Day: January 19, 2024

Dormitory Fire Kills 13 in Central China

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A fire in the dormitory of a kindergarten and elementary school in central China killed 13 people, Chinese state-owned news media reported on Saturday. A 14th person was being treated for injuries in a hospital after the fire broke out late Friday night, China Central Television said. The blaze was extinguished quickly, and the head of the school was taken into custody, the report said. No further details were provided, including whether any of the dead were children. It was not immediately known whether all the students at the school…

Japan Joins Elite Club by Landing on Moon. What Are Others Doing?

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TOKYO —  Japan landed a spacecraft on the moon Saturday, an attempt at the world’s first “pinpoint lunar landing.” The milestone puts Japan in a club previously occupied by only the United States, the Soviet Union, India and China. A raft of countries and companies are also plotting moon missions. Success means international scientific and diplomatic accolades and potential domestic political gains. Failure means a very expensive, and public, .Here’s a look at high-profile recent and upcoming attempts, and what they might mean. The United States NASA plans to send…

How a steep drop in South Koreans studying in China is a symptom of chill in bilateral ties

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According to the latest figures from Seoul’s Ministry of Education, the number of South Korean students attending universities, graduate schools and foreign language institutes in China hit a low last year, with only 15,857 as of April, compared with a peak of 73,240 in 2017. The steep drop was symptomatic of the chill in ties between the two Asian neighbours since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May 2022. Under Yoon, the country has leaned closer to the US – a treaty ally – on a wide range…

Beijing sees ‘hope and opportunity’ in DPP’s weak Taiwan election result

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Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies director Ni Yongjie pointed out that 60 per cent of voters wanted to remove the DPP from power “and the future focus of Taiwan’s politics will be in the legislature after the DPP had suffered heavy losses there”. Taiwan election: Lai’s victory risks further tensions with Beijing “Lai only kept the [DPP’s] base after his party had tried all the measures to divide his opponents … It also proves that the DPP was not united and Lai himself lacked political power within his party,” he…

North Korea’s Hostility Could Snag China’s Bid for Better US Ties, Analysts Say

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washington —  China could face a dilemma dealing with Pyongyang this year as it finds North Korea’s threats and deepening ties with Russia disruptive to Beijing’s efforts to improve its relationship with Washington, analysts say. North Korean state media KCNA said on Friday that the country tested an underwater nuclear weapons system in the waters off its east coast. The test came after Pyongyang seemingly dismissed the possibility of peaceful reunification with Seoul by announcing on Monday the end of its reconciliation and reunification policy and called for preparing to…

In US-China rivalry, Beijing advisers urge ‘rational’ approach during election year, but will pragmatism win out?

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Policy advisers are urging Beijing to remain open-minded and focus on restoring investor confidence as China braces for more geopolitical tensions this year against the backdrop of elections in the United States and European Union. While November’s summit between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in California helped stabilise relations between their respective countries, it is unclear whether such progress will garner Biden many “brownie points” with voters in the 2024 US presidential election, according to Zhang Wenzong, deputy director and research professor of Institute of American Studies at the…

China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists, CPJ says

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China is the worst jailer of journalists in the world, a report by a New York-based watchdog said, and nearly half of the journalists behind bars in the country are Uyghurs who reported on the persecution of the mostly Muslim group in Xinjiang. In its 2023 prison census, conducted on Dec. 1, the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, found that there was a spike in arrested journalists, with 320 believed to be behind bars – close to a record high. More than half of those jailed journalists were charged…

Clashes displace 50,000 from Myanmar’s Paletwa township

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More than 50,000 people, or about half of the population of Paletwa township in western Myanmar’s Chin state, have been forced to flee conflict in recent months, and are in urgent need of assistance, aid workers said Friday. The thousands from Paletwa join what the U.N. last month estimated are more than 2.5 million people displaced by conflict in Myanmar amid intense fighting between anti-junta forces and the military, which seized power three years ago through a coup d’etat. Clashes between the military and the ethnic Arakan Army, or AA,…

China Urges End of ‘Harassment’ of Vessels in Red Sea

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BEIJING —  China called for an end to the “harassment” of civilian vessels in the Red Sea on Friday after attacks on ships by Houthi rebels in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Houthi aggression against shipping vessels in and around the Red Sea has led to retaliatory strikes in Yemen by U.S. and British forces. Some shipping firms are avoiding the crucial trade artery, causing delays along international trade routes. Beijing emphasized Friday the area was an “important international trade route for goods and energy.” “We call for an end…

What’s at stake for China as border tensions flare between Iran and Pakistan?

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Tehran said it was targeting Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni separatist group that operates mostly in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province bordering Pakistan, where the ethnic Baloch are people seeking independence. Pakistan hit back on Thursday, killing nine people – including three children – in a border village in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran said. Islamabad said it too was targeting rebel armed groups hiding in Iran. The strikes triggered a series of diplomatic protests between the two sides. 03:20 Pakistan retaliates with missile strikes into Iran, killing 9 after Tehran…