MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY
We have all been living in what is described as the VUCA world in recent years. VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Within nations, we have been witnessing such global mega trends as aging societies, urbanization, rising expectations of the middle-income group, the rapid pace of innovation, the existential threat of climate change and mounting pressures on sustainability. At the global level, we have seen how the tides of de-globalization have brought forth growing discontent, fueling unilateralism, extreme nationalism and protectionism.
In 2020, while the novel coronavirus ravaged its way across borders, international cooperation took a back seat. In the early days of the outbreak, countries were forced to fend for themselves, resorting to unilateral measures, such as closing off borders, banning the export of much-needed medical equipment and supplies. The role of the World Health Organization became paralyzed and polarize
China attracting universal dislike: Report
ANI
12 Jul 2021, 07:37 GMT+10
Taipei [Taiwan], July 12 (ANI): China s disrespect for the personal freedom of people has become one of the topmost reasons for fading Beijing prestige under President Xi Jinping.
A poll released last week by the Pew Research Center showed that an average of 69 per cent of respondents in 17 developed economies the highest ever hold a negative view of China, mainly because Beijing does not respect people s personal freedom. Almost 80 per cent have no confidence in Xi s handling of world affairs, an all-time low, reported Taipei Times.
The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation also released a poll, in which, on a scale from zero to 100, the average temperature of Taiwanese people s feelings toward the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is 32.21 degrees. Michael You, who conducted the poll, said that this is very cold, near-freezing (if the temperature is measured in Fahrenheit).
In the days leading up to the fifth anniversary on Monday of The Hague’s 2016 ruling that rejected China’s historical claim to most of the disputed South China Sea, the Philippines’ often abrasive Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr sounded celebratory, hailing the occasion as “a milestone in the corpus of international law”.
“The Philippines is proud to have contributed to the international rules-based order,” he said of Manila’s role in challenging Beijing before the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
In a dig at China, Locsin said that the decision “dashed among others a nine-dash line; and any expectation that possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
In this image made from video, Britain Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, left, and Cambodia Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn greet each other while social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus at the Foreign Ministry, June 23, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP Photo)
BANGKOK Britain’s top diplomat met Wednesday with his Cambodian counterpart as he pushed for closer economic relations to Southeast Asia, part of the U.K.’s new emphasis on the region.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab met with Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn in Phnom Penh in what his office said was the first visit by a British foreign secretary to Cambodia since the British Embassy was reopened 30 years ago.