At the beginning of this year, the China Coast Guard (CCG) released a video for its training mobilization for 2025. In addition to various types of CCG vessels, the patrol aircraft and shipborne helicopters featured prominently. Zhang Jianming, head of the law enforcement department of the CCG, said that the CCG has developed initial capabilities for coordinated ship-aircraft law enforcement and remote joint operations, during an interview event on maritime law enforcement held by the CCG on Sunday.
In 2024, the CCG dispatched patrol aircraft and shipborne helicopters to conduct law enforcement operations in waters surrounding the Xisha Qundao and Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea, Zhang revealed.
"China's Coast Guard Law authorizes the CCG to conduct law enforcement activities to protect rights in the maritime areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China and in the airspace above them," Zhang said. In recent years, the CCG has enhanced its aviation law enforcement capabilities, focusing on low-altitude patrols, personnel deployment, and ship-aircraft joint operations, said Zhang.
"Currently, the CCG has established initial capabilities for ship-aircraft coordination and remote joint enforcement. This capability has been widely practiced across various levels of the CCG, and the new model has greatly improved the CCG's enforcement efficiency and effectiveness" said Zhang.
Zhang said that in 2024, the CCG for the first time deployed helicopter with CCG vessel formation to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans for fisheries law enforcement in international waters. They also sent patrol aircraft and shipborne helicopters to conduct law enforcement in territorial and adjacent waters near the Xisha Qundao and Huangyan Dao. So far, this patrol model has proven to be very effective, significantly enhancing the overall law enforcement capabilities of the CCG, Zhang noted.
The CCG will continue to strengthen the capabilities of its diverse law enforcement teams, particularly by refining its aerial and maritime coordination model, thereby increasing the CCG's ability to safeguard national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, and actively engage in international maritime governance, Zhang said.
In response to an inquiry regarding reports that the Philippines said it filed a diplomatic protest against China's "continued illegal presence and activities" within Manila's "exclusive economic zone" in the South China Sea, which came after the Philippines said a large Coast Guard vessel, the China Coast Guard (CCG) 5901, returned to the area, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that China's sovereignty and rights in the South China Sea were established in the long course of history. They are solidly grounded in history and the law, and are consistent with international law and practices, Guo said.
CCG's patrols and law enforcement activities in relevant waters are lawful, justified and beyond reproach. China calls on the Philippines to stop the malicious accusations, said Guo.
The Philippines' continuous hyping about the CCG vessel in its so-called "exclusive economic zone" reflects its longstanding distorted position, which is actually untenable from a legal standpoint, Li Kaisheng, vice president of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.
The Philippines' smearing campaign thoroughly exposes the psychological impact of a few Philippine politicians who have been deterred by the patrol and law enforcement of CCG vessels, said Yang Xiao, deputy director of Institute of Maritime Strategy Studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
According to Reuters, Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's office said US President Joe Biden also commended the Philippine leader for his diplomatic response "to China's activities in the South China Sea", during a call among Japan, the Philippines and the US.
Yang said that even in the final week of his term, Biden continued to lend support to Marcos Jr., laying bare the collusion between Biden administration and Manila.
The Philippines also hopes to maintain the tension in the South China Sea in order to continue binding the US government's policies, expecting the US to continue supporting the Philippines' stance and even provocative actions in the South China Sea, Li said.
However, the policies of the US government, especially its foreign policy, are in large part tied to the personal stance of the president, according to Li. "With the Biden administration now coming to the end of its term, Marcos Jr. may not achieve what he had desired."
Large models, robots, intelligent manufacturing, autonomous driving… In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has made headlines around the world.
In real life, AI has permeated all aspects of human society, helping with scientific research in laboratories, assisting in the restoration of mysterious ancient scrolls at archaeological sites, and helping to find abducted children in the vast sea of humanity. The development of technology has also brought challenges in various aspects such as in ethics and law. Many experts advocate that humans should see technology as a tool created for the ultimate purpose of serving humanity, making life and work more efficient and comfortable.
In light of this, the Global Times has launched the "AI empowers industry and improves people's livelihoods" series, showcasing the tremendous energy and broad prospects that AI brings across every aspect of society.
This is the sixth installment in this series. It focuses on the integration of AI technologies into the silver economy. It demonstrates what a vital role robots and other intelligent products can play in facilitating the lives of senior citizens given the increasingly aging population."Hi, robot, play a Peking opera piece for me!"
"Hi, robot, do you remember where I put my key?"
