The Mount Qomolangma scenic area was temporarily closed, and tourists and staff were in safe condition after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri County in the Xizang Autonomous Region Tuesday morning, according to local authorities.
Dingri is home to the base camp of the world's highest peak. Fifty-three people have been confirmed dead and 62 injured during the earthquake, according to the regional disaster relief headquarters.
The hotel buildings and surrounding areas in the scenic area have remained intact, and tourists and staff are safe, according to the Dingri Culture and Tourism Bureau.
The Qomolangma Station for Atmospheric and Environmental Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, located in Dingri, is experiencing a power outage. However, the facilities have remained in good condition.
Located at the China-Nepal border, Mount Qomolangma reaches an altitude of more than 8,840 meters, with its northern section located in Xizang.
The weather forecast showed that Dingri's temperature ranged from minus 18 degrees Celsius to zero.
The Chinese side of Mount Qomolangma received 13,764 overseas tourists in 2024, more than twice the number recorded in 2023. This is a notable sign of booming international tourism following China's relaxation of its visa policies.
According to the County Bureau of Culture and Tourism, these tourists are mainly from countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Germany and France.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that the Chinese government attaches great importance to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers and has always required Chinese-funded enterprises to operate in accordance with laws and regulations.
Guo made the remarks as Reuters reported that Chinese eelectric vehicle producer BYD brought hundreds of Chinese workers on irregular visas to build a factory in Brazil, adding the company has pledged to comply with local labor laws for the workers remaining in the country.
Guo also stated that China is willing to continue working with Brazil to strengthen cooperation in all fields based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation.
The Regulation on Network Data Security Management took effect on Wednesday, with a Chinese expert highlighting the importance of ensuring data security amid the widespread integration of AI technology.
The regulation aims to standardize activities related to the processing of online data, safeguard the security of online data, promote the lawful and efficient use of online data, protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations, while safeguarding national security and public interests. It consists of nine chapters and 64 articles, according to the document issued by the government in September 2024.
No individuals or organizations may use online data to engage in illegal activities or data processing practices, nor may they engage in illegal data processing activities such as stealing or otherwise unlawfully obtaining, selling, or providing online data to others, according to the regulation. No individuals or organizations may provide programs or tools specifically designed for engaging in the aforementioned illegal activities; if they are aware that others are engaging in such illegal activities, they must not provide technical support such as internet access, server hosting, network storage, or communication transmission, nor assist with advertising promotion or payment settlement.
Besides, no individuals or organizations may provide programs or tools specifically designed to destroy or circumvent technical measures; if they are aware that others are engaging in activities to destroy or circumvent technical measures, they must not provide technical support or assistance.
The regulation also stresses that network data processor, before processing personal information, shall formulate and prominently display clear personal information processing rules to inform individuals. These rules should be prominently displayed, easily accessible, and placed in a conspicuous location, with content that is clear, specific, and easy to understand. If the network data processor processes personal information of minors under the age of 14, it shall also formulate specific personal information processing rules.
Previously, officials from the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Central Cyberspace Affair Commission noted that some network platform service providers have failed to meet their obligations regarding network data security, while exploiting their data advantages to engage in activities prohibited by laws and regulations. Relevant legislation both domestically and internationally has explored practical solutions to these issues.
To address this problem, the regulation establishes the network data security protection obligations for network platform service providers, third-party service providers, as well as manufacturers of smart devices with pre-installed applications. It also requires network platform service providers that offer application distribution services to establish application verification rules and conduct relevant network data security verifications.
In response to challenges such as the difficulties in disabling personalized recommendation services, the variety of personal information collected, and the abuse of precise personal profiling data, it clarifies that network platform service providers should provide easily understandable, accessible, and operable options for users to disable personalized recommendations. This includes functionalities for users to refuse to receive push notifications and delete user tags related to their personal characteristics.
Network platform service providers are encouraged to support users in registering and verifying their real identity information using the national online identity authentication public service.
It also mandates that large network platform service providers release annual reports on personal data protection, detail measures to address cross-border security risks related to network data, and states their obligation not to engage in related activities using network data, algorithms, or platform rules.
As a subordinate supporting regulation to the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law, the introduction of the regulation fills the gap of "administrative regulations" in the comprehensive legal framework for data governance in our country, according to the interpret document issued by the Ministry of Public Security. It provides solutions for the institutional connection and coordination, as well as the refinement and supplementation of rules under the framework of the three laws.
This regulation plays a guiding role in the field of network data security protection. With the implementation of the regulations, China's network data security regulatory system will undergo a new round of adjustments, which will directly impact the current regulatory landscape, regulatory thinking, priorities and directions, as well as compliance with regulations in the field of network data security, the document said.
