The attempt of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities to seek "Taiwan independence" by relying on external forces will only push Taiwan towards the danger of military conflict, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said on Friday.
Speaking at a press conference, Zhang made the statement in response to reports that the DPP authorities are considering buying a big package of U.S. weapons to show their defense determination to the incoming administration of Donald Trump, and that the region has received a batch of 11 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) rocket launchers from the U.S.
"China urges the U.S. to immediately stop arming Taiwan and stop the dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The DPP authorities are trading the interests of Taiwan to please their American masters and relying on external forces to seek 'Taiwan independence', which will only push Taiwan towards the danger of military conflict. We would like to make it clear to the DPP authorities that they cannot withstand a single blow no matter what weapon they buy, and in doing so, they are just digging their own graves. The People's Liberation Army will comprehensively strengthen training and combat readiness to see that we can fight and win, and resolutely smash separatist attempts for 'Taiwan independence' and external interference," Zhang said.
U.S. arms sales only to put Taiwan in danger of military conflict: spokesman
China's newly-launched Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft delivered some 480 kilograms of equipment to the Tiangong Space Station, which are set to be used for in-space scientific experiments covering multiple fields.
China on Friday announced the successful launch of its Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft which is delivering supplies to its orbiting Tiangong space station.
The supplies and equipment will be used in many different scientific projects. Some were started during previous missions, such as experiments around cells and space radiation.
"The Tianzhou-6 mission successfully differentiated hematopoietic stem cells from human pluripotent stem cells, which was the first case globally. The Tianzhou-8 mission will experiment on the three-dimensional growth and in-orbit existence of human pluripotent stem cells, which is also the first time in the world according to our study and following of relevant reports and documents," said Lei Xiaohua, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Studying the risk of space radiation for tumor occurrence is very important for the health of our astronauts, especially for future travel to space. We hope to use such an environment in space to study the risk of lung cancer," said Zhou Guangming, a researcher at Soochow University.
Some experiments will be carried out for the first time, like the introduction of 'fruit flies' aboard the space station.
"By magnetic shielding in the experiment, we can reduce the magnetic field in the certain cultivation environment. And then, we will look at whether fruit flies can survive in the space environment with both microgravity and hypo magnetic fields, and whether they display specific or novel behaviors," said Li Yan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Chinese scientists hope that these space experiments will translate into new solutions and applications back on Earth, all with an aim of helping mankind.
China’s Tianzhou-8 cargo craft delivers supplies for scientific experiments to space station
