The Chinese Embassy in Romania on Saturday expressed serious concern and firm opposition to a recent visit to Taiwan region by Romanian lawmaker Alexandru Muraru and his subsequent erroneous remarks concerning Taiwan region, saying his actions violated Romania's official policy and advocated for the DPP authorities' "Taiwan independence" separatist agenda.
According to the statement published on the embassy's official WeChat account, a spokesperson for the embassy said Taiwan is part of China, and both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China. This is a historical and legal fact, the true status quo across the Taiwan Straits, and an important component of the post-World War II international order.
The spokesperson said that recognizing the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China and adhering to the one-China principle are widely accepted by the international community and constitute a basic norm governing international relations.
Romania established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1949, the spokesperson noted, adding that the one-China principle has served as the political foundation of bilateral relations and ensured the steady development of China-Romania ties despite changes in the international landscape.
The statement noted that the Taiwan question is China's internal affair and lies at the core of China's core interests. "Just as a province or region of Romania cannot separate from the country for any reason, Taiwan cannot separate from China for any reason," the spokesperson said.
Quoting the Chinese saying, "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire," the spokesperson said Muraru's actions constituted blatant interference in China's internal affairs and support for "Taiwan independence," adding that such behavior not only runs counter to basic diplomatic norms but also raises questions about whether he is genuinely acting in Romania's interests.
China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has repeatedly made fallacious remarks about China and his latest statements once again prove his having no gratitude for key Chinese commodities and exploiting issues of people's livelihoods to make political stunt.
Mao made the remarks on Tuesday, commenting on media reports that Teodoro alleged at the Shangri-La Dialogue that China had provided fertilizer and fuel to the Philippines but did not show good faith on a long-term basis, and "no matter how they sugarcoat their assistance to us, it doesn't cut the mustard." He also claimed the Philippines were under severe threat territory-wise and politically by China.
Mao stated that Teodoro's latest words shows that he completely disregards the welfare of the Philippine people, lacks any sense of gratitude, only cares about his personal interests, and is even exploiting livelihood issues for political stunt, which damages China-Philippines relations and mutual trust, and is completely contrary to the interests of the Philippine nation and its people.
Mao further asked: The Philippine side should seriously reflect on this. If it allows such a person to do whatever he wants, how can China continue to provide material assistance to the Philippines? Who will ultimately foot the bill? Whose interests will be harmed?
Mao noted that Philippine leaders have repeatedly expressed their willingness to properly resolve differences with China and promote the easing of bilateral relations. It is hoped that the Philippines will match its words with deeds, strictly discipline its officials, and not allow a few clowns to repeatedly undermine bilateral efforts to stabilize the relationship, Mao added.
Former Australian environment minister Peter Garrett will head up a crowd-funded review of the multi-billion-dollar AUKUS submarine deal, Australia's biggest ever defense project, with one of its questions including an examination of how the deal affects Australia's relations with China, BBC News reported. A Chinese expert said this reflects a growing number of voices within Australia questioning whether it is worthwhile to sacrifice relations with China in order to accommodate US interests.
Launched by a group of Labor veterans and public figures concerned that proper scrutiny was not applied to the deal, the inquiry will hold public hearings and take written submissions before delivering a final report by October 30, the Guardian reported.
Garrett, who served as environment minister between 2007 and 2010, said the independent inquiry into the A$368 billion ($239 billion) deal - where Australia will buy second-hand US submarines to replace its ageing fleet - was "long overdue," the BBC reported.
He also said the inquiry would consider if the submarines can be delivered on time and on budget, how nuclear waste will be managed and if Australia's defense and strategic interests are well served by the deal, the Guardian reported.
This inquiry has dealt a blow to the AUKUS pact, while also reflecting concerns among some Australian Labor Party figures over the prospects of the AUKUS nuclear submarine program, its staggering costs, distrust of the US government, and the program's implications for Australia's sovereignty, Ning Tuanhui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
After Garrett's inquiry, Labor backbencher Ed Husic urged a new vote on the future of the AUKUS submarine pact, warning the deal as it stood could impact sovereignty, news outlet The Australian reported.
