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GLOBAL EDITION MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

Guizhou’s poverty Bringing history back to life fight includes better schools, meals for kids

By CAI HONG, LI HANYI and DONG XIANWU 1.32 in Guizhou province million people Policymakers in Southwest Chi­ Have been relocated from na’s Guizhou province are trying impoverished mountainous to improve education programs places to settlements in urban to empower children with areas in Guizhou since 2016 knowledge and skills to combat poverty. The province is determined that covered in the nutrition project no child should be allowed to every year,” Bao said. drop out of school due to his or The nutrition project connects her family’s financial difficulties. residents of the province’s low­in­ Local educators believe that par­ come villages to canteens in rural ticular attention should be paid to nurseries as well as primary and helping poverty­stricken students secondary schools. increase confidence in their capa­ These canteens purchase farm bility to lift their families out of produce from the poverty­strick­ poverty and view improved en farmers, Bao added. schooling as the way to accom­ Guizhou has been making pains­ plish this. taking efforts to improve educa­ The province has given 1.69 mil­ tion for children in rural and Performers play the roles of Chinese and Irish workers on Friday during a historical reenactment on the 150th anniversary of the completion of lion registered poor students sti­ mountainous regions because the the Transcontinental Railroad at Golden Spike National Historical Park in Promontory, Utah, in the United States. TERRAY SYLVESTER / REUTERS pends worth a total of 5.3 billion government believes schooling is See story, page 3 yuan ($777 million) since 2015, the best way to empower the according to Guizhou’s Education youngsters, who are seen as the Department. hope of their families for getting While working out its strategy to out of poverty. impart knowledge to rural chil­ The mountainous province is WORLD WATCH dren, Guizhou has also taken into one of the poorest regions in Chi­ By Chen Weihua consideration that many kids na. In 2018, it still had more than China’s call for balance come to school hungry. 1.55 million people living below According to Bao Benqi of the the poverty line of disposable provincial Education Depart­ annual income of 8,495 yuan. ment, the Guizhou government One of Guizhou’s approaches to US studies has set the goal that “each of the lifting impoverished people out of in trade deal ‘rational’ primary and secondary schools in a bare­bones existence is to build the rural areas should have a can­ settlements in urban areas for the say BRI not teen so that lunch can be served to relocation of those who live in Analysts say cooperation is crucial for Sino­US consultations every student”. mountainous areas considered The meal is believed to help stu­ uninhabitable. By JING SHUIYU in Beijing and tices has rattled global choice for the two coun­ a debt trap dents improve their performance The province has relocated 1.32 ZHAO HUANXIN in Washington markets for months. Nego­ tries, said Wei, a former at school. Many students in the million people since 2016, and tiators held an 11th round vice­minister of commerce. poverty­stricken areas had been those living in poverty who China’s insisting on protecting of talks in Washington on The analysts’ comments Two studies released in the past coming to class with an empty remain — 560,000 people — will its core interests during trade con­ Thursday and Friday. came as US Trade Repre­ weeks should put to rest the blind stomach, since they did not have be moved to new homes this year, sultations with the United States is Before heading back to sentative Robert Lighthiz­ accusation that China’s infrastruc­ food at home. according to Sun Zhigang, secre­ a rational choice in accordance Beijing, Liu said that over­ er announced on Friday ture financing under the Belt and “More than 3.8 million primary tary of the Guizhou Provincial with international practice, all, the two sides are meet­ Vice- evening that he was pre­ Road Initiative has sucked develop­ and secondary school students experts said. ing each other halfway in Premier paring to impose addition­ ing nations into a debt trap. and 860,000 preschool kids are See Xxxxx, page 3 Vice­Premier Liu He said in the draft text, but there Liu He al tariffs on an additional Without providing any evidence, Washington on Friday that what needs to be discussion on $300 billion worth of Chi­ senior US officials, such as Vice­ China wants is a fair and dignified some key issues. nese imports. President Mike Pence, Secretary of trade agreement. And while key “We believe that these things are Following the latest US tariff State Mike Pompeo and National disparities remain, a deal must major issues of principle. So every move, the Ministry of Commerce Security Advisor John Bolton, made address the country’s core con­ country has important principles, vowed to take necessary counter­ such allegations last year. cerns, such as lifting all additional and we absolutely cannot make measures. Deborah Brautigam, a leading