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I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
Coming up, China has rejected NATO's warning of U .S. sanctions over Ukraine war.
We will take a look at China's achievements in protecting IPR rights during the country's 14th Five -Year Plan.
Israel launches heavy airstrikes on Syria vowing to defend Jerusalem minorities.
And the Trump administration is pulling 4 billion US dollars in terms of the federal funding for California's bullet train project.
To listen to this episode again or to catch up on our previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching World Today.
day. China has rejected NATO Secretary General Mark Rudy's warning on U .S. sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that dialogue and negotiations are the only viable way out of the Ukraine crisis, adding that coercion and pressure will lead to nowhere.
The spokesperson also called for helping create the atmosphere and the conditions for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
During a visit to the U .S. capital Washington, D .C., NATO Chief Mark Rudy said Brazil, China and India could be hit by secondary U .S. sanctions if they maintain trade with Russia.
U .S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to impose 100 % secondary tariffs on Russia If a deal on ending the war in Ukraine is not reached within 50 days.
So joining us now on the line is Zhou Bo, Senior Fellow of the Center for International Security and Strategy with Tsinghua University.
So thank you very much for joining us today, Mr. Zhou Bo.
The message from the NATO chief to Brazil, China and India is either you pressure Russia to stop the war in Ukraine or face secondary sanctions from the United States.
What do you make of the message here?
And do you think this is something helpful to putting an end to the Ukraine crisis?
Well, actually, this kind of remarks has included too many issues.
issues first of all this war has nothing to do with China right so why should China suffer from a sanction be the first sanction or secondary sanction yeah I believe this war really has something to do with NATO's expansion NATO can argue safely that it's not that NATO won't expand but other countries want to join NATO this is true but still NATO has not stopped its expansion in spite of Russia's opposition.
And Russia's opposition actually started from Soviet time, starting from Mikhail Gorbachev down to Boris Yeltsin and down to President Putin.
And what makes President Putin different?
He's the man who said, enough is enough.
So right now, we do not see how the endgame would look like.
Nobody knows. Unfortunately, this looks like the case.
So it is a war of attrition.
But having sanctions on other countries like China and India and even Brazil and some other countries just to use your head, is this the right way to conclude the war?
Hmm. So after the outbreak of the Russia -Ukraine conflict, many countries from what we know as the Global South community, including these big economic powers like Brazil, China, and India, they have maintained their normal economic links, trade with Russia, despite the sanctions, the Western sanctions on Moscow.
scale. What do you think this tells us?
For example, what do you think this tells us about today's international order?
Well, the international order certainly is not what was described as a liberal international order.
I never believed that there is anything that is called a liberal international order, because this kind of assumption that describes the international order after the Second World War is a liberal international order is basically narcissistic.
Because after the Second World War, just imagine how many major events have actually occurred.
There are more than 50 African countries who won independence.
And then there was rivalry over two camps on the two sides.
And then there is a non -aligned movement.
And then there is a Soviet dissolution.
And then there is China's rise.
So with all these major events of the Second World War, how could you safely describe that this international order is a kind of liberal international order?
So the problem of this kind of description is that it just takes the rules and regime in the economic field as the order itself.
itself. But the international order is much bigger.
It should include different societies, different social systems, different national identities, and above all, culture and civilization.
So if you believe in liberal international order and you find that liberal democracy is in a steady recession, so then you look around and then you would start to look for enemies.
So that's exactly what the United States has been doing.
So do you think President Donald Trump's threat of secondary sanctions on Russia represents a turning point in terms of his approach to the Ukraine crisis?
Why or why not? I don't think so.
I think, well, this actually is a reflection of his frustration.
Yeah, he simply was too optimistic, and he was bluffing, as always, that in the beginning he talked about how he could resolve the issue within 24 hours.
Of course, it's laughable right now, right?
And he certainly could not persuade President Putin into what he wants.
I think President Putin's strategy is a yes, but, right?
Yeah. Whenever you're talking about the necessity of the talks, President Putin would always agree.
