By Lisa Martin and Pathom Sangwongwanich A new $6 billion Chinese-built railway line opens in Laos this week, bringing hopes of an economic boost to the reclusive nation, but experts are questioning the benefits of a project that has seen thousands of farmers evicted from their land.The 414-kilometre (260-mile) route, due to open on December […]
The Chinese army has carried out a “naval and air force combat readiness patrol” near the Taiwan Strait following a contentious visit to the island by a group of American lawmakers, a spokesperson said. Tensions between Beijing and Washington have soared over the fate of democratic self-ruled Taiwan, which China has vowed to one day […]
The United States praised South Africa Saturday for quickly identifying the new Covid strain called Omicron and sharing this information with the world — a barely veiled slap at China’s handling of the original outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with South Africa’s international relations and cooperation minister, Naledi Pandor, […]
Two-year-old Haoyang has likely just months to live — but the only medicine that can help his rare genetic condition is not found anywhere in China and closed borders due to the Covid-19 pandemic mean he cannot travel for treatment. Instead, his desperate father, Xu Wei, has created a home laboratory to create a remedy […]
Gaming and messaging giant Tencent has been told all its new apps and updates must be approved by the government, state media reported, as Beijing continues its domestic tech sector crackdown. The Chinese government has moved to exert more authority over the industry in the past year, citing concerns that tech giants in the country […]
Greenland has withdrawn an iron ore mining licence from a Chinese firm in the vast autonomous Danish territory, the local government said Wednesday. Now-bankrupt British company London Mining had been awarded the contract in 2013. But Hong Kong-based General Nice Group acquired the permit a year later when it bought the assets of the British […]
Three white men were found guilty of murder Wednesday for shooting dead an African American man after chasing him in their pickup trucks, following a racially-charged trial in the southern US state of Georgia that gripped the nation.Travis McMichael, who shot Ahmaud Arbery, his father Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, who took […]
Malaysia’s longest-governing party stormed to victory in closely watched state polls Saturday, gaining a boost in power ahead of a general election. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was the lynchpin of a coalition that governed Malaysia for six decades until it was booted from power in 2018 following a storm of corruption allegations. Former […]
China vowed Friday to punish “diehard” Taiwan politicians, saying it would ban several from visiting the mainland, as tensions between Beijing and Taipei spiked to their highest level in years. China claims Taiwan as its territory — to be seized one day, by force if necessary — and has intensified efforts in recent years to […]
