Conversation MORE DRAMA RE "HOW DONALD TRUMP Jr. ?s Emails Have Cranked Up the Heat on His Family ” [July 24 ] : This latest con- troversy will open the f100d- gates Ofyet more skepticism, questions, and debacles as- s ociate d with the Trump Ad- ministration. These events have accentuated how deeply entrenched the Russian con- nections have been. Trump Off ℃ ials are the major cata- lysts of all the turmoil that has befallen the Administra- tion. The excuses presented tO the public are only exacer- bating suspicions and casting an international spotlight, calling intO question the very integrity 0f the Pre s ident 0f the United States. Shivani E た砒 h , SINGAPORE DEALING WITH KIM RE "NO GOOD OPTIONS ON North Korea ” [JuIy 24 ] : There are only two achiev- able options le 仕 in the North Korean cr1SIS.• war or deter- rence. This is because Pyong- yang will procee d with its nuclear program at all costs. lt cannot be convinced that the cost Of not proceeding is lower than that ofproceed- ing. lt will get the bomb ー unless the し S. goes tO war and is prepared for Armaged- don. Few believe that Wash- ington is prepared t0 pay that catastrophic human price. However, Pyongyang c an be TALK TO US deterred. lt has no reason tO court de struction. lts only aim iS regime survival, not tO conquer the world or annihi- late America. Perhaps a bet- ter option is tO replace stra- tegic patience with strategic deterrence and take conso- lation that with it, Kim Jong Un will never use the bomb. C わ 0 浦 e Wong, SINGAPORE IS IT UNREASONABLE OF KIM to cling to and bolster his nuclear capabilities after wit- nessing the demise oflraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi on relin- quishing theirs ? Doreen McGann, JARFALLA, SWEDEN THE MEANING OF SOVEREIGN RE "TWENTY YEARS ON, Hong Kong and China Are MO re Ap art Than Ever ” [July 24 ] : Much has been made, especially by the Western media, ofthe fact that civil liberties in Hong Kong have been seriously eroded after the handover of Hong Kong to China. HOW- ever, the evidence is tO the contrary. The freedoms that Hong Kong enJ0yed before the handover have largely remained intact. The rule Of law has been maintained, the judiciary has kept its independence and the gov- ernment itS transparency,. People are inclined tO speak out against what they con- sider tO be injustices or gov- ernment maladministration. If open criticism Of govern- ment is one distinguishing feature Of democracy, then Hong KO ng has paradoxi- cally become more demo- cratic since the handover. ln assessing the extent Of, and the type 0f, democracy that is suitable for Hong Kong, one must have regard for political realism rather than romantic idealism. Full democracy— Westminster style—is fanci- ん 1. Hong Kong must realize that China has sovereignty and that sovereignty means sovereignty. MELBOURNE Frank Yu, for 10 years, and a good por- Medicaid eligibility worker me. I have been a California [July 24 ] really hit home for United Patients of America ” YOUR ARTICLE "THE HEALTH CARE 粮 AMERICA tion Of my caseload consists of the very people your ar- ticle talks about: the severely disabled ⅲ a home and C ommunity care program. I speak every day with parents of disabled children, and I have great respect for them. Thank you for telling the ir story. lt is my fervent hope that Medicaid will always be there for them. James Czadek, LONG BEACH, CALIF. ANGELA LORIO COULDN'T BE more wrong When She says, 'This isn't about parties and how you voted. This is about saving 1 ⅳ es. ” One party rep- resents affordable health care for everyone. The other rep- resents tax breaks for the rich and lets the poor and middle class fend for themselves. You make your choice and you live with the results. James Ko NOTTINGHAM, MD. PIease recycle this magazine and remove inserts and samples before recycling 2 SEND AN EMAIL: letters@timemagazine.com Please dO not send attachments FOLLOW US: facebook.com/time @time (Twitter and lnstagram) TIME August 21 , 2017 Send 0 letter: Letters t0 the Editor must include writer'sfull name, address and home telephone, may be editedfor purposes 可 cla ⅱ収 or space, and should be addressed to the nearest ofice: HONG KONG - TIME Magazine e 博 , 37 / F , Ox House, PIace, 979 King's Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong; JAPAN - TIME Magazine Letters, 2-51-27F Atago, To 010 6227 , Japan; EUROPE - TIME Magazine し e せ e , PO Box 63444 London, SEIP 5F, 」 , UK; AUSTRALIA - TIME Magazine し e 社 ers , GPO Box 3873 , Sydney, NSW 2001 , Australia; NEW ZEALAND ・ TIME Magazine Letters, PO Box 198 , Shortland St. , Auckland, 1140 , New Zealand

