Category Archives: Indepth

Xinjiang Photo Exhibition held in Stockholm

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 27(Greenpost, chineseonline) — While the dark and rainy weather made people sad and lonely, a warm Xinjiang Photo Exhibition has been held in Stockholm recently.

The exhibition was held by Green Post(www.greenpost.se) and Chinese Online(www.chineseonline.se) in cooperation with China Europe Cultural Association and ABF(Swedish Workers Association) at the citykonferensen in Stockholm.

Xuefei Chen Axelsson, Chief Editor and photographer of Green Post and freelance journalist said the exhibition came against the background that she was invited to attend a journalistic trip to Xinjiang in August 2018 together with journalists from 13 countries along the belt and road routes. And after that she went to Xinjiang twice respectively in March to Turpan after the National People’s Congress and National Day celebration in Beijing to personally experience the atmosphere in Urumqi city, capital of Xinjiang Ugyor Autonomous Region.

“I was impressed by the journeys and felt that Xinjiang now is very safe to travel and the cultural and tourist resources were rich. During my journey, I can feel business in Grand Bazar is booming and the ugyors dancing and singing were wonderful. Thus, I like to share this feelings and impressions with all the people who are interested in Xinjiang. “said Chen Axelsson.

The purpose is to share the information about the living picture in Xinjiang. The exhibition focuses on Xinjiangs infrastructure such as the fast train, subways and wide road, busy business in Grandbazar, music and art, dancing, beautiful scenery and environmental protection.

To let people have a taste of Xinjiang music and song, Luan Dehan played violin Why the flower is so red.

Artist Zhu Yingying sang the song which was about love between a woman and a ugyor soldier and moved all the audience. A whole generation of people were moved by the film and the song in China’s 80s.

Duan Maoli, President of Swedish Anhui Sci-Tech and Commerce Association expressed his appreciation for the exhibition.

“I would like to say thanks to Xuefei for holding such an exhibition. The media under her leadership is a professional media. With this exhibition, we can see the beautiful Xinjiang and the safe Xinjiang. I like to say it should be A beautiful Xinjiang forever!”

Zhu Jinchuan, General Manager of Air China in Stockholm also looked at the exhibition.

He said it was impressive to see these photos. Watching these beautiful pictures let people feel the life there is quite colourful and it is easy to visit there with Air China because the airlines can fly there directly from Beijing. It can also fly directly to other cities.

Journalists from PROFOCA and FPA attended the exhibition. Swedish innovation entrepreneur Skycab manager Åker Aredal also attended the exhibition. He was quite excited to see President Xi’s photo with Ugyor people and even recalled the moment when he was with President Xi and presented him a letter.

During the exhibition, Xuefei Chen Axelsson also made a presentation about the pictures and added more pictures about the daily lives there in the Grand Bazar. She illustrated the stories behind every photo.

During the exhibition, Axelsson also answered some questions.

Many visitors said they learnt a lot about Xinjiang and felt glad that the situation is safe and secure and life is lively there. Some even said they like to visit Xinjiang some day.

More lively photos in Grand Bazar and Turpan.

Photo and text by Xuefei Chen Axelsson

photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson

瑞典首相勒文在议会发表欧洲政策情况咨文

北欧绿色邮报网报道(记者陈雪霏)瑞典首相勒文13日在瑞典议会发布欧洲政策情况咨文。
勒文指出,团结一致的欧盟是我们在不确定世界中的最佳资产。
开放的欧盟是瑞典增加就业和经济增长的最佳工具。
统一的欧盟是和平的最佳保证者。
联盟是瑞典的基石。 这对我们的经济,我们的安全和我们在世界上的声音至关重要。 瑞典是出口国, 我们出口的所有商品中,有70%以上(纸,汽车,电子产品)流向欧洲其他国家。 今天,瑞典在欧盟中具有强大的影响力,我们的声音被听到,我们的行动具有重要意义。 但是有时似乎瑞典也对欧盟合作持两种看法。 它并不总是符合我们的利益。 我们影响欧盟的决策,方向和发展的能力对于保护我们的国家利益至关重要。 瑞典的出发点必须是我们充分参与欧盟合作,并以保护瑞典利益的方式积极塑造其所有组成部分。 瑞典必须对我们优先考虑的问题保持积极主动。 这是什么意思? 这意味着欧盟其他国家必须知道他们可以依靠瑞典。 我们可以选择退出某些内容,例如欧元。该决定仍然存在。 但作为一般规则,瑞典将利用我们的机会来影响欧盟, 很简单,因为这是一个 根本的国家利益。 我们抓住一切机会改善联盟。 这就是为什么政府希望瑞典: 加入欧洲检察官办公室。 继续加强国防合作。 在欧盟做更多的工作来打击犯罪,以及为什么我们要考虑加入银行业工会。 我们瑞典人一直在努力吸引我们的想法并建立新的联盟,但与此同时,我们知道合作需要妥协。
为了增进合作,
政府认为,未来几年欧盟面临的五个最重要的问题是:

