Signalling via Fiction: What Nüwa Mending the Sky, Pandora's Box & The Wizard of Oz Tell Us About China's View of US Tariffs
Also in this edition: China-Vietnam Joint Statement - Xi's Speech on Building Cultural Power - Li Qiang's Message on Domestic Demand - The Hunt for 3 'NSA Operatives' -
Here are the key reports and articles that I found noteworthy from the People's Daily’s edition on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Page 1: Xi Jinping spoke at an event along with CPV General Secretary To Lam and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, launching the ‘Red Study Tours’ project. Xi said that the “people are the creators of history, and the support and endorsement of the peoples of the two countries are the solid foundation for building a China–Vietnam community with a shared future”. He then announced that in the next three years, China will invite Vietnamese youth to China for ‘Red Study Tours’.
The goal of this is to encourage the youth to “follow the revolutionary footsteps of the older generation of leaders of both parties and countries, explore the red genes of China-Vietnam friendship, experience the myriad aspects of Chinese-style modernization, and gather the strength of youth for the socialist causes of both countries and for building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future of strategic significance.” 习近平指出，人民是历史的创造者，两国人民的拥护和支持是构建中越命运共同体的坚实基础。青年是事业的未来和希望。中方将在今后3年邀请越南青年赴华开展“红色研学之旅”，沿着两党两国老一辈领导人的革命足迹，探寻中越友好的红色基因，感受中国式现代化的万千气象，为两国各自社会主义事业和构建具有战略意义的中越命运共同体凝聚青春力量.
Xi then had a farewell chat with To Lam.
“Xi pointed out that although the time of this visit was short, the activities were rich and the outcomes fruitful. Both sides reaffirmed their political will to jointly strengthen the cause of world socialism, and both look forward to comprehensively advancing bilateral strategic cooperation toward the overall goal of the ‘six mores’. Both also expressed the intention to resist external risks and challenges, and to safeguard regional peace and stability as well as international fairness and justice. I am full of confidence in the prospects for the development of China–Vietnam relations. Both sides must fully implement the outcomes of this visit and continuously advance the building of a China–Vietnam community with a shared future.” 习近平指出，这次访问时间虽短，但活动丰富、成果丰硕。双方重申共同壮大世界社会主义事业的政治意愿，都期待朝着“六个更”总体目标全面推进两国战略合作，都表示抵御外部风险挑战，维护地区和平稳定和国际公平正义。我对中越关系发展前景充满信心。双方要全面落实这次访问成果，持续推进中越命运共同体建设.
The report quotes To Lam as saying that “the two sides had in-depth communication on major overarching and strategic issues of common concern and reached a series of important consensuses, which have strongly promoted the strategic cooperation between the two parties and the two countries, enhanced the Vietnamese side’s confidence in overcoming risks and challenges, and elevated the friendship between the two peoples to a new height.” 苏林表示，习近平总书记、国家主席这次访问取得丰硕成果，双方就共同关心的重大全局性、战略性问题深入沟通，达成一系列重要共识，有力推动两党两国之间的战略合作，增强了越方战胜风险挑战的信心，也将两国人民友好提升到新高度。越方将积极落实访问成果，推动两党两国关系不断发展，创造两国共同繁荣的未来.
The full joint statement issued after the visit is published in the paper on Page 2 (full English text). Key excerpts:
“No matter how the world situation changes, the two sides have always fought side by side, supported each other in the struggles for national independence and liberation, learned from each other, and together moved forward to seek a socialist path suitable to the situation of each country and modernization bearing the characteristics of each country. The Party, State and people of Vietnam always appreciate and cherish the strong support of the Party, State and people of China. The two sides shared the view that the traditional friendship - ‘the profound Vietnam-China relationship, both comrades and brothers’ - built and nurtured by President Ho Chi Minh, Chairman Mao Zedong and leaders of previous generations, is increasingly strong. It is a valuable asset shared by two countries' people, and needs to be well inherited, protected and promoted.”
“The Vietnam - China relationship has entered a new stage with: higher political trust, more substantive defense - security cooperation, deeper and substantive cooperation, more solid social foundation, closer multilateral coordination, better controlled and resolved differences; comprehensive strategic cooperation has achieved many great results, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries.”
“Given the changes of the world, the times, and history, China emphasized that it consistently pursues the policy of friendship with Vietnam, always considering Vietnam a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy. Vietnam reaffirmed that it always considers relations with China a consistent policy, an objective requirement, and a top priority in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, and diversification. This is the strategic choice of both sides. The two sides agreed that it is necessary to firmly support each other in maintaining strategic autonomy and autonomously choosing a development path suitable to the situation of their countries; persistently following the political orientations of the top leaders of the two Parties and countries, considering the development of the other side as an opportunity for their own development, persistently perceiving and developing the Vietnam-China relationship from a strategic height and long-term vision, persistently following the motto of "friendly neighborliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability, looking towards the future", the spirit of ‘good neighbors, good friends, good comrades, good partners’ and ‘six major orientations’. They will take the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic relations as an opportunity to continue to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, promote the building of the Vietnam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides with higher quality, deepen strategic coordination, bring more practical benefits to the people of the two countries, make important contributions to the stable development of the region and the cause of peace and progress of humanity, and create a positive model for building a community with a shared future of humanity.
Two two sides “agreed to continue strengthening high-level exchanges between the two Parties and countries through various forms such as mutual visits, sending special envoys, maintaining hotlines, and letter exchanges. They emphasized the importance of timely communications on bilateral relations between the two Parties and States, major and important issues of mutual concern, as well as the current international and regional situation, in order to firmly grasp the correct direction for the development of Vietnam–China ties.”
Under this, the document talks about Party to Party engagement, theoretical seminars, legislative exchanges, political security cooperation, establishing the ‘3+3’ strategic dialogue mechanism on diplomacy, defense and public security between Vietnam and China at the ministerial level, etc.
“Continuing to effectively implement the Agreement on further deepening cooperation in the new situation between the two countries' foreign ministries; maintain regular contacts between leaders of the two foreign ministries, including the Strategic Consultation at the Permanent Deputy Minister level, annual diplomatic consultation, enhance exchanges at the department (office) level, effectively implement the personnel training plan, and facilitate the improvement of headquarters and housing conditions of the two countries' diplomatic missions; and support the Vietnamese Consulate General in Chongqing to officially come into operation in the first half of 2025.”
