China rolls out measures to ensure smooth road trips during National Day holiday

China has rolled out a raft of measures to ensure smooth road trips during the upcoming seven-day National Day holiday, including installing charging piles, waiving toll fees and revamping rest areas along busy highways.

China celebrates its National Day on Oct. 1, with the holiday running till Oct. 7. The annual National Day holiday is marked by mass family reunions and a surge in travel.

This year, the country's transport sector is expected to handle over 1.9 billion passenger trips nationwide during the week-long holiday, said Li Yang, China's vice minister of transportation, during a press conference on Friday.

According to the forecast, there will be over 1.5 billion self-driving trips across domestic destinations during this National Day holiday.

To address the substantial strain on road networks and the increased demand for new energy vehicle charging during the holiday period, transportation departments have enhanced support for popular routes, regions and attractions.

During this year's holiday, the popular inter-provincial passenger transport routes are concentrated among city clusters such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing area.

"We require all places to make corresponding plans for various scenarios to ensure transportation capacity," said Li. Since 2012, China has been waiving tolls for passenger cars during major holidays, including the Spring Festival, the Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Labor Day and the National Day. The policy has significantly stimulated demand for holiday road trips.

This policy will remain effective during this year's National Day holiday to enhance passengers' travel experience, Li said, adding that efforts will also be made to improve facilities and services at highway rest areas.

For instance, transport authorities nationwide are accelerating the installation of charging facilities to accommodate the country's growing number of new-energy vehicles.

"By the end of August this year, 28,800 charging piles had been built in service areas (including parking areas) on highways in the nation, with 44,800 charging parking spaces (charging guns) installed. [We] guide various regions to assess and predict busy service areas for charging in advance," said Zhou Rongfeng, head of the ministry's highway bureau.

China rolls out measures to ensure smooth road trips during National Day holiday

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival