arms manufacturers as clients.
In an article published in The Guardian titled They're lobbying for Ukraine pro bono - and making millions from arms firms, the authors mentioned a lobbying and communications firm called BGR Government Affairs (BGR), which started working pro bono for Ukrainian in May 2022. And earlier in February, a BGR adviser was publicly calling for increased military aid to Ukraine in the face of Russia's recognition of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics as independent states.
A probable main reason behind BGR's enthusiasm is that lobbying for increased military aid to Ukraine benefits its arms manufacturing clients, which will eventually be beneficial to BGR itself. Raytheon, for instance, paid BGR $240,000 to lobby on its behalf in 2022, according to The New York Times.
Driven by private interests, there has been a surge in pro-bono Ukraine lobbying since the conflict erupted. Media sources reported that 25 foreign lobbying and consultant companies have agreed to represent Ukrainian interests pro bono. The number was only 11 before the crisis.
Funding think tanks is another method by which the US MIC amplifies its voice. A report released by the Quincy Institute in June found that of the 27 think tanks in the US whose donors could be identified, 21 received funding from the defense industry, accounting for 77 percent of all funding.
The Quincy Institute report also found that US media outlets "disproportionately rely on" commentary from the defense sector funded think tanks. It said that in articles related to the US military's involvement in Ukraine, media outlets have cited these think tanks seven times as think tanks "that do not accept funding from Pentagon contractors."
The "revolving door" mechanism also has a hand in the flow of high-level employees from the defense departments of the US government to the private arms contractors and vice versa.
The perpetually spinning "revolving door" provides current members of Congress, their staff, and Pentagon personnel with a powerful incentive to play nice with said giant contractors while still in government, said The Nation. "After all, a lucrative lobbying career awaits once they leave government service," it noted.
Nearly 700 former high-ranking government officials in the US now work for defense contractors, including former generals and admirals, revealed a report released by the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren in April. Boeing, Raytheon, and General Electric respectively hired 85, 64, and 60 former government officials as their high-ranking executives or lobbyists, according to the report. World security risk
The US' continued transfer of weapons to Ukraine favors the Zelensky and Biden governments as well as the US MIC. Nonetheless, the steady flow of numerous deadly weapons and AI-tech equipment and systems into Ukraine, may pose a serious threat to the security and privacy of Ukrainian people in the long term, military experts warned.
At least 38 human rights organizations have publicly opposed the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, where the weapons have already been used in the conflict with Russia to devastating effect, reported US media.
Cluster bombs are banned by more than 100 countries for the huge security risk they may bring in the long run. "Cluster bombs remain as explosive hazards for decades, and are likely to cause more innocent casualties in the future," Yuan told the Global Times. "Russia and Ukraine may have to face the troubles of the bombs for long."
Moreover, with an increasing number of weapons being sent to Ukraine, people found that many of the weapons have trickled into the local black market, said Yuan.
"That will be bring great uncertainty to the security of Ukraine and even the whole world, as no one can't guarantee that the weapons won't fall into the wrong hands," he noted.
Sadly, with the "geopolitical tension" hype from numerous lobbyists, think tanks, and the media, the US military departments and industry jointly keep pouring oil on the flames of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. And they will continue to increase tensions on the international stage and demonize "rivals" like Russia and China, so as to secure higher military profits, said some international relations observers reached by the Global Times.
The size of the US military and its arsenal are beyond what are needed to keep any country safe and maintain world peace, said Zhang Jiadong, a professor at the Center for American Studies at Fudan University.
The great importance the US attaches to the military industry will unfortunately lead to an even more intense arms race, and destabilize the already fragile relations between the great powers, Zhang said. "That puts world peace and stability at risk," he told the Global Times.
The magnitude 6.8 quake that struck southern parts of Morocco at midnight local time, on September 9 killed more than 2,800 and injured over 2,500 so far. Chinese President Xi Jinping extended condolences to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, at the tragic loss of life and expressed sincere sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured on behalf of the Chinese government and people.