民主与法治。
气候。
乔布斯。
迁移。
安全。
我想从我们在联盟中所有工作的基础开始。

所有会员国都同意一些基本价值观,包括:
平等,民主,法治。

柏林墙倒塌后,欧洲是一片乐观的大陆。
有人感到无法阻止自由与民主。

今天,情况有所不同。
在一些会员国,司法系统,媒体和大学的独立性受到威胁。

这损害了整个联盟。

即使各国在问题上持有不同意见并需要妥协,我们也必须尊重建立欧盟合作的基本价值观。

因为我们大陆的历史表明,当我们对民主权利和自由的侵犯视而不见时会发生什么。
但这还因为整个欧盟项目否则将被淡化。
国家之间的信任将受到破坏,投资将丢失,贸易将下降,工作机会将面临风险。

瑞典永远不会妥协
平等,民主与法治。

欧盟有责任确保欧洲其他国家也不会这样做。

***

先生/女士,

领导气候转变对欧洲来说是巨大的机会。

任何人,公司或国家都无法自行管理过渡。就这么简单。

在这里,我们需要欧盟的强项:合作。

欧盟必须领导过渡。
不仅因为这是我们对我们孩子的责任,而且也是加强我们国家的责任。

当我们的会员国领导过渡时,
通过创新和研究,
我们的公司拥有全世界正在寻找的气候智能解决方案。

这改善了出口国的经济,
在进口国创造环境利益,
意味着在欧洲有更多工作,
有更多的钱用于福利制度,
并加强欧盟的立场
当我们证明有可能实现公正的气候转变时。
这就是机会。
现在的气候变化将在今天和将来为更多的工作和更大的福利做出贡献。

因此,瑞典将推动在欧盟一级采取气候行动。我们还将努力加强其他气候立法,并使欧盟预算中有更大一部分用于气候变化。
欧盟到2030年减少排放的目标必须得到加强,以使雄心与《巴黎协定》的1.5度目标保持一致。
欧盟必须在2050年之前实现净零排放。
一种方法是帮助创造更多的就业机会。
为了做到这一点
在全球竞争日益激烈的时代,
欧盟需要一种现代且可持续的工业政策,
基于贸易和单一市场,而不是贸易保护主义。

但是欧盟不仅应该有更多的工作,我们还必须有体面的工作。

如果您在瑞典工作,则必须遵守瑞典规则。
就这么简单。
工资倾销和不正当竞争必须结束。
我为瑞典在体面工作方面取得的成功感到自豪。
现在我们正在继续。

必须坚持《欧洲社会权利支柱》的原则,瑞典将继续领导工作,以建立更安全的劳动力市场。
政府将努力在欧盟对工作中的致命事故实行零容忍。
我们希望看到立法禁止工作中的致癌物质。
我们的北欧劳动力市场模型必须得到保护。
这是世界上最好的。
因此,既然目前正在欧盟一级讨论最低工资计划,那么就必须尊重北欧模式。
拥有现代化的工业部门,拥有体面条件的更多工作和强大的北欧模式,我们希望欧盟确实能够改善人们的日常生活。

在瑞典,犯罪是在社会的全部力量之下进行的。但是,今天的有组织犯罪没有界限。 根据瑞典警方的评估,国际盗窃案占国内盗窃案的一半以上。 走私到联盟的武器被用于瑞典城市的枪击事件。 因此,政府将采取新措施,加强欧盟在打击国际犯罪和恐怖主义方面的合作。我们将尽力参与。 政府希望加强欧洲警察和司法合作:欧洲刑警组织和欧洲司法组织。 我们必须在警察情报,证据收集和初步调查方面加强合作。 欧盟关于爆炸物的立法需要加强。 欧盟外部边界的安全性也需要提高。生物特征识别验证将使我们能够知道谁在穿越。 这就是我们将实现更安全的联盟,更安全的瑞典的方式。 *** 但是, 欧盟还必须为联盟以外的世界更加安全作出贡献。 当反民主力量弯曲自己的肌肉时, 欧盟是和平,民主与人权的强大代言人。 有一些很好的例子,例如对俄罗斯的制裁,东部伙伴关系以及对非洲之角周围海盗的制裁措施。 但是,很多时候,欧盟在世界事务中的声音不见了。 我们应该能够做得更好。在外交事务上的合作是建立在共识基础上的事实可能是一个优势,但在实践中也可能是一个障碍。一个例子是,欧盟有时无法在联合国等全球论坛上就人权问题发表联合声明,因为一个或多个国家选择阻止它们。 联合王国目前正在离开联盟。 同时,其他国家也希望加入。 令人担忧的是,我们的前进速度太快了,欧盟还没有准备好接受更多的成员国。

当欧盟做出决定时,我们为世界其他地区设定了标准,例如在针对危险化学品的工作中。

但是我们现在必须采取下一步。
引领气候转变。
继续和平努力。
加强合作。

最重要的是
瑞典必须继续在欧盟合作
改善人们面对的现实,
人们的生活
都在家里
在欧洲其他地区。

Chinese Ambassador Gui Congyou on China’s Achievements and Challenges

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

October 1 marks the 70th anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China. Upon this date, Xuefei Chen Axelsson had an exclusive interview with Ambassador Gui Congyou on Sept. 14, 2019.

Stockholm, Sept. 16(Greenpost) – Chinese Ambassador Gui Congyou has said that Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, CPC, through unremitting efforts and hard work of the past 70 years, have experienced profound economic and social transformation from a poor and weak China to a relatively healthy wealthy society。This is a historic leap forward towards our goal of realizing the great rejuvenation  of China. 

Ambassador Gui made this remark during an exclusive interview with Xuefei Chen Axelsson, chief editor and founder of Green Post(www.greenpost.se) , a Swedish Chinese media aiming at promoting sustainable development in Sweden and building bridge between China and Sweden. 

“Over the past 70 years, especially over the past 40 years of development, over 1.3 billion people have all used mobile phones and internet in addition to having enough food and clothes.  China’s contribution to world economic development surpasses 30 percent.  China continues to be the second largest destination of foreign direct investment. China becomes more open minded and more confident than before. Such a China will create more opportunities for the world. ” said Gui. 

A series of figures show that Chinese people’s disposable per capita income has increased nearly 60 times more than that in 1949, 20 times more than that in 1978. China’s average life expectancy reaches  77 years old and over 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty. 

“China has been a good member in safeguarding the world peace, a good peace builder, development contributor and international order keeper.” 

Gui said that China has planned to completely eliminate absolute poverty by 2020 and realize modernization by 2035 and basically reach the middle developed countries level by 2050 and followed this road map to go forward step by step. 

He said during this process, China also initiated the Belt and Road initiative and helped those countries who like to join this initiative and shared Chinese technologies and innovations, for example the Beidou Navigation system. 

Talking about challenges ahead, Gui said the Chinese average GDP has not reached ten thousand dollars yet, which is less than 20 percent of the Swedish average GDP. Chinese development is not very balanced and western regions still need further development while eastern regions have developed much better. 

By the end of next year, China still needs to eradicate the absolute poverty by 10 million people(which is equivalent  almost the whole Swedish population). 

Gui said China still faces the challenge of enjoying a better environment in some areas in China. But Chinese people are determined to solve its problems and challenges while developing further with higher quality. Through 70 years of development experiences, Chinese people are confident that they will realize their development goal along with achieving the United Nations 2030 development goals. 

On Sino-Swedish relations,  Ambassador Gui spoke highly of bilateral relations. 

“About 260 years ago, Swedish Gothenburg Boat sailed to China and opened a marine route to China. Sweden became the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with China and signed technical cooperation agreements with China.”

During the new development era, China and Sweden have become the largest trade partners with each other between Nordic countries and Asia. 

So far there are 9000 Chinese students studying in Sweden and becoming the largest number of overseas students group.  In addition to Air China, Eastern Airline also opened direct flight between Stockholm and Shanghai coping with the increasing number of tourists.  China EU express also opened its maiden voyage with Swedish timber export to China last year. 

About his impression on Sweden, Ambassador Gui said that Swedish King Carl Gustav VXI told him to visit all over Sweden and have a good look when he met the King.  And he did visit up north to the countryside, down to the south and east and west of Sweden. He felt Sweden is really beautiful. 

He found Swedish people’s awareness of environmental protection and climate is high. And most of them are very friendly. 

“I think Sweden and China are mutually complementary in green tech cooperation and environmental protection. We can deepen the cooperation in this and other  fields. ” said Gui. 

About the question with media, Ambassador Gui said that media is a bridge between the two sides by expressing opinions and stances of the two sides. Only when he found some media facts were not correct, he would like to point out the facts which provide with true information.

“I found those incorrect information show that the writer has never been to China or get a full picture about China. China has really made great progress over the past years. With the rapid development of new technology, such as internet and high speed train,  China’s progress for the better also speeded up. Welcome Swedish media to visit China and have a good look. ” said Ambassador Gui. 

Full Chinese version please see the following link.

Video: Water Expert Josh Weinberg: Remarkable to provide clean drinking water for over one billion people in China

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 30(Greenpost) — China has made remarkable progress in fighting against water pollution and it is a great achievement to provide clean drinking water for over one billion people in China. Meanwhile, there are still a lot of challenges for China to face, says Josh Weinberg during an interview with Greenpost’s journalist Xuefei Chen Axelsson during the World Water Week held in Stockholm between Aug. 25-30.



Upon the National Day on October 1 in China, Weinberg wishes everyone a Happy National Day and continues to make progress in building a clean and beautiful country in China.

Video: Swedish Water Expert Jan Lindqvist: What China has done is extraordinary and unprecedented

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 30(Greenpost) — Jan Lindqvist, a senior expert working in Stockholm International Water Institute went to China in December 1979 for the first time. He has recalled his experience then and told us that China has made extraordinary and unprecedented progress since then. Greenpost’s chief editor Xuefei Chen Axelsson has interviewed him on the opening plenary session day during the World Water Week in Stockholm. Please watch the video.

Professor Jan Lindqvist said he actually studied Economics but he got a professor job in water department in Linköping University because water issue is not just about water itself, it needs engineers, biologists and economists and many others to solve the complicated water issues.

Professor Lindqvist led a project called from Field to Fork and called on people to stop wasting food and live a healthy lifestyle in modern times.

