November 20th

On the second day of the Russian-Chinese School participants have listened to lectures from two leading experts from China. The first speaker was Professor Feng Shaolei from East China Normal University (ECNU), who discussed with the participants the topic of "Global transformations after the US presidential elections and after the pandemic", highlighting three main issues:

• understanding the current situation and the possibility of a new world war;
• global transformation after the US elections;
• the historical role of Russia and Russian-Chinese relations in global transformation.

The professor drew attention to the fact that today a new form of competition has become relevant – the struggle for primacy between the world powers and developing countries. He has also mentioned the topic of ideological transformation, which Sergei Alexandrovich Karaganov spoke about earlier in his lecture. 

During the times of global changes, there is also a shift of power with countries adopting new approaches to cooperation. Britain is forging cooperation with France, Russia and Japan are trying to develop new relations in the context of Post-World War II. However, everyone strives to win in global competition. 

The crises of the early 20th century led to World War I and revolutions. “Today, regional conflicts are more relevant than ever and therefore the threat of a new world war is becoming inevitable,” says Professor Feng. 

The second lecture was delivered by Jin Jiyong, an expert of the World Health Organization (WHO), Deputy Dean of the School of International and Public Relations of Shanghai International Studies ​​University (SISU). He has covered both historical and contemporary issues of WHO's work, including its work during the COVID-19 outbreak and China's approach to the organization. He has also mentioned the importance of Russian-Chinese cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 issue and reminded that a pandemic could start in any part of the world, so this problem truly is a global challenge for everyone. 

Jin Jiyong believes that it was the EU countries, Russia and China, and not the United States, that played an important role in the activities of WHO, even if the United States had made the largest financial contribution to it (according to WHO estimates as of March 31, 2020). The US policy in the organization is aimed at blaming China, refusing to continue funding because of the poor response to the "Chinese virus" epidemic. The United States regularly accused the WHO of being too close to China and handling the coronavirus pandemic wrong. 

The second day of the school ended with a discussion of group projects, on which the participants had already fully begun. Good luck!