- 2020年初开始爆发的新冠大流行重创亚洲经济。 消费作为经济成长的重要手段，对一些亚洲经济体来说甚至是其主要收入来源。 迈向“后疫情时代”，亚洲各经济体，譬如泰国、台湾、中国、香港等地政府都各自推出各种刺激消费的政策，盼望策动遭遇打击的经济。
- 但是，俄乌战争导致的食品及能源危机、美国加息、通货膨胀等诸多因素影响下，更多问题仍接踵而至。
- 不管是大公司还是私营业者，重启消费之路仍然面临挑战。
- 香港大学市场学副教授黄仲强告诉BBC中文，疫情期间停滞不前的消费阻碍了（市场主体）业务扩张，甚至导致他们缩减业务，进而出现裁员和招募职位数量减少：
- “因此，这样对劳动力市场的影响又降低大众的消费意愿，形成一种恶性循环。”
- 黄教授同意，过去几年全球都饱受这个恶性循环之苦，在香港及中国大陆他更有亲身观察及经验。
- 如何走出这个恶性循环，将考验每一个政府。
- BBC中文整理和分析亚洲各大经济体在后疫情时代如何透过刺激消费重振经济，以及它们面临的挑战。
- 台湾：从振兴券到现金，从业者期盼重新开始
- 根据台湾行政院今年1月发布的最新经济预测，2022年第4季台湾经济成长率为-0.86％，终结了连续26季的正成长。
- 2022年全年经济成长率约2.43％，创2017年以来最低。
- 不过，在消费方面，根据分析，去年第四季，随着台湾防疫管制放宽，消费经济回归。
- 加上入境逐步免除隔离，民间消费持续扩张，去年第四季台湾民间消费成长了2.89％，对经济成长贡献1.29个百分点。
- 面对疫情冲击，台湾政府开始派发各种消费卷作为振兴消费的手段，且“派糖”金额逐年攀升。
- 2020年，苏贞昌内阁推出每人一张面额3000新台币（约100美元）的“振兴消费券”，及“国民旅游券”刺激台湾内部消费及观光。
- 许多不能海外旅行的台湾民众戏称自己将原定出国旅行的经费，转而花费在台湾内部是一种“报复性消费”。
- 此举实施后，台湾相关从业者反应不俗。
- 2021年台湾派糖加码，免费发放5000元新台币（约165美元）面额的“振兴五倍卷”，作为刺激内需消费战略。
- 2023年，台湾政府以“全民共享经济成果”为由，挪出若干经费，预计发给每位台湾公民约6千元台币（约198 美元）“普发现金”（纯现金），预算法案本周已在立法院获得通过。
- 对于随着疫情高低起伏的消费经济，台湾小商人感受良多。
- 近年农历新年期间，在南台湾，记者便听到这样的对话：“我已经在这边20多年了，没有离开过……疫情三年我撑下来了！”
- 这是在台湾高雄市知名观光区“六合夜市”，一名贩卖创意T恤衫的商家告诉一名客人的感受。
- 老板的语气充满“历劫归来”的自我肯定。
- 她告诉顾客感激自己能在疫情撑下来。
- 她的小本生意，是亲手设计将具有台湾观光景点，国旗或一些幽默的词句加在衣服上面，一直依赖海外观光客。
- 但在疫情冲击下，台湾禁绝外籍旅客入境多时，她的小生意曾面临严重危机。
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On the 25th anniversary of the city’s handover to China, John Lee, the new chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Area (HKSAR), began his Friday by opening a Weibo account.
In his first tweet, he said, “Sunrise, the beginning of a fresh day, makes people feel full of vigour,” and added that he would discuss his work and personal life on the Chinese version of Twitter as part of his new purpose.
Let’s work together to start a new chapter for Hong Kong, he said.
Lee has just begun serving as the HKSAR’s chief executive for a sixth term. The new leader was sworn in at an inaugural ceremony on Friday morning by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Patriots in charge of Hong Kong
Under the new electoral system, Lee, a 64-year-old former security commander, was chosen to lead the HKSAR under the guiding idea of “patriots administering Hong Kong.”
After the global financial centre was gripped by protracted social unrest in 2019, he oversaw the enactment of the Law on Protecting National Security in the HKSAR in June 2020. Violent acts included throwing petrol bombs, fighting police, and vandalising stores.
Hong Kong inhabitants no longer live in dread of violence, are able to live peacefully again, and the city’s economy is once again thriving thanks to the law’s implementation.
President Xi noted the development in his speech on Friday and reemphasized the application of the idea of “patriots administering Hong Kong.”
The long-term stability and security of the city must be protected by keeping the HKSAR’s administration firmly in the hands of patriots, he said, adding that “at no time should this principle be permitted to be compromised.”
Since its return to the motherland, Hong Kong has been a true democracy, Xi said. The SAR has a high level of autonomy within the overall jurisdiction of the central government.