Ning said these developments have left the Anthony Albanese administration caught between internal rifts within its own party and relentless opposition censure, placing the government under mounting pressure from two flanks.
"This will likewise cast tangible headwinds over the administration's future efforts to advance the pact," he added.
The BBC reported that the inquiry will ask how the deal will affect Australia's relationship with China, its largest trading partner.
The inquiry specifically calls for an assessment of AUKUS's impact on China-Australia relations, indicating that some figures within Australia are rethinking whether sacrificing ties with China to align with US geopolitical objectives truly serves Australia's national interests, Chen Hong, director of the Asia-Pacific Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times.
The AUKUS deal was announced in September 2021, and while it is not explicitly stated, it is believed to be about countering China's growing presence in the so-called Indo-Pacific region, and about the South China Sea issue, according to a BBC report.
A growing number of Australians clearly see that the US prioritizes its own interests, not those of its allies, and the consensus is also deepening that relying on the Chinese market while proactively defining China as a potential adversary is a strategic contradiction, Chen added.
Concerns are growing within Australia over the US role in and commitment to the AUKUS pact. Husic warned that Australia needs a backup plan for the AUKUS submarine agreement, arguing that sluggish US production and the "transactional nature" of the current US administration have put the multibillion-dollar defense deal at risk, per BBC News.
Arthur Rorris, the secretary of the South Coast Labour Council, which opposes the establishment of a nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla, said the proposed base was never intended for Australian submarines but "would be ceded to the US navy as a staging post for their 7th fleet," the Guardian reported.
Australia's case underscores that tying one's strategic and economic fortunes to the US at steep costs may yield heightened troubles and lingering uncertainties, serving as a sobering wake-up call for Washington's other allies, Ning said.
Newly released footage from the Wolong area of Giant Panda National Park in Southwest China's Sichuan Province shows the world's only known wild white panda wandering across snow-blanketed forests and bamboo groves, chinanews.com reported.
This was the first time in several years that the rare albino giant panda has been fully captured by an infrared-triggered camera equipped with real-time transmission capabilities, the report said.
The footage shows the all-white giant panda calmly roaming through dense forests and bamboo groves, pausing at times to forage for food and patrol its habitat.
Compared with its appearance as a cub when first discovered in 2019, the white giant panda has now reached adulthood, and appears healthy and agile. It appears to have adapted exceptionally well to the wild, and its natural habitat independently, according to chinanews.com.
According to Tan Yingchun, project lead of the conservation and research program for white giant pandas at the Wolong National Nature Reserve, judging by footage captured by infrared cameras, this white giant panda boasts a robust physique, and the fur of its limbs tint faint golden-brown in adulthood.
The panda is seen moving solo in every recorded clip, leading researchers to estimate its age at around 9 and conclude that it has long been fully independent.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has called for inheriting revolutionary traditions in a reply letter to student docents at the memorials of the birthplaces of the CPC in east China's Shanghai and Zhejiang Province.
Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, encouraged them to build knowledge and enhance capabilities, and extended International Children's Day greetings to children nationwide.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has replied to a letter from Chinese and U.S. students participating in "A Shared Voyage: China-U.S. Youth Friendship Program," encouraging them to make new contributions to the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations.
"I am delighted to know that the students from both countries had embarked on an unforgettable friendship voyage aboard the China-U.S. Youth Friendship vessel," Xi said, adding that the story of China-U.S. friendship is written by the people, and the future of China-U.S. relations is shaped by the youth.
Since the launch of the initiative of inviting 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs in a five-year span in November 2023, over 50,000 young Americans have visited China, achieving the target two-and-a-half years ahead of schedule, Xi said, adding that through these interactions, young people from both countries have reached out to each other, deepened mutual understanding, forged profound friendships, and opened a new chapter in friendly exchanges between the two peoples.
