Foreign news
Xi Jinping checks people’s livelihood in Guiyang ahead of the Chinese New Year
Xiaonian Festival is often regarded as the last special day before the Chinese New Year. Falling on the 23rd or 24th day of the last month of the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, it usually marks the countdown to the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.
This year, Xiaonian falls on Thursday. To ensure a stable and abundant market supply for the Chinese New Year, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited a supermarket and a local community in Guiyang City, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, to inspect their preparations ahead of the holiday.
Chinese people like buying necessities in bulk as the New Year approaches. The coming of Xiaonian rings the bell of a final push to the Chinese New Year, thus, a smooth and orderly operation of market supply is particularly important.
A visit to ordinary people
In the Heli fresh food supermarket, Xi checked the supply of food and other daily necessities. He also learned the price level there to make sure all the goods are affordable for ordinary people.
He then visited Jinyuan Community in Guanshanhu District to check the operation of community services and their influence on residents’ daily lives.
After seeing residents creating paper-cuts for the festival, Xi joined them and extended his warm wishes by writing a traditional Spring Festival couplet.
Both paper-cutting and writing couplets are Chinese New Year customs. Paper-cutting works are used to express well wishes, and are often applied to windows as decorations. Spring Festival couplets are often written with Chinese calligraphy. Pasting on both sides of a door, it is believed that the sincere wishes and New Year greetings written on the couplets will bring good luck to the whole family.
It marked the second day of Xi’s visit to Guizhou Province. on the previous day he visited people from the Miao ethnic group in Qianxi County.
A nine-year tradition
The pre-Spring Festival visit is not a surprise. For nine consecutive years, Xi has made it a tradition to visit ordinary people, especially the disadvantaged groups, ahead of the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar.
In 2020, Xi visited Simola Wa Village in southwest China’s Yunnan Province and joined a family of the Wa ethnic group in making rice cakes and beat a wooden drum three times as a local ritual to bless the coming year.
In 2019, Xi made an appearance in the hutong neighborhoods of central Beijing and dropped in on an express delivery station where he praised the hard work of deliverymen, saying they were “busy as bees” to bring convenience to people’s lives.
Xi may visit a different place every year, but wherever he goes, his care for the livelihood of ordinary people never changes.
(Cover: Chinese President Xi Jinping visits a supermarket in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, February 4, 2021. /Xinhua)
Foreign news
Court of Arbitration Declares Indus Waters Treaty Fully Operational Rejects India’s ‘Abeyance’
Cyril Ogar
The Court of Arbitration has unanimously reaffirmed that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) remains fully in force, ruling that India cannot unilaterally place the 1960 agreement in “abeyance” or suspend its obligations under the treaty.
The decision represents a significant legal development in the longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan over the management and use of the Indus river system.
The Court’s finding addresses a fundamental issue at the heart of the dispute: whether either party can unilaterally suspend the treaty outside the legal framework agreed by both countries.
In its unanimous determination, the Court made clear that the IWT continues to bind both India and Pakistan and that its obligations cannot be set aside through a unilateral political declaration.
The ruling means India remains subject to the treaty provisions governing the use of the Western Rivers, including requirements relating to the design and operation of hydroelectric projects, as well as the dispute-resolution mechanisms established under the agreement.
The Court has also ordered interim measures concerning the Ratle Hydroelectric Plant, restricting specified construction activities while the broader dispute remains under consideration.
The measures are aimed at preserving the effectiveness of the arbitration process and preventing developments that could prejudice the outcome of the proceedings.
For Pakistan, the decision represents significant legal validation of its longstanding position that the IWT is a binding international agreement and contains no provision allowing either party to unilaterally place it in abeyance.
Pakistan has consistently maintained that disagreements over the treaty should be addressed through the institutional mechanisms established by the agreement, rather than through unilateral action.
The IWT provides a structured framework for resolving disputes through mechanisms including the Permanent Indus Commission, Neutral Expert and Court of Arbitration processes.
The latest ruling therefore reinforces the principle that treaty obligations cannot simply be disregarded because of deteriorating political relations between signatories.
The significance of the decision extends beyond the India-Pakistan dispute. It underscores the broader international-law principle that agreements governing shared rivers and other transboundary resources must be respected and disputes resolved through established legal and institutional channels.
The Indus river system supports agriculture, livelihoods, food security and communities across the region, making the stability of the treaty particularly important.
The ruling also highlights the distinction between seeking to amend an international agreement through mutually agreed procedures and attempting to alter its obligations unilaterally.
The IWT has endured wars, prolonged diplomatic tensions and periods of limited bilateral engagement. Its continued operation demonstrates the importance of rules-based mechanisms in managing shared resources when relations between neighbouring states become strained.
For Pakistan, the outcome provides an opportunity to frame the decision not merely as a bilateral legal victory, but as an affirmation of international law, treaty compliance and peaceful dispute resolution.
The central message from the ruling is clear: the Indus Waters Treaty remains in force, its obligations continue to bind both parties, and disputes concerning shared waters must be addressed through the legal mechanisms agreed by India and Pakistan.
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