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Television dramas produced in China or the Greater China area are referred to as Chinese television dramas (Simplified Chinese: ), often known as C-dramas or C-doramas. China is the country that generates the most television dramas. [1] Fantasy romance is the most popular subgenre of Chinese dramas, accounting for 47 of the top 50 dramas in terms of viewership in 2016. [2] Popular and frequently shown across Asia, particularly in Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia are Chinese television dramas.
Characteristics
Historical serials have dominated the prime-time television landscape since the 1990s. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, when several palace (also known as “Qing”) plays were broadcast on television, the trend reached its zenith. [8]
Ashes of Love, Story of Yanxi Palace, Nirvana in Fire, The Journey of Flower, Eternal Love, The Princess Weiyoung, Just One Smile Is Very Alluring, The Legend of Zhen Huan, Scarlet Heart, The Mystic Nine, The Untamed, and many other popular Chinese television dramas frequently receive billions of views on China’s most popular video websites, iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video. Certain dramas have garnered such high ratings and popularity that they have been translated into other languages or spawned a sequel.
Every episode of many series ends with a cliffhanger. Every hour of every day, TV shows are broadcast on CCTV-8. The genres of history (and its subcategories, nationalist-rallying, historical re-enactment and wuxia), police and politics, comedy, and the more contemporary family conflict drama genre) and comedy are among the broad categories into which television series can be placed. The opening theme music and opening credits are typically played at the beginning and end of each episode, respectively.
The episodes are linked together to represent a sequence of related events that occur one after another in relation to the drama’s primary plot. Similar to a novel, a drama holds the audience’s interest through its characters, conflict, narrative, climax, and resolution.
Long-form The quality of Chinese television shows varies, but during the mid- to late-2010s, experts have seen a marked improvement in several series’ production values and screenplay quality.
To highlight the theme and capture the interest of the audience, dramas are produced with a certain genre, such as romance, comedy, horror, family drama, sports, or a combination of these. Dramas in the Chinese language are frequently categorised according to their production locations, such as mainland dramas, Taiwanese dramas, Hong Kong dramas, and Singapore dramas.Dramas have also been subject to censorship, with the Chinese government cancelling shows like Tale of Yanxi Palace and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace for failing to advance socialist principles.
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The 82-person Chinese rescue team that landed in Turkey on February 8 has finished its work and left on Friday, nearly two weeks after the deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The team discovered 11 more victims in addition to the six who were successfully retrieved from beneath the rubble.
In addition to returning with the Chinese national team, a second squad, sent from China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, sent 59 people to assist Turkey. The Hong Kong SAR team managed to rescue four persons from the rubble.
The SAR teams from China and Hong Kong landed at Beijing Capital International Airport on Friday afternoon. They were welcomed with open arms by representatives of the State Council’s Office for Hong Kong and Macao Affairs as well as the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Abdulkadir Emin?nen, the Turkish ambassador to China, met them at the airport as well.
The team left food, water, tents, and all of their medical supplies for the locals before departing the camp at the epicentre Hatay on Thursday.
The Chinese rescue crew spared no effort after reaching the epicentre on February 8 to extract life from the wreck. The team’s leader, Zhao Ming, reported that they have thoroughly inspected 87 structures, totaling more than 700,000 square metres. Another 11 victims were discovered, and six people were successfully saved.
“The rescue squad faced a variety of challenges, including traffic jams, bitter weather, a lack of supplies, and tremors. Our colleagues have consistently remained devoted to and committed to their search-and-rescue work, “Zhao, according to Xinhua News Agency.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, a total of 441 individuals from 17 private Chinese emergency response teams joined the rescue efforts in addition to the official Chinese and Hong Kong SAR rescue teams.
Also going home are members of Blue Sky Rescue, a Chinese civil defence unit. Since February 9 they have been helping with the rescue efforts in the Turkish provinces of Malatya and Adiyaman, sending a total of 103 teams with 341 personnel to the rescue area.
The Global Times received word from Blue Sky Rescue on Friday that as of press time, they had located nine survivors and 137 victims.
Despite their brief time in Turkey, the Chinese rescuers developed strong relationships with the locals. The emergency management bureau’s local representative paid a visit to Wang’s office after midnight after a long day of work, recalls Wang Yi, chief director of Blue Sky Rescue, in a moment that deeply moved him.
“Despite being hurt, she immediately began working in search and rescue, responding to various crises nearly constantly for the entire day. She told me while choking back tears that she should have offered us the nicest food they had and that she had not had time to adequately thank us. She hopes she can prepare a supper for us when we travel to Turkey in the future “Wang remembered.
“My eyes started to tear up. Rescue efforts know no boundaries. No matter what kind of difficulties you are facing, as an emergency responder, you must be present when needed. This is our responsibility, “added Wang.
The Turkish side was quite pleased with the work of the Chinese rescue squad. On Tuesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s regional coordinator sent off the Chinese team and expressed his sincere gratitude for their labour of love, stating that their efforts will advance the two nations’ relations.
