Philippines urged to remove unlawfully "grounded" vessel from Ren'ai Jiao

The Philippines should tow away its vessel unlawfully "grounded" at Ren'ai Jiao and cease all provocative acts in the South China Sea, said Zhang Xiaogang, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

He made the statement in response to a media query regarding the Philippine vessel BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57), which has received a fresh shipment of supplies.

The Philippine side has repeatedly attempted to use such resupply missions to smuggle in reinforcement materials to permanently anchor the vessel on the reef, according to Zhang.

"Ren'ai Jiao is part of China's Nansha Qundao. Based on our three-point principled position on handling the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, the Chinese side reached a provisional arrangement with the Philippine side on the humanitarian resupply of living necessities. If the Philippine side attempts to deliver construction materials and build fixed facilities or a permanent outpost, the Chinese side will absolutely reject it and will resolutely stop it in accordance with laws and regulations. The Philippine side should tow away its BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57) that is unlawfully 'grounded' at Ren'ai Jiao as soon as possible, and stop all provocative acts. The Chinese side will resolutely safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and firmly uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea," Zhang said.

Philippines urged to remove unlawfully "grounded" vessel from Ren'ai Jiao

A barrier lake formed after the devastating mudslide near Xizang's Gyirong Port on Wednesday poses high risk of breaching as water continues to flow in, warned the Ministry of Water Resources.

The ministry held a meeting over the barrier lake's rising water level on Thursday.

By Thursday morning, the lake held an estimated two million cubic meters of water and was already overflowing. And another three million cubic meters of water are expected to flow in over the next three days.

A rescue detachment from Lhasa, the regional capital of Xizang Autonomous Region, surveyed the mudslide site on Thursday and confirmed that while the mudslide area has not expanded, the lake surface continues to grow.

The ministry is closely monitoring the barrier lake while modeling potential floods to guide emergency rescue efforts.

"Considering there will be light to moderate rain around the Gyirong Port area in the coming week, the inflow to the barrier lake is estimated about 15 cubic meters per second, while the water volume is still increasing and the risk continues to grow," said Zhu Jinfeng, a second-level investigator with the ministry's hydrology department.

The mudslide struck Gyirong Port in Gyirong County on Wednesday morning.Three people had been killed, and 558 others remained missing, while two local villagers had been rescued as of 08:00 on Thursday.

Barrier Lake near Gyirong mudslide site poses high breach risk