Top searches in China: Earthquake, Cyberattack, New spokesperson of MOF
Top searches in China: Earthquake, Cyberattack, New spokesperson of MOF
At least 46 people have been killed in a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that jolted Luding County in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday
Today's newsletter is about the top 10 searches on China's social media, WeChat. Earthquakes in southwest China pulled at everyone's heart. All eyes are on the update from the worst-hit area, and Chinese netizens are praying online.
China's top university is reported to be attacked by the U.S. government affiliated institute, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded.
Five of the top 10 searches are things happening outside China. Beware that they are not selected but from a real-time snapshot. Just like you are curious about what's going on in China, Chinese people are also curious about big events around the world.
Monday's top 10 trending searches on WeChat as of 5:30 p.m. (0930 GMT):
#1 Typhoon Hinnamnor moved past Shanghai on Monday, causing heavy rainfalls in regions of the city
“轩岚诺”今天越过上海同纬度！白天局部地区有大雨
The 11th typhoon Hinnamnor this year has moved past the latitude of People's Square in Shanghai, bringing high winds and heavy rains to multiple regions of the city. Hinnamnor is now heading northeast and its influence on Shanghai is decreasing.
#2 UK may see its third female PM come to office
英国或将诞生第三位女首相
[Update: Liz Truss won the race to become the new leader of the Conservative Party. -- CNN]
#3 The Plagued: Morrison spoke ill of China during the pandemic -- The Guardian
澳方：莫里森在疫情期间说中国坏话
#4 New spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs made her debut
外交部新任发言人毛宁亮相
Mao Ning, the 33rd spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOF), on Monday held her first regular press conference. The position dates back to 1983 as the ministry was one of the first China's government ministries to hold regular press conferences.
Mao previously worked in MOF's Office of Korean Peninsula Affairs, the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (China, Japan and South Korea), China's Embassy to the US, Department of Asian Affairs, and served as the member of the standing committee of Leshan municipal Party committee and deputy mayor of Leshan City, according to ThePaper.cn
#5 American CFO jumped to his death from his luxury apartment -- CNN
美国富豪从著名豪宅摔落身亡
#6 Earthquake of 6.8-magnitude jolted SW China causing 7 deaths
四川泸定6.8级地震已致7人遇难
[Update: the death toll has reached 46 and the rescue work is still underway, so the total casualties remain uncertain.]
#7 Gui'an: Static management in face of the epidemic is necessary
贵安：疫情实施静态管理是必须之举
In a press conference on Monday, officials from Gui'an district in southwest China's Guizhou Province stressed the importance of static management as the capital city Guiyang reported 132 cases in this round of COVID flare up, and the city is to continue the management till Sept 8.
At present, there are 33 cities across China under partial or full lockdown, among which seven are provincial capitals, Guiyang included. And more than 65 million people are affected, according to Caixin.
#8 China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to NSA's cyberattack on Northwestern Polytechnical University
外交部回应美国安局网络攻击西工大
#9 U.S. Float plane crashed causing at least one death -- CNN
美国一架水上飞机坠毁已致1人死亡
#10 Canadian Police released photos of suspects on a stabbing spree -- The Washington Post
加拿大持刀伤人事件嫌疑人照片公布
#6 Earthquake of 6.8-magnitude jolted SW China causing 7 deaths
[Update: the death toll has reached 46 and the rescue work is still underway, so the total casualties remain uncertain.]
46 killed in 6.8-magnitude quake in China's Sichuan -- Xinhua
Forty-six people have been killed in a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that jolted Luding County in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday, local authorities said.
Among the dead, 29 were from Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture which administers Luding County, and the other 17 were from Ya'an City.
The epicenter was monitored at 29.59 degrees north latitude and 102.08 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 16 km, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
The people's government of the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has dispatched over 600 rescue workers and 300 have arrived at the epicenter area to join the rescue efforts, repairing roads and sending drones to assess quake damage. -- Xinhua
The province has activated the second-highest level of emergency response for the earthquake and more rescue forces are rushing to the epicenter area.
There are several villages within the 5-km range around the epicenter area, which is 39 km from the county seat of Luding.
The tremor was felt in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, which is 226 km away from the epicenter.
Xi orders all-out rescue efforts after 6.8-magnitude earthquake in SW China -- Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out rescue efforts to minimize casualties after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday, stressing that saving lives should be taken as the primary task.
On the afternoon of Monday, Sichuan suffered from seven earthquakes above 2.8 magnitude within an hour, according to China News Service. Four of the quakes hit Luding County in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and the other three struck Shimian County of Ya'an City.
Rescuers transfer survivors in Moxi Town of Luding County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sept. 5, 2022. (Source: Xinhua)
On the same day, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management jointly allocated 50 million yuan (about 7.21 million U.S. dollars) from the central natural disaster relief funds to Sichuan Province for rescue work and the relocation of people.
Other resources like 3,000 tents, 10,000 cots, and 10,000 quilts were also sent to Luding County for disaster relief work.
Kids are evacuated to the playground at a kindergarten in Shimian County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sept. 5, 2022. (Source: Xinhua)
Sichuan Province is on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where tectonic plates meet, so the province is often inflicted by earthquakes of various magnitudes.
#8 China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to NSA's cyberattack on Northwestern Polytechnical University
China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) released on Monday a report [in Chinese] about the US National Security Agency (NSA) attacking Northwestern Polytechnical University's networks.
The report said that the Office of Tailored Access Operation (TAO) under NSA exploited its cyber weapons, two “零日漏洞” "0day" flaws in the SunOS operating system, and other internet equipment to get access to core technical data.
In the regular press conference held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, the spokesperson responded to the incident.
Based on the analysis and tracing done by the joint team of CVERC and 360, the NSA’s cyber attacks and data theft against China are supported by a clear and complete chain of evidence, which involves 13 personnel in the US who directly launched cyber attacks against China, and more than 60 contracts and more than 170 digital documents with US telecom operators to build an environment for cyber attacks. The reports showed that the US used 41 specialized cyber weapons to launch cyber theft operations for over 1,000 times against Northwestern Polytechnical University and stole core technical data. The US has also long carried out indiscriminate audio surveillance against Chinese cell-phone users, illegally stole text messages from them and conducted wireless positioning of them.
The US’s behavior pose a serious danger to China’s national security and citizens’ personal information security. China strongly condemns this and asks the US side to offer an explanation and immediately stop its unlawful moves.
I want to stress that security of the cyber space is a common issue facing all countries in the world. As the country that possesses the most powerful cyber technologies and capabilities, the US should immediately stop using its prowess as an advantage to conduct theft and attacks against other countries, responsibly participate in global cyber space governance and play a constructive role in defending cyber security.
Mao Ning, the 33rd spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOF), on Monday held her first regular press conference. (Source: MOF)
By the time the post was written, the NSA did not make any comment on this.
Northwestern Polytechnical University is a national key public research university in Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The university earned its reputation for the education and research of aeronautics, astronautics and marine engineering.