https://www.scmp.com/rss/506863/feed William Langley is a freelance journalist based in Hong Kong. He writes about Chinese politics, history and culture. His work has appeared in Sixth Tone and SupChina. He was previously based in Guangzhou and Beijing. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Thousands of protesters took to the streets in northern Myanmar on Monday as mass demonstrations spread across the country from the largest city Yangon to close to the Chinese border. Participants estimated that close to 10,000 people took to the streets on Monday afternoon in Lashio, the largest town in northern Shan state, after internet access was restored the previous day. Protesters began their two-hour march at noon outside the front gate of Lashio University, before making a circuit of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3120959/ethnic-chinese-lead-protests-northern-myanmar-unrest-spreads?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3120959/ethnic-chinese-lead-protests-northern-myanmar-unrest-spreads?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Feb 2021 05:00:50 +0000 Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is as effective against new strains of the virus raging in Britain and South Africa as it is against previously detected ones, according to new research. Pfizer released the results of a joint study conducted with the University of Texas Medical Branch on Thursday. It tested the vaccine resistance of 20 participants in its earlier trials against lab-made versions of the new strains of the virus. It found no reduction in their ability to neutralise the new strains. Both... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3116995/coronavirus-pfizer-raises-hopes-vaccine-can-fight-new-strains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3116995/coronavirus-pfizer-raises-hopes-vaccine-can-fight-new-strains?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Jan 2021 14:00:09 +0000 Beijing has rejected US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s attack on its claim to be a “near-Arctic state”, as the two countries continue to spar over China’s role in the region. Pompeo tweeted on Monday that it was a “communist fiction” that China was a near-Arctic nation, posting a map showing that the country was 900 miles (1,450km) from the Arctic Circle. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying dismissed the comments on Tuesday, contrasting China’s involvement in the Arctic with US... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3116633/china-rejects-mike-pompeos-challenge-its-near-arctic-nation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3116633/china-rejects-mike-pompeos-challenge-its-near-arctic-nation?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jan 2021 08:23:35 +0000 Beijing made a record number of incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone last year, but analysts say the hawkish strategy is more a signal to the world than a threat to the island’s resolve. The Chinese air force flew over 380 sorties that entered the island’s ADIZ on a record 91 days from January to November, according to a Taiwanese government-funded report released last week by the Taipei-based Institute for National Defence and Security Research. It said the increased... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3116557/pla-warplanes-made-record-380-incursions-taiwans-airspace-2020?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3116557/pla-warplanes-made-record-380-incursions-taiwans-airspace-2020?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jan 2021 22:05:14 +0000 Family portraits, travel snaps and military memories were on display for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s New Year’s address on Thursday night, as the annual broadcast delivered a message of seasonal cheer and party loyalty. The selection of the photos stressed his credentials as a family and party man. Xi gave his speech from behind a desk, with a picture of the Great Wall of China and the national flag behind him flanked by bookcases decorated with photographs of him with his family and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3116129/xi-jinping-framed-man-people-and-party-new-years-speech?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3116129/xi-jinping-framed-man-people-and-party-new-years-speech?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Jan 2021 11:31:52 +0000 A British former politician who supported calling Covid-19 “the Chinese virus” has been accused of hypocrisy after he protested against people referring to a new mutation of the virus as having originated in Britain. “Can we please stop referring to new-variant Covid as ‘originating in the UK’. It was FIRST IDENTIFIED in the UK, which is an entirely different thing,” Roger Helmer said in a tweet on Monday that has been shared over 1,300 times and received more than 3,000 replies. In June,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3116016/coronavirus-british-former-mep-accused-hypocrisy-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3116016/coronavirus-british-former-mep-accused-hypocrisy-over?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Dec 2020 13:30:16 +0000 On December 30, 2019, Dr Li Wenliang was worried. His colleagues had come down with an unidentified but serious illness. Li, an eye doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital, wanted to warn his friends. He never imagined the cautionary message he sent his medical colleagues would sound the alarm for the onset of a global pandemic. “The Huanan Fruit and Seafood Wholesale Market has diagnosed seven cases of Sars,” he wrote on social media, referring to severe acute respiratory syndrome, a form of pneumonia... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115886/coronavirus-tributes-pour-li-wenliang-chinese-doctor-who-first?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115886/coronavirus-tributes-pour-li-wenliang-chinese-doctor-who-first?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Dec 2020 15:30:17 +0000 China’s Covid health app has been hacked, and the personal data and photos of celebrities are being sold online for less than a can of Coke.  In a massive data breach, hackers have stolen the information of thousands of actors and singers, including the results of their Covid-19 tests and future health appointments. The hacking has revealed a treasure trove of information. One advertisement offered photos of 70 famous artists for less than US$1. They included the sale of “health code photos” of... https://www.scmp.com/society/hackers-target-chinas-covid-app-stealing-thousands-celebrity-photos-and-data/article/3115808?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/hackers-target-chinas-covid-app-stealing-thousands-celebrity-photos-and-data/article/3115808?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Dec 2020 10:10:02 +0000 Digital health codes have been instrumental in containing the Covid-19 pandemic in China. The codes, which assign users a red, yellow or green health ranking, are the difference between government quarantine, self-isolation and freedom. Everyone has them. And, while some have raised concerns over privacy and data usage, they might take solace in the fact that privacy issues affect all users equally, from street cleaners to movie stars. This was highlighted by a recent data leak in Beijing. On... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115742/china-covid-19-health-app-breach-puts-celebrity-photos-online?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115742/china-covid-19-health-app-breach-puts-celebrity-photos-online?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Dec 2020 13:08:37 +0000 Chinese state media outlets have hit out at a BBC report on forced labour in Xinijang, saying it was inaccurate and more like a scripted drama. The report headlined “China’s ‘tainted’ cotton” released earlier this month that said it had seen evidence that hundreds of thousands of Uygurs were being forced to pick cotton. The BBC also said its reporters had been consistently followed and obstructed throughout their visit to the region. China’s state media, including China Daily and Global Times, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3115595/chinese-state-media-denies-bbc-reports-forced-labour-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3115595/chinese-state-media-denies-bbc-reports-forced-labour-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Dec 2020 16:00:05 +0000 Wan Ying, 32, makes a living producing niche podcasts for Harry Potter aficionados and museum nerds. She gets about 200,000 listens per episode. Four years ago, when she was briefly detained for releasing an episode mildly critical of the Hangzhou government – the host of China’s first ever G20 summit – she learned to skirt censorship by making sure any potentially sensitive episodes had “soft and harmless” titles. “The one thing I learned from this,” Wan said. “Don’t write things down. When in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115283/chinas-podcasters-wary-censors-popularity-grows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115283/chinas-podcasters-wary-censors-popularity-grows?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Dec 2020 03:00:22 +0000 China is facing severe levels of obesity and rising rates of chronic illness with over half of its adults overweight, according to a government report released on Wednesday. Researchers surveyed more than 600,000 people across the country in a four-year study from 2015 and found an increase in obesity in all age groups. “The issue of obesity is unceasingly apparent, and the onset of chronic illness continues to rise,” National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin said. “The problem of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3115151/obesity-rises-china-unhealthy-lifestyles-take-toll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3115151/obesity-rises-china-unhealthy-lifestyles-take-toll?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Dec 2020 23:00:24 +0000 China is on high alert but has not suspended direct flights with Britain, where a new strain of the coronavirus has caused an explosion in Covid-19 outbreaks in recent weeks. Speaking on national television on Monday night, Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the genome for the new strain had not been found in any of its tests on people, freight or goods entering the country. Feng said Chinese scientists were paying close attention to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3114903/china-alert-new-coronavirus-strain-flights-britain-continue?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3114903/china-alert-new-coronavirus-strain-flights-britain-continue?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Dec 2020 04:45:17 +0000 The Chinese embassy in the US issued a plea to its citizens in America not to travel over the holiday period unless it is absolutely necessary. The embassy posted an announcement on its official website on Saturday, urging people to “do the proper thing for ourselves, others, our country and the world”. On the same day, the embassy also announced that from Wednesday it would tighten rules concerning preflight Covid-19 testing for those seeking to travel from the US to China. The announcements... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3114836/coronavirus-chinese-embassy-us-urges-citizens-only-travel-if?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3114836/coronavirus-chinese-embassy-us-urges-citizens-only-travel-if?