Australia will not immediately follow countries such as the United States, Italy and Japan which have moved to require travellers from China to produce a negative Covid test to enter. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Thursday backed health advice that said Australia has built up immunity to the variant ravaging China, but he did not rule out travel restrictions in future. Covid has been spreading rapidly throughout China since Beijing begun rolling back its strict “zero-Covid” policies. Several countries have announced border restrictions for arrivals from China, which will…
Year: 2022
VOA Interview: House Select Committee Hopes to Explain Why China Matters
As Republicans prepare to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, they are looking to put their stamp on a range of issues, including China. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who is campaigning to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives, has named Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin to lead a new House Select Committee on China. Gallagher spoke with VOA Mandarin on December 15 on Capitol Hill about his plans for the new panel, which aims to focus on economic and security competition…
China needs to rethink its relationship with Russia in 2023
Given these massive changes, it is fair to ask why Beijing appears to remain committed to its quasi-alliance with Russia. What benefits does China receive and are they worth the risk to its relations with the West? Or is China merely shackling itself to a nation that increasingly resembles a corpse? Before February, the grounds for this alliance were clear. Following the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol building, the United States appeared to be a nation in disarray, suffering hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 deaths, a chaotic withdrawal…
Myanmar court imprisons detained opposition official’s lawyer
A secret court in Myanmar on Wednesday sentenced the lawyer representing a leader of the former ruling political party to 15 years in prison with hard labor, according to an attorney with knowledge of the country’s judicial proceedings. The military tribunal in Mandalay’s Obo Prison sentenced Ywat Nu Aung, who represented Zaw Myint Maung, a vice chair of the National League for Democracy Party, on charges of aiding a terrorist organization, the attorney told Radio Free Asia, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. The move is the…
Former Uyghur Muslim preacher confirmed dead in prison in China’s Xinjiang
A Uyghur Muslim preacher serving a five-year sentence in China’s far-western Xinjiang region for making a religious pilgrimage abroad died of liver cancer in prison in February, according to a police officer who works in the district where the preacher resided. Omar Huseyin, 55, was the former hatip, or preacher, at the Qarayulghun Mosque in Korla, known as Ku’erle in Chinese and the second-largest city in Xinjiang. Authorities apprehended him in September 2017 amid a widespread crackdown on Islamic clergy and other prominent Uyghurs, for traveling to the holy city…
US says passengers from China will be required to present negative COVID test
Passengers arriving in the United States from China, Hong Kong and Macau will be required to present a negative COVID-19 test from no more than two days before departure, the U.S. health authorities announced Wednesday. Amid increasing cases of the coronavirus in China nearly three years after the start of the pandemic, the United States joins Italy, Japan, Taiwan, and India in requiring passengers from China to test negative before arrival. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, made the announcement, saying that the requirement applies to air…
In 2022, Chinese scientists reached new heights, depths and frontiers in pursuit of discovery and understanding
Qianshi, launched by Baidu tech giant in August, was among China’s tech achievements in 2022. The quantum computer can be accessed by an app, with users able to download software and send their own computing task. Credit: Institute for Quantum Computing, Baidu South China Morning Post
Plan to open border with mainland China sparks fears in Hong Kong
Hong Kong leader John Lee on Wednesday announced plans to open the city’s internal border with the rest of China by mid-January, sparking fears that the current wave of mass COVID-19 infections sweeping the country will engulf the city, sparking a run on medical resources. “I’m very thankful to the Central People’s Government for making the direction that we will resume normal travel with the mainland step by step … with a view to full opening for normalization,” Lee told journalists in Hong Kong. “That is what we are doing…
Cambodian court upholds verdict keeping NagaWorld union leader in jail
A Cambodian court upheld a verdict detaining Chhim Sithor, a union leader involved in the NagaWorld Hotel and Casino strike in which hundreds of workers have been striking to demand better wages and working conditions. Chhim Sithor was arrested after returning to Cambodia from a labor conference in Australia on Nov. 26 for violating bail conditions that apparently restricted her from leaving the country. Her arrest was condemned by NagaWorld strikers, civil society officials, and the U.S. State Department. Police initially arrested Chhim Sithar back in Dec. 2021, charging her…
As China Drops Travel Rules, Wariness Rises Over its Covid Outbreak
For the past three years, China largely shut its borders and kept its people home, retreating from the global engagement that was the foundation for its rise. As the country now prepares to gradually reopen its doors to help rescue a faltering economy, the world is both excited about the potential boon for business and tourism, but wary about exposure to a country facing an explosion of Covid cases. Starting Jan. 8, China will drop its strict quarantine requirements for travelers arriving from abroad and lift rules that had limited…