(Xinhua Photo)

(Xinhua Photo)

    BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) — The Chinese army marked its 80th birthday with a high-profile reception on Tuesday at which Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan said the army will have zero tolerance of “Taiwan independence”.

    ”We will absolutely not allow Taiwan to secede from China under any pretext or in any manner,” Cao said.

    The eight top Chinese leaders, Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan attended the reception in the Great Hall of the People.

    Hundreds of officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) attended the reception wearing the army’s new uniforms as did foreign envoys and military attaches.

    The new uniform is set to enter official service on Aug. 1.

    Cao Gangchuan, also state councilor and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, said PLA officers and soldiers would carry on the tradition of following the CPC leadership, serving the people and doing their duty with courage.

    Cao said Hu Jintao, chairman of the Central Military Commission and China’s president, had put forward basic guidelines for the military to develop in a sound and rapid way.

    He called for all PLA officers and enlisted ranks unite around the CPC leadership to push forward national defense and military development.

    ”We will continue to make the utmost effort with the highest sincerity in promoting peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait and strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification,” Cao said.

    The Chinese army was willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with military forces of other countries on the basis of mutual respect, equal consultation, mutual benefit and cooperation. He said the Chinese army was willing to contribute to maintaining world peace.

    The reception was also attended by personnel from all military units, central and local government officials and representatives from all sections of society.

    SHANXIAN, Henan Province, July 31 (Xinhua) — Rescuers have poured hundreds of liters of milk into a ventilation pipe to feed 69 miners who have been trapped in a flooded central China coal pit for three days.

    The miners used their helmets to catch the milk, their only food since they were trapped in the flooded shaft at Zhijian colliery, in Shanxian county, Henan Province, early on Sunday.

    ”They told me that they felt much better after drinking the milk,” said Shi Jichun, vice governor of Henan, after talking by phone with the miners.

    Rescuers poured 382 liters of milk through the 800-meter ventilation pipe at around 9:00 p.m. on Monday, followed by another 167 liters on Tuesday morning.

    They ruled out solid food for fear of blocking the pipe.

    ”The milk will help the miners keep their strength up, which is comforting,” Shi said.

    Rescuers have pumped about 2,000 cubic meters of water out of the mine and cleared about 100 cubic meters of mud in the shaft.

    ”The rescue operation is currently going on smoothly,” said Shi. But he also said “the underground condition is complicated and the headquarters has worked out emergency plans for any new possible situation.”

    A caving-in which occurred around 3 p.m. Tuesday under the mine cut the telephone contact between the ground and the trapped miners. Communications workers managed to enter the shaft and managed to repair the telephone line and resume the contact two hours later.

    ”We are clearing mud and pumping water as quickly and effectively as possible,” Henan Governor Li Chengyu told the miners by phone on Tuesday.

    An estimated 4,000 cubic meters of water poured into the shaft when flood triggered by rainstorms swamped the mine at 8:40 a.m. on Sunday.

    The rescue headquarters has arranged for six more pumps to ensure the pumping speed.

    Altogether 102 miners were working in the pit when the flood occurred. Only 33 managed to escape.

    Hundreds of rescuers, including armed police, are struggling to prevent more water from entering the shaft, clearing away the silt, and providing ventilation and oxygen to the trapped miners.

    Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, and Zhao Tiechui, head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, are also at the coal mine overseeing the rescue efforts.

    Li asked the local public security department to cooperate with the mine managers to clear the explosives underground to prevent new accidents.

    The state-owned mine was established in 1958. It was designed to produce 210,000 tons a year, but its actual annual output is 300,000 tons.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (C Front) attends the foreign ministers’ meeting in the framework of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in Manila on July 31, 2007. (Xinhua/Gong Lei)

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEAN secretary-general, and foreign ministers of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) pose for a photo in Manila on July 31, 2007. (Xinhua/Gong Lei)

    MANILA, July 31 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here on Tuesday that the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation has become a dynamic process which is helping build the region into the world’s fastest growing zone, but political mutual trust among countries in the region remains to be strengthened.

    Addressing the ASEAN Plus Three foreign ministers’ meeting here, Yang praised ASEAN Plus Three cooperation as highly helpful to peace, economic development, social progress and common prosperity of the region.

    ”The ASEAN Plus Three has maintained sound momentum of growth in the past decade. Multi-level dialogue and cooperation mechanisms have been established and improved, short-term and mid-to-long-term areas of cooperation have been identified and the ultimate goal of building an East Asia Community has been set,” he said.

