Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian held a regular briefing on Aug. 18. Asked about Palau president Whipps urging Pacific islands to form a "unified stance" over China's recent missile tests and saying China wanted to show "it could destroy any one of your islands," and questioning why China test-fired nuclear-capable missiles near Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands rather than in open waters between China and the US, Lin said China has already explained its position on the tests and called Palau's

Sichuan provincial government issued implementation opinions to accelerate integration of corridor, logistics and data networks and to build an efficient, resilient modern logistics service network. The plan directs support for Chengdu to upgrade international logistics service capacity, reinforce its role as a national logistics hub and a national backbone cold‑chain logistics base, and deepen efforts to shore up and strengthen national comprehensive freight hubs. It calls for accelerating Chengdu’s development as a global international postal and express hub and improving hub connectivity, transfer and aggregation functions. Authorities will boost operating efficiency of China‑Europe (Asia) freight trains, Western Land‑Sea New Corridor trains, Yangtze River trains, Greater Bay Area trains and northbound trains; enhance logistics organization along Beijing–Kunming, Chengdu–Chongqing and riverside corridors; and strengthen supply‑assurance capacity on strategic routes to Xinjiang and Tibet. The plan mandates a province‑wide single logistics network map aligned with industry clusters, trade flows and tourism consumption, accelerates construction of Belt and Road import‑export commodity distribution centers and specialty import hubs (eg, salmon, durian), and speeds up smart port construction and customs facilitation to improve clearance convenience.

U.S. Central Command said on Aug. 17 it had forced 64 merchant vessels attempting to breach the blockade to divert, rendered three non‑compliant ships inoperable, and boarded and inspected two vessels to ensure compliance with requirements.