US officials have called for Washington to prioritize matching China's presence in the Global South. However, Chinese experts noted that China's approach of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation, as opposed to the US' Cold War mind-set and its carrot-and-stick approach, has been key in winning hearts in Global South countries. 

Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Ben Cardin, a Democratic senator and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US needs to offer the Global South an alternative to China.

"In order to address these challenges, the US should not only be investing in our military, but also our diplomatic and economic development tools," Cardin said.

Echoing Cardin, US State Department Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said at the hearing that he has traveled to Africa twice since his appointment in February and has plans for a third trip. He also noted that there are 14 ambassador nominations for posts on the continent yet to be approved by the Senate, according to Voice of America. 

Several senators at the hearing stressed the need to increase the US diplomatic footprint and fill empty ambassadorial posts, particularly within the Global South.

Campbell said the lack of US ambassadors in key posts is "embarrassing" and "antithetical to US strategic interests." 

The US has quickened its pace in competing with China over influence in the Global South in recent years. In the latest move, the US opened an embassy in the Pacific island country of Vanuatu earlier this month, described as part of Washington's long-running competition with China for influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The US has overlooked a crucial distinction in its approach to cooperation with Global South countries compared to China. While China offers equal and mutually beneficial partnerships that contribute to the development of these nations, the US often employs a carrot-and-stick approach to coerce support for its own interests, and treats these countries as tools in a geopolitical competition, Song Wei, a professor from the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times. 

Campbell also said that "we need to do more, and we have to contest Chinese actions, not only in terms of their forward basing strategy, but their desire to go after Africa's rare earths that will be critical for our industrial and technological capabilities."

US competition with China in obtaining critical minerals, such as rare earths, will further politicize and intensify the global scramble for resources in developing countries, which is not conducive to the development of these countries, Song said.

A new Gallup report released in April this year shows median approval ratings for the US in Africa slipped from 59 percent in 2022 to 56 percent in 2023. Of the four global powers asked about, the US was the only one not to see its image improve across Africa in 2023. Meanwhile, China's approval in the region rose six percentage points, from 52 percent in 2022 to 58 percent in 2023, two points ahead of the US. 

A series of ASEAN-related meetings and bilateral sideline talks have been held in Vientiane, capital of Laos in recent two days, as foreign ministers from ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region gathered to discuss shared concerns and emphasize unity amid rising global uncertainties. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's busy schedule in Laos, which included discussions on China-ASEAN relations, regional development and major global issues, demonstrated that despite geopolitical tensions and competition among major countries, dialogue and cooperation with an open China remain attractive to other nations.

As instability grows globally and interference from external countries intensifies, especially on the South China Sea issue, ASEAN countries are placing greater emphasis on regional unity and prioritizing cooperation with China and other major countries, rather than being drawn into small cliques that could undermine regional collaboration, analysts said.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, attended the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference with China, together with the ASEAN foreign ministers or their representatives and Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr. Kao Kim Hourn on Friday in Vientiane. 

During the meeting, Wang outlined the fruitful achievements made between China and ASEAN in various aspects from trade and investment to people-to-people exchanges and energy cooperation. For instance, China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, while ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner for four years straight, with bilateral trade growing 10.5 percent year-on-year in the first half year of 2024. 

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and related events were held against the backdrop of sluggish global economic growth and protracted geopolitical conflicts. All parties hope to turn this region into a driving force for global economic development and to activate new momentum for international cooperation, Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. 

ASEAN is a priority direction and key region for the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and it is also one of the first regions to benefit from China's efforts to advance high-level opening-up, Xu said.

The expert noted that Wang's visit to Laos, which is also his first overseas visit after the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, as well as his extensive exchanges with ASEAN foreign ministers, will promote the implementation of reform measures proposed by the session and further deepen China-ASEAN cooperation. 

Growing challenges

The 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting started in Vientiane on Thursday, followed by meetings with East Asian countries and other global players, including Russia, the US, and the EU. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, from Thursday to Friday, Wang Yi held bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, the UK and Norway on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related meetings.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday that Wang will also meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Laos at the latter's request. Although Mao did not provide specific information on the time and other details of the meeting, she said that it is believed Wang and Blinken will exchange views on issues of mutual concern.

