Day: January 24, 2022

Beijing takes to the ice as Winter Olympics approach

Chin@Strategy

Unlike a lot of other winter sports, ice skating has long been a popular sport across the north of China. The country’s capital Beijing, which is also hosting the Winter Olympics, is no exception. With just about a week to go before the Games begin, the BBC’s China correspondent Stephen McDonell spent a day on the ice with some residents from the city. He asked them about their love for ice skating and how they felt about the upcoming Games, which are taking place under strict coronavirus restrictions. BBC

Behind China’s Intervention in Vermont’s Electronic Waste Recycling Bill

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement An earlier article detailed the PRC’s attempt to intervene in a Maryland legislative proposal introduced in October 2007 to ban lead in children’s toys through the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) commenting mechanism. But this was far from the only case of its kind. This article will explore how Beijing became involved in a Vermont draft bill related to environmental regulation in 2008, again using the TBT process, and the series of events that followed. On January 8, 2008, Vermont State Senator Virginia (Ginny) Lyons…

Covid live: testing for fully vaccinated travellers to UK to be scrapped; new vaccine pass rules in France

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The UK’s transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has confirmed that post-arrival testing requirements will be lifted for travel to the UK from 4am on 11 February, ahead of the half-term break for schools in the country. All fully vaccinated people will have to do is verify their status via a passenger locator form. He told the House of Commons: Our international travel regime will also now be liberalised as part of our efforts to ensure that 2022 is the year that restrictions on travel, lockdowns and limits on people’s lives are…

‘Sheer fiction’: China denies Xi asked Putin not to invade Ukraine during Beijing Winter Olympics

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During a phone call last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, told China’s President Xi Jinping, left, he would attend the Beijing Winter Olympics Games opening ceremony on February 4. But China says a report suggesting Xi asked Putin to refrain from invading Ukraine during the Games attempts to undermine the Olympics. Photo: Tass South China Morning Post

‘Stop nagging!’: why China’s generation Z is resisting marriage and babies

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Early this month, China’s state news agency Xinhua posted a video reminding young Chinese men born in the year 2000 that they are now finally eligible to get married. “Post 00s have reached legal marriage age,” it declared. The hashtag swiftly popped up in the “top-searched list” of Weibo hot topics, but many read it as the government’s attempt to put pressure on them. “Who dares to get married these days? Don’t we need to make money?” one questioned. “Stop nagging me!” said another. Under Chinese law, men can marry…

China vows greater support for start-ups, small firms as Big Tech firms continue to reel from year-long crackdown

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, talks with representatives from the education, science and technology, culture, health, and sports sectors at a symposium to hear their opinions on a draft government work report on January 21, 2022. Photo: Xinhua South China Morning Post