As US Republican candidate Donald Trump declared victory in the 2024 US presidential election on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry congratulated Trump on being elected as president of the US and said "we respect the choice of the American people."

Trump has won in utterly divisive, costly US election amid deep public concerns, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Multiple major US media outlets projected on Wednesday that Trump has won enough Electoral College votes and will be the next president of the US, the report said.

"We respect the choice of the American people and congratulate Mr. Trump on being elected as president of the United States," Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.  

As for how will the result of the election affect China's foreign policy or China-US relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning noted that China will continue to view and handle our bilateral relations under the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

Earlier in the day, Trump took the stage at West Palm Beach County Convention Center in the US state of Florida to speak to supporters and declare victory, the Xinhua News Agency report said. 

Trump promised "to help our country heal," adding that the US-Mexico borders will be fixed, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"It's a political victory that our country has never seen before," Trump said, thanking the American people "for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president." Trump was the president preceding the incumbent 46th US president, Democrat Joe Biden, the Xinhua report added.

Trump's remarks came as most US media outlets put his Electoral College vote tally at either 266 or 267, after calling the crucial battleground states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania for him. Among them, Georgia and Pennsylvania are states that Trump flipped from four years ago, when Biden carried them, reported Xinhua.

Trump's opponent, Democratic candidate and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris, is expected to call Trump later on Wednesday local time to concede and is expected to speak publicly, NBC quoted two Harris aides as saying, China Central Television reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday after the US Republican presidential candidate declared victory, Xinhua reported.

"Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity," Macron wrote on social media platform X, according to Xinhua.

Macron said he also spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Trump's election night speech addressing supporters. France and Germany "will work for a more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe in this new context, by cooperating with the United States of America and defending our interests and our values," Macron wrote on .

Alongside the presidential race, several US media outlets projected that the Republican Party would regain control of the US Senate early Wednesday after flipping two seats from the Democratic Party, Xinhua reported.

According to Xinhua, the election, widely regarded as one of the most divisive in American history, has caused deep concern among voters. According to an annual survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 77 percent of US adults said the future of the nation was a significant source of stress in their lives. Additionally, 74 percent said they were worried that the election results could lead to violence.

"The US is now more divided along ideological and political lines than at any time since the 1850s," said Bruce Stokes, an associate fellow at Chatham House. "America's friends and allies need to understand that the United States has become a Disunited States. There are effectively two Americas -- and they are at war," the Xinhua report said.

It has also become one of the most contentious and costly campaigns in US history, the report added. According to OpenSecrets, political spending across major-party campaigns, related political action committees (PACs), and other groups is projected to reach a record 15.9 billion US dollars, with deep involvement of US billionaires.

The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft returned to Earth with 34.6 kilograms of experimental samples, including difficult-to-prepare microorganisms, alloy materials, and nanomaterials, the Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday. An expert told the Global Times that final analyses would be conducted by specialized ground teams to validate the data and propose new theories or technologies.

The retrieved samples are poised to advance the development of space fiber lasers, facilitate the creation of extraterrestrial materials, and explore the prospects of Earth life spreading through the cosmos, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Shenzhou-18's return capsule, carrying three Chinese taikonauts, returned to Earth in the early morning on Monday, after completing a six-month space station mission.

The scientific experimental samples brought back by the spacecraft include a total of 55 types, spanning 28 science projects across areas such as space life sciences, space materials science, and microgravity combustion science.

The life science specimens comprise methane-generating archaea, radiation-resistant microbes and microorganisms that inhabit rocks, according to Xinhua. These are anticipated to lay the scientific groundwork for investigating the potential habitability of extraterrestrial environments and to assess the capacity of microorganisms to adapt to the challenges of outer space.

Part of the returned samples are high-temperature resistant alloys, fiber optics and optical coatings. These innovative materials hold the potential to revolutionize the manufacturing of next-generation aerospace turbine blades, space-adapted fiber lasers, and precision medical repairs, according to Xinhua.

The spacecraft also returned nanoparticles derived from methane combustion, which are intended to facilitate the future synthesis of critical particulate materials for extraterrestrial environments.

The process of space experiments can be divided into two main parts: One part involves conducting experiments on the space station, while the other entails data analysis and summary evaluation on the ground, Wang Yanan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Monday

On the space station, researchers record the experimental processes and data, but the final analyses and conclusions rely on the work of specialized teams on the ground. These teams encompass fields such as zoology, botany, medicine, and life sciences, and are responsible for validating the data and proposing new theories or technologies, Wang said.