According to Xu, the ASEAN-related meeting and sideline talks have become a crucial platform for China to engage in bilateral diplomacy and participate in multilateral cooperation. Over the years, China has consistently prioritized its neighboring regions in its diplomatic strategy, actively articulating its perspectives on the international stage and expanding its global influence.

Some analysts noted that China's stance on settling disputes through dialogue was clearly demonstrated in Wang's interactions with other countries' diplomats during the sideline talks, aligning with ASEAN's common aspirations.

For example, Wang met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Vientiane on Thursday, and the two sides agreed to jointly commit to maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas and promote new progress in border affairs consultations.

Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, said that the latest remarks of the Chinese and Indian top diplomats on the border issue underscore both countries' commitment to resolving border disputes through diplomatic channels and dialogues, despite existing divergences. Such efforts to prevent differences from escalating into conflicts is particularly important given the current international context. 

The current global instability makes peace in Asia, especially Southeast Asia, particularly valuable. Most ASEAN countries cherish their hard-earned peace and wish to avoid conflicts like those in Europe, Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute of Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times.

Foreign ministers of China and majority regional countries have emphasized the importance of peaceful dispute resolution, agreeing that war would disrupt the region's economy. Many also expressed a strong desire to prevent the escalation of the South China Sea situation through dialogue and cooperation, aiming to maintain regional peace and stability, Gu said. 

However, analysts noted that efforts by China and most ASEAN members to resolve South China Sea issues through dialogue, as well as ASEAN's efforts to strengthen unity, have faced provocations from external interference. For example, the US and some of its allies have intensified attempts to draw ASEAN countries into their small cliques and back the Philippines in its provocations over South China Sea issues, raising concerns in the region.

Most Southeast Asian countries have expressed a strong willingness to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, which will positively influence the current tense situation to some extent, said Liu Chang, a research fellow from China Institute of International Studies. 

Liu said that US Secretary of State Blinken's meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers and visit to Southeast Asia are unlikely to yield significant results. "Until the dust settles on the US presidential election, Southeast Asian countries are expected to be more cautious in their cooperation with the US."

ASEAN will continue to emphasize its collective stance, adhering to its existing foreign policy and avoiding taking sides in major power rivalries. This reflects ASEAN's determination to uphold regional peace and stability while remaining vigilant against potential instability from major power conflicts, said observers. 

A total of 754 million domestic passenger trips were made in China in the first seven days of the 8-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival  holidays, a year-on-year increase of 78.9%. Holiday tourism generated 668.1 billion yuan ($92.80 billion), up 132.6% year-on-year, official data showed on Friday.

The second phase of a high-definition deep-space active observation facility, China Fuyan, which is dubbed as the world's most far-reaching radar system, kicked off in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, the Global Times learned from the project lead Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) on Tuesday. 

The second phase of the project, codenamed China Fuyan [faceted eye], will involve building 25 radars with a 30-meter aperture, so as to realize the detection and imaging of asteroids over 10 million kilometers away, which will provide strong support for China's near-Earth asteroid impact defense and planetary science research.

Construction of phase II, which will cover an area of over 300 mu (20 hectares), is expected to be completed by 2025. It will be a new research and development phase for the project, Long Teng, president of BIT and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in a statement sent to the Global Times. 

China Fuyan will consist of distributed radars with more than 20 antennas, and each antenna will have a diameter of 25 to 30 meters. It is expected to become the world's most far-reaching radar system capable of carrying out high-definition observation of asteroids within 150 million kilometers. 

Long said that because the system has multiple antennas, like the faceted eyes of an insect, it was given the vivid name of China Fuyan.

Through high-resolution observation of asteroids, spacecraft, the moon, Earth-like planets and Jupiter Galileo satellites and other deep-space targets, China Fuyan will meet the need for the defense of near-Earth asteroids and situational awareness of space. It will provide key support for the study of habitability of the Earth, planet formation and other frontier scientific research.

