Some foreign media hyped that a Chinese warship that recently sailed into the Pacific Ocean was suspected of being armed with a laser weapon. A Chinese expert said on Thursday that laser is a type of defensive weapon being developed by multiple countries, and there is no need to make an undue fuss over this potential development.

Citing the Japanese Defense Ministry, US media outlet Newsweek claimed on Wednesday that a Chinese flotilla was spotted sailing toward the wider Western Pacific Ocean this week, which included a suspected laser-armed warship.

According to a press release by Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff on Wednesday, seven warships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, including two Type 052D destroyers, two Type 054A frigates, one Type 075 amphibious assault ship, one Type 071 amphibious transport dock and one Type 903 replenishment ship, transited the Miyako Strait southeastward from Monday to Tuesday. 

Photos of the Chinese warships were attached to the Japanese press release. Citing a previous report by specialist outlet Naval News, Newsweek claimed that the Type 071 amphibious warship in the Chinese flotilla is "armed with a laser-based directed energy weapon," which is placed in a protective and extendable cupola between the ship's main gun and the command bridge. 

While China has publicly displayed land-based laser weapons, such as the LW-30 laser defense system displayed at Airshow China 2022, the country has not yet made any official announcement of ship-borne laser weapons.

In late 2024, the US Navy tested the HELIOS laser weapon system with the USS Preble destroyer against a threat-representative cruise missile, Naval News reported on February 4.

Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Thursday that shipborne laser weapons represent a development trend for several countries, as they attack at the speed of light, require no trajectory predictions, and are supposed to be more cost-effective than traditional naval guns and missiles.

Shipborne laser weapons are mainly designed for close-in defense purposes against targets such as drones, loitering munitions and cruise missiles, rather than being an offensive weapon, because contemporary warships may have difficulties providing enough electricity to cause enough damage for offensive purposes, especially considering energy losses in the atmosphere at sea level, Fu said.

Regardless of whether claims of the Chinese warship carrying an alleged laser weapon are true or not, there is no need for foreign media to be paranoid or make an undue fuss, Fu said, noting that China has been making in naval developments such as electromagnetic catapult technologies, and the country has also displayed land-based laser systems, so any new development should not be surprising.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday stressed stepping up the development of winter sports and related industries to create new opportunities for service consumption and a new growth driver for the economy.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during his inspection tour to northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

He highlighted the need to utilize distinctive advantageous resources, enrich the supply of quality products, stimulate the vitality of the winter economy, and continuously improve the well-being of the people.

While visiting the Harbin Songhua River Ice and Snow Carnival, Li said it was necessary to further tap into local resources to build snow and ice venues accessible to the public and create more engaging and entertaining winter activities.

He urged the province to continue to develop new consumption scenarios and new forms of business, expand and improve service consumption, and leverage its distinctive advantages to strengthen development.

The premier then visited a local ice sports center. Noting that the recently concluded 9th Asian Winter Games has further fueled public enthusiasm for winter sports, he called for efforts to leverage this opportunity to further promote mass participation in winter activities and develop industries related to winter sports equipment.

While talking with designers at a local company engaged in culture and tourism, Li said more work should be done to continuously increase the appeal of ice and snow cultural products, reinforce the principal role of enterprises in innovation to create more products and services, and strengthen international exchanges and cooperation in the sector.

When asked how the emergence of new uncertainties in the transatlantic relationship between the European Union (EU) and the US affects China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday that amid the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, and the interweaving of uncertainties and instabilities, the international community yearns for peace and stability more than ever before. It also expects a healthy and stable China-EU relationship more than ever before and hopes that China and the EU will become constructive forces in a changing world more than ever before.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU. China will work with the EU to maintain the partnership orientation, enhance strategic communication and coordinated cooperation, jointly uphold multilateralism, and address global challenges together. We will strive to inject new vitality into China-EU relations and provide more certainty and stability to the turbulent world, Guo said.

Chinese researchers from the Tianjin University (TJU) and Tsinghua University have collaborated to develop the world's first "dual-loop" non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) system, marking a significant advancement in human-machine mutual learning, the Global Times learned from the Tianjin University on Tuesday.

