According to The Washington Post, "China is building 'a Great Wall of Sand' through an unparalleled program of land reclamation in the South China Sea, raising concerns about the possibility of military confrontation in the disputed waters, according to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...Satellite images show rapid construction on various coral reefs and rocks controlled by China within the disputed Spratly Islands, including harbors and piers, helipads, buildings and potentially at least one airstrip, experts say... China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territorial waters, but its claims overlap with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei."
Reuters writes, "China welcomes Taiwan's decision to apply to join the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as long as the self-ruled island uses an appropriate name, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. China's Taiwan Affairs Office has received Taiwan's letter of intent to join and has passed it to the AIIB's interim secretariat, Xinhua cited Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang as saying...Most countries, including the United States, do not recognize Taiwan due to pressure from China. Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. However it is a member of the Asian Development Bank under the name of Taipei, China."
"China is to launch an action plan to protect the quality of its scarce water resources after years of rapid economic growth that have left much of its water supply too polluted for human consumption or for growing food. The plan, expected to be published this month, will require firms in heavily polluting industries such as paper mills and dye and chemical plants to treat discharged water and it will set higher penalties for those that violate rules on discharging pollutants, according to official media reports. One third of China's major river basins and 60 percent of its underground water are contaminated, according to official data, posing a major threat to public health and food security. The long-awaited action plan is expected to be approved by the cabinet this month to give it legal powers to hold polluters and local authorities responsible," reports Reuters.