Xi stresses sci-tech self-reliance, greater international cooperation

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Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has stressed the efforts towards self-reliance in science and technology, adding that international cooperation and sharing are needed “more than ever.”

Xi made the remarks when attending the third group study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee on Tuesday afternoon. The session was focused on boosting basic research.

In the world of science, basic research is widely seen as the opposite of applied research, with the former focused on theories of how nature works, and the latter on technologies that we use in actual work. Breakthroughs in basic research can lead to new industries with countless new jobs. An example would be quantum physics, which laid the foundation of modern computers. working across thE bordEr: Xi stressed that humanity needs international cooperation and sharing more than ever to achieve development for all, adding that China should build platforms for such cooperation and fund researchers around the world. talEnts mattEr: Xi pointed out that strengthening basic research ultimately depends on talents. So, efforts must be made to build an institutionalized high-level platform to cultivate talents for basic research.

National-level sci-tech programs should open up further to cross-border cooperation, especially on fields of climate change, energy security, biological security and space exploration, Xi said.

An existing example of such corporation can be found in the world’s largest “artificial sun” project named International Thermonuclear experimental Reactor (ITeR), which involves more than 60 countries and regions to find a future energy source. China has delivered many key parts for the fusion machine.

China has established sci-tech cooperation relations with over 160 countries and regions, and is involved in about 60 global scientific projects. In 2021 alone, Chinese researchers wrote over 183,000 papers with their international counterparts from 169 countries and regions, official statistics showed. invEst morE: Xi has also called for more efforts to strengthen the forward-looking, strategic and systematic layout of basic research.

China’s annual investment in R&D reached three trillion yuan ($440 billion) for the first time in 2022, achieving an increase of 10.4 percent compared to the year before.

The huge investment brought about rich results. China has been climbing on the list of world’s most innovative countries and reached number 11 in 2022.

What’s more, data from World Intellectual Property Organization showed that China was the world’s top patent filer from 2019 to 2021.

China has established a series of talent cultivation projects targeting future scientists and provided facilities for existing sci-tech personnel to do a better job.

Moreover, the country is working hard on science popularization. Along with the construction of the China Space Station, a series of space classes have been aired to curious students in many countries, encouraging them to join human space exploration.

All in all, strengthening basic research is an urgent requirement for achieving greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, according to Xi, and it is the only way to build a world leader in science and technology.

Israeli troops killed 10 Palestinians Wednesday in a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, while more than 80 suffered gunshot wounds, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Israeli army said the raid targeted suspects “in a hideout apartment” accused of shootings in the West Bank.

Top Palestinian official Hussein Al Sheikh decried the incursion as a “massacre” and called for “international protection for our people”.

The death toll is equal to that of an Israeli army raid last month in Jenin, further north, which was the deadliest West Bank operation since at least 2005.

spaceX Dragon crewed flight to Iss pushed back 24 hours

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US space agency NASA and SpaceX on Tuesday pushed back by 24 hours the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket that is to carry four astronauts to the International Space Station.

NASA’s Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Russia’s Andrey Fedyaev and Sultan al-Neyadi of the United Arab emirates had been scheduled to blast off for the ISS at 2:07 am (0707 GMT)

Sunday. Liftoff of the SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida has now been rescheduled for 1:45 am Monday, NASA officials said.

The four astronauts are scheduled to spend six months on the orbiting space station. They arrived in Florida on Tuesday to begin their final preparations for the mission.

“When we looked at the work remaining to go, primarily on the vehicle, getting Dragon and Falcon 9 ready to go, we were a little bit behind,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program. “And so we need a little bit more time,” said Stich, speaking to reporters after the agency and SpaceX completed what is known as a flight readiness review of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew capsule.

Stich said several issues needed to be addressed including additional analysis concerning the thermal performance of some of the pods that cover the exterior of the Dragon spacecraft. NASA officials said they expect the members of SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 to have a five-day handover with the four members of Dragon Crew5, who have been on the ISS since October.

ExtEndEd stay for soyuz crEw:

Also currently aboard the ISS are three astronauts whose return vehicle, a Soyuz MS-22 crew capsule, was damaged while docked with the ISS. Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said Tuesday that the trio — Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergei Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio — were now expected to return to earth in September.