He said with the increase of population and the expansion of production and consumption, how to balance the individual needs with the limitation of natural resources on us is also an important issue for us to think about and choose the right and healthy way to live.

World Water Week opens with calls for action on water equality

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm,Aug. 26 (Greenpost) – Humanity can only tackle today’s major challenges if access to water is distributed more fairly. When World Water Week, the leading event on global water issues, opened on Monday, speakers called for a drastic shift in how water is shared and managed.

World Water Week opens with calls for action on water equality

World Water Week 2019 is held from the 25-30 August in Stockholm, Sweden, with this year’s theme being Water for Society: Including all. The conference is organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and has been running for 29 years.

In his welcoming address, SIWI’s Executive Director Torgny Holmgren stressed the importance of using water to solve global challenges. “Many in our societies are not aware of the vital role that water plays in realizing prosperity, eradicating poverty and tackling the climate crisis. Together, we can change that perception and unlock the potential of water-related solutions,” Holmgren said.

Peter Eriksson, Minister for International Development Cooperation from the Government of Sweden also advocated for better water governance and warned that with current trends, 52 per cent of the world’s population and 40 per cent of global grain production could be put at risk by 2051, adding: “Poor and marginalized populations will be disproportionately affected, which will further worsen the rising inequalities.”

River champion Dr Jackie King, Stockholm Water Prize Laureate 2019, found it encouraging that the rights of nature are increasingly recognized and noted that “We have the methods and the technology, but need the momentum to make them work.”

Access to open data is one of most important technological changes, said Ma Jun, Founder of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, China, whose pollution database plays an important role to protect water quality. He now pushes for more transparency.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, spoke about how ecosystems are more protected where the rights of indigenous peoples are respected. She asked the water community to condemn the growing violence against indigenous activists: “If those who try to protect the environment are killed, there is less of a chance for us all to protect the last biodiversity resources.”

More than 2000 delegates will attend the week long global water event.

37 Countries, Including Islamic States Support China’s Policies in Xinjiang

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, July 15(Greenpost) — 37 countries’ Ambassaders in Geneva signed a letter supporting China’s policies in Xinjiang.

Beijing says its policies in Xinjiang are a program to de-radicalize Uighurs and other minority Muslims, as part of a broader campaign against three ism– separatism, terrorism and extremism.

Among 37 countries, about one-third of the signatories of the letter praising China’s Xinjiang policies are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a bloc customarily outspoken about actions it views as hostile towards Muslims. They include Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Syria, Tajikistan, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, and Togo.

The other signatories are Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Angola, Belarus, Burma, North Korea, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe.

At least 11 of the signatories are currently members of the HRC.

The letter, essentially echoing Beijing’s talking points, says, “Faced with the grave challenge of terrorism and extremism, China has undertaken a series of counter-terrorism and deradicalization measures in Xinjiang, including setting up vocational education and training centers.”

It says there has been no terror attack in Xinjiang for three years and that its inhabitants enjoy a happier and more secure existence. (True)

“We commend China’s remarkable achievements in the field of human rights by adhering to the people-centered development philosophy and protecting and promoting human rights through development,” it says.

Chinese Charge D’Affair Li Song, speaking at the HRC on Friday, said the Chinese government warmly welcomed the support of the signatories of the letter, which “highly spoke of China’s progress in the field of human rights in Xinjiang, and the success in the field of fighting terrorism and extremism.”

Speaking through an interpreter, Li listed the principles China expects the HRC to uphold in its work – “objectivity, transparency, non-selectivity, constructiveness, non-confrontation, and non-politicization.”

He complained that some Western delegations “driven by a political agenda,” had written an open letter of their own several days earlier, “in which they distorted reality on the ground in Xinjiang and made unfounded allegations.”

The 22 signatories of that letter included Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and European nations.

Li said those countries should “discard their prejudices” and “stop politicizing human rights issues.”

Li said the existence of those vocational training centers was supported by “all the people of Xinjiang and the rest of China.

“Under the strong leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, all the ethnic groups in Xinjiang are moving proudly to the year 2020 when China will become a well-off society, and further towards a bright future.” said Li.

Why Did Sweden Set Free Qiao Jianjun first and then arrest him again?

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, July 4(Greenpost) — Recently when I heard Kina from a news watched by my husband, I was attracted to it and had a look at the news. Then I replayed it with his computer and got to know that Qiao Jianjun was arrested because America wanted him.

It is really interesting to see this news and think of Swedish Supreme Court and Police behaviour.

Earlier, I saw the picture that Qiao was arrested again and he said he got evidence and he denied all the accusations.

Who is Qiao Jianjun? Greenpost reported in early report that Qiao was suspected to be the No. 3 out of 100 wanted suspects by the Chinese Police. These 100 wanted suspects were accused of corruption crimes and huge amount of embezzlement or appropriation of public money. Most of them used to work in the State owned enterprises.

So far, 55 of them have gone back to China to surrender either willingly or being extradited and have experienced fair trial according to China’s judicial procedures.

Qiao was suspected to be the one who worked in Henan Branch of China’s Food Group, a key state owned corporation. He was accused to have taken 300 million yuan to escape to America in 2011. His ex wife Zhao Xiaolan divorced him in 2001 and later went to America and bought a lot of properties including a villa, a shop and others.

