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China’s zero-Covid policy will hold back a full air travel recovery in the Asia-Pacific region, a top airline industry group warned Tuesday, adding to calls for Beijing to ease its hardline stance. The world’s second-biggest economy is seeking to stamp out the coronavirus entirely, with rapid lockdowns and mass testing, and the measures have hammered both domestic and international air travel. The aviation sector’s recovery in Asia was already relatively slow, and Willie Walsh, the […]
A man who padlocked a church and opened fire on its Taiwanese-American congregation, killing one person and injuring five others, was motivated by hatred of the island and its people, US investigators said Monday. David Chou jammed the doors shut using chains and superglue as dozens of parishioners enjoyed a post-service banquet at the church in Laguna Woods, near Los Angeles. The 68-year-old, an American citizen, also hid bags containing Molotov cocktails and spare ammunition […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s retail sales slumped to its lowest in two years while factory output plunged, official data showed Monday, capturing the dismal economic fallout from Beijing’s zero-Covid policy. The world’s second-largest economy has persisted with strict virus measures, choking up global supply chains as dozens of Chinese cities — including key business hub Shanghai — grapple with restrictions. Officials have vowed to support growth, lowering the mortgage rate for first-time homebuyers. […]
(Eagle News) — China’s President Xi Jinping has sent his congratulatory message to the Philippines’ president elect former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr on his election as president, adding to the list of world leaders who recognized the landslide win of the son of the late president Ferdinand Marcos. China and the Philippines are neighbors facing each other across the sea and partners through thick and thin, China’s Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as […]
HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AFP) — The Solomon Islands’ prime minister dismissed criticism of a new maritime investment deal with China on Wednesday, saying there was nothing “sinister” in the draft agreement. The new agreement, a copy of which has been leaked to the media, comes after a controversial security pact was signed last month. The pact sparked alarm in Australia and the United States, which feared it could lead to Beijing securing a military foothold […]
An elderly Catholic cardinal critical of Beijing and a Cantonese pop star are among a group of veteran democracy advocates who have been arrested under Hong Kong’s national security law, legal and police sources said Wednesday. Those arrested were all trustees of a now-disbanded fund that helped finance demonstrators detained during massive democracy protests that swept Hong Kong three years ago. Retired cleric Cardinal Joseph Zen and singer Denise Ho were among those detained, a […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Millions of people in Beijing stayed home on Monday as China’s capital tries to fend off a Covid-19 outbreak with creeping restrictions on movement. Beijing residents fear they may soon find themselves in the grip of the same draconian measures that have trapped most of Shanghai’s 25 million people at home for several weeks. Officials there have said the eastern powerhouse city is winning its battle against China’s worst outbreak […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — China sent 18 warplanes including fighters and bombers into Taiwan’s air defence zone on Friday, the island’s government said, in the second-largest one-day incursion this year. Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which sees the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory to be retaken one day, by force if necessary. The final quarter of 2021 saw a spike in incursions by China into Taiwan’s […]
by Matthew WALSH Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The Asian Games due to take place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September have been postponed indefinitely because of Covid-19, organizers said on Friday. The Games were scheduled to be held from September 10 to 25 but have now been delayed as China tries to stamp out a large resurgence in infections in several parts of the country. Hangzhou lies less than […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Mass testing of China’s vast population could bring fresh misery to the economy, experts warned Friday, after Beijing vowed to regain control of the narrative around a zero-Covid policy that has strangled growth and fanned anger across the country. Leaders have taken a hardline approach to stamping out virus outbreaks, locking down Shanghai — the country’s economic dynamo and biggest city — and slowly restricting movement in Beijing over dozens of […]
by Holmes Chan and Su Xinqi © Agence France-Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s next leader John Lee is inheriting a once vibrant Asian business hub mired in its third year of pandemic isolation but he may prioritize security over an economic reboot, business leaders and observers say. Lee, a former security chief, is expected to be confirmed Hong Kong’s next chief executive on Sunday by a committee of 1,463 elites after running […]
by Su Xinqi As a former beat cop who rose to become Hong Kong’s security chief, John Lee is the one person China’s leaders trust to run the city as their loyal lieutenant, analysts and insiders say. Lee, 64, is expected to be anointed Hong Kong’s next chief executive by a small committee on Sunday, the culmination of a choreographed, Beijing-blessed race with no other candidates. His elevation caps a remarkable rise for a man […]
