China

BEIJING, March 22. / TASS/: The Chinese authorities have paid attention to the deterioration of Russian-Japanese relations and hope for normalization of contacts between Moscow and Tokyo, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin stated on Tuesday.

"We have paid attention to this information [about deteriorating relations between Russia and Japan]. China hopes that Moscow and Tokyo will successfully resolve the relevant issues," he said at a briefing.

NANNING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers are making all-out efforts to retrieve the black boxes of a passenger plane with 132 people aboard that crashed in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Monday afternoon, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said Tuesday night.

The plane was severely damaged and the investigation is very difficult, Zhu Tao, head of CAAC aviation safety office, told a press briefing.

BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday demanded that the United States immediately revoke sanctions imposed against Chinese officials for so-called human rights violations, warning that otherwise the U.S. will face reciprocal countermeasures from China.

BEIJING (AP) — Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest e-commerce company, increased a share buyback to $25 billion from $15 billion on Tuesday to prop up a stock price that has fallen by more than half since the ruling Communist Party tightened control over tech industries by launching regulatory crackdowns.

The increase is a “sign of confidence in the company’s continued growth,” Alibaba said. The company said it has paid out $9.2 billion so far in the buyback announced earlier.

KUNMING, China (AP) — No survivors have been found as rescuers on Tuesday searched the scattered wreckage of a China Eastern plane carrying 132 people that crashed a day earlier on a wooded mountainside in China’s worst air disaster in more than a decade.

“Wreckage of the plane was found at the scene, but up until now, none of those aboard the plane with whom contact was lost have been found,” state broadcaster CCTV said, more than 18 hours after the Monday afternoon crash.

BEIJING, March 21 (Reuters) - A China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) Boeing 737-800 with 132 people on board crashed in mountains in southern China on a domestic flight on Monday after a sudden descent from cruising altitude. Media said there were no signs of survivors.

The airline said it deeply mourned the passengers and crew, without specifying how many people had been killed.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s leader Monday said that the city would lift flight bans on countries including Britain and the U.S., as well as reduce quarantine time for travelers arriving in the city as coronavirus infections in its latest outbreak plateaus.

BEIJING (AP) — A China Eastern Boeing 737-800 with 132 people on board crashed in a remote mountainous area of southern China on Monday, officials said, setting off a forest fire visible from space in the country’s worst air disaster in nearly a decade.

More than seven hours after communication was lost with the plane, there was still no word of survivors.

Hong Kong, Mar 21 (AP) Hong Kong's leader Monday said that the city would lift flight bans on countries including Britain and the US, as well as reduce quarantine time for travellers arriving in the city as coronavirus infections in its latest outbreak plateaus.

BEIJING, Mar 20 (APP): Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law and Senior Fellow of the Charhar Institute on Sunday said that Pakistan has the courage to safeguard the core interests of Muslim countries and was playing a leading role in the Islamic world.