China's southernmost city releases 261 sea turtles into wild

China's island city Sansha of Hainan Province, south China, released 261 rescued sea turtles back into the wild on Wednesday, as part of the country's effort to protect biodiversity.

The sea turtles released by Sansha were found during law enforcement seizures, rescued by local fishermen, or part of artificial breeding programs.

As flag species and indicator species of the marine ecosystem, sea turtles are of vital science and ecological value, with all seven species listed as threatened with extinction on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.

With five of its seven species living in China, the Chinese government rolled out the Sea Turtle Conservation Action Plan in 2019. In 2021, the country elevated all five species to first class protection in the List of National Key Protected Wildlife, making more efforts in strengthening protection of the animals and their habitats.

In February 2021, my country's revised "List of National Key Protected Wildlife" upgraded all five species of sea turtles distributed in China to national first-class key protected wildlife.

About 90 percent of the sea turtle population in China resides in the South China Sea, of which green sea turtles account for more than 80 percent of the total. As the protections have made an impact, Sansha authority has recorded an increasing number of green sea turtles nesting in the city's Xisha islands.

"Monitoring shows that over 100 nests of green sea turtles now migrate annually to the Xisha Islands to lay eggs, making a constant increase. Compared with fewer than 50 nests observed in the early 2000s, the growing numbers reflect the success of our protection measures," said Yuan Xiaochu, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Fisheries under China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, during the rewilding event.

"We can see the increasing biodiversity and thriving species in the Xisha Islands, including the growing number of sea turtles inhabiting and breeding here," said Yu Yangfei, a staff member of the Sansha Marine Reserve Administration.

Future efforts include enhancing the post-release adaptation of sea turtles, and increasing their survival rates in natural marine environments, according to the ministry. Research efforts will focus on the animal's whole life cycle, prioritizing breeding, genetic preservation, and population expansion.

The legitimate rights of the Palestinian people must be respected and protected, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday.

Mao made the remarks in response to a media query about the reports that the Israeli parliament recently adopted a new law introducing death penalty for Palestinians, and countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have expressed strong condemnation, saying such practice is "entrenching a system of apartheid."

"All legislation must conform to legal principles such as the principle of legality, fairness and justice, and must not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, nationality or political view. The legitimate rights of the Palestinian people must be respected and protected. Relevant party’s actions that escalate tensions and exacerbate confrontation must stop," said Mao.