GENEVA, September 4 (Reuters): U.N. human rights experts have told China a new security law for Hong Kong "infringes on certain fundamental rights" and voiced concerns that it could be used to prosecute political activists in the former British colony. In a rare joint letter made public on Friday, 48 hours after it was sent to the Chinese government, they also said provisions of the new law appear to undermine the independence of Hong Kong's judges and lawyers, an

BEIJING, September 3 (Reuters): China's President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that the Chinese people will never agree with anyone or any force that attempts to split the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people, state media reported. The Chinese people will never agree with any who attempt to bully and impose their will on China, state television quoted Xi as saying at an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of victory in the war of resistance against Japan.

TAIPEI, September 2 (Reuters): Fed up with being confused for China amid the coronavirus pandemic and Beijing's stepped-up efforts to assert sovereignty, Taiwan said on Wednesday it would redesign its passport to give greater prominence to the island's name. Taiwan has complained during the outbreak that its nationals have encountered problems entering other countries, as Taiwanese passports have the words "Republic of China", its formal name, written in large

TAIPEI/BERLIN, September 1 (Reuters): The head of the Czech Senate declared himself to be Taiwanese in a speech at Taiwan's parliament on Tuesday, channelling the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy's defiance of communism in Berlin in 1963, as China slammed him for crossing a red line. China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory, has threatened to make Czech Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil pay a "heavy price" for visiting the island. The Czech Re

BEIJING, September 1 (Reuters): China accused the United States on Tuesday of using "national security" concerns as an excuse to act against Chinese firms, in a response that followed days after the Pentagon listed 11 more Chinese firms as being owned or controlled by the military. "I don't think this kind of behaviour will be of any benefit to the U.S.", China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a daily briefing on Tuesda

WASHINGTON, September 1 (Reuters): The United States said on Monday it was establishing a new bilateral economic dialogue with Taiwan, an initiative it said was aimed at strengthening ties with Taipei and supporting it in the face of increasing pressure from Beijing. Washington also said it had declassified six Reagan-era security assurances given to Taiwan, a move analysts said appeared intended to show further support for Taipei. The announcements come at a time of increas

TORONTO/CHICAGO, August 31 (Reuters): High-profile COVID-19 vaccines developed in Russia and China share a potential shortcoming: They are based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to, potentially limiting their effectiveness, some experts say. CanSino Biologics' vaccine, approved for military use in China, is a modified form of adenovirus type 5, or Ad5. The company is in talks to get emergency approval in several countries before completing large-sca

Beijing, August 29 (IANS): Domestic air travel in China has nearly fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data released by a leading travel analytics company, which predicted the Asian giant's aviation market would fully recover by the beginning of September. In the second week of August, domestic arrivals at Chinese airports reached 86 per cent of last year's levels, while flight bookings hit 98 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday citing the

SHANGHAI, August 29 (Reuters): China must build an "impregnable fortress" to maintain stability in Tibet, protect national unity and educate the masses in the struggle against "splittism", President Xi Jinping told senior leaders, state media said on Saturday. China seized control over Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as a "peaceful liberation" that helped the remote Himalayan region throw off its "feudalist" past. But critics, led by e

New Delhi, August 29 (IANS): As stand-off with China remains unresolved, the Indian Army gears up for formidable logistical challenges posed by harsh climate at heights exceeding 12,000 feet and temperature as extreme as minus 50 degrees Celsius. The force requires special clothing, diet and shelter for around 35,000 extra troops deployed in Eastern Ladakh. Most of the friction points in Ladakh like Pangong Lake and Galwan Valley where the face-offs have happened are 14,000 feet abo

Beijing, August 27 (Reuters): The United States and China traded jibes as military tensions grow between the world's two largest economies, with the U.S. defence chief vowing not to "cede an inch" in the Pacific and China saying Washington was risking soldiers' lives. Both are at loggerheads over issues from technology and human rights to Chinese military activities in the disputed South China Sea, with each accusing the other of deliberately provocative behaviour.

TAIPEI/BEIJING, August 26 (Reuters): Numerous Chinese and U.S. military exercises, Taiwan missiles tracking Chinese fighters and plummeting China-U.S. ties make for a heady cocktail of tension that is raising fears of conflict touched off by a crisis over Taiwan. In the last three weeks, China has announced four separate exercises along its coast, from the Bohai Gulf in the north to the East and Yellow Seas and South China Sea, along with other exercises it said were aimed at &

KINMEN, Taiwan, August 23 (Reuters): Amid rising tensions with Beijing, the de facto U.S. ambassador in Chinese-claimed Taiwan took part on Sunday for the first time in commemorations of a key military clash and the last time Taiwanese forces joined battle with China on a large scale. China has stepped up military activity around the democratic island, moves denounced by Taiwan's government as an attempt at intimidation to force them to accept Chinese rule. Taiwan Presid

WASHINGTON, August 21 (Reuters): The United States is prepared to block Russia and China from any attempts to violate sanctions on Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, one day after Washington moved to restore sanctions imposed on Tehran by the United Nations. Pompeo, in an interview on Fox News, also said Washington was disappointed that its allies did not support the U.S. effort to push for a "snapback" of U.N. sanctions, including an arms embar

MANILA, August 21 (Reuters): The Philippines has lodged a diplomatic protest over what it said was China's illegal confiscation of fish aggregating devices from Filipino fisherman in a disputed lagoon held by Beijing in the South China Sea. The Philippine foreign ministry said the incident happened three months ago at the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing site seized by Beijing in 2012 after a standoff that prompted an unprecedented international legal challenge by Manila.

WASHINGTON, August 20 (Reuters): The U.S. State Department said it notified Hong Kong on Wednesday that Washington has suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements with the semi-autonomous city following China's imposition of a sweeping national security law. The ending of the agreements follows U.S. President Donald Trump's order last month to end Hong Kong’s special status under U.S. law to punish China for what he called “oppressive actions” a

TAIPEI, August 19 (Reuters): Taiwan said on Wednesday hacking groups linked to the Chinese government had attacked at least 10 government agencies and some 6,000 email accounts of government officials in an "infiltration" to steal important data. Democratic Taiwan has been urging its people to be alert for what officials call "omnipresent infiltration" from China, involving from Beijing-backed media campaigns to cyberattacks, against the island that China co

SHANGHAI, August 19 (Reuters): Floods on the upper reaches of China's Yangtze river forced authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people on Tuesday and threatened a 1,200-year-old world heritage site. Staff, police and volunteers used sandbags to try to protect the 71-metre (233-foot) Leshan Giant Buddha, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southwestern Sichuan province, as muddy flood water rose over its toes for the first time since 1949, state broadcaster CCTV report

New Delhi, August 17 (IANS): China is helping Pakistan to boost its firepower by selling it state-of-the-art defence items, including armed drones, even as it is engaged with India at the borders in eastern Ladakh. Intelligence sources said Pakistan is procuring medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) -- Cai Hong-4 (CH-4) -- from China in bulk. Sources said that a 10-member team of Pakistan Army led by Brigadier Mohammad Zafar Iqbal has visited China to review t

New Delhi, August 17 (IANS): China has deployed high altitude artillery guns in Tibet amid the ongoing border tension with India in eastern Ladakh. "The artillery guns, at an altitude of 4,600 meters, are deployed in Tibet general areas since last week of July," sources said. It was also revealed that China has deployed its '150 Light Combined Arms Brigade of 77 Combat Command' in Tibet Military District. The combined arms brigade is an adaptation of the America