Category: Media Library

The Next Chapter of Africa-China Climate Cooperation

Media Library

Nearly five years have passed since the adoption of the Declaration on China-Africa Cooperation on Combating Climate Change at the Eighth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC 8) in 2021. Since then, discussions have often centered on simple indicators to reflect on the progress made – for example, the number of projects announced, the size of new investments, and the scale of renewable energy commitments. At first glance, Development Reimagined’s China-Africa Climate Action Tracker provides just this. The tracker captures 246 publicly announced climate actions across 50 African countries between 2022…

People evacuate building in Tibet as powerful earthquake strikes – video

Media Library

Chinese TV footage showed people evacuating a building and debris falling as a magnitude-7 earthquake struck Tibet on Thursday, killing at least 16 people. Search and rescue efforts were under way after at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed in the city of Nagqu. It was the biggest quake in the region in the past five years, according to China’s national broadcaster CCTV The Guardian

Severe flooding in eastern Spain, while UK hit by first named storm of winter

Media Library

Storm Adam brought torrential rain to eastern Spain earlier this week. In Pego, Alicante, 632mm fell in 36 hours with 430mm of this falling in just six hours, while the Valencian town of Olivia received 600mm in 24 hours. As a result, 145 municipalities, approximately 850,000 people, across Valencia and Alicante were placed in a temporary lockdown on Monday due to the severe flooding. At least five people have died and 500 have been rescued and 2,100 evacuated. The storm also affected the Balearic Islands, with more than 130 incidents…

Magnitude-7 earthquake hits China’s Tibet, killing at least 16 and destroying hundreds of homes

Media Library

A magnitude-7 earthquake has hit China’s Tibet region, killing at least 16 people, injuring 54 and collapsing hundreds of homes in the northern regional city of Nagqu, official media said. Search and rescue efforts continued after the collapse of at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds, the Nagqu media office said, citing city government officials. More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed for rescue efforts. Supplies including 1,000 prefabricated housing units and about 3,000 tents and folding beds as well as torches and winter clothing arrived…

‘I hope that she will be free before long’ Aung San Suu Kyi’s son Kim Aris says

Media Library

Myanmar’s military-backed government announced on Thursday that former leader Aung San Suu Kyi – currently under house arrest – was allowed to talk for 20 minutes to her son Kim Aris at 2:30 p.m. via a call placed to the Myanmar embassy in London, where Aris resides. He speaks in an exclusive interview with Radio Free Asia. Radio Free Asia: After more than five years without direct contact, how did you get the opportunity to speak with your mother and how did the Myanmar Embassy in London reach out to…

China, Djibouti Express ‘Serious Concern’ Over Threats to Red Sea Shipping

Media Library

Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Abdoulkader Houssein Omar is visiting China from October 19 to 25. On October 21, he held a meeting with his counterpart and host, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. According to a spokesperson from China’s Foreign Ministry, “They had an in-depth exchange of views on the Horn of Africa situation and the safety of shipping lanes across the Red Sea.” The Red Sea is under siege – a major concern for Djibouti, which sits on the Horn of Africa, at the junction between the Red Sea and the…

Aung San Suu Kyi phone call is ‘political calculation’ by military-backed government

Media Library

Read a version of this story in Burmese Updated 5:05 PM ET Allowing Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi to speak on the phone with her son for the first time in five years is not enough – the military government must immediately release her and all other political prisoners, a human rights advocate told Radio Free Asia Thursday. The country’s military-backed government announced that the former leader – currently under house arrest – was allowed to talk for 20 minutes to her son Kim Aris at 2:30…

Hong Kong’s Vanishing Rainbow Shows How China’s Social Control Travels

Media Library

China’s growing pressure on LGBTQ communities is increasingly transnational. Chinese nationals who attend Pride events overseas can attract police attention after returning home; overseas Chinese LGBTQ groups remain vulnerable to censorship on Chinese platforms; cultural spaces in Europe can lose access to Chinese social media for promoting transgender films; and mainland writers publishing gay fiction on overseas platforms have faced prosecution at home. Hong Kong offers a particularly revealing entry point because similar pressures are visible there even though same-sex relationships are legal (though not legally recognized as marriages). In…

No purchase, no seats: Starbucks China rolls out new policy

Media Library

Taking a seat at a Starbucks in China? Just make sure you’re also ordering something there. A new policy by Starbucks China takes effect across all its 8,000 stores on Thursday, making it mandatory for people to purchase items if they want to sit in its cafes. Starbucks China said the move was part of efforts to improve the “in-store experience” for customers. The company is facing stiff competition from homegrown brands such as Luckin Coffee. Reports of the new policy circulated this week, along with social media videos of…

Taiwan charges five men over plot to run over comedian for his Xi Jinping jokes

Media Library

Taiwanese prosecutors have charged five men over a plot to ram a car into a comedian who made fun of the Chinese Communist party and Xi Jinping. Taiwan has repeatedly accused China of transnational repression to silence critics on the self-governed island, which Beijing claims as its territory and has vowed to take by force if necessary. In one performance, Huang Yi-hao insulted the Chinese leader’s appearance, compared him to Winnie-the-Pooh and tore into his political record. Prosecutors in New Taipei said on Wednesday that an individual from mainland China…