Vietnam backed the one-China policy. It said that it supports “the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and the cause of China’s unification, resolutely opposes any separatist activity seeking ‘Taiwan independence’, and consistently backed the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. The Vietnamese side does not develop any state-level relations with Taiwan. The Vietnamese side held that the issues of Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet are China’s internal affairs, and supported China in maintaining the stable development of Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.”
“The two sides vowed to increase high-level and all-level exchanges between their armies; uphold the role of mechanisms such as the Border Defense Friendship Exchange and the Defence Strategic Dialogue; bolster exchanges and cooperation between armies in areas such as political work, personnel training, strategic research, and joint research; strengthen cooperation in defence industry, joint exercises and training, and mutual naval ship visits; continue to expand cooperation in areas such as medical logistics, UN peacekeeping and non-traditional security; deepen border cooperation, strengthen coordination in border management, deploy joint border patrols on land, encourage border guards of the two countries to establish friendships, and enhance friendly exchanges in border areas; uphold the role of the joint patrol mechanism in the Gulf of Tonkin, effectively deploy joint patrol activities in the Gulf of Tonkin, deepen the exchange and cooperation mechanism between the navies and coast guards of the two countries. They pledged to increase high-level exchanges between law enforcement agencies; uphold the role of the mechanisms of the Ministerial Conference on Crime Prevention, the Deputy Ministerial Strategic Security Dialogue, the Deputy Ministerial Dialogue on Political Security; effectively deploy cooperation in the fields of security, intelligence, counter-terrorism, and accelerate the opening of a hotline between the two Ministers of Public Security; coordinate the prevention of cross-border crimes; deepen cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and Chinese security and law enforcement agencies, enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism, prevention of telecommunications fraud, cyber security, economic crimes and human trafficking, immigration management, and arrest of criminals who have fled abroad; strengthen information exchange and experience sharing in counter-intervention, counter-separatism, and prevention of ‘colour revolution’ and ‘peaceful evolution’ by hostile forces; expand cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management; strengthen cooperation in the legal and judicial fields, effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the Chinese Ministry of Justice and between the Ministries of Justice of the two countries; organise the first conference between judicial administrative agencies of the provinces sharing the border this year, continuously improve the judicial support mechanism, and enhance learning and exchange of experience in building a socialist rule-of-law state.”
The two sides agreed to consider China's development of new quality productive forces and Vietnam's development of new production forces as opportunities to build a more comprehensive and extensive cooperation structure.
The two sides appreciated China's approval of the Technical Assistance (TA) to launch a Feasibility Study (F/S) for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong standard gauge railway and agreed to soon implement the F/S, strive to start construction soon; accelerate the study of a plan for a railway section connecting Lao Cai - Ha Khau, creating a basis for early implementation of the plan. They welcomed the signing of the Official Letter of Assistance to establish the planning of the two standard gauge railways Dong Dang - Hanoi and Mong Cai - Ha Long - Hai Phong.
The two sides welcomed the signing of protocols for Vietnamese exports to China such as chili, passion fruit, raw and cleaned bird's nests, and rice bran. China is actively handling procedures for officially licensing Vietnamese agricultural products, including citrus fruits and plant-based medicinal materials. The Vietnamese side will accelerate the import of sturgeon from China.
The two sides agreed to soon discuss and sign an agreement on fishery cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin and implement cooperation in the release and protection of aquatic resources in the Gulf of Tonkin. Properly implementing the agreement on establishing a hotline to deal with unexpected fishery incidents in the Vietnam – China waters and the agreement on maritime search and rescue cooperation.
Striving to make science and technology cooperation a new highlight in the bilateral relations, considering to carry out cooperation in fields such as AI, semiconductor, and nuclear energy
“Facing the uncertainty, instability and unpredictability of the international situation, the two sides will firmly uphold multilateralism, jointly safeguard international fairness and justice and the common interests of developing countries; maintain solidarity and cooperation in the international community, promote the common values of humanity on peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom; support an equal and orderly multipolar world and the globalisation of inclusive economy, bringing about common benefits and developing global governance in a more equitable and reasonable direction. The two sides emphasised the joint opposition to hegemony and power politics, to unilateralism in all forms, and to actions that jeopardise regional peace and stability. The two sides agreed to promote appropriate cooperation within the framework of major perspectives and initiatives such as building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative, and jointly respond to global challenges. The two sides are willing to jointly implement cooperation within the framework of the Global Civilisation Initiative, jointly promote cultural exchanges, and strengthen emotional connections between people of the two sides. Actively implementing the memorandum of understanding between the two countries on enhancing cooperation in human resources development within the framework of the Global Development Initiative. Effectively implementing cooperation documents to promote the Global Development Initiative and the high-quality Belt and Road connectivity. Supporting connectivity between China and the countries in the Mekong sub-region.”
“The two sides held sincere and candid discussions on sea-related issues, emphasising the need for better management and active resolution of sea-related differences, and for joint maintenance of peace and stability in the East Sea. The two sides agreed to abide by the important common perceptions reached by the top leaders of the two Parties and the two countries; persist in friendly consultations to actively seek fundamental and long-term solutions that are acceptable to both sides and accord with the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between Vietnam and China, international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The two sides pledged not to take any actions that may complicate the situation or expand disputes, and to work together to maintain stability at sea. Stepping up negotiations for the delimitation of sea areas beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin, and for the cooperation for mutual development at sea to soon achieve substantive progress; actively implementing cooperation in less sensitive areas at sea; and strengthening cooperation in maritime search and rescue. The two sides pledged to push ahead with the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and, through consultation and consensus, to soon reach a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) that is in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS. The two sides agreed to properly bring into play the roles of the Land Border Joint Committee and the Committee on land border gate management cooperation between Vietnam and China, continue to promote the effective implementation of the three legal documents on the Vietnam – China land border and the related agreements; enhance border area management; actively promote the opening and upgrade of border gates; and continuing to well implement the agreement on the travel of vessels in the free navigation area at the mouth of the Bac Luan/Beilun River.”
