Chinanews, July 1st, International Year’s Prospect: What are the major events or events that will happen in the world in the second half of 2021?
Authors: Liu Cong, Liu Danyi, Meng Xiangjun
Starting in the second half of 2021, the new crown epidemic is still spreading, the big powers are constantly competing against each other, deep space exploration continues, and the world is changing quietly.
Some dreams may meet on the way to the universe; some legends will gradually recede from the stage of history in the remaining days.
[Canthenewcrownepidemicshowaninflectionpoint?】
In April 2021, in Cartagena, Murcia, Spain, a school set up a classroom for children by the sea during the new crown epidemic.
As of July 1, there are 1819,1243 confirmed cases of new crowns, 3,940,071 deaths, and 3035030055 doses of vaccinations around the world. This set of data comes from the latest statistics of Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Some countries have gradually returned to normal life, and some places have to be blocked again. Half of 2021 has passed, but when will the turning point of the epidemic occur?
The World Health Organization recently stated that the global new crown epidemic is showing signs of slowing down. The number of new cases per day has dropped to the lowest since February, and the number of deaths is also on a downward trend.
However, the more contagious delta strain has caused a surge in cases in many countries, and the global anti-epidemic situation is still hardly optimistic. This virus, which has caused the rebound of the epidemic in many countries, has gradually become a major epidemic strain in many places, and even before people have time to deal with it, it has mutated again-11 countries around the world have reported at least 197 infections “Delta+” “The case of the strain.
WHO officials warned that the virus will continue to evolve, and as its spread increases, there will be more and more variants.
Stepping up to get vaccinated is undoubtedly one of the effective ways, but it is far from enough. It is even more urgent now to prevent spread by continuing to adopt public health and social epidemic prevention measures. If the awareness of prevention is lax and let go, the virus will still take advantage of it.
[ThemostdifficultOlympics:finallywaitingforyou?】
On June 20, local time, the Tokyo Olympic Village was opened to the media for the first time. The picture shows the chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Hashimoto Seiko and the head of the Olympic village Kawabuchi Saburo appear on the scene.
“I finally waited until you, but luckily I didn’t give up”?
There are still more than 20 days, and the Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan, which will be postponed for one year, will soon usher in the opening ceremony.
During this time, Japan has repeatedly expressed its determination to hold it, and has racked its brains for this.
First, ordinary overseas spectators are not accepted to watch the game, and then the maximum number of spectators is set to 10,000, loud cheering is prohibited, alcohol is prohibited, and strict management and nucleic acid testing requirements of foreign delegations are required. This Olympics is destined to be “out of the ordinary.” “.
Affected by the epidemic, the cancellation of the torch relay, the fall of high-level officials, the delayed vaccine work, and the diagnosis of foreign delegation personnel have all added to the difficulty.
Professor Liu Jiangyong from the Department of International Relations of Tsinghua University told Chinanews.com that the Tokyo Olympics, which were held under effective control of the epidemic, did face many unknowns, not only the domestic epidemic in Japan, but also the danger of the influx of overseas epidemics. Under such circumstances, running a “safe Olympics” should be the top priority.
In this regard, Japan’s Olympic Committee chairman Yasuhiro Yamashita, who originally expected Japan to win 30 gold medals, recently stated that it would be good if it could be held, “it is no longer important to win gold medals.”
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga made it clear before that if the epidemic worsens again during the conference, he will not hesitate to issue an emergency declaration and hold it in an empty venue at that time.
[Thesetwobigcountries”breaktheice”?】
On June 16, 2021, Russian President Putin and US President Biden met in Geneva, Switzerland.
From calling leaders “murderers” to “respected opponents”, from shouting in the air to “good talks,” the relationship between Russia and the United States, the old opponents, remained unbreakable in the first half of the year.
Since Biden came to power, the United States and Russia have achieved limited cooperation in the field of arms control, but their differences have been obvious on issues such as Ukraine, cyber security, and election interference, and confrontation has intensified. In March, the tension between the two countries once again escalated, and the ambassadors of both sides returned to their home countries successively. Russia and the United States once completely lost the dialogue window.
However, after brewing, the two heads of state personally built a “bridge of communication.”
The meeting between Biden and Putin in Switzerland seemed to be “active” and “constructive.” After the meeting, the two countries issued a joint statement on strategic stability, and the ambassadors of the two countries also plan to return to work.
So, do these two congresses take this opportunity to “break the ice”?
Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, said in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com that, judging from the general situation, Russia-US relations “will not be good.” Because the stalemate between the two countries today is not based on the likes and dislikes of the leaders of the two countries, but on the deep-seated and irreconcilable conflict of interest between the countries.
He further pointed out that the main reason for the complication of Russia-US relations is the US policy towards Russia, and it is difficult to expect Russia to have any easing of the US.
[A legendary “Iron Lady” will retire]
Data map: German Chancellor Merkel.
“People may not believe that-when I was prime minister, there was no Apple phone in the world.” German Chancellor Merkel, who has been in power for 16 years, will step down in September.
She has led Germany to deal with the global financial crisis, the European debt crisis and the refugee crisis. Who will become her successor and take over the response to the current new crown crisis?
In the local elections in 2021, the CDU has a bad start, while the Green Party is gaining momentum. However, Yan Jin, executive director of the Center for European Studies at Renmin University of China, pointed out to Chinanews that Merkel’s successor is still most likely a candidate from the Coalition Party-the current governor of North Rhine-Westphalia Raschett. Despite the strong limelight, it is difficult for the Green Party to surpass the Coalition Party in the federal range.
