At 11:23 am on Thursday, a round of applause erupted in Air China's first C919 cabin, when the home-made plane, with the registration number of B-919X, landed smoothly at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing.
Welcomed with a water cannon salute at the airport, Air China's first C919 aircraft officially joined the fleet.
About one hour earlier, another C919 received by China Southern Airlines landed at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, also becoming the first of its kind received by China Southern.
It is the second day after the single-aisle C919 were delivered to the two major Chinese air carriers by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) in Shanghai. The aircraft have now returned to their bases, preparing for future service.
The C919 is an excellent aircraft, achieving a very high standard in design, performance, as well as in terms of control feeling and human-computer interaction, Wang Yan, the captain of Air China B-919X, told the Global Times on Thursday.
"I am proud of the Air China C919 aircraft, and I am proud to be a C919 pilot," Wang said.
Wang has long flown Boeing 777 and Airbus 321 aircraft. In July, Wang completed the C919 modification training and obtained a new pilot license.
"We will ensure that domestically-produced large aircraft fly smoothly in the blue sky, prioritizing safety and efficiency," Wang said.
The most striking feature of Air China's C919 is its spaciousness, including the wide aisle, an open cabin layout, and generous seat spacing.
Air China's C919 aircraft has a total of 158 seats, including eight business class seats with a pitch of 40 inches, 150 economy class seats with a pitch of 30-31 inches, and a 45-inch pitch at the safety exit.
Compared with other airlines, which have 164 seats, Air China has one fewer row of economy class seats, so the distance between each row of seats is increased by two inches. The seat spacing is better than that of similar foreign planes.
While seated in an economy class seat, the GT reporter opened the tray table and placed a laptop on it without feeling cramped, while the leg space was comfortable. When the passenger in the middle seat leaves the seat, another passenger does not need to stand up, but can easily make room by turning slightly sideways.
Even if the flight attendants push the dining cart down the central aisle, there is relatively ample space in the aisle on both sides, the reporter noticed. To ensure safety, Air China set up a flying team for C919, and the first group of ten C919 pilots completed the transition training on July 29 and passed the test organized by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, all with excellent results, receiving their C919 pilot licenses.
Information shared by China Southern showed that the carrier selected three experienced captains, with a total flight time exceeding 35,000 hours.
China Southern said it will launch a route from Guangzhou to Shanghai on September 19. The carrier said it has been deepening cooperation with COMAC in maintenance capability development, parts manufacturing, and aircraft monitoring system to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the C919.
The carrier independently develops an aircraft health management system, the only one in the world compatible with Boeing, Airbus, and the home-made aircraft. It can provide real-time status monitoring, fault diagnosis, and predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision support to improve aircraft safety, reliability and maintenance efficiency.
China Southern announced that it plans to implement the system across all C919 fleet after successful testing.
Currently, a total of nine C919 planes have been delivered to airlines by COMAC. Among them, the C919 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines, the first global user, has been operating smoothly for 15 consecutive months since its first commercial flight, flying five routes, and has completed more than 3,600 commercial flights and 10,000 flight hours.
On August 16, State Grid Bortala Power Supply Company organized personnel to carry out independent inspection of drones on the 10-kilovolt line. Distribution line inspection is the focus of power supply guarantee work. Drones have become an important tool for distribution network line inspection.
Compared with the previous manual operation of drone inspection methods, drones equipped with adaptive inspection technology do not require staff to remotely command. With one-click operation, a series of tasks such as identifying poles and towers, infrared temperature measurement, and taking pictures can be completed independently.
In order to effectively improve the application effect of independent drone inspection and effectively support the construction and application of a new power system and the construction of core business teams, the company planned in advance and established a joint research special group for adaptive inspection of distribution network drones with Information Industry Group Co., Ltd. and Zhongke Fangcun Zhiwei (Nanjing) Technology Co., Ltd.
Through top-down linkage, main production coordination, "training + practical operation," and "outsourcing + independence" methods comprehensively promote full coverage of independent inspection of distribution network drones.
"After adopting adaptive technology, a drone with a team of two people can complete a 10-kilometer inspection task in one day, which is equivalent to the workload of our previous week of walking inspection. This greatly improves the work efficiency at the grassroots level," said Li Jingtao, an employee of the company.
As of now, State Grid Bortala Power Supply Company has used drones for independent inspection of 110 10-kilovolt lines, 36,700 poles and towers, a total of 1,815.93 kilometers, and discovered and dealt with 10,300 various defects.
