China

MANILA, Philippines: While stopping short of lodging a protest, the Philippine government says it is concerned by a build-up of 200 Chinese vessels positioned off reefs in the South China Sea, which both countries claim as their territory. However, the Philippine defense minister, Delfin Lorenzana, demanded on Sunday that the...Read Full StoryPhilippinesSouth China SeaChinese ShipsOverfishingDestructionMarinesFilipino WatersChinese BoatsChinese ClaimsReefsMANILANavigationGovernmentsBatarazaEnvironmentDelfin LorenzanaRodrigo Duterte

Health care workers received the first shots in Taiwan's COVID-19 vaccination drive Monday, beginning a campaign that won't use supplies from China amid uneven distribution of the vaccines globally. Taiwan has on hand 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which it is distributing to health care workers across 57 hospitals. Taiwanese premier Su Tseng-chang launched the drive by receiving the first shot at National Taiwan University Hospital in the capital Taipei. “After 30 minutes of rest, there's no signs of any discomfort,” he said. The rest period is for monitoring recipients for any adverse reactions. Last week, more than a dozen nations suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a few dozen people among the millions who've received the vaccine developed blood clots. The European Union’s drug regulatory agency concluded after a review it couldn't rule out a direct link but the benefits of using the vaccine outweigh the possible risks. Taiwan has signed contracts securing 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 5.05 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 4.76 million doses of vaccines through COVAX. Currently, Taiwan has recorded 1,006 confirmed cases of COVID-19, most of those from visitors coming from abroad. It has been one of the most successful places in the world in the battle against the pandemic, owing to strict public health and border control measures. The island is planning to administer its full initial supply to 117,000 individuals to ensure the broadest protection. The first dose provides an efficacy rate of 71% and the second dose — meant to be given eight weeks later — boosts its effectiveness to 81%, authorities have said previously. Taiwan has yet to announce a vaccination campaign for the public. Countries around the world are scrambling for vaccines, which have been distributed unevenly with rich countries buying up a majority of the doses. China has stepped in to offer hundreds of millions of doses of its own vaccines across the developing world, but Taiwan has refrained from buying them. Taiwanese law bans import of Chinese vaccines made for human use. The island's health minister had said in February there were no considerations to amending the law and no experts have made a special recommendation for Chinese vaccines. China TaiwanAstrazenecaVaccine DosesHealth WorkersHealth Care WorkersAstraZenecaTaiwaneseThe European Union 'sCOVAXEuropean UnionChinese VaccinesDrugTaipeiHospitalsMonitoring Recipients

In an emailed statement, the press secretary for Mary Ng, minister of small business, export promotion and worldwide trade, says Ng's counterparts have assured her that these measures will not affect vaccine shipments to Canada. 'The arrival of these vaccines could not have occurred at a more opportune time considering...Read Full StoryChinaVirusEconomyCovid-19 VaccinesPublic HealthVaccine DosesCoronavirusHealth InformationMedical ConditionsMedical TechnologyPALAstraZenecaXinhua News AgencyIdahoans 16CoronaVacMary NgBrad Little

Police bust 'world's biggest' video-game-cheat operationPublished20 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage copyrightWeiboimage captionSeveral luxury sports cars were among assets seized in the raidA collaborative effort between Chinese police and gaming giant Tencent has led to the closure of what police say is the biggest ever video-game-cheat operation.The gang designed and sold cheats to popular video games, including Overwatch and Call of Duty Mobile.Roughly $76m (£55m) in revenue was made by the organisation which charged a subscription fee to clients.Police seized assets worth $46m, including several luxury cars. China's Tencent revenues surge thanks to gaming boom'Interest in e-sports will only grow and grow'The operation was called "Chicken Drumstick", and had a website selling to "hundreds of countries and regions", local media reported.Subscription prices for users began at around $10 a day, and up to $200 a month.image copyrightJiangsu TVimage captionTen people were arrested during the raid in Kunshan, a city near ShanghaiKunshan police found and destroyed 17 cheats and arrested 10 people in connection with the ring. It said it was the "world's biggest" cheating case due to the large sums of money and games involved.media captionThe cheat hackers ‘ruining’ gaming for othersWith players able to win millions in gaming tournaments around the world, a crackdown on cheating has intensified in recent years. In 2019, a survey revealed around a third of gamers admit to using cheats to improve their chances online.Several high-profile gamers have also quit platforms over the rise of cheating on some games.Cheating in gaming is as old as gaming itself.But with the rise of player-versus-player titles and online competitions, cheating is no longer just about giving yourself an advantage over the computer baddies.Cheating is literally ruining gaming and large companies like Tencent know it.This latest operation shows how seriously the Chinese company, and other games-makers, are taking the issue.It comes off the back of large public displays of aggression towards cheaters in other titles like Warzone and Fortnite.The story also shows just how lucrative these cheat-hacking operations have become.What used to be a cottage industry of hackers exposing glitches in the code of games has now become a massive criminal enterprise.Related TopicsChinaGamingMore on this storyThe cheat hackers 'ruining' gaming for othersPublished19 September 2019Star gamer quits CoD: Warzone over cheatingPublished1 FebruaryChina's Tencent revenues surge thanks to gaming boomPublished6 days agoBurberry designs outfits for video-game charactersPublished7 days ago

