The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command released videos in commemoration of the 97th founding anniversary of the PLA. In one video, segments of four countermeasure missions against "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces were included.
Drawing on classic historical battle examples in China, the video "Battlefield at maritime frontier," adapted from the Peking Opera song "Dingjun Mountain," conveys the message of soldiers being ready to fight at all times and able to engage in battle at any moment.
The video that lasts two minutes and 16 seconds has garnered numerous likes online since its release late Wednesday. The video features classic images of the PLA Eastern Theater Command's combat preparedness patrols and major military operations in recent years.
Among them are segments of the PLA Eastern Theater Command's four countermeasure missions against "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces.
The video showcased the crushing strength of the Eastern Theater Command against the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces and their military equipment, demonstrating the capability of destroying their "support pillars," striking their "main base," and cutting off their "supply lines."
It conveys the message that each provocation from "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces is met with a step forward of PLA's counteraction.
The ending, presented through fast-paced visuals with a wealth of information, reviews the glorious journey of the PLA from its inception and its course of fighting in the flames of war, and its image in the new era.
It concludes with references to the five famous mountains in Chinese mainland, scenes of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan island, and the Great Wall, expressing that the PLA Eastern Theater Command will not forget its original intentions, continue its traditions, remain loyal to its mission, and serve as the iron Great Wall in safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity.
"I cannot tell your name, but in times of hardship, I know that I'm safe; amidst crowds, I feel a sense of security," read the opening lines of another heartwarming video released by the Eastern Theater Command.
This video resonated with the public, highlighting the role of the PLA in safeguarding peace and stability. The narrative continues, "In this war-torn world, you have made peace and beauty a part of my daily life... Though your name remains unknown to me, I know you are the PLA."
Through a series of provocative actions in the South China Sea in recent years, Japan, a country that does not have any claim in the region, has gradually revealed its ambitions to play a more influential role in the busy waterway.
In its latest move, Japan and the Philippines held their first joint military exercises in the South China Sea on August 2 in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, according to Reuters. The exercises came less than a month after the two countries signed a landmark military pact allowing the deployment of forces on each other's soil.
What is Japan's real plan in the South China Sea? How has it gradually been forming a strategy for the South China Sea? How could its involvement affect the regional situation?
Eager actions
The Japan-Philippines drill took place within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, Reuters said citing the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It closely followed similar exercises between Manila and Washington on July 31.
On July 8, Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact, the Reciprocal Access Agreement, allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills, to the Philippines. It also similarly allows Philippine forces to enter Japan for joint combat training, media reported.
The defense pact with the Philippines is the first to be forged by Japan in Asia. Japan signed similar accords with Australia in 2022 and with the UK in 2023, according to the reports.
Some Western media interpreted the collaborations between Japan and the Philippines as moves to push back against China's so-called regional assertiveness.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian reiterated at a press conference on July 8 that the exchange and cooperation between countries should not undermine the mutual understanding and trust between other countries in the region. It should not threaten regional peace and stability, target any third party, or harm the interests of any third party.
The signing of the agreement will help Japan further sell patrol ships, radars, and other military equipment to the Philippines, seizing the Philippine arms market, seeking greater economic benefits, and expanding military and political influence, Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times.
The US has always used the South China Sea issue as a means to contain China, and Japan has also continuously supported and incited the Philippines to cause trouble and provocations in the region. To put it more directly, the US wants Japan to be its strategic pawn, and Japan wants the Philippines to be its cannon fodder, Zhang said.
To Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, "assistant" is a more appropriate word to describe Japan's role in the deployment of the US' Indo-Pacific strategy.
Japan has apparently accelerated its pace of using military means to influence security affairs in the South China Sea in order to achieve a long-term presence in the region. The signing of the agreement with the Philippines and the immediate deployment of the exercises under the agreement are obvious examples, Chen noted.
At the same time, Japan has also enhanced support for military and paramilitary forces in regional countries. In May, Japan agreed to provide the Philippines with a 64.3-billion yen ($6.8 million) low-interest loan for the acquisition of five additional Japanese patrol vessels, in a bid to help it cope with "China's aggressive activities" in the South China Sea, the Kyodo News reported.