Noting that young people, full of vitality and dreams, represent the future and hope of China-U.S. relations and of the world, Xi called on more Chinese and U.S. youth to take up the baton of friendship, learn from each other, progress together, and become "envoys of friendship" bridging the Pacific.
Recently, Chinese and U.S. students who took part in "A Shared Voyage: China-U.S. Youth Friendship Program" wrote to President Xi, thanking him for the "50,000 in Five Years" initiative, which has provided valuable opportunities for young people of both countries to engage in learning and exchange.
Upholding the purposes and principles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons serves the common interests of all state-parties, Chinese Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs Shen Jian said Friday.
Speaking at the 11th review conference on the treaty, Shen said China deeply regretted that the conference failed to reach a consensus on substantive outcomes.
Over the past four weeks, all parties exchanged views in depth on the current international security situation, comprehensively reviewed the implementation of the treaty, and tried to explore effective measures to advance the goals of nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Shen said.
Despite differences on many issues, all parties share the objectives of upholding and strengthening the treaty's authority and effectiveness, and promoting common and universal security, he said.
Shen said that although the parties failed to reach a consensus on substantive outcomes, the treaty remains the cornerstone of international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and an indispensable pillar of the postwar international security architecture.
China calls on all state-parties to practice genuine multilateralism, pursue the concept of common security, strive to improve the international and regional security environment, eliminate the root causes of nuclear weapons proliferation, create more favorable conditions for advancing the nuclear disarmament process, and expand international cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, he said.
State broadcaster CCTV News released footage on Monday capturing the moment of a gas explosion at Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county of Changzhi, North China's Shanxi Province — a harrowing lesson that has sounded an alarm for coal mine safety across China, prompting officials in multiple regions to go underground to oversee workplace safety.
The video shows that the accident occurred at 7:29 pm on Friday, when the explosion struck without warning, instantly shattering the calm of underground operations. As seen in the released footage, thick smoke billowed from the explosion, quickly engulfing the surveillance screen and leaving nothing visible.
CCTV News also reported that miners who survived the explosion recalled their harrowing experience, still haunted by the terrifying moments. One injured miner, Wang Jintai, recounted: "It was around 6 or 7 pm that day when a huge explosion erupted. The blast rushed out and knocked all of us down. I lost consciousness immediately."
"We couldn't see anything — the dust was so thick, like being in a smoke chamber," Wang said.
Another injured miner, Liu Sijie, told CCTV News that he ran for nearly two hours straight. "Having narrowly escaped death, I truly felt how precious life is."
The explosion has left 82 people dead, with two still missing and 128 injured, local officials said at a press conference on Saturday.
An investigation team sent by China's State Council has pledged a rigorous and uncompromising investigation into the deadly coal mine gas explosion. It also urged local authorities to thoroughly overhaul workplace safety at mines, strike hard against illegal and unlawful operations, and crack down upon practices such as falsification of safety-monitoring data, unclear headcounts of underground personnel, and illegal subcontracting and subleasing, Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.
Following the explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine, officials across various regions in Shanxi have conducted safety inspections on the local mining industry.
On Saturday, Chai Zhe, secretary of the Zezhou county Party Committee in Shanxi Province, conducted an unannounced inspection at a local coal mining enterprise, touring underground operations to examine gas extraction and workplace safety conditions, news portal chinanews.com reported on Monday.
Also on Saturday evening, Wang Linbo, secretary of the Fenxi county Party Committee, and Huo Junbo, deputy secretary of the county Party Committee and county mayor, led a team to conduct an in-depth inspection at a local mining company, per chinanews.com.
Through the video monitoring system at the dispatch center, they checked the operation of key links including underground excavation, transportation, and gas monitoring. They also inspected the core underground coal mining area, scrutinizing critical aspects such as roadway support, ventilation facilities, gas monitoring, and electromechanical transportation along the way, chinanews.com reported.