Researchers told the Global Times that they had successfully employed the system to achieve real-time control of a drone, demonstrating its ability to handle more complex tasks.

The achievement was published in Nature Electronics on Monday.

Practical BCI should be able to decipher brain signals and dynamically adapt to brain fluctuations. This, however, requires a decoder capable of flexible updates with energy-efficient decoding capabilities.

According to the researchers, the latest system is based on a 128k-cell memristor chip. The approach features a hardware-efficient one-step memristor decoding strategy that allows the interface to achieve software-equivalent decoding performance.
The researchers have also developed an interactive update framework that allows the memristor decoder and the changing brain signals to adapt to each other.

Xu Minpeng from the Haihe Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interaction and Human-Machine Integration, TJU, told the Global Times that achieving mutual learning between the brain and machine through information exchange remains a critical and complex challenge in current BCI research.

"Specifically, mutual learning allows machine systems to adjust according to user intentions, enhancing the system's flexibility and autonomy. Users can also continuously optimize their control abilities through interaction with the system, achieving a 'symbiotic' enhancement. This collaborative evolution not only improves the application efficiency of BCI systems, but also drives the overall advancement of intelligent systems," Xu said.

To address the challenge of mutual learning, the joint research team found that the non-stationary characteristics of ctroencephalogram (EEG) signals not only are derived from the background EEG variability as researchers traditionally believed, but also correlate strongly with task-related EEG evolution. Based on this, they innovatively proposed a "dual-loop brain-computer collaborative evolution framework," which was implemented using memristor neuromorphic devices. Under this "dual-loop" framework, the learning loops of the brain and machine collaborate to jointly enhance system performance.

Experimental results demonstrate that this new approach significantly improves decoding speed and reduces energy consumption compared to traditional methods. Notably, in a continuous six-hour interaction experiment, the system's performance not only remained stable, but also achieved an accuracy improvement of about 20 percent. This achievement undoubtedly lays a solid foundation for the practical application of BCI technology, according to Xu.

The performance enhancement can be attributed to two aspects, Xu explained in details. First, this research developed a low-power, high-precision, high-speed brain-computer decoding hardware system: compared to traditional purely digital hardware solutions, the normalization decoding speed of the memristor chip can be improved by more than two orders of magnitude, with energy consumption reduced by less than three orders of magnitude, effectively supporting the successful execution of four-degree-of-freedom drone control tasks. Second, this research realized a new type of BCI system based on neuromorphic memristor devices, where the performance of the BCI did not decline during long-term brain-computer interaction but instead achieved an accuracy improvement of about 20 percent.

When asked for further plan to apply the system in practice, Xu said that that, "on one hand, we need to adopt multimodal brain-computer feedback technology to promote the rapid positive evolution of specific brain functions, exploring the brain's complex, parallel task execution potential to support more complex brain-computer interaction tasks. On the other hand, we need to study the collaborative training model of brain signals and memristor hardware intelligent computing models to achieve more efficient cross-modal information processing and complex decision support."

He predicted that, in the future, the system could could evolve into portable or wearable BCI devices enabling long-term brain-environment interactions and serving as assistive technology in daily life and medical rehabilitation scenarios. It could also be applied in closed-loop neural modulation applications in medical rehabilitation (such as assisting in the treatment of brain diseases or helping stroke patients regain motor functions).

Members of the Shenzhou-19 crew aboard China's orbiting space station completed their mission's second series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) at 1:12 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Tuesday, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze worked for 8.5 hours to complete multiple tasks, including the installation of space debris protection devices and an extravehicular inspection. They were assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth.

Cai and Song, the two crew members assigned to undertake spacewalk duties, have since returned to the Wentian lab module safely.

Since completing their first spacewalk on Dec. 17, 2024, the crew members have undertaken a series of tasks, including the inspection and maintenance of the space station's equipment, system-wide pressure emergency drills, and preparations for the second series of EVAs.

They have completed nearly half of their space journey and are scheduled to carry out a significant number of in-orbit scientific experiments and technological tests, the agency said. Amid their busy schedule, they will also welcome the upcoming Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Responding to an inquiry concerning the meeting of Quad’s foreign ministers on Tuesday (US time) during which they claimed that China seeks to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday that China has always advocated that cooperation among countries should not target third parties. 

