https://www.scmp.com/rss/324765/feed Laurie Chen worked for the Post from 2017 until 2020. She holds a master's degree in journalism at City University, London. Originally from the UK, she studied English literature at University College London. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com China’s National Health Commission announced 394 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, the lowest figure in weeks, after it changed the diagnostic criteria to exclude patients who were “clinically diagnosed” by methods such as CAT scans. The gradual decline in the number of new infections recorded across China has raised hopes that the situation there will start to stabilise, but other Asian countries have seen a sudden spike in infections. Thursday’s figure represented a significant drop on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051669/sharp-fall-new-chinese-coronavirus-cases-it-only-because-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051669/sharp-fall-new-chinese-coronavirus-cases-it-only-because-new?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Feb 2020 16:15:14 +0000 China reported its lowest number of new coronavirus cases on Thursday since January 23 when Wuhan – epicentre of the outbreak – went into lockdown, but a leading Chinese scientist has warned the disease may become an established illness like flu. Wang Chen, president of the China Academy of Medical Science, said that despite the recent drop in the rate of new cases and fatalities on the mainland, the world should be prepared for the possibility that Covid-19 – the official name of the illness... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051492/coronavirus-deaths-taper-hubei-108-confirmed-thursday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051492/coronavirus-deaths-taper-hubei-108-confirmed-thursday?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Feb 2020 22:54:59 +0000 The risk of the deadly coronavirus to China’s frontline health staff is in sharp focus with health authorities announcing that 1,303 more medical workers had been diagnosed with or were suspected of having the disease. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday that by February 11 there were more than 3,000 coronavirus cases among medical workers, 1,716 of whom had tested positive and showed symptoms. Hours after the new numbers were released, authorities... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051207/china-reports-1300-more-coronavirus-cases-among-medical-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051207/china-reports-1300-more-coronavirus-cases-among-medical-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Feb 2020 13:30:15 +0000 When Massimiliano Martigli Jiang stood blindfolded in the middle of Florence next to a sign reading “I am not a virus, I am a human being, free me from prejudice”, he was overwhelmed by the touching reactions he got from fellow residents and tourists. Jiang, who is Italian-Chinese, last week uploaded to Facebook, a video of his experiences that got more than 10,000 shares and was covered widely in Italian media. The video showed Jiang standing masked and blindfolded outside some of Florence’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3050499/i-am-not-virus-i-am-human-being-italian-chinese-mans-video?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3050499/i-am-not-virus-i-am-human-being-italian-chinese-mans-video?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Feb 2020 01:30:13 +0000 Global health experts are divided on whether the coronavirus outbreak has peaked or worse is to come, but a more fundamental problem for front-line hospitals and laboratories is identifying when a person carrying the virus becomes infectious to others. Scientists say this could be a key to defeating the disease it causes, now officially known as Covid-19. In other words, knowing how it behaves allows for the development of counter strategies. The ideal countermeasure is a vaccine, but because... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3050327/coronavirus-still-stumps-experts-when-human-carrier-turns-infectious?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3050327/coronavirus-still-stumps-experts-when-human-carrier-turns-infectious?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Feb 2020 15:09:13 +0000 New coronavirus infections in China outside the epicentre of Hubei province have fallen for seven days in a row, according to health authorities in the country, seemingly in line with predictions by some infectious disease specialists that the deadly outbreak may peak this month. However, the experts caution that unreported information could upend any outlook for the disease and its behaviour, while others say it is too soon to try to make predictions. China’s National Health Commission (NHC)... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3050031/worst-over-experts-divided-coronavirus-peak-new-infections-slow-hubei?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3050031/worst-over-experts-divided-coronavirus-peak-new-infections-slow-hubei?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Feb 2020 10:01:10 +0000 Health experts have expressed hope that the number of new coronavirus cases will peak in the coming weeks despite uncertainty over its transmissions and as the death toll from the disease is set to surpass that of Sars. The hopeful assessment came as China reported a record 89 deaths on Saturday – up from 86 on Friday – taking the country’s total fatalities to 811. With two deaths already outside China, the global death toll was 813, matching the number attributed by the World Health... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049747/hopes-coronavirus-peak-ahead-illness-brink-surpassing-sars-grim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049747/hopes-coronavirus-peak-ahead-illness-brink-surpassing-sars-grim?