February 24, 2024 marked two years since the breakout of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which now still shows no signs of abetting. How do ordinary Ukrainians live in the midst of the conflict? The Global Times recently interviewed several Ukrainians who said that while the supply of goods in Kiev is relatively adequate, many people have lost their jobs or seen a significant decline in income. Many have had to change their way of life to adapt to frequent air raids and explosions. The healthcare and education sectors have also been impacted.

Although the US and the Philippines have repeatedly provoked China in the South China Sea issue, weaponizing fishermen against China, the story of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy rescuing foreign fishermen in the South China Sea continues to uphold the humanitarian principle of "search and rescue knows no borders."

Editor's Note: On February 28, 2012, Tursun Talip, a resident in Yecheng county, Kashi Prefecture, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, lost his son Turghunjan, an auxiliary police officer who was hacked to death by nine terrorists, alongside another 12 killed and 16 injured. Tursun rushed to the scene and collapsed on the weeping bitterly in front of his son's pool of blood. “All I had in my mind was my son being hacked to death. I could even hear him crying out for me.”

The first installment in the series shines a spotlight on the nuanced history of China's medical aid teams in Africa over the last 60 years. During this time frame, China has dispatched medical professionals to 76 countries and regions worldwide, providing medical care to 290 million patients and earning widespread acclaim from the international community. Four groups of Chinese healthcare workers who contributed to various phases of aid in Africa shared with the Global Times their efforts in weaving together a lasting tapestry of friendship between China and Africa.

A bustling Lanzhou beef noodle soup stall was busy distributing noodles for free to the survivors beside a temporary resettlement camp for earthquake victims in Jintian village in Northwest China's Qinghai Province. With the steaming soup came gradually relaxed faces and unfolding smiles as the warmth comforted bellies and hearts in a temperature approaching -15 C. With the heat curling up, it was probably one of the warmest moments among people's memories from the disaster area.

At the core of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)'s success around the world are talented individuals who dedicate their skills to the betterment of humanity. Among this talented pool is Chinese engineer Cao Fengze, who works for a Chinese state-owned company investing infrastructure projects in Africa and holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University.

During the intense rockets attack on Saturday, Zhang said they have to hide to the safe room every one or two hours. But the situation gradually calmed down in central and northern Tel Aviv since Saturday night. "I lived in Ramat Gan [in eastern Tel Aviv] on Sunday night. I heard two explosions between 11 and 12 pm, but sounded like it was far away," Zhang said.

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.

Editor's Note: During the Vietnam War, the US used cluster bombs to carry out airstrikes on targets in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Over a period of nine years – from 1964 to 1973 – the US dropped more than two million tons of bomblets particularly in Laos, of which 80 million tons failed to detonate. Consequently, Laos now holds the unfortunate distinction of being the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. Many fear that Ukraine, which has received many cluster bombs from the US, will become the next unfortunate casualty to share Laos' fate. How does a US veteran who fought in the Vietnam War view the US' supply of cluster bombs to Ukraine? What do they feel it means to the legacy of their time on the ground? In conversation with one US Vietnam War veteran, the Global Times learned the answers to this question and more. 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.

Editor's Note: The recent visit of centenarian veteran US diplomat Henry Kissinger to China was warmly welcome by China and has since garnered significant attention from global media outlets. The visit brings to mind Kissinger's secret trip to China in 1971, which caused a sensation worldwide.

The Global Times talked to an international sports organization official who has witnessed the hosting of three Universiades by the Chinese mainland and is closely connected to the development of sports among Chinese youth, gaining an insight into her observations on China's sporting growth in recent years, which has opened up new possibilities and fostered greater expectations for major global sporting events.

Global Times reporters visited some of the affected communities and villages in Fangshan district, Beijing, and Zhuozhou city in Hebei and talked with witnesses to the once-in-a-century torrential rain to learn about the resilience and selflessness of Chinese people amid the disaster.

