Two things delighted me in the past decade: when Xi called upon people to “be mindful of the legacy & not to forget the mission” & marvelous idea of a community with a common destiny for mankind.

China has demonstrated that it is absolutely possible to create its own independent digital, technological and media ecosystems, which are not just on par but often superior to their Western counterparts.

Editor's Note: People in Western countries believe the COVID-19 pandemic is over, including in the UK, despite the fact that there are 2 million people in that country living with long COVID. Among them is Ravi Veriah Jacques (Veriah Jacques). The 23-year-old young man, who is also the son of well-known British scholar Martin Jacques, has been affected by long COVID for 15 months. Prior to falling ill, he had just graduated from Stanford University and was halfway through a master's degree at Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar. He has had to spend almost 16 hours a day in bed, and in his own words, the illness feels like “being a prisoner in his own body.” In her I-Talk show, Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Wenwen talked to Veriah Jacques about the catastrophic impact long COVID has had on his life, as well as how he thinks the British government has handled the pandemic. Due to his health conditions, the interview had to be taken in two separate parts.

Editor's Note: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to the South Pacific countries is still undergoing. The trip has triggered concerns from the West, especially Australia and the US. Since the signing of a security pact between China and the Solomon Islands in April, the West has been very sensitive to China's moves in the region. They have intensively hyped that China is competing for influence in the Pacific. What are the intentions behind the smear campaign against China? Is the Albanese administration's attitude toward cooperation between China and South Pacific countries rational? Global Times (GT) reporter Lu Yuanzhi talked to Robert Barwick (Barwick), research director for the Australian Citizen Party, over these issues as well as future China-Australia relations.

I worked in a number of Western countries, some of which were former colonial powers. In my interactions with their leaders and officials on cooperation with Africa, it was unfortunate that I sensed an underlying sentiment from time to time that smacked of paternalism and condescension. An approach that still reflected a “colonial” attitude that “we know what is best for Africa”!

Australia does not formulate a foreign policy independent of the United States, and because of the immaturity of the LNP and its lack of vision, Canberra has failed to balance its relationship between the US and China, former Australian diplomatic and political commentator Bruce Haigh has told the Global Times. He believes the relationship with China will become better when proper and professional diplomacy is employed.

In view of the differences in political systems and ideologies between China and Australia, as well as the fact that Australia is a staunch ally of the US and that it has always closely followed the US' lead in history, Australia will ultimately lean to the US at critical moments. We must pay close attention to any changes in Australia's policy toward China and avoid misjudgment.

The mass shooting in Buffalo of New York State last Saturday that killed 10 people has triggered discussion of white supremacy prevailing in US society. Why are some young, white men addicted to the "great replacement" theory? Is gun violence becoming more and more serious in the US given the current political and social atmosphere?

Historically, when the US was doing well at home, its diplomacy tended to be rational. When there were a lot of domestic problems, it would divert its conflicts to international relations. The present China-US relationship is such a victim.

I think stabilization is very possible. That's probably the most likely scenario, that it will stabilize but without major improvement. But there are also possible scenarios of a spiral downward.

In times of a West deteriorating with xenophobic, anti-science and Nazi-fascist discourses, a New Silk Road can symbolize the beginning of a luminous reaction to all this darkness that is gaining ground in several Western countries.

I would say going forward, anything that can be done to empower the business community in the US and the business community in China to work together and to create opportunities will benefit the people on both sides. But it's going to be hard because right now, the tone in the media and in Washington is not to encourage that. It's discouraging.

Editor's Note: For the Chinese people, the past decade was epic and inspirational. The country, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, has made great endeavors in boosting its economy, deepening reforms, improving the rights of its people and acting as a responsible power globally. The Chinese leader has been advocating a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination. Global Times (GT) reporter Li Aixin talked to Alfred de Zayas (De Zayas), professor of international law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and former UN independent expert, on his understanding of the world order, as well as the roles China and the US play in it. This is the third interview of the series.

To avert the outbreak of war, the US must be continually reminded that the wayward province of Taiwan is not an “unsinkable American aircraft carrier,” a proxy battlefield, or an independent sovereign nation.

