Forty-seven people were buried in a landslide in China’s south-western Yunnan province, state media has reported. CCTV said on Monday that about 18 households were buried, and more than 200 people were evacuated. Authorities launched an emergency response involving more than 200 rescue workers as well as dozens of fire engines and other equipment, CCTV said. Landslides are common in Yunnan, a remote region of China where steep mountain ranges butt against the Himalayan plateau. Monday’s disaster occurred in a rural area surrounded by towering peaks dusted with snow. Temperatures…
Day: January 21, 2024
500 evacuated as rescuers search for more than 40 trapped in China village landslide
Developing | 500 evacuated as rescuers search for more than 40 trapped in China village landslide More than 500 people have been evacuated from a village in southwestern China as rescue workers scrabble to reach 47 of their neighbours who were buried under a landslide early on Monday morning. State broadcaster CCTV reported that 18 homes were in the path of the landslide which struck Liangshui village in Zhaotong city’s Zhenxiong county, Yunnan province at 5.51am. An image shared on Chinese social media platform Weibo of the devastating landslide that…
China is moving up the rare earth value chain. The West is trying to catch up
And as Western countries develop their own rare earth supply chains to reduce reliance on China, acquisitions like Shenghe’s show how China is seeking to import upstream products from the West, then export value-added products back to these countries. So while China used to provide cheap raw materials to Western nations to make high-end products for clean energy, it is now attempting to reverse that production flow in the global value chain. Western nations are developing their own rare earth supply chains to reduce reliance on China. Photo: Reuters In…
N Korea asserts military commitment amid underwater nuclear test doubts
North Korea has reiterated its dedication to enhancing its military prowess on the global stage as South Korea has suggested that Pyongyang’s claim about testing underwater nuclear weapons might be “exaggerated” and “fabricated.” “There is a widespread dominance of coercion and unilateral actions driven by the logic of power, which severely encroaches upon the sovereignty and survival rights of nations advocating for self-determination and independence,” said Kim Son Gyong, North Korea’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, as cited by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency on Monday. Speaking at…
Japan turns to avatars, robots and AI to tackle labour crisis
With 500 days to go before the spring 2025 opening of the Osaka World Expo, its secretary-general Hiroyuki Ishige reassured the public that the multibillion-dollar global showcase would be ready on time. Ishige’s confidence may be genuine, but the fact that he had to address the question at all is the result of a crisis far beyond his control. The Expo — a dusty, barren site with little yet built — is the most high-profile victim of a national shortage of construction workers. A shortfall of workers in the world’s…
Investigation Underway After China School Fire Kills 13
Yanshanpu, China — Authorities in central China’s Henan province were looking Sunday into the cause of a night-time fire that killed 13 schoolchildren as they slept in a dormitory. The inferno, which took place at the Yingcai School in Yanshanpu village, was reported to the local fire department at 11:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) Friday and was put out around 40 minutes later, official news agency Xinhua said. Thirteen students died in the accident, while one other person suffered injuries. Dozens of police were in and around a cordoned-off area near…
China’s vulnerable middle class must work harder to maintain status quo, Beijing seeks urgent fix for indispensable cohort
A continued decline would also threaten Beijing’s efforts to double the size of China’s middle-income group as part of its common prosperity push, which lies at the centre of the ambition to become an advanced economy by the middle of the century. Some are faced with unstable jobs, and under threat of dropping out of the middle-income groupEconomic Daily While there is no definition of the middle class in China, the commonly used phrase of middle-income group is defined by the National Bureau of Statistics as a three-person household earning…
‘Gutter talk’: is Manila overcorrecting its China policy post-Duterte?
As if that weren’t enough, the military has announced that the Philippines will fortify its facilities on disputed features in the South China Sea. After six years of Beijing-friendly foreign policy under former president Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine political and defence establishment has embraced an uncompromising stance on maritime disputes with China. While they may see this as a justified response and a noble attempt at preserving their country’s sovereign rights, the Philippines should also be wary of overcorrecting its China policy. Otherwise, the two rival claimants may sleepwalk into…
China’s Self-Pitying Empire
Your columnist finally got around to watching the Chinese film “No More Bets,” a summer blockbuster in the mainland which one can find online, after some struggle, with English subtitles. It’s clearly a work of self-pity with a clear government PR message – try not to get conned by scammers – and it has managed to excite several Southeast Asian governments into banning its screening because of the apparent message that once you step foot outside China, or one foot inside Southeast Asia, it’s nothing but crime and anarchy. Some…
Bhutan ‘open for business’ as voters choose former PM Tobgay to rebuild economy
“Bhutan is open for business,” wrote Prime Minister-elect Tshering Tobgay on X, after the people of the tiny Himalayan kingdom returned him to power in parliamentary elections this month. Analysts say Tobgay’s two-thirds majority win indicates the 800,000 people of Bhutan are pinning their hopes on an experienced hand to rebuild the economy, reverse an ongoing migration crisis, and strengthen ties with the landlocked nation’s two neighbors, India and Tibet, amidst ongoing border negotiations with China. The victory by Harvard-educated conservation advocate Tobgay, 58 – who served as Bhutan’s second…