Back to the front page, departing from Vietnam, Xi reached Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. This is his first visit to the country in 12 years. In remarks at the airport, Xi said that:
“China and Malaysia are friendly neighbours” facing each other across the sea, with a traditional friendship stretching back for thousands of years. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations more than half a century ago, the two countries have upheld mutual respect, treated each other as equals, and pursued win-win cooperation, setting a model for state-to-state relations. In 2023, both sides reached an important consensus on jointly building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, and last year the two countries grandly celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties. As important developing countries and members of the Global South, deepening high-level strategic cooperation between China and Malaysia conforms to the common interests of both countries and is beneficial to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and even the world.” 中马两国是隔海相望的友好邻邦，传统友谊绵延千年。建交半个多世纪以来，两国坚持相互尊重、平等相待、合作共赢，树立了国与国关系的典范。2023年，双方就共建中马命运共同体达成重要共识，去年两国隆重庆祝建交50周年。作为重要发展中国家和全球南方成员，中马两国深化高水平战略合作符合两国共同利益，有利于地区乃至世界和平、稳定、繁荣.
Xi promised that the two sides will work to usher in the new ‘Golden 50 Years’ for bilateral relations.
Xi also published an article in a Malaysian newspaper, which is covered on the page. The English text is available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website. Some excerpts:
“Over 1,300 years ago, Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing (636-713) of the Tang Dynasty traveled to the Malay Peninsula on his pilgrimage voyage and produced the earliest known written account of the ancient kingdom of Kedah. More than 600 years ago, Chinese navigator and explorer Zheng He (1371-1433) of the Ming Dynasty and his fleet called at Malacca during five of his seven historic expeditions. His visits planted seeds of peace and friendship. To this day, the Sam Po Kong Temple, Bukit Cina, and Princess Hang Li Poh’s Well endure as a living testament to the local community’s everlasting veneration of the legendary Chinese navigator. Some 80 years ago, when the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression reached a critical juncture, the Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics from Malaysia braved immense dangers to reach China’s Yunnan Province, and helped keep the Burma Road operational, as it was a vital lifeline of China’s wartime supplies. Today this remarkable story of courage still echoes in the hearts of both peoples. As we honor our shared past and embrace the future, our two countries must work together to give fresh momentum to our ship of friendship that has sailed through the long river of history, and ensure that it forges ahead steadily toward brighter horizons.”
“In 2023, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and I agreed on building the China-Malaysia community with a shared future. The decision marked a new milestone in bilateral relations. China and Malaysia must enhance strategic communication, increase mutual political trust, follow through on the Belt and Road cooperation plan between the two governments, strengthen synergy between our development strategies, expand experience sharing on national governance, and promote our bilateral relations through high-standard strategic cooperation.”
“In 2024, China-Malaysia trade reached US$212 billion, up by nearly 1,000 times the level at the inception of our diplomatic relations…To date, the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park has received a total investment of over RMB11 billion yuan, and will create many long-term jobs when all its planned projects are completed with production reaching their designed capacity. Our bilateral cooperation potential is being progressively realized in the digital economy, green development, industrial investment, and transport infrastructure construction. We must deepen mutually beneficial collaboration, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and strengthen cooperation on industrial and supply chains, with a focus on the digital economy, green economy, blue economy and tourism economy, so as to advance modernization of both countries.”
“China welcomes Malaysia as a BRICS partner country. Its inclusion in the organization aligns with the historic trend of the Global South’s pursuit of solidarity-driven collective advancement and serves the common interests of developing countries…our two countries must strengthen mutual cooperation in international and regional affairs, and champion the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit. We must uphold the U.N.-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, and promote fairer and more equitable global governance. We must uphold the multilateral trading system, keep global industrial and supply chains stable, and maintain an international environment of openness and cooperation.”
China firmly supports ASEAN unity and community-building, and supports ASEAN centrality in the regional architecture. China fully supports Malaysia in its role as the ASEAN Chair for 2025 and looks forward to Malaysia serving as a stronger bridge between the two sides as the Country Coordinator for China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations.
Page 2: There’s a report on Qiushi publishing an article by Xi. This is basically the speech that Xi delivered at the 17th study session of the Politburo on October 28, 2024.
The speech was about building cultural power. This is worth reading.
Xi said that “building a cultural power is related to the overall situation of China's modernisation, the great cause of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and the improvement of international competitiveness. We must anchor the strategic goal of building a cultural power by 2035, adhere to Marxism as the fundamental guiding ideology, take root in the profound Chinese civilisation, follow the trend of information technology development, and continuously develop the socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for a new era that has strong ideological leadership, spiritual cohesion, value appeal, and international influence, constantly enhancing the spiritual strength of the people, and consolidating the cultural foundation for building a strong country and national rejuvenation.” 党的二十大和二十届三中全会对文化强国建设作出部署，去年我在文化传承发展座谈会上也就此提出了一些新要求。建设文化强国，事关中国式现代化建设全局，事关中华民族复兴大业，事关提升国际竞争力。我们要锚定2035年建成文化强国的战略目标，坚持马克思主义这一根本指导思想，植根博大精深的中华文明，顺应信息技术发展潮流，不断发展具有强大思想引领力、精神凝聚力、价值感召力、国际影响力的新时代中国特色社会主义文化，不断增强人民精神力量，筑牢强国建设、民族复兴的文化根基.
