One day ahead of the humanoid robot half-marathon in E-Town of southwestern Beijing, the Chinese capital city hosted a pioneering robot contest on Saturday, highlighting breakthroughs in mobility, obstacle handling, and emergency response.
The 2026 Robot Warrior Challenge, co-hosted by the People's Government of Beijing Municipality and China Media Group (CMG), covers 17 obstacle courses simulating emergency relief scenarios of earthquakes, floods and fires, making it China's first full-scale, real-world emergency rescue contest for robots. A total of 37 teams from 19 companies and universities took part in the contest, competing across categories of humanoid, quadruped and wheel-legged robots, testing their embodied intelligence capabilities.
"The Robot Warrior Challenge is highly significant to verification of future data collection in real scenarios and improvement of data model algorithms. At the same time, it also poses significant challenges and engineering verifications in terms of the reliability, security and stability of the hardware. This year's event will vigorously promote transition of robotics toward knowledge application scenarios in future," said Liang Liang, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Institute of Electronics.
Beijing hosts emergency relief contest for robots in E-town
A group of Japanese citizens held a study session in Shibuya, Tokyo on Saturday to reflect on Japan's history of aggression during World War II and voice opposition to the government's push for constitutional revision and military buildup.
During the session, the organizers screened videos about Japan's invasion of China, stressing that only a genuine understanding of history can the country be prevented from starting another aggressive war.
"We must earnestly study history and understand what the Japanese military did to China and other Asian countries, and what Japan has done in the past. Without understanding this part of history, it is very difficult to truly oppose war," said an organizer of the session.
At the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) convention in Tokyo last Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declared that "the time has come" to reform the Constitution, saying that "we would like to hold next year's convention with a proposal for a constitutional amendment in sight."
The ruling party also formally announced its new policy vision, recognizing its goal of revising the Constitution as "critically needed" in shaping Japan's future security framework.
Japan's Constitution, which took effect in 1947, is often referred to as the pacifist Constitution because its Article 9 renounces war as a sovereign right and prohibits Japan from possessing "war potential" such as military forces.
The ruling party's move has sparked widespread concern and criticism in Japan as it could mark a significant turning point in Japan's postwar trajectory.
"The constitution clearly states that Japan forever renounces war. To change that would be equivalent to Japan reemerging on the world stage as an imperialist, war-waging nation. I believe all Japanese people must stand up to stop this," said a participant.
"We must never allow Takaichi's tendency to wage war. We must resolutely prevent Japan from going to war again," said another participant.
"The so-called enhancing 'deterrence' does not prevent war from happening. If all countries keep enhancing their military preparations in the name of deterrence, there will be no end to it. I think this actually serves the vested interests of imperialist capitalists and the arms industry, so we must never allow endless increases in defense budgets and arms races. Tax money should be used to improve the lives of workers and ordinary people," said another participant.
Japanese citizens hold study session to reflect on WWII aggression, oppose constitutional revision
Japanese citizens hold study session to reflect on WWII aggression, oppose constitutional revision
