China's island city evacuates people against Typhoon Trami

China

China's island city evacuates people against Typhoon Trami

2024-10-27 12:06 Last Updated At：23:27

Sansha City in China's southernmost province of Hainan on Friday evacuated residents and construction workers stationed on the Xisha Islands to safe shelters as part of the province's precautions against the intensifying Typhoon Trami.

Trami, designated as this year's 20th typhoon, has intensified to a force of 12 (about 119 kilometers per hour). It is expected to rotate over the waters off the southern coast of Hainan and the Xisha Islands starting Sunday night, the provincial meteorological bureau said on Saturday.

Sansha has upgraded alert for Trami from orange to red and raised the emergency response for the typhoon from Level II to Level I for specific islands and surrounding waters of the Xisha Islands.

As early as Friday afternoon, the island city had relocated residents and construction workers to safe places to shield them from the typhoon, while providing them with plenty of food and daily necessities.

"We are deeply moved by being evacuated here and having our safety prioritized under the extreme situation," said Qiang Shuang, project manager of the Guizhou Electric Power Design and Research Institute under the Power Construction Corporation of China.

Meanwhile, all evacuation personnel and volunteers have worked diligently to ensure that everyone at the shelters has satisfying meals.

"We have organized our staff to deliver meals to each dormitory building, and then we do our best to ensure the dining needs of the workers stationed on the island," said Zhang Chaofang, deputy director of the administrative bureau of Sanshan's Yongxing Island.

"(We are) very grateful. (They are) very thoughtful and heartwarming," said a worker.

Other cities in Hainan have implemented corresponding precautionary measures in response to the intensified typhoon.

The high-speed railway services and trains in Haikou, the provincial capital, have extended their suspension. Several harbors in the city ceased operations from Saturday afternoon, and their reopening will be contingent on weather conditions.

Qionghai City has also conducted a comprehensive and detailed inspection of local reservoirs.

All fishing vessels in Hainan have returned to ports, with over 50,000 fishermen evacuated to land.

Protesters rally in Tokyo against arms exports, constitutional revision

A group of Japanese peace activists gathered outside the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday to protest the government's push for constitutional revision and the lifting of a ban on lethal weapons exports.

The Japanese government officially revised the "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology" and related implementation guidelines on April 21, allowing overseas sales of weapons, including those with lethal capabilities.

Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency, said the changes mark a significant shift in the country's defense policy, noting that it has long touted itself as a "peace-loving nation" under its war-renouncing Constitution since its defeat in World War II.

The protesters accused the Takaichi administration of lifting the export ban without sufficient debate or deliberation in the National Diet.

"Without full discussions in the National Diet, the government just arbitrarily decided on arms exports and made various excuses for it. Also, regarding the incident of intrusion into the Chinese embassy, the government has not issued an apology. Japan should be on friendly terms with neighboring countries, yet it engages in actions that incite confrontation. [Constitutional revision] is truly disturbing. Especially nowadays, the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime Minister Takaichi are pushing for arms exports in order to build a nation capable of waging war. This is absolutely unacceptable," one female protester said.

"As a matter of fact, it [lifting the ban on lethal weapons exports] was arbitrarily decided by the cabinet without any consideration of people's opinions. Revising the pacifist constitution will undoubtedly harm Japan's national interests. I sincerely hope that the Takaichi administration will stop this practice," a male protester said.

"Article 9 of Japan's constitution has gradually, to some extent, been distorted by various faits accomplis. While Japan is nominally a 'peaceful country,' this is not the case in reality," another female protester said.