Three-minute news breakfast on Thursday, May 16, 2024

1) Xi Jinping's letter encouraging the villagers of Shixia Village, Badaling Town, Yanqing District, Beijing: to involve more people in understanding and protecting the Great Wall, passing down this precious heritage left by our ancestors from generation to generation. The journal "Seeking Truth" published an important article by General Secretary Xi Jinping: "Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening Up to Continuously Inject Strong Momentum into Chinese-Style Modernization." The Russian edition of "Excerpts from Xi Jinping's Writings on Chinese-Style Modernization" was published and distributed.

3) May 15th is "National Low-Carbon Day" 2024, with the theme of "Green Low-Carbon, Beautiful China." The main event was held in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. In response to the theme of "National Low-Carbon Day," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin did not wear a tie to the press conference. 39 locations were selected for the pilot program to deepen the construction of climate-resilient cities.

4) China's autumn grain harvest and procurement season concluded successfully, with grain enterprises in major producing areas accumulating more than 200 million tons of purchases.

5) National Immigration Administration: Starting May 15, foreign tourist groups arriving in China by cruise ship can enter visa-free for a stay of no more than 15 days.

6) China's longest inter-city "subway" spanning five cities in Guangdong Province has arrived—the Guangzhou-Foshan South Ring and Foshan-Dongguan Intercity lines are about to open, connecting with the already open Foshan-Zhaoqing and Dongguan-Huizhou intercity rail lines to form a "four-line network" connecting Guangzhou, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhaoqing, and Huizhou.

7) [Rule of Law] Public security organs have cracked down on 95,000 economic crimes in the past year. Prosecutors have formally charged Qu Min, former vice chairman of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, with bribery. Zheng Dongfeng, director of the Committee for Supervision and Judicial Affairs of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress, is under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation. Bu Shijie, deputy secretary-general of the Shenyang Municipal People's Government, is under review and investigation. Zhou Zhifeng's case of fundraising fraud was sentenced: Zhou Zhifeng was sentenced to life imprisonment, with all personal property confiscated. Follow-up on the investigation into insurance fraud at Fenyang City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital for the Disabled and Convalescents in Lvliang City, Shanxi Province: a case has been filed, and criminal coercive measures have been taken against 10 people.

8) [Military] On May 15, Chinese coast guard ships conducted routine law enforcement activities in the waters of Huangyan Island.

9) [Hong Kong and Macau] The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government welcomes the visa-free entry policy for cruise ships from coastal provinces. Xia Baolong, director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, continues his inspection and research in Macau. The 2024 Greater Bay Area University Tax Debate Invitational was won by the University of Hong Kong.

10) [Taiwan] The Taiwan Affairs Office raised "questions that the new leader of Taiwan must seriously face and clearly answer." The country will introduce legal measures against die-hard separatists and punish five so-called Taiwanese commentators, including Huang Shicong, and their families for their long-term slander of the mainland. Regarding the damage to cultural relics at the Taipei Palace Museum, the Taiwan Affairs Office expressed serious concern. Taiwan media: From 6 am on May 14 to 6 am on May 15, the People's Liberation Army conducted activities around the Taiwan Strait with 45 sorties of military aircraft and 6 sorties of warships, with "some military aircraft closest to Keelung at about 41 nautical miles."

1) Vice Premier Liu Guozhong visited Uzbekistan and held a meeting of the China-Uzbekistan Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee. Regarding the United States' recent repeated unilateral sanctions and imposition of high tariffs on China, Wang Yi stated: Unilateral actions and protectionism will inevitably be crushed by the wheel of history. Wang Yi held the fifth China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. On May 14, local time, the first meeting of the China-US intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Stergomena Tax will visit China from May 16 to 20. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The US further increase in tariffs on China is a wrong move. Five Philippine fishing boats carrying about 200 civilians sailed towards Huangyan Island waters to "create trouble." Ministry of Foreign Affairs: If the Philippines abuses China's goodwill, China will uphold its rights and countermeasures in accordance with the law, and the Philippines will bear full responsibility and consequences.

4) Putin's interview with Xinhua News Agency: It is precisely the unprecedentedly high level of bilateral strategic partnership that led me to choose China as the first country to visit after my official inauguration as president. Ukrainian General Staff: Ukrainian forces were forced to "redeploy" in Vovchansk. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promoted Ukrainian pizza, and a Russian diplomat sarcastically asked: Are there any pizzerias in Gaza?

6) The Slovak Prime Minister was injured in a shooting and sent to hospital, and the suspected perpetrator was arrested at the scene: multiple people helped subdue the suspect.

7) Lawrence Wong was sworn in as Singapore's fourth prime minister.