Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, who chairs the Bishops' Conference, calls on faithful to “accompany" the civilian supply mission promoted by the Atin Ito Coalition NGO. About 200 volunteers, 100 fishermen, and five boats evaded China’s naval blockade reaching the disputed Scarborough Shoal.
Zhang Zhan, 40, was a leading human rights advocate in Shanghai. The Christian woman was supposed to be freed today after four years in prison, but her fate remains unknown while her family has been forced into silence. Activist groups following her case fear that, as in other cases, she might be detained under a different form.
A year after his first historic visit to Beijing, the cardinal and a group of aides held meetings in local churches in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two metropolises in southern China on, like Hong Kong, the Pearl River Delta. He also encouraged meetings among the laity to feel “that we belong to one family”.
Not even pro-Beijing trade unions are marching for workers' rights fearing “unrest”. All the attention is on mainland tourists, for whom the city (weather permitting) will launch a new cycle of fireworks displays at the port with an unprecedented budget.
The Christian lawyer turned 60 on 20 April, but Chinese authorities have refused to provide any information about his fate. Repeated appeals from his wife, human rights NGOs, and UN agencies have been ignored. He is among the many victims of enforced disappearances by China’s communist regime.
The Christian lawyer turned 60 on 20 April, but Chinese authorities have refused to provide any information about his fate. Repeated appeals from his wife, human rights NGOs, and UN agencies have been ignored. He is among the many victims of enforced disappearances by China’s communist regime.
The capital’s biennial car show opened yesterday until May, underscoring China’s dominant role in the EV market. In Europe, EU authorities want to stop it, but Chinese vehicles are ready to take on European markets. With competition fiercer as ever, most manufacturers are losing in the price war.
The island is covered by more than 760 statues dedicated to the late leader, from public places to military academies (where he is honoured). For critics, their removal is an attempt to "erase" the past and ties with the mainland. But Chiang’s legacy is tainted by the massacres in several incidents that have never been explored in depth by historians. Meanwhile, his great-grandson Chiang Wan-an, as mayor of the capital, is looking for ways to become a future president.
Manasseh Sogavare and his party took 12 seats. Although six have not yet been called, the ruling party will not have a majority. Other parties want to reduce Beijing's influence. Tensions rose during the campaign, with clashes between rival villages. Negotiations for the next government could take weeks.
Not only Gaza and the war in Ukraine: the global arms race is also driven by Chinese pressure on Taiwan.. The 6.8% growth represents "the highest year-on-year growth since 2009". China, Russia, India and Saudi Arabia among the world's top five with the United States. Beijing's investments are affecting the other Asia-Pacific nations, especially Japan and Taiwan. Israel recorded an increase of 24%.
Developed by the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence, the humanoid has a "mental and value system” of “a 3- or 4-year-old girl" but could “grow" quickly with experience. Set to debut in a few days at the Zhongguancun Forum, her ability to relate to people is described as her strong point. She could play a role in seniors' care, an increasingly important issue in tomorrow’s China.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders released a report detailing the stories of children and young people victims of human rights violations, like He Fengmei's daughter, who was separated from her mother a month after her birth and kept in a psychiatric hospital in Henan. In another case, a boy is rejected by schools because his lawyer father defends activists. In Xinjiang children are placed in boarding schools as "orphans" to uproot them from their families.
An Evangelical NGO, ChinaAid, reports that a Chinese Christian who tried to use an automatic online translator to read information about the Protestant Reformation was flashed an ominous warning from China’s Internet agency that every “religion must adapt to Chinese socialist society.” China’s repression against house churches not compliant to the patriotic movement face digital scrutiny.
The Archbishop of Hyderabad looks at the media reaction to the declaration released by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on human dignity. The media are “focused on gender theory, sex change, surrogacy etc., but” people who “struggle with poverty, exploitation, discrimination, lack of access to primary healthcare” cannot leave others indifferent.
Pictures, images, and activities that undermine national unity or promote a "separatist ideology" are banned. The Chinese government has long sought to control the choice of Tibet’s next spiritual leader. For his part, 88-year-old Tenzin Gyatso says he is in good health and wants to “live for more than 100 years.” Meanwhile, the fate of the Panchen Lama remains an unsolved mystery.
