CGTN: Father’s Day: Three ‘treasures’ Xi Jinping gets from his father

BEIJING, July 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Falling on the third Sunday of June, Father’s Day will be celebrated on June 20 this year.

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Fathers always have a great influence on their children – the same applies to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

There are at least three characteristics that Xi has inherited from his father Xi Zhongxun (1913-2002), a leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state.

People-oriented philosophy

Many Chinese leaders started their careers from the grassroots, going through the difficulties ordinary people face and understanding the people’s needs, which lays a solid foundation for their practical and people-oriented approach in formulating national policies.

The people-oriented philosophy is one of the most important treasures Xi Jinping got from his father, who believed that officials and the masses are equal and they must always live among the people.

The father once told his boy: “No matter what your job title is, serve the people diligently, consider the interests of the people with all your heart, maintain close ties with the people, and always stay approachable to the people.”

Adhering to the path of “serving the people,” Xi Jinping visited China’s 14 contiguous areas of extreme poverty after becoming general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in November 2012. He went to villages and households, and told communities that he is just “a servant of the people.”

During his domestic inspection tours, Xi Jinping always chatted with the locals, cared about their daily life and stressed the responsibilities of serving the people with other officials.

The Party has won the people’s wholehearted support because it has always served the people with heart and soul and striven for the well-being of all ethnic groups, Xi has said on many occasions.

Down-to-earth approach

Inheriting his father’s down-to-earth approach, Xi Jinping visited all the villages in Zhengding, Hebei Province during his tenure of county Party chief in the 1980s. Then in Ningde, Fujian, he visited nine counties within the first three months as secretary of the CPC Ningde Prefectural Committee, and traveled to most townships later on.

After he was transferred to east China’s Zhejiang Province in 2002, he visited all 90 counties in over a year. During his brief tenure in Shanghai in 2007, he visited all its 19 districts and counties in seven months.

The formulation of the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for Economic and Social Development and future targets for 2035 also reflected Xi Jinping’s adherence to investigation and research.

By convening and presiding over a number of symposiums, he listened to opinions and advices on the country’s economic and social development in the plan period from all walks of life.

Living a simple life

The Xi’s has a tradition of being strict with children and living a simple life. Xi Zhongxun believed if a senior Party official wanted to discipline others, he should begin first with himself and his family.

Xi Jinping and his younger brother used to wear clothes and shoes from their elder sisters. After Xi Jinping became a leading official, his mother called a family meeting to ban the siblings from engaging in business where Xi Jinping worked.

Xi Jinping has carried on his family’s tradition and been strict with his family members. Wherever he worked, he told them not to do business there or do anything in his name, or else he “would be ruthless.” Whether in Fujian, Zhejiang or Shanghai, he pledged at official meetings that no one was allowed to seek personal benefit using his name and welcomed supervision in this regard.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-06-19/Father-s-Day-Three-treasures-Xi-Jinping-gets-from-his-father-11dOYnkTNYc/index.html

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1537072/Xi_Jinping_Xi_Zhongxun.jpg

 

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi Boosts Tourism Recovery with Sojern’s Co-Op Marketing Solution

DCT Abu Dhabi has successfully navigated the challenges of COVID-19 to help hotels in the emirate drive direct domestic bookings

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Sojern, a leading provider of digital marketing solutions for travel, today announced an extension of their partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) to drive further traveller demand into the Emirate using its Co-Op Marketing Programme. Following a successful pilot of the joint marketing programme, which has reached more than 3 million people so far, Abu Dhabi hotels have been able to increase direct bookings through a highly targeted, digital display and social media advertising campaign.

Logo, no tagline

The hospitality industry has been heavily impacted by the pandemic but DCT Abu Dhabi has worked closely with the UAE government to launch a series of stimulus initiatives to support the recovery of the tourism industry.

“We were looking for ways to support the hospitality industry and navigate the economic challenges presented by the pandemic, and the partnership with Sojern helps us do just that, by supporting hotels in Abu Dhabi to drive direct bookings and improve room profitability,” said HE Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, Executive Director of Tourism and Marketing at DCT Abu Dhabi. “DCT Abu Dhabi is committed to collaborative efforts between the private and public sectors within the local tourism industry to continuously support and drive tourism growth to the capital. Our efforts are aligned with the overall strategic objectives and vision — to support the evolution of Abu Dhabi into a world-class destination, while also reinforcing the capital’s position as a forward-thinking tourism destination.”

Sojern’s Co-Op Marketing Programme is designed to help Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) and their partners increase the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives through collaboration, and drive revenue for the travel industry, at scale.

“Hotels in Abu Dhabi were looking to improve their direct booking volumes and reduce commission from Online Travel Agencies through these challenging times,” said Stewart Smith, MD of MEA at Sojern. “As such, we are delighted to have worked with DCT Abu Dhabi, hotel partners, and Spark Foundry to design, build and deliver successful campaigns.”

The Q1 pilot program with DCT Abu Dhabi is a prime example of DMOs and their partner organisations combining resources to directly reach customers with multichannel digital advertising strategies across video, display, native, Facebook and Instagram.

Because of its success, DCT Abu Dhabi has expanded the partnership with Sojern through to the end of 2021 including rolling out the initiative to all eligible hotels in the city. This second phase will further support properties across Abu Dhabi and aims to attract incremental direct bookings from both domestic and international tourists for the rest of 2021.

