China Pavilion of 2025 Osaka Expo opens to media for sneak peeks

The China Pavilion at the 2025 Osaka Expo, which will open to the public by next Sunday, welcomed media visits on Monday, sharing sneak peeks highlighting the integration of Chinese philosophy and modern technologies.

As one of the largest foreign self-built facilities at the Osaka Expo, the China Pavilion has adopted the theme "Building a Community of Life for Man and Nature – Future Society of Green Development."

The pavilion consists of three components themed "past, contemporary, and future" respectively, featuring an integration of traditional Chinese philosophic norms and the modern sustainable development principles.

The first section of "Tian Ren He Yi," or the "Harmony Between Mankind and Nature," features traditional Chinese culture and history. The exhibited installations include a digital "waterfall of characters" demonstrating the Chinese writing system's evolution, with the introduction of Jieqi, or 24 solar terms on China's traditional lunisolar calendar that demonstrates the understanding of ancient Chinese people to the nature.

The highlights of the section are exhibitions of ancient Chinese archeological sites, including Sanxingdui in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Liangzhu in east China's Zhejiang Province, and Yinxu in central China's Henan Province, dating back to three to five thousand years ago. Replicas of cultural relics from the three sites are presented in the pavilion, among them are the earliest water conservancy system from the Liangzhu archeological site, and the mysterious Bronze Divine Tree from Sanxingdui.

"This is a replica of the Bronze Divine Tree made in the Shang Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC). It is among the earliest and largest single-piece bronze artifacts discovered in the world so far. Other exhibits here include the bronze standing figure with an animal-shaped hat, and the bronze mask. With a touch on the screen, we can learn about details of the cultural relics by examining their 3D models in an immersive way. And we also provide trilingual introductions for visitors from around the world to know about the relics," said a docent of the China Pavilion.

The second section, named after China's contemporary green development principle of preserving "Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains," presents descriptions of China's natural and cultural landscapes, ecological systems, and achievements in urban management.

Exhibits in the second section include introductions of China's national parks, and the two mega-sized ecological projects, the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project, which was initially built over two thousand years ago and which has been maintained and upgraded since then, and the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, one of world's largest afforestation projects.

In the third section of future developments, a model of China's Jiaolong submersible and exhibits of China's aerospace science projects share with the viewers China's spirit of exploration of the unknown.

China Pavilion of 2025 Osaka Expo opens to media for sneak peeks

The United Nations human rights chief on Saturday called for all parties to return to the negotiating table to solve the differences as the tensions in the Middle East region keep intensifying after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on the day.

Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the appeal in a video address recorded in Switzerland’s Geneva. He stressed that instead of resolving differences, military attacks will only result in destruction and civilian casualties.

"I deplore the military strikes across Iran this morning by Israel and the United States of America, and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by Iran. As always, in any armed conflict, it is civilians who end up paying the ultimate price. Bombs and missiles are not the way to resolve differences but only result in death, destruction, and human misery," he said.

He called on all parties to return to the negotiating table and stressed that negotiation is the only way to resolve differences.

"To avert these terrible consequences for civilians, I call for restraint and implore all parties to see reason, to de-escalate, and for a return to the 'negotiating table' where they had been actively seeking a solution only hours earlier. This is the only way durably to resolve the deep differences between states that exist," Turk said.

He underscored the importance of protecting civilians and warned that those who violate international law will be held accountable.

"I have already warned that failing to do so risks an even wider conflict that will inevitably lead to further senseless civilian deaths and destruction on a potentially unimaginable scale, not just in Iran but across the Middle East region. I remind all parties that international law with respect to armed conflict is very clear: the protection of civilians is paramount. Each and every actor involved needs to ensure compliance with these laws and violations of them must lead to accountability for those responsible," said Turk.

The United States and Israel on Saturday launched coordinated airstrikes against Iran, with the latter responding with a series of attacks on Israel and U.S. targets across the Middle East.

Increasing casualties are reported in Iran and other countries involved in the ongoing flare-up.

Iran's state media confirmed Sunday that its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Saturday.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that the strikes hit at least 24 of Iran's 31 provinces, with 201 deaths and 747 injuries reported so far.

UN calls for returning to negotiating table as U.S., Israel intensify attacks on Iran