STOCKHOLM, Oct. 16(Greenpost) – With the coordination of the Sweden-China Entrepreneur Association, Shenzhen Civil Affairs Bureau Director General Liao Yuanfei led a delegation to visit an elderly center in Sweden on Tuesday.
The delegation first visited the Sweden-China Entrepreneur Association and Nordic Innovation Center.
With the company of Zhang Shaobin, President of Shenzhen Kong Wah Real Estate Group, Zhang Luping, Executive President of Sweden-China Entrepreneur Association and General Manager of Nordic Innovation Center, the delegation visited Taby Elderly Center and listened to a presentation by Kerstin Torkelsson, who is in charge of social affairs in Taby Municipality.
Torkelsson talked about how Swedish government and the elderly center take care of the elderly people and Swedish elderly care system.
After listening to the presentation, Director General Liao also invited the Swedish side to visit Shenzhen to exchange ideas and experiences. The delegation members also took a photo with the elderly people in the center.
Other members in the delegation are Mr. Wu Yuanxiang， Office Director, Civil Affairs Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality，Mr. Ma Li，Member of the Standing Committee under the District-Level Committee, Mr. Wen Shixiang，Director General of Longgang Branch, Civil Affairs Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality， Ms. Shen Ru，Vice Office Director, the Office of Working Committee on Aging of Shenzhen Municipality, Ms. Ma Jing，
President of Shenzhen Longhua Silver Industry Association and Mr. Xu Jinguang, Chairman of the Board, Shenzhen IMT Industry Group Company Limited. Ms Lisa Nilsson also accompanied the delegation to the Elderly center.
STOCKHOLM， Oct. 13(Greenpost)– The Arctic Environment Ministers’ meeting held in Rovaniemi 11-12 October ended with discussions about cooperation in addressing climate change, protecting biodiversity and preventing pollution in the Arctic region.
The two-day meeting brought together ministers and high-level representatives from the eight Arctic Council States and from six Permanent Participants representing the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. The Observer countries and organisations of the Arctic Council had also been invited.
Many participants noted with grave concern the rapid ongoing changes in the Arctic confirmed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Global Warming. The IPCC acknowledges that the Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the global average. Many countries presented their national actions, including plans to speed up the reductions of the greenhouse gas and black carbon emissions as well as reducing emissions through innovation. Observer states were invited to strengthen their actions to reduce black carbon emissions. The need to increase cooperation on adaptation in order to strengthen the resilience in changing climate was discussed.
Participants welcomed the Agreement to prevent unregulated commercial fishing on the High Seas of the Central Arctic Ocean signed on 3 October in Greenland. In order to strengthen ecosystem resilience in changing conditions, measures and mainstreaming are needed to promote ecosystem-based approaches to management, and conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; cooperation to develop a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in collaboration with indigenous peoples and reduce marine plastic litter was highlighted by many. It was noted that international cooperation is needed to address long-range pollution that ends up in the Arctic region, including new emerging contaminants. The need to strengthen and sustain Arctic monitoring and observations, and use the best available scientific and Indigenous knowledge was discussed.
“On behalf of Finland’s Chairmanship, I wish to thank the Member States, Permanent Participants and Working Groups of the Arctic Council for their valuable inputs in preparing for this meeting and what we have now achieved”, said the Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing, Mr. Kimmo Tiilikainen. Finland also announced its support for international and regional collaboration on reducing black carbon emissions. The preparation of the summary of the meeting by the Finnish Chairmanship will continue in cooperation with the Arctic States and Permanent Participants.
This was the first meeting of the Arctic Council Environment Ministers in five years. The outcome of the meeting will be shared with the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting to be held in May 2019 and contribute to future environmental cooperation of the Arctic Council.
STOCKHOLM, Oct. 12(Greenpost) — Nina Stemme, Birgit Nilsson Prize winner held a press conference today and said she was a coward when she was 10 or 11 years old because she wanted to be a musician then, but she dared not because she was afraid of failure.
Stemme is not only a great singer, she is almost a philosopher because her motto is Hurry slowly.
She is also a kind of linguist and speaks perfect English with perfect voice.
She told us about her childhood and about her experience in voice training. She said after all, it was she who should be on the stage in the end, so she must train herself hard and well.
STOCKHOLM, Oct. 12(Greenpost)– Swedish born top Soprano Nina Stemme received her Birgit Nilsson Prize from the hands of the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf in the Royal Opera House in Stockholm last night.
The Birgit Nilsson Prize press photo.