But when it comes to details, there are so many, so many conditions from Russian side, yeah, which can hardly be met.
yeah for example if we are talking about a territory it's not only about territory and the territory itself yeah I cannot you know be resolved because the last year with all efforts from Russia the new territory that the Russian military has gained it's just the 1 % and the six months I've already passed this year again this is almost the same situation but even the putting Putting aside this issue of territory, Russia still wish to resolve this fundamental issue of the root cause.
So eventually what Russia wants is a so -called indivisible security.
That is how NATO should respect Russia in Europe.
Basically, the security of Europe is not about terrorism.
and it's not about these kind of small things.
It is how NATO and Russia could coexist. So I think that tells how President Trump was frustrated and that he just would try another way.
But as I said before, yes, there are some countries who have normal economic tradings with Russia, such as China and India.
India, these two countries would buy about 85 to 90 % of the seaborne crude oil from Russia, and there are some other countries like UAE, like Brazil, and there's even Vietnam and Thailand who have a different kind of economic relationship with Russia.
But to simply put, yeah, this is the wrong approach. I don't think it will work.
When it comes to China, well, we know what happened before.
Trump tried to bash every country with tariffs, and he bashed China the hardest. And what was the result?
The result is not that China blinked first, right?
Indeed. So in other words, based on what you have elaborated, I guess it is fair to say that President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs could by no means pressure Russia into signing into a Ukraine peace deal.
No, no, no, that would not be possible at all.
Let me tell you, in fact, with his announcement of sanction and 50 days request for ceasefire, the Russian stock market actually rose by 2 .7%.
Why is that? Because it is much better than what people thought in Russia.
So the stock market would almost immediately reflect, yeah, about the atmosphere, you know, in a given society.
and so that is a result so and uh what happened last year was that the russian economy actually rose by uh 4 .1 percent because that of course has something to do with the russian efforts in speeding up military production but still the economy there is not bad so realistically speaking how how would you um assess the feasibility of imposing sanctions First of all, we will have to wait and see whether he would really put sanctions on Chinese companies because of secondary sanctions.
Because Trump is famous for being unpredictable, unpredictable, but he seems to be also famous for being taco, right?
Yeah, so whether he would really carry out his threats.
This is the first question, and then we come this question of how effective is the possible the sanction can be, because yes, there could be this kind of sanctions and this kind of sanctions since the secondary would be smaller in scale than a sanction on a whole country.
Yeah, that is the difference.
So I believe China now is strong enough to have a kind of tit for tat response, because we have been dealing with him before during his first term.
So even if I didn't know what would happen when he was threatening China with tariff, I know simply China was better prepared, and the result turned out to be exactly what I thought.
China didn't win. And there's a whole world, the whole world has seen China didn't win.
It's Donald Trump who has, you know, win first. So we have to wait and see.
So right now, I believe it's too early, you know, to make a conclusion.
but I believe China would stand ready to have a kind of a tit -for -tat response if it really goes in that wrong direction.
Thank you very much for joining us today.
Zhou Bo, Senior Fellow with the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University.
Coming up, we will take a look at China's achievements in protecting intellectual property during the country's 14th five -year plan.
This is World Today.
Stay tuned. Global sovereign wealth funds are warming to China again as the country posts another quarter of better than expected growth.
What's fueling the optimism?
Which sectors are showing resilience amid global uncertainty?
While second quarter growth outpaced annual targets, it slowed from the first quarter.
Is this a sign of fading stimulus or just a natural rebalancing?
And looking ahead, does China have what it takes to sustain momentum through the rest of the year?
Tune in as we unpack the data, the trends, and the outlook on this week's Chat Lounge, wherever you listen to podcasts, and on CGTN Radio.
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I'm Ding Han in Beijing.
China has established partnerships with over 80 countries and regions in intellectual property cooperation over the past five years.
China's National Intellectual Property Administration made the announcement at a press briefing on Thursday.
The agency said from cooperation with the United States, the European Union and the British countries to breakthroughs in AI -powered patent review, China's IPR strategy is driving both high -level opening up and scientific self -reliance.
The country China is now ranked at the 11th in terms of the Global Innovation Index with 26 science and tech clusters in the world's top 100.
So for more, my colleague Ge Anna earlier spoke with Professor Zheng Gong from the University of International Business and Economics.
Professor, let's start with some impressive progress.
Back in 2024 last year, China climbed to 11th place in the Global Innovation Index and led the road with 26 science and technology clusters ranked in the Global Top 100.
The number of high -value invention patents has already exceeded the targets set in the 14th Five -Year Plan.
How do you interpret these milestones?
goes i think this represents a general trend that um innovations are rapidly taking place in china which are reflected in a sense to in the space of patent firings and patent grounds the number of patents not just to file domestic and i was even filed on a global basis have been increasing very rapidly over the years and i can give you one example which is a shiny example of how how the global patent landscape has changed over time.
For example, in the cellular space, we all know that there are standards, 3G, 4G, 5G standards.
China used to be on the licensing side, which means that China pays royalties for those what are called standard essential patents.
Today, out of the 5G standard, the largest share of patents, these are standard essential patents, are actually owned by Chinese companies.
The top one is Huawei, holding about 14 % of the total standard essential patents worldwide related to 5G.
So this is a very good example to show that China's intellectual property has been expanding quite rapidly.
It's not just about quantity.
The quality and application of innovation are improving too.
According to the reports, commercialization rate of enterprise invention patents jumped from about 45 percent in 2022 to around 54 percent in 2024.
How significant did this rise in your view and what kinds of real world impact has it made?
Yeah, well, there are many ways of measuring patent quality.
You know, there's the method of measuring citation.
There's a method of measuring in terms of actual licenses being granted.
And also there is the measurement of The royalties collected, you know, a couple of things.
But I think the one measure you mentioned, the percentage of these patents actually being commercialized.
That means, you know, somebody is paying royalties for these patents has also increased to 53%.
This is actually a quite large number in my view.
That means that, you know, half of the patents are actually being commercialized.
Somebody is paying for it.
That's a very significant number in my view.
Another trend worth noting is the growing role of patent -intensive industries.
Their contribution to China's GDP has been steadily increasing.
Going forward, how do you see the development of these industries accelerating China's economic restructuring and upgrading?
Usually the patent -intensive industries, high -tech tech industries, the sunrise industries, the emerging industries.
Not surprisingly that China have been very active, Chinese companies has been very active and are advancing very rapidly around these fronts in new emerging technologies.
In battery technologies, for example, in next generation telecommunication technologies.
In video codec, for example, that's also an area that's been rapidly developing.
In all these industries, areas where standard essential patterns developing rapidly, you see these very active roles played by Chinese companies.
And it's actually not quite surprising that China, being a major manufacturing economy, has seen a lot of intellectual property rights being filed and granted.
So I think the content of China's GDP, that is related to high tech. related to high -tech standard, related to high -tech standard essential patents have been steadily increasing.
So I think this is a very healthy development.
Of course, none of this happens in a vacuum.
How much of these achievements can be linked to China's expanding international cooperation in the field of IP?
Yeah, well, I think, you know, as Chinese companies are moving more and more from a licensee position to a licensor position, meaning that they are actually owning intellectual properties and granting others for usages of uh these intellectual property rights in return of course for monetary compensation uh i think you know shift more towards that position naturally i think the entire country's policy has been shifting towards a more strengthened protection of intellectual property rights um and and this course for certainly international international cooperation with major international property
rights generating countries, as well as economies and countries that have been having uses of international property rights.
So when we say cooperation, it happens on both ends.
And this is happening in accordance with Chinese companies expanding overseas as well.
On that note, China joined the Hague Agreement in 2022 and has been playing a leading role in pushing forward initiatives worldwide.
So from your perspective, what practical benefits do such international efforts bring for Chinese companies aiming to go global?
Well, you know, I think the first benefit is that China's economy is becoming more and more like a knowledge economy.
