Harbin's Taiping International Airport, the designated entry and exit hub for the 9th Asian Winter Games, began to receive arriving foreign delegations with warm and attentive service on Friday.
The Kuwaiti men's ice hockey team arrived at the airport on Friday afternoon. They have been preparing for the Games since last September, including joining a winter training camp in the United Arab Emirates.
"Actually, they are happy to come in here and they are happy to be in Harbin," said Meshal Al-Ajmi, deputy head of the Kuwaiti delegation.
The Kuwaiti delegate expressed his gratitude for the services they received.
"Finally, I will say something. I would like to thank China to hosting this competition. Everyone and I thanks everybody who is working, and I know there are many people behind the stage, they work hard. For volunteers, everybody, I would like to thank them a lot, to make this competition in China. And also, I thank Harbin to give this competition and I hope everything will be good, because I trust people from China," Al-Ajmi said.
The reception personnel further introduced the improvements they have made to facilitate the athletes' transition.
"At Taiping International Airport, the Arrival and Departure Command Center has established a dedicated team, eight lanes for arrivals and departures -- four for arrivals and four for departures -- along with volunteers providing language services. Additionally, to address insufficient manpower, we have equipped our staff with translation devices to ensure timely comprehensive language service throughout the process," said Xuan Lisan, deputy head of the operations team at the Arrival and Departure Command Center.
The 9th Asian Winter Games will take place from Feb 7 to 14. The Games will feature six sports, 11 disciplines, and 64 events. This marks the third time that the Games will be hosted in China, following the events in Harbin in 1996 and Changchun, capital city of Jilin Province, in 2007.
Harbin airport welcomes foreign delegations for 9th Asian Winter Games
Harbin airport welcomes foreign delegations for 9th Asian Winter Games
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated on Monday that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and their associated regime and infrastructure, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law.
In a statement, Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN chief is gravely concerned by the reported decision of the Israeli security cabinet to authorize a series of administrative and enforcement measures in Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank.
He warns that the current trajectory on the ground, including this decision, is eroding the prospect for the two-State solution, the statement said.
Such actions, including Israel's continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are not only destabilizing but -- as recalled by the International Court of Justice -- unlawful, it said.
The secretary-general calls on Israel to reverse these measures and on all parties to preserve the only path to lasting peace, a negotiated two-state solution, in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions and international law, the statement added.
Israel's security cabinet approved decisions on Sunday to deepen Israel's control over the occupied West Bank and the expansion of the Jewish settlement there, a minister said.
Among the controversial measures approved, the cabinet ordered the repeal of a Jordanian-era law that banned land sales to Jews, removed the requirement for special transaction permits, and renewed a state land acquisition committee that ceased operating around 20 years ago, read a statement from the office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key pro-settlement minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet.
The Palestinian presidency on Sunday described the decisions as "illegal, null and void," saying that they constitute "the practical implementation of annexation and displacement plans" and violate agreements signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, international law and UN resolutions, according to the official news agency WAFA.
Under the Oslo accords signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israeli government in 1993, the West Bank region was divided into three areas: Area A under the Palestinian control, Area B under Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control, and Area C under full Israeli control which comprises about 60 percent of the total territory of the region.
All Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank have no legal validity: UN chief
