NEW ERA FOR A POWERFUL CHINA AND NEW JOURNEY OF REFORM： INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOCUSING ON TWO SESSIONS IN 2018 FROM FIVE PERSPECTIVES

The term of office shifting National two sessions in 2018, the First Session of the 13th National People＇s Congress （NPC） and the First Session of the National Committee of Chinese People＇s Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） were held at a new historical juncture for China＇s development. It was described by the international public opinions as ＂the first two sessions since the 19th Communist Party of China（CPC） National Congress declaring China＇s entry into a new era＂, marking ＂the most important moment for China in 2o18＂ and having extraor- dinary significance and far-reaching impact.

China Promotes International Human Rights with the International Community

The first Beijing Forum on Human Rights was held by the China Society for Human Rights Studies（CSHRS） from April 21-23,2008. Following is the speech made by Wang Chen, Minister of the State Council Information Office of the People＇s Republic of China at the opening ceremony on April 21.

Views on Piracy： Threats to International Peace

The study was conducted to ascertain the views on piracy among marine engineering students and marine officers who had encountered piracy on international waters thereby suggesting threats to international peace. The respondents of the study were 50, specifically distributed to thirty （30） onboard marine engineering students enrolled for the current school year 2014-2015 and twenty （20） marine officers who had experienced piracy at Somalia and other places. The researchers employed quantitative-qualitative research method design. The questionnaire on ＂Piracy at Sea＂ was validated by experts in research, statistics, qualitative research, and maritime international conventions. To test the reliability, this same instrument was pilot-tested among marine officers and students who had been on board international ships. Qualitative data were captured through interviews by using open-ended questions. Frequency count, percentage, and rank were used in this study for descriptive-quantitative statistics. The data were analyzed using appropriate statistics through computer-processed software （SPSS）. Qualitative analysis was employed to determine the views of the respondents on piracy so that mitigation measures were elicited for protection of life at sea leading towards international peace among identified HRAs （high-risk areas）. Results revealed that seafarers were familiar of piracy. They were aware that piracy usually happens in areas like Somalia water sand other threatening territories. To combat piracy, the participants have pointed out the role of the international community in their concerted effort to help seafarers safeguard their lives specifically during these hard times. Somalia also needs to effectively check their organization by whether or not strict implementation of the Anti Piracy Law was being observed. Full knowledge of piracy, techniques for avoiding it, and surviving pirate attacks are necessary among seafarers. Satellite system called shiplock allows shipping companies to monitor location of ships particularly useful during pirate attacks, hijacks, or ship theft. They also install non-lethal electrical fences around a ship＇s perimeter to protect them during these times. IMO regulations require ships to send distress signals and warnings covertly in case of pirate attacks.

Landscape Pattern Analysis of International Livable Communities Based on Satellite Images of Wenjiang District, Chengdu City

This paper used Google Earth satellite maps of Wenjiang District, Chengdu City in 2008, 2012 and 2015 as basic data sources, and field investigation data in recent years, and employed Photoshop and Auto CAD to analyze landscape pattern of urban and suburban areas of Wenjiang District—the international livable communities. The results showed that urban forest patches accounted for the absolute dominance in the study area, the overall landscape fragmentation index in 2008 was 0.0054, landscape diversity index 1.3603, landscape dominance index 0.2937, and evenness index 0.8452. From 2008 to 2012, patch density index reduced by 7.04, landscape fragmentation index increased by 0.0014, diversity index reduced by 0.043, evenness index reduced by 0.0269, landscape dominance index increased by 0.0027. From 2012 to 2015, patch density index increased by 1.22, landscape fragmentation index kept stable, diversity index reduced by 0.024, evenness index reduced by 0.0149, landscape dominance index increased by 0.0196. Through analyzing quantitative indexes of urban landscape pattern, and exploring basic features of the international livable communities from the perspective of landscape eco-pattern, this paper put forward suggestions for city management and green space system protection of Wenjiang as the references for the future researches on maintenance and operation of landscape eco-pattern.

A Community of Shared Future for Mankind——The Contemporary Development of the Social Foundations Theory of International Law

In the traditional understanding,the social basis of the emergence and existence of international law can be summed up as an international society in which interstate conflict and cooperation and interests and contradictions coexist.In recent years,the term“international community”has been widely used in national practice and academic discourse.Many scholars believe that the development of interstate relations indicates that the international community is being transformed into a global international community.The concept of“a community of shared future for mankind”reflects China’s new understanding of the social foundations of international law.It introduces Chinese traditional culture into global governance,develops Marxist theory on the community,is concerned both for mankind as a whole and for individuals,highlights the ultimate issues of the international community,and emphasizes the international community’s union of diversity and interdependence.The idea of“a community of shared future for mankind”is of great significance for the theory and practice of international law;it reflects the emergence of methodological holism,the response of international law to the questioning of its legitimacy,and the trend toward hierarchical systematization in international law.The concept of“a community of shared future for mankind”is of great value to China’s participation in the reform of the global governance system.It will help promote appreciation of the relations between China and the world,enhance China’s international discourse power and discourse force,and promote the rule of law in international relations that China advocates.