In the next step, the company will explore and deepen the application of drone adaptive technology, strengthen cooperation and exchanges in related fields, draw on advanced experience, better achieve lean operation and maintenance of the distribution network, serve and ensure that the operation safety of grassroots personnel is controllable,work is cost-reduced and efficiency-increased, and fully guarantee the safe and stable operation of the power grid.
China facilitated 110 million cross-border passenger trips in July and August, which marks a year-on-year increase of 30.0% and a 13.0% increase from the May-June period, said the National Immigration Administration on Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday started holding bilateral events with foreign leaders who will attend the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), scheduled for Sept. 4 to 6 in Beijing.
At 10 a.m., Xi met with Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the Great Hall of the People.
During the FOCAC summit, Xi will attend the opening ceremony and deliver a keynote speech on Sept. 5. He will also host a welcome banquet for the leaders and representatives attending the summit.
Following the 2006 Beijing summit, the 2015 Johannesburg summit and the 2018 Beijing summit, the upcoming summit is another event gathering members of the friendly family of China and Africa. It is also the largest diplomatic event hosted by China in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders.
Chinese divers Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan won the women's synchronized 10m platform final at the Paris Olympics with an overwhelming lead on Wednesday. This victory marks the seventh gold for the Chinese sports delegation at the Games.
It is the third gold medal for the Chinese diving team in this Olympics, following the wins in the women's synchronized 3m springboard and the men's synchronized 10m platform.
In the first two rounds, the Chinese pair led their competitors by over 13 points with high-caliber dives. Starting from the third round, they executed more difficult dives, quickly widening their lead with stable and high-level performances. By the start of the final round, the Chinese team had secured the gold medal with a massive 43.20 point lead over the second-placed team.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Chen and her former dive partner Zhang Jiaqi won the gold medal in the women's synchronized 10m platform event for China.
In early 2022, Quan began competing in synchronized events with Chen, and the pair has gone on to win gold medals in the women's synchronized 10m platform at major events including the World Championships, the World Cup and the Asian Games.
Quan made her debut at the synchronized event after winning the individual 10m platform gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
"My goal is definitely to stand on the highest podium and show my best performance. It feels like I'm always far from the best," Quan said in a previous interview.
German table tennis legend Timo Boll took his final bow on the international stage at the Paris Olympic Games on Tuesday evening.
In the men's team table tennis competition, Germany faced Sweden for a spot in the semifinals. Boll, 43, competing in both doubles and singles, lost both matches, leading to Germany's elimination while marking the end of Boll's seventh Olympic journey.
After the match, the audience gave a standing ovation, with a tribute video for Boll playing on the large screen. The applause was endless, and coaches and teammates from the German team, along with Sweden's head coach Jorgen Persson, came over to hug Boll. Boll, with red eyes and nose, wiped his face with a towel and tossed two jerseys into the stands as a thank you to the crowd.
"It's been tough, both during and after the match," Boll said after the match, as reported by the Xinhua News Agency. "Losing makes you feel disappointed, but the overwhelming support from the audience leaves you feeling also bewildered."
Speaking of his "last dance," Boll also mentioned the Chinese team, admitting, "I couldn't expect to leave the Olympic stage with a victory, given that China is the strongest in table tennis."
It's worth noting that Boll has always formed an unbreakable bond with China. On June 2, 2024, Boll wrote on Sina Weibo, China's X-like platform: "Throughout my career, I have thoroughly enjoyed every match I've played in China. I have learned a lot from table tennis, and even more from you and your culture. Thank you very much for your support over the years. China will always be my second home."
On August 3, Boll posted a photo on Weibo of himself and Chinese player Ma Long in Paris, captioning it with the word "Legend."
Boll's deep connection with the Chinese team began with his competition against Kong Linghui and continued through several generations of Chinese table tennis masters. During his career he has competed against and defeated many key Chinese players, from Liu Guoliang to Ma Long to more recently - Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong.
The day after Boll bade farewell to the international stage, the Chinese men's team defeated South Korea to advance to the semifinals. In the mixed interview zone after the match, Ma Long and Fan Zhendong expressed their respect for Boll.
"Boll is someone all table tennis players deeply respect, not just for his skill but also for his character," Ma said. Recalling their partnership in doubles named "Marco Polo" at both the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, Ma said that the chance to pair with him left both of them with beautiful memories, adding that Boll feels like an old friend, warm and approachable.
