Are China’s lauded anti-poverty triumphs at risk of vanishing?

Are China’s lauded anti-poverty triumphs at risk of vanishing?

In Zhongwei, a city in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region, fighting poverty seems to be a never-ending battle. While the country as a whole has made tremendous gains in living standards, in July, the city’s Shapotou district announced that 28 more individuals had been added to a poverty relapse watch list. The officials who … Read more

2 more top Chinese football officials netted in corruption crackdown

2 more top Chinese football officials netted in corruption crackdown

Besides being CFA head, Li was the party secretary and head of Shanghai’s Jinshan district, and held several other senior roles during those years. In its verdict, an intermediate court in central China’s Hubei province said that that Li did favours for football clubs facing relegation, and also helped companies to secure construction projects during … Read more

Before US Senate panel, scientist defends his rejection of Covid-19 lab leak theory

Before US Senate panel, scientist defends his rejection of Covid-19 lab leak theory

“Despite these private doubts, publicly these so-called experts and their allies were dismissing the lab leak theory as a conspiracy,” said Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and ranking member on the committee. Paul also highlighted private comments made by Anthony Fauci, who during the pandemic led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious … Read more

‘Emotional power’: China’s Covid wounds reopened in tense, divisive ‘An Unfinished Film’

‘Emotional power’: China’s Covid wounds reopened in tense, divisive ‘An Unfinished Film’

Much of the film focuses on the mobile phone screen of a film crew member character. On the phone, the audience sees actual news reports and short videos that were posted during the Covid-19 pandemic in China between 2020 and 2022 – most of which were later removed by censors. Nationalist online commenters have argued … Read more

US raises ‘deep concerns’ over disappearance of Chinese citizen journalist who reported on Covid-19 outbreak

US raises ‘deep concerns’ over disappearance of Chinese citizen journalist who reported on Covid-19 outbreak

The United States has raised “deep concerns” over the disappearance of Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist who was expected to be released from prison on Monday. Zhang, a former lawyer, was arrested in May 2020, about a year after she began reporting on Covid-19 from Wuhan, the epicentre of the initial coronavirus outbreak in … Read more

Status of Chinese citizen journalist who reported on COVID unknown on day of expected prison release

Status of Chinese citizen journalist who reported on COVID unknown on day of expected prison release

The whereabouts of a Chinese citizen journalist who served four years in prison for reporting on the early days of the pandemic in Wuhan and was expected to be released Monday are unknown, raising concern from activists. Zhang Zhan, who had been sentenced to four years in prison on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking … Read more

Chinese health chief Ma Xiaowei steps down after steering nation through pandemic and defending strict zero-Covid

Chinese health chief Ma Xiaowei steps down after steering nation through pandemic and defending strict zero-Covid

Ma Xiaowei, China’s health minister who handled the country’s Covid-19 response, has stepped down as he nears official retirement age, to be succeeded by his top deputy, Lei Haichao, a prominent public health expert. On Monday, the National Health Commission’s website showed deputy director Lei, 56, had been appointed Communist Party secretary of the NHC … Read more

Chinese scientist who first shared Covid-19 genome data sparks sympathy after lab closure battle

Chinese scientist who first shared Covid-19 genome data sparks sympathy after lab closure battle

“It has been tentatively agreed to let normal research be resumed in our lab, and team members are now free to enter for the time being,” Zhang posted on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo early on Wednesday morning. Zhang Yongzhen sleeps outside the closed lab as security guards keep watch. Photo: Weibo However, he added that … Read more

Toxic: How the search for the origins of COVID-19 turned politically poisonous

Toxic: How the search for the origins of COVID-19 turned politically poisonous

BEIJING: The hunt for the origins of COVID-19 has gone dark in China, the victim of political infighting after a series of stalled and thwarted attempts to find the source of the virus that killed millions and paralyzed the world for months. The Chinese government froze meaningful domestic and international efforts to trace the virus … Read more

Chinese football officials given long jail terms over corruption scandal

Chinese football officials given long jail terms over corruption scandal

A number of senior Chinese sports officials have been jailed for corruption, including a former chairman of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) who was given a life sentence. The sentences are the result of an investigation into sports corruption that began in 2022 and has snared a number of senior figures. As well as the … Read more