The new international media for a changing world – The new international media for a changing world
XULIO RIOS
Xi Jinping has left Washington after three days of unusual solemnity, even by the standards of diplomacy between the two superpowers. Ceremonies, honors, a military display, a state dinner, and meticulous presidential staging surrounded the Chinese leader's first state visit to Washington in over a decade. Much symbolism, therefore. But in terms of concrete results, considerably less.
XULIO RIOS
Artificial intelligence has become one of the main arenas of global technological competition. China, the United States, and the European Union share the conviction that this is a technology of strategic importance, but they differ substantially in their understanding of its development, regulation, and relationship with the state.
In the Chinese case, AI should also be considered as a part of that broader project which is national modernization.
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PASCUAL SERRANO
The perception of China has improved in recent years, while that of the United States has worsened, to the point that China is now viewed more positively than the United States in most of the 36 countries surveyed. This is according to a Pew Research Center report comparing people's perceptions of the United States and China around the world. The results are based on surveys of 42.151 adults conducted between February 8 and May 13, 2026.
XULIO RIOS
The Xi-Trump summit in Beijing was surrounded by an ostensibly optimistic tone and carefully choreographed diplomacy, but the actual outcome calls for considerably more caution. Beyond the imagery and solemn declarations, there were no truly decisive announcements in either trade or technology, precisely the areas where the structural rivalry between the United States and China is currently concentrated. In fact, the fact that the preliminary negotiations dragged on practically until the last minute in Seoul suggests that the differences remain deep and difficult to manage.
PASCUAL SERRANO
Havana
Everyone seems outraged by Trump, his geopolitical interpretations, his political measures, and his wars. However, both politicians and mainstream media then agree with him that the situation in Cuba is desperate and on the verge of collapse. The scenario they promote is that of a failed state so that a military intervention can be interpreted not so much as aggression, but as salvation or, at the very least, something that cannot worsen the situation.
STEVE SEAMAN
A quarter of the world's population, 2.200 billion people, still lack internet access, according to data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This digital divide risks widening with the rise of Artificial Intelligence.
In 2025, 85% of urban residents used the network, but almost half of the rural population (58%) still did not.
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PASCUAL SERRANO
The prevailing view among the Spanish population, undoubtedly influenced by the monotonous discourse of the media and political leaders, is that China is an undesirable dictatorship from which we should take no note or example. However, I believe it can be a valuable exercise in humility and learning to observe how they address issues that remain a serious problem here.
I'm going to review some current issues that are generating controversy in our country, for which we need solutions, and then we'll see how they are being dealt with in China.
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XULIO RIOS
In China, the balance sheet for 2025 points to a year marked by the realization of the difficulty of the challenges to be faced as well as by the depth of the change implemented in substantial areas, especially, underpinning the rapid qualitative modernization of its industrial fabric.
The economy, with that growth target of around 5 percent within reach (5,2 percent in the first three quarters), has confirmed that the goal of achieving high-quality development is irreversible.
Read moreXULIO RIOS
During the 14th Five-Year Plan, which is now coming to an end, China has continued to advance, even weathering the trade and technology war with some ease, demonstrating that it can no longer be easily intimidated (rare earths have become its main bargaining chip with Washington). Chinese manufacturing output accounts for more than 35% of the world's total, and it is catching up with the US in every field and is already a world leader in some. China is approaching the top.
PASCUAL SERRANO
First, journalists held the power of communication, then the media (journalists held the power of the medium in which they reported), then the owners of communication companies (the owner of the printing press). Then came the internet, and social media, which are the means of reaching citizens and the mediators between them and the media, took over (as MacLuhan said, "the medium is the message"). And now it's the algorithm; it's the algorithm that decides what you'll see on social media, which dictates what you'll see in the media.
PASCUAL SERRANO
For decades, we've been told that in the West, in democratic and capitalist countries, awareness was growing about the need to reduce carbon emissions in order to save the planet and that measures were being taken. At the same time, we were told that China and its communist system were the main emitter of gases and that its authorities were not taking action to correct them.
XULIO RIOS
In China, the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the global victory over fascism reminds us of the enormous sacrifice endured by this country in its long struggle against the Japanese invader. The Japanese invasion of the 30s and 40s, marked by atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre (1937), subjected China to unimaginable cruelty.
nable. According to the most recent estimates, military and civilian casualties exceeded 35 million people in a battle that lasted 14 years. More than any other country involved in the conflict. This suffering added considerable difficulties to the reconstruction work promoted by the new power established in 1949.
