Foreign News
Inspired by Xi, Chinese women chasing their cosmic dreams
When the countdown began, the world seemed to fall silent, and everyone held their breath. The only sound that echoed through the air was Zhang Runhong’s steady voice: “Ten, nine, eight… three, two, one, ignition!”
Zhang is an “01” commander at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. She is responsible for coordinating all stages and systems involved in a rocket launch mission and ultimately issuing the final countdown and ignition commands.
She is the first Chinese woman to hold this crucial position.
“The ’01’ commander is so cool!” These words resonated with Zhang when she first participated in a satellite launch as a junior staff member in 2006. From that moment on, she set her sights on becoming the one at the console — and she never hesitated to share her ambition to become an “01” commander.
Even in front of Chinese President Xi Jinping, she voiced her dream with confidence. In early 2018, when Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the military base where Zhang worked and met with staff members, she said to him: “Chairman, I have a goal — to become our country’s first female ’01’ commander.”
Xi responded with delight. “The ’01’ commander shoulders a vital scientific mission. If you succeed, it would be a milestone for women in our country,” he said. “I hope you will achieve your goal soon.”
But the path was far from easy. A commander must master technical knowledge across more than 20 subsystems and nearly 200 positions at the launch site, along with extensive hands-on experience. Every command must be issued with absolute precision in timing, as any delay could miss the narrow launch window.
Determined to prove herself, Zhang cut her hair short, carried 100-pound fueling hoses just like her male colleagues, climbed the nearly 90-meter-tall launch gantry, and inspected swing arms suspended high above the ground.
She systematically studied different systems and positions in her spare time, covering her room’s walls with pneumatic and electrical diagrams. Night after night, she stayed up late poring over technical manuals, protocols and contingency plans.
After participating in 80 launch missions, her opportunity finally came with the 81st. At midnight of Nov. 1, 2018, at the age of 36, Zhang made history as China’s first female “01” commander, directing the launch of a Long March-3B rocket that successfully carried the 41st BeiDou navigation satellite into orbit.
Zhang is not alone in her exploration of the universe. In June 2012, Liu Yang became China’s first female taikonaut, completing a 13-day space mission.
“You are truly a heroine, an example of how women hold up half the sky,” Xi praised Liu when he met her months later on the sidelines of the annual session of the national legislature, calling her an “ambassador” representing Chinese women.
In June 2022, Liu embarked on her second space mission aboard Shenzhou-14.
“As the Chinese people pursue a happy life, every Chinese woman has the opportunity to excel in life and make their dream come true,” President Xi said when he addressed the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the UN headquarters in New York a decade ago.
Under Xi’s leadership, the cause of women in China has flourished since 2012, achieving historic breakthroughs and comprehensive progress. Efforts to promote gender equality and women’s all-around development have been incorporated into key policy documents and national development plans.
In particular, China now has about 2.8 million women working in the research and development sector, more than double the number in 2012. Women account for 45.8 percent of the country’s science and technology workforce.
Wang Yaping, China’s second female taikonaut, noted that Chinese women are contributing significantly to sci-tech innovation, thanks to institutional and policy support from the country.
China will do more to enhance gender equality as its basic state policy, give play to women’s important role as “half the sky” and support them in realizing their own dreams and aspirations in both career and life, Xi said in the 2015 UN speech.
Xi has repeatedly cited the Chinese proverb “women hold up half the sky” to emphasize women’s equal participation in society and encourage them to break barriers in both their careers and mindsets.
Inspired by this call, women across China — Zhang, Liu, Wang and countless others, are taking bold strides toward their dreams, reaching for the stars.
[Xinhua]
A rescue diver has died while searching for the bodies of a group of Italians who died in a scuba-diving accident in the Maldives.
Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee was taken to hospital in critical condition and later succumbed to his injuries, a government spokesman told the BBC on Saturday.
Five Italians died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of around 50m (164ft) on Thursday. So far, the body of one of them is thought to have been recovered, in a cave at a depth of around 60m (197ft).