The intensified and the strength and protection of IPR rights are certainly in the interest of Chinese companies.
companies and in general, the Chinese economy.
I think the practice of Chinese companies participating in these steady organizations, which eventually generates a lot of intellectual property rights is a development that represents the stage of China's economic development.
In this area actually there's more cooperation in my view between Chinese companies and Western companies, as opposed to the intense competition between China and the United States, for example, on a geopolitical arena.
In a sense, we can still argue that globalization, at least in the joint development of standards and intellectual property rights, is still very much happening right now.
China has been deepening IP cooperation not only with developed economies like the United United States, and Europe, but also with partners across BRICS, ASEAN, Central Asia, and Africa.
How do you see the priorities or models of cooperation among these regions?
And how do these efforts contribute to China's broader strategy of high -level opening up?
It's not so much in conflict.
I think the general rule is that the IPR protection is associated with is where this value added, facilitated by intellectual property rights is taking place.
As Chinese companies expand overseas, expanding to these developing countries, they set up manufacturing facilities to countries that derive sales from these countries, these economies.
Naturally, there will be a need for, deriving uphill rights from these operations, from these activities.
And the basis for that is to have these patents filed in these countries and economies.
I think it's not surprising to see that the Chinese entities and companies are investing in these patent filings to essentially enable these countries to replicate China's model in the past from basically a licensee type of economy to a more of a licensor type of economy.
economy. So that's the path that China has gone through in the past. And we're seeing this in developing countries as well.
So that's a general rule, in my view, and I would not be surprised to see this kind of development.
Finally, looking ahead, next year will mark the start of China's 15th five -year plan.
What should we expect to see in terms of IP priorities?
Are there any emerging policy trends that we should keep an eye on?
You know, we're generally moving that trend.
Chinese companies are spending more and more on R &D.
Obviously, when they put money on R &D, you know, that generates intellectual property rights, which they will protect and try to monetize in the future.
On the other hand, I think the Chinese government also adopts a very active policy, an IPR policy that promotes generation of these patents, these IPR rights, as well as encouraging companies to monetize these IPR rights.
So I think it's happening on both ends.
And I think also one thing I want to mention here is that the China's infrastructure, I'm talking about a soft side infrastructure, you know, was the intellectual property, right environment in general, including, you know, government policies, IPR, court system, judicial venues, all these things are very much conducive to a strengthened IPR protection.
You know, there are numerous lawsuits and litigations here in China involving foreign companies, involving Chinese companies as well.
And I think it's clear that the trend is towards more protecting these rights and protecting the inventors of these great stuff to collect royalties from patent implementers.
Professor Zhang Gong from the University of International Business and Economics Talking with my colleague Ge 'ana Coming up, we will talk to a Hong Kong investment official Regarding how the city is positioning itself as a global supply chain hub You're listening to World Today, I'm Dinghen in Beijing We'll be back after a short break You are listening to World Today.
I'm Ding Han in Beijing.
Hong Kong is stepping up efforts to strengthen its role as a global supply chain hub amid rising geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainties.
Speaking at the ongoing China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, Benjamin Wan, head of the Transport and Logistics and Industrials with InvestHong Kong, highlighted Hong Kong's strong supply chain finance, technology and integration within the Greater Bay Area.
In the meantime, he has also noted Hong Kong's recent surge in terms of company listings, which he says is boosting Hong Kong's capacity to support global businesses.
Our reporter Song Ruixin has more details.
So given the geopolitical and economic environments, such as the impact of tariffs and global supply chains currently is facing challenges like geopolitical risks and cost fluctuations.
What is Hong Kong's investor environment?
I mean, how would you describe it?
How does it respond to these changing dynamics?
For this, actually, I think the environment, I would like to recap it a little bit.
According to the World Bank, in 2023, the number of restrictive trade policies being implemented around the world is over 3 ,000 such policies being implemented.
Now, this actually is giving a very difficult situation to the whole global business community.
When you're comparing that the similar kind of trade policies in 2015, this has been increased by 5 ,000.
