Almost 200 international hotels are operating or planning to open in Xinjiang, despite calls from human rights groups for global corporations not to help “sanitise” the Chinese government’s human rights abuses in the region, a report has said. The report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) identified 115 operational hotels which the organisation said “benefit from a presence in the Uyghur region”. At least another 74 were in various stages of construction or planning, the report said. The UHRP said some of the hotels also had exposure or links…
Tag: China
Nvidia’s CEO makes surprise visit to Beijing after US restricts chip sales to China
The chief executive of the American chip maker Nvidia visited Beijing on Thursday, days after the US issued fresh restrictions on sales of the only AI chip it was still allowed to sell to China. Jensen Huang’s surprise visit was on the invitation of a trade organisation, according to a social media account affiliated with state media. The official broadcaster China Central Television said Huang met Ren Hongbin, the head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, where he said he hopes “to continue to cooperate with…
Finally, the Trump regime has met its match | Robert Reich
It was bound to happen. Encouraged by the ease with which many big US institutions caved in to their demands, the Trump regime – that is, the small cadre of bottom-feeding fanatics around Donald Trump (JD Vance, Elon Musk, Russell Vought, Stephen Miller and RFK Jr) along with the child king himself – have overreached. They’ve dared China, Harvard and the supreme court to blink. But guess what? They’ve met their matches. None of them has blinked – and they won’t. China not only refused to back down when the…
China appoints new trade negotiator as US tariff tensions mount
TAIPEI, Taiwan – China appointed Li Chenggang as a new trade negotiator on Wednesday, a key figure in talks to resolve the escalating tariff war with the United States, replacing veteran negotiator Wang Shouwen. Li, 58, who previously served as assistant commerce minister during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, has been named as China’s International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce, according to China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Li most recently represented China at the World Trade Organization. It was unclear if Wang, 59, who…
Temu and Shein warn of US price hikes from next week due to Trump tariffs
Two of China’s largest fast fashion retailers, Temu and Shein, have warned US customers that they will face price increases from next week, as Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on Chinese imports come into force. Both companies will be hit by new import levies, which will mean taxes of up to 145% being applied to Chinese goods. They will also suffer from Trump’s cancellation of the “de minimis” exemption, under which shipments worth less than $800 (£600) could be imported duty-free. That exemption was crucial in helping the low-cost retailers make…
‘Why would he take such a risk?’ How a famous Chinese author befriended his censor
It is 2013. For four full months, Liu Lipeng engages in dereliction of duty. Every hour the system sends him a huge volume of posts, but he hardly ever deletes a single word. After three or four thousand posts accumulate, he lightly clicks his mouse and the whole lot is released. In the jargon of censors, this is a “total pass in one click” (一键全通), after which all the posts appear on China’s version of X, Sina Weibo, to be read by millions, then reposted and discussed. He logs on…
Pro-democracy banners unfurled at an overpass in China
In a rare sign of public dissent, three pro-democracy banners hung on an overpass in China’s southwestern city of Chengdu early Tuesday morning, according to a prominent citizen journalist on X. The display appeared to be inspired by ‘Bridge Man’ Peng Lifa, who hung similar banners on the busy Sitong Bridge in Beijing, sparking the White Paper protests of November 2022. During those protests, which took place in several cities in China, people showed blank sheets of paper to symbolize that authorities gave them no voice amid anger over the…
Amnesty International opens Hong Kong section ‘in exile’
UPDATED April 15, 2025, 2:50 p.m. ET Human rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday it is opening a new Hong Kong section overseas, three years after closing its office in the territory because of a Chinese crackdown on civil society. Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas (AIHKO), will be led by Hong Kong diaspora activists operating from key international hubs including Australia, Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States, Amnesty said in a statement. “The gutting of Hong Kong’s civil society has been a tragedy for the city with…
Death of former top US official sparks mourning, tributes in Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan – The death of Richard Armitage, a former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and long-time advocate for Taiwan, has drawn an outpouring of condolences and reflection across the island, where he was widely respected for his steadfast support for democracy and peace in the Taiwan Strait. Armitage, a former U.S. official under President George W. Bush, died of lung disease on April 13, aged 79. He had served several defense and foreign policy roles that helped shape U.S. defense and security policy in the Asia Pacific. “A long-time…
China told Hong Kong’s last major opposition party to shut down: members
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Senior members of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, the city’s last remaining major opposition party, said that Chinese officials and their proxies had warned the party to disband or face “serious consequences,” including possible arrests. Founded in 1994, the Democratic Party was Hong Kong’s first major pro-democracy political force. It emerged from a movement that began in 1982 to oppose any erosion of freedoms from China-U.K. negotiations on the territory’s future. In February, the party announced plans to disband amid an ongoing political crackdown under two national security…