Chinese soldiers stationed in Hong Kong came out to clear streets on Saturday, which protesters had strewn with debris to slow down any police advances while they had been on the campus. People's Liberation Army soldiers joined the clean-up outside Hong Kong Baptist University, the site of clashes earlier in the week. They can only be deployed to help with disaster relief or to maintain public order if requested by the local government. The controversial move threatens to escalate already high tensions in the Chinese territory
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Hong Kong: Chinese troops deployed to help clear roadblocks
Controversial move could exacerbate tensions in territory dealing with months of anti-government protests
Chinese troops in Hong Kong have been deployed to help clear roads blockaded by anti-government protesters in a controversial move that could escalate the already high tensions in the Chinese territory.
Dozens of soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), dressed in shorts and T-shirts, jogged from their barracks in Kowloon to the Hong Kong Baptist University where protesters had built barricades to stop riot police entering the campus. Joining a group of residents, they moved desks, signposts, and bricks blocking a road.
Continue reading...Peace more distant than ever in Hong Kong as battle grips universities
Some accuse government of stoking unrest as pretext for delaying elections
A burst of violence in Hong Kong has pushed the city, gripped by more than five months of political unrest, even further away from the possibility of peaceful resolution.
After the death of a demonstrator on Friday and a weekend of clashes between police and protesters, Hong Kong woke up on Monday to live footage of a police officer shooting a 21-year-old student at close range in the stomach. Later, videos emerged of a 57-year-old construction worker being set on fire while arguing with demonstrators, and a police officer repeatedly driving his motorbike at a group of protesters.
Continue reading...Two people diagnosed with pneumonic plague in China
Authorities working to contain outbreak of disease that is worse than bubonic plague
Two people in China have been diagnosed with plague, the latest cases of a disease more commonly associated with historical catastrophe.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and can arise in three forms – a lung infection, known as pneumonic plague; a blood infection, known as septicemic plague; and a form that affects the lymph nodes, called bubonic plague.
Continue reading...Protester shot and man set on fire during Hong Kong clashes – video
A student was shot by Hong Kong police on Monday, the third time a demonstrator has been hit with live ammunition. Police used teargas, pepper spray and firearms at multiple locations as demonstrators blocked roads, lit fires and hurled missiles.
Later in the day, a man was doused in a flammable liquid and set on fire after arguing with protesters. Both the student and the man were said to be in a critical condition.
Another clip appeared to show a police officer on a motorbike driving at protesters.
Continue reading...Hong Kong protests: man shot by police and burns victim in critical condition
Police fire at unarmed student and middle-aged man set on fire in day of violent clashes
Two people are in a critical condition in Hong Kong after another day of protests and violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police that left more than 60 people injured.
A police officer shot an unarmed 21-year-old male university student in the stomach as demonstrators attempted to disrupt the Monday morning rush hour as part of a day of planned protests and strikes.
Continue reading...US-China trade war: hopes of deal rise after partial easing of tariffs
IMF says deal to alleviate trade tensions could persuade it to revise up growth forecasts
China has raised hopes that a deal can be reached to end its trade war with the US after agreeing with Washington to roll back some tariffs.
The prospect of an agreement sent stock markets soaring to all-time highs and prompted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to say a deal easing trade tensions between the US and China could persuade its officials to revise up forecasts for global growth next year.
Continue reading...China bans children from late-night gaming to combat addiction
Under-18s barred from playing between 10pm and 8am and are allotted 90 minutes a day during the week
China has imposed curfews on minors playing video games to combat what the government says is a serious addiction “harming the physical and mental health of minors”.
In regulations released by the National Press and Publication Administration on Tuesday, gamers under the age of 18 are now barred from playing online games between 10pm and 8am. During the week, minors are allowed just 90 minutes a day, an allotment that stretches to three hours on weekends and public holidays.
Continue reading...Doctors call for tighter control of traditional Chinese medicine
Exclusive: European experts fear WHO recognition will encourage use of unproven therapies
Europe’s leading doctors are to call for tighter regulation of traditional Chinese medicine, anxious that recent recognition by the World Health Organization will encourage the use of unproven therapies that can sometimes be harmful.
The Federation of European Academies of Medicine (FEAM) and the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council will issue a joint statement on Thursday urging the WHO to clarify how traditional Chinese medicine and other complementary therapies should be used.
Continue reading...China signals desire to bring Hong Kong under tighter control
Beijing issues strongly-worded warning it will not tolerate ‘any actions that split the country’
China has issued unusually tough warnings for Hong Kong, signalling a desire to bring the semi-autonomous city under tighter control, and “perfect” its governance of the territory, after five months of increasingly violent protests.
China’s Communist party, in a statement issued after a meeting of key leaders, said national interest should take priority over the “two systems” policy that has allowed Hong Kong extensive autonomy since the handover from British colonial rule, and warned that it would not tolerate “any actions that split the country”.