It should be noted that the current foundation and driving force of the national economy primarily rely on data, especially in the context of AI technology fully empowering various industries, Wang Sixin, a professor of law at the Communication University of China, told the Global Times on Wednesday. Ensuring the security of data has become particularly important, which includes the regulation and lawful use of data to prevent illegal exploitation.
Wang emphasized the need for a comprehensive framework to ensure the legal and compliant use of data amid signs of misuse of AI technology for improper gains, which engages in irregular algorithm operations and other behaviors. "Therefore, we need to establish a broad direction, a comprehensive framework, and behavioral norms to ensure the legal and compliant use of data, minimize the occurrence of improper actions, and safeguard overall security," he said.
A paper written by Chinese scientists, titled "Description of six new genera and twenty species of the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae (Araneae, Araneoidea) from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China" was recently published. Among the 20 new species described, 16 were named after songs by Jay Chou, such as C. xingqing sp. nov., C. longquan sp. nov., and Pengaraneus qingtian sp. nov.
This paper was published in Zoological Research: Diversity and Conservation, and available online on December 18, 2024.
The first author of this paper is Professor Mi Xiaoqi from Tongren University, and the corresponding author is Researcher Li Shuqiang. The website unveiled that the research was carried out by Li Shuqiang's team at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), starting in 2006, and has resulted in 78 taxonomy-related papers published in international journals.
Mi told the Hongxing News that naming species requires ensuring that there are no duplicates within a group, and it took considerable time to name the 16 new spider species. Using song titles made the naming process quicker and simpler.
Mi also mentioned that in this study, they discovered six new genera and 16 new species, all of which belong to the family Araneidae. Mi also emphasized the importance of paying more attention to and protecting biodiversity.
Mi mentioned that he enjoys listening to Jay Chou's music in daily life as a way to relax and unwind.
The news has sparked widespread discussions online, with netizens humorously "shouting" to Jay Chou, saying "Your fans are now scientists!"
Some people remarked that the spider names sound very cool, and it seems like the author named them while listening to Jay Chou's songs.
In fact, this is not the first time Jay Chou's fans have appeared in the scientific world. In 2020, Sun Zhixin, then a master degree candidate from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS, named a unique 500-million-year-old trilobite he discovered Phantaspis auritus.
Sun explained to Science and Technology Daily that Jay Chou's songs have had a significant influence on him. By naming the trilobite Phantaspis auritus, he intended to pay tribute to Jay Chou's whimsical musical style. It is a romantic gesture from a science enthusiast.
A meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership has stressed strengthening Party discipline and urged senior leaders to set an exemplary and leading role in observing Party rules.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered an important speech while chairing the criticism and self-criticism meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which was held from Thursday to Friday.
The Wenzhou People's Procuratorate in Zhejiang Province on Monday filed charges against 39 members of the Ming family's "mafia" and associated criminal groups, who had long been operating in the northern Myanmar's Kokang Self-Administered Zone. They used armed forces and carried out telecom network fraud and other crimes targeting Chinese citizens. Among those indicted are Ming Guoping, Ming Zhenzhen, Ming Julan, Bi Huijun, Zhou Weichang, Luo Jialiang, and others.
The charges include fraud, intentional murder, intentional injury, illegal detention, operating a casino, drug trafficking, and organizing prostitution. The case has been referred to the Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court for trial, according to CCTV News.
China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) in November 2023 announced that Ming Guoping, Ming Julan and Ming Zhenzhen, ringleaders of the telecom and online fraud criminal gang in northern Myanmar's Kokang, have been arrested, and that the chief criminal of the gang Ming Xuechang has committed suicide. All four of them were put on a wanted list with a reward by the police in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
A research team led by Xing Lida from the China University of Geosciences (Beijing), in collaboration with co-authors from Spain, Brazil, South Korea, and Australia, has made notable progress in classifying Cretaceous sauropod tracks.
The sauropod tracks, found in Gajin-ri, Jinseong-myeon, Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, were named Gyeongsangsauropus pentadactylus. This marks Gyeongsangsauropus as the first sauropod ichnogenus identified in South Korea, with its unique morphology shedding new light on the posture and gait of sauropods.
The research findings have been published in the monograph Vertebrate Ichnology: The Fossil Record of Prehistoric Behavior.
Gyeongsangnam-do, in South Gyeongsang Province, has long been a significant area for dinosaur research in South Korea. Regarding the sauropod skeletal record, a study in 2016 reported on an Early Cretaceous somphospondylan (Dinosauria: Titanosauriformes) from Haedong-gun, featuring partial cervical and dorsal vertebrae. Since 2006, Korean researchers have documented over 4,000 dinosaur tracks in Goseong County, South Gyeongsang Province, cementing its status as one of the world's most important sites for dinosaur footprints.
