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00:00Hello, Telesur English presents a new episode of China Now, a Wave Media's production that
00:13showcases the culture, technology and politics of the Asian giant. In this first segment,
00:18China Currents dives into the top stories of the week, including China's increase of rare
00:23earth exports to the US, and the development of new methods for producing ultra-heat-resistance
00:29material for use in spacecraft. Let's see.
00:36Welcome to China Currents, your weekly news report on the latest developments in China.
00:41In this episode, the largest hydropower project in human history breaks ground in China, raising
00:47concerns in India. China significantly increases rare earth exports to the United States. Chinese
00:54scientists have developed a new method for producing ultra-heat-resistance material for
00:59use in spacecraft. The most mysterious military academy in China admits female students for
01:05the first time in 72 years. And a zoo empties its wishing well to help a seriously ill girl.
01:12I'm Chris. Now let's start today's China Currents.
01:15China Currents is a weekly news talk show from China to the world. We cover viral news about
01:21China every week and also give you the newest updates on China's cutting-edge technologies.
01:26Let's get started.
01:36On July 19th, China officially began construction of the most massive and challenging hydropower
01:41project in human history, the Yalu Tsangpo hydropower project in Tibet. This mega project has a total
01:49investment of 1.2 trillion yuan, approximately 164.4 billion US dollars, and is planned to take
01:5720 years, with completion expected in 2045. Once completed, the Yalu Tsangpo hydropower station
02:04will have an installed capacity of 60 million kilowatts, triple that of the world's current largest
02:10hydropower plant, the Three Gorges Stamp. Its expected annual power generation is about 300 billion kilowatt-hours,
02:17enough to meet the electricity need of 300 million people. That's roughly equivalent to the United
02:23Kingdom's total electricity consumption last year. And before launching this project, China
02:28has spent at least 20 years in planning, research and technical validation. On the technical side,
02:35China has extensive experience and success in the two core technologies needed for this project,
02:40that's tunnel boring and ultra high voltage transmission. Previously, China's Ningqi number one tunnel boring
02:48machine drove the world's first highway tunnel through the Himalayas, making it the highest altitude highway
02:54tunnel ever constructed. In long distance and efficient electricity transmission, China's UHV technology
03:00remains globally unrivaled. But with the plan having been in preparation for 20 years, why did China choose this
03:07July to officially launch it? Let's look at the influencing factors at play from within and outside China.
03:13First, the economic rationale. On a second day after the project broke ground, Chinese cement,
03:20steel, construction machinery and Tibet-related stocks surged. As the project progresses, improvements
03:26are expected in local infrastructure, talent attraction and tourism. According to Citigroup,
03:32the first year of construction alone could boost GDP by 0.1 percentage point. People's Daily has also
03:39repeatedly cited data from the China Macroeconomic Research Center showing that for every 100 billion
03:45yuan invested in major water conservancy projects, GDP grows by 0.15 percentage points. Once completed,
03:52300 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year could generate over 75 billion yuan in revenue,
03:59that's about 10.4 billion US dollars. And beyond economics, energy security is also a major
04:05consideration. According to the CMPC Economics and Technology Research Institute, China's current energy
04:12self-sufficiency rate exceeds 80 percent. But oil still relies heavily on imports. If renewable energy becomes
04:20more affordable, it could accelerate electrification of China's vehicle fleet thereby greatly reducing its
04:26dependence on imported oil. But alongside those positive developments, this project has also stirred some
04:33concerns. India in particular expressed worry that China might cut off its water supply and is concerned
04:40about the environmental impact downstream in India. However, based on China's publicly released plans,
04:46the project does not involve constructing a large dam or cutting off the water source. Even if the tunnel
04:52collapses due to earthquakes, the river is estimated to return to its natural cause without any risk of
04:57flooding. Therefore, the impact on downstream ecosystems and populations would be minimal. That said,
05:04the project is not without implications for India. Lin Minwang, Deputy Director of Fudan University
05:09Center of South Asian Studies, said that dam could attract over 100,000 more people to relocate to this region,
05:16and that infrastructure development could improve the area's geopolitical status. And some Chinese
05:21netizens also referenced the Hoover Dam and the broader Colorado River water projects in the United States,
05:27which profoundly reshaped the energy and water landscape of the American Southwest, as well as the
05:32economic standing of cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, and Salt Lake City. They expressed hopes that the
05:39Yellow Temple project might similarly help rebalance China's economic divide between East and West.