The project has three stages of construction. The first stage was completed in December 2022 in Chongqing, consisting of four radars with a 16-meter aperture. It successfully captured the country's first ground-based three-dimensional radar image of lunar craters. 

After the completion of the second phase, the third phase of the project will expand the number of radar units to over 100, the Global Times learned. 

Unlike the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope nicknamed Tianyan, which is designed to collect passive observations of radio signals from space, Fuyan will be actively shooting radio signals to celestial bodies in order to obtain new observations, experts noted.

This will be very helpful for China's lunar exploration, as it is capable of monitoring Chinese spacecraft' journey to the moon, they said.

After 276 days in orbit, China's reusable experimental spacecraft landed at its planned site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province on Monday, and Chinese space watchers said it was a milestone in China's efforts to develop a fully reusable space transportation system.

The success is an important breakthrough in China's research on reusable spacecraft technologies, which will provide more convenient and affordable round trips for the peaceful use of space, the Xinhua News Agency said on Monday.

China launched a reusable experimental spacecraft using its Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on August 5, 2022, to test reusable technologies and in-orbit service technologies to support the peaceful use of space, Xinhua previously reported. 

China tested the reusable experimental spacecraft in September 2020, and the spacecraft returned to the planned landing site after two days in orbit. The spacecraft was also launched with a Long March-2F carrier rocket.

Chinese authorities have disclosed few details about the craft's technology. So far, no images of the spacecraft or footage of its launch or landing have been disclosed.

Many space lovers compared it to the US Air Force's X-37B, an autonomous Boeing space plane that can remain in orbit for long periods before returning to Earth on its own, saying that the technology used in the experiment is "too advanced to show" on social media. 

The reusable spacecraft's technology has evidently matured, considering how much longer it can stay in orbit, Chinese space watchers noted on Sunday. 

Song Zhongping, a space expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Monday that the reusability of such spacecraft would drastically reduce costs. More importantly, the longer orbiting time means that the spacecraft can perform more complicated missions such as changing trajectory in near-Earth orbit and sending various payloads into orbit. 

Judging from the rocket used in the launch, the Long March-2F carrier rocket - which is one of China's most advanced and reliable rockets for manned space flights - the reusable spacecraft may be used in future manned missions, said another space observer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Given the payload launching capability of the Long March-2F, the spacecraft could weigh around 8 tons, which is very similar to the launch mass for the X-37B at around 5 tons, so that speculation about their similarity is not groundless, the observer said.

The latest test of the reusable spacecraft was the longest, most complicated, and most challenging so far. The record of 276 days in orbit even beat the first mission of the US' X-37B in 2010, which remained in orbit for 224 days, Huang Zhicheng, a space industry expert, told the Global Times on Monday. 

At the China Space Conference opening event to mark the April 24 Space of China this year in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province, Wang Wei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the research and development department of the state-owned aerospace giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, listed the 10 major scientific and technology problems for the 2023 space development.

Among them is the health monitoring of the power system for the reusable vehicle and an assessment of its service life.

Huang said that one of the many advantages of the reusable spacecraft is that it can land horizontally, which is more comfortable and safer for the crew. Once it's mature, such technology could be applied to suborbital or space tourism, and even super fast point-to-point transportation for people or cargo on Earth.

The US often hypes and smears China's technology breakthroughs as militarization because it sees all breakthroughs by non-Western countries as a threat. This is meant to maintain a technology monopoly, which is unfair to other countries and serves US hegemony, Chinese experts said.

The high-altitude pressurized liable building independently developed and built by China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co. Ltd, China's first "zero-altitude astronomical observation station," held a handover ceremony in the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and was officially delivered for demonstration application, authorities confirmed recently.

"Zero-altitude building" refers to the use of pressurization and other technologies to adjust the indoor key human settlement environment indicators to the low altitude level in the plain area, so that the human body feels more comfortable. When used, the altitude inside the building can be set according to the needs of personnel and reduce the impact of altitude sickness.

The observatory is located near Muztagh Ata, the third highest peak of the West Kunlun Mountains in Akto county. It sits at an altitude of 4,526 meters, with a total construction area of approximately 150 square meters, capable of supporting scientific research, residential, and office functions.

