The PLA Southern Theater Command (STC) naval and air forces conducted a routine patrol in the South China Sea on Saturday and Sunday, said Senior Captain Zhai Shichen, spokesperson for the PLA STC, on Monday.
In an attempt to stir up troubles in the South China Sea, the Philippines co-opted countries outside the region to organize so-called joint patrols, disrupting peace and stability in the region. Forces of the STC will resolutely safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and firmly uphold regional peace and stability, said Zhai.
A video showing a bull charging pedestrians near a metro station entrance in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, circulated online on Sunday, according to footage released by Chinese news outlet the Paper.
The video showed that in the early hours of Sunday, a yellow bull knocked down two pedestrians near the entrance of the Wanjiali Square Station in Changsha before continuing through the area, while several others rushed to get out of its way.
According to the Paper, a staff member at a local police station said on Sunday afternoon that the incident did occur and that the bull had escaped from the nearby seafood and aquatic products market. The animal has since been slaughtered.
The police staff member said that the merchant who owned the bull and the injured pedestrians were negotiating compensation at another police station, according to the report.
The Beijing News reported that the injured were taken to hospital, and follow-up work is currently underway.
A staff member at a police station near the metro station told the Global Times that further details could not be disclosed at this stage and that the local public security bureau would release an official statement later.
As the US approaches its 250th birthday, its "nation of immigrants" label may need to be re-examined. Research shows that in 2025, the US experienced a net migration outflow of approximately 150,000 people - the first "reverse migration" wave since the Great Depression of the 1930s - and this trend is expected to intensify further in 2026 and 2027. Scholars point out that this historic population reversal is rooted in imbalances in the US economic structure and issues with social governance, reflecting profound economic and political restructuring in the country, and signaling a decline in its economic vitality, social cohesion and global appeal.
Migration outflow of about 150,000 people in 2025
On May 9, 41-year-old Jesse Derr and 45-year-old Jess Yeastadt, drove five hours from Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, to the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, California. This couple was not on vacation. They had joined hundreds of other Americans at the second annual Move Abroad Conference organized by the relocation company Expatsi to learn how to move from the US to Mexico, the CNBC reported.
The couple represents potential participants in the US "reverse migration" wave. A report released by the Brookings Institution in January indicates that the net migration outflow for the US in 2025 ranged between 10,000 and 295,000. Analysis by the Wall Street Journal of the relevant data states that the US experienced a net migration outflow of about 150,000 people in 2025, marking the first "reverse migration" phenomenon since the 1930s.
The US government attributes this phenomenon to its policies of strengthening the deportation of illegal immigrants and tightening visa regulations. According to information released by the US Department of Homeland Security in January, nearly 3 million "illegal immigrants" left the US in 2025. However, behind the surface of this population movement seemingly driven by immigration policy, there lies a less-noticed structural reversal: US citizens are leaving their country at an unprecedented rate.
According to the Wall Street Journal, data on residency permits, overseas property purchases and student enrollments from more than 50 countries show that Americans are "voting with their feet." In nearly every one of the EU's 27 member states, the number of Americans arriving to live and work has reached record highs and continues to rise.
Americans' willingness to leave their country is also reflected in applications to renounce US citizenship. According to immigration firms, applications to renounce US citizenship surged 48 percent year-over-year in 2024, and 2025 is likely to exceed that level. A Gallup poll in November 2025 showed that for two consecutive years, about one in five Americans said they would permanently move to another country if given the opportunity.
Violent crime, cost of living and political turmoil
The US has long been viewed by the outside world as a "nation of immigrants," a label widely popularized by former US President John F. Kennedy. In 1958, when he was still a US Senator, Kennedy published the book A Nation of Immigrants. He argued that immigration is the foundation of the US and called for open immigration policies. According to the BBC, the US was founded as a colony, and with the exception of Native Americans, all Americans are immigrants or descendants of immigrants.
However, in 2025, the number of people leaving the US exceeded the number entering the country. In response, the Brookings Institution's analysis states that the US government's restrictive immigration policies and deportation actions played a certain role. Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal, in dozens of interviews, found that Americans moving abroad described their reasons for leaving as an interplay of economic problems, lifestyle preferences and disappointment with the direction of America's development. They mentioned the spread of violent crime, rising living costs and intensifying political turmoil.
Sun Lin, a researcher at the American Studies Center of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times that this historic "population reverse flow" in the US is the result of the interaction of multiple complex factors, including imbalances in economic structure and issues with social governance.
Among these, the increasingly stark wealth gap is a key deciding factor for people leaving the US. Data from the Pew Research Center in 2024 showed that in 1971, 61 percent of Americans lived in middle-class households, but by 2023, the share had fallen to 51 percent.