For many Chinese people, Morocco is a faraway but not alien country. There are thousands of Chinese residents living in Morocco, with an increasing number of Chinese tourists visiting the country in recent years.
Several Chinese nationals residing in Morocco reached by the Global Times shared their personal earthquake experiences. Many of them, after the initial shock, volunteered their help to earthquake victims and their families, offering medical aid, financial donations, and the transportation of supplies.
This story is a part of the Global Times' series of "Witness to history," which features first-hand accounts from witnesses who were at the forefront of historic events. From scholars, politicians and diplomats to ordinary citizens, their authentic reflections on the impact of historical moments help reveal a sound future for humanity through the solid steps forward taken in the past and the present. At 1.28 am, obstetrician Zhang Qian finally heard the loud cry of a baby. It was a healthy baby girl.
Zhang breathed a sigh of relief performing after a nerve-racking hour-long C-section on a Moroccan patient. While in surgery at a Moroccan hospital, Zhang felt aftershock tremors from the earthquake that had rocked the North African country just two hours prior. A powerful quake struck Morocco Friday night, with the toll expected to rise as rescuers struggle to reach hard-hit remote areas.
Baby born in earthquake
Zhang and obstetrics nurse Liu Yan, from the Shanghai No.8 People's Hospital, are members of the Chinese medical team in Morocco. The hospitals they serve are in Ben Guerir, a town 70 kilometers away from the western city of Marrakech which was hardest-hit by the earthquake.
Zhang was en route from the hospital to her apartment in Ben Guerir when the earthquake suddenly occurred. "I felt the whole apartment building shake when I entered," she recalled. "I froze for a second before quickly running out."
Then Zhang received a call from the hospital asking her to return to work. She rushed to the hospital, where the square in front of the hospital was filled with anxious doctors and patients. The tremor made the hospital unsafe.
Not long after, an ambulance transporting a hemorrhaging pregnant patient roared up the driveway. Worse still, after conducting a quick medical examination, Zhang found the patient to be hypertensive, presented signs of abruptio placentae. "She was in critical condition and needed a C-section as soon as possible," Zhang said.
Only an hour had passed since the earthquake and having to conduct an hour-long surgery in the hospital building brought with it glaring risks. "But both the expectant mother and her baby would have died without timely intervention," Zhang told the Global Times. "We decided to ignore the risk to help them."
When nurse Liu rushed to the hospital's operating room and saw the distressed expectant mother, she echoed Zhang's sentiments. "She had suffered 200 ml of blood loss probably from the placenta, almost equal to total blood loss from the baby in-utero," said Liu, who has nearly 30 years of working experience.
The emergency C-section started amid aftershocks. Zhang and Liu headed the surgery, supported by four local medical staffers including two nurse anesthetists, an itinerant nurse, and a midwife. It was the only surgery performed at the hospital that night. Fortunately, a 3.9-kilogram baby girl was smoothly born in the end, and her mother was also in stable condition.
Zhang and Liu don't remember how many "Shukran" - the Arabic word for "Thank you" - they've received from their Moroccans counterparts in the days since the earthquake. The new mother and her husband, as well as other patients and staffers at the hospital, all expressed their gratitude and admiration for the caring and dedicated Chinese medical personnel.
Hu said she was later told that there were several waves of dangerous aftershocks while they were in the operating room in the hospital. "But I was far too focused on the surgery to feel any of them or be afraid," she told the Global Times.
"The only thing I was afraid of at that time was an unexpected complication with woman and her baby."
More helping hands from China
The work at the hospital becomes normal now for Zhang and Liu, who both belong to the medical team that China has been assigning to Morocco since 1975, serving local patients at public hospitals across the country. The earthquake won't change their original schedule of them remaining in Morocco, the Global Times learned.
Moreover, China's rescue efforts continue to reach the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, including the Al Haouz region, 50 kilometers south of Marrakech.