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Feb 2020 14:57:04 +0000 As the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 724 on Friday, the rate at which fatalities are being reported suggests it may soon surpass the 813 attributed to the Sars outbreak of 2002-03, experts say. All but two of the deaths have been in mainland China, with Hubei province and its capital city Wuhan being the worst affected. More than 34,500 people have been infected by the virus in China, with about 330 confirmed cases elsewhere around the world, according to official figures. On... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049640/coronavirus-track-kill-more-people-sars-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049640/coronavirus-track-kill-more-people-sars-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Feb 2020 09:30:13 +0000 Mourners have paid tribute to Li Wenliang, the doctor who blew the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan only to succumb to the deadly infection himself on Friday morning, with some people condemning the authorities for failing to recognise his sacrifice. Li’s death, which shocked the nation as China struggles to cope with the pneumonia-like illness that has infected more than 31,000 people and killed 638 since December, triggered an outpouring of grief and anger at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049489/coronavirus-outpouring-grief-and-anger-after-death-whistle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049489/coronavirus-outpouring-grief-and-anger-after-death-whistle?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Feb 2020 07:02:35 +0000 The deadly coronavirus outbreak seems to have stoked an increase in xenophobia and anti-Chinese sentiment, according to members of Asian diaspora communities around the world. Amid sporadic attacks that have occurred in US and European cities, many overseas Asians interviewed by the South China Morning Post said that while they have not personally experienced extreme bigotry or physical attacks, daily “microaggressions” appear to have become more common since the outbreak. Sophie Xu, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049423/coronavirus-outbreak-has-stoked-rise-xenophobia-chinese-living?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049423/coronavirus-outbreak-has-stoked-rise-xenophobia-chinese-living?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Feb 2020 01:30:14 +0000 Health authorities in China pegged deaths caused by the novel coronavirus epidemic on Thursday at 73, with 69 in Hubei province, according to official figures released early Friday. The updated numbers raise the death toll in mainland China to 636. Newly confirmed cases rose by 3,143, a second consecutive daily drop, bringing the total to 31,161 cases in the country, according to data released on Friday morning by China’s National Health Commission (NHC). Most of the deaths came from Hubei... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049424/coronavirus-hubei-province-reports-69-deaths-and-2447-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049424/coronavirus-hubei-province-reports-69-deaths-and-2447-new?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Feb 2020 22:25:08 +0000 In a New York subway station, a Chinese woman was punched and called “diseased.” In Rome, the director of a music conservatory asked all “Oriental” students not to come to class. In France, a newspaper front page featured an Asian woman under the headline, “Yellow Alert.” Accounts of xenophobic abuse against Chinese people and other East Asians have mounted in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, which has spread to over 20 countries since it was first reported in China in December. But as the... https://www.scmp.com/society/coronavirus-outbreak-prompts-xenophobia-against-ethnic-asians/article/3049373?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/coronavirus-outbreak-prompts-xenophobia-against-ethnic-asians/article/3049373?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Feb 2020 12:20:27 +0000 Two Communist Party officials in central Hubei province were sacked after the death of a disabled teenager who was left without adequate care for six days while his relatives were in coronavirus quarantine, a local government report said on Saturday. Yan Cheng had cerebral palsy and died on January 29 while in the care of officials in Huajiahe township, Hongan county, more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. The county investigation – which put the boy’s age... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049340/communist-officials-fired-after-disabled-chinese-boy-died-when?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049340/communist-officials-fired-after-disabled-chinese-boy-died-when?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Feb 2020 09:31:20 +0000 It is too early to tell if dramatic lockdowns of several central Chinese cities at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak are slowing the spread of the deadly illness, according to public health specialists. Some virologists have said that based on preliminary studies, the coronavirus appears to have an incubation period of two weeks, suggesting that infection rates should start to slow from Wednesday, a fortnight after major travel restrictions in those city went into effect. But other experts... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048983/will-chinas-city-lockdowns-stop-spread-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048983/will-chinas-city-lockdowns-stop-spread-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Feb 2020 01:30:16 +0000 Doctors and nurses in Wuhan are risking their lives in more ways than one. China has taken unprecedented steps to fight the deadly coronavirus outbreak that started in the central China city, including locking down a province of 60 million people, but on the front line of the battle in hospital wards, doctors and nurses say they lack basic supplies and face physical threats from panicking patients. One doctor at a Wuhan hospital said he had not been home for two weeks and even during a recent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048476/wuhan-doctors-beaten-overworked-under-supplied?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048476/wuhan-doctors-beaten-overworked-under-supplied?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Feb 2020 01:00:17 +0000 A disabled teenager in rural central China died after he was left at home for six days without care while his relatives were quarantined on suspicion of having the Wuhan coronavirus, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday. The 17-year-old, named Yan Cheng, had cerebral palsy, which is often caused by brain damage. He required around-the-clock care. The boy died in Hubei province on Wednesday, local government officials were quoted as saying. Authorities had launched an investigation, the... https://www.scmp.com/health/disabled-boy-dies-after-being-left-alone-because-family-quarantined-coronavirus/article/3048349?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/health/disabled-boy-dies-after-being-left-alone-because-family-quarantined-coronavirus/article/3048349?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:36:53 +0000 China is facing a larger epidemic than Sars, with the number of Wuhan coronavirus infections in the mainland surpassing the tally of severe acute respiratory syndrome cases it saw during the 2002-03 outbreak. And as the pneumonia-like illness, also known as the novel coronavirus, continues to spread six days after authorities took the unprecedented step of locking down Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and epicenter of the outbreak, more cases of human-to-human transmission have been reported... https://www.scmp.com/health/china-complicated-and-grave-coronavirus-outbreak-may-be-bigger-sars/article/3048230?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/health/china-complicated-and-grave-coronavirus-outbreak-may-be-bigger-sars/article/3048230?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jan 2020 09:42:21 +0000 A disabled teenager in rural central China died after he was left at home for six days without care while his relatives were quarantined on suspicion of having the Wuhan coronavirus, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday. The 17-year-old, named Yan Cheng, had cerebral palsy, a severe motor disability that requires around-the-clock attention. He died in Hubei province on Wednesday, local government officials were quoted as saying. Authorities had launched an investigation, the report... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048208/left-home-six-days-disabled-chinese-boy-dies-after-carer-dad-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048208/left-home-six-days-disabled-chinese-boy-dies-after-carer-dad-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jan 2020 06:34:42 +0000 China is facing a larger epidemic than Sars, with the number of Wuhan coronavirus infections in the mainland surpassing the tally of severe acute respiratory syndrome cases it saw during the 2002-03 outbreak. And as the pneumonia-like illness – also known as the novel coronavirus – continues to spread six days after authorities took the unprecedented step of locking down Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and epicentre of the outbreak, more cases of human-to-human transmission have been... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048136/china-faces-bigger-epidemic-sars-complicated-and-grave?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048136/china-faces-bigger-epidemic-sars-complicated-and-grave?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2020 15:48:28 +0000 Chinese President Xi Jinping called the pneumonia-like virus that has ravaged the city of Wuhan a “demon” that must be defeated, but some of the world’s leading infectious disease experts cannot agree on how long it will take to bring it under control. One of China’s top experts said the Wuhan coronavirus infection rate could peak in early February. “I estimate that it will reach its peak in around the next week or 10 days, after that there will be no more major increases,” said Zhong Nanshan,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048020/chinese-experts-say-wuhan-coronavirus-outbreak-will-not-last?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3048020/chinese-experts-say-wuhan-coronavirus-outbreak-will-not-last?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2020 05:31:29 +0000 Social media has become a lifeline for desperate residents in Wuhan and its surrounding province of Hubei in central China in getting their message out to the wider world in the face of widespread distrust of the government’s official narrative on the coronavirus crisis. Almost the entire province is in lockdown because of the virus, which originated in Wuhan and has so far infected more than 4,500 people and caused more than 100 deaths. The hashtag “lockdown diary” on China’s Twitter-like... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047933/china-coronavirus-youtube-and-twitter-show-realities-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047933/china-coronavirus-youtube-and-twitter-show-realities-life?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:00:14 +0000 It has low production values and no celebrities but millions of people in China are tuning in to watch a gripping kind of reality programme – the live feeds of construction of two temporary hospitals to treat patients at the heart of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The two hospitals – Huoshenshan and Leishenshan – are expected to be completed next week, adding 2,300 beds to help ease an acute shortage in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. At least 106 people have died and more than 4,500 others... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047943/live-wuhan-millions-tune-watch-china-build-coronavirus-hospitals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047943/live-wuhan-millions-tune-watch-china-build-coronavirus-hospitals?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:45:13 +0000 China’s health authorities are racing against the clock to contain the coronavirus outbreak that has spread worldwide since breaking out in the central city of Wuhan more than a month ago. At the same time, officials are battling a torrent of rumours and unverified news about the outbreak. Here are some common questions: 1. Can the virus be transmitted among humans? China’s top severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) expert, Zhong Nanshan, confirmed last week that human-to-human transmission of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047843/debunking-myths-around-chinas-deadly-coronavirus-outbreak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047843/debunking-myths-around-chinas-deadly-coronavirus-outbreak?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jan 2020 01:00:19 +0000 Chinese internet users got a wake-up call in November, when a state media report revealed that 468 million pieces of personal data had been leaked. It sparked a public outcry, revealing growing concerns about privacy and protecting personal information online in a country that is increasingly reliant on technology, and where state surveillance is an everyday part of life. State broadcaster CCTV reported that the data was illegally mined from financial lending platform databases by a web of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047186/china-wakes-wide-web-online-data-leaks-and-privacy-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047186/china-wakes-wide-web-online-data-leaks-and-privacy-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jan 2020 13:00:07 +0000 China is mobilising its military doctors to help to contain the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, state media reported on Friday. According to the national broadcaster CCTV, the central military command has ordered medical staff to help civilian doctors and nurses. The report said 40 medical officers from the city’s military hospital had already started work in the intensive care unit of Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital. By Friday night, mainland China had reported over 890 confirmed cases of infection and 26... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3047595/china-sends-military-medics-help-wuhan-hospitals-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3047595/china-sends-military-medics-help-wuhan-hospitals-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2020 10:46:03 +0000 The central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, is rushing to build a makeshift hospital on its outskirts as a quarantine and treatment center for affected patients, in a move that replicates a decision regarded as instrumental in Beijing’s fight 17 years ago against severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars). Hundreds of workers have been mobilized to complete the hospital – essentially a quarantine center, with capacity for about 1,000 patients – within six... https://www.scmp.com/health/china-workers-wuhan-hustle-build-makeshift-hospital-1000-coronavirus-patients/article/3047577?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/health/china-workers-wuhan-hustle-build-makeshift-hospital-1000-coronavirus-patients/article/3047577?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2020 10:12:36 +0000 The coronavirus discovered in the city of Wuhan has spread to all but two of China’s 31 provinces, indicating that efforts to stem the outbreak with travel bans and cancellations of flights and rail services were failing. As of Friday night, there had been 895 cases of infection and 26 deaths in mainland China, according to Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily and Dxy.com, one of the country’s biggest online network of doctors. The deaths included the first reported outside the epicentre of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047584/wuhan-coronavirus-confirmed-29-chinas-31-provinces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047584/wuhan-coronavirus-confirmed-29-chinas-31-provinces?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2020 09:55:24 +0000 Wuhan is rushing to build a makeshift hospital on its outskirts as a quarantine and treatment centre for patients in the latest coronavirus outbreak, replicating a step regarded as instrumental in Beijing’s fight 17 years ago against severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars). Hundreds of workers have been mobilised to complete the hospital – essentially a quarantine centre, with capacity for about 1,000 patients – within six days as the disease spreads rapidly across China to all provinces and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047528/rush-wuhan-build-china-coronavirus-treatment-centre-1000?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047528/rush-wuhan-build-china-coronavirus-treatment-centre-1000?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2020 05:45:31 +0000 Chinese and American researchers are working together to develop a vaccine against the deadly new strain of coronavirus amid a growing international debate about whether it came from snakes or bats. At present, there is no cure for the virus which has pneumonia-like symptoms and is contagious among humans. Officials have told hospitals to quarantine any suspected patients and their close contacts. So far it has killed 26 people and infected hundreds across mainland China. The World Health... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047512/chinese-and-us-scientists-join-forces-develop-vaccine-deadly-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047512/chinese-and-us-scientists-join-forces-develop-vaccine-deadly-new?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2020 05:21:49 +0000 Almost half of the 17 people killed by the Wuhan coronavirus so far were aged 80 or over and most of them had pre-existing health problems, according to China’s health authorities. Children have been infected, but are not highly susceptible to the virus, they said. Details of the fatalities released on Thursday showed the youngest person was 48 and the oldest 89. All of those who died – 13 men and four women – were from the central province of Hubei, and treated in hospitals in its capital,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047399/wuhan-virus-killing-mostly-elderly-those-previous-health?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047399/wuhan-virus-killing-mostly-elderly-those-previous-health?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jan 2020 12:30:06 +0000 Tracking down the source and the infection route of the newly emerged coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan is akin to putting a jigsaw puzzle together, as the death toll rises and carriers of the pathogen emerge across the country and the world, according to a disease specialist. “It’s early days, it’s a real jigsaw puzzle right now,” said David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “Right now, it doesn’t look... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047099/china-confirms-9-dead-coronavirus-and-440-infected?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047099/china-confirms-9-dead-coronavirus-and-440-infected?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jan 2020 02:29:22 +0000 The death toll from a previously unknown virus that has sickened more than 300 people across China has risen to six, as the central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, stepped up controls to contain its spread. Chinese officials reported on Tuesday that the total number of confirmed cases had jumped to 309, the bulk of them in Hubei province. Others were reported in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Henan and Chongqing. Cases have also been confirmed in Taiwan, South... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047075/china-virus-death-toll-rises-6-city-epicentre-steps-controls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047075/china-virus-death-toll-rises-6-city-epicentre-steps-controls?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2020 15:39:11 +0000 Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s hardline stance and the island’s exclusion from the World Health Organisation have put Beijing in a bind as the Chinese mainland struggles to contain the virus that has infected almost 300 people in the country. Beijing’s dilemma was highlighted on Tuesday when Taiwan announced its first confirmed case – a 55 year-old woman who had returned to the island from Wuhan, where the new strain originated. The Taiwanese woman, who works in the mainland city, was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047044/china-virus-spreads-taiwan-island-authorities-confirm-first-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047044/china-virus-spreads-taiwan-island-authorities-confirm-first-case?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2020 11:55:02 +0000 Chinese women’s rights activist Sophia Huang Xueqin has been released after nearly three months in detention, according to her lawyers and sources familiar with her situation. Huang, 32, was released on Friday, about two weeks before the Lunar New Year – traditionally an occasion for family unions. “She is healthy and still in good spirits. Her activities are restricted now and she is under heavy surveillance,” said a source close to Huang who wished to remain anonymous. “But police are keeping... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3046643/chinese-metoo-activist-sophia-huang-xueqin-freed-detention?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3046643/chinese-metoo-activist-sophia-huang-xueqin-freed-detention?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2020 23:00:17 +0000 Liang Jun, a woman who became an archetype for the ideal socialist worker, died on Tuesday in the northern Chinese city of Harbin. She was 89 years old.  Liang, who had been sick for the past two years, was famous in China because she was featured on the country’s 1 yuan banknote, which pictured her contentedly driving a tractor. The banknote was released in 1962 and stopped circulating in 2000. In 1950, Liang was hailed as “China's first female tractor driver” by People’s Daily, the Communist... https://www.scmp.com/society/socialist-icon-and-chinas-first-female-tractor-driver-liang-jun-dies-89/article/3046536?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/socialist-icon-and-chinas-first-female-tractor-driver-liang-jun-dies-89/article/3046536?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2020 10:45:03 +0000 A pioneer held up as China’s “first woman tractor driver” and whose example was celebrated on the 1 yuan banknote, died on Tuesday, aged 89. Liang Jun, who became a socialist icon thanks to her prowess as a tractor driver, died peacefully in a hospital in Harbin in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang after a two-year battle with lung disease, her son, Wang Yanbing, was quoted by Shanghai-based news outlet Thepaper.cn as saying. Liang was born in Heilongjiang in 1930 to a poor rural family... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3046445/chinese-socialist-icon-and-tractor-driving-pioneer-liang-jun?