Development from Right to Interfere to Responsibility to Protect

Right to interfere applies to circumstances where human rights abuses occur. It did function well in early years, however, as time goes by, some defects emerge and introducing a new theory to protect humarL rights conditions is necessary. Responsibility to protect evolves from right to interfere and overcomes the deficiencies inherent in its predecessor. But responsibility to protect is not a perfect system, and to improve it, some measures such as establishing a performance evaluation mechanism should be adopted.

The Contemporary Construction of Chinese International Law Discourse

The contemporary construction of Chinese international law discourse, on the one hand, ought to precisely, systematically and completely express and communicate fundamental principles, main regimes and substantial features of international law as well as core values, basic conceptions, key terms, mainstream theories or doctrines and representative views gradually established and developed in the study of international law; on the other hand, it should fully and in a timely way manifest China＇s creative contributions to international law and its discipline and discourse. The framework of contemporary Chinese international law discourse should take ＂building a harmonious world＂ as the guiding rationale; thoroughly cover the four basic dimensions of the international rule of law and Chinese foreign policy and its practice, namely domestic, multilateral, regional and bilateral; coincide with, follow and respect those rules, natural laws and tendencies such as fundamental rules governing international relations, globalization, multilateralism, regional integration and regionalism, the international community＇s obligations （or rights） and China＇s needs for peaceful development. It should orient its basic functions toward promoting the continuous development and wide application of contemporary international law as well as its teaching, study and dissemination, stimulating the progress of the rule of law in China, protecting Chinese interests, especially those core national interests, and strengthening China＇s international image and status as a responsible big country.

Scientific Explanation of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy

In order to enhance the international community to learn and understand China’s development,the State Council Information Office published the White Paper on China and the World in the New Era,surrounding the new position judgments given on the present era,the new orientation pointed out for the future development of human society,and the new path planned for the current state to state relations by President Xi Jinping,comprehensively and systematically responds to major issues the world has very much concerned such as what kind of world China pushes to build,how China will work with the world as it gets more developed,…

Negotiations and Inclusiveness Should Be the Common Choice of Both China and the United States

The international community is always the unity of opposites full of differences and disputes,and filled with frictions and conflicts.Human history,in the final analysis,is a complex process heading to the future in the unity of opposites.As the main contradiction and outstanding problem in international affairs,the relationship between powers,especially the relationship between major powers will greatly affect and restrict the occurrence and development of other various contradictions in the world,and to a large extent determine the ups and downs of international relations and the changing direction of the world strategic architecture.

Appraisal of the Production-Oriented Approach： An Introduction

The production-oriented approach （POA） has been developed over a decade. It is driven by the need to improve English classroom instruction for university students in China （Wen, 2016）. It is also motivated by the aspiration to enhance the quality of foreign language education in other similar pedagogical contexts outside China. A volume of research has been done by Wen Qiufang and her research team, to formulate the theory of POA and to test its effectiveness in classroom pedagogy （e.g. Wen, 2016, 2015; Yang, 2015; Zhang, 2015）. At the moment, the POA is still at an early stage of theory building and almost all empirical research is done in the Chinese context. In order to improve the quality of this theory and to make it intelligible to the international academic community, a one-day symposium was held in Beijing Foreign Studies University on May 15, 2017. The symposium was entitled ＇The first international forum on innovative foreign language education in China： Appraisal of the POA＇. In the forum, leading experts in applied linguistics were invited to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the POA and the directions for its future development. The symposium was the first attempt for the POA research team to discuss its latest work with international scholars. This Viewpoint section collects the responses of four experts who participated in the symposium, listed in alphabetical order. The collection of articles covers three topics related to the POA： its pedagogical application, its use for teacher training, and its research. Alister Cumming is Professor Emeritus and the former Head of the Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies, University of Toronto, Canada. His article focuses primarily on POA research as an exemplary case of design-based research. Rod Ellis is Research Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University, Australia. He discusses POA in terms of pedagogy, teacher training and research, with both critiques and constructive suggestions. Paul Kei Matsuda is Professor of English and Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University, the writed states. He responds to POA from the perspective of an expert researcher and teacher of L2 writing. Charlene Polio is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Linguistics ＆ Germanic, Slavic, Asian ＆ African Languages atMichigan State University, the writed states. She conceptualises POA as a useful method to address some issues in pre-service teacher development. Overall, the articles in this section are insightful and reader-friendly. They are not only useful for the development of POA in particular, but may also be valuable to a broad range of researchers as they touch upon pertaining issues, as well as emerging topics, in the field of applied linguistics. We therefore find it necessary to make them accessible to a wide readership.