The Red Cross Society of China has announced that it will provide the Moroccan Red Crescent with financial emergency humanitarian assistance worth $200,000. The China International Development Cooperation Agency also said that it stands ready to provide emergency humanitarian assistance based on the needs of those most affected by the disaster, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"China stands ready to continue to provide help to Morocco in light of its needs, to the best of our capability," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday's press briefing.
At the grassroots level, Chinese nationals residing in Morocco have also actively reached out to help. In a video she shared online, Xiaoshuang (pseudonym), a sea cucumber dealer, stands in front of a lorry fitted with a big container, surrounded by many buckets of drinking water. She says to the camera that she will fill the container with the drinking water and send it to Al Haouz.
"I'm on my way to the disaster area," Xiaoshuang told the Global Times on Monday morning local time.
Chinese vlogger and photographer Jiang Cheng lives in the famous port city of Casablanca in northwestern Morocco. Early in the morning after the earthquake, he boarded a Chinese friend's car and went to Al Haouz. At first Jiang just wanted to shoot some videos and photos there, but he soon felt he needed to step up and help.
"I'm contacting my Chinese friends to collectively transport foodstuffs to the hardest hit areas," Jiang told the Global Times. "My heart broke when witnessing the dire situation there."
Jiang added that as far as he knows, many Chinese communities and individuals in Morocco are discussing the collection and transportation of supplies to earthquake victims and their families.
Chinese enterprises were also seen at the earthquake's hard hit areas. On social media, some users shared photos of a Chinese-invested heavy equipment and manufacturing enterprise sending excavators and loaders to the rescue scenes, the Global Times found.
Fears, tears and relief
For many Chinese nationals residing in Morocco, experiencing the sudden earthquake was full of fears, tears, relief and the desire to help others.
Line (pseudonym), for instance, was on a camping trip in the mountains just tens of kilometers from the earthquake's epicenter. The tremor was very strong, but no tourists were hurt, she said.
"When we drove out of the mountains in the early morning, it was like we were on the run," she told the Global Times. "There were falling rocks everywhere, and some of the road barriers had collapsed. I felt like we might fall off the mountain at any moment."
Tang, another Chinese tourist visiting Morocco, was at a surf club on the beach, about 100 kilometers from the epicenter. At the time, she was engaged in her post-shower beauty routine when she first felt the tremor, which alarmed, and then terrified her.
When the shaking continued, however, she quickly put on her clothes and ran outside. "No one even turned on the lights when we ran downstairs, and some people didn't even have their shoes on," she told the Global Times. "My companion even banged her head on the way down."
All of the surfers made it to the main street, and later to an open space on higher ground. "Even our dog was scared and came to find us," she said. "Everyone slept outside and the club provided blankets and drinking water."
Ma Jun, who has been living in Morocco for years, was hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter, but also felt the tremor so strongly that when the earthquake struck he rushed outside with his shirt inside-out.
"We all ran out and stayed outside immediately," he recalled. "The street was full of locals spending the night outside and in their cars."
Ma told the Global Times that he returned to his room to rest after a long period outside, but slept in his jacket and shoes for fear of aftershocks.
It was the first time that Jiang had experienced earthquake. He recalled that he didn't realize it was an earthquake, until the quake lasted some two minutes. "Then I put on my clothes and rushed downstairs with my valuables. My house's rolling gate heavily clanged due to the shakes."
Jiang praised the Chinese Embassy in Morocco for its quick response. "It published useful information online that night soon after the earthquake happened, such as the contact numbers for help and some rescue resources," he told the Global Times.
As of press time, there have been no reports of Chinese casualties resulting from the earthquake.
Through the past three days, Jiang said he has barely slept in the last three days. Images of collapsed buildings, dead bodies, and distraught people in Al Haouz continue to haunt him.
"I've been living in Morocco since 2016, and it has become my second home," Jiang told the Global Times. "I hope everything will be better soon. And I will continue to contribute to [rescue and reconstruction efforts] together with many other Chinese compatriots here."
China's Generation Z skateboarders have rocked the Asian Games like no one had imagined - bagging three of four gold medals of the discipline. It was not only just about the medals, but also about the energy, vitality and the uniqueness they inject into the Games.