Fan also revealed that he and Boll have had many fun exchanges off the court, including shared hobbies. Last November, while participating in a table tennis competition in Frankfurt, Germany, Fan was invited by Boll to watch Der Klassiker, the soccer match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, two renowned Germany football teams. Boll drove three hours to take Fan from Frankfurt to Dortmund and shared German rice cakes made by his mother with Fan along the way.
"He has had a perfect career, both in terms of length and height, which is rare," Fan said, "He overcame many difficulties and his strict discipline led him to many achievements. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."
Reflecting on his career, which included seven Olympics, four Olympic medals, and a world No. 1 ranking, Boll said: "I might have been in the top five, top 10 for 25 years, which is my greatest achievement, enough to withstand anything."
"But ultimately, I realize my body moved too slow, and maintaining the highest competitive level became increasingly difficult," Boll said.
Since the start of this year's flood season, China's major rivers have experienced 25 significant flood events, the highest number recorded since data collection began in 1998. The period has been marked by frequent extreme weather events, with heavy rainfall and severe floods occurring across both northern and southern regions, officials with the Ministry of Water Resources said at a press conference on Monday detailing the grave challenges that China is facing.
Despite the end of the most critical period, Wang Bao'en, Vice Minister of Water Resources, warned that China remains in its primary flood season, with significant challenges ahead.
Wang detailed that this year's flood season has been marked by higher-than-usual cumulative rainfall influenced by Typhoon Gaemi. The country saw a cumulative average rainfall of 183 millimeters, 10 percent higher than the annual average. Typhoon Gaemi dumped a total of 216.7 billion cubic meters of rainfall across the southern regions of the country, which is a significant 43 percent more than the 151.8 billion cubic meters brought by Typhoon Doksuri last year.
Large-scale flooding occurred more frequently than annual average, with some 30 rivers across the country exceeding historical flood levels. Major floods were recorded 13 times in river basins including tributaries of the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, and Pearl River.
Overall, rivers exceeding warning levels were up 120 percent over the same period in previous years, with some exceeding flood control guarantee levels by nearly 60 percent, Wang told media.
This year's flood season has seen an increase in the frequency of disasters, including the breaching of embankments in Yueyang, Central China's Hunan Province, the collapse of highway bridge in Shangluo, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and multiple flash floods and mudslides in various localities. These events highlighted the extreme complexity and severity of the flood control situation, Wang said.
Currently, the Wusuli River located in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province bordering Russia is having severe flooding, and risk of secondary disasters from heavy rainfall persists, and the potential for additional typhoon impacts could further complicate the flood control situation, according to the minister.
"Cognitive Warfare" has become a new form of confrontation between states, and a new security threat. With new technological means, it sets agendas and spreads disinformation, to change people's perceptions and thus alter their self-identity. Launching cognitive warfare against China is an important means for Western anti-China forces to attack and discredit the country.
Some politicians and media outlets have publicly smeared China's image by propagating false narratives in an attempt to incite and provoke dissatisfaction with China among people in certain countries. These means all serve the US strategy to contain China's rise and maintain its hegemony. The Global Times is publishing a series of articles to reveal the intrigues of the US and its allies' China-targeted cognitive warfare and expose its lies and vicious intentions.
In the 16th installment of the series, the Global Times examines a new angle in the West's smear campaign against China: Archaeology. Through analysis of recent stories by Western media outlets that defame China's archaeological field and the viewpoints of front-line Chinese archaeologists in Central Asia and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, this installment aims to expose the absurd narrative that politicizes and stigmatizes China's archaeological efforts in Silk Road-related areas, as well as the long-standing Western biases against Chinese archaeology. For decades, some people in the West have been slandering against China under guises like "trade" "security" and "human rights," regardless of how baseless and false their claims may be.
And now, these malicious storytellers have stretched their evil hands to a new field - archeology.
In recent months, articles from mainstream Western media outlets were discovered to be sensationalizing the "politicization" and "weaponization" of Chinese archaeology, viciously depicting China's archaeological work in its Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region or overseas as part of efforts to serve the country's political propaganda, aid in sovereignty claims, or intensify international political competition.
Such move aim to taint pure academic field through disinformation against China. This is a new form of cognitive warfare campaign targeting China, warned Jia Chunyang, executive director of the Center for Economic and Social Security Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
"By challenging China's historical academic research on Silk Roads, they (some Western media outlets) are attempting to deny China's history and current policy propositions in this area," Jia told the Global Times. "This intention is extremely malicious."
'No moral bottom line'
One of the latest stories to anger the Chinese archaeological community was a bilingual piece by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published in late July.
