Day: September 13, 2025

In an attempt to jointly address two major policy priorities for China – fostering a “birth-friendly society” and bolstering its scientific talent pool – Shanghai has introduced a subsidy programme to support female researchers returning to work after childbirth. Advertisement The Keyan Return Plan was launched last week by the Shanghai Women’s Association for Science and Technology to address career challenges faced by women in science – particularly those that arise while balancing the demands of motherhood with those of research roles – according to Jiefang Daily, a media outlet…

China has accused the United States and Britain of undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait with their decision to send warships through the waterway, a mission that the two allies described as routine. Advertisement The People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command said Chinese naval and air forces closely monitored the destroyer USS Higgins and the British frigate HMS Richmond as they transited the strait on Friday. The passage amounted to “harassment and provocation”, command spokesman Senior Colonel Shi Yi said, adding that the action “sent wrong signals and…

Pre-order sales of Apple’s new iPhone 17 series have got off to a robust start in China, shattering previous records despite delays in the shipment of the iPhone Air. Advertisement In the first minute after pre-orders began at 8pm Friday local time, sales on JD.com – one of China’s largest online shopping platforms – surpassed the first-day pre-order volume of last year’s iPhone 16 series, according to the e-commerce operator. The standard iPhone 17 with 256GB of storage emerged as the most popular variant, JD.com said. Those numbers excluded the…

When Mary Wang, a 27-year-old Chinese woman living in the West Australian capital of Perth, heard that thousands of anti-immigration protesters would be marching across the country late last month, she immediately cancelled plans to leave the house. Advertisement Wang, who works in IT, was planning to continue her volunteer work teaching the elderly how to use smartphones, but the disturbing rallies gave her pause. “I just feel insecure,” Wang said. “I’m already in an environment I didn’t grow up in, and I don’t fit in. When something like this…