BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will have his first face-to-face discussion with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Friday, state media reported. The meeting comes days after the Europen Union warned that negotiations to bring Iran and the US back into a nuclear deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program are in “stalemate”. China is one of the key members of the multilateral dialogue — alongside France, Germany, Britain, Russia and the United States […]
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Typhoon Muifa lashes eastern China, forcing 1.6 million from their homes
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — High winds and heavy rain lashed China’s densely populated east coast on Thursday, after Typhoon Muifa forced around 1.6 million people to leave their homes and grounded most flights at Shanghai’s main airports. Muifa is the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Shanghai — home to more than 25 million people — since record-keeping began in 1949, state broadcaster CCTV said. However, there were no immediate reports of any deaths or […]
Hong Kong office vacancies double after protests, pandemic
Hong Kong, China (AFP) The amount of vacant top-tier office space has more than doubled in Hong Kong over the last three years as companies downsize operations, researchers have found, warning that demand could remain soft even if pandemic controls are lifted. The data adds to warnings that Hong Kong’s lustre as a business hub has been dulled by political unrest and a subsequent crackdown. Pandemic curbs have also kept the city internationally isolated […]
Russian leader Putin, China’s Xi meet for high-stakes talks in challenge to West
SAMARCANDE, Uzbekistan (AFP) — Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping gather with other Asian leaders in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand from Thursday for a regional summit touted as a challenge to Western global influence. Xi and Putin will be joined by the leaders of India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and several other countries for the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Uzbek city on Thursday and Friday. The […]
Chinese moves on Taiwan rattle remote Japanese island
by Mathias CENA Agence France-Presse YONAGUNI, Japan (AFP) — Life may seem tranquil on Japan’s remote Yonaguni island, where wild horses graze and tourists dive to spot hammerhead sharks, but China’s recent huge military exercises have rattled residents. The western island is just 110 kilometers (70 miles) from Taiwan, and a Chinese missile fired during the drills last month landed not far from Yonaguni’s shores. “Everyone is on edge,” Shigenori Takenishi, head of the island’s […]
All Shanghai passenger flights cancelled as typhoon nears
Shanghai, China (AFP) All passenger flights at Shanghai’s two international airports have been cancelled as Typhoon Muifa nears landfall on China’s east coast, the airport operator said Wednesday. “Shanghai Airport Group will announce flight adjustments at both airports to the public in a timely manner, in line with the typhoon’s impact,” the firm said in a social media statement. Typhoon Muifa is expected to make landfall at around 7:00 pm on Wednesday (1100 GMT), […]
Taiwan leader confident of US trade deal
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan is confident it can sign a trade deal with Washington, its leader told visiting US lawmakers Thursday, adding that the island “will not back down” against Chinese threats. Washington unveiled plans for formal trade talks with Taiwan in a show of support as China was staging huge military drills last month. Taiwan lives under constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims the democratically ruled island as part of […]
China earthquake death toll rises to 82
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from a strong earthquake that struck southwest China rose to 82, state media reported Thursday, as rain and possible mudslides threatened the search for dozens of missing people. The magnitude 6.6 quake hit about 43 kilometers (26 miles) southeast of the city of Kangding in Sichuan province at a depth of 10 kilometers on Monday, according to the US Geological Survey, forcing thousands to be resettled into temporary […]
China approves world’s first inhalable Covid-19 vaccine
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese drug regulators have approved the world’s first inhalable Covid-19 vaccine, made by Tianjin-based manufacturer CanSino Biologics, boosting the company’s share price by seven percent on Monday. The National Medical Products Administration gave the go-ahead for the vaccine for emergency use as a booster, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday. Following the announcement, company shares surged 14 percent on Monday morning before […]
Taiwan says Chinese military drone entered air defense zone
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan said a Chinese military reconnaissance drone entered its air defense zone on Monday, the latest incursion as relations between the two neighbors remain tense. The drone, identified by Taipei’s defense ministry as a BZK-007 vehicle, crossed into the southwest corner of the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) along with eight Chinese warplanes. Taiwan’s ADIZ is much larger than its airspace and overlaps with part of China’s ADIZ and even […]
Rescuers scour for survivors after dozens killed in China quake
by Poornima WEERASEKARA Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Rescuers scoured through rubble for hundreds of missing people in parts of southwestern China on Tuesday after an earthquake killed more than 60, as local weather services warned rain was set to inundate the area. The magnitude 6.6 quake hit about 43 kilometers (26 miles) southeast of the city of Kangding in Sichuan province at a depth of 10 kilometers on Monday, according to the US […]
China approves world’s first inhalable Covid-19 vaccine
Beijing, China (AFP) Chinese drug regulators have approved the world’s first inhalable Covid-19 vaccine, made by Tianjin-based manufacturer CanSino Biologics, boosting the company’s share price by seven percent on Monday. The National Medical Products Administration gave the go-ahead for the vaccine for emergency use as a booster, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday. Following the announcement, company shares surged 14 percent on Monday morning before closing 7.1 percent higher than […]





