Tianjin, China (AFP) by Matthew WALSH Doctors working despite being infected, beds filled with dozens of elderly straining to breathe — on the front lines of China’s worst-ever Covid outbreak, hospitals are struggling. Many Chinese were jubilant after Beijing announced the end of mandatory quarantines this week, effectively drawing the curtain on years of hardline virus controls that had isolated the world’s most populous country. But as China opens up, cases are surging. The […]
Tag: Tianjin
Covid tests ordered for 14 million in China’s Tianjin
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — The northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Sunday advised its nearly 14 million people to stay home while it conducted mass Covid testing after a spate of recent cases, including two caused by the Omicron variant, state-controlled media reported. Tianjin emerged as a new area of concern after more than 20 Covid cases were reported there in the last few days, most of them imported from abroad, according to the National […]
Chinese activist jailed for 8 years
TIANJIN, China (AFP) — A Chinese court sentenced an activist known by the online pseudonym “Super Vulgar Butcher” to eight years in prison Tuesday after he refused to plead guilty to charges of “subverting state power.” Wu Gan, who was taken into police custody in May 2015, attracted authorities’ attention with performance art and caustic commentary on Chinese society and politics that he published online. He was “dissatisfied with the current system of governance, and […]
China investigates top work safety regulator after Tianjin blasts
(Reuters) — China said on Tuesday (August 19) it is investigating the head of its work safety regulator who for years allowed companies to operate without a license for dangerous chemicals, days after blasts in a port warehouse storing such material killed at least 114 people. Yang Dongliang, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, is “currently undergoing investigation” for suspected violations of party discipline and the law, China’s anti-graft watchdog said in a statement […]
Thousands mourn victims of Tianjin warehouse blasts
(Courtesy China Central Television news) — Thousands of officials, firefighters, policemen and locals mourned the victims of the massive Tianjin warehouse blasts at the accident site in north China’s port city of Tianjin on Tuesday. All the mourners held a moment of silence, and bowed to pay respect to their loved ones in a service ceremony. The death toll of the blasts has climbed to 114 including 39 firefighters, a municipal publicity official told a […]
Hundreds of houses destroyed, 6,300 individuals displaced by Tianjin blasts
(Reuters) — Hundreds of angry residents whose homes had been destroyed in the Tianjin explosions gathered outside an official news conference venue on Monday (August 17), demanding answers. People from a residential area near the blast site held banners reading “Give back our homes” and marched to a hotel where a government news conference was due to take place. The residents said they wanted answers from the government. “Now our homes have been destroyed, can’t […]
Death toll rises to 112 in Tianjin blasts
THE death toll from the massive warehouse explosions in north China’s Tianjin city Wednesday night rose to 112, local authorities said at a press conference on Sunday morning. “Up to 9:00 on Sunday, we have found 112 bodies, with 24 already identified and 88 being identified,” said Gong Jiansheng, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee. “In addition, after identification comparison, previously identified four fragmentary bodies actually belongs to two […]
Death toll in chemical blasts in Chinese port climbs to 104; more firefighters missing
(Eagle News) — The death toll in the deadly chemical blasts in area in the northeastern Chinese port of Tianjin has climbed to 104, including at least 21 firefighters, according to the Chinese state media . The Tianjin municipal government also said that around 720 others were admitted to hospitals. Small-scale blasts broke out at around 11:40 Saturday (Aug. 15) in Binhai New Area, where the blasts occurred at hazardous chemicals warehouse on Wednesday night. […]





