China Coast Guard releases video showing response to Philippine ships' illegal activities

The China Coast Guard (CCG) on Thursday released footage of actions it took on Wednesday against the illegal activities of Philippine ships near Zhubi Reef and Tiexian Reef in China's Nansha Qundao.

The CCG Thursday slammed the Philippines' illegal activities around China's Zhubi Jiao and Tiexian Jiao, calling such acts a violation of China's territorial sovereignty, and urging the Philippines to cease such infringements immediately.

Without approval from the Chinese government, two Philippine official ships illegally entered waters off China's Zhubi Jiao and Tiexian Jiao on Wednesday, with some personnel unlawfully landing on Tiexian Jiao, according to Liu Dejun, the CCG spokesman.

CCG enforcement personnel have taken measures against the ships, landing on the reef to deal with the situation in a professional, standard, reasonable and legal manner, Liu said.

At about 09:13 to 09:14, one of the Philippine ships, ignoring several serious warnings from the Chinese side, approached in a dangerous fashion a CCG ship. CCG crew members used water cannons to warn off the Philippine ship.

The Philippine ship abruptly veered left, causing a collision between the two vessels. The Philippine side is fully responsible for the incident, Liu said.

Liu stated that China holds indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Qundao and the adjacent waters, adding that the Philippines' actions have severely infringed upon China's territorial sovereignty, violated the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea", and undermined peace and stability in the region.

China urges the Philippine side to immediately cease such violations, he said, adding that the CCG will continue its law enforcement activities to legally safeguard China's sovereignty and rights in waters under the country's jurisdiction.

China Coast Guard releases video showing response to Philippine ships' illegal activities

China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 11:08 p.m. Sunday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency announced on Saturday.

Zhang Jingbo, spokesman of the agency, announced the launch schedule while briefing the media on the main tasks of the Shenzhou-23 mission.

"As evaluated and decided by the mission headquarters, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 11:08 p.m. on May 24 (Beijing Time). The crew consists of astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, with Zhu being the commander," Zhang said.

The three astronauts, Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying will take over control of China's Tiangong space station from the Shenzhou-21 crew who are currently in orbit.

"Astronaut Zhu Yangzhu previously took part in the Shenzhou-16 manned space mission. Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, from China's third and fourth batches of astronauts respectively, are making their first spaceflight. Zhang Zhiyuan was a pilot from Air Force. Lai Ka-ying worked for Hong Kong Police Force," Zhang said.

Notably, one astronaut from the Shenzhou-23 crew is set to conduct a year-long stay in orbit, while the other two will spend about six months in space.

The combination of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket was transferred to the launching area on May 16, with pre-launch function checks and joint tests being conducted to ensure its mission readiness.

China to launch Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship on Sunday