By Liu Botong, People’s Daily

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of southwest China’s Xizang autonomous region. Wang Junzheng, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Xizang Autonomous Regional Committee, and Gama Cedain, deputy secretary of the CPC Xizang Autonomous Regional Committee and chairman of the People’s Government of the region, introduced the region’s remarkable economic and social development achievements at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Aug. 5.

In 2024, the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached 276.5 billion yuan ($38.52 billion), 155 times that of 1965 in constant prices. While it took the region 50 years to achieve its first 100 billion yuan in GDP, the second 100 billion yuan milestone was reached in just six years, Wang said.

Since 2021, sustained efforts have further expanded Xizang’s economy while improving the quality and efficiency of growth. Modern industries, including clean energy, cultural tourism and plateau light industry, are laying the foundation for a modern industrial system. The region’s key economic indicators have ranked among the highest growth rates in the country for several consecutive years, with its regional GDP projected to surpass 300 billion yuan this year, reaching the third 100 billion yuan milestone.

Xizang’s infrastructure has also significantly improved. By the end of 2024, the total operational road length and the railway length in the region had reached 124,900 kilometers and 1,359 kilometers, respectively, and its domestic and international air routes reached 183. Four major power grids had been put into use, with the main grid now covering all counties, districts, and cities in the region.

These developments have substantially resolved historical infrastructure constraints, providing significant momentum for high-quality regional development, Wang noted.

Xizang boasts a long history and a splendid culture, alongside unique natural landscapes and rich cultural resources. It is an important center for preserving the distinctive culture of the Chinese nation and a major global tourism destination, enjoying exceptional advantages in developing the cultural tourism industry, which has experienced robust growth in recent years.

In 2024, the total output value of Xizang’s cultural industry increased by 23.8 percent, according to Gama Cedain. The region received 63.89 million domestic and international visitors, marking a 15.8 percent year-on-year increase. Notably, the number of inbound tourists skyrocketed by 188.2 percent. In the first half of this year, Xizang welcomed over 32.18 million visitors, representing an 11.7 percent increase year on year.

Meanwhile, living standards have improved dramatically. In 2024, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in Xizang reached 55,444 yuan, 121 times that of 1965. The per capita disposable income of rural residents hit 21,578 yuan, 199 times that of 1965.

Xizang has achieved a comprehensive victory over poverty and eliminated absolute poverty. Education has been made a top priority, with the region leading the nation in providing a 15-year publicly funded education program from kindergarten to senior high school.

A comprehensive public healthcare system offers free health checkups for all farmers and herders, contributing to a regional life expectancy of 72.5 years. Accelerated urbanization has transformed settlements into modern towns.

Over the 60 years since the establishment of the autonomous region – particularly in the past five years – Xizang has vigorously advanced various livelihood projects and programs. People of all ethnic groups have witnessed transformative changes in their daily lives, such as shifting from carrying water in buckets to enjoying running water, from oil lamps to electric lighting, from dirt roads to paved highways, and from yurts to modern housing, according to Gama Cedain.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the state and the autonomous region plan to allocate 24.65 billion yuan to support 28 categories of regional social development projects. As of now, 23.678 billion yuan has already been invested in these projects.

A wide range of livelihood initiatives have been effectively implemented, including centralized heating and oxygen supply in high-altitude areas, the resolution of seasonal water shortages in agricultural and pastoral zones, enhanced reliability of power supply, and comprehensive coverage of fiber-optic broadband and 4G networks.

Located on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, known as the “roof of the world” and “Asia’s water tower,” Xizang serves as a vital ecological security barrier for China. How can the region safeguard the plateau’s unique ecological environment while preserving its biodiversity and natural wonders?

Xizang has adopted the strictest ecological protection system in accordance with law. It has firmly upheld a policy of rejecting the approval or introduction of projects and enterprises that are high in energy consumption and emissions but low in efficiency, strictly prohibiting any pollution-prone projects on the plateau. The region has actively promoted national park construction and advanced the afforestation project in the northern and southern mountains of Lhasa, the regional capital. Ecological conservation red line zones have been drawn for more than 50 percent of the region’s land area, with protected areas of all types and levels now accounting for 37.95 percent of its land area.

Low-carbon development has also been vigorously pursued. In 2024, over 99 percent of electricity in Xizang was generated from clean energy, the highest of all regions in China. Non-fossil energy consumption in the region exceeded 55 percent of total energy use, placing it among the top in the country in green energy.

Today, Xizang’s natural environment is among the best preserved in the world. “We will firmly uphold the principle that ‘lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets and so are ice and snow,’ persistently serving as guardians to make the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau an ecological treasure shared by mankind and contributing more to building a shared future for all life on Earth,” Wang said.