If economic factors represent chronic erosion, then political reasons constitute a direct and strong push for the US "reverse migration." At the Move Abroad Conference held by Expatsi in May, the company's co-founder, Jen Barnett, conducted a sample survey of 218 attendees. She told the CNBC that the survey showed 89 percent of respondents indicated they wanted to leave the US for political reasons. Derr is one of them. He said that US policies in recent years affecting reproductive rights - such as the Supreme Court's decision to overturn federal constitutional protection for abortion rights - and rulings that weakened the Voting Rights Act are signals that the US is "going backwards." Derr said that their family's moving timeline will depend on the results of the 2026 US midterm elections. If the Democrats win control of both the House and Senate and take action to reverse the destructive decisions made by the current administration, they may change their moving plans.
In addition to domestic dynamics, changes in the global landscape have provided a macro-level backdrop to the net outflow of immigrants from the US. The reshaping of economic structures in a multipolar era has eroded America's unique edge as the premier destination for global talent and capital. The rise and development of Global South nations, along with more attractive talent policies and more robust social welfare systems in developed countries such as Canada and Australia, have created a diversion effect, drawing migrants who might otherwise have headed for the US.
Recent data from Indeed, a globally recognized online recruitment company, shows that foreign job seekers' interest in US jobs has dropped sharply since 2024, plummeting to 1.4 percent in April, the lowest level since 2020.
What would the US look like without immigrants? Immigrants have long underpinned US economic growth and social vitality, becoming deeply woven into the fabric of American life - from classrooms to hospital wards, from city parks to concert halls, from corporate boardrooms to factory floors. The US labor market's reliance on immigrants is far greater than most people imagine. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 31 million foreign-born workers were employed in the US in 2024, accounting for 19.2 percent of the US workforce. The net outflow of immigrants seen in 2025 has prompted many Americans to ask: What would America look like without them?
The New York Times addressed that question in a report last December. About a year into the White House's immigration enforcement policies, the article said, construction companies in Louisiana were scrambling to find carpenters, hospitals in West Virginia had lost doctors and nurses they had planned to recruit from overseas, and a community soccer league in Memphis could no longer field enough teams because the children of immigrant families had stopped showing up.
A decline in immigration would first hit the US economy. According to a Brookings Institution article published in March, a reduction in net immigration would weigh on US GDP growth. A research report from the think tank showed that the drop in immigration between 2024 and 2025 could slow US GDP growth by 0.19 to 0.26 percentage points and reduce consumer spending by $40 billion to $60 billion in 2025.
Justin Gest, professor of Policy and Government at George Mason University's Schar School, has noted that the concern lies not only in how many people are leaving, but also in who they are. After the current administration cut research funding for various academic institutions, a Nature analysis of jobs board data found that US-based scientists submitted 32 percent more applications to positions abroad between January and March in 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Decades of research have shown that many immigrants are not only young and highly educated, but also highly entrepreneurial. When these most dynamic individuals begin to choose to leave, the US loses not just labor numbers, but the core engine of innovation and long-term economic growth.
A rising crisis of confidence?
The impacts of net emigration stretch well beyond economics, challenging American exceptionalism and national identity. The US has long defined itself as a nation of immigrants, viewing its allure to newcomers as a core feature of its uniqueness. Brookings Institution scholars noted that while the US has often fallen short of its stated ideals in practice, its national identity is rooted in pluralism, openness and the rule of law. Today, efforts to roll back fundamental principles, including immigrant citizenship rights and birthright citizenship, "strike at the core of what has made America exceptional."
As the US marks the 250th anniversary of the country's founding, reverse migration poses a fundamental question to the self-proclaimed nation of immigrants: does this trend signal fading global confidence in America's future and its way of life?
"It undercuts this American exceptionalism, 'we have the best quality of life, we're the best country in the world, everyone wants to move here,'" Caitlin Joyce, researcher at Temple University, told the Wall Street Journal. She and her colleague have studied this migration trend for years.
The US government's immigration policies have also upended the traditional definition of what it means to be American. A nation built by immigrant labor is now closing its doors to newcomers. Academics warn that framing Americans and immigrants as opposing groups is eroding the very definition of national belonging.
A Gallup survey of more than 144,000 adults across 140 countries and regions in 2025 found that global willingness to move permanently to the US has fallen to a near 20-year low, with only 15 percent of adults worldwide naming it as their preferred destination, down from 24 percent between 2007 and 2009.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met with a group of Chinese businesspeople in Beijing on Monday, a move that reflects the high importance South Korean leaders attach to China-Republic of Korea economic cooperation under the new situation, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing said in a post on X.
Dai wrote the post in Chinese, Korean and English, sharing pictures of the event and noting that the symposium with Chinese entrepreneurs was Kim's "first activity" after arriving in Beijing.
On Tuesday, Dai also shared details of Kim's visit to Tsinghua University, writing that 20 years ago, when Kim was studying there, he said he wanted to better understand China by studying Chinese law and other related fields.
