Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Saturday that China's assistance to Pacific island countries has always been free of political conditions and impositions, and China has never issued "blank checks".

Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a joint press conference after he met with Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko.

He called on the international community to pay more attention to the special situation and legitimate concerns of the Pacific island countries, to focus on issues of the greatest concerns to them, such as climate change and improvement of people's livelihoods, and to come up with more ideas, more solutions, more practical work and more good deeds.

Amid media reports on possible US intervention, the Solomon Islands on Wednesday held its pivotal general elections, which are under close watch beyond the South Pacific as it is believed the election results could have an impact on regional dynamics. 

The results could take weeks to come out due to the country's landscape: The ballots must be collected from scattered islands and then wait for the country's 50 members of parliament (MPs) to form a government before they choose the next prime minister, according to media reports. 

Chinese analysts said that no matter who wins the election, the country should be cautious of foreign intervention, as the US might orchestrate unrest of a "color revolution" nature to prevent incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare from being reelected. 

Sogavare was elected as prime minister in 2019 and has pledged to deepen cooperation with China further if he gets reelected, according to a report from France 24. 

Chen Hong, executive director at the Asia Pacific Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that Solomon Islands voters prioritize domestic affairs such as education, health and people's livelihoods rather than power politics. 

The Pacific Island country, through close cooperation with China, has realized tangible progress in those areas, as well as better infrastructure and greater social stability, Chen said. 

No matter who is elected, the Solomon Islands should be cautious of foreign intervention in the weeks of vote counting and government forming, particularly of instigation by the US directly or its agent Australia, Chen warned.    

The West has been cultivating local agency under the guise of "democracy promotion," and the US has a variety of conventional methods to tighten control in Pacific Island countries, namely to deploy its military stationed in the region, mobilize local people to carry out subversion, impose economic sanctions, or use the Pacific Islands Forum to besiege the so-called disobedient countries, Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the Research Center for Pacific Island Countries of Liaocheng University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Anti-government riots took place in the Solomon Islands in 2021 with the US and the island of Taiwan being found to lurk behind.  

But the Solomon Islands' domestic law enforcement has improved over the past few years, Chen said, citing the successful hosting of the Pacific Games in 2023 as evidence of enhanced police capability. 

Also, police from countries including Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are on the ground to help with logistics and keep the peace, ABC reported Wednesday. 

Chen also said locals are not easily deceived by Western slander against China after having seen and enjoyed the fruitful benefits from cooperation with China. Candidates who care for the country and the people will not ignore those benefits, and agenda wants to force a U-turn of Solomon Islands' relations with China is unlikely to success.

Purchasers were seen carrying luggage, exchanging name cards when passing by each other, and rushing through the exhibition halls of the Canton Fair on Monday morning, the first day of the 135th session of China's landmark trade fair, which will run until May 5.

On the first day of the 135th session of the China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, over 60,000 global purchasers visited the physical exhibition halls.

By Sunday, more than 149,000 purchasers from 215 countries and regions had registered to visit the 135th session of Canton Fair, up 17.4 percent from the 134th session held in October and November 2023, the Global Times learned from the fair organizer.

With an exhibition area of 1.55 million square meters, the fair accommodates 28,600 enterprises attending the export exhibition and 680 firms attending the import exhibition.

One buyer from Brazil,bringing a huge suitcase with him, was rushing to the exhibition hall for new-energy vehicles (NEVs).

"The suitcase is used to hold exhibitors' brochures and business cards. I'm planning to take about 80 booklets today, which is a heavy burden if I carry them by hand," the buyer, who was in too much of a hurry to share his name, told the Global Times on Monday.

While experienced purchasers from all over the world attending the Canton Fair are trying to improve their efficiency, David Beschaftigt, a first-time Canton Fair participant from Germany, and his peers, were dazzled by the millions of products on display.

"We're looking for products that are great for selling to customers in Germany," Beschaftigt, a representative of an e-commerce platform, told the Global Times on Monday.

"It's very big here. We first look with our eyes, touch the things and check the quality. And then we can do some research if the products are interesting to sell and whether we can make profit," Beschaftigt said.

They are among the global purchasers at the Canton Fair hoping to explore the latest high-quality products for global customers.

Helpful, open to all

Exhibitors said that attending the 135th Canton Fair helps enterprises grab global orders, expand the market and help consolidate China's foreign trade and foreign investment.