Reviews Time Off Eichner 0 れ d Klausner create drama wherever they go TELEVISION ilchrist brings souland sensitivity tO Atypical Musical theater and misanthropy TV IS UNDENIABLY crowded. But if the herd were thinned even a little, we might lose shows that are unafraid to be terrific ally specific —willing to stage parodies 0fWoody Allen's little -watched Amazon sitcom or tO presume familiarity with Stephen Sondheim's Sunday ⅲ the Park With George. Diffcult Pe 叩厄 , the Hulu comedy in itS third season, iS one Of those gems that would be too good t0 lose. The show works ⅲ the zany vein 0f30 OC た , making use 0fNew York City archetypes. Julie (show creator Julie Klausner) iS a barely working actor ever enabling or being enabled by her BFF (Billy Eichner ofBilly 0 れ the Street). Each episode sees slight movement toward Julie and Billy's dream of fame, before misanthropy sets them back once again. The j0kes, 0ften at the expense Of celebrities, are told with startling confidence. Who knows how the market can support a show SO narrowly targeted tO a literate, mean audience ・一 but whO cares when it's this funny? —D. D. DIFFICULT PEOPLE streams new episodes Tuesdays on HuIu TELEVISION A family story with a son on the spectrum affair. The dullest is Rapaport's attempt "PEOPLE THINK AUTISTIC PEOPLE don't have empathy, but that's not true; ” to bond with his son by helping nurse a Sam (Keir Gilchrist) says in Netflix's crush on his ther 叩 ist. Speechless, ABC's new family comedyAtypical. "Some- remarkable sitcom about the pains and times I can't tell if someone's upset, joys ofa family touched by disability, but once I know, I feel lots of empathy. proves that narrative twists like these Maybe even more than neurotypicals. " aren't necessary. That's an apt summation Of The heart ofAtypical is its difflcult- the strengths—and some ofthe to-forget main character. Sam sits weaknesses—ofthis charming eight- rigidly upright on the bus so as t0 avoid episode addition tO the touching the seat b ack. He NEW AWARENESS pulls a stranger 's p onytail streaming service. Sam, TeIevision is paying whose dffculty picking up at his sister's track meet tO increased attention on social cues has deeply get it t0 stop shaking in his tO the issues Atypical affected his family's life, is face. And he has an unusual raises: earlier thiS year, Sesame Street also a loving and engaged COPing mechanism in times introduced 」 ulia, part ofhis family's life. of stress: he thinks about a young Muppet Even so, his parents, played Antarctica, and how chilly and with autism. by Michael Rapaport remote it is the re. Gilchrist, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and sister previously seen as Toni Collette's son (Brigette Lundy-Paine) begin spinning on Showtime's United States ofTara, away from one another with not conveys S am's gifts and challenge s unjustifiable selfishness. masterfully. A 収が c doesn't always trust the High school—with its constant strength Of itS C ore narrative, as if itS interpersonal sparks—is as far from the creators believe there needS tO be some South P01e as it gets. And A 収が c in Juicy inducement tO get viewers tO quieter moments, ShOWS hOW a group tune int0 an otherwis e well-told family ofpeople band together to get one story. The most striking example comes pe rceptive, thoughtful kid through. in the form ofLeigh's exorcising her —DANIEL D'ADDARIO household stre s se s in an extramarital ATYPICAL is streaming on Netflix now 48 TIME August 21 , 2017

