Days after Beijing unveils state-of-the-art missiles, Moscow reveals plan that would ‘radically enhance China’s defence capability’
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow is helping China build a system to warn of ballistic missile launches.
Since the cold war, only the United States and Russia have had such systems, which involve an array of ground-based radars and space satellites. The systems allow for early spotting of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Continue reading...Carrie Lam warned against ‘slip towards authoritarianism’ as leak reveals police relaxed guidelines on lethal force
Hong Kong’s leader plans to use harsh colonial-era emergency powers for the first time, banning face masks in a bid to curb the city’s protests.
Opposition politicians warned it represented a slide towards authoritarianism and risked further inflaming tensions.
Continue reading...For longtime residents of the Chinese city’s hutong neighbourhoods, a housing renovation project mean tough choices over whether to stay or leave
On sunny afternoons, Yang takes his wheelchair-bound 90-year-old mother out along the Yu River, a canal near their home in Beijing’s historic Gulou neighbourhood. In the autumn, willow trees sweep their branches in the water, and the place gives the impression of a lazy, golden city from the last imperial days.
Gulou, often called the heart of old Beijing, is one of the only areas left that still have the city’s ancient winding alleyways, or hutongs. Yang and his mother live in Yu’er hutong, which lies just off the well-known and tourist-packed Nanluogu Xiang pedestrian street and is a short stroll from the ancient Drum and Bell Towers once used to tell the time across the city.
Continue reading...Anger and grief fuel fresh demonstrations after injury of 18-year-old Tsang Chi-kin
Driven by anger and grief, thousands of people came out across Hong Kong to denounce the shooting of a teenage student by police, an escalation of force that appears to have deepened the gulf between protesters and authorities.
They marched through the city centre, organised sit-ins at schools and gathered at a courtroom where other protesters faced rioting charges.
Continue reading...Hundreds of college students have staged a sit-in in Hong Kong to condemn the police officer who shot a teenager in the chest during protests on China's National Day. At a news conference outside Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial college, where the teenager is a student, a masked protester called for a new government and said 'this means war'
Continue reading...While military might and mass pageantry were on display in Beijing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, violent clashes erupted across Hong Kong as thousands of black-clad pro-democracy protesters took to the streets. Police shot a protester with live ammunition for the first time in four months of demonstrations, marking a major escalation
Continue reading...Hong Kong police shot an 18-year-old protester in the chest with live ammunition as demonstrations in the city intensified.
The incident came as many Hongkongers defied a ban on demonstrations on the day marking the 70th anniversary of communist rule in China.
Protests called to mark a 'national day of grief' saw tens of thousands of people demonstrate across the city in what was the most widespread show of public anger towards Beijing yet.
Beijing’s carefully planned celebrations turned into a PR disaster for Xi Jinping
October 1 was meant to be a carefully choreographed showcase of China’s military and economic might on the 70th anniversary of communist rule, and a celebration of the strongman president, Xi Jinping.
But after a picture-perfect parade was beamed around the world from Beijing, the one part of the country that is not under his full control ripped up the playbook, with the people of Hong Kong pouring on to the streets to challenge Xi’s vision for China.
Continue reading...Violence erupts as thousands protest on 70th anniversary of communist rule in China
Hong Kong police have shot a protester with live ammunition for the first time in four months of demonstrations, marking a major escalation in the use of force on a day when China celebrated 70 years of Communist party rule with a triumphalist military parade.
Protests called to mark a “national day of grief” drew tens of thousands of people on to the city’s streets, across six areas, in the most widespread show yet of public anger towards Beijing.
Continue reading...Violent clashes have rocked Hong Kong as riot police forcefully broke up protesters on the day China celebrated the 70th anniversary of Communist party rule.
The event is the country's most important of the year as it looks to project its assurance in the face of mounting challenges, including nearly four months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong and an economy-sapping trade war with the US
Demonstrations in Hong Kong on China's National Day escalated into violence as protesters threw petrol bombs at police, who retaliated with teargas and rubber bullets. One group of protesters made a barricade with three linked chairs as they took cover from police fire
New weapons make public debut in sweeping military parade, but Hong Kong protests overshadow show of unity
Hong Kong protester shot in chest as demos turn violent - live
China has celebrated 70 years of Communist party rule and its rise to global superpower status with a military parade showcasing the country’s technology, and a promise from President Xi Jinping that “no force can shake the status of this great nation”.
But huge and violent protests in Hong Kongcast a long shadow over Beijing’s carefully-choreographed projection of national unity and power.
Continue reading...The 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China has been marked with a huge military parade showcasing new weapons technology – including nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles and supersonic drones.
President Xi Jinping and other leaders stood on the Tiananmen rostrum overlooking the packed square. During a speech, Xi declared that 'no force can shake this great nation'. He also said he was committed to a 'peaceful reunification and one country, two systems' for Hong Kong and Macau, and 'peace' and 'reunification' with Taiwan
Continue reading...Videos released on eve of 70th anniversary festivities feature Americans and Canadians
The Chinese state broadcaster has released videos of foreign nationals praising the country on the eve of celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, as research showed worsening perceptions in many western countries.
The videos posted over the weekend show foreign citizens, identified by country, singing patriotic ballads and praising China’s culture and development. “I love you China … I love your homegrown sugar cane, that quenches my heart like milk,” sing participants, who include Canadians, Germans and Americans, in a video filmed in the eastern city of Nanjing.
Continue reading...Song Moujiang, jailed for people trafficking, escaped prison in 2002
Chinese police reportedly used drones to track down a convicted human trafficker who had been on the run for 17 years and was living in a cave.
Song Moujiang, 63, who was jailed for trafficking women and children, had evaded police capture after escaping a prison camp, Yilaochang Farm in Sichuan province, in March 2002, the BBC reported.
Continue reading...China shows off military might during 70th anniversary of communist rule with huge parade in Beijing
Continue reading...Many in China may prefer to forget the chaotic and bloody decades under the rule of Chairman Mao Zedong, but 70 years after he founded the People’s Republic his face is on memorabilia in shops across the country. The Great Helmsman has had a kitsch makeover, appearing on everything from posters, fans and ornaments to mugs and plates
Continue reading...Chinese officials blame unrest on issues such as housing or unemployment, but the problems go much deeper than that
When Chinese president Xi Jinping warned his Communist party cadres against the threats of “black swans” and “grey rhinoceroses” in January, there was little sign of what would lie ahead.
The millions-strong protests in Hong Kong in recent months, sparked by a controversial extradition law, have morphed into an unprecedented political storm that has blown up in the faces of Hong Kong and Chinese leaders.
Continue reading...Police in Hong Kong have used teargas and pepper spray against thousands of protesters who gathered for an unsanctioned march in the Causeway Bay shopping district. The city is bracing for days of protests and clashes culminating in anti-government demonstrations on Tuesday, China’s National Day – a politically significant anniversary marking 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China
Continue reading...Riot officers confront crowds gathered in Causeway Bay shopping district
Hong Kong police have used teargas and pepper spray on thousands of protesters as demonstrations enter the 17th week in the city’s most serious political crisis in decades.
The protest, which was not sanctioned by police, was scheduled to start at 3pm local time (0800 BST) in the Causeway Bay shopping district, but dozens of riot police began guarding the area hours before. They stopped and searched a number of young people dressed in black.
Continue reading...