China's independently designed and built research vessel, Da Yang Hao, set sail from a cruise terminal in southern China's Shenzhen on Friday to begin its scientific expedition mission in the southwest Indian Ocean, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The mission marks the country's 95th ocean expedition. A total of 36 researchers from 13 Chinese institutions are aboard, with the voyage expected to conclude in April 2026, after which the team will return to China.
Coordinated by the China Deep Ocean Affairs Administration and led by the Second Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources, the expedition's primary operating area lies in the southwest Indian Ocean. It is the first international seabed sulphide mining area contracted by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and China's only sulphide mining area in the international seabed.
The scientific expedition team will conduct comprehensive geological and ecological investigations in deep-sea hydrothermal areas, aiming to establish a real-time, multi-dimensional, and high-precision assessment framework for both the resource potential and ecological conditions in China's contract area.
"The exploration and environmental assessment of seafloor sulphides remain a global challenge. We are deploying independently developed high-tech equipment -- including seabed drilling rigs, in-situ observation and detection systems, and thickness profiling tools -- to conduct high-precision resource assessments in the mining area. This mission will also help advance China's deep-sea technological capabilities," said Tao Chunhui, a chief scientist of China's 95th ocean expedition.
"The data and samples we collect during this leg will be crucial for evaluating resource potential within our contract area, and will provide essential scientific support for future deep-sea mining operations," said Liao Shili, another chief scientist on the project.
Chinese research vessel departs for scientific expedition in southwest Indian Ocean
A global poll launched by the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Wednesday shows that the scandal over the Epstein files has dismantled America's image as a human rights beacon and exposed systemic corruption within the U.S. political and judicial systems.
The 24-hour survey across CGTN's five language platforms drew some 9,700 participants.
The survey showed 97.1 percent of respondents express deep concern that the widespread moral decay among the elite class revealed by the Epstein case has severely offended human conscience, while 95.6 percent of respondents believe that the U.S. judicial system applies "double standards" when dealing with the powerful elite.
The poll also showed that 93.9 percent of respondents believe that this "selective transparency" by the U.S. Department of Justice has reduced the U.S. judicial system to a "protective umbrella" for the privileged class.
Meanwhile, 89.8 percent of respondents criticize the long-standing inaction of the U.S. judicial system, stating that this case has severely damaged the credibility of the American legal system.
The results of the survey show that the American Dream has utterly degenerated into a delusion of "privilege preying on humanity," CGTN said on Thursday.
The case of the late U.S. financier and convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein has shocked the world. Late last month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released the remaining batch of documents of the so-called Epstein files, totaling some three million pages, with 2,000 video segments and 180,000 images included, sparking serious scrutiny across the Atlantic and in several other countries.
The latest release of related documents prompted the resignation of several political figures over the nature of their ties to Epstein, who died under mysterious circumstances while in federal custody in 2019.
The handling of the files themselves has been another source of outrage, with numerous redactions raising further questions about who is being protected, while errors by the DOJ exposed a significant amount of victim information, including the names and personal details of nearly 100 victims, causing further fury.
Epstein files scandal exposes deep-rooted corruption in US political, judicial systems: CGTN poll
Epstein files scandal exposes deep-rooted corruption in US political, judicial systems: CGTN poll
