Chinese authorities have warned of “multiple natural disasters” in the coming month, as heavy rains lash parts of the country. A weather alert is in place for large areas of central and southwestern China and thousands of people have been evacuated. A building collapsed into raging floodwaters in Chongqing. Meanwhile, in Henan province, rescuers were filmed freeing people trapped on top of a car in the middle of a torrent of water. BBC
“The People’s Republic of China conducts foreign relations to uphold its system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, safeguard its sovereignty, unification and territorial integrity, and promote its economic and social development,” the law states. BBC
Last year, the privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch attempted to find out. Between August 2021 and January 2022, it submitted 4,510 Freedom of Information requests to public bodies across the UK. Of 1,289 that responded, 806 confirmed they used Hikvision or Dahua cameras – 227 councils and 15 police forces use Hikvision, and 35 councils use Dahua. BBC
John Culver – a former East Asia analyst for the CIA – told Panorama that this “had been not just a one-off, but a continuing effort dating back at least five years.” He said the Chinese balloons were “specially designed for these long-range missions” and some had “apparently circumnavigated the globe”. BBC
The journalist says that she had asked him to apologise publicly after the incident. She added that Mr Teng had agreed to do so, but several of their mutual acquaintances asked her to stop pursuing a public apology as they feared it would give other people a chance to discredit their work on human rights. BBC
The balloon, which China says was monitoring weather, drifted across the continental US before being destroyed by American military aircraft in February. Washington later said it was part of a sprawling Chinese intelligence collection programme. Mr Blinken, who was meant to visit Beijing at the time, postponed the trip in the wake of the balloon incident. BBC
For 35 minutes on Monday, when Mr Blinken became the top-ranking US diplomat to meet Mr Xi since 2018, a collective sigh of relief was likely heaved through that tactical stretch of US allies in the Pacific – from Japan and South Korea in the north, through the Philippines, all the way to Australia in the south. Southeast Asian economies sitting on crucial global supply routes, and tiny Pacific island nations, pulled between Chinese and American overtures, would have been just as reassured. BBC
To understand how essential it is to Apple, for instance, you just need to look at how much of the iPhone is made by Foxconn – around 60%, by some estimates. The factories in China make some of the most essential parts of the device – camera modules, connectors, even the back of the phone casing. BBC
In one commentary, state broadcaster CCTV said students should “take off the long gown”, referring to a crucial element of the story, perhaps its most abiding detail. The “long gown” worn by Kong is what divides the rich and the learned from the uneducated poor who wear “short jackets”. So CCTV’s advice, it appears, was that students should swallow their pride, discard the long gown, and find whatever jobs they can. BBC
But soon after Mr Xi secured a third term, Apple released a new version of the feature in China, limiting its scope. Now Chinese users of iPhones and other Apple devices are restricted to a 10-minute window when receiving files from people who are not listed as a contact. After 10 minutes, users can only receive files from contacts. Apple did not explain why the update was first introduced in China, but over the years, the tech giant has been criticised for appeasing Beijing. BBC