Dai also mentioned Kim's visit to the Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone Exhibition Center in Beijing, where Kim paid close attention to China's developments in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, high-end pharmaceuticals and embodied robotics.
"Both China and South Korea are technological powerhouses, and the potential for strong collaboration between the two sides is immense," Dai wrote.
Kim will attend the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC), which is known as Summer Davos and is held in Dalian from June 23 to 25. Over 1,700 representatives from the political, business, academic and media communities from over 90 countries and regions will take part in the AMNC, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
According to a Korea JoongAng Daily report on Tuesday, during the gathering with Chinese businesspeople at the South Korean ambassador's residence in Beijing, Kim said the main reason he wanted to visit was to witness China's "remarkable economic development" with his own eyes.
"Korea and China are walking a firmer path [together] since the establishment of diplomatic ties, upon the foundation of a long history," Kim was quoted as saying, while asking the participants to share their success stories and plans for cooperation with South Korean firms.
It is Kim's first trip to China since taking office as the first prime minister of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung last year. In March, he had planned to visit China for the annual Boao Forum for Asia, but the trip was canceled as he had to deal with the effects of the conflict in the Middle East, according to South Korean media.
Kim is also the first Korean prime minister to attend the Summer Davos Forum in 10 years since then Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn did so in 2016. On the sidelines of the forum, Kim is expected to meet with officials and business leaders from other nations, Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake jolted Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China's Qinghai Province at 11:29 p.m. on Tuesday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
The epicenter was monitored at 37.86 degrees north latitude and 95.54 degrees east longitude. The earthquake struck at a depth of 8 km, the center said.
President of Myanmar Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Beijing on Monday for a state visit to China from June 15 to 19, the Xinhua News Agency reported. As the first China trip since he was sworn in as Myanmar's president in April, Chinese experts believe that it highlights the importance Myanmar attaches to relations with China.
They noted that the two countries have significant potential for cooperation under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), particularly in infrastructure, energy and connectivity, and expressed hope that the visit will inject fresh momentum into bilateral ties and pragmatic cooperation.
The visit follows a series of recent high-level diplomatic exchanges between the two neighbors. On June 5, 2026, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Foreign Minister of Myanmar Tin Maung Swe in Beijing.
According to a statement published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on June 5, Wang noted that China is ready to work with Myanmar on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, strengthen cooperation in post-earthquake reconstruction, people's livelihood and cultural exchanges, trade and investment, steadily advance key projects under the CMEC, jointly combat transnational crimes such as online gambling and telecom fraud, and maintain peace and tranquility in the China-Myanmar border areas.
Tin Maung Swe said that Myanmar and China are "pauk-phaw" friends and neighbors sharing a common destiny and partners enjoying mutual trust. He appreciated China for its long-term valuable assistance to Myanmar's economic and social development. "Myanmar will continue to resolutely combat online gambling and telecom fraud and make every effort to safeguard the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Myanmar," Tin Maung Swe said, adding that the new Myanmar government is committed to advancing the domestic peace process and achieving stable development, and hopes that China will continue to play a constructive role.
The two countries have already achieved tangible results through cooperation in political, economic and security fields.
According to China's General Administration of Customs, China has remained Myanmar's largest trading partner, largest source of imports and most important source of investment for many consecutive years. Bilateral trade reached $19.4 billion in 2025, up 19.1 percent year-on-year.
Myanmar also occupies a unique position in China's regional connectivity strategy. As China's only neighboring country with direct overland access to the Indian Ocean, Myanmar serves as a key strategic gateway linking the Belt and Road Initiative to both South Asia and Southeast Asia.
"President Min Aung Hlaing's visit provides an opportunity for China and Myanmar to advance practical cooperation in multiple areas. Whether in promoting energy and mineral resource projects or implementing the four major global initiatives proposed by China, there remains substantial room for cooperation," Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.
Xu added that the two sides should also work together to maintain long-term stability along the border and support Myanmar's efforts to preserve domestic peace and stability.
"We hope Myanmar can balance development and security, place peace and stability at the forefront of its national agenda and create favorable conditions for deeper people-to-people exchanges between the two countries," Xu said.
A Myanmar affairs expert, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Monday that the two countries could further advance projects such as the China-Myanmar railway and the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port.
Beyond economic cooperation, China and Myanmar have also expanded collaboration in law enforcement and security.
According to Xinhua, China's Ministry of Public Security dispatched a working group to Myanmar's Myawaddy region at the end of 2025, where it worked alongside law enforcement agencies from Myanmar and Thailand to launch a new joint operation targeting online gambling and telecom fraud compounds. As a result, 952 Chinese telecom fraud suspects were repatriated to China.
For years, criminal groups operating in Myawaddy have carried out large-scale telecom fraud and other crimes targeting Chinese citizens, causing serious harm, according to Xinhua.
Speaking at Friday's regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China looks forward to taking the visit as an opportunity to deepen bilateral cooperation.
