Key roads connecting Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay, its second-largest city, suffered severe damage following Friday's devastating earthquake.
Video footage from China Radio International (CRI) on Sunday morning reveals extensive road cracks, with drivers carefully navigating around rubble and debris.
Reporting from Nay Pyi Taw, CRI journalist noted extensive infrastructure damage caused by the powerful earthquake, with many residents opting to sleep outdoors overnight, fearing aftershocks could further damage buildings.
Additionally, the earthquake devastated a local market in the capital city, forcing nearly all shops to close, leaving residents in despair and uncertain about their next steps. Meanwhile, rescue operations are ongoing in Nay Pyi Taw, where a Chinese team from Yunnan Province arrived Saturday evening to assist. Early Sunday morning, the team, alongside local rescuers, successfully pulled out an elderly individual who had been trapped under hospital rubble for nearly 40 hours.
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar at around 12:50 local time (06:20 GMT) on Friday, with Mandalay, Bago, Magway, the northeastern Shan state, Sagaing, and Nay Pyi Taw among the hardest-hit regions.
As of noon on Sunday local time, the earthquake had claimed 1,700 lives, injured 3,400 people, and left some 300 others unaccounted for, according to Myanmar's Information Team of the State Administration Council.
Earthquake ravages roads, other infrastructure in Nay Pyi Taw
Earthquake ravages roads, other infrastructure in Nay Pyi Taw
Earthquake ravages roads, other infrastructure in Nay Pyi Taw
Earthquake ravages roads, other infrastructure in Nay Pyi Taw
The mainland will never tolerate any Taiwan secessionist activities and will deal a strong blow to Lai Ching-te's rampant provocative behaviors, said a China Media Group (CMG) commentary on Tuesday.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Tuesday started to conduct joint exercises around the Taiwan Island, with army, navy, air and rocket forces closing in on the island from multiple directions, said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the theater command.
Shi said the drills serve as a stern warning and forceful deterrent against separatist forces seeking "Taiwan secession", and are a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China's sovereignty and national unity.
On the same day, Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the exercises serve as a resolute punishment for Lai Ching-te authorities' blatant "Taiwan secession" provocations, and a necessary action to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The PLA is taking thunderous actions to sternly warn Lai Ching-te that "Taiwan secession" is a dead end, and seeking secession will only lead to self-destruction.
The exercises have shown that the PLA has more and more tools and means to target Taiwan separatists, with advanced fighters and vessels such as J-10, Y-20, Z-10, H-6K, J-20, and Type 054A frigate able to deafen and blind the separatist forces. Lai Ching-te's reckless moves will only result in his own crushing defeat in front of the impregnable fortress of the PLA's overwhelming strength.
As long as the "Taiwan secession" provocations continue, the PLA will never stop fighting. Every time Lai Ching-te takes rampant provocative action, the PLA will take a further step to advance its deterrence and punishment.
Lai Ching-te has recently blatantly defined the mainland as a "hostile force abroad" and put forward the so-called "Lai 17 Articles", inciting confrontations and undermining the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait. It is imperative to target and punish him for his arrogant attitude and rampant behaviors to seek secession.
The PLA drills, in which multiple ships and aircraft will get close to the Taiwan Island, and conduct sea-air combat-readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive control, assault on maritime and ground targets, and blockade of key areas and sea lanes, are aimed at completely shattering Lai Ching-te authorities' fantasy of seeking "Taiwan secession" by force with foreign support, making it unable to bluff and deceive the people on the island.
Taiwan belongs to all the Chinese people. The PLA is always ready for fighting, can fight at any time, and will win if it fights. It aims to target Taiwan secessionist activities, by no means the ordinary Taiwan compatriots.
It is hoped that the compatriots in Taiwan will stand on the right side of history and work with their compatriots on the mainland to firmly oppose Taiwan secessionist forces and external interference, protect the common home of the Chinese nation, and create a bright future of national reunification and rejuvenation.
Mainland never tolerate any Taiwan secessionist activities