So, it's a very different environment than before.
So, for the direct investment globally, that's why we have seen a draw on that.
We actually have a globally reduction in the foreign direct investment.
However, for the ASEAN countries, because of the environment, a lot of the companies are going global south, and also one belt, one rope countries.
So, ASEAN, actually, they have benefited by this.
While the global foreign direct investment has been dropped by 8%, the ASEAN foreign direct investment actually have been increased.
Now, they are at about $23 billion.
So, this is actually their global high.
And for this, actually, our Chinese foreign investments overseas, we have three thousand billion U .S. dollars overseas.
Now, this has been giving the companies a very dire need for them to manage their supply chain much better.
So that's why this symposium, the platform is fantastic.
The number of foreign companies that have come to this symposium, I believe, actually, it has increased substantially.
And even for the American companies, I think they have been increased by 15%.
So this is a very good platform.
As for Hong Kong, actually, I think we have been saying that we have the role of the super connector and also the super value add -up.
Now on the super value adder, actually, we see a lot of companies also coming to Hong Kong for listing.
For this first half year, actually, we have been increased by seven times comparing to the same time last year.
year so over 100 billion Hong Kong dollars of dollars have been raised so this is a very good platform for companies to you know to raise their value and also the resources and with this then actually it would mean that they will have the resources a much bigger size to deal with the supply chain and also to political issues and this is where we come in and of course technology we We are doing a lot on that also.
We have put in 400 billion Hong Kong dollars actually into the system to support the technology sector.
And when we say about the new form of productivity power, actually the supply chain also we need to have this new form of technology.
In the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2024, Hong Kong ranked first globally in international trade and business legislation.
So how can Hong Kong better leverage these advantages to attract foreign investment and support mainland enterprises, especially within the Greater Bay Area, in expanding their business presence in the city?
Greater Bay Area actually is kind of like our hinterland.
So this is a lot of collaboration with them.
And when we are talking about this topic, we have to talk about the Northern Metropolis which the Hong Kong government is having a big blueprint on.
The Northern Metropolis is about one -third the size of the whole Hong Kong, so over 300 km2.
Now, with this, actually, we have four themes.
We have logistics, we have the ecosystem for leisure, green and blue travel, we have the technology, and also we have the boundary economy.
So among these four, actually two are relevant to our supply chain industries.
One of course is the logistics, that's about physical movement.
The other part actually is on the technology.
Now for the technology side, also we have Hong Kong Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park, which is a part of the Hong Kong Shenzhen Technology Cooperation Zone.
So, that's, that particular part actually will be having these bridges built between the Hong Kong side and also the Shenzhen side to promote the mobility of technology and also people.
So later we will be building bridges between Hong Kong and the Shenzhen side, and then the people working in the two parks in Hong Kong and also in Shenzhen, they will be able to have a mobility most likely that will be passing the immigration using technology like facial recognition instead of having contours for people to go through.
So this is the kind of mobility that we are looking at, and of course we are also talking about the possibility of using the drone technology to bring for example samples and maybe research prototypes across the boundaries between these two parts so the technology again is one very important element as for the logistics team we have logistics lands which is made available to the industry so that they will be able to get more proper land for the development of the the logistics side, part of the supply chain.
HSBC recently released a survey titled 2025 Global Trade Pulse, which reveals that a significant number of business in Hong Kong are actively adjusting their supply chains and reassessing their operational models and locations.
From your perspective, what key trends have you observed in this ongoing process of adjustment assessment and adaption, especially in terms of nearshoring digitalization and ESG compliance or diversification of sourcing markets?
What we are looking at is that given the geopolitics environment, this is actually getting much more difficult for companies to manage their supply chain.
So for Hong Kong, actually, we think we can have a very good supply chain management ecosystem to support the companies.
Now, that's why for this supply chain symposium this time, we would like to meet with the different companies and also listen to all the new ideas in the industry, especially in the application of technology.
We have seen actually more interest in using Hong Kong for the supply chain management.
