4 | Monday, August 23, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY

Four stuck Heavy rain triggers alert in Henan in Ningxia Provincial capital mine for 3 shuts down public transportation, days saved underground By Hou Liqiang spaces, shopping [email protected] malls and tunnels Four miners were safely lifted out of a collapsed coal mine in the Ning- By Li Hongyang xia Hui autonomous region on 8:50 [email protected] pm on Sunday after being trapped for about 69 hours. Heavy rainstorms in Central Rescuers managed to dig a China’s Henan province over the 30-meter hole to reach the men, weekend triggered the second- who are all in stable condition. highest emergency response for The collapse happened at around flooding. 11:50 pm on Thursday at the Qing- On Saturday, Zhengzhou, the shuiying mine, which is operated by provincial capital, closed its China Energy Corp subsidiary schools, tourism spots, public Ningxia Coal, in the city of Lingwu. transportation, tunnels, under- Rescuers began working to save the ground spaces, shopping malls and miners immediately and made con- chemical plants until 8 am Tuesday. tact with them at about 8:40 am on Residents should not go out unless Friday. it is necessary, the city’s flood con- On Friday evening, a hole big trol and drought relief headquar- enough to lower food into the mine ters said in an open letter. was drilled. Rescuers sent sausages, By 11 am Sunday, the city had milk, chocolate, beef, apples and evacuated about 240,000 residents flashlights to the men. from houses where flooding posed At 7 am Saturday, the four sent a a danger and those from low-lying note up through the hole, saying areas. they were in good condition and China Railway Zhengzhou were grateful for rescuers’ efforts, Left: A woman is carried from a helicopter after being injured in flooding in Lantian, Shaanxi province, on Saturday. WANG XUDONG / FOR CHINA DAILY Group suspended about 95 trains Ningxia’s emergency management Right: Cars are parked on an overpass in Zhengzhou, Henan province, on Sunday, by owners who feared another round of heavy rain on Sunday. department said. could lead to flooding and damage to their cars. HUANG YUYANG / FOR CHINA DAILY A video showed residents, who They also sent a voice message had also experienced heavy rain saying they were safe to their fami- last month, parking their cars on South-to-North Water Diversion Rainstorms with levels of precip- since Saturday, with precipitation Guoying told a video conference lies on Sunday morning. the sides of overpasses. The city’s Project.” itation not seen in decades that hit of up to 220.7 mm, the provincial with the Henan provincial govern- Ventilation in the mine remained police said on their Sina Weibo He added that protective meas- Henan on July 20 caused more than weather service said. In the 24 ment and some major rivers’ con- good throughout the rescue effort, micro blog that they would not fine ures are needed for water and elec- 300 deaths. hours leading up to 6 am Sunday, 42 servancy commissions on Saturday and monitoring showed that oxygen drivers for illegal parking during tricity supply facilities, hospitals Chen Tao, chief forecaster of the meteorological stations in the prov- that this round of strong, wide- levels were sufficient for the trapped the emergency period. and communication equipment. National Meteorological Center, ince recorded more than 100 mm of spread rain could cause disasters. men. They also had access to drink- Kaifeng, another city in Henan, Rescue personnel must stand by said, “This bout of rain is weaker rain. Regions along the Yellow, Huaihe ing water, the department said. issued a notice that apart from gro- around the clock, and media should than the one in July and is moving The Shaanxi meteorological and Haihe rivers might suffer from cery stores, all enterprises, tourism update warning information faster from west to east.” observatory issued an orange alert, severe flooding, he said. Lingwu spots and construction sites should promptly. From Sunday to Monday, strong the second-highest level, for rain- He asked local authorities to close until noon on Monday. No “Authorities at all levels in the winds were also forecast to hit the storms early on Sunday morning, ensure smooth flood discharges, cars will be allowed into under- province must ensure the safety of northern and central parts in with heavy rain expected to contin- protect dams from breaking and ground parking lots until 8 pm on each corner and each household,” Henan, the provincial meteoro- ue in the province. safeguard sources of drinking Monday, and all above ground lots Lou said. logical