Review of the top ten international news from the BBC in Chinese in 2021-BBC News

This means that the UK is completely separated from the European single market and customs union.The Big Ben in London rang at midnight on the day of Brexit, symbolizing the opening of a new chapter in British history

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed “the fate of this great country is firmly in our hands”, and supporters celebrated the “new dawn of a new era” in Britain.

However, “The Economist” magazine questioned, “If Britain loses the European Union, what position can it find in the world in the future?” Remainers insist that Brexit is not as good as it.

As early as 2017, the British government formulated an ambitious “Global Britain” plan for the post-Brexit “solo flight”. In 2021, the United Kingdom actively seeks free trade agreements with multiple countries, and 69 countries including Australia, Japan, and Norway have signed trade agreements and agreements in principle, and a free trade agreement with the European Union has also been reached.

But because the UK no longer needs to follow the product standards set by the European Union, new inspections have been introduced. The EU’s strict laws on animal products also mean that some British products can no longer be exported to the EU.

The free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States has so far failed. Some officials said that the prospect of a trade agreement between Britain and the United States in 2024 is “more realistic.”

On the other hand, the United Kingdom is actively seeking to join more other regional trade organizations. For example, in February 2021, it submitted an application to join the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” (CPTPP).

A Bloomberg reporter once commented on the UK after Brexit: “Isolation, weakness, and strong support continue.” “After Brexit, the UK that has emerged from the epidemic does not have enough workers and is facing the most difficult winter since 1970.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, elected in 2019 before the epidemic, promised to introduce a new labor and employment law, protect labor rights, and “make the UK the best place to work in the world.”

But two years later, the British government still has not proposed a draft labor law.

On January 6, 2021, before the newly elected President of the United States, Biden, was sworn in, supporters of then-President Trump broke into the Capitol in Washington, D.C., trying to block the process of verifying election results and forcing members of Congress to evacuate urgently.

This riot in the political center of the United States shocked the world. A total of five people died in the riots, including a policeman and a woman.

After the incident, the social media giant Twitter announced that it “permanently banned” Trump. Trump, who has sent out more than 36,000 Twitter messages and has 88 million followers within four years of his tenure, has his microphone turned off on his favorite social platform.

The US House of Representatives passed an impeachment bill against Trump on January 13, accusing Trump of “sedition to rebellion.” He thus became the first president in American history to go through two impeachment proceedings.

In order to ensure the smooth inauguration of the newly elected President Biden, the US authorities deployed about 25,000 armed military police around the Capitol where the oath ceremony was held.

On January 20, 2021, the inauguration of the US President will be held. Biden said in a speech: “Today, we celebrate victory, not for a certain candidate, but for a cause, the victory of democracy… We recognize once again the value of democracy. Democracy is inevitably fragile. My friends, at this moment democracy has already won.”

After visiting the main White House, he changed a series of policies during the Trump administration, including the signing of an executive order on the day of his inauguration requiring the United States to return to the Paris climate agreement aimed at addressing climate warming.

2021 is drawing to a close. Nearly a year after Biden took office, various polls show that he and his deputy, the first female vice president in American history, Kamala Harris, are very low in popularity.

On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military launched a military coup and announced the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi (Aung San Suu Kyi). The military will assume power and implement a one-year state of emergency.

In addition to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar military also detained President Win Myint (Win Myint) and some senior officials, and accused Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party, the National League for Democracy (National League for Democracy), in November 2020. Victory was achieved through fraud in the election held in September.

After the coup, the Burmese people launched street protests and were suppressed by force by the military government. The people suffered heavy casualties. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bachelet quoted reports in April that since the Burmese military overthrew the government, security forces have killed more than 700 people in the process of suppressing demonstrations. Thousands of people were injured, many of whom were seriously injured.

In fact, protests across Myanmar have continued. On December 5, Colville, a spokesman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, accused the Burmese military government of crashing into peaceful protesters with a vehicle.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained by the military government, participated in a closed-door trial for the first time in June. She was charged with as many as 11 counts, including incitement, corruption, election fraud, leaking state secrets, violating anti-epidemic regulations, illegal import and possession of walkie-talkies, etc. In December, Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted of inciting dissatisfaction and violating anti-epidemic regulations and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Although she denies all charges against her, outsiders estimate that these charges may cause her to face life imprisonment.

On March 21, 2021, the 400-meter-long giant cargo ship “Ever Given” ran aground on the Suez Canal in Egypt. The embankment regained its freedom and was later led outside the canal, where it was seized by the Egyptian authorities in the Great Bitter Lake area of ​​the canal.

