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Truth-seeking: the Turning Point in Zunyi

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BEIJING, Oct. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — An interview from China.org.cn with Wang Xiaohui and David Ferguson on the Long March:

 

Wang Xiaohui:

When you march toward your ideals but encounter repeated setbacks and failures, do you have the courage to pause, reflect on the path taken, and chart a new way forward?

David Ferguson:

If I continually encountered setbacks on the road to my ideals, I would stop and reflect seriously on whether my methods need adjusted or my direction needs corrected. This is a matter of being honest with oneself and honest about one’s shortcomings. Granted, this requires as much courage as setting out in the first place — because what you have to confront is not only the judgment of others, but your own ingrained reluctance to accept that you might have got it wrong.

Wang Xiaohui:

The waters of the Xiangjiang River ran crimson in the winter of 1934.

To cover the Red Army’s main force as they crossed the river, Chen Shuxiang, then Commander of the 34th Division of the Fifth Army Corps, led his troops to fight against vastly superior enemy forces until they ran out of ammunition and supplies. Severely wounded, Chen was captured alive. On the way to the enemy camp to be paraded for merit, Chen seized a moment of the enemy’s unawareness, tore his own intestines through his abdominal wound, and died a heroic death. He was only 29 years old.

The Battle of Xiangjiang River was the deadliest campaign for the Red Army since the start of the Long March. In less than two months, their troop strength plummeted from over 86,000 to just over 30,000.

At that critical moment, doubts and discontent among officers and soldiers with the military leadership peaked.

During the fights against the previous four Kuomintang (KMT) “encirclement” campaigns, the Red Army adopted Mao Zedong’s strategy of “luring the enemy in deep.” With flexible tactics in mobile warfare, the Red Army worked miracles of defeating superior enemies time and again. Yet, the tide turned completely during the KMT’s fifth “encirclement.”

At that time, the CPC was a branch of the Communist International (Comintern). After 1927, the Comintern instructed the CPC to adopt an urban-centered path in its revolution, for it was how Russia’s October Revolution had achieved victory. Affected by this directive, during the Fifth Counter-Campaign against “Encirclement and Suppression”, Bo Gu and Otto Braun, who held actual command of the Red Army, insisted on launching offensive operations to seize major cities.

Otto Braun also mechanically applied European conventional warfare tactics, forcing the Red Army into rigid positional and fortress battles. In the Battle of Guangchang, the poorly equipped Red Army fought head-on against enemy tanks and artillery on open terrain, resulting in more than 5,000 casualties, about one-fourth of all participating troops.

Successive military defeats forced the Red Army to launch a strategic shift. However, Bo Gu and Otto Braun insisted that everything be evacuated, including heavy equipment: printing presses, currency-making machines, and arms-manufacturing facilities… When crossing the Xiangjiang River, troops were slowed down by these cumbersome supplies, and numerous soldiers even laid down their lives for protecting these assets. Chen Shuxiang and his 34th Division wrote the gravest footnote to this bloody sacrifice.

By the banks of the Xiangjiang River, the spark of hope in the eyes of the Red Army soldiers was nearly quenched by the cold water. Could the rigid foreign doctrines truly guide the Red Army and China’s revolution? What path lay ahead?

History often unfolds in paradoxes: when all hope seems lost, a historical turning point is quietly emerging.

After the Battle of Xiangjiang River, Mao firmly opposed the original plan drafted by Bo Gu and Otto Braun to march towards Hunan. Instead, he proposed to advance to Guizhou where enemy defenses were weak. There, the Red Army broke through the natural barrier of the Wujiang River, and captured Zunyi. On Jan. 15, 1935, the CPC Central Committee convened an enlarged Political Bureau meeting in an old mansion, later known to the world as the Zunyi Conference.

Inside the modest living room on the second floor, a charcoal brazier expelled the winter chill. The CPC leadership sat around a long table to review why the Red Army had fallen into passive positions since 1933. Bo Gu attributed the defeats solely to the enemy’s overwhelming strength, while other leading officials like Zhou Enlai and Zhang Wentian pinpointed flawed military command as the fundamental cause.

Mao Zedong also made a pivotal speech.

