Pro-Beijing candidates sweep victories at Hong Kong polls
HONG KONG (AP) — Pro-Beijing candidates dominated Hong Kong’s legislative elections, beating out moderates and independents in the city’s first public poll after Beijing passed a resolution to amend the city’s election laws.Candidates loyal to Beijing won a majority of the seats in Sunday’s election after the laws were changed to ensure that only pro-Beijing…
Biden invites Taiwan to its democracy summit, sparking China rebuke
Joe Biden has invited Taiwan to a virtual summit on democracy alongside more than 100 countries — a move that sparked indignation from authoritarian China, which is not on the list. Taiwan thanked Biden for the invitation and said the gathering would be a rare opportunity for the self-ruled democracy to burnish its credentials on…
China Passes Data Protection Law
By Basil Beltran China Passes Data Protection Law The US does not. In 2018 the European Union had surpassed the United States in protecting consumers when its General...
In climate landmark, China promises to end coal funding overseas
The Celukan Bawang 2 power plant funded by China on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali is seen in 2020. China will stop funding coal projects overseas, President Xi Jinping announced Tuesday, all but ending the flow of public aid for the dirty energy contributing to the climate crisis. Xi made his announcement at the UN…
China and France assail U.S.-Australia deal on nuclear-powered submarines
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Thursday was facing acute anger from a rival, China, and one of its closest allies, France, over a pact that will help Australia develop nuclear-powered submarines.The nuclear deal, which also includes the United Kingdom, was announced by President Biden on Wednesday and immediately threatened to aggravate tensions with Beijing and potentially damage…
New book: Top US general secretly called China over fears Trump could start war
Fearful of Donald Trump’s actions in his final weeks as president, the United States’ top military officer twice assured his Chinese counterpart that the two nations would not go to war, according to a forthcoming book. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army that…
Biden says China withholding ‘critical information’ about origins of pandemic
/ Asia / Pacific Issued on: 27/08/2021 – 22:48 Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a visit by a team of investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2021. © Hector Retamal, AFP US President Joe Biden said Friday that China was still withholding “critical information” on the…
U.S. intelligence report is inconclusive on COVID-19 origin
The latest U.S. intelligence report on the origins of COVID-19 is inconclusive, according to an official familiar with it — an outcome that will do little to quell debate about whether the virus spread to humans directly from animals or leaked from a research lab in Wuhan, China.President Biden received the report this week after…
Border Patrol seizes thousands of falsified COVID-19 vaccine cards in Tennessee
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seized thousands of falsified COVID-19 vaccine cards from China in Memphis, Tenn.Border Patrol agents have had 121 seizures of fake vaccination cards so far this fiscal year, amounting to 3,017 falsified cards confiscated, according to a statement from the agency on released Friday. One of the shipments described in the statement…
China rejects WHO’s calls for new probe into COVID-19’s origins
Beijing — 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 again mounting on Beijing to consider a fresh probe into the origins of a pandemic that’s killed more than…
Biden allows temporary ‘safe haven’ for Hong Kong residents amid Beijing crackdown
WASHINGTON — President Biden on Thursday ordered authorities to refrain from deporting numerous Hong Kong residents who are in the U.S., granting them an 18-month “safe haven” in the face of China’s fierce crackdown on dissidents and democratic institutions.In the “deferred removal” directive he signed, Biden cited the arrest of some 10,000 people in Hong Kong since…
Chinese astronauts complete first space walk outside new Tiangong space station
HONG KONG — Two astronauts completed the first spacewalk outside China’s new orbital station on Sunday to set up cameras and other equipment using a robotic arm, state media reported.As Earth rolled past below them, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo climbed out of the airlock of the Tianhe or “Heavenly Harmony” module of the Tiangong…
Beleaguered pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily says it’s closing down
Hong Kong’s leading independent newspaper, Apple Daily, said it was closing down Wednesday and would print its final issue Thursday, succumbing to an unprecedented campaign by the Beijing-backed government to silence a popular tabloid at the center of the city’s democracy movement.The decision came hours after police arrested a columnist for the paper and days…
China successfully launches Shenzhou-12 manned crew into orbit
The Long March-2F carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-12, takes off from the launch site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, near Jiuquan, China, on Thursday. Photo by Roman Pilipey/EPA-EFE June 16 (UPI) — China on Thursday launched three astronauts into space on the Shenzhou-12 craft that will later in…
Biden executive order bans investment in dozens of Chinese defense, tech firms
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Thursday that bans U.S. entities from investing in dozens of Chinese companies with alleged ties to defense or surveillance technology sectors. The move, which his administration says expands the scope of a legally flawed Trump-era order, drew anger from Beijing.The Treasury Department will enforce and update on…