0 start tO finish. And there are ahost ofother headaches fo r the new chief of staff to manage. The President's poll ratings continue tO drift downward, which leads Trump t0 twe et and speak disproportionately t0 his base ifonly t0 keep it propped up. The Russia probe appears to be gathering speed as special counsel R0bert Mueller works With an active grand jury and examines the relationship that Trump's first National Security Adviser, retired general MichaeI FIynn, had with Moscow and the government 0fTurkey. (The Washington Post reported on Aug. 9 that FBI agents working under Mueller raided the home Of former Trump camp aign manager Paul Manafort on July 26. ) The generals seem unified in their desire tO persuade Trump tO put more U. S. forces in Afghanistan, despite the opposition 0f populists led the latest North Korean threat with some by Bannon. And then there is the still unhelpful, and improvised, language of unresolved question 0f whether Trump his own: "North Korea best not make will carry out his promised ban on any more threats tO the United States. transgender service members. They will be met with fire and fury like Trump gets bored with people eas- the world has never seen. ” The outburst ily and has a history ofblaming aides for led skeptics—and there are many—to his own missteps. Even Kelly may not be point out Kelly's influence is overstated. immune. One former aide who has fallen "This was an interesting experiment with from grace suggested it was only a mat- General Kelly; ” said John Weaver, who is ter oftime. But Kelly is clear-eyed about advising Ohi0 Governor J0hn Kasich, a the mission: it is not SO much about "fix- once and perhaps future rival for the GOP ing" Trump as it is earning the president's nomination. (One Kellybacker, askedwhy trust SO that he can make repairs tO White the new chief of staff didn't block the House operations quickly, before an inter- "fire and fury ” statement, replied only, national incident tests the te am. "You'll never know how many others he But it is also likely that Trump knows did stop. ” ) on some level that his presidency and MeanwhiIe, it's far 仕 om clear that Kelly perhaps the nation hang in the balance. ()r anyone else) can convert a President ln moments Of criSiS, American political with only a passing interest in policy leaders have Often turned tO the nation's int0 a legislative force. The extended but military bras s t0 guide the country with failed Republican campaign to repeal clear thinking. For the time being, current Obamacare le 仕 the GOP with only 12 and former 0価℃ ers are positioned tO legislative days t0 manage the ritual 0f said one Democratic Senate aide, "but perform double duty, providing for the raising the debt ceiling by Sept. 29 and that doesn't mean they are in charge. ' common defense abroad and a measure The GOP is in a bind, which helps ex- passing a budget by Sept. 30. The betting of common sense at home. If that isn't is against them: many GOP lawmakers plain why the White House is trying t0 what the Founders had in mind when keep the focus on a broad and overdue will likely oppose both measures, which they drafted the Constitution, it is alSO means House Speaker Paul Ryan and reform ofthe tax code. Tax simplification preferable t0 several other possibilities (and the promise oflower rates for some) Senate leader Mitch McConnell will that could still become reality. The is far more popular with voters and law- have t0 rely on the mercy 0fNancy Pe10Si arrangement be ars close watching. But in makers than passing spending bills, but and Chuck Schumer t0 keep the troops the case 0fJ0hn Kelly, it is a reminder 0f it is probably impossible t0 execute this paid, the Social Security checks coming what a lifetime ofservice tO the nation can year, at least in this environment. Under and the Tre asury borrowing. Failure t0 mean. ーー舮 i 市 reporting by ALEX ALTMAN, the best-case scenario, it may be years do so could plunge the U. S. and global away: the last time Congress went down economies intO a tailspin. Democrats MASSIMO CALABRESI, PHILIP ELLIOTT, ZEKE J. MILLER 0 d MAYA RHODAN/ that road, in the quaintly bipartisan mid- already know they can practically dictate 1980S , it t00k three years t0 pull offfrom ロ terms. "Republicans are in the maJority, WASHINGTON 27 0 JOSEPH DUNFORD CHAIRMAN OF THE 」 OINT CHIEFS OF STAFF BACKGROUND A Boston native like his close friend GeneraI KeIIy, Dunford, 61 , rose from an infantry Officer tO become the 36th Commandant Ofthe Marine Corps. A graduate Ofthe U. S. Army Ranger SchooI, he hOIds master's degrees from Georgetown University and the Fletcher SchooI of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. ACCOLADES Before becomingthe nation's highest- ranking militaryofficer in 2015 , Dunford commanded U. S. forces in Afghanistan as well as a Marine regimentduringthe 2003 lraq invasion. NOTABLE QUOTE "Russia presents the greatest threat tO our national security. "

を ( ( い The View DESPITE ALL THE HYPE, THE MOON has nothing special planned for Aug. 21 ・ lt will continue doing what it's done for more than 4 billion years—insensibly circling Earth, a dead rock at the end 0f a long gravitational tether. The sun has nothing special planned either. lt will sit where it must sit and burn as it must burn tO sustain the flOCk Of planets and moons and asteroids and comets that have orbited it for SO long. That's how things go in the clock- work cosmos, and yet once in a while, there's poetry in the machinery. Once in a while, the wheels click ⅲ synchrony and the indifferent universe Offers up a rare spectacle. Just such a thing will happen on Aug. 21 as the moon's orbit crosses in front Ofthe sun at the precise spot tO eclipse its face and appear tO snuff its fires. A tOtal solar eclipse occurs somewhere on the face ofEarth every 18 months. But it usually plays out over water—which covers 70 % 0fthe planet's surface—or over unpopulated land. This month things will be different. The sky show that is being dubbed the Great American Eclipse will begin ⅲ the Pacific Northwest and make first landfall over Lincoln Beach, Ore. , at 9 : 05 a. m. P. T. lt will track southeast across the U. S. , inking a narrow stripe OftOtal darkness over 12 states before passing intO the Atlantic near Charleston, S ℃ . , at 2 : 48 p. m. E. T. The band oftotality—the strip of land ⅲ which the sun will be entirely obscured—will be just 70 miles wide. Only 12 million Americans live in that corridor, but 88 million live within 200 miles, and 350 million live within one day's drive. A great many people will be hitting the road to make that trip. HopkinsviIIe, Ky. , which will experience the longest periOd Of totality—2 min. 40 sec. —is normally home t0 about 32 , 000 people, but it expects at least 100 , 000 visitors on eclipse day. Madras, Ore. , pop. 6 , 500 , is steeling itself for a day 0f pop. 150 , 000. "We have people coming from 16 countries; ” says BrOOke Jung, 16 TIME August 21 , 2017 7 Top: Viewers 0 the Empire State Building squint through protectivefilm the Aug 31 , 1932 , eclipse. BO 比 om : A rendering 可市 e 28 , 1851 , eclipse, when members 可 0 れ astronomical expedition set up telescopes 0 れ Bue なれ d , Norway

LightBox Court inJune, hailed the uprising in a filmed interview from his hiding place. Hacked government websites urged citizens tO "unite with military units and police who declare rebellion. " The streets Of Caracas were relatively quiet following the assault, with residents queuing for hours t0 feed their fami- lies, but some did applaud the idea ofan army uprising. “ The military is the only hope; ” s aid Luis Garmendia, a shop- keeper in the city center. But there was also speculation that the raid was a ruse by the government tO divert attention from itS economic disaster. Despite sitting 0 Ⅱ the largest 0i1 reserves on the planet, Maduro has steered the economy intO hyperinfla- tion that has le 仕 millions hungry and poor. He has long blamed mysterious right-wing subversives for the mess, and he did so again on Aug. 6 when he called the raid "a terrorist attack ” by mercenaries financed in Colombia and the U. S. , linking it to the long history of gringo intervention the region. The chaotic situation in Vene zuela makes it tough t0 predict whether the threat Ofa coup is real or whether Maduro and his allies will be able to cling tO power for years. But there is fear an armed struggle could lead to CiVil war. “ The scenarios Of violence are something the government is pushing for by closing the channels for dialogue,: ” Juan Requesens, an opposition lawmaker and former student leader, tells TIME. “ They are pushing toward confrontation, but it will be an unequal one. They have the arms. We don't. ” That makes the army's loyalties a matter Of intense speculation. Chåvez, a paratrooper WhO launched his own failed coup in 1992 , put offcers into his government and gave Others expropri- ated land to win their loyalty. He also installed a Cuban-styIe system to watch for any dissent ⅲ the ranks, says pedro Pedrosa, 4 political consultant and for- mer Venezuelan naval Off. cer. Yet under the surface, Pedrosa says, many soldiers are getting angrier, especially as they repress f00d riots ⅲ their own neighborhoods. "lnside the military, there is much, much discontent," he says. "ln the end, it could explode. ”—WITH REPORTING BY JORGE BENEZRA/CARACAS 12 TIME August 21 , 2017 0 0 0 0 0 A ツ ou 市 h01ds 0 M010tov coc た地ⅲ eastern Caracas A dried-up 和 u れ ta ⅲ砒 plaza 0 pos ⅲ 0 れ厄 ader 0 Borges claims voterfraud onAug. 2