Qiao changed his name and married again and came to Sweden in 2011 according to reports. After long time investigation, Chinese police was almost certain that he was Qiao, the suspect they were looking for and informed Swedish police hoping that they would cooperate to crack down on crimes.

Swedish police arrested Qiao last year and kept him in detention. But on June 19th, the Supreme Court decided to set him free. According to reports from the Swedish and international media that the action had something to do with the Hong Kong situation where the students were against the revision of law to extradite suspects to the place where they had criminal actions.

It was reported that the revision of the law in Hong Kong was caused by a case between Hong Kong and Taiwan which saw the loopholes in the law. According to Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry briefing, the case refers to Mr. Chen from Hong Kong Killed his girlfriend in Taiwan. Taiwan side wanted Mr. Chen to be extradited to Taiwan, but the two sides had no agreement or treaty on this issue. Thus Hong Kong SAR decided to revise the law involving the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan so that they got an agreement.

Analysts guess that maybe because Hong Kong does have a lot of suspects who are wanted by the mainland, they are so afraid of this law being passed. Thus they especially are against the revision to send the suspect to China’s mainland. Otherwise why does the slogan only focuses on the part to extradite to the mainland?

It is also suspected that behind the students there are some forces who could be just those suspects or the suspects supporters. They provided students with money and one American man even encouraged the students to challenge the police with violence.

This man was dug out with internet information as a so called human rights teacher in the mainland and later was expelled out by the Chinese Authority. He mainly taught the students how to demonstrate and how to deal with the police and instigated violence.

No one knows who is exactly behind the scene, but openly one can read British Foreign Affairs Ministry’s statement indicating support or voicing sympathy with the students. It is also known that one of the leaders of the students is still the one who led the paraply movement a couple of years ago.

Swedish reporter Petersson also reported that the students demonstration in Hong Kong was more violent than before. It was not peaceful demonstration any more. It is more antagonism in the action which violated current law of disturbing the public order.

Ok, with such a background, Swedish Supreme Court decided to set Qiao Jianjun free. This was very strange. The second strange thing was that the Supreme Court hasn’t given a written verdict yet. But the person was just set free.

Then, on June 24th, SVT reported that Qiao was arrested again because America wanted him. Qiao was accused by American police that he was suspected to conduct money laundry for 100 million. Therefore he was wanted to be extradited to America.

Now it is even more strange that Swedish court and police refused to cooperate with Chinese police but obey the American police immediately.

Why? I don’t know why. But I guess that shows Swedish police listens more to America than to China. Similar to that British little brother must obey American big brother otherwise, America will cut off your milk supply(trade link).

After my Chinese version of article was published, one reader said either to China or to America, but just not stay in Sweden at large.

Analysts hold that Sweden shouldn’t behave as if she likes to harbor criminals. It is better to extradite Qiao back to China so that he could get a fair trial. If you admit the crime and sincerely regret your behaviour , compensate all the losses, there should be consideration of reducing the penalty.

As far as I know(I used to have a student who studied English with me and worked in China’s Supreme Procuratorate ), China has tried its best to restrict death penalty.


One example of a case in 2000, Erwei was killed by his neighbour with a knife. Erwei was just 25 years old. The neighbour was 60 years old. Both held a knife from the kitchen, the young was running out of the door and the older chased him. Then the young got stuck by a stick and he fell down on the ground. The older man cut him on the ankle of the foot. When he was sent to the hospital, Erwei died of over bleeding.

Such tragedy should have been avoided if our society was more civilised. But unfortunately it happened due to little chore(poverty). According to the criminal law, if you kill someone, you should be punished to be killed. This was believed by Erwei’s relatives too. But the court didn’t sentence the elder man to death penalty immediately, but to execute after two years. That usually means the man will be life imprisonment but not be killed.

Erwei’s mother was not satisfied with the sentence and shangfang or visited upper level of court for many years. Later, she got what she wanted. That was the school fees and living expenses for Erwei’s daughter till 18 years old. At that time the girl was just 5 years old.

This case reflected the situation in China that many people were still struggling with the food and clothes in 2000. Meanwhile, the court tried according to the facts and even with purposely killing crime, since Erwei held a knife too, the other was not sentenced to death.

My student said the court or procuraterate usually dealt with the case with humanitarian concerns. The dead has died, the most important thing is for those who live to have a better life. Therefore, they often try to get more compensation for the victim instead of just getting the other being sentenced to death(meaning not to die).

China used to have very severe punishment for criminal crimes. But after reform and opening up, more and more economic crimes appeared while the so called hooligan crime cases decreased because people were more open than before.

Chinese Ambassador Gui attends Swedish Almedalensweek in Gotland

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, July 3(Greenpost) — Chinese Ambassador Gui Congyou attended the Swedish Almedalensweek or Politician Week in Visby, Gotland, the largest Island in Sweden.

Ambassador Gui attended the China Day organized by Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Sweden on Wednesday and gave a keynote speech titled Improve Mutual Understanding, Promote Cooperation and Pursue shared development.