Continue reading...‘Alarming’ Chinese meddling at UK universities exposed in report
Chinese embassy appears to be coordinating efforts to curb academic freedom, say MPs
Universities are not adequately responding to the growing risk of China and other “autocracies” influencing academic freedom in the UK, the foreign affairs select committee has said.
The report, rushed out before parliament is suspended pending the election, finds “alarming evidence” of Chinese interference on UK campuses, adding some of the activity seeking to restrict academic freedom appears to be coordinated by the Chinese embassy in London.
Continue reading...Asean summit: US condemns Chinese ‘intimidation’ in the South China Sea
National security adviser Robert O’Brien says Beijing has bullied smaller nations by militarising resource-rich waters
The US has condemned Chinese “intimidation” in the South China Sea, alleging it has bullied smaller south-east Asian nations by militarising the resource-rich waters and seeking to control the global trade route.
Speaking at an Asean-US summit in Bangkok, the US national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, said China’s sweeping exclusive claims in the South China Sea – already rejected by the court of arbitration – were illegitimate and a form of realist imperialism.
Continue reading...Hong Kong protests: Chinese state media urges tougher stance on ‘wanton violence’
China Daily newspaper accuses protesters of being at mercy of hormones, and venting anger ‘at grievances real and imagined’
Chinese state media on Monday urged authorities to take a “tougher line” against protesters in Hong Kong who vandalised the office of the state-run Xinhua news agency and other buildings at the weekend, saying the violence damaged the city’s rule of law.
In an editorial, state-backed China Daily newspaper criticised the “wanton” attacks by “naive” demonstrators, adding: “They are doomed to fail simply because their violence will encounter the full weight of the law.”
Continue reading...World’s largest trade deal RCEP faces delay as India pushes back against China
Sixteen-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will cover half the planet’s people
The world’s largest trade deal is unlikely to be signed this year, with a draft statement from south-east Asian leaders suggesting it will be delayed until 2020, despite China’s desire to bring it into operation as soon as possible as a counterweight to its debilitating tariff war with the US.
The 16-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – known as the RCEP – would be the world’s largest when operational, spanning India to New Zealand, including 30% of global GDP and half of the world’s people.
Continue reading...Politician’s ear bitten off during knife attack in Hong Kong
Pro-democracy councillor among five wounded by alleged attacker shouting pro-Beijing slogans
A man went on a knife rampage in Hong Kong leaving at least five people wounded, including a local pro-democracy politician who had his ear bitten off, capping another chaotic day of political unrest in the city.
Flashmob rallies erupted on Sunday inside multiple shopping centers across the city, sparking clashes with riot police.
Continue reading...Hong Kong protesters attack Chinese news agency offices
Local media show broken windows, graffiti and lobby fire at official Xinhau agency
Protesters have vandalised the Hong Kong office of China’s official Xinhua news agency for the first time in months of anti-government demonstrations, smashing windows and doors.
Local media showed scenes of a fire in the lobby of Xinhua’s office in Wan Chai district, broken windows and graffiti sprayed on a wall. It was unclear if there were people in the building.
Continue reading...To the moon and back with the eastern curlew
Ultra-endurance athlete, aerodynamic wonder … and facing extinction. Why the bird who flies 30,000km a year needs Australia’s mudflats
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The ascent is vertical. Up, up and into the jet stream. If the conditions are not right up there it will come back down and wait. But if there is a good tailwind in the right direction it will begin an epic journey that will take it around the curvature of the Earth; from the Arctic Circle to the southern hemisphere.
Using the sun and stars as a compass, and navigating by the Earth’s magnetic field, recognising landmarks, the far eastern curlew will fly nonstop to the Yellow Sea, where it fuels up on the mudflats of north-east China.
Continue reading...Quarter of world’s pig population ‘to die of African swine fever’
World Organisation for Animal Health warns spread of disease has inflamed worldwide crisis
About a quarter of the global pig population is expected to die as a result of the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
Global pork prices are rising spurred by growing demand from China, where as many as 100 million pigs have died since ASF broke out there last year. In recent months, China has been granting export approval to foreign meat plants and signing deals around the world at a dizzying rate. US pork sales to China have doubled, while European pork prices have now reached a six-year high.
Continue reading...China warns US: criticism of Uighur detentions is not ‘helpful’ for trade talks
Beijing voices anger over ‘gross interference’ after 23 countries criticise arbitrary detentions in Xinjiang
China’s UN envoy has sounded a warning note over trade talks with Washington after the US joined 22 other countries at the UN in criticising Beijing over the detention of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims.
China has been widely condemned for setting up internment camps in the western region of Xinjiang that it describes as “vocational training centres” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills. The United Nations says at least a million Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained.
Continue reading...Hong Kong’s reluctant policeman: ‘It’s not for us to deliver punishment’
The battle with protesters is splitting the police force between those seeking power and others protecting freedoms
Larry Yeung* cuts a lonely figure in the police force these days.
He joined more than 20 years ago because it appealed to his sense of justice. Proudly showing off his graduation tie, he reminisces about his desire as a young recruit to serve society and help the disadvantaged.
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