As a revolutionary forged in rural base-area practice, Mao always sought truth from real combat experience. Citing victories from the previous four counter-“encirclement” campaigns, he rebutted Bo Gu’s opinions and criticized the flawed strategies of passive defense and abandoning mobile warfare tactics. In plain, incisive language, he pointed out that “the soldiers also needed to march, eat and sleep,” and that Braun’s rigid commands were completely divorced from the realities of China’s revolutionary warfare. 

Throughout the whole meeting, Bo Gu remained dejected; Braun sat near the door and lit one cigarette after another. Never had these “true Bolsheviks” faced such rigorous criticism before.

The intensive confrontation lasted three days. In the end, Mao Zedong was elected to the leadership of the Red Army and the CPC Central Committee, putting an end to the wrong guidance. This marked a life-and-death turning point in the history of the Communist Party of China.

The Zunyi Conference freed the CPC from the Comintern’s intervention, enabling the Party to independently master the destiny of China’s revolution. From then on, the Red Army turned peril into safety, and China’s revolution emerged from despair toward new life.

David Ferguson:

When faced with major setbacks, the Communist Party of China was not crushed; instead, it demonstrated the courage to confront and correct its own mistakes, thereby turning adversity into opportunity. For any ruling party, this kind of courage is exceptionally rare.

Throughout history, guided by the principle of seeking truth from facts, the Party has always corrected errors, updated systems and adjusted course. By doing so, it has guaranteed social progress. This is precisely the secret to success that has made the Party resilient and invincible.

Wang Xiaohui:

No grand undertaking advances without setbacks. Faced with obstacles and defeats, the CPC demonstrated extraordinary courage and wisdom. They sought truth from facts, corrected wrong courses, and led the revolution towards triumph.

The Zunyi Conference Spirit, embodied in firm conviction, adherence to truth, independence and self-reliance, solidarity and unity, was forged amid blood and fire. It has shaped the unique spiritual character of the CPC. In the years that followed, these timeless values continued to evolve and sustain the Party in the face of trials and challenges, endowing it with enduring vitality.

China Mosaic 
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

Faith: The Spark Born by the Yudu Riverside
http://www.china.org.cn/2026-10/17/content_118737624.shtml

 

 

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SOURCE China.org.cn

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Suunto Launches Race 3S: Next-Generation Performance Watch in a Compact Titanium Case

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Suunto’s next-generation performance watch brings up to 38 hours of dual-band GPS battery, a 2,000-nit AMOLED display, and free worldwide offline maps in a 56 g build, debuting alongside Suunto’s new AI Coach.

VANTAA, Finland, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Suunto launches Suunto Race 3S, a new-generation flagship performance watch. Built for smarter training, with features designed especially for trail running, Race 3S brings together up to 38 hours of dual-band GPS battery, a 2,000-nit AMOLED display, and a full set of intelligent trail tools at just 56 g. It is a watch built to go further and move lighter, so a long day in the mountains stays simple.

First launched in 2023, the Race series established Suunto’s position as the choice for athletes who train with intention and perform when it counts. Suunto Race 3S carries that standard into a compact 46 mm case sized to sit well on smaller wrists, and holds on to long-lasting battery life, a flagship display, and the complete trail toolkit alongside it.

“People have more performance data at their fingertips than ever, but turning all that information into something useful can be a challenge,” said Daniel Das Bhowmik, VP Product at Suunto. “We built Race 3S to carry long-lasting battery life in a case compact and light enough to forget, and we’re launching it alongside Suunto AI Coach to make things simple again: turning questions and personal data into clear, actionable answers.”

Battery for the Long Haul

No runner should plan a race around a battery bar. Suunto Race 3S gives them room to plan the race instead: up to 38 hours in dual-band GPS mode (up to 32 hours with the always-on display on), compared with up to 30 hours on Race S, with full positioning accuracy switched on the entire time. Additional battery modes reach further still, including a smartwatch mode with up to 12 days of battery life for everyday wear.

For runners used to planning a session around what the watch has left, that is up to eight more hours of pacing, navigation, and heart rate on the wrist than Race S. Training runs finish the way they were planned, races carry data all the way to the line, and the charger stays at home.

A Compact Build With Flagship Performance

The best watch on a long climb is the one a runner stops noticing. At 56 g with the silicone strap, 38 g for the watch head alone, Suunto’s Race 3S sits close to the wrist at roughly the weight of two energy gels, with a compact fit that works well for smaller wrists, too. A titanium bezel and sapphire crystal lens handle rock, scrub, and repeated impact.

