The elections of the Taiwan region are China's internal affairs and regardless of the result, it will not change the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China and there is only one China in the world, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference on Friday.
Mao's remarks came in response to a question about how the results of the regional leader election on the island of Taiwan, scheduled on Saturday, will affect the cross-Straits relations.
During the press conference, a reporter also mentioned an anonymous official from the White House reportedly said that the US is committed to the one-China policy, does not support "Taiwan independence" and supports cross-Straits dialogue.
Mao said that the one-China principle is a prevailing international consensus and the political foundation of the China-US relationship. "Taiwan independence" is the biggest threat to cross-Straits peace and stability and is doomed to failure.
US leaders have repeatedly said that they are committed to the one-China policy, do not support "Taiwan independence," do not support "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan," and do not seek to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China, said Mao.
We hope the US will honor these commitments, handle Taiwan-related issues prudently and properly, stop official interactions with Taiwan, stop sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and refrain from interfering in the elections of the Taiwan region in any form, the spokesperson said.
If the US truly hopes to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, it needs to explicitly oppose "Taiwan independence" and support China's peaceful reunification, said Mao.
China's central bank and top financial regulator on Friday issued a guideline on stepping up financial support for the housing rental market, vowing to offer more innovative credit products and services for housing rentals and to expand financing channels for the housing rental market.
The guideline from the People's Bank of China (PBC) and the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) is the latest effort by Chinese policymakers to stabilize the real estate market, by both defusing risks and meeting housing needs for key population groups such as young workers.
The guideline contains a total of 17 measures in four areas. Financial support will focus on key areas and weak links in the housing rental market, mainly in large cities, and will focus on addressing housing difficulties for groups such as new urban residents and young workers.
The guideline aims to offer financial support for various entities to build, renovate and operate long-term rental housing, revitalize exiting housing inventory, and increase the supply of affordable and commercial rental housing.
Among the main measures, the guideline, which was sent to the PBC and the NAFR's local branches and various types of banks, calls for an increase in credit support for housing rental development and construction. Commercial banks are being encouraged to extend loans for entities, including real estate developers, for developing and constructing rental housing projects. The standard loan term would be three years and will not exceed five years.
On the purchasing side, the guideline also encouraged commercial banks to extend loans for entities that purchase housing rental for employees. The term for such loans cannot exceed 30 years and the amount should not exceed 80 percent of the property value.
China has made stabilizing the real estate market a top priority for economic work in 2024. The tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference held in December called for active and prudent efforts to defuse risks in the property sector, address the reasonable financing needs of real estate enterprises, and accelerate the development of a new model for the real estate sector.
Also on Friday, following a national central bank meeting, the PBC vowed to actively support the stable and sound development of the real estate market, strengthen monitoring, and take various credit policies to meet the reasonable financial needs of various types of real estate companies.
A new batch of 34 sugar apple packaging factories and 1,263 orchards in Taiwan have been registered by the General Administration of Customs, which will create favorable conditions for their entry to the mainland, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a press briefing on Friday. Zhu also noted that the sugar apple season is approaching in the island.
Since the announcement of the resumption of market entry for sugar apples in June, 37 sugar apple packaging factories and 1,288 orchards in Taitung county have been approved by the mainland. Businesses can inquire about the relevant information on the customs website. Packaging factories and orchards that have not yet passed the audit can learn the rectification requirements, according to Zhu.
Zhu expressed the mainland's willingness to have discussions with relevant parties in Taiwan to resume the entry of more agricultural and fishery products.
Due to the repeated instances of quarantine pests being detected, the mainland suspended the entry of sugar apples from Taiwan in September 2021 to mitigate the risk of plant epidemics, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The US military has grounded its entire fleet of Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft after a deadly crash off Japan last week. Sputnik spoke to veteran Russian combat aircraft pilot Vladimir Popov to get a better sense of the problems associated with the fledgling technology, and why the US refuses to just close the Osprey program down.
A US Air Force Special Operations CV-22B Osprey flying from Yokota Air Base in Tokyo to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on Okinawa went down over the East China Sea on November 29, killing all eight airmen onboard.
The crash was at least the 40th accident involving an Osprey since the aircraft's introduction into service with the US military in 2007, with crashes killing at least 53 US service members to date.
