The Ministry of National Defense (MOD) has once again demanded India remove troops trespassing across the border in the Sikkim section and obstructing Chinese border guards’ normal activities.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the MOD, told a press conference on June 29 that Indian border guards had crossed the border into Chinese territory. He accused the Indian troops of obstructing People’s Liberation Army (PLA) normal activities in the Donglang area.

“Our border guards have taken necessary measures in response and they will resolutely preserve the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.

His remark amounted to a reiteration from the PLA demanding India halt its encroachments. Earlier on June 26, Colonel Ren Guoqiang, another MOD spokesman, warned India not to obstruct PLA road construction in the Donglang area. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs made similar representations to India.

Some Indian media claimed that it was Chinese soldiers that trespassed onto the Indian side before they used bulldozers to dismantle some facilities.

Wu justified the PLA’s road construction, stressing that “the incident took place on Chinese territory.”

“We have explicitly demand India correct its errors immediately and withdraw its personnel that illegally crossed the Chinese border,” he said.

At the same time, the MOD spokesman criticized Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat over his statements of preparations for a multi-front war.

General Bipin Rawat recently said, “Indian Army is fully ready for a two-and-a-half front war.”

Deeming such remarks “extremely irresponsible,” Wu urged certain people in the Indian military to “learn from the history and stop airing such dangerous, belligerent remarks.”

A video made public shows that a new type of PLA tanks recently appeared on the Tibetan plateau for exercises. Military observers noticed it was the 35-ton light main battle tank and its barrel was adjusted to a higher position to cope with mountain warfare.

Recent U.S. media reports claimed this tank featured an even stronger front protection than the PLA’s latest 96A tank, far exceeding the Indian army’s 90S tanks.

The MOD spokesperson confirmed that PLA’s new tanks were being tested in a high-altitude environment in Tibet. However, he rebuffed allegations that linked the tank with recent border tensions with India, saying the tests targeted no country.

The latest scare stories doing the rounds seek to suggest that the UK could not trade successfully with the rest of the EU from outside the single market and customs union if there is no deal. I have explained in general terms why I think this is wrong, but there is still some demand for more detail. I will supply it. It is always difficult tackling nonsense, as there are no limits to the amount of nonsense you have to tackle. I am choosing the most common examples.

1. “Planes will not be able to fly to and from the continent and the UK the day after we leave, as there will be no Air Services Agreement in place” say some gloom mongers. Many air travel routes carry on daily around the world without a formal Air Services Agreement. All you need is a landing permission in the airport you are going to, and you need to get a flight path from air traffic control in controlled space. If there is no deal then the UK will of course allow EU carriers to continue with the landing slots they currently have, and the rest of the EU will do the same for UK carriers. The EU will not want to ban plane loads of UK tourists and other visitors from going to their countries and will not want to lose the landing revenues at their airports.

2. “The need for customs clearance will mean massive queues at our borders, with disruption to the supply system for the UK” argue some pessimists. Both the EU and the UK as a member of the EU are currently putting in new streamlined customs procedures to handle third party imports. These will work fine for rest of EU goods as well if necessary. Under customs simplified procedures for freight there is already a system of electronic registration of consignments, with the ability to undertake customs clearance at the importers premises once the goods have been successfully delivered. The EU will want decent procedures on the UK side of the channel as they export so much to us, including big volumes of perishable agricultural products.

3. “The need for products to comply with EU rules will hold up movements of goods” say some negative commentators. At the moment all UK goods exported to the EU conform with EU rules anyway. In future there is likely to be be mutual recognition of each other’s standard granting bodies, as with non EU country trade. There can also be continuity of the current system of self certification by manufacturers of the standards and specifications of their products. The EU will want this for their exports to the UK. None of this need physically hold up goods crossing borders, where electronic documentation will have been filed in advance and cover all necessary details about consignments.

4. “Complex supply chains will incur tariffs that make Assembly of components from different sides of the Channel uneconomic” say those who often have never run complex supply chains. Most components are zero rated for tariff if they are included in a good which attracts a tariff on final sale, or of course for a good which is rated at zero tariff. Some components do attract low level tariffs which are more than offset by the fall in sterling against the Euro. I have never experienced difficulties in bringing in components from non Eu sources in my past life with manufacturing companies.

5. “Rules of origin” will be too difficult to sort out in time” say some anti Brexit people. Rules of origin work fine for non EU trade, with a system of self certification of origin available.

President Xi Jinping on Friday inspected the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Garrison in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) at Shek Kong barracks, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China.

Xi, also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission, reviewed the troops in the company of Tan Benhong, commander of the PLA Garrison in the HKSAR.

More than 3,100 officers and soldiers took part in the review, and over 100 pieces of military equipment including air defense missiles and helicopters were displayed.

About 4,000 spectators from all walks of life in Hong Kong were present.

Xi arrived here Thursday to attend celebrations for Hong Kong’s 20th return anniversary and the inauguration of the HKSAR’s fifth-term government. He will also inspect the HKSAR during his three-day stay.

A female panda called Chengda gave birth on Tuesday to the first pigeon pair this year in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

The female cub weighed 128.2 grams and was born at 10:57 pm, while the male cub followed at 11:35 pm, weighing 160.2 grams, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding announced.

According to workers at the base, Chengda had been showing signs of pregnancy since June 5, such as a loss of appetite. On Tuesday, she was restless and her waters broke in the afternoon, they said, adding that the cubs are in good health and Chengda is able to feed them.

Pandas are an endangered species due to extremely low reproductive rates in the wild. In captivity, they often give birth to twins and sometimes even triplets.