Additionally, certain experimental samples, such as those from exposure experiments in space, may require further physicochemical analyses on the ground, as the environmental conditions on the space station limit certain types of analyses. Therefore, both the experimental data and samples ultimately need to be returned to Earth for comprehensive evaluation and research, he added.

China Eastern Airlines has successfully completed an engine replacement on the domestically produced C919 aircraft. An industry expert noted that this achievement marks a key step in enhancing Chinese airlines' operational and maintenance capabilities for homegrown large aircraft, further advancing the comprehensive commercial deployment of the C919.

China Eastern Airlines recently completed its first engine replacement on the C919, with all test parameters meeting expectations, according to the "Pudong Release" WeChat account under the publicity department of Pudong New Area, Shanghai, on Saturday.

The primary purpose of the engine replacement was to test the feasibility of the C919's engine replacement protocol in order to enhance the safety of the aircraft. China Eastern Airlines is collaborating with C919 manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), to further optimize the engine replacement procedure to improve overall efficiency, according to "Pudong Release."

The successful engine replacement operation on the C919 marks an important step in boosting operational and maintenance capabilities for Chinese airlines using domestically manufactured large aircraft, Qi Qi, an industry observer, told the Global Times on Saturday.

Since its first commercial flight by China Eastern Airlines in May 2023, the C919 has been steadily advancing toward broader commercial use.

China Eastern Airlines, Air China, and China Southern Airlines all have already conducted commercial operations with the C919, which signifies the start of large-scale development and a new phase of broader operations for the domestically produced aircraft, according to a report of yicai.com in September.

C919's full-cycle and wider commercial deployment is steadily making progress. As the volume of commercial deliveries continues to increase, airlines are also facing rising need for regular maintenance and servicing of the C919 to promote the progress of the commercial operation of C919, Qi said.

"The idea that the Argentine government is trying to decouple from China is not correct; on the contrary... the relationship between Argentina and China has resulted in broad benefits for both parties," Marcelo Suarez Salvia, Ambassador of Argentina to China, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview. He noted the Argentine government's willingness to continue deepening cooperation with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest in Argentina.

Earlier, Argentine President Javier Milei has announced his plan to visit China in January 2025, South China Morning Post reported. In a television interview earlier this month, Milei described China as a "very interesting commercial partner" and said he was "positively surprised by China," a stark contrast to his earlier hostile rhetoric, according to media reports.

Details of the visit are yet to be confirmed, the ambassador said, while noting that "what I can say in advance is that, being the first official high-level meeting since Milei's inauguration as President of Argentina last December, Milei will seek to engage in direct and frank conversations to learn firsthand about the measures and reforms that have led China down a path of undeniable economic development, with a significant poverty reduction impact and eradication of extreme poverty in China."

Salvia said that Milei's planned visit to China underscores that Argentina has no intention of decoupling from China. In the interview, the Argentine diplomat refuted claims that "the current Argentine government seeks to decouple from China" and that "China-Argentina relations are regressing."

The Ambassador said that the current development of China-Argentina relations is good and that there is still room for further enhancement. "We have a lot of confidence and faith that the relationship with China will improve; we do the daily work and put in the effort to make everything better."

Salvia told the Global Times that the Argentine President has stated that he views China as an interesting partner, a partner supportive in Argentina's times of need, Argentina shows reciprocity by avoiding participation in international sanctions on certain Chinese products in the international market. The Chinese government has shown support for this process, specifically through cooperation between central banks, whose currency swap agreement contributes to Argentina's macroeconomic stability, Salvia noted.

The Argentine diplomat said this year marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Argentine, which has resulted in significant benefits for both parties.

One of the major pillars of the bilateral relationship is the economies of both countries are strongly complementary. This means not only that the relationship has a vast potential for further deepening trade and investment ties, but also that the Argentine productive sector is closely linked to China, said Salvia. The imports that Argentina purchases from China, including manufacturing and technological components, are an integral part of local and regional supply and value chains.

This fact is widely acknowledged across Argentina's political landscape, which is why "decoupling" is far from Argentina's political stance on China, nor the specific relationship between Argentina and China, the ambassador noted.

China remains Argentina's second-largest trading partner, behind Brazil. In addition, Chinese investments in infrastructure and logistics have been essential for Argentina over the past several decades, along with China's invaluable financial support through currency swap agreements, Xinhua News Agency reported last year.

In February 2022, Argentina strengthened its bilateral ties with China by joining the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In June 2023, the two nations advanced their partnership through a signed cooperation plan to jointly promote the construction of the Belt and Road.