This was one of the worst accidents in the history of the Suez Canal where a freighter ran aground and blocked the navigation route. Some media compared this accident with the second Middle East war in 1956, calling it another “Suez crisis.” Unlike that time when Britain, France and Israel competed with Egypt for control of the Suez Canal, the delay of this freighter’s voyage caused huge direct and indirect economic losses to the world economy, and further hindered the supply chain that had been impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. It was opened for navigation in 1869 and expanded in 2015. It is a trade hub for Europe, Asia and Africa.

The merchant ships that pass through the Suez Canal every day carry about 1 million barrels of crude oil and 8% of liquid natural gas, as well as commodities that account for at least 12% of global trade, including clothing, furniture, industrial production parts and auto parts. The Wall Street Journal estimates that the amount of stranded goods amounts to 12 billion U.S. dollars.

According to data from the international shipping industry publication Lloyd’s List, the daily amount of detained trade is estimated at US$9.6 billion, equivalent to US$400 million per hour/3.3 million tons of cargo, US$6.7 million per minute.

After the shipowner and the insurance company reached a compensation agreement, the Egyptian side released the huge ship on July 7.

On December 12, 2021, the Long Grant made a smooth return via the Suez Canal.

On July 23, 2021, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games finally opened after being delayed by the new crown epidemic for one year. But this is a completely different sporting event from the past.

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have adopted a series of epidemic prevention measures, including closed-door competitions, prohibiting athletes from contacting the public, and requiring participants, team members and reporters to be tested for the new crown virus every day.

A total of approximately 15,400 athletes participated in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as tens of thousands of coaches, team staff, IOC staff and journalists.

The postponement of the Olympic Games for one year has a huge impact. Japan suffered heavy financial losses and was forced to invest additional funds.

After renegotiation of commercial contracts, venues had to be re-arranged. The busy schedule of events needed to be re-adjusted. A series of related industries such as the International Olympic Committee, sports federations, media, sponsors, etc. waited for a whole year.

BBC Sports Editor-in-Chief Dan Roan once commented on the Tokyo Olympics: “Over the years, the Olympics has experienced countless challenges, from terrorist threats to political boycotts, from wars to doping, but this is the first time such an epidemic challenge.”

According to a survey conducted by an independent organization commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, a total of 3.05 billion unique viewers watched Olympic reports through television and digital platforms. The official Olympic reports on the digital platforms of the Olympic broadcast partners alone generated 28 billion video views, an increase of 139% over the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Although there are no live audiences at the Tokyo Olympics, the Tokyo Olympics is the first Olympics to be broadcast through streaming media, and it is also the Olympics with the largest number of viewers on a digital platform.

September 11, 2021, the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The United States decided to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan before this symbolic day, ending a 20-year war.

However, the turmoil in the withdrawal process of the United States and its allies and the speed of the Afghan Taliban’s comeback were unexpected by the world.

Prior to this, on July 8, the new US President Biden, who took office at the beginning of the year, announced that the war in Afghanistan will officially end on August 31, 2021.

In August, the U.S. military had not completely withdrawn, and the Afghan government forces that had been trained by the West for many years faced the Taliban but did nothing to parry it. Afghan President Ghani fled, and the Taliban quickly captured important cities across the country, including the capital Kabul.

At Kabul International Airport, the chaotic scene of fleeing Afghans scrambling to board a plane was once the focus of the world‘s attention.

Among the five permanent members of the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France are evacuating their citizens, while the Chinese and Russian embassies in Afghanistan continue to operate.

On September 7, the Taliban announced the establishment of an interim government in Afghanistan, changing the country name from Republic to “Islamic Emirate.”

Due to concerns about the human rights and security situation in Afghanistan, the international community does not recognize the Afghan Taliban government. The United States has also frozen US$9.5 billion in overseas assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan.

At a public debate on Afghanistan held in the UN Security Council in September, China and Russia urged the United States to change this decision.

Entering the winter, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has become more and more serious. The World Food Programme warned that more than half of the total population of Afghanistan is facing severe food shortages and severe nutritional shortages for 3 million children.

In early December 2021, the World Bank announced that international donors had agreed to allocate US$280 million from the frozen funds to inject funding for the United Nations food and medical assistance projects in Afghanistan.

In mid-December, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban government said in an interview with the Associated Press that the Taliban government is different from before and is willing to work on women’s employment and girls’ right to education. It hopes to maintain good relations with all countries and there is no problem with the United States. .