service said. In response to the rain that has water. will be open for free. Weather forecasters said that It said the rain might be a record hit North and Central China, the The meteorological center said Ningxia Lou Yangsheng, Henan’s Party although the heavy rain in Henan high for this time of the year, with Ministry of Water Resources has the rain is forecast to move east- chief, told a Saturday meeting, “We will subside on Monday, people and precipitation of between 250 milli- sent seven work groups to the prov- ward on Monday and batter the must ensure no people die, no dam authorities need to take flood pre- meters and 400 mm expected in inces of Henan, Shandong, Shanxi provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, breaks and that no river bursts its cautions because the new rain has some parts of the province. and Shaanxi to guide flood control Hunan and Guizhou. banks, and we must guarantee the overlapped some of the same areas Heavy rain has also lashed North- work. safety of the middle route of the hit last month. west China’s Shaanxi province Water Resources Minister Li Xinhua contributed to this story. CHINA DAILY

Smugglers thwarted Ambassador: ‘Seasoned diplomat’ needed

Coast guardsmen exam- to serve as envoy, Washington believes ine smuggled cigarettes on a boat off the Chinese From page 1 critical tasks,” Su said, adding that coast in a photograph “the Biden administration has that was released on Sat- “China and the US are two major The Biden been prudent in deliberating its urday. Nineteen suspects countries with interwoven inter- next top envoy to China”. who attempted to flee in ests”, and “both countries stand to administration Burns is a trustworthy candidate three boats were cap- gain from cooperation and lose chose him (Nicholas for Washington, as he has been a sen- tured. Some 2.36 million from confrontation”, Qin said on ior career diplomat who once served cartons of cigarettes, 45 Thursday while meeting with Ste- Burns) partly as undersecretary of state, she said. metric tons of cut tobacco phen Orlins, president of the to underline the “Although he could not be and 9,600 bottles of spir- National Committee on United defined as a China hand, he does its were seized, with an States-China Relations. bipartisan consensus have a background in researching estimated value of nearly Burns “will act as a critical bridge on China policies.” the US-China relationship and he 1 billion yuan ($153 between the world’s two largest is familiar with the ties,” Su said. million). economies”, according to Bloom- Diao Daming, a Renmin Uni- Biden has chosen Burns “in an versity of China scholar SU HONGFENG / FOR CHINA DAILY berg, which added that “the Biden effort to advance the future agenda administration indicated it plans regarding the Indo-Pacific strategy, to maintain former President as Burns aligns with him on a range Donald Trump’s tough stance While Branstad, a former gover- of topics such as US values, ideolo- toward Beijing” while seeking nor of the state of Iowa, had little dip- gy and the concern about the US cooperation on issues such as cli- lomatic experience before becoming military advantage in the region”, mate change. ambassador, Burns has deep politi- she added. Hangzhou Party secretary under probe Wang Dong, a professor and cal ties and diplomatic experience. In addition, Burns has said the executive director of the Institute He served as US ambassador to two countries could work together By aybek askhar Commission for Discipline Inspec- The meeting, hosted by Yuan Jia- for Global Cooperation and Under- the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza- on topics such as climate change [email protected] tion and the National Supervisory jun, Zhejiang’s provincial Party standing at Peking University, said tion from 2001 to 2005 and as US and the COVID-19 response, Su said. Commission. chief, expressed its strong support the Biden administration “has ambassador to Greece from 1997 to “It remains to be seen if he can Zhou Jiangyong, the Party sec- Zhou started working in 1985 and for the watchdogs’ actions. The been reluctant to break away from 2001, and was a spokesman for the tackle China-US ties in a more bal- retary of Hangzhou, capital of spent all his political career in the meeting said the ongoing investiga- the previous administration’s State Department from 1995 to 1997. anced and cool-headed approach Zhejiang province, is being inves- province, including positions in tion showed that anti-graft efforts approach of repression and encir- Diao, the Renmin University of as US ambassador, instead of sim- tigated for serious violations