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00:08Hello, TeleCity English presents a new episode of China Now, a web media's production that showcases the culture, technology and
00:17politics of the Asian giant.
00:18In this first segment, China Currents take a deep dive into the week's top stories. From President Xi Jinping made
00:25his first visit to Pyongyang in seven years, marking a significant moment in China and DPRK relations to a museum
00:34in Nagasaki tried to quietly change the word it uses to describe one of history's world atrocities and Beijing pushed
00:42back hard. Let's see.
00:49Hello, everyone, and welcome to China Currents. This week, Xi Jinping just made his first visit to Pyongyang in seven
00:57years, marking a significant moment in China-DPRK relations.
01:02China's most competitive exam season is underway, and a story from the mountains of Hubei stood out.
01:09A museum in Nagasaki tried to quietly change the words it uses to describe one of history's worst atrocities, and
01:18Beijing pushed back hard.
01:20And flying cars are no longer science fiction in China. They're being manufactured, certified and flown. Let's get into it.
01:30East Asian diplomacy had a major moment this week. From June 8th to 9th, President Xi Jinping made a state
01:37visit to North Korea, the first trip by a Chinese head of state to Pyongyang in seven years.
01:44It's one of China's most significant neighborhood diplomacy moves of the year, and the timing carried its own weight.
01:50The visit coincided with the 65th anniversary of the signing of the China-DPRK Treaty of Friendship.
01:58The reception was anything but low-key. Kim Jong-un met Xi personally at the airport.
02:04A grand welcoming ceremony was held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang.
02:10That evening, both leaders attended a special performance together at the Pyongyang Gymnasium, where the Chinese classics My Motherland and
02:19Jasmine Flower were performed, weaving a thread of cultural warmth into diplomatic formality.
02:25Day two was equally packed. In the morning, Xi and Kim visited the monument to the Chinese people's volunteers on
02:32the slopes of Moran Hill, laying wreaths in memory of the soldiers who fell there.
02:37From the arrivals to the departures, every detail telegraphed the depth of the relationship between two countries.
02:45Over two days of substantive talks, the two sides didn't just revisit history. They mapped out the future.
02:53Bilateral relations, people's livelihood cooperation, and regional stability were all on the table.
03:00Agreed directions included maintaining high-level communication, deepening practical cooperation that benefits ordinary people, strengthening people-to-people ties, and
03:11jointly safeguarding regional stability.
03:14For many international observers, this was no routine visit.
03:18In a global environment of deepening geopolitical complexity, China's choice to solidify ties with a core neighboring country at this
03:27moment signals something clear.
03:30The traditional friendship and strategic coordination between China and North Korea has been comprehensively upgraded, and a strong message of
03:39strategic mutual trust has been sent to the outside world.
03:43Now, from diplomacy to something millions of families across China are focused on this week.
03:51Every June, China's attention turns to the Gaokao.
03:55For young people across the country, this single exam can change the trajectory of one's life.
04:01Students spend years studying late into the night, and the exam itself is widely regarded as one of the most
04:08competitive in the world.
04:09That weight is felt in every household.
04:14Parents rearrange their schedules, neighborhoods lower the noise, roads are temporarily controlled, society collectively slows down to create quiet for
04:23the students sitting the exam.
04:26In China, education has long been seen as the most reliable path to a better life, which is why the
04:33Gaokao commands national attention.
04:36This year, approximately 12.9 million students walked into examination halls across the country.
04:44But amid the pressure, a story from Hubei stood out.
04:48At the province's largest Gaokao venue in Lichuan, 918 students arrived from remote mountain villages.
04:56These kids live in communities where transport is difficult and educational resources are limited.
05:02To get them to the exam, local authorities arranged 39 buses with a police escort, all the way along 23
05:10kilometers of winding mountain road.
05:13Once they arrived, free accommodation and meals were provided, with every logistical detail taken care of, so the students could
05:21focus on one thing only, the exam.
05:25This wasn't a one-time gesture, it's a reflection of long-term educational support for rural communities.
05:31For kids from the mountains, the Gaokao is their most important ticket out, and local governments and communities do everything
05:38in their power to make sure they get a fair shot.
05:41The principle is simple, your background should not determine your future.
05:46The Gaokao has its critics, but it remains to this day the most reliable ladder for those who start from
05:53the bottom.
05:54And underlying it all is a shared belief.
05:57Everyone competes on the same terms through their own effort.
06:01Wherever you come from, every dream deserves a fighting chant.
06:06Next up, a story from Japan that caught Beijing's attention this week.
06:10The city of Nagasaki is planning to update its atomic bomb museum, and in the process to remove the word
06:17massacre from its description of the 1937 Nanjing atrocity,
06:22replacing it with the Nanjing incident in which numerous civilians and prisoners were killed.
06:29Why does this matter?
06:31The Nanjing Massacre is not a Chinese label.
06:34It is a legal finding of the Tokyo Trials after World War II, legally binding, historically documented, and internationally recognized.
06:43Changing it to incident is not editing.
06:46It is falsification.
06:49On June 5th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded in unusually sharp terms.
