China has expanded an initiative to create a new academic discipline that aims to stamp out Western bias in ethnic studies as Beijing works to consolidate its narrative on a unified national identity. The State Council, China’s cabinet, granted 15 more universities approval to set up study programmes in “community for the Chinese nation”, a…
Days before a devastating magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Myanmar, flattening buildings and killing thousands, a team of Chinese seismologists published a study warning of a heightened risk of such disasters in the area. With the death toll now estimated to have passed 3,000, the seismologists have predicted the March 28 quake will not be the…
Beijing will not recognise the Dalai Lama’s proposal for a foreign successor and will deal with reincarnation according to Chinese law, according to an official scholar on Tibetan Buddhism. “If the next Dalai Lama is declared to have been reincarnated abroad, I think it is illegal,” Li Decheng, deputy director general of the official China…
A group of Chinese construction workers was hung from a gate by their harnesses at a building site as a training exercise after they forgot to wear safety gear at work. A video of the “training” that many onlookers saw as a punishment and public shaming had 7.5 million views online after a passer-by filmed…
As winter holds on for a little longer in Hong Kong, take advantage of the agreeable weather to venture out to some new restaurants in March. Exciting concepts from independent chefs pepper the Hong Kong dining scene, and among the new openings is one by an alum of a Michelin-star restaurant who is striking out…
The decades-long one-child policy in China has not only left the legacy of an ageing population, but also a set of strict adoption laws that have denied large numbers of abandoned children the chance of a family life. Families looking to adopt have faced a series of bureaucratic hurdles, in some cases leaving them with…
A woman from southwestern China misidentified a firecracker as a milk confectionery, resulting in mouth injuries when it exploded unexpectedly, alarming many and raising concerns about misleading packaging. The woman, surnamed Wu, from Chengdu in Sichuan province, shared her experience on social media, revealing that the packaging of a specific type of firecracker, commonly known…
The Chinese navy’s newly commissioned stealth frigate has upgraded anti-submarine and radar capabilities and is set to play a key role in escorting carrier strike groups, according to observers. The Luohe, China’s first Type 054B frigate, was commissioned at a military port in Qingdao on Wednesday, state news agency Xinhua reported. The port city in…
China has launched the first of its next generation of amphibious assault ships, the Type 076, featuring an electromagnetic catapult. The independently-developed Sichuan, bearing the hull number 51, entered the water at a launch and naming ceremony in Shanghai at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The Sichuan will be “a key asset”,…
China’s top political adviser has made a rare trip to view an exhibition about the reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhas, a sign that Beijing is getting ready to face the Dalai Lama succession issue ahead of the exiled spiritual leader’s 90th birthday next year, according to an analyst. Wang Huning, China’s fourth senior official and chairman…