"We export about $30-50 million worth of electric bicycles to the world every year, mainly to Europe and North America," Eddie Xu, sales manager at Jinhua-based Yongkang Lohas Vehicle Co, told the Global Times on Monday at the Canton Fair.

Xu said the company attends many exhibitions domestically and overseas, but the Canton Fair is the most effective one as it targets the largest customer group.

Lu Aohua, sales manager at Ji'nan-based Gweike Tech Co, echoed Xu by saying that the exhibition halls of some expos overseas are relatively small, as are the number of visitors. 

"But the Canton Fair is different. It is large, and the categories of products on display are comprehensive. It's easy to set up contacts with upstream and downstream enterprises, which makes potential customer exploration easier," Lu told the Global Times on Monday at the fair.

Gweike, a manufacturer of laser cutting machines, exports about 1.2 billion yuan ($166 million) worth of products annually, mainly to the US, Turkey, Russia, Italy and some South American countries, according to Lu.

Lu also said that he feels a larger crowd of overseas purchasers have come to this edition of the Canton Fair than at the 134th session held in October and November in 2023.

Many other exhibitors shared the same feeling. One salesperson at Supcon Chemical Industry Indonesia told the Global Times that she is already exhausted from having received some 60 batches of customers by 2 pm on Monday.

The Canton Fair, often dubbed the No.1 expo in the world in terms of scale, is seen as a symbol of foreign trade that gives confidence to international commerce dealers. The fair's popularity tells of the vitality of China's foreign trade and attractiveness to global participants.

The fair is now open to all, so global exporters and importers can enjoy the dividends of China's opening-up.

More than 9.3 million overseas merchants have participated in the Canton Fair since the first session held in 1957, the Global Times learned from the Canton Fair organizer. The number of global cooperation partners comes to 195, which has strongly promoted trade and people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries and regions in the world.

China vows to pursue higher-level opening-up and to promote mutual benefits, as was announced in this year's Government Work Report.

"We will promote coordinated development of domestic and foreign trade. Major trade events will be hosted, such as the China International Import Expo, the China Import and Export Fair, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the Global Digital Trade Expo, and the China International Consumer Products Expo," read the report. 

The Canton Fair, together with other events, demonstrates China's determination to expand high-level opening-up and promotes an open world economy and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Behind these major events is the transformation and upgrading of China's economic structure.

Transformation and upgrading

The Canton Fair, for example, used to mainly showcase consumer goods, but in recent years, the proportion of intermediate and capital goods on display has increased to 12 percent.

In the machinery exhibition area where capital goods are concentrated, the number of booths has increased by more than 50 percent in the past five years.

Capital goods and intermediate goods are becoming more and more important in the Canton Fair, through which China provides the world with a large number of high-quality products with strong competitiveness and stable supply.

This has helped all countries and regions, especially developing countries, achieve industrialization and enhanced the resilience and stability of industrial and supply chains in the world.

The Canton Fair released on Friday a survey of exhibitors, which showed that more than 80 percent of them know more suppliers through the Canton Fair, 64 percent of exhibitors found more suitable supporting services providers, and 62 percent of exhibitors obtained more efficient production alternatives.

Consumer goods displayed at the Canton Fair are also smarter and greener, showcasing the country's advanced manufacturing level. 

The number of exhibitors for sectors such as NEVs, smart transportation, industrial automation, intelligent manufacturing and new-energy materials increased during the current Canton Fair.

There are more than 90,000 intelligent products such as brain-computer interface bionic hands, automatic navigation and transportation equipment, and artificial intelligence (AI) translation machines. More than 50 percent of exhibitors are actively applying digital technologies such as AI and big data analysis to transform production and operation.

Over 1 million new products are expected to be showcased at the first phase of the 135th session of Canton Fair, from Monday to Friday, themed "advanced manufacturing." Of these, 450,000 are green and low-carbon items and more than 250,000 are products with independent intellectual properties, the Global Times learned from the Canton Fair organizer.

The spring Canton Fair is divided into three phases, with the second phase themed "quality home furnishings" from April 23 to 27, and the third phase themed "better life" from May 1 to 5.

A cross-border e-commerce pilot zone and overseas warehouse zone were set up for the first time, with a total exhibition area of 3,000 square meters. A total of 165 e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones are promoted on the Canton Fair online platform.

More overseas universities and educational institutions are seeking cooperation with China. At the China Study Abroad Forum in Beijing on Friday, officials and scholars from China and overseas pointed out that global education is facing challenges amid the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), and more cultural and educational exchanges are needed.