06:56The Nanjing Massacre is a barbaric crime committed by Japanese militarism.
07:00The ironclad evidence is incontrovertible and cannot be tempered with.
07:06She further urged Japan to deeply reflect on its war crimes and make a clean break with militarism.
07:12This is not the first time a Japanese institution has tried to soften wartime language.
07:17But the moment is a sensitive one.
07:202026 marks the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo Trials verdict.
07:24For Beijing, allowing this kind of revision to pass without a response would set a dangerous precedent.
07:30So China is pushing back, publicly and firmly.
07:35Whether Nagasaki proceeds as planned remains to be seen.
07:38But the diplomatic line has been drawn.
07:41Now, let's look towards the future.
07:44As part of China's 55-year plan for 2026-2030, the low-altitude economy has been officially designated a strategic
07:54pillar industry.
07:55And at the center of that strategy, flying cars, or as they're formerly known, EVTOLs, electric vertical takeoff and landing
08:04aircraft.
08:06These are no longer concepts on a drawing board.
08:08In Guangzhou, a smart manufacturing base combining automotive efficiency with aviation standards has just come online.
08:16With an annual design capacity of 100 units, producing a multi-roller flying car capable of vertical takeoff and landing.
08:26In Chengdu, a six-seat pure electric flying car designed for urban three-dimensional transport is undergoing airworthiness certification.
08:34It uses a tilt-rotor design, reaches a maximum speed of 230 kilometers per hour, and has already completed its
08:43first phase of production model test flights.
08:47What's driving all of this?
08:49Several forces converging at once.
08:51Policy is the accelerant.
08:53Low-altitude economy is now a national strategy, pushing everything from airspace management reform to infrastructure build-out.
09:02Technology has matured.
09:04Battery energy density, lightweight materials, and autonomous flight control have all made significant advances in recent years.
09:12And the cost curve is bending.
09:14Scaled production is starting to bring unit prices down.
09:18And it's not just prototypes.
09:19The EH-216, China's first manned autonomous flying car to receive airworthiness certification, is already in commercial trial operation in
09:30Hefei, serving aerial sightseeing routes, with its flight base now running multiple flights per day.
09:37How big could this get?
09:38A widely cited projection puts the low-altitude economy on a path toward a 10 trillion yuan industry cluster.
09:45For comparison, China's electric vehicle sector, arguably the most successful manufacturing story of the past decade, had a total industry
09:54chain output of around 6 trillion yuan in 2025.
09:58We may be looking at a track that surpasses even that.
10:02Of course, major hurdles remain.
10:05Before EVTOLs become a daily commuting option, manufacturers need to clear three separate airworthiness certifications.
10:14And public acceptance is its own challenge.
10:17Flying over city traffic in a battery-powered aircraft isn't just a technological leap, it's a psychological one.
10:24But the fundamental judgment stands.
10:27This is not speculative fantasy.
10:29This is an early-stage industry reality.
10:33And that's our four stories for this week.
10:35Thanks for watching, China Currents.
10:46We have a short break now, but don't go away because we'll be right back.
11:13Welcome back to China Now.
11:15In the second segment, Thinker's Forum features roughly Chinese podcasts and China Not Just Travel to delve deep into the
11:22experience of foreign visitors in China and to discover their journey throughout China and their impressions of Chinese culture and
11:30heritage.
11:31Later, Thinker's Forum's welcome, Sergio Vidal, economist, academic and policy advisor on Latin American development and former senator of Chile,
11:41to discuss the greatest challenges of South America.
11:44Let's have a look.
12:09Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Roughly Chinese and China Not Just Travel.
12:16Today, we are going to be seeing our Code Pink friends who just went on a trip with us.
12:23And I'm really excited to catch up with them because we're going to find out exactly how the trip was.
12:28So we had about 11 people who came on this trip who went on two separate journeys.
12:33One of them is our Red China Tour and one of them is our iconic China Tour.
12:38So we're going to hear all their feedback and what they thought about their time in China and just see,
12:43catch up with them.
12:44You know, how they've changed, what they've discovered, what they've learned as well.
12:48So let's go.
12:49Hi.
12:51Say hi to the vlog.
12:53You just had a 10-day journey, right?
12:57A 10-day adventure.
12:58And I wanted to welcome you back and just see, like, how your lives have changed since then, if at
13:06all.
13:06So I have a question for you guys.
13:09How was the trip?
13:11Pretty amazing, yeah.
13:12Good advice.
13:13I've never done a trip like this before.
13:15I've never traveled this far.
13:16Oh, I've never traveled this far.
13:18I've never traveled this for this long.
13:19I've never done a tour like this.
13:21So everything for me was new and just amazing.
13:25So, yeah, I'm so glad I took the trip and excited for another one like this.
13:30I've been to China before, but I came as a tourist and to visit my family.
13:35I was living here at the time.
13:36But for me, it has been a long time since I read a lot about the history of China.
13:41You know, I did when I was young and I was incredibly impressed because those were radical times.
13:46You had to know everything.