However, following Argentina's change in government, public concerns have arisen about whether the cooperation between China and Argentina under the BRI framework will proceed smoothly, and whether China's investments and participation in construction projects in Argentina can be guaranteed in terms of safety and legal interests.

The current Argentine government will continue to seek to deepen cooperation with China under the BRI framework, said Salvia.

He noted that Argentina recognizes the relevance of the BRI, especially in its role in addressing infrastructure gaps in emerging and developing economies. He stated that the port, railway, and highway networks are crucial for a country, a region, and even global integration. Enhanced infrastructure networks can facilitate a broader and more efficient flow of goods and services across continents, enhance trade and investment levels, and yield mutual benefits on a global scale.

In April this year, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina Diana Mondino visited China. Salvia shared that during her meetings with Chinese officials, Argentina reaffirmed its commitment to continue advancing cooperation with China on strategic projects beneficial to both countries. In addition, Argentina aims to continue establishing itself as a reliable supplier of high-quality agricultural products to China, and complete negotiations for the export of beef, seafood, dried fruits, and other agricultural products to China.

"Argentina also is well-positioned in the near term as a key energy exporter, and we are confident in our ability to expand partnerships with Chinese energy companies to maximize cooperation," said the ambassador.

The Argentine diplomat noted that Chinese investments are welcomed in Argentina not only in the mining sector but also in energy, forestry, infrastructure, tourism, and many other areas included in the recently launched Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI) by the government. This incentive offers significant benefits in terms of tariffs, taxes, exchange rates, and regulations, which will undoubtedly encourage even more companies to invest in Argentina.

Multiple coastal cities in Northeast China's Liaoning Province and North China's Hebei Province suffered from flooding on Monday due to the backflow of seawater from the coast to inland, which experts explained as a result from combined influences of weather conditions and tidal phenomenon.

On Monday, coastal cities including Panjin and Dalian in Liaoning and Tangshan in Hebei suffered flooding by seawater encroachment, while other cities including Qinhuangdao in Hebei and Yantai in East China's Shandong Province along the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea recorded tides reaching the highest warning levels. 

As of Tuesday morning, seawater had receded, and no casualties have been reported in any of the affected areas, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. China's Ministry of Natural Resources activated on Monday a Level IV emergency response for marine disasters, dispatching five expert teams to Liaoning, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong to assist local authorities in verifying abnormal water level rises along certain coastal areas and to conduct disaster investigation and assessment. 

From Sunday evening to Monday afternoon, tide stations in the central and northern parts of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea recorded water level increases of 80 centimeters to 160 centimeters, with no significant weather events occurring, the Global Times learned from China's Ministry of Natural Resources.

This abnormal water level rise of around 1 meter in these areas turned out to be severe and lasted for an extended period of 20 hours. With this situation combined with the astronomical tide several stations in Liaoning saw record-breaking water levels in the early hours of Monday with backflow of seawater occurring in multiple places in Liaoning and Hebei provinces and Tianjin Municipality. 

Jiang Wensheng, dean of the College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, told the Global Times that due to the combined influence of celestial bodies, including the sun and the moon, seawater undergoes one or two natural rises and falls each day, commonly known as the tidal phenomenon. 

Meanwhile, weather conditions are also an important factor affecting sea level rise, with winds, changes in air pressure and other weather conditions leading to storm surges that cause sea level fluctuations, Jiang said. 

If the sea level rising due to weather factors coincides with a high tide, the sea level can become unusually high, Jiang explained. 

Additionally, sea level fluctuations caused by weather factors can continue even after the weather event ends, a phenomenon referred to as the "aftershock" of a storm surge. The recent seawater backflow in multiple areas was the result of the impact from these "aftershocks" of storm surges, Jiang said. 

Although the rise of the sea level was significant when the wind was stronger and the weather event was intense, this did not coincide with the high tide. Instead, the following storm surge "aftershocks" coincided with the high tide, resulting in this seawater backflow. 

The provincial marine monitoring center in Liaoning issued multiple sea wave alerts in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea over the past few days, warning of big waves of 2.5 meters to 4 meters in coastal areas, according to the local maritime safety administration. 

The National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center also forecast storm surges from Monday to Tuesday, affecting cities including Dandong, Dalian, Panjin and Jinzhou in Liaoning and Weifang in Shandong. 

Two tickets for space travel scheduled for 2027 were sold immediately during a livestream event on China's e-commerce giant Taobao, the Global Times learned from Deep Blue Aerospace, a private aerospace start-up, on Thursday. The suborbital manned spacecraft will be launched with the company's reusable carrier rocket Nebula-1.

"The spacecraft has a maximum flight altitude of 100 to 150 kilometers, allowing you to cross the Kármán line and enter the edge of space," Taobao customer service told the Global Times. "The suborbital flight lasts about 12 minutes, during which you will experience at least 5 minutes of weightlessness."

The price for a round-trip ticket is 1.5 million yuan ($210,900), which is less than half the cost of Virgin Galactic's suborbital flights. Virgin Galactic recently set its ticket price at $450,000 for a roughly 90-minute journey to the edge of space, according to media reports.

The buyers have paid a 50,000-yuan deposit fee each during Thursday's livestream sales. The identities of the buyers remain unknown, the Global Times learned from the company, but people between the ages of 18 and 60 who are in good health are all eligible to purchase.

Next, the buyers will undergo a strict physical evaluation to determine whether they will be suitable for the flight, as the trip can be challenging for individuals with health conditions, such as heart issues or epilepsy.

"The suborbital spacecraft will land using a parachute system, ensuring that passengers return to Earth safely," the customer service said.

A notice said that the deposit can be refunded without reason within seven days of purchase.

According to the company, passengers will experience far more than just a brief moment of weightlessness during the suborbital spaceflight. They will experience in person the vastness and mystery of the universe and witness breathtaking views beyond Earth, which is designed to be an unforgettable and immersive space journey of a lifetime.

The event aroused heated discussions on social media with netizens divided in their attitudes. While some netizens showed great interest and expressed excitement about the space travel, others were concerned about the safety of the trip and believed only the wealthy will have the opportunity.

The company's decision to offer a three-year presale stems from a deep understanding of the complexity and risks involved in rocket technology. During this period, the company will be fully dedicated to the technological development, tests, and performance optimization to ensure the rocket meets the highest safety standards.

Huo Liang, CEO of Deep Blue Aerospace introduced the space travel program via livestreaming on Thursday evening and said that while the cost of space tourism is indeed quite high at present, as the company's reusable rocket technology matures, the cost of space travel in the future will significantly decrease.

Manned space travel has already been realized in countries like the UK and the US. Space tourism company Virgin Galactic from the UK successfully launched a test spaceflight in 2021 and completed its first commercial spaceflight in 2023.

Blue Origin, the space tourism and exploration firm founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, also successfully carried the first paying customer to space and back in 2021. That same year, Elon Musk's SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule spacecraft took four passengers on a three-day orbital space tour, the first-ever flight to Earth's orbit flown entirely by tourists or otherwise non-astronauts.

In China, several commercial aerospace companies are also focused on realizing the commercial development of space tourism.

Experts said that China's space industry has already gained extensive experience in operating crewed spacecraft. However, as a consumer-oriented tourism project, it faces a major challenge in commercialization due to high costs. Therefore, reusable rockets have become critical to reducing the costs of space tourism.

Last month, Deep Blue Aerospace conducted the first high-altitude vertical recovery flight test of its Nebula-1 rocket at a spaceport in Ejin Banner, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The test marked a significant milestone as it represented China's inaugural high-altitude recovery test for an orbital launch vehicle, although the mission was not completely successful after an anomaly occurred in the final landing phase.

The company plans to carry out another high-altitude vertical recovery flight attempt of the Nebula-1 rocket in November 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, the company expects to achieve the orbital flight and recovery of the Nebula-1.

Since its establishment in 2016, Deep Blue Aerospace has focused on the research and development of reusable rockets. Between 2021 and 2022, the company successfully completed China's first vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) flight of a kerosene-liquid oxygen rocket.

A total of 15 people were sentenced to prison in Central China’s Hunan Province on Thursday for their roles in a building collapse that claimed 54 lives in 2022, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

The defendants, including the owner of the building and officials who committed dereliction of their duty, were sentenced to jail terms ranging from two years and nine months to 12 years, the courts of Wangcheng district and Ningxiang city in Changsha announced the verdicts on Thursday. The collapse of the illegally self-built and extended residential building in the city of Changsha on April 29, 2022 killed 54 people and injured another nine, causing direct economic losses of 90.77 million yuan ($12.74 million).

The State Council set up an investigation team to look into the incident shortly after the tragedy occurred.

According to the investigation report deliberated and adopted at a State Council executive meeting in May of 2023, the five-story self-constructed building, which later extended to eight stories, was of poor quality and couldn’t support itself after the extension, causing certain sections to deteriorate and eventually leading to the collapse, Xinhua reported. 

