This is People's Daily Tonight, your news source from China.
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Chinese Embassy demands immediate release of Meng Wanzhou
The Chinese embassy in Canada is demanding the immediate release of Huawei’s vice-chairman and chief financial officer.
Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States in Vancouver on December 1.
A Chinese embassy spokesman said China protests the arrest in the strongest possible terms, as it seriously breaches the victim’s rights.
He said Canadians arrested a Chinese citizen who hadn’t violated any American or Canadian law, and that China has lodged stern representations with both the US and Canada. (People's Daily app)
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Guangzhou firm builds world’s first ice class condensate oil tanker
The world's first Arc 7 ice class condensate oil tanker built by China, which can independently navigate in extremely low temperatures, will allow year-round shipping in the Arctic area, a Chinese observer said on Wednesday.
Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Ltd (GSI) has constructed a 44,500 deadweight-ton condensate oil tanker, which is designed for temperatures as low as -50 C and independent sailing in ice less than 1.8 meters thick, Guangzhou Daily reported.
The ship uses no rudders but two nacelles, which are the largest of its type in the world, to steer motion. Rotating 360 degrees, the nacelles allow the ship to break ice with special blades installed when keeping a navigational speed faster than 3.7 kilometers per hour.
It will help China save transportation fees of up to $127 billion a year if the route becomes fully operational, the blue paper said. (Global Times)
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Six missing after two US military planes crash off Japan: officials
Six US marines are missing after two American military aircraft crashed during a refuelling operation off the coast of Japan.
The two planes -- an F-18 fighter and a C-130 tanker -- were involved in a "mishap about 200 miles off the coast of Japan.
A US defense official said there had been a crash after the plane took off from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southern Japan.
A spokesman for Japan's Self-Defense Forces said one of the airmen had been rescued, but the fate of the remaining crew members was unclear. (AFP)
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ROK, DPRK agree to verify withdrawal of guard posts
South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have agreed to verify the pilot withdrawal of guard posts in the inter-Korean border area, South Korea's Defense Ministry said Thursday.
The verification will be conducted through on-site visits on Dec. 12 by sending seven-member teams to guard posts, which were subject to the pullout.
The two sides had withdrawn soldiers and weapons from 11 guard posts, respectively, and destroyed them inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on a trial basis. The DMZ left the Korean Peninsula divided since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with armistice.
The withdrawal was conducted to implement the military agreement, which defense chiefs of the two Koreas signed during the Pyongyang summit in September between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
To enable the on-site visits, the two Koreas planned to build a path linking the demolished guard posts. (Xinhua)
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Officials fired for English exam mistake
Several senior officials from the education and examination management authorities in Zhejiang province were punished after the weighting of scores in the college entrance examination's English test sparked widespread discontent and challenges from examinees and teachers.
The provincial government said the score weighting policy was "a serious mistake without sufficient basis for decision-making", which had led to "unjustified and irrational" scores.
In a letter of apology, the Education Department and examinations authority said the weighting of the scores had "damaged the credibility and authority of the college entrance exams". (China Daily)
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Chinese-American physicist at Stanford University dies at 55
Shou-Cheng Zhang, a Shanghai-born Chinese-American physicist at Stanford University, who graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai, died at age 55 on Saturday, Digital Horizon Capital said in an email on Thursday.
He was identified as one of the top candidates for the Nobel Prize by Thomson Reuters in 2014. He was elected as a member of the National Academy of Science of the United States in 2015. He was also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Family members of Zhang did not disclose the cause of death.
Zhang was a co-founder of Digital Horizon Capital, a Delaware registered, Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund, promoting education, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The fund is operating as normal. (China Daily)
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19 militants killed in coalition's airstrikes in western Afghanistan
And at least 19 Taliban militants were killed and seven others wounded after NATO-led coalition forces launched airstrikes in the western Afghan province of Farah.
A local Taliban leader was among those killed.
Three Taliban defense positions were also destroyed following the raid in Bala Buluk.
The strikes were the latest raids against Taliban insurgents, their supply lines and mid-level command structure. (Xinhua)
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And that’s People’s Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.
(Produced by David Nye and Wang Zi)