China

BEIJING, March 28 (APP): As many as 235 personnel from PowerChina International Group Limited (PowerChina) and 31 workers from other companies, returned to Pakistan for China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects with 230 boxes of anti-epidemic materials and construction equipment.

BEIJING/OTTAWA (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday condemned China’s sanctions against two American religious-rights officials and a Canadian lawmaker in a dispute over Beijing’s treatment of Uighur Muslims and other minorities.

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China as of Saturday, according to a press conference held by the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 on Sunday.

Data released by the National Health Commission on Sunday showed that the total number of COVID-19 vaccine jabs administered nationwide had reached 102.42 million.

China saw a daily increase of more than 3 million doses ever since the country has initiated its daily vaccination report on March 24. 

BEIJING (AP) — China announced new sanctions against U.S. and Canadian officials in a growing political and economic feud over its policies in the traditionally Muslim region of Xinjiang.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry on Saturday said the head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Gayle Manchin, will be barred from visiting mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao, and having any dealings with Chinese financial entities.

HONG KONG (AP) — H&M disappeared from the internet in China as the government raised pressure on shoe and clothing brands and announced sanctions Friday against British officials in a spiraling fight over complaints of abuses in the Xinjiang region.

H&M products were missing from major e-commerce platforms including Alibaba and JD.com following calls by state media for a boycott over the Swedish retailer’s decision to stop buying cotton from Xinjiang. That hurts H&M’s ability to reach customers in a country where more than a fifth of shopping is online.

BEIJING, March 26 (APP): Recently, after years of highly intense confrontations, it seems that the relations between India and Pakistan, the two rivals in the South Asian subcontinent, are showing some positive signs of improvement.

If the relations can really be improved, it will be a good development and conducive to the peace and stability in South Asia, which is good news for the people of the region.

URUMQI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has firmly opposed and strongly condemned the unilateral, unjustifiable sanctions imposed by the United States, Britain and Canada on some individuals and entities in Xinjiang.

In a statement issued Thursday, the regional government said the sanctions gravely violated international law and basic norms governing international relations, seriously interfered in China's internal affairs, and fully exposed sinister intentions of these countries to disrupt the stability and development of Xinjiang.

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Politicizing the COVID-19 origin-tracing undermines global cooperation, affects the global fight against the pandemic, and will lead to more life losses, which is extremely immoral, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.

Yang Tao, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organizations and Conferences, made the remarks at a press briefing to foreign diplomats on the WHO-China joint study.

BEIJING (AP) — China announced sanctions on British individuals and entities Friday following the U.K. joining the EU and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. The move was the opening salvo in its latest full-bore response to criticism and sanctions from the West.

HONG KONG, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Hong Kong government has told some foreign consulates to stop accepting a British travel document that many of its young people use to apply for working holiday visas in Europe, North America and parts of Asia, diplomats say.

In a move seen by some envoys as a diplomatic affront, the government informed about a dozen foreign consulates in a letter that it no longer considered the British National Overseas (BNO) passport a valid travel document as of Jan 31.

The letter demanded that its Hong Kong passport should be used instead.