By Huan Yuping, People’s Daily

Trust serves as the cornerstone of international cooperation, demanding sustained stewardship from the international community. Decades of mutual trust and cooperation among nations propelled unprecedented economic globalization and robust global growth. Yet today, trust erosion among major countries has engendered fragility in international relations and protracted sluggishness in economic recovery. This trust deficit now critically undermines world peace and development.

The collapse of confidence among major countries is fracturing the foundation of global trust, creating widespread uncertainty and deepening distrust. Certain countries, driven by hegemonic ambitions, have embraced extreme populism, strategic adventurism, and coercive unilateralism, attempting to reshape the international order through maximum pressure tactics. 

By capriciously abandoning international institutions and treaties, they compromise the sanctity of the rules-based governance. They impose arbitrary tariffs and unilateral sanctions, and exert long-arm jurisdiction, leading to global trade fragmentation. Their regressive decoupling policies disrupt supply chains, building exclusionary “small yards with high fences.”

As Foreign Affairs notes, great-power competition demands persuasion, not coercion. When dominant powers instrumentalize international commitments as bargaining chips and treat global markets as their exclusive domain, they destabilize the international order, heighten market volatility, and deepen security anxieties.

Amid profound changes in the international landscape, the very concept of security has been weaponized by certain nations as a tool for geopolitical rivalry. Pursuing illusory “absolute security,” these countries have become overly defensive. Anxious about losing their dominance over the global order, they distort their risk awareness, misinterpreting interdependence as vulnerability.

Traditional security frameworks have been improperly expanded to encompass economic, trade and cultural, and scientific and technological spheres – areas historically governed by cooperation, not confrontation. By rebranding routine exchanges as “national security threats,” these nations subordinate vital global interactions to political objectives.

This abuse of the security concept triggers destabilizing cycles: strategic distrust deepens, geopolitical rivalries intensify, supply chains become tactical weapons, and military spending escalates unsustainably. Normal international engagement suffers, yielding universal losses.

As the world evolves from a single-civilization hegemony toward a multipolar order, some countries remain entrenched in the Cold War mentality. Obsessed with maintaining dominance, they stoke hostility and escalate development competition into all-out systemic confrontation. Through the relentless promotion of “threat theories” and “trap narratives,” they worsen divisions and inflame confrontations.

By building exclusive, small circles and so-called “sanctions coalitions,” these countries seek to suppress other nations’ development while propping up declining alliance systems. This deliberate creation of “civilizational superiority” and “clash of civilizations,” which weaponizes ideology to fracture the moral values of humanity, not only reveals their anxiety in the face of historical trends but also undermines the very foundation of trust that holds human society together.

Chinese President Xi Jinping insightfully noted that trust is the best adhesive in international relations. Transformation of a scale not seen in a century is accelerating across the world, and human society has once again come to a critical crossroads. The imperative now is to engage in mutual consultation, demonstrate mutual understanding, resolve the trust deficit, and rebuild global trust. The international community should coordinate efforts across four dimensions:

First, restoring trust among major countries. Major countries should lead by example, honor commitments, uphold principles, and place justice above narrow self-interest. They must acknowledge and respect the other’s core interests and major concerns, avoid crossing red lines, prevent strategic misjudgments, and ensure that competition remains manageable and does not escalate into conflict.

Second, promoting shared development. Humanity’s common interests should be recognized as the bedrock of global trust. The outdated zero-sum mentality must be completely discarded in favor of high-standard and mutually beneficial cooperation. By expanding shared interests, the international community can create an open, more inclusive global economy, where development outcomes serve as the most solid foundation for mutual trust.

Third, empowering multilateralism. The purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter must be upheld. At the same time, multilateral institutions must be reformed to enhance their representation, transparency, and effectiveness. Priority should be placed on delivering quantifiable and verifiable early gains in urgent areas such as climate change, public health, and artificial intelligence. Concrete, verifiable achievements in these domains will help reinforce the credibility and relevance of multilateralism.

Fourth, encouraging mutual learning among civilizations. Trust should be nurtured through cultural understanding and people-to-people connections. Exchanges in education, science and technology, culture, and youth should be deepened to transcend ideological divides, which will lay the most resilient foundation for enhancing global trust.

China has always been a consistent advocate and practitioner in fostering solidarity and mutual trust within the international community. Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China has championed true multilateralism and proposed the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, offering concrete solutions to addressing the global trust deficit.

China continues to pursue high-quality development and high-level opening up, champion universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and work to build an open world economy.