He then made five broad points:
First, unswervingly follow the path of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. Our party is a Marxist party with a high degree of cultural awareness, always standing at the forefront of the times, leading cultural development and progress, and guiding the people down the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics. The most essential characteristic of this path is adherence to the Party's leadership. The most essential feature of this path is upholding the leadership of the Party. I have said many times that if we cannot pass the test of the internet, we will not be able to pass the test of long-term governance. The key is to fully implement the principles of the Party’s leadership over propaganda, ideological work, the media, and the Internet, to enhance governance capabilities in the cultural sphere under conditions of informatization, and to consolidate the Party’s governing foundation and the mass foundation in the ideological, spiritual, and cultural domains. To uphold the path of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, we must both maintain firm confidence and determination in keeping our course and goals unchanged, and also adapt to the evolving times by actively recognizing changes, responding to them, and seeking transformation. We must uphold the fundamental system of the guiding role of Marxism in the ideological field, fully implement the cultural thought of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and develop a socialist culture that is modern, develop a socialist culture that faces modernisation, faces the world, faces the future, and is national, scientific, and for the masses. We should closely focus on building a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and leadership, adhere to the guidance of core socialist values, constantly build the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese power, and develop and strengthen mainstream values, mainstream public opinion, and mainstream culture. 第一，坚定不移走中国特色社会主义文化发展道路。我们党是具有高度文化自觉的马克思主义政党，始终站在时代前列，引领文化发展进步，带领人民走出了中国特色社会主义文化发展道路。这条道路最本质的特征，就是坚持党的领导。我多次讲过，过不了互联网这一关，就过不了长期执政这一关。这里最关键的，就是必须把党管宣传、党管意识形态、党管媒体、党管互联网原则落实到位，提升信息化条件下文化领域治理能力，在思想上、精神上、文化上筑牢党的执政基础和群众基础。坚持中国特色社会主义文化发展道路，既要坚定道不变、志不改的信心和决心，又要适应时代发展变化，主动识变应变求变。要坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域指导地位的根本制度，全面贯彻新时代中国特色社会主义文化思想，发展面向现代化、面向世界、面向未来的，民族的科学的大众的社会主义文化。紧紧围绕建设具有强大凝聚力和引领力的社会主义意识形态，坚持以社会主义核心价值观为引领，不断构筑中国精神、中国价值、中国力量，发展壮大主流价值、主流舆论、主流文化.
Second, focus on stimulating the cultural innovation and creativity of the entire nation. The vitality of culture lies in innovation and creation. We must implement the deployment of the Third Plenary Session, adhere to the people-centered creative orientation, insist on putting social benefits first and unifying social and economic benefits, make stimulating innovation and creativity the central link in deepening cultural system and mechanism reform, and accelerate the improvement of cultural management systems and production and operation mechanisms. Focusing on improving cultural originality, improve the service, guidance, and organizational working mechanisms of literary and artistic creation and production, nurture and give birth to a number of timeless classics that deeply touch people’s hearts, and build new peaks of Chinese culture. We should combine producing results with cultivating talents, connect creating works with building environments, actively create a good cultural ecology, fully promote academic democracy and artistic democracy, support writers, artists, and experts and scholars in taking root in life and concentrating on creation, and promote the continuous burst of cultural innovation and creativity. Culture and technology grow and promote each other. We should explore effective mechanisms for the integration of culture and technology, use network thinking and information technology to improve cultural creation and production processes, promote comprehensive upgrades of ‘hardware’ and ‘software’, achieve digital empowerment and information transformation of cultural construction, and transform cultural resource advantages into cultural development advantages. Facing the emergence of new technologies such as generative AI, we must coordinate development and security.第二，着力激发全民族文化创新创造活力。文化的生命力在于创新创造。要落实党的二十届三中全会部署，坚持以人民为中心的创作导向，坚持把社会效益放在首位、社会效益和经济效益相统一，把激发创新创造活力作为深化文化体制机制改革的中心环节，加快完善文化管理体制和生产经营机制。围绕提高文化原创能力，改进文艺创作生产服务、引导、组织工作机制，孕育催生一批深入人心的时代经典，构筑中华文化的新高峰。要坚持出成果和出人才相结合、抓作品和抓环境相贯通，积极营造良好文化生态，充分发扬学术民主、文艺民主，支持作家、艺术家和专家学者扎根生活、潜心创作，推动文化创新创造活力持续迸发。文化与科技相生相促。要探索文化和科技融合的有效机制，用互联网思维和信息技术改进文化创作生产流程，推动“硬件”和“软件”全面升级，实现文化建设数字化赋能、信息化转型，把文化资源优势转化为文化发展优势。面对生成式人工智能等新技术的涌现，要统筹好发展和安全.
Third, always insist that cultural development focuses on people and is grounded in people. The ‘strength’ of a culturally strong nation ultimately must be reflected in the people’s ideological realm, spiritual state, and cultural cultivation. We must adhere to the people-centered approach, focus on meeting the diverse, multi-level, and multi-faceted spiritual and cultural needs of the people, enhance cultural service and cultural product supply capabilities, and increase the people’s sense of cultural fulfillment and happiness. We must emphasize the role of culture in nurturing the mind and cultivating sentiment, fostering a spirited and enterprising national character. The core of cultural creation lies in people. We must make cultivating talent and building teams an important and urgent strategic task, coordinate the cultivation of various types of talent, and build a large-scale, well-structured, and innovative high-level cultural talent team. We must respect the patterns of talent growth, establish and improve a scientific, authoritative, open, and transparent literary, artistic, and academic evaluation system, perfect talent selection, cultivation, utilization, and incentive mechanisms suited to the characteristics of the cultural field, and create a good policy environment for identifying, valuing, and caring for talent. 第三，始终坚持文化建设着眼于人、落脚于人。文化强国之“强”最终要体现在人民的思想境界、精神状态、文化修养上。要坚持以人民为中心，着眼满足人民群众多样化、多层次、多方面的精神文化需求，提升文化服务和文化产品供给能力，增强人民群众文化获得感、幸福感。要重视发挥文化养心志、育情操的作用，涵养全民族昂扬奋发的精神气质。文化创造核心在人。要把育人才、建队伍作为重要而紧迫的战略任务，统筹各类人才培养，建设一支规模宏大、结构合理、锐意创新的高水平文化人才队伍。要尊重人才成长规律，建立健全科学权威、公开透明的文艺和学术评价体系，完善符合文化领域特点的人才选拔、培养、使用、激励机制，营造识才、重才、爱才的良好政策环境.