"Hi, robot, call my daughter."
"Hi, robot…"
Whenever you want something, you can just call your nursing robot. Would you like to live a later life like this when you get old?
No matter what your answer is, such a scenario is happening in the daily lives of more and more Chinese senior citizens as AI technologies are rapidly integrated into the eldercare industry in China.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, 297 million Chinese people were 60 and above as of 2023, accounting for 21.1 percent of the total population. Projections estimate that by about 2035, the number of people aged 60 and above in China will exceed 400 million, accounting for more than 30 percent of the total population.
Meanwhile, according to the National Health Commission, the majority of senior citizens in China live in home- and community-based care, forming a pattern known as "9073." This means that about 90 percent of senior citizens are cared for at home, around 7 percent rely on community support for their care, and 3 percent reside in institutional care facilities.
Faced with the contradiction of growing pressure along with an aging society and the deep-rooted in-home care tradition for senior citizens, China's current silver generation chooses to embrace technologies for a wonderful and independent later life.
Chinese governments at different levels have also stressed the importance of technologies in the deepening of its eldercare service reform. According to new guidelines to streamline eldercare service reforms by the Chinese State Council, national key sci-tech projects to promote the development of humanoid robots, brain-computer interfaces (BCI), and AI technologies for eldercare, Xinhua reported on January 7.
Accelerated efforts
Senior care robots are familiar products in many countries facing increasingly aging populations. In Japan, for example, robots have been rolled out in nursing homes, offices, and schools as the country's population ages and its workforce shrinks.
Many places in China have been accelerating their efforts to explore the integration of AI with eldercare.
In a draft plan (2025-2027) to cultivate the humanoid robot industry in Beijing that was open to public opinion between January 6 and 10, the Beijing municipality government stresses the deployment of robots in caregiving roles such as emotional companionship, health monitoring, and intelligent household services.
In practice, Beijing is promoting intelligence upgrade in care services for the elderly group in communities and nursing houses. In some communities in Haidian District, community committees are helping senior citizens who live alone, especially those who have difficulty in moving around, by installing an AI robot called Xiao Lian in their homes, according to the Beijing Daily.
Equipped with more than 100 eldercare service programs and a base of 200,000 in eldercare knowledge, Xiao Lian can meet the basic quotidian needs of seniors, such as emergency assistance, nursing, shopping, transportation, maintenance, and bill payment, not to mention basic functions like delivering news reports, playing music, and suggesting comedies, according to the report.
Due to the upgrades of the large models in recent years, care robots now possess stronger language learning, understanding, and generative capacities. They can engage in more natural and fluent communication based on the senior citizen's different interests, hobbies, and personality traits. For these robots, every conversation with the senior citizens is a training opportunity, helping them to continuously optimize service quality and provide a more heartfelt emotional companionship for seniors.
In an eldercare home in the Hedong district, North China's Municipality of Tianjin, a special employee, an AI robot called Xiao Bao, chats with and tells jokes to senior citizens at the facility.
"Xiao Bao is so intelligent! It's so much fun chatting with it," one senior living at the facility was quoted as saying in an introduction for the local construction of intelligent eldercare services by the Hedong district government released in December 2024.
"She can remember everything I have said. I really enjoy chatting with her. Usually, my children are busy with work, and I often feel lonely at home; now it accompanies me like a real person, making life much more interesting," Wang Jie in Zhengzhou, North China's Hebei Province, told People's Daily when commenting on her robot Yun Yun. More supportive products
Overall, China's smart eldercare industry is still in its infancy. It entered a vigorous promotional phase in 2021 after the release of an action plan for the development of the smart health and elderly care industry (2021-2025), Hong Yinglan, president of the Guangdong Aging Industry Association, told the Global Times.
With expanding demand and the development of AI technologies and robotics, China's eldercare robot industry has accelerated its growth in recent years. Hong expects the market size for eldercare robots to continue to rise, probably reaching $13.2 billion by 2029.
Specifically, the industry may see a significant increase in 2025 as a result of the empowerment of comprehensive policies following the 2021 action plan. On the other hand, people born during the second baby boom in China starting in 1962 are entering their old age. With advanced awareness of retirement and stronger consumption abilities, these people will bring about new opportunities for the industry, Hong explained.
As the market scale continues to expand and relevant technologies are continually upgraded, the application scenarios for eldercare robots will also continue to broaden from simple companionship and caregiving functions to diversified applications such as health monitoring, rehabilitation training, and psychological intervention, covering all aspects of senior citizens' lives, and becoming an indispensable part of their daily existence, especially for those with medical conditions or living with disabilities.
