“These bounties not only threaten the liberty and safety of the activists targeted, they also have far-reaching consequences on other activists who are now left feeling increasingly uncertain about their security, whether in Hong Kong or overseas,” said Sarah Brooks, the group’s deputy regional director for China. BBC
China launched its secret space plane for a third time on Thursday, while the US Space Force is still waiting for its X-37B to get off the pad after multiple delays. The Chinese “reusable experimental spacecraft” successfully lifted off atop a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert, state media Xinhua reported around 11pm. As with the previous two launches in 2020 and 2022, Xinhua did not reveal technical details or images of the spacecraft, nor did it mention how long the flight…
Actress Kathy Chow Hoi-mei, who died in a Beijing hospital aged 57 from an unknown illness on December 11, was best known for her many roles in TV drama series produced not only in Hong Kong but also Taiwan and mainland China. 3. Filipino returnees from Gaza homeless as aid dries up: ‘they feel abandoned’ Revelina and Annel returned to the Philippines with their families from Gaza in November 2023. Photo: Michael Beltran The Philippines has been accused of “neglect” for giving repatriated Filipino-Palestinian families limited funds and only a…
WASHINGTON — The United States has struck hundreds of deals worth $14.2 billion with African nations over the past year as Washington tries to counter growing influence on the continent by China. The 547 new trade and investment agreements represent a 67% increase from 2022 in the number and value of closed deals, according to British Robinson, coordinator for the Prosper Africa trade and business initiative, a program that connects U.S. and African businesses. Robinson said the presidential and national security initiative is aimed at strengthening strategic and economic partnerships…
A double whammy of China’s deepening property crisis and a stock market slump has claimed a victim – real estate investment trusts. REITs debuted on the country’s stock market in 2021 with much fanfare, hailed as a way to channel retail investor money into large-sized infrastructure and property projects. The idea initially caught on, making them one of the hottest investments amid the government’s infrastructure push and relatively scarce offerings. Not any more. A CSI gauge of 28 trusts has lost 31 per cent this year, underperforming the benchmark CSI…
North Korea is likely to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering multiple nuclear warheads to the United States mainland within this month, testing the newly established real-time missile warning data sharing system among the U.S., South Korea, and Japan. “There is a possibility of North Korea launching an ICBM in December,” South Korea’s first deputy director of the National Security Office, Kim Tae-hyo, said in Washington Thursday. Kim, however, did not provide details on how Seoul reached that conclusion or confirm whether the assessment was shared with…
A lingering weakness in China’s property sector and private investment continued in November, data released on Friday showed, in a further warning that more government action is needed to shore up investor confidence and reduce financial risks in 2024. Property investment, a key gauge for market sentiment in the crisis-hit sector, fell by 9.4 per cent in the first 11 months 2023 compared with a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Fixed-asset investment expanded by 2.9 in the first 11 months, year on year, unchanged from…
taipei — Shu Min, a resident of China’s eastern city of Nanjing, thinks the nation’s public hospitals are running out of money and are doing everything they can to increase the co-pays charged directly to patients. “A doctor told me, the more problems a patient has, the better. So the hospital could benefit more by taking whatever highest insurance amount that the patient can claim,” she told VOA Mandarin in an interview. “This is so ridiculous!” Shu Min’s father has been diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s disease and suffered a fracture…
China has pinned its hopes on digital technologies to modernise its waterway transport system, aiming to boost its competitiveness in shipping by improving efficiency and sustainability. A plan unveiled by the Ministry of Transport on its website earlier this month targets implementation of smart technologies like 5G, big data and artificial intelligence across all major ports and waterways by 2027. To make China’s ports more intelligent, the ministry said it would urge container terminals to further automate work flows by expanding use of technologies like autonomous vehicles, driverless container trucks…
washington — Tokyo has been expanding its security ties with multiple Southeast Asian countries ahead of a Japan-ASEAN summit that analysts see as a forum to offset China’s aggressive behavior in the region. Japan is scheduled to host the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo from Saturday to Monday, marking the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation. Japan and 10 ASEAN countries seek to expand ties at a time when “the free and open international order based on the rule of law is under serious challenge,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio…