China and Pakistan will further cement strategic trust between their armed forces and expand practical cooperation across the board, said Senior Colonel Jiang Bin, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference in Beijing on Saturday.
Jiang made the statement in response to a media query about the delivery of Chinese-built Hangor-class attack submarines to Pakistan. On April 30, the commissioning ceremony of the first Hangor-class submarine, PNS/M Hangor, was held in the Chinese coastal city of Sanya in Hainan Province, in the presence of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, and Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf.
"This represents normal military equipment cooperation between China and Pakistan and serves as a vivid embodiment of their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. Under strategic leadership of both countries' leaders in recent years, bilateral ties have continuously scaled new heights and delivered fresh outcomes. Over the years, the two armies have supported each other with utmost sincerity. Fruitful cooperation in strategic dialog, joint exercises and training, personnel development, and equipment and technology has made important contributions to the security of both countries and regional peace and stability," Jiang said.
"In the next stage, the two armies will further strengthen strategic mutual trust and deepen practical cooperation in various fields, so as to build an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future and contribute to world peace and development," he said.
Spokesman on China-Pakistan military cooperation
Spokesman on China-Pakistan military cooperation
Spanish health authorities on Friday identified a second monitored contact linked to the hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship MV Hondius after tracing a woman living in Catalonia who had shared a flight with a Dutch traveler died from the virus.
Spain's Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies said the woman is asymptomatic and was initially missed during contact tracing because of a seat change on the aircraft.
According to health authorities, the woman now meets the criteria for monitored contact under a newly approved national surveillance protocol and will remain under medical observation.
This came after the suspected case of hantavirus detected in Alicante. Spanish Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla said on Friday that the health authorities had taken relevant measures.
In addition, Padilla confirmed that all 14 Spanish passengers aboard the MV Hondius had agreed to undergo voluntary quarantine measures in order to minimize the risk of further transmission.
The Dutch-operated expedition cruise ship, currently heading toward Spain's Canary Islands, has so far been linked to three deaths.
Padilla said a team from the Spanish Health Ministry would travel to Tenerife on Saturday ahead of the ship's expected arrival on Sunday.
Passengers are expected to disembark by small boats before being transferred under strict isolation measures. Spanish citizens aboard the vessel will be transported to Madrid for quarantine observation.
The British Health Security Agency announced Friday that a suspected hantavirus case has been detected on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, linked to the ongoing outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship.
The vessel stopped at Tristan da Cunha between April 13 and 15.
Spain identifies second suspected hantavirus case linked to cruise ship outbreak
