Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged areas with large ethnic minority populations to preserve their distinctive culture and pursue high-quality development through the integrated development of culture and tourism.
On March 17, 2025, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Guizhou Province, a region renowned for its rich ethnic diversity.
In Zhaoxing Dong Village, one of the country's best-preserved Dong ethnic settlements, Xi and villagers sat around a firepit to discuss all-around rural revitalization at a drum tower, a unique architecture for the Dong ethnic group that serves as a communal gathering spot.
"Tourism has become a major industry and rural tourism is thriving. Areas with large ethnic minority populations should preserve their distinctive culture and let it shine through the integrated development of culture and tourism," said Xi.
Two days later, he traveled to the picturesque Lijiang City in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
A gentle spring snowfall had turned the Old Town of Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with over 800 years of history, into a living ink-wash painting.
At one point, a local coffee vendor warmly invited Xi to try a cup of Yunnan-grown coffee, to which Xi responded, "Yunnan coffee truly represents China."
Yunnan, known for its ideal high-altitude climate and distinctive farming methods, produces coffee beans prized for their plumpness, rich aroma, and smooth, full-bodied flavor. The province has emerged as a rising star in China's burgeoning domestic coffee industry, increasingly recognized both nationally and internationally.
Xi calls on ethnic regions to preserve unique culture, boost tourism
The United States cannot legitimize an operation that attacked Venezuela and captured its president, a Chinese scholar said Sunday.
On Saturday, the United States launched a large-scale strike on Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were 'captured and flown out of Venezuela' according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account.
Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Diplomatic Studies at Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that the aim of this operation is to take full control of Venezuela’s natural resources.
"I don't think the United States can legitimize this operation to take custody of the president of Venezuela. And also I don't think the United States can legitimize its any action in taking the oil reserves of that country. This is actually a very dangerous game played by the Trump administration. And of course, the United States would like to take full control of that country and to take full control of the natural resources, especially the large reserve of oil in Venezuela," said Teng.
Teng said Venezuela is not an isolated case but a common practice by the United States. The United States launched an invasion of Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, which continued until January 1990, with the stated objective of capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime.
"We still remember the so-called sentence of the former president of Panama in the late 1980s. And this time, the president of Venezuela will be under some judicial condition (judicial proceedings) for the so-called drug trafficking and some other crimes. So I think this is not a single case for the Venezuela country, but also this is actually a practice by the United States -- to use force, to use so-called justice under law against any leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean waters," he said.
US cannot legitimize operation against Venezuela: Chinese scholar
