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US, Chinese presidents discuss new type of bilateral ties

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Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday held talks with US President Barack Obama, underscoring commitment to building a new type of major-country relations between the world’s two largest economies.

“China would like to work with the United States to implement the principle of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, cooperation and common prosperity and make new type of major-country relations between the two countries to produce more benefits to people in the two countries and the world,” Xi said. “I will make joint efforts with President Obama.”

Their talks took place at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing, following a red-carpet ceremony to welcome Obama Wednesday morning, as per reported.

Obama arrived in Beijing Monday to attend the 22nd Asia-Pxin_31209062309156091850726acific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting and pay a state visit to China at Xi’s invitation.

Obama congratulated Xi and the people of China for “hosting a successful APEC summit” and expressed his gratitude for Xi’s “outstanding hospitality in the state visit”.

Saying this year marked the 35th anniversary of the establishment of China-US relations, Xi said bilateral relations now stand at a new starting point.

“Facing the current complicated and changing international situation, China and the United States should and will be able to cooperate in more areas,” Xi said.

Obama said the trade ties and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have surged over the past 35 years.

“We have shown that when we cooperate, United States and China can make important contributions to security and prosperity in the region and around the world,” Obama said.

Xi reviewed his meeting with Obama at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California, in June 2013, where they reached a consensus on building a new type of China-US relations.

The two countries have since then made “positive progress” in bilateral coordination and cooperation in various areas, Xi said, citing the facts that, last year, bilateral trade volume soared to $520 billion, outstanding amount of two-way investment stood at $100 billion and more than four million trips were made between the two nations.

China and the US worked together in tackling climate change, combating the Ebola epidemic and fighting terrorism, Xi said.

Facts have proved a new type of major-country relations between China and the US served the fundamental interests of the two peoples and helps maintain peace, stability and prosperity in Asia and Pacific and the world, Xi said.

Obama said Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning that he and Xi discussed “our priorities and our vision for the US-China relationship.”

“I believe our two nations have enormous stake in each other’s success,” Obama said, adding the US welcomed a peaceful, prosperous and stable China.

Obama said he and Xi “engage in a honest and constructive dialogue around those differences and ensure we can manage them in a peaceful and effective way.”

Obama said his discussion with Xi would help ensure bilateral relationship “continue to deliver results” for China, for the US and for the world.

On Tuesday evening, the two heads of state held a meeting at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in downtown Beijing after the APEC meeting.

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Lockdowns in China Force Urban Communities to Defy Censorship and Vent Frustration Online

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Anyip Mobile Proxies

Shanghai’s rich middle class is leading a wave of online dissent over the strict and prolonged lockdowns imposed in various parts of the country. Chinese internet censorship is struggling as patience is wearing thin in many urban centers, coming up with creative forms of online protests.

Social Media Posts Revealing Lockdown Tension in Shanghai

Drawn-out lockdowns are nothing new in China as authorities insist with the nation’s zero-Covid policy since the start of the pandemic. Currently over This time around, however, metropolitan areas like Shanghai are increasingly difficult to keep quiet, given that its more than 25 million residents have seen weeks of total isolation along with food shortages and many other service interruptions.

Dozens of towns and reportedly over 300 million Chinese citizens have been affected by lockdowns of different severity. As expected, urban netizens have been most outspoken over their difficulties by finding creative ways to get around state censorship and bans placed on topics, news comments and spontaneous campaigns.

Shanghai residents have been using mobile proxies and hijacking seemingly unrelated hashtags to talk about healthcare issues, delivery failures and the overall severity of their situation. The “positive energy” that the Chinese government wants to transmit during the recent prolonged series of lockdowns does not come naturally to those counting food supplies and online censors are working hard to filter words, trending topics and undesired social media sharing.

WeChat groups and message threads are under constant monitoring. Posts questioning the zero-Covid approach have been quickly deleted, including by leading Chinese health experts like Dr. Zhong Nanshan. Video footage is soon censored and protests and investigations are quickly made to disappear.

Where this has not worked, officials have exposed banners with warnings and outright threats like “watch your own mouth or face punishment”, while drones have been patrolling the city skies. Yet, if anything, this has led to further tensions and unspoken confrontation with Shanghai’s educated and affluent middle class.

Creative Online Solutions Harnessing Civic Energy

Announcements by Chinese social media that they would be publishing the IP addresses of users who “spread rumors” have not helped either. Tech industry research has shown that much of Asia’s tech-savvy population has a habit of using mobile proxies and other privacy tools, quickly finding workarounds to browse the internet freely and talk to the world about the hottest topics.

The sheer volume of forbidden posts is already a challenge for the very censorship system, experts explain. Unable to track all trending hashtags, state workers overlook topics that speak about the US, Ukraine or other popular news. Linking human rights elsewhere to their situation, Chinese online dissidents establish their informal channels and “hijack” the conversation to share personal or publicly relevant information about the Covid suppression in their town.

Sarcastic and satirical posts still dominate. Others hope to evade the censors by replacing words from famous poems or the national anthem. One thing is certain – social media, when harnessed with the right creativity, has proven its ability to mount pressure on the government in even some of the most strictly controlled tech environments like China.

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