Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 27th, with over 100 million cases, eight "C" keywords to see the world under the epidemic
Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Si Liu Chen
According to the statistics of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the global cumulative number of confirmed cases of new crown has exceeded 100 million, which is heartbreaking.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, global politics, economy, and society have been subject to major shocks.
In 2021, measures such as large-scale vaccination will bring dawn to epidemic control, but the risks of virus mutation and other risks continue to surging, bringing new uncertainties and tests to the world.
Under the major examination of the epidemic, it is even more necessary to strengthen international solidarity and cooperation.
1. COVID-19 (New Crown)
The new crown epidemic is still spreading in many countries, and the global fight against the epidemic is in a difficult period.
The United States has the worst epidemic, with more than 400,000 deaths. New President Biden said on the 22nd that the number of deaths from the new crown in the United States is expected to reach 600,000.
Mutated viruses with a higher transmission rate have been discovered in the UK and other places, and many countries have upgraded their epidemic prevention measures.
Although a number of vaccines have been developed and put into use, due to the lower production capacity of some western pharmaceutical companies' vaccines, rich countries rush to stock up on vaccines, "vaccine nationalism" is rising, and the fair distribution of global new crown vaccines is facing challenges.
2. Crisis (crisis)
The continued spread of the epidemic constitutes a global risk that may trigger or deepen other social and economic crises.
The World Economic Forum released the "2021 Global Risk Report" that the epidemic has exacerbated the gap between the rich and the poor and social divisions, deepened the health, economic and digital divide, and may intensify geopolitical tensions in the next 5 to 10 years.
The Eurasian Group, a US political risk consulting firm, listed the “long-term continuation of the new crown epidemic” as the second largest risk in the “2021 World Top Ten Risks” report, second only to the “US political division”.
The interaction and development of the two major risks of the epidemic and the political division of the United States may bring more new crises in the global economy, debt, and geopolitics.
3. Climate (climate)
The new crown epidemic has once again attracted attention from climate change with a new perspective.
In the report "The World in 2021-Top Ten Themes in International Relations", Edward Soler Lecha, a researcher at the Center for International Affairs in Barcelona, Spain, believes that the movement and consumption patterns of people during the epidemic have become more low-carbon, and fight against The fight against the pandemic may be seen as an attempt to deal with the climate crisis.
The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in November, and the international community has a new opportunity to work together to tackle climate change again.
4. Conflict
The new crown epidemic has swept the world, but various conflicts are still occurring or brewing in the world in 2021.
The epidemic will add a lot of humanitarian tragedies to some conflicts and disputes.
The US "Foreign Policy" website listed the conflict risk points in Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Iran and the United States in its prediction of "10 conflicts worth paying attention to in 2021".
Taking Yemen as an example, the article pointed out that the war in Yemen has become the most serious humanitarian disaster in the eyes of the United Nations, and the new crown epidemic has exacerbated the suffering of Yemeni civilians suffering from poverty, hunger and disease.
5. Currency (currency)
The new crown epidemic has brought a great impact to the world economy. The United States and many other countries have introduced large-scale monetary easing and fiscal stimulus plans.
A few days ago, the United States announced another economic relief plan totaling 1.9 trillion US dollars.
Jim Rogers, a well-known American investor, predicts that the unprecedented number of money printed by the Federal Reserve is "the biggest risk in 2021."
In addition, the epidemic has accelerated the implementation of digital currencies.
The Bank for International Settlements said that 80% of central banks around the world are studying the feasibility of creating their own digital currency.
Kenneth Rogoff, the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, pointed out that the implementation of digital currencies is related to global financial stability and information control.
6, Competition (competition)
On January 13, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations released the "International Threats-Geopolitics after the 2021 Epidemic" report, pointing out that the main area of international competition this year is the development of new crown vaccines, which has made the phenomenon of "vaccine politicization" prominent.
The World Economic Forum also pointed out in the "2021 Global Risk Report" that the new crown epidemic has intensified competition among major countries.
The report said that with the weakening of some alliances, international relations will become more unstable in the confrontation between major powers. The epidemic has weakened the traditional diplomacy of face-to-face communication, and the trend of instability may become more prominent.
7. Cooperation (cooperation)
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global crisis, exposing many vulnerabilities in the global and national governance systems.
The epidemic is superimposed on factors such as unilateralism, climate change, food security, cross-border crimes, and terrorist activities, and has brought unprecedented challenges to world peace and development.
In the face of a major crisis, no country can take care of itself, and the need for unity and cooperation among countries is particularly urgent.
The importance of adhering to multilateralism and cooperating to meet challenges is more obvious than ever, and unity to fight the epidemic is the primary task facing the international community.
8. Connectivity (interconnection)
The new crown epidemic has had a huge impact on global trade, logistics, industrial chains, and supply chains, but it is precisely under the impact of the epidemic that interconnection becomes more necessary.
Interconnection is the main line of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
Currently, the “Belt and Road” cooperation is advancing against the trend, showing strong resilience.
China continues to promote the in-depth integration of the “Belt and Road” with the development strategies of other countries, facilitate interconnection, resumption of work and production, and tap new economic momentum such as life and health, digital economy, and green development, which will inject more confidence and hope into the recovery of the world economy.
(Reporters involved: Tan Jingjing, Sun Ding)