Fujian to host 18th Straits Forum: spokeswoman

A total of 58 activities across four main sections will be organized during the 18th Straits Forum, which will be held in east China's Fujian Province in mid-June, Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said on Wednesday.

"The 18th Straits Forum will be held in Fujian in mid-June, with the main conference of the event scheduled for June 13. The main venue will be in Xiamen City, with related activities to be held in prefecture-level cities across the province, as well as the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone. This year's forum follows a 'people-oriented, grassroots-based, and broad participation' approach, continuing the theme of expanding people-to-people exchanges and deepening integrated development," said Zhu at a regular press conference in Beijing.

"The forum will feature 58 activities across four main sections, namely grassroots exchanges, youth exchanges, cultural exchanges, and economic exchanges. Representatives from relevant political parties in Taiwan, as well as people from labor unions, youth groups, women's organizations, folk religious circles, agriculture, fisheries and water conservancy, culture and tourism, health, industry, business and finance, and other sectors will be invited to participate. Currently, preparations for the forum are progressing steadily and smoothly," said Zhu.

Fujian to host 18th Straits Forum: spokeswoman

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned Tuesday of an 80 percent chance that an El Nino event will develop between June and August, raising the risk of extreme weather in the coming months.

Wilfran Moufouma Okia, chief of climate prediction at WMO, told China Media Group (CMG) that countries should prepare for possible extremes while stressing that information on climate-related disasters should not incite panic.

Speaking at WMO's headquarters in Geneva, Okia said there is currently no evidence that climate change has made El Nino events more frequent or intense. However, he emphasized that climate change can amplify the effects of El Nino, increasing the risk of extreme weather in combination with global warming.

"The classification of El Nino, whether it's strong or moderate, is not what really matters, because El Nino will have consequences whenever it happens, depending on the timing, depending on the vulnerability of the country, so that's the most important. So we provide the information El Nino is establishing and then we hope that information will serve to prepare for answering against that threat," Okia said.

El Nino is a natural climate phenomenon marked by persistently warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which alters atmospheric circulation and affects weather and climate patterns worldwide.

WMO warns of rising El Nino risk, urges preparedness