Beyond Shanxi Province, where the coal mine accident occurred, leading officials in other regions of China have also gone underground to oversee workplace safety.
For instance, in Hegang, another coal‑rich city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Han Yang, standing member of the CPC Xing'an district Committee and deputy governor of Xing'an district, inspected a key local coal mine on Sunday. He examined working face support, ventilation systems, fire prevention and control management, as well as the implementation of control measures for major risk areas, chinanews.com reported.
In Liupanshui, Southwest China's Guizhou Province — another coal‑mining city —local officials also conducted an inspection at a local colliery. Zhao Qingqiang, secretary of the Shuicheng district Party Committee, took an overhead passenger system deep into the fully mechanized working face of a local mine to assess the work safety conditions and mining succession arrangements at the working area.
In Huanggang, Central China's Hubei Province, Liu Ting, deputy secretary and district governor of Huangmei district, led a team on Sunday morning to the underground operations site of a local mine.
They conducted a meticulous, item‑by‑item inspection of six critical systems —underground roof management, ventilation, water control and prevention, monitoring and sensing, emergency broadcasting, and communication links — along with other key operational aspects.
Gold Mantis, a traditional interior decoration company, recently became one of the hottest stocks in China's A-share market after being linked to trendy concepts including commercial aerospace and data centers, despite having little direct connection to either industry, the China News Weekly reported Tuesday.
The company's stock surged more than 136 percent within 15 trading days starting April 16, hitting 11 daily limit ups and climbing from around 3.3 yuan ($0.49) to 8.4 yuan per share.
The rally was triggered after Gold Mantis signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with Vietnam's Sun Group in April. Although there was speculation that the cooperation could involve projects worth $2.3 billion, the company later clarified the memorandum was only a non-binding preliminary agreement.
On April 22, Gold Mantis announced that its Vietnam subsidiary had secured an interior decoration contract worth about 400 million yuan for the T2 terminal project at Phu Quoc International Airport in Vietnam, according to the Security Times on April 23.
Despite being a standard airport decoration project, investors quickly associated the company with the "commercial aerospace" sector, jokingly calling it "the first space renovation stock."
Some investors also pointed to the company's previous participation in non-core decoration and electromechanical support projects for Huawei cloud data centers and commercial launch facilities in South China's Hainan Province, helping attach labels such as "commercial aerospace," "data center," and "Vietnam expansion" to the stock.
Liu Chunsheng, an associate professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said such concept driven rallies often rely on investors amplifying marginal businesses that contribute very little to a company's actual revenue, while using popular technology labels to attract speculative capital.
Liu noted that some funds take advantage of low valuation stocks that have traded sideways for a long period, accumulating positions before pushing prices sharply higher through market hype, even when the company repeatedly clarifies that its core business fundamentals have not changed.
However, the frenzy now appears to be cooling. Gold Mantis shares hit the daily drop limit again on Wednesday, closing at 6.21 yuan per share.
Meanwhile, reports that 73 employees collectively cashed out at least 91.32 million yuan worth of shares have further dampened market sentiment, accelerating the stock's recent pullback.
Since taking office two years ago, Lai Ching-te has stubbornly adhered to a “Taiwan independence” separatist stance, disregarded the well-being of residents on the island, single-mindedly pursued political self-interest, incited cross-Straits confrontation, undermined cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation, and unscrupulously “sold out Taiwan,” said Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a press briefing on Wednesday. She made the remarks in response to a question regarding the vote on an impeachment motion against Lai on Monday.
“Abusing the judiciary to suppress and persecute political opponents, wantonly trampling on democracy, and engaging in ‘green terror’ and creating a ‘chilling effect,’ Lai’s actions demonstrate incompetence in governance but expertise in internal political infighting, and have seriously deviated from mainstream public opinion on the island,” the spokesperson said, noting that the impeachment motion fully reflects the strong dissatisfaction and condemnation among Taiwan residents over Lai’s actions.