"The country's archaeologists are striking out along the Silk Road(s) to trace the reach of ancient Chinese civilization, disputing long-held beliefs," the story wrote in its deck. It mainly introduced one of China's major overseas Silk Road archaeological works in Uzbekistan, the discovery of the ruins of Greater Yuezhi (an ancient nomadic kingdom) led by archaeologist Wang Jianxin, a leading figure in China's research on ancient civilizations in Central Asia.
However, the story gave a strange interpretation of the work conducted by Wang's team, stating that China's overseas archaeological efforts are probably in aid of its geopolitics claims or for the sake of "disputed" territories.
Although in this article, Wang refuted the question of "whether Beijing could use the Yuezhi to make territorial claims" and dismissed the notion as "absurd." Nonetheless, the author still insidiously hinted at a nonexistent connection between Wang's Yuezhi archaeological work in Uzbekistan, and China's influence in the country through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects there. "…there are concerns that China will simply be the newest great power to impose itself on the region," it wrote.
In interviews with Chinese scholars, a few Western media personnel attempt to dig "traps" and later deliberately distort and misinterpret the interviewees' views in their stories, as proof of the "fact," Jia pointed out.
"This shows that some people in the West have spared no effort in order to discredit China," Jia told the Global Times. "They have no moral bottom line."
Lothar von Falkenhausen, a professor at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, was quoted in the story as well. "He looked at things differently and is now helping others see things differently and make new discoveries," Falkenhausen told the WSJ.
Falkenhausen later wrote to the Global Times, noting that the journalists writing for the WSJ might have misrepresented the importance of the archaeological dimension of the subject.
But the academic expert, who specializes in archaeology, said on WeChat that he does not blame the journalists for potentially misunderstanding the depth of the archaeological subject matter. "They are experts in something else - politics," he remarked, emphasizing his own focus on the academic and collaborative aspects of the research. Who weaponizes archaeology?
In recent years, China has stepped up its archaeological efforts along the overland and maritime Silk Roads both at home and abroad.
In its Northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, it discovered excavation sites reflecting ancient political power and a rare offshoot of a Christian sect, and that was among the top six new archaeological discoveries in China in 2023. Chinese archaeologists have also been to regions including the South China Sea, Central Asia, and Africa, to explore the ties between the Chinese civilization and crucial moments in world history. China has also enhanced international cooperation in this field.
However, some Western media outlets continue to depict China's Silk Roads archaeological work as a BRI "accessory," or a tool to serve its "political and governing purposes."
In a bombastic article titled "China is using archaeology as a weapon" on July 11, The Economist accused China of "unearthing ancient justifications for its rule over Xinjiang." Without rhyme or reason, the story claimed that Chinese archaeologists' discovery of Mo'er Temple ruins in Kashi, Xinjiang - the earliest large-scale, earthen-structured, ground-level Buddhist temple site in the westernmost part of China - was being used by the Chinese government "to justify its brutal rule over Xinjiang."
This story was replete with offensive lies. It tenuously linked an archaeological achievement in Xinjiang to the West's favorite groundless accusations of "brutal rule" or "cultural genocide," and tried to mislead its readers by claiming that solid historical evidence "hardly means Xinjiang was culturally or politically part of China" by citing one-sided views of a Georgetown University scholar.
It was an incredibly far-fetched, amateurish, and biased article, archaeology insiders said. Chen Ling, a professor at the School of Archaeology and Museology, at Peking University, emphasizes that Xinjiang has been an integral part of China since ancient times.
Chen points out that the cultural orientation of this area has always been toward the East due to geographical conditions, even before the establishment of modern states and civilizations, which can be proven by recent archaeological discoveries.
It is these Western media outlets that are "using academia as a political tool," Chen told the Global Times.
Similarly, when China announced a deep-sea excavation plan in June 2023, which involved more than 900 pieces of cultural relics being retrieved from two ancient shipwrecks discovered in the South China Sea, The Economist claimed in a subsequent article that China's underwater archaeology "has military and strategic uses," and it serves the country's maritime territorial claims.
It is clearly to see that it is not China, but entities in the West, that is trying to "weaponize" archaeology.
"Their goal is to give the international community the false impression that the Xinjiang region, Central Asia, and some areas along the Silk Roads have little historical connection to China, so as to slander China for 'falsifying' history," said Jia.
"By denying China's history, they deny China's current policies based on said history," Jia noted.