TheView Dispatch 夏取 China's remote 夏取取 er MO 取 go a region, a desert goes green By CharIie CampbeII/Kubuqi Desert WITH HANDS STRETCHED WIDE, MENG BAOYINDAOGETAO backs the ewe intO a corner, seizes it by the horns and swings his leg over its back. A farmhand then approaches , cradling an emaciated lamb, barely a few days old. The little creature's tail begins to wag as it latches onto the sheep's underbelly. "He's weak," Meng says ofthe lamb. "But he should survive. ” Life has a chance these days ⅲ lnner Mongolia's Kubuqi Desert, around 18 , 600 sq km ofgolden sand dunes that plunge south in an arc 仕 om China's Ye110W River. Centuries ofgrazing had denuded the land 0f all vegetation, and the region's 740 , 000 people were wallowing ⅲ isolated poverty. "ln the past, ifpeople built a house, they used mud and straw bricks,: ” sighs Meng, 60. "We had a tough life. ” Things are now improving. ln 1988 , Elion Resources Group, a Beijing-based company with about $ 15 billion ofas- sets in green energy and environmental regeneration projects, partnered with local people and the Chinese government t0 combat desertification. Nearly three decades later, a third 0f Kubuqi has been greened. Special plants have been grown t0 grip the shifting sands and t0 prevent the dunes' encroach- 'We pretty ing on farms and villages. much have the The cattle have returned, deforestation and secondary industries problem handled. have sprung up, with tourists The challenge now flocking to new hotels and is tO industrialize it. ' shops, eager to explore the dunes on boards and buggie s ・ HAN MEIFEI, chief engineer Of "Before, ifwe needed a box the Elion Resources Group Of matches, it meant a day's ride to the shop by camel or donkey," says Meng's 39-year- old son Kedalai, who runs a thriving restaurant serving local specialties like yogurt candy and platters ofroast lamb. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates the Kubuqi Ecological Restoration Proj ect—to give the greening ofthe desert its formal name—to be worth $ 1.8 billion to the local economy over the next 50 years. KUBUQI'S TRANSFORMATION burnishes China's credentials as an emnronmentalleader at a time when the U. S. is retreat- ing 仕 om its international commitments. After President Don- ald Trump refused to reconsider U. S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change, which he announced on June 1 , France's newly elected President Emmanuel Macron declared, "Now China leads. " President Xi Jinping himself made that pitch when he became the first Chinese leader to address the ・ World Economic Forum in Davos ⅲ January, call- ing the paris Agreement responsibility we must assume for future generations. By far the world's worst carbon emitter, China is an unlikely 20 TIME August 21 , 2017 green champion. Overcapacity ⅲ heavily The deserts 可 polluting state industries ー such as CO , lnner MO れ go 0 concrete and steel—means smog regu- have been larly chokes its cities, grounds flights and transformed over may figure ⅲ a third ofdeaths across the the past three country. ln addition, 4 out 0f 5 under- decades ground wells are polluted t0 the point where the water is unfit even forbath- ing. But China has the zeal Ofa convert: it is the world's biggest renewable-energy investor ( $ 102.9 billion ⅲ 2015 ) and employs 40 % ofthe sector's global work- force, aming for 13 million newjobs by 2020. Five Ofthe world's top six solar- manufacturing firms are ⅲ China. Kubuqi, for one, boasts one 0f Chi- na'S largest SOlar farms created in one stage. lt features 650 , 000 fixed and sun-tracking panels that together chan- nel I,OOO megawatts Of electricity intO the national grid, about half the power- generating capacity 0fthe Hoover Dam. 0 A team 0f47 households is employed t0 maintain the panels. "Every day, each household can clean more than 3 , 000 panels using high-pressure water Jets; ” says chiefengineer Tian Junting.