"China and Myanmar are traditional friends, neighbors and a community with a shared future. Bilateral relations have come a long way since diplomatic ties were established 76 years ago. Our two countries have upheld the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence advocated by both, stood with each other through thick and thin, demonstrated solidarity and maintained coordination," Lin said.
"We look forward to working with Myanmar to take the upcoming visit as an opportunity to renew our 'pauk-phaw' friendship, deepen comprehensive strategic cooperation and deliver more practical results in building the China-Myanmar community with a shared future to the greater benefit of both peoples," he added.
It was nearly 11 o'clock at night, and Liu Zhao's computer screen was still glowing. Scattered across his desktop were several half-edited drafts of lyrics, while the waveform graphs from his AI music software rose and fell like mountain ranges against the dark interface. He took off his headphones, rubbed his tired ears and put them back on.
He often stays up late, meticulously polishing a few lines of lyrics or a handful of notes. As one of the core creators behind "Polaris Radio," a music account recently gaining attention on Chinese social media platforms, the 40-year-old architect and his team are using AI tools to do something they find deeply meaningful: take the revolutionary stories and red (patriotic) spirit in history textbooks and breathe them back into melodies that young people already know and love.
As AI-generated technologies rapidly advance and become increasingly widespread in China, the barriers to music creation are gradually being broken down. Among the emerging trends is the use of AI to produce songs with revolutionary and patriotic themes, which has become a new way for some Chinese people to express their love for the country.
Many creators of AI patriotic songs told the Global Times that they have come to love this way of using music to voice their devotion to the motherland with the help of AI, giving red narratives fresh vitality and renewed energy in the digital age.
"I hope that when people hear these familiar tunes, they'll remember those who came before us, who burned for their ideals, and feel the power of faith across time," Liu told the Global Times. "I want them to understand that the lives we live today were bought by countless others walking their lonely paths."
Paying tribute through music
To Liu, the original melody of the popular song Cold Lonely Sandbank carries a natural "cold yet resilient undertone."
"It resonates instinctively with the way revolutionary forebears held onto their ideals in the face of adversity," Liu said. The lyrics are borrowed from Chinese poet Su Shi's classical verse - the line about "looking all over, he won't perch on branches dead" - and are paired with the revolutionaries' defiant spirit: "even if millions stand against me, I will go forward."
That realization led the team to reshape this well-known love song into a battle hymn of red revolution. In the lyrics, the solitary goose's wanderings are transformed into revolutionaries "holding torches aloft to break through the siege." Lines like "red flags unfurling across the horizon, shining with glory" and "ideals in the heart, never to fade" look back at revolutionary victory while spurring on today's youth.
"Ideals are never empty slogans," Liu told the Global Times. "They are the light won by countless people with their blood and their persistence."
The entire creation process took several days. Other team members handled the lyric adaptation, while Liu took charge of AI arrangement, vocal tuning and video production.
What he remembers most vividly is refining the mood and texture of the lyrics. "Every line had to be weighed again and again," he said. "It had to honor the historical depth, preserve the original melody's rhythmic beauty, and let the old and new emotions blend naturally."
"Polaris Radio" doesn't have a fixed office. Most of the team members are uploaders of Bilibili, one of China's leading video-sharing platforms, scattered across the country, bound by a shared love for red culture and music. They coordinate online, each taking on different roles.
Their use of AI to create revolutionary music happened almost by accident. One member tried out an AI music tool and discovered it could spread the stories of the international communist movement and revolutionary pioneers in a fast, vivid way - "far more engaging than just reading text." From there, the team dove headfirst into making AI-powered red songs.
Through this ongoing creative process, Liu said he has gained a truer understanding of the red spirit. "It's not just a mark in history," he explained. "It's the spiritual backbone of the Chinese nation, passed down through generations. Creating these songs is also a way of looking back at our nation's path and deepening our sense of family and country."
Since the "red version" of Cold Lonely Sandbank went online, it has struck a deep chord with listeners. Many commenters said they felt, in the music, "the nation's character and the warmth of homeland."
And this widely shared track is no isolated case. On the account's homepage, there are now nearly 200 such creations, with one video reaching close to 1.6 million views.
Without hesitating, Liu said the series of adaptations of poems about the revolution led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) are his favorites.
"Those poems are masterpieces in their own right, epic in scale, profound in mood, blending history and poetry seamlessly. Setting them to modern AI-composed music isn't just creative work. It's a way of paying tribute through music to a great era and a great spirit," Liu told the Global Times. 'Very enthusiastic'
Back in early 2024, a small group of enthusiasts had already begun exploring the possibilities of AI music creation - specifically, its potential to merge with China's revolutionary red culture.
The China AIGC (AI-generated content) Industrial Alliance or "AIGCxChina" in short, is a nationwide civil group of China's AIGC industry insiders. In the spring of 2024, before China's Youth Day on May 4, the group's initiator Ni Kaomeng proposed an idea: to stage an online AI concert themed around Youth Day. Soon after, volunteers from the group began promoting the event and organized a series of online public lectures to teach participants how to use AI tools to make music.