China's engagement in multilateral organizations, including with nations and various other organs of UN, aims to promote common development, common prosperity, and to some extent common security, so as to build economic communities or security communities in the regions, whereas the United States is trying to sustain its global hegemony.

Rather than recognizing the way the world has changed, some analysts appear to have fixated on the decades immediately after WW2 and concluded that this represents some immutable international order. It's a deeply flawed analysis.

"How is not selling Kerrygold butter to Russia going to save any Ukrainian lives? How is buying filthy fracked US gas going to stop the war?" Clare Daly, an Irish politician and a member of the European Parliament, asked earlier this month. She said, "NATO has never brought peace anywhere in the world," and sanctions against Russia will "devastate the European economy."

China's approach to human rights prioritizes sovereignty and the right to development, and these principles have been applied to the implementation of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

With the Ukraine crisis continuing, the West has spared no effort to persuade New Delhi to "stand with the West" to condemn Moscow. Is this another embodiment of the West's "colonial mentality" and "colonial structures and institutions"?

NATO is not expanding into Asia, because in the NATO treaty there is a geographic definition. The geographic definition excludes Asia.

How will the ongoing Ukraine crisis end? What should Europe learn from it? Is it possible for China and the US to join hands to resolve the crisis?

Editors' Note: More and more secrets about US-funded biolabs in Ukraine have come to light amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Apart from Ukraine, the US has funded laboratories in many other post-Soviet states. What are these biolabs studying? Is it possible that the US is creating genetic weapons that target specific people? Russian biotechnologist Ilya Dukhovlinov (Dukhovlinov) talked about these issues with Global Times (GT) reporter Xia Wenxin in an email interview.

Editor's Note: Last month, Chinese internet security company 360 released reports on US National Security Agency (NSA)'s cyberattacks around the world, showing that US' cyberattack activities have become common and the potential threat has grown. Global Times (GT) reporter Zhao Siwei interviewed Bian Liang (Bian), head of the 360 Helios Team. Bian said once these threats are detonated, the harm will occur beyond the virtual world. This will trigger major security incidents in the real world. All departments must realize the urgency of cyber security and take immediate measures to prevent potential threats.

The US needs to open up to provide the documentation and open up to what's really being done in those labs.

"We can regard the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a 'preview' of the US' possible acts in Asia… NATO's expansion will not stop unless there is another bloc that forms as a check and balance," said Zheng Yongnian (Zheng) in an exclusive interview with Global Times (GT) reporters Li Aixin and Bai Yunyi. The war in Ukraine is far from over. Will it turn into Pandora's box for the global geopolitical landscape? What lessons can China learn? Zheng shared his views about these issues. Zheng is the presidential chair professor, acting dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science, and the Founding Director of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.

"The working class of Europe and North America will pay the price of the NATO crazed suicide-mission against Russia," tweeted George Galloway (Galloway), six-term British parliamentarian. He believes the US "is ready to fight to the last drop of Ukrainian blood, in the end, it's prepared to fight to the last drop of European blood." Why does he say so? What's his take on the ongoing Ukraine crisis?

The purpose of China's proposal and appointment of the special envoy is very clear, that is, to assist regional countries in handling regional affairs independently and to achieve regional peace, stability and security development.

I could not have imagined that less than 30 years later, extreme poverty would have disappeared from China.

Westerners should study the well-established framework of fine-grained local governance, filtering down from the city to district and community levels, that has played such an instrumental role in successfully containing and clearing the COVID-19 virus.

Whole-process people's democracy establishes a system of consultation and grassroots mobilization which takes into account China's specific conditions of development.

China helps us with global problems. And so we've gained, even as we've had some problems. So for all these reasons, the fact that we always hedged, makes the view that this was a mistake silly and revisionist.

To break the ice for current China-US relations, the first move needs to be made by the US. We have a government which emphasizes competition with China. I think that is wrong.

As an American who has lived in China for 11 years, Thomas Weir Pauken II shared with the Global Times his feelings from being present at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and what he thinks about the West's political campaign against China.

I hope COVID will force the world to cooperate in solving a global problem.

In China, because the people believe in the government and believe that the government looks after them, they impose discipline on themselves. That's a very impressive treat in China.