Two-way interaction
The fact is that China is making significant achievements in archaeology along the Silk Roads, with increasingly close connections and collaborations with relevant countries and regions.
In April 2023, the Collaborative Research Center for Archaeology of the Silk Roads was established in Xi'an, Southwest China's Shaanxi Province, an outcome of the second China + Central Asia (C+C5) foreign ministers' meeting in May 2021.
Wang, chief scientist at the center, has repeatedly stressed the importance of including an "Eastern perspective" in Silk Road archaeological work. "The concept [of the Silk Road] was initiated by Western academia, so a majority of research focuses on how the West influenced others," Wang told the Global Times in a previous interview in October 2022. "We do overseas research like this to change these centralized interpretations and contribute to the comprehensive study of the Silk Road."
Chen criticizes the West's tendency to promote a monolithic viewpoint, stating that the world is moving toward diversity, not away from it.
"Now the West does not want to allow the East to propose a global perspective, and such move is an attempt to rule the world with a single narrative, replacing the diversity of the world with a single value system," he said.
As one of the Chinese archaeologists participating in the earlier joint archaeology project between China and Uzbekistan, Chen believes that understanding human civilization requires the accumulation of knowledge from various points, and only when these points converge can we accurately present the tapestry of world history.
He told the Global Times that this ancient network of trade routes, stretching from China to the Mediterranean, is not merely a historical artifact, but a living testament to the fluid exchange of cultures, goods, and ideas that have shaped our world.
"Cultural exchange is no longer a one-way street, but a two-way interaction," noted Chen. "China respects the political systems and religious beliefs that align with the unique cultural characteristics of each country, promoting mutual learning and breaking the old world cultural order dominated by the so-called 'universal values' that Western countries force other countries to follow."
Customs officers at the Huanggang Customs in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, discovered 12 live lizards strapped to a traveler's body as she attempted to enter the country, according to the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday.
A woman was seen pushing a baby stroller into the country in the inspection hall of Futian Port. Customs officers noticed that the traveler was avoiding eye contact and had an unusual gait, prompting them to intercept the individual and conduct an inspection.
Upon investigation, the woman was found to have 12 small white cloth bags strapped around her waist, with moving objects wriggling inside, and 12 suspected lizards were seized after untying the bags. After identification by specialists, it was confirmed that the suspected lizards belong to the soft-scaled lizard genus.
Customs reminded the public that items prohibited by regulations should not be carried or mailed into the country.
China’s Olympic delegation for Paris 2024 has not only achieved the goal of “zero occurrence” of doping issues, but also marked a phased victory against the US over its anti-doping practices, Liu Guoyong, deputy head of the delegation, told a press conference on Sunday.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games concluded on Sunday with Team China winning 40 gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze medals, with the result marking the best performance for Team China at an Olympic Games held overseas.
As of August 10, the delegation athletes have undergone a total of 214 doping tests during the Olympic Games, a decrease from the 230 tests conducted during the Tokyo Olympics. The decrease reflects the international anti-doping organization’s recognition of clean Chinese athletes and the effectiveness of China’s anti-doping efforts, Liu said.
Liu emphasized China’s comprehensive efforts in establishing a “clean national team anti-doping ecosystem.” China focuses on building cleanliness in various aspects such as the national teams, training facilities, support teams, food, drugs and nutrition, external support, social environment, competition processes and ethical standards.
Liu noted that the self-awareness among Chinese athletes has increased, and the national teams have strengthened their anti-doping management to reduce doping risks.
The delegation has implemented measures to protect athletes’ rights and interests, ensuring the athletes to participate in the Olympic Games without unfair interference. The delegation has also united with global organizations to oppose politicization of sports and “long-arm jurisdiction” by the US, safeguarding the unity of the international Olympic family, according to Liu.
Chinese swimming athletes have always followed international rules and cooperated with high-frequency pre-competition doping tests, with no positive results, demonstrating their good personal qualities and spirit, earning them widespread respect and recognition, said Liu.
The China Anti-Doping Center remains independent, fair, professional, and authoritative in its work, passing the World Anti-Doping Agency’s on-site compliance review.
The China Anti-Doping Center conducted over 33,000 doping tests in 2023, representing in excess of 10 percent of the global total. The number of doping violations decreased from 92 cases in 2017 to 30 cases in 2023, with the violation rate dropping from 0.53 percent to 0.09 percent, according to Liu.
China’s anti-doping efforts have formed a unique anti-doping governance system with Chinese characteristics, said Liu.