Inside, the new-generation Apollo 510 processor drives faster response across maps and menus, and an upgraded optical heart rate module with six LEDs and four photodetectors behind 2.5D curved sensor glass holds accuracy through arm swing, sweat, and cold. Pair a Suunto heart rate belt to enable ZoneSense and it reads true intensity straight from the body’s response.

Suunto AI Coach Debuts With Race 3S

Race 3S marks the debut of Suunto AI Coach, an AI-powered conversational coaching experience in the Suunto app. It turns your Suunto data into insight, guidance and action, helping you understand your data, know where you stand and decide what to do next.

Ask Suunto AI Coach anything about your training, and it answers clearly and in context, with guidance and visuals such as charts, tables and maps, plus next steps whenever you want them. When you want to act, it creates structured workouts, training plans and routes; workouts and routes can then be saved in the Suunto app and synced to your watch. Customers who purchase and pair Suunto Race 3S can get three months of Suunto AI Coach free by activating their watch through the Suunto app by 31 December 2026.

Precision in Every Terrain, Free Maps Worldwide

When the trail disappears under canopy or into a canyon, the line on the wrist stays put. Positioning offers better overall performance, notable through forests, canyon walls, and switchbacks. Free worldwide offline maps now add contour lines and place names for an instant read on where you stand. They download straight to the watch and run entirely on board, subscription-free, so the terrain travels with the runner wherever the trail goes.

A Race Strategy Set Before the Gun

The hardest racing decisions arrive when a runner is least equipped to make them. Suunto Race 3S makes them early instead. Climb Guidance shows what the trail does next, climb or descent, updated in real time, so effort can be placed in advance: know a descent is coming, and save the legs for the climb after it.

Race Planner will build a personalized pacing plan from the route, the weather, and a runner’s race goal, with real-time guidance to hold pace on race day.*

A Display You Can Read in Full Sun

Mid-race data only counts if it can be read mid-stride. The 1.32-inch LTPS Hybrid AMOLED reaches 2,000 nits, more than three times the brightness of Race S, at 466 × 466 resolution. In midday glare above the treeline or on a 4 a.m. start in the dark, pace, distance, and the next turn stay readable at a glance.

Everything You Run With, on One Wrist

64 GB of onboard storage holds maps, routes, training data, and offline music.** It offers over 100 sport modes, including running, cycling, swimming, gym work, and multisport. Race 3S is available in three colorways: Orchid, Feather, and Black.

*Race Planner is planned for launch via a future Suunto app and firmware update. Features, availability, and timing are subject to change. Please refer to the latest official information from Suunto.

**Available via an over-the-air software update following product launch. Availability timing is subject to official announcement.

Read more about Suunto AI Coach at https://us.suunto.com/pages/suunto-ai-coach

Availability:
EMEA: October 15th
CHINA: October 15th
NAM: October 29th
APAC: October 29th

Race 3S will be sold through Suunto’s direct-to-consumer channels and authorized outdoor and running retail partners across North America, Europe, and key Asia-Pacific markets.

Pricing: EUR 499 / USD 599

Colors: Purple, Grey, Black

Images for media use: https://media.suunto.com/pub/collection/7d1b229aace5399e4c0c117efcaf1bdf?locale=en

About Suunto

Suunto is a Finnish brand, established in 1936. It was founded by Finnish inventor Tuomas Vohlonen, who pioneered a new standard for navigational precision. That same year, his innovation – a field compass – was stronger, steadier, and more accurate than any other handheld navigational tool of its time. It was the first of many Suunto products built to withstand the harsh conditions of our native Finland.

In the near century since, Tuomas’s spirit of innovation has continued to chart Suunto’s course. From some of history’s first dive computers and high-altitude wrist altimeters to today’s GPS watches, Suunto remains a trusted companion for outdoor adventurers across the globe.

Supporting explorers, athletes, and weekend warriors alike remains our core mission – providing the tools to dive deeper, climb higher, and push the limits of human potential.

www.suunto.com

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SOURCE Suunto

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/R E P E A T — Media Advisory – Minister Hodgson to hold media callback following his visit to the United Kingdom/

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OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 20, 2026 /CNW/ — The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, will hold a callback with Canadian media to discuss the outcomes of his visit to London, U.K., for London Metals Exchange (LME) Week on October 19 and 20, 2026.

