Zuoquan County in Shanxi Province convened a seminar commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Taihang Anti-Japanese Aggression Base from July 30 to 31. The seminar, aimed at remembering revolutionary martyrs during the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, conveyed “Taihang revolutionary spirit” and inherited folk culture.

A seminar commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Taihang Anti-Japanese Aggression Base is held in Zuoquan County, Shanxi Province, from July 30 to 31, 2017, [Photo by Yuan Xiao /China.org.cn]

Zuoquan County is located in the southeast of Jinzhong, Shanxi Province and to the west of Taihang Mountain. After General Zuo Quan sacrificed his life in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Liao County was renamed Zuoquan County in his honor.

Between 1937 to 1945, Zuoquan County took up an important place in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

The Eighth Route Army (led by the Chinese Communist Party during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression) was located in Zuoquan County for five years. During this period the “Taihang revolutionary spirit” was formed whereby the Eighth Route Army worked and cooperated with local people, overcame hardship and poverty, united to fight against the Japanese invaders,

“We not only should honor martyrs and inherent their spirit, but also pass down the ‘Taihang revolutionary spirit’ of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to the younger generations,” said Liu Wu, grandson of General Zhu De, senior colonel of the People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force.

Also, the unveiling ceremony of Taihang Anti-Japanese Aggression Academy was held during the seminar. The academy, which focuses on studying the history of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in the Taihang Mountain, promotes the “Taihang revolutionary spirit” and will improve historical research on this topic.

Instead of a group of stereotypical young men defending their village from fires, a group of women whose average age is 50 years old are fighting fires in their village in East China’s Fujian province, according to a report by Xiamen Evening News.

Wu Shuchun carries a firefighting hose at Shantou village, Dadeng Island in East China’s Fujian province, on July 24, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Due to the village’s remote location, professional firefighters cannot arrive in time at Shantou village in Dadeng Island once a fire is reported. Also, most male laborers in Shantou village work outside the community. So beginning in 2008, the women stepped in.

Called the Haixia Women’s Volunteer Firefighter Brigade, the group has 12 members. The oldest is 69 years old, while the youngest is 36 years old.

Since most of the volunteer firefighters have grandsons or granddaughters, they nicknamed their group, “The Grandma Firefighter Brigade”.

“In the early days, the brigade was poorly equipped. Nowadays, we have fire hoses, firefighting lances and other equipment. Since we are not professional firefighters, we are used to receiving more than two hours of relevant training twice or three times a week at night,” said Zheng Shuxian, who organized the brigade in 2008.

The fire hoses they used before weighed 3.5 or 4 kilograms. Wu Shuchun,53, a brigade member, said she ran about 10 kilometers a day to improve her physical strength.

In the past 10 years, the women have responded to almost 100 fires and have won praise from locals.

Scientists in Yunnan province have strong evidence that sun bears live in China.

A sun bear.[Photo provided to China Daily]

A video taken by scientists with infrared cameras on the evening of Oct 23 in Yingjiang county, clearly shows the features of sun bears－a stocky, muscular build, small ears and a short muzzle－which earned them the nickname “dog bear”.

The images, captured by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Kunming Institute of Zoology, confirms the presence of sun bears in Yunnan for the first time in 45 years. Gathering data is difficult because of the animals’ remote habitat and shy personality.

“This precious video is the first recorded image of the species in China, and strongly supports the existence of sun bears here,” said Jiang Xuelong, a researcher at the institute, who conducted the study.

The sun bear is the smallest species of bear. It grows to about half the size of a North American black bear. Males, which are slightly larger than females, are about 1.5 meters in length and weigh up to 75 kilograms.

Sun bears are nocturnal. They have an excellent sense of smell and extremely long claws. They also sport a long tongue that’s used for extracting honey from bees’ nests－giving them another nickname, “honey bear”.

The bear is a tree-dwelling species that inhabits tropical forests in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. It is among the top species on China’s endangered wildlife list and is under top-level protection.

