China

China’s youth react to gaming curbs with anguish and cunning
China, World

China’s youth react to gaming curbs with anguish and cunning

China's youth react to gaming curbs with anguish and cunning Online gaming appears to be the latest target for China's regulators. BEIJING: It is Zhang Yuchen's last summer break before high school, but events have taken an unwelcome turn -- the 14-year-old's game time has been decimated as China's tech firms try to dispel accusations that they are selling "spiritual opium" to the country's youth. An edict by gaming giant Tencent means players under 12 can no longer make in-game purchases in multiplayer battle smash-hit "Honor of Kings", while under-18s are locked out after two hours during holidays and one hour on school nights. "I wanted to cry," an anguished Zhang said as the news ricocheted across the world's largest gaming market, which soaked up $20 billion in the first half of t...
Climate change is real; China facing unprepared summer floods
China, World

Climate change is real; China facing unprepared summer floods

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – Climate change is making the Chinese summer floods worse which the country is not prepared for. Record-breaking rainfall in the central province of Henan killed more than 300 people last month, while downpours continue to swamp cities in several other regions. Two people died last week in Beijing after they were trapped in a car that was submerged under a bridge.  The tragedies are making it clear to policymakers and citizens that Chinese cities, even the capital, are far from ready for the extreme weather events wrought by global warming.  It is not just the threat of floods. Greenpeace research has shown that China’s key metropolises are at risk of longer and hotter summers in the coming decades.  Year after year, officials have vowe
China’s anti-sanctions law a new headache for banks in Hong Kong
Business, China, Singapore, World

China’s anti-sanctions law a new headache for banks in Hong Kong

China's anti-sanctions law a new headache for banks in Hong Kong Finance hub Hong Kong has long marketed itself as a reliable business gateway to China. HONG KONG: China's plan to expand its anti-sanctions law into Hong Kong is a fresh compliance headache for international banks already caught up in deteriorating relations between Beijing and major western powers, analysts and insiders say. As a finance hub with an internationally respected legal system, Hong Kong has long marketed itself as a reliable business gateway to authoritarian China. But swirling geopolitical tensions -- and China's crackdown on dissent in the city -- have made that business environment less smooth the last two years. And things could be about to get even more complicated. In June, China passed a broad anti-...
China blames US over Afghanistan, but says will work with it
China, Conflict, World

China blames US over Afghanistan, but says will work with it

BEIJING (AP) — China has expressed a willingness to hold talks with the U.S. to promote a “soft landing” in Afghanistan, while heavily criticizing Washington and again demanding that the Biden administration halt its attacks on China. Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a phone call Monday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, blamed what he called America’s “hasty” military withdrawal the chaos accompanying the Talibain’s seizure of power in Afghanistan, according to a Foreign Ministry statement dated Tuesday. “China is willing to conduct communication and dialogue with the U.S. to promote the soft landing of the Afghan issue and avoid a new civil war or humanitarian disaster ... and not let it become a breeding ground and shelter for terrorism once again,“ Wang was quoted as saying in
German journalist accuses Taliban to kill its relative
Asia, China

German journalist accuses Taliban to kill its relative

BERLIN: A German broadcaster of Deutcshe Welle (DW) accused Taliban to kill his former correspondent in Kabul, the spokesperson for DW said others managed to escape from the region. A German broadcaster has accused the Taliban of killing a relative of its former correspondent in Kabul while hunting for him. A spokesman for Deutsche Welle (DW) said on Thursday the militants were conducting a house-to-house search for the journalist, who now works in Germany. A second relative was seriously wounded but others were able to escape, it said. The network’s director general condemned the killing, which he said showed the danger to media workers and their families in Afghanistan. “The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban yesterday is inconceivably tragic
Southeast Asia to break the monopoly of China n network market
Asia, China, World

Southeast Asia to break the monopoly of China n network market

TAIPEI: South Asian countries are dependent on China for their networks, now they are improving their 4G and 5G networks in order to break the monopoly of China. The trade war between the United States and China has inspired the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam to expand their ambitions and modernize their industries, while attracting investment flowing out of China and Hong Kong, according to DigiTimes Research. Even though the quality of 4G networks in those countries needs upgrading, they are already implementing 5G on a limited scale. As the Philippines and Thailand generally pursued technology policies friendly to China, Huawei Technologies has not faced the same obstacles as in other countries, according to DigiTimes. In contrast, Vietnam excluded the Chinese com...
Cultural cut of China and Taiwan
China, Singapore, World

Cultural cut of China and Taiwan

China is reducing the cultural exchange between China and Taiwan, in order to which China has objected on many basic books of Taiwan. This is only to be expected, as Beijing has been reducing cultural exchanges and activities with Taiwan for the past few years. These actions range from drastically reducing the number of tourists allowed into Taiwan to boycotting the Golden Horse Awards in 2019, after a director’s comments about Taiwanese sovereignty set off a media storm. However, Taiwan has managed without Chinese tourists, while local talent, as well as Chinese-speaking filmmakers from smaller countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, had more room to shine at last year’s awards. With its huge population sharing an official language with Taiwan, China has long been a lucrative
Millions under virus lockdown as China battles Delta outbreak
China, World

Millions under virus lockdown as China battles Delta outbreak

Millions under virus lockdown as China battles Delta outbreak China is trying to contain its largest coronavirus outbreak in months. BEIJING: Millions of people were confined to their homes in China Monday as the country tried to contain its largest coronavirus outbreak in months with mass testing and travel curbs. China on Monday reported 55 new locally transmitted coronavirus cases, as an outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant reached over 20 cities and more than a dozen provinces. Local governments in major cities including Beijing have now tested millions of residents, while cordoning off residential compounds and placing close contacts under quarantine. The central city of Zhuzhou in Hunan province ordered over 1.2 million residents on Monday to stay home under strict lockd...
Hong Kong group behind huge democracy rallies disbands
China, World

Hong Kong group behind huge democracy rallies disbands

Hong Kong group behind huge democracy rallies disbands The CHRF routinely got crowds of hundreds of thousands, if not more than a million, onto the streets of Hong Kong. HONG KONG: The Hong Kong protest coalition that organised record-breaking democracy rallies two years ago said Sunday it was disbanding in the face of China's sweeping clampdown on dissent in the city. The dissolution comes as China remoulds Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image and purges the city of any person or group deemed disloyal or unpatriotic. The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was a major player in the months of democracy protests that convulsed Hong Kong in 2019. But the group said Beijing's subsequent crackdown on democracy supporters and a de facto ban on protests had left it with little future. "All...
Beijing urges Washington to stop ‘demonising’ China as US official visits
Business, China, Conflict, World

Beijing urges Washington to stop ‘demonising’ China as US official visits

Beijing urges Washington to stop 'demonising' China as US official visits Wendy Sherman is the highest-level official to visit China under President Joe Biden's administration. BEIJING: Beijing urged Washington to stop "demonising" China on Monday as rancour marked the start of talks with the highest-level US envoy to visit under President Joe Biden's administration. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's visit to the northern city of Tianjin is the first major meeting between the world's leading economies since March discussions in Anchorage between the countries' top diplomats collapsed into mudslinging. Sherman's trip aims to seek "guardrails" as ties continue to deteriorate on a range of issues from cybersecurity and tech supremacy to human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. "Th...