People take photos of the landmark Taipei 101 building in Taiwan in January. [Zhu Xiang/XINHUA]

The mainland office responsible for cross-Straits relations has urged Taiwan to improve safety across its whole tourist sector and to take measures to ensure the safety of mainland travelers.

According to local media reports, the island’s transportation authority will raise the daily quota for mainlanders from 5,000 to 6,000 and allow them to stay for 30 days rather than 15.

The move comes after statistics showed a drop in the number of mainland tourists visiting over the Spring Festival holiday.

Taiwan ranked ninth on online travel agency Ctrip’s annual list of the most popular destinations for outbound tourists over the holiday, down from fifth last year.

Data from Taiwan’s Travel Agent Association also showed the number of mainland visitors had dropped by 20 percent during Spring Festival compared with last year.

However, on Wednesday, An Fengshan, a spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, said the reason for the decline was “quite clear” and would only be reversed through improved cross-Straits relations.

“Other solutions are a move in the wrong direction and will not succeed,” he said.

Zhu Songling, a professor at Beijing Union University’s Institute of Taiwan Studies, said the decline in mainland tourists has affected Taiwan’s tourism industry and its economy.

Relations between the mainland and Taiwan have been tense since Tsai Ing-wen took office as the island’s new leader on May 20.

Tsai has failed to acknowledged the 1992 Consensus, which refers to the one-China policy, and official channels of cross-Straits communication have been suspended.

Tsai’s refusal to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus “has damaged all the hard work toward peaceful relations across the Taiwan Straits”, Ma Xiaoguang, another spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, has previously said. “Whoever started the trouble should end it.”

The situation was further compounded when US President Donald Trump challenged the one-China principle by taking a congratulatory call from Tsai in December shortly after he won the presidential election.

China’s Foreign Ministry has called on the new US administration to stick to the one-China principle and limit its relationship with Taiwan to a nonofficial level.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, 21 mainland tourists were injured in a bus accident in Kaohsiung, a city in southern Taiwan. The bus, carrying 25 tourists and a tour guide from the mainland, hit the edge of a tunnel after the driver took a wrong turn.

The injured were taken to hospital. Everyone, apart from the tour guide who remains in hospital, has returned to the mainland, An said, adding that mainland authorities had extended their sympathies to those injured and helped handle the accident through nongovernmental tourism organizations on the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

He also urged Taiwan to improve safety of its tourist sector and ensure the safety of mainland travelers.

The People’s Liberation Army does not want a war in the South China Sea, but will not be afraid of one if it knocks on China’s door, the military has said.

An editorial published on Tuesday on the PLA Daily’s website said the Chinese military is not afraid of “demons” and “intimidation”, adding that the PLA dares to “show its sword” and has a proven record of safeguarding national interests.

It invoked China’s determination and victory in the Korean War as well as the Chinese government’s warning toward the United States’ escalation in the 1960s during the Vietnam War.

“In the past, the PLA produced numerous miracles in wars, despite being outnumbered by enemies or having inferior weapons compared with those of its adversaries. Today, our troops are well equipped and high-spirited … Facing risk-takers, the PLA, which owns DF series ballistic missiles, will show them that we are ready for a war and we do not fear wars,” the article said.

In another article published on the same website on Wednesday, the writer blasted “some US politicians” for believing that lasting superiority over China and the Asia-Pacific will ensure the US’ “global leadership”, saying that playing tricks with China in the South China Sea is unreasonable and dangerous.

The article also suggests that the US should focus on its domestic issues instead of “interfering elsewhere” if it wishes to become “great again”.

The articles came after recent claims from senior US officials threatening to take hard-line measures against China over issues relating to the South China Sea.

Shao Yongling, a professor of military strategy at the PLA Rocket Force Command College, told China Daily that the remarks show the Chinese military’s determination and capability of safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and interests anywhere.

“They also show that we are well prepared for contingencies. I believe these remarks are more like warnings than threats. They aim at telling the US that we will not tolerate negative actions that compromise our interests,” she said.

Shao added that the PLA Rocket Force will definitely be mobilized if there is a large joint operation in the South China Sea and that Chinese ballistic missiles are capable of covering all of the sea.

Li Li, a military equipment expert at PLA National Defense University, said recent moves by the US, such as sending the littoral combat ship USS Coronado to the South China Sea, indicate that the new US government will not relax its interference in the region and it does not want to see the recent improvement in relations between China and other nations in the region.

“However, no matter what measures the US plans to take, we will never abandon our sovereignty, interests and rights in the South China Sea,” she said.

Yang Xiyu, a researcher of Asia-Pacific security affairs at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, told China Central Television that some US politicians are hoping that military pressure will intimidate China in the South China Sea, but this has repeatedly turned out to be useless.

He said that the stronger the PLA is, the less willing the US will be to launch a war against China.

A man coaches a girl in a curling club. [Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing’s largest curling club, I Sweep Curling Club, will give free lessons and programs to students in the city, joining efforts to promote the Olympic winter sports and offering kids the opportunity to experience the ice sport which is long considered expensive and unpopular.

The curling club, located in Beijing’s Huairou District, is the most professional in China and holds the largest space in Asia. Completed at the end of 2005, the club has served as the training venue for the national team.

Huairou District has added curling as an extracurricular activity in primary schools, middle schools and high schools since 2012. Schools offer programs to coach students on curling basics and combating skills with an aim to cultivate future professional athletes.

“Curling, long considered a noble sport, is actually very friendly for entry-level players,” said the man in charge of the club. “It is the only ice event that requires no skating skills and is accessible for all ages.”

The club has planned to expand its promotional programs to get more children involved.

Dust cabins in a resident community. [Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing plans to take new measures to better manage household garbage.

The city management committee, which was set up in 2016, will combine the previously separate systems of recycling household garbage and recyclable resources this year, in order to better sort and recycle garbage.

Citizens used to sell their reusable garbage and throw away other household garbage directly in their neighborhoods, often resulting in a mixture of all garbage in the community. With the new measures set to be introduced this year, residential garbage will be sorted at the beginning and the recycling work will be improved.

At a trial site of the city’s Chaoyang District, residents are encouraged to sort and sell their kitchen waste and recyclable garbage to a recycling company which will give them daily necessities or services in return. The garbage is then either sent to the city’s sanitation unit for further disposal or to companies that can reuse garbage as resources.

A rendering of a planned airport in Beijing. [File photo]

Beijing made much headway in infrastructure construction last year highlighted by the building of its new sub center, a new airport and a one-hour commuting circle, according to a press conference held by Beijing Municipal of Commission of Development and Reform.

The construction of the new airport, including a terminal and a takeoff area, scheduled to be finished in 2019, is proceeding smoothly. Highways, railways and transit lines that serve the area surrounding the new airport are under construction.

An intercity railway network that will connect Beijing, Tianjin and surrounding cities is expected to create the one-hour commuting circle in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

With the opening of Beijing-Taipei Expressway, highways in Beijing have an operational length of more than 1,000 kilometers.

Xingyan Expressway, Beijing-Qinhuangdao Expressway, the Capital Ring Highway (Tongzhou-Daxing Section), Yanqing-Chongli Expressway, New Airport Highway and the widening project of Beijing-Kaifeng Expressway are under construction, with a combined length of 184 kilometers.