One main important point is that for the complicated geopolitics and tariff environment now, now actually they need even better supply chain management before.
And supply chain management, there are a lot of supply chain finance inside also.
When you're talking about the supply chain finance, then it also relates to the cross -border management of payments and funds.
So for that, Hong Kong Monetary Authority is doing a lot of work.
For example, we have this business data exchange, which is allowing companies that participate in this scheme to allow their information to be read by the trade financing banks.
So with that, then we'll be able to allow them to have a faster trade financing in London.
Benjamin Wan, Head of the Transport and Logistics and Industrials with InvestHongKong, talking with my colleague, Sung Rui -Shing.
Coming up, Israel launches heavy airstrikes on Syria vowing to defend the Druze minorities.
You're listening to World Today, we'll be back.
You're back with World Today, I'm Ding Han in Beijing.
Interim Syrian President Ahmad al -Sharif says protecting Druze citizens in southern Syria is now a priority.
His televised statement came after Israel launched heavy airstrikes on Damascus, vowing to destroy Syrian government forces for attacking Druze communities.
El -Shera says the Syrian people are not afraid of war and are ready to fight if their dignity is under threat.
The Israeli airstrikes were initially limited to the Sueda province before extending to the capital city.
Israel claimed that the strikes were aimed at protecting the Jerusalem minority in Syria following deadly clashes in the southern region.
However, countries across the Middle East region have condemned the airstrikes, accusing the Israeli side of exploitation of the unrest in Sweden to inflict further chaos in Syria.
Syria's interim government and the leaders of the Jerusalem minority have announced a renewed ceasefire.
So for more, joining us now on the line is Dr. Zhang Chuchu, Deputy Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Fudan University.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Thank you. So we know the Syrian government forces were dispatched to this Sweden province or region to call fighting between Druze fighters on one hand and Bedouin armed groups on the other hand.
But they ended up clashing with the Druze fighters.
So first of all, can you tell us more about the Druze minority and what kind of ties they have with the Israeli side?
Right. So actually, the Druze are a religious and ethnic minority group in the Middle East. And in fact, they originated as an offshoot of the Shia Islam.
But now they have already developed their own distinct beliefs, practices and also identity.
And in fact, right now, there are a big difference between the Druze and the other sections of the Shia Islam.
them. And we can find a lot of them in Syria, in Lebanon, Israel, etc. So in the Sham region in general.
In Syria, actually, their number is around 500 ,000 to 700 ,000.
And they most concentrate in the southern province of Sweden, as you mentioned.
Well, in Israel also actually is home to a sizable Druze population.
While the Israeli government grants them a higher status than the other Arab Muslims, significant disparities remain between the Druze and the Jewish majority.
And it's very important to note that at the moment, Netanyahu adopts the identity politics strategy.
So through mobilization of all sorts of minority groups in the Middle East, including the Druze, the Kurds, etc., he tries to weaken all these Arab countries so as to consolidate its position as the strongest country in the region.
So now that there is a ceasefire, a renewed ceasefire between al -Sharif's government forces and the Jerusalem minority, does this mean that Israel's airstrikes on Damascus and other regions of Syria will stop as well?
What could be the uncertainties?
From my observation, I think this does not guarantee an immediate halt to Israeli airstrikes on Damascus or elsewhere.
And in fact, it continued bombing Syrian military sites, including the defense ministry in Damascus, even after the initial ceasefire declaration.
And also Israel has cited ongoing threats to the Druze communities.
So at the moment, I think there are still lots of uncertainties.
The first one is that the political situation in Syria is still very unstable and the underlying sectarian tensions between Druze, Bedouin tribes and also the interim government remain.
So that is one uncertainty.
And at the same time, Netanyahu aims to seize more territory in the Middle East and reshape the region's security landscape.
So for example, since the fall of Bashar al -Assas regime in Syria, Netanyahu has been pushing to occupy land surrounding the Golan Heights.
So now he's trying to exploit the power vacuum in Syria to expand Israel's influence there.
