CMG-hosted dialogue in US explores global opportunities in China's reform, modernization

China Media Group (CMG) hosted a forum in New York on Monday, featuring nearly 100 guests from American think tanks, business, and academic circles for in-depth exchanges on global opportunities arising from China's deepening reform and modernization.

Themed "Global Opportunities in Deepening China's Reform in the New Era," the event was held to share insights on the just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing.

Guests unanimously agreed that the third plenary session will make strategic deployment on deepening reform further across the board and advancing Chinese modernization, while bringing greater certainty to a world fraught with turbulence and change.

"China's economy is getting close to 20 percent of the world GDP, so anything that happens in China economically affects the world. China has made a very big effort to engage with the world through various initiatives, the Belt and Road Initiative is the most well-known, dealing with building infrastructure, then the Global Development Initiative, which builds upon that and brings benefit to lots of developing countries in areas of education, healthcare," said Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation.

"If we are to become again a major industrial power, and most of the people in the country would like that to happen, it can only be done in cooperation with China, which right now is the motor for the world economy. And I think that's important, to get the message out of what happened at the third plenary (session) to the American people. I think is very important not only for China, but it's also important for America," said William Jones, former Washington Bureau chief of U.S. news magazine Executive Intelligence Review.

On Tuesday, reports on the dialogue in New York have been widely reposted by over 1,500 mainstream media outlets from 72 countries and regions worldwide, including the U.S., Britain, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and India.

In the near future, the event will continue to be held in various countries across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Eurasia.

CMG-hosted dialogue in US explores global opportunities in China's reform, modernization

CMG-hosted dialogue in US explores global opportunities in China's reform, modernization

Multiple handheld pager explosions struck Beirut and the southeastern and northeastern regions of Lebanon on Tuesday, leading to a temporary internet shutdown in the southern suburbs of the capital city, according to China Media Group (CMG) reporter Ci Xiaoning.

"I am currently at the entrance of a major hospital in Beirut, Lebanon's capital. Around 15:30 today, there were several explosions in the southern suburbs of Beirut. My Lebanese colleague, who lives very close to the area, experienced an immediate loss of internet connectivity. Reports have since confirmed that many handheld pagers were involved in the explosions," Ci reported outside a hospital in Beruit.

Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad confirmed that the explosions resulted in at least nine deaths and about 2,800 injuries, with approximately 200 people in critical condition. The injured are being transferred to hospitals.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it is conducting security and scientific investigations to identify the reasons behind these explosions, adding that the group is "at the highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon and its people."

In a separate statement, the Shiite group blamed Israel for "this criminal attack," vowing to retaliate.

The Lebanese Council of Ministers stressed that the government, shortly after the deadly explosions, began contacting the concerned countries and the United Nations to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Israel has yet to comment on Tuesday's blasts. According to media reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a security assessment meeting at the HaKirya military base in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to address the implications of the explosions.

CMG reporter says internet shutdown following deadly pager blasts in Lebanon