The Osprey program is the realization of an idea going back over a century ago of a tiltrotor, also known as a convertiplane - an aircraft with the ability to take off and land vertically using helicopter-style rotors attached to its wings, and which can adjust them during flight to a something closer to an airplane turboprop engine-style configuration. This dramatically increases the convertiplane's speed characteristics relative to those of an ordinary helicopter (up to doubling them).
The United States, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Britain were the first countries to begin experimenting with tiltrotor designs, with each country building prototypes from the 1930s into the early post-war period before concluding the technology was too revolutionary to be implemented effectively using equipment and materials that existed at the time.
The USSR began work on a modern-day iteration of the convertiplane in the 1970s with the Mil Mi-30 Vintoplan (lit. 'Rotorplane') project, which featured an airplane-style fuselage design and characteristics allowing it to carry up to 32 people or up to five tons of cargo. The project, envisioned as a prospective replacement for the Soviet and Russian rugged Mi-8 workhorse series fleet of helicopters, was abandoned in the mid-1990s due to lack of funding after the USSR's collapse. The Osprey project, designed by Bell and Boeing in the 1980s and first flown in March 1989, entered mass production in 2007, and has since been introduced into service with the US Marines Corps, Air Force, Navy, and Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. The aircraft can carry up to 24 combat troops or nine tons of cargo. The V-22 is the only convertiplane to be mass produced by any nation, with over 400 built to date.
But as often happens with complex, innovative engineering designs, the glory of having the first fully operational, mass-produced convertiplane is also a heavy burden to bear, with the United States military not only reveling in the Osprey's advantages, but suffering from its flaws, with the V-22 suffering dozens of crashes and at least 16 hull losses to date.
Last week's crash in the East China Sea was the fourth fatal incident involving a V-22 in less than two years, and follows the August 2023 Marine MV-22B crash on Melville Island, Australia during an exercise, killing three service members, the June 2022 crash of a Marine MV-22B in California, killing five troops, and an MV-22B crash in Beiarn, Norway in March 2022, which killed another four Marines.
Investigations into the latest incidents have pointed to technical problems (including a drive system failure caused by a malfunctioning gearbox in the case of the June 2022 incident in California), and pilot error in the case of the March 2022 crash in Norway.
Investigators are yet to offer details on what may have caused the November 29 CV-22B crash off Japan, although eyewitnesses have reported fire coming from one of the aircraft's engines and the Osprey reportedly flying upside down before an explosion spewed wreckage into the surrounding water.
Sunk Costs
Speaking to Sputnik about last week's Osprey crash, and asked why the US military continues to use the convertiplanes despite their crash-prone nature, Honored Military Pilot of Russia Vladimir Popov explained that it likely has to do with the resources the Pentagon has expended on the project.
"The fact is that financial resources have already been invested into the aircraft's creation and implementation," the retired Air Force Major-General with decades of service under his belt told Sputnik.
"Most likely, the engineers, designers, technologists and everyone who took part in the Osprey's development decided that its reliability can be assured, and that it can be improved in the course of operations," Popov said.
"They are likely hoping to get an effective machine, but everything remains in the stages of development and refinement. For now, of course, such an aircraft cannot really be used anywhere, since doing so means losses of personnel and money down the drain. The idea is good, but the implementation, not so much," the veteran pilot explained.
The problem with convertiplane technology at its current stage lies with the components allowing the aircraft to switch from vertical to horizontal flight mode, Popov said. "This node is 'charged' with a great deal of energy, because large loads hang on it. It may not be able to process the transition quite correctly" at times, resulting in accidents.
"Tiltrotors have been flying for a very long time, and they have a short service life. Thus, it's too early to say that it has already reached the peak of its operational maturity. What needs to be done is to clarify what went wrong in each specific case, and to approach the issue carefully and get to the bottom of it. What's also needed is to improve working with personnel, to conduct additional tests, and change the training of the pilot and crew members. The US may continue to operate Ospreys, but they need to think long and hard about how to do so without making sacrifices. Sometimes it's enough to replace only one bolt and everything will work as it should," Popov stressed.
Last week's accident may have been the result of any number of factors, from pilot error and equipment failure to errors in the mathematical calculations by the Osprey's onboard computer, Popov believes.
That said, the veteran pilot is convinced that tiltrotor technology has good prospects for the future, given its status as what is effectively a hybrid airplane/helicopter design that can accelerate to speeds of up over 550 km per hour, far above the roughly 300 km per hour achieved by modern helicopters, which have now maxed out as far as further improvements in speed characteristics go.