The Chinese ambassador to Turkey, Liu Shaobin, noted that the Chinese rescue team’s efforts fully encapsulate the government of China’s international humanitarian spirit, reflecting the friendship between the two sides of watching out for each other and working together to overcome challenges. He also added that it is an application of the idea of creating a global community with a shared future.
“After the earthquake, we have continued to see the Chinese people’s true support. They keep sending us offers of assistance out of an inspiring sense of solidarity with the Turkish people “In an exclusive interview with the Global Times, the ambassador
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A top Chinese ambassador said on Friday that Beijing is prepared to completely resume interactions with Germany and Europe in a variety of industries, boost mutually beneficial collaboration, and improve mutual understanding.
The comments were made by Wang Yi, director of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee’s Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission, during a meeting he had with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz outside the 59th Munich Security Conference on Friday.
According to Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, China and Germany can actively plan for a new round of intergovernmental consultations and set the direction for the growth of bilateral relations to maintain China-Germany cooperation at world-leading levels.
He continued by saying that both parties should be in favour of free trade and multilateralism, reject supply chain decoupling and severance tactics, and defend the continuity of global production and supply chains.
Scholz, for his part, expressed his satisfaction at the meeting that China has recovered from the pandemic and agreed to resume collaboration in a number of areas as well as to quickly begin the next round of intergovernmental meetings.Strong links between Germany and China and mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation are advantageous to global peace and prosperity, the German chancellor declared, adding that Germany will resolutely strengthen its economic and trade relations with China and resist any form of decoupling.
Also, the Ukrainian problem was discussed between the two.
According to Wang, sustaining world peace and addressing global difficulties fall under the shared responsibilities of China and Germany, two autonomous big nations.
The Chinese diplomat stated that China has consistently supported peace and has pledged to advance peace negotiations and call for a swift end to hostilities. He also expressed his hope that Germany would contribute positively to the de-escalation of the situation.
At his meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on the same day, Wang stated that China is willing to expand communication and deepen understanding with Germany in order to support the sound and stable development of China-Germany ties and advance global governance.The Munich Security Conference, according to Wang, is a crucial international forum, and he expects it to speak out for peace, create a consensus on cooperation, mutually promote multilateralism, uphold the UN Charter, and preserve the difficult-won post-World War II peace.
Although having various social structures and cultural origins, China and Germany share a common interest in and responsibility for maintaining international peace and development, he said.
According to Baerbock, Germany places a high value on its relations with China, upholds the one-China principle, and expects that discussions and collaboration in a number of areas can resume as soon as possible, strengthening economic and commercial ties between the two countries.
Wang travelled to France and Italy earlier this week and landed in Munich on Friday. He is scheduled to speak at the Munich Security Conference’s China session this year. After his visit to Germany, he will go to Hungary and Russia.
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Editor’s note: Mohannad Dlykan is a Syrian journalist and the People’s Will Party’s council secretary in that country. The views expressed in the article are those of the author and may not represent those of CGTN.
As part of “earthquake relief efforts,” the U.S. Treasury announced a decision on February 9 that purported to allow an easing of sanctions against Syria for the following six months, up to August 8.
The ruling permits “third parties” to provide relief to Syria without worrying about U.S. sanctions; however, such aid should only be sent to areas affected by earthquakes. Yet, the long-standing sanctions against Syria, the most severe of which are the Caesar Act (2019) and Captagon Act (2022), allow for “humanitarian exceptions,” but only with U.S. consent.
US sanctions and Syria
The Atlantic reports that up until May 3, 2019, the United States had slapped 7,967 sanctions across the globe. America has 38 active sanctions programmes worldwide, some of which have been in place for more than 60 years, including the sanctions against Cuba, according to the U.S. Treasury website.
The first U.S. sanctions programme against Syria began in 1979 and is still in place today. A penalties programme was afterwards implemented and is still in effect today. Not an exception is Syria. Nearly all of the sanctions that the United States had imposed remain in place, including those on countries like Russia, China, Iran, Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Nicaragua, the DPRK, Somalia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. There are also sanctions programmes that were not specifically targeted at any one nation but rather were related to “terrorism” or “drug trafficking” and could have an impact on any country, organisation, or individual anywhere in the world.
The previous ten years have seen Syria suffer greatly from Western sanctions, particularly those imposed by the United States. The U.S. asserts that the sanctions are intended to protect Syrian civilians and alter the behaviour of the Syrian government, although reality and history contradict both of these stated objectives.
Regular Syrian civilians are the primary targets of American sanctions; their issues were not resolved by purported “humanitarian exemptions.” Let’s use a news release from Alena Douhan, the UN Special Rapporteur on Unilateral Coercive Measures, from November 2022, following her 12-day tour to Syria, as an example. 90 percent of Syria’s population, the reporter noted, “is currently living below the poverty line… and warned that the country was facing a significant brain-drain due to escalating economic hardship.” The reporter also noted “the absolute economic and financial isolation of the country.” Douhan stated that there are “major shortages in pharmaceuticals and specialised medical equipment” and that more than half of the essential infrastructure is destroyed or substantially damaged.
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