With a theme of "embracing challenges, creating a shared future for a new landscape of studying abroad," the forum is intended as a platform for discussion of the crucial role of cultural and educational exchanges.

Ren Youqun, a professor of Education at Shandong University, highlighted the widening gap in higher education due to the rapid proliferation of AI. He emphasized at the forum the imperative of redefining education through comprehensive digital transformation, as well as systemic reforms in teaching methodologies, institutional governance, and quality assurance mechanisms.

During the event, universities and educational institutions from Australia and Canada signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on further deepening education cooperation with Chinese educational institutions.

Wang Daquan, director of the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE), a public institution affiliated to China's Ministry of Education, reiterated the institution's commitment to fostering international collaboration and facilitating the global talent development agenda of higher education institutions.

He offered the example that the China-US youth innovation contest has attracted nearly 10,000 young people from China and the US, further solidifying the foundation of friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

Rebecca Needham, a political counsellor with the New Zealand Embassy in China, shared her experience of studying in China in the 1980s, and spoke of transformation through cross-cultural interactions as well as the pivotal role of education exchanges in bridging cultural divides.

In reaffirming the strong bilateral ties between China and New Zealand, she highlighted recent diplomatic engagements between the two nations, including visits by foreign ministers and trade officials.

Many experts told the Global Times that with China's growing national strength, more international students are showing interest in studying in China.

Cary Anderson, executive vice chancellor at Wenzhou-Kane University, outlined the university's efforts to attract students through diverse programs, emphasizing the value of experiential learning through interactions with Chinese businesses.

"Just last month, we had students who are MBA students come, and they did a couple of courses at our university and visited Chinese businesses. After the tour, they showed a strong interest and they want to come back," he told the Global Times.

Tim Hubbard, head of East Asia Recruitment and Partnerships at the University of East Anglia, expressed optimism about the renewed demand for studying in China, citing his own positive experiences. He emphasized the potential for students to leverage their skills gained in China to forge connections with their home countries, fostering greater global engagement.

"I have some very good friends, one from Argentina, one from Macedonia, one from the Czech Republic. And they're all back in their home countries now, working for organizations connected with China," he told the Global Times.

On Friday afternoon, an event themed "My Beautiful Encounter with China" was held, where outstanding international students shared their experiences through speeches, alongside the launch of an overseas social media competition promoting essays and short videos on the theme.

Wang said the seventh edition of the My Beautiful Encounter with China book and short video contest for international students studying in China garnered over 800 stories about China from students from more than 80 countries who came to study in China.

Rhett Miller, senior trade and investment commissioner for Greater China Trade and Investment, Queensland China Office, told the Global Times that as China continues to position itself as a hub for global education, partnerships forged through initiatives like the China Study Abroad Forum are poised to shape the future of education, fostering greater cross-cultural understanding and collaboration on a global scale.

Changsha, the capital city of Central China's Hunan Province, has captured hearts of Hong Kong residents, following the introduction of direct trains, making travel to the mainland city more convenient.

"When I strolled through Wuyi Square, one of the prominent landmarks of Changsha, I couldn't help but feel like I was in Hong Kong," joked a netizen as the influx of Hong Kong tourists were evident in every corner of the city during the just past Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day.

The restart of the cross-provincial trains that connect Hong Kong to Beijing, Changsha, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan and other cities on April 1, 2023 allows Hong Kong residents to travel to mainland cities more conveniently.

All Hong Kong high-speed rail tickets to Guangzhou, Changsha and other places have been sold out since mid-March. On the first day of the holiday, the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) was already crowded from 6 am, according to media reports.

Data showed that from March 28 to April 4, more than 7.8 million people have entered and left Hong Kong, an average of about 980,000 daily arrivals and departures, a 46 percent increase over the same period last year. On April 4, the Qingming Festival, there were more than 1.01 million arrivals and departures via various border crossings to and from Hong Kong, an increase of about 52 percent over last year's Qingming Festival, of which about 70 percent were Hong Kong residents, China Central Television reported.

"A round trip of just over three hours is perfect for a short holiday to experience a new city, which is also said to be very low cost comparing to Hong Kong. Changsha is just such a place," Jason, a resident from Hong Kong who had travelled to Changsha told the Global Times.

Hong Kong people's understanding of the mainland is still limited to Shenzhen and Guangzhou, in fact, the mainland is very big, there is a lot more to see in the north, Jason added.

