Category Archives: China

Twenty-one dead as extreme weather hits ultramarathon in China

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Hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners at high-altitude, 100km race in Yellow River stone forest in Gansu province

Twenty-one people have died after hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners taking part in a 100km (62-mile) ultramarathon in a mountainous part of northern China.

More than 700 rescuers and army personnel used thermal-imaging drones and radar detectors to try to find runners caught by the storm in the race in Yellow River stone forest near Baiyin in north-western Gansu province, officials said.

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Two Chinese provinces hit by earthquakes, with two reported dead

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Over 20,000 people evacuated after Qinghai in north-west and Yunnan in south-west struck on same day

A series of strong earthquakes has rattled north-west and south-west China, leaving at least two people dead.

Both Qinghai province in the north-west on the Tibetan plateau and Yunnan province in south-western China are prone to earthquakes. And both tremors were shallow, which generally means they cause more damage.

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Bytedance boss exits at time of uncertainty for Chinese tech firms

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Analysis: political undercurrents cannot be ignored as Zhang Yiming stands down to ‘daydream’

In the latest retreat by a leading figure in China’s booming tech sector, the chief executive of TikTok’s parent company has said he will step down to focus on long-term strategy, saying he prefers “reading and daydreaming” to the challenge of running a multinational firm.

Zhang Yiming, the 38-year-old boss of Bytedance, set out the reasons for the move in an unusually candid memo addressed to the company’s staff. “The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager,” he confessed.

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Australian writer detained in China on espionage charges to face trial

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Foreign minister Marise Payne says China has provided no evidence against Yang Hengjun, who has been held for more than two years

The detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun will be tried on charges of espionage in a closed Chinese court next week after being held in Beijing for more than two years.

The foreign minister Marise Payne’s office said the government had been notified by Chinese authorities that Yang would face trial next Thursday, 27 May.

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EU parliament ‘freezes’ China trade deal over sanctions

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Tit-for-tat sanctions over Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs puts halt on investment agreement

The European parliament has voted overwhelmingly to “freeze” any consideration of a massive investment deal with China, following recent tit-for-tat sanctions over Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur population in Xinjiang province.

According to the resolution, the parliament, which must ratify the deal, “demands that China lift the sanctions before parliament can deal with the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)”. Some MEPs warned that the lifting of the sanctions would not in itself ensure the deal’s ratification.

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South Korea’s balancing act will test Biden’s plan to get tough with China

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Analysis: Seoul’s navigation of geopolitical landscape in east Asia hints at limits of united front with US

When the South Korean president goes to Washington DC on Friday, his discussions with Joe Biden about China will test the limits of the US president’s rhetoric to “work with [its] allies to hold China accountable”. It will also exhibit the dilemma faced by middle-sized powers such as South Korea.

The White House spokesperson, Jen Psaki, said last month that Moon Jae-in’s visit “will highlight the ironclad alliance between the United States and [South Korea], and the broad and deep ties between our governments, people and economies”.

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Bitcoin falls almost 30% after China crackdown

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Digital currency under pressure from payment crackdown and tweets from Elon Musk

The price of bitcoin fell by almost 30% on Wednesday, after a Chinese government crackdown on banks’ use of cryptocurrencies accelerated a long-predicted sell-off, in a day of chaotic trading.

The world’s largest digital currency tumbled to about $30,000 (£21,000) amid frenzied trading, a drop of more than 50% since it hit record highs of more than $64,000 in mid-April. However, by 10pm UK time, the bitcoin price had risen back to about $38,500, still down 11% on the day, according to Refinitiv data.

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Nancy Pelosi calls for diplomatic boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics – video

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US House speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for a US diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, saying global leaders who attend the games would lose their moral authority to criticise China for human rights abuses. Pelosi’s statement comes as US lawmakers have been increasingly vocal about a boycott or venue change over the treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China. ‘What I propose – and join those who are proposing – is a diplomatic boycott,”’Pelosi said. ‘Let’s not honor the Chinese government by having heads of state go to China.’

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Chips with everything: how one Taiwanese company drives the world economy

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A Covid-driven global shortage of microchips has put manufacturer TSMC at the heart of the world’s recovery, as well as US-China tensions

Living on an island long coveted by a large and increasingly powerful neighbour, the residents of Taiwan have given some thought to where might be the best place to go should the worst happen. Some think it might be the hills, others historic buildings that China will want to preserve. By the same reasoning, some believe it is the factory run by the world’s biggest computer chip maker, TSMC.

Taiwan has for decades been both a global strategic flashpoint and one of the world’s economic powerhouses. In an industrial park about an hour’s drive from Taipei, those twin identities merge almost perfectly in the form of the factory run by TSMC, the world’s largest maker of computer chips – a facility so vital that some Taiwanese think it could be the safest place to flee to should China one day invade.

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Nancy Pelosi calls for US diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

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US House speaker says leaders who attend Games would lose moral authority because of China’s treatment of Uyghur minority

US House speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for a US diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, criticising China for human rights abuses and saying global leaders who attend would lose their moral authority.

