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by Jing Xuan Teng, with Agence France Presse Bureaus BEIJING, China (AFP) — China shut down a city of 13 million people on Thursday in a bid to extinguish a tiny Covid-19 outbreak and chase its zero-case goal, as other nations around the globe battled huge infection surges driven by the Omicron variant. Early studies from South Africa and Britain gave some cause for hope, however, indicating Omicron infections appear to result in fewer […]
by Poornima WEERASEKARA Agence France-Presse BAODING, China (AFP) – Beaten, forced off their land, cheated out of money, and even falsely imprisoned — farmers in China say they are paying a heavy price as authorities rush to deliver on ambitious pledges to ramp up national green energy output. China has vowed the upcoming Winter Olympics 2022 will be the first Games to be run entirely on wind and solar energy, and have built scores of […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The Chinese city of Xi’an began testing millions of residents for the coronavirus on Tuesday after the detection of more than 40 new cases raised concerns of wider transmission ahead of a busy travel season. China, where the virus was first detected, has slowed new cases to a trickle since the middle of last year through border restrictions, targeted lockdowns and lengthy quarantines as it pursues a zero-Covid strategy. But the […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has denied accusing anyone of sexual assault in her first media comments since publicly alleging that a top Communist Party official forced her to have sex. The quickly-censored claims posted on social media last month by the former Wimbledon and French Open doubles champion sparked international concern, with the United Nations and fellow tennis stars among those voicing fears for her wellbeing. But in comments to […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s economically important Zhejiang province wrestled on Tuesday with a Covid outbreak that has left half a million people quarantined and some districts under business shutdown. Zhejiang, a major industrial and export hub on the country’s east coast, reported 44 of China’s 51 domestically transmitted coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total since late last week to nearly 200. Although Chinese case counts are miniscule compared to other major economies, […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has reported its first case of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, state media said Monday. Authorities in the northern city of Tianjin confirmed the case in an individual who entered the country from an undisclosed overseas location, according to the Tianjin Daily newspaper. The asymptomatic patient tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday before further tests “confirmed the detection of the… Omicron variant”, the report said, adding that the person was […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s president on Monday ruled out joining a US diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing the need to work with China. Visiting Canberra, Moon Jae-in said he was “not considering” snubbing the Olympics to protest China’s human rights abuses as several Western nations have done. “We have not received a request from any other country including the United States to participate in the diplomatic boycott,” […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China branded US democracy a “weapon of mass destruction” on Saturday, following the US-organised Summit for Democracy which aimed to shore up like-minded allies in the face of autocratic regimes. China was left out of the two-day virtual summit — along with countries including Russia and Hungary — and responded by angrily accusing US President Joe Biden of stoking Cold War-era ideological divides. “‘Democracy’ has long become a ‘weapon of […]
by Julia Rios with Sean Chang in Taipei MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AFP) — Nicaragua switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China on Thursday, meaning just 14 nations now recognize the democratic island that Beijing has vowed to one day seize. The announcement is a diplomatic coup for China as it tries to keep Taiwan isolated on the world stage and as Taipei strengthens ties with multiple unofficial Western friends such as the United States. China has […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s drug authority has granted emergency approval for the country’s first specialized treatment against Covid-19, found in clinical trials to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths among high-risk patients. The move comes as regulators around the world give the green light to treatments — particularly for high-risk groups — amid worries over the new Omicron variant. China is also grappling with a growing number of studies that show its vaccines have lower […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China has an important part to play in the global economy as it recovers from Covid-19, but its growth is slowing, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Monday. The head of the Washington-based crisis lender held a virtual meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and discussed topics ranging from inflation to the recovery from the pandemic, according to a statement released by the IMF. “China achieved a truly remarkable recovery, […]
by Amber Wang with Jerome Taylor in Hong Kong TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Chinese warplanes made 159 incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone in November according to AFP’s database, the second-highest month on record as Beijing continues to pile military pressure on the democratic island. Self-ruled Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the island as its own territory and has vowed to seize it one day, by force if […]
