英文媒体关于中国的报道汇总 2023-11-12
November 13, 2023 15 min 3028 words
根据提供的几篇新闻报道,我对主要内容做出如下总结- 1. 香港社会对LGBT群体的态度正在变得更加宽容和接纳,这也反映在香港对于同性婚姻立法上的变化。同性恋运动游戏的举办也展现出香港在LGBT权利方面进步的一面,但保守势力和建制派仍然反对。 2. 拜登政府计划在APEC峰会期间与中国恢复军事关系和对话渠道,以避免误判和误解。这反映出拜登政府希望与中国关系有所缓和。 3. 中国公司在非洲锂矿开采方面占据主导地位,通过收购现有资源加快开发速度。这满足了中国对锂的巨大需求,但西方国家担心这会导致供应链过度依赖中国。非洲国家也希望从本国资源中获得更多价值。 4. BBC报道了中国政府鼓励生育的举措以应对人口负增长,但这些举措往往与年轻人的真实需求脱节,也忽视了女性面临的不平等。这反映出中国在应对人口问题时面临的困境。 我的评论是,这些报道反映出中国社会的一些变化,如香港民众态度转变、中美关系可能有所缓和、中国在非洲资源上的角逐等。但报道本身存在一定偏见,如过分强调用词“抢夺”描述中国公司在非洲的作用,或将中国应对生育率问题简化为官方的鼓励生育。中国的问题更复杂,需要多方理解、沟通和妥协。总体来说,这些报道揭示一些问题,但本身也存在局限,需要更全面客观的视角。我认为应该有更多平衡和建设性的报道,既指出中国的困境,也理解中国作出这些举措的考量,为各方达成共识提供帮助。
- The people of Hong Kong are growing more tolerant | China
- Biden will push China to resume military ties with US, official says
- China is winning Africa’s “white-gold” rush for lithium | Middle East & Africa
- [World] China's matchmaking mums have a powerful ally: The Party
The people of Hong Kong are growing more tolerant | China
https://www.economist.com/china/2023/11/09/the-people-of-hong-kong-are-growing-more-tolerantThe Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong typically hosts rather humdrum events, such as debating competitions. But on November 4th the arena shimmered with glow sticks, as some 1,500 spectators waved rainbow flags. In some ways the opening ceremony of the Gay Games was similar to that of the Olympics, with LGBT+ athletes marching alongside their countrymen (see picture). The Gay Games, though, have a more carnivalesque atmosphere.
The weeklong event, delayed a year because of the pandemic, has come to Hong Kong as the city reconsiders the rights of sexual minorities. In September its top court ruled that the local government must rectify its failure to provide an “alternative framework for legal recognition of same-sex partnerships”, though it did not call for full marriage equality. In October a different court ruled in favour of equal inheritance rights for same-sex couples.
The public would like the city to go further. Earlier this year a survey found that 60% of Hong Kongers support gay marriage, up from 38% a decade ago. In general, there is a growing sense of acceptance, say observers. “I can see more and more people holding hands on the street,” notes Shaun So, a participant in the games.
But not everyone has rolled out a rainbow carpet for the games. Conservative lawmakers and anti-LGBT+ activists argue that they subvert traditional Chinese values and are funded by foreigners, violating the city’s national-security law. (An international non-profit organisation runs the games.) Some pro-democracy activists opposed the event, too. Holding it in the city, they claim, represents an open embrace of “the illegitimate regime tasked with crushing Hong Kong”. (Guadalajara, Mexico, is co-hosting the games.)
Since Hong Kong was rocked by pro-democracy protests in 2019, China has tightened its grip on the city, restricting civil society and purging the local government of liberal types. No public funds have gone towards staging the games, a turnaround from 2017, when local officials supported the bid to host the event. Now such officials are making decisions “based on their guess of what Beijing wants”, says an activist. In recent years, the mainland government has made life harder for sexual minorities, such as by stifling LGBT+ groups.
Hong Kong has long prided itself on being more open and inclusive than the mainland. The local government isn’t helping. But in terms of LGBT+ rights, the city still does better than most countries in Asia. And the public, at least, is pushing for more progress. “We need to be patient,” says Mr So. “And, just like a marathon, we must keep going and never give up.” ■
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Biden will push China to resume military ties with US, official says
https://reuters.com/article/apec-usa-china-sullivan/biden-will-push-china-to-resume-military-ties-with-us-official-says-idUSKBN32709QU.S. President Joe Biden wants to re-establish military-to-military ties with China, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, days before the president and the Chinese leader are set to meet.
Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in person for the first time in a year on Wednesday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. It will be only the second in-person meeting between the two leaders since Biden took office in January 2021.
"The president is determined to see the re-establishment of military-to-military ties because he believes it's in the U.S. national security interest," Sullivan said in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation." "We need those lines of communication so that there aren't mistakes or miscalculations or miscommunication."
Sullivan said restored military ties could take place at every level from senior leadership to the tactical operational level, as well "on the water and in the air in the Indo-Pacific."
Sullivan said on CNN's "State of the Union" that Biden would seek to "advance the ball" on military ties during his meeting with Xi, but declined to provide further details.
