BEIJING — Two major economic plans unveiled at the annual meeting of China’s legislature outline top priorities that have different ramifications for the global economy. In the government plan for 2026, the No. 1 task is “building a robust domestic market.” Then comes accelerating technological progress. But longer-term, a plan for the next five years…
HONG KONG — The sentencing of Hong Kong’s onetime media magnate Jimmy Lai on Monday raised concerns from foreign governments and rights groups, but Chinese and Hong Kong authorities defended it, saying it reflected the spirit of the rule of law. Lai, a 78-year-old prominent democracy advocate, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after…
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings said Wednesday its subsidiary started arbitration proceedings against Panama after that country’s Supreme Court ruled a concession for the subsidiary to operate Panama Canal ports was unconstitutional. Hutchison said it strongly disagreed with last week’s ruling, and China warned Panama would pay “a heavy price” if it…
BEIJING — From ancient times until today, an enormous population has been a foundational way for China to project its strength. But anxiety about managing so many mouths has always loomed. “China has a population of 600 million people, and we must never forget this fact,” Mao Zedong said in 1957, shortly before setting off…
BEIJING — Faced with new global challenges, the leaders of China and Canada pledged Friday to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony. Xi Jinping told visiting Prime Minister Mark Carney that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation…
BEIJING — On the first trip by a Canadian leader to China in eight years, both sides are signaling the start of an era of better relations. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, meeting his Canadian counterpart on Thursday, described Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit this week as a turning point that is expected to open…
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday hailed his country’s technological progress in areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors while once again insisting his country would annex self-ruled Taiwan. During his New Year’s Eve address broadcast Wednesday evening by state media, Xi praised the country’s advancements in key sectors including military tech and…
HONG KONG — Hong Kongers offered flowers and bowed outside a funeral parlor on Friday to pay tribute to a firefighter who was among the 160 people killed by the city’s deadliest fire in decades. Ho Wai-ho lost his life battling the massive blaze that engulfed seven buildings of a housing complex on Nov. 26….
MIDLAND, Texas — Retired Chinese official Li Chuanliang was recuperating from cancer on a Korean resort island when he got an urgent call: Don’t return to China, a friend warned. You’re now a fugitive. Days later, a stranger snapped a photo of Li in a cafe. Terrified South Korea would send him back, Li fled,…
HONG KONG — Uncomfortable questions are being raised over who is to blame for Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades. As the territory mourns over the high-rise apartment fire that killed at least 151 people, anger and frustration are mounting over building safety lapses, suspected construction corruption and lax government oversight. But bigger issues are…