What seemed like a novel experiment at the time turned out to be a hit: over 1,000 participants from more than 100 universities across China created some 120 AI-generated songs centered on patriotism and affection for their universities. AIGCxChina then edited these works into a 115-minute online concert program, which was streamed on China's popular video platforms such as Bilibili on Youth Day.
According to Ni, the livestream drew more than 200,000 viewers across the internet.
"Our original intention was to encourage young people to use AI music to speak for their universities, their youth and their country," Ni told the Global Times. "The strong response to this event has made us even more determined to keep creating AI red songs."
In the months that followed, AIGCxChina and its sub-group, AIGCxMusic, held a series of red-song creation events, spanning major commemorative occasions, such as the founding anniversary of the CPC on July 1, and the founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army on August 1. "Each event receives two to three hundred AI music submissions. People are very enthusiastic about expressing patriotic feelings through music," said Zhang Huangpeiyao, head of AIGCxMusic.
A doctoral graduate in music, Zhang, who is better known among many AI music creators by her screen name "Zhinan," is also an active creator of AI-generated red songs. She first used AI to write a patriotic song on the eve of August 1, 2024, when she came up with a creative idea of extracting the titles of several classic red songs from CPC history and weaving them together along a historical timeline into a brand-new composition generated with AI.
Throughout the night, working with AI tools that were still far from mature, Zhang painstakingly refined the lyrics and generated, then revised, the visuals for the video. "Back then, the AI-generated images were still very rough. Sometimes you'd even get three arms or a completely distorted face, so everything had to be manually adjusted," Zhang recalled.
After pulling an all-nighter, the song - titled The Road to Glory - was finally complete, and Zhang was filled with a sense of accomplishment and pride. Her mother loved it too. "My maternal grandfather served in the military. When my mom heard the song, she said it felt as if she could see her father in his military uniform again," Zhang told the Global Times.
The song later aired on some local TV stations and drew even more positive feedback online. "A single song condenses the Party's struggles in the grand revolutionary and reform journey toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," one literary and history scholar commented on the song's online page. "It always stirs up some emotions." From bystanders to participants
Beyond creating red songs, AI technology is now being deeply integrated into the dissemination of revolutionary culture and grassroots Party-building efforts, becoming a new vehicle for carrying forward revolutionary spirit in the new era, and reshaping the expressive paradigm of red narratives, Ni said.
Ni has long been committed to promoting the creative integration of AI tech with publicity and education of revolutionary and patriotic themes. He told the Global Times that AI is bringing several breakthrough changes to the red-themed outreach.
"First, it breaks through the cost barrier, as traditional production of red-themed music or videos requires substantial investment and professional teams. Second, it expands the narrative dimension, because AI can transform the deeds of some revolutionary martyrs, which may exist only in written historical records, into audiovisual works that can be seen and heard. Third, it enhances educational effectiveness, as, to the creators, the creative process itself is immersive red education," he explained.
Echoing Ni, Zhang said she believes one of the most significant values of AI creation is that, the technology is not merely a tool for efficiency, but an "engine of empathy."
"Traditional red education is often a top-down, one-way form of instruction, with young people cast as passive bystanders. But when they try to create with AI, their role changes fundamentally - they become participants," Zhang told the Global Times.
"Generating a red song by AI, I need to sort through the historical context in order to write accurate lyrics; I need to understand the texture of that era in order to generate visuals that feel authentic," she added. "For me, when I personally type revolutionary spirit and patriotic sentiment into prompts and watch them transform into vivid audiovisual impact, my own sense of destiny resonates powerfully with the historical trajectory of the nation."
Moving forward, Polaris Radio will continue to focus on red history, national development and the spirit of the era, Liu said. The team will keep refining their adaptations by blending in more traditional Chinese and folk elements, while also creating new works based on key historical figures, major events and modern-day stories of struggle, he told the Global Times.
On the video page of the "red version" of Cold Lonely Sandbank, new bullet comments and messages kept popping up. One student wrote: "Our class is going to sing this song for our choir performance. We've printed out the lyrics and we're practicing it every day now."
"We hope to take AI music as a medium to continuously enrich our musical creations in both content and style, so that music embodying national spirit and patriotism can reach and resonate with wider audiences, and red culture and the national spirit can be passed down." Liu said, as he read through the comments.
Nearly three months have passed since Kodai Murata, a sitting officer of Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF), illegally broke into the Chinese Embassy in Japan armed with a knife. The Japanese side's investigation and handling of the case have been proceeding slowly, while vicious incidents threatening the security of Chinese diplomatic missions in Japan continue to occur. China deplores this and has lodged protests against the Japanese side on many occasions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday.