13:47But what I found really exciting about the Red China trip was going and due to the planning of the
13:56trip and the exhibitions and the shows we saw and actually going to battlefields were to realize, you know,
14:07a country that was founded in 1949 came through all this hell and centuries of oppression for the regular people
14:17and to be to see that.
14:20And it was easy to become emotionally involved because of the way they present it, you know,
14:25and then to walk out and see that's their history.
14:29And this is what has been realized for these people in such a short time, really, historically, such a short
14:36time since 1949.
14:38And it's really, you know, despite the attacks of the West on China, it keeps forging ahead.
14:45And it's incredibly impressive.
14:48And it was a thrill for me to be a part of this.
14:52Oh, that's a lovely.
14:54Hi, I was here actually just nine months ago when I was at the WAVE Project.
15:00Met Mimi at that time.
15:01And at that time, went out to Xinjiang and was amazed then.
15:06But coming here now on this Red China tour, it's even to see the gains that have been made in
15:13this country
15:13and the ease with which people live both in the country and in the city is just, it's inspiring.
15:19And it inspires us to go home and fight for a revolution in our country because our empire is declining.
15:26And there's homeless on our streets and social services are being demolished and we're at war across the world.
15:35So we came here to be rejuvenated so we can go back and fight the fight.
15:40I had a great time on the trip.
15:41This is my second time in Asia, a second socialist country.
15:45I went to Vietnam, which is also a subject of colonialism from the Europeans.
15:51And what was striking about China was just how outgoing the people were, you know, like two examples were in
16:01Lushan Park, Shanghai.
16:03I saw a man in a soldier's uniform and he actually said, I liked your beard.
16:11And I said, and I like said, oh, thanks.
16:13And then I came back to him with a tour guide and we found out that he was a soldier
16:20in the People's Liberation Army
16:22and that he had fought in the Vietnam War against the Americans.
16:25So just the random people you find in the park.
16:29Yes.
16:29And then the second highlight regarding the people was when my tour group stepped off our bus
16:39and hundreds of school kids had just left school for the day and swarmed us asking for selfies as we
16:49were a novelty.
16:50And it was nice to see all the kids so enthusiastic about, you know, just the world around them and
16:57learning.
16:58And it was great to see that happened throughout the trip.
17:02People coming up to talking to us, sometimes in English and sometimes asking for selfies.
17:07And just, you know, every little interaction with the people of China has been such a memorable thing.
17:14I can't wait to go home and tell my family about it.
17:17My name is Kim and I'm a senior citizen for the first time with the Red China trip, which I
17:22thought was tremendous.
17:23It's really stupendous.
17:25What just struck me going through all the exhibits was just the amount of difficulty and sacrifices
17:32that the soldiers and the people made.
17:36And when you read about it, you don't really know the depths of that sacrifice.
17:42And then when you actually watch it and realize how many people had died in order to achieve this change,
17:48this revolution,
17:50then it struck you that it ain't going to be easy for us in the U.S. trying to make
17:54a revolution.
17:54We can expect a lot of problems and a lot of difficulty and a lot of sacrifice.
17:59So I really admire the fact that the one thing that I really liked was all the drama that they
18:05showed us on the way.
18:06And we actually met the person who portrayed Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai and talked to them.
18:13And they were very happy to take pictures with us.
18:15So it was very, very friendly.
18:18The Chinese were very friendly in sharing the stories with us.
18:22I was going to say, on the topic of, like, just kind of interacting with people and kind of seeing
18:27everyone go about their day,
18:28like, it was awesome going to the different parks and seeing how lively they were, especially, like, elderly, retired people.
18:35You could just sense, you know, the sense of community that everyone had, you know, playing games, singing songs, practicing
18:41their dances.
18:43It was just, like, you know, really invigorating and awesome to see.
18:47And it's just that people are very happy with their lives and, you know, what the revolution has brought to
18:53them through all the sacrifice.
18:55And it's just, you know, very amazing to see.
18:58Yeah.
18:58Kind of building off of that, I thought some of the big moments for me would be what stuck with
19:02me the most,
19:03like seeing pandas in their natural habitat for the first time or, like, the drone show in Chongqing,
19:08which were very amazing, and I'll honestly never forget those.
19:11But I think what's going to stick with me the most is, like, the small moments.
19:15Like, we went to grab tea at a tea house, and we stumbled across just, like, as far as I
19:20could see,
19:21like, retired people playing mahjong along a river in Chengdu.
19:25And then just the parks were just so full of families and retirees the whole time across China.
19:32And it wasn't just in Shanghai.
19:33It was also in Chengdu and Chongqing.
19:36And I just think, like, people actually using, like, third spaces and filling them up was so awesome.
19:43I just don't see that as much in the U.S.
19:46And I think there's just so much, like, individualism in the U.S.
19:50And it's like, oh, come over to my suburb's house and have a barbecue.
19:54But it was, like, instead of that, it's like, you know, everyone has a home here,
19:58but, like, they actually utilize public parks and spaces.
20:02And I can tell, like, they really, like, meet up, and there's a sense of community.
20:05And I think that's what's going to stick with me the most, even more than, like, the really impressive,
20:09like, modern capabilities that are also very, yeah, incredible.