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Time: 1 p.m. EDT

All accredited media are asked to pre-register for the callback by emailing media@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca. Details on how to participate will be provided upon registration.

Follow Natural Resources Canada on LinkedIn

SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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S4 Capital’s Monks Accelerates Regional Growth Strategy in EMEA and APAC Expanding Nirvik Singh’s Remit to APAC, Names Ash Smith Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific and Fay Denis du Peage Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand

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LONDON, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Monks, the purely digital, unitary operating brand of S4 Capital plc, today announced an evolution of its regional leadership across EMEA and Asia-Pacific. As global brands demand more agile, connected and AI-enabled marketing models, Monks is expanding its integrated Marketing and Technology Services footprint to help multinational clients operate at speed and scale across both regions.

Positioned as a change agent for modern enterprise brands, Monks unifies three core capabilities—Intelligence, Creation and Orchestration—through its flagship Monks.Flow platform to build brands as living systems. Across Asia Pacific, this evolution allows Monks to deliver end-to-end marketing transformation, helps clients accelerate media performance, eliminate operational silos and orchestrate intelligent marketing that turns real-time data into measurable business impact.

To lead this next chapter, Monks has expanded the leadership remit of Nirvik Singh to lead both EMEA and Asia Pacific, reporting to Bruno Lambertini, CEO of Marketing Services. Working alongside Nirvik, Ash Smith joins Monks as Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific, effective 13 November 2026. Fay Denis du Peage has been appointed Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.

Nirvik recently stepped down as a Non-Executive Director from the S4 Capital Board to join Monks as CEO of Marketing Services, EMEA. In the new expansion of his role to APAC, he will integrate oversight for Marketing Services across both regions, recognizing the connected growth opportunities and delivering greater value and scale for clients.

Nirvik brings more than 35 years of experience in the industry, most recently as Global Chief Operating Officer and President International at Grey Group. Nirvik has spent decades running multi-region businesses and partnering with enterprise brands including Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Volvo and Haleon to navigate complex market dynamics and deliver commercial impact.

Reporting to Nirvik, Ash Smith will focus on accelerating regional business growth, strengthening client partnerships and scaling Monks’ product and solutions capabilities across Asia Pacific. Ash brings more than 18 years of experience across Australia, Europe, China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, spanning product development, client solutions, innovation and business leadership. Throughout his career, he has focused on combining human intelligence, data and technology to create value for brands, translating local and regional market insights into innovative solutions and business growth.

Prior to joining Monks, Ash served as Chief Product and Solutions Officer for JAPAC at Tag, a Dentsu company, where he led the talent, products and technology needed to address complex client challenges, including driving Tag’s AI and innovation agenda. Previously, as Managing Director for Southeast Asia, he built strategic client partnerships and developed integrated, scalable solutions by bringing together expertise from across the network, delivering strong business growth.

Over his career, Ash has worked with leading global brands across technology, CPG, luxury and automotive, building long-term partnerships and delivering solutions that drive real-world impact. He has also shared his perspectives at industry forums, most recently NRF and ATS.

“We are excited to welcome Ash to our leadership team in Asia Pacific as we continue to scale our integrated offering and deepen our partnerships with clients across the region. His experience spanning client leadership, product, solutions and innovation will be valuable as we bring together creative, media, production, data and technology to deliver greater agility, efficiency and real-time relevance for brands. As we continue to advance our unitary model and the capabilities enabled by Monks.Flow, Ash will play an important role in translating our regional ambitions into meaningful outcomes for our clients and our business,” said Nirvik Singh, CEO, Monks EMEA and APAC.

Ash joins Monks as the company continues to evolve its integrated Marketing and Technology Services offering, bringing together creativity, media intelligence, production, data, and technology to help brands compete in an increasingly complex and fast-moving market. Through Monks.Flow, its flagship AI ecosystem for marketing orchestration, Monks is connecting insights, creativity, and execution to enable real-time relevance and turn marketing into a growth engine. Ash’s experience in product and solutions leadership, AI innovation and integrated client partnerships will support the continued development and deployment of these capabilities across Asia Pacific.