Fourth, maintain the Chinese cultural heritage while engaging in creative transformation and innovative development. The excellent traditional Chinese culture embodies the genes and codes of the continuous development of the Chinese nation. It is the historical responsibility and sacred mission of contemporary Chinese Communists to uphold the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation and protect, promote and develop the treasures of Chinese civilization that have been left behind through the vicissitudes of time. We must adhere to using the past to serve the present and bringing forth the new from the old, insist on creative transformation and innovative development, deeply explore and expound the spiritual connotations of excellent traditional Chinese culture, use Marxism to activate the excellent elements in traditional Chinese culture and give them new contemporary meaning, and develop socialist culture with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Cultural heritage is a powerful witness to the splendid Chinese civilization and a precious wealth left to us by our ancestors. We must hold a reverence for history and love for culture, adhere to the principles of protection first, reasonable utilization, and minimal intervention, promote systematic protection and unified supervision of cultural heritage, and strengthen the overall protection and living inheritance of historical and cultural cities, districts, and towns. We should improve the institutional mechanisms for protecting and passing on cultural heritage, accelerate the completion of regulatory and institutional systems, strengthen workforce configuration and management resource integration, and effectively enhance authority, coordination, and constraints. 第四，在创造性转化和创新性发展中赓续中华文脉。中华优秀传统文化凝结着中华民族绵延发展的基因和密码。高扬中华民族的文化主体性，把历经沧桑留下的中华文明瑰宝呵护好、弘扬好、发展好，是当代中国共产党人的历史责任和神圣使命。要坚持古为今用、推陈出新，坚持创造性转化、创新性发展，深入挖掘和阐发中华优秀传统文化的精神内涵，用马克思主义激活中华传统文化中的优秀因子并赋予其新的时代内涵，发展新时代中国特色社会主义文化。文化遗产是辉煌灿烂中华文明的有力见证，是老祖宗留给我们的宝贵财富。要秉持敬畏历史、热爱文化之心，坚持保护第一、合理利用和最小干预原则，推动文化遗产系统性保护和统一监管，加强历史文化名城、街区、村镇的整体保护和活态传承。健全文化遗产保护传承体制机制，加快完善法规制度体系，加强工作力量配备和管理资源整合，切实增强权威性、协同性、约束力.
Fifth, he talks about expanding cultural soft power internationally. “As a responsible major power, we must more proactively promote China's propositions, spread Chinese culture, and display China's image. We should advance the restructuring of international communication patterns, strengthen the coordination of external propaganda work, innovatively conduct online external propaganda, and construct a multi-channel, three-dimensional external communication pattern.” 作为负责任大国，我们必须更加主动地宣介中国主张、传播中华文化、展示中国形象。要推进国际传播格局重构，加大外宣工作统筹协调力度，创新开展网络外宣，构建多渠道、立体式对外传播格局.
Openness and inclusiveness are the driving source of civilisational development. In recent years, some of China’s literary works, online games, and online film and television dramas have successfully ‘gone abroad’; traveling to China has become a new trend among people overseas, demonstrating the strength of Chinese culture and the power of openness to the outside world. We must strengthen the concept of using culture to engage in dialogue with the world, widely carry out diverse forms of international people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation, and promote more works that are rich in historical and cultural depth, reflect contemporary Chinese life, and possess an international cultural perspective to go abroad. We must take a more active and proactive approach to learning from all outstanding achievements of human civilization and create a number of cultural achievements that integrate the ancient and the modern, and connect China with the world. 开放包容是文明发展的动力源泉。近年来，我国一些文学作品、网络游戏、网络影视剧成功“出海”，到中国旅游成为海外民众的新时尚，彰显了中华文化的力量、对外开放的力量。我们要强化用文化同世界对话的理念，广泛开展形式多样的国际人文交流合作，推动更多富有历史文化底蕴、反映当代中国生活、具备国际文化视野的作品走出国门。更加积极主动地学习借鉴人类一切优秀文明成果，创造一批熔铸古今、汇通中外的文化成果.
Back to the paper, in a display of cultural soft power, as Xi Jinping landed in Malaysia, a TV show featuring classic quotes from Xi aired in the country.
Page 4: There’s a report on Premier Li Qiang’s investigation and research tour in Beijing. The report says:
“Li stressed the need to thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions on comprehensively expanding domestic demand, calmly respond to difficulties and challenges brought by external shocks, promote consumption with greater effort, expand domestic demand, strengthen the domestic economic cycle, and further release the vitality and potential of China’s super-large market.” 他强调，要深入贯彻习近平总书记关于全方位扩大国内需求的重要指示精神，沉着冷静应对外部冲击带来的困难挑战，以更大力度促进消费、扩大内需、做强国内大循环，进一步释放我国超大规模市场的活力潜力.
Li visited an exhibition at Xidan Joy City. He pointed out that the current external environment is undergoing profound changes, causing adverse effects on China’s foreign trade. Everyone must unite, take initiative, overcome difficulties, and forge ahead, actively explore diversified markets, innovate trade channels and methods, and strive to stabilise the fundamentals of foreign trade. It is necessary to fully utilise various policies, align domestic and international standards, build platforms for foreign trade premium products to expand domestic sales, cultivate independent brands of foreign trade enterprises, establish a policy publicity mechanism that directly reaches enterprises, and steadily promote the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade. It is necessary to thoroughly implement special actions to boost consumption, make greater efforts in stabilising employment, promoting income growth, strengthening social security, further enhance consumption capacity, strengthen consumption willingness, and cultivate and expand the incremental market of domestic demand. It is necessary to promote fair competition, guide enterprises to develop based on their advantages and differences, improve competitiveness through continuous innovation in products and services, and create new demand with high-quality supply. 李强来到外贸优品中华行西单大悦城展销现场，走进纺织品、轻工产品、食品等展销区，与参展企业负责人和销售人员交流，详细了解产品出口及内销情况。李强指出，当前外部环境发生深刻变化，给我国外贸出口造成不利影响。大家要团结一心、主动作为、克难奋进，积极开拓多元化市场，创新贸易渠道方式，努力稳住外贸基本盘。要用足用好各类政策，做好国内外标准衔接，搭建外贸优品拓内销平台，培育外贸企业自主品牌，建立直达企业的政策宣介机制，稳步推进内外贸一体化发展。要深入实施提振消费专项行动，在稳就业、促增收、强保障等方面下更大功夫，进一步提升消费能力、增强消费意愿，培育壮大内需增量市场。要促进良性竞争，引导企业立足优势差异化发展，通过不断创新产品和服务来提高竞争力，以优质供给创造新的需求。
Li also inspected a real estate project site and learned about local efforts to convert inventory housing into talent apartments. “Li said that purchasing existing commercial housing for use as affordable housing is an important approach to promote the stabilisation of the real estate market and to protect and improve people’s livelihoods. It is necessary to implement relevant policies well, give city governments greater autonomy in terms of purchasing entities, prices, and uses, and promptly study and introduce new supporting measures. It is necessary to deeply advance urban renewal, strengthen the implementation of urban village and dilapidated housing renovation, and revitalise existing stock and optimise incremental development through various methods. It is necessary to focus on the concerns of new urban residents and groups with housing difficulties, adjust and improve relevant policies, and support residents’ rigid and improved housing demands. Li Qiang emphasised that in the current and coming period, China’s real estate market still has great development space. It is necessary to further release market potential, focus on promoting the construction of ‘good houses,’ accelerate the construction of a new model for real estate development, and promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.” 李强说，收购存量商品房用作保障性住房，是促进房地产市场止跌回稳、保障和改善民生的重要抓手。要落实好各项相关政策，在收购主体、价格和用途方面给予城市政府更大自主权，并及时研究推出新的支持措施。要深入推进城市更新，加力实施城中村和危旧房改造，通过多种方式盘活存量、优化增量。要聚焦城市新市民、住房困难群众关切，调整完善相关政策，支持居民刚性和改善性住房需求。李强强调，当前和今后一个时期，我国房地产市场仍有很大的发展空间，要进一步释放市场潜力，着力推动“好房子”建设，加快构建房地产发展新模式，促进房地产市场平稳健康发展.