In 1972, two Chinese researchers recorded a female sun bear in southeast Yunnan’s Lyuchun county, marking the first time a sun bear was officially recorded in China, Jiang said.

Even though there have been reports of sun bears since 1972, he said most of them are controversial because of a lack of detail and no photos. Some scholars have even wondered whether the sun bear was extinct in China.

“The major threats to sun bears are habitat loss and commercial hunting,” said Li Fei, the lead author of the study and a conservation officer at Kadoorie Conservation China, a department under the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, who focuses on conservation work.

“China has no previous research on the sun bear. The 10-second video is surely exciting,” he said.

“It has critical meaning in verifying the existence of the species in China. In the future, more extensive studies and necessary conservation measures will be carried out in related areas. The video will guide our further studies of the sun bear, which is crucial for its protection.”

Currently, official data about the number of wild sun bears in China is not available. The country has about 20 sun bears in a breeding center. Worldwide, 164 sun bears live in zoos, according to one report.

A former senior official of China’s top banking regulatory authority has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from all public posts.

Yang Jiacai, former assistant chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, has been placed under investigation for having “seriously violated the Party’s disciplinary rules”, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China’s top anti-graft authority.

Also a former member of the CPC Committee of the commission, Yang was found to have interfered with a Party inspection and audit, and illegally held activities related to his promotion, the CCDI said.

The investigation found that Yang had flouted frugality rules by frequenting private clubs, and that he took advantage of his position to help his son’s business. He also violated CPC discipline by interfering in the promotion process of officials and failed to report his personal information properly, the CCDI said.

Yang also accepted a large sum of money and property in return for favors, it said.

As a former senior official of China’s top bank regulator, Yang seriously violated the Party’s code of conduct, disrupted order in financial markets and harmed the image of the commission, it said.

Yang’s illegal gains will be confiscated, the CCDI said. His case has been handed over to law enforcement departments.

A native of Hubei province, Yang started his career at the grain bureau of Zhongxiang county. He later worked for the county’s financial department.

He worked at the Zhongxiang branch of Bank of China from 1988 to 1990 and held a senior position. He then worked his way up. He was named the commission’s assistant chairman in 2013.

China must step up transforming its armed forces into a world-class military that is ready to fight and win wars as the country will never compromise on defending sovereignty, President Xi Jinping said Tuesday at an Army Day celebration.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses a grand gathering in celebration of the 90th founding anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 1, 2017. [Xinhua/Ju Peng]

“No one should expect us to swallow bitter fruit that is harmful to our sovereignty, security or development interests,” said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), during a speech at a ceremony to mark the 90th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

While hailing the PLA’s great achievements over the nine decades, Xi said the Chinese military has reshaped its political environment, organizational form, system of military strength and work style over the past five years.

The PLA should firmly safeguard the CPC’s leadership and the socialist system, protect national sovereignty, security and development interests as well as regional and world peace, Xi told senior officials and military personnel gathered at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

“The Chinese people love peace. We will never seek aggression or expansion, but we have the confidence to defeat all invasions. We will never allow any people, organization or political party to split any part of Chinese territory from the country at any time, in any form,” Xi said.

The ceremony was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang and also attended by Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Xi’s speech came two days after China held a massive military parade involving more than 12,000 service personnel at the Zhurihe military training base in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

“Today, we are closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than any other time in history, and we need to build a strong people’s military now more than any other time in history,” Xi said in Sunday’s speech.

GLORY & TRADITION

The PLA has come a long way since its birth at the Nanchang Uprising on August 1, 1927. Today, the PLA commands about two million service personnel.

Xi told Tuesday’s gathering that the armed forces had transformed from a “millet plus rifles” single-service force, one with only the most basic of supplies and equipment required to survive, into one that has fully-fledged services. The PLA has basically completed mechanization and is moving rapidly toward “strong” informationized armed forces, he said.

Xi attributed the PLA’s success to its glorious traditions and fine conduct under the leadership of the CPC.

