As divorce rates rise and the cost of living bites, single mothers in China are searching for a new kind of partner: each other. Across social media are posts from harried mothers seeking like-minded parents to share a home and child-rearing responsibilities. “I’m hoping to find another single mom to share an apartment with, so we can take care of each other,” said a popular post on Xiaohongshu, a platform known overseas as Rednote. “If our children are around the same age, that would be even better – they can…
Tag: World news
China-critical UK academics describe ‘extremely heavy’ pressure from Beijing
UK academics whose research is critical of China say they have been targeted and their universities subjected to “extremely heavy” pressure from Beijing, prompting calls for a fresh look at the sector’s dependence on tuition fee income from Chinese students. The academics spoke out after the Guardian revealed this week that Sheffield Hallam University had complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, which had led to a big project being dropped. One UK-based China scholar has since described being a victim of…
Return of Chinese astronauts delayed after spacecraft struck by debris
The return to Earth of three Chinese astronauts has been delayed until an unspecified date after their spacecraft was apparently struck by a small piece of debris, according to Chinese state media. The three astronauts from the Shenzhou-20 mission flew to the Tiangong space station in April, and were expected to return on Wednesday at the end of a six month mission. Their replacements, the crew of Shenzhou-21, had already arrived on the weekend. “The Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft is suspected to have been struck by a small piece of orbital…
Danish authorities in rush to close security loophole in Chinese electric buses
Authorities in Denmark are urgently studying how to close an apparent security loophole in hundreds of Chinese-made electric buses that enables them to be remotely deactivated. The investigation comes after transport authorities in Norway, where the Yutong buses are also in service, found that the Chinese supplier had remote access for software updates and diagnostics to the vehicles’ control systems – which could be exploited to affect buses while in transit. Amid concerns over potential security risks, the Norwegian public transport authority Ruter decided to test two electric buses in…
A cultural revolution? Trump’s America feels oddly familiar to those watching from China
When Vickie Wang, a budding standup comedian, gets on stage in New York, she’s not just thinking about what jokes to crack. She’s also thinking about which ones to avoid. “I don’t criticise the administration directly,” she said. Or if she does, she makes sure it’s not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly publish something where I directly criticise the government … I think it’s a learned behaviour from China”. Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025 she relocated to the…
China accuses Dutch of prolonging chip war that threatens to halt car factories
Carmakers around the world are facing fresh uncertainty about their ability to continue production after China accused the Netherlands of failing to cooperate on resolving a dispute over the seizure of the chipmaker Nexperia. The Dutch government took control of the EU-based automotive chipmaker at the end of September because of concerns about the company’s Chinese parent, Wingtech Technology. In response, China halted exports of Nexperia products, restricting access to the vital components used in everything from airbags to central locking. Carmakers including Volkswagen, Honda and Nissan have warned tthe…
Xi Jinping cracks joke about spying with phones given to South Korean president
It would take someone with nerves of steel to joke about the security of Chinese smartphones in front of Xi Jinping. Step forward the South Korean president, Lee Jae Myung, who, after being given a pair of smartphones by the Chinese leader before their state banquet at the weekend, wondered out loud if the devices were secure. Xi, who is not known for public displays of humour, laughed and smiled as Lee’s quip was translated into Chinese, before displaying some sharp wit of his own. Pointing at the phones, he…
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
A British university complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, leading to a major project being dropped, the Guardian can reveal. In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China. Murphy’s work focuses on Uyghurs, a persecuted Muslim minority in China, being co-opted into forced labour programmes. Her research,…
Trump says Maduro’s days are numbered but ‘doubts’ US will go to war with Venezuela
Donald Trump has sent mixed signals about potential US intervention in Venezuela, playing down concerns of imminent war against the South American nation but saying its leader Nicolás Maduro’s days were numbered. The president’s remarks, made during a CBS interview released on Sunday, come as the US amasses military units in the Caribbean and has conducted multiple strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels, killing dozens. Asked during the 60 Minutes program if the US was going to war against Venezuela, Trump said: “I doubt it. I don’t think so.” However, when…
Nexperia halts chip supplies to China in threat to global car production
Nexperia, the EU-based automotive chipmaker at the centre of a geopolitical dispute, has suspended supplies to its Chinese factory, stepping up a trade war that threatens to halt production at carmakers around the world. The company wrote to customers this week informing them all supplies to a Chinese plant had been suspended. In September, the Netherlands used national security laws to take control of the chipmaker, citing concerns that its Chinese owner, Wingtech Technologies, was planning to shift intellectual property to another company it owned. The Dutch government said that…