Biden in Geneva for talks with Putin
US President Joe Biden arrived in Geneva yesterday for the most-watched and tensest part of his first European tour as president: talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
He arrived in Geneva on the eve of the first meeting between US and Russian leaders since 2018, when Putin met Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump in Helsinki.
Biden has called Putin a “worthy adversary” and has said he is hoping to find areas of cooperation with the Russian president.
According to a senior administration official granted anonymity to disclose internal discussions, Biden is hoping to find small areas of agreement with the Russian president, including potentially returning ambassadors back to Washington and Moscow. Both countries have been without a senior diplomat for months.
Biden is also looking to make progress on a new arms control agreement between the two nations, after Russia agreed to a five-year extension of the current agreement in January. And Biden plans to raise issues ranging from cyberattacks to Russia’s alleged involvement in air piracy, as well as Putin’s treatment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Both Biden and Putin have described the USRussia relationship as being at an all-time low.
CHINA said yesterday that radiation levels around the Taishan nuclear project in the southeastern province of Guangdong remained normal, following media reports of a leak at one of its reactors.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, told a news briefing that the plant was fully compliant with all requirements and there were no signs of abnormalities in its vicinity.
“So far China’s nuclear power plants have maintained a good operating record, with no incidents affecting the environment and public health,” Zhao said.
French utility EDF, one of the project’s owners, said they are fixing a “performance issue” at the facility, but the gas emissions carried out to do that are within acceptable limits.
CNN had reported that Framatome, the EDF unit that designed Taishan’s reactors, was warning of an “imminent radiological threat” at the project following a build-up of krypton and xenon.
EDF said on Monday that the problem at the plant could have been caused by fuel rods supplied by Framatome.
An EDF spokesman, who asked not to be named, said the issue was being handled.
“We are not in a scenario of an accident with a melting core,” he said. “We are not talking about contamination, we are talking about controlled emissions.”
Noble gases are elements which have low chemical reactivity — in this case it was xenon and krypton.
The gases were collected and treated as part of a process to remove any radioactivity before their release, which was normal and “in accordance with regulations,” he added.
Framatome said in a statement that the plant was operating “within the safety parameters” despite the “performance issue.”
The Taishan project, completed in 2019, consists of two French-designed reactors, and is located around 200 kilometers from Hong Kong.
Earlier, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters that the Hong Kong Observatory and the Water Supplies Department have been monitoring radiation levels and have so far not detected anything abnormal.
Li Ning, a Chinese nuclear scientist based in the United States, said the dangers at Taishan have been exaggerated. “Because nuclear power plants, once built and in operation, are under very strict control and local areas are excluded from further development, background radiation levels around them can often be lower than historical levels,” he said.
Flight attendants, firefighters, students and the son of a revolutionist comprise the new volunteer team at the Memorial of the Fourth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which reopened after a renovation on May 31.
The memorial, in northeastern Shanghai’s Hongkou District, has recruited more than 2,000 volunteer guides from all walks of life since it initially opened in 2012 to commemorate the historic meeting, known as a great catalyst for social changes in the Republican of China period (1912-1949).
The volunteers, aged between 7 and over 90, have served more than 180,000 visitors with some 20,000 hours of explanation services. The team has been named as the “Source of Power” with the reopening of the memorial to further promote revolutionary and voluntary spirits.
Ye Xiaoming, 72, is one of the earliest and oldest volunteers at the memorial. His father Ye Renlong was an underground Party member who operated a secret telegraph station at home until the liberation of Shanghai in May 1949.
After retirement, Ye Xiaoming often came to view the historical photos and exhibits about his father at the memorial. He later applied to become a volunteer to share the story of his father with visitors.
“My parents rarely talked, maybe a habit made after serving as secret Party members for years,” Ye said.
He learnt their stories by reading some old documents and material left by them.
His father set up the secret station at 62 Tanggu Road and opened a vehicle repair store on the ground floor as a disguise. Ye Renlong took charge of the auto repairs and covered for telegraph transmitters working upstairs. His wife socialized with neighbors and dealt with Kuomintang spies and police.
The information sent from Ye’s home played a key role during the crossing Yangtze River and liberation of Shanghai campaigns.
Other secret stations were found and destroyed, including a nearby one run by famous martyr Li Bai. Ye’s parents managed to operate the station till the city’s liberation in 1949.
Before retirement, Ye served as the senior economist at a tool factory in southwest Chongqing and Party secretary of a Shanghai neighborhood committee.
Ye still comes to guide visitors once every week. The exhibition about his father is the key section for him to share.
“I think it is my duty to promote the spirits of the revolutionists and protect the history from being forgotten,” Ye said.
Apart from Ye, a group of flight attendants from China Eastern Airlines has become the most popular guides at the memorial.
Thirty-six attendants were selected from more than 5,000 air crew of the Shanghai-based carrier in August 2020 to become China’s first guide team made up of airline staff.
They include the crew members who
served the medical teams in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, then epicenter of the epidemic in central China’s Hubei Province, last year and outstanding youth from the Lingyan, China Eastern’s elite flight attendant team.
“We spend most our leisure time from tight flight schedules to prepare commentary and serve visitors,” said Li Yi, a chief flight attendant and leader of the airline’s volunteer team at the memorial.
It takes more than two hours to shuttle from the city’s Pudong or Hongqiao airports, where most of the flight attendants live nearby, to the memorial, but all the members are enthusiastic to participate, Li said.
Zhang Yutong, another volunteer from China Eastern, prepared a scene play with other flight attendants with acting experience. They stage the drama at the memorial during celebrations as well as to other young staff at the airline.
“We’d like to promote the history and spirit of the Party both in and outside the memorial,” Zhang said.
“The local flight attendants of the carrier are 27 years old on average, and the Party stories have become a major inspiration and guidance to them.”
Sometimes, the volunteer attendants share stories they learnt from the memorial to passengers in the air, especially on the flights to key historic bases of the Party, such as Yan’an in northwest Shaanxi Province and Jinggangshan in east Jiangxi Province, according to Li.
Guo Taizi, a junior middle school student, is among the youngest volunteers at the memorial. He is a member of the “Little Red Flower” volunteer team, composed of 33 elementary and middle school students selected from over 100 local applicants aged between 7 and 14 years old. After studying a text about the Long March of the Red Army in the fourth grade, Guo began applying to become a volunteer at various local Party memorials or former residences of Party members.
He has been serving at over a dozen memorial sites, such as the former residences of Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, writer Lu Xun and revolutionist Liu Changsheng.
“The spirits of the Party members such as perseverance and utter devotion are inspiring me at school,” said Guo.
He played Chen Duxiu, one of the founders and early leaders of the CPC, during a stage drama for the reopening ceremony of the memorial.
“I have good memories, courage and speech experiences from the voluntary services,” said Guo.
He also encouraged classmates to apply to be volunteers at Party memorial sites. More than a dozen of his classmates have been serving as volunteers.
Firefighters from the Hongkou District Fire Station are among the first batch of volunteers recruited from the public. The fire station at 560 Wusong Road, known as China’s first modern fire station, was established in 1866.
More than a dozen firefighters have been serving as guides as well as flagraisers since the memorial initially opened in 2012. The firefighters have served nearly 10,000 visitors and some 120 flag-raising ceremonies.
Yang Qi, a former squad leader at the fire station, not only served as a guide but also a trainer for other volunteers at the memorial.
“I always feel proud when visitors look enlightened after hearing my explanations,” said Yang. “I am also happy to share my experience with other volunteers.”
Though Yang retired from the station in 2016, he said the volunteer spirits he learnt at the memorial would benefit him for life.