These moves are, in fact, extensions of the US' plan to achieve global maritime domain awareness, according to Chen.
The US has always attached great importance to enhancing its maritime situational awareness capabilities as a key component of its national security and maritime security strategy since the September 11 attack in 2001. Against the backdrop of the Indo-Pacific strategy, it is actively promoting the construction of a US-led maritime situational awareness network in the Indo-Pacific region with the participation of regional allies and partners, aiming to strengthen the maritime containment of China, analysts noted.
Aside from military-related moves, Japan has also been actively attending small US-led multilateral mechanisms in the Indo-Pacific region such as the US-Japan-Philippine and the US-Japan-South Korea mechanisms. It also tried to participate in the formulation of regional rules such as the definition of navigation freedom.
Japan's active moves and cooperation with the US show that it is seemingly quite willing to act as the US' assistant, Chen said. The assistant's plots
The "assistant" is as willing as it has its own ambitions.
Japan's first priority is to use the South China Sea issue as a means to divert China's attention and spread out China's military presence in the East China Sea, where there are ongoing disputes between the two countries, Chen stressed.
In addition, Japan has a long-term goal of establishing itself as a political and military powerhouse. By leveraging the South China Sea disputes, Japan aims to extend its influence into Southeast Asia. Furthermore, Japan seeks to enhance its role in regional security by deepening cooperation with countries in Southeast Asia, he said.
Lastly, the South China Sea is a critical passage for Japan's energy and goods imports and exports. Therefore, Japan is certainly keen to strengthen its control over this vital lifeline, according to Chen.
According to the VOA, 90 percent of Japan's energy and trade flow passes through the South China Sea. Japan relies heavily on importing crude oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while one-fourth of the nation's total trade in 2019 was from the European Union and members of ASEAN that also rely on the sea route.
Taking these ambitions into account, analysts noted that while Japan's strategic alignment with the US still exists, at the same time, there is also a trend of rising strategic autonomy in Japan's Indo-Pacific strategy.
"Through collaborations with India, the Philippines, and Taiwan island, Japan is actively playing a role in forming an island chain. This chain starts from the Japanese archipelago, goes all the way to Taiwan island, with South Korea in the north and the Philippines in the south, then continues through Malaysia to India in the Indian Ocean, connecting the entire southern border of China. The South China Sea is a crucial link for Japan in weaving this chain, constructing a semi-circular containment barrier targeting China," Chen said, stressing that "Japan has really huge ambitions in Indo-Pacific area."
Yang Bojiang, director of the Japan Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, outlined the phased changes in Japan's South China Sea policy in a speech in November 2020.
According to Yang, Japan lost all overseas colonies after World War II and lacked a role in the South China Sea issue until the end of the Cold War. In the 10 years since then to the end of the 20th century, Japan entered "renewed attention" to the region. During this period, due to the existence of various political and legal restrictions, Japan mainly focused on observing and assessing the South China Sea issue, with few actual actions. In the 21st century, as Japan relaxed its self-imposed restrictions on military and security activities overseas, its South China Sea policy entered the "action" phase.
In 2016, then-Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe proposed Japan's version of the Indo-Pacific strategy as he was actively seeking a revival of Japan's international influence.
Abe's Indo-Pacific strategy was inherited and enhanced by the current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. During the Abe era, the concept emphasized that a maritime order was based on the rule of law, freedom, and openness as the foundations for stability and prosperity in the international community. The current concept of the Fumio administration is broader, with a wide range of topics and partners, and a strong emphasis on pan-security, making it a comprehensive international strategy that combines alliance, containment of China, security, and other global aspects, read an article published in March by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Japan started to make adjustment and try to achieve its own Indo-Pacific goals into the US' Indo-Pacific strategy since 2017 when former US president Donald Trump took office and established the Indo-Pacific strategy against China, in contrast with his predecessor president Obama's approach to seek economic, diplomatic, and security balance in the Asia-Pacific, according to experts.
The Japanese Indo-Pacific strategy has received some positive feedback and has increased Japan's visibility in international politics. However, its negative effects are also beginning to show.
