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PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said there were grey areas in China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and that things “happened that we don’t know about”, speaking in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday. “Let’s not be so naive as to say it’s been much better at handling this,” he said of China’s management of the outbreak. “We don’t know. There are clearly things that have happened that we […]
by Shaun Tandon with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Thursday came under mounting pressure over the coronavirus pandemic from Western powers led by the United States, which said it was probing whether the virus that has infected more than 2.1 million people actually originated in a Wuhan laboratory. The new focus on China’s role came as the world wrestles with a crisis that has killed more than 140,000 people […]
by Beiyi SEOW Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s economy contracted for the first time in around three decades in the first quarter as the coronavirus crisis brought the country to a standstill, according to an AFP poll of economists. The world’s second-largest economy tanked in the first three months of the year as factories closed, consumers were compelled to stay home and the virus spread to other countries. Analysts from 14 […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has approved clinical trials for two more experimental vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, as the world’s scientists race to beat the pandemic. The vaccines use inactivated coronavirus pathogens, and the approvals pave the way for early-stage human trials, Wu Yuanbin, an official from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology told a regular press briefing. China’s state food and drug administration on Monday approved one vaccine developed […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets posted gains on Tuesday as better than expected Chinese trade data suggested a rebound from the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. China has largely brought the disease under control within its borders since the COVID-19 outbreak first emerged in the city of Wuhan late last year. But it came at the cost of drastic measures that shuttered much of the economy and cordoned off tens of […]
by Jing Xuan TENG Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — Hairstylist “Ah Ping” is back in business now that Wuhan’s coronavirus lockdown has been lifted, but his salon has no customers, only empty chairs and lingering fears over a contagion that continues to haunt the city. Wuhan is waking from its coronavirus nightmare, loosening tight restrictions on movement and business as the global pandemic’s launchpad tries to move on. But the full recovery remains […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan demanded an apology from the World Health Organization chief on Thursday after he accused the island’s government of leading personal attacks against him and his agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for unity to fight the disease on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump criticized the global health body and threatened to cut its funding. During the press conference he spoke of the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Monday warned China not to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to exert itself in the South China Sea after Vietnam said Beijing sank a trawler. Amid the global focus on fighting COVID-19, China has ramped up self-described research stations and landed special military aircraft in the dispute-rife sea, according to the State Department. “We call on the PRC to remain focused on supporting international efforts […]
by Phil HAZLEWOOD with AFP bureaus Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The global death toll in the coronavirus crisis soared past 60,000 on Saturday, as US calls for the public to cover their faces reignited debate about whether masks can be effective in stemming the pandemic. The latest milestone came as Britain recorded a new daily high in fatalities, including a five-year-old child believed to be the nation’s youngest COVID-19 victim. But hard-hit […]
by Jing Xuan TENG Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — China came to a standstill on Saturday to mourn patients and medical staff killed by the coronavirus, as the world’s most populous country observed a nationwide three-minute silence. At 10 am (0200 GMT), citizens paused, cars, trains and ships sounded their horns, and air-raid sirens rang out in memory of the more than 3,000 lives claimed by the virus in China. In Wuhan […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese county of around 600,000 residents has gone into lockdown after a woman who visited the area tested positive for the coronavirus, underscoring concerns over the second wave of domestic infections. The tightening comes as China reported 35 new confirmed cases on Thursday, drastically down from the peak of the crisis. But they were all imported, bringing the tally of such cases to 841 and adding to fears about infections […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States has accused China of lying about the extent of its deadly coronavirus outbreak, according to American lawmakers who on Wednesday cited an intelligence report presented to the White House. Republicans in Congress, pointing to a report by Bloomberg citing US intelligence officials, expressed outrage that Beijing apparently misled the international community on China’s infections and deaths that began in late 2019 in the city of Wuhan. China’s […]