So I guess the condemnation from other regional countries do have a point.
So frankly speaking, is Syria capable of fighting a war with Israel right now?
Not really. Actually, Syria is not capable of sustaining or winning a full scale war with Israel in its current state.
Because as we know, Syria's military has already been severely weakened by over a decade of civil war, also internal divisions, and also recent Israeli strikes that have crippled key assets.
And we know that actually right after the collapse of Bashar al -Assas regime, Israeli troops have actually attacked lots of military sites and assets and infrastructure in Syria in order to prevent Al -Sharaa from gaining military power.
Right now, in fact, the interim government under Ahmed Al -Shara is focused on consolidation, rebuilding, and he himself doesn't want offensive operations, and also he lacks the resources for a prolonged conflict.
So I think his statements about readiness to fight is going to be rhetorical.
Okay. So recently, we understand U .S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to remove the existing U .S. sanctions on Syria.
So by launching airstrikes on Syria, especially the capital city of Damascus, do you think the Israeli side is placing itself in a kind of scenario or position where it is at odds with the Trump administration's Syria policy?
Well, I think that is a very important point, because in fact, now Trump and Netanyahu, they have a lot of different interests in the Middle East. As for Trump, he wants to de -escalate conflicts across the region as quickly as possible so as to fulfill his commitments during his elections.
Also, he wants to scale back the United States involvement there.
And as for Netanyahu, he seeks to prolong tensions in order to extend his own political lifespan.
So he wants to keep the United States deeply entangled in regional affairs.
affairs. Meanwhile, it is also very important to note that back in May this year, Trump, when he visited Saudi Arabia, he floated the idea of promoting reconciliation between the new Syrian government and Israel through implementation.
But right now, I would say the implementation faces a lot of problems because, for instance, Syria insists that Israel holds all attacks and abandon any territorial claims in exchange for normalized relations.
But Netanyahu rejects this.
So right now, also Netanyahu has deep distrust toward Al -Assad, which fuels the escalating rift between the two sides.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Dr. Zhang Chuchu, Deputy Director of the Center for Middle Middle Eastern Studies with Fudan University.
Coming up, the Trump administration piles four billion U .S. dollars in terms of federal funding for California's bullet train project.
This is World Today.
Stay tuned. You are listening to World Today.
I'm Ding Han in Beijing.
In the United States, the Trump administration has revoked federal funding for California's high -speed rail project.
The U .S. Transportation Department says it is pulling back $4 billion in funding for this project.
President Donald Trump and his Transportation Secretary Sin Duffy have both slammed this project as quote -unquote train to nowhere.
Overall, about a quarter of this project's funding has come from the federal government of the United States.
Voters first approved the project back in the year 2008.
It was supposed to become operational between the current decade, namely between 2020 and 2030.
However, cost estimates have consistently grown, therefore pushing back its timeline.
So, for more, joining us now on the line is Professor Shending Li from the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University.
Thank you very much for joining us, Professor.
And nice to join you.
So this loss we are talking about here in terms of the federal funding is actually marking the latest blow to the state of California by the Trump administration.
We understand the Trump administration has already blocked a forced in the nation rule in California to phase out the sale of new gas powered cars.
It has also launched investigation into California's university admission policy, and it has also threatened to power funding over transgender girls being allowed to compete in California's girls sports.
So, with all those previous developments in mind, do you think this latest decision on the high -speed railway project is at least partially driven politically or politically motivated?
Well, though I have no evidence that President Trump has withdrawn such federal funding for California's high -speed rail project, I still think it's quite likely that the current U .S. president has made this decision partially out of his political values.
He does not like California state, which is being governed and actually has been governed by Democrats for quite some time.
And he think most of the decision by those Democrats leading California is not legitimate.
So he would use his federal power to do some damage.
I take your point. So putting aside this open feud between the federal government and California, is there a legitimate concern that this particular high -speed railway project we're talking about here is really going nowhere?
I mean this program was initially designed to shadow riders between two mega cities in the state, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
But nowadays California state officials say they are focused on building a 192 kilometer section in between that is set to be operation by 2033.
