Today, we share “The New Drunken Concubine” (新贵妃醉酒) performed by Li Yugang (李玉刚), who specializes in “nandan” roles, males playing a female role in the Beijing opera, and known for his ability to sing across vocal ranges typically associated with male and female singers.
Geopolitics
Xi Jinping called for an immediate “ceasefire” in Gaza and again advocated for the creation of a Palestinian state as part of the two-state solution
On Monday, a delegation of Arab and Muslim ministers visited Beijing and on Tuesday the BRICS countries held an extraordinary summit virtually to address the Israeli-Palestinian crisis; Xi said that China has sent about US$4 million in humanitarian assistance, food, and medicine to Gaza, and will continue shipments
One of the two Canadians who were detained in China for espionage admitted that they leaked information to Canada and the Five Eyes alliance
Canada has always denied the espionage allegations and used the fact to smear and demonize China; now, more than two years after his return to Canada, Spavor told a Canadian media outlet that Kovrig shared intelligence on North Korea and is seeking millions of dollars from the Canadian government as compensation
National Politics
Taiwan’s ruling party to nominate “die-hard secessionist” as vice-presidential candidate for January 2024 election
Hsiao Bi-khim has been sanctioned by Beijing twice for “colluding with the US” and undermining cross-Strait peace and stability; the two opposition parties, more inclined to dialogue with mainland China, are trying to put together a coalition that would give them a better chance in the elections
Record 41 senior CPC cadre busted in anti-corruption campaign probes since January
This included retirees and ministerial and state-owned enterprise-level positions, such as Zhou Qingyu, former vice president of the China Development Bank, who was expelled from the CPC for serious violations of the law and party discipline; four million regional-level CPC cadre and 533 at the vice-ministerial level and above have been investigated since the campaign launched in 2012
Economy
Mastercard has received approval to begin operating in China and issue bank cards in yuan
The authorization of the billion yuan (US$139 million) joint venture – of which Mastercard will control 51% – was seen as a sign of Beijing’s efforts to ease tensions with the US, granting more access to foreign companies; this was the second such approval, following the authorization of American Express in 2020
Agriculture and Environment
China and the US agreed to accelerate efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030
In a joint statement, both countries committed to advancing at least five large-scale carbon capture, utilization, and storage projects, each by 2030; they also agreed to include more greenhouse gasses, such as methane and nitrous oxide, in the emission reduction targets for 2035
Renewable energy represents almost 60% of the 80 GW of energy projects to be installed overseas as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
The percentage of renewable projects in the BRI rose from 19% in 2012 to 47% in 2022; having announced in 2021 that it would stop financing coal-fired thermoelectric plants abroad, China canceled a third of these projects this year, avoiding 6.2 billion tons of CO2 emissions
Science and Technology
Huawei cell phone that surprised with its domestically manufactured 7 nm chip has 47% of the value of its components manufactured in China
The value of components made in China for the Mate 60 Pro increased to US$198, around 90% more compared to the Mate 40 Pro; the proportion of the cost of Japanese components fell from 19% to 1%, while parts from South Korea increased by 5 points to 36%
People’s Life and Culture
Government aid for students with financial difficulties sparks online debate after student “flaunts wealth and excessive spending”
While scholarships are awarded for academic achievement, financial aid – which benefited 14 million students who received 50 billion yuan (US$ 7.045 billion) in 2022 – is allocated according to socioeconomic criteria and students are expected to “live frugally”; recently, a student had her aid withdrawn after posting about spending US$209 on a concert ticket
Tang Qunying, one of China’s first feminists, fought against the Qing dynasty and for women’s rights
She led an army of women during the revolution against the last dynasty, and once the republic was established, she slapped one of the country’s top leaders for not including women’s rights in the principles of the Kuomintang; to prepare women to take political office, she founded newspapers and about 10 schools for girls in Beijing and Hunan
On the left, the founding conference of the Kuomintang and, on the right, Tang Qunying around 1905 [Fotoe]
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