The incident is believed to be the worst single diving accident in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination because of its string of coral islands.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu travelled to Vaavu Atoll on Saturday to observe the search operations.
“Eight rescue divers went into the water today. When they surfaced, they realised Mahdhee didn’t come up,” Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesman told the BBC.
The other divers immediately went into the water again and they found Mahdhee had blacked out.
The Maldives military has described the operation as very high risk, with unfavourable weather conditions.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani sent condolences: “These days of grief for Italy are compounded by the news that one of your brave soldiers… died while attempting to dive to reach the bodies of our fellow Italians.”
“This tragedy unites Italy and the Maldives in grief and respect for the victims,” he added.
Four of the Italian divers were part of a University of Genoa team, including professor of ecology Monica Montefalcone, her daughter and two researchers. The fifth was a boat operations manager and diving instructor.
The five entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning, local media said, and were reported missing when they failed to resurface later on.
Police said the weather was rough in the area, about 100km (62 miles) south of the capital, Male. A yellow warning was issued for passenger boats and fishermen.
Shareef said recreational scuba divers were only allowed to dive up to a depth of 30m and it was not clear why the Italians went into a cave that’s 60m under water.
Italy’s foreign ministry said earlier that another 20 Italian nationals aboard the Duke of York yacht, from which the five divers took off, were unharmed and receiving assistance from the Embassy of Italy in Colombo, Sri Lanka
[BBC]
At least eight people have been killed, and dozens injured, after a freight train crashed into a public bus in Thailand’s capital.
Flames engulfed the bus and nearby vehicles near an airport rail link station in the centre of Bangkok Saturday afternoon.
The city’s emergency services Erawan Medical Center confirmed the number of deaths, while Bangkok police chief Urumporn Koondejsumrit told AFP news agency at least 35 people were injured.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat said that all the bodies were found on the bus. It was not yet clear how many people were on board in total.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered an investigation into the crash, according to a statement from his office.
Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Bangkok, said the crash unfolded around 3:40pm local time (08:40 GMT), when the bus appeared to get stuck on an intersection with the rail line after the safety barriers descended.
As the freight train rammed into the stationary bus and continued travelling, it dragged several nearby vehicles along with it before the bus burst into flames.
Siripong would not confirm whether the bus had stopped on the railway track or discuss reports that the barriers may not have lowered properly, saying the matter still needs to be investigated.
Firefighters and rescue crews were dispatched to pull people from the wreckage and battle the flames as motorcyclists and passersby attempted to redirect traffic.
The fire has since been brought under control.
[Aljazeera]
New Zealand’s Māori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga Wai hono i te po has met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
The meeting with the British monarch was Te Arikinui’s first since she became queen in 2024, following the death of her father, Kiingi Tuheitia.
The visit marks a near 200-year relationship between the indigenous peoples of New Zealand and the crown, formalised in the Treaty of Waitangi, one of New Zealand’s founding documents.
A spokesperson for the queen says the two discussed the former king’s death in what was a “heartfelt” discussion, as well as the strengthening of their relationship.
Earlier this week, the Māori queen was also welcomed by Prince William to Windsor Castle.
In a post on Instagram, Prince William acknowledged the visit, saying, “it was a pleasure to meet with the Queen.”
A statement released after the meeting from the Kīngitanga said the Māori queen discussed a range of global topics with Prince William.
“Te Arikinui affirmed her belief in the power of indigenous knowledge and intergenerational stewardship to help solve the world’s environmental and social challenges.”
Te Arikinui was crowned in 2024 after the death of her father – becoming only the second Māori queen, the first being her grandmother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.
The Māori monarchy dates back to the 19th Century, when different Māori tribes decided to create a unifying figure similar to that of a European monarch in order to try to prevent the widespread loss of land to New Zealand’s British colonisers and to preserve Māori culture. It is a largely ceremonial and symbolic role.
[BBC]
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