Tag: Science&Health

Gulf of Guinea Countries Agree to Stop Illegal Chinese Fishing

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Grand Popo, Benin —  Chinese boats are decimating West Africa’s fish stocks and fishing communities in the Gulf of Guinea, say environmental groups. The Institute for Security Studies, a South African think tank, said the communities could be losing more than $2 billion each year to illegal fishing, mainly from Chinese-owned boats. Beninese fisherman Geoffroy Gbedevi said it’s getting harder to feed his daughter and pregnant wife. He said the community is suffering and the number of fish being caught is much lower than it used to be. “Nothing is…

China Begins to Revive Arctic Scientific Ground Projects After Setbacks

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WASHINGTON —  Beijing is taking its first steps toward recovering from years of setbacks to its scientific, land-based projects in the Arctic, sending personnel to two outposts that have been vital to its policy of establishing China as a “near-Arctic” state. China’s Arctic policy document, published in 2018, said scientific research to “explore and understand” the Arctic is the “priority and focus” of Chinese participation in Arctic affairs. Over a 14-year period since 2004, China launched scientific projects in Arctic regions of four Western European nations — Norway, Iceland, Sweden…

China Reports 2 New COVID Deaths as Some Restrictions Eased

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Hong Kong —  China on Sunday reported two additional deaths from COVID-19 as some cities move cautiously to ease anti-pandemic restrictions following increasingly vocal public frustrations. The National Health Commission said one death was reported each in the provinces of Shandong and Sichuan. No information was given about the ages of the victims or whether they had been fully vaccinated. China, where the virus first was detected in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan, is the last major country trying to stop transmission completely through quarantines, lockdowns and…

3 Chinese Astronauts Return to Earth After 6-Month Mission

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Beijing —  Three Chinese astronauts landed in a northern desert on Sunday after six months working to complete construction of the Tiangong station, a symbol of the country’s ambitious space program, state TV reported. A capsule carrying commander Chen Dong and astronauts Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe touched down at a landing site in the Gobi Desert in northern China at approximately 8:10 p.m. (1210 GMT), China Central Television reported. Prior to departure, they overlapped for almost five days with three colleagues who arrived Wednesday on the Shenzhou-15 mission for…

Shanghai Axes Some COVID Testing Requirements  

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Beijing —  Authorities in China’s financial hub of Shanghai will from Monday scrap some testing requirements in the country’s latest relaxing of its strict zero-COVID policy following nationwide protests unseen in decades. Multiple cities have started to roll back some restrictions after public resentment at harsh and prolonged containment measures reached a boiling point last weekend, when spontaneous protests broke out in multiple Chinese cities. Shanghai residents will no longer need a 48-hour negative test result to use public transport and enter outdoor venues such as parks and tourist attractions,…

China Eases Some COVID Restrictions Following Protests

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Days after protests erupted in China over the country’s strict zero-COVID policy, there are signs the government is beginning to ease its testing requirements and quarantine rules in some cities, but it is unclear whether the measures will go far enough to appease those who have been in lockdown for so long. Some called for more protests in China this weekend, but it remains to be seen if people will take to the streets like they did last weekend, when demonstrations broke out in more than 20 cities in a…

China Fines Former NBA Star Lin Over Quarantine Comments

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BEIJING —  Former NBA star Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for “inappropriate remarks” on social media about quarantine facilities ahead of a game, China’s professional league announced Friday, as the government tries to stop protests against anti-virus controls that are among the world’s most stringent. Also Friday, more cities eased restrictions, allowing shopping malls, supermarkets and other businesses to reopen following protests last weekend in Shanghai and other areas in which some crowds called for President Xi Jinping to resign. Urumqi in…

China Blames Foreigners for Inciting Protests

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NEW DELHI —  China’s rulers are accusing “hostile forces,” including foreigners, of inciting street demonstrations in more than three dozen Chinese cities and many more universities in the biggest domestic political challenge for Beijing since 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests. At stake is the legitimacy of the ruling Chinese Communist Party as protesters question its management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has used repressive methods such as repetitive mass testing, quarantines, and lockdowns resulting in large-scale unemployment and economic loss. Jolted, the government is handling the new situation cautiously. Though…

For China, No Easy Way Out of ‘Zero-COVID’ Policy

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WASHINGTON —  As much of the world returned to some kind of new normal in 2022, China remains the only country sticking to a strict “zero-COVID” policy to control the spread of a global pandemic. While credited with saving lives, the policy slowed the economy, exacerbated supply-chain disruptions, cost millions of jobs, forced a large portion of Chinese residents into some form of lockdown for months, and is now, experts say, forcing Beijing’s leadership to seek a way out of a problem they don’t admit having. Over the last weekend…

Chinese Astronauts Reach Tiangong Space Station

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Three Chinese astronauts arrived Wednesday at the country’s space station as part of a six-month mission that includes the station’s first in-orbit crew rotation. The astronauts are replacing three others who have been at the Tiangong station since early June. China docked the last of the station’s three modules earlier this month and astronauts are working on the final phases of the construction process. China plans to launch a powerful space telescope next year. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. VOA