Page 5: There’s a Zhong Yin commentary, drawing “wisdom” from three stories to shape public attitudes in order to deal with the pressure that comes with tariffs imposed by the US.
The first story is the mythological tale of Nüwa mending the sky. Briefly reciting the story, the author says:
“In the face of crisis, the hero’s true character is fully revealed; amidst strong winds and raging waves, the pillar in the middle of the stream stands firm. This fully demonstrates the unyielding spirit and energy of the Chinese nation. After over 5,000 years of trials and tribulations, what hardship have we not seen? What obstacles have we not overcome? At the founding of New China, we started from poverty and bare foundations, yet with the decisiveness and courage of ‘striking a heavy blow once to prevent a hundred blows’, we achieved the great victory of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, defending our home and country. Today’s environment and conditions are very different from back then. Facing the US’ reckless tariff blows, its methods of extreme pressure, and its delusions of subduing China, the Chinese people do not believe in evil, are not afraid of pressure, and have the confidence, capability, and resolve to overcome all difficulties and achieve victory.” 危难之际尽显英雄本色，风高浪急更见中流砥柱，充分展现了中华民族不畏艰难的精气神。历经5000多年风雨洗礼，我们什么难没见过，什么坎没迈过？新中国成立之初，一穷二白，我们以“打得一拳开，免得百拳来”的果决与勇气，夺取了抗美援朝、保家卫国的伟大胜利。今天的环境、条件和那时相比已有很大不同，面对美方滥施关税的乱拳、极限施压的手段、压服中国的妄想，中国人民不信邪、不怕压，有信心、能力和底气排除万难、夺取胜利.
“President Xi Jinping emphasized: ‘For over 70 years, China’s development has always been based on self-reliance and hard work. It has never depended on anyone’s handouts, and has never feared any unreasonable suppression. No matter how the external environment changes, China will firmly maintain confidence and composure, and focus its energy on handling its own affairs well. China’s economy is already a vast ocean, able to withstand storms and heavy rains, and able to resist the impact of tariffs from individual countries. Export market diversification has achieved significant results, the domestic market has broad buffer space, policy obstacles and bottlenecks for ‘export to domestic sales’ are being rapidly cleared, and the domestic demand market’s absorption effect is increasingly evident … as a super-large-scale economy, we possess strong pressure resistance capacity; the economy is stabilising and improving, new quality productive forces are being rapidly cultivated, new industries, new business forms, new models, and new achievements are emerging one after another, and various risks are gradually being resolved … With strong momentum and surging vitality, we have continuously maintained development and progress.” 习近平主席强调：“70多年来，中国发展始终靠的是自力更生、艰苦奋斗，从不靠谁的恩赐，更不畏惧任何无理打压。无论外部环境如何变化，中国都将坚定信心、保持定力，集中精力办好自己的事。”中国经济早已是一片大海，经得起风狂雨骤，抵得住个别国家的关税冲击。出口市场多元化成效显著，国内市场缓冲空间广阔，“出口转内销”政策堵点、卡点加快打通，内需市场的容纳效应日益显现……作为超大规模经济体，我们具有强大的抗压能力；经济企稳向好，新质生产力加快培育，新产业新业态新模式新成果竞相涌现，各类风险逐步化解……动力强劲、活力奔涌，我们始终保持发展和进步.
“What does not defeat us will only make us stronger. For a long time, the US has continuously exerted pressure on us through various means. Not only has this failed to crush us, but it has instead compelled China to make up for its development shortcomings and enhance economic resilience. Faced with unreasonable suppression, domestically produced 5G smartphones emerged with a bang and amazed the world; faced with technological blockades, domestic chips and operating systems have continued to achieve new breakthroughs; faced with tariff suppression, China has continuously expanded economic and trade cooperation with emerging markets and opened up new space for development … wherever there is pressure, there will be motivation. Before the industrious and courageous Chinese people, any ‘stumbling block’ will be turned into a ‘stepping stone’; the place where the storm is fiercest is exactly the stage for ‘soaring to the skies’. The logic of a bully is to bully the weak and fear the strong; the strong take a seat at the ‘table’, while the weak are put on the ‘menu’. On today’s international stage, when facing all kinds of hegemonic behaviour, the more one swallows humiliation to seek compromise, the more one will face ‘salami slicing’. The Chinese people never provoke trouble, but we are not afraid of trouble either. In the face of any difficulty and risk, our legs do not tremble, and our backs do not bend.” 那些打不倒我们的，只会让我们更强大。长期以来，美方以各种手段不断施压，不仅没有打垮我们，反而倒逼中国补上了发展短板、提升了经济韧性。面对无理打压，国产5G手机横空出世，惊艳全球；面对技术封锁，国产芯片和操作系统不断取得新突破；面对关税遏压，中国持续拓宽与新兴市场经贸合作，打开发展新空间……哪里有压力，哪里就有动力。在勤劳勇敢的中国人民面前，任何“绊脚石”，都将被变成“垫脚石”；暴风雨最猛烈的地方，恰是“一飞冲天”的舞台。霸凌者的逻辑就是欺软怕硬，强者上“餐桌”，弱者进“菜单”。当今国际舞台上，面对各式各样的霸道，越是委曲求全，就越会被“切香肠”。中国人民从不惹事，更不怕事。在任何困难和风险面前，腿肚子不会抖，腰杆子不会弯.
