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Why China's favorability is rising across the Global South_我的网站

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          Stillwater Prison still on lockdown, but crisis resolved after 100-plus inmates refused to go back t                        

                       

        

    

    

The Minnesota Department of Corrections says an emergency situation at a state prison has been resolved after roughly 100 inmates in one living unit refused to return to their cells Sunday morning. Inmates, however, could remain on lockdown through Tuesday.Police, firefighters and other emergency teams rushed to the Stillwater prison after it was placed on emergency lockdown at about 8 a.m. local time, the department said. The prison is located in the city of Bayport, about 25 miles east of Minneapolis.       All staff were removed from the common areas of the unit that was taken over, and two correctional officers remained in the unit's secure control area, staying "in constant communication with facility command personnel during the incident." Department spokesperson Andy Skoogman said no one was hurt, and "the situation was calm, peaceful and stable throughout the day."                 "The majority of the time the incarcerated men who did not return to their cells were at tables that are in the commons area playing cards, talking with one another. There was never any type of violence throughout the incident at all," Paul Schnell, Department of Corrections commissioner, said in a Sunday afternoon news conference.  The majority of inmates in the unit, which is between 220 and 250 men, had returned to their cells when originally ordered, Schnell alleged.He said the situation ended at about 3 p.m., when only two inmates were left refusing to go back to their cells. The two were brought to a segregated unit, and will go through a disciplinary process.

             

Skoogman blamed the unrest, in part, on inmates' frustration with a decision to change cell release schedules during Labor Day weekend, which limited the inmates' access to phones, recreation and showers. Skoogman said that change was due to "staffing challenges." He also refuted a claim that inmates lacked access to clean water.                       Inmates are usually given several hours a day during the weekend for recreation, Schnell said, but the holiday-related staff shortage dropped that amount of time to just a single hour. Overall, free time has been cut down by more than half for inmates amid the current staffing issues, he added, disclosing that the prison is short about 50 officers.   "The more staff we have, the more we can open up programming, which is exactly what the concerns of incarcerated people are," Schnell said.  In a statement Sunday afternoon, AFSCME Council 5, which represents Minnesota correctional officers, said that understaffing was to blame for the incident.  Schnell said the 120-year-old facility is not climate controlled and its windows "have many challenges." He added that the department is doing studies to determine how to update the facility, and he expects that a bonding request will eventually be submitted to the Minnesota Legislature.In total, about 1,200 inmates are at the facility just southeast of Stillwater, according to department records.  "Grateful the incident at Stillwater Prison has been resolved and no one was injured," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on social media. It was a day of uncertainty for Marvina Haynes, who was unable to communicate with her brother, Marvin.                      "It's been very emotional, very terrifying," Haynes said.She alleged the men were protesting their movement being restricted. She also said their access to clean drinking water in the hot prison has been limited."The jail told us that everything ended peacefully, but we're not sure of that because we still haven't had the opportunity to speak with anyone from the prison," she said.In 2018, the facility was the site of an officer's murder. Officer Joseph Gomm was beaten to death with a hammer by inmate Edward Johnson.                                 

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。         A local train driver receivs a notebook from his Chinese predecessor at the Adama station in Adama City, Ethiopia, Sept. 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)The global perception landscape is changing. For decades, the United States occupied a dominant position in international public opinion. The latest Pew Research Center survey, however, points to a notable turning point: for the first time in more than two decades, China is viewed more favorably than the United States across a larger number of countries.
What explains China's growing appeal?
For many developing countries, China offers a practical development partnership centered on infrastructure, investment, industrialization, technology transfer and trade. Rather than prescribing a single pathway to modernization, it has generally emphasized allowing countries to pursue development in line with their national priorities.
One reason China's influence has grown is that its development model is highly visible. From Ethiopia's railways to Pakistan's power plants, Chinese-financed projects address everyday development challenges by improving transport, energy security and connectivity. Through the Belt and Road Initiative, China has mobilized nearly 1 trillion U.S. dollars in infrastructure investment, producing projects that citizens can see, use and associate with economic progress.
The distinction lies not only in the scale of investment but also in the evolving priorities of development cooperation. While many Western partners have increasingly emphasized economic security, strategic de-risking, private-sector mobilization and governance reform, China has combined large-scale investment in physical infrastructure with technology transfer, industrial cooperation and human capital development.
At the same time, China has actively promoted trade by expanding market access, including granting zero-tariff treatment to many least-developed countries, deepening currency-swap arrangements, and encouraging the use of local currencies in cross-border trade. Together, these measures seek to strengthen economic connectivity, reduce transaction costs and exchange-rate risks, and create new opportunities for developing countries to integrate into regional and global value chains.
    A container truck, transporting the first batch of imports under China's expanded zero-tariff treatment to 53 African nations, enters Shenzhenwan Port in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 1, 2026. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)
This integrated approach has produced tangible improvements in productivity, connectivity and local capacity, reinforcing perceptions of China as a long-term development partner.
Equally important is the philosophy underpinning China's engagement. Beijing consistently emphasizes sovereignty, mutual respect and non-interference, maintaining that every country should determine its own political and development path. For many governments across the Global South, this approach is a partnership based on equality rather than political conditionality, allowing them greater policy space to pursue domestic development priorities.
Diplomatic style has also influenced perceptions. Through mechanisms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and regular engagement with Pacific Island countries, China has committed itself to equality and shared development. For many governments in the Global South, that sense of respect and recognition is not merely symbolic -- it contributes to long-term political trust.
Perhaps the most important nuance is this: the Global South is not becoming anti-American; it is becoming strategically pragmatic. Its foreign policy decisions are increasingly guided by national interests, economic opportunity, and development priorities rather than Cold War-style geopolitical alignment.
The Global South's primary ambition is neither ideological nor geopolitical -- it is developmental. Governments want to create jobs, eliminate poverty, modernize infrastructure, strengthen industrial capacity and improve the quality of life for their citizens. China's transformation over the past four decades, from lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty to becoming a global leader in infrastructure, manufacturing and technology, has demonstrated what sustained long-term planning can achieve. Consequently, many developing countries are looking to China not as a model to replicate wholesale, but as a development partner from which they can learn, cooperate and pursue shared prosperity while preserving their own policy autonomy.
This contrast is also reflected in broader policy priorities. At a time when many Western governments are increasingly emphasizing tariffs, export controls, technology restrictions, sanctions and economic security, China has continued to promote infrastructure investment, trade, industrial cooperation, technology partnerships, open-source AI initiatives and greater access to its domestic market. Whether one agrees with either approach or not, many developing countries evaluate partnerships primarily through the lens of economic development and tangible outcomes. That difference in emphasis is helping reshape global perceptions.
    A staff member arranges exhibits at the booth of Nigeria during the 9th China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 25, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Fei)
The world is changing, and the transition toward a more multipolar international order is becoming increasingly evident. The Global South is no longer a passive participant in world affairs. Its countries are exercising greater strategic autonomy, making decisions according to their own national interests, development priorities and the aspirations of their people. In China, developing countries have found a true friend and good partner.
Editor's note: Maya Majueran serves as the director of the Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka, an independent and pioneering organization with strong expertise in Belt and Road Initiative advice and support.
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