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by Shaun Tandon Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold a rare meeting with China’s foreign minister seeking to contain tensions, but will shun his Russian counterpart at a conference in Bali this week, officials said Thursday. Blinken will arrive Thursday in the Indonesian resort island for talks of foreign ministers of the Group of 20, the club of major economies that still includes Russia — despite […]
BEIJING, July 4, 2022 (AFP) – Twelve bodies have been found following a shipwreck in the South China Sea over the weekend that left more than two dozen crew members missing, Chinese authorities said Monday. The announcement came days after an engineering vessel 160 nautical miles (296 kilometres) southwest of Hong Kong suffered substantial damage and broke into two pieces during a typhoon. “As of 3:30 pm on July 4, rescue forces found and recovered […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan lodged a protest with China on Monday over a Chinese naval vessel sailing near disputed islands, a Japanese official said, as reports emerged of Russia also sending its own navy ship to the area. The islets in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku by Tokyo and the Diaoyu by Beijing, are at the centre of a long-running dispute between Japan and China. Japanese officials regularly protest the […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China placed 1.7 million people under lockdown in central Anhui province, where authorities reported nearly 300 new cases Monday in the latest of a string of outbreaks testing Beijing’s no-tolerance approach to Covid-19. The country is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid strategy, responding to all cases with strict isolation orders and tough testing campaigns. The outbreak in Anhui — where officials first found hundreds of cases last week […]
WELLINGTON (AFP) – China accused New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday of making “wrong and thus regrettable” statements that were unhelpful for keeping the two countries’ relationship “on the right track”. Ardern attended the NATO leaders’ summit in Spain this week, saying in a speech Wednesday that China had become “more assertive and more willing to challenge international rules and norms”. The Chinese embassy in Wellington hit back Friday that it had taken […]
LOK MA CHAU, China, July 1, 2022 (AFP) – Freedom and democracy have disappeared in Hong Kong, Taiwan’s premier said Friday, as Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the business hub to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its handover from Britain. Xi used the rare trip to hail China’s rule over the city and insist it is flourishing after a years-long political crackdown that has silenced dissent. “One only has to see the pain that Hong […]
by Xinqi SU HONG KONG, July 1, 2022 (AFP) – John Lee, a former beat cop who became Hong Kong’s security chief and played a key role in suppressing democracy protests, became the business hub’s new leader on Friday in a ceremony overseen by Chinese President Xi Jinping. “It is the greatest honour for me today to shoulder this historic mission given to me by the central authorities and the people of Hong Kong,” Lee […]
by Xinqi Su Agence France-Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — President Xi Jinping hailed China’s rule over Hong Kong on Friday as he led 25th anniversary celebrations of the city’s handover from Britain, insisting that democracy was flourishing despite a years-long political crackdown that has silenced dissent. At a tightly choreographed ceremony, which included the inauguration of Hong Kong’s new government, Xi showcased the Chinese Communist Party’s hold after unleashing a sweeping crackdown against the […]
by Xinqi Su Agence France-Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping was set to preside Friday over tightly choreographed celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain, with once annual demonstrations silenced and a massive security presence in force. Xi’s two-day visit, which will also see him inaugurate Hong Kong’s new government on Friday, is a chance for the Chinese Communist Party to showcase its power over the city […]
by Holmes CHAN Agence France Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — When Hong Kong transitioned from British to Chinese rule, Edmond Hui was a floor trader at the bustling stock exchange, witnessing the roaring growth of a city at the crossroads of the West and Asia. Under a deal signed with Britain ahead of the 1997 handover, China promised Hong Kong could keep its capitalist system for 50 years, an arrangement that helped the city […]
by Pierre-Henry Deshayes Agence France-Presse BARENTSBURG, Norway (AFP) — Russian flags flap in the stiff polar breeze, a bust of Lenin looms out of the snow and a vast slogan declares, “Communism is our goal!” No, this is not some time warp Soviet settlement lost in the Arctic wastes, but a corner of Norway where Moscow can — theoretically at least — mine, build, drill and fish what it likes. Welcome to Spitsbergen, the largest island […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Most Asian markets reversed early losses Tuesday and oil continued its recent rally after China slashed the quarantine time for visitors, fuelling hope for a boost to the embattled economy. The news came as Beijing and Shanghai appeared to have contained a Covid outbreak that had forced officials to impose lockdowns that had compounded global supply chain snarls. Authorities said inbound travellers would now only have to quarantine for […]