In 2012, South Korean Jeong Yul Kim and co-authors described a new sauropod ichnospecies, Brontopodus pentadactylus, under the widely distributed ichnogenus Brontopodus, from the Haman Formation at the Gazin site in South Gyeongsang Province. The fossil-bearing strata are dated to between 113 and 94 million years ago. The Brontopodus pentadactylus tracks are well-preserved, with clear digit traces, and provide an invaluable sample of sauropod track morphology.
A recent study re-examines this ichnospecies by conducting a detailed comparison with various sauropod track records. The research group suggests that the features of Brontopodus pentadactylus, including the rotation angle of manus tracks, differ significantly from those of other Brontopodus ichnospecies. Consequently, this ichnospecies has been reclassified into the new ichnogenus Gyeongsangsauropus.
This study identifies the distinctive characteristics of medium-sized sauropod tracks (approximately 40-50 cm in length), including manus tracks with five short, blunt digits, with digits III-V being nearly identical in length and width. The manus tracks are noticeably outward rotated from the midline of the trackway.
The trackway parameters of Gyeongsangsauropus pentadactylus include an average stride length of 150 cm and a distance between manus and pes tracks of 50-80 cm. The hip height of the Gyeongsangsauropus pentadactylus trackmakers, estimated from footprint length, is approximately 2-2.9 meters.
The establishment of the ichnogenus Gyeongsangsauropus provides important scientific evidence for studying the locomotion and ecological adaptations of sauropods. The findings suggest that different groups of sauropods may have exhibited significant diversity in their postures and gaits, Xing said.
According to Xing, further research is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of sauropod evolution and their ecological roles within the paleoenvironment.
Q: On December 21, the White House announced military assistance worth US$571.3 million to Taiwan. The US Department of Defense announced on the same day that the State Department has approved US$295 million worth of arms sales to Taiwan. What’s China’s comment?
A: The US once again approved military assistance and arms sales to China’s Taiwan region. This seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, especially the August 17 Communiqué of 1982, and China’s sovereignty and security interests. The decision is a severe breach of the US leaders’ commitment of not supporting “Taiwan independence,” and sends a gravely wrong signal to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes it and lodged serious protests at once with the US.
The Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests, and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations. To aid “Taiwan independence” by arming Taiwan is just like playing with fire and will get the US burned, and to use the Taiwan question to contain China is doomed to fail. China urges the US to immediately stop arming Taiwan and stop the dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We will take all measures necessary to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.
President Xi Jinping on Friday met with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee, who is on a duty visit to Beijing.
During the meeting, Xi heard a report from Lee on Hong Kong's current situation and the HKSAR government's work.
The Global Times Annual Conference 2025, themed, "Moving forward in Partnership: Resonance of Values between China and the World," is held in Beijing on Saturday. During a discussion on how to address the global security deficit, Kishore Mahbubani, distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore and Singapore's former permanent representative to the United Nations, delivered a video speech stating that the West must adapt to a multi-civilizational, multipolar and multilateral world.
Mahbubani said that our world today is a troubled place, and the fundamental reason is that the world is experiencing three fundamental structural changes. The world is becoming multi-civilizational, multipolar and multilateral, he said. The multi-civilizational world is a natural result of the fact that we are moving away from the era of Western domination of world history. And we are seeing the return of many other civilizations especially in Asia, the Sinic, the Indic, the Islamic civilizations. While the US tries to stop the return and development of China, it cannot stop the return of such an old and resilient and strong civilization, Mahbubani emphasized.
Multipolarity is emerging because new powers are rising. Mahbubani believes that Russia is one of the great powers of the world, and the West must understand that 85 percent of the world's population have not imposed sanctions on Russia. The legitimate security interests of Russia must also be taken into consideration while also respecting international law, he noted.
Moreover, the world is becoming more multilateral, Mahbubani said. Regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, he said that the UN was constantly calling for a "two-State solution" between Israel and Palestine when the Cold War ended. The West had an opportunity to create a permanent two-State solution, it failed to do so. It allowed the problem to fester and grow, and so at some point, it had to explode, the scholar stressed.
Mahbubani believes that in the face of these conflicts, we have to find ways and means of bridging the divide. He is glad that China has taken some steps toward trying to improve the situation in the Middle East by organizing the meetings between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and by organizing a meeting of the Palestinian factions in Beijing. He thinks China and the other Asian countries can step up and do more to persuade the West to accept the fact that the West has got to adapt to a different world which is multi-civilizational, multipolar and multilateral.
