Xi honors deceased research specialists

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has called on all Party members to learn from three late researchers at a defense technology institute who died recently in the line of duty.

The three researchers — Huang Qun, Song Yuecai and Jiang Kaibin — who worked for the 760th Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, sacrificed their lives on Aug 20 as they tried to protect a national experimental platform during Typhoon Rumbia, which hit the coastal city of Dalian, Liaoning province. All of them were Party members.

Xi, who is also president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that the deceased researchers braved the typhoon and huge waves, and embodied outstanding characteristics of Party members such as devotion to duty and self-sacrifice. They honored their missions and oaths to the Party, Xi said.

He urged all Party members to draw strength from the three comrades. Party members should also reinforce their aspirations, keep their missions firmly in mind, perform their duties scrupulously, maintain loyalty to the Party and the country, and make new contributions to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, the world’s largest shipbuilder and a major contractor for the People’s Liberation Army Navy, said in a statement that Huang was deputy head of the 760th institute, also known as Dalian Institute of Measurement and Control Technology. Song was head of the experimental platform and Jiang was chief of its electrical and mechanical equipment.

On the morning of Aug 20, strong waves began lashing Dalian. The national experimental platform was at grave risk as some devices used to secure the platform to the dock were destroyed by the typhoon.

Huang, Song and Jiang, along with nine institute workers, rushed to the platform amid powerful waves to help four colleagues who had been on board the facility.

Seven of them were swept into the sea. Rescuers saved four but were unable to rescue Huang, Song and Jiang.