Queen Silvia and about 1000 guests including journalists attended the awarding ceremony. With the red carpet, many prominent figures wear beautiful dress attending the ceremony.
Queen Silvia, King Carl, Stemme and Reisch. press photo.
After the moving performance of Bryn Terfel of Wagner The Flying Dutchman and Birgitta Svenden’s Laudatio, Mary BEth Peil announced the prize presentation.
Internationally famous Stemme is in great demand worldwide. She is a frequent guest at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, Wiener Staatsoper, Opera Bastille in Paris and the Royal Opera Houses in London and Stockholm, to name just a few. As a dramatic soprano, Nina Stemme has continued the great tradition of Kirsten Flagstad and Birgit Nilsson.
She has been celebrated for her roles as Wagner’s Isolde, Brünnhilde and Kundry; Strauss’ Salome and Elektra; as well as Puccini’s Turandot and Fanciulla.
Having received many international awards over the years, Nina Stemme was recognized as the 2018 Birgit Nilsson Prize recipient for her interpretations of the dramatic soprano repertoire with her respect for the composer’s intentions, her tireless dedication to the dramatic soprano repertoire, and for being a great Wagnerian soprano of today.
The Birgit Nilsson Prize press photo.
Then Stemme received the prize from his Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf.
press photo. Domingo.
Placido Domingo, Birgit Nilsson Prize Recipient 2009 sent a video congratulation.
On Friday, Stemme met journalists at a press conference in the Royal Opera House in Stockholm again.
Nina Stemme at press conference. Photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson.
Answering a question by Greenpost.se, Stemme tells us about her childhood.
“I grew up in Stockholm, my parents got to study at university. As a child, I went to a choir in addition to school. I was good at school because I worked hard. I worked hard because I knew that if I worked hard, I can go where I like to go. But I was a coward, I wanted to learn opera when I was 10 or 11 years old, but I dare not because I was afraid of failure.” said Stemme.
She said she tried a little bit of everything, such as playing violin and piano, going to concerts and operas. But she was kind of well grounded in many ways, she even went to university to study business and economics, but later still music and opera took over.
She has performed in almost all the famous opera houses in the world and become a well-known singer.
But she insists on her philosophy of hurry slowly meaning that she would say no if she thinks the project is too soon or too big. She did what she promised but she would not promise if she couldn’t manage.
In giving advice to young people, she said it is all about music, but not just competition. It is just a test to see where you are.
Birgit’s costumes. Photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson.
Earlier the press was also taken to have a round of Birgit Nilsson’s museum.
It showed a lot of costumes Birgit Nilsson used to wear and how she started her career. Born in 1918, Birgit Nilsson came from Skane and she was able to sing very early.
With a strong mind, she said she was almost wanting to commit suicide when she first came to Stockholm and performed in the Opera House.
But later, she had carried out over 40 years of soprano career. Her husband was a business man and opened many restaurants. Before she came to the end of her career, she decided to establish the Birgit Nilsson Foundation to award those who made great contributions to classical music. She also left a will to give the first Birgit Nilsson prize to Placido Domingo who used to sing together with her. This will was carried out in 2009 when the first prize was issued.
Professor Reisch. Photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson.
Press photo.
Professor Rutbert Reisch, President of Birgit Nilsson Foundation hosted the press conference and he also spoke at the awarding ceremony.
STOCKHOLM, Oct. 3(Greenpost) — En Seminarium om Kinas medier : propaganda, kontrol och konkurrens hölls av SNS den 3 oktober i Stockholm.
Ett 50-tal personer med stort intresse för Kina samlade vid lunchtid i SNS, Studieförbundet Näringsliv och Samhälle, lokaler i centrala Stockholm.
Professor David Strömberg och journalist och författare Ola Wong var inbjudna att tala över temat: Kinas medier: propaganda, kontroll och konkurrens. Davids bidrag finns också som SNS analys rapport nr: 51, se https://www.sns.se/.
Några av de frågeställningar David Strömberg tog upp:
Hur har tidningar och sociala media utvecklats i Kina de senaste decennierna?
Vilken grad av regimtrogenhet ser vi i kinesiska tidningar och varför ser vi avvikelser?
Vilken roll har sociala medier i Kina och vilken betydelse har regimens censur?
Den metod David och hans forskargrupp använder är en automatiserad teknik att med hjälp av datorer gå igenom stora textmängder och mäta frekvens av väl valda nyckelord och ur detta bygga upp en förståelse. Textmaterialet har hämtats från:
Tidningsartiklar 1999-2010 från 117 tidningar lagrade digitalt WiseNews
Samtliga blogginlägg 2009-2013 på Weibu ca 13,2 miljarder.
