https://www.scmp.com/rss/330264/feed Eduardo Baptista is a Portuguese-Korean reporter who joined the Post in 2020. He holds a bachelor’s in History from the University of Cambridge. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Stuart Neil’s day job keeps him pretty occupied. He’s a virologist at King’s College London, investigating how the coronavirus causing Covid-19 attacks the human immune system. Then, in his own words, he found himself “falling down the rabbit hole” otherwise known as Twitter. Or more specifically, the Twitter debate over how the Covid-19 virus originated, though “debate” could be a kind description for the arguments and accusations that fly over whether the virus jumped naturally from animals to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3151906/science-turns-nasty-covid-19-origins-argument-twitter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3151906/science-turns-nasty-covid-19-origins-argument-twitter?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Oct 2021 22:00:19 +0000 China’s CanSino hopes to start distributing its Covid-19 vaccine in Brazil after signing a deal with a local company, although the country’s government has turned away from another widely used Chinese vaccine. Biomm, a listed Brazilian biopharm company, announced on Friday that it had signed an exclusive deal to distribute and manufacture CanSino’s Covid-19 vaccine in Brazil. It also said it will apply for an emergency use licence. CanSino has not yet obtained emergency use approval from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3151003/chinese-drug-firm-cansino-hoping-brazil-will-approve-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3151003/chinese-drug-firm-cansino-hoping-brazil-will-approve-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Oct 2021 14:00:20 +0000 The US and China need to put aside differences and work together to set new safety standards for laboratories doing virus research, said Jeffrey Sachs, chair of the Lancet Covid-19 Commission that oversees task forces to combat the coronavirus pandemic and prevent future outbreaks. His comments come as both Beijing and Washington this month released statements on the need for stricter oversight of laboratories that handle dangerous pathogens. But with both countries at loggerheads over the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3150759/china-us-united-covid-19-probe-lancet-commission-head-says-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3150759/china-us-united-covid-19-probe-lancet-commission-head-says-its?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Sep 2021 14:00:27 +0000 China must increase its oversight of laboratories handling dangerous pathogens, President Xi Jinping has told the Communist Party leadership. Biosecurity is an important part of national security and a force that “affects and can even reshape the world”, Xi told the Politburo, the party’s top policymaking body on Wednesday, according to state news agency Xinhua. It was the Politburo’s first ever group study session specifically focused on biosecurity, highlighting the importance the Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3150777/xi-jinping-warns-chinese-laboratories-handling-deadly-pathogens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3150777/xi-jinping-warns-chinese-laboratories-handling-deadly-pathogens?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Sep 2021 12:22:36 +0000 China is “more eager than any period in its history” for professional talents, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday at a high-level meeting attended by the top echelon of the Chinese Communist Party leadership. During a two-day conference in Beijing on the development of skills, Xi stressed the need for officials at all levels to improve the country’s ability to vastly expand its talent pool and attract foreign professionals to work in China, saying this was key to the country’s technological... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3150493/xi-jinping-stresses-need-china-expand-its-talent-pool-attract?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3150493/xi-jinping-stresses-need-china-expand-its-talent-pool-attract?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Sep 2021 00:07:14 +0000 About two dozen employees of a metalwork company in northeastern China were taken to hospital after a sudden power outage in a factory led to carbon monoxide poisoning. The failure comes as the country’s northeast grapples with a series of power shortages brought on by high coal prices and a surge in demand. On Friday, authorities in Liaoyang, a prefecture-level city in Liaoning province, suddenly cut the electricity supply of a factory operated by Liaoning Penghui Zhuye, a steelmaking and metal... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3150242/23-chinese-metal-workers-taken-hospital-carbon-monoxide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3150242/23-chinese-metal-workers-taken-hospital-carbon-monoxide?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Sep 2021 06:17:59 +0000 China has said the United States’ decision to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines increased the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Indo-Pacific, but international experts say the extent of the risk depends on how the submarines are regulated. The trilateral Aukus pact will allow Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines using US technology, a prospect that Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said “will gravely undermine regional peace and stability, aggravate an... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3150156/australian-aukus-subs-are-chinas-fears-nuclear-arms-race-indo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3150156/australian-aukus-subs-are-chinas-fears-nuclear-arms-race-indo?