Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 60/No. 35 i Beijing Review

A spectacular action movie; a military adventure that advocates patriotism; an im- mense commercial success. All these labels can be attached to Wolf Warrior II, whose box-office earnings surpassed 5 billion yuan ($750 million) less than a month after its July 27 release, making it the world’s second highest-grossing movie in a single market. But most importantly, it tells a story that audiences can identify with. Wolf Warrior II, the sequel to an award- winning 2015 movie, is set in an unspecified African country. When a civil war plunges the country into turbulence and chaos, Leng Feng, a former member of the Chinese spe- cial forces, played by Wu Jing, finds himself on a mission to rescue trapped Chinese citizens and locals. Wu is also the movie’s director and one…

Though only in his early 40s, Wu Jing, di-rector and hero of China’s top-grossing film Wolf Warrior II, has white hair. The 270-day-long grueling shooting for the film aged the kungfu star. Wolf Warrior II , mainly inspired by the evacu- ation of Chinese from Libya in 2011, revolves around a fictitious former operative of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) special forces, Leng Feng, and his one-man mission to save both Chinese and locals from armed coup plotters and mercenaries in an unspecified African country. The film claims several firsts in the world, including the first protracted single shot under- water lasting 160 seconds without any cuts, which nearly led to Wu drowning and the first tank-skidding scene ever, for which he learned how to drive a tank in…

The author is director of the Institute of South Asian, Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations In terms of the Indian troops’ crossing into the Chinese territory of Donglang and their faceoff with Chinese border guards, the Indian Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made three ma- jor mistakes: First, India has damaged the exist- ing consensus and border treaty at its own will. The Sikkim section of the China- India boundary was delimited in 1890 in the Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet, and the boundary demarcation is recognized by both China and India. Successive Indian govern- ments repeatedly confirmed in the past that they recognize this part of the boundary, and no disputes previously occurred. Based…

The author is an op-ed contributor to Beijing Review and a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation On August 14, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive memo- randum that directed U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer to “investi- gate any of China’s laws, policies, practices, or actions” that “may be harming American intel- lectual property rights, innovation or technology development” under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Section 301, once heavily used in the 1980s and early 1990s, allows the U.S. presi-dent to unilaterally impose tariffs or other trade restrictions on foreign countries. But the United States has rarely used the trade tool since the World Trade Organization (WTO) came into being. “The U.S. side should keep its promise and not become a…

1.8 tln yuan Value of credit debt issuance in China’s inter-bank bond market in the first half of the year, down 41 percent year on year 25% Year-on-year revenue growth of Hong Kong-listed property developer Sunac China Holdings in the first half of 2017 232 mln units Volume of smartphone sales in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of only 0.4 percent, suggesting that the market is slowing down 165.5 bln yuan Total investment in the 22 fixed assets investment projects approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in July 69 Number of countries, regions, and international organizations that have so far signed cooperation agreements with China on the joint development of the Belt and Road Initiative $1.15 tln China’s holding of U.S. bonds as of…

Cooperation Between China and Central And Eastern European Countries A mechanism for cooperation between China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries, commonly known as “16+1,” has been established to facilitate collaboration on issues of common concern. The 17 nations have agreed to respect each other’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, broaden understanding of each other’s approach to develop-ment, and work to realize goals under the “16+1” framework in line with their own specific needs and priorities and based on equality, consultation, mutual complementarity and coopera- tion for mutual benefit. An innovative framework for sub-regional cooperation, the “16+1” opens new avenues for increased engagement between traditionally friendly countries. It is a platform that fo- cuses on South-South cooperation, but also embraces South- North cooperation. Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation The…

Beijing Review: What has been your greatest gain from the Wolf Warrior series? Wu Jing: The greatest gain is the experi-ence. First, there is the action part. I undertook a shot in water and underwater without any cuts. I could have died while doing it. This is an experience I will always take pride in. I am also proud of the tank chase scene [a climactic moment featuring sever-al tanks skidding like cars in the same shot], which is the first time ever in the world. Not even Western films have done it. Second, I think I am the first to make action films on a military theme in China, together with a bunch of in-ternational elites. So I am a forerunner in China. Others making action films with a…

The author is a research fellow with the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences International credit-rating agencies are products of economic globalization, especially the liberalization and integra-tion of financial and investment activities. As borrowers and bond issuers could be geographically remote from one another, lenders were unable to assess borrowers’ creditworthiness or possibility of default. However, they needed to know the likeli- hood of borrowers paying back debts so that they could limit the risks of their invest- ments. Against this backdrop, influential international rating agencies emerged to assign credit ratings to debt issuers. Since 1860, when Henry Poor started the rating agency Standard & Poor’s, the business of rating major companies and governments has become gradually dominated by three big agencies—Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, which still remain the…

When McDonald’s opened its first China restaurant in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, in 1990, the biggest appeal of the global fast food chain was its exotic atmosphere. But now in 2017, McDonald’s has sold control of its China business to local partners and will focus on providing more Chinese-style prod- ucts in the country. Ambitious goal McDonald’s announced on August 8 that the deal to sell a majority of its business in China to CITIC Ltd., CITIC Capital and Carlyle Group had been completed. In the new partnership, CITIC Ltd. and CITIC Capital to-gether will hold a 52-percent stake, Carlyle Group will hold 28 percent, and McDonald’s the remaining 20 percent. The new com- pany will run McDonald’s business on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong. On the…

Opening markets to foreign investment has long been a cornerstone of China’s opening-up policy. Both China’s economy and foreign companies have achieved significant development over the past decades. At the beginning of 2017, with trade protection-ism casting a shadow on the global economy, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a pledge in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that China would always be open to the world. During the first seven months of this year, foreign investment in China decreased 1.2 percent year on year. The State Council, China’s cabinet, in mid-August an- nounced new policies in five areas to enhance investors’ confidence and improve the business environment. China has huge markets and a comprehensive industrial structure, which greatly appeal to foreign inves-tors. After years of efforts,…

SPECIAL ENVOY FOR KOREAN PENINSULA ISSUE Kong Xuanyou, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, has been appointed special representative of the Chinese Government on Korean Peninsula affairs. Kong, 58, has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 32 years. In 2015, he was appointed assistant minister of foreign affairs in charge of Asia, treaty and law, boundary and ocean affairs, and consular affairs. Observers believe that Kong is the most suitable person to take the position of special envoy as he is very familiar with East Asian affairs and has precise insight into the Korean Peninsula issue. Kong is also China’s second such special envoy. Kong’s predecessor, Wu Dawei, held the post for seven years from 2010. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on August 14 at a press brief-ing that…

When Chinese President Xi Jinping met his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing on July 18, Xi proposed a new, trilateral dialogue mechanism for resolv- ing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The proposal came just days before weeks of violence and turmoil in the Middle East region, the worst so far this year. After an attack at the holy site of Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, known as the Temple Mount to Jews, that killed two Israeli police of-ficers, the Israeli Government closed the site for two days, adding cameras and metal detectors. However, it was later forced to remove the metal detectors after enormous pressure. Heart of the conflict The recent unrest in and around Jerusalem underscores how the city is both the geo- graphical and symbolic heart of the conflict. It…