Ferocious winds, lashing rains prompt emergency typhoon responses in parts of China

Cities across eastern China have initiated comprehensive preparatory measures against Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, to safeguard their residents and infrastructure.

The typhoon, with the maximum wind force at its center reaching 40 meters per second when landing, first churned ashore at Yuhuan, a county-level city administered by the city of Taizhou in east China's Zhejiang Province, at around 23:20 Saturday, before making a second landfall in Yueqing City under the city of Wenzhou at around midnight Sunday.

Affected by the typhoon, Shanghai experienced strong winds and rain on Saturday evening. Overnight, the winds intensified and rain poured down heavily. Roadside trees were blown down by strong winds amid the torrential showers. As a precaution, Shanghai had organized the evacuation of nearly 300,000 people in total, and activated 905 emergency shelters across the city for flood prevention and disaster relief.

To ensure the safety of rail transit lines, Shanghai Metro Line 3 and the Pujiang Line were placed under speed restrictions across their entire routes on Sunday. Additionally, all ferry services in Shanghai were suspended starting at 04:40 on Sunday. Under the combined influence of Bavi's long-distance moisture transport and a mass of cold air, Beijing experienced heavy rainfall from Saturday night through Sunday morning.

In the suburban Miyun District, over 60 millimeters of torrential rain fell within 24 hours. Meanwhile, parts of Shunyi, Pinggu, and Tongzhou Districts recorded more than 100 millimeters of rainfall in the same period -- reaching the level of a severe rainstorm -- which also triggered short-term waterlogging in some low-lying areas. Nine districts in Beijing activated a Level-I emergency response for flood control on Saturday afternoon after a red alert for torrential rain was issued for these regions.

The municipal emergency management office warned of a high risk of flooding in medium and small rivers, flash floods and geological hazards in mountainous and hilly areas, as well as waterlogging in low-lying areas.

As authorities intensified flood control efforts, around 104,000 people across the city had been relocated as of 16:00 on Saturday. In addition, 73 elderly care facilities were temporarily closed, with 1,902 elderly people evacuated, according to the office of the Beijing municipal flood control and drought relief headquarters.

As a precaution, 188 scenic areas and 167 tent campsites have been closed, 4,376 rural homestays have been suspended and construction work at 3,318 sites has been halted.

A total of 27,418 rescue workers have been placed on standby across the city to respond to potential emergencies.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms also swept across much of Tianjin on Saturday, bringing moderate to heavy rain in some areas and torrential rain in a few isolated spots in the coastal municipality.

As of 16:00 on Saturday, Tianjin's central urban area recorded an average precipitation of 28.93 millimeters, with a maximum hourly rainfall intensity of approaching 100 millimeters around Tianping Tunnel in Beichen District.

"With waterlogging reaching 20 centimeters in depth, we coordinated with the traffic police to promptly close the road to vehicles. The current drainage capacity stands at approximately 1,000 cubic meters per hour. As rainfall intensifies and the depth of accumulated water continues to rise, we are continuously increasing drainage efforts here," said Zhang Wei, deputy director of the Seventh Drainage Management Office of the Tianjin Municipal Drainage Management Affairs Center.

Under the combined influence of moisture from the periphery of the typhoon and a cold vortex over northeastern China, Liaoning Province was hit by persistent heavy rainfall and strong winds on Saturday, with multiple localities issuing rainstorm warnings.

The provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters raised its emergency response for flood control from Level IV to Level III on 13:00 on Saturday.

Approximately 10,000 emergency response and rescue personnel were pre-deployed, and reservoirs were proactively discharged in advance to free up storage capacity.

Meanwhile, comprehensive efforts were made to evacuate residents from hazardous areas. As of 16:00 on Saturday, a cumulative total of 23,643 people had been safely relocated across the province.

China has a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe.

Ferocious winds, lashing rains prompt emergency typhoon responses in parts of China

China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the statement made by Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi 10 years after the so-called "2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea", a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in Beijing on Sunday.

The statement blatantly endorses the illegal "award", attacks China's lawful claims and mischaracterizes Japan as a "legitimate stakeholder who uses the South China Sea", said the spokesperson.

Japan is not a party in the South China Sea and is in no position to pass judgment on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. During World War II, Japan committed innumerable crimes that caused untold suffering on China and its people, including the illegal occupation of islands and reefs in the South China Sea, said the spokesperson.

Now decades later, Japan, in the name of a "stakeholder", is again attempting to meddle in the South China Sea. This reminds people of Japan's history of aggression and expansion, and heightens their vigilance against Japan's neo-militarism agenda, said the spokesperson.

China's sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and relevant rights and interests in the South China Sea were established in the long course of history, and are solidly grounded in the law. China's activities in the South China Sea are fully legitimate, lawful and beyond reproach. China's rights in the South China Sea can by no means be denied by the makeshift "arbitral tribunal", said the spokesperson.

In rendering the "award", the "arbitral tribunal" exceeded its authority and abused its jurisdiction. The "award" is naturally illegal, null and void, and has no binding force. It has gravely undermined the sanctity and authority of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and dealt a serious blow to the international rule of law, said the spokesperson.

China neither accepts nor recognizes the "award", and opposes and will never accept any claim or action arising from it, the spokesperson added.

By turning a blind eye to the glaring flaws in the "award" while openly endorsing it, Japan has laid bare its double standards and hypocrisy, said the spokesperson.

What Japan really cares about is not the international rule of law, but meddling in and destabilizing the South China Sea. For some time, Japan has been stepping up collaboration with the Philippines and expanding its export of weapons and equipment to the country. Japan has also deployed military forces overseas on many occasions and launched offensive missiles. These actions go far beyond the scope of self-defense, break free from Japan's Constitution and norms in the international law, and challenge the post-war international order, said the spokesperson.

China urges Japan to stop smearing China, stop sowing disinformation in the South China Sea, and stop undermining peace and stability in the region, said the spokesperson, adding that China will continue firmly defending its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.

Any attempts to challenge China's lawful rights and interests and undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea are doomed to fail, the spokesperson said.

China strongly deplores Japanese FM's statement on South China Sea: spokesperson