“The best agencies don’t just make work, they solve problems. When people and technology come together in the right systems, we can move faster, think bigger and unlock growth for brands in ways that weren’t possible before. That means bringing media, creative, production and data to the table as one team, not a set of silos. Our job is to put clients at the centre of everything we do and help them win through new ideas and experiences,” said Ash Smith, incoming EVP, Monks Asia Pacific.

Based in Sydney, Fay Denis du Peage will report to Ash Smith and lead Monks’ growth and market development across Australia and New Zealand. She will focus on strengthening the local offering, deepening client partnerships and bringing together Monks’ capabilities across creative, media, data and technology.

Fay brings experience across media, data, digital and operations from her career at Monks and MightyHive. She steps into the role after serving as Senior Vice President, Media, APAC, where she has helped strengthen Monks’ regional media proposition and drive greater integration across data, technology and media.

“AUNZ is a sophisticated and fast-moving market, and there is a significant opportunity for Monks to bring more of our capabilities together around the challenges our clients are facing, empowering them to become Real-Time Brands. The future of marketing isn’t about one discipline working in isolation—it’s about connecting media, creativity, data and technology with AI to create better outcomes in real time. My focus will be on making that capability even more relevant and accessible to clients, while building on the strength of our local teams and partnerships. I’m excited about what we are about to create together in the market,” said Fay Denis du Peage, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Monks.

“Nirvik and Ash bring complementary leadership experience and a strong understanding of what clients need in an increasingly complex and fast-changing market. With Nirvik’s expanded regional leadership and Ash’s expertise in client solutions, product, and innovation, we are strengthening our ability to drive growth, connect capabilities, and deliver greater value for clients across our markets. Fay’s appointment is an important step in strengthening our presence across AUNZ, with Australia as our largest APAC market. I would also like to thank Kenny Griffiths for his leadership and the valuable contributions he has made to Monks,” said Bruno Lambertini, CEO, Marketing Services, Monks.

Media Inquiry

Evelyn Hsu
VP, Marketing and Communications, APAC
Evelyn.hsu@monks.com

About Monks

Monks is the global, digital-first, data-driven, unitary operating brand of S4 Capital plc. With a legacy of innovation and specialized expertise, Monks combines an extraordinary range of global Marketing and Technology Services to redefine how brands interact with the world. Through Monks.Flow, its flagship AI ecosystem for marketing orchestration, Monks transforms marketing into a growth engine, collapsing timelines and connecting brands to culture in real time. By deploying bespoke intelligent agents across disciplines and delivering culturally relevant, high-impact creative and digital solutions, Monks solves key critical business challenges across the entire brand enterprise to help brands sustain long-term impact.

Monks was named a Contender in The Forrester Wave™: Global Marketing Services and a leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Global Digital Marketing Agencies. It ranks among Cannes Lions’ Top 10 Creative Companies (2022-25) and remains the only partner featured in AdExchanger’s Programmatic Power Players list every year (2020-24). Named Adweek’s first AI Agency of the Year (2023) and The One Show’s inaugural AI Pioneer Organization (2025), Monks was also awarded Business Intelligence Group’s 2026 Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Award in the Human-Machine Interaction Team category. Additionally, Monks.Flow earned AI-based Marketing Solution of the Year at the 2026 AI Breakthrough Awards and a 2026 Global Generative AI Award in the Agentic Marketing Innovation category. Finally, Monks achieved a record-breaking number of FWAs and continues to hold the most of any partner.

About S4 Capital

S4 Capital is a purely digital advertising and marketing services business built for global, multinational, regional and local clients, as well as millennial-driven influencer brands. The business operates through two data- and digital-media-driven practices: Marketing Services and Technology Services, emphasising ‘faster, better and more efficient’ execution in an always-on, consumer-led environment. Its unitary structure positions the Company as a systems integration partner delivering real-time relevance in the post-agency era.

The Company has approximately 6,200 people in 34 countries, with approximately 82% of net revenue across the Americas, 12% across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 6% across Asia-Pacific. The longer-term objective is a geographic split of 60%:20%:20%. Marketing Services accounted for approximately 91% of net revenue and Technology Services 9%. The target allocation is a practice split of 75%:25%.

Sir Martin Sorrell was CEO of WPP for 33 years, building it from a £1 million ‘shell’ company in 1985 into the world’s largest advertising and marketing services company, with a market capitalisation of over £16 billion on the day he left. Prior to that, Sir Martin was Group Financial Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Company Plc for nine years.

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