Typhoon Wutip triggers emergency responses before making landfall on Friday

China's first typhoon this year, Wutip, has triggered a series of emergency responses in the country's southern island province of Hainan and nearby Guangdong before making the forecast landfall in the island's southern coast on Friday.

Typhoon Wutip intensified into a severe tropical storm at 08:00 Thursday, when its center was located approximately 95 kilometers south of Sanya in Hainan. The storm is packing winds of up to 25 meters per second, bringing gale-force winds to a broad area, according to the local meteorological bureau.

The bad weather has impacted operation of multiple airports, including those in Hainan and Guangdong as well as in nearby regions like Fujian Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

According to the meteorological center of the Air Traffic Management Bureau under the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Wutip and its peripheral circulation will bring moderate to heavy thunderstorms to south China and the southern part of east China, with some regions even experiencing winds of around 20 meters per second.

In response to Wutip, Sanya Phoenix International Airport suspended the landing and takeoff of all flights starting from 22:00 Thursday and has canceled all the flights scheduled for Friday. The airport expects to resume its air service from Saturday morning.

The emergency response committee at the airport has also established five teams to tackle the situation and has stockpiled 11,400 pieces of materials as part of the transportation facility's effort to implement its flood and wind-prevention work.

Train service has also been affected by the typhoon. China Railway Guangzhou Group has made adjustment to its trains' operation, suspending all the trains in Hainan from 16:00 Thursday to 08:00 Saturday. Besides, some routes in and out of Guangdong also saw part or all of their operating trains be suspended. The local railway department said it will make more timely adjustments in the following days in response to the developments of Wutip.

Some water-based engineering projects have also sustained impacts from the typhoon, with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)'s four major operation areas at sea, where facilities were expected to experience larger influence from the bad weather, having launched emergency responses.

As of 18:00 Thursday, over 580 workers of CNOOC had been evacuated to safe places by helicopter or vessel.

Currently, Wutip is bringing intensifying winds to more cities in Hainan. Sanya City and Ledong Li Autonomous County were among the first to experience wind up to 25 meters per second in the island. The average wind speed in the coastal region and on land reached above 25 meters per second, with gusts reaching even 32 to 42 meters per second.

A released video showed that at about 08:30 Friday, water was seen running on some roads in Ledong and there were also fallen trees along the roads as the county experienced heavy rain and strong wind.

Over 1,000 vessels are taking shelter at ports across Ledong and classes were suspended at all of the county's educational institutes. Besides, residents were told not to go out if not necessary.

Typhoon Wutip triggers emergency responses before making landfall on Friday

Japan should better inform its younger generations about its history of aggression during World War II (WWII) to raise anti-war awareness in society, according to descendants of Japanese invaders in China during WWII.

On July 7, 1937, Japanese troops attacked Chinese forces at the Lugou Bridge on the outskirts of Beijing, marking the beginning of Japan's full-scale invasion of China and China's nationwide resistance against the Japanese invaders, initiating a whole-of-nation war effort that opened the main Eastern battlefield in the global war against fascism.

In a recent interview with China Media Group, Kuroi Akio, one of the five descendants who visited China last year for an apology tour, warned about the lack of information in today's education system regarding Japan's wartime invasion of China and other Asian countries.

"Three years ago, I asked a group of children between the ages of six and 10 if Japan had ever been in a war and where it was fought. About 70 children raised their hands, so I asked them one by one. Every child answered 'America,' and not one mentioned any other country. The children knew about the war with the United States and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, they didn't know about Japan's invasions of China, the Korean Peninsula, China's Taiwan region, Indonesia, and the Philippines. This is the reality, and that's why the education in Japan is so hopeless," said Kuroi, who knelt down before the Chinese people during his apology tour in northeast China's Jilin Province last September.

Kurokawa Yasuko, another descendant, also called for better education in Japan about its wartime history, saying it was essential for a properly informed public opinion.

"I think that [the lack of war history education] is wrong. It's important to teach students the history of Japan's invasion to others in the modern world, otherwise the public opinion of this country will be steered in the wrong direction," she said.

"We hope to create a strong anti-war public opinion in Japan. My activities are called 'micro-power' in Japan, a tiny power indeed, but by gathering voices of support and agreement, such drops of water will become a stream, a river, and eventually an ocean. Without a peaceful future, mankind can't survive. Humanity's future can only be realized through the belief in peace," Kuroi said.

Japan should better inform younger generations about its wartime atrocities: WWII descendants