COVID-19 infections in China are at a low epidemic level and no unknown viruses or bacteria have been found during the monitoring of respiratory pathogens in China, according to Chinese health authorities on Sunday.
BA.2.86 and its subvariants, including JN.1 variant, have become the dominant variants in some countries, yet, their public health risk in China is low given their low proportion, Chang Zhaorui, a research fellow from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) told a press briefing on Sunday.
The proportion of BA.2.86 variant strains in the reported sequences in China is very low, but the proportion among imported cases has increased rapidly since November, and the growth trend has gradually converged with that of the world, Chang noted,
Since the first imported case of BA.2.86 variant strain was reported on August 31, a total of 160 sequences of BA.2.86 and its subbranches have been reported in China, including 148 imported case sequences and 12 local case sequences, but no severe or critical cases have been found, the research fellow from the China CDC noted.
According to a statement published by National Disease Control and Prevention Administration on Friday, the possibility of the JN.1 variant, a branch variant of BA.2.86, becoming a dominant strain in the country cannot be ruled out due to the subsequent impact of international strains and imported cases.
On November 21, the World Health Organization (WHO) adjusted BA.2.86 from a variant requiring global surveillance to a variant requiring attention, evaluating the risk of clinical severe infection as low and the overall assessment of public health risk as low.
Experts reached by the Global Times said infectious diseases are common throughout the world. New variants of the novel coronavirus can appear in the future at any time and people should get used to their existence. More attention should be paid to overlapping infections of influenza and other respiratory diseases.
In the past months, China has been experiencing a spike in respiratory disease.
Mi Feng, a spokesperson from National Health Commission, said on Sunday's press briefing that hospital visits for respiratory diseases across China have shown a downward trend.
Mi said that local medical institutes have been doing their part to ease pressure on major hospitals, accounting for 44 percent of total fever and outpatient visits.
The spokesperson called for the continued strengthening of surveillance and overall situation analysis for respiratory diseases and the allocation of medical resources to cope with the spike.
According to latest weekly report by the China CDC, the positive rate of influenza virus in the southern and northern provinces of China slowed down between December 4 and 10, and some provinces showed a downward trend.
China's Olympic champions believe the universal language of sport is a key to bridge communications for athletes as well as people of different countries and regions, as they continue their preparations for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
"Winning or losing is indeed the essence of competitive sports, but now I no longer think it's everything because we have something more valuable than victory," swimming queen Zhang Yufei told reporters at a forum held by the China Public Diplomacy Association in Beijing on November 22.
The essence of competitive sports goes beyond winning and losing, believed Zhang, who won six gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Zhang's touching moment with Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where they embraced despite being rivals, became a memorable scene.
"We participated in the same discipline but it was until the final day of 50 meters butterfly final that she made onto the podium," Zhang said.
"Her ability to return to the competition is a miracle. It is her perseverance that inspired me to continue when facing a bad situation."
Zhang was referring a fever she caught on day four of her competitions at the Asian Games, when she had to continue to achieve her personal goal of becoming the MVP of the event, which required more gold medals at the time.
"It is her perseverance she demonstrated after wading through leukemia which sidelined her from competing after achieving six gold and two silver medals at 2018 Asian Games," Zhang noted.
Zhang's teammate Qin Haiyang, a breaststroke specialist who set a new 200 meters world record this year, noted that he hopes to inspire more people to participate in sports activities, expressing his desire to showcase not only athletic achievements but also the confidence, unity and friendship of Chinese athletes on the international stage.
The power of role models is limitless as gymnasts Zou Jingyuan and Zhang Boheng mentioned the influential figures in their sport, such as Li Ning, Li Xiaoshuang and Japan's Kohei Uchimura.
"Although we are competitors on the field, off the field, we are friends. Athletes worldwide share a common philosophy of developing modern gymnastics, innovating movements, and spreading the love for sports globally," Zou said.
All-rounder Zhang is often linked to Japanese gymnast Hashimoto Daiki, as the duo are being considered the top athletes in the sport. This year they have competed head-to-head in China at the Chengdu Universiade and the Hangzhou Asian Games.
"Although this year I won, but I don't think he is at top form. I expect to compete with him when both of us are in-form. Maybe the stage will be the Olympics next year," Zhang said.
