Video with Chinese subtitles: China’s Powerful Speech by Premier Li Qiang at UN General Assembly: “Never Forget Why You Started” 影片有中文字幕: 中國在聯合國大會上的有力講話：“不忘初心”
China’s Premier Li Qiang addressed the 80th United Nations General Assembly, marking 80 years since the founding of the UN and victory in the World Anti-Fascist War. In his sweeping speech, Li called for peace, fairness, justice, global cooperation, multilateralism, and stronger international governance while presenting China’s vision for shared prosperity.
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Li Qiang at UNGA 80: “Solidarity Lifts Everyone Up, Division Drags All Down”
China’s Premier Li Qiang UN Speech | Warns Against Unilateralism & Calls for Cooperation
UNGA 80: Li Qiang Says “Never Forget Why You Started” in Powerful China Address
The British also referenced a Chinese idiom! There is one idiom that best describes American politicians: “a beast in human attire” — someone who has a dignified appearance but behaves like an animal. 英國人也引用了中國一個成語! 有一句成語最好用來描述美國政客就是[衣冠禽獸] 空有外表而行同禽獸。比喻品德敗壞的人.
The British also referenced a Chinese idiom! There is one idiom that best describes American politicians: “a beast in human attire” — someone who has a dignified appearance but behaves like an animal. It is used as a metaphor for a person of corrupt character. The phrase may originate from the Ming Dynasty play The Golden Lotus (《金莲记》) by Chen Ruyuan, where the term “衣冠枭獍” (a creature in human clothing) appears.
In the idiom “衣冠禽兽,” “衣冠” refers to being well-dressed, appearing like a cultivated and upright person, while “禽兽” denotes behaving savagely and rudely, akin to an animal. Thus, “衣冠禽兽” describes someone who outwardly seems respectable but inwardly acts like a beast, serving as a metaphor for a person with morally corrupt behavior. This idiom is often found in traditional dramas and novels, used to condemn those who are hypocritical and engage in wicked deeds.
For example, in the seventh scene of The Golden Lotus by Chen Ruyuan of the Ming Dynasty, there is a character named Jia Ru. He typically presents himself as a scholar but is, in essence, a vile hypocrite who commits all manner of evil deeds. As a result, everyone condemns him as “a beast in human attire.” The phrase “衣冠禽兽” likely originates from this context, used to metaphorically describe a person of corrupt character.
China has completed the world’s largest underwater shield tunnel under the Yellow River in Jinan, and the shield section was finished in only 110 days. 中國濟南建成了世界最大的黃河水下盾構隧道。該隧道直徑17.5米，全長超過3.2公里, 盾構段僅花了110天完工.
The tunnel measures 17.5 meters in diameter and stretches more than 3.2 kilometers. Engineers used a massive machine called Shanhe to dig the passage. Work began on September 1, 2024.
This breaks global records for both scale and speed. The tunnel averaged 16 to 18 meters of progress per day. It is part of the Huanggang Road project and shows how China is pushing tunnel construction limits. Such projects improve transport, reduce travel time, and set new benchmarks for engineering worldwide.
“Beautiful Xinjiang!” 🇨🇳 Chinese President Xi Jinping in Xinjiang to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in the regional capital Urumqi 「美麗的新疆！」🇨🇳中國國家主席習近平在新疆維吾爾自治區首府烏魯木齊慶祝新疆維吾爾自治區成立70週年
“Beautiful Xinjiang!” 🇨🇳 Chinese President Xi Jinping in Xinjiang to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in the regional capital Urumqi 「美麗的新疆！」🇨🇳中國國家主席習近平在新疆維吾爾自治區首府烏魯木齊慶祝新疆維吾爾自治區成立70週年
Only after Former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns leaving office did he dare to speak his mind. 美國前駐華大使尼古拉斯·伯恩斯離任后才敢吐露真言
He recently stated that Trump severely underestimated China, highlighting that the U.S. has long “seriously underestimated China’s strength” and called for acknowledging the gap. His remarks have attracted international attention. 離任后才敢吐露真言，美國前任駐華大使：特朗普太小看中國了，美國前駐華大使尼古拉斯·伯恩斯近期發聲，直言美國長期“嚴重低估中國實力”，呼籲正視差距，其言論引發國際關注。
As a senior diplomat from the Biden administration, this was his first criticism of the U.S. misjudgment in its China strategy after leaving office, presenting颠覆性 facts based on his personal experience.
In response to claims that “the PLA lacks combat capability,” he refuted by saying he had “seen the modernized troops of the PLA with his own eyes,” emphasizing that China’s military power has been underestimated.