In addition to the convenient high-speed train journey, Hong Kong tourists were drawn to the distinctive Hunan cuisine and stinky tofu, known for its spicy and robust flavors, as well as Chayan Yuese, a well-known local milk tea brand. Many were prepared to endure long lines just to savor the local cuisine.

Changsha also stands as a revered cradle of Chinese revolution. The Orange Isle, Yuelu Academy, and Aiwan Pavilion bear witness to the revolutionary legacy of China's great man, Mao Zedong, and are must visits sites in the city.

Night life in Changsha is also famous, and was described by Hong Kong tourists as even more fun than the city's famous Lan Kwai Fong. "I hang out with my friends late when we were in Changsha. Bars, food street, live houses… there are just too many options to have fun," Jason said.

Hong Kong has been a shopping paradise, and every year countless mainland tourists flock to Hong Kong to snap up hot items. But the trend has begun to reverse after the pandemic. Hong Kong tourists' northbound scope is constantly expanding. On social platforms, more Hong Kong people share travel tips in Beijing, Guizhou, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan and other destinations.

Liang Haiming, President of Belt and Road Research Institute of Hainan University, told the Global Times that a growing number of Hong Kong residents are choosing to travel north and expand their consumption range in the mainland, which will bring a positive pulling effect on the economy of the destination region.

It will not only stimulate the development of local tourism, catering, retail, entertainment and other related industries, but will also give rise to more cultural exchange and understanding with the mainland, Liang noted.

Pakistan has taken a series of actions to enhance the safety of Chinese nationals and property following a suicide bombing in late March as Chinese observers urged comprehensive plans and effective implementation amid the country's complicated security situation.

After the attack on March 26 killed five Chinese engineers and a local driver working for Dasu hydropower project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to personally review monthly meetings on the overall security of the country, particularly that of Chinese working on development projects.

Pakistan will upgrade security procedures for Chinese constructors to "foolproof" and will step up efforts to eliminate terrorism, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.

The Pakistani military killed 12 militants in separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on Friday night and Saturday and recovered weapons, ammunition and explosives, Dawn reported Sunday.

Sharif also ordered the punishment of at least five officials, including a regional official, three district officials and the security director at the Dasu project for negligence in performing their duties, according to local media.

The Chinese engineers were attacked in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during their commute. A similar attack on staff at the Dasu project happened in July 2021, which killed nine Chinese nationals and four Pakistanis.

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told a press briefing on Saturday that security matters regarding Chinese citizens would be "treated with utmost seriousness and any lapses will not be tolerated."

After the attack, Pakistani police have arrested more than 12 people, including Afghan nationals, in connection with the bombing.

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as the TTP, was reportedly behind the incident, per Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper, but the TTP has not claimed responsibility.

The car used in the terrorist attack was non-custom paid and smuggled into Pakistan through the Chaman border with Afghanistan, the Express Tribune reported.

Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Sunday that the series of actions shows the Pakistani government attaches great importance to the safety of Chinese nationals and property.

However, the country faces a complicated security reality and the government has relatively weak hold of certain areas where separatist groups are active and terrorist attacks are frequent, Qian said.

In April 2022, three Chinese teachers were killed in an attack carried out by the Baloch Liberation Army. The flagship project of Gwardar Port is also frequently the targets of attacks by Pakistan separatist groups.

Security efforts have been enhanced for the Dasu project after the 2021 attack, however, the long commutes in mountainous regions are a weak point in the mechanism, Li Wei, an expert on national security at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.

The upgrade of security mechanisms should be comprehensive without a blind spot, and must be carried out effectively, analysts stressed, noting that Pakistan needs cooperation with China in its difficult battle against terrorism.

Punjab province chief minister Maryam Nawaz expressed her resolve to provide foolproof security to the Chinese nationals working on development projects in Punjab, the Hindu reported Sunday.

Nawaz noted the digitalization of terrorists, their US weapons sourced from Afghanistan and social media brainwashing youth as major challenges in the war against terrorism.

Flower appreciation, family outings and cultural activities characterize the feeling around this year’s three-day Qingming Festival holidays, starting from Thursday. The tourism surge during this year’s holidays is far above that of the same period in previous years, as revealed by statistics from several travel platforms. Travel bookings on some travel platforms have reportedly doubled on a yearly basis.

Passenger flows started to peak from Wednesday evening and lasted until Thursday morning. On Thursday, ticket bookings in popular domestic cities increased 1.3-fold year-on-year, and hotel bookings in popular cities nearly doubled year-on-year, according to statistics from Qunar, a Chinese online travel agency.

