WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- On January 20 last year, Xinhua News Agency reporters struck the inauguration of the US president in Washington, D.C., under high alert after cold weather, severe epidemics and riots. In the blink of an eye, incumbent President Biden has been in power for a year. What is the current state of the United States? The following four sets of comparisons are probably the most intuitive reflection of the magical reality of the United States. Please look at the report sent back from Washington by a Xinhua reporter --
Video loading...
Left: On January 19, 2021, the day before Biden's inauguration, preparations for the Washington Monument and the National Mall were nearing completion. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
Right: More than 660,000 white flags were placed near the Washington Monument on September 16, 2021, in honor of the death of COVID-19 in the United States. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
The day before last year's inauguration, a photo taken by a Xinhua reporter was visually impactful. At the foot of the Washington Monument, 200,000 small flags were placed on the National Mall, representing people who could not come to the ceremony. On the eve of the inauguration, the cumulative number of confirmed covid-19 cases and deaths in the United States reached 24 million and 400,000, respectively, the largest in the world. The number of people invited to the ceremony had to be drastically reduced, and the National Mall was temporarily closed to the public.
In the fall of 2021, another photo taken by Xinhua News Agency reporters was even more shocking. At the foot of the Washington Monument, 660,000 white flags were planted on the lawn to mourn the 660,000 American covid-19 deaths. Entering 2022, the new crown epidemic in the United States has intensified, with more than 44 million confirmed cases and more than 400,000 deaths in the past year, and the number of new confirmed cases in a single day has repeatedly refreshed the record since the outbreak, reaching a maximum of nearly 1.5 million.
Left: Trump supporters demonstrate in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
Right: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2022, commemorating the first anniversary of the Capitol Hill riots. Xinhua News Agency
At this point last year, the Capitol Hill riots sparked by Trump supporters' refusal to acknowledge the results of the presidential election had just passed. Washington was disgraced, and the presidential inauguration was held in a field of chicken feathers and high alert. On the day of the ceremony, Trump broke the us presidential handover convention and did not attend the inauguration of his successor.
In the past year, for both sides, how to deal with the follow-up of the riots has been like a hot potato, and a little carelessness may cause fire, so the strategies of both sides are relatively "low-key". But it is worth noting that on the first anniversary of the riots, the two "opened fire" on each other in a rare high profile. Speaking at the Capitol, Biden denounced Trump's supporters as they sat back and tried to rewrite American history by launching a "rebellion." Trump quickly countered that Democrats' interference in the 2020 presidential election had reduced the United States to the "laughing stock of the world" and criticized Biden for being "incompetent" as president for a year. The two presidents and the two major political parties are still at odds, and they are constantly intimidating each other and saying their own things. As the 2022 midterm elections approach, the smell of gunpowder between the two parties will only grow stronger.
A year ago, the Capitol Hill riots and the "convention-breaking" of the presidential transition punctured the polarized pus of American politics in front of the world. Over the past year, political polarization has made a torn American society even more antagonistic.
Left: A woman wearing a mask walks past the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2021. Biden signed a $1.9 trillion economic bailout package at the White House that day. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
Right: On January 10, 2022, in Washington, D.C., a store had very few items on its shelves. Recently, the bottleneck problem of the US supply chain has continued, and some supermarkets in Washington have experienced tight supply situations, and shelves have become empty. Xinhua News Agency
"Stupid, it's economic." Former US President Clinton's slogan during his campaign was deeply believed by his successors. In order to stimulate economic recovery, the Biden administration has continued to "amplify" in the past year, signing the $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan passed by both houses of Congress less than two months after taking office, and signing about $1 trillion in infrastructure investment bills repeatedly negotiated by the two parties in the second half of the year.
However, under the repeated impact of the epidemic several times, the fragility of the US economy has been exposed, and a series of "magical" realities such as port congestion and soaring prices have been staged. The White House and the Fed did not pay enough attention to the warnings issued by experts early last year that a massive fiscal stimulus could trigger huge inflationary pressures. Affected by multiple factors such as continued supply chain bottlenecks, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.8% year-on-year in November last year, the largest year-on-year increase in nearly 40 years.
Left: Video footage of U.S. President Joe Biden attending the Munich Security Conference online special session, filmed in Arlington, Virginia, on February 19, 2021. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
Right: On August 16, 2021, in Kabul, afghanistan, a large number of Afghans trying to flee rushed onto the runway and climbed the US military planes that were preparing to take off. Video footage showed two black shadows falling from the plane after it took off.
In terms of diplomacy, the Biden administration has focused on repairing the international image of the United States, especially its relations with allies, and deliberately created a public opinion of the so-called "Return of the United States". On his first day in office, he signed an executive order announcing that the United States would rejoin the Paris Agreement and return to the World Health Organization.
In the past year, although the United States has "stirred" all kinds of "flirtation" and "talked" everywhere, it still puts its own interests in the first place in its bones. The hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan was the biggest "magic moment" in US diplomacy last year. Not only did the United States ignore its allies, but it also dumped the mess on the local population 20 years after the war and devastation in Afghanistan. In a word, the "coming back" is still that America, or the familiar "America First" flavor. (Reporters: Tan Yixiao, Hu Yousong, Deng Xianlai, Gao Pan, Liu Jie, Sun Hao; Editors: Wang Yujue; Drafting: Wang Yujue; Editors: Tang Zhiqiang, Cheng Dayu)
Produced by the International Department of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Xinhua News Agency's International Communication Integration Platform