"All the gymnasts in the world share a common philosophy, that is, to develop modern competitive gymnastics, constantly innovate movements, share our understanding of gymnastics, and our love for sports with the world," Zou added.
Off the field, interactions and friendships among athletes from different countries and regions highlight the Olympic spirit that unites the world, as two-time Olympic taekwondo champion Wu Jingyu, now chair of World Taekwondo Athletes Committee, underlines the communication among the athletes facilitate the Olympic spirit.
"In addition to athletic achievements, athletes' perseverance and pursuit of dreams are also part of the Olympic spirit. This Olympic family allows athletes to freely show and express the spirit of sports, inspire more people with spiritual strength," Wu said.
The resolution adopted by UNESCO to establish a UNESCO International Institute for STEM Education (IISTEM) in Shanghai will assist China in sharing its education experience and growing to be a leader in global STEM education, an expert told the Global Times on Wednesday.
During the 42nd Session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris last week, UNESCO announced the establishment of the IISTEM in Shanghai. This marks the first UNESCO Category 1 Institute for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics to be established in China.
Category 1 institutes are crucial to UNESCO's mission. They act as incubators for new ideas and serve as standard-setters, facilitators of international cooperation, hubs for information sharing and capacity builders within their respective areas of competence.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at an earlier press conference that the Chinese government attaches great importance to education and treats STEM education as a key approach to cultivating innovative and versatile talent.
"We will act earnestly on our commitment, collaborate with UNESCO to implement the resolution and work for the early establishment and operation of the institute to contribute more to the UN's agenda for sustainable development as well as world peace and development," said Wang.
The move was preceded by UNESCO's resolution to establish a teacher education center in Shanghai Normal University in 2017. The teacher education center is a UNESCO Category 2 Center and followed two other Category 2 education centers in China: the International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education in Beijing and the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.
The establishment of the IISTEM demonstrates the recognition of China's national strength and a nod to China's commitment to building a community of shared future for mankind, Ning Bo, a professor with the Research Institute for International and Comparative Education of Shanghai Normal University, who is also a project manager at the UNESCO teacher education center, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The decision is also a reflection of Shanghai's increasing prominence in international education.
Shanghai topped two consecutive rounds (2009 and 2012) of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, a triennial survey of 15-year-old students that focuses on proficiency in reading, mathematics and science. The city's education system stands out as one of the strongest in the world, according to a report by the World Bank.
"Finland was a paragon when people talked about a successful education system. But global attention has been diverted to Shanghai thanks to the city's stellar performance in PISA," said Ning.
Shanghai's policies and investments have created a great teacher workforce, established clear learning standards and regular student assessments, and struck a balance between autonomy and accountability in school management, the report said.
"Shanghai is a pioneer in China's opening-up and reform in all sectors. The city eagerly welcomes international institutions like IISTEM to come and contribute to the development of its cosmopolitan nature," Ning said.
The institute is a fresh example of China's efforts to increase its influence on the world stage and play a leading role in international organizations, said the professor.
Technically, it's a platform for China to share its education experience with the world, especially in the field of STEM. Expertise and resources from around the world will be drawn to Shanghai, so it will advance the development of STEM education in China and promote Shanghai's economic and social development, Ning noted.
"China has achieved globally recognized progress in economic and social development. Through this opportunity, we aspire for the world to gain a comprehensive understanding of China and its developmental path from an educational and cultural perspective," Ning said.
The China Academy of Art has welcomed the celebration of its 95th anniversary since its establishment in the recently inaugurated Liangzhu campus in East China's Zhejiang Province. As the nation's first comprehensive national institution for higher artistic education, the art academy mirrors the evolution of contemporary Chinese art and artistic education over the last century.
Gao Shiming, president of the academy, told the Global Times that Chinese President Xi Jinping's emphasis on the need to combine fine traditional culture with the Marxist stand, viewpoint and approach, also known as the "second integration," holds significant implications for art education. In addition, humanity is entering the "second Renaissance," to which China is making global contributions.
At a meeting on cultural inheritance and development in June, Xi called for the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with traditional Chinese culture, known as the "second integration," which builds on the Communist Party of China's "first integration" of theoretical synthesis - the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific reality, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Ma Yifu, a renowned Chinese scholar, once asserted that Marxism has reactivated a socialist gene that exists in Chinese traditional cultural thought and social history, Gao said.
