Thousands of people rallied in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Saturday in a show of support for the Southern Transitional Council (STC), amid conflicting reports over the group's alleged self-dissolution.
Pro-secession participants, some traveling from neighboring southern provinces, gathered in Aden, the seat of the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC). Demonstrators held portraits of STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi and chanted slogans accusing Saudi Arabia of backing the PLC's efforts to retake areas previously seized by the STC.
"We rushed to the square from all directions to protest the dissolution of the Southern Transitional Council," said Abdul Qawi Mohammed, a protester.
The STC, a group seeking southern Yemen's independence and allegedly backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), seized parts of southern and eastern Yemen in December in advances that heightened tensions with Saudi Arabia.
Over the past few days, Saudi-backed forces largely regained control of these areas. Rashad al-Alimi, head of the PLC, said in a televised statement on Saturday that all contested cities had been brought under their control.
On Friday, an STC delegation in Riyadh announced on Saudi state media the dissolution of the group. However, the STC's leadership strongly denied this, describing it as "fabricated and legally void." The council said the claims were made under coercion and without any legitimate authority, insisting that it remains intact and continues to operate normally.
The STC delegation was in Riyadh for political consultations but was reportedly detained. Al-Zubaidi, the STC leader, did not attend the talks and had secretly left Yemen for the UAE.
Despite joining the Saudi-led coalition and integrating into Yemen's ruling PLC in 2022, the STC continues to push for sovereignty for the south, fueling recurring disputes over power-sharing and control of resources.
Thousands rally in Aden supporting Southern Transitional Council
Thousands rally in Aden supporting Southern Transitional Council
China's commitment to its path of opening up will continue as a long-term national strategy and should increasingly be defined by inclusiveness, a national political advisor said Friday.
Zhou Hanmin, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and president of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association, made the remarks in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) during the annual political "two sessions" underway in Beijing.
"Opening-up is and has been a long-term national policy and a strategy ever since China opened itself up (to the world) some 48 years ago. Ever since China joined WTO (World Trade Organization), you could see it has fundamentally changed the formats of economic movements. So opening-up is a reference and also a driving force," he said.
Zhou stressed China must also invite less privileged nations to share in the prosperity of a more open world.
"Inclusiveness is one word that should be used to modify China's opening-up. I (previously) submitted a bill in CPPCC for the zero tariff for those least developed nations' exportation to China. Because for each and every China International Import Expo, you can see quite a large number of exhibitors coming from the least developed countries. We need to give them very genuine help. We are just in the situation of that. We just try to do not only with developed nations, but the Global South and rest of the countries, all together," he said.
Zhou's comments come amid the ongoing "two sessions", 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 CPPCC. Both bodies serve a five-year term and hold a plenary session each year, generally in March.
The fourth session of the 14th NPC and the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC kicked off in Beijing on Thursday and Wednesday, respectively. A main focus is the adoption of the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), a key blueprint guiding China's drive toward modernization. When asked about key signals from the plan that the international community should closely watch, Zhou outlined several key issues.
"We are now carrying on this Five-Year Plan in the most crucial period of time. We are going to generally modernize the country (in) another 10 years. In this five-year period of time, we need to focus more on creation. Creation not necessarily in the field of technology. Creation means the modernization of the governance, create lots of new things in the system and methods of governance. This is also important," Zhou said.
"The modernization of industrial systems, the further expansion of the ability of consumption, and we try to know very well the longevity, whatever solves people's daily needs. The last but not least, we try to understand fully international collaboration. Opening-up is still a driving force," he said.
China's opening-up should continue path of inclusiveness: political advisor
China's opening-up should continue path of inclusiveness: political advisor
