The Chinese Ministry of National Defense on Thursday responded to recent animated videos produced by foreign defense contractors simulating attacks on Chinese naval vessels, dismissing the content as self-indulgent fantasy.
The statement was made by Senior Colonel Jiang Bin, the director-general of the Information Office and a spokesman for the ministry, during a press conference in Beijing.
He was responding to reports that defense contractors from Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan had released simulated video content showing the sinking of Chinese naval vessels. Online commentators noted that such materials essentially used China's military assets as a "demonstration checklist" to promote their weapons systems.
"To my knowledge, the Swedish defense company has already taken down the relevant video. We believe other relevant parties should also do the right thing. In fact, regarding such self-indulgent behavior, I would like to say to them: 'You wish!'" said Jiang.
Animation depicting sinking of Chinese warships pure self-indulgent fantasy: defense ministry
Animation depicting sinking of Chinese warships pure self-indulgent fantasy: defense ministry
At least one person has died and several others have been hospitalized after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s Maluku Strait early on Thursday morning, with the quake also causing varying degrees of damage to multiple buildings in Manado, the capital city of the North Sulawesi province. The quake struck at 06:48 local time Thursday at a magnitude of 7.4 and a depth of 30 kilometers, according to measurements by the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
There were scenes of panic outside a hospital in Manado when the quake hit, with several seconds of intense shaking causing cracks to appear in the building of the medical facility which belongs to the Siloam private healthcare group.
Patients and medical staff were urgently evacuated to the roadside, with some seen in wheelchairs or still connected to intravenous (IV) drips, while others were even pushed out of the wards on their hospital beds. A car parked downstairs was hit by falling debris, shattering its windows.
"Some people were sleeping at the time, some had just undergone surgery, and others were receiving treatment. The earthquake damaged the hospital's ceiling, and I also saw some cracks in the walls," said Billy Lombok, the family member of a patient.
A tsunami warning was issued but later lifted following the quake as Indonesian authorities observed no significant sea level changes.
Patients rushed out from hospital building as 7.4-magnitude quake hits Indonesia, killing one