Yan Jin said that if Raschelt succeeds, he will likely continue to implement the prudent domestic and foreign policies during the Merkel era, which is more conducive to the smooth transition of German and European politics to the “post-Merkel era.”
[Japanrevertsto”revolvinglanterns”andthenturns?】
Data map: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Merkel, who has been the German Chancellor for four terms, is about to retire, and Yoshihide Suga, who has served as the prime minister of Japan for less than a year, still wants to continue on the road to power.
In September 2021, Yoshihide Suga’s term of office as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party will end, and the current term of the Japanese House of Representatives will expire in October. Yoshihide Suga needs to choose the most favorable time before that time to dissolve the House of Representatives and hold a new election in order to preserve the prime minister.
The surging epidemic, the difficult preparations for the Olympics, the recessionary economy, the ongoing “cherry blossom viewing” scandal… The Yoshihide Suga government is currently struggling.
Lu Yaodong, director of the Diplomatic Research Office of the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that from the current point of view, Yoshihide Suga’s re-election is still beneficial, and the future cannot be judged.
He analyzed in depth that, first of all, the most influential former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Liberal Democratic Party, and Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, all support Suga Yoshihide.
Secondly, the Hosoda faction to which Shinzo Abe belongs is the most populous faction in the Liberal Democratic Party. In addition, the second-order faction is also very influential. With the support of these two factions, Yoshihide Suga can be re-elected with at least 30-40% certainty.
Finally, as long as Yoshihide Suga makes recognized achievements, his current prime minister status will also give people preconceived views and help re-election.
[Eachofthe”oldenemies”intheMiddleEasthasanewsituation?】
On May 15, local time, the Israeli military airstrikes an office building in the Gaza Strip with offices for media such as Qatar Al Jazeera and Associated Press.
The elections in Germany and Japan have yet to be unveiled, and the two general elections in the Middle East have ended in the first half of the year.
Iran’s Director of Justice Leahy won the country’s presidential election and will formally form a cabinet in August. The political situation of Israel, which is regarded as the “old enemy” with Iran, has also changed. Netanyahu, the “evergreen tree” who has been in power for 12 years, stepped down, and his former “close friend” Bennett was sworn in as prime minister.
In an interview with Chinanews.com, Li Weijian, a researcher at the Foreign Policy Research Institute of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies and vice president of the China Middle East Society, pointed out that whether Israel or Iran, the new government will focus on domestic issues after taking office.
Iran hopes that the United States will lift sanctions as soon as possible and restore the national economy, so it will insist on returning to the Iran nuclear agreement. Although Israel is dissatisfied with the Iran nuclear agreement, it must maintain its relations with the United States as much as possible in order to make the government that has finally been established stand firm. Since the Biden administration wants to return to the Iran nuclear agreement, Israel will not risk turning its face with the United States. The risk of opposing the agreement.
Regarding the future trend of the Middle East situation, Li Weijian pointed out that many countries in the region followed the US policy and were forced to have tense relations with Iran during the Trump administration. Now, with the changes in Biden’s government policy, after Leahy was elected President of Iran, many Arab countries have sent congratulatory messages. This is a kind of goodwill signal and also shows signs of relaxation in the regional situation.
In addition, with the change of leadership of Israel, the country and Palestine clashed in the first half of the year, which caused serious effects. Whether the situation will maintain peace and stability in the second half of the year remains to be seen.
[The Interstellar “Club” is very busy]
A simulated image of the “Zhurong” rover on the surface of Mars.Source: National Space Administration
In the first half of 2021, the Mars exploration “club” is quite active. From the arrival of the Perseverance Mars rover in the U.S., the arrival of the UAE’s Hope Mars rover, to the landing of China’s Tianwen-1 rover and Zhurong rover, the successful implementation of three major missions has given mankind a vision of this red planet His exploratory ability has reached a new level.
Not long ago, China’s Shenzhou XII sent three astronauts to the core module of the Chinese space station “Tianhe”, which created a new milestone and brought the world to focus.
In the second half of the year, the journey of mankind into space has become more and more busy.
In July, NASA’s Peregrine Falcon probe will fly to the moon with instruments for testing navigation and landing technologies. This detector will store the DNA and ashes of a note called “Legendary” by Arthur Clarke, the author of the classic “2001 A Space Odyssey”.
Elon Musk also has “small goals” to achieve. Also in July, his SpaceX company plans to send a new generation of rocket “starship” into earth orbit, hoping to reuse it like a commercial flight.
In one or two months before the end of the year, two high-profile NASA missions will be unveiled. They are the Space Launch System (SLS) and the James Webb Space Telescope.
The space launch system is scheduled to send the “Orion” spacecraft to lunar orbit. It plans to send astronauts to the moon in 2024, with the ultimate goal of sending people to Mars.
The new generation of “Eyes in Space” James Webb telescope is known as the strongest ever in the world, but it has been delayed countless times due to the difficulty of launching, and it has been dubbed the “Ace Pigeon”.
This telescope, which finally decided to go to the sea of stars, cost 8.8 billion US dollars, is nearly five times more expensive than the Hubble Telescope. It covers more wavelengths, will use the most advanced infrared kit to observe the universe, study galaxies and supermassive black holes, and will eventually become one of the successors of the Hubble mission in three years. (Finish)
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