China

BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it would make a “necessary response” to a planned military dialogue between the United States and Chinese-claimed Taiwan, saying it firmly opposed the event.

China has been angered by stepped up support for the democratic island by outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, including new arms sales and visits to Taipei by senior U.S. officials, which have strained already poor Beijing-Washington ties.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police arrested about 50 former lawmakers and pro-democracy activists Wednesday for allegedly violating the new national security law by participating in unofficial election primaries for the territory’s legislature last year.

The mass arrests, including of former lawmakers, were the largest move against Hong Kong’s democracy movement since the law was imposed by Beijing to quell dissent in the semi-autonomous territory last June.

BEIJING, Jan 5 (APP): A reported released by a Brussels-based NGO has uncovered an ongoing Indian disinformation campaign launched to discredit nations in conflict with India in Asia, in particular Pakistan but also China to lesser extent.

The report released in early December said it uncovered two Indian organizations creating and spreading disinformation against China to reinforce anti-China sentiment in India, China Global Television (CGTN) reported.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The former chairman of China’s Huarong Asset Management Co was sentenced to death, a court in the northern city of Tianjin said on Tuesday, in one of the country’s highest profile corruption cases.

Lai Xiaomin was convicted of receiving or seeking bribes totalling 1.788 billion yuan ($276.72 million) from 2008 to 2018, when he was also a senior banking regulator, according to the Secondary Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin.

He was also convicted on a charge of bigamy.

Lai was expelled from the ruling Communist Party in 2018.

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- With surging new cases and strict restrictions back in place, the global fight against COVID-19 has grown tougher after the Christmas and New Year holidays.

BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Premier Li Keqiang heard a report on the third-party assessment of the implementation of the Regulation on Improving the Business Environment while chairing the State Council Executive Meeting on Monday, and urged greater efforts to remove barriers and provide stronger legal underpinning for the business environment.

As entrusted by the State Council, third-party assessment of the implementation of the Regulation on Improving the Business Environment has been conducted in nine provinces.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Monday it firmly opposes the United States government’s behaviour of politicizing trade issues after the New York Stock Exchange began delisting three Chinese telecom firms that Washington says have military ties.

Beijing will adopt the necessary measures to safeguard the legal rights of Chinese companies, foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told a regular news briefing.

BEIJING, Jan 3 (APP): Pakistan’s exports which grew for the fourth consecutive month in December 2020 to US$2.357 billion, up 18. per cent from US.1.993 in the corresponding month of the previous year, is a vindication of the government’s policy to keep the wheels of economy running during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was stated by Cheng Xizhong, visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law in an article here on Sunday.

BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 has traveled more than 400 million km by Sunday morning and is expected to enter Mars orbit next month, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

As of 6 a.m. on Sunday (Beijing Time), the Mars probe had flown in space for 163 days. It was about 130 million km from Earth and about 8.3 million km from Mars.

According to the CNSA, the probe is functioning stably and is scheduled to slow down before entering Mars orbit in more than a month and preparing itself to land on the red planet.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will take “necessary measures” to safeguard the interests of its companies after the New York Stock Exchange began delisting three Chinese telecom firms accused of having military ties, the country’s commerce ministry said on Saturday.

The NYSE said on Thursday that it would begin delisting China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom in response to a decision by President Donald Trump to bar U.S. investment in firms owned or controlled by the Chinese military.