This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China.

_____

Countries cautioned on actions in South China Sea 

China has urged countries outside the region to behave with caution and refrain from activities that undermine regional peace and stability.

This, after Japan conducted its first-ever peacetime submarine drill in the South China Sea. 

On Monday, The Japan Times quoted the Japanese Defense Ministry as saying that the submarine Kuroshio, the Kaga helicopter destroyer and two other ships conducted an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the South China Sea last week.

In August, China and ASEAN countries agreed on a single draft for the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea at the annual China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore. (China Daily)

_____

China says new US tariffs bring additional uncertainties to talks, forced to retaliate 

China says new US tariffs will bring additional uncertainties to trade talks, and will be forced to retaliate, a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday.

The statement was made in response to the possible imposition of 10 percent in tariffs by the US on 200 billion US dollars worth of Chinese goods and a possible escalation of other tariff measures.

"The new tariffs were announced at a time when most people in the US and abroad voiced their opposition. China deeply regrets the US move, and is forced to retaliate simultaneously to safeguard its legitimate rights and global free trade," the ministry said.

The US insists on increasing tariffs, which brings additional uncertainties to trade talks between the two sides.

The US should recognize the potential negative consequences of its move and correct them in a credible and timely manner, the ministry added. (People's Daily App)

_____

Trump defends Supreme Court pick after sex assault allegation 

US President Donald Trump stood firmly by his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, after allegations that the conservative judge sexually assaulted a woman when they were teenagers threatened to derail the nomination process.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley canceled a vote on Kavanaugh planned for Thursday.

He said the nominee and his accuser, California university professor Christine Blasey Ford, would both appear next Monday to testify under oath about the alleged incident.

Trump characterized the issue as a "little delay" and described as "ridiculous" the suggestion that Kavanaugh might withdraw his candidacy. 

But he did not comment directly on Ford's claim that a drunken Kavanaugh and one of his friends trapped her in a room and attempted to pull her clothes off at a high school party in 1982. (AFP)

_____

DPRK leader greets S.Korean president arriving in Pyongyang for summit

South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in Pyongyang Tuesday morning and was received with a grand welcome ceremony led by Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Kim and several senior officials, ceremonial guards and hundreds of local residents welcomed Moon at the airport with flowers, national flags and peninsula flags.

The two leaders shook hands and hugged and greeted each other after Moon touched down.

This is the first inter-Korean summit in DPRK's capital Pyongyang in 11 years.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the Pyongyang summit aims to implement the Panmunjom Declaration issued after the first inter-Korean summit in April this year.The Pyongyang summit "will offer an important opportunity in further accelerating the development of inter-Korea relations that is making a new history," the KCNA said. (Xinhua)

_____

Chinese ambassador questions Swedish police after tourists thrown out of hotel 

Chinese ambassador to Sweden Gui Congyou said he couldn't understand the Swedish police's claim that policemen who brutally treated Chinese tourists didn't violate the law.

Local policemen reportedly threw out a Chinese man and his parents of a hotel and were taken to a cemetery in Stockholm on September 2.  

A Swedish prosecutor said he made the assessment that no crime on the part of the police had been committed, and that no preliminary investigation had been initiated. 

A manager at the hotel told a Swedish newspaper that the Chinese tourists had arrived the day before their booking and were refusing to leave. 

He said staff called police sometime after midnight, after the family began to make verbal threats. (CGTN)

_____

China's central bank governor calls for further financial opening up

China's central bank governor has called for continued efforts to expand the opening-up of the country's financial sector in a proactive and orderly manner.

While China has made some progress in the financial opening-up, there is still room for improvement to meet the need of the sector's development, said Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank.

He urged further easing restrictions on foreign equity, forms of establishment, and qualification of foreign shareholders of financial institutions. Law-making and policy-making should be more transparent to create a better environment for foreign-funded financial institutions. 

The Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect programs should be improved, and the Shanghai-London stock connect program should be launched as early as possible. 

More efforts are needed to deepen reform of the RMB exchange rate formation mechanism, so that the market plays a more decisive role in the exchange rate and the yuan has more flexibility in fluctuation. 

He also called for more convertibility of the yuan under the capital account and better macro-prudential regulation over cross-border capital flows, as well as an enhanced regulatory framework and stronger financial infrastructure that match the pace of financial opening-up. (Xinhua)

_____

Russia, Turkey agree to establish demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib 

And Russia and Turkey have decided to set up a demilitarized zone between the armed opposition and the government troops in Syria's Idlib province by October 15.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also agreed on the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the zone.

This includes tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, and rocket launchers belonging to all armed groups.

A senior Russian official said there will be no military operation against the armed opposition in Idlib, and that the Russian military will soon coordinate with Syrian forces. (People's Daily App)

_____

And that’s People’s Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.

(Produced by David Nye and Wang Zi)