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Sep 2021 01:00:20 +0000 Tap here to launch this special feature https://www.scmp.com/infographics/world/europe/article/3149368/how-ghent-altarpiece-was-restored-complete-visual?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/infographics/world/europe/article/3149368/how-ghent-altarpiece-was-restored-complete-visual?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Sep 2021 03:00:11 +0000 A group of scientists have urged more research on the controversial theory that the coronavirus leaked from a laboratory, issuing the call in a letter in the medical journal The Lancet on Friday. The letter was signed by 16 virologists, biologists and biosecurity specialists. “Research-related hypotheses are not misinformation or conjecture,” they said. “Scientific journals should open their columns to in-depth analyses of all hypotheses.” The lab leak theory suggests that Sars-CoV-2, the virus... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3149216/jury-still-out-lab-leak-covid-19-origins-researchers-say-lancet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3149216/jury-still-out-lab-leak-covid-19-origins-researchers-say-lancet?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Sep 2021 22:30:10 +0000 China’s returning “space heroes” emerged from their capsule and waved to the waiting cameras on Friday, touching back down on Earth after 90 days on the country’s Tiangong space station. At the landing site, Commander Nie Haisheng told state broadcaster CCTV that more Chinese astronauts would follow to “set new records and reach new heights” in space travel. The three astronauts, who spent a record three months on the Tiangong, landed safely, completing a milestone journey in the country’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3149109/chinese-astronauts-return-earth-safely-after-3-months-tiangong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3149109/chinese-astronauts-return-earth-safely-after-3-months-tiangong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Sep 2021 05:31:07 +0000 President Xi Jinping officially opened the National Games of China in the northwestern city of Xian, in a key test of the country’s Covid-19 defences in the countdown to next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing. Held in their present form since 1959, the four-yearly games feature almost all the same sporting events as the Summer Olympics. China’s domestic version, in which athletes are competing for their provinces in 35 sports, is expected to continue until September 27. Stadium full The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3148878/chinas-national-games-live-updates-opening-ceremony-xian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3148878/chinas-national-games-live-updates-opening-ceremony-xian?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Sep 2021 11:57:15 +0000 Beijing and Washington may have resolved to maintain communication but Friday’s phone call between the US and Chinese leaders has not narrowed differences over Taiwan, diplomatic observers said. While the call between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden was an attempt to reduce tensions, their statements on Taiwan afterwards were a contrast. Beijing said Biden expressed no intention of changing the US’ adherence to the one-China policy, which effectively precludes Washington from supporting a formal... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3148355/taiwan-rift-remains-despite-xi-biden-call-closer-contact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3148355/taiwan-rift-remains-despite-xi-biden-call-closer-contact?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Sep 2021 12:33:31 +0000 More than a dozen people were killed in northeastern China early on Saturday when the tractor they were riding on was rammed by an articulated truck on a highway, according to mainland Chinese media reports. In all, 15 people died and one person was injured in the incident at about 4.20am near the village of Shuangxingling in Heilongjiang province, state broadcaster China Central Television reported. The tractor was not licensed and was travelling on national highway 229, according to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3147590/15-dead-truck-tractor-road-crash-northern-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3147590/15-dead-truck-tractor-road-crash-northern-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Sep 2021 10:56:54 +0000 China aims to work with Iran in the reconstruction of their mutual neighbour Afghanistan, China’s foreign minister told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call on Friday. In the call to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Wang Yi and newly appointed Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian blamed the United States for conditions in Afghanistan, and committed their countries to helping rebuild the war-torn nation. “As Afghanistan’s neighbours, China and Iran... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3147578/china-and-iran-seek-common-ground-afghanistan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3147578/china-and-iran-seek-common-ground-afghanistan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Sep 2021 07:11:55 +0000 China’s meetings in July with Taliban leaders who now look set to rule in Afghanistan generated speculation that Chinese investment and influence would flow into the country after the departure of the US and its allies. However, if China – as Afghanistan’s wealthiest and most powerful neighbour – sees opportunity as the US exits, reports by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) make for sobering reading. SIGAR warned for years that corruption and crime networks... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3147026/china-role-afghanistan-face-organised-crime-cartels-rampant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3147026/china-role-afghanistan-face-organised-crime-cartels-rampant?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Sep 2021 03:00:22 +0000 While China and the United States have a long list of public disagreements, tackling the threat caused by climate change has been regarded as one area of cooperation between the world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. But that is also now in dispute. Instead of collaboration to reduce the burning of fossil fuels and drive a switch to renewable energies, the more likely scenario is that the two biggest economies will aggressively compete in their climate policies, say researchers and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3145941/climate-crisis-unlikely-turn-rivals-china-and-us-green?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3145941/climate-crisis-unlikely-turn-rivals-china-and-us-green?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Aug 2021 04:00:14 +0000 China’s ambassador to the United States has highlighted the American state of Iowa’s close ties to the Chinese leadership, the latest in a string of conciliatory actions since he took up the post. Ever since replacing Cui Tiankai as Beijing’s top diplomat in Washington last month, Qin Gang has adopted a friendly posture in his public statements and events. On Wednesday, he held a video call with Sarah Lande and Kenneth Quinn, who received Chinese President Xi Jinping when he visited Iowa in 1985... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3145678/china-us-relations-against-backdrop-tension-beijings-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3145678/china-us-relations-against-backdrop-tension-beijings-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Aug 2021 12:12:01 +0000 A study funded by Pfizer-BioNTech showed the efficacy of its Covid-19 vaccine – while still high – declined by 13 percentage points over six months after the second dose, suggesting there could be a need for booster shots in the future. More than 46,000 people in the United States, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Germany were monitored for the study, which has not been peer-reviewed. Some 2,306 of the participants were aged between 12 and 15, while the rest were 16 or older. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3145537/pfizer-biontech-study-shows-covid-19-vaccine-efficacy-wanes-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3145537/pfizer-biontech-study-shows-covid-19-vaccine-efficacy-wanes-over?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Aug 2021 03:00:20 +0000 The Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus is credited with coming up with the term “prevention is better than cure” in the 1500s, but it took a devastating pandemic 500 years later for governments to seriously look at that approach on a global scale. Last week, the number of Covid-19 infections reported to the World Health Organization topped 200 million. While massive resources and energy have been poured into fighting the disease with vaccines, the WHO is tackling the question of how to prevent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3145087/covid-19-drives-prevention-over-cure-strategy-hinges-global?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3145087/covid-19-drives-prevention-over-cure-strategy-hinges-global?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Aug 2021 04:00:15 +0000 The World Health Organization has denied shifting stance on its Covid-19 origins investigation in China after the head of its expert team gave an interview suggesting a lab researcher collecting bat viruses in the wild was a “probable hypothesis”. Scientist Peter Ben Embarek told broadcaster TV2 in his native Denmark that transmission from bats to humans could be considered in the context of four scenarios included in the joint WHO-China report. The four scenarios were direct animal-to-human... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3145061/who-denies-shift-covid-19-origin-probe-after-china-mission?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3145061/who-denies-shift-covid-19-origin-probe-after-china-mission?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Aug 2021 10:10:19 +0000 Beijing is set to stick to its zero-tolerance Covid-19 strategy, in a sign that mainland China’s borders will not be opening to Hong Kong or the outside world any time soon. While some experts – including leading epidemiologist Zhang Wenhong, known as “China’s Dr Fauci” – are suggesting the country will need to live with the novel coronavirus, Beijing has doubled down on its elimination approach in the face of an outbreak of the more transmissible Delta variant. Why is the Delta coronavirus... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3144374/china-warned-against-following-doctors-orders-live-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3144374/china-warned-against-following-doctors-orders-live-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Aug 2021 08:29:35 +0000 China’s new ambassador to the United States has called for cooperation in fighting Covid-19 despite the growing tensions between the two countries. Qin Gang, currently completing his second week of quarantine in Washington, tweeted on Friday that the spread of the Delta variant was causing a resurgence of infections in the US and local outbreaks in China. “How about our two countries working together on solutions, eg more effective vaccines & helping other countries?” he tweeted. The world has... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3144157/chinas-new-ambassador-us-calls-covid-19-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3144157/chinas-new-ambassador-us-calls-covid-19-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Aug 2021 12:36:02 +0000 Known for his signature look of dark glasses and a surgical mask, investigative journalist-turned-lawyer Zhou Xiaoyun appears to have been detained over a courtroom video posted online more than a year ago. The public security bureau of the city of Panjin in the northeastern province of Liaoning, said on Thursday it had detained Zhou, as well as Chengdu-based lawyer Nie Min, on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a catch-all offence often used by authorities to muzzle... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3144076/lawyers-detained-china-over-courtroom-video-prosecutor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3144076/lawyers-detained-china-over-courtroom-video-prosecutor?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Aug 2021 07:02:28 +0000 Star rapper and singer Kris Wu Yifan was detained by the police in Beijing on suspicion of rape, the latest development in a scandal that has torpedoed the career of one of China’s most influential young celebrities. A statement on the microblogging platform Weibo by the public security bureau of Chaoyang district in Beijing said a man surnamed Wu, 30, was taken away on Saturday after a police investigation into numerous allegations made online that he lured young women into having sexual... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3143352/chinese-canadian-pop-idol-kris-wu-detained-beijing-suspicion-rape?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3143352/chinese-canadian-pop-idol-kris-wu-detained-beijing-suspicion-rape?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jul 2021 16:55:14 +0000 The shutdown of a nuclear reactor at a power plant in southern China could signal extra caution over a cutting-edge system that its developers plan to roll out in other countries, according to industry analysts. China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), which owns 70 per cent of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, said on Friday it had closed one of the plant’s reactors for maintenance work to repair damaged fuel rods. The decision came one week after French energy conglomerate Électricité de France... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3143333/chinese-nuclear-reactor-shutdown-may-be-sign-caution-over-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3143333/chinese-nuclear-reactor-shutdown-may-be-sign-caution-over-new?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jul 2021 13:00:23 +0000 Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a greater focus on national defence and the military in a speech given on the eve of an important military anniversary and as the nation faces a growing range of security risks. After giving a spirited speech on the achievements of China’s Communist Party during its centennial celebrations earlier this month, Xi said on Friday: “On the path of completely building a modern socialist country and realising the second centennial goal, national defence and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3143321/chinese-president-xi-jinping-calls-greater-focus-military?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3143321/chinese-president-xi-jinping-calls-greater-focus-military?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jul 2021 12:00:13 +0000 The hostility towards foreign journalists in China while reporting on the recent floods in Henan is the result of years of rising nationalist sentiment and reflects the authorities openly sanctioning the intimidation, according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China. In one of the worst reported cases, two journalists were surrounded by an “angry mob” in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou on Saturday as they reported on the floods, according to Mathias Boelinger, from German public... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3143015/foreign-journalists-china-report-state-backing-rising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3143015/foreign-journalists-china-report-state-backing-rising?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jul 2021 12:30:14 +0000 China’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2060 covers various greenhouse gases – not just carbon dioxide, its climate envoy said on the weekend, signalling a potential shift in Beijing’s climate change policy. Addressing a financial forum in Beijing on Saturday, Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy on climate change, said the carbon neutrality target included greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of the economy. “This is different from the 2030 target,” Xie said, referring to the date by which... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3142771/chinas-2060-carbon-neutral-goal-covers-other-greenhouse-gases?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3142771/chinas-2060-carbon-neutral-goal-covers-other-greenhouse-gases?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jul 2021 01:00:26 +0000 A report claiming that Chinese fishing vessels are dumping their human waste into disputed waters has highlighted an unusual environmental dimension to Beijing’s dispute with the Philippines and other countries over the South China Sea. However, some have questioned the accuracy of the analysis by the US AI software company Simularity, which was based on satellite imagery and is not peer-reviewed. The report said that more than 200 Chinese vessels moored off the Union Banks, an atoll contested... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3142356/do-south-china-sea-waste-claims-pass-smell-test?