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Dec 2020 13:35:15 +0000 The Cambodian Ministry of Health has rejected media reports that Prime Minister Hun Sen has publicly shunned the use of Chinese coronavirus vaccines. Ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine said on Wednesday evening that a media outlet had falsely quoted a speech made by Hun Sen on Tuesday. Without naming the outlet, she said it had claimed Cambodia would not buy Covid-19 vaccines from China. She said Hun Sen actually said Cambodia would only use vaccines approved by the World Health Organization. He... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3114586/coronavirus-cambodia-not-shunning-china-vaccines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3114586/coronavirus-cambodia-not-shunning-china-vaccines?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Dec 2020 22:00:09 +0000 The British ambassador to China officiated the opening of new Chinese headquarters in Wuhan for Manchester Metropolitan University on Tuesday, as the city marked one year since the first coronavirus infections were reported. The university’s vice chancellor, Professor Malcolm Press, said the university was focused on “tremendous opportunities in Wuhan”, where it would launch a joint institute with Hubei University next year. The joint institute will launch one masters and three undergraduate... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3114396/coronavirus-uk-ambassador-china-marks-bond-wuhan-amid-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3114396/coronavirus-uk-ambassador-china-marks-bond-wuhan-amid-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Dec 2020 14:00:11 +0000 Two Chinese scientists who played key roles in the fight against Covid-19 have been honoured with inclusion on Nature magazine’s list of the top 10 people who “helped shape science” in 2020. Infectious disease expert Li Lanjuan, who proposed the lockdown in the central Chinese city of Wuhan to control the spread of the disease, and Zhang Yongzhen, who led the Shanghai team that was the first in the world to publish the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus, were listed alongside eight others... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3114233/coronavirus-two-chinese-scientists-named-among-nature-magazines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3114233/coronavirus-two-chinese-scientists-named-among-nature-magazines?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Dec 2020 13:30:28 +0000 William Langley William Langley A report commissioned by the US State Department has concluded that “directed, pulse radio frequency energies” were the most likely cause of a mysterious illness that has plagued US diplomats in China and Cuba. The condition, which was first reported by embassy staff in the Cuban capital in 2016, has prompted some US diplomats to accuse the US authorities of covering up the incident, while one of those affected in China has said he is convinced he was the victim of a targeted attack. The report,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3113921/report-mystery-illness-hit-us-diplomats-china-and-cuba-hints?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3113921/report-mystery-illness-hit-us-diplomats-china-and-cuba-hints?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Dec 2020 16:00:15 +0000 Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying has issued a defence of the country’s Wolf Warrior diplomacy, likening the approach to that of a character in Disney’s The Lion King. Hua responded to a question from Beijing Daily at a foreign ministry press conference on Thursday about the German media’s critical coverage of China’s aggressive diplomacy. The German Der Tagesspiegel newspaper had published an article titled “Wolf Warriors from Beijing: China’s diplomats are becoming more... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3113522/chinas-wolf-warriors-are-simba-lion-king-its-foreign-ministry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3113522/chinas-wolf-warriors-are-simba-lion-king-its-foreign-ministry?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Dec 2020 04:59:39 +0000 Retired Hong Kong bishop Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun has criticised the Vatican’s decision not to grant US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo an audience with Pope Francis during his trip to the Holy See last month. The Vatican said at the time – weeks before the US elections on November 3 – that it did not meet politicians during election campaign periods, but Zen, who was also snubbed by Pope Francis on his recent trip to Rome, said in an interview that it was “ridiculous” for the Pope not to see... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3109726/pope-looked-anti-trump-refusing-meet-mike-pompeo-says-retired?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3109726/pope-looked-anti-trump-refusing-meet-mike-pompeo-says-retired?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Nov 2020 04:00:11 +0000 It’s 9 pm in Beijing, and fitness blogger Liu Shaodong is glued to his phone in his cramped 200-square-foot studio apartment. He’s watching a live feed of a farmer hawk cured beef in Heilongjiang Province, over 800 miles away. With one click, Liu adds 200 grams of salted topside to his shopping cart. Seconds later, the farmer is weighing the order right before Liu’s eyes. The fitness blogger is not alone. Thousands of others are also tuned into the stream on Taobao Live, a Chinese app that... https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-rural-influencer/article/3096519?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-rural-influencer/article/3096519?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Aug 2020 09:55:39 +0000