tariffs, establishing realistic pro­ concessions on such issues,” the Gao Lingyun, a research fellow authority on China­Africa relations curement expectations and ensur­ vice­premier said. However, Liu at the Institute of World Econom­ at Johns Hopkins University’s ing that the text in any deal is added that he hoped both sides ics and Politics of the Chinese School of Advanced International “balanced”, he said. would exhibit flexibility in the Academy of Social Sciences, sug­ Studies in Washington, dismissed Dong Yan, director of the inter­ talks. gested that China work out com­ such accusations in an opinion national trade office at the Institute Washington’s latest levies target­ prehensive countermeasures that piece in The New York Times on of World Economics and Politics of ing Chinese imports came into can respond to the US precisely April 26. the Chinese Academy of Social Sci­ force on Friday. and efficiently. In the column, which ran under ences, said China’s opposition to Wei Jianguo, vice­president of Vice­Premier Liu said that the headline “Is China the World’s the new US tariffs and its quest for the China Center for International despite the pressure, he was opti­ Loan Shark?”, Brautigam said stud­ a “balanced trade pact” have a Economic Exchanges, said, “Twists mistic about China’s economy in ies “found scant evidence of a pat­ rational basis. and turns in trade consultations the longer term, adding that it had tern indicating that Chinese banks What China has been insisting are not uncommon and should not entered an up cycle after bottom­ ... are deliberately overlending or upon is “the rational choices any be exaggerated.” ing out somewhat in 2018. funding loss­making projects to country has when facing unreason­ Wei said the negotiations haven’t secure strategic advantages for Chi­ able requests in trade rules”, Dong broken down, since the two sides, Ren Xiaojin and Liu Zhihua in na”. said at a seminar on Sunday in Bei­ according to the vice­premier, had Beijing contributed to this story. The Hambantota Port project in Students participate in a physical education class in Huichuan jing, citing similar cases in history. agreed to continue their talks in Sri Lanka is often cited by critics, Primary School in the city of Zunyi, Guizhou province, on April 17. The tug­of­war between China Beijing. Despite the current head­ Contact the writers at but “that’s a special case, and it is LI HANYI / CHINA DAILY and the US over certain trade prac­ winds, cooperation is the best [email protected] widely misunderstood,” she wrote. Brautigam’s opinion piece was based on studies conducted by her China­Africa Research Initiative at As Jakarta sinks, Indonesia revives plans to relocate capital the SAIS, which included informa­ tion on more than 1,000 Chinese loans in Africa between 2000 and By KARL WILSON in Sydney where it is in Jakarta; move it to an 260,000 people that is relatively sia’s identity is a modern, interna­ relocation.” 2017, totaling more than $143 bil­ [email protected] area within a 50­ to 70­kilometer free from natural disasters and tional­class city, or a smart, green “It is also free from potential lion, as well as a study by Boston radius of the city; or move the capi­ located near the center of the archi­ and beautiful city,” the minister earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, University’s Global Development Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, tal off the island of Java altogether. pelago. said. floods, erosion and forest fires. It Policy Center, which has identified has another problem in addition to Building a new capital could take Planning Minister Bambang told Yayat Supriyatna, an urban plan­ has abundant water resources and and tracked more than $140 billion its traffic and pollution: The city of between five and 10 years and cost a news briefing after the Cabinet ner at Trisakti University in Jakar­ is free of air pollution.” in Chinese loans to Latin America 10 million is sinking. as much as $33 billion, The Jakarta meeting on April 29 that the new ta, told China Daily that Widodo is Heri Andreas, a lecturer on the and the Caribbean since 2005. Some researchers are predicting Post quoted National Development capital would likely be in the “geo­ serious about moving the capital — Institute of Technology Bandung’s large swaths of the city could be Planning Minister Bambang Bro­ graphic center of Indonesia”. “by announcing it in front of high­ earth science and technology facul­ See Studies, page 3 entirely submerged by 2050, and djonegoro as saying. Other criteria will include land ranking state, executive, legislative ty, said Jakarta “has a long history they said north Jakarta had already The idea of relocating is not new, availability, water supply, proximity and judicial leaders during a joint of flooding, as it sits on a flood plain sunk 2.5 meters in 10 years, the BBC according to Gervasius Samosir, a to the coast and foreign territory, sitting at the presidential palace on where 13 rivers cross the city”. Due www.chinadailyglobal.com reported last month. Jakarta­based consultant with and existing infrastructure. May 6”. to land subsidence and rising sea A member of © 2019 Indonesian President Joko