of charge of development zones in the are being made everywhere, and the clement against China”. China scholar, said Burns has a cer- ply implementing the commands Party discipline and national laws, cities of Ningbo and Zhoushan. He Party has zero tolerance for such “It seeks comprehensive compe- tain degree of global perspective, has from Washington,” she added. the country’s top anti-graft watch- became Hangzhou’s Party chief in violations. tition as well as selective collabora- been engaged in the affairs of a num- The nomination reflects that dogs said on Saturday. May 2018. The standing committee said it tion with China, which has become ber of regions, and worked for the “the state of US-China relations Zhou, 54, also a member of the The watchdogs did not reveal fur- resolutely supported the decision of a bipartisan consensus and a key administrations of former presidents now is unprecedented” and that Standing Committee of the Zhejiang ther details about the investigation, the CPC Central Committee to put element of Washington’s China pol- Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Washington believes its relations Provincial Committee of the Com- but the standing committee con- Zhou under investigation and called icy,” Wang said. “The Biden administration with China “require a seasoned munist Party of China, is under vened a meeting on Saturday night on every Party member in Zhejiang In recent months, US diplomats chose him partly to underline the diplomat to deal with them”, Chas investigation by the CPC’s Central for a briefing on the case. to learn a lesson from the case. have variously defined Washington’s bipartisan consensus on China pol- W. Freeman, US assistant secretary ties with Beijing as “competitive”, icies,” Diao said. of defense in 1993 and 1994 and a “collaborative” and “adversarial”. Also on Friday, Biden announced veteran China expert, said in a The definitions aim to “leverage his intention to nominate Rahm written interview. Life: Toilet use issue also a change of lifestyle competition to contain China’s Emanuel as ambassador to Japan. Freeman said US Senator Ted growth and secure the US’ global lead- Emanuel is a former mayor of Chi­- Cruz of Texas is holding up every ership and hegemony”, Wang said. cago and was chief of staff for nominee for a foreign policy job to From page 1 world’s population does not have and Rural Affairs. Wang noted the hawkish atmos- former president Barack Obama. dramatize his opposition to the access to toilets. Hong Guobao, a farmer of Shang- phere toward China in the US as Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, China is one of more than 190 Thanks to years of hard work, dian village in Wanqiao township of well as the Biden administration’s Department of American Studies at the flagship energy project countries working toward achieving China’s toilet revolution has deliv- Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, need to advance a domestic politi- the China Institute of International between Russia and Germany. the United Nations Sustainable ered huge benefits for rural and Yunnan province, started using the cal agenda ahead of midterm elec- Studies, noted that it has taken “I would be surprised if ambassa- Development Goals, which include urban communities alike. In 2019 flushing toilet in his home in April tions next year. months for the Biden administra- dor Burns did not confront similar the goal for everyone to have access alone, the central authorities set thanks to the local toilet revolution “The US leadership is expected tion to officially nominate people obstruction,” Freeman said when to a “safe toilet” by 2030. According aside 7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) for program. Like him, all of his fellow to take a balance between its short- for a slew of key diplomatic posts. asked about potential obstacles to to the World Toilet Organization, a toilet projects. As of the end of last villagers have clean, safe bathrooms term calculation for political inter- “This reflects a series of challen- Burns’ nomination in the Senate. global nonprofit body committed to year, 68 percent of villages now have in each household. “This is not only a ests and a long-term strategic ges at home and abroad, and Wash- improving toilet and sanitation con- well-managed public toilets, accord- toilet use issue, but also a change of perspective (on ties with China),” ington needs some time to sort out Contact the writers at ditions worldwide, 40 percent of the ing to the Ministry of Agriculture lifestyle for us,” Hong said. Wang added. its top priorities among various [email protected]