A total of 16 U.S. states, including New York, California, Illinois and New Jersey, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon, seeking to block the Trump administration's federal research funding cuts.
These states filed the lawsuit to try to block the Trump administration from drastically cutting federal funding for scientific research and related programs aimed at increasing diversity in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The attorneys general of these states said that the Trump administration does not have the authority to restrict research funding or to eliminate diversity programs authorized by Congress and provided through the National Science Foundation (NSF).
As one of the world's leading agencies for funding basic research, the NSF has taken a major hit since Trump took office in his second term. According to a report by the U.S. academic journal Science, the U.S. government has ordered the agency to cut its nine billion U.S. dollar budget by 55 percent next year and reduce its workforce by half.
U.S. states sue Trump administration over federal research funding cuts
U.S. states sue Trump administration over federal research funding cuts
U.S. states sue Trump administration over federal research funding cuts
The Sanya branch of the Peking University (PKU) Hospital of Stomatology based in the tourist resort city of Sanya in south China's tropical Hainan Province -- the country's first national-level regional dental specialty center -- officially opened on Saturday, providing local residents and tourists with access to top-tier dental care without leaving Hainan.
As a key city in the Hainan Free Trade Port and a hub for both tourism and wellness, Sanya has seen rising demand for oral healthcare. Local resources, however, have long been strained.
The newly launched hospital aims to ease the situation. Both its management and medical teams come directly from the main campus of the PKU Hospita of Stomatology in Beijing, ensuring seamless integration and unified standards across diagnoses, treatment, and service quality. The facility comprises of nine specialized buildings, including an emergency outpatient complex and an international medical services building, covering all sub-specialties in dental medicine.
"Since the official start of Hainan Free Trade Port's island-wide special customs operations [on December 18, 2025], the very first zero-tariff items entering the region were advanced dental equipment for our hospital. This enables a wide range of patients in the Hainan region to access the world's latest dental treatment equipment and technology more quickly," said Deng Xuliang, president of the PKU Hospital of Stomatology.
Looking ahead, the main campus of the PKU Hospital of Stomatology will collaborate with medical universities in Hainan to jointly train more specialized professionals for grassroots-level healthcare institutions across the region. Through technical mentorship and integrated training programs, the initiative aims to leverage the policy advantages of the free trade port to build a high-level, comprehensive platform that integrates medical services, education, research, public health, and healthcare management, with particular attention on international patient services and comfort-focused treatment.
"The operation of medical care plus health and wellness programs and of medical care plus tourism projects has jointly contributed to the formation of an internationalized medical care platform in Sanya, which presents a major opportunity for both Sanya and the rest of Hainan, especially as the free trade port enters full operation, making more duty-free medicines and medical devices available locally," said Hu Yulei, director of the Sanya Municipal Health Commission.
Hainan's Sanya opens first national dental specialty center
