Chongqing, as a cutting-edge center of innovation and development in southwest China, has become a popular destination for college-age visitors from Taiwan seeking engaging educational opportunities during summer vacation.
A number of cross-Strait exchange activities were held in the city from July 15 to 23. Teachers and students from 12 universities on the island, as well as five universities on the mainland, took part in a New Media Innovation Camp.
The teachers and students visited Changan Automobile's Global R&D to observe the latest in automotive technology, as well as Yubei Longxing General Aviation Airport, where they learned about the low-altitude flight industry.
Students said they gained powerful insights through this immersive and on-site teaching method.
"I feel that the mainland, especially Chongqing, is very futuristic. And I don't hear much noise from the cars on the road. The cars here are very advanced. I have never been this close to a helicopter before, so it's very interesting," said Lai Shao-jun, a student from Taiwan's Takming University of Science and Technology.
The students also experienced the cultural heritage of the municipality, visiting the World Heritage Site of Dazu Rock Carvings and checking in at the Chongqing Jialing River Cableway Museum.
They also saw the Eling Second Factory Cultural and Creative Park, a site that blends industrial history with modern trends in art and culture. Many of the students were looking forward to visiting this site because it was recently featured in one of the hottest memes on social media in which a foreign vlogger asks whether a site is "city or not city" in a humorous evaluation of its attractiveness for urban tourists.
"I feel that Chongqing is now an emerging Internet celebrity city, and everyone says it's an 8D magical city. Yesterday, we experienced traditional Chinese clothing, put on beautiful makeup and hairstyles, wore Hanfu, Ming Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, and other costumes, and watched very beautiful performances, so the overall feeling was very pleasant," said Liu Yu-chien, a student from National Taipei University on the island.
Crucially, the event allowed young people from across the Strait to experience, record, and create beautiful works showcasing Chongqing's unique charm from the perspective of new media practitioners.
"Social media management is becoming a trend worldwide, so I think this is the biggest purpose we're here. We’ve learned a lot about how to make reels, make vlogs, and also [learned about] theories. This is my first time here and I’m really excited about it," said Sun Dian, a student from the island's Tamkang University.
"Most students in this generation have basically grown up with mobile phones, so shooting videos is a daily routine for many of them. Clearly, they are deeply involved with their lenses, allowing them to capture their feelings about Chongqing and the Chinese mainland with their cameras. I think this is a very important life experience for Taiwan students," said Yu Tzu-hsiang, a professor at Taiwan's Shih Hsin University.
Meanwhile, the 21st Taiwan Youth Thousand-Person Summer Camp organized by the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, took place from July 11 to 17 in Chongqing. It included thematic cultural lectures, artistic performances, and other fellowship and exchange activities in various museums. A series of visits and activities allowed the Taiwan university students to feel the unique charm of the city.
"This is my first time coming to Chongqing to participate in this event. I hope I can meet more new friends at this exchange and learn more about the culture and history of the mainland," said Chien Yen-lun, a student from Taiwan's Asia University.
Over the past ten years, more than 5,400 Taiwan compatriots have applied for Taiwan Resident Permits in Chongqing. The city has attracted a total of 819 Taiwan-funded enterprises in ten years.
According to official figures, more than 88,000 tourists from Taiwan entered the city in the first half of 2024, making it the top source of tourists.
Southwest China city becomes illuminating destination for Taiwan students
China will firmly fight against economic hegemony, advocate justice, and stick to the right path against the sweeping tariffs by the United States, and will open ever wider to the world no matter how the international situation changes, according to a commentary of The Real Point published on Sunday.
An edited English version of the commentary is as follows:
In response to the U.S. imposition of "reciprocal tariffs" on all trading partners, China issued the Chinese Governments Position on Opposing U.S. Abuse of Tariffs on Saturday, after taking a series of countermeasures.
The thousand-word document pointed out that the United States uses tariffs as a weapon to exert extreme pressure and pursue its own selfish interests, which is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying.
The paper also emphasized that China does not provoke trouble but is not afraid of trouble, and will continue to implement a high-level trade and investment liberalization and facilitation policy to share development opportunities and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results with countries around the world.
Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told The Real Point that this position paper demonstrates China's high sense of responsibility to uphold fairness and justice without fear of power politics, which will be conducive to the efforts of the international community to pool together resultant forces and continue promoting economic globalization.
Meanwhile, China's determination to promote high-level opening-up has boosted the courage and confidence of other countries to fight against unilateral bullying and injected certainty into a changing and turbulent world, according to Li.
There are no winners in a trade war and there is no way out for protectionism. When the U.S. complains that the whole world is taking advantage of it, it deliberately distorts a fact that the U.S. is the biggest beneficiary of the world's free trade system since the end of World War II.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations with China in 1979, the United States has long been reaping substantial profits from its economic and trade ties with the country. More than 70,000 American companies have invested and started businesses in China, and exports to China supported 930,000 jobs in the United States, which maintained a huge surplus in service trade in particular.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2023, the United States exported 46.72 billion U.S. dollars in services to China, and had a trade surplus of 26.57 billion U.S. dollars in services with China.
The Economist criticized the current U.S. trade policy for ignoring the unprecedented prosperity that globalization has brought to the United States.
The U.S. arbitrarily uses tariffs to blackmail other countries at will, attempting to sacrifice the interests of the whole world for U.S. hegemony. But any exertion of pressure and intimidation are useless to China.
This year, in the face of the continuous tariffs imposed by the United States, China has introduced a series of precise and effective measures, as one of the first countries taking countermeasures. The country's move is not only to safeguard its own sovereignty, security and development interests, but also to defend the multilateral trading system and international trade rules.
The world is not a jungle society, and everything must be fair and just. Development is a universal right of all countries in the world, not an exclusive right of a few countries.
The United States has unilaterally imposed tariffs on all its trading partners, violating the WTO's Most-Favored-Nation treatment principle and attempting to subvert the existing international economic and trade order. Its nature is to pursue "America first" and "America special" and deprive other countries of their legitimate right to development.
Over the past days, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Australia, Singapore, South Africa, Canada and other countries have been criticizing the United States.
China's position paper clearly states that "international affairs should be addressed through consultation, and the future of the world should be decided by all countries", reflecting the common aspirations of the international community and China's consistent position of speaking and doing fair things.
While the United States continues to build "high walls around a small yard" and erect tariff barriers, China is constantly "opening its doors" and "building bridges and roads" to bring more opportunities to the world.
On March 28, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with representatives of the international business community in Beijing and reiterated that China is determined to promote reform and opening up, China's door will only open wider, and China's policy of welcoming foreign investment has not changed and will not change.
The China Development Forum 2025, held in Beijing from March 23 to 24, attracted more than 80 representatives of multinational companies, among which American companies made up the largest proportion, reaching about one-third.
A report released by global management consulting firm Kearney shows that in the ranking of foreign direct investment confidence in the next three years, China has jumped from 7th to 3rd, and ranked first in the special ranking of emerging markets.
At a time when the world is in turmoil and the United States is abusively imposing tariffs, China's position paper sends a strong message to the world about maintaining the multilateral trading system and promoting economic globalization.
The world wants justice, not hegemony. This is China's clear declaration and the common voice of the international community.
China opposes hegemony, upholds right path against sweeping U.S. tariffs: commentary