The second story that is referred to is that of Pandora’s Box. The article compares the imposition of tariffs by the Trump administration to the opening of Pandora’s Box. The case made here is that everyone’s been struggling in recent times, and the US government is using the “tariff war to divert domestic contradictions and use the logic of hegemony to pressure other countries to make profits.”
It adds that “abuse of tariffs will only hurt others and oneself.” It says that “this protectionist trade weapon has severely impacted the multilateral trading system, created enormous chaos and uncertainty globally, triggered major tremors in capital markets across multiple countries, increased the probability of global economic recession, and caused a ‘confidence crisis’. Lawrence Summers, Harvard University economics professor and former US Treasury Secretary, recently stated that due to tariff measures, the US is currently likely moving toward economic recession, which could lead to approximately 2 million Americans losing their jobs. Recently, institutions including Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Citigroup have all lowered their US economic growth forecasts and significantly raised the probability of America facing an economic recession, with Barclays Bank even predicting that US GDP will contract in 2025.” 这一贸易保护主义大棒，严重冲击多边贸易体制，在全球范围内制造巨大混乱和不确定性，引发多国资本市场巨震，加大全球经济衰退概率，造成“信心危机”。美国哈佛大学经济学教授、美国前财政部长劳伦斯·萨默斯近日表示，由于关税措施，美国目前可能正朝着经济衰退的方向发展，可能导致约200万美国人失业。近期，高盛、瑞银、花旗等机构纷纷下调美国经济增长预期，大幅上调美国经济衰退概率，巴克莱银行甚至预计美国2025年GDP将收缩.
“President Xi Jinping emphasized: ‘There are no winners in a tariff war. Going against the world will only lead to isolating oneself’. Blowing out someone else’s lamp will not make your own brighter. Clinging to beggar-thy-neighbor practices, zero-sum game thinking, and arrogant self-admiration will not attract fellow travelers. In interviews, American politicians have expressed concern that the tariff war not only increases costs but also makes people feel they ‘cannot rely on or trust the United States.’ Defying the entire world, deploying pressure, threats, and extortion to the utmost, and standing in opposition to the whole world, the outcome can only be sliding into a self-created ‘tariff trap’ and falling into a ‘crisis of trust.’ Blindly politicizing, weaponizing, and instrumentalizing economic and trade issues results in nothing but lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot. The painstakingly built ‘small yard, high fences’ disrupt the stability of global industrial and supply chains, instead raising costs for American companies and impacting innovation in US industries; the reckless waving of the ‘sanctions stick’ instead harms the American public, drastically raising the cost of living and leading to widespread protests; the so-called ‘art of the deal’ through tariffs has instead caused ‘centrifugal’ tendencies among traditional allies and accelerated the global supply chain’s ‘de-Americanisation’. ‘We don’t want this kind of America!’; this cry from recent protest crowds in the US is something American politicians really ought to listen to carefully.” 习近平主席强调：“打关税战没有赢家，同世界作对，将孤立自己。”吹灭别人的灯，不会让自己更加光明。抱持以邻为壑的做法、零和博弈的思路、孤芳自赏的傲慢，是不会有同行者的。美国政客在采访中担忧，关税战不仅提高成本，还会让人“不能指望、不能相信美国”。冒天下之大不韪，极尽施压、威胁和讹诈之能事，站在整个世界的对立面，结局只能是滑向自设的“关税陷阱”，陷入“信任危机”。一味将经贸问题政治化、武器化、工具化，结果就是搬起石头砸自己的脚。苦心构筑的“小院高墙”，破坏全球产业链供应链稳定，反而抬高美企成本，影响自身产业创新；恣意挥动的“制裁大棒”，反而伤害美国民众，生活成本大幅抬高，导致抗议四起；运筹关税“谈判艺术”，反而让传统盟友体系出现“离心化”倾向，让全球供应链加速“去美国化”。“我们不想要这样的美国！”近日美国游行队伍里的呼声，美国政客真该好好听听.
The third story referenced is ‘The Wizard of Oz’. My first thought was that there was going to be a direct shot at Trump as the wizard. But nah, the author uses the tale to say that just like Dorothy worked with Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion, one needs “like-minded” partners and “unity and cooperation” to deal with challenges. In fact, there’s a sense of outreach to the US in how this is written towards the end.
The article says:
“Economic globalisation is an objective requirement for the development of social productivity and an inevitable result of scientific and technological progress. It is not artificially created by certain people or countries, nor can it be artificially cut off by certain people or countries.” 经济全球化是社会生产力发展的客观要求和科技进步的必然结果，不是哪些人、哪些国家人为造出来的，也不是哪个人、哪个国家可以人为切断的.
“The problems facing economic globalisation, such as unbalanced development, governance difficulties, the digital divide, and a fairness deficit, objectively exist, but these are problems encountered in the process of progress. They must be faced squarely and efforts made to resolve them; one cannot give up eating for fear of choking. In the face of risks and challenges, major powers should take the lead by example, major economies should act as role models, and developing countries should actively engage, fully utilising every opportunity, cooperating to respond to all challenges, jointly enlarging the global market’s pie, solidifying the mechanisms of global sharing, and revitalising the methods of global cooperation, so as to make the driving force of economic globalisation as big as possible and the resistance as small as possible.” 经济全球化面临的问题，诸如发展失衡、治理困境、数字鸿沟、公平赤字等客观存在，但这都是前进中的问题，要正视并设法解决，决不能因噎废食。风险挑战面前，大国要率先示范，主要经济体要以身作则，发展中国家要积极作为，充分利用一切机遇，合作应对一切挑战，共同把全球市场的蛋糕做大、把全球共享的机制做实、把全球合作的方式做活，共同把经济全球化动力搞得越大越好、阻力搞得越小越好.