05:46Next, let's take a look at one hot topic in China-US tariff war, rare earths. Recently,
05:52China's exports of rare earths to the United States have surged dramatically. Reuters reported on July 20th
05:59that China's exports of rare earth magnets to the United States in June soared to more than seven times the
06:05May level. Citing data from the General Administration of Customs released on the 20th, the report said that
06:12as the world's largest producer of rare earth magnets, China exported 353 tons to the United
06:19States in June, up 660 percent from May. Overall, China exported 3,188 tons of rare earth magnets globally
06:27in June. That's up 157.5 percent from May's 1,238 tons, but still down 38.1 percent from the same month
06:37in 2024. Reuters reported that due to the lengthy time required to secure export licenses, shipments in
06:44April and May sharply declined, with their exact words being that this move disrupted the global supply
06:50chain. While Reuters insinuates that China uses rare earth as weapons in tariff war, it fails to consider
06:57that rare earths served as a key material for weapons and have long been subject to rampant smuggling.
07:03In 2006, China imposed export controls on rare earths with the purpose of stopping smuggling.
07:09Reuters also revealed that from December to April this year, the U.S. imported 3,834 tons of
07:16antimony oxide from China via Thailand and Mexico, nearly surpassing a total of the previous three years.
07:23A month ago, China's Ministry of Commerce explained that rare earths have both military and civilian uses,
07:30and export controls align with international practices to protect national security while
07:34fulfill international obligations. Now let's turn to recent advances in Chinese science and technology.
07:41This month, the top-tier journal Science published a paper by scientists from Zhejiang University in China,
07:47introducing a novel method for producing aerogels that significantly enhances their heat
07:53resistance and mechanical strength, enabling better support for human space exploration.
07:58Aerogels are lightweight, porous solid materials with extreme low density and exceptional thermal insulation.
08:06They are widely used in spacecraft, military gear and electronics for insulation and thermal protection.
08:12However, traditional aerogels often suffer from low mechanical strength, making them easily damaged by pressure and impact.
08:19In a Chinese researcher's paper, they developed a new technique to create arched internal structures
08:25within the aerogel, improving its load-bearing capacity. Xu Zhen, an associate professor at Zhejiang University
08:31and one of the corresponding authors explained,
08:33these micro-arches are like helmets or cathedral ceilings that effectively distribute pressure.
08:40As Xu noted, the final aerogel can recover completely even after being compressed to 0.1% of its original thickness
08:48and can endure more than 10,000 such deformations.
08:52Their graphene ceramic aerogel remained stable at temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Celsius,
08:58far higher than NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which withstands up to 1,600 degrees Celsius.