The observation station is a scientific research pressurized building specially designed for plateau astronomical work in response to the needs of its cooperative organization, Beijing Normal University. It can increase the overall atmospheric pressure inside the building to one standard atmospheric pressure while solving the problems of low pressure and oxygen deficiency in the plateau.

The facility provides a comfortable and healthy environment for astronomers to work and live in high-altitude areas, lowering the risk of physiological damage caused by the plateau's extreme environment.

It is expected to support a new phase of rapid development in China's astronomical scientific research work, according to media reports.

China saw a fourfold surge of monkeypox cases in July compared to the previous month, but experts reached by the Global Times noted on Friday noted that China's home-developed vaccine will soon enter the clinical trial stage. 

They also said that although in most cases people heal on their own, newborns, children, pregnant women and people with immunodeficiency may have a higher risk of developing severe or even fatal conditions. 

Due to the mild symptoms caused by the monkeypox virus and the lack of large-scale global outbreaks, research into monkeypox vaccines has been relatively limited worldwide, the experts explained.

Meanwhile, as monkeypox and smallpox viruses have extensive serological cross-reactivity, the existing vaccines used for monkeypox prevention are all smallpox vaccines. 

Retrospective studies conducted by the World Health Organization have shown that smallpox vaccine administration has an efficacy of 85 percent in preventing monkeypox. Currently, there are three smallpox vaccines approved for monkeypox prevention in Europe, the US, and Japan, Su Jinfeng, a senior biomedical engineer, told the Global Times. 

Su called for accelerated development of new vaccines to protect those at greater risk and to prevent potential outbreaks. However, the expert admitted that the development of vaccines faces several challenges due to the limited number of monkeypox cases in the country and the dispersed population, which makes it difficult to conduct large-scale clinical trials to assess a vaccine's efficacy. 

"Currently, the US, Japan and European countries have considered this type of vaccine as a reserve drug. China should also accelerate the development of a new smallpox/monkeypox vaccine, not only to prevent the spread of monkeypox outbreaks but also to protect national security and public health from threats of smallpox virus being used as a bioweapon," a vaccine expert who preferred not to be named told the Global Times. 

Given the large genome and complex structure of the monkeypox virus, as well as limited understanding of protective antigens, the development of a protective antigen-based vaccine is challenging, the expert said. Therefore, a better strategy would be to use attenuated live vaccine technology, building upon the existing smallpox vaccine, to develop a safer vaccine in human cells.

As of April 2023, preclinical research on monkeypox vaccines has been conducted primarily by the US and China, said Su. Previous reports have indicated that a total of 14 clinical studies on monkeypox vaccines have been conducted globally.

Currently, three types of vaccine have been approved for the prevention of monkeypox, from Denmark, the US, and Japan. 

Research institutions in China have already started developing monkeypox vaccines, mainly focusing on replication-defective monkeypox attenuated live vaccines and monkeypox mRNA vaccines.

In July, the replication-deficient monkeypox vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (Sinopharm) has passed the clinical trial application with the National Medical Products Administration, making it the earliest domestically developed monkeypox vaccine to enter the clinical research stage in China.

The Chinese mainland has reported 491 new monkeypox cases across 23 provincial-level regions, the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Wednesday, increasing over fourfold compared to last month. 

According to epidemiological reviews, all cases are male with 96.3 percent of them identified as men who had sex with other men, and the risk of transmission through other contact methods is low.

The majority of cases exhibited typical clinical symptoms including fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes, with no severe or fatal cases.

John Lee Ka-chiu, chief executive (CE) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), listened to public concerns and suggestions from hundreds of people on Sunday during a district forum for the upcoming policy address in October, which is expected to include some new measures to attract talents and boost tourism. 

The two-session forum, held in Aldrich Bay Government Primary School and lasting two hours, was attended by about 120 people from all walks of life. During the forum, community members voiced their opinions on topics including land and housing, transport, innovation and technology, finance, culture and sports, education, youth, poverty alleviation, healthcare and social welfare, according to the website of the HKSAR government.

