China launches all-out rescue, relief efforts following rain-triggered disasters

Local authorities in several parts of China are mobilizing all resources for emergency flood control and rescue operations as provinces such as Hunan, Liaoning, and Jilin have been battered by torrential rains for several days.

Starting Saturday, heavy rains have affected eastern and southern Hunan Province in central China. The Hunan Meteorological Bureau has maintained a red alert for rainstorms, the highest level in the country's four-tier weather warning system.

Chenzhou City, the province's hardest-hit area in the latest round of rainfall, has reported multiple disruptions to transportation, power supply, and telecommunications.

To date, the province has evacuated more than 10,000 residents to safety and has intensified efforts to resume traffic and telecommunications while draining waterlogged areas.

A house in Yuelin Village, Nanyue District of Hengyang City in Hunan Province, was washed away on Sunday after a devastating rain-triggered landslide struck the village.

The disaster has claimed 15 lives and left 6 others injured. The injured have been transported to the hospital for treatment. Search and rescue operations have now concluded.

The Ministry of Emergency Management has activated the Level-IV emergency response for geological disasters in Hunan and dispatched a task force to the village to guide rescue efforts.

Northeast China's Liaoning Province is also experiencing heavy rainfall, with average precipitation surpassing 150 millimeters.

The heavy showers have led to the waterlogging of farmland, with more than 4,000 hectares of cultivated land submerged.

The local government has activated two standby drainage stations and deployed approximately 120 pumps to drain water, aiming to mitigate the damage caused by the heavy rains.

Persistent downpours have swollen rivers in Liaoning, with the water levels of 10 rivers rising above the warning stage and 68 reservoirs exceeding the flood control level on Sunday.

Personnel have been mobilized to patrol dikes, and over 50,000 residents have been relocated.

"We have intensified monitoring to ensure rapid response and efficient handling, conducted scientific pre-discharge of reservoirs, and closely monitored areas prone to mountain torrents and waterlogging in urban and agricultural zones. Additionally, we have arranged for personnel to oversee and patrol these areas, pre-positioned flood prevention materials, and mobilized emergency rescue forces, sparing no effort in flood prevention and relief work," said Guo Shoukun, director of the Flood Control and Drought Relief Support Center at the Liaoning Provincial Department of Water Resources.

The country's Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Sunday raised the emergency response for floods in Jilin Province of northeast China from Level IV to Level III.

Torrential rains have also elevated the water level of the Yalu River, causing floodwaters to flow back into the urban area of Linjiang City.

Local authorities have deployed personnel to construct a sandbag dike and have relocated residents from low-lying areas.

The province has conducted more than 40,000 patrols, mobilized more than 12,000 vehicles, and evacuated nearly 50,000 residents.

China State Railway Group (China Railway) has optimized its train operation plan by implementing measures such as speed limits, service suspensions, detours, and returns, while also enhancing equipment inspections.

"China Railway has identified and addressed risks and potential dangers on more than 26,000 pieces of equipment and facilities in advance, including key railroad bridges," said Li Yanjun, deputy director of the Department of Bridge and Tunnel Construction.

The country's State Grid issued warnings, promptly activated an emergency response, coordinated resources across the entire grid, and made every effort to patrol electrical power facilities.

"We have pre-positioned emergency materials and equipment in disaster-prone areas to ensure a timely response and facilitate quick recovery," said Lyu Jun, Deputy Director of the Department of Grid Maintenance and Equipment Management.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has organized the information and communications industry to closely monitor network operation status and reinforce the pre-positioning of emergency communication equipment and teams to enhance emergency response capabilities.

China launches all-out rescue, relief efforts following rain-triggered disasters

The U.S. decision to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on imports from all trading partners was widely criticized on Friday by experts who called the move "unfounded" and stressed that other countries will take the opportunity to strengthen trade among themselves.

Amid widespread opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs", imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" on all countries and higher rates on certain trading partners.

Speaking in a panel discussion on China Global Television (CGTN), experts rejected the administration's claims that other countries have taken unfair advantage of the U.S. trade deficit.

"It's an extremely strange situation that we're in right now. The U.S. has actually benefited hugely from a global open trading market despite having a trade deficit. So that concept of it being equal or zero just doesn't make sense," said Adam Dunnett, secretary general of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

Madhav Nalapat, vice-chair of the Manipal Advanced Research Group, highlighted that Trump's desire for the U.S. to punish its trade partners dates back to the 1980s, when he lamented the decline of the country's manufacturing industry.

"Trump is sticking to his textbook. He has been having the same textbook 40 years. And yes, I agree the world has changed in 40 years. But the textbook that Trump has been using is the same which he began using, from what I'm talking about, 40 years ago. I'm surprised that anyone is surprised by what he has done. And the reality of situation is that he has been talking about an absence of a trade deficit with any country. Now yes, frankly, I also don't think it's a good solution in every circumstance," said Nalapat.

In all, the economists believe that this approach will ultimately isolate the United States, leaving other major economies to strengthen cooperation through multilateral trade frameworks.

"I think while the U.S. want to isolate it's, well, let them do it. But then somebody needs to carry on this global regime of free trade. And that's where the EU, China, Japan, South Korea, the rest of the world except the U.S. comes in. So, like you mentioned, there are many multilateral trade regimes we have created in the past -- RCEP is one, TPPCP is one, and obviously the WTO is one," said Takuji Okubo, managing director and chief economist for Japan Macro Advisors Inc.

"We have to work together if we can't work with the U.S. right now. We should try and solve the issues that we have together at a bilateral or regional level as well. The EU in its response to these and other issues in the past has been if we can't work together, then we'll find other people to work with. And I think the EU has actually demonstrated that quite strongly by having a number of free trade agreements that have been signed in the region with South Korea, with New Zealand, with Vietnam. And again, EU and China have also been talking about a potential agreement as well," said Dunnett.

Experts slam US tariffs, see opportunities for global cooperation without US