Beijing will not allow any "Taiwan independence" secessionist to split China, An Fengshan, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday.The comment came against the backdrop of recent visits to Taiwan by two officials from the United States after US President Donald Trump signed a bill called the Taiwan Travel Act, which encourages reciprocal visits between Taiwan and the US by officials at all levels.Alex Wong, deputy assistant secretary of the US State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, visited Taiwan from March 20 to 22. Another US official, Ed Royce, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman and a Republican, visited the island after Wong. The visits increased friction in cross-Straits relations.Beijing opposes the travel act and has urged the US to adhere to the one-China policy, and it initiated negotiations on the issue to urge the US to adhere to the three joint communiques that lay out the two countries' mutual understanding."The mainland's major principle toward Taiwan is clear and consistent," An said in response to a China Daily question about "armed reunification"."We will work in utmost sincerity and make our best effort to strive for peaceful reunification," An said. "Our determination to safeguard our country's territorial sovereignty is steadfast. We will not allow any 'Taiwan independence' force to separate the island from China."President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on March 20 at the closing meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in which he vowed to defeat secessionist attempts. The speech was seen as a strong warning to Taiwan."Any actions and tricks to split China are doomed to fail. And these separatists' actions will be met with the condemnation of the people and the punishment of history," Xi said.He also said that the Chinese people "have the resolve, the confidence and the ability to defeat secessionist attempts in any form".An article about the tactics of Taiwan reunification by military force - written by Lieutenant General Wang Hongguang, a retired deputy commander of the former Nanjing Military Command of the People's Liberation Army - was published on the website of Global Times on Tuesday. Global Times is a subsidiary of People's Daily.At the end of the article, Wang introduced what he said would be his next topic concerning military action: "Taking Taiwan in less than three days".Zhu Songling, a professor of Taiwan studies at Beijing Union University, said, "Reunification cannot be stopped. It is China's domestic issue."The signing of the Taiwan Travel Act "greatly harmed cross-Straits and China-US relations", Zhu said. "We should realize it is not a good sign, and should pay more attention at the tactical level." custom rubber wristbandspaper wristbands ukprintable wristbands24hourwristbandscustom sweatbands no minimumrubber bracelet maker
Workers clean up trash washed ashore on Nim Shue Wan beach, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Researchers say the waters off the city face challenges from pollution from many sources, including discarded waste and chemical pollutants. [Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters] Researchers are working to preserve marine diversity in the city's coastal waters in the face of climate change, toxins and human activity, as Sylvia Chang reports. It's easy for people in Hong Kong to be complacent - or even a little smug - about the fantastic abundance of marine life in the waters surrounding the city. However, what most people do not see is the frantic juggling act underway to save many of these marine species from extinction. It's a work in progress, focused on scientific, region-specific criteria for every precinct of Hong Kong's marine environment. More than 6,500 marine species live in Hong Kong's coastal waters. These waters comprise just 1,650 square kilometers, or about 0.03 percent of the nation's coastal waters, yet they are home to 25 percent of all China's marine species. The diversity of marine life makes Hong Kong special and particularly important among coastal cities anywhere in the world. Hong Kong also is one of the biggest seaports on the globe. That's where the juggling act starts, because the waters adjacent are polluted by chemicals from nearby industries and even farms. The chemical-based paint on the hulls of vessels, accidents involving ships' cargoes and other misadventures pose direct threats to the city's marine life. However, behind the concerns about human activity are other vital issues, painted against the broader backdrop of global warming.
