June 14,
2017

ISSUE
No. 102

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Dedicated to the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
In this week's newsletter we focus on China's response to the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, regional cooperation between China and Kazakhstan, and a helpful documentary to review global warming-related vocabulary.
Weekly Readings

After the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman noted China would "forge ahead with the implementation of the Paris Agreement, uphold the outcomes of the agreement and promote green, low-carbon and sustainable growth around the world." It is only the latest of many signals that China intends to strengthen environmental regulations. Regulations are important, yet, as we know, enforcement is more than half the battle . A short Xinhua brief highlighted that roughly 70 percent of Chinese firms surveyed around Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei are in violation of air pollution rules. Pollution controls and climate change have been cited as a source for U.S.-China cooperation going back at least to National Security Advisor Sandy Berger's speech "Building a New Consensus on China" in 1997. Many changes are afoot that affect the ability to improve enforcement, ranging from current U.S. policy preferences to China's NGO law. This is still an area of cooperation but more creative thinking than ever will be required to make that cooperation functional.






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More in-depth reading on the subjects of energy and the environment as they relate to China can be found on our related syllabus.

俗语 in Xi Jinping's Speeches

守望相助
shǒuwàngxiāngzhù
 
Meaning: keep watch and help each other
 
Speaking on June 11 to the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), this year in Kazakhstan, Xi Jinping used this chengyu to reinforce his message of cooperation and regional integration. This year's meeting is especially significant as it saw India and Pakistan joining the SCO.
 
Original: 我们要保持团结协作的良好传统,新老成员国密切融合,深化政治互信,加大相互支持,构建平等相待、守望相助、休戚与共、安危共担的命运共同体。
 

Video of the Week 

The following documentary is a nice summary of global warming, its present and future effects, and efforts to counteract the phenomenon. W hile the video is long, it covers all the relevant climate change vocabulary and has Chinese subtitles, allowing viewers to pause the video to review sentences and phrases.
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