97-year old former defense chief of the late Pres. Marcos tells Duterte he’s doing right, advises him to ignore critics (Eagle News) — Former Senate President and Philippine defense chief Juan Ponce Enrile backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s stand to continue friendly relations with China, citing the country’s historic ties with the Asian giant and how it is more beneficial for the country and the economy to continue talking to China. Enrile, 97, who was […]
Tag: china
Two tornadoes strike China, killing at least 10
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Two tornadoes that struck central and eastern China killed at least 10 people and injured more than 300, authorities said Saturday. Violent winds of more than 100 kilometres per hour (60 miles per hour) blasted the central city of Wuhan on Friday night. Six people died and more than 200 were injured, authorities said, adding that around 30 homes had collapsed. Vehicles were crushed by falling objects, trees uprooted, buildings […]
President Duterte: PHL won’t withdraw ships from West PHL Sea
(Eagle News) — The Philippines will not withdraw its ships from the West Philippine Sea. This was President Rodrigo Duterte’s stance himself, which he made public again days after the country filed another diplomatic protest against China, this time over the more than 200 Chine maritime vessels in the West Philippine Sea. The Asian giant has staked its claims on almost all of the body of water, citing the nine-dash line it said demarcated its […]
Huge Titanic replica to open as Chinese tourist destination
by Noel Celis and Qian Ye SUINING, China (AFP) — The Titanic is being brought back from the deep, more than a century after its ill-fated maiden voyage, at a landlocked Chinese theme park where tourists can soon splash out for a night on a fullscale replica. The project’s main backer was inspired to recreate the world’s most infamous cruise liner by the 1997 box office hit of the same name — once the world’s […]
PHL to file diplomatic protest vs China over at least 200 Chinese vessels in West PHL Sea
(Eagle News) — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. ordered on Thursday, May 13, the filing of another diplomatic protest against China. The Secretary gave the order following reports of the presence of at least 287 Chinese maritime militia vessels “scattered” over various maritime features covered by Palawan’s Kalayaan municipality and other parts of the country’s exclusive economic zone. Earlier, the Philippines vowed to file a diplomatic protest for every day Chinese ships were in […]
Hong Kong scraps mandatory vaccines for foreign domestic workers
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong on Tuesday scrapped a plan to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for foreign domestic workers after the proposal sparked an outcry and a diplomatic tussle with the Philippines. Health officials planned to roll out mandatory inoculations for the 370,000 domestic workers in the city, mostly poorly paid women from the Philippines and Indonesia. Those wanting to apply for work visas — or renew their current ones — would need […]
Large Chinese rocket segment disintegrates over Indian Ocean
by Laurie Chen, with Qasim Nauman in Seoul BEIJING, China (AFP) — A large segment of a Chinese rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean on Sunday, China’s space agency said, following fevered speculation over where the 18-tonne object would come down. Officials in Beijing had said there was little risk from the freefalling segment of the Long March-5B rocket, which had launched the first module of China’s new space station […]
China’s rocket out of control but risk of damage low, say experts
by Juliette COLLEN Agence France Presse China’s rogue rocket is in an uncontrolled free-fall towards Earth and no one knows where or exactly when it will burn through Earth’s atmosphere, but the risk of debris hitting an inhabited area remains very small, experts told AFP Friday. What happened? On April 29, China launched the first module of its “Heavenly Palace” space station, a milestone in Beijing’s ambitious plan to establish a permanent human presence […]
Chinese rocket to tumble back to Earth in uncontrolled re-entry
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A large segment of a Chinese rocket is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere on the weekend, but Beijing has downplayed fears and said there is a very low risk of any damage. A Long March-5B rocket launched the first module of China’s new space station into Earth’s orbit on April 29. Its 18-tonne main segment is now in freefall and experts have said it is difficult […]
WHO approves China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization on Friday approved the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use — the first Chinese jab to receive the WHO’s green light. The UN health agency signed off on the two-dose vaccine, which is already being deployed in dozens of countries around the world. The WHO has already given emergency use listing to the vaccines being made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and the […]
1.5M more Sinovac doses arrive in PHL bringing to 5M total Sinovac doses for vaccine rollout
Total vaccine doses now in PHL at over 5.5 million, including the 525,600 doses from AstraZeneca and 15k Sputnik V doses (Eagle News) — Some 1.5 million Sinovac doses from China arrived on Friday, May 7, bringing to 5 million the total number of Sinovac doses delivered to the country. This is the biggest batch of vaccine delivery so far to the Philippines. As of Friday, total vaccine doses that the country has — […]
Death toll in Indonesian power plant landslide rises to 10
MEDAN, Indonesia (AFP) — The death toll from a landslide at a hydroelectric dam project on Indonesia’s Sumatra island has risen to 10, an official said Thursday, as authorities called off a week-long search for victims. A landslide triggered by heavy rains struck the Chinese-backed Batang Toru hydropower plant on Thursday last week, burying an estimated 13 people. Employees were checking on the area over concerns that heavy rains could trigger landslides when the disaster […]