20:14Similar to what a lot of other people are saying, one of my highlights was seeing in the parks the,
20:20like, elderly, you know,
20:22population just enjoying life in all the ways that, you know, they enjoy life, singing, dancing, being in community.
20:29And coming from a country that, like, you know, really abandons their elderly, right?
20:35Puts them away in elderly communities where you don't see them again.
20:40And they don't live a life of dignity.
20:43And I think this is, you know, we're trying to build a society to that end of, like, living some
20:51dignity, you know, in your later life.
20:53Because what else is this for, right?
20:55Why are we doing this for if not to, like, live a life with some dignity?
21:00And the other thing I, one other highlight was I ran into some students from the Macau Polytechnic University.
21:07One of the students was from Ecuador.
21:10And he was telling us why he was there, how he ended up there.
21:13His family were traveling and visiting China during COVID.
21:18COVID shut down.
21:19They couldn't leave.
21:20And they just stayed.
21:21And now, like, they live in China.
21:23And they're living, you know, he's going to school.
21:25And he's living a good life.
21:26And I just, you can't really do that in a lot of places.
21:30Like, you can't just end up in the U.S. and go to a university, right?
21:35There's really no path to doing that.
21:38And I think that's, again, another example of how, like, you know, China's doing a lot to give people a
21:45good life.
21:46Given their conditions, given their stage of development, it's doing a really good job of getting people a decent life.
21:53Yeah, this trip had amazing museums and shows talking about the role of the Red Army, the Chinese Red Army,
22:02in fighting, I guess, the Nationalists and against Japanese occupation.
22:06And that's something that you don't see in terms of the West, the role they played in defeating fascism.
22:12And I think that's very important history that needs to be understood.
22:16And he did a very good job revealing that aspect of history that's so fundamentally neglected in the West.
22:26We went, climbed all the way up to the tower and went across that bridge with all the flags on
22:33it.
22:34And then came down that walkway that it basically it was, you know, it was produced, beautiful steps and the
22:42bamboo forest that they actually went through.
22:44But it looked like it would be a great place for concerts or even performances, magnificent performances, you know.
22:53But it just was it gave you a thrill and an idea of what people had to face.
23:01And I just found that kind of inspiring, just those kind of little moments.
23:07But also, we were talking and I was saying, this is such a connected society.
23:11And there's an it made it as our visit to 10 cents helped reiterate, you know, people, they make an
23:18effort for everyone to have a phone and know how to use it and make it user friendly.
23:22But, you know, in the U.S., people have phones and they're like this and here they're in public spaces
23:29with their phones and they're on their phones, but they're sharing their lives and what's on their phones with each
23:35other.
23:36So you can have both.
23:37You can have technology, but you can have collectivity, too, and and need that collectivity as much as you need
23:44your phone to get things done quickly and connect quickly.
23:47So I just think that it's a society of great contrast and and and it seems to be working.
23:55So I really noted that I wanted to say something about the senior citizens in in China.
24:03It seems that in the U.S., older people tend to live by themselves and they're very alone and they're
24:09isolated and they all get depressed and they don't have a sense of community.
24:13Whereas over here, you know, in the parks, we see a lot of old people around and they really enjoy
24:19each other's company and they're competing with each other in singing.
24:23When we went to the Lushin Park, Lushin, and they pulled us in to sing happy birthday to you in
24:30Chinese, it's amazing.
24:32And then later on, they have all unsigned Chinese as well.
24:35And I'm like, oh, they're trying to accommodate, you know, the Western people with the Chinese version of the song.
24:40But it was it was amazing that a lot of them are elderly people.
24:45And I was very touched by the fact that there's a sense of community.
24:48Whereas, you know, a lot of us like myself, we live by ourselves and we, you know, only in activism,
24:54we manage to connect with people.
24:56But I know of a lot of older people who are just living by themselves and are miserable, depressed, don't
25:02know whether, you know, what to do because of of the economic situation.
25:08When I saw the videos of you guys dancing together, it was not surprising at all.
25:13Because I know exactly the spirit of the elders here that I also know will be inspiring to you all.
25:20Because, you know, despite the depressing conditions in the West that I am also very familiar with, you know, you
25:27are all open and you have such energy to organize for a better world.
25:31And I think being able to see that, you can bring that energy back to the West.
25:35Right. So the question I wanted to ask you guys next is what are you going to bring back to
25:41the States?
25:41Like what wisdom or what knowledge, what lesson?
25:44And also, despite all the Western propaganda that you've got about China, now that you've seen it, what can you
25:51tell people that you know for sure isn't true in terms of the Western propaganda of it all?
25:57I just don't think China is our enemy and I don't think China needs to be our enemy.
26:01You know, I think that China fundamentally is a society that invests in its people.
26:08Right. Whereas America invests in war.
26:10I mean, I just realized in the 20 years since 9-11, we have spent no less than $14 trillion
26:16on wars in the Middle East, on the Department of Defense.
26:20Whereas China, I don't know the exact amount, has definitely invested trillions in that time in high-speed rail, in
26:27housing development, in infrastructure.