“The armed forces must follow the banner, the direction and the will of the Party at all times and under any circumstances.” Xi noted, saying that the principle is an irreversible truth that the CPC has attained in struggles of blood and fire.

Behind the PLA’s glorious victories are also ideals and beliefs, as well as the reform determination, Xi said.

“Only by continuous reform and innovation, can the people’s army constantly gain development vitality and put itself in an impregnable position,” Xi said.

The PLA must be bold in reform and adept in innovation while staying away from rigidity and stagnation, he said.

The president also stressed the role of fighting spirit, revolutionary discipline and civilian-military unity in claiming victories.

As long as the armed forces stand with and win the support of the people, a “wall of iron” can be fortified, Xi said.

RESHAPED PLA

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Party has put forward the goal of building a strong military that follows the Party, fights to win and forges exemplary conduct, Xi said.

The Party has strengthened political work within the armed forces and made firm efforts to ensure a clean environment and fight corruption in the military, according to Xi.

A series of major structural reforms have been made in recent years, including the establishment of the PLA Army General Command, the PLA Rocket Force and the PLA Strategic Support Force.

The four general departments were reorganized into 15 agencies of the CMC, and five theater commands have replaced the seven military area commands. The CMC has taken charge of the overall military administration, while theater commands focus on operations and different services on troop developments.

“The system, structure, pattern and image of the people’s military have all been renewed,” Xi said.

Moreover, Xi said the fundamental changes have taken place in the governance of the military. Putting combat effectiveness as the “sole and fundamental” standard for the military, the PLA remains resolved in safeguarding the country’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.

PARTY LEADERSHIP

Xi reaffirmed the CPC’s absolute leadership over the PLA. which is a “fundamental guarantee” for the army to maintain its great cohesion, creativity and combat capabilities.

Quoting Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, Xi said: “Our principle is the Party commands the guns, and we will never allow the guns to command the Party.”

He ordered the PLA to always follow the command of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC.”There shall be no wavering, no hesitation, and no ambiguity.”

The CPC has put forward a series of new ideas and requirements concerning national defense and military building in the past five years.These theories should be constantly enriched and developed to cope with new challenges and solve new problems, he said.

FIGHT TO WIN

Xi urged the PLA to focus on war preparedness to forge an elite and powerful force that is always “ready for the fight, capable of combat and sure to win.”

“All thoughts must be put on combat, and all work should focus on combat so the military can assemble, charge forward and win wars any time the Party and the people need them to,” he said.

Xi called for a new generation of “capable, brave and virtuous” service personnel “with soul.”

The PLA must have ironclad faith, beliefs, discipline and responsibility, and retain its nature and goal as the people’s army, he said.

The PLA must step up efforts to build a modern military force system capable of winning information-based warfare, he said.

WITH THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE

China must build a national strategic system and capacity in military-civilian integration, he said.

Upgrading integrated military and civilian development as a national strategy is a major decision made in consideration of national development and overall security, and a major measure to deal with complicated security threats and gain national strategic advantages, Xi said.

He urged efforts to create the “coordinated, balanced and inclusive development” of economic and national defense construction.

Calling the modernization of national defense and military “a common cause of the Party and the people,” Xi urged central and state organs, Party committees and governments at local levels to create a favorable environment and offer strong support for building a strong military.

Xi also urged the armed forces to bear in mind the sacred duty of fighting for the people.

The PLA is deeply rooted in the people and its strength comes from the people. It must maintain a close relationship with the people and “go through thick and thin” with them, he said.

WORLD PEACE

China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and an upholder of international order, Xi said.

His words echoed his speech during Sunday’s parade where he said: “The world is not all at peace, and peace must be safeguarded.”

“Enjoying peace is a bliss for the people while protecting peace is the responsibility of the people’s army,” he told the troops in field.

The PLA will continue international military exchanges and cooperation to cope with global security challenges, Xi said in his Tuesday’s speech.

It will implement the responsibilities and duties commensurate with the country’s international status and contribute to fostering a community of shared future for mankind, he said.