BEIJING (AP) — Wang Jian is anxious to get back to work teaching basketball to children now that China has lifted anti-COVID-19 restrictions. But his gym in the eastern city of Shenyang has been closed for a month because all its coaches are infected.
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese embassies suspended issuing new visas for South Koreans and Japanese on Tuesday in apparent retaliation for COVID-19 testing requirements recently imposed by those countries on travelers from China.
The embassies in Tokyo and Seoul announced the suspensions in brief online notices.
The Seoul notice, posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account, said the ban would continue until South Korea lifts its “discriminatory entry measures” against China. The announcement covered tourist, business and some other visas.
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia has requested Saudi Arabia to inform in advance of this year’s haj pilgrimage cost to ensure good management of Malaysian pilgrims.
In a Facebook post Monday, the Malaysian pilgrimage management and fund board, TH, said the matter was discussed by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar and the TH management during a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr Tawfiq Fawzan Al-Rabiah.
BEIJING, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who gained prominence as one of China's most outspoken "wolf warrior" diplomats, has been transferred to its department that manages land and sea borders, according to the ministry's website.
Zhao, 50, is now deputy head of the ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, the website showed on Monday.
BANGKOK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Thailand has rescinded an entry policy announced at the weekend requiring visitors to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination, its health minister said on Monday, citing sufficient immunisation levels in China and globally.
Anutin Charnvirakul said checking evidence of vaccinations was inconvenient and a panel of heath experts had agreed to withdraw the new rule, which was announced on Saturday by aviation authorities ahead of an expected deluge of visitors from China, where COVID-19 cases have surged.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Chinese military held large-scale joint combat strike drills starting Sunday, sending war planes and navy vessels toward Taiwan, both the Chinese and Taiwanese defense ministries said.
The exercises coincided with the visit of a group of German lawmakers who landed in Taiwan on Monday morning. Leading the delegation is the Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who leads the German Parliament’s Defense Committee.
BEIJING, Jan 8 (APP): The first flights under China’s new “no quarantine” rules for international travelers landed at airports in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in southern Guangdong Province early on Sunday morning, the national customs authority said on Sunday.
Officials said 387 passengers were aboard two flights from Toronto and Singapore on the day the country ended its strict COVID-19 restrictions for travelers.
They said the flights arrived just after midnight, and all passengers had completed customs clearance procedures by 1:32 a.m.
MANILA, Jan 8 (NNN-PNA) – Residents in the central and southern Philippines are bracing for more rain that can trigger flooding and landslides in these areas this weekend, the state weather bureau warned yesterday.
It said, a low-pressure area is now located some 735 kilometres east of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, adding, the brewing storm will bring “moderate to heavy rain showers” in the southern and central regions in the next 24 hours.
VIENTIANE, Jan 8 (NNN-KPL) – A series of cultural events, organised by the China Cultural Centre in Laos, and the Culture and Tourism Department of China’s north-eastern Liaoning Province, have been held in the Lao capital, to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.
The Ancient Chinese Landscape Painting Exhibition, themed “Picturesque Rivers and Mountains,” kicked off the 2023 “Happy Chinese New Year” Festival activities, on Friday.
BANGKOK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Thailand will require international travelers to show proof they are fully vaccinated for COVID before flying to Thailand, according to the country's aviation regulator, as it prepares for more tourists after China reopened its border on Sunday.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said in a statement on Saturday that starting early Monday, all foreign arrivals starting early on Monday must prove they are vaccinated or provide a letter certifying that they have recovered from COVID within six months.
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