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CNN 10
Tensions Between China, Hong Kong And Taiwan; Hurricane Sally`s Sluggishness; Study Of Another Planet. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 16, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: A travel warning, a hurricane and a planetary discovery headline today`s edition of CNN 10. It`s great to see you this
Wednesday. I`m Carl Azuz getting outside this week away from my booked up bookshelf.
We`ll start across the Pacific. The U.S. State Department is telling Americans to reconsider any upcoming trips to China and to Hong Kong, a
special administrative region of China. There are two main reasons for this according to the United States.
The ongoing threat of COVID-19 and what the U.S. government calls China`s arbitrary enforcement of local laws. We`ll explain that. Tensions are high
between the United States and China. Factors include an ongoing trade dispute, controversial Chinese islands in the South China Sea and
disagreement over recent events in Hong Kong.
The U.S. says China has been detaining U.S. citizens in the communist country. Sometimes preventing them from leaving it without due process of
law. American officials say this is being done for political reasons and that there`s no way to find out how long the detentions will last.
According to "The New York Times," China has criticized the travel warning saying it`s one of the safest places on the planet and that the Chinese
mainland hasn`t seen any transmissions of coronavirus for a month. But thousands of arrests have been made in Hong Kong over the past year and
China has imposed a national security law in the city.
This has limited political dissent in Hong Kong, a place that wants more independence from China but that China says it has ultimate control over.
Twelve people were recently arrested for apparently trying to flee Hong Kong on a motorboat headed for the island of Taiwan.
Chinese authorities detained them for illegal border crossing. Like Hong Kong, Taiwan is a place that disputes its status with China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This island of 23 million people is a vibrant democracy that sits just across the sea from the world`s largest
one-party state. I`m Matt Rivers in Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I`m Steven Jiang in Beijing, that (inaudible) officially known as the People`s Republic of China. This name
has existed since 1949 when the communist won a brutal civil war and forced the previous government to flee to Taiwan.
RIVERS: Both sides set up their own governments, each claiming to be the only legitimate ruler of the entire Chinese territory and decades of
hostility ensued. There was no travel, trade or communications between both sides and the threat of military action was a constant presence.
But tensions began to ease in the 1990s when Beijing and Taipei authorities began a series of meetings and correspondence that deliberately put aside
the issue of sovereignty in favor of resolving practical matters.
JIANG: These dialogues paved the way for economic and culture cooperation. Businesses from Taiwan have invested billions of dollars here on the
mainland, the world`s most populous country and second largest economy. And millions of mainland tourists have flocked to Taiwan after direct flights
resumed. But still, China insists Taiwan is a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary.
RIVERS: Since Taiwan became a democracy in the late 1990s, cross straight relations have fluctuated depending on which of the two main political
parties is in power on the island. Bilateral ties warm up when Po Ming-Tong (ph), the party that favors closer ties with China rules Taiwan and
relations deteriorate when Taiwan`s leader is from the Democratic progressive party which traditionally supports Taiwan independence.
JIANG: Tensions have been climbing since 2016 when the Pro-Independence party`s nominee Tsai Ing-wen was elected president. Chinese president Xi
Jinping has hardened his rhetoric and policies towards Taiwan.
RIVERS: With analysts seeing increased Chinese military drills near Taiwan, many people here are wary of the growing strength and ambition of their
massive neighbor just across the sea. Fearful that their unique way of life, cultivated over the last seven decades maybe under rising threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Hurricane Sally did not make landfall on Tuesday morning as forecasters initially thought it would and the reason could make the storms
effects worse in some ways. As it approached the U.S. Gulf Coast, Sally slowed down a lot. As of Tuesday afternoon, it was still in the Gulf moving
toward land at two miles per hour. That`s slower than most people walk.
The good news is that it didn`t get stronger before its expected landfall on Wednesday. Sally was still a Category 1 hurricane when we produced this
show with sustained wind speeds of 80 miles per hour. The bad news is that it`s incredibly slow pace could mean it dumps more rain on the places it
hits and it appeared Tuesday like it was headed for the state line between Mississippi and Alabama.
Though forecasters still weren`t sure where the hurricane`s exact landfall would be. The governors of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi had requested
emergency government help if Sally approached. Between 10 and 30 inches of rain are possible between Mississippi and the Florida panhandle and the
area was on the lookout for tornadoes as well. This is in addition to the dangerous winds and potential storm surge, the sea water blown inland by
the approaching Hurricane Sally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you live in Homestead, Florida in 1992, Andrew is a name you will never forget. Just like in 2005, if you lived in New Orleans
area, Katrina. The military started naming storms after their wives, their girlfriends but none of these names were made public.
So in 1950 everything changed, several storms formed out in the Atlantic about the same time. It created a lot of confusion so the U.S. Weather
Bureau said, OK. Let`s start naming storms and they actually started by using the World War II alphabet. Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, but this
created confusion as well because every year the storm names were the same.
It wasn`t until 1979 that we started alternating male and female names. We recycle that list every six years. In the Atlantic Basin we use English,
Spanish and French names. No storms are named after a particular person. In fact, you can`t request a storm to be named after you. That entire process
is handled by the World Meteorological Organization.
A storm name will be retired if it is too costly or deadly and it would be inappropriate to use it in future years. In fact, since 1950, there have
been nearly 80 storm names retired and what happens if we go through all of the storm names? Well it happened in 2005, we ended up going to the Greek
alphabet. So that`s what`s in a name. Took a long time to get here but just like each individual name, each storm tends to have its own personality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. What is the only terrestrial planet on this list? Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, or Venus. After Earth, Venus is the second
largest terrestrial planet meaning it has a solid rocky surface and an atmosphere.
It sometimes gets relatively close to Earth. It`s almost the same size as Earth. It`s referred to as Earth`s twin. Why don`t we stick a rover on
Venus? Because its surface is hot enough to melt lead. There`s a lot that`s unknown about Venus. It`s a planetary mystery.
But in an MIT study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers say they detected a gas on Venus that we also have on Earth. The gas is
phosphine. It`s flammable, toxic and it stinks like a plate of decaying fish with garlic. But phosphine gas is produced, on Earth at least, by
bacteria that don`t need oxygen.
The kind that exists in swamps, sludge and animal guts. So does this mean that something living, some kind or bacteria maybe also exists on Venus to
produce phosphine. Scientists say the short answer is no. Dry and acidic environment that would destroy the forms of life that exist on Earth.
So how did phosphine get to the other planet? Theories range from lightening and volcanoes to tiny meteorites and chemical reactions in
Venus` clouds but no one knows for sure. So scientists are pushing for more research to be done on Venus to figure out why the gas is there.
Some folks might be a little intimidated if they looked at a convenience store and saw this thing standing three feet away. Thankfully it doesn`t
want to wrestle. It`s a robotics company`s answer for the need to restock store shelves while maintaining social distancing, at least between people.
Its three-pronged hands can be controlled remotely by a person in another location. It doesn`t appear to be as fast as human stockers. It could take
their jobs and we don`t know how the cost of the robot compares to hiring a human for the work.
And while you can only give it a high "three" out of five, it kicks stocking store shelves into a whole new "gear". Guaranteed not to steal any
drinks because that would "short circuit" the very thing that makes it "robotick". It turns any shop into a "machine" shop although all customer
complaints would have to be handled remotely.
Barnegat High School in Barnegat, New Jersey gets today`s shout out. Thank you for leaving a comment on our YouTube channel. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN. I
mean --
END
