President Xi Jinping meets Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo/Xinhua] Singapore ties bolster region, president says Strengthening political trust between Beijing and Singapore and moving the relations forward are good for both sides, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday. He made the remark at a meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is on his first official China visit since 2013. Keeping high-level contact is a good tradition to continue from the leadership of past generations and is the embodiment of close bilateral ties, Xi said. Beefing up mutual political trust and continuing to consolidate and develop bilateral ties are in line with the interests of both countries and their people and will also benefit regional and global peace, stability and prosperity, the president said. He said the two sides should adhere to mutual understanding and respect and support each other on issues of core interests and major concerns. The two nations share a variety of interests, Xi noted. He proposed that both sides better align development strategies and enrich comprehensive cooperation. They should also beef up civilian exchanges and do more to bond the two peoples. Construction of the Belt and Road Initiative is the focus of current bilateral cooperation, the president said, adding that he expects the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity to be a success. In January 2016, China and Singapore launched the joint project to link western China and Southeast Asia through Chongqing. We hope it can work as a model in the development of western China, Lee said before the visit. Lee said he agreed with Xi's comments on Singapore's relations with China. He said Singapore adheres to the one-China policy, objects to Taiwan independence and expects to see a stable and prosperous China play a bigger role in international affairs. Given the rapidly changing international and regional situation, Singapore wants closer cooperation with China in fields including infrastructure, connectivity and human resources, he said. Lee said Singapore supports the Belt and Road Initiative and the establishment of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and wants to contribute to common development. His country will also help deepen cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he added. Singapore will become the rotating president of ASEAN next year. Lee started a three-day official visit to China on Tuesday and will travel to Xiamen, Fujian province, after his stop in Beijing. Han Fangming, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's National Committee, said Lee's visit will clearly demonstrate how Singapore's China policy, which has a significant effect on cooperation between the two nations, has played an important role in China's reform and opening-up in recent decades. the wristband factorysilicone fidget spinneruv braceletthe wristband factoryplastic wristbands ukcustom rubber bands
An illustration shows how FAST receives radio waves emitted by distant pulsars, the rapidly rotating cores of dead stars. At left, a photo shows the huge telescope in Guizhou province.[Photo provided to China Daily] Chinese researchers have discovered six pulsars, which are superheavy remnants of massive stars, using its Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, known as FAST. It is the first time Chinese scientists have discovered pulsars using the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, thus opening a new era of Chinese original space discovery, Yan Yun, director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China, said on Tuesday. The first two pulsars, named J1859-01 and J1931-01, were discovered in August and were confirmed in September by the 64-meter radio telescope at Parkes Observatory in Australia. J1859-01 is 16,000 light years from Earth and rotates once every 1.83 seconds, while J1931-01 is 4,100 light years away and rotates once every 0.59 seconds, according to scientists. Since its completion in September 2016, FAST has discovered two dozen highly possible candidates for pulsars, said Li Di, the telescope's deputy chief engineer. Last week, FAST also confirmed four new pulsars, but their details are still being analyzed. Pulsars are superdense cores of massive stars that went supernova and died, hence they have incredible mass, extremely strong magnetic fields, and they spin like a clock and shoot out strong beams of electromagnetic radiation, Li said. The conditions on a pulsar are far more extreme than any lab simulation on Earth. Examining them and seeing how they interact with other stars can help us tackle major scientific issues, such as the origin and evolution of the universe, finding gravitational waves and navigating spacecraft. Li said FAST is set to be fully operational by the end of 2019. In the meantime, scientists there will continue to test FAST and cooperate with foreign scientists on space exploration.