Wido­ global group YCP Solidiance. “Pres­ “We have to find a location that is He said there were a number of level, the city is now suffering from China Daily Global do has revived plans to relocate the idents from Sukarno onward have really minimal in terms of disaster factors favoring a new capital, with coastal flooding and tidal inunda­ All Rights Reserved capital. At a recent Cabinet meet­ mentioned the need to relocate the risks. And because Indonesia is a Borneo being an ideal location. “It tion, he added. Vol.1— No.90 ing, Widodo asked his ministers to capital,” he told China Daily. maritime nation, the new capital is strategically located in the mid­ Andreas said the advantage of Newsstand prices: come up with suggestions, the Jak­ But on all occasions, the idea did city should be located near the dle of Indonesia, and a great deal of choosing Palangkaranya as the new US $1 Canada C$1 UK 1 £ EU 1€ arta Globe reported on April 29. not get beyond the discussion stage. coast, but not necessarily by the the land is already owned by the capital would be that it is “not a Kenya 50 Kenya Shilling The president said there were Now, President Widodo has sea,” he said. government or state­owned com­ large city now, but it does have Asia Pacific: Thailand 120 thb; Philippines 120 php; three choices, according to the revived the decades­old plan and “We want to have a new city panies. This would reduce invest­ infrastructure, and from all Myanmar 2000 kyat; Japan 210 yen; Dubai 10 dirham; Globe report: Leave the capital favors Palangkaraya, a city of about which besides reflecting Indone­ ment costs for infrastructure and accounts it is in good shape”. Pakistan 300 rupee CHINA DAILY | GLOBAL EDITION Monday, May 13, 2019 | 3 TOP NEWS Guizhou: Province aims US railroad’s China connection high in poverty fight, Workers’ contribution remembered at the helps residents relocate Golden Spike’s 150th anniversary From page 1 celebrations in Utah Committee of the Communist Par­ By LINDA DENG ty of China. Sun made the remark Giving rural children in Promontory, Utah in Beijing in March while attend­ a good education is an [email protected] ing the annual plenary session of the National People’s Congress, important task in The Golden Spike’s 150th anniver­ the country top legislature. poverty relief, and sary celebration held at the Promon­ Guizhou has aimed high in its pov­ also a crucial means tory Summit, Utah, on Friday, was a erty fight in a bid to help reach the historic event for the United States. It nation’s goal of lifting all people out to stop poverty from was also an occasion to recall efforts of poverty by 2020. This year, a total being passed on of thousands of Chinese workers of 1.1 million residents are expected who were part of the project. to escape poverty, Guizhou Gover­ between generations.” The Golden Spike is the ceremo­ nor Shen Yiqin said at the provin­ President Xi Jinping, nial gold final spike driven by cial people’s congress in January. writing to a group of Guizhou Leland Stanford, then governor of Shen said Guizhou will provide province teachers in 2015 California, to join the rails of the 160,000 homes for relocated resi­ transcontinental railroad on May dents this year, adding that the 10, 1869. local government is planning to education reform in poor areas. Between 1863 and 1869, more appropriate 17 billion yuan to fund “Reducing poverty must begin than 12,000 Chinese workers helped the process. with reducing ignorance. There­ build the 912­mile transcontinental Shiqian county in Tongren — to fore, giving rural children a good railroad that connects the eastern US which more than 700 residents education is an important task in rail network with the Pacific coast. moved in 2018 — has built kindergar­ poverty relief, and also a crucial Even as they endured harsh work­ tens and primary schools near resi­ means to stop poverty from being ing and living conditions, they blast­ dential communities, and more passed on between generations,” he ed and chiseled 15 tunnels through service centers are said. the hard granite of the Sierra Nevada expected soon. “The poor regions are the bottle­ Mountains. Hundreds of them died. However, not neck in building a moderately For 72­year­old Siu Wong, a everyone in the prosperous society by 2020,” Xi retired doctor from New Mexico, poverty­stricken wrote. US, and a descendant of a Chinese areas wants to While talking with students and railroad worker, the grand ceremo­ leave their home. teachers at a primary school in ny in Utah on Friday meant a lot. “To encourage Zhongyi, a township in Chong­ Wong’s grandfather was working Zhang Yan, them to move, qing’s Shizhu Tujia autonomous on the railroad in California. She primary Guizhou authori­ county, in April, Xi said compulsory was among the 400 descendants school ties have used a education is an important part of who took part in the celebration. principal better schooling poverty eradication. “Ninety percent of Central Pacific for their children Children in impoverished moun­ Railroad workers were Chinese, but as bait,” said Zhang Qing of Guiz­ tainous regions must be guaran­ Chinese are not included in the pho­ hou’s provincial Education teed access to education, and