Dora Wang* longs to see her family over lunar new year, but despite the recent scrapping of Covid travel restrictions across China she has decided against travelling the 286 miles (461km) from Beijing to her home city, Dalian, in the north-east. “I am really worried because the train stations will be packed,” said the 31-year-old illustrator, who is five months pregnant. Not having been vaccinated, the expectant mother is concerned that she might catch Covid during the long journey. “Even though my parents have recovered from Covid, there are now…
Day: January 5, 2023
Vietnamese rescue teams halt work to recover body of missing 10-year-old
Vietnamese rescue workers are still trying to recover the body of a 10-year-old boy who fell down a hollow concrete pillar on New Year’s Eve. Thai Ly Hao Nam was declared dead on Wednesday by the vice chairman of Dong Thap province’s People’s Committee. Doan Tan Buu said work would continue to remove the concrete pillar and cut the boy’s body out. “In the past, we prioritized both the rescue and finding ways to save the child,” he said. “At this point, the conditions for sustaining the child’s life have…
VOA Interview: Uyghur Emigre Describes Life in China’s Xinjiang in 2022
washington — A Uyghur man who calls himself Jamal left China in recent weeks and talked to VOA about life in Xinjiang in 2022. Fearing retaliation from China for talking to the media, the Uyghur man is using an assumed name in order to protect relatives who still live in Xinjiang. In a report released in August, the U.N. human rights office said China has committed serious human rights violations in Xinjiang. Human rights organizations have accused China of arbitrarily detaining Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities. There have also…
China’s Reports ‘Positive’ Interim Data from COVID mRNA Booster Trial
hong kong/London — China’s CanSino Biologics reported on Thursday “positive” interim data from its experimental COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccine in a mid-stage clinical trial, as the country races to tame a severe outbreak of infections. Infections have soared since China abandoned its strict “zero-COVID” policy last month after protests over tight restrictions placed on its citizens. The CanSino booster vaccine is one of China’s first home-grown potential vaccines based on mRNA technology. The 433-person trial of those aged 18 and above tested a booster shot of the vaccine, called CS-2034,…
US Warship Sails Through Taiwan Strait
WASHINGTON — A U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, part of what the U.S. military calls routine activity but which riles China. In recent years, U.S. warships, and on occasion those from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait, drawing the ire of China, which claims Taiwan against the objections of its democratically elected government. In a statement, the U.S. military said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Chung-Hoon carried out the transit. “Chung-Hoon’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’…
As COVID Surges in China, US Begins Testing More Travelers
Newark, New Jersey — Shubham Chandra knows how dangerous the coronavirus can be: He lost his dad during the pandemic. So when he cleared customs at Newark Liberty International Airport and saw people offering anonymous COVID-19 testing, he was happy to volunteer. “It’s a minimum amount of effort to help a lot of people,” said the 27-year-old New York City man, who had just stepped off a plane from Cancun, Mexico. The airport testing is part of the government’s early warning system for detecting new variants, which began expanding recently…
North Koreans step up scrap metal collection to support struggling steel works
North Korea has ordered its people to donate large amounts of scrap metal in the new year to help the country’s steel industry, which is struggling from a lack of fuel, electricity and raw materials, sources in the country told Radio Free Asia. The scrap is in addition to an existing monthly quota, a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “On Jan. 2, the first work day of the new year, employees of all the factories and…
Manga artist documents Uyghur woman’s experiences in Xinjiang ‘re-education’ camp
A famous writer and illustrator in Japan has produced a new manga booklet portraying the experiences of an ethnic Uzbek woman forced to teach Mandarin to mostly Uyghur detainees in ‘re-education’ camps in northwest China’s Xinjiang region. Tomomi Shimizu’s latest work builds on her success with her previous booklets on female detainees in Xinjiang, released in Japan to draw attention to the repression of the mostly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in northwest China. The Japan Uyghur Association in collaboration with the Japan Too’i Educational Film Producing Center has…
China defends Covid reporting transparency, says case numbers compare favourably with other nations
The rise in infections amid criticism that authorities in China have not been reporting infection data accurately has prompted many countries, including the US, Japan and Australia to make Covid-19 testing and screening a requirement for those arriving from, or by way of, China. Liu’s assessment follows comments last week by Mike Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies director, that current figures being published from China under-represented numbers of hospital admissions, ICU admissions and “particularly in terms of death”. Advertisement EU authorities were also asked to step up the “testing and sequencing…
Despite Releases, 50 Other Journalists Still Jailed in Myanmar
yangon, myanmar — At least nine journalists were among the more than 7,000 people freed from prisons across Myanmar on Wednesday. Myanmar’s junta ordered the release to mark the country’s 75th independence anniversary, with detainees issued pardons or reduced sentences. Among those freed was Myo Min Tun, who worked as an editor for Myit Makha Media Group, an independent news agency and former VOA affiliate. But media workers and rights organizations noted that at least 50 journalists remain in prison. Among them is Sithu Aung Myint, a VOA contributor who…