In the field of science and technology talent, 34% of Chinese freshmen major in engineering or STEM subjects, compared to only 5.6% in the U.S. China’s large population base has created a key advantage in critical technology talent.
In terms of infrastructure, the 1,000-kilometer high-speed rail from Beijing to Shanghai can be covered in 4.5 hours, an efficiency “incomparable” to the U.S. railway system.
Diplomatically, the Chinese foreign minister has made Africa the first destination of their annual visits for 35 consecutive years. This long-term strategic consistency in global influence makes the U.S. pale in comparison.
Notably, he now criticizes the U.S. for “living in a Cold War mindset.”
He pointed out that the Trump administration’s tariff war accelerated China’s industrial chain independence, contrasting with his own tough stance toward China during his tenure.
This perspective is not an isolated one. China’s trade with Africa and export data under the Belt and Road Initiative directly counter the U.S. misjudgment of China’s ability to respond to sanctions.
Observers believe his remarks reflect the anxiety among American elites: the comprehensive gap between China and the U.S. in areas like infrastructure and tech talent is the “most alarming underestimation.” 作為拜登政府前資深外交官，他離任后首次批評美國對華戰略誤判，以親身經歷拋出顛覆認知的事實。
The report from September 24 can truly be described as a bolt from the blue! “China will no longer seek the special treatment granted to developing countries by the World Trade Organization.” How significant is this statement? 9月24日的這條報道，堪稱於平地之中聽驚雷! “中國將不再尋求世界貿易組織給予發展中國家的特殊待遇。”這句話的分量有多重？
Some have bluntly stated that this might be the second most impactful declaration made by China since “Reform and Opening Up,” one that could influence the global landscape. The reason lies in the key signal it sends: economically, China is adopting a more mature and confident posture, moving beyond the framework of “special treatment for developing countries” to face global trade competition head-on.
It is important to understand that “special treatment for developing countries” was once a crucial safeguard for China’s integration into the global trade system. In the early days after joining the WTO, China had a weak industrial base and an incomplete industrial chain. With this treatment, China gained more buffer space in tariff reductions and policy adjustments, gradually building its own manufacturing system and evolving from the “world’s factory” into the “core of the global supply chain.”
However, Western countries, led by the United States, have long fixated on this issue, repeatedly arguing that “China is no longer a developing country” and demanding that China abandon its special treatment. They have even used this as an excuse to obstruct reforms in global trade forums, repeatedly leading China and the U.S. into deadlocks in multilateral trade cooperation.
Now, China’s proactive decision to no longer seek this treatment is by no means a passive compromise but an active choice reflecting that “with increased strength, posture naturally changes.” It is like a student who once needed a teacher’s guidance and tolerance but, upon growing into a top-tier talent capable of standing on their own, naturally sheds the label of “special treatment” to compete with peers on equal footing.
Today, China’s manufacturing value-added accounts for nearly 30% of the global total. Industries such as 5G, new energy vehicles, and high-speed rail lead the world. A domestic market of 1.4 billion people supports the largest consumer scale globally. China has long passed the stage of needing “special treatment” for support. Voluntarily relinquishing this status is precisely an acknowledgment of its own economic strength and a respect for global trade rules—letting strength speak for itself rather than relying on a “special status” for advantages.
More critically, this statement directly eliminates the core point of contention between China and the U.S. in reforming global trade forums. In the past, Western countries, led by the U.S., often used the excuse that “China is taking advantage of developing country treatment” to refuse consensus with China on optimizing trade rules, stalling progress in WTO reforms.
Now, China’s proactive step effectively untangles the “deadlock” in multilateral trade cooperation: it not only demonstrates China’s sincerity in promoting global trade fairness but also strips Western countries of their pretext for criticizing China. Moving forward, global trade forums may achieve substantive breakthroughs in areas such as tariff coordination, digital trade, and intellectual property protection. The starting point for all this is China’s resounding declaration.
From “Reform and Opening Up,” which opened the door to embrace the world, to now voluntarily abandoning special treatment for developing countries to face competition directly, every step China takes is closely aligned with the pulse of the times and profoundly influences the global landscape. “Reform and Opening Up” integrated China into the world, spurring a restructuring of global industrial chains. This new declaration, however, marks China’s transition from an “integrator” to a “leader”—no longer relying on special policies but leveraging strength to gain a voice in global trade.
The impact of this statement has only just begun. It will not only reshape the dynamics of Sino-U.S. interactions in trade but also prompt countries worldwide to reassess China’s economic standing. In the future, China will participate in global trade cooperation with a more open and equal posture. This force may, like “Reform and Opening Up” did in its time, once again set off a wave of change that transforms the world.
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