US and UK navy ships are seen conducting Mine Countermeasures Exercise taking place at Arabian Sea, Sept 10, 2018. [Photo/Agencies] Beijing firmly objects to any form of official or military contacts between the United States and Taiwan, an official said on Wednesday, after a US Navy research vessel docked at Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan on Monday. Our position is consistent and clear, as always, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a regular news conference in Beijing. The Taiwan question concerns China's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the country's core interests, he said. We urge relevant parties to exercise caution so as not to cause damage to the peace and stability across the Straits. The island's military authority said on Tuesday that the vessel, the Thomas G. Thompson, is not engaged in military activities and is visiting Taiwan for joint scientific research with Taiwan University. It is the fourth time this year the ship docked at Kaohsiung Port, during which time it loaded up on supplies and made crew changes. The ship sets sail for Australia on Thursday, it said. The vessel belongs to the Office of Naval Research, and it can be used to conduct oceanic surveys for the US Navy. The ship is operated and maintained by the University of Washington, the island's media reported. In late September, the US State Department approved the sale of spare parts worth $330 million to Taiwan for F-16 fighters, C-130 cargo planes and other aircraft. Beijing has strongly protested the sale and urged Washington to immediately withdraw the deal and cease military contacts with Taiwan to avoid more damage to Sino-US relations and stability across the Straits. The arms sales to Taiwan have seriously violated the one-China principle, interfered with the country's domestic affairs and harmed Chinese sovereignty and security interests, as well as Sino-US relations, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on Sept 25. Those who rely on foreigners to build themselves up and undermine the peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits will certainly pay a price for their deeds, An Fengshan, another spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, said earlier. extra large silicone wristbandsdebossed-wristbanddual-layer-wristbandrubber band braceletsprinted wristbandsembossed-wristbandcheapest place to buy silicone wristbandsfuck cancer braceletcheap silicone wristbands for fundraising
Company was told to stop polluting; it secretly resumed production insteadThree officials responsible for a county in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region have been removed from their posts after a company that violated environmental protection rules resumed production without authorization.Qian Kexiao, Party secretary of Yongning county in Ningxia's capital, Yinchuan, and Li Runjun, head of the county government, have been held accountable for the situation along with Xu Qing, vice-mayor of Yinchuan, who oversees environmental protection in the city.Qian is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Yinchuan Committee of the Communist Party of China, according to a statement from Ningxia authorities on Saturday.The decision was made in a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ningxia Committee of the Communist Party of China presided over by Shi Taifeng, Ningxia's Party secretary. The committee also established a team to investigate the three officials.In 2016, environmental inspectors from the central government asked Ningxia Tairui Pharmaceutical Co in Yongning to rectify its environmental violations after finding that an "undesirable odor" emitted by the factory had affected nearby residents' lives.Tairui was ordered to suspend production after the inspectors revisited Ningxia in June and found it had failed to rectify the problem.The company released gas with an offensive odor at least once a day. The inspection team received 28 public reports on the first day after arriving in Yinchuan in June, with 17 of the complaints related to Tairui.Tairui said on June 22 that it would suspend production and relocate its factory.Local inspectors in Ningxia found during a recent visit to the company, however, that Tairui had resumed production without authorization."This is a case that's vile in nature and with especially flagrant circumstances," the meeting of the regional CPC Standing Committee said. The committee will launch an investigation into Tairui and its executives and severely punish its environmental violations, it said.Local authorities had shut down and sealed all the facilities that Tairui used for its clandestine production, as of 7 am on Saturday.The committee also vowed to comb through major companies in Ningxia for environmental violations and to ensure that any found are "completely rectified". Regular environmental inspections and law enforcement will also be enhanced, it said.Tairui, in Yinchuan Wangyuan Industrial Park, claims to be China's largest production and export base for veterinary antibiotics and a major global producer. Established in 2000, it has about 3,000 employees and boasts total assets of 6 billion yuan ($872 million)[email protected] (China Daily 08/20/2018 page4)