On September 27, the youngest member of the Chinese delegation Cui Chenxi, 13, wrote her name in Chinese sports history after becoming the youngest Asian Games champion for her nation. In the same match, 18-year-old Zeng Wenhui bagged silver in women's street.
In the men's park, 15-year-old Chen Ye finished first. In men's street, China's 16-year-old Zhang Jie snatched a gold while his teammate 19-year-old Su Jianjun won a bronze. In the women's park final, Chinese athlete Li Yujuan, 20, won the silver medal, while Mao Jiasi, 15, won the bronze.
No doubt that skateboarding is a young and up-and-coming sport. Throughout the four days of the skateboarding competition, there was a friendly, young and relaxed atmosphere in the arena. In women's street final, seven of the eight contestants are under 18. Women's street final was even attended by the youngest athlete of the Asian Games at the age of nine. These athletes, however, showed the brilliant athleticism just like their role models, passed down from generation to generation.
No pressure
Speaking with the Global Times, the young medalists displayed a similar fighting spirit and the adherence to excellence just like the veteran athletes, but they also showed something noticeably different - their relaxed mindset toward pressure, their independence growing up as an athlete, and the unwavering support they received from their parents.
After becoming Team China's youngest ever Asian Games champion, Cui told the Global Times that the title did not add any extra pressure.
"I made a mistake in my first run, and on the second attempt, my coach wanted me to be steady, but I was eager to try a riskier maneuver on my own, and in the end, it worked out," Cui said.
The champion is always at ease. In the mix zone after the final, Cui instructed all the media reporters to line up and sought their opinions on where she should stand before patiently and frankly giving answers to all the questions. She said that she never actually expected the gold but she really wanted to win.
"I might be telling some of these stories in Hangzhou to my classmates when I get back," said the middle-school girl. "I think they would be happy for me."
Different from traditional sports, there is no fixed action pattern in skateboarding. It requires skaters to freely use their imagination and creativity, which is challenging and makes the sport popular among fans. Similar to earlier generations, professional skateboards often mention that they started the sport because they found it fun.
"When I started skateboarding, I felt that it was a very exciting and thrilling sport. I felt very happy after completing each move," Chen said, comparing it to the piano and other hobbies that his father, Chen Wanqin, tried to introduce to him, but which he found boring compared with playing with a skateboard.
When asked about his interest over skateboarding, Zhang Jie, who just won men's street, also shrugged grand expressions, but accredited all to "cool and fun." Family support
The Gen-Z athletes also share similar positive family atmosphere. Usually training on their own without a professional team, they hailed the support they received from their family.
After winning the final, Cui put on the Chinese national flag on her back and skated around the venue to a loud cheer. In the audience sat her father, who first introduced Cui to skateboarding and took her training at the age of nine.
For Chen, the training area made by Chen's father became the focus of media attention after his inspirational win. In an interview with the Global Times, Chen expressed his gratitude to his father as the person he most wanted to thank after winning the gold medal.
"I'm grateful to my father for building two bowls for training for me and studying skateboarding skills with me," Chen said. Chen said that he fell in love with skateboarding when he first encountered the sport in a shopping mall at the age of 8.
Once Chen Ye showed his true passion, his father respected him the choice and supported him. In 2019, Chen Ye joined the Guangdong provincial skateboarding team. To help his son's training, Chen Wanqin and his wife rented a warehouse of more than 200 square meters to build a practice bowl for him.
After finishing second in the men's skateboarding park event at the 2021 National Games of China, Chen Wanqin built a new 900-square-meter skateboard park with a max height of nine meters in 2022 in order to improve his son's performance. Chen Ye said that during that time, his father quit his job and even spent all his savings to support his passion.
The Chinese skateboarding team, composed of athletes born after the year of 2000, continues to make breakthroughs, and the future looks promising. Showered by love, support and confidence, they are never afraid to share their ambition to go to the top.
"First I will concentrate on getting there, then I can make a big attack," Cui told the Global Times when asked about Paris 2024.