they tos in the US history books. I have Department. should have a happy childhood, Xi noticed that there is more recogni­ “More than 130,000 children will said during his visit to Chongqing. tion and acknowledgement of the be enrolled in the 1,600 preschool He encouraged teachers to settle Chinese contribution,” said Wong. facilities, primary and secondary down in such regions, dedicate The White House issued a presi­ National Park Service volunteers and others (top) re­enact Andrew J. Russell’s 1869 “Champagne schools near their urban settle­ themselves to education in rural dential message on Friday on the Toast” photo (above) taken when the Central Pacific Railroad from the west joined the Union Pacific ments. Also, 333 nurseries and jun­ areas and contribute to poverty 150th anniversary of the transcon­ Railroad from the east, on the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at ior high schools will be built to reduction. tinental railroad, mentioning the Golden Spike National Historical Park in Promontory, Utah, on Friday. REUTERS enroll some 50,000 relocated chil­ The Guizhou government has contributions of especially 12,000 dren,” Zhang added. called in the province’s best teach­ or more Chinese laborers. To promote educational develop­ ers and school headmasters to help “I have the unique and moving Chinese, along with Irish and other American people can come togeth­ of the American Legion Auxiliary ment and cultivate more high­qual­ schools in the rural areas, accord­ opportunity to fully acknowledge immigrant groups, were depicted in er to get things done, and make the unit 291, which works to meet the ity teachers in the country’s central ing to Hong Ying of Guizhou’s Edu­ and recognize the contributions a musical performance titled As One, impossible possible”. needs of the country’s veterans, and western regions, China cation Department. and sacrifices of these laborers dur­ inspired by the Golden Spike era. Chinese railroad workers were military, and their families. His launched a State­level training pro­ These teachers are required to ing the construction of transconti­ Connie Young Yu, whose great­ among the first Chinese immigrants responsibilities include teaching gram for rural primary and middle work out plans on how to help sub­ nental railroad,” US Secretary of grandfather was a foreman in the to the US. The event gave a chance to new Chinese immigrants to better school teachers in 2010. standard schools in rural areas. Transportation Elaine Chao, whose Central Pacific Railroad Company — patriotic Chinese Americans from adapt to American culture and Primary school teachers in Guiz­ Zhang Yan, principal of Huichuan parents are of Chinese descent, said the company that built the railroad all parts of the country to be honored advocating patriotism and honor. hou have joined the training at Bei­ Primary School in the city of Zunyi, at the ceremony. eastwards from Sacramento, Califor­ and feel more connected to the con­ Olivia Hao, 31, and Ricky Ren, 32, jing Normal University. is a member of this year’s group of The event drew an estimated nia, to complete the western part of tribution made by their ancestors. both film makers from Beijing, par­ In September 2014, President Xi selected teachers. 20,000 people to the historic ground the first transcontinental railroad in “I feel proud and very happy to be ticipated in the celebration. They Jinping met with teachers from “I’ve focused my plan on coaching in Utah, where two railroads joined the US — was invited to take the stage at this once­in­a­lifetime event,” said they were working on a TV Guizhou who were receiving train­ teachers in the poverty­stricken their rails to form the transcontinen­ at the beginning of the ceremony. said Don Yee, a medical engineer series on the historic event. ing at Beijing Normal University. areas rather than giving lectures at tal railroad. Chinese Ambassador to the US, from Hicksville in New York. “The younger generation doesn’t The group of teachers later wrote a rural schools,” Zhang said. For the first time, Chinese and Cui Tiankai, in a video message, Yee drove all the way with his know much about this part of histo­ letter to Xi. other immigrants were incorporat­ described the railroad as an wife, Georgina, and friends to Utah ry; we are lucky to have joined the In a letter of reply to the Guizhou Contact the writers at ed in the momentous reenactment. “example of how the Chinese and for the ceremony. Yee is a member great event,” said Olivia. teachers, Xi asked them to lead [email protected]