In 2021, rare extreme weather continues to occur around the world, causing serious casualties and property losses.

In February, the southern states of the United States encountered extremely cold weather, causing casualties in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Missouri and other places, including traffic accidents caused by frozen roads, and There are incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by starting vehicles or indoor generators for heating.

In early July, Canada and the northwestern United States were hit by high-temperature heat waves for several consecutive days. The temperature in many places reached 50 degrees Celsius, breaking the historical record of the highest temperature. The so-called “heat cover phenomenon” occurred, causing hundreds of deaths in the United States and Canada.

In mid-July, the worst floods on record occurred in many European countries due to heavy rains. The affected countries include the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Romania, etc., and the death toll reached 242. Among them, Germany suffered the most serious casualties, with a total of 196 deaths.

On July 20, Zhengzhou City, the capital of Henan Province, was hit by a heavy rain. The Metro Line 5 in the urban area was quickly flooded, and many cars in the Jingguang Road Tunnel were washed away. After the flood, it was officially announced that more than 300 people died.

In August, instead of snowing, there was the first rain on record at the summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petri Talas said: “Extreme events are the new normal. Increasing scientific evidence shows that some of these events clearly have traces of climate change caused by humans.”

From October 31 to November 12, 2021, the global annual climate summit COP26, held in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, is an important meeting for the world to address climate warming issues.

COP (Conference of the Parties) refers to the annual summit of 197 countries to discuss climate change and their response plans, commitments and actions.

This summit was affected by the new crown epidemic, and leaders of major greenhouse gas emitting countries including China and Russia were not able to attend the meeting. However, more than 120 heads of state or government from around the world attended the meeting.

The first major agreement reached by these leaders at the Climate Conference was a pledge to end and reverse the destruction of forests by 2030.

The “Glasgow Climate Pact” announced at the end of the meeting clearly stated the plan to reduce the use of coal for the first time in history and promised to provide developing countries with more funds to help them adapt to climate change.

However, in terms of the wording of the agreement to abandon the use of coal, because India took the lead in opposition, the countries agreed not to “phase out” but to use “gradual reduction” of coal. Therefore, it is generally believed that the goal of limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be difficult to achieve.

In September 2021, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia announced the signing of a historic security agreement AUKUS (a three-nation acronym) to share advanced defense technology and intelligence. This move is considered to be aimed at countering China.

Through this agreement, the United States will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time. The agreement also covers cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum technology and cybersecurity. The agreement emphasizes that Australia will only build nuclear-powered submarines, not develop nuclear weapons.

This is the most important defense partnership mechanism between these three countries in decades.

Because of this new agreement, Australia cancelled a submarine contract that it had previously cooperated with France, which caused strong dissatisfaction in France, and it brought back its ambassadors to the United States and Australia to express anger.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded, “The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia’s nuclear submarine cooperation has severely undermined regional peace and stability, intensified the arms race, and undermined international nuclear non-proliferation efforts. The United States and Britain exported highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology to Australia, once again proving that they will As a tool of geopolitical game, nuclear export adopts double standards, which is extremely irresponsible.”

Although US officials stated that the move was not aimed at confronting China, many experts believe that the AUKUS agreement marks a shift in the Asia-Pacific region’s strategy and policy model.

In December 2021, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia stated that they would not send government representatives to participate in the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February 2022, citing concerns about China’s human rights record, including allegations of abuse by Uighurs and other ethnic minorities .

The first to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics was the United States. The White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that in the face of China’s “serious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang, if US diplomats and official representatives attend these events, they will treat these events as business as usual. This is something we absolutely cannot do. of.”

Subsequently, Britain, Canada and Australia in the “Five Eyes Alliance” all stated that they would not send officials to attend and “diplomatically boycott” the Beijing Winter Olympics. And New Zealand stated that as early as October, it had told China that it would not send ministerial diplomats to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics because of the new crown epidemic.

China has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the call and measures of the United States to boycott the Winter Olympics and issued a warning that it will “resolutely counteract it.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for the Beijing Winter Olympics. He promised to attend the opening ceremony in Beijing.

Among EU countries, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics had “little success”; the new German government is still inconclusive.

Among Asian countries, South Korea has stated that it will not boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics.

In the final stage of 2021, the confrontation between the United States and China on the issue of the Winter Olympics is still not finalized, and it is still unknown how many countries will join the U.S. diplomatic boycott camp.