    Yang also praised the time-tested guidelines for cooperation among ASEAN Plus Three countries, which he said are “the ASEAN being in the driver’s seat, building consensus, making gradual progress, taking into account the comfort level of all parties, equality, mutual benefit, mutual respect and seeking common understanding and putting aside differences.”

    He said the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation, which includes the 10ASEAN members, China, Japan and South Korea but is expanding to other Asian countries and becoming a main vehicle of East Asia cooperation, is also faced with many challenges.

    ”Peace and stability in the region still face threats and challenges. Economic development in our region is unbalanced, and some countries still lag behind in economic and social development,” said Yang.

    He said overall competitiveness of East Asia needs to be enhanced, non-traditional security issues addressed and strength of the region as shown in its diversity be made into progress in harmonious co-existence and common development.

    Yang added that as differences in levels of development and social systems widely exist among Asian countries, countries in the region should uphold the principle of mutual respect.

    He suggested East Asian countries make more efforts in the areas of respecting each other, seeking common ground while shelving differences, strengthening unity and working in close cooperation, conducting practical cooperation for common development.

    BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) - Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Tuesday urged local authorities to make more efforts to ensure pork supplies and food safety.

    Hui told a teleconference that local governments should subsidize and encourage pig breeding, including unveiling insurance for sows to boost pork supply.

    The wholesale price of pork in China surged 74.6 percent in June from the same period last year due to price hikes in feedstuff and outbreaks of blue ear pig disease. It helped push up the nation’s inflation to the 33-month-high of 4.4 percent in June.

    There are concerns that some farmers may became unwilling to raise pigs for fear of economic losses as sows and piglets are easily susceptible to the highly contagious disease.

    Hui called for tighter animal disease controls, mandatory immunization and a ban on culling, eating, selling and transporting of poultry and livestock killed by contagious diseases.

    The vice premier also called for stronger supervision of food safety standards.

    Food safety is a major concern of the Chinese public after a spate of food scares from parasite-infested snails to ducks and hens that were fed cancer-causing Sudan Red dye to make their egg yolks red.

    TAIYUAN, July 31 (Xinhua) — Twenty people are dead and 850,000 people affected after rainstorms ravaged much of north China’s Shanxi Province, the provincial civil affairs department said Tuesday.

    Heavy rain or storms hit 71 counties from Saturday to Monday, leveling 4,345 homes and damaging 9,600 others.

    The deaths were caused by landslides, floods and lightning, the department said.

    Yuanqu county, in Yuncheng city, had rain for 36 consecutive hours from 8:00 p.m. Saturday to 8:00 a.m. Monday with a precipitation of more than 300 millimeters, according to the provincial meteorological station.

    The downpours left four dead and caused a power blackout in the whole county seat of Yuanqu.

    Many areas were still being evacuated and tents were being sent to the areas worst affected, the civil affairs department said.

    Weather forecasts show showers or heavy rain will continue in the province till Aug. 5.

    Natural disasters, including floods, landslides and lightning, have killed more than 700 people in China this year.

Special report:   2008 Olympic Games 

    SHIJIAZHUANG, July 30 (Xinhua) — North China’s Qinhuangdao city, one of the co-hosts of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has opened a former military airport to international charter flights for the first time to cope with a projected tourist peak before and during the Games.

    A Tu-154 passenger plane carrying 124 Russian tourists landed at the city’s Shanhaiguan Airport at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, and took off in two hours to take home 118 Russian tourists who had arrived earlier.

Russian tourists land at the Shanhaiguan Airport at 2:30 p.m. in Shanhaiguan, north of China, July 29, 2007. Qinhuangdao, one of the co-hosts of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has opened a former military airport to international charter flights for the first time to cope with a projected tourist peak before and during the Games.(Xinhua Photo)

    The new charter route, operated by Russian Yakutia Airlines, links Qinhuangdao and Russia’s two far east cities of Blagoveshchensk and Yakutsk with three flights a week, Shanhaiguan Airport authorities said.

    Shanhaiguan, an ancient town where the Great Wall meets the sea, was built in 1381 during the Ming Dynasty as a strategic military post to help defend Beijing.

    The airport launched its first civil flight in 1984. It has been approved by the Chinese government this year to land international flights because crowds of international football fans are expected to fly to Qinhuangdao for the football events during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

    Renovation of the airport involved an investment of 45 million yuan (5.8 million U.S. dollars), financed by local authorities and China’s General Administration of Civil Aviation.

    Qinhuangdao is a famous summer resort with the nearest beach from Beijing. It will co-host the soccer tournament of the 2008 Olympic Games along with Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenyang.