Beijing intensified its military activities during the Lunar New Year. Balloons floated over the Taiwan Strait for two consecutive days. For experts, it is a warning, part of the mainland’s psychological warfare against the rebel island. For the first time, armed soldiers performed at the national Spring Festival gala.
The three recent appointments of bishops indicate a willingness not to break. But the Agreement with the Vatican is never even mentioned by the People's Republic of China. While a "five-year plan" for Catholics has just come into force that cites Xi Jinping instead of the pope and invokes a "theological foundation" to a Sinicization that in fact remains only an adaptation to Party policy.
The German chemical giant announced plans to speed up its exit from two joint ventures in Korla after allegations claim that its local partners worked with Chinese authorities to indoctrinate the local Muslim minority. The decision follows investigations by German media.
Jailed in 2021, she was convicted of “inciting to subversion of state power". Her real offence was speaking out against the arrest of her partner, Xu Zhiyong (who had accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of poorly managing the pandemic) and fought for the rights of migrant workers.
The meeting with a delegation from the National Federation of Italy-China who brought the Dragon, the Lion and traditional arts to the Vatican halls. Pope Francis' wish: "May you all take bold risks on the path of dialogue".
After the ordination in Zhengzhou, a new ceremony was held today in Shandong. Bishop Anthony Sun Wenjun, 53, takes over from the former Apostolic Prefecture of Yiduxian, vacant since 2008. By replacing it with the Diocese of Weifang, Pope Francis has accepted the redrawing of the diocesan borders decided by Beijing.
Until now, citizens from the southern African kingdom could travel to Hong Kong visa-free for up to 90 days, like for many other countries. No official reason has been given, but the measure comes a few days after Nauru gave in to pressure from Beijing and dropped Taipei.
Msgr Wang Yuesheng, 57, president of the Patriotic Association in this province, had long been the Party's designated administrator in a diocese without a bishop since the Communists exiled the Italian Xaverian missionary Faustino Tissot in 1953. The rite was presided over by Shanghai Bishop Shen Bin.
China rejects accusations about Hong Kong, Uyghurs, Tibet, and jailed dissidents at a hearing by the Human Rights Council. Each country had only 45 seconds to express its views. Meanwhile, four UN special rapporteurs are calling for Jimmy Lai to be released and charges against him be dropped.
Maimed by People's Liberation Army blasts, for 35 years he continued to exhibit his wounds to recount the events of June 4, 1989, that Beijing has done everything possible to erase from memory. A former employee of a public company, disillusioned with the Party "that shot me in the legs," he had encountered Christian faith support in his struggles.
The US TV adaptation is based on “Three-Body Problem”, a novel by Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The production touches sensitive issues for China’s current leadership and its paramount leader Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, the Communist Party is taking on a greater role in the country's universities.
Ten years since the arrest of Ilham Tohti, the symbolic face of the repression against the Uyghur cultural identity, a report slams 18 European tour operators for offering travel packages in Xinjiang. Their “destinations are linked to genocide and crimes against humanity.”
Amid a crackdown against underground religious movements, Kan Xiaoyong, a former businessman who started his own Evangelical movement outside the official Three-Self Patriotic Movement, was given a harsh sentence. The Supreme People's Court openly tells lower courts to “adhere to the Party's position” and accept that “The judicial organ is first and foremost a political organ”.
William Lai's victory, the electorate's clear stance for maintaining the "status quo," Beijing's increasingly insistent threats in Oceania today cashing in on Nauru's "rupture" of diplomatic relations with Taipei. Fears of escalating tensions with a leader willing to do anything for "reunification."
Outgoing vice-president William Lai is credited with over 40% of the vote. This is a clear advantage over the 33.4% and 26.5% of rivals Hou Yu-ih and Ko Wen-je (and 65% of the ballots counted). Weighing on the vote, however, is the unknown of the results in parliament, where there is more balance and the TPP votes will be decisive. High turnout at over 70%,
Some 19.5 million voters are called to choose Tsai Ing-wen’s successor in a three-way race that will also test relations between the island, Washington, and Beijing. The first results will be available already tomorrow evening. The race is much more uncertain than four years ago, when the Democratic Progressive Party achieved a clear victory. Voters will also cast their ballots for Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan.