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3142356/do-south-china-sea-waste-claims-pass-smell-test?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jul 2021 10:00:09 +0000 As China redoubles efforts to help the central province of Henan recover from floods that have left at least 56 dead, the typhoon that largely contributed to the deluge is fast approaching other parts of the country. Over the past several days, the heaviest rains in decades have caused massive floods throughout Henan, starting in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou before wreaking havoc in other cities and towns. The flood control headquarters of Xinxiang, a city of 6 million where thousands are... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3142323/china-zhengzhou-mops-other-cities-prepare-fa-flood-havoc-come?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3142323/china-zhengzhou-mops-other-cities-prepare-fa-flood-havoc-come?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jul 2021 13:57:27 +0000 The kimchi war between South Korea and China has just seen its latest twist. South Korea’s cultural authorities announced on Thursday that they have given popular dish kimchi its first official Chinese translation, prompting an angry reaction on Chinese social media. Kimchi, a side dish of spicy, fermented cabbage, is usually referred to in Chinese as pao cai. However, this is also the name for a pickled vegetable dish that shares similarities with kimchi but differs in the ingredients and... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3142240/kimchi-wars-south-korea-attempts-differentiate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3142240/kimchi-wars-south-korea-attempts-differentiate?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jul 2021 08:30:15 +0000 The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou downgraded its emergency response level on Thursday as it continued to clean up after this week’s devastating floods, but other parts of Henan province were braced for further heavy rain. The storms have killed at least 33 people across the province and more than 3 million have been affected, the local authorities said. A total of eight people have been reported missing, according to state news agency Xinhua. Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, was hit by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3142078/china-floods-henan-braces-another-round-heavy-rains-number?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3142078/china-floods-henan-braces-another-round-heavy-rains-number?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jul 2021 07:36:14 +0000 The Chinese city of Zhengzhou started the slow process of recovery on Wednesday after devastating floods that killed at least 25 people and displaced around 1.24 million. The heavy rains, which started late last week, caused havoc across Henan province and almost paralysed Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, cutting off electricity and water supplies on Tuesday. The worst-affected area in the city of around 12.5 million was between Haitansi and Shakoulu stations on Line 5 of the subway, where at... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3141889/13-dead-100000-displaced-flooding-rains-hit-central-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3141889/13-dead-100000-displaced-flooding-rains-hit-central-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:52:41 +0000 Call it a tale of two laboratories: the Fort Detrick Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in the US, the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, and a competing narrative about the origins of Covid-19. Odds are that most Americans have never heard of Fort Detrick, about an hour’s drive from Washington and the original home of the US biological weapons programme. But hundreds of millions of Chinese netizens are familiar with the Detrick name and its supposed links to Covid-19, mostly thanks to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3141823/china-pushing-its-own-coronavirus-lab-leak-theory-latest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3141823/china-pushing-its-own-coronavirus-lab-leak-theory-latest?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jul 2021 15:30:11 +0000 China’s top health authority said the nation’s Covid-19 inoculation programme followed the principle of free will amid reports that non-vaccinated people in different parts of the country were facing new restrictions imposed by local governments. The National Health Commission said on Friday that vaccination against the novel coronavirus should be voluntary, according to a report by state media outlet CCTV. This comes days after dozens of counties and cities across China announced that access to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3141486/chinese-health-agency-says-coronavirus-vaccines-are-voluntary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3141486/chinese-health-agency-says-coronavirus-vaccines-are-voluntary?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jul 2021 01:53:44 +0000 China’s cabinet has released a white paper claiming ethnic minorities in Xinjiang enjoy political representation and rising living standards, as the US warns companies about doing business in the region over allegations of forced labour and genocide. The State Council issued the white paper on Wednesday, setting out what it says the central and regional governments have done to improve the lives of Xinjiang’s ethnic minorities. “Xinjiang is now a stable and orderly society, where the local... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3141074/china-claims-it-has-improved-peoples-lives-xinjiang-after-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3141074/china-claims-it-has-improved-peoples-lives-xinjiang-after-us?