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BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Friday rejected the World Health Organization’s calls for a renewed probe into the origins of Covid-19, saying it supported “scientific” over “political” efforts to find out how the virus started. Pressure is once more mounting on Beijing to consider a fresh probe into the orgins of a pandemic which has killed more than four million people and paralyzed economies worldwide since it first emerged in the central Chinese city […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The WHO on Thursday urged China to share raw data from the earliest Covid-19 cases to revive the pandemic origins probe — and release information to address the controversial lab leak theory. The World Health Organization stressed it was “vitally important” to uncover the origins of the worst pandemic in a century, which has killed at least 4.3 million people and battered the global economy since the virus […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Authorities in China have suspended operations at a terminal in the world’s third busiest cargo port after a worker was infected with the coronavirus. The closure of a key terminal at the Ningbo-Zhoushan port on the east coast, which handled almost 1.2 billion tons in 2020, reflects China’s determination to squash its worst coronavirus outbreak in months no matter the economic costs. The worker at the port’s Meishan terminal tested positive […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s drug regulator has approved the country’s first mixed-vaccine trial, a company involved in the study said, as the rapid spread of the Delta variant raises concern about the efficacy of domestically produced jabs. The trial will test the efficacy of combining an “inactivated” vaccine made by China’s Sinovac with a DNA-based one developed by US pharmaceutical company Inovio, a statement issued on Tuesday said. The statement was put out by […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the jailing of Canadian businessman Michael Spavor in China on Wednesday as “unacceptable and unjust.” “China’s conviction and sentencing of Michael Spavor is absolutely unacceptable and unjust,” Trudeau said in a statement after a Chinese court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison. “The verdict for Mr Spavor comes after more than two-and-a-half years of arbitrary detention, a lack of transparency in the legal process, and […]
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) — A massive Chinese-financed dam in Cambodia has “washed away the livelihoods” of tens of thousands of villagers while falling short of promised energy production, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The 400-megawatt Lower Sesan 2 dam in the kingdom’s northeast has sparked controversy since long before its December 2018 launch. Fisheries experts had warned that damming the confluence of the Sesan and Srepok rivers — two major tributaries of the resource-rich […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s coronavirus cases hit a seven-month high on Tuesday, after a cluster at a test site drove up numbers as the Delta variant challenges Beijing’s grip on the pandemic. State media has described the current outbreak — which has sparked local lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions — as the most severe since the virus emerged in the central city of Wuhan. Authorities had brought domestic infections down to virtually zero, […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Sunday said they had completed citywide testing of more than 11 million people for Covid-19 after a resurgence of cases more than a year after the coronavirus first emerged there. The tests — which began on Tuesday — provide “basically full coverage” of all residents in the city except for children under the age of six and students on their summer break, […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China will “strive to provide” two billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to the world this year and donate $100 million to the international vaccine distribution system known as Covax, President Xi Jinping said Thursday. The pledge came in a written message by Xi to a video forum on vaccine cooperation as China battles a fresh outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant. Delta has now been detected in parts of China, […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Wednesday tightened overseas travel restrictions for its citizens as part of efforts to contain rising coronavirus cases, after reporting its highest number of infections in months. The movement of people is coming under more restriction inside China – with localised transport closures and stay-at-home orders in places in some cities – and beyond China’s borders. China had previously boasted of its success in crushing Covid-19, with hard lockdowns in […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Wednesday reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months as mass testing and contact tracing campaigns uncovered a trail of Delta variant infections. Health authorities reported 71 domestic cases on Wednesday, the highest since January, as China battles its largest outbreak in months by testing entire cities and locking down millions. The official results of those tests have revealed a low caseload despite the outbreak spreading […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Macau ordered compulsory coronavirus testing for all residents on Wednesday after a family of four was found to be carrying the Delta variant, breaking the city’s record of over 16 months virus-free. Over the next three days authorities plan to test all 680,000 residents at 41 testing centres, the government said. The testing is one of a host of new measures announced after the gambling hub recorded 491 days without […]