09:05This method has great potential for industrial-scale production and potential applications include
09:10hypersonic vehicles and aerospace probes. While China's aerospace sector is witnessing leapfrog advances,
09:17its deep-sea capabilities are also turning a new chapter. Last week, the PLA Navy Submarine Academy,
09:24often seen as shrouded in mystery, broke a 72-year tradition admitted female undergraduate students
09:30for the first time. Ten female students achieved an impressive average score of 628.3 in a university
09:38entrance exam, becoming the first cohort of female undergraduates at this institution. Traditionally,
09:43women were excluded due to harsh living conditions aboard submarines unfavorable to females, including
09:49extreme heat that necessitate minimal clothing, conditions considered unsuitable for mixed-gender
09:55crews. The admission of women's signals improved the living conditions on China's new generation
10:00submarines and marks a shift in the PLA Navy's personnel strategy. The 10 girls will specialize in
10:07underwater acoustics engineering and submarine command. From female helmsmen on the Liaoning aircraft
10:13carrier to female J-15 fighter pilots, and now to submarine academy, the PLA is obviously on a
10:19path to diversify and refresh its talent pool. And finally, a touching story of a zoo in a seriously
10:26ill girl. Last week, a zoo in eastern China refunded a girl's annual pass after news of her cancer
10:32diagnosis and donated all the coins from its wishing well to support her family. Two-year-old Xiao Ran from
10:39Jiangsu loved visiting Nantong Forest Safari Park, especially to see the red pandas. After visiting five times in
10:47two months, her parents bought her an annual pass for 588 yuan, granting unlimited access. In mid-June, Xiao Ran
10:55was diagnosed with RMS, a rare podiatry cancer with high recurrence risk. The treatment costs could exceed
11:02a million yuan, putting her family in financial distress. When Xiao Ran's mother asked the zoo for
11:07a refund, they not only returned the pass fee but allowed her to keep the privileges, and additionally,
11:13staff collected 12,083 yuan from the wishing well and donated it, along with 50,000 yuan in cash to
11:20her family. The zoo explained that visitors tossed coins for health and good fortunes, and they typically
11:26donate this money to Red Cross every year. Therefore, the zoo believed that donating it to Xiao Ran was
11:31also a fitting way to use the funds. The story moved many on Chinese social media, with related topics
11:37reaching 9 million views on Weibo. One commenter wrote, life is fragile. Cherish every day,
11:43and may every child battling illness be blessed. And that's all for today. Thank you for watching
11:49this episode of China Currents. If you have any thoughts or comments, please leave them below,
11:53and see you next time. We have a short break now, but don't go away, because we'll be right back.
12:15Welcome back to China Now. Today, Thinkers Forum welcomes Professor of Economics and Director of the
12:21Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Jeffrey D. Sachs,
12:26who's going to talk about the crisis faced by the old imperial mentality. Enjoy.
12:37The U.S. still does not understand this, till today. And the wars that we see and the crises that we see
12:45are still crises of the old imperial mentality. So the war in Ukraine is a war that the U.S. caused,
13:00not a war that Putin caused, but a war that the U.S. caused by expanding the military alliance,
13:08NATO, eastward, and trying to set up a military base or bases in Ukraine and in the South Caucasus,
13:20especially the country Georgia. And the Russian government said, no, you can't have military
13:27bases on our border. We don't accept that. That's a real security threat for us. And the American
13:34position was, it's none of your business, Russia, what we do. If Ukraine says, yes, we're going to
13:41put our missiles next to you. And President Putin said, no, you're not. That's dangerous for us.
13:49And the United States said, it's none of your business. And so this is the essence of the Ukraine
13:57conflict, which is that the U.S. said we can expand our military reach anywhere. The Russians said not
14:06on our border. And it finally came to war. Before it came to war, the government in Ukraine in 2010 was
14:15very clever. It said, we want neutrality. Well, read Thucydides. The Americans did not accept Ukraine's
14:25call for neutrality. What did the United States do to the president who wanted neutrality?
14:31It overthrew that president in February 2014. So the U.S. made a coup together with Ukrainian forces.
14:42The U.S. role was quite obvious, though it was denied. So we can call it a covert regime change
14:50operation. I happen to have been told by some of the participants just how much the U.S. played a role.
14:59And at a crucial moment, a phone call by the U.S. diplomat, Victoria Nuland, was intercepted by the
15:08Russians and posted online. And that call said the next government should be so-and-so, which was the
15:16next government, actually. So the U.S. chose the next government. And where is Victoria Nuland today?
15:24She is my colleague at Columbia University. So this is the route to success. Make a coup,
15:30and then you get to be a Columbia professor. So this is the Ukraine conflict. President Trump
15:38came into office saying, I want to stop this war, because it's useless, and the Russians are winning
15:46on the battlefield. But interestingly, President Trump does not have the power or the logic to stop
15:57the war, because he can't say publicly the obvious. He can't say to the American people,
16:06NATO will not expand. If he says that, he's declared, you're a weakling, you're a traitor,
16:13you're making a concession to President Putin, you're giving up, you're on the payroll of the Russians.