26:30We saw that, I know some of you didn't, but we went to a rural village to eat and they
26:36had electricity, they had running water, you know, they had 5G.
26:40And how did they have that?
26:41It's because of the legions of solar panels and wind turbines and because of the tourism brought by the Canyon
26:48Bridge, the highest in the world, right?
26:51The thing we need to learn from China is, you know, let's see, what did they do right?
26:56The trains, the green energy, the development of housing as a right and not as an investment.
27:02These are good ideas and we shouldn't, you know, reject them because, oh, they're our enemy or it's communism or
27:09some other third thing, including third spaces.
27:13And so my conclusion is basically, don't be afraid to admit that there are some things we could be doing
27:21better and China is showing us the way.
27:24Doing work in anti-police crimes, something I wanted to really observe for myself is this so-called police state.
27:32And by no definition could you call China a police state.
27:38In all the cities we traveled and we traveled quite a few cities, rural and urban, we saw very little
27:46police and the presence was hidden, right?
27:50Their presence wasn't, you know, kind of in your face.
27:55They were literally in little pods, you know, around the corner.
27:58You rarely ever saw them.
28:00But let's take Shanghai, for example.
28:01Shanghai is compared to like a New York City, like population and density.
28:05The amount of police that you would see if this were a police state, you would see them on every
28:12corner and you rarely see police here.
28:15The police you do see are, they're not these, you know, roided out, you know, violent people.
28:24I mean, honestly, you know, just people is decked out in militarized equipment, you know, using force.
28:32Like, it's just that it was such a projection and you cannot say this is a police state under any
28:40definition.
28:40So I think that's the main thing that I think people should know about China.
28:45I guess I sort of said it before, but in our country, I think most people don't think another world
28:51is possible, think all is lost.
28:53And actually, in one way, it's a no-brainer.
28:57I mean, if a government is run by the people and making decisions for the people, all these things can
29:03happen.
29:04If it's being run by the corporations and billionaires, as it is in the U.S., then we have what
29:11we have.
29:11So the hard part, of course, is this, to get to this place, it was a horrific revolution that was
29:18fought and many lives were lost and many sacrificed and were determined.
29:23And it's not going to be easy for us either.
29:25We can't just turn it on, unfortunately, but it is possible.
29:31Well, I think the main lesson in the United States is that we need to end the wars in order
29:35to build the infrastructure in the United States.
29:39Unfortunately, it's being run by oligarchs and people who are tied to what I call the Anglo-Zionist apparatus that's
29:46running a country.
29:47And it's clear that as long as they run the country, there's going to be continuous wars.
29:51And we can't build the type of infrastructure in the United States which needs infrastructure if we continue to do
29:59these wars.
29:59And the deficit spending is unbelievable.
30:04The deficit is so great that we can't pay off the debt.
30:07I think it's like $36 trillion now.
30:10And there's a big bubble, I'm sure, in the economy that's going to probably burst at some point.
30:16And Trump is still continuing those wars despite the fact that he promised to end the wars when he ran
30:21as president.
30:22So I think the big responsibility for us is that we have to end the wars and to remove the
30:28deep state that's driving the war policies to start, begin to build something like this in China.
31:02Yeah.
31:04And I think that was something that's just something we hear so much.
31:08It's like an authoritarian state.
31:09But we live in such an authoritarian state.
31:13Yeah.
31:13And every accusation is confession, for sure.
31:16So that was a good thing to see in real life.
31:21I think the other thing that people need to know in the West is that it's not hard to travel
31:26here.
31:26And you should travel here and you should, it's worth applying for the visa and coming and seeing it for
31:31yourself.
31:32Because I just can't even put into words how amazing the cities are, but also how welcoming the people are.
31:40I've traveled to Europe quite a bit, which is fine and great.
31:44But I oftentimes, as a U.S. tourist, feel like people don't really want me there.
31:49To be honest, a lot of places we travel and I get it.
31:52There's a lot of gentrification happening, a lot of European cities and things like that.
31:56But, like, I felt very welcomed here in China and I just think there's so much to see.
32:01I mean, we only saw three cities, but I felt like they were so different and had completely different vibes.
32:06And, like, I want to go to three more.
32:08I want to go to 30 more.
32:09And I just, I think there's so much to offer here and everyone needs to come see it for themselves.
32:16And I want to support what you said and what Humberto said regarding coercion and policing.
32:24I noticed the same things.
32:26I mean, my focus of my master's degree was aging women in American prisons.
32:30And I've worked with the Women's Prison Book Project since 1999.
32:35And, you know, the regulations to get anything in an American prison when everything, when you study is prisoners need
32:44to be connected with the outside so that they can successfully reintegrate.
32:48And, you know, it's opposite and it's getting more opposite every single damn day in the United States.
32:57I would like to find out and get some ideas of where to find out about carceral policies in China
33:04because I really don't know very much about them.
33:06I think China does still have the death penalty, doesn't it?
33:10And I don't know how it's administered.
33:13I know how it's administered in the United States.
33:16It's barbaric.