While the US arbitrarily imposes tariffs, a ‘zero tariff’ policy is particularly valuable. Since December 1, 2024, China has granted zero-tariff treatment to 100% of tariff lines from all least developed countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, becoming the first developing major country and major global economy to implement such a measure. What does the ‘zero tariff’ policy bring? It allows Chinese consumers to enjoy Laotian natural rubber, Tanzanian honey, Madagascar mutton, etc. at lower prices, and it promotes the industrial development of relevant countries and improves the local people’s livelihood. Mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, reducing global development imbalance…this is China’s responsibility. 当美国滥施关税时，一项“零关税”政策尤为可贵——自去年12月1日起，中国给予所有同中国建交的最不发达国家100%税目产品零关税待遇，成为实施这一举措的首个发展中大国和世界主要经济体。“零关税”带来了什么？是中国消费者以更低价格享受到老挝天然橡胶、坦桑尼亚的蜂蜜、马达加斯加的羊肉等，是推动相关国家的产业发展、增进当地的民生福祉。互惠互利，减少全球发展不平衡，这是中国担当.
The article ends with a conciliatory note.
“Inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation are the right path for mankind. The essence of China–U.S. economic and trade relations is precisely mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. American companies have tremendous interests in China, with more than 70,000 American companies investing and doing business in China; exports to China support 930,000 jobs in the US. ‘The earth is big enough to accommodate the common development and prosperity of China and the United States.’ The ‘Thucydides Trap’ is not a historical inevitability. Containing China is unwise, undesirable, and will not succeed. At present, the common interests between China and the United States have not decreased, but increased. Only through mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation can we inject certainty and provide positive energy to the world.” 普惠包容、互利共赢是人间正道，中美经贸关系的本质正是互利共赢。美国企业在华拥有巨大利益，超过7万家美企在华投资兴业；对华出口支撑了美国国内93万个就业岗位。“地球足够大，容得下中美两国共同发展、各自繁荣。”“修昔底德陷阱”不是历史的宿命，遏制中国不明智、不可取，更不会得逞。当下中美两国共同利益不是减少了，而是更多了，只有相互尊重、和平共处、合作共赢，才能为世界注入确定性、提供正能量.
With all this said, do note Bloomberg reports that:
“China has ordered its airlines not to take any further deliveries of Boeing jets as part of the tit-for-tat trade war that’s seen US President Donald Trump levy tariffs of as high as 145% on Chinese goods, according to people familiar with the matter. Beijing has also requested that Chinese carriers halt any purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from US companies, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing matters that are private. The order came after China unveiled retaliatory tariffs of 125% on American goods this past weekend, the people said. Those levies on their own would have more than doubled the cost of US-made aircraft and parts, making it impractical for Chinese airlines to accept Boeing planes.”
Meanwhile, the US government has said that Nvidia will require licences to export its H20 AI chip to China. NYT reports that:
“Nvidia will take a $5.5 billion charge against its revenue in the current quarter because of H20 inventory, purchase commitments and related reserves, which it won’t be able to sell or fulfill in the wake of the government’s new rule, the company said. The write-down is a bigger strategic blow than a financial one. Nvidia, which dominates the market for semiconductors used in building artificial intelligence systems, considered selling chips to China vital to its future. If it withdrew from the market, it feared that it would surrender sales to China’s leading A.I. chipmaker, Huawei, and that Huawei would begin to challenge it for sales around the world. ‘This kills Nvidia’s access to a key market, and they will lose traction in the country,’ said Patrick Moorhead, a tech analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy. ‘Chinese companies are just going to switch to Huawei’.”
Page 7: There’s a report informing that police authorities in Harbin are pursuing three operatives affiliated with the US National Security Agency over suspected cyberattacks against China. A reward is on offer for any information about the individuals.
“The Harbin public security bureau said that the three operatives -- Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling, and Stephen W. Johnson -- had been engaged in cyberattacks targeting the Asian Winter Games held in the city in February. Investigations by Chinese technical teams revealed that the cyberattacks were carried out by the Office of Tailored Access Operations of the NSA. To conceal the origins of its attacks and secure its cyber weapons, the office used multiple affiliated front organizations to purchase IP addresses from various countries and anonymously rented servers located in regions including Europe and Asia. Investigations revealed that the NSA focused its pre-event cyberattacks on critical systems of the Asian Winter Games, including registration, arrival/departure management, and competition entry platforms, authorities said. These systems, essential for pre-event operations, stored vast amounts of sensitive personal data of individuals associated with the Games.”
“From Feb. 3, coinciding with the first ice hockey match, NSA cyberattacks peaked, primarily targeting critical operational systems such as the event's official information platforms. These systems were vital for ensuring the smooth running of the Games, and the NSA attempted to disrupt them to undermine their normal operations. Meanwhile, the NSA launched cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure sectors in Heilongjiang Province, including energy, transportation, water resources, telecommunications, and defense research institutions, authorities said. Technical teams also discovered that during the Asian Winter Games, the NSA transmitted unknown encrypted data packets to specific devices running Microsoft Windows operating systems within the province. These packets are suspected to have been attempts to activate or trigger pre-implanted backdoors in the Windows systems, authorities added. Further investigations revealed that the three NSA operatives had repeatedly launched cyberattacks against China's critical information infrastructure and participated in cyber operations targeting companies such as Huawei.”
Page 11: There’s a brief report telling us how individuals like a student to a taxi driver received rewards on National Security Education Day for participating in cracking down on apparent espionage. A fisherman was rewarded for retrieving an espionage device from the sea; Xiao Liu, a company employee from Liaoning, reported that suspicious persons were secretly photographing military facilities; etc. On the whole, 90 people were felicitated.