Vad är då resultaten av de här studierna?
Först och främst hade vi under åren 1990-2010 en stark utveckling av kinesiska media och antalet dagliga tidningar ökade från ca 200 till 1000 i hela landet. Detta ska jämföras med att i västvärlden haft en nedgång i antalet tidningar.
Under den studerade perioden kunde man se en ökad nivå av kritiskt granskande journalistik. Ett skäl till detta är att kineser i allmänhet, precis som vi i väst, är intresserad av att läsa granskande artiklar. Ur den analys av tidningsartiklar som gjorts kunde man ganska klart se ett samband mellan kritiskt granskande innehåll och bättre ekonomi för aktuell tidning. Alla tidningar är knutna på något sätt till kommunistpartiet och värnar förstås om parti-lojalitet men man har också ett behov av att tidningarna ska läsas av många och att tidningsutgivning ska generera vinst. Dessa delvis motstridiga mål och hur de hanteras är något som intresserade Davids forskargrupp speciellt. Mer finns att läsa i SNS rapporten tidigare nämnd.
Vidare skapades det sociala mediat Weibu 2009 som har likheter med Twitter och fick på några få år ett par hundra miljoner kineser att skriva bloggar. De första åren var det möjligt att ha blogg-konton helt anonymt vilket bidrog till populariteten. För några år sedan började myndigheterna inskränka möjligheterna att vara anonym på internet, men detta är inte infört i speciellt stor omfattning, så uppfattar David det.
Faktum är att sociala media har haft (och verkar fortfarande ha) en viktig funktion för att kanalisera viktig konstruktiv kritik för samhällsfunktioner trots utbredd censur. Ett skäl är att censuren sker på nationell nivå. På nationell politisk nivå är där ett intresse att få information om brister på regional och lokal nivå. Därför uppfattar man att sociala media kan fortsätta.
Tidningarna ägs och kontrolleras på regional och lokal nivå och där finns betydligt mindre intresse att sprida kritiska nyheter och därför är censuren här mycket starkare.
Ola Wong som bott och verkat i Kina under många år, men nu stationerad i Sverige, uppfattar att Davids beskrivning säkert väl speglar den tid som varit. Han har sett framväxten av allt bättre journalistik och många nya viktiga tidningar. Men där fanns också brister och flertal journalister avslöjades som korrupta och allmänhetens förtroende sjönk för tidningar under en period innan Xi Jiping kom till makten, enligt Ola.
På senare år har kinesiska medias möjligheter till kritisk journalistik begränsats väsentligt, enligt Ola Wong. Detta uppfattar han gäller både inhemska journalister och utrikeskorrespondenter. Ett mått på detta är ett index som Freedom House ställer samman för varje år över världens länder, se SNS rapport 51 tidigare nämnd. Pressfriheten i Kina bedöms nu vara tillbaka på samma nivåer som gällde 1990.
Seminariet avslutades med en längre frågestund och här ett axplock:
Det är inte planerat någon uppföljande studie av förändringarna i Kinas mediaklimat de senaste åren av David och hans forskargrupp.
Däremot jobbar de med att studera hur kritik av läkemedel i Kina kanaliseras i sociala medier och vilken betydelse det har för att förbättra situationen. Kina brottas med problem med undermåliga läkemedel och här är ett stort intresse både för den enskilde personen och för myndigheter på olika nivåer att komma till rätta med detta.
Flera frågor kretsade kring Kinas omfattande projekt kring ”medborgarbetyg”. Detta kan liknas vid vårt system kring kreditvärdighet som våra banker använder, men är betydligt mer omfattande. Detta system är fortfarande i sin linda men tester görs redan idag i större skala i vissa regioner.
Hur ställer sig då kineser till att bli ”övervakade” på det här sättet? En norsk studie visar att på en arbetsplats är kineser minst lika avogt inställda till övervakning, om inte mer, än vi i väst. Samtidigt är det så att den allmänna uppfattningen är att det är lätt att bli lurad i olika sammanhang, inte minst i affärer. Det publika medborgarbetyget ger då möjlighet till större transparens och ökat förtroende människor emellan.
Vi ser i hanteringen av privat information en stor skillnad där vi i Europa nyligen infört GDPR med stark betoning på den personliga integriteten.
En frågeställning som vi bara nuddade vid är att i väst har vi en växande medvetenhet om medias fokus på det “exceptionella” som ofta är negativa nyheter medan förståelse för de “långsamma positiva skeenden” i världen inte rapporteras på samma sätt. En namnkunnig kritiker är den framlidne professorn Hans Rossling med sin bok Factfullness, se https://www.gapminder.org
Slutsatsningen är att det finns stor skillnader mellan kinesiska och sveriges medier, men i kina ny media spelade mycket större roll i samhälle och ibland det hjälper ordinarie människör så att deras röstar kan höras.
The continuing acidification of the Arctic Ocean is projected to have significant ecological and socio‐economic impacts over coming decades, with consequences both for local communities and globally. This is the overarching finding of the 2018 Arctic Ocean Acidification Assessment, presented today at the 2018 Arctic Biodiversity Congress. The assessment, conducted by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) of the Arctic Council, updates a 2013 assessment, and presents the chemical, biological and socio‐economic impacts of ocean acidification, which is driven primarily by global greenhouse gas emissions. Increasingly acidic ocean conditions can affect marine organisms in a variety of ways. Some may experience altered growth, development or behavior if exposed to low pH at certain life stages. Others may experience indirect effects, such as changes in their food web structures or predator–prey relationships. Falling ocean pH levels – which are changing most quickly in the Arctic – are acting in tandem with other environmental stressors, such as rising air and sea temperatures, to drive significant changes in marine ecosystems, with impacts on the communities that depend upon them. While some organisms will benefit and others will suffer negative effects, we can expect a complex array of impacts on marine ecosystems. To better understand the socio‐ economic consequences of these impacts, AMAP commissioned a series of regionally focused case studies to examine how shifts in ocean chemistry may affect valuable ocean resources and northern economies. The assessment presented the findings from five case studies: Norwegian kelp and sea urchins: This study modeled how ocean acidification and warming might impact yields of sea urchins, of which there are large and currently unexploited stocks off the coast of northern Norway. The model simulations found that harvest yields declined sevenfold over the next 30 years, with warmer sea temperatures as the main driver, but with effects exacerbated by acidification. Barents Sea cod: The case study developed a model to examine the combined effects of fishing, warming, and acidification on cod, which has been a commercially important fishery for centuries. It found that ocean acidification greatly increases the risk of the collapse of the fishery compared with the risk it faces from ocean warming alone. Greenland shrimp fishery: Shrimp accounts for between one third and a half of the value of Greenland’s fisheries. This study involved building a bio‐economic model to better understand how the fishery might respond to acidification and other environmental stressors, and the socio‐economic implications of those changes. It showed that uncertainty at all stages of analysis, from the rate of acidification, to its biological, ecological and economic impacts, meant such modeling is of limited value. Nonetheless, it illustrates that actions can be taken to better manage stocks and build community resilience in the face of uncertainty. Alaska’s fishery sector: Researchers developed an index to measure risk faced by different regions within Alaska from ocean acidification, the first time such an exercise has been conducted focused on a high‐latitude region such as the US state. It found uneven impacts, with southern Alaska facing the greater risk, due to its dependence on susceptible species, forecast rapid changes in chemical conditions in the region, and its low levels of socio‐economic resilience. Arctic cod in Western Canadian Arctic: While it is not commercially fished, Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida, also termed polar cod) is a key forage species for the food web that supports the region’s Indigenous communities, and there is already evidence of its distribution shifting northwards as the ocean rapidly warms. Modeling and analysis tools were combined with observations to identify the potential effects of climate change and ocean acidification, finding they will likely cause significant changes in species composition in the region. Overall, the case studies show that effects of acidification, in combination with other stressors, are highly uncertain. This uncertainty underscores the urgent need for increased monitoring in the region, and for research that looks at the effects on species of a number of environmental stressors acting in combination. It is not only ecosystems and societies in the Arctic that are set to be impacted by ocean acidification in the region. The assessment also reviewed evidence that low‐pH waters are being exported to shelf regions of the North Atlantic, which are biologically productive and support important commercial fisheries. ENDS
10月16日，国家主席习近平在北京人民大会堂同挪威国王哈拉尔五世举行会谈。这是习近平和夫人彭丽媛同哈拉尔五世和宋雅王后合影。 新华社记者 李学仁 摄
10月16日，国家主席习近平在北京人民大会堂同挪威国王哈拉尔五世举行会谈。这是会谈前，习近平在人民大会堂东门外广场为哈拉尔五世举行欢迎仪式。 新华社记者 刘卫兵 摄