CONSIDERING THE SOURCE, IT WAS A STARTLING claim. A longtime lieutenant 0f TIME and LIFE founder Henry Luce, journalist Richard Clurman found himself chatting one day in the late 1960S with Leonard Bernstein, the legendary composer and conductor of the New York Philharmonic. "EIvis Presley," Bernstein said, "is the greatest cultural ntury. ” Taken aback, Clurman, force in whO re unted th exchange tO the writer David Halber am, offere an alternative. at about Pi SSO? ” Clurman ventured. NO, it's Elvis,t' B rnstein insisted. "He introduced the bea everythi g and he changed everything— Ⅱ 1 Ⅱ S ・ , la guage, C Othes, it's a whOle new social volution— e 第 6 come from it. ” As does so much else. Forty years after Presley's August 1977 death in an upstairs bathroom at Grace- land, his Memphis mans ion, the revolution B ernstein identified unfolds still. With an estimated 1 billion units sold and counting, Presley is thought t0 be the most commercially successful S010 musical artist of all time. Last year, the Recording lndustry Association Of America certified the Essential Elvis record platinum, and in 2016 , Presleywas, according to Forbes, the fourth top-earning dead celebrity ⅲ America, trailing only Michael Jackson (wh0, in an only-in-America tWiSt, was once married tO Presley's daughter), cartoonist Charles Schulz and golfer Arnold Palmer. Legions of fans—many of whom were born after the King was found lifeless, his body wracked by opioids—treat him as a Christ- like figure, a man born on the fringes who attracted a great following and who some still believe is not dead. The site this month of a panel discussion with Priscilla Presley, a sold-out "Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Showcase ” and a vigil 0 Ⅱ the anniversary of his death, Graceland is among the most-visited private homes in the nation along with the White House, which is fitting, since the Presley phenomenon has particular resonance in the age of HiIIbiIIy EIegy. "What he did was earthshaking," says Tim McGraw, the country-music superstarwho counts Presley as a huge influence. "He changed not only the music that we make but social norms and the way we looked at each other. " He also changed how we are able to look at, and experience, him in the 21St century. Ted Harrison, a British writer and broadcaster who's done landmark fantastic rise and long, s ad slide intO an overweight, work on the presley phenomenon, notes that inves- gun-toting, prescription-drug-abusing conspiracy tors in the "Elvis brand," thanks to the Presley fam- theorist about communism and the counterculture ily, have had unusual artistic and commercial free- ()e hated the BeatIes, once telling President Nixon dom. Next up: a hologram EIvis that can carry an that the British band threatened American values) entire concert. ” Harrison says, continue tap intO fundamental questions about race, mass tO gro 、 M. ” Fans, it turns out, need never have a lone- culture, sexuality and working-class anxiety in a some night. postwar America. A poor boy made good ⅲ the The PresIey legend has proved durable and in- prosperous 1950S , Presley experienced tension triguing not least because it mirrors much ofAmer- and feared disorder ⅲ the 1960S before breaking ican culture in the artist's lifetime and beyond. Hi s down totally ⅲ the hectic 1970S. ln his music and 、い 0 Clockwise from top : Recording 砒 RCA Victor Studio in New 物 r た City ⅲ Ju 1956 ゞ ⅲ g が 0 れ 0 ⅲ れ e 1956 , before hiS appearance 0 れ The Steve Allen Show ⅲ New 物ⅸ City; onstage 砒 Russwood 2 町た inMemphis ⅲ 1956 ゞ砒 the Ellis Auditorium ⅲ Memphis ⅲ May 1956

"And the runoffwater feeds the crops that grow underneath. ” The Kubuqi project shows how pri- vate firms can tackle environmental degradation, boost livelihoods and help safeguard the planet—all the while chasing profits for themselves. The scheme won Elion the 2013 Global Dry- land Champion award, a prize given by the U. N. Convention to Combat Deserti- fication. "lt was a wonderful model that partners with the people wh0 live there rather than bringing in others from out- side; ” says convention spokeswoman Yukie Hori. NEVERTHELESS, the Kubuqi Desert project was born ofbusiness necessity rather than altruism. ln 1988 , EIion founder Wang Wenbiao took control of the near-bankrupt Hangjinqi Saltworks ⅲ the middle ofthe desert. At the time, all the salt produced had to be transferred tO a market 40 miles