US lawmakers have been increasingly vocal about an Olympic boycott or venue change, and have lashed out at American corporations, arguing their silence about what the State Department has deemed a genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China was abetting the Chinese government.

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People flee in panic as 300-metre skyscraper wobbles in China – video

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One of China’s tallest skyscrapers was evacuated on Tuesday after it began to shake, sending panicked shoppers running to safety. The nearly 300-metre (980ft) SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, southern China, inexplicably began to shake at about 1pm, prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrians looked on open-mouthed. The building was closed by 2.40pm, according to local media reports

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Panic as 300-metre-high skyscraper wobbles in China

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SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, one of country’s tallest buildings, evacuated after it inexplicably starts shaking

One of China’s tallest skyscrapers was evacuated on Tuesday after it began to shake, sending panicked shoppers scampering to safety.

The near 300 metre (980ft) high SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, southern China, inexplicably began to shake at around 1pm, prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrians looked on open-mouthed.

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China divorces drop 70% after controversial ‘cooling off’ law

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Law requires couples to wait 30 days before formalising divorce – but some say it has made young people more likely to avoid marriage

The number of divorces in China dropped more than 70% in the first quarter of this year, after a controversial law forcing a “cooling-off period” for couples came into effect.

According to data published by the ministry of civil affairs, 296,000 divorces were registered during the first three months of 2021, down from 1.05m in the previous quarter, and 1.06m in the same time period the year before, according to state media.

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‘I can’t be that careless’: Australian Uyghur activist targeted online

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Nurgul Sawut, who has been named on a Chinese blacklist, says she’s experienced online trolling, nasty messages and malware

A Uyghur activist in Australia who has been the target of cyber-attacks by hacker groups in China says the Australian government needs to do more to educate the Uyghur community in Australia to protect themselves online.

Uyghur activists outside of China are frequently the target of hackers based in China.

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How missing CCTV footage turned a Chinese family’s tragedy into a national conspiracy

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A mother’s search for the truth about her son’s death exposes the level of public distrust in China’s authorities

On Mother’s Day last Sunday, 17-year-old Lin Weiqi wished his mother – referred to only as Madame Lu in Chinese media – a good day. “Mum, enjoy your day,” he said to her that morning. He was Lu’s only child. Like most Chinese parents of the one-child generation, Lin was her pride and joy.

Late in the afternoon, before Lin had gone back to his school in the south-western city of Chengdu, Lu prepared snacks for him in case he was hungry in the evening. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until an hour later.

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China tornadoes kill 10, injure hundreds

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State media says at least six people died in the inland city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 first emerged in late 2019

Back-to-back tornadoes killed at least 10 people in central and eastern China and left more than 300 others injured, officials and state media have reported.

Six people died in the inland city of Wuhan and four others in the town of Shengze, about 400km (250 miles) east, in Jiangsu province, local government statements said.

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China lands unmanned spacecraft on Mars for first time

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State-run media says landing ‘spectacularly conquered’ a new milestone; it joins US Perseverance rover which landed in February

An unmanned Chinese spacecraft has successfully landed on the surface of Mars, Chinese state news agency Xinhua has reported, making China the second space-faring nation after the US to land on the red planet.

The official Xinhua news agency said the lander had touched down on Saturday, citing the China National Space Administration.

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News Corp exclusive on Chinese ‘bioweapons’ based on discredited 2015 book of conspiracy theories

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Report in the Australian newspaper promoting Sharri Markson’s book on origins of Covid criticised as misleading and alarmist by China analysts

The Australian’s exclusive about a “chilling” document produced by Chinese military scientists is based on a discredited 2015 book containing conspiracy theories about biological warfare which is freely available on the internet.

Written by the paper’s investigations writer, Sharri Markson, the report last Saturday said Chinese military scientists “discussed the weaponisation of Sars coronaviruses five years before the Covid-19 pandemic” and predicted a third world war would be fought with biological weapons.

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Chinese county bans birthday parties for public servants

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Housewarmings banned and limits imposed on weddings and funerals in anti-corruption drive

Authorities in a Chinese county have banned public servants and Communist party members from having birthday parties, housewarmings and other banquet celebrations.

Authorities in Funing county, in Yunnan province, also put caps on weddings and funerals, limiting guest numbers and food budgets. The measures, seemingly targeted at potential corruption, include bans on using official vehicles for business or collecting gifts and cash that are “obviously higher [value] than normal reciprocity”.

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China’s feminists protest against wave of online abuse with ‘internet violence museum’

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A growing nationalistic fervour is fuelling a torrent of vitriol against anyone speaking out against the state, especially women’s rights activists

Late last month, an “unknown hill in the Chinese desert” was blanketed in scores of large red and white banners, flapping vitriol in the breeze. “I hope you die, bitch,” said one. “Little bitch, screw the feminists,” said others.

They were all actual messages sent to women, a direct act of harassment anonymised by social media. They were sent during weeks of intense debate about the treatment of women on platforms such as Weibo, sparked by the abuse of Xiao Meili who posted video of a man who threw hot liquid at her after she asked him to stop smoking.

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