Guests gathered at the end of the opening ceremony. Photo: Global Times
A non-profit campaign sponsored by the Global Times and Sina.com kicked off Thursday in Beijing to nominate the top ten frontier cities or counties in China.
“This activity is to inform the Chinese public about the history, culture and development of these frontier areas, and inspire the public through the example of those who protect these areas out of patriotism,” Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, said on Thursday at the opening ceremony.
“With living standards in China improving, we seem to forget the culture of frontier protection which goes alongside the rise of civil society and the awareness of human rights,” Hu added, saying the activity is a contribution by the Global Times to society.
Zhou Xiaopeng, vice editor-in-chief of Sina.com, said it is the obligation of mainstream media to educate the public about history, culture and that the situation in these border areas will be shown to be of national interest to readers.
36 candidate cities and counties in eight different provinces and autonomous regions were selected by a nomination committee of ten history and culture experts.
The final ten winners will be selected by an online poll on huanqiu.com, the Chinese website of the Global Times, as well the campaign’s official website and microblog.
The awards are for the most modern city, the most strategically important city, the most historically valuable city, the most culturally attractive city, and the most attractive city.
Five other nominations will go to model cities and counties for frontier economy development, ethical solidarity, cross-border cooperation, united army-and-civilian defense and sustainable development.
Peng Guangqian, a member of the nomination committee and a specialist in military strategy at the PLA Academy of Military Science, told the Global Times that China needs to reshape national values and this campaign can be a good platform for accomplishing this.
Web and print media journalists have gone to cover 22 cities and counties in seven bordering provinces and autonomous regions such as Guangxi and Tibet from June to October. The reporters have visited cities in Liaoning, Jilin and Xinjiang in the past two months.
Global Times