China urged the Philippines to honor commitments and stop creating troubles over Ren'ai Jiao, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun at a regular press conference on Thursday.
It is reported that in a recent statement, the Philippines asserted that no permission was sought from, nor granted by China for the conduct of its resupply mission to Ren'ai Jiao on March 4 and said that it does not recognize China's authority over Ren'ai Jiao.
Commenting on that, spokesman Guo Jiakun said, "China has sovereignty over Nansha Qundao, which include Ren'ai Jiao, and their adjacent waters. China's position on how to handle the current situation at Ren'ai Jiao is clear and consistent."
"First, by keeping its warship grounded at Ren'ai Jiao for decades running, the Philippines has been violating China's sovereignty and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). We demand that the Philippines tow away the warship. Second, between now and when the warship is towed away, should the Philippines need to send living necessities, China is willing to allow it in a humanitarian spirit if the Philippines informs China in advance and after on-site verification is conducted. Third, if the Philippines were to send large amount of construction materials to the warship and attempt to build fixed facilities or permanent outpost, China will absolutely not accept it and will resolutely stop it in accordance with the law and regulations," he continued.
On the basis of the above principled position, last July, China reached provisional arrangement with the Philippines on humanitarian resupply of living necessities. Since then, based on the provisional arrangement, the Philippine side has conducted seven resupply missions of living necessities. The entire process was monitored by China Coast Guard. China had been informed of the resupply before it was carried out, and confirmed on-the-scene that the Philippine vessel carried only humanitarian living necessities.
"The Chinese side will continue to firmly defend China's sovereignty and rights and interests. We urge the Philippines not to take for granted China's active effort to get the situation at sea under control, honor its commitments, and stop flip-flopping on them and creating troubles," said the spokesman.
China urges Philippines to stop creating troubles over Ren'ai Jiao
Li Lan, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), said that the infrastructure at the Alashankou port, also known as Alataw Pass, a major railway port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, should be further upgraded and used intensively and efficiently to better support the high-quality development of foreign trade.
Located on the border with Kazakhstan, the Alashankou port serves as a key transportation corridor linking China with Central Asia and Europe. Freight services passing through Alashankou now cover 128 routes, connecting China with 21 countries. Cargo carried ranges from auto parts and electronic products to daily consumer goods, according to customs data.
Li, director of the port's customs technical center, has witnessed profound changes of the land port amid the country's opening-up drive.
As an important gateway opening up to the west, the Alashankou port has become one of the fastest-growing ports in terms of the foreign trade cargo throughput since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed by China. While performing her duties as an NPC deputy during the past year, Li focused on addressing the pain points facing foreign trade enterprises in their process for customs clearance.
"We have also conducted market research in Central Asia. Initially, we thought that our infrastructure was significantly superior to theirs. However, in recent years, their infrastructure has greatly been modernized and highly efficient. Also, their customs clearance efficiency has improved rapidly. On the other side, I think our infrastructure, including customs clearance capabilities, needs to be enhanced and further improved," said Zheng Jiahong, the person in charge of a local enterprise.
Through field research, Li discovered that a lack of standardized provisions regarding regarding the number of channels at ports of different levels, the configuration of inspection facilities and equipment, the layout of functional areas, operational procedures, and human resource guarantee significantly constrained customs clearance efficiency at the port, thereby adding burdens to logistics companies.
"In international trade, the logistics cycle is a key factor affecting the profits of foreign trade enterprises. It's safe to say that every hour, every minute counts on our cost. Saving time essentially means increasing corporate profits," said Shan Pu, the person in charge of a logistics enterprise in Alashankou City.
Xinjiang boasts 16 of the 101 land ports across China. In Li's research, she found that the primary entities responsible for port construction in various regions are often prefecture-level or even county-level governments, leading to a lack of unified standards for first-class port construction, which makes it more challenging to meet the growing demands of foreign trade development.
In her proposal to this year's NPC session, Li suggests that the National Standards for the Construction of Port Inspection Infrastructure should be revised at a faster pace at the national level, so as to provide scientific guidance for the construction of ports across the country and enable them to adapt to the increasing demands of imports and exports.
"During this year's 'two sessions', while exchanging views with several deputies from the delegation of Xinjiang, I noticed a shared aspiration that everyone is eager for Xinjiang to make greater contributions to the country's overall plan of opening up to the west. Through my thorough and in-depth research, I hope that the relevant ministries and commissions will expedite the formulation of a new edition of the National Standards for the Construction of Port Inspection Infrastructure. This will enable the upgrading of our ports, better equipping them to meet the demands of high-quality development in the country's foreign trade sector in the future," Li said.
The "two sessions" refer to the annual meetings of China's top legislature -- the National People's Congress (NPC), and the top political advisory body -- the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
The 14th NPC opened its fourth session on Thursday in Beijing.
NPC deputy calls for infrastructure upgrades of land ports in Xinjiang