Lin made the remarks in response to an inquiry from the Global Times, which said that regarding the case in which Kodai Murata, a sitting officer of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, illegally entered the Chinese embassy in Japan with a knife, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office has decided to prolong his detention period for psychiatric assessment to determine whether he is criminally responsible for his actions.
Lin stated that the incident again reveals multiple deep-seated issues in Japan: the worsening right-wing impact and the suppression of objective and rational voices, the toxicity of the Japanese government's erroneous policies on vital issues concerning China-Japan relations such as history and Taiwan, the serious lack of education on true history, the pervasive erroneous historical views, the ongoing push for a more offensive and expansionist defense policy and failure in supervising the SDF and maintaining discipline inside the forces.
"We notice that, for some time, many people with insight in Japan have asked the Japanese government to make an apology to China. Some have urged the government to reflect on itself and take corrective actions concerning the supervision of SDF, the education on history, and Japan's policy towards China so as to fundamentally address the issue and remove its breeding ground in the Japanese society," Lin said.
"We once again urge the Japanese side to do serious soul-searching, correct its wrongdoings, conduct a thorough probe and take full responsibility for the incident," the spokesperson said.
In an era of profound global shifts and increasingly complex regional dynamics, a proper understanding of the world must be rooted in "grounded experience" and localized insights. Global Times English edition, in collaboration with the Academy of International and Regional Communication Studies, Communication University of China, is proud to launch "Local Insights," an English-language column dedicated to original, field-based observations.
We invite Chinese scholars and professionals who are studying, conducting exchanges, or working outside China, as well as international students and friends living and studying in China who are familiar with the social contexts of their home countries or third countries, to begin from first-hand field experience and engage with social, cultural, and contemporary issues beyond China. The third article in this column features a Chinese scholar witnessing the two-century-long civilizational integration, mutual accommodation and resilient people-to-people bonds between China and India through her on-site exploration of Kolkata's centuries-old Chinatown and in-depth conversations with local Chinese-Indian residents and Bengali neighbors. When I got out of a yellow taxi, and stepped onto the narrow, bustling lanes of Tangra in eastern Kolkata, the air was thick with a sensory symphony I had long anticipated but never fully experienced until that moment. The sharp sizzle of woks mixing with the sweet aroma of incense, the distant hum of Bengali conversations and the faint, earthy scent of leather from the old tanneries created an atmosphere that felt both foreign and profoundly familiar. For someone who has spent many years immersed in the study of South Asian politics, history and society - poring over archives, conducting interviews across Eastern and Northern India, and mastering Bengali to better understand local voices - this was not merely another academic field visit. It was a visceral return to the living roots of the China-India friendship, a dimension that no policy paper or diplomatic communiqué could ever fully capture. Centuries of roots where civilizations converge
Kolkata's Chinatown, widely regarded as India's oldest and historically the largest Chinese community in the subcontinent, represents more than two centuries of grassroots exchange between China and India. Its origins trace back to the late 18th century, when a pioneering Chinese trader, Tong Achew (also known as Yang Dazhao), received a land grant from British Governor-General Warren Hastings around 1778. Achew established a sugar plantation and piggery near what is now Achipur, laying the foundation for what would become a thriving migrant hub. Soon, successive waves of Hakka and Cantonese migrants from Guangdong and Fujian provinces arrived, seeking opportunities in carpentry, trade, shoe-making and small businesses under British colonial rule. By the early 20th century, the community had concentrated in two main areas: the older settlement around Tiretta Bazaar in central Kolkata and the newer, more industrial enclave in Tangra to the east.
What makes this history particularly compelling is the way these migrants, arriving in a colonial context far from their homeland, forged organic bonds with local Bengali society. Unlike state-orchestrated exchanges that dominate modern diplomacy, these early interactions were born of everyday necessity and mutual benefit.
The Hakka community, renowned for its resilience and entrepreneurial spirit, transformed marshy, underdeveloped land in Tangra into a bustling industrial zone centered on the leather tanning industry. Its expertise not only supplied high-quality leather goods to local markets but also generated employment for local Bengali workers, creating interdependent economic ties that transcended ethnic lines. Restaurants and street food stalls became another enduring legacy. The fusion cuisine that emerged, such as Hakka noodles, chili chicken, crispy fried momos, sweet-and-sour dishes, has become an inseparable part of Kolkata's culinary identity, enjoyed by Bengalis, Indians from across the country and even international visitors. This culinary bridge, born from adaptation and innovation, illustrates how people-to-people exchanges can embed themselves into the daily fabric of a society.
