UNITED NATIONS -- China on Tuesday outlined principles to aid in the creation of the world's first-ever legally-binding treaty addressing biodiversity in the high seas, defined as open ocean far from a coastline.At the first session of the negotiations on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), Deputy Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ma Xinmin, who headed the Chinese delegation, emphasized four principles.As the first principle, Ma said negotiations on the instrument should be based on consensus and that parties should avoid decision-making by taking votes."Experience has shown that an international instrument that emerges from voting may fail to fully accommodate the concerns of all parties, unable to be widely accepted and would be difficult to interpret, apply and implement after its entry into force," he explained.Ma went on to stress the talks should be based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), adopted in 1982, in line with the 2017 UN General Assembly resolution which set stage for the meeting."It (the instrument) should supplement and improve on the Convention, not depart from its principles and spirit, jeopardize the institutional framework of the Convention, or contradict existing international laws and global, regional mechanisms governing the ocean," he said.Thirdly, the treaty should strive to maintain common interests, as "we are a community of shared future and share common interests regarding the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction," Ma said.Last but not least, the institutional design of the treaty should balance the interests of all parties and all sides to avoid favoring one over the other.Ma said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction and will continue to conduct in-depth discussion and consultation with all parties on the relevant issues in a constructive and open manner.According to a policy brief circulated at the session, areas beyond national jurisdiction make up 64 percent of the oceans, nearly half of the planet's surface and over 90 percent of its habitable volume; it plays a critical role in the international community's efforts to achieve objectives prescribed in the Sustainable Development Agenda of the UN.In 2002, a UN informal consultative process discussed the protection of marine environment, setting off a journey toward formal treaty negotiations under the UNCLOS.Last December, the UN General Assembly adopted a modality resolution that set the stage for Tuesday's meeting.Rena Lee, president of the conference, said in her opening remarks "this day has been a long time in coming for many who have been working on these issues for many years," expressing her hope that "we can work together as a whole to move the process along to a successful conclusion."Miguel de Serpa Soares, the UN under-secretary-general for legal affairs and the secretary-general of the conference, expressed confidence that the first session will be fruitful and lead to the development of an instrument that all delegations can agree to."There is ample evidence of increasing pressures on oceans," he said. "If such pressures and their impacts are not addressed, their cumulative effect will lead to a destructive cycle in which the oceans will no longer be able to provide many services that humans and other life on this planet depend on.""Sustainable oceans and seas can contribute to poverty eradication, sustained economic growth, food security and creation of sustainable livelihoods," Soares said, adding that protecting the marine environment will also help build resilience to the impacts of climate change.Lee also expressed hope that the delegations will move towards to "a fair, balanced and effective outcome," which "reflects our varying concerns and interests."The conference will meet initially for four sessions, with the second and third taking place in 2019 and the fourth in the first half of 2020. white rubber wristbandscustomized silicone braceletscustom wristbandscustom made bracelets for hernike silicone wristbands
Wu Jing, director and actor of Wolf Warrior 2 while shooting the film. [Photo provided to China Daily] The film industry is growing stronger and focusing more on China's rise on the world stage, as Xu Fan reports. When Jia Zhangke made his directorial debut with The Pickpocket in 1997, annual box-office takings in China were about 1 billion yuan ($158 million). By last year, the figure had rocketed to nearly 56 billion yuan. When interviewed at the Great Hall of the People on Sunday on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, Jia, an NPC deputy, said he was excited about the transformation of the movie industry in China, which boasts the largest number of film screens in the world. With revenues from domestic movies accounting for nearly 54 percent of last year's combined box-office total, and the recent Spring Festival holiday seeing a surge of about 67 percent year-on-year, Chinese movies have seen an unprecedented rise, mainly as a result of a number of mainstream blockbusters. Last year, Wolf Warrior 2 made 5.68 billion yuan to become the highest-grossing fictional movie of all time in China. Meanwhile, Operation Red Sea has soared to become a sensational hit, raking in 3.36 billion yuan since it opened on Feb 16. 'New Mainstream' For most industry observers and researchers, this box-office bonanza exemplifies the rise of so-called New Mainstream Movies. The term, coined by film buffs a few years ago, refers to patriotic movies that not only instill positive energy, but also please mass audiences. With the overwhelming popularity of these hits, including The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014) and Operation Mekong (2016), the nation's movie industry is being reshaped. In the past, movies that publicized conventional values found it hard to win in the mainstream market because most of them were dull and preachy, said Yin Hong, professor of film and television studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Moreover, for some time, commercial blockbusters barely reflected mainstream values, as most of them were full of negative elements such as materialism, violence and conspiracies. According to Zhao Baohua, a veteran scriptwriter and movie critic, and deputy director of the Chinese Film Literature Association, the surge in the number of mainstream-value blockbusters indicates that moviemakers have figured out a way to solve the problem - by merging formerly opposing sides, so the movies are educational yet still generate revenue. Speaking of the huge commercial success of recent mainstream blockbusters, Zhao said the films resonate with Chinese audiences and their pride in the country's rise. Actor-director Wu Jing's Wolf Warrior 2 is the story of a former Special Forces operative and his heroic face-off with ruthless mercenaries as he evacuates Chinese citizens from a war-torn country in Africa. Hong Kong director Dante Lam's Operation Red Sea has a similar theme to Wolf Warrior 2 - it was based on the true story of the evacuation of Chinese civilians from strife-torn Yemen in 2015 - but focuses more on depicting the ensemble heroes. Also directed by Lam, Operation Mekong was based on a cross-border manhunt by Chinese police to apprehend a drugs ring in the Golden Triangle. Adapted from a hit novel and helmed by Tsui Hark, also from Hong Kong, The Taking of Tiger Mountain tells the tale of a 1940s Communist hero who leads a squad to crack down on a group of bandits. Hong Kong directors have worked and grown up in a market that requires movies to be attractive to, and quickly understood by, audiences. Thus, they use their own methods to tell Chinese mainland revolutionary history or show heroes, and make the stories more appealing, Yin said.