Disturbed sea
Japan's intervention into the South China Sea has made Manila feel supported, becoming more reckless in South China Sea disputes, Chen pointed out.
The Philippines announced on Wednesday that it had launched two days of joint sea and air exercises with the US, Canada and Australia in its exclusive economic zone, Bloomberg reported.
In addition, since August 3, patrol boats and several Philippine fishing vessels have gathered near the illegally detained Philippine Coast Guard ship 9701 at the Xianbin Jiao (also known as Xianbin Reef). China Coast Guard (CCG) has been monitoring and effectively controlling the situation in accordance with the law, resolutely defending China's territorial sovereignty, the CCG announced.
Japan's intervention in the region would also expand the disputes between China and Japan in the East China Sea and the Taiwan Straits to the South China Sea, Chen warned.
Military competition in the region will be intensified. The risk of conflict between China and Japan in the South China Sea is also increasing, Chen noted.
The regional multilateral security mechanism led by ASEAN risks of being smashed and replaced by a fragmented security structure based on a US-led alliance system, according to Chen.
Regional countries should understand that they have more mutual interests with China than the US. And it is more beneficial to themselves to cooperate with China based on these mutual interests, rather than be used as a pawn in the US and its allies' geopolitical game, experts noted.
Global semiconductor industry group SEMI Europe reportedly called on the EU on Monday to limit curbs on European firms' outbound foreign investment, as the EU is considering proposals to screen investment in foreign semiconductor, artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology companies, following proposed US rules that would restrict investments in China's high-tech field.
Chinese observers said that EU's protectionist moves over unfounded security concerns will bring uncertainties to China-EU relations and harm European economy as well as the international competitiveness of its companies, amid the risk of losing the huge China market.
There is vast room for cooperation between China and the EU in a variety of fields including new energy and AI, and the general trend of cooperation will not be affected by geopolitics, observers said, noting that talks are needed to address each other's concerns for boosting cooperation in the long run.
In response to the European Economic Security Strategy, SEMI Europe said that "European semiconductor companies must be as free as possible in their investment decisions or otherwise risk losing their agility and relevance," Reuters reported on Monday, citing the group's paper outlining its recommendations.
Representing about 300 Europe-based semiconductor firms and institutions including ASML, the group said that the policies under consideration by the EU appear to be overly broad and if adopted could force companies to disclose sensitive business information, adding that restrictions on cross-border research cooperation would be misplaced, according to the report.
"The EU's protectionist move will add uncertainty to China-EU relations and investments by companies from both sides. Moreover, it will harm the European economy and the competitiveness of European companies, since the EU's investment restrictions targeting China will affect European companies' exports and make them lose the huge China market," Zhang Jian, a vice president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Zhang said that the EU's politically driven motives sharply deviate from European firms' interests, and as a result, more European companies may step out to oppose the bloc's protectionist moves.
The EU has adopted protectionist measures in recent months targeting China's new-energy and high-tech sectors. Recently, the EU imposed provisional additional import tariffs of up to 37.6 percent on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), which have drawn strong opposition from European firms.
Oliver Zipse, BMW chief executive, on Thursday said that the EU's tariffs on Chinese-made EVs had hit the bloc's own carmakers, including the Munich-based group, which produces vehicles in China for the European market, the Financial Times reported.
"There is vast room for China and the EU to deepen cooperation, for example, in green technology, AI, biotechnology and environmental protection," Jian Junbo, a deputy director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
It's unrealistic for some Western countries to achieve a technology monopoly through geopolitics, and China's high-level opening-up is in line with the trend of history, Jian said.
In June 2023, the European Commission brought up the European Economic Security Strategy, which proposed several measures, including preparing a list of technologies critical to economic security and assessing the risks they face, fully implementing the EU's export control regulations on dual-use items, and reviewing regulations on screening foreign direct investment.
Due to the increasingly fierce China-EU competition, the EU may impose more trade restrictions on products where China has an advantage, acting out of protectionism. However, such measures will hinder the healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations, disrupt international trade and ultimately harm the prosperity of Europe, Jian said.
To address the increasingly fierce economic competition, the two sides should bind their industrial chains more closely together, explore a larger market through mutual integration, avoid vicious competition and unilateral suppression, and truly achieve the best way to share their interests and prosperity.