“With the develpment of China and  deepening exchanges between China and Sweden, the Swedish public is more interested to learn more about China. With a “China Day” event like this, the two sides can conduct dialogues and communication to increase objective mutual understanding. This is particularly important. To observe China, one cannot use binoculars or magnifying glasses, still less should one use colored glasses, rather one needs to see China with his or her own eyes and an open mind, and see a real, multifaceted and complete China. Today’s “China Day” event is to provide friends from all sectors in Sweden a window to know more about China, build greater common grounds and facilitate cooperation,” said Gui.

Gui further illustrated that China’s development is not just about economic growth, but an all-round social development of the country. The all-round development of China helped to lift nearly 800 million people out of poverty. The largest universal health care and social security systems in the world were built, and nine-year free education now covers every student. Per capita income grew at an average annual rate of 7.4%, creating the largest middle-income group in the world. We work to build socialist democracy, develop and improve consultative democracy, and fully protect the extensive and tangible rights and freedoms of the people.

Gui said that China’s development is not just about national strength, but about peaceful development. Expansion is not in China’s DNA. China has never started a war or conflict, and never invaded one inch of territory of other countries. China’s development will not pose any threat to any country.

China’s development is not just the development of itself, but development together with the world. China’s economic growth has been contributing over 30% to global growth for many years in a row, making itself an anchor and engine for global growth and a key contributor to the implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the UN. China has been actively pursuing the joint building of the Belt and Road Initiative, with a central goal to strengthens interconnectivity, which mobilizes more resources, opens more market room and unleashed more dynamism for the development of countries along the route. The initiative is widely welcomed and supported by the international community.

The world is amid changes unseen in 100 years. Profound shifts are occurring in strengths of countries and economic development models, and another cycle of technological innovation gathers momentum. At the same time, surging unilateralism and protectionism erode the mutual trust and coordination among countries, and lead to greater risks and uncertainties in world economy. No one will win from a trade war. It severely damages the multilateral trading system, the confidence of global market and directly threatens world economic growth including that of Europe and Sweden. The Chinese side agreed to continue trade talks with the US side with sincerity, but such talks should be based on an equal footing and mutual respect, and with a purpose to address the legitimate concerns of each other. On issues concerning China’s sovereignty and dignity, China will resolutely safeguard its core interests. We are willing to follow the principle agreement reached by the two Presidents, work with the US to restart the trade consultations based on equality and mutual respect, manage differences and expand cooperation. We are ready to join hands with all countries that are committed to multilateral trade system and open development, to oppose protectionism, unilateralism and economic bullying, and stand up for fairness, justice and the fundamental interests of countries in the world, Ambassador Gui said.

What does a richer and stronger China mean for Sweden? The key words are opportunities and cooperation. China’s development will not pose any threat to Sweden, but will only bring bumper opportunities for cooperation. We are willing to develop friendly relations and cooperation with Sweden with good will, sincerity and friendship. The Chinese people often say that kindness needs to be returned tenfold, which means that when other countries treat China well, we will only treat them better.

Ambassador Gui said that China and Sweden enjoy traditional friendship. Without any historical baggage or conflicting interests, we have good conditions to develop our bilateral relations. China and Sweden share similar development philosophies. Our economies are highly complementary and there is great cooperation potential. China is working to implement the new development vision of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development. Sweden, as the first country that proposed the concept of sustainable development, leads the world in green, innovative and sustainable development. We are each other’s largest trading partner in the Nordic region and in Asia. Last year, trade between China and Sweden reached USD 17.15 billion, hitting a new record. In the past two years, Sweden has maintained trade surplus with China, which we welcome. We are willing to further expand importation from Sweden, and we will not fight a trade war with Sweden. We need to continue to advance our traditional cooperation in trade. We also need to actively explore more common areas of ideas and interests, and explore new cooperation fields.

We welcome various sectors of Sweden to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthen dialogue and communication, synergize our respective strengths, explore cooperation that is bilateral, trilateral or even among more parties, and inject new momentum into China-Sweden practical cooperation. In November this year, China will host the second International Import Expo, and we welcome the participation of Swedish friends in the event, concluded Gui.

Almedalen Week is a week that politicians voice their policies and debate about their opinions.

This was the second year that Ambassador Gui attended the week. Last year he was interviewed by several Swedish mainstream media.

Many people said this Chinese Ambassador is different from the previous ones. It is true. Maybe the biggest difference is that this Ambassador works much harder and is willing to go to the Swedish public and talk with people. He likes to communicate with the media, the public and the entrepreneurs, whoever is interested in China.

He said his job here was just to represent a real China and to those who got the wrong facts, he also dared to speak up and correct. He represents a new generation of Chinese diplomats who were born during the 1960s and optimistic about the future and the world.

Photos from the Chinese Embassy.

Video: Interview with Dan Larhammar, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, June. 13(Greenpost) — How to solve the problem of ocean plastics? The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is hosting a one and a half day seminar on this issue. Greenpost founder and chief editor Xuefei Chen Axelsson has interviewed Dan Larhammar, President of the Academy. Please watch the video.