Many tourists kicked off the holiday with short-distance train journeys. Among the top 20 routes with the greatest number of candidates waiting for available tickets, 18 depart from Beijing, Shanghai, and South China’s Guangzhou and Shenzhen to neighboring cities.

Railways across the country are expected to facilitate 17.5 million passenger trips on Thursday. The railway network across the Yangtze River Delta is expected to facilitate nearly 3.6 million passenger trips on Thursday, up 12 percent from the same period in 2019, China Railway announced on Thursday.

More than half of the passengers traveling by train chose cities that can be reached within a two-hour high-speed rail trip. Popular destinations by train in northern China included Beijing, Xi’an, Tianjin, Jinan and Qingdao.

In response to the near-record spring travel peak, local rail authorities launched "flower appreciation trains" on popular lines to further meet passenger demand.

According to a recent report released by domestic travel platform Trip.com, bookings for flower-viewing spots during the Qingming Festival holidays had risen more than sixfold year-on-year.
A Beijing resident surnamed Li was among the tourists who decided to engage in a flower sightseeing journey during the Qingming Festival holidays.

Li drove to the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall in Beijing to enjoy the scenery on Thursday. Li told the Global Times that he was stuck outside the parking lot for nearly two hours, as there was no spare across four different car parks.

“The queue of cars waiting for parking spaces stretched all the way to the expressway,” Li said, adding that he was appealed by photos published on social media platforms showing suburban trains passing through a sea of flowers. 

Li also noted that he failed to book train tickets and was forced to stay in Beijing during the holidays.

“Because the Qingming Festival holiday is a short one, tourists tend to choose destinations that can be reached within a 2-hour high-speed rail ride or a 2-hour car ride, which allows some small towns to catch tourists,” said Xiao Peng, a research fellow at Qunar's Big Data Research Institute. 

Industry data showed that during the Qingming Festival holidays in 2024, domestic car rental orders increased by 240 percent year-on-year. Of these, 82 percent of the orders were leased for less than three days.

Some cities combined flower appreciation with the cultural activities celebrated as part of the Huazhao Festival, a traditional flower festival, during the holidays. Huazhao Festival is held in celebration of the flower goddess’ birthday in the second month of lunar calendar.

For example, the celebration for the Huazhao Festival started in late March in Jinan and will run until May 6. Traditional market and poetry cultural activities have boosted the popularity of the city of Jinan. 

Outside of domestic tourists, inbound travel is also surging, with a shortage of foreign language tour guides. The daily cost of hiring a tour guide has jumped to above 1,000 yuan ($138) for some languages such as Russian. Currently, English-speaking tour guides earn between 400 and 600 yuan a day, according to media reports.

The female giant panda Shuangshuang, residing at Japan's Kobe Oji Zoo, died on Sunday after suffering from severe heart disease for many years, according to China Wildlife Conservation Association's WeChat account on Monday.

According to the statement, Shuangshuang's condition had continued to deteriorate and the animal had begun to refuse to eat since March, even rejecting water and experiencing convulsions and other symptoms. Chinese and Japanese experts continued to implement all necessary rescue measures, but the animal was unable to be saved.

Shuangshuang was born in 1995, and arrived at Kobe Oji Zoo in Japan in 2000 for the purpose of jointly cooperative research between China and Japan on the international conservation of giant pandas, according to the release. Experts explained that a 29-year-old giant panda is equivalent to a nearly 100-year-old person.

Shuangshuang was diagnosed with senile heart disease during a routine examination in 2021. The Chinese and Japanese sides quickly organized a team of specialists to provide joint diagnosis, treatment and careful care, and the condition of Shuangshuang was relieved to a certain extent at that time.

According to the release, Chinese and Japanese sides also formulated a strict treatment plan. Both sides postponed the deadline for Shuangshuang's return to China on multiple occasions to prevent deterioration of her condition due to the long-distance transportation and the global pandemic, following the expiration of the giant panda cooperation agreement in 2020.

Chinese and Japanese sides will appropriately handle the body of Shuangshuang in strict accordance with the provisions of the cooperation agreement. Shuangshuang will be returned to China at the right time after specialized treatment.

After delegates of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) to this year's two sessions put forward proposals hoping that the Chinese mainland would once again gift giant pandas to Hong Kong, Vice Chair of the DAB Chan Yung said that there is a chance that "this could happen" before October 1.