They should also facilitate the promotion of the technological development of humankind, according to Jian.
"It is in the interests of both China and the EU to properly handle differences through dialogue and consultation on the basis of mutual respect," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press conference on July 29, stressing that China-EU trade and economic cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature.
China-EU economic and trade relations have recently developed in a direction that is not very good amid the EU's growing protectionism and abuse of the "national security" concept, but the general trend of cooperation will not change, Zhang said, as Chinese and EU officials have expressed willingness to strengthen cooperation during their high-level exchanges.
He said that talks are needed for the two sides to address each other's concerns to promote win-win relations.
In the early morning of Sunday, Beijing time, in the women's singles final of the Paris Olympic Games, 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen defeated her opponent, making history in Chinese tennis and winning the first gold medal for a Chinese and even Asian athlete in the Olympic Tennis event. Previously on Thursday, in the men's 100-meter freestyle final, Pan Zhanle set a new world record and won the championship with an astonishing time of 46.40 seconds.
Chinese athletes have successively won gold medals in swimming, tennis and other sports that were largely dominated by the West in the past, representing the overall improvement of China's competitive sports level. In fact, it has taken several generations of athletes for the Chinese swimming team to catch up and surpass the powerful Western teams.
Today, the Chinese swimming team members are more confident and mature. These breakthroughs are not surprising at all. Similarly, the progress of Chinese tennis is obvious to all. In addition to Zheng Qinwen, Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen also won mixed doubles tennis silver medal, showing that Chinese tennis has shown a transformation from "individual breakthroughs" to "collective breakthroughs."
The outstanding performance of Chinese athletes also reflects the growth of China's comprehensive national strength.
As we all know, competitive sports are a competition of athletes' physical fitness and skills. It is also a comprehensive competition that integrates nutrition, sports science, manufacturing science and other disciplines.
According to a survey by the British Lawn Tennis Association, developing a pro tennis player from the age of 5 to 18 may cost over $300,000. The same is true for swimming. As far as venues are concerned, swimming pools have been popularized in Western developed countries for a long time, while developing countries started much later. Therefore, the British broadcaster BBC once cited an expert as saying that Zheng Qinwen may be "the best soft power that China has."
China's breakthroughs on the sports field have a significant impact, that is, in large-scale international sports events, winning gold medals is no longer exclusive to developed countries. Countries in the "Global South" are increasingly participating and making their presence known, even ranking among the top in the world. This trend actually promotes the Olympic movement to truly become more "international."
Unsurprisingly, in the face of the outstanding performance and transcendence of Chinese players, some Westerners were overwhelmed and showed their paranoid and narrow-mindedness. Australian swim coach Brett Hawke is one of them.
After the 100m freestyle race, he said in a video, "That's not real, you don't beat that field - Kyle Chalmers, David Popovici, Jack Alexy - you don't beat those guys by one full body length in 100 freestyle. That's not humanly possible, okay. He further asserted, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is."
Hawke's remarks are not worth refuting, as the actual performance of Chinese athletes like Liu Xiang and Su Bingtian has already shattered the Western so-called "racial determinism."
However, this bizarre mindset of "you cannot beat me, otherwise you are cheating" does not only exist in sports competitions. Over the years, we have seen similar performances on many issues.
For example, faced with China's rapid development in the aerospace field, the director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration publicly made ridiculous statements such as that China joined the space race by stealing others' technology. These fundamentally stem from the inability to face and acknowledge China's development achievements, leading to distorted fantasies.
When faced with competition, instead of choosing to train harder, choosing to find ways to disqualify the opponent reflects not only a narrow mind and lack of generosity, but also to some extent reflects how this country has achieved success in the past. The US has become the world's only superpower, with a history of using many unsavory means. Now these actions have spread to the sports field, with the American side smearing and slandering the Chinese swimming team, reflecting the same narrow-mindedness. This is not only a habitual arrogance, but also a self-imposed barrier to new information and new things. This is why the Olympic motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together" is particularly important today.
Today, when Chinese athletes stand on the Olympic podium, it is the result of Chinese participation in global competition. In the arena, Chinese athletes winning gold is the same as athletes from other countries winning gold, as it is the result of fair, just, and open competition.