16:20And so the imperial logic still prevails, even if the individual as president might want to do
16:30something different. Of course, none of us can figure out Donald Trump's mentality,
16:36not even Donald Trump. So we don't know what he really, truly thinks. But what I know is that
16:43he seems to want to end the Ukraine war, but does not have the political strength
16:50and the individual leadership to end it, because all around him is the military-industrial complex
16:57that says the U.S. can go where it wants. Then comes the Middle East conflict, second conflict.
17:07This is also an imperial conflict. It started, of course, as so many conflicts do with the British.
17:16And the conflict with Ukraine, by the way, started with the British, because in 1853,
17:21Britain went to war against Russia for exactly the same reason that the United States went to war
17:27against Russia in 2014. Britain said we need to weaken Russia in 1853. So the war in Ukraine is like
17:38the 19th century Crimean War, almost the same actors, but the United States wasn't involved in the first
17:46one. But Britain was involved in both of them. When it comes to the Middle East, this is also a crisis
17:53made by Britain. And it comes from World War I, as you know, when Ottoman Empire, which ruled the Middle
18:04East, was defeated by the Allied powers, the U.S., France, and Britain. And Britain was the dominant
18:14imperial power of the age, especially in the Middle East. It ruled over Egypt. It ruled over
18:22Aden, which is Yemen today, because this was the route to Britain's empire in India, the sea route.
18:31And so Britain was very careful to control the whole sea lane from the Mediterranean to India,
18:39and India was the crown jewel of the British Empire. So at the end of World War I,
18:44when the Turkish Empire was defeated, Britain aimed to control all of this territory. And it made many
18:53promises and many contradictory promises to other powers. Britain told the Arabs, you will control
19:01this region. Britain told the French, you will control this region. Britain told the Jews, you will
19:09control this region. And of course, Britain ultimately wanted to control the region. So this was typical
19:16British imperial deceit or duplicity. But one of the outcomes was the Balfour Declaration,
19:27which in which Britain called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in what was a province of the
19:37Ottoman Empire, and which became known as Palestine after World War I, which was the ancient Roman name
19:47that was used for this territory also. So Britain took over Palestine under the League of Nations.
19:55And it said that this would be a Jewish homeland. This is a very complicated, weird story, because the Jewish
20:04faith had its main temple in this place 2,000 years earlier. But it had been banished from this place by the Roman Empire in the year 135 A.D.
20:24And now it was recreating this ancient state. The only problem was that 95% of the population was Arabs,
20:33who did not want a Jewish homeland in this territory. But Britain used its imperial power to force
20:43the in-migration of people of Jewish religion, especially from Eastern Europe,
20:49to claim a part of British-controlled Palestine. And a very long story, that has led to 100 years of crisis.
21:04Because there was a local population, the local population resisted the incoming of migrants from
21:14Europe, especially, and then after the state of Israel was established from other regions of the world,
21:21including the Middle East and South Asia. And the mentality of the British, of the Jewish state,
21:31which was established in 1948 by the United Nations, was,
21:35was our security depends on having no Arab state next to us that opposes us. And so the idea of sharing
21:49the land, which was a UN idea, was actually rejected by both sides, in a way. The Arabs said,
21:57we're the majority, we should rule. And the Jews said, we're the minority, we need to dominate,
22:03because otherwise we won't be safe. And so this has led from 1948 until today to an unresolved war.
22:13But remember, this was a state created by the British Empire, and now backed by the U.S. Empire.
22:23So Israel could not survive without the U.S. being the imperial power that enforces Israel's
22:33power in the region. Because Israel is just eight million people. The Arab world is about 400 million
22:40people. And Israel, therefore, depends on its security entirely on the United States.
