2026年全国乒乓球锦标赛正在火热进行，马龙和许昕二人重返赛场不仅吸引了众多国内球迷的目光，也成为外媒关注的焦点。    The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command lambasted the US for "collusion and provocations" on 8 July, stressing that its troops are on high alert and are ready to enhance combat preparedness to safeguard China's national sovereignty, security, and peace. It also accused the US of encouraging Taiwan's secessionist sentiment.,"There are three major channels to deliver political signals to Taipei," explained Dr. Chang Ching, a research fellow from the Taiwan-based Society for Strategic Studies and a lead military expert on the People's Liberation Army and regional security in Taiwan. "They are spokespersons of Beijing’s Foreign Ministry, Taiwan Affairs Office and the Defense Ministry. It is relatively unusual to direct a PLA spokesman to deliver such political signals.",Dr. Chang suggests that the PLA's statement appears to be a new psychological operation aimed at the US and Taiwan. The military expert has drawn attention to the fact that "for any sophisticated and well organized military maneuvers, it is always necessary to have proper prior preparation." As such, he suggested that the exercises and the US visit are not causally linked.,"The possibility for the People’s Liberation Army to conduct an improvised military exercise simply reacting to any United States political figure visiting Taiwan is extremely low," the professor argued. "The visit of the US Senator Rick Scott to Taiwan, the premeditated military [exercises] in airspace and waters around Taiwan and the PLA routine press conference just happened on the same day. And a smart PLA spokesman grabbed the chance to exercise his psychological warfare skill and achieve the perception of warfare effects.",China's Military Ready to Prevent Attempts to Achieve ‘Taiwan Independence’17:00 GMT,Washington's Unbalanced China Strategy,The US has been heating up the Taiwan Starits recently. In October 2021, a US special-operations unit and a contingent of Marines were discovered secretly operating in Taiwan for about a year to train military forces. Furthermore, Washington has doubled its unofficial military presence on the island between 31 December 2020 and 30 September 2021, according to the Pentagon's Defense Manpower Data Center. Beijing issued warnings to Washington over the reports.,Washington also upped the ante against China in late February by sending a delegation of former senior defense and security officials to meet Taiwan's president and defense minister, despite Beijing blasting the move as a violation of the China’s sovereignty.,Over the past few months, the Biden administration has likewise ramped up its rhetoric over Taiwan with President Joe Biden even going so far as to repeatedly pledge to "defend" the island from China. Beijing harshly criticized Biden's statements, even though the White House walked the president’s remarks back.,As the Beijing-based daily Global Times commented on the matter, "Biden’s remarks on 'intervening militarily' in the Taiwan question are not a gaffe but signal [the] hollowing out [of Beijing’s] One China policy." In accordance with the One China Policy, Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China (PRC). However, Washington has long maintained relations with the island, even though it severed official diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979.,"There are many political commentators and military analysts expecting the worst-case scenario will emerge sooner or later," said Dr. Chang, referring to the possibility of a US-China military standoff over Taiwan. "However, as long as all parties involved in such a circumstance with high uncertainties and tensions are sensible enough, the hope for peaceful resolution of the cross-strait animosities will not totally diminish though many observers will think otherwise.",Biden's 'Strategic Confusion': Why China Won't Fall Into US Traps in Taiwan & Indo-Pacific24 May, 15:08 GMT,The professor believes that as for now, the possibility of any significant Sino-US conflict is quite unlikely. While the differences between Washington and Beijing do exist, "the mutual communication channel and crisis prevention mechanism is also functional," according to the expert.,Dr. Chang went on to claim that the Biden administration's provocative moves with regard to Taiwan could be explained by simmering divisions within the White House.,"Many indications of internal conflicts emerged within his national security and foreign policy team members," he said. "Some key members still keep strong ambition to exercise the salami-slicing tactics on [the] Taiwan issue for acquiring leverage towards Beijing. On the other hand, there are other members who are more willing to seek the possibility for mutual cooperation with their counterparts in Beijing and they will exercise a different set of policies towards Taipei and Beijing accordingly.",As a result, the US administration's strategy remains inconsistent, with Biden’s government being "an orchestra with no competent conductor to coordinate his foreign and security policies.",However, Washington's unbalanced approach comes at the expense of the Taiwanese inhabitants. The present administration's negligence to the peace and stability of the region stems from the fact that "the criteria of supporting Taiwan is to serve the United States national interests, not Taiwan’s welfare," according to the professor.,"Of course, in some cases, there are mutually beneficial solutions and arrangements in US-Taiwan relations," he said. "Nonetheless, US interests are always the concern with higher priority for the leaders in Washington."。日媒在报道中提到，合计年龄达到74岁的传奇组合马龙和许昕出战全国乒乓球锦标赛，引爆赛场氛围，两人曾三次夺得世乒赛冠军，在世界乒坛留下了一段传奇佳话。在男双1/16决赛中，马龙和许昕以3-0战胜严升和蔡顺航，获得开门红！顺利拿下比赛后，马龙和许昕在赛后看上去心情不错。马龙在接受采访时就网络上“龙蟒组合重返赛场是因国家队征召”的传闻进行了辟谣。他透露，自己参赛的初衷是孩子想看自己打比赛，在单打竞争力有限的情况下，正好有参加双打项目的机会，所以邀约许昕搭档，同时也为了延续心中那份对乒乓球的热爱。下一轮，马龙和许昕将与周冠宏和于海洋交手。两人均表示，希望能发挥得更好一点。针对马龙与许昕时隔多年再度搭档出战男双一事，日媒也特意进行了报道。文中提到，全国乒乓球锦标赛于1952年创办，至今已拥有74年的历史，本届赛事是历史首次将双打项目单独设项展开角逐。此前，中国乒坛重点发展奥运正式项目男女混双，2022和2023两届全锦赛双打赛事仅有混双，而在2028洛杉矶奥运会乒乓球项目确定恢复男双、女双后，全锦赛也重新增设男女双打项目。

B | 在日媒看来，本届比赛男双赛场的最大看点是38岁的马龙和36岁的许昕再度搭档参赛。伦敦、里约和东京奥运周期，马龙和许昕是国乒男双的王牌组合，两人依靠出色的个人技术和默契配合，在2011、2015、2019三届世乒赛夺得男双冠军。而在全锦赛赛场，“龙蟒组合”也登顶过冠军领奖台。此前的伦敦世乒赛，马龙、许昕曾加入国乒男队训练组，帮助几位参赛的年轻球员补强短板、提升状态。最终，以王楚钦、林诗栋、周启豪等组成的中国队在决赛中战胜日本队，马龙和许昕功不可没。

C | 本次全锦赛，马龙邀请许昕搭档参加男双比赛。正赛首轮，龙蟒组合的对手是蔡顺航和严升。有球迷发现，马龙妻子带着两个儿子在场边观赛。最终，龙蟒组合以3-0击败对手，晋级16强。

D | 赛后，有记者问许昕“这场比赛打爽了吗？”许昕笑着回应：“爽吗？还差点意思！”一起期待“龙蟒组合”更加精彩的表现！