Spaceship carrying Shenzhou-17 crew successfully lands in north China

The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-17 crewed spaceflight mission returned to Earth on Tuesday after completing their six-month mission aboard the Tiangong space station and conducting an in-orbit rotation with the newly-arrived Shenzhou-18 crew.

Shenzhou-17's return capsule, carrying astronauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 17:46 Beijing Time, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Since their mission to the Chinese space station got underway last October, the trio have witnessed the arrival of the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft, completed two extravehicular activities, carried out 84 in-orbit experiments with more than 200 samples produced, and have brought back over 400 material samples retrieved after being exposed to space outside the station's Wentian lab module.

During their second spacewalk, the Shenzhou-17 astronauts completed repair work on the solar panels of the space station's core module, which had been subject to minor damage by space debris. This marked China's first-ever extravehicular repair mission.

On Sunday, they handed over control of the Tiangong space station to the crew of Shenzhou-18 who arrived in the early hours of Friday.

Spaceship carrying Shenzhou-17 crew successfully lands in north China

Spaceship carrying Shenzhou-17 crew successfully lands in north China

Spaceship carrying Shenzhou-17 crew successfully lands in north China

Upholding the one-China principle is the right thing to do and is where global opinion trends, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said in Beijing on Friday.

Wang made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to a query regarding a statement made by Guatemala's presidential office saying that President Bernardo Arevalo might decline attending Taiwan leader's so-called "inauguration ceremony" on May 20.

"To squander taxpayers' money for 'dollar diplomacy' is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities go-to tactic to buy foreign politicians' presence to keep up appearance. Such moves are designed to serve 'Taiwan independence' separatism and personal political calculations. Ultimately it's the interests of the people in Taiwan that will suffer. Facts show that the DPP authorities' 'dollar diplomacy' not only brings no good to the development of relevant countries, but breeds corruption. We believe the government and people of Guatemala are clear-eyed about this," he said.

"We reiterate that upholding the one-China principle is the right thing to do and is where global opinion trends and the arc of history bends. This is not something one can put a price on. We hope and believe that Guatemala will make the right decision as early as possible that follows the prevailing trend and serves the interest of its people," Wang said.

Upholding one-China principle is where global opinion trends: spokesman