At a school in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, several children shed tears as they share their experience of being bullied.

“He broke my pencil without any reason, punched me, and gave me a bloody nose after I asked him to pay for my pencil,” a fourth-grader recalls.

The boy takes off his glasses, briefly wipes his tears then bursts out crying again. His teacher walks over and gives him a hug.

The class at Sanjiang Ethnic Experimental School in Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County is called social and emotional learning (SEL). It is a joint project run by the Ministry of Education and UNICEF.

SEL is about helping students develop skills such as self-recognition and confidence, understanding and managing emotions, and maintaining positive relationships with others. “Say ‘no’ to bullying” is one of the topics.

During the course, Zhou Lihong, the teacher, tells a story of an imaginative but introverted girl’s long-term bullying and asks students for ways they would help the girl.

Some suggest making friends with her, some advise her to turn to teachers or parents for help, someone suggests “an eye for an eye.”

“Bullying is constant and intentional, initiated by the stronger against the vulnerable. We should learn to protect ourselves, and meanwhile, never bully others,” Zhou tells the children.

UNICEF educationalist Guo Xiaoping says that since launch of the SEL project in 2013, the number of participating schools has increased to over 500.

These schools are mainly in less-developed middle and western parts of the country, said Guo.

“With the support from local education authorities and experts, some schools that are not included into the pilot have also joined in,” she said.

Wu Xinyun, head of the primary section at the Sanjiang school, says students receive an SEL lesson every two weeks, using textbooks provided by the project.

“We have found there is less physical conflict among the children,” she said.

Each class has around 60 students, more than the advised national maximum of 45. “Physical contact is very frequent in the classroom, and often led to fights in the past. SEL helps students understand each other, so brawls are much more infrequent,” Wu said.

Guo says a study of US primary and high schools and kindergartens in 2011 found SEL participants did 11-percentage points better than control groups.

Wei Jiaqi, 12, has drawn a picture of a classmate holding an umbrella for her in rain. She names the drawing, “Thanks for caring about me.”

“I was upset as my mom had scolded me that day. It was my classmate who kept me company,” she says.

“I changed my girl pal into a boy, because drawing a boy is easier,” she says, adding that they like the SEL courses very much.

Li Fuzhuo, head of teacher education at Guangxi Normal University, said SEL is meant to create an atmosphere in which students feel, experience, think and acquire the related skills. Competent teachers are vital.

To address this issue, the ministry and UNICEF organize training and demonstration courses for school heads and teachers.

The project also encourages parents to participate and the team is compiling articles about SEL to be released via the UNICEF WeChat account.

In this way, parents, especially migrant workers who have left their children behind, will be able to join in the SEL project.

Huang Guizhen, an official at the education ministry, believes SEL not only improves teaching competence, but enables vulnerable groups, such as left-behind children, to feel more care and love from school and the family.

“We want to expand the project to more schools, so that more children benefit from it,” she said.

A port call in Hong Kong by China’s aircraft carrier fleet to mark the 20th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison has been described by experts as a sign of good will and firm determination.

The fleet, which is on a routine training mission at sea before the port call, is expected to arrive early this month and be open to the public for the first time during its stop in Hong Kong to mark the anniversary, which fell on Saturday, Liang Yang, a spokesman for the PLA Navy, said on Sunday.

The formation comprises the CNS Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier; the CNS Jinan and CNS Yinchuan missile destroyers; the CNS Yantai missile frigate; and J-15 carrier-borne fighter jets and helicopters.

By participating in the anniversary celebrations, the PLA Navy can demonstrate its achievements in defense and military construction to the Hong Kong people, Liang said.

This will further invigorate Hong Kong compatriots’ patriotism and love for the city, and inspire national spirit, he added.

The garrison was formally stationed in Hong Kong and assumed defense duties on July 1, 1997, when its sovereignty was returned to China from the United Kingdom.

It currently has about 6,000 personnel and is commanded by Lieutenant General Tan Benhong.

Major General Ma Gang, a professor at the PLA National Defense University, said the fleet’s visit demonstrates the PLA Navy’s good will, and showcases its firm determination and capability to protect all Chinese people.

“Hong Kong was taken from China by foreign colonial powers in the 1840s, and the Qing government could do little about it because its naval forces were weak,” Ma said.

“Now, China has its own aircraft carrier fleet, and its visit to Hong Kong signals a strong sense of reassurance that Hong Kong cannot be taken away again.”

Chen Xingxin, a researcher of law and Hong Kong affairs at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is understandable and in good will that the carrier fleet is visiting Hong Kong for the anniversary, because both the carrier and the return of Hong Kong are proud milestones in Chinese history.

The CNS Liaoning is a refitted Soviet-era vessel that was commissioned by the PLA Navy in 2012. China also launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier in April.

The flight of China’s latest heavy-lift carrier rocket, the Long March 5-Y2, failed on Sunday evening when an anomaly occurred after its 7:23 pm blastoff from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province.

Experts are working to discover exactly what happened.

The Long March 5, China’s largest rocket to date, made its maiden flight in November, sending its payload into a preset orbit. The Y2 designation of Sunday’s rocket signifies the second in the series.

A Chinese naval formation including aircraft carrier Liaoning will visit Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in early July in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) being stationed in HKSAR.

Liang Yang, spokesperson for the PLA Navy, said Sunday that the flotilla will also consist of guided-missile destroyers, missile frigates, J-15 fighter jets, and helicopters.

Officers and soldiers will attend various exchanges and activities with Hong Kong residents and the PLA Garrison in the HKSAR, and the warships will be open for the public to visit, Liang said.

The visit will help increase Hong Kong residents’ understanding of achievements made in national defense and army building, especially naval building, Liang said.

The PLA Hong Kong Garrison has been responsible for the defense of Hong Kong since its return to the motherland in 1997.

China lashed out at the United States over the Trump administration’s approval of a Taiwan arms deal, with the authorities demanding the US stop the sales.

The Trump administration had notified the US Congress of “seven proposed defense sales for Taiwan” worth about $1.42 billion, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters on Thursday, adding that there is no change to Washington’s one-China policy.

The arms sales, the first such deal with Taiwan since Donald Trump took office as US president, will go forward unless the US Congress formally objects in the next 30 days, according to the Associated Press.

China, having lodged solemn representations to the US in both Beijing and Washington, “strongly urges” the country to revoke the arms sales and cut military contacts with Taiwan to avoid further damaging China-US ties and cooperation in important fields, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday.

The arms sales would be a grave violation of the principles of the three joint communiques between China and the US and damage China’s sovereignty and security interests, Lu said.

They also run counter to the spirit of the important consensus that the two countries’ heads of state reached in their meeting in Florida in April, and are not in line with the general trend of the development of bilateral ties or the US’s own interests, Lu pointed out.

Ren Guoqiang, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said: “China is resolutely opposed to arms sales to Taiwan by the government of any foreign country.”

“The position of the Chinese military over safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is firm and clear,” Ren said.

The revelation of the arms deal came one day after a US Senate committee completed a markup of a bill, allowing the US Navy to make regular port calls in Taiwan. This drew an immediate protest from China.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, warned on Friday: “Any behavior of relying on foreign forces to magnify oneself and damage peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits will surely backfire.”

Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the US, told reporters on the sidelines of a reception at the Chinese embassy on Thursday the arms deal “will certainly undermine the mutual confidence between the two sides”.