33:17But, you know, you do have to deal with problems in society and people who do become problems.
33:24But I like to think and I would like to find out how China does that in a way that
33:29offers hope for people rather than your life's over, you're done, you're dead.
33:33You know, and and the fact that it does seem people people aren't don't walk the streets in fear here
33:39and people do in the United States.
33:41So I support what they said, because I saw I was watching myself.
33:47I watched those cops last night and we are going to move those towers around those portable towers.
33:53And I walked by one and he was just standing there at the top of the stairs looking around, you
33:58know, and I smiled at him.
33:59He smiled at me and I thought, you know, in the U.S., I wouldn't smile at him for anything
34:04because you what do you want?
34:06You know, so, yes, I just found that just so, you know, just relaxing in a way, you know, that
34:19you don't have to worry when you go out.
34:22You can breathe here.
34:23Yeah.
34:24Yeah.
34:24Just feel like a weight off your shoulders, you know, the sense of safety, the sense of security.
34:30It's really amazing.
34:32Whereas in the States, it's quite the opposite.
34:34But then in the States, they're telling you, you know, I don't know if any of you got this before
34:38you got here, but people have said to me when I say, oh, I'm going to China.
34:42Be careful, OK?
34:44Be careful.
34:46Well, I remember asking my daughter when I first visited her, I said, Emily, what should I be careful?
34:52What should I watch out for when I'm on public transportation, you know, and in terms of street crime?
34:59And she said, there isn't any.
35:03And it's true.
35:04I remember being in Beijing on the underground and it was fat.
35:09Everybody had their folds like this.
35:11You could have shoplifted or, you know, purloined anything off someone's body.
35:16And everyone walked out with their stuff.
35:19Yeah.
35:19So it was great.
35:20Yeah.
35:21You see people leaving their stuff around everywhere, right?
35:23Just like, back to you, back there.
35:25In the States, I literally, like, clutched my purse.
35:27And I hate having to do that, but, like, you have to.
35:31You know, people, yeah, I mean, people are struggling.
35:33And, like, I didn't get it.
35:35And I don't blame the people.
35:36But, like, I walked around, we walked around, like, late at night multiple times.
35:40And I felt completely safe, like, and I didn't feel like I had to clutch my bag or, like, when
35:45I walk by people, like, feel any type of fear at all, which is a very different experience because I
35:50live in a city in the U.S.
35:51And there are certain things around you, like, can't go out with a lot of safety and stuff like that.
35:56Oh, just, like, a master class in, like, when you alleviate poverty, like, crime just is non-existent anymore.
36:04And, like, when you actually have, like, affordability, like, yeah, again, there is no more crime or anything like that.
36:13Way less.
36:14Yeah.
36:14That's what we really want to point.
36:16I feel like the context is so essential, right?
36:19It's not just, like, oh, we eradicated crime because, I don't know, the police, like, we were all saying, like,
36:25what the police say, it's actually more so such poverty, the material, such as people, has improved.
36:31The dignity is there in this human society, you know?
36:34I think in the U.S., they expect things to just be, like, gone like that or they blame the
36:39individual for situations.
36:40And they always make you try to forget that poverty is the reason a lot of people are forced to
36:46resort to these crimes.
36:48Well, they don't have, like, in Chicago a lot, like, there's no third spaces for, like, people to go to.
36:54So there's, like, these big gatherings of, like, teenage youth and, like, it sometimes ends in, like, violence and things
37:00like that.
37:00And it's just because, like, they have nowhere else to go.
37:03And, like, that is a failure of, like, the society.
37:06Like, I don't think it's a failure of those people as individuals or their parents who are probably working, like,
37:12three jobs just to afford rent.
37:14And I just think there's so much blame on individuals, like, in the U.S.
37:18And something one of our tour guides was talking to us about was just, like, even the education system, like,
37:23it's very, like, the way it sounds like people, like, learn here, it's, like, not individualistic.
37:29It's, like, they make sure, like, everyone is successful in class and is successful in school.
37:34And it's not just, like, book learning, it's also, like, going out to maybe, like, the rural parts of China
37:39and, like, learning to plant or, like, watching what, like, the farmers do to grow food and, like, sustain life.
37:45And it's just so different and it's, like, such a better way to learn.
37:50I was going to say that I totally echoed what Sarah said about Another World is Possible.
37:56You asked us what do we, what kind of message we want to take to Americans there.
38:02And I think it's important to show to the Americans that you're not going to get a society, a socialist
38:07society where everybody's cared for and means something by the vote.
38:12And that, I mean, we went through Red China to see the kind of sacrifices that people make to fight
38:20for a system that really believes in people.
38:23And that if you think you're just going to get it by putting your ballot on and whatnot and it's
38:28going to be a plain sailing, you can forget it.
38:30Because the tight control that the U.S. government and the deep state has on the people is such that
38:36they're not going to give up their power easily.
38:38In fact, they're not going to give their power easily in the rest of the world that's fighting them.
38:43So I just kind of want to say to the other people, say, Another World is Possible, but you've got
38:48to fight for it, you know?
38:49You've got to fight for it.
