IN BRIEF (Page 5)

Subsidy driven energy project irreparably damages wetland

MORE THAN 400 HECTARES of a first-class provincial wetland, Santaizi Reservoir in Kangping county, Liaoning province, has been drained to make way for a photovoltaic power plant. Beijing News comments:

Baidu digging a grave for itself

ON TUESDAY a post with the headline "Baidu as a search engine is dead already" created a buzz on social media, as it blamed the Chinese-language search giant for artificially controlling the search results so that articles from its own affiliated website Baijiahao appear among the first listings. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

Competitors that are neither friends nor foes

Editor's note: The international situation will probably worsen and the bilateral strategic competition between China and the United States will be more ferocious this year, said Yan Xuetong, a researcher of international relations at the Beijing-based Tsinghua University, in his recent interview with China Newsweek. The following are excerpts from his responses to questions on Sino-US relationship and the global situation:

Long-term efforts must follow health product cleanup campaign

The ongoing three-month national crackdown on illegal practices in the health products market, which started early this month, is a welcome move.

China's message in Davos a call for collective action

What Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan told the global leaders and business elite attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, was a candid declaration of Beijing's policy and position, as well as a rallying call for concerted efforts to oppose protectionism and unilateralism.

Cartoon

Slowdown will help improve growth quality

The global economy was full of uncertainties last year, with the decline in stock markets, and volatility in foreign currency and bond markets leaving investors worried worldwide. In US dollar exchange rate terms, the World Bank calculated global economic growth to be 2.9 percent in 2018 while the International Monetary Fund said it would be 3.0 percent. Either way, global economic growth in 2018 would be higher than the average growth in the past years, suggesting the world economy is still growing.

Deeper reform will make replicas history

A one-to-one replica of Sphinx, an Egyptian cultural heritage structure, in Shijiazhuang, capital of Northern China's Hebei province, was demolished recently after Egypt sought to file a second complaint against the structure with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The road to Davos is treacherous but can yield fruits if leaders are sincere

For years I have longed to come to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum annual meeting. I made it this year.

Were Pompeo's remarks a sign of greater realism?

For a fairly long period of time, United States President Donald Trump sounded like he was the only person in the US administration confident the trade talks with China would result in a deal.

US politicians' attempt to play 'Taiwan card' will be futile

In a blatant interference into China's internal affairs, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution on Tuesday intended to promote the participation of Taiwan in the World Health Organization and other international forums.