CUSEF Blog

What are people talking about today: A state report accused Russian, Chinese and Iranian of using the coronavirus crisis to launch a propaganda and disinformation onslaught against the United States, while CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said blaming China fixes nothing. Former Envestnet Head of Global Strategies said neither the U.S. and China can afford decoupling. Read More

The novel coronavirus and its global outbreak have increased tensions and anxiety across the globe as individuals, communities and governments debate the best course of action to contain and treat the disease. Despite economic trends and media hysteria emphasizing the negative impacts of the outbreak, novel coronavirus has also encouraged international collaboration and cooperation in new facets. Support for impacted communities has also been seen from the private and non-profit sector. As both China and the U.S. seek effective means to combat the spread of the virus and to heal the infected, cooperation and communication have become more important than ever. Cooperation between China and the U.S. on the novel coronavirus is critical as the outbreak expands internationally; as two of the world’s leading nations, the ability for the two countries to maintain open lines of communication and direct necessary resources to the locations, facilities and individuals who need them the most will serve as a positive example for others... Read More

In the historic Phase One U.S.- China trade deal, China agreed to buy hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of products from the United States, a facet framed as a massive achievement by the Trump administration. Beijing will purchase an additional US$200 billion of American goods and services over the next two years; compared to U.S. exports of about $130 billion to China in 2017. If China fails to deliver, the agreement says the United States will unilaterally reimpose tariffs on Chinese goods. Economists and China’s other trading partners, such as countries in the European Union, have already raised questions about whether China will have to reduce purchases from all other trading partners in order to fulfill their new trade obligations to the United States. Read More

Commonly signified by the appearance of brightly colored lanterns and red envelopes, festivities surrounding Lunar New Year are often compared to Western celebrations of the New Year held on January 1. Lunar New Year, sometimes called the Spring Festival in parts of China, possesses its own unique traditions, myths, and beliefs, varying from country to country as all look forward to the start of a new lunar cycle. In 2020, the final Saturday of January marks the start of the Lunar New Year, with people throughout the world welcoming the Year of the Rat. The Rat is the first in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac and is commonly associated with water and the winter season. As with the other 11 animals in the Chinese zodiac, the concept of the “Year of the Rat” is linked to particular lucky numbers, colors, and similarities among those born in those years. In 2020, keep an eye out for the numbers 2, 3,... Read More

On Thursday, November 14, 2019, China successfully completed a critical landing test ahead of its initial plans to conduct a historic unmanned mission to Mars in 2020. The Mars lander underwent a hover and landing test in the Hebei province city of Huailai, an hour and held drive north of Beijing. Officials say the site mirrored the slope and crater landscape of the planet, emphasizing the safe landing as one of the biggest challenges facing the Mars mission. Head of China National Space Administration Zhang Kejian noted, “In 2016, China officially began the Mars exploration mission work, and currently all of the different development work is progressing smoothly. The hovering-and-obstacle avoidance test for the Mars lander being carried out today makes up a crucial part of the development process.” If successful, China will become only the second country in the world to achieve this victory behind the United States (the Soviet Union landed a spacecraft on Mars in 1971 and... Read More