38:51Otherwise, don't think that it's just going to be a matter of voting.
38:53Yeah, to kind of build on that, I think, you know, we often, when we talk about socialism, we often
38:59talk about economic policies.
39:02But I think something that I noticed, you know, when we talk about, you know, you know, we're talking about
39:10crime, what the conditions that lead to crime.
39:12I think another aspect of that is community and being part of a community, you know, because if you don't
39:17have a job, you don't have health care, and you don't have friends or family, what do you have to
39:23lose?
39:24You have nothing to lose, right?
39:26And so if you at least have a community and people that rely on you and you rely on them
39:34that can hold you accountable, that, you know, I think that's an important aspect of socialism.
39:42And I think that's why socialism has worked so well in China is that community, because I think that part,
39:50if that's missing, I don't know if economic policies alone will be enough.
39:56I honestly don't.
39:57And so the message I have, you know, that I'm going to take back is we really also have to
40:02focus and put time and energy on building community.
40:06We're seeing a little bit, or I should say, emergence of that after the ICE raids.
40:12We've built a lot of community, and I think a lot of good has come from that.
40:15And a consciousness of a collective consciousness has come from that, which might be a good building block for socialist
40:22consciousness.
40:23But I just think that has to be an important part for any socialist project anywhere is building community, building
40:31a collective mindset, because if we maintain this individualistic mindset, economic policies will not work, or they'll just be rejected.
40:40I mean, capitalism breeds individualism, because it benefits capitalism, right?
40:45It aims to isolate everybody and to turn us into these, like, atomized people instead of a community.
40:53So building community is an active form of creating another world, right?
40:57Thank you to WAVE for everything, for the amazing organization, for, I mean, it was, the guides were fabulous, the
41:05itinerary was wonderful, the food, the hotels, everything.
41:09I mean, we will totally recommend this tour.
41:12Yeah.
41:13And pledge to get more people back.
41:15Right.
41:16Yes.
41:17Thank you so much.
41:18Thank you, thank you, thank you.
41:20Thank you, everybody.
41:22Yay!
41:22Yay!
41:23Yay!
41:25Yay!
41:25Yay!
41:26Yay!
41:26That was absolutely phenomenal, and I'm so grateful for the conversations that I was able to have with our Code
41:34Pink delegation.
41:35They truly are such a wonderful group of people who are so interested in seeing what China is really like.
41:41So if you're interested in seeing China, please don't hesitate to go to our website where you can check out
41:46our other trips, such as Red China, such as Iconic China, such as Wellness China, where you can experience the
41:52beauty of this.
41:53We'll see you next time.
41:54Bye!
42:04For me, the main challenge is to be able to keep our autonomy as Latin America, especially South America, from
42:16the geopolitical confrontation between China and the U.S.
42:20We see that as a danger in terms of our trade, in terms of our relations, in terms of our
42:27growth, and in terms of our internal policies for security and equality.
42:36So that, I think, is the most critical one, especially in a period in which we have seen a very
42:43aggressive policy from the United States under Trump.
42:47So we have had, in different countries in Latin America, actions to limit our decisions on mainly on what has
42:58to do with connectivity, mostly, and what the U.S. considers as risks for their national security.
43:08So that is very important for us.
43:11So that is very important for us.
43:11We know that in these connections with the U.S., it's a sort of bilateral between the strong and the
43:18weak.
43:18So we have to coordinate a little bit more in order to manage this situation.
43:25A second problem, new and relevant, is the issue of crime that is expanding in the region and threatening democracy,
43:38with corruption, with threats, with all types of violence.
43:46And that has affected some countries, others, like mine, have been developing more strength in their police and their systems
43:54and judiciary systems to deal with this.
43:57But I would say those are the main concerns of our population at this point.
44:03Let us look at Latin America first, in terms of how more or less depends on the country.
44:09The situation has evolved.
44:11First, Latin America is a zone region of peace.
44:16So you have a situation of all the countries of the region that there are no military conflicts among them.
44:25So when you talk about peace, there is state versus state, a recognition of international law for solving problems.
44:36And we have done that in many cases already.
44:39So in that sense, we try to stay away from military conflicts.
44:45On the other side, one of the main problems of Latin America is inequality.
44:50So right or left, the idea is to, in some way, improve social inclusion and not to allow differences in
45:01education and income continue to grow.
45:06So they are very high.
45:07We have been fighting against that and reducing the so-called Gini coefficient that measures inequality.
45:15But anyhow, that's the main issue.
45:17And that one is linked to growth.
45:21You need social policies, public policies, and at the same time, you need to grow.
45:25So the issue of investment, investment in infrastructure, trade, education, energy, those are now in artificial intelligence, by sure, on
45:40the issue of digital economy, etc., are main concerns.
45:44So the logic that countries try to follow is where to get those elements that will help a development strategy
45:55with autonomy.
45:56And that means recognition, in one sense, of the dependency, military dependency of the United States.
46:06But that doesn't mean that we don't have ability to navigate within this conflict, looking for our economic interests and
46:19social interests.
