BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least 17 people died on Saturday when a restaurant in northern China collapsed, state media said, with rescuers pulling dozens of survivors from the rubble and searching for others believed to be trapped. The two-storey building used for banquets came down in the morning in Xiangfen county, in Shanxi province, according to broadcaster CGTN. Xinhua news agency reported that “45 people have been brought out, of which 17 were […]
Tag: china
US warship sails near disputed islands in tense South China Sea
BEIJING, China (AFP) — An American warship sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the US Navy has said, challenging Beijing’s claims on the resource-rich waterway and prompting a warning from the Chinese military. The Thursday operation came a day after China fired ballistic missiles into the sea as part of ongoing live-fire exercises, inflaming already high tensions between Washington and Beijing. The US regularly conduct “freedom of navigation operations” […]
Pentagon slams Chinese missile launches in South China Sea
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Defense Department said Thursday that Chinese test launches of ballistic missiles in the South China Sea were threatening peace and security in the region. Confirming reports that Beijing’s forces launched as many as four ballistic missiles during military exercises around the Paracel islands, the Pentagon said the move called into question China’s 2002 commitment to avoiding provocative activities. China’s “actions, including missile tests, further destabilize the situation in […]
TikTok chief Kevin Mayer quits company
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP ) — TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer said Wednesday he has quit the company as tensions soar between Washington and Beijing over the Chinese-owned video platform. Mayer’s resignation comes days after TikTok filed a lawsuit challenging a crackdown by the US government over claims the wildly popular social media app can be used to spy on Americans. TikTok has been at the center of a diplomatic storm between the US and […]
China slams ‘tyrannical logic’ of US South China Sea sanctions
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing on Thursday slammed Washington’s “tyrannical logic” over the latest US sanctions targeting Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, worsening tensions between the two superpowers. In recent years, China has aggressively pursued its territorial claims in the South China Sea, building small shoals and reefs into military bases with airstrips and port facilities. Both the US and Chinese militaries have recently ramped up their actions in the region, raising tensions […]
US blacklists Chinese individuals, firms for South China Sea work
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday announced sanctions and restrictions on two dozen Chinese companies and associated officials for taking part in building artificial islands in disputed waters in the South China Sea. The 24 state-owned firms include subsidiaries of construction giant China Communications Construction Co., telecommunications firms and a unit of the China Shipbuilding Group. The move was the latest step in Washington’s efforts to pressure Beijing over its military […]
Philippines, China in fresh row over Scarborough shoal
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines accused China’s coast guard Friday of illegally seizing fishing equipment near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, sparking a fresh spat with Beijing. Scarborough Shoal, one of several reefs controlled by China, is one of the region’s richest fishing grounds and a flash point between the two countries. The Philippine foreign ministry said it has lodged a diplomatic protest over the “illegal confiscation” by the Chinese […]
Contaminated water sickens nearly 500 in China
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Hundreds of people in eastern China have been infected with bacteria which can cause dysentery after drinking contaminated water, state media said Monday, prompting the closure of a local water plant. Nearly 500 people in the rural town of Baoyi — about 550 kilometres (342 miles) west of Shanghai — have developed fever and diarrhoea since late last week. A report by the local government published Sunday found they have been […]
Thousands of Taiwan government email accounts ‘hacked by China’
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Chinese hackers infiltrated at least 10 Taiwan government agencies and gained access to around 6,000 email accounts in an attempt to steal data, officials said Wednesday. The damage done was “not small”, according to a top Taiwan cyber official, who said the full impact was still being assessed. Taipei has accused Beijing of stepping up a cyber campaign since 2016 when Taiwan elected President Tsai Ing-wen, who refuses to acknowledge […]
China floods force hundreds of thousands from homes
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Floods in mountainous southwest China have washed away roads and forced tens of thousands from their homes, with authorities warning Wednesday the giant Three Gorges Dam was facing the largest flood peak in its history. Footage on state broadcaster CCTV showed murky water lapping at the feet of the Leshan Giant Buddha — a 71m-tall figure carved into a cliffside in Sichuan province. CCTV said floods had not reached the Buddha’s […]
President Duterte thanks Russia, China for offering vaccines against COVID-19 to PHL
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte thanked Russia and China for offering to the Philippines the vaccines they are developing against COVID-19. Duterte said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have both offered to help the country address its COVID-19 problems by offering the vaccines which their scientists are developing to fight the virus. “As I have stated time and again repeatedly that the only salvation available to humankind at this […]
Canada pandas running on empty as bamboo dries up
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A pair of pandas on loan from China to a Canadian zoo are facing a food shortage as their supply of fresh bamboo dries up, officials warned. And plans to send them back to China, where bamboo is abundant and easy to access, according to a Calgary Zoo statement, have been stalled by pandemic-era changes to import and quarantine regulations. Er Shun, a female, and Da Mao, a male, each require […]