The Beijing Summer Olympic Games held 14 years ago were widely considered as China's coming-of-age ceremony. Next week, Beijing will become the first city to host both Summer and Winter Olympics. What do the Winter Olympic Games mean to China especially when they're held in the most trying of circumstances given the raging pandemic and US' call for "a diplomatic boycott"? Why is US' attempt to sabotage the Games doomed to fail? Global Times (GT) reporters Yu Jincui and Lu Yuanzhi interviewed Sourabh Gupta (Gupta), a senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies, over these issues via email.

China and Russia have demonstrated how to form sustainable dialogue and cooperation in Central Asia. They have established large-scale coordination that is in the interests of security, stability, progress, and prosperity in Central Asia.

Editor's Note: When asked about Washington's notorious Guantanamo Bay prison, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Friday that it "has fully exposed the hypocritical double standard of the US on human rights issues." In fact, while ignoring its own abuses, the US has weaponized human rights issues to smear and attack other countries. Why does the US feel threatened by China? How will the struggle over human rights between the US and other powers, such as China and Russia, end? Global Times (GT) reporter Xia Wenxin spoke with James Peck (Peck), a US scholar and adjunct professor of History at New York University.

Editor's Note: January 11 marked 20 years since the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the infamous US prison located at a US Navy base in southern Cuba that represents injustice and abuse. “How did I harm America that America has to do this to me? And of course, there was never an answer,” Moazzam Begg (Begg), a British Pakistani who was once held in extrajudicial detention by the US government in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, told Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Wenwen in a recent interview. What was his experience there? Will the prison ever be closed? Begg shared his thoughts with GT.

Editor's Note: The China-Europe relationship hit a bumpy road in 2021, as members of the European Parliament voted to freeze the ratification of the China-EU bilateral investment treaty. Some have been vocal in criticizing China's internal affairs such as its Xinjiang policy and interfering in the Taiwan question. Where are China-EU relations heading? And what position should the EU take on the Lithuania-China spat? Global Times (GT) reporters Chen Qingqing and Bai Yunyi interviewed Clare Daly (Daly), an Irish politician and a member of the European Parliament, on these issues.

I would not compare the Cold War with today's competition between China and the US. Back then there was a real ideological competition. The Soviet Union offered its model about the achievements of people's wellbeing and happiness, and the US offered its own. On the one hand, today we are living in a very integrated world – for example, in terms of information. But on the other hand, we are also living in a very divided world, with different value systems and approaches to development.

Black swan events are unpredictable. But people should still be fully prepared psychologically: The US is a very fragile society, and anything can happen.

We must rise above our evolutionary-molded minds that radically distinguish in-groups and out-groups and thus distort rational decision-making. We must see the world from a holistic, global perspective. We must do better.

Mr. Biden and his party seem to be at an increasing disadvantage in next year's midterm elections.

There has not been any strong leader in the Western world in recent decades.

“The US is overburdening itself...The US should learn lessons from the Soviet Union.”

The US might be No.1, but its share of the whole has steadily come down over the past 80 years since the end of the Second World War.

Assange's fiancée revealed to the media that he suffered a stroke in prison in October due to stress over his future. What does the family plan to do next? How did the US administration disappoint the family?

When Joe Biden was confirmed President-elect in November 2020, many on both sides of the Pacific Ocean were hopeful for a shift in China-US trade ties that had become mired in a tariff war. But to the disappointment of many, bilateral tensions have only escalated under Biden. Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute of Global Affairs and former Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, was one of them. Why Biden has not moved to roll back the punitive tariffs? What actions need to be taken to ease trade tensions? In an interview with the Global Times' Song Lin (GT), Roach, whose new book focuses on how to improve the bilateral ties, offered his views.

The Western narrative of "democracy and freedom" keeps telling Chinese people how oppressed they are. However, when the younger generation can look around and see things with their own eyes, that narrative is starting to lose its hold.

Editor's Note: The 'Summit for Democracy,' hosted by US President Joe Biden, took place on Thursday local time amid international doubt over the US' leadership in democracy. Why is the US increasingly detached from the essence of democracy? Can the summit bolster US-style democracy around the world, and at the same time contain alleged adversarial countries like China and Russia as the US wishes? The Global Times reporter Wang Wenwen (GT) talked to Kenneth Hammond (Hammond), professor of East Asian and global history at the New Mexico State University, over these issues.

