EU data policy reflects its cyber-strategy

Editor's note: The European Union's "strictest-ever" General Data Protection Regulation came into effect on May 25. While the GDPR is aimed at protecting people's private information, it has also sparked a debate on whether it will curb the progress of information technology enterprises in the EU. Two experts share their views on the issue with China Daily's Zhang Zhouxiang. Excerpts follow:

Is the US-Japan honeymoon about to end?

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made it a point to meet with Donald Trump just after the latter was elected US president in November 2016 to build personal rapport with Trump and bring the two countries closer. Given the subsequent remarks of the two leaders, many believed Abe had succeeded in his endeavor.

Taiwan should accept one-China principle for its own good

Thanks to the Tsai Ing-wen administration's "pro-independence" stance and its refusal to accept the 1992 Consensus that there is only one China, Taiwan has once again attracted international attention. The island was not only barred from attending the World Health Assembly but also lost two more "diplomatic allies" in the Dominican Republic and Burkina Faso this month.

Not in China's interests to force technology transfers

The United States has repeatedly claimed that China has forced foreign companies to transfer their technologies to local businesses, an accusation that it has not backed up with evidence.

Reducing plastic waste is shared responsibility

Almost 10 years have passed since China implemented a nationwide ban on retailers distributing bags free of charge, and banned the production, sale and use of ultrathin non-biodegradable bags.

Environmental governance aims to kill pollution not enterprises

THE MINISTRY OF ECOLOGY and Environment said it is planning to ban local governments from suspending the operations of enterprises ahead of an inspection. Beijing News comments:

Fake prizes exploit faith in foreign awards

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION clarified on Friday that it has never awarded a prize to Haier for being a leading global brand for healthy air as it supposedly did at a seminar hosted by an organization called the Global Health Industry Alliance in Beijing on May 17. Yangtze River Daily comments:

Many cities barking up the wrong tree with their planting

ONE CITY after another has been busy planting trees in the hope of being recognized as a "forest city". However, journalists have found that some cities have been doing it in the wrong way and the "green leap forward" is just extravagance. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

Cartoon

Peninsula peace on bumpy road

Editor's note: On May 24, US President Donald Trump called off the planned summit with Kim Jong-un, leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in Singapore on June 12. Yet the United States administration later said it still wants the summit to be held. Three experts share their views on the dramatic twist in the planned Kim-Trump meeting with China Daily's Pan Yixuan. Excerpts follow:

Are Chinese media making US anxious?

The China-US trade dispute reveals the US administration's growing anxiety about China's rise, which in turn has triggered the anxiety of some of its Western allies. But some Chinese scholars speculate "China threat" fears have been fueled in the West, particularly in the United States, because Chinese media have presented an exaggeratedly positive, invincible image of China to the outside world.

Natural resources merit better management

Since the launch of reform and opening-up 40 years ago, the management of natural resources and ecological environment has overlapped among various departments, leading to conflicts of interests and dysfunction. For instance, a piece of land could be regarded as farmland by the land department, while the department of forest, water or transport could see it as forest land, water conservation area or land for developing transportation.