According to the verdicts, Wu Zhiyong, the owner of the building, without gaining the necessary legal construction permits, hired an unqualified designer and some unqualified personnel to conduct illegal construction and unauthorized expansion of the residential structure, and then rented the building out for commercial purposes, including providing catering services and accommodation. 

After some major safety hazards in the building were discovered, Wu failed to implement effective rectification measures and organized no emergency evacuation even when the building showed obvious signs of collapse, resulting in the major accident with significant casualties and substantial economic losses. 

Wu, in collusion with others, also repeatedly and willfully destroyed other people’s property. 

The report also noted that relevant authorities in Wangcheng, Changsha and Hunan were sluggish in rectifying illegal construction, shifted responsibilities in daily oversight, and were negligent in delivering punishment for unlawful behaviors. It also mentioned that the management of housing quality inspection agencies was messy, and authorities failed to exercise effective control over the planning and construction of self-constructed structures.

According to the verdicts, Wu was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment for the crimes of major liability accident and picking quarrels and provoking troubles. 

The defendant Zhou Zhengmao, former deputy head of Wangcheng district, was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment for the crimes of negligence of duty and bribery, along with a fine. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday kicked off his trip to Pakistan, where he is scheduled to attend the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to be held in Islamabad and pay an official visit to Pakistan from October 14 to 17, at the invitation of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan.

Premier Li's visit to Pakistan is expected to strengthen and inject new momentum into the cooperation between Beijing and Islamabad, experts said.

"This is Premier Li's first visit to Pakistan after he took office and marks an exchange of visits at the head-of-government level between the two countries within a year, which is of significance to deepening all-weather strategic cooperative partnership," Mao Ning, spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.

Mao said China looks to working with Pakistan to enhance the traditional friendship, strengthen strategic communication, build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in a high quality way, deepen and expand cooperation across the board, ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan, accelerate the building of a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, and jointly safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity. 

Premier Li's visit is expected to further consolidate bilateral cooperation and push forward the next stage of development of CPEC, said Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University.

However, the cooperation is currently being challenged by the threat of terrorism in Pakistan, which means that ensuring the safety of Chinese personnel and projects in Pakistan will likely be discussed during this visit, especially how to coordinate both China and Pakistan's efforts in fighting terrorism, said Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation. 

When asked for expectations of the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the SCO, Mao said Premier Li will have an in-depth exchange of view with leaders of the participating countries on implementing consensus reached at the Astana summit and advancing SCO's practical cooperation. 

Cui stated that the SCO meeting in Pakistan is expected to prioritize pragmatic cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, and people-to-people exchanges. "Security issues will also be on the agenda, as the region encompassing SCO member countries is facing increasing security threats while lacking a multilateral mechanism to address these challenges," Cui noted.  

Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te's "Double Ten" speech is like "a poison pill wrapped in cellophane" and despite his repeated use of the word "peace," his propagation of the separatist "Taiwan independence" agenda remains unchanged, said analysts who noted that any actions toward secession will inevitably face decisive countermeasures.

On Sunday, the Center for Cross-Straits Relations Studies at the Renmin University of China held a seminar on changes in the political situation in Taiwan island and the direction of cross-Straits relations, during which scholars analyzed the evolution of Lai's separatist rhetoric since he assumed the role of Taiwan region's leader on May 20, leading up to his "Double Ten" speech. They said that despite the deceptive nature of his remarks, it is evident that Lai is not merely talking about "Taiwan independence" — he is actively taking steps to promote it.

Since Lai's speech on October 10, in which he claimed that the People's Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan and that they are "not subordinate to each other," there has been widespread controversy and criticism from both the mainland people and people on the island. However, some Western media referred to Lai's "Double Ten" speech as "softer" than his recent speeches.

Wang Yingjin, director of the Center for Cross-Straits Relations Studies, said at the seminar on Sunday that Lai's "Double Ten" speech appeared to have introduced two changes: a noticeable reduction in provocative language and a shift in his stance toward the "Republic of China" (ROC) - moving from previously rejecting the "ROC" to now embracing and utilizing it.

The "ROC" Lai refers to, however, is one that has taken root specifically in the regions of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu - a "Taiwanized ROC." This is fundamentally distinct from the ROC advocated by the Kuomintang, which encompasses the mainland, said Wang, noting that these changes are merely tactical adjustments.