Group politics and bloc confrontations will not bring peace and security and are not conducive to the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region or the world. China’s activities in the relevant waters are legitimate and beyond reproach, the spokesperson said a regular press conference on Wednesday.

"In just one day, it rained as much as it does in a whole year!" On August 20, 2024, an extremely rare and intense rainfall led to a severe flood disaster in Huludao, Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Zhujiagou village, located in a mountainous area with low-lying terrain, was one of the most severely affected villages. According to CCTV News, the deepest water accumulation in the village reached 6 meters, and 51 households' houses were damaged, among which 41 households no longer met the conditions for reconstruction on the original site.

After the flood, the village built new homes for 41 of the most severely affected households, totaling 186 people, at a different location. Cement roads were built to the doorstep of each home, and water, electricity, and internet facilities were connected. The new homes were fitted with modern flushing toilets. In less than two months, a new Zhujiagou village rose from the ground.

On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, braved the cold to visit the village, ahead of the Spring Festival, which falls on January 29 this year, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi inspected the progress in post-disaster restoration and reconstruction. Visiting the villagers who had moved into their new houses just before this winter, Xi inquired about the quality of the reconstructed homes and whether their daily living conditions were adequate.

A number of natural disasters occurred across the country last year, Xi said, expressing his belief that restoration and reconstruction in the affected areas will yield good results.

"We have always put the people first," Xi said. "The people can always count on the Party and the government in their most difficult times, and we will help them overcome difficulties and rebuild their homes."

Always keeping the safety and well-being of the people in mind, before the Spring Festival, the most important festival for the Chinese people, Xi's visit not only warmed people's hearts, but also conveyed strong confidence.

'I have always been concerned about people in disaster-affected areas'

Xi has always been concerned about people in disaster-affected areas. In recent years, the Chinese president has made several visits to disaster-stricken areas to inspect and guide post-disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts. These visits include both pre-festival inspection tours and on-site inspections during domestic tours.

A year ago, Xi visited a village affected by floods the summer before during his inspection tour in North China's Tianjin Municipality from February 1 to 2, 2024, spending time in this region just ahead of the 2024 Spring Festival.

Villager Du told Xi that the family's more than 10 mu (about 0.67 hectares) of corn fields and vegetable patches were damaged by the flood, but with the help of the Party and the government, they managed to recover quickly, and their vegetable greenhouses were able to produce a good harvest, Xinhua reported.

On September 7, 2023, in the village of Longwangmiao in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Xi walked into the fields to check the impact of the floods on the rice crops. Visiting villagers' homes to learn about their losses and the supply of daily necessities, Xi encouraged them to bolster their confidence to overcome difficulties.

In January 2022, braving the snow, Xi went to Fengnanyuan village of Huozhou city in North China's Shanxi Province, where he visited the flood-affected people and learned about local post-disaster reconstruction.

"I came to Shanxi today primarily out of the concern for people whose work and lives were affected by last year's disaster," Xi told the villagers.

"I am glad to observe that despite the severity of the disaster, you did a good job in reconstruction and replanting crops with the help of the Party and government," Xi said. "I feel assured."

Back to January 2015, Ludian county, which experienced a 6.5 magnitude earthquake in August 2014, was the first on the president's domestic inspection agenda. While in Longtoushan Town, the epicenter of the quake, he reviewed post-disaster reconstruction efforts and advised that the buildings must be able to withstand a quake of a similar magnitude and above.

The people staying in Ganjiazhai village, where a temporary camp was set up for those displaced by the quake, warmly welcomed Xi. He greeted the crowd and inspected inside the tents to check the quality and thickness of their quilts, Xinhua reported.

"The disaster destroyed your homes, but the [Communist] Party [of China] and the government will help you build more beautiful ones," Xi said.

"I have always been concerned about people in disaster-affected areas," he said, when leaving a village impacted by floods during the inspection tour to Beijing and Hebei Province in North China in November 2023. "The CPC is a party that serves the people wholeheartedly and always puts the people above everything else."

Chinese speed, efficient action

China has demonstrated its "speed" and "humanitarianism" in post-disaster responses, whether it is the rapid resettlement of people in disaster areas in Meizhou, South China's Guangdong Province, or the emergency rescue efforts in Xigaze, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

"I never expected that we would have such a good Spring Festival this year," He Xinsheng, a villager from Shangtian, Meizhou, told Global Times on Thursday in an elated tone over the phone.

During the storm disaster in June 2024, He's house collapsed, and his family of four had to temporarily live with relatives. But thankfully, their worries did not weigh them down for long. On January 16, they stood in their brand-new relocation apartment and began a new chapter of their lives.

"We are satisfied with the facilities in the apartment," He smiled. "We just bought some electrical appliances, and everything else was provided by local government. Once again, I have a new understanding of our country's construction speed and quality."
For him, this move was not just a change of residence, but also a deep expectation for the future.

In June 2024, when China entered the flood season, Meizhou was hit by a severe rainstorm on June 16, causing the collapse and damage of houses in some areas, severely impacting the production and lives of the local population.

On June 18, Xi delivered important instructions on the work to fight floods and droughts. The president called for all-out efforts to deal with the disaster, do everything possible to search and rescue those missing or trapped, properly resettle those affected, ensure production and life order, and minimize losses, according to Xinhua.

The People's Government of Guangdong promptly assigned Guangzhou and Shenzhen to assist Meizhou in constructing four housing projects.

The projects officially commenced on July 28, with the foundation work completed in just 14 days. The building's main structure was built in 69 days, and the project passed its final acceptance inspection in 138 days. Within 144 days, the handover was completed, and the project successfully passed safety production inspections at all levels, Diao Shangdong, deputy director of "Guangzhou town" project at the Guangzhou Key Public Construction Project Management Center, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The houses, which incorporate traditional Hakka elements, are equipped with advanced flood prevention technology and roof-mounted photovoltaic systems, making them low-carbon, smart, and secure.

According to Diao, by December 31, 2024, 383 families affected by the disaster had received the keys to their new homes.

While in Xizang region, the recent earthquake that hit Xigaze has attracted significant international attention, not only due to humanitarian reasons, but also because it occurred in a multi-ethnic region often targeted by some in the West with so-called human rights issues.

After the earthquake, Xi made an important instruction, demanding utmost efforts to carry out search and rescue and provide medical treatment for the injured. He also urged efforts to prevent secondary disasters, properly resettle affected residents, and handle the aftermath effectively, according to Xinhua.
Ten minutes after the tremor, rescue helicopters had already reached the disaster area; within half an hour, rescue operations with debris removal began in the earthquake's epicenter. Nine hours after the quake, communication signals were restored, and all damaged roads were repaired and reopened. Eighteen hours after the disaster, power was restored in the hardest-hit areas, local media Tibet.cn reported.

That night, people in disaster-stricken areas moved into warm tents and were provided with hot meals. Within a week, medical stations, libraries, and counseling rooms were gradually set up. The swift and effective response demonstrated a profound respect for life and a deep concern for the disaster-stricken people.

Observing the rescue and reconstruction efforts in the wake of this earthquake, people see it clearly that while a natural disaster has torn a wound into the snowy plateau, the entire nation is working tirelessly to heal it. The motherland serves as a steadfast source of comfort and support for every individual affected by the disaster. This is the best example of how Xizang is an indispensable part of a people-centered national development effort.

Putting the people first

Wang Hongwei, a professor at the Renmin University of China's School of Public Administration and Policy, told the Global Times on Thursday that in recent years, the country's efficiency in responding to major emergencies has significantly improved, and a crucial reason behind this is China's institutional strength, which enables the integration of various forces to form a powerful collective effort in disaster relief.

He pointed out that since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, there have been many new conceptual changes in disaster prevention, reduction, and relief. In the past, the focus was primarily put on post-disaster management, while now a stronger emphasis is put on risk management.

In 2018, China established the Ministry of Emergency Management, which has the crucial responsibility of responding to natural disasters. One of the major tasks being undertaken is the comprehensive risk survey of natural disasters, which serves as a fundamental task for disaster prevention, reduction, and relief.