Looking back, what do you think is the root cause of the slow progress of the project since 2008?
Well, I would not challenge the choice that the route is between two megacities of San Francisco and Los Angeles because the other plausible alternative would be between New York and Washington or Boston and Washington.
But I think from the beginning, those early planners may have overestimated America's political system that can handle this huge project.
The first reason is that they have underestimated the actual cost. The initial speculation of the cost might be some $30 billion, but they did not plan such a project would be delayed, delayed, and delayed.
And now if this project would continue to be pushed, it could be delayed to 2035, 2040s.
That would significantly raise the overall budget because labor costs, legal costs, cost of relocating people will all be hiked up.
So this is something that is very likely to happen in the U .S., but that would not happen in China.
So I think from the beginning, Americans underestimated the total cost that could not be borne by American political system.
I take your point. So project leaders are now seeking private investment to try to help pay for this particular project.
So Professor, are you optimistic that private investors will be interested?
I strongly suspect because the current estimate of the total cost, if it would would be completed, would it be as high as 120 billion US dollar plus.
I think no, if for a possible train ticket to pay off such a cost, it would be more than ordinary passengers' riders would plan to buy the ticket.
Therefore, state government, federal government need to have subsidy.
But they may be uninterested in subsidy.
Then that would make a challenge.
Any private investors would be uninterested in funding a project that they cannot be paid off within a reasonable amount of time.
So, in a bigger picture sense, Professor Shen, And of course, I mean, when we talk about building any high -speed railway projects, of course, we need to calculate, we need to think about very carefully whether the long -term benefits will outweigh the construction cost or the operational cost, et cetera, et cetera.
This is normal economics.
And here in China, of course, a high -speed railway has been a largely, generally speaking, has been a largely success story.
But in theory, based on your understanding, your observation of the United States, do you think high -speed railways, this model of transportation, fit with the actual economic situation in the United States?
This is a real question.
I think technically America has no problem in designing such a faster speed rail with an hourly speed of 350 kilometers.
But economically this does not seem to be necessary because California has only 40 million people.
And for two cities within the state, not all people will ride as a train.
That's totally different from the Chinese case of two points, a megacity between Shanghai and Beijing.
At Shanghai and Beijing each has 25 million people.
Two cities themselves have more people than the entire population of California.
And the Shanghai Beijing route would pass 10 megacities in China which has 9 times as many people as entire California people.
Therefore America really does not have a market need for such a high -speed rail.
American for super rich people they have their personal airplanes and they have their personal airfield.
They don't need it.
For very poor people, they can definitely not afford such a 350 km per hour train.
They have no need to ride the train.
They can ride the low -speed train.
And for the middle class, they have already lots of highway built, and they may may not have a big need to reduce the total hours spent on the load.
Therefore, they don't need to spend $300 or $400 to ride such a fast rail train.
Therefore, for an advanced society like America, probably even California does not need to have such a train.
So, Professor, we still have about one minute before we need to wrap up.
So very briefly, I mean, commenting on Trump administration's latest decision here, California Governor Mr. Newsom says Trump is handing China the future.
Do you think high speed railway is one dimension for the future China -U .S. competition?
I would say China has its future anyway.
We don't need to have Mr. Trump to give us future.
And Mr. Newsom may be too pessimistic that the U .S. would anyway have a future with or without the trend and with or without Mr. Trump.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Professor Shen Dingli joining us from the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University.
That's all the time for this edition of World Today.
A quick recap of today's headline news.
China has rejected NATO's warning of U .S. sanctions over Ukraine war.
Israel launches heavy strikes on Syria vowing to defend Jews' minorities.
And as we have just talked about with Professor Shen Dingli from Fudan University, the Donald Trump administration has piled $4 billion in terms of federal funding for California's bullet train project.
To listen to this episode again or to catch up on our previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching World Today.
I'm Dinghan in Beijing.
Thank you so much for listening.
Bye for now.