Lai's speech is highly deceptive and misleading, causing many in the international community to mistakenly perceive it as a "softening signal" toward the Chinese mainland, said Wang.

The core and essence of the cross-Straits portion of the "Double Ten" speech remained unchanged in six key aspects: the essence of promoting "Taiwan independence" has not changed; the confrontational stance toward the mainland has not changed; the narrative of playing the "democracy and freedom" card has not changed; the methods of colluding with external forces have not changed; the tactic of blaming the mainland for the deterioration of cross-Straits relations has not changed; and the hyping of the "China threat" rhetoric has not changed, Wang said.

"This all demonstrates that Lai is determined to recklessly advance along the path of 'Taiwan independence,' posing a serious threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. He is undoubtedly a 'pragmatic instigator of war,'" Wang told the Global Times.

Some scholars at the seminar described Lai's "Double Ten" speech, along with his recent separatist remarks that propagate a "two-state" rhetoric as "a poison pill wrapped in cellophane" or a "Taiwan independence stance under a new disguise." They emphasized that this cannot be seen as a so-called soft signal to the mainland but rather as a further move to sever cross-Strait relations that may led to more confrontations.

Lai's speech embodies the essence of "Taiwan separatism," laden with cunning and deceit. While some Western media depicted it as "soft," this supposed moderation is a mere façade. By emphasizing mutual non-subordination, Lai is attempting to legitimize "Taiwan separatism," said Zhu Guilan, an expert from the Institute of Taiwan Studies under Tsinghua University.

The current struggle against "Taiwan separatism" is not a matter of systems or ideologies, but a fight between reunification and separation, said Zhu Guilan, noting that "our fight is fundamentally about defending China's national sovereignty, which has never wavered over Taiwan island."

Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party's push for "Taiwan separatism" is entirely unjust, illegitimate and unlawful under both Chinese and international law, as well as among sovereign nations. His pushing of separatism, his efforts to seek foreign support - particularly from the US - and even his advocacy for military means to secure "Taiwan separatism" should face decisive countermeasures, Zhu Guilan said.

Although Lai frequently mentioned "peace" in his speech, his concept of peace is riddled with contradictions and hypocrisy. While he often invoked the term, his policies and rhetoric mask the true intent of fostering division and confrontation across the Taiwan Straits. His use of "peace" is insincere, serving instead as a tool to escalate tensions, Zhu Songling, a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of Beijing Union University, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the Sunday seminar.

Zhu Songling noted that Lai and the separatists' actions in the island of Taiwan will inevitably challenge regional security and heighten the risk of war. Their "Taiwan independence" agenda will fail to protect Taiwan's security, putting its 23 million people in a precarious situation.

While the mainland is committed to peaceful reunification, it has made clear that any form of "Taiwan independence" will not be tolerated, said Zhu Songling, noting that timely warnings to Lai and his group are essential.

China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) published an article on Friday to remind the public not to ignore the security of the idle network devices, as national security agencies discovered that overseas espionage organizations have been frequently targeting idle and discarded network equipment for cyberattacks in recent years, resulting in some network devices becoming “backdoors” for data leaks, posing a serious threat to China’s network security and data safety.

With the rapid development of the internet, the scale of network devices has grown exponentially. The swift evolution of network technology and applications has accelerated the iteration and upgrading of network equipment, leading to a significant rise in idle and discarded network devices, the MSS said in the article.

It was discovered that a decommissioned server belonging to a certain unit remained in the information technology room, creating an opportunity for overseas espionage agencies. These agencies gained control of the server through network scanning, subsequently infiltrating the internal network and using the decommissioned server as a springboard for cyberattack activities, according to the MSS.

A domestic camera monitoring platform was also found to have suffered an overseas cyberattack. Analysis revealed that the control platform’s server contained numerous usernames and passwords for the cameras it managed.

After being established, the platform remained idle, continuously powered on but without management, leading to high-risk issues such as long-term neglect, outdated system versions, and database vulnerabilities. If overseas espionage agencies could take control of this platform remotely, they could manipulate the relevant cameras for observation and potential intelligence theft, said the MSS.

In another case exposed by the MSS, a manufacturing company was found to have abnormal traffic transmission in a system developed by a third party. Upon investigation, it was found that the company had privately mapped multiple ports to the outside for easier system maintenance and had not closed them for a long time. Overseas espionage agencies scanned the mapped ports and used remote desktop access to log into the company’s system server, conducting cyberattacks, according to the MSS.

The MSS reminded the public to conduct comprehensive security precautions, thorough technical measures, and strengthen security education.