Is the US qualified to regard itself as the leader of world democracy? Can the banner of democracy solidify the countries participating to the summit into a unified camp against China?

“Democracy is about the climate of trust.” Unfortunately, there is no such trust in the society of the US and other Western countries today.

The invitation list was drawn up by the US in its sole judgment of which countries qualified. My immediate criticism is that the invitation list was not drawn up in a democratic manner.

This December marks the 20th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Over the years, scholars from Russia, China and the West have studied the reasons for the dissolution. What are the most important lessons for today's China from this event?

Why did he choose to warn about a possible war in a Chinese media outlet? How is the US' Taiwan policy hijacked by the military-industrial complex?

The US is not used to lagging behind, but with more and more evidence, it found itself to be far behind Russia and China.

Unfortunately, Australia's foreign policy debate agenda is now being set by security agencies rather than by its professional diplomats. Australia has indeed “lost its way.”

The US and West is in a multi-dimensional crisis. Instead of putting its own house in order first, it argues that someone is even worse. Whether true or not, it soothes like a shot soothes the drug addict but it is not a solution.

I think that the danger of a new cold war, which will be also a scientific cold war, a digital cold war, is growing. Five years ago, it looked like a possibility, but a distant one. Now, it seems more and more like a reality.

The current state of the bilateral relationship makes climate engagement more difficult between the US and China than a few years ago. But engagement is needed.

Despite war-weariness among US public after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there's a real effort in the US to amp up a new cold war with China.

I like to believe the American military is populated by sane people – we can't defend Taiwan, and it makes no sense to try and defend Taiwan, because it is a losing proposition.

Alliances are, by definition and philosophically, “we” groups that ally against “them” and, therefore, confrontational. Like NATO, AUKUS is no exception.

Neither the EU nor Germany can win anything when going into conflict with China, but it will lose a lot, both economically and politically.

The West is divided on China. The US' political establishment is united in believing that China is a threat to the US (although the nature of the threat has never been defined). By contrast, most European countries do not regard China as a direct threat to Europe. Hence, the US and Europe have not achieved a unified strategy toward China.

While Afghans have so far only fled sporadically and in small numbers to countries neighboring Afghanistan this year, the situation remains highly fluid.

Australia is moving to become a pariah state, a state just like white Apartheid South African, whose only friend was the United States.

Success in preventing Taiwan becoming the Sarajevo of the 21st century will require extended, thoughtful, candid conversations between Xi and Biden and the governments they lead. The lack of such communication today leaves both nations vulnerable to an accident or incident that could lead to outcomes that would be catastrophic for both nations.

Western democracy has brought a lot of advantages to Western societies. At the same time, it has never produced a foreign policy without war, without export of weaponry, without concepts of enemies.

European leaders talk about a confrontation between "democracy" and "authoritarianism." They are extremely poorly educated in political philosophy and unable to understand the ideological stakes of the present moment. How can you criticize China if you have never even read a book about it? It is farcical.

This report is simply the latest phase of the long-term demonization of China, blaming China for the pandemic even though it was China that first identified the virus and shared the genome information as soon as it was available, and which implemented the most effective programs to contain and control the outbreak, saving probably millions of lives by mobilizing the whole people in a sustained public health campaign.

Russia and China should communicate with the new Afghan authorities in order to independently listen to their words, and look at their deeds by own eyes.

American media oftentimes reports US service members that died, but we rarely see how many Afghans have been killed and attacks like this.

The US will always use brutal and “cowboy” approaches.

Here is the basis of US double-standard behavior: Do as I say, don't do as I do!

It is in the interest of all to leave geopolitical tactics behind and to uncover the full facts and work together to prevent future spread of COVID19 variants.

The situation in Afghanistan has entered a crucial period after the US pulled out most of its forces and peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are in a stalemate. In a recent exclusive interview with Global Times reporters Zhao Juecheng and Hu Yuwei (GT), Dr. Latif Pedram (Pedram), leader of the National Congress Party (NCP) of Afghanistan and a former Member of Parliament, said that the hasty withdrawal of the US and NATO troops from Afghanistan left “a devastated land and political system tainted with blood and hatred.” Pedram believes that the former Soviet Union and the US both failed in the country, and China is eyeing a constructive role in the future economic and social reconstruction of the war-torn country.