In late afternoon the panel has good discussions as the following:

Video5: Professor Danilovic: China Fixes All-More Holistic

STOCKHOLM, May 29(Greenpost) — Professor Mike Danilovic from Halmstad University in Sweden said at the 2nd Belt and Road Forum in Stockholm that China has been using a holistic way in doing business with Africa and providing assistance in African countries. He mainly talked about the BRI as a business opportunity for Swedish small and medium-size companies.

He vividly described how Chinese companies deal with development issues in Africa.

Jasmine Lihua Liu, Researcher, Halmstad University/Shanghai Dianji University gave a presentation on exploring Chinese Business Culture.

Suci Ariyanti, student of Halmstad University came from Malaysia and was sent to China to study for some time. She tells her experiences in China and Sweden.

The audience gave a lot of questions and the discussion was very good.

2019 Stockholm Forum connects crisis response to peacebuilding

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm 14 May(Greenpost) Over 400 high-level policymakers, researchers and practitioners gather in Stockholm for the sixth annual Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development to be held between May 14 and 16th.

This year’s forum centres on the topic ‘From crisis response to peacebuilding: Achieving synergies’ and was opened by Ambassador Jan Eliasson, former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board. Ambassador Eliasson’s address touched on the broad range of actors and peacebuilders and emphasized the risks of actors working in silos.

The first day of discussion ended up with the closing remark by Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Walstrom. She said that the good example of peace building was Columbia and it was so good that their President even won the Nobel Prize for Peace.

She said it is important to involve women in the process and that is exactly the Swedish foreign policy and building strong institutions is also very important.

HE Peter Eriksson, Minister for International Development Cooperation, Sweden, provided introductory remarks and pointed out that the various efforts among the development community ‘do not always add up.’

Guest speaker for the opening session was Dr Sima Samar, Chair, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Council and member of the UN Secretary-General High-Level Panel on Mediation. Dr Samar shared her knowledge of Afghanistan—a country that has endured over 40 years of conflict. From her experiences, ‘when people’s human rights are violated; when their freedom is restricted; when there is discrimination against people; where there is no equality; and there is no access to justice for people—then conflict starts.’ She underlined the need for the meaningful inclusion of women and minorities at all stages of the peace process and during post-conflict reconstruction.

Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross gave a keynote speech on peace and development. On the need for the stronger connections between humanitarian aid; development cooperation; and peacebuilding, Maurer stressed that ‘humanitarian actors are not peacebuilders. Neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian action is distinct from political agendas and it must remain so. Yet, I would argue that while others make peace, humanitarian action helps make peace possible.’

The theme for the opening panel was ‘Crisis response and peacebuilding: How to create synergies’ and was moderated by Annika Ben David, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden.

Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, highlighted the World Bank’s ‘Pathways to Peace’ report and how the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have laid out a vital roadmap for the future, but also for managing the risks of today.

HE Raya Haffar El Hassan, Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Lebanon, talked about the different agendas between donors and how better synthesis between donors could lead to a more sustainable peace.

Hafez Ghanem, Vice President for Africa, World Bank outlined the new role of the World Bank in investing in peace. Pointing to a number of key initiatives and ways of analyzing the Sahel; the Lake Chad Basin; and the Horn of Africa regions, he stated the need to focus on the drivers of fragility such as climate change and exclusion. He also stressed to support the local government to keep peace and development.

HE Hirut Zemene, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia, emphasized the role of youth development—a theme echoed by other panellists—and stressed the demographic challenge in Ethiopia and elsewhere.

General Dennis Gyllensporre, Force Commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), called for better conflict analysis in the early stage of crises and the need to share in a combined body of knowledge. General Gyllenspore stated ‘we all have different blind spots depending on what lens we use.’ Sharing knowledge, he said, ‘will give us a sense of a common understanding of the conflict dynamics.’

Karin Wallensteen, State Secretary for International Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Sweden, spoke on collective outcomes. ‘I believe that if we have this nexus of humanitarian efforts; development efforts; and peace efforts we can give the relief and at the same time keep our focus on the SDGs.’

In the afternoon, Somalian Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Isse Awad said his country is in a better position now with 80 percent of the people have mobile phones, good infrastructure, schools and other conditions. But the governance of the government is still a challenge for them, thus he called on the donors to support his government to strengthen good governance.

Fatima Shehu Imam, Director of Civil Society Organizations in Borno State, Nigeria said great challenge ahead because they have about 500 thousand orphans in northern part of Nigeria. These people need more care from government and social organizations because they are isolated or even resentful, no one care about them.

Mohammed Ali Al Hakim, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq said Iraq is on the right track and he promised to pay greater attention to gender issues. Right now they have about 30 women diplomats and he plans to increase more women Ambassadors in the future.

Annika Soder Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden summarized Swedish efforts in promoting feminist foreign policies even in the UN Security Council. She blamed some super power of implementing unilateral actions and not cooperative for some good ideas. But she stressed the feminist policies in the long run is more sustainable in peace keeping and development.

Peter Mauer said in the afternoon high level panel that things change a lot. For example they prepared a lot of medicine in disaster or conflict humanitarian aid, but found out that people need more electricity and telecommunication.

The moderator was Dan Smith, Executive Director of SIPRI.

When asking a delegate from Nigeria about China’s role in Africa, he said China can do more, for example building more water conservancy projects to secure safe drinking water and keep water clean.