Meanwhile, China has been accelerating the development of more advanced emergency-rescue equipment. Thanks to the collaborative efforts between government authorities and manufacturers, numerous new aircraft models, smart robots, drones, and other forms of emergency response equipment are rapidly being developed and implemented.

China's response to natural disasters features rapid, collective action spearheaded by the government to ensure no one is left behind. This people-centered approach contrasts sharply with the challenges faced by some Western nations.

Right now, many parts of the world are grappling with an alarming increase in the frequency of natural disasters. In Southern California, for instance, wildfires rage on, serving as a stark reminder of the challenges that lie ahead in safeguarding communities against the forces of nature.

A California dad of two who spent nearly two days trying to save his home from wildfire was quoted as saying that the leadership "absolutely failed us," in a FOX news report on January 18, 2025.

"There's a deep part of me right now that's like, it wasn't just my home that burned down and my life's work that burned down. It is the trust in the leadership and the systems that absolutely failed us," Blake Mallen said in the FOX report.

A New York Times opinion article titled "You don't get disasters like the Palisades fire without human failure" read, "The problem of forest management looms larger in Northern California, with decades of fire suppression producing much denser and more flammable forests there, but the job of brush clearing and fuel thinning has been neglected around Los Angeles, too."

Wang Tun, head of a key earthquake early warning laboratory in China's Sichuan Province, who has vast experience in disaster relief, told the Global Times that compared to Western countries, China's emergency rescue system is more prominent in terms of implementation efficiency.

"China has formed a complete emergency management system based on a 'people-centered' philosophy, ensuring a full chain of work from disaster prevention to post-disaster recovery and reconstruction," Wang said.

In his new home in Meizhou, He is buying ingredients for the Spring Festival. During the holidays, He hopes to invite all the relatives and friends who have helped him to his new home for a reunion dinner.

"I hope everyone can stay safe and sound, away from disasters," he said.

In the ice cap region near China's Zhongshan Station in Antarctica, a domestically developed six-legged robotic dog recently completed a series of scientific research tests successfully, marking an innovative step in China's polar research equipment. A video shows the robotic dog navigating through snow and ice, carrying a box on its back, without slipping or falling, according to CCTV.

The developers designed a special type of shoe for the robotic dog to maintain stability to adapt to the harsh environment of Antarctica.

"The material of the shoe itself can withstand temperatures as low as -40 C. Additionally, when it comes into contact with the ice, the pressure it exerts becomes very small, providing anti-slip capabilities while causing minimal damage to the ice surface. This ensures the robotic dog can walk on ice as if it were flat ground," said Mao Shijie, the head of the Antarctic six-legged robotic team and director of Shanghai Branch of the Lenovo Research Institute, CCTV reported.

The robotic dog is equipped not only with specially designed shoes but also with a thermally insulated battery in its abdomen, enabling it to function for two hours in the harsh Antarctic temperatures ranging from -30 C to -40 C.
Nevertheless, this measure alone falls short of expectations, prompting the development team to explore and implement more advanced solutions to significantly extend its battery life.

"For scientific research, we often need it to work for more than four hours, such as during ice surface detection. In such cases, we add two additional batteries on top of the robotic dog, ensuring it can operate for 4-6 hours," Mao added.

According to the CCTV, the six-legged robotic dog now has successfully completed tests involving walking and carrying loads on the slippery, low-temperature ice surfaces of Antarctica, capable of bearing loads between 70 to 100 kilograms. The research team stated that the robotic dog's tasks are not limited to transporting supplies. In the future, it will be improved and upgraded based on the needs of the scientific research teams to support applications such as safety detection and fieldwork operations.

Mao emphasized that the safety is another major concern, as crevices in the ice are invisible when walking on the surface. One of the robotic dog's critical missions is to carry an ice crevice detector and walk ahead of the entire team. 

The data collected during the on-site tests will support future upgrades and modifications of the robotic dog. The research team plans to enhance the current technology to enable the robotic dog to take on safety detection tasks.

Additionally, developers aim to integrate the robotic dog with underwater robots and drones to perform combined operations, particularly addressing complex scenarios such as sampling at multiple underwater locations, which are frequently required by research teams.

