A high-tech hydrogen refueling machine developed in Chengdu City of southwest China's Sichuan Province is now playing a pivotal role on the global stage as it charges the vehicles which are ferrying athletes around the competition venues at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
Created by the Chengdu-based new energy company, the Houpu Clean Energy Group, the advanced refueling machine has won international recognition after multiple orders were placed by French energy giant Air Liquide, the official hydrogen supporter of the Paris Games.
"This batch of equipment is indeed distinctive. It only conforms to China's technical standards but has also obtained European certification. The equipment has been performing very well, and its selection for the Paris Olympics shows that it has been well recognized by our [global] clients," said Liu Xing, vice president of the Houpu group.
Following its successful reception in the French capital, the company says it is now assembling and testing more hydrogen refueling equipment which will soon be ready to be exported to France as well as to Canada and Australia.
The adoption of hydrogen energy is seen as key to the green transition in the transportation sector, an industry which is one of the largest emitters carbon dioxide emissions globally. Insiders also believe that the high energy demands of heavy-duty, long-haul transportation make this sector well-suited for conversion into hydrogen energy.
However, experts note that the path to widespread commercial application of hydrogen still faces numerous challenges before it can be introduced on a much broader scale.
"Hydrogen energy's application in rail transit, such as converting from oil to hydrogen, is technically mature and poses no issues in engineering application. But there's a need to strengthen our technical specifications, standards and management measures. Additionally, basic infrastructure, like hydrogen refueling facilities, requires further enhancement," said Chen Weirong, dean of the School of Electrical Engineering of China's Southwest Jiaotong University.
China is looking to advance the adoption of hydrogen energy with more policies being discussed at the provincial and local levels.
In a further effort to accelerate the transition, Sichuan Province has also announced that hydrogen-powered vehicles which are fitted with electronic toll collection device will be exempt from expressway tolls.
China-made hydrogen refueling machine helps transport athletes at Paris Olympics
Historical materials have been donated to a Chinese memorial hall as new evidence of war crimes related to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre perpetrated by invading Japanese troops.
The items include the wartime diary of Nishijo Eikaku, a Japanese soldier who witnessed the carnage of the massacre, Japanese documents on wartime air defense facilities in Shanghai and Nanjing, and photographs and documents related to "comfort women," according to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.
The wartime diary documents the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese troops, including looting during their advance and the horrors of the Nanjing Massacre.
"The so-called requisition by the invading Japanese troops was, in fact, robbery. According to our previous research, after the fall of Nanjing, the [invading] Japanese troops carried out mass slaughter within the city, killing Chinese soldiers who had laid down their arms and civilians who they suspected of being soldiers," said Wang Weixing, former director of the Institute of History at the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.
The investigation report on wartime air defense facilities in Shanghai and Nanjing by Katsura Ishii, head of the architecture section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, includes original documents from his investigation. The documents detail his observations as he passed through cities surrounding Nanjing, such as Changzhou, Jiangyin, and Jurong, where he witnessed "piles of dead bodies" along the way.
"The purpose of Katsura Ishii's trip to China was to investigate and collect information on China's air defense facilities in order to provide intelligence for Japan's expansion of aggression. He was officially dispatched by the Japanese troops for this investigation. These documents are the results of on-the-ground investigations conducted from late 1937 to early 1938," said Meng Guoxiang, a professor at Nanjing Medical University and an expert on the history of the Japanese invasion of China.
The hall also received a photo collection of 324 images depicting the Japanese forces occupying Nanjing and other locations in 1937, further confirming the historical reality of the mass slaughter of Chinese soldiers and civilians by the invaders.
Among them are photographs and historical materials related to "comfort women," including a blueprint for the renovation of a "comfort women" station in Shanghai and physical examination forms from a Japanese military field hospital for "comfort women."
Previous research estimates that around 400,000 women in Asia were forced to become "comfort women" -- sexual slaves for the Japanese army during World War II -- with nearly half of them being Chinese.
The Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders now holds a collection of approximately 194,000 pieces (sets).
On December 13, 1937, Japanese troops captured Nanjing. Over the following six weeks, they slaughtered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II, known as the Nanjing Massacre.
New evidence of Nanjing Massacre donated to memorial hall
