NEWSWORTHY
Asia Pacific / Science & Health Aug 20, 2018
Beijing basks in bluest skies in a decade as campaign against smog pays off
Beijing residents have been breathing some of the cleanest air in a decade as they begin to reap the benefits of China's anti-smog push. Of the seven lowest monthly pollution readings in the capital city since 2008, five have been recorded since the beginning of ...
Asia Pacific Jul 26, 2018
U.S. Embassy in Beijing targeted by lone assailant with 'firework device'
A bomb exploded outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing early Thursday afternoon, wounding the lone assailant, the embassy said in a statement. Police described the weapon merely as a "firework device." The explosion happened in a public space off the southeast corner of the embassy ...
Asia Pacific Jun 27, 2018
China lashed out Wednesday at Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen after she urged the international community in an interview to "constrain" China before it does irreparable damage to global democracy. Her comments are "misleading and totally baseless," the spokesman for Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office told a ...
World Jun 26, 2018
Mattis becomes first U.S. defense chief to visit China under Trump
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday became the first Pentagon chief to visit China since 2014, starting a three-day trip with a goal of improving security dialogue with Beijing despite increasingly fraught Sino-U.S. relations. Mattis, a former Marine general, has been highly critical of ...
Asia Pacific May 2, 2018
France, Australia call on China to observe rules in South Pacific
French President Emmanuel Macron and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday issued a reminder to China to respect a "rules-based" order in the South Pacific amid concerns about Beijing's growing influence in the region. Macron also stepped up his calls for the renegotiation of ...
Asia Pacific / Politics May 1, 2018
A Chinese internet platform has given the British cartoon "Peppa Pig" the chop as state media lamented that the series had become a "subversive" icon for slackers and anti-social young people. At least 30,000 clips of "Peppa Pig," whose heroine is a playful bright pink ...
Asia Pacific / Crime & Legal Mar 21, 2018
Chinese rights activists fearful as former police official takes charge of legal affairs
Chinese rights lawyers and activists say the Monday promotion of former police official Fu Zhenghua to head China's justice ministry signals an even deeper freeze on attempts to use the country's legal system to defend against rights abuses. Lawmakers at China's annual meeting of parliament ...
Olympics / Winter Olympics Feb 25, 2018
A message for peace and harmony, featuring a mythical Korean "turtle" representing longevity, set the theme as the curtain fell at the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympics on Sunday. Athletes from the over 90 countries competing in 102 medal events across seven sports and ...
Asia Pacific Jan 24, 2018
Seemingly edited police video of Chinese lawyer's arrest raises questions
Chinese authorities appear to be mounting a smear campaign against a detained human rights lawyer by releasing a seemingly edited police video that shows him resisting arrest and then swinging at an officer, campaigners say. Yu Wensheng was seized Friday by roughly a dozen police, ...
Asia Pacific / Politics Jan 1, 2018
Anti-Beijing protesters march in Hong Kong against Beijing 'suppression'
Angry protesters marched through Hong Kong on Monday against what they described as suppression by Beijing, days after Chinese authorities ruled that part of a city rail station will come under mainland law. Semi-autonomous Hong Kong has been ruled under a "one country, two systems" ...
Asia Pacific Dec 13, 2017
Google opens AI center in China despite exclusion from nation's internet
Google announced Wednesday that it will open a new artificial intelligence research center in Beijing, tapping China's talent pool in the promising technology despite the U.S. search giant's exclusion from the country's internet. Artificial intelligence, especially machine learning, has been an area of intense focus ...