ried that the US government is Studies: making an argument that is more persuasive to itself than to others. Chinese bikers revving up to ride in style The fact that the BRI has gained Risks of BRI more support around the world, as By ALEXIS HOOI seen in the recent forum in Beijing, [email protected] is the best answer to those who overstated might have ulterior motives. So far, Almost every weekend, Beijing more than 120 countries have par­ businessman Liang Tao fires up his ticipated in the initiative. Italian motorcycle and heads to the From page 1 Despite strong US pressure, Italy hills west of the capital with a became the first G7 nation to join group of outdoor bikers. Based on the findings, Brautigam the initiative in late March. “Cruising on the open roads on concluded that the risks of the BRI European Union officials have these machines is very liberating aft­ are often overstated and mischarac­ started to talk about how to align er dealing with a week of traffic con­ terized. the EU’s Connecting Europe with gestion in the city,” said Liang, 35. A report on a study by New York­ Asia strategy with China’s BRI to He is now considering an based independent research pro­ achieve synergy. upgrade in his hobby — at the Bei­ vider Rhodium Group, published In Beijing last week, Philip Ham­ jing International Motorcycle Exhi­ on April 29, also dismissed the mond, Britain’s finance minister, bition on Saturday, Liang was debt­trap accusation against China. described the BRI as having “tre­ eyeing a Panigale V4 Speciale mod­ Based on 40 cases of external mendous potential to spread pros­ el of Italian make Ducati. The sleek, debt renegotiation between 2007 perity and sustainable development, sport­style 1,103 cc engine bike and this year in 24 countries, the touching as it does potentially 70 came with a price tag of 415,000 report said asset seizure was a rare percent of the world’s population, a yuan ($60,800). occurrence. More often, China was project of truly epic ambition”. Many other deep­pocketed bik­ inclined to renegotiate the debts or He offered British expertise on ers swarmed the exhibition hall write them off, it said. project financing. Indeed, much of filled with the latest models of vehi­ Contrary to accusations that Chi­ China’s lending practices in the BRI cles from home and abroad, a bur­ na uses its outsized weight to gain were learned from Western nations, geoning demand that those in the advantage over borrowing nations, as well as Japan, which lent to Chi­ industry said reflected increasingly A child poses on a bike at the Beijing International Motorcycle Exhibition on Saturday. WANG JING / CHINA DAILY the study found that China’s lever­ na during the country’s reform and sophisticated consumer tastes age in negotiations was limited. opening­up drive in the past four gearing up globally on the back of The Brookings Institution, a decades. rising affluence. alone have continued to grow sig­ Japanese and domestic manufactur­ market, said sales of the major Ger­ Washington­based nonprofit public The BRI may not be perfect yet, Speaking at the opening of the nificantly in recent years, with ers, according to event organizers. man brand have risen about sixfold policy organization, interviewed a but its benign intention of boosting exhibition, Li Bin, secretary­gener­ more than 34,100 of the vehicles Special displays were also set up — in the past four years. group of its scholars ahead of the economic growth in developing al of the motorcycle branch of the imported in 2018, a year­on­year ranging from a retro “Black Old “Motorcycles have moved from a Second Belt and Road Forum for nations by building infrastructure, China Association of Automobile increase of over 60 percent. Crow” moped with a top speed of 45 previously basic transportation in International Cooperation held in something China learned from its Manufacturers, said the Chinese “The industry is experiencing kilometers per hour, to state­of­the­ rural areas to one signifying afflu­ Beijing late last month. None of own experience, should not be motorbike industry has recorded advances in vehicle safety, technol­ art police bikes tapping the latest ence, with the demand for large, them accused China of debt­trap questioned. rapid growth in the four decades ogy and design. Motorcycle riding mapping and communications imported types in line with rapid diplomacy. Countries should join the BRI to since reform and opening­up to has become a travel, leisure and technologies — to help trace the economic growth and rising inter­ Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the help make it a greater success form much of the global market. lifestyle choice, with more than 200 achievements in the industry as part nationalization,” he said. Brookings Institution and a former instead of trying to undermine it. Chinese motorcycle production motorcycle clubs just in Beijing,” Li of celebrations marking the 70th “More of those consumers born official for China in the Obama hit about 15.5 million units last said. anniversary of the establishment of in the 1980s and 1990s, with their administration, said much of the The author is China Daily EU year, with 7.3 million units export­ Nearly 300 bike models were dis­ the People’s Republic of China. higher incomes and greater global US government’s narrative on the bureau chief based in Brussels. The ed, according to figures from the played at the exhibition, including Jason Yan, director of the Joy exposure, are going for quality of BRI has been built around debt­ views do not necessarily reflect association. concept, rare and custom­made Motorrad authorized dealership for life and novel types of experiences. trap diplomacy. He said he is wor­ those of China Daily. Imports of large motorcycles vehicles from leading European, US, BMW motorcycles in the Chinese Their numbers will only grow.”