Founder of a Chinese propaganda website. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic is considering expelling a Chinese diplomat for following Taiwanese Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim during her visit to Prague in March.
The US Treasury Secretary in China for the second visit in a few months: the issue of Chinese 'overproduction' in the field of renewable energy on the table. The People's Republic is counting on exports of solar panels, electric vehicles and lithium batteries to tackle its economic crisis and fears the imposition of duties.
Bishop Philip Huang Chao-ming of Hualien, near the epicentre of the 7+ quake, offers words of comfort. Some buildings are partially collapsed. Nine people are confirmed dead, while more than a hundred are still missing. For Fr Matteucig, a Taipei-based missionary, “A lot has really changed since 1999 in terms of prevention”, thus limiting damages and casualties. Mainland China has offered to help, but Taiwan said there is no need.
Their boat capsized at Easter. In the past three years, the number of Chinese citizens seeking asylum in the United States has increased: 52,000 last year alone. Washington's stricter immigration policy has not stopped the tide of migrants. Even some middle-class Chinese are joining the perilous journey to the USA.
The Chinese president reassures of 'ample room for development' even for US companies, which are worried about the implications of the increasingly tightening mesh imposed by 'national security' laws and the crisis in the Chinese economy. Meanwhile, Beijing itself only plans 'national options' for the operating systems of government computers and servers.
She was arrested for defending Wang Yu, a younger colleague who was one of the main victims of the 9 July 2015 crackdown, one of the harshest on activists in China. Despite her age, she served her full sentence, six years and six months, for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.
The latest report by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China laments the difficulties created by the increasing presence of politics in the economy. National security seems more important than China's growth. Xi Jinping is planning a visit to France in May to mend fences.
At least six people have been killed and many more injured in different attacks in Beijing, Shenyang, and at a school in Zhejiang province. The authorities have not released too many details, but images from the attacks have been widely shared online. Several commentators in social media blame anger against society created by economic issues.
Every lawmaker spoke in support of the new legislation implementing Article 23, which imposes life in prison in case of insurrection and grants police exceptional powers. Set to come into force this Saturday, the bill’s quick approval highlights the power of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee. After the vote, Lee called it a “historic day”, protection from a “colour revolution”. For him, “there must be one country before two systems”.
A tragedy in Hebei is the first case to be tried under 2020 rules that lowered the minimum age for criminal responsibility to 12. Both the victim and the perpetrators are children of internal migrants, "left behind" with their grandparents in rural areas.
Some defendants are given seven years in prison over the storming of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. Chief Executive John Lee wants the latter to approve by 31 March the legislation to implement Article 23 of Hong Kong’s constitution. The Diocese of Hong Kong issues a statement saying that the secrecy of confession will be upheld under the new law. By allowing police to detain a suspect for up to 16 days without charge, the bill is violating the right to legal counsel, raising concerns about abuses of basic rights.
The clash was triggered by the threat to ban the platform voted by the US House of Representatives. In response, the Chinese authorities have promised to defend its interests. American public opinion is also divided over the social network's popularity. Despite concerns, in the run-up to the vote in both the US and Europe many leaders (including Biden) have opened accounts.
A delegation of 11 representatives of China’s “official” Catholic bodies took part in the assemblies that ratify Xi Jinping's political choices. Bishop Yang Yongqiang, one of the two bishops who attended the Synod at the Vatican, was also present. Bishop Shen Bin told journalists that the new goals for China’s Catholic community are “self-control, self-management, and self-construction”.
Hong Kong’s legislature works overtime during the weekend to further restrict freedoms in the former British colony. Security Secretary Chris Tang justifies denying detainees the right to legal counsel for 48 hours with the risk of collusion. Meanwhile, Beijing reports the arrest and trial of about 2.4 million people.
A seminar sponsored in Taiwan by the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue with Fu Jen Catholic University in a move to formulate some guidelines on a confrontation that the focus on the Chinese world makes increasingly necessary. Also starting tomorrow in Hong Kong is the third Christian-Taoist Dialogue.
