White Paper details China’s political party system
China has issued a white paper, elaborating on the distinctive characteristics and strengths of its political party system.
The document says the country will never copy a political party system or model from any other country, nor will it impose its own system and model on others.
It also says China is willing to promote exchanges and mutual learning with other countries in this regard under the spirit of equality and mutual respect.
Bullet train debuts on new railway in Tibet
The first electrified railway in Tibet has opened, linking the regional capital Lhasa with the city of Nyingchi.
It is also the first railway in southeastern Tibet.
“Fuxing” bullet trains will run at up to 160 km/h on the rail link that stretches over 400 kilometers.
With the launch of the service, the Fuxing series is now available in all provincial-level regions of the Chinese mainland.
China voices concern over migrant & refugee human rights in the West
China says it is gravely concerned about human rights violations against migrants and refugees in the U.S., the European Union, the UK, Australia and Canada.
A senior Chinese diplomat to the United Nations in Geneva says a large number of abnormal deaths have taken place at immigration detention centers in those countries and regions as a result of a lack of basic services including food, water and medical supplies.
Jiang Duan urged the countries concerned to immediately stop such human rights violations.
He also called on the UN Human Rights Council and other institutions to continuously attend to human rights violations in those countries and regions.
China’s 1st homemade semi-submersible oil-gas platform to put into operation
A Chinese made semi-submersible oil and gas production platform hull that weighs 100,000 tons — and is the first of its kind in the world — will start operation in Hainan today.
The energy station is being started up after four months of facility installations and offshore commissioning work.
It is expected to supply three billion cubic meters of natural gas each year to Guangdong, Hainan and Hong Kong.
This is China’s first deep-water self-operated gas field, with an average operational depth of 1,500 meters.
Three dead in Florida building collapse
At least three people are dead, and 12 others injured after a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo collapsed in Florida.
U.S. President Joe Biden says he’s in touch with local officials about the help that may be needed from the federal government.
“We can’t go in and do it now. But FEMA is down there, taking a look at what’s needed and including from everything from if the rest of those buildings have to be evacuated as well, finding housing for those people, making sure they have a capacity to both have a place to shelter and food to eat, etc.”
Rescuers were able to pull dozens of survivors out, and nearly 100 people are still unaccounted for as of midday.
But officials say they don’t know yet how many were in the building when it fell and the cause of the collapse is still unknown at this stage.
Pelosi announces select committee on insurrection
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“It is imperative that we establish the truth of that day and ensure that an attack of that kind cannot happen and that we root out the causes of it all.”
Last month, Senate Republicans blocked legislation to set up an independent bipartisan committee, saying existing probes made it unnecessary.
Seven people died after former president Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in January.
The Justice Department says about 500 people have now been arrested in the sweeping federal investigation into that violence.
At least 600 bodies found at Indigenous school in Canada
Leaders of Indigenous groups in Canada say at least 600 bodies have been found at the site of a former residential school for Indigenous children.
The bodies were discovered by investigators at the Marieval Indian Residential School east of Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan.
Chief Cadmus Delorme of the Cowessess First Nation says a search with ground-penetrating radar led to the discovery of the unmarked graves.
“The machine has a 10 to 15% error percentage. So, we will only go by the hits that we have of 751. But we do know there’s at least 600. You’re going to notice that they are in proper order. These that lay here are one meter by one meter apart in some cases. We cannot affirm that they are all children.”
The discovery at the school comes after last month’s report of 215 bodies of children found at another school near Kamloops in British Colombia.
More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools, many run by the Roman Catholic Church, from the 19th century until the 1970s.
The Canadian government has admitted that abuse was rampant in the schools, which were run in a campaign to assimilate children into Canadian society.