In the second session, participants were divided into four groups with the goal of engaging in extensive discussions with principal officials on themes that include boosting the economy and people's livelihoods. Lee interacted with those participating in each group in turn. 

Lee delivered his first policy address at the Legislative Council in October 2022, rolling out a series of measures in regard to attracting global talents, enhancing the city's competitiveness as an international financial hub, and further integrating into the country's overall development plan.

The CE said the public generally agreed to the governance policy in the 2022 Policy Address, and he hopes to listen to more public views and consolidate the objectives and implementation of different policies, so as to deepen and broaden policies as well as identify priorities.

The 2023 Policy Address is scheduled to be delivered on October 25, and the HKSAR government will conduct more than 30 consultation sessions to listen to views and suggestions of Legislative Council members, representatives of various sectors and members of the public.

Following the uncertainties in the global economy, Hong Kong society now expects the HKSAR government to formulate and implement policies to foster the local economy and business sustainability, some observers said. 

Lau Siu-kai, a member of the Chief Executive Policy Unit Expert Group, told the Global Times on Sunday that the HKSAR government should implement the important policies proposed in last year's policy address and deliver tangible results as soon as possible, so as to boost public confidence in the government and Hong Kong. "There's no need to force new policies every year," he said. 

"Many of the important policies proposed in last year's policy address have crossed the five-year term. The HKSAR government has been facing the financial pressure and grim external situation, so it should cherish and make good use of resources," Lau said. 

"We have too much experience in tolerating the poor standard of civil services. Several departments have not done their roles properly. Patients have to queue up for a year just for a five-minute medical consultation in public hospitals. Somehow the public housing resources are wrongly allocated to those with their assets hidden outside the jurisdiction," Chu Kar-kin, a Hong Kong-based veteran current affairs commentator who has been following the forum, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Also, talents are attracted to the city, but jobs are not secure and careers are not promising. Taxpayers are paying for services or resources they cannot enjoy, Chu said. 

"Property prices and rents have rocketed for a decade and is in an adjustment stage. The government should allocate more resources to invest in our future such as education and welfare for the elderly. The government should also foster the cultivation of the technology and creative sector," he said.

During the forum, Lee said that "it is necessary to look at the different needs of the public in their daily lives and understand the living conditions of various community sectors when formulating policies," so as to respond proactively to the people's aspirations, local media The Standard reported. 

In order to prevent any impact caused by Japan's dumping of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, more countries, especially those in the Asia-Pacific like China, Thailand and Russia, are taking actions, including strengthened testing of aquatic products imported from Japan, while more people and organizations from South Korea and the Pacific Island countries are voicing their opposition and concern over Tokyo's decision.

Although the US said it is "satisfied" with Japan's act, which has caused fury and concern worldwide, the US is in fact the country that has seen the greatest reduction in imports of Japanese seafood and rice wine, media reported, citing data published by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Experts said this has exposed the hypocrisy of Washington to trade permission for Japan's dumping for Tokyo's loyalty to serve its geopolitical strategy, and that the administration of US President Joe Biden cares less about the safety and environmental protection that seriously matters to the US people. The US priority is geopolitics and US hegemony, as its poor handling of the Hawaii wildfires and hypocritical response to Japan's nuclear-contaminated water dumping plan are hard evidence of this.

The Japanese government said on Saturday that "no detectable amount of tritium was found in the first fish samples taken in waters near the Fukushima nuclear plant." The fish samples, "a gurnard and olive flounder," were collected Friday within five kilometers of the dumping outlet of the Fukushima Daiichi complex, the Fisheries Agency of Japan said on its website.

This information release just caused more suspicion among the public, as many netizens on Chinese social media networks asked "why the Japanese government only took two fish to sample." They doubted the credibility of the detection and research results that are provided by the Japanese government.

According to South Korean media Hankyoreh on Friday, South Korean experts on nuclear energy are concerned that after public attention toward the dumping declines, the Japanese government will dump the nuclear-contaminated wastewater more recklessly, as Japan has consistently denied South Korea and other relevant countries' requests to directly collect samples.