Common core values
Traditional Chinese culture and Marxism share common core values, such as the concept of equality. Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming's proposal of "cultivating moral consciousness, envisioning every individual as a saint," aligns with Marx's perspective on equality.
Similarly, the integration of Marxism and China's fine traditional culture has been vividly manifested in Chinese art, placing the people at the center and elevating them as the social subjects.
For instance, in the 1950s and 1950s, the Zhejiang school of figure painting, led by Fang Zengxian, employed techniques traditionally used for emperors, bodhisattvas and flora to portray ordinary farmers. This marked a significant period in China's millennia-old art history.
From its inception, the China Academy of Art envisioned an academic mission of "introducing Western art, organizing Chinese art, reconciling Eastern and Western art, and creating contemporary art." Over the last 95 years, the institution has walked alongside the history of modern Chinese art, responding to national crises and reinventing itself in the face of contemporary challenges.
During this period, two scholarly ideas have consistently unfolded: One represented by the inaugural dean, Lin Fengmian, which embodies the "integration of Chinese and Western styles." The other school of thought, pioneered by figures like Huang Binhong and Zhao Wuji, follows the path of "innovation within tradition." Zhao created a form of modern painting from within the folds of Chinese tradition. He activated certain elements of Chinese tradition by using modern art, creating an alternative, distinct and unique form of modern painting that gained global recognition.
"The last 95 years have seen the China Academy of Art charting a path in modern art education deeply rooted in the Chinese soil, reflecting a journey of artistic revival that is both grounded in tradition and independently innovative," Gao said.
What does a Renaissance require? "Prosperous technology, flourishing arts, developed commerce and a gathering of talents - we have all these elements now," Gao said.
'Second Renaissance'
He explained that the first Renaissance was catalyzed by an external factor - the Age of Discovery. Today, the internet serves as the great navigation of the 21st century. People in the world are not just witnessing a Renaissance in China but a global Renaissance in which China has started contributing to the world.
In the 21st century, art education in China has taken on a more significant role, serving as a catalyst for societal innovation. The current Chinese society craves innovation, creativity and self-transcendence. Igniting the primitive innovative capabilities of the entire nation is crucial.
"I often tell students not to confine themselves to being artists within the art realm but to become artists of the world," Gao said, adding that contemporary society demands the need for not just traditional artists but countless art professionals with the ability to innovate and imagine, solving real-world problems. This is the fundamental goal of the China Academy of Art - to foster a culture in which the entire art community contributes to the construction of a beautiful China and the high-quality development of the nation.
In the era of the first Renaissance, the world was not peaceful. Today, the world faces constant conflicts, making culture and art even more crucial as forces of reflection and reconciliation, guiding people into a more essential and expansive realm, allowing humanity a sense of transcendence.
The great French writer Flaubert once said, "Art and science met at the foot of the mountain and parted ways at the summit." The difficulty lies in people's journey not yet "reaching the summit," as people have technologized science and turned tools into technology.
Gao believes there's no need to rush; scientists and artists can engage in more philosophical exchanges. Simultaneously, people can start with specific initiatives, such as promoting a course called "illusion."
Scientists delve into the internal and physiological mechanisms of illusions, while artists design various illusions. This is a tangible course illustrating the fusion of science and art.
From another perspective, in the era of general artificial intelligence, people might leverage AI to become individuals with more extensive space and creative capabilities, akin to Da Vinci's versatility.
"As artificial intelligence advances, human artistic intelligence also grows," he said.
The highly anticipated Indonesian cultural festival kicked off in the opera hall of Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music recently to promote cultural exchanges between China and Indonesia and encourage people to learn more about the traditional Indonesian instrument the Kolintang.
Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun, delivered a speech saying that the Indonesian cultural performance held in Beijing is particularly important for the promotion of Indonesia's rich and colorful culture and enhancement of civil relations between Indonesia and China.
Oratmangun also stated that through this event, he hopes that the Kolintang instrument will be recognized by UNESCO in 2024.
Accompanied by the Kolintang, Oratmangun and his wife sang the Chinese song The Moon Represents My Heart, which resonated with the audiences and received thunderous applause.
This event serves as a bridge for cultural exchange between the two countries, enhancing cultural exchange and mutual learning, and strengthening the friendship between the two peoples, while promoting the healthy development of bilateral relations.