There is a similar logic outside the arena as well. Whether in the fields of sports, economy, or technology, Western countries have long been in a leading position. This position has a certain degree of inertia, but this does not constitute a reason why the West can always lead or dominate the track. In a sense, human development is a track and field race in which one chases another.
Everyone is constantly breaking through themselves and at the same time breaking through the limitations of humanity. In this regard, the struggle for fairness, justice, and open competition is the struggle that belongs to all of humanity. For the West, recognizing and respecting the progress of competitors is a dignified act, and may also mean new development and progress.
Many people have noticed that the new generation of Chinese athletes are increasingly showing the grandeur of a great nation.
They naturally praise and encourage athletes from other countries, are proficient in speaking English off the field, and are confident and inclusive in cross-cultural interactions. They use the universal language of sports to present a new understanding of China to the world - always striving for excellence and breakthroughs, and promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning in a peaceful and cooperative manner, fostering mutual understanding among people. This is evident both on and off the sports field.
The ominous clouds looming over the US economy are growing darker, resulting in a significant drop in the stock market on Friday. Is there a storm on the horizon?
US hiring slowed to 114,000 jobs in July, the US government said on Friday, missing expectations. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent - its highest level in nearly three years, when the economy was still clawing its way back from the COVID-19 pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
During a critical period when the US economy requires urgent intervention, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) faces a challenging task in determining the appropriate course of action.
US stocks, US Treasury yields and the US dollar all tumbled sharply after a far weaker-than-expected employment report for July stirred up investors' renewed fears about an economic slowdown on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid more than 600 points or 1.51 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped more than 400 points or 2.43 percent on Friday. The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's "fear gauge," closed at its highest level of the year, according to the report.
The US Dollar Index was last down 1.1 percent at 103.21 and got as low as 103.12, the lowest since March 14. It is the largest one-day percentage drop since November, according to Reuters.
US Treasury yields also tumbled, with interest rate sensitive two-year yields dropping as low as 3.845 percent, their lowest level since May 2023, and benchmark 10-year yields reaching a low of 3.79 percent for the first time since December 27, Reuters reported.
The Fed's ongoing high interest rate policy has had a significant impact on the economy. High interest rates increase the borrowing costs for businesses and consumers, which in turn suppresses investment and consumer spending. Although the Fed may start cutting interest rates later this year, the current high interest rate environment has already put pressure on the economy, and it will take time to digest this pressure.
Wage growth has slowed down, and inflation remains a problem. In December 2020, the average price of a McDonald's Big Mac in the US rose to $4.89. The latest Big Mac index in January this year shows that the average price of a Big Mac is $5.69.
High prices have weakened consumers' purchasing power, affecting consumer spending. The reduction in consumption behaviors such as dining out reflects consumers' cautious attitude in a high-price environment. The consumption stimulating effect by the large subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic is disappearing.
The US is one of the largest consumer markets in the world, and an American economic downturn will directly affect global trade. Once the storm forms, exports of major trading partners such as China and the European Union will be impacted, causing disruption to global supply chains.
Especially for export-dependent economies, a decrease in demand from the US will have a significant negative impact, especially on social stability. This includes countries that have recently undertaken on factories moving from China, such as Mexico, Vietnam, India, and others. The internal social and political situations of some countries may become more unstable as a result, increasing the risk of regional conflicts.
Changes in US economic data and policies will affect the stability of global financial markets. High interest rates have already led to a continuous outflow of capital from emerging markets, but a reversal has not yet shown.
The slowdown of the US economy will drag down global economic growth. As the world's largest economy, if the US economy continues to decline, global economic growth expectations will also be revised downward, affecting the economic policies and market expectations of various countries.
The US is one of China's largest trading partners, and a decline in the US economy will continue to affect China's exports to the US. In the short term, the US is unlikely to change its trade war with China.
The decrease in orders from the US will increase competition in China's domestic market, affecting companies' profits and employment. For small and medium-sized enterprises that have long been exporting to the US, finding new export markets will also become more difficult.
