Day: March 7, 2023

US Set to Lift COVID-19 Testing Requirements for Travelers From China

Chin@Strategy

Washington —  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to end on Friday mandatory COVID-19 tests for travelers from China, joining other countries in dropping the requirements, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters. Last week, Japan dropped a requirement that everyone take a test for the virus upon arrival from China. The source told Reuters the United States would continue to monitor cases in China and around the world. The U.S. decision was reported earlier by the Washington Post. The CDC did not immediately…

US expected to ease Covid testing for arrivals from China

Chin@Strategy

The US is preparing to relax Covid-19 testing restrictions for travellers from China as soon as Friday, according to two people familiar with the decision. The people, who were not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Biden administration had decided to roll back the testing requirements as cases, hospitalisations and deaths were declining in China and the US had gathered better information about the surge. The Washington Post was first to report on Tuesday about the easing of requirements. The restrictions were put…

Chinese cities hit record high temperatures for early March

Chin@Strategy

Temperatures in more than a dozen Chinese cities have hit record seasonal highs this week, with central China’s Wuhan and Zhengzhou more than 10C hotter than average for early March, official data showed. Wuhan, located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, registered temperatures of 26C on Monday, 12 degrees higher than the long-term early March average, while Beijing and surrounding cities also saw temperatures reach 25C earlier this week. China experienced months of extreme heat last year, with 267 weather stations breaking records, measuring temperatures in excess of…

US, Lithuania in Talks Aimed at China

Chin@Strategy

Washington —  In March 1990, Lithuania became the first republic to break away from the Soviet Union by declaring itself an independent state, a decision the White House applauded. Thirty-three years later, this Baltic country of around 2.7 million people is making bold moves to counter China, the century’s rising global power, and finding support from Washington as the Biden administration seeks to leverage transatlantic partnerships amid Western fears that Beijing is considering supplying Russia with weapons in its war on Ukraine. High-level, bilateral consultations were held Tuesday in Washington…

Vietnam police tell Church of God followers to renounce their faith

Chin@Strategy

The police in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam have ordered followers of the Church of God the Mother to stop following their religion. According to a police statement on Monday, the police in Cam Ha Commune inspected a village house where they found six women and four men carrying out a ceremony for the illegal religion. They seized a laptop, three computer speakers, 10 bibles, five notebooks, 14 white sheets and a podium. In April 2018, the government’s religious affairs committee asked central and local authorities to monitor…

China’s Leaders Sharpen Rhetoric Toward US

Chin@Strategy

Public remarks from senior Chinese leaders, delivered during the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, which began Sunday, suggest that Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the Communist Party that he controls are adopting a more confrontational approach to dealing with the United States. Speaking to senior political leaders on Monday, Xi appeared to blame his country’s recent economic struggles on “comprehensive containment and suppression by Western countries led by the U.S. over the past few years, which have brought unprecedented and severe challenges for China’s development.” The U.S. has…

China’s ‘two sessions’ 2023: Xi Jinping hails role of private firms, but will ‘actions speak louder than words’?

Chin@Strategy

“We should help solve problems for private enterprises and private entrepreneurs, so that they can have a free hand and concentrate on [business] development without burden. “It is necessary to strengthen ideological and political guidance, guide private enterprises and private entrepreneurs to … eliminate worries, lay down burdens and develop boldly.” Advertisement And all of these combined have amplified worries more than have abated burdens. In his report to the 20th party congress in October, Xi similarly voiced “unwavering support” for the private economy, which accounts for more than 60…

‘Pig butchering’: Former romance scammer reveals tactics

Chin@Strategy

In recent years, people around the world have lost hundreds of millions of dollars to online romance scams. One of the most lucrative of these, being run by criminal gangs across South East Asia, is called the “pig butchering romance scam”. The scammers refer to their victims as pigs, whom they fatten up to be “butchered” – or conned, out of as much money as possible. A BBC World Service investigation has spoken to former insiders, who reveal the brutal conditions facing many of those working as scammers and the…

White House backs bill that could give it power to ban TikTok nationwide

Chin@Strategy

The White House said it backed legislation introduced on Tuesday by a dozen senators to give the administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats. The endorsement boosts efforts by a number of lawmakers to ban the popular ByteDance-owned app, which is used by more than 100 million Americans. The bill gives the commerce department the authority to impose restrictions up to and including banning TikTok and other technologies that pose national security risks, said Democratic Senator Mark Warner,…

China FM says conflict unavoidable if US pursues ‘wrong path’ in relations

Chin@Strategy

The United States and China are destined for conflict if Washington refuses to “hit the brakes” as it “speed[s] down the wrong path” of engagement with Beijing, China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Tuesday during his first media appearance in the role. Qin spoke on the sidelines of the “two sessions” annual meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, which kicked off on Sunday and is expected to showcase a major political reshuffle following President Xi Jinping’s securing of an unprecedented third term as leader.  Qin dismissed calls by the…