Shenzhou-18 astronauts share space views of Yangtze River, Yellow River

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Shenzhou-18 crew members on board China's orbiting space station Tiangong recently shared their views from space of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, regarded as the two "mother rivers" of the Chinese nation.  

Ye Guangfu, commander of the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceflight mission, first shared the views of the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway and the world's third-longest river, sustaining a number of the country's economic powerhouses, megacities and major rice-producing areas.   Along the basin of the Yangtze, many famous cities are situated, including Chongqing in southwest China, Wuhan in central China, and Nanjing and the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai in the east.  

The Yangtze River Economic Belt along the golden waterway covers nine provinces and two municipalities, accounting for more than 40 percent of the country's population and economic aggregate.   In recent years, China has strengthened joint environmental protection along the river to conserve biodiversity.  

Li Cong, another astronaut of the Shenzhou-18 crew, then shared the views of the Yellow River, China's second-longest river.   Originating in northwest China's Qinghai Province, the Yellow River, known as the cradle of Chinese civilization, runs through nine provincial-level regions including Shaanxi and Henan before emptying into the Bohai Sea in east China's Shandong Province.  

As an "ecological corridor," the Yellow River, linking the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Loess Plateau and plains in northern China with severe water scarcity, plays an important role in improving the ecological environment, combating desertification and providing water supply with the help of water conservancy projects. 

The country has built more than 400 wetland nature reserves and national parks in the river basin, and has carried out four large-scale embankment construction projects and built water conservancy projects such as the Longyang Gorge, the Liujia Gorge hydropower projects and the Xiaolangdi Dam, achieving a major breakthrough from passive treatment to active management of sand and water in the Yellow River.   The Shenzhou-18 crew are scheduled to return to the Earth in late October after staying in orbit for about six months.

Shenzhou-18 astronauts share space views of Yangtze River, Yellow River

Demonstrators from civil groups, trade unions and other communities in South Africa rallied outside the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg on Friday, denouncing U.S. unilateral military actions against Venezuela and voicing solidarity with the Latin American nation.

They gathered along the street in front of the consulate, carrying banners that read "Hands Off Venezuela" and "Stop Imperialism," chanting slogans against U.S. hegemony and aggression.

"We are here to protest the U.S. threats to global peace, the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro Moros of Venezuela, which was done in violation of international law, in violation of territorial integrity of Venezuela, of course, in violation of national sovereignty of Venezuela," said Solly Afrika Mapaila, general secretary of the South African Communist Party.

In the early hours of Jan. 3, the United States carried out a military strike against Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, taking them to the United States.

Some protesters said the crisis in Venezuela shows how geopolitical struggles have direct and immediate effects on ordinary people's lives.

"Venezuela belongs to the people of Venezuela and nobody else. For American belligerent and colonial aggression, quite frankly, is not just something very distant. Never before have questions of geopolitics been of immediate and direct relevance and direct and immediate impacts on the day-to-day lives of ordinary people, as you are seeing today," said Mametlwe Sebei, president of the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA).

Placards at the rally blended English and Spanish slogans, while some demonstrators sang liberation songs from South Africa's anti-apartheid era to express solidarity. Passing motorists slowed in front of the consulate, honking in support.

Defying the summer heat, the crowd remained spirited and resolute, their chants echoing along the street in a clear call for an end to foreign interference and respect for Venezuela's sovereignty.

South Africans rally in solidarity with Venezuela against U.S. aggression