Global observers hail Xi's New Year Address highlighting China's modernization drive, int'l cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping's New Year Address demonstrated China's confidence in promoting high-quality development and its commitment to working hand in hand with other countries for shared prosperity, according to observers around the world.

In recent interviews with China Media Group (CMG), they praised China's achievements in various fields over the past year, emphasizing that these accomplishments will also benefit other countries, particularly those in the Global South.

"My main impression of the New Year Address from Distinguished President of China Xi Jinping is his confidence in tomorrow. Under his leadership, China has made remarkable achievements. Its GDP has exceeded 130 trillion yuan (about 17.8 trillion US dollars), its grain output has exceeded 700 million tons, achieving self-sufficiency. The urbanization process is advancing, the rural areas are developing, and the green energy industry is also growing rapidly. We must also mention China's achievements in aerospace, automobile manufacturing, especially electric vehicle production, as well as automation and artificial intelligence. These changes achieved in 2024 are ones we have witnessed with our own eyes," said Igor Chernyak, first deputy editor-in-chief of Russia's state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

"President Xi Jinping's New Year Address left a deep impression on me. In 2024, China comprehensively deepened reforms and pursued opening up to the outside world at a high level. China's economy continued to recover and improve, allowing the Chinese people to live happy and peaceful lives. The industrial chain and supply chain cooperation brought about by the development of China's new quality productive forces allowed Chinese-style modernization to benefit the Global South," said Wirun Phichaiwongphakdee, director of the Thailand-China Research Center for the Belt and Road Initiative.

Other observers said that President Xi's New Year message once again injected positive energy into the world as he called once again for cooperation among nations to advance peaceful development.

"I'm particularly impressed in President Xi's speech on the areas of cooperation with Global South and with Africa. In the last ten years or more, China has been promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, with critical infrastructure to expand our economy. And in trying to be a force for good, China is also calling for a just and more equitable global order," said Temitope Ajayi, senior special assistant to the Nigerian President on Media and Publicity.

"In his New Year Address, President Xi stressed the importance and significance of cooperation. China expressed its willingness to maintain closer relations with countries in the Southern Hemisphere in order to achieve cooperation and continue promoting Belt and Road cooperation. This is also important for Hungary, as it was one of the first countries to join the Belt and Road Initiative," said Judit Eva Nagy, president of the Hungarian-Chinese Friendship Association.

"If you heard what Xi Jinping said, he was talking about mutual cooperation under which African countries will be regarded as equal partners in the development. So, I don't think if there is any doubt with African countries on the promises that Xi Jinping declared in that summit," said Mogha Anelwike, a Tanzanian scholar.

Global observers hail Xi's New Year Address highlighting China's modernization drive, int'l cooperation

Global observers hail Xi's New Year Address highlighting China's modernization drive, int'l cooperation

A Brazilian national who was deported by the United States in January this year recounted the discriminatory and inhumane treatment he encountered during the repatriation in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).

Jefferson Faustino was among the 88 deported Brazilians sent by a charter flight from the U.S. to Manaus, a city in northern Brazil, on Jan 24.

During dozens of hours of flight, they were handcuffed, shackled, and denied food and bathroom, and they almost lost their lives to an air conditioning fault, according to Faustino.

"They gave us water in very small bottles on the plane. And I couldn't drink it, because my hands were cuffed to the waist chain. So I had to bend down hard and squash the bottle to spray water into my mouth, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to reach the water at all. Even by doing so, I couldn't get water. When I squeeze the bottle, the water sprayed out and soaked me all over. In the 48 hours of repatriation, they distributed food only one time. It was a spoiled sandwich. The sandwich they gave turned purplish color. I was starving. What could I do? I had to eat," Faustino said.

"In the 48 hours of repatriation, they distributed food only one time. It was a spoiled sandwich. The sandwich they gave me was purple. I was starving. What could I do? I had to eat," he added.

Meanwhile, the American crew enjoyed fresh food and water, Faustino told CCTV.

"No, they had very good food. Every meal, they went over there to heat up box lunches and drink water. The cabin cabinets were full of lunch boxes, full of food, but they didn't give us that food," he said.

The Brazilian deportees protested the unfair treatment and asked for the food and water, but they were not given a response, because of the language barrier, Faustino recalled.

"Yes, we asked. We spoke loudly to them, but the crew didn't speak Portuguese or Spanish, only English. It's a humiliation to us the Brazilians, because we didn't have food and couldn't use the bathroom. The children were crying," he said.

After the plane arrived in Manaus, the air conditioning system broke down and the crew got off the plane, leaving the deportees suffocating in the enclosure.

"People couldn't breathe. The cabin was out of air. I managed to open an emergency exit door and shouted to the police: 'Help! Help! Help!' I yelled for help, asking them to come and save us, because I thought I was dying, I was dying," Faustino said.

The Brazilian government deemed this treatment "degrading" and "unacceptable", with the country's foreign ministry summoning the charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy to request an explanation over the issue on Jan 26.

"The U.S. government should be held accountable. Why didn't they train these people responsible for transporting deportees. Since the Trump administration came to power, it has created conflicts in American society and adopted policies that are completely against democracy and public opinion, disrupting relations between the U.S. and its economic and political partners," said Rinaldo Leal, a Brazilian lawyer.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed on his inauguration day an executive order that called for mass deportations of undocumented migrants. Since then, raids and deportations of undocumented migrants, especially those from Latin America, have continued to ramp up.

Brazilian deportee recounts inhumane treatment during flight from US

Brazilian deportee recounts inhumane treatment during flight from US