More countries take actions

After Japan started dumping nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea on Thursday, more and more Asia-Pacific countries have taken actions in response. Apart from China's decision to suspend imports of all aquatic products from Japan, Thailand and Russia vowed to tighten control and strengthen testing of aquatic product imports from Japan.

The Food and Drug Administration of Thailand said if the seafood imported from Japan exceeds the standard of radiation and other relevant indexes, the country is ready to order a recall and suspend imports, according to Thai media PPTV.

According to Singapore media zaobao.com, as Thailand is located in the area with high risks caused by Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated water, the Thai governmental departments of fisheries, food and drug administration, nuclear energy and other relevant agencies have had an emergency meeting, where they decided to strengthen supervision measures. Thai officials said that Thai customs and relevant departments that conduct inspections of imported seafood are being prepared.

Russia's quarantine agency has tightened quality control of seafood imported from Japan after the dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater started, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

In a news release issued on Thursday, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision of Russia said that "Russia shares the concerns of many countries regarding the impact of nuclear-contaminated wastewater discharge on food safety, thus the agency introduces a regime of enhanced control on radiological parameters of fish and seafood imported from Japan."

"If an excess of radioactive material is detected, restrictive measures will be taken in relation to the supply of such goods from Japan," the Russian agency said.

Analysts said the Japanese government has put in a lot of resources to buy "support" or "understanding" from other countries and regions, as it understands that some countries are concerned or opposed to Japan's irresponsible decision, especially countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific. However, even if some countries did not express open oppositions, they are taking serious actions to handle the impacts.

Rising concerns

In some other countries, concern and opposition against Japan's actions have increased, despite their governments remaining silent or exhibiting tolerance toward Tokyo.

In the Pacific Island Country of Fiji, the Suva Fish Market Association came out strongly on Thursday and stated that it does not agree with the dumping of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, and they are also concerned over the Fijian government's attitude that "the discharged water is safe," according to Fiji media fijivillage.com.

Samu Maraiwai, president of the association, said the nuclear-contaminated wastewater to be dumped into the Pacific Ocean poses "a risk of massive destruction to our marine ecosystem and our source of livelihood." Maraiwai said the nuclear-contaminated waste will be toxic to a certain level and it will affect the marine ecosystem including fish, seaweeds, corals and other sources of livelihood.

According to South Korean media Yonhap News, about 50,000 people rallied in Seoul on Saturday to "protest Japan's release of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant," with the participation of some 90 civic groups which have formed a coalition to protest the dumping of nuclear-contaminated water and members of four opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party (DP).

Occupying four traffic lanes, the protesters chanted slogans and held up signs reading, "Retract disposal of Fukushima contaminated water," and "Denounce the Yoon Suk Yeol administration."

"Japan has crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed," DP leader Lee Jae-myung said from a platform installed for the rally. "Discharging nuclear contaminated water is a declaration of war against nations bordering the Pacific Ocean.

"Japan should apologize to the Republic of Korea, which is its nearest country and is suffering the most damage," he noted. Lee also accused South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol of justifying and supporting the water dumping when Japan was hesitant out of concern about its neighbors.

US hypocrisy

Defying mounting oppositions and contrary to its self-styled image as a global leader in environmental protection, the US Department of State endorsed Tokyo's controversial dumping of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, saying the US is "satisfied with Japan's safe, transparent, and science-based process."

Endorsing Japan's selfish and irresponsible practice that harms the global environment and the health of human beings in the planet, the US has trampled on its own image as a leader in global environmental protection, exposing its selfishness and hypocrisy of prioritizing its geopolitical interests above the long-term well-being of people around the world, experts said.

As the US publicly backs the Japanese government's plan to dump nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, media reports quoting data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan revealed that the US was making the biggest moves in decreasing imports of agricultural and aquatic products from Japan in the first half of 2023.

Data showed that the US is the country that reduced imports of Japanese agriculture, forestry and fishery products the most in the first half of the year, with imports down by 8.3 billion yen ($57 million). The main production areas of the three kinds of products are all in areas affected by the dumping of nuclear-contaminated water, according to media reports.