According to a report by China Central Television, in October 2024, there were approximately 45 million senior citizens living with disabilities or dementia in China, while there were only 500,000 certified eldercare professionals. According to the national standard ratio of eldercare professionals to senior citizens, which is 1:4, the gap for caregiving talent exceeds 10 million.
The Global Times searched eldercare robot products on China's leading online shopping website Taobao, with various products popping out including feeding robots, cleaning robots, and robots that aid paralytic seniors to walk and use the restroom. The prices of these products ranges from 1,000 yuan ($136) to 40,000 yuan.
Various smart eldercare products are also continuously being launched to enrich the smart life of seniors, such as smart beds for paralyzed seniors, smart watches, and smart smoke detectors.
The Global Times learned that exoskeletons are also being widely used by elderly people for walking assistance and rehabilitation training for the elderly, providing them with greater convenience and safety in their daily lives.
For example, an exoskeleton developed by Guangzhou Shipeng Technology Co, LTD combines with an ergonomic design, aligns well with human movement and is equipped with advanced sensors, control systems, and AI algorithms. By continuously learning and optimizing its algorithms, the exoskeleton can better adapt to the needs of different users and adjust training programs. This personalized training approach allows each user to experience walking training that is most suitable for them, the Global Times learned from the company.
Improvements needed
In a previous interview with the Global Times, Zhang Rui, founder and executive director of Beijing Ironman Technology, said that the ultimate dream of global humanoid robot developers is to let humanoid robots be integrated into people's daily lives and serve every family.
But it won't be easy to realize the goal due to the complex environment in families, raising high requirements for robots, according to Zhang.
In terms of the development of the smart eldercare industry in China, despite the breakthroughs in recent years driven by supportive policies and developing technologies, there is still significant room for growth in standard formulation, technology research and development, support services, and talent development, according to Hong.
From the perspective of techniques, the main challenge at present is the need to improve their perception and interaction capabilities. In complex home environments, accurately identifying the intentions, emotions, and actions of the seniors is quite difficult, Hong said.
The high cost is another challenge faced by elderly care robots. Currently, the price of patrol robots used in the eldercare field is around 100,000 yuan; AI interactive robots can be priced below 100,000 yuan; while logistics and delivery robots are relatively cheaper, ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 yuan. Additionally, the costs associated with robot maintenance, upkeep, and software upgrades also raise concerns among consumers, she noted.
According to the guidelines of the State Council, an elderly care service network will be basically completed in China by 2029, with enhanced service capabilities, expanded capacity, improved quality, and efficiency. By 2035, the network will be more complete, and service supply and demand will be more coordinated with all in China being able to enjoy basic eldercare service, and an eldercare service system suitable for China's national conditions will have been finalized.
To seize these development opportunities along with the country's deepening reform in eldercare industry, in the future, smart eldercare enterprises need to significantly reduce costs, while on the other hand, they must focus on the overarching direction of integrating medical care with eldercare to ensure seniors can receive necessary medical care services at home or communities, or in eldercare facilities, according to Hong.
When asked to comment on the arrest of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Guo Jiakun, Chinese FM spokesperson, said "We don't comment on the ROK's (Republic of Korea) domestic affairs. China and the ROK are important neighbors and cooperation partners. China stands ready to work with the ROK for the sound and steady growth of bilateral relations."
Yoon was arrested at the presidential residence on Wednesday, becoming the country's first sitting president to be kept in custody over his short-lived martial law imposition, media reported.
A joint investigation unit, composed of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), the National Office of Investigation (NOI) and the defense ministry's investigative headquarters, said in a short notice that Yoon was arrested at 10:33 am local time on Wednesday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
According to Yonhap News, Yoon said Wednesday he decided to appear for investigation in order to prevent "bloodshed" between law enforcement and his security team, even though he believes it is an "illegal" investigation.
Yoon issued the statement before heading to the headquarters of the CIO, as the CIO and the police executed a warrant to detain the besieged president over his short-lived imposition of martial law.
"To prevent an unfortunate and violent incident, I decided to appear before the CIO even though I believe the investigation is illegal," Yoon said in a video message recorded at his residence.
Just before dawn on Wednesday, a team of investigators arrived at Yoon's residence, armed with ladders to climb over buses blocking its entrance and bolt croppers to cut through the barbed wire, BBC reported.
Other officers in the arrest team, which numbered around 1,000, scaled walls and hiked up nearby trails to reach the presidential residence. After several hours, authorities announced that Yoon had been arrested.
On Tuesday, a military unit guarding the presidential residence approved the entry of police and CIO officials into the presidential residence, according to Yonhap.
The second attempt to arrest the president, led by the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) for High-ranking Officials, faced virtually no resistance from the Presidential Security Service, according to the CIO officials leading the probe, said the Korea Herald.
Wednesday's raid marked several changes from their first attempt that took place on January 3, in which some 150 investigators and police had to turn back after an over five hour-long standoff with approximately 200 presidential bodyguards and military personnel forming a human barricade to block their entry, said the Korea Herald.
The CIO and police had made sufficient preparations for the second arrest operation, however, Yoon will probably deny all the accusations against him, thus the future judicial investigation into him will face significant difficulties, Xiang Haoyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Yoon also claimed on Wednesday "Martial law is not a crime. Martial law is an exercise of presidential authority to overcome a national crisis," Yoon wrote, posting a photo of his handwritten letter, Korean Times reported.
Uncertainties ahead
The CIO said it began questioning Yoon at its office in Seoul at 11 am Wednesday, but that he has refused to testify.
The anti-corruption body has 48 hours to decide whether to request a court to issue an arrest warrant for Yoon, according to Yonhap.
The interrogation, with over 200 pages of questions prepared, is expected to focus on substantiating key allegations surrounding the failed martial law imposition, ranging from the planning stages leading up to the event to its execution on the day, Yonhap reported.
In a parallel probe, the Constitutional Court on Tuesday launched a trial to rule on parliament's impeachment of Yoon. If the court endorses the impeachment, Yoon will finally lose the presidency and fresh elections will have to be held within 60 days, according to AFP.
Yoon's impeachment trial is currently pending ruling by the Constitutional Court. However, many uncertainties remain due to factors such as the court's trial procedures, the judges' political stances, and the intense political struggle among domestic factions, Dong Xiangrong, a senior research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
A decision of the Constitutional Court requires more than six votes for the impeachment, Dong explained, noting that considering various factors such as the stances of political parties and personal positions of the judges, there is both a possibility that this case could either be rejected or recognized by the Constitutional Court.
Xiang said Yoon's arrest may also further intensify conflicts between different political forces in South Korea, leading this round of political turmoil to new developments, potentially triggering greater instability in the political landscape in South Korea.
Following Yoon's detention, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) vowed to hold the CIO accountable for what it called the "illegal" execution of the detention warrant, echoing Yoon's assertions of its illegality, according to the Korea Times.
However, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said the detention is a significant step toward upholding the rule of law. The DPK is now pressing the ruling party to pass a special counsel bill to investigate the treason charges against Yoon, the Korea Times reported.
South Korea's ruling People Power Party may seek to defend its ruling status by protecting the president, trying to delay judicial investigations into Yoon as long as possible, and postponing the timeline for his stepping down to avoid holding a new presidential election in South Korea too soon, said Xiang.
In the future, the opposition parties are also likely to engage in disputes with the ruling party over topics such as the impeachment trial of Yoon and the scandal involving first lady. These disputes may also provoke division among the public, said Xiang.
A 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri County in Shigatse of Xizang Autonomous Region at 9:05 a.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
The epicenter was monitored at 28.5 degrees north latitude and 87.45 degrees east longitude. The quake struck at a depth of 10 km, said a report issued by the CENC.
The China National Narcotics Control Committee, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration jointly issued a guideline to intensify the crackdown on illegal activities related to drug-laced e-cigarettes amid rising abuse among the country's youth, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.
The move aims to strengthen efforts against drug-laced and prohibited substance-containing e-cigarettes and bolster inter-agency cooperation for a systematic resolution of the issue, the CCTV report said.
Currently, the abuse of "getting high e-cigarettes," which contain new drugs and substitute substances such as etonitazene and synthetic cannabinoids, is rapidly spreading among teenagers, posing severe risks to public health, particularly to young people, according to the report.
The guideline outlines the necessity to clearly define responsibilities across narcotics control offices, public security agencies, and tobacco monopoly departments at all levels in combating related illegal activities and crimes, establish liaison mechanisms, enhance inter-departmental coordination, and foster a unified crackdown.
Measures will target illegal production and sale of e-cigarettes, the addition of drugs and substitute substances in the vaping liquid, the illegal manufacturing of new drugs and substitute substances, the use of drug-laced e-cigarettes, and online activities facilitating such practices.