"The Chinese have basically severed those communication links. President Biden would like to re-establish that," Sullivan said. "This is a top agenda item."
The Biden-Xi meeting is expected to cover global issues from the Israel-Hamas war to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, North Korea's ties with Russia, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific, human rights, fentanyl production, artificial intelligence, as well as "fair" trade and economic relations, a senior U.S. official said.
Relations between the two countries grew frosty after Biden ordered the shooting down in February of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States. But top Biden administration officials have since visited Beijing and met with their counterparts to rebuild communications and trust.
China is winning Africa’s “white-gold” rush for lithium | Middle East & Africa
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/11/09/china-is-winning-africas-white-gold-rush-for-lithiumA visit to the district of Goromonzi, in north-east Zimbabwe, is a lesson in economic history. Its fallow fields hint at the decay that followed the government’s seizure of white-owned farms more than two decades ago. In the surrounding hills ad hoc campsites reveal the sites of artisanal gold-miners, digging for the same yellow metal that led British colonists to cross the Limpopo river in the 19th century.
Today the rush is on for “white gold”. Every day scores of lorries rumble through Goromonzi, carrying lithium bound for China, where most of the metal is refined for use in batteries for electric vehicles and electronics. They carry loads from Arcadia, Africa’s biggest lithium mine, opened this year by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, a Chinese firm. “China is buying any lithium it can find,” says a local industry insider. “There’s an absolute feeding frenzy.”
China’s dash for lithium is part of a bigger challenge for the West. America and its allies want to weaken China’s grip on clean-energy supply chains. They see Africa, home to perhaps 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves, as part of the solution, and argue that they can do more to help African countries add value to minerals before export.
Yet China remains ahead. In 2022 the value of its imports of minerals and energy was double those of America and the EU combined (see chart 1), according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think-tank in Washington. Its role in Africa’s lithium boom shows why. In 2025 Africa’s share of global lithium production will be 10.6%, reckons Rystad Energy, a Norwegian firm, up from just 0.1% in 2019 (see chart 2), with Zimbabwe accounting for most of the rise. Overall, more than 90% of Africa’s supply this decade will come from entities at least partly owned by Chinese firms, estimates Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a consultancy.
China’s urgency is spurred by its desire to maintain dominance of supply chains. China has 8% of global lithium reserves but refines 60-70% of the metal. The midstream firms that perform the chemical process, some of which are part of mining groups like Huayou, need to be fed. On average mining projects take 17 years from discovery to production, according to the Natural Resource Governance Institute, a think-tank in New York. But many Chinese firms are acquiring existing assets such as Arcadia. Huayou bought Arcadia from Prospect Resources, an Australian-listed firm, for $422m in 2022—and is developing it at breakneck speed.
African countries are attractive, says Cameron Perks of Benchmark, because “there aren’t many places left to go for the Chinese”. Australia, an American ally, has this year blocked two Chinese investment proposals from firms involved in mining lithium and rare-earth minerals. Africa is “a virgin land for lithium minerals”, adds Susan Zou of Rystad, noting that Chinese miners have operated in African countries for many years. Though prices have swooned this year, they are still high enough for healthy margins.
Western firms are exploring for lithium in countries such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia and Rwanda. Most projects are not yet producing ore. Some may still end up in the hands of Chinese firms. Before it decided to sell Arcadia, Prospect Resources had been talking to Western diplomats about getting financing from development agencies, but became frustrated at their slow pace. Huayou did the deal in months.
There are reasons for Western hesitation. Some refineries are being built outside China. But investors worry that new mines and processing plants could lead to oversupply and depress prices. They also fret about the political risks of African projects, especially in countries with histories of graft and human-rights abuses, like Zimbabwe and Congo.
Moreover, America’s domestic policies are not encouraging investment in African mines. For example, some tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Joe Biden’s bumper package of clean-energy subsidies, are applicable only if a rising proportion of the underlying minerals comes from America or countries with which it has a free-trade agreement. Yet America does not have any such agreements with countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
“If not rectified soon,” argue Witney Schneidman and Vera Songwe of the Brookings Institution, an American think-tank, “the IRA will have the unintended consequence of...ceding the African market in critical minerals to other nations—such as China.”
Nor is China blind to Africa’s desire to add value. Huayou has a processing centre at Arcadia. More Chinese firms could process and refine metal in Africa over the next few years, notes Ms Zou. She points out that Chinese miners already do most of the first stage of cobalt-processing in Congo. Chinese battery firms are also building facilities in Morocco.
Nevertheless, it is hard to see how Chinese dominance of critical-mineral mining is ideal for Africa. China’s immediate priority is getting as much raw material out of Africa as quickly as possible. The case of Zimbabwe and lithium is also a reminder that Chinese mining comes in various forms. In addition to formal miners, there are numerous middlemen who buy rocks from artisanal miners at knockdown prices. In a report published in March, the Zimbabwe Environment Law Association (ZELA), a local NGO, concluded that “the Chinese are heavily involved in the illicit trade of lithium.” It added: “Domination by one country may lead to undesirable results such as under-valuation of mineral resources, tax avoidance and human-rights abuses in the sector.”