22:47The United States has seen this as an imperial project that's good for the United States,
22:54because if the U.S. has control over the Middle East through Israel, well, that gives the U.S. control
23:03effectively militarily in the region. So the U.S. has backed Israel for many decades during this period.
23:12It's a very dangerous, ongoing conflict, because it is very unjust. And Israel needs to use more and more
23:25force in order to repress the aspirations of the Palestinian people. And the more force that Israel
23:34uses, the more resistance there is. And we've reached a point of violence that is unprecedented
23:42in modern times. Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza right now, which is one part of the Palestinian
23:49lands. And every day they're slaughtering tens or hundreds of innocent people with open fire.
23:58And today there was another massacre. People came for food, and they were just shot by the Israeli armed forces.
24:09Iran, as you know, which is a long empire that has 5,000 years of history,
24:15Israel backed the Palestinian cause. And it supported resistance to Israel, both Hamas and Hezbollah,
24:28two groups, and in Yemen also the Houthi militants. So Israel has always had the idea we need to topple
24:40the Iranian regime. Instead of saying, we need to settle the Palestinian crisis
24:47by giving a state of Palestine next door to a state of Israel, Israel has said, we need to overthrow
24:55the Iranian government so that they don't bother us. And Israel actually made a long list of governments
25:03that it wanted overthrown by the United States because those governments were resisting Israel's
25:10attempt to control the region. And the list actually was made, literally made, we want seven governments
25:19overthrown. And that list was unveiled in 2001. And one of our generals, General Wesley Clark,
25:29talked about this in an amazing set of interviews. And the seven countries are Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran,
25:41Somalia, Sudan, and Libya. So seven countries that were supporting the Palestinian cause.
25:52And the Israeli government said to the Americans, you overthrow those seven governments.
25:58Well, it's not so easy. Those turned into seven major wars. We had the war in Lebanon for many,
26:05many years. We had a 15-year war in Syria, which is still going on because the U.S. tried to overthrow,
26:14or did overthrow the Syrian government. We had the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
26:23We had the U.S. bombing of Libya in 2011, which created a civil war in Libya. We had the U.S. supporting
26:34an insurgency in Sudan to break Sudan into two countries, Sudan and South Sudan, both of which are
26:42are in civil war now. And we have had the U.S. supporting interventions in Somalia, which is an
26:50ongoing battleground as well. So the U.S., the one that was missing up until two weeks ago, or up until
26:59last month, was Iran. And the Israeli government was always begging the U.S., bomb Iran, bomb Iran,
27:07bomb Iran. And finally, Trump, who's again, not very smart, not very effective, not very capable of
27:20resisting these kinds of demands, said, okay, we'll bomb Iran. And the war, such as it was, lasted 12 days.
27:32Israel went in and assassinated dozens of people through its Mossad, the secret service, or the
27:41the spy agency. But basically, it's an assassination unit. And the idea was to create a regime change.
27:50But it failed. The government is intact. And the situation is more dangerous than ever,
27:58because Iran is a country of 100 million people, almost. It's a major country. It has big missile
28:04systems. It has a real military capacity. And it has an alliance with Russia. And it has friendship
28:13with other nuclear powers, like Pakistan. So even if it doesn't have its own nuclear weapons,
28:20maybe Pakistan will give it nuclear weapons. Maybe Pakistan would defend Iran if there was a full-fledged
28:26war with Israel. So this is the second region where imperial mentality lasts until today. The U.S. is
28:37unwilling to compromise on the imperial prerogatives. So the final point that I want to raise and then close
28:46is the U.S.-China confrontation and how dangerous it is. As I said,
28:55the U.S. got along well with China from the 1970s to around 2010, in my estimation,
29:06because China was viewed by America as poor, lots of villages that grew rice. You could make our
29:15components for our products, make our smartphones, and so forth. But China wasn't a threat.
29:25And it was a good counterweight to the Soviet Union or to Russia. That was the attitude. Not too much
29:33more. So not too much attention given and not too much concern. And ideology played no concern.
29:42Because during the Cultural Revolution period, which was not exactly American ideology,
29:51this is when the relationship was formed between Mao and Nixon. Then came the opening,
29:59and that was an opportunity for investment and trade. That's fine. But ideology played no special role.
30:08Starting around 2010, the American leaders that were watching this said,
30:14oh, China's getting awfully big and rather successful. And then I think two announcements by China really
30:25opened up American eyes. One was the Belt and Road Initiative, which was suddenly an economic, financial
30:33infrastructure initiative that had a hundred partner countries. And the US didn't have anything like that.
30:42And then the Made in China 2025 program, which was a really brilliant initiative of China,
30:51to identify 10 major technology areas and set policies to make a major advance in these areas. And this is one of
31:01the most successful industrial policies I know of in history, the Made in China 2025. Because it really worked.
31:10It really produced the EV revolution. It really produced the digital revolution here. It really produced
31:19the renewable energy revolution. So it was very successful. But it terrified the Americans suddenly.
31:25So starting around 2015, the whole view changed almost suddenly in the United States. The view went from
31:35economic partnership to the need to contain China, the need to do something to slow down China's economic
31:44advance. Okay. All of this is quite dumb in my view. You don't get ahead in this world by stopping someone else.
31:54And there's no reason to. You're not going to be better off. You're not going to be safe. It's just a
32:01lose-lose proposition if it's successful. And it probably wouldn't be successful in any event.
32:08It started under Obama, by the way. It didn't start with Trump. It started definitely under Obama.
32:15And the Trans-Pacific Partnership idea, which was the dumbest idea of trade policy that I know of,
32:24which was to make an Asian trade system without China. How can you do that? China's the main trade
32:32country for all of Asia. But the United States had the idea, we'll make an Asian trade system without
32:39China. This is only in America. Could you have such delusions? In any event, it started with Obama.
32:48It continued with Trump. And it also implicates Taiwan issue, of course. This is the most dangerous
32:56flashpoint of all, maybe the most dangerous in the whole world. Because the American politicians,
33:05because of this mindset, do not know how to stay out of China's internal issues. And so rather than
33:14saying, that's not our problem, you settle this peacefully, but it's not our issue. The United States,
33:23of course, is providing large flows of armaments to Taiwan. And the American political leaders are
33:31talking openly about defending Taiwan and militarily defending Taiwan. If China said we're going to
33:38militarily defend the state of Missouri, or we're going to militarily defend Texas, or we're going to
33:46militarily defend California, it would not play very well in the U.S.
33:51But the U.S., because of the imperial mentality, cannot put itself in China's position, or doesn't care to,
34:00because the U.S. can determine what should be done. So just to conclude, I view this issue as extremely
34:09dangerous. And peace actually depends on the good sense of the Taiwanese leaders, which is fragile.
34:19Because if a Taiwanese president were to declare independence, all hell could break out.
34:27Because the United States would not necessarily have any responsibility. And this is why the situation is
34:36so dangerous. And if Taiwan were smart, and my feeling is Taiwan could end up like Ukraine, destroyed in
34:48between two fighting giants. And if Taiwan were smart, the first thing they should say is to the United States,
34:58don't send us any weapons, please. We don't want a fight here. We'll handle our own diplomacy across the
35:08Taiwan Straits. Please, quote, don't defend us. Because we don't want to end up like Ukraine, caught between two
35:19giant powers. So I'll conclude here for our discussion to say that the world really is dangerous right now
35:30because of this mindset on the one hand that I've described in the U.S.
35:35and at the same time because of changing reality. I want to end on an optimistic note. If we can avoid
35:45conflict, because of the technological revolution, we really could have a world of shared prosperity.
35:53And other regions of the world that seem hopeless right now, like African countries, could really have
36:0240 years of economic development if they would follow China's roadmap for how to do this. And they would
36:12end up as a high income continent alongside the rest of the world. So I'm actually basically optimistic. Worried,
36:22but optimistic. Thank you.
36:27And this was another episode of China Now, a show that opens a window to the present and future of
36:33the Asian giant. Hope you enjoyed. See you next time.
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