World News

China’s manned deep-sea submersible finishes 21 dives of over 10,000 meters in oceans

By Liu Yao

China’s manned submersible Fendouzhe (Striver) has completed 21 dives with a depth of over 10,000 meters, carrying 27 scientists to the deepest parts of oceans. Both the figures are the highest in the world.

The submersible has just recently returned to a port in the city of Sanya, south China’s Hainan province from a 53-day expedition, carried by the scientific research ship Tansuo-1. It marked that the submersible has completed its second stage of sea trials of 2021.

During this expedition, which was joined by over 60 researchers from 10 organizations, Fendouzhe finished 23 dives, six of which exceeded a depth of 10,000 meters. It has successfully landed on the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point of the seabed at the southern end of the Mariana Trench.

The Challenger Deep has a depth of more than 10,900 meters at its deepest point. As a key channel in the deep sea and a mysterious region that sees active geological activities, it is considered one of the frontiers of marine science.

During the second stage of sea trials, a series of deepsea instruments were tested in a depth of over 10,000 meters, including full-ocean depth autonomous underwater vehicle Wukong and an acoustic release transponder.

Besides, as a submersible that is able to dive deep and work with a high precision, Fendouzhe obtained a batch of valuable samples, including water, sediment, rocks and micro-organisms. It has accumulated valuable data for use in comparative studies of environments, geological structures and life forms in different trenches.

It is worth mentioning that after the expedition, the 67-year-old scientist Wang Jian became the first man in China that has joined surveys to the North and South Poles, topped the Qomolangma and dived into the waters over 10,000 below the sea surface. He is also the oldest person in the world with such an accomplishment.

During the second stage of sea trials, the Mariana Consensus was initiated by participating scientists, which calls for the establishment of a standardized system for deepsea expeditions to realize the long-term preservation and sharing of deep-sea scientific samples and data. The Consensus adopts a volunteer cooperation and sample sharing mechanism.

Besides, the expedition also launched the Mariana Trench Environment and Ecology Research Project (MEER). The project will invite experts and scholars from both China and abroad, so as to tackle major scientific issues together, such as the origins of life and environmental adaptation, biodiversity and climate change, among others.

In recent years, China has actively launched international cooperation on manned deepsea exploration. Ye Cong, chief designer of Fendouzhe said the Chinese submersible will be open to global scientists under certain rules. China hopes to further enhance mankind’s understanding of the deep ocean through relevant science plans and international cooperation.

Chen Chuanxu, chief scientist of the second stage of sea trials, introduced that Fendouzhe completed 51 dives this year, and three of them were made in five days. These dives have made the launching and retrieval of the submersible adaptable to a wider scope of sea state, and trained more oceanauts, which has made it possible for Fendouzhe to carry more scientists across the world to the deepest areas of the world.

The scientific research ship Tansuo-1 retrieves the manned submersible Fendouzhe. (Photo courtesy of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited)

China’s Long March carrier rocket family completes 400 missions

13th Straits Forum held in SE China’s Xiamen

By Yu Jianbin, People’s Daily

The China-developed Long March carrier rocket series completed its 400th launch as a Long March4B rocket successfully sent a new group of satellites into space on the morning of Dec. 10. It marked another milestone in the history of China’s aerospace development.

The Long March series boasts world-class launch success rate and orbital insertion. According to Long Lehao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and senior advisor for the development of the Long March carrier rocket series from China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the Long March carrier rocket series carried out 92.1 percent of China’s space launch missions between 1970 and 2021, sending more than 700 spacecraft into space, with a launch success rate of 96.25 percent.

In the 400 launch missions by Long March rockets, the first three 100 launches were completed in 37 years, 7 and a half years, and around 4 years, respectively. The last 100 launches took only 33 months. It not only proves that the frequent launches have become regular for the Long March carrier rocket series, but also mirrors the rapid development of China’s aerospace, as well as the country’s progress in science and technology and comprehensive national strength.

China’s first space station Tiangong’s core module, Chang’e-5 lunar probe, Tianwen-1 Mars probe, Shenzhou manned spacecraft, Tianzhou cargo craft, BeiDou-3 navigation satellites, and multiple others, were all sent into space by the Long March rockets amid the latest 100 launch missions. They have been playing a big part in scientific exploration and people’s livelihood.

After China started constructing its space station, the Long March rockets have sent the Tianhe core module, two batches of taikonauts, and two cargo spaceships into space.

Wang Xiaojun, head of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, introduced that the new-generation manned carrier rockets and heavy-lift carrier rockets are under development as planned, which will vigorously promote China’s key space projects, including the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project, the exploration of asteroids and Jupiter, manned lunar exploration, and the first Mars sampling mission, among others.

The significantly improved frequency of launches highlights China’s enhanced space launch capacity and the selfreliant spirit of the country’s aerospace workers, said Wu Yansheng, board chairman of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, adding that the core technologies of the Long March carrier rocket series have always been securely kept in the hands of the Chinese.

With the progress of the new generation of carrier rockets, China will gain larger capabilities in entering, utilizing and exploring the space. The country’s aerospace technology will make life better and provide strong guarantee for building China’s space industry.

By Cheng Long, Liu Xiaoyu, People’s Daily

The 13th Straits Forum kicked off in Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian province, on Dec. 10, bringing together people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, who belong to the same family.

Continuing the theme of expanding people-to-people exchanges and deepening integrated development across the Taiwan Strait, the event comprises 41 activities featuring interactions between young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, exchanges at the grassroots level, cultural exchanges, and economic exchanges.

This year’s Straits Forum activities will last for one week and are expected to focus on exchanges at the grassroots level and between teenagers.

China will fully implement the overall policy formulated by the Communist Party of China (CPC) for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era and promote the peaceful and integrated development of relations between both sides across the Taiwan Strait, said Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), at the 13th Straits Forum on Dec. 11.

China will improve the systems and policies for safeguarding the wellbeing of Taiwan compatriots, ensuring they enjoy the same treatment on China’s mainland as residents, and encouraging Taiwan compatriots, especially young people in Taiwan, to pursue their dreams on the mainland of China, Wang said. His speech triggered a warm response from young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The forum’s nine exchange activities for young people have brought better experience-based exchanges to young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and infused youthful energy into the event.

At a forum on caring for the growth of the younger generation of the 13th Straits Forum, which was aimed at carrying forward the culture of children’s folk rhymes and enhancing mutual understanding across the Taiwan Strait, a little girl from Taiwan performed folk rhymes, bringing back shared childhood memories for the audience.

“I was born in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung. Children’s folk rhymes in the southern Fujian dialect of Hokkien are deeply rooted in my childhood memories,” Wang Jialin, project officer of a charitable foundation in Xiamen, said at the forum.

“Children’s folk rhymes are very good carriers of cross-strait cultural exchanges. I hope more children in the younger generation will know children’s nursery rhymes in Hokkien and better pass on our traditional culture,” Wang said.

In recent years, community governance has become a hot topic. Thanks to the Straits Forum, which has held forums on community governance for eight consecutive years, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have exchanged experience in community governance and enjoyed integrated development in this regard.

More and more Taiwan people have participated in community governance on the Chinese mainland. Xiong Qi is one of them.

Xiong has run a mediation workroom in Xiamen for many years. At the 8th cross-strait community governance forum, one of the activities of the 13th Straits Forum, Xiong and many other community workers and volunteers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait shared their practice and experience in community governance.

More and more Taiwan people have shown increasing initiative in and growing enthusiasm for taking part in community governance, according to Xiong, who has put forward a lot of feasible suggestions for community governance and integrated the volunteer spirit and ideas of community service organizations in Taiwan into his work