1 . China is developing rapidly, with its people living a peaceful and happy life. While developing itself, China never fails to offer a helping hand to its friends.

On the Road to Peace

China has now been part of the UN peacekeeping missions (任务) for more than 30 years. UN peacekeeping missions provide different services including protecting civilians (平民).

In April 2023, the Chinese peacekeepers carried out an important task in Sudan. They successfully sent more than 1,100 people to safe places.

Into the Disaster Area (灾区)

In disaster areas, uniforms with “China Rescue (救援)” on the back offer a sign of hope and love. The Chinese rescue team is known for its quick and well-organized search and rescue work.

When earthquakes happened in Afghanistan and Nepal in October 2023, “China Rescue” quickly took action to transport things needed to the disaster areas.

Railway of Friendship

There are many high mountains between China and its neighboring country, Laos. The China-Laos Railway has broken through those barriers. This amazing achievement was made possible by the Lao workers and a large number of Chinese workers. They traveled far from their homes to build 1,035 kilometers of railway lines, including 301 bridges and 167 tunnels (隧道).

The peacekeepers, “China Rescue” and railway workers, are just some of the many thousands of Chinese who have spent all of their time and energy helping others around the world. Their selfless actions and tireless efforts bring honor to their homeland and help to build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.

2 . On April 24, US President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that requires TikTok to either be sold to a non-Chinese entity or face a ban from US-based app stores within nine months to a year, “Make no mistake, this is a ban,” said TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. “A ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice.”

The bill, developed due to concerns that the social media platform might be sharing user data with the Chinese government to potentially influence user attitudes, successfully passed the House of Representatives in early March and was approved by the Senate on April 23.

“The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep US data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation,” noted TikTok in a statement issued soon after the signing. “This ban would devastate (摧毁) 7 million businesses and silence 170 million Americans.”

This is true. TikTok is popular not only for its entertainment and useful information but also as a source of income for many users.

“TikTok is a very useful platform because it’s fast,” said Lucia Perez, 20,in an interview with China Dailty. When not busy, Perez spends three to four hours on TikTok each day. “People would lose jobs, that would be terrible...A lot of people live off it. I mean, hopefully the ban doesn’t happen,” she added.

Some people are also concerned that banning the app may generate hate toward Chinese people. “There was a lot of racial (种族的) tension,” said Wyatt Head, a 29-year-old interviewed by China Daily. “The CEO was questioned in Congress; they were like, is he Chinese?”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also against the measure to ban the app in the US. “In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the US. Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for,” he wrote on his X account.

TikTok plans to challenge the legislation, arguing that it violates users’ First Amendment rights (《宪法第一修正案》规定的权利), “The facts and the US Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again,” said Chew. “It’s obviously a disappointing moment but it does not need to be a defining one.”

The technology company Google will work together with the United States and Australia to offer Internet service to Pacific Island nations such as Tuvalu.

The agreement continues a project Google is working on in the area.

The agreement came on the same day that Australian Prime Minister (首相) Anthony Albanese visited with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House, Washington, DC.

The state visit has been planned for a long time.

The underwater cable (水下电缆) project will bring Internet service to Tuvalu, Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.

A Biden administration (行政部门) official said Australia will provide $50 million for the project and the U. S. will give $15 million.

The Pacific islands are an area of interest for both the U. S. and China. Each nation has been working to expand (扩大) their relationships with the island nations. They have been promising military partnerships (军事伙伴关系) and building projects.

Biden has said work by U. S. telecommunications (电信) and Internet companies such as Google is a national security issue (安全问题) . The companies that own or watch cables that join small countries to the Internet can control the flow (流动) of information around the world.

6 . With the growing population on earth, it becomes more and more difficult for the planet to hold so many people. All the countries are looking for a way out. It seems that the powerful countries all agree on one possible solution: space colonization (殖民).

America is one of the most powerful countries in space science. The American scientists believe it is necessary to build a base on the moon. It is very likely to be built where there is ice. The only problem is its cost.

Although Russia is not as strong as America in space power for the time being, with a lot of knowledge and experience from the former Soviet Union (前苏联), many scientists think that it is just a matter of time for the Russians to land on the moon, or even the Mars.

China has made big progress in space exploration in the last twenty years. Great success has been achieved with the Shenzhou spaceships. China’s Lunar Exploration Project has completed its first two steps and is now going to the last one: to build a base on the moon.

Besides, India is believed to be the next “China” in the area due to its quick development in the field.

China is seeing more foreign visitors these days. It put out a visa-free policy (免签政策) for travelers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands (荷兰), Spain and Malaysia.     1     The policy is in effect from Dec. 1, 2023 to Nov. 30, 2024. It’s a unilateral (单边的) policy. This means that the policy only works for visitors from these countries who wish to visit China.

    2     Of this number, about 7,000 people used the visa-free policy, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The visa-free travel “shows China’s willingness to welcome more visitors”, Wang Xuan at the University of Surrey in the UK told China Daily.     3     The policy is helpful for development and opening-up as international companies can have more and easier business trips.

    4     “During the COVID-19 pandemic, we seldom saw foreign people in China,” said Jiang Xinwei, a student in Jilin. “    5    ”, she added. “A visa-free policy like this is good for sharing our culture with the world,” said Wu Ruilin, a student in Chengdu, Sichuan.