Chan, who is also a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), told the Global Times on Thursday that it's crucial to ensure the well-being of the giant pandas upon their arrival, saying that they should not be neglected and allowed to become emaciated like those in the US. He believes that all residents in Hong Kong will cherish the pandas as treasures, and that their presence will significantly increase the number of tourists.

Among a series of proposals made by the DAB delegates to the two sessions in mid-February ahead of the annual political event, there is hope for Southwest China's Sichuan Province to once again gift giant pandas to Hong Kong.

As the first generation of giant pandas living in Hong Kong, An An and Jia Jia, have passed away, leaving only Ying Ying and Le Le, who arrived in 2007, Ocean Park Hong Kong is ready to welcome new giant pandas at any time, Chan said.

"Gifting pandas to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) during the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China would be of profound significance. It could also attract tourists to visit Hong Kong," the official said.

Chan also suggested that the pandas could be named Zhi Zhi and Xing Xing, reflecting a transition that the city has been experiencing from well-governed to prosperity.

Ocean Park recently hosted the 2023 Sichuan Nature Conservation Week in November, 2023, introduced a group of red pandas and also extended the stay of the current three red pandas for another 20 years, according to the park's website.

"Giant pandas are top-tier ambassadors of goodwill, and Hong Kong is greatly looking forward to their arrival. It also represents a pivotal moment for connecting internationally and sharing China's story," Chan said.

When the new pair of giant pandas arrives, they will be well taken care of in the Panda pavilion at Ocean Park, Chan told the Global Times. "We won't let them become emaciated like those in the US."

"My favorite is the top celebrity, Hua Hua, and I believe the mainland has a lot of experience in protecting giant pandas and can enhance exchanges with Hong Kong," said Nixie Lam Lam, a panda lover in Hong Kong.

Especially since Hong Kong is also an international city, strengthening the promotion of panda conservation can make the cause of panda protection more international, Lam, who is also a local lawmaker, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"I hope more young people from Hong Kong can join volunteer activities aimed at protecting pandas, especially considering the success of the mainland's promotional efforts for pandas. In fact, some young people from Hong Kong have previously had the opportunity to intern at the Sichuan panda base in the mainland," Lam said.

The two giant pandas currently residing in Hong Kong, Le Le and Ying Ying, have been in the city for over 16 years. Ocean Park celebrated their 18th birthday (equivalent to 54 human years) last August with a special surprise of two giant ice cakes, according to local media reports.

The cakes were made with their favorite ingredients such as bamboo, purple sweet potatoes, carrots, and pear juice. They featured a summer-themed peach pink orange color as the main hue, topped with forest green "18-year-old" ice pops.

South Korea and India are not parties directly involved in the South China Sea issue, and their attempts to get involved are driven by external forces like the US and the pursuit of self-interests, said Chinese experts, who also warned that their intervention will only exacerbate the divisions and conflict in the region, after the foreign ministers of the two countries recently expressed so-called grave concerns on the issue.

According to Reuters, South Korean foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk told a briefing that "we are gravely concerned about the recent and repeated use of water cannons in the South China Sea," on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference during a visit to Manila on Tuesday, India's foreign minister S Jaishankar said that India supports the Philippines upholding its sovereignty and hopes to find new areas of cooperation including in defense and security. 

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday that maritime disputes are issues between the countries concerned. Third parties have no right to interfere whatsoever. "We urge relevant parties to face squarely the facts and truth on the South China Sea issue, and respect China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests and the efforts of regional countries to keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable," Lin noted.

South Korea and India have been relatively cautious in their attitudes toward the South China Sea issue in the past, but in recent years they have increased their involvement for several reasons, Chinese experts said on Wednesday. 

First, there are external factors, namely pushing and encouragement from the US. This also indicates a further coordination of policies between the US and India, Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times. 

In addition, both South Korea and India have their own interests. For India, the energy resources in the South China Sea region, including oil wells and natural gas, are very attractive. For South Korea, the sea routes in the South China Sea region are very important. "The completely pro-US policy adopted by the Yoon Seok-yeol government has already caused an imbalance in China-South Korea relations, so South Korea is more inclined to tilt toward the US and develop small circles," Chen said. Another consideration is geopolitical, which is to contain China, Chen noted.

The interference of South Korea and India may have an impact on the negotiations between China and other countries in the South China Sea region, further exacerbating division and instability in the region, experts said.