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3046445/chinese-socialist-icon-and-tractor-driving-pioneer-liang-jun?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2020 13:44:01 +0000 Workers at a petrochemical factory in southern China had to be evacuated on Tuesday when a spark in an oil refinery unit caused an explosion that sent a giant fireball and dense black smoke high into the air, state media reported. Hundreds of firefighters and 40 fire trucks were dispatched to tackle the blaze, which happened at about 1.40pm at the plant run by Zhuhai Changlian Petrochemical in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, state broadcaster CCTV said. The report included footage of the blast... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3046078/blast-rips-through-chinese-chemical-plant-deemed-unsafe-july?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3046078/blast-rips-through-chinese-chemical-plant-deemed-unsafe-july?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2020 12:24:52 +0000 A viral blog that attacked Australia’s failure to stop the months-long bush fires and implied Chinese firefighters were braver and more patriotic has stirred vigorous online debate. The post, published on China’s Facebook-like WeChat, contrasted the situation in Australia with China’s largest-ever wildfire, which lasted just under a month in 1987.  The article quickly racked up more than 23 million views, but was criticized by high-profile media commentators for insensitivity and using... https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-blog-attacking-australias-firefighters-criticized-insensitive/article/3045994?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/chinese-blog-attacking-australias-firefighters-criticized-insensitive/article/3045994?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2020 09:33:14 +0000 A woman from southwestern China who recorded a song encouraging her 33-year-old son to find someone to marry at Lunar New Year has become a viral hit with thousands of fans. Tao, a blogger from Chengdu in Sichuan province, put his mother’s message on a video-sharing website. On Sunday, it found its way onto Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, before official media, including People’s Daily, picked it up. The song quickly gained fans for its earnest lyrics, while an accompanying video of Tao’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045998/chinese-womans-song-urging-son-find-lunar-new-year-love-becomes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045998/chinese-womans-song-urging-son-find-lunar-new-year-love-becomes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2020 07:26:30 +0000 A viral blog that attacked Australia’s failure to stop the months-long bush fires and implied Chinese firefighters were braver and more patriotic has stirred a vigorous online debate. The WeChat post contrasted the situation in Australia with China’s largest-ever wildfire, which lasted just under a month in 1987, and quickly racked up more than 23 million views after it was published. The piece attracted more than 100,000 likes and multiple patriotic comments praising the country’s firefighters,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045908/chinese-blogger-fans-flames-controversy-blaming-lazy-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045908/chinese-blogger-fans-flames-controversy-blaming-lazy-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Jan 2020 14:30:07 +0000 A new ad from the Chinese shopping site Tmall featuring a same-sex couple has been hailed as a small but significant win by China’s LGBT community. The 20-second clip released this week, promoting the site’s annual pre-Lunar New Year shopping event, features a gay man introducing his partner to his family. In the clip, the gay man brought his boyfriend to his home. On the dinner table, the boyfriend called his partner’s father “dad,” in a way married people in China address their in-laws.  The... https://www.scmp.com/society/rare-alibaba-shopping-advert-featuring-gay-couple-goes-viral-china/article/3045502?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/rare-alibaba-shopping-advert-featuring-gay-couple-goes-viral-china/article/3045502?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2020 10:04:03 +0000 A top art school in southern China has drawn online criticism after a textbook on its student health curriculum was found to contain homophobic content. Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts used a textbook that referred to homosexuality and “transvestism” as “sexual perversions”, according to a Weibo post on Wednesday from a user who reports homophobia in publishing and the media. Photos of pages from the Chinese-language textbook, titled Student Health Education, show suggestions to “cure”... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045568/chinas-guangzhou-academy-fine-arts-under-fire-over-homophobic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045568/chinas-guangzhou-academy-fine-arts-under-fire-over-homophobic?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2020 09:07:06 +0000 A new advert from the Chinese e-commerce website Tmall that includes a same-sex couple has won widespread praise and been hailed as a small but significant win for China’s LGBT community. The 20-second clip released this week, promoting the site’s annual pre-Lunar New Year shopping event that ends on Friday, features a gay man introducing his partner to his family. The clip had racked up thousands of views and hundreds of supportive comments on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, suggesting... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045435/does-chinas-response-lgbt-couples-tmall-advert-signal-acceptance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045435/does-chinas-response-lgbt-couples-tmall-advert-signal-acceptance?