2021-08-05
Likes

Editor's Note: Under the theme of “Challenge and Change”, the second English writing contest of SCNU has come to a close with over 280 articles from 28 schools and colleges. We recognize all prize winners for their excellent performance. Awarded winners have been announced (see results), and all winning articles will be published in this column.

-------

By Yuan Xiaotong

As Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  The same is true of today's world. Most citizens live in the rapidly developing modern society and enjoy their comfortable life day in and day out. However, truths under the surface of happiness are severe challenges. This epoch is named by the entire world as a great change as hasn't been seen in a century. From here we can apparently see that there are countless challenges in the cause of the development path of the world. And these severe challenges are urging our timely changes.

Take our country as an example. While becoming stronger and stronger, China is facing a big challenge - the deteriorating relationship with America. Though we have been sparing no efforts to maintain a harmonious relationship with that superpower as usually, America's hostility towards China is still growing rapidly. Eventually, it erupted after Donald Trump became president of the United States.

The deterioration of the Sino-American relationship has brought quite a few challenges to China. First of all, the rise of China economically is formidable, however, it threatens the status of the United States at the same time. Therefore, Trump doled out many operations to sanction us. In 2018, Trump signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to 60 billion U.S. dollars of imports from China despite the strong opposition from trade experts and his professional team. This move is regarded as the symbol of the trade war between China and America. Earlier in 2019, Huawei was added to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security's so-called Entity List. Subsequently, in 2020, Trump even tried to prohibit Tiktok and Wechat. All these farces have merely one simple purpose - to prevent China’s development.

There is one more challenge to our global reputation. The outbreak of the infectious disease Covid-19 surprised the whole world. Nevertheless, China took resolute and timely measures to prevent the spread of the disease and controlled the situation in our homeland successfully. Besides, our government also lent a helping hand to other countries. But in Trump's words, this virus was turned into "Chinese virus". Trump went out of his way to make up a rumor that the virus came from China, and it generally became the United States version of propaganda.

All these challenges above are urging our effective changes. When it comes to the trade war, though we hold the firm notion that the actions undertaken by the U.S. are self-defeating, we still need to make some adjustments. The US sanctions toward Huawei sounded the alarming bell for us. Innovation is one of the most essential elements in international competition. Science and technology will always be our trump cards when facing the challenges of other superpowers. From now on, our country must take innovation as the first priority and vigorously promote the development of science and technology. Grasp the core technology in communication as soon as possible.

image.png

Canton tower-The landmark of Guangzhou, a developed city of China

What's more, China must take external publicity into serious consideration. Focus on establishing our official social media so that we can publicize the excellent deeds of China. In addition, we also need to keep our friendly attitude towards other countries for the sake of shaping our image as a superpower. For such shameless behaviour as that of Trump, we don’t need to change our own character. What we should do is stop the spread of rumors. As everyone knows, modesty and tolerance are Chinese traditional virtues. But this time, we should take the initiative to fight for our voice in the international community.

Generally speaking, the challenges are not worth being afraid of. Whether we can win totally depends on whether we can make changes. This developing world is always challenging us, and change will also become the eternal theme of the times. 


What to read next:

My story with plant biology
Curiosity toward the amazing microcosm of the natural world has intrigued me for years and drives me to expand my knowledge of the molecules
A Gift in Disguise
Sometimes a gift does not mean good luck as it may come in the form of misfortune
Meet a wider world at UBC
I’ll never forget the time I’ve spent at UBC in the summer of 2019 I woke up with excitement every day, expe
Chase that Light
I can see the affection and passion for teaching in his eyes And that’s what I see as light
Seasons at SCNU
When I look back on my college life, I am so grateful that I ve spend many wonderful days at SCNU
The Stars of SCNU
They are all the stars of SCNU, leading me to keep on and work harder whenever I was confused and lost at sea
My first competition experience
Thanks to SCNU, I ve got such a precious opportunity to show my abilities and practiced my teaching skills in front of so many people
Be a better me at SFS
We make choices all the time The reason why I chose to further my study after all three years of work become more clear to me now
Volunteer in Bali in an orphanage
The time that I ve spent in Bali during the 2018 Chinese Spring Festival has became the most unforgettable and precious memory of my life
Three months into freshman year
I really want to thank SCNU for helping me to convert some of my bad habits into good ones within three months, and I am looking forward to seeing a better “me” in the future