China

BEIJING, June 4. /TASS/: Russia delivered 1.58 bln cubic meters of natural gas to the People’s Republic of China via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline (‘eastern route’) over the past six months, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday with reference to the customs service of China’s border city of Heihe.

BEIJING, June 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China said it will ease coronavirus restrictions to allow more foreign carriers to fly to the mainland, shortly after Washington vowed to bar Chinese airlines from flying to the United States due to Beijing’s curbs on American airlines.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s legislature approved a contentious bill Thursday that makes it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.

The legislation was approved after pro-democracy opposition lawmakers tried to disrupt the vote. The bill was passed with 41 lawmakers voting for it and just one voting against. Most of the pro-democracy lawmakers boycotted the vote out of protest.

The pro-democracy camp sees the anthem bill as an infringement of freedom of expression and the greater rights that residents of the semi-autonomous city have compared to mainland China.

3 June 2020; AFP: China warned Britain on Wednesday that interfering in Hong Kong will backfire, after the former colonial power vowed to give sanctuary to locals who may flee the city if a controversial security law is passed.

The United States and Britain have enraged Beijing with their criticism of planned national security legislation that critics fear would destroy the semi-autonomous city's limited freedoms.

BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Washington's decision to sever ties with the World Health Organization (WHO), widely seen as irresponsible and immoral, has once again riled the world for the Trump administration's indulgence in scapegoating others, particularly China and the WHO, for its own malfeasance to handle the double crisis of the raging COVID-19 pandemic and rampant racial unrest across the country.

HONG KONG, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the decision by the national legislature to establish and improve the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security demonstrates the commitment of the central authorities, while some foreign countries applied double standards on the matter.

WUHAN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan, in central China's Hubei Province, tested nearly 10 million residents in a 19-day drive to screen for novel coronavirus infections, with officials hailing the effort as ending "psychological lockdown" for the virus-ravaged city.

The city tested 9,899,828 people between May 14 and June 1, according to a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

No confirmed COVID-19 cases were found in the process, said Lu Zuxun, professor with Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, at the event.

HONG KONG (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that the United Kingdom stands ready to open the door to almost 3 million Hong Kong citizens as the city’s leader arrived in Beijing for meetings on a planned national security law that has many worried about their futures.

Johnson, in a column published online by a Hong Kong newspaper, said the security law would curtail freedoms in Hong Kong and conflict with China’s obligations under its agreement with the United Kingdom to take back the former British colony in 1997.

Hong Kong, Jun 1 (AP) Hong Kong police rejected an application Monday for an annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary this week of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, as residents rushed to apply for passports that could allow them to move to the United Kingdom.

Throngs of people lined up at DHL courier outlets across the city, many to send documents to the UK to apply for or renew what is known as a British National (Overseas) passport.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam accused foreign governments on Tuesday of “double standards” in their reaction to Beijing’s plans to impose national security laws on the city, pointing to anti-police brutality protests in the United States.

In her first public appearance after Washington said it will remove Hong Kong’s preferential treatment in U.S. law in response to Beijing’s plans, Lam warned countries threatening actions against the city that they may hurt their own interests.