SPRING READING: A boy reads a pop-up book at a library in Nantong City, east China's Jiangsu Province, on April 23, World Book and Copyright Day (HUANG ZHE)

Terror in Xinjiang

A violent clash between suspected terrorists and authorities in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region left 21 people dead, including 15 community workers and police officers and six suspects, local authorities said on April 24.

The attacks happened on April 23 in Bachu County, Kashgar Prefecture, some 1,200 km southwest of Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang.

Three community workers phoned supervisors to report suspicious individuals and knives in a local residence, but were subsequently kidnapped by hidden occupants.

Suspects killed the three community workers and several police officers and township officials who rushed to the scene, and burned the building before armed reinforcements arrived to bring the situation under control.

Eight terror suspects were captured and further investigations are underway.

History Matters

China urged Japan to take meaningful action to win the trust of other countries following Japanese politicians' recent visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

Their visits were intended to "deny the history of Japanese militarist aggression," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing on April 23, the day a group of 168 Japanese lawmakers visited the Tokyo shrine, which honors Japanese war dead, including 14 military leaders convicted of war crimes for actions in World War II.

Several days earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made donations to the shrine and three cabinet ministers prayed there.

Japan's neighbors in Asia and the international community should be highly alert to the country's behavior and intentions, Hua said. Only when Japan learns from history can it embrace the future, the spokeswoman added.

Another Carrier

A senior officer with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy said on April 23 that "China will have more than one aircraft carrier."

Song Xue, Deputy Chief of Staff of the PLA Navy, told foreign military attaches at a ceremony to celebrate the PLA Navy's 64th founding anniversary in Beijing, "The next aircraft carrier will need to be larger and carry more fighters."

However, Song said some foreign media reports on China's building new aircraft carriers in Shanghai were not accurate.

Currently, China operates one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning , which entered service on September 25, 2012.

Captain of the Liaoning Zhang Zheng told foreign military attaches that his crew has mastered independent operation of all weapon systems on the carrier.

Flu Origins

Scientists have found that the H7N9 flu virus in humans has a similar genetic sequence to that of H7N9 found in live poultry, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) said on April 23.

Studies carried out by the CAAS Harbin Veterinary Research Institute found that the H7N9 flu virus is a combination of genes from various viruses, a CAAS statement said.

Researchers collected 970 samples from live poultry markets and farms in Shanghai and Anhui Province. Twenty of the samples from the markets were positive and all samples from poultry farms were negative.