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jul 2021 08:34:04 +0000 The United States has again accused China of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, highlighting allegations in an annual State Department report on genocide prevention. In the report released on Monday, the department details action taken over the past year by the Atrocity Early Warning Task Force, which aims to address what Washington says are potential or unfolding genocides around the world. “This year, for the first time, the report provides direct, detailed accounts of atrocities taking place in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3140938/us-takes-aim-china-genocide-prevention-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3140938/us-takes-aim-china-genocide-prevention-report?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jul 2021 12:00:14 +0000 China is looking for ways to help fill the power vacuum left by the United States in Afghanistan but is unlikely to send in peacekeeping troops, foreign policy observers said ahead of Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s three-country tour of Central Asia. This week Wang will visit three of China’s central Asian neighbours – Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a Eurasian regional security pact, and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3140668/china-looks-ways-fill-void-afghanistan-without-overcommitting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3140668/china-looks-ways-fill-void-afghanistan-without-overcommitting?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jul 2021 08:00:32 +0000 China’s foreign vice-minister Le Yucheng has called on Washington to accept that “American hegemony” is in decline, but insisted it will be difficult to overtake the United States even within a “relatively long period of time”. The US is still the leading power in terms of strength but its adoption of a cold war mentality and creation of “small clubs” is a sign of ideological decline, Le told media outlet Guancha on Friday. “The US decline is not a decline in strength but a decline of hegemony,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3140631/us-must-accept-its-hegemony-waning-says-chinese-foreign-vice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3140631/us-must-accept-its-hegemony-waning-says-chinese-foreign-vice?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jul 2021 14:30:08 +0000 A group of men believed to have been part of the hit squad that killed Haitian president Jovenel Moise were arrested after they broke into and hid inside Taiwan’s embassy on the Caribbean island. Eleven men suspected of being involved in the assassination were arrested on Thursday after the Taiwanese embassy gave permission to the police to enter the premises, according to a statement published on the embassy’s website on Friday. “Taiwan, as a responsible member of the international community,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3140437/haiti-assassination-suspects-arrested-inside-taiwanese-embassy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3140437/haiti-assassination-suspects-arrested-inside-taiwanese-embassy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jul 2021 04:40:06 +0000 China’s rejuvenation is finally within grasp and any attempt to bully the nation will be met with a steely response, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday in a spirited speech marking the Communist Party’s centenary. For the first time, the ruling party celebrated its anniversary in central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square – a location reserved for the most important national events. Flanked by other party leaders both past and present, Xi, the most powerful leader in decades, stepped up to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3139507/xi-jinping-chinas-goals-are-within-reach-and-we-wont-be-bullied?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3139507/xi-jinping-chinas-goals-are-within-reach-and-we-wont-be-bullied?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jul 2021 16:01:50 +0000 The head of the Lancet Covid-19 Commission has denied claims that he is being forced by the US government to favour the theory that the pandemic started from a laboratory leak in Wuhan. Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of economics at Columbia University in New York, is the chair of the interdisciplinary initiative backed by respected medical journal The Lancet to find solutions to the pandemic. Chinese state tabloid Global Times had asked at a foreign ministry briefing on Monday about claims that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3139147/lancet-covid-19-commission-head-denies-chinas-claims-us-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3139147/lancet-covid-19-commission-head-denies-chinas-claims-us-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jun 2021 07:47:22 +0000 The Spanish consulate in Shanghai is calling on the city’s health authorities to clarify quarantine rules for inbound travellers after a number of people vaccinated for the coronavirus were subjected to several days of hospital tests on arrival. “In the past few weeks, without any official message from the Chinese authorities, foreign citizens ... that have been vaccinated either with a Chinese or foreign vaccine ... are being put in hospital against their will for three or four days upon... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3139081/coronavirus-spain-urges-shanghai-clarify-rules-vaccinated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3139081/coronavirus-spain-urges-shanghai-clarify-rules-vaccinated?