The guideline emphasizes that public security agencies and tobacco monopoly departments should enhance information sharing and law enforcement collaboration, with a focus on tracking and dismantling dens illegally producing e-cigarettes and drug-laced e-cigarettes. They should enhance early warning and monitoring of substitute substances added to the e-cigarettes and review the situation regularly.
It also stressed that relevant authorities should increase public awareness efforts, utilizing diverse media platforms to educate youth on the dangers of drug-laced e-cigarettes and relevant drug control laws, leverage the expertise of national drug laboratories and their branches and provide technological support for law enforcement efforts.
China on Thursday reported an outbreak of monkeypox virus, specifically the Ib sub-branch, with four associated cases. The outbreak has been effectively controlled.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) announced on Thursday that China has recently discovered a monkeypox virus outbreak, caused by the Ib sub-branch, with the source traced to a foreign individual with a travel history in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following the outbreak, a joint prevention and control mechanism was activated.
Four related cases were identified among close contacts, all of whom were infected after intimate contact. No infections have been found among the general population, and all affected individuals are receiving medical treatment and are under observation. The relevant cases primarily exhibit symptoms such as rashes and herpes, which are relatively mild.
The outbreak has been effectively controlled.
The CDC on Thursday also published a notice on its WeChat account, remind people to avoid close contact with monkeypox patients or individuals showing suspicious symptoms of monkeypox. The center said it is also important not to come into contact with wild or unknown rodents, as well as primates such as monkeys and apes.
The center said individuals from countries (or regions) where monkeypox is prevalent, who have been in contact with monkeypox patients or exhibit symptoms such as fever, rash, or lymphadenopathy, should report their status to customs upon entry into China.
Close contacts of individuals diagnosed with monkeypox should undergo health monitoring for 21 days under the guidance of disease control agencies, warned the center, advising that they should avoid close contact with others during this period and avoid donating blood.
The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) has officially confirmed that a magnitude-4.6 earthquake occurred at 16:43 on Thursday in Jinfeng district of Yinchuan, the capital city of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in Northwest China (latitude 38.41°N, longitude 106.26°E).
After the earthquake in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Earthquake Disaster Relief Headquarters of the State Council and China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) activated an emergency response, dispatching a working group to the affected area to assist with relief efforts, according to CCTV news. Local fire and rescue teams deployed 105 personnel and 20 vehicles to assess conditions near the epicenter. Additionally, 440 personnel, 86 vehicles, and 13 rescue dogs from heavy and light rescue teams are on standby. So far, no casualties have been reported.
This is the second earthquake reported in the same day in Ningxia, with the first one occurring at 10:01 in the morning, located at 38.4 degrees north latitude and 106.22 degrees east longitude, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The public security bureau of Dujiangyan, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, said on Friday that two netizens have been legally transferred for prosecution for widely spreading rumors about giant pandas for profit, inciting netizens to resist international cooperation in giant panda conservation, defaming organizations and slandering relevant experts and professionals, according to a release on its official WeChat account.
According to the release, in March 2024, the local authorities received public reports about netizens who had widely disseminated rumors regarding giant pandas through short videos and livestreaming.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that since June 2023, the two suspects - a 56-year-old woman surnamed Bai from Xianyang, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and a 40-year-old man surnamed Xu from the same region - had repeatedly fabricated and disseminated false information online, alleging that the Giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, that returned to China from the US in November 2023, were being abused.
Bai and Xu had generated over 30,000 yuan ($4,110) in earnings from live broadcasts and raised more than 140,000 yuan from their followers, resulting in a total profit exceeding 170,000 yuan, said the release.
At the same time, they tarnished the reputations of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center, and other organizations, defaming relevant experts and professionals while inciting netizens to oppose international cooperation in giant panda conservation, according to the local authorities.
Under the instigation of Bai and Xu, some individuals engaged in illegal activities frequently harassed several experts in the relevant fields through phone calls, abusive text messages, and offline disturbances. This severely impacted the experts' normal work and lives and significantly disrupted the working order of the relevant organizations, the release said.
The release also said some individuals conducted illegal activities such as repeatedly calling the government service hotline and the emergency hotline to file false complaints and reports, maliciously occupying public resources and severely disrupting the normal operations of emergency assistance by the relevant organizations.
The actions of Bai and Xu are suspected of violating relevant provisions of China's criminal law and they have been legally transferred for prosecution. The case is currently under further investigation, the local police said.
