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HONG KONG, China (AFP) — One of Hong Kong’s best-known rights activists was arrested by the city’s national security police on Tuesday over alleged witness tampering, a police source told AFP. Albert Ho, 71, formerly led the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, which organized an annual candlelight vigil for more than three decades to mourn the victims of China’s bloody crackdown at Tiananmen Square in 1989. The lawyer is already facing up to a decade in […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were set to hold a second day of talks on Tuesday, as the internationally isolated Russian leader said he was open to discussing China’s proposals on the fighting in Ukraine. Xi’s three-day visit to Moscow is a major coup for Putin — and comes days after a war crimes tribunal in The Hague issued a warrant for the Russian president’s arrest over accusations of unlawfully deporting […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan’s ex-president Ma Ying-jeou will travel to China next week, his spokesman said Monday, in the first cross-strait visit by a current or former leader of the island in more than 70 years. Ma will not visit Beijing and has no current plans to meet Chinese government officials, the spokesman added. China claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary. The […]
by Matthew WALSH Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin applauded on Monday the solidity of their alliance as the Chinese leader headed to Moscow for a summit with the internationally isolated Russian president. Xi described his trip as a “journey of friendship, cooperation and peace”, though China has been criticized by Western nations for what they consider tacit backing and diplomatic cover for Russia’s war in Ukraine. “I look forward […]
Beijing, China | AFP | Friday 3/17/2023 by Jing Xuan TENG / Matthew WALSH Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to Moscow next week, where he will hold talks with his strategic ally Vladimir Putin just over a year into Russia’s war in Ukraine. Xi will be in Russia from Monday to Wednesday, Beijing’s foreign ministry and the Kremlin said on Friday. China’s foreign ministry called Xi’s trip “a visit for […]
Beijing, China | AFP | Thursday 3/16/2023 Chinese search engine company Baidu’s shares fell as much as 10 percent on Thursday after the company unveiled its ChatGPT-like AI software, with investors unimpressed by the bot’s display of linguistic and maths skills. The artificial intelligence-powered ChatGPT, created by San Francisco company OpenAI, has caused a sensation for its ability to write essays, poems or programming code on demand within seconds, sparking widespread fears of cheating or […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — TikTok confirmed Wednesday that US officials have recommended the popular video-sharing app part ways with its Chinese parent ByteDance to avoid a national ban. Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, have been taking an increasingly tough approach to the app, citing fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials. “If protecting national security is the objective, calls for a ban or […]
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) — Honduras will establish diplomatic ties with China, President Xiomara Castro said Tuesday, a move that would result in the severing of longstanding official ties with Taiwan. Castro wrote on Twitter that she had instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina “to undertake the opening of official relations with the People’s Republic of China.” The switch — which Castro pledged to make while on the campaign trail — comes weeks after her government announced […]
by Daniel STUBLEN Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China will once again start issuing a range of visas to foreigners as of Wednesday, the country’s embassy in Washington said, a major easing of travel restrictions in force since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The move marks the latest step towards reopening China to the outside world, as Beijing gradually breaks with the strict zero-Covid strategy that defined its pandemic response until a […]
STRASBOURG, France (AFP) — The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said Monday she wants to avoid economic dependence on Beijing, but not fully “decouple” the EU’s economy from China. Explaining the stance she took last week when she visited US President Joe Biden, Brussels’ top official said the European Union was merely seeking a level playing field. The pair’s joint statement was a small step in resolving differences over trans-Atlantic trade, […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s Xi Jinping on Monday emphasized the need to strengthen national security, in his first address since being handed a historic third term as the country’s president. Xi became China’s most powerful leader in generations last week when he was reanointed for another five years at the helm of the world’s most populous nation, in a break with long-standing political precedent. The National People’s Congress (NPC) — a carefully choreographed conclave […]
Pekín, China | AFP | Li Qiang, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s most trusted allies, was confirmed as premier on Saturday, as Xi cements his influence on the country’s top leadership. Li, the former Shanghai party chief who oversaw the city’s gruelling two-month lockdown last spring, was named the successor of outgoing premier Li Keqiang at a meeting of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament. The 63-year-old received nearly every vote from the more than 2,900 […]