Beyond scientific research, the six-legged robotic dog is expected to play a role in various other fields, such as monitoring power equipment or providing companionship for elderly individuals living alone or with mobility challenges through the integration of AI technology.

Nowadays, the six-legged robotic dog has been widely applied in the field of power inspection due to its high load capacity and stable walking capabilities. It is capable of monitoring the condition of power equipment and detecting issues such as rust, oil leaks, or instrument abnormalities.

A memorial ceremony was held at 9:30 am on Monday morning to honor the earthquake victims in Chamco Township, the area most severely affected by the 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Dingri county, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. 

Hundreds of participants, including soldiers from the PLA and armed police, firefighters, public security officers, medical personnel, young volunteers, employees from relevant enterprises, officials, and representatives from the affected community, stood in silence with their hats off for three minutes to mourn their deceased compatriots, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Monday marks the seventh day since the 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Dingri. The earthquake struck in the morning of January 7. With a high magnitude and intensity, it resulted in the unfortunate loss of 126 lives and the damage of 27,248 households, including the collapse of 3,612 homes. The earthquake affected five counties, covering 26 townships and 206 villages (communities), with approximately 61,500 people affected to varying degrees.

Currently, a total of 407 people have been rescued, and over 47,500 disaster-affected individuals have been properly relocated. The earthquake relief efforts are being carried out effectively and in an orderly manner. At present, Xizang is making every effort to coordinate temporary and transitional housing arrangements to ensure that the affected population stays warm during the winter.

The Global Times has learned from the Xigaze relief headquarters that as of 6 pm on Sunday, a total of 2,198 prefabricated houses had been built across the quake-stricken areas with the arrival of more than 166,000 pieces of blankets, 40,737 heating stoves, 118,000 sets of clothing, 569 tons of fuel, and 32,363 lighting equipment. 

According to the headquarters, other necessity supplies have also been made available  to people in need, including roughly 50,530 kilograms of staple foods (tsampa, rice, noodles, and oil), 140 tons of meat, 487 tons of vegetables and fruits, 225,000 kilograms of food, 85,247 boxes of beverages, 15.2 tons of forage for cattle, and 41,275 other household items.

The prefabricated houses started being built on Sunday in Tonglai village, Chamco, with more than 60 completed so far, village official An Zhengfa told the Global Times on Monday. An said they plan to set up 110 units by Monday night so that all the villagers, a total of 491 people in 92 families, can move into the houses from tents on Tuesday.

Besides resident housing, An said Tonglai village had received supplies of instant food, warm clothing, and heating stoves as of Wednesday and had a canteen set up on Friday where villagers can have lunch and supper.

"It's such a relief for us that people have hot meals to eat and warm places to sleep. What we'll do next is to clear the rubble and transfer villagers' property, mainly grain and forage, from their ruined homes," said An.

As of 5 pm on Sunday, there were 650 prefabricated houses set up in Qulho Town, Dingri county, with 763 houses under construction, CCTV reported. According to the head of Qulho, affected residents who have moved into the prefabricated houses have electricity and water. Wi-Fi and public toilets will be soon equipped in settlement .

An emergency psychology research team from the Institute of Psychology under Chinese Academy of Sciences arrived in Xigaze on Thursday. The team visited the resettlement sites in Chamco and Qulho, bringing soccer balls, badminton shuttlecocks and rackets, jump ropes, and hula hoops for the children there as part of an effort in post-disaster psychological assistance.

In response to a media inquiry regarding the Philippine National Security Council spokesperson’s claims about China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels in the South China Sea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday that CCG conducts patrols in relevant waters in accordance with the law, which is justified and beyond reproach. 

“China has addressed similar questions on multiple occasions. I would like to reiterate that China’s sovereignty and related rights in the South China Sea have been established through a long historical process, supported by extensive historical and legal evidence, and are consistent with international law and practices. The CCG conducts law enforcement patrols in relevant waters in accordance with the law, which is entirely justified and beyond reproach,” Guo said.

We once again urge the Philippines to cease any infringement, provocative acts, and inflammatory claims, and to cease all actions that disrupt peace and stability in the South China Sea or complicate the situation, said Guo.