As a scholar fluent in Bengali, I found myself uniquely positioned during my visit to engage directly with both elderly Chinese-Indian residents and their Bengali neighbors, bypassing the barriers that often limit outsider perspectives. One afternoon in a quiet Tangra lane, I sat with an 82-year-old Hakka grandmother whose family has operated a modest shoe shop for three generations. Switching effortlessly between the Hakka dialect, English and fluent Bengali, she recounted how her grandfather arrived in the 1930s seeking work opportunities. Her stories were rich with details of community life, including clan associations that provided support networks, schools where children learned both Chinese traditions and Bengali language, and festivals that drew mixed crowds. Nearby, a local Bengali shopkeeper joined our conversation, praising the Chinese community's contributions and sharing memories of joint celebrations. He spoke warmly of how Chinese New Year lion dances and lantern processions have become fixtures on Kolkata's cultural calendar, enriching the city's vibrant multicultural tapestry.
These interactions, along with conversations over shared plates of stir-fried vegetables and momos, and laughter echoing in narrow alleys, reminded me that true people-to-people ties are not abstract concepts. They are tasted in food, heard in code-switching languages and felt in the quiet continuity of neighborhoods that have weathered colonial rule, partition and independence together.
The temples stand as powerful symbols of this cultural syncretism. The iconic Chinese Kali Temple in Tangra, for instance, features Taoist deities alongside Hindu rituals, with incense, Bengali-style offerings and prayers blending seamlessly. During my visit, I witnessed devotees from both communities performing rituals side by side, a living testament to hybrid identities forged over generations. Similar fusion appears in the older Tiretta Bazaar area, where historic buildings and community halls evoke the community's peak influence in the early to mid-20th century. These spaces once hosted schools, drama societies and social gatherings that fostered not only cultural preservation but also genuine integration with Bengali society.
Of course, the history of Kolkata's Chinatown has not been one of uninterrupted harmony. The 1962 China-India border conflict cast a long and painful shadow over the community. Many Chinese-Indian residents, who were born in India and integrated into local life, suddenly faced suspicion, internment in distant camps, social ostracism and economic hardship. Properties were damaged or seized in the wake of riots, and families endured years of uncertainty. The population of Chinese community in Kolkata shrank dramatically from its mid-20th-century peak, dropping to roughly 2000 to 4000 today as younger generations emigrated to China, Canada or elsewhere in search of better opportunities and less fraught identities. Walking past faded shop signs, half-empty community halls and aging structures, one senses the tangible human cost of geopolitical tensions. Families that stayed often pivoted to new professions such as dentistry, restaurants and small-scale businesses, demonstrating remarkable adaptability. History continues in the coexistence of civilizations
Yet resilience defines the story as much as adversity. Many Chinese-Indian families have remained deeply rooted in Kolkata, contributing quietly to the city's economy and culture. Recent years have seen modest revival efforts, including heritage preservation initiatives by Chinese-Indian associations in collaboration with local authorities and cultural organizations. Annual events, like dragon dances, Mid-Autumn Festival gatherings and food festivals, continue to draw crowds, while younger members of the community are increasingly exploring their dual heritage through education and entrepreneurship. These developments offer hope that the community's legacy can be sustained and even strengthened.
From the vantage point of a decade spent studying India's complex political landscape, economic transformations and societal dynamics, Kolkata's Chinatown provides a profound and often overlooked lens on China-India relations. While contemporary discourse frequently fixates on border frictions, strategic competition or high-level diplomacy, this historic enclave reminds us that the deepest foundations of ties between our two ancient civilizations lie in the lived experiences of ordinary people, like traders, artisans, cooks and neighbors, who have coexisted, intermarried, adapted and created shared culture for over 200 years. In an era when some voices advocate decoupling or view relations through a zero-sum lens, such living bridges underscore the enduring value of mutual respect, pragmatic cooperation and grassroots understanding.
As I departed Tangra in the evening, carrying a bag of still-warm Indo-Chinese pastries and listening to the distant sound of evening prayers drifting from the temple, a renewed sense of optimism washed over me. The challenges facing the China-India relationship are real, but so too are the opportunities embedded in places like Kolkata's Chinatown. Strengthening people-to-people exchanges through expanded youth visits, joint cultural festivals, language and heritage tourism programs, academic collaborations, and even digital storytelling initiatives can help build empathy and foster the mutual trust our two nations need.
For China and India, Kolkata's Chinatown is far more than a relic of colonial-era migration. It is a living invitation to write the next chapter of our shared history together - one conversation, one shared meal and one forward-looking step at a time.
Recently, the Philippine side has repeatedly hyped up an alleged "new structure" that was observed inside the lagoon of China's Huangyan Dao. On Wednesday local time, the Philippine authorities held a briefing, releasing what it called "details" of the so-called floating structure found at China's Huangyan Dao, along with related aerial images, while making irresponsible remarks about China's normal activities at Huangyan Dao.
The Global Times reporter has learned that the so-called "new structure" at Huangyan Dao recently hyped by the Philippine side is in fact a temporary scientific research facility set up there by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The floating in-situ sampling and experimental platform is designed to improve ecological monitoring, research and forecasting at Huangyan Dao.