About Sojern
Sojern is a leading digital marketing platform built for travel marketers. Powered by artificial intelligence and traveler intent data, Sojern provides multi-channel marketing solutions to drive direct demand. 10,000 hotels, attractions, tourism boards and travel marketers rely on Sojern annually to engage and convert travelers around the world.

About the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi:
The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) drives the sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism sectors, fuels economic progress and helps achieve Abu Dhabi’s wider global ambitions. By working in partnership with the organisations that define the Emirate’s position as a leading international destination, DCT Abu Dhabi strives to unite the ecosystem around a shared vision of the Emirate’s potential, coordinate effort and investment, deliver innovative solutions, and use the best tools, policies and systems to support the culture and tourism industries.

DCT Abu Dhabi’s vision is defined by the Emirate’s people, heritage and landscape. We work to enhance Abu Dhabi’s status as a place of authenticity, innovation, and unparalleled experiences, represented by its living traditions of hospitality, pioneering initiatives and creative thought. 

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/249299/sojern_logo.jpg

CGTN: Shenzhou-12 astronauts become first Chinese to enter a space station

BEIJING, June 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Three Chinese astronauts entered their country’s space station during the Shenzhou-12 mission, ending the history of no Chinese in space stations.

The trio, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, entered the space station’s core module “Tianhe” from the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft launched on Thursday, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

This came more than 20 years after the International Space Station (ISS) was launched, which does not allow Chinese astronauts to be onboard because of a U.S. law banning the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from working with their Chinese counterparts.

As the ISS is retiring and Russia has decided to pull from the project, China has stood out to build a new space station and is inviting global cooperation.

The China space station, orbiting the Earth at a height of about 400 kilometers, is still under construction, as eight more missions including three manned ones are still being prepared.

Currently the station is composed of a core module named Tianhe, a supply ship Tianzhou-2 and the Shenzhou-12, which docked with the space station less than three hours before the entering.

Astronaut, cosmonaut or taikonaut?

Some Chinese are so proud of the latest achievements that they revived the topic of how to name people in space.

The naming problem emerged in the Cold War, when Soviet Union named their space heroes “cosmonauts” while the U.S. called theirs “astronaut.”

Later, the word “taikonaut” was coined using the Mandarin equivalent of the word space – taikong – and the common suffix “-naut”.

Oxford and Longman dictionaries listed the word taikonaut and said it means a Chinese astronaut.

The next steps

Now the three astronauts are unpacking the supplies on Tianzhou-2, setting up Wi-Fi connections and other equipment on the space station.

They will live in the station for at least three months and conduct various technology test and science experiments, during which spacewalks involving robot arms will also be performed.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-06-17/Shenzhou-12-astronauts-enter-space-station-core-module-11aD1mmDQ1a/index.html

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QINRV_S-Pkk

UAE suspends flights from Liberia, Sierra Leon, Namibia

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) have announced the suspension of all inbound flights for national and international carriers coming from Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Namibia, effective 23:59 on Monday, June 21st.

The travel suspension includes inbound transit passengers with the exception of transit flights coming to the UAE and heading to these countries, the GCAA said in a statement on Saturday.

The GCAA indicated that it is required for those coming from Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Namibia through other countries that the period of their stay in the latter countries is not less than 14 days to be allowed access to the UAE.

Cargo flights between these countries and the UAE will continue, as usual, the statement added.

The GCAA affirmed that UAE nationals, their first-degree relatives, diplomatic missions between the UAE and the three countries, official delegations, businessmen’s planes -after getting prior approvals- and golden and silver residency permit holders, in addition to the holders of essential jobs according to the classification of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) and the staffs of UAE embassies in the three countries are excluded from this decision, provided that they should take preventive measures that include a mandatory 10-day quarantine and a PCR test at the airport as well as another test on the fourth and eighth days of entering the country.

According to the decision, the period of the required PCR test is reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours, provided that the tests are issued by accredited laboratories and carrying the QR Code.

This comes in response to the proactive precautionary and preventive health measures issued by all authorities concerned in the country to limit the spread of the COVID pandemic-19, the statement added.

The authority called on all travellers affected by the decision to follow up and communicate with the airlines to amend and schedule their flights and to ensure their safe return to their final destinations without any delay or other obligations.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation

Qatar’s Ambassador to Mexico: World Cup Facilities Are 90% Ready

HE Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the United Mexican States Mohammed bin Jassim Al Kuwari stated that about 90 percent of the facilities for the World Cup Qatar 2022 are ready.

In an interview with Fox Sport, he pointed out that the State of Qatar continues to host the most important sporting events, which is useful for testing the stadiums and infrastructure before the big event, stating that the World Cup Qatar will be characterized by the use of sustainable energy, ease of movement and the ability to watch two matches per day.

In another interview with France 24, His Excellency affirmed that the State of Qatar is proceeding with a comprehensive reform to promote and protect the rights of workers, noting that the last period witnessed a remarkable development in the promotion and protection of the rights of expatriate workers to Qatar.

He referred to the abolition of the sponsorship system and its replacement with a contractual system, the abolition of legal restrictions related to changing jobs, and the enactment of a law setting a minimum wage, explaining that the International Labor Organization (ILO) has stated that with the entry into force of these legislations, Qatar will become a model for the region regarding the rights of migrant workers.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs