China

BEIJING, Dec 30 (APP): Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi will visit Maldives and Sri Lanka upon invitation, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Zhao Lijian announced on Thursday.

“Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to the two South Asian countries come at the 50th anniversary of China-Maldives diplomatic relations, 65th anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations and the 70th anniversary of the Rubber-Rice Pact,” he said while sharing more information during his regular briefing held here.

BEIJING, December 30. /TASS/: Both China and Russia are able to ensure global order and withstand pressure from individual countries seeking hegemony and dominance worldwide, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

"I strongly believe that if our great powers, China and Russia, stand side by side and boost their cooperation, the world order will be unshakable, and global principles - irrefutable. Hegemonism will not be able to defeat [us]," the minister said.

BEIJING, Dec 29 (Reuters) - China will take "drastic measures" if Taiwan makes moves towards formal independence, a Beijing official warned on Wednesday, adding that Taiwan's provocations and outside meddling could intensify next year.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to assert its sovereignty claim, fuelling anger in Taipei and concern in Washington.

BEIJING, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The United States is at risk of paying an "unbearable price" due to its actions over Taiwan, Wang Yi, state councillor and foreign minister, said in an interview with state media on Thursday.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to assert its sovereignty claim, fuelling anger in Taipei and concern in Washington.

HONG KONG, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 jolted 166 km SSE of Tondano, Indonesia at 13:13:19 GMT on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 59.61 km, was initially determined to be at 0.1663 degrees south latitude and 125.2453 degrees east longitude. 

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police on Thursday formally charged two people from an online pro-democracy news outlet with sedition, a day after the outlet said it would cease operations following a police raid on its office and seven arrests.

National security police said they charged two men, aged 34 and 52, with one count each of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication but did not identify them.

According to local media reports, the two are Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, who were editors at Stand News, an online pro-democracy news outlet.

BEIJING, Dec 29 (Reuters) - China will take "drastic measures" if Taiwan makes moves towards independence, a Beijing official warned on Wednesday, adding that Taiwan's provocations and outside meddling could intensify next year.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to assert its sovereignty claim, fuelling anger in Taipei and concern in Washington.

BEIJING (AP) — China is calling on the United States to protect a Chinese space station and its three-member crew after Beijing complained that satellites launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX nearly struck the station.

A foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington on Tuesday of ignoring its treaty obligations to protect the safety of the Tiangong station’s three-member crew following the July 1 and Oct. 21 incidents.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police raided the office of an online pro-democracy news outlet on Wednesday after arresting six people for conspiracy to publish a seditious publication, the latest moves in a crackdown on dissent in the city.

Those arrested were affiliated with Stand News, one of the most vocal pro-democracy news outlets in the city after the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily ceased operations earlier this year.

BEIJING, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Chinese citizens lashed out online against billionaire Tesla (TSLA.O) founder Elon Musk's space ambitions on Monday after China complained that its space station was forced to take evasive action to avoid collision with satellites launched by Musk's Starlink programme.

The satellites from Starlink Internet Services, a division of Musk's SpaceX aerospace company, had two "close encounters" with the Chinese space station on July 1 and Oct. 21, according to a document submitted by China earlier this month to the U.N.'s space agency.