Due to an increase in tariffs and supply chain adjustments, the cost of Chinese export goods is rising, which may be transferred to the domestic market, leading to an increase in import-driven inflationary pressure. The rise in production costs will also further affect business profits and economic growth.
Due to the slowdown of the US economy and the ongoing trade war, many American companies may continue to adjust their supply chains and reduce their reliance on China. Such adjustments will continue to shift toward countries like Mexico, Vietnam, and India, disrupting global supply chains and industrial chains for a long time.
Although the decline of the US economy will have a negative impact on the Chinese economy, there are also some favorable factors. Chinese companies will inevitably continue to strive to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with other countries, restructure industrial chains and supply chains to reduce dependence on the US market, but this process will be challenging.
The US will find its market and industrial power weakened, lessening its comprehensive containment of China. The "industrial alliance" that Washington is trying to build to exclude China from the high-end technology industry chain will increasingly expose cracks and will be difficult to gain full support from relevant countries due to conflicting interests.
In addition, the slowdown of the US economy may lead to a rate cut by the Fed, which will alleviate pressure on global financial markets and may have a positive impact on China's capital flows and monetary policy.
What we need to pay more attention to is the slowdown of the US economy, which will have a significant impact on the rapidly changing global geopolitics.
On one hand, this will somewhat impact the hegemony of the US. However, at present, it primarily diminishes its ability to enforce that hegemony. If the new US president implements a policy of contraction, it could potentially hinder the US' ability to intervene in and maintain security control over key regional issues.
On the other hand, the US may take more protectionist measures to protect its economy and employment, which could lead to increased global trade frictions and affect the stability of the international trade system.
The decline of the US economy will have a significant impact on the global economy and the Chinese economy, mainly reflected in trade, financial markets, and economic growth.
After a massive typhoon recently swept through parts of eastern and southern provinces of China, a large number of oysters appeared on the beaches of coastal cities, as local residents flocked to the shores with buckets, sacks, and various tools to collect the crustaceans, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
According to a video clip posted by a netizen from Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, a beach in Shenzhen was covered in oysters, with city residents rushing to the shores, some carrying buckets of oysters directly to their homes. Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, also saw oysters piled up on the beach, according to CCTV.
Industry insiders speculated that the oysters may have come from surrounding areas where artificially farmed oysters are raised, but this is just an assumption, and the specific origin of the oysters is still under investigation, CCTV reported.
However, the action of collecting oysters after the typhoon still poses hidden risks, according to the report. Under the influence of the peripheral circulation of the typhoon, strong winds and long waves will be generated in the coastal areas, and there is a danger of being swept away by the waves if people go to the beach and fail to take due care.
The beach may also have sharp and dangerous objects including glass shards and nails after low tide, which can easily lead to foot or hand injuries. Dangerous marine organisms, including jellyfish and sea urchins, whose venom can cause serious and even life-threatening injuries, can be found in the near-shore seawater.
Because the freshness of the seafood cannot be guaranteed, some of the oysters may have been soaked in seawater for a long time. In addition, these oysters may also carry a large number of pollutants and harmful substances.
President Xi Jinping has urged central Party and state departments to improve Party building across the board and be national role models.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said in an instruction that the central departments should take the lead in studying and implementing the guiding principles of the third plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee.
He said the study and implementation of the guiding principles is a "major political task of the whole Party and country at present and in the near future."
China urges the Czech Republic to honor its promises to strictly restrain certain individual politicians from sabotaging China-Czech relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular press conference on Tuesday.
Lin made the remarks in response to a question about Taiwan's so-called vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim visiting the Czech Republic and giving a speech at a think tank. Lin said explicitly that Taiwan is a province of China and does not have a vice president.
Lin said that China strongly opposes official interaction of any form between China's Taiwan region and countries that have diplomatic relations with China, and this position is consistent and clear.
In multiple official documents, including the joint statements and joint communiqué between the government of China and the Czech government, the government of the Czech Republic solemnly committed to stick to the one-China policy , respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and recognize that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.
China urges the Czech Republic to follow its commitment, strictly restrain certain politicians, immediately stop the egregious moves that undermine the national credibility of the Czech Republic and its relations with China. "We urge the Czech Republic to take effective measures to undo the negative influence of the incident," Lin said.