Though well aware of the risks brought about by the nuclear-contaminated water to surrounding oceans and the entire global environment, the US has succumbed to its political interests and is going against its image as a leader of environmental protection activism, Lü Chao, an expert on Korean Peninsula issues at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Saturday.

"It is laughable to see the hypocrisy and double standards held by the US by covering up Japan's extremely selfish and irresponsible wrongdoing," Lü said.

"Acts and deeds from the US show that it purely considers Japan's act of harming the global environment and human beings of all countries from a geopolitical perspective. The US's real intention is to tie Japan to its chariot of geopolitical games," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Saturday.

Without the indulgence of the US, the Japanese decision to dump nuclear- contaminated water would not have been so arbitrary. Japan opened a Pandora's box on Thursday with the strong backing of the US, allowing crisis to plague other countries and the international community, Li noted.

Neandertals hung out in what’s now northern Spain around 430,000 years ago, an analysis of ancient DNA suggests. That’s an earlier Neandertal presence in Europe, by at least 30,000 years, than many researchers had assumed.

Fragments of nuclear DNA from a tooth and partial leg bone discovered at Sima de los Huesos, a chamber deep inside a Spanish cave, resemble corresponding parts of a previously reassembled Neandertal genome, researchers say in a study published online March 14 in Nature.
Not much nuclear DNA survives in such ancient fossils, say paleogeneticist Matthias Meyer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and his colleagues. Meyer’s group recovered DNA fragments covering a fraction of 1 percent of the newly recovered Neandertal tooth and leg genomes. Just enough DNA remained to enable comparisons with DNA of a Neandertal woman (SN: 1/25/14, p. 17) and a Denisovan woman (SN: 9/22/12, p. 5). Denisovans are considered close genetic cousins of Neandertals.

The early age for the new genetic finds challenges the idea that fossils from Sima de los Huesos, or pit of bones, come from a species called Homo heidelbergensis. Some researchers have suspected that by around 400,000 years ago, H. heidelbergensis gave rise to evolutionary precursors of both Neandertals and Homo sapiens.
An ancient genetic puzzle has also emerged at Sima de los Huesos. On one hand, nuclear DNA — which passes from both parents to their children — pegs the Spanish hominids as Neandertals. But mitochondrial DNA — typically inherited only from the mother — already extracted from one Sima de los Huesos fossil (SN: 12/28/13, p. 8) and described for a second fossil in the new study has more in common with Denisovans.

Denisovans lived in East Asia at least 44,000 years ago, but their evolutionary history is unknown.

If early Neandertals lived in northern Spain roughly 430,000 years ago, “we have to go back further in time to reach the common ancestor of Neandertals and Denisovans,” Meyer says.
The new genetic data from Sima de los Huesos now suggest that Denisovans split from Neandertals perhaps 450,000 years ago, says paleoanthropologist Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London. Genetic and fossil evidence point to Neandertals and H. sapiens diverging from a common ancestor around 650,000 years ago, he proposes.

But it’s hard to say whether that common ancestor was H. heidelbergensis, Stringer adds. “Research must refocus on fossils from 400,000 to 800,000 years ago to determine which ones might lie on ancestral lineages of Neandertals, Denisovans and modern humans.”

Hominids throughout Eurasia during that time may have shared a mitochondrial DNA pattern observed in Sima de los Huesos Neandertals and Asian Denisovans, Meyer suggests. If that was the case, Neandertals acquired a new form of mitochondrial DNA by interbreeding with modern humans or their direct ancestors from Africa sometime between 430,000 and 100,000 years ago (SN: 3/19/16, p. 6).

Another possibility is that Neandertals traveled to Europe from Asia more than 430,000 years ago, carrying Denisovan mitochondrial DNA with them, says paleogeneticist Carles Lalueza-Fox of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona. Or hybrid descendants of early Neandertals and early Denisovans may have lived at Sima de los Huesos, carrying Denisovan mitochondrial DNA, he speculates.

“We really need more genetic data from Sima de los Huesos, and other sites of that age, to narrow down these scenarios,” Meyer says.