46:20The relevance of China in the area for us has been a major factor, changing our space for maneuvering.
46:29Since, I would say, 1995, year 2000, Chile was the first country that signed the free trade agreement with China.
46:41That was in around 2005.
46:43So, that policy is critical for us.
46:48And, of course, that depends very much on what kind of government you have.
46:53We now have some sort of policy from the U.S. to separate right and left in an ideal, making
47:02an ideological war within the countries in the sense of saying,
47:06you are with us, you are with us, you are with us, you are your backyard, or you have more
47:13autonomy.
47:14And so, we are navigating in this direction.
47:18We have a lot of events in the recent period where some of the leaders of our region, Brazil, for
47:26instance, Lula,
47:28well, has just visited Trump after clashing on different issues.
47:34So, we are planning to, and also Petro from Colombia that was also conflicting, our previous president, Boric, the same.
47:46So, we need, and that's our aim, it must be our purpose, to establish rules without rules and without multilateralism
47:59and without international law.
48:03It's hard to move.
48:04So, we try to move in that direction.
48:05One obvious aspect is that the debate for the global hegemony is becoming clearer.
48:13There is no one power that has the hegemony.
48:16So, in that sense, the visit to China and the way Trump perceives power leads us to a comprehensive understanding
48:27of a situation in which each one will play its own strategy.
48:32My interpretation is that with the growth of China in all domains, and China's policy not to make ideology out
48:46of their economic global policy.
48:51So, we are trying to do things.
48:53We are not trying to convince one system or another system.
48:56That gives a power for expansion, and in many ways, it's very good for us, and for China, this connection
49:07in trade and investment.
49:10But, at the same time, we see that the hegemony will be focused more and more on high technology and
49:21military power, the competition between the two.
49:25So, there is a large space, that's my understanding, where both have to agree on issues, on rules, in order
49:33to keep the system moving.
49:35Of course, there are big differences.
49:39One is oil versus renewal energy, or electric vehicles, where are drill, baby drill, as Trump says.
49:49So, we need to explore more where to establish that limit of what means security.
49:56And if it means security on the domain I mentioned, well, you have space for defending your development, your investment,
50:07your agreements, on different issues, also on the issues of the defense of the planet, and nature, on the issues
50:17of war, of course, that is becoming very important.
50:22So, in that sense, we think that we must agree on rules, probably agree among ourselves first, in Latin America,
50:37with the Europeans in a second stage.
50:40We expect that those more aggressive policies of the Trump administration will be countered in some way within the United
50:52States.
50:53So, we are worried that this time of what is going on, Trump did with the Panama Canal, the talks
51:01about becoming Canada a new state, now Venezuela a new state of the United States.
51:08So, are ridiculous, stupid definitions of the sense of the sense of the sense of a nation and a community
51:16and a country.
51:17At the beginning, created a sense of fear because of the threat, and now there's a sense of weakening and
51:27evaluation of Trump more as a ridiculous person rather than threatening.
51:41So, the Trump issue is a main one, and for those of us who have studied in the U.S.
51:48or have lived in the U.S., we think that he's weakening the international position of the United States.
51:56So, in that sense, we are observing and keeping our distances in order to have more maneuvering.
52:04Let me say, on the international order, I think there are broad agreements already, and what we lack is the
52:12capacity to comply and to operate and to action for achieving those goals.
52:20So, we have had, at least in Chile, a debate on the issue of the new Secretary General of the
52:27United Nations, because there is a Chilean lady that is a former president that is a candidate for that position.
52:35So, the debate on how to change, how to strengthen the United Nations, and how to start expanding the space
52:44for elaborating solutions, well, they are quite advanced, but the problem is how to operate.
52:56And the operation depends on a series of countries, the five that are in the Security Council, of course.
53:04So, one of the issues is, in the face of wars, the limit to the right of veto.
53:12So, we must act more, that's our aim, for instance, at least my view, and I don't see much action
53:21on that, to agree on those first elements, so you have a broader space of countries to push in that
53:32direction.
53:34So, rules are critical in that sense, we need more agreements to keep moving the trade between countries, that's very
53:43critical, I think, for development, creating new alliances.
53:47For instance, for instance, we had a very important role on the side of the Pacific, to move ahead with
53:58the trade agreement of the Pacific and Asia, the so-called TP-11.
54:06So, at the point, we had agreed, I remember exactly, I was in the government at the time, and so
54:13there was an agreement with the U.S. that we'd be there, but they decided to get out.
54:22So, we thought that the whole thing would fall down, and in fact, there was an agreement in Chile, all
54:30the countries came here to a meeting, and we decided to continue alone.
54:35And that's moving ahead, so I see that in these circumstances, the new alliances must be explored, and in that
54:44sense, the small countries have a space, of course, because they are not decisive, they don't move the needle, so
54:52you can move and introduce your products and learn from others or take investments from other companies.
55:01That's true. Sometimes we don't have the ability to do it, because you need much more information than the one
55:09you have, but that's happening now.
55:19And this was another episode of China Now, a show that opens a window to the present and future of
55:26the Asian giant. Hope you enjoy it. See you next time.
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