Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense of China. [File photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

China has resolutely opposed the latest U.S. military report that distorts China’s legitimate development in military and security sectors and is meant to spread the so-called “military threat from China”.

The U.S. Department of Defense recently published its Annual Report to Congress on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2017.

The report summarized the developments in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) organizational reform, highlighted China’s new weapon’s capabilities, China’s regional maritime claims and presented its interpretation of the situation across the Taiwan Strait.

China’s Ministry of National Defense (MOD) spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian refuted late on June 6 the allegations in the Pentagon report. He said that China has resolutely adhered to its path of peaceful development and its defensive-orientated national defense policy.

“China will not seek military expansion or sphere of influence; China will remain a resolute power to preserve world peace,” Sr. Col. Wu said.

The Pentagon report said that “China has continued construction at its military outposts” in the South China Sea islands. It also highlighted civilian passenger aircraft landings on newly built airfields on a handful of these islands and reefs.

Sr. Col. Wu said that China will resolutely safeguard its national sovereignty and security concerning the East China Sea and South China Sea while preserving regional peace and stability.

In comparison, “the United States wants to enhance military deployment in this region. The U.S. military frequently sends vessels and aircraft to conduct close-in reconnaissance along China’s borders, resulting in regional tensions,” said the MOD spokesperson.

The U.S. report stated that “China’s published military budget omits several major categories of expenditure, such as R&D and the procurement of foreign weapons and equipment”. Wu insisted China’s defense budget had always been “transparent” and that China’s military reform, ordnance development and construction of cyberspace defense capability was “legitimate and reasonable.” He rebutted the accusations in the Pentagon report as “pure speculations.”

The Pentagon report includes a chapter on “U.S.-China Military-to-Military Contacts”, saying the “defense contacts and exchanges provide opportunities to explore and expand cooperation in areas of mutual interest and to manage competition constructively.”

Sr. Col. Wu acknowledged that China was aware of the American special attention towards military exchanges between the two countries. He maintained that a healthy military-to-military relationship was in the “common interest” of both countries.

“We hope the United States will reasonably and objectively treat China’s development in national defense and military, move toward China to enhance ties, carefully implement the major consensus reached by two heads of state, and facilitate the development of the ties between the two militaries,” said the MOD spokesman.

Sixty social media accounts will be shut down for disseminating commercial speculation, vulgar content and other reasons, according to a statement released by the Beijing Cyberspace Administration on Wednesday.

Seven social media platforms, including Sina Weibo, WeChat, Tecent and Baidu, provided the accounts, most of which dealt with celebrity gossip－including the well-known China’s No 1 Paparazzi Zhuo Wei, which has released information about celebrities’ private lives and sex scandals many times.

Some of the other offenses listed by the administration included publishing fake information or releasing personal celebrity information to gain public attention. Some of the information had negative social impacts, it said.

The administration said internet service providers should increase their control of information released by users and immediately stop the spread of information deemed illegal based on the cybersecurity law that took effect on June 1.

The new law, adopted in November by the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, aims to better shield key information infrastructure and citizens’ personal information against hackers and data thieves.

The law will not infringe on privacy or restrict free speech online, the administration said, adding that it targets information made public by internet users, not personal communications.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sina Weibo released a statement that social media is an important platform for communications between celebrities and their fans. Accounts that spread rumors should be shut down to protect the rights of the celebrities and Sina Weibo users, it said.

In April, Sina Weibo account Liuyishou posted an article saying that two actors－Li Yifeng and Yang Mi－had an extramarital affair. Li’s studio released a statement rejecting the rumor.

Although Liuyishou posted an apology, the article had been reposted more than 100,000 times and had damaged the public image of both Li and Yang, the statement said.

In 2013, judicial authorities said for the first time that spreading rumors on the internet could be punished as a crime of provoking trouble. But that has not deterred some from starting and spreading rumors.

“Some rumors not only disturb public order but undermine the core values of society,” said Qiao Xinsheng, professor of law at Wuhan-based Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

A robot sits for the math test during China’s national college entrance exam, or gaokao, in the southwestern city of Chengdu, June 7, 2017. [Photo/sichuan.scol.com.cn]

A robot sat for the math test during China’s national college entrance exam, or gaokao, in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Wednesday.

The robot, AI-MATHS, consisting of 11 servers, was developed by Chengdu Zhunxingyunxue Technology. It completed two versions of the exam’s math test on Wednesday afternoon. There are several versions of the tests in different regions of China.

The robot finished the Beijing test in 22 minutes, scoring 105 points out of 150 points, without Internet support. It scored 100 points on another version of the test.

“It would take two hours for a human to finish the test. I hope next year the machine can improve its performance on logical reasoning and computer algorithms and score over 130,” said Lin Hui, the company’s CEO.

In February, the robot scored 93 on one math test, slightly higher than the passing grade of 90.

The company participated in a project of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, which plans to develop gaokao robots.

Under the plan, by 2020, AI robots will be smart enough to gain admission to leading universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University through the entrance exam.

“This is not a make-or-break test for a robot. The aim is to train artificial intelligence to learn the way humans reason and deal with numbers,” said Lin.

The robot has attempted 12,000 math questions, but an average high school student needs to solve 30,000 questions before taking the gaokao, he said.

AI may be faster than humans in dealing with numbers, but they are not good at processing language.

“For example, the robot had a hard time understanding the words ‘students’ and ‘teachers’ on the test and failed to understand the question, so it scored zero for that question,” he said.

The PLA Air Force will begin recruiting this year for a new generation of female pilots, the official PLA Daily reported on Wednesday.

Sources with the Air Force’s pilot recruitment bureau quoted by the paper said 35 candidates will be selected from high school graduates in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

The recruits who pass years of stringent training will go on to become the People’s Liberation Army planned 11th generation of female pilots.

Applicants need to have been born between Aug 31, 1997, and Aug 31, 2000, and be between 165 and 185 centimeters tall. Acceptable weight is between 85 and 120 percent of the Chinese people’s standard weight, which varies in accordance with age and height. There are also vision requirements, according to the report.

The last time the Air Force recruited female pilots was in 2013. The most notable differences between this year’s recruitment and the one in 2013 are that the height ceiling has been raised from 175 cm to 185 cm, and the area where candidates are being drawn from has expanded to 31 provincial-level regions instead of 20.

Wang Ya’nan, editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told China Daily that the height restriction has been relaxed because Chinese women on average have gotten taller and the military does not want to narrow the field.

Applicants must take part in the national college entrance exam and their total scores must meet requirements set by local education authorities to qualify them for Air Force selection, which will start this month and end in July, PLA Daily said.

Fu Qianshao, an aircraft expert with the PLA Air Force, said the courses and training for female pilot candidates are the same as those for male candidates. They will learn from textbooks, take part in flight training on basic and advanced trainer aircraft and will graduate after at least six years at the Air Force Aviation University and flight academies.

China enrolled its first female pilots in 1951 and since then about 580 belonging to 10 generations have joined the Air Force. The first seven generations of female pilots flew only transport planes.

In the selection for the eighth generation in 2005, the Air Force began to open the post of fighter jet pilot to applicants and more than 200,000 female graduates from high schools around the country applied. A total of 35 were selected and sent to the PLA Air Force No 3 Flight Academy and 16 of them graduated and became fighter jet pilots.

The ninth generation of female pilots, also numbering 16, were taught to fly fighter jets, graduated in 2013 and also joined the Air Force’s combat units.

The most recent generation, the 10th, including 40 women, joined the Air Force in 2013. By now, 13 have been disqualified in training while 27 completed their first solo flight in March, according to the Air Force.

Twelve people were injured in a gas explosion at a food processing factory in Taiwan’s New Taipei City Wednesday morning, according to the local fire department.

The explosion ripped through the factory at around 11:27 a.m., with five men and seven women hospitalized.

More than 140 firefighters and 53 emergency vehicles arrived at the scene.

Preliminary investigation showed the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

Further investigation is underway.