The 2nd Belt and Road International Skills Competition (BRISC) will be held in southwest China's Chongqing municipality from June 24 to 26. The event will attract over 300 participants, referees, and related personnel from 60 countries and regions.
Co-hosted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the National Development and Reform Commission, the 2nd BRISC upholds the principles of 'Openness, Intelligence, Green Development, Safety, and Uniqueness.' The competition will feature 18 competition events, modeled after the World Skills Competition (WSC).
"Highlighting precise matching, the competition events of the 2nd BRISC include 11 world-class competition events and seven other events tailored to the industrial development demands of Belt and Road participating countries. Additionally, we have considered the industrial structures of China, particularly Chongqing, and the new quality productive forces to design these events. The seven tailored events are closely aligned with the realities of industrial technical development and the demands for nurturing technical talent," said Wang Xiaojun, deputy director general of the Department of Vocational Capacity Building under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
The 2nd BRISC will feature multiple formats and parallel activities to promote cooperation, project signing, and results transformation among BRI participating countries in skills exchanges and collaboration.
Chongqing to host 2nd Belt, Road International Skills Competition in June
Japan's ongoing push to revise its pacifist constitution and expand military buildup escalate regional tension, warned Japanese lawyer Kyoko Oe, who urged adherence to pacifism and vigilance against the government's dangerous moves.
Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office last October, the Japanese government has renewed its push to revise the country's pacifist constitution and accelerated a series of military expansion measures, including increasing defense spending, deploying long-range missiles, and easing restrictions on arms exports.
Speaking on the dangerous policy shifts, Oe criticized the Takaichi administration for bypassing public will.
"We believe that when Japanese citizens are not demanding constitutional reform, pushing it forward through a parliamentary majority clearly violates the principle of popular sovereignty and the obligation to respect the constitution. Moreover, the content of the revision itself is extremely dangerous. [The government] is attempting to change pacifist principles of the Japanese constitution -- the most fundamental part -- and abandon basic concepts, including the renunciation of war and not maintaining military forces," said Oe.
The Japanese government has aggressively accelerated war readiness even under the current constitution, said Oe, adding that amending it will grant the Self-Defense Forces even greater freedom of action at the constitutional level.
"If the constitution is amended, the Self-Defense Forces will gain greater freedom of action at the constitutional level than they have now, and legal interpretations will develop in that direction. Even while the current constitution remains effective, the Japanese government has already forcibly advanced war preparations. For example, manufacturing long-range missiles, which were previously considered unacceptable to possess, and deploying them domestically; conducting joint war games and military exercises with the United States; and massively manufacturing and exporting weapons overseas," said Oe.
The lawyer also criticized Takaichi's provocative remarks on China, saying they have sharply strained bilateral ties and undermined peace and stability in the region.
"We believe that due to Takaichi's remarks made last November, China-Japan relations have become very tense and are deteriorating. Legal experts believe that Takaichi's remarks contain multiple obvious errors. Takaichi should frankly retract the relevant remarks and apologize. Only by building mutual trust with neighboring countries can we maintain our peace, and the peace of East Asia and even the peace of Asia. We believe that what the Takaichi administration is doing runs completely counter to what the Japanese people truly wish to achieve," Oe said.
Japan's constitution revision, military buildup fuel regional tensions: lawyer