The forum was jointly held by SIPRI, SIDA and Foreign Ministry of Sweden.

2019 Journey to Turpan Xinjiang (2)-Karez

Stockholm, May 7(Greenpost) — Last year when I exhibited my Xinjiang Photos which were mostly from northern part of Xinjiang, my Turkish colleague Gurgun asked me whether I have visited Karez. I said unfortunately not, but I will go there to have a look.

On March 17th, I went to the Fire Mountain first because I have seen the fairy tales Journey to the West hundreds of times and dreamed of going there to have a look.

After a long journey in the baren land, I and my friends were almost scorched. I felt very disappointing because in the film it was such a dramatic scene, but in reality, it was dull and boring. Some artificial constructions tell the story of Journey to the West with Sun Wukong holding his Golden Stick and the Iron Fan Princess holding the Iron Fan. But what I saw is just the baren mountain ranges which look like many explosive fires. I was tired and wanted to escape the ancient graveyard which I felt quite regretful later.

We hurried up to the Karez which was the most important part that I like to see. The scene along the road is simply the yellow land, sand and wind.

But when we arrived in Tuokesun Town where the Karez museum sits, it was quite nice. The lunch was babecued mutton. The sun was strong and it felt wonderful. The spring indeed began in mid march.

According to historical research, Turpan used to have over 1270 Karez, but due to the draught, some Karez become dried. Now there are about 1100 Karez reaching about 5000 kilometers. And the trend is that it is becoming fewer and fewer. The reason is that Karez is difficult to maintain and the cost for it is too high. Instead, nowadays people began to use machine pump for agricultural irrigation.

But Karez was a great method for the ancient people to survive and live a better life. There are many theories in who invented the Karez. Some say it was introduced from Iran or Soviet Union, some say it was from Han Dynasty from Shaanxi, some say it was a combination of local invention with improvement from communication with outside world.

Whatever, Karez was listed a sone of the three greatest projects in ancient China together with the Great Wall and the Grand Canal.

I also believe great civilization exhisted in Turpan because those dried corpse themselves have shown that. Next time I like to talk about that.

2019 Journey to Turpan Xinjiang (1)-Grape Valley

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, May 7(Greenpost) — Turpan sits south of Urumqi and takes about two hours to drive and one hour by fast train there. Last year I visited northern part of Xinjiang and this year, I like to have a look at southern part with my own initiative and on my own expenditure.

Turpan is completely different from northern part of Xinjiang. The color is very different. Turpan is rich in sand and yellow land and is very hot because it is a basin, lowest basin in China.

But on the highway to Turpan, it was very windy and dusty. The land was barren and the wind was strong. Thus the wind power farm boasts to be the second largest one only second to Denmark. Xinjiang is really large with 1.66 million square kilometers and 56 ethnic groups.

During this trip due to time limitation, I just visited the Grape Valley and the Kare undergroud canals in Turpan.

With the help of Yusupu the driver (who is also an acrobatic teacher) and guide Mouhamoud (who is also an editor), I had visited Grape Valley and seen the houses where the Uygurs live. Their houses are not built by wood such as in Northern part of Xinjiang, but by mud and sand soil. It looks very earthy. I just wonder if there is heavy rain, will these houses survive? But the problem is exactly that it is very dry here and there is no rain almost all year round. The sunshine time is the longest in the whole country. The temperature is also very high. Thus the vegetables and fruits are very good at growing in this land. Thanks to the snow mountains, they can use the snow water to water crops.

I was impressed by the happy faces of these children. Some of them are Han and some of them are Hui. Yusupu was born in this city. He said in fact, most people in these areas speak Uygur languages. Even Han people can speak Uygur language because more than 70 percent of the people here are Uygurs.

Turpan enjoys a long civilization and has long history and culture.

Photo news:2019 NPC Session Concludes with various reports passed

Stockholm, May 7th (Greenpost)– The annual National People’s Congress 2019 concluded on March 15th with the votes for various reports concerning the government’s work for this year.

The National People’s Congress is the supreme legislative body and represents all walks of life and all ethnic groups in China which has 56 ethnic groups.

The following are the results of the votes for various reports including government work report, budget, judicial report and Supreme Court report as well as financial report and Foreign Investment Law.

The NPC session started on March 5 and concluded on March 15th. After this meeting, local leaders and legislators will go back to their province, counties and cities, villages to implement what they have discussed and passed during the congress.

China’s success lies on this disciplined congress every year and the setting and implementation of their five year plans, and every year action plan. Since the founding of the new China and the founding of the NPC and CPPCC, China has been carrying out what they well planned in improving people’s living standards. During the cultural revolution, it was somewhat disturbed.

But after 1978 reform and opening up, China has been strictly implementing its five year plans and long term and mid term goals and targets. With such discipline, China has seen rapid development with clear goal oriented and released great productivity and vitality in the construction of China.

Now in Beijing, you still can see a lit bit of old Beijing in the very inner part, but outside the third ring road, almost all the buildings were built in recent 20 years. Chinese have been working hard and creating great wealth for themselves and for the world such as inexpensive clothes and many other products. Thus contribute greatly to the world development.

Photo and Text by Xuefei Chen Axelsson