The local government formally granted university status to the Caritas Institute of Higher Education, which has 2,500 students, a goal sought by the local diocese. It has been accredited for social sciences, business administration, and communications. The name is a reference to Saint Francis Xavier as well as Saint Francis of Assisi.
Located in a neighbourhood near the border, the new church of St Joseph parish was consecrated on the Solemnity of the Epiphany. The old church was too small in a fast-growing area with housing projects changing its nature as mainland students and government workers settle in. For Fr Pietro Paolo Dossi, a PIME missionary and the local parish priest, this represents an opportunity for the community to “renew itself”.
A team of international lawyers has filed a complaint with the UN in connection with the trial of the Apple Daily publisher. The prosecution wants Andy Li – a pro-democracy activist arrested trying to reach Taiwan on a boat – to testify against the former media mogul. Convicted in mainland China for illegal expatriation, Li has been held in a psychiatric hospital since he was returned to Hong Kong. He is expected to testify against Lai before going on trial himself under the National Security Law.
Security forces took the prelate into custody last night, telling him to bring clothes for every season. Ordained coadjutor bishop with papal mandate in 2011, he is not recognised by the authorities for refusing to join the Patriotic Association. Since the death of his predecessor in 2016, he has been prevented from carrying out his ministry in one of China’s oldest and foremost Catholic communities. Now “the faithful are praying for him” and his release, a source told AsiaNews.
China has updated its regulations against illegal organ transplants. However, members of the political and financial elite still manage to circumvent them in military hospitals that now perform half of the country's transplants.
China’s top communist leaders paid tribute to Mao. Celebrations included a large gathering in the Great Helmsman’s birthplace. An editorial in a magazine centred on reforms and openness is removed. Chinese authorities continue to be wary of Mao’s cult of the personality, which could lead to criticism of current leaders.
The Atažurt association is establishing itself as a de facto opposition (and pro-rights) political force in the Asian country. And it is trying to transform itself into a party despite the opposition in Astana. The battle against Chinese government persecution in the Muslim-majority region. The search for economic support and the goal of defending all ethnic groups in the name of 'good nationalism'.
In a province where historically there is a strong presence of Catholics, authorities deployed massive "security" measures on Christmas night to discourage participation by the faithful. Objects with Christmas references banned in university dormitories. The Party's "official" wish to Christians for Dec. 25: "Continue to adhere to Xi Jinping's path and sinization."
Six months in prison also for the sister of the trade unionist arrested in March, wife of Lee Cheuk-yan also in prison. Bail still denied to lawyer Chow Hang-tung, who will not go to trial until the second half of 2024. Meanwhile (as expected) the court moved the calendar back to reject Jimmy Lai's defence objections to the sedition charge.
The official death toll in the earthquake that struck the two northwestern provinces of the People's Republic of China has risen to 131. The extremely cold weather is making rescue operations difficult. The Chinese Catholic community is also mobilising.
The authorities heavily guarded the courthouse to back the sedition argument. Lai’s defence raised a procedural point, noting that more than six months lapsed between Apple Daily’s closure and Lai’s indictment. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron calls on Jong Kong to “release Jimmy Lai”, noting that he is a British citizen, jailed for more than a thousand days “in a clear attempt to stop the peaceful exercise of his rights”.
The local diocesan weekly reports that experts from all over the world will gather next June to reflect on the Church in China 100 years after the event promoted by Pius XI and the then apostolic delegate, later Archbishop Celso Costantini. The event was a milestone in the development of evangelisation of the Chinese people.
This is the GDP target set for 2024 at the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party's economic conference. At the centre of the proceedings are fears over the real estate sector and obstacles to recovery. The propaganda is functional to the recovery attempt after the post-Covid clouds. Over 8.5 million people on the 'blacklist' for not having repaid bank loans, another 19 million without medical assistance.
The testimonies of Agnes Chow and Chow Hang-tung that AsiaNews published in recent days explain the courageous resilience against Beijing’s oppressive system of power, values that too many of China’s "admirers" see as useless today.