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Jan 2020 13:03:00 +0000 China’s rail network is gearing up to accommodate an estimated 440 million rail journeys over the Spring Festival, in what is the world’s largest annual mass movement of people. China State Railway Group estimated that an average of 11 million train trips will be taken per day during the five-week period between 10 January to 18 February, in figures reported by news portal Thepaper.cn on Monday. This represents an eight per cent increase from last year’s figure of around 410 million. The peak... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045000/chinese-rail-network-predicts-440-million-journeys-over-lunar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3045000/chinese-rail-network-predicts-440-million-journeys-over-lunar?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jan 2020 08:27:52 +0000 Chinese health authorities should be on high alert for a possible new strain of pneumonia and learn from 2002’s deadly Sars epidemic, medical experts said after cases of a mystery outbreak almost doubled in three days. The authorities in Wuhan, central China, said 44 people had been admitted to hospital with the unidentified virus, up from the 27 reported on Tuesday. Eleven of them were in a serious condition, while a further 121 people who had been in close contact with the infected patients... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3044535/wuhan-pneumonia-dramatic-rise-cases-44-11-serious?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3044535/wuhan-pneumonia-dramatic-rise-cases-44-11-serious?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Jan 2020 09:35:12 +0000 Beijing – China’s political, economic and cultural capital – has set an ambitious plan to become an “international music capital” by 2025. Wang Yezhen, an official with the Beijing Municipal Committee’s propaganda department, told Beijing Business Today on Tuesday that the city aimed to expand its music and creative industries to be worth more than $17 billion in five years. In 2017, the sector was about half that size, he was quoted as saying. Its proposal also called for the city to speed up... https://www.scmp.com/arts/china-beijing-unveils-plans-become-major-international-music-capital-2025/article/3044315?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/arts/china-beijing-unveils-plans-become-major-international-music-capital-2025/article/3044315?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jan 2020 11:32:13 +0000 Beijing has unveiled a plan to expand its music and creative industries to be worth 120 billion yuan (US$17.2 billion) by 2025, as part of a local government initiative to become an “international music capital”. Its proposal released on Tuesday also called for the city to speed up development of its digital music industry, offer artists better copyright protections, and build more small-scale venues for live music. The city’s music industry has rapidly developed in recent years, and had a total... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3044234/beijing-home-peking-opera-wants-be-international-music-capital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3044234/beijing-home-peking-opera-wants-be-international-music-capital?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jan 2020 00:30:16 +0000 Taiwan’s main opposition party has seized on President Tsai Ing-wen’s refusal to implement a long-delayed refugee bill that would allow Hong Kong protesters fleeing arrest in the city to settle on the island. The Kuomintang (KMT) has raised the issue ahead of next month’s presidential election to attack Tsai, accusing her of “lying” about her support for the pro-democracy protests to win votes. Last week, Hong Kong student representatives, including Baptist University Student Union president... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3041338/taiwans-kmt-opposition-accuses-president-tsai-ing-wen-paying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3041338/taiwans-kmt-opposition-accuses-president-tsai-ing-wen-paying?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Dec 2019 15:30:07 +0000 A Chinese plane turned round on the runway after a couple on board suffered a sudden bereavement. The Hainan Airlines flight was due to fly from Hangzhou to Sanya on Sunday when the passengers asked to be let off so they could make alternative travel plans. “The flight was due to take off on time, all preparations had been made. The plane was already taxiing,” one unnamed passenger told Pear Video. “The air stewardess immediately comforted the elderly couple, told them not to worry and said that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3041247/chinese-pilot-turns-plane-round-runway-let-bereaved-couple-leave?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3041247/chinese-pilot-turns-plane-round-runway-let-bereaved-couple-leave?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:02:30 +0000 Journalists at a regional media conglomerate in northeast China have not been paid for several months as the firm experiences financial difficulties in the face of competition from digital media, it has been reported. About 200 contractors, including editorial staff, at Jixi News Media Group in Jixi, Heilongjiang province, have not received any of their wages this year, Chinese media industry outlet Media Daily reported on Tuesday. The group owns six local newspapers and broadcasters including... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3040794/chinese-journalists-struggling-media-group-have-not-been-paid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3040794/chinese-journalists-struggling-media-group-have-not-been-paid?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Dec 2019 09:46:25 +0000