"Our message to 'Taiwan independence' separatists is that whoever engages in 'Taiwan independence' will be held accountable by history; whoever in the world creates 'one China, one Taiwan' will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing," Lin stressed.
Later on the same day, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that the so-called diplomatic breakthroughs adopted by the DPP authorities in the Taiwan region, in collusion with external forces, to achieve the goal of "Taiwan independence" have undermined the fundamental interests of the Taiwan compatriots, which cannot change the fact that Taiwan is a part of China, and are not conducive to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.
A deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) called for efforts to tackle shortage and bottleneck in China's roll-on/roll-off (Ro-RO) cargo vessel capacity so as to improve transportation conditions of the country's surging new-energy vehicle (NEV) exports.
Deputy Yan Keshi submitted a motion to the ongoing NPC session in Beijing, noting that the limited capacity of Ro-Ro vessels has emerged as a significant problem hindering the export of Chinese NEVs, which Yan said warrants urgent attention.
Rising output of NEVs is an important contributor to China's economic growth. Last year, export of NEVs rose 77.6 percent from a year earlier, standing at 1.203 million units, which accounted for almost one-third of the global market share, Yan wrote in his motion.
But, China is experiencing a pronounced supply-demand imbalance in ocean transportation capacity, especially in the shipment of NEVs. The higher weight of all-electric NEVs, about 15-25 percent weightier than ordinary petrol or hybrid vehicles, has exacerbated the shortage of Ro-Ro vessels in China, Yan said.
Yan put forward measures of facilitating long-lasting cooperation among ship manufacturers, ports and other stakeholders, in order to ramp up sustainable Ro-Ro vessels manufacturing and optimizing the hardware and software support for exporting NEVs.
The Government Work Report released on Tuesday highlighted China's automobile industry, showcasing the remarkable performance of Chinese NEV manufacturing and marketing in 2023. Domestic auto brands have now exceeded joint ventures in passenger car sales, solidifying the NEV sector as a cornerstone of China's growing manufacturing strength. Amid this backdrop, how to shore up ocean shipping capacity of Chinese-made NEVs has drawn rising attention.
In a related development, Da Fei Monaco, a new generation of dual-fuel-powered Ro-Ro vessel, successfully completed its first voyage from Yantai Port, East China's Shandong Province, carrying 4,631 vehicles bound for the US, on March 5.
In January, BYD's "Explorer NO 1" and SAIC Motor Cor's inaugural transoceanic Ro-Ro vessels also embarked on their maiden voyage from Chinese ports.
Chery Automobile Group, in collaboration with its shipyard in Wuhu, East China's Anhui Province, has established a NEV transport vessel manufacturing base in Weihai city, Shandong Province. Three large vessels with a capacity of 7,000 cars each have been ordered, according to the Securities Daily.
Microscopy Masters asks one thing of citizen scientists: Find proteins in electron microscope images. The task will probably give participants new appreciation for biologists who decipher the structures of teeny, tiny molecules. It’s not easy.
The goal of the online project, created by researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., is to improve biologists’ ability to construct detailed, three-dimensional models of proteins.
Using cryo-electron microscopy — which involves freezing, then imaging a sample — the researchers have taken thousands of photos of their current target, a protein complex involved in breaking down other, unwanted proteins. Each image contains 10 to 100 copies of the complex. It takes that many images to capture a protein from every angle. Once the 2-D images are stitched together, researchers can reconstruct the protein’s globular, 3-D shape at near-atomic resolution. Microscopy Masters enlists volunteers to do the necessary first step of combing through the photos to find the protein molecules — a time-consuming job that people do better than computers. The task may feel daunting, as each black-and-white image resembles a fuzzy TV screen. Only some of the dark smudges in any given image will be molecules of interest; others will be actual smudges or globs of proteins too jumbled to be of use. Fortunately, a practice tutorial offers a crash course in protein identification. And each image will be classified by many users, alleviating some of the pressure of worrying about marking the wrong thing.
Data from the project will help researchers improve protein-picking computer algorithms, says project member Jacob Bruggemann. That way computers can take over the painstaking work.