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jun 2021 02:30:16 +0000 Taiwan reported its first local cluster of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant on Saturday, just as the island appears to be recovering from its worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic. Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said six cases of the Delta variant were detected among a cluster of cases in the southern county of Pingtung. Chen said that two of the six cases were recent arrivals from Peru. “The Delta mutant strain was previously detected in a total of five... https://www.scmp.com/coronavirus/greater-china/article/3138870/coronavirus-taiwan-reports-first-local-cases-delta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/coronavirus/greater-china/article/3138870/coronavirus-taiwan-reports-first-local-cases-delta?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jun 2021 11:16:33 +0000 President Xi Jinping congratulated the first astronauts to enter China’s in-progress space station, days after their arrival at its core module. The three Chinese astronauts landed on the core module of the Tiangong space station last Thursday for a three-month stay. They are its first long-term inhabitants as China looks set to become the only nation running its own space station by next year. Xi thanked the three astronauts for their work in space on Wednesday morning, in a five-minute call... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3138385/xi-jinping-hails-china-space-station-astronauts-long-distance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3138385/xi-jinping-hails-china-space-station-astronauts-long-distance?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Jun 2021 02:30:00 +0000 Chinese researchers have published a new paper rejecting accusations of forced labour in Xinjiang’s cotton industry, citing increased mechanisation and high earnings. A paper published in December by German researcher Adrian Zenz analysed Chinese government data and documentation and concluded that Xinjiang’s cotton-picking industry was heavily reliant on the forced labour of Uygurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic group that makes up roughly half of the region’s population. Researchers from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137738/chinese-researchers-say-xinjiang-forced-labour-claims-cant-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137738/chinese-researchers-say-xinjiang-forced-labour-claims-cant-be?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jun 2021 14:29:55 +0000 A French company responsible for maintenance at a nuclear power plant in southern China said the facility was operating safely, amid reports of a “radiological threat” at the plant. Framatome, a French designer and supplier of nuclear reactors, said on Monday that the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, was operating safely. “According to the data available, the plant is operating within the safety parameters,” it said. The company also said staff were... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137264/chinas-taishan-nuclear-plant-operating-safely-french-firm-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137264/chinas-taishan-nuclear-plant-operating-safely-french-firm-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jun 2021 13:30:00 +0000 A young lecturer from a top Chinese law school has been suspended from teaching after arguing that polygamy should be allowed for some intellectuals. Bao Yinan, an associate professor of international law at East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, wrote on his WeChat Moments – a social media platform restricted to friends – that teachers at Chinese colleges and universities should be given “special treatment” in marriage and as well as lifelong allowances. But his... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137159/chinese-law-school-tutor-suspended-teaching-over-polygamy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137159/chinese-law-school-tutor-suspended-teaching-over-polygamy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jun 2021 13:00:00 +0000 One of China’s most trusted medical experts has urged the public to get their Covid-19 jabs as soon as possible as Beijing’s priorities shift from vaccine diplomacy to mass inoculation at home. Zhang Wenhong – whose public appearances have made him a household name in China and led descriptions of him as China’s “Dr Fauci” – issued his appeal to his 3.6 million followers on Weibo. Zhang, the director of Shanghai’s Huashan Hospital’s department of infectious diseases, wrote: “Since June 11 2021,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3137148/chinas-dr-fauci-tries-boost-covid-19-vaccination-drive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3137148/chinas-dr-fauci-tries-boost-covid-19-vaccination-drive?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jun 2021 10:30:00 +0000 Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen has apologised for the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths. On Saturday, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre reported 251 new Covid-19 cases and 26 deaths, a slight decrease from the previous day’s tally of 287 cases and 28 deaths. On the same day, Tsai published a short video on Twitter, apologising to all those affected by the outbreak. “Each and every Taiwanese who has been infected, or even lost their life, is part of our greater national... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137084/taiwanese-president-tsai-ing-wen-apologises-surge-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137084/taiwanese-president-tsai-ing-wen-apologises-surge-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jun 2021 10:30:09 +0000