Editor's Note: The only legitimate goal of the novel coronavirus origins tracing should be "to understand SARS-CoV-2 and work cooperatively together to end the pandemic and to prevent future pandemics," said Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of economics at Columbia University in New York and head of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission. Sachs believes that the origins tracing should not become a geopolitical issue. He also suggests that the US "be transparent about the kinds of research underway on dangerous viruses in order to assess biosafety standards and to protect against laboratory-related spillovers." The following is the full transcript between the Global Times and Professor Sachs in a written interview regarding the virus' origins tracing.

You have to come to your own senses and come to terms with China's hard power and also what's maybe called soft power or how Chinese society, the Chinese model has worked for many decades.

Instead of open cooperation, striving for cooperation with all countries of the world, consolidation of efforts, we see selfish manipulation of public opinion, attempts to use the situation to draw new dividing lines, demonstrate their superiority, and weaken independently developing countries, such as Russia and China. Therefore, Article 9 is important. It shows the consent of China and Russia to cooperation, their understanding of threats and readiness to confront together those who are ready for aggression against our countries.

The Xinjiang issue is a very complex one involving many factors such as history and ethnic minorities. But in contrast, the West does not understand the Xinjiang issue at all; they even do not understand the history and current situation of Xinjiang.

Countries, I believe, should have self-determination and should be able to choose what political system they want. But what has happened in the last 20 years is American-style democracy has become distorted and is not letting the lower classes or the middle classes improve their quality of life.

It has been a little more than a year since the national security law for Hong Kong was enacted. How is the current political atmosphere different from that time? How will Hong Kong affairs affect China's relations with the US-led West in the future?

It is a large country like China and is not amenable for exploitation by others or becoming a junior partner for another power.

Some Western media and political analysts always try to obstruct China's development. Monopoly of capitalism is their aim, and those people who criticize are protected and fed by monopoly capitalists.

An independent EU arguing for the return to international law and for the ending destructive and illegal sanctions would be very beneficial to global relations and EU citizens.

China can play a very, very significant role in bringing peace to Afghanistan.

Decoding the CPC's success, scholars from both home and abroad believe four fundamental features of the Party have played an essential role: legitimacy, people-centered, resilience, and results-oriented.

The CPC, the Party, is a “work in process.” It will always be, and that is its strength.

Both sides of China and Europe being able to know more about what the other side is thinking is a really important part of the two coming to a workable agreement.

SCO includes 2 permanent members of the UN Security Council, and 4 nuclear powers. It is impossible not to respect such an organization: former SCO secretary general

The biggest danger to the Biden administration doesn't come from China. It comes from Donald Trump. If Donald Trump wins in 2024, then clearly the Biden administration would have failed. That's why Biden should focus on improving the livelihoods of the bottom 50 percent of American people to make sure that Donald Trump doesn't come back.

My summary of China's political reforms is very simple: The CPC has modernized itself in the country's modernization process of politics, society, and economics.

A military conflict between the US and China can engulf the whole world and be a huge setback to humanity. We need wisdom on both sides.

Editor's Note: China and Russia have seen increasing interactions and closer bonds as they face amid US pressure. The trilateral relations of China, Russia and the US are of great significance in the international order. Ahead of the upcoming Putin-Biden summit, Global Times reporters Xie Wenting and Bai Yunyi (GT) interviewed Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov (Denisov) on a range of issues including bilateral and trilateral relations, COVID-19, and many others.

There is no one in sight in American politics who seems likely to match Nixon in his knowledge of foreign affairs or awareness of the requirements of statesmanship and can break the ice and improve relations with China at present.

I hope that informed diplomats in Canberra realise that the current Australian government approach of being “tough on China” is more sloganeering than serious strategy, and doubling down on this doesn't serve the national interest.

What are some ways Western countries can view their relations with a peacefully rising China? Why do dialogues between Western countries and China always seem difficult? Kerry Brown shared his opinions on these issues with Global Times reporter Sun Wei.

China's government is doing better for Chinese people than what the American government is doing for most Americans. It's really time for the US to stop lecturing other nations.