New equipment used in emergency response drill to enhance relief efficiency

Many new equipment was used in an ongoing comprehensive emergency response drill in east China's Zhejiang Province, greatly enhancing response efficiency when combating typhoon and flood disasters.

The drill, titled "Emergency Mission 2024," was conducted across several locations in Zhejiang Province, with Jinhua acting as the main venue and additional sites in Hangzhou and Ningbo, aiming to enhance the region's capacity to manage extreme weather events.

Organized jointly by the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, the Ministry of Emergency Management, and the Zhejiang Provincial Government, the exercise was participated in by over 8,000 personnel.

In Jinhua City, drones, ground inspection robots and underwater detection robots are used to detect hidden dangers when disaster occurs.

The facilities are connected through an integrated system, allowing relief workers to analyze the situation and respond promptly.

"Their accuracy is superior to manual inspection because they can detect many hidden dangers inside dykes or underwater that cannot be seen directly with the naked eye," said Zhang Binchuan, a safety production commissioner at the Ministry of Emergency Management.

A large rescue raft brought by the Shanghai Fire and Rescue Corps debuted in the drill. The white tank, originally only 1.5 meters high, could quickly unfold automatically when put into the water. In less than two minutes, it became a giant inflatable life raft of nearly 60 square meters, capable of bearing more than eight tons. It is currently the largest life raft used for flood rescue in China.

In the exercise of blocking breaches in the dike, a new type of pile driving barge made its debut. During construction in rapids with a velocity of 2.5 meters per second, the boat inserted huge steel plates, each six meters in length, into the riverbed, interlocking with each other and forming a steel wall that can effectively reduce the flow velocity of the breach.

"Because our pile machine on the shore cannot reach the breach, only pile driving barge can fulfill the task. We utilize seam-to-seam joint treatment, which forms a seamless steel wall throughout the process, enabling us to stabilize the flow velocity promptly," said Deng Junjie, a rescuer at the emergency rescue and disaster relief brigade under the Nanchang Branch of the Second Engineering Bureau of China Anneng Construction Group.

New equipment used in emergency response drill to enhance relief efficiency

A Chinese mainland spokesperson said Lai Ching-te has sent "a dangerous signal" of seeking "Taiwan independence" and making provocations to undermine cross-Strait peace and stability in his speech upon assuming the role of Taiwan region's new leader on Monday.

Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, described Lai's speech as one that stubbornly followed the "Taiwan independence" stance, wantonly advocated separatism, incited cross-Strait confrontation and sought independence by relying on foreign support and by force.

Chen said the mainstream public aspiration on the island is for peace and development, instead of war and recession, while Lai has ignored the public opinion, exposing his nature of being "a worker for Taiwan independence."

The current complex and grave situation across the Strait is rooted in the fact that the Democratic Progressive Party has stubbornly stuck to the separatist stance of "Taiwan independence," rejected the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle, and kept colluding with external forces to make provocations of seeking "Taiwan independence," Chen said.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, said Chen, stressing that "Taiwan independence" and peace across the Strait are incompatible as fire and water.

"We have firm determination to resolve the Taiwan question and realize national reunification; we have strong capabilities to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity; and we will take resolute actions to fight separatist activities seeking 'Taiwan independence' and external interference," he said.

"We will never tolerate any 'Taiwan independence' separatist acts in any form," said Chen.

China must and will be reunified, Chen stressed. No matter how the situation on the island changes and who assumes the regional leader, it will not change the fact that both sides of the Strait belong to one China, or impede the historical trend of national reunification, he said.

"We will fully implement the Party's overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, unswervingly uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, work together with Taiwan compatriots to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and cross-Strait integrated development, and resolutely advance the reunification of the motherland," said Chen.

Mainland says Lai sends "dangerous signal" in speech as Taiwan's new leader