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US arms sales to Taiwan violate basic norms of international law, China's sovereignty: spokesperson

China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday lodged solemn representations against US arms sales to Taiwan, a spokesperson said at a press conference Tuesday.

By selling arms to Taiwan, the US severely violates international law, basic norms governing international relations and the three China-US joint communiqués and jeopardizes China's sovereignty and security interests. The Chinese side firmly opposes that and has lodged solemn representations with the US, said Geng Shuang, Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense also said Tuesday that it was strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposed to planned US arms sales to Taiwan.

"The Chinese military's determination and will to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity is steadfast and unshakable," Ren said. (People's Daily app - Xinhua)

China aims to explore polar regions of Moon by 2030

China plans to land on and explore the southern and northern polar regions of the Moon by 2030, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Li Guoping, director of the Department of System Engineering of the CNSA, said at the World Conference on Science Literacy 2018, that China is planning four missions for the fourth stage of its lunar exploration program.

China's lunar exploration program, named after the legendary Chang'e, a moon goddess, started in 2003, and the first three stages of the program include orbiting and landing on the Moon, and bringing samples back to Earth.

Three other missions include bringing lunar samples back to Earth for the second time, landing on the South Pole region and the North Pole region, Li said. (Xinhua)

Multilateralism is under fire when world needs it most: UN chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday that multilateralism is under fire when the world needs it most.

"Our world is suffering from a bad case of trust deficit disorder," Guterres told world leaders gathered for this year's high-level General Debate of the General Assembly.

Individual leaders have the duty to advance the well-being of their people, he said, urging leaders to promote and support a reformed, reinvigorated and strengthened multilateral system. (Xinhua)

EU to set up legal entity to facilitate trade with Iran

The EU will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran in light of the US withdrawal from the international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program and the re-imposition of sanctions, said the EU's foreign and security policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday.

The legal entity will allow European companies to continue to trade with Iran in accordance with EU law and could be open to other partners in the world, Mogherini said after a meeting of foreign ministers from Iran and from Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia. (Xinhua)

Trump, Moon agree to keep pressure on North Korea, discuss 2nd US-NK summit

US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on Monday agreed to keep pressure on North Korea and discussed plans to hold a second meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"Trump commended President Moon on conducting a successful third inter-Korean summit with Chairman Kim and noted that there remained much work to be done to accomplish their mutual goal of achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea," the White House said in the statement.

Before his meeting with Moon, Trump said that his second summit with Kim will be announced "pretty soon,” yet the summit is likely to take place in a different place. (Xinhua)

Instagram departures add to woes for Facebook

The departure of Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger adds to the woes of parent firm Facebook as it tries to repair its image hurt by privacy scandals and misinformation.

Systrom and Krieger gave no reason for their departure, but multiple reports suggested there were growing frictions between the founders and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg.

The news site TechCrunch said Systrom and Krieger believed Facebook was not living up to its pledge of allowing autonomy at Instagram when the app was acquired in 2012. (AFP)

Archaeologists discover 'massive' ancient building in Egypt

Egypt says archaeologists have discovered a "massive" ancient building in the town of Mit Rahina, near Cairo.

The Antiquities Ministry said archaeologists also uncovered an attached building that includes a large Roman bath and a chamber likely for religious rituals.

The secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said the building is likely part of the residential block of the area, which was the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis – which was founded around 3,100 B.C. (AP)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

What country is also known as Persia?

(Answer: Iran.)

Today's quote is from Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore.

“You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Raymond Mendoza, and Terry Guanlin Li.)