The extreme rainstorm witnessed in Beijing on July 21, 2012, the heaviest rainfall in six decades that left 79 people dead and caused widespread havoc in the capital city over a weekend, left deep scars in many people's hearts. Fortunately, when Beijing broke a 140-year-old rainfall record in the days between July 29 and August 2, the nightmare witnessed by Beijing residents over a decade ago were not replayed.
Based on flood prevention experience and lessons learned from previous rainfall disasters, including the catastrophic Henan floods in July 2021, Beijing appears to have made quantifiable to the city's disaster forecasting, relief, and response programs. There have been no major recorded roof collapses, backlash on the internet, damage of power lines, or flooded highway underpasses, scenes that were widely seen in the tragedy 11 years ago.
New technology and digital networks have become an important force in averting tragedy. The Beijing Haidian District Water Affairs Bureau utilized a cutting-edge smart system to direct emergency rescue operations throughout the district, as the system can map out the most optimal rescue route in record time.
The system utilizes visualization, integrated analysis of big data, and other technologies to understand the distribution and anomalies of approximately 3,000 water facilities and sensors across the entire Haidian area, and can provide real-time monitoring of the status of water channels, gates, and dams, and respond to warnings and forecasts speedily, the Beijing News reported.
Moreover, technologies such as the "Sky Eye" telescope, radar maps, and satellite cloud images have also played a significant role in this round of rainstorm warning. Since the start of the current round of rainfall on July 29, the "Sky Eye" smart system installed in some streets has remained vigilant. High-definition cameras installed on flood prevention emergency vehicles and rescue team helmets can monitor precipitation in real time, greatly improving the efficiency of flood responses.
"Early assessment, early warning, and early deployment" are the most significant forms of progress that the Global Times witnessed amid the slate of heavy rain that hit Beijing.
While visiting and reporting in waterlogged Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, in July 2021, Global Times reporters found that the consensus among the public was they received warning notifications "too late." While other areas in Henan Province had already been hit by heavy downpours, Zhengzhou city government did not decisively put measures in place to stop gatherings, suspend classes, and require the closure of businesses, wasting critical time in flood prevention and missing a key rescue window.
The official investigation report on the severe rainstorm disaster in Zhengzhou which caused at least 398 deaths and missing, exposed serious misconducts in the city's response deployment, including inadequate warning, significant delays in emergency responses, and a lack of unified command at critical moments. These issues led to the highest disaster-related casualties seen in recent years, particularly with regard to the subway system and tunnel, which should not have occurred.
This time in Beijing, Global Times reporters found residents in the capital city received multiple flood prevention reminders via text from relevant departments before the heavy rain actually fell down. Beijing successively issued red rainstorm warnings, yellow lightning warnings, and blue wind warnings, reminding citizens to refrain from outdoor activities. Many organizations immediately issued directives for their employees to work from home.
News sources reported that in preparation, the Beijing Drainage Group initiated a top-level flood early-warning protocol, requiring all pump station personnel to be on duty. At the same time, a re-inspection and re-treatment of drainage facilities in key areas such as 155 depressed bridges and 249 subway stations, as well as a re-inspection of water pumps, backup power sources, flood control emergency equipment, and various monitoring systems in 87 rainwater pump stations across the city were conducted.
Power system companies also deployed emergency teams in advance. The State Grid Corporation of China (Beijing), for example, had 22 rescue teams with 510 personnel on standby, ready to transport power generation vehicles, small generators, lighting vehicles, and other flood control emergency supplies and equipment to be stationed in areas with strong rainfall forecasted by meteorological bodies.
Beijing's main cultural and tourism venues issued temporary closure notices soon after the Beijing city government temporarily asked to shut down access to all scenic spots on July 30.
All mountainous and water-related scenic spots and rural homestays in the heavily affected area of Fangshan district were temporarily closed and have stopped receiving visitors since then. All 17 tourist attractions in Huairou district were closed, and all homestays and folk accommodations were temporarily suspended to minimize risk.
Amid the heavy downpour sweeping through many parts of China, local authorities have stepped up efforts to counter flooding and power cuts. After days of search and evacuation efforts, disinfection work has begun in residential and commercial areas in the city over this weekend.
Throughout three major rainstorms, nonstop rescue missions have been executed with countless heartwarming stories. In the last decade, what has changed is our continuously honed ability to respond to floods, while what remains unchanged is the resilience exemplified by every individual, an essence of the Chinese civilization.
We believe that in the future, we will face floods and other natural disasters with even greater composure and unite together to withstand the tests they bring.