away Via a circuitous 217-1 Ⅱ ile route, as there was no road through the desert to the nearest train depot. During the area's frequent s andstorms, all transportation would cease. Wang, now 57 , is worth about $ 1 bil- lion. But he began his working life as a laborer ⅲ Kubuqi and is familiar with the hardships ofthe desert. He knew that he needed a direct road for the salt- works tO survive, and built one, but the sand quickly swallowed it. The desert had to be tamed, but that would only be possible ifthe local community ben- efited at the same time : factory and farmer, laborer and executive, united ⅲ a single purpose. "Welfare work alone is not sustainable," says He peng- fei, secretary-general of Elion's philan- thropic foundation. "lt may last five or 10 years but not 100 years. SO we had t0 make sure local people made a profit alongside us. ” At first, locals were paid about $ 40 for each 30 trees they planted, but most ofthe saplings died, as nobody had a monetary stake in their survival. SO Elion staggered payments over time with bonuses for trees that lasted more than three years. The survival rate soared. Then Elion started planting desert willow trees—chosen because they require little rain—using high- pressure jets drawing groundwater, reducing planting times from 10 min- utes tO 10 seconds per seedling. There was much trial and error along the way. "We had many failures; ” says He. "We brought poplar seeds from the U. S. , but they were not appropriate. Only after 25 years did we reach the stage where we made a profit. ” T0day, the sand is lush with drought-re s istant trees and Hedysarum laeve 、ⅱⅡ . , a flowering bush. "We pretty much have the defor- estation problem handled' ” says Elion chiefengineer Han Meifei. "The chal- lenge now is tO industrialize it. TO earn profits 仕 om the greening, local people are encouraged to grow licorice, WhiCh doesn't require much water and can be sold for large sums for use in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). (The root is an integral part ofmany TCM treatments, and TCM's herbal preparations together make up almost a quarter 0fChina's pharmaceutical industry.) After four years, a crop oflicorice root iS harvested, by which time the soil has regained enough integrity t0 host 0ther crops, such as grapes, tomatoes and potatoes. "We say Kubuqi licorice is the best because it has a red COlor While nor- mally licorice root is black' ” says Wu Zhi Hua, 60 , who earns 6,000 renminbi ( $ 900 ) a month from her plot. That's 50% more than her son can earn mining coal in a pit outside the nearby city 0f Ordos. "lt's very dangerous work, and I worry about him; ” she says. "I hope my son can come back one day SO he can dO something for his hometown and con- tribute tO our community. THE KUBUQI MODEL cannot be applied t0 turn any patch ofdesert into lush oases; it restores only recently degraded land. But the lessons learned in Kubuqi will prove invaluable ⅲ a country that boasts the world's biggest population but 21 ロ KUBUQI DESERT wake. —With reporting 妙 ZHANG CHI/ greenery, not scorched earth, in their ert that they conquer— leaving behind on the warpath, only this time it is des- Once more, the Khan's progeny are Genghis Khan. ” ancestors were 仕 O Ⅱ 1 there—you know, MongoIia, to the north. "After all, my says he would like t0 visit the nation 0f most exotic 0f pleasures: a holiday. He he might even be able to enjoy that slowly improving. Soon, Meng thinks handouts; ” he says —but things are local people still live 0 Ⅱ government well-off as he'd like them to be—"Many Many of his neighbors still aren't as a year, a fortune for this p art 0f China. 80 cows. TOday, he earns up to $ 30 , 000 goats has now grown tO 700 , along with whose original herd of 200 sheep and Among them are people like Meng, 90 % ofthem in developing countries. globe live ⅲ , or depend on, drylands, too. About 2 billion people around the China the chance tO export green tech the Middle East and Africa—might give ancient Silk Road across Central Asia, infrastructure network spanning the lnitiative—a $ 900 billion trade and ofKubuqi. Xi's signature Belt and Road and Pakistan have studied the les sons work, while teams 仕 om Saudi Arabia Tibet, are undergoing similar greening and autonomous regions Xinjiang and tion. The provmces 0fGansu and Hebei, 40 % 0f the land suffers from degrada- only 7 % ofits arable fields, and where