A recent Bank of America (BofA) report projects that by 2031 India will become the third largest economy in the world . According to analysts, that year it will reach Japan's nominal GDP and would also surpass Germany. India is currently the sixth largest economy in the world by nominal...Read Full StoryInflationWorld EconomyChinaAsian MarketsFinancial MarketsBofABusiness StandardUnsplash.comNomuraPPPIndranil Sen GuptaJapanese Finance CompanyCountryNominal GDPForeign Exchange ReservesSonal Varma

PARIS (Reuters) - France summoned China’s ambassador on Tuesday to underscore the unacceptable nature of insults and threats aimed at French lawmakers and a researcher, and Beijing’s decision to sanction some European officials, a French foreign ministry source said.Ambassador to France Lu Shaye had already been summoned by the foreign ministry last April over posts and tweets by the embassy defending Beijing’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and criticising the West’s handling of it.The Chinese embassy last week warned against French lawmakers meeting officials during an upcoming visit to self-ruled Taiwan, drawing a rebuff from France.Since then it has been in a Twitter spat with Antoine Bondaz, a China expert at the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research, in which the embassy has described him as a “small-time thug” and “mad hyena”.“It continues to be unacceptable and has crossed limits for a foreign embassy,” the French official said after Lu was received by the head of the foreign ministry’s Asia department.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Lu’s behaviour was creating an obstacle to improving relations between China and France.The United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials on Monday for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, in the first such coordinated Western action against Beijing under new U.S President Joe Biden.In retaliation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry sanctioned several European nationals, including French Member of the European Parliament Raphaël Glucksmann.The envoy had been told of France’s disapproval of that decision, the French official said, adding that Lu was “visibly shocked by the extremely direct character of what he was told” and had tried to change the conversation to discuss Taiwan.To FranceChinaXinjiangTaiwanPoliticsForeign RelationsChinese OfficialsReutersTwitterThe Foreign Ministry 'sThe European UnionEuropean ParliamentAmbassadorBeijingRetaliationLu ShayeJoe BidenRaphaël Glucksmann

Nestled amid the Catskills Mountains of New York, the Monastery of Bethlehem is home to a community of religious sisters who, in solitude and silence, live lives of prayer and devotion. The Sisters of Bethlehem of the Assumption of the Virgin and of St. Bruno are part of a Catholic...Read Full StoryBethlehemThe MonasteryMeditationReligionCatholicGodFamily LifeARTHandmade EasterThe Desert FathersCrossSpring ChinaEaster BoutiqueLovely GiftsPrayerVirgin MaryJesusChrist

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. A Canadian national detained by the Chinese authorities days after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou stood trial in the northeastern province of Liaoning on Friday for “spying.”. Michael Spavor, who was detained amid allegations...Read Full StoryNortheast ChinaNorth KoreaU.S. IntelligenceU.S. ProsecutorsNational IntelligenceRadio Free AsiaAPGlobal TimesHuawei Technologies 'KovrigThe Government Of CanadaCanadian EmbassyCanadian OfficialsCanadian DiplomatsChinese State MediaMichael SpavorMeng WanzhouSpavorMarc GarneauRen ZhengfeiJustin Trudeau

(CNN) — The Senate confirmed Katherine Tai to serve as US trade representative on Wednesday, giving her a key role to smooth supply chains shaken by the pandemic, implement a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada and address a multitude of challenges with China. Tai, the daughter of immigrants...Read Full StoryInternational TradeKatherine TaiChinaPoliticsThe SenateSecretaryTaiwanObama AdministrationCNNDemocraticTrumpInteriorNative American CabinetHealth And Human ServicesTrade RepresentativeChuck SchumerDeb HaalandXavier BecerraJeff Zeleny

Global demand for liquefied natural gas will grow to 700 million tons annually by 2040 from 360 million tons last year, Shell said in its LNG Outlook 2021. As much as 75% of this demand growth will come from Asia. Asian economies have been a key market for liquefied natural...Read Full StoryCartelLngQatarChinaGlobal Oil PricesOil DemandOil SupplyOil And GasEnergy PricesShellBloombergSwissAxpo SolutionsUK Continental ShelfCornwall Insight