At Goromonzi, Tadiwanashe Gwena, a community leader, says residents are “agitated” by the mine. “People know that the real value of lithium is not being ploughed back into the community.” The West says it wants Africans to benefit more from the value of their mineral endowment. Yet while it is talking, China is digging. ■
[World] China's matchmaking mums have a powerful ally: The Party
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-64973186?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGAChen has been on more than 20 blind dates, all set up by her mother.
Some of the dates have been worse than others, she says, because she has a condition that most men she meets seem unable to accept - she doesn't want children.
"Having babies is very tiring and I don't like babies," says Chen, who's in her late 20s and only wanted to share her last name. "But it's impossible to find a man who doesn't want children. For a man not to have children… It's like killing him."
Despite the string of unsuccessful dates, the pressure to marry has not eased. It's making her nearly "explode", she says.
It is not just Chen's parents who want her to marry and have children. As marriage and birth rates plummet, the Chinese Communist Party is encouraging millions of young women and men to reverse the trend.
Last year, China's population fell for the first time in 60 years, and its fertility rate dropped to a record low. The number of registered marriages, too, hasn't been this low - 6.83 million - since 1986.
Disheartened by a slowing economy and rising unemployment, young Chinese are also turning away from the traditional choices their parents made. The result is a headache for the Party and far from the "national rejuvenation" the country's leader Xi Jinping has called for.
Officials 'don't get the pain'
The concern has reached Mr Xi, who recently gave a speech on the need to "cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing". He also spoke of "strengthening guidance" to shape young people's view on marriage, children and family.
It's not that Chinese officials have not been trying.
Across the country, bureaucrats have been mobilised to incentivise young people to get married, and for couples to stay married and have children.
Earlier this year, a small town in the eastern Zhejiang province announced that it would offer couples 1,000 yuan ($137; £108) as a "reward" if the bride was 25 years or younger. It stunned and then angered locals, who called the local government tone-deaf for assuming that such a small amount of money could have an impact on such a major decision.
Elsewhere, officials insisted on a "30-day cooling-off period" for couples seeking separation or divorce. This led to concerns about how this would restrict personal choices, and harm women who face domestic violence.
In rural areas, where more and more single men are struggling to find a bride, authorities have ordered women to stop asking for high bride prices.
Like other "incentives", this one won't work either, says economist Li Jingkui.
Even without bride prices, men are still competing for a bride, he says. "There could be other ways to compete: like houses, cars or just better looks."
Experts say the overwhelmingly male Chinese leadership cannot possibly understand what's driving these choices for young people, especially women.
China's highest decision-making group, the Party's seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, has only comprised men for decades. The leadership rung just below it - which has more than 20 seats - included a lone woman for the last two decades until last October. Now there are no women in it.
The efforts of these men, and all the men below them, are often seen as out-of-touch and even superficial, often attracting ridicule online.
"The officials in the government basically all have wives," says Mr Li. "They don't get this pain."
Love is no luxury now
Experts believe China's singles population is made up of two unmatchable groups - urban women and rural men.
Rural men are battling economic expectations, such as high bride prices and a secure job that can support a family. And this, in turn, seems to be empowering women in rural areas to take more time in choosing a partner.
"When I went home for Chinese New Year, I felt awesome being a woman in rural China's marriage market," says 28-year-old Cathy Tian who works in Shanghai.
She says she was worried she would be considered "a bit old" in northern Anhui province, where women usually get married by the time they turn 22. But she found the opposite to be true.
"I don't need to provide anything but the man needs to have a house, a car, an engagement ceremony as well as pay a bride price. I felt like I'm at the top of this marriage market."
Urban women, on the other hand, say what troubles them is the widening gap between how they view marriage, and how the rest of society views it.
"There is no anxiety inside of me," says Chen. "My anxiety comes from outside."
Unlike her parents' generation, when life was a challenge and love was a luxury, people and women have more options now, she says.
"Our idea now is it's okay to not have babies, and it's no longer a task we must complete."
Women also note that like the world around them, the government's campaigns focus on women and overlook men's responsibilities as partners.
And the unequal expectations are driving them away from the idea of becoming a parent.
Chen says this is also part of the reason she doesn't want children - watching her friend be a parent. "Her second child is very naughty. I really feel that every time I go to her house, it will explode and the ceiling will be torn down."
In China, "raising your kids as if your spouse has died" has become a common phrase among young mothers. It means husbands are not doing chores or sharing the job of being a parent.
"All the married men I know think their responsibility in the family is just to earn money," says a 33-year-old data scientist who did not want to reveal her name.
"Mothers feel guilty for not being with their children, they even think it's not alright to stay out late. But the fathers never have such guilt."
But the Party has shown no indication that inequality and changing expectations are among the challenges they must counter to lift marriage or birth rates.
And young Chinese are making it clear that they will not be wooed so easily by officials.
When talking about the social pressures they face, they often repeat a slogan popularised during Shanghai's crippling and controversial Covid lockdown.
They were words used by a young man arguing with officials against tough restrictions: "We are the last generation."