EU needs to regain its reputation as a safe, secure place

In the decade up to 2014, the European Union could claim to be safer than the rest of the world, mainly because the number of terrorist attack victims decreased in the EU even as it increased globally. From 2009 to 2013, according to EU figures, 38 people died in terrorist attacks in the EU. In 2014, the number of terrorist victims within the EU was four, although many Europeans were killed in terrorist attacks in conflict zones outside the union.

Manila and Beijing can make breakthrough

Via unilateral South China Sea arbitration, Benigno Aquino III drove Philippine-China relations into a hopeless cul-de-sac.

Games not cure-all for Brazil

The Rio Olympics is expected to help boost the Brazilian economy at a time when Brazil is suffering an economic slump as a result of low commodity prices, exacerbated inflation and capital flight since 2014.

Strategic misjudgment for Seoul to alienate Beijing and Moscow

THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA is making a historic misjudgment deploying the US' Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system on its soil. Xinhua News Agency commented:

Scenic spots have to improve their toilet facilities

THE CHINA NATIONAL TOURISM ADMINISTRATION announced last week that Orange Isle in Changsha, Hunan province, Central China, and Shenlong Gorge in Chongqing municipality, Southwest China, had lost their 5-A scenic rating, because of security concerns, overpricing, poor management, and poor facility maintenance. Beijing News commented on Monday:

Investigate into financing of bus project

A ROAD-STRADDLING, elevated bus that allows cars to pass underneath was demonstrated on some specially constructed test track in Qinhuangdao, North China's Hebei province last week. Soon after reports emerged that the test had been conducted without approval and might be part of an illicit financing scheme. Thepaper.cn commented:

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Abe's statute revision plan may yet fail

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffled his cabinet on Aug 3, the third time since taking office in 2012, but most senior Cabinet figures including Finance Minister Taro Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida retain their posts.

Protectionism will only hurt Sino-US ties

At the eighth China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing in June, a dispute over steel trade became a very thorny issue. China is now the biggest steel producer and exporter in the world, with its crude steel production capacity being 1.13 billion tons, which accounts for nearly half of the world's total. US Under Secretary of Treasury Nathan Sheets alleged China's excess steel capacity was having a huge impact on the United States, Europe and other markets. And US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker has levied an astonishingly high tariff of 522.2 percent on Chinese steel.

Good planning can make eldercare profitable

As China presses ahead with supply-side structural reform to boost the tertiary industry and improve people's livelihoods, eldercare has become a potentially profitable business and a key factor promoting social harmony.

Social duties key to Chinese enterprises' overseas success

In response to questions about its "political" contribution to Clinton Foundation, Alibaba Group has said it donated $250,000 to the foundation in 2005 for the treatment and care of HIV/AIDS patients in developing countries.

Rio sets good example with games opening ceremony

Congratulations, and many thanks to Rio de Janeiro, for the innovatively choreographed and beautifully executed opening ceremony for the Olympic Games, which was mesmerizing, inspiring, and thoroughly entertaining.