The crisis in Ukraine has escalated dramatically over the past year, with ongoing hostilities inflicting enormous trauma on both parties involved - Ukraine and Russia. In mid-July, Gao Zhikai, vice president of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based nongovernmental think tank, visited Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. During a recent interview with Global Times reporters Chen Qingqing and Bai Yunyi, Gao shared his observations and experiences in Kiev, as well as his interactions with Ukrainians from various fields. Gao said he hopes for an early end to the crisis and wishes for the Ukrainian people to lead peaceful, harmonious, progressive and prosperous lives. "Peace will not come easily," he said, "but it is worth every effort to strive for."

As a businessman shuttling back and forth between China and the US, Gary Dvorchak accepted to give an exclusive interview to the Global Times, when he returned to his home in Muscatine, a tranquil city on the banks of the Mississippi River in the central US state of Iowa, at a house located at No. 2911 Bonnie Drive.

Liu Zhonghan, 76, never imagined that the emotion he expresses in "Ah! Kuliang," a 1,800-word essay he wrote 31 years ago, would spread the story of the Gardner couple far and wide, and created a profound connection between himself and this small hillside area in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province.

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 moments. 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.

Editor's Note: Promoting high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a major step toward building a global community of shared future. This year marks the 10th anniversary of BRI, through which China has signed more than 200 cooperative documents under the BRI framework with 151 countries and 32 international organizations.

Editor's Note: Promoting high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a major step toward building a global community of shared future. This year marks the 10th anniversary of BRI, through which China has signed more than 200 cooperative documents under the BRI framework with 151 countries and 32 international organizations.

March 28 marks the 64th anniversary of the democratic reform of the Xizang Autonomous Region in Southwest China. In March 1959, the central government led the people in Xizang to launch a democratic reform, abolishing Xizang's feudal serfdom under a theocracy. Xizang was then able to establish a new social system that liberated the people and made them the masters of the nation and society. In 2009, the regional legislature announced March 28 as a day to commemorate the emancipation of about 1 million serfs. The democratic reform, which started in 1959, gave personal freedom, right to serfs' life, human dignity and value to the people, and unleashed immense and consistent productive forces for years to come. It is a historical event that all people in China should remember. Recently, Global Times reporters talked with a serf-born man in Lhasa. His own story is a vivid illustration of how Xizang has undergone remarkable changes in democracy.

Exactly two decades after a US-led invasion was launched, Iraq is undergoing tremendous reconstruction on the ruins of war as it tries to heal the wounds from the past.

What is the current situation in Afghanistan? What security risks do Chinese nationals face while in the country? The Global Times recently spoke with Wang Duanyong, an associate researcher at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Shanghai International Studies University, who conducted a long investigation in Afghanistan and experienced the hotel attack firsthand. Wang shared his experience and observations over the last year.

On February 28, 50 years ago, on the night the Joint US-China Communiqué was issued, Nicholas Platt, one of the youngest diplomats in the US delegation who served as the special assistant to the then US secretary of state William Rogers, met President Nixon for the first and last time.

In an exclusive interview with Global Times reporters Lin Xiaoyi, Zhao Juecheng, and Pang Yue (GT), Zhou, who served as one of China's first diplomats to the UN for 10 years from 1971 to 1981, recalled that the restoration of the PRC's legal seat at the UN was driven by the changing international situation. And China's return has made great contributions to the international community in safeguarding peace and justice. "Now China has already become a major supporter of the UN and its cooperation with the UN will embrace an infinitely brighter future," he said.

On November 15, 1971, headed by then Vice Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua, the delegation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) made its debut at the United Nations (UN) Assembly Hall after its lawful seat at the UN had been restored. The delegation immediately became the focus of attention at the 26th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Its main English interpreter Tang Wensheng (Tang), a former vice-chairperson of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, witnessed that historical moment.

The words "9/11" have been frequently appearing again in news reports recently, jogging memories of the cataclysmic event 20 years ago. 20 years is a long time, memories might have faded for some people of the changes, large and small, that have occurred on US soil and around the world since the attacks.

On the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the ping-pong diplomacy, Chinese and US veteran table tennis players recalled the memories of the visit by US table tennis players to China in 1971 and looked back to how a bouncing ball helped embark in a historical thaw among two powers that had almost zero contact during the Cold War.