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BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday (June 28) reduced the length of mandatory quarantine for inbound travellers, in the biggest relaxation of entry restrictions after sticking to a rigid zero Covid policy throughout the pandemic. The new guideline cuts the length of mandatory quarantine for overseas travellers to seven days plus three more of home monitoring — a drastic drop from about 21 days of quarantine and home monitoring combined. China closed off […]
TAIPEI, June 24, 2022 (AFP) – A retired Taiwanese general and another senior officer were indicted on Friday for their involvement in developing a spying network for China, prosecutors said. Taipei and Beijing have spied on each other since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when the losing Nationalist side fled to the island. The major general, identified by his family name Chien, and a retired lieutenant colonel surnamed Wei were charged […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines said on Thursday it has terminated talks with China for a joint energy project in the South China Sea after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered an end to negotiations. Manila signed an agreement with Beijing in 2018 to cooperate on oil and gas development as a way to benefit from the resources in the waterway while setting aside the territorial dispute. Duterte, who has taken a softer approach to […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A high-level Chinese government meeting led by President Xi Jinping has called for stronger oversight and better security in financial tech, state media reported, with the sector hit hard by a regulatory crackdown. The government action has pummelled some of China’s biggest tech firms, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in market value since last year. But with the Chinese economy hammered by Covid lockdowns, the government has rolled out […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The heaviest rainfall in decades has triggered floods and landslides in southern China, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, state media reported. The downpours have dangerously swelled waterways in the low-lying Pearl River basin in recent days, threatening manufacturing, shipping and logistics operations at a time when supply chains are already stressed because of China’s strict Covid-19 controls. The average rainfall in Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi provinces […]
by Beiyi SEOW Many European firms are rethinking their investments in China because of its strict Covid controls, a top business group said Monday, warning that disruptions had pummelled operations. While the rest of the world has steadily removed coronavirus curbs, China has remained committed to its zero-Covid strategy, using lockdowns and mass testing to stamp out all infections. But this strategy has hammered businesses and snarled supply chains — 60 percent of respondents in […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s imports of oil from Russia rose 55 percent in May, customs data showed on Monday, with the West sanctioning fuel imports from Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The world’s second-biggest economy imported around 8.42 million tonnes of oil from Russia last month, surpassing its shipments from Saudi Arabia, as Beijing refuses to condemn Moscow’s war. Last week, President Xi Jinping assured Vladimir Putin of China’s support on Russian “sovereignty […]
by Matthew Walsh Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Hazmat-suited workers poke plastic swabs down millions of throats in China each day, leaving bins bursting with medical waste that has become the environmental and economic levy of a zero-Covid strategy. China is the last major economy wedded to stamping out infections no matter the cost. Near-daily testing is the most commonly used weapon in an anti-virus arsenal that includes snap lockdowns and forced quarantines when […]
US President Joe Biden took a tumble as he was riding his bicycle near his beach home in the state of Delaware Saturday morning, but was unhurt. A video from a White House pool report showed the 79-year-old president immediately getting up after his fall. He then says: “I’m good.” He was biking with First Lady Jill Biden in a state park near their beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and had stopped to talk […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s coronavirus case numbers are showing signs of rebounding, city chief executive Carrie Lam said on Friday, days after reintroducing more restrictions ahead of the 25th anniversary of the city’s transfer to Chinese rule. The finance hub this week saw daily cases go above 1,000 for the first time in two months — though hospitalisations have remained relatively low, with only 25 people in serious or critical condition […]
by Sean Chang with Rebecca Bailey in Hong Kong and Ludovic Ehret in Beijing Agence France-Presse MAGONG, Taiwan (AFP) — On Taiwan’s tiny Penghu islands, the missile bases that sit next to white-sand beaches and bustling fish markets are a visceral reminder of the constant threat of attack from China. Despite the huge military discrepancy between the two sides, many analysts believe Taiwan’s location, inhospitable terrain and US support mean China would find a full-scale […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — YouTube on Wednesday said that more than 1.5 billion people monthly tune into its Shorts video service, which competes with global sensation TikTok. Alphabet-owned YouTube and Facebook-parent Meta both added short-form video sharing formats to their services after TikTok — which late last year said it topped a billion users — became the rage. YouTube Shorts went live less than two years ago, adding videos of no longer than […]