Through the green Belt and Road Initiative, China has provided and mobilized more than 177 billion yuan ($24.65 billion) of financial support to bolster climate initiatives in other developing countries. By October 2024, China had signed 53 MoUs on South-South cooperation addressing climate change with 42 developing countries.

China has introduced unilateral visa-free entry and mutual visa exemption agreements with 75 countries and brought the number of countries eligible for visa-free transit to 55, which is expected to facilitate over 10 million person-times of people-to-people exchanges annually.

These actions demonstrate that China’s commitment to global trust is not limited to rhetoric. It actively delivers tangible benefits, embodying a philosophy of mutual success: helping others to succeed is the surest path to achieving success oneself.

No one should be a bystander in rebuilding global trust. Governments, international organizations, civil society, and individual citizens share the obligation to replace prejudice with reason and dissolve suspicion with goodwill. Through sincere cooperation and shared resolve, humanity can overcome turbulence and guide our common future toward peace, stability, and sustainable prosperity.

By Liu Jun

Safeguarding the hard-won victory of World War II (WWII), upholding accurate historical understanding, and preserving the post-war international order constitute essential pillars of historical justice. 

Amid contemporary attempts to deny the WWII outcomes and distort historical facts, adhering to a correct historical perspective carries both immediate and long-term significance.

As an unprecedented catastrophe in human history, WWII’s legacy requires vigilant protection of its hard-won achievements. For China, these achievements are manifested in several key areas. First, China triumphed over Japanese aggression, securing national independence and sovereignty. Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, once seized by Japan, were rightfully restored to China. Second, China played a key role in the founding of the United Nations, shaping the post-war international order and ushering in a new era of peace. Third, China actively supported national liberation movements, contributing to the dismantling of colonial systems and the transformation of the global political landscape.

Upholding historical justice means honoring WWII legacy and preserving the shared human memory. A correct understanding of the war is inseparable from its outcomes; it requires recognition of both the victory itself and the universal values it represents. 

A historically accurate view of World War II rests on several fundamental acknowledgments. First, China and the Soviet Union served as the principal pillars of resistance in Asia and Europe respectively, making decisive contributions to the global victory over fascism. Second, the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression began the earliest, lasted the longest and was fought under the harshest conditions, at immense sacrifices, making it an indispensable part of the World Anti-Fascist War. Third, the Communist Party of China (CPC) was the first to raise the banner of armed resistance against Japanese aggression. Under its strong leadership, the Chinese people fought with extraordinary courage and ultimately prevailed. Fourth, the Nuremberg Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Trials forever condemned the perpetrators of aggression – their legal and moral judgments serving as permanent benchmarks for historical justice.

The Allied victory represented the triumph of justice over evil, light over darkness. It brought hope for peace and development to the world. Upholding a correct view of history and preserving collective memory are of profound historical importance. 

Regrettably, even 80 years after the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascism War, small individuals continue to ignore incontrovertible historical facts and the loss of tens of millions of innocent lives, seeking instead to deny or even glorify acts of aggression. Such distortions have drawn strong condemnation from peace-loving people around the world, including in China.

Within the Asian theater, China bore the sole burden of resisting Japanese aggression from 1931 to 1941. This prolonged resistance, which cost over 35 million Chinese military and civilian lives, pinned down significant Japanese forces on the Asian mainland. Their heroic resistance sustained Allied operations in other theaters and helped prevent Japan from opening a second front against the Soviet Union. 

Throughout this resistance, the leadership of the CPC and its call for a united national front against aggression played a decisive role. After the September 18 Incident, the CPC was the first to launch armed resistance and led efforts to forge national unity, ultimately defeating Japanese militarism and making a major contribution to the final victory.

The post-war international order remains a symbol of global fairness and justice. The victory of WWII was made possible by the unity of the anti-fascist alliance, which overcame ideological and national differences to confront aggression. 

Today, some countries, driven by hegemonic ambitions, seek to revise the outcomes of WWII and undermine the principles of the post-war order. Such moves disregard hard-won historical lessons and threaten international justice. Our world needs justice, not hegemony. The experience of WWII demonstrates that only through safeguarding fairness and justice can humanity build a solid foundation for lasting peace.

The legacy of victory is enshrined in the multilateral system, with the United Nations at its core. This system underpins modern international relations. In today’s complex and uncertain global environment, maintaining an accurate understanding of WWII history and drawing wisdom and strength from it are crucial to preserving peace and defending international fairness and justice.

We firmly believe that the people of all nations will ultimately stand on the right side of history, uphold justice, and join hands in working toward a brighter future for all humankind.

(Liu Jun is a professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, East China Normal University.)