Japanese Prime Minister Abe (center) visits the Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday. Photo: CFP

Serious air pollution

Serious air pollution

Smog shrouded big cities in China in January in cities including Beijing, which became the focus of international media.

Comment: China enjoyed the benefit of high-speed development but    problems brought by development have become a severe issue. Environmental protection should be regarded as a priority, even at the cost of slowing down economic growth.


Tokyo's rightward shift

The rightward shift in Japanese politics has resulted in the serious deterioration of China-Japan relations. At the beginning of this year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared his plan to revise the constitution. Exactly 12 months after Abe took power, he visited the Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday last week.

Comment: Being tough toward China has boosted support for Abe's government, but the Japanese right wing alone does not have the strength to realize the strategic goal of "normalizing" the country.


North Korean situation 

North Korean situation

North Korea carried out its third nuclear test on February 12. On March 7, the UN Security Council passed resolution 2094 and tightened sanctions on North Korea. On December 12, North Korea's No.2 Jang Song-thaek was executed on charges including engagement in subversive conspiracy.

Comment: Nuclear weapons will not bring North Korea any practical benefits and the promotion of North Korea's international standing is tightly connected with the abandonment of nuclear activities. It is sincerely hoped by Chinese society that North Korea will realize its comprehensive stability in a short time and accumulate power for reform and opening-up.


Chinese leadership transition

China's top  legislature elected Xi Jinping as president of the country on March 14. Xi met with US President Barack Obama in California in June, and the two leaders reached important consensus over establishing a new type of relationship between great powers. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee sketched a blueprint for China's reforms.

Comment: The influential power transition fits a time when China is facing complex situations in and out of the country. If China is able to implement all reform measures as envisaged by the country's top leadership, it's likely to reach the US in terms of comprehensive strength in a decade. What is bound to emerge from such a future is a transformed global order.


India rocked by rape cases

India rocked by rape cases

The case of gang-rape on a bus at the end of last year damaged the image of India greatly and provoked tides of protest. In response to the case, the Indian Parliament passed the bill to aggravate the sentence on sexual crime on March 21 and executed four of the convicted. However, more cases emerged, including victimized foreign tourists.

Comment: The recent rape cases can awaken people's awareness to change, but changes will not take place in a short time.


Snowden's PRISM revelations

Snowden’s PRISM revelations

Former US Central Intelligence Agency employee Edward Snowden revealed the secret files of US National Security Agency's monitoring project to the media in early June, which severely damaged the US' image.

Comment: Snowden exposed the US government's infringement of citizens' rights, as well as the shady activity of cyber spying worldwide and put the US government in a morally passive position. He almost deprived the US of the right to point fingers in the field of Internet security and told the world how the US government played around with international public opinion.


Syria's civil war persists

The civil war in Syria, starting in 2011, has not come to an end this year. On August 21, according to reports, a sarin gas attack happened in the suburbs of Damascus, which aroused the threat of military intervention from Western countries.

On September 14, an agreement reached by the US and Russia over destroying Syrian chemical weapons brought the Syria crisis back from the brink of war.

Comment: The US attitude when preparing to bomb Syria was as casual as cracking a walnut. However, the US now tends to take more consideration on military attacks toward small countries than it did right after the Cold War. The international community needs to keep pushing Washington to force it to shrink back from difficulties.


China's battle against corruption

The former secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, Bo Xilai, was put to public trial in the city of Jinan from August 22 to 26, on charges of bribe-taking, corruption and abuse of power. On September 22, Bo was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Comment: The year could be concluded to be a turning point in anti-corruption. The central government's determination in fighting "tigers" together with "flies" was proved and the number of deposed "tigers" was far beyond expectations.


Nelson Mandela passes away

Nelson Mandela passes away

Former South African president Nelson Mandela, known as an anti-apartheid hero, died on December 5 at the age of 95. South Africa held a solemn state funeral for him on December 10, which was attended by more than 100 heads of state.

Comment: Mandela was committed to freedom and equality throughout his life and became an anti-apartheid symbol. He was also an advocator of political reconciliation, bringing much enlightenment to the politics of humanity.


Chang'e-3 lunar probe 

Chang'e-3 lunar probe successfully landed on the moon on December 14, one day before the Yutu moon rover and Chang'e-3 took pictures.

Comment: China has made extraordinary achievements in space, which is not the only progress of Chinese science.

Chinese space exploration is not designed to compete with others. Nevertheless, not all foreign countries think that way.