Regarding the Philippine side's hype over the so-called "new structure" at Huangyan Dao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons responded twice at regular press conferences respectively on June 5 and June 9. The spokespersons said China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and its adjacent waters. Any activities carried out by China at Huangyan Dao, including scientific research, are the legitimate rights of a sovereign country.
New hype
According to Philippine media outlets including ABS-CBN, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela displayed photos of the so-called "new structure" recently taken by the Philippine Coast Guard at a briefing on June 10 local time. Tarriela described the so-called "new structure" as a movable floating platform with a deck area of more than 30 square meters and fitted with metal poles.
The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Gen. Romeo Brawner claimed in an official statement that the structure appeared to be equipped with antennas and that personnel were seen on it. As for the scientific research activities that China had made public, Tarriela gave a vague response, claiming he did not know its specific purpose. Some Philippine officials also claimed that China's activities could be a precursor to more permanent facilities.
After Philippine officials repeatedly sought to play up the issue, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which conducted the research activity, released information on Wednesday about the operation and its findings.
The South China Sea Institute of Oceanology said that since May 20, 2026, it has led a comprehensive scientific expedition on the development, evolution and ecological resilience of Huangyan Dao. The expedition aims to deepen understanding of the patterns and trends in the development and evolution of Huangyan Dao's islands and reefs, the mechanisms sustaining coral reef biodiversity, and their ecological connectivity with islands and reefs in the Xisha and Nansha areas. So far, the research team has conducted a comprehensive survey covering the entire Huangyan Dao atoll.
The so-called "new structure" hyped by the Philippine side is in fact a floating in-situ sampling and experimental platform set up by the research team in the waters of Huangyan Dao. The platform can be used for core sampling, time-series observation of environmental factors, and in-situ experiments.
The samples and experimental data obtained from the expedition are of great value for studying the historical development process of Huangyan Dao, the physiological and ecological responses of coral reef organisms to changes in environmental factors, assessing geomorphological evolution and ecological changes in the protected area, and predicting the impact of global climate change, overfishing and other human activities on the ecological security of Huangyan Dao.
"The Philippine side should clearly recognize that the Huangyan Dao National Nature Reserve established by the Chinese government will not exist in name only. Instead, China will only step up its protection of Huangyan Dao," Yang Xiao, a research fellow at the Institute of Peaceful Development under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
Yang said such protection is reflected in two aspects: On the one hand, China will not allow Philippine personnel to enter Huangyan Dao and its adjacent waters to carry out destructive activities; on the other hand, China will make the protection of Huangyan Dao's ecology a priority, not only reducing the impact of human activities on the ecological security of Huangyan Dao, but also intensifying scientific research and accelerating ecological restoration there.
He further noted that Philippine officials often speculate that China may build "permanent facilities" at Huangyan Dao - such smears are in fact a case of "judging others by one's own petty standards." China has exercised effective control over Huangyan Dao, with maritime rights protection and law-enforcement forces maintaining a regular presence there.
"We can see that since last year, the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the China Coast Guard have issued monthly updates on combat-readiness patrols and law-enforcement patrols in the territorial waters, airspace and surrounding areas of China's Huangyan Dao," Yang said.
Yang said the Philippine side should recognize the reality that it cannot "meddle in" China's Huangyan Dao, face up to China's continued, peaceful and effective exercise of sovereignty and jurisdiction over Huangyan Dao, and stop its crude and meaningless sensationalization.
Sanctions
China's foreign ministry on Thursday announced sanctions against Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. who repeatedly made irresponsible remarks on China, which undermines China's legitimate interests and sabotages China-Philippines relations.
To uphold China's sovereignty, security and development interests, China has decided to prohibit Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and his spouse and child from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, and not allow organizations and individuals in China to engage in any transaction, cooperation or other activities with him and his spouse and child.
Before China's announcement of the sanction against Gilberto Teodoro Jr., on Wednesday, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Maria Theresa Lazaro claimed that establishing clear maritime boundaries between the Philippines and Japan is of vital importance to the country's national defense and "has nothing to do" with China. She added, "We should continue with our delimitation talks," even if China keeps objecting or increases pressure, Nikkei Asia reported.
Chinese experts on Thursday said the so‑called Japan-Philippines maritime delimitation talks concern an area east of China's Taiwan island. They noted the move carries ulterior purposes beyond bilateral discussions.
Ding Duo, Director of the Research Center for International and Regional Issues at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times that the collusion between Japan and Philippines aims beyond "delimitation," but serves as stepping stone to squeeze China's maritime operational space in the waters east of the Taiwan Island.
After so-called delimitation, they could scheme to carry out security cooperation, military collaboration and naval exercises, confining China's maritime activities in this area, Ding elaborated.
The so-called cooperation between Japan and the Philippines cater to both countries' respective ambitions and carries strong Cold War undertones, analysts said, warning against Japan's dangerous neo-militarist resurgence and Philippines' adventurist tendency.
