8 d. ago Public outrage over Chinese man placing hell money in Japanese temple donation box

A Chinese man who placed joss paper into a fortune-drawing money collection box at Japan’s Sensoji Temple has sparked online outrage and criticism of bad tourist behaviour. A video that circulated on social media in November showed the unidentified man putting a piece of joss paper, also known as “hell money”, into the box on the desk where fortune sticks are drawn. Visitors are required to put 100 yen (US$1) into the box to draw from 100 bamboo sticks in a tube. They then need to find the...

Politics

1 week ago Trump calls Japanese PM hours after his overnight call with China’s Xi

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirmed “the close cooperation” between Tokyo and Washington in a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Japanese media reported. The conversation – which took place hours after Trump spoke by phone with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping – covered strengthening of the Japan-US alliance along with the various challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region, Takaichi said, according to the Fuji News Network. “During the conversation, President...

Politics

2 w. ago China duo watch friend drown, take body home, place on bed instead of calling police

Two men from a village in southwestern China witnessed their friend drown in a reservoir, and rather than alerting the authorities, they took him home, placing him in his bed as if he were merely asleep. The sister of the deceased recently recounted to the Chinese media outlet Lizhi News the distressing sequence of events that unfolded after her brother’s accidental drowning. The revelation has shocked the online community. The incident occurred on September 4 in Sichuan province, where the...

Events

2 w. ago Japan is ‘unqualified’ for UN Security Council place, Chinese ambassador says

China’s ambassador to the United Nations said Japan was “totally unqualified” to become a permanent member of the Security Council amid an ongoing row about the new prime minister’s comments about Taiwan. Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the UN, condemned Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks as “highly dangerous” and “extremely mistaken” on Tuesday. “In light of Sanae Takaichi’s atrocious behaviour, how can the international community trust that Japan will adhere to its commitment...

Politics

2 w. ago What experts say Hong Kong’s new medical school must do to succeed

The new medical school set to be run by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) should ride on the institution’s unique technological strengths and catch up on clinical research to become a leading institution, experts and lawmakers have said. Their comments followed the government’s announcement on Tuesday that HKUST had emerged as the top choice to operate the city’s third medical school, taking its place alongside the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the...

Science

2 w. ago What must Hong Kong’s new medical school focus on to succeed?

The new medical school set to be run by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) should ride on the institution’s unique technological strengths and expand its capacity in clinical research to become a leading institution, experts and lawmakers have said. Their comments followed the government’s announcement on Tuesday that HKUST had emerged as the top choice to operate the city’s third medical school, taking its place alongside the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and...

Politics

2 w. ago Eastern Opening Policy Places Hungary at Centre of Chinese Expansion

Eastern Opening Policy Places Hungary at Centre of Chinese Expansion  Hungarian Conservative

Events

2 w. ago China protects safety of foreign nationals according to law: Chinese FM on Japanese Embassy warning citizens to avoid crowded places

China protects safety of foreign nationals according to law: Chinese FM on Japanese Embassy warning citizens to avoid crowded places  Global Times

Events

3 w. ago Dollar carry trade defies ‘Sell America’ woes, trounces world’s stocks

The dollar is regaining its crown as one of the world’s most appealing assets, defying talk of a “Sell America” trade that had raised troubling questions about the outlook for the global reserve currency. A simple strategy of borrowing in low-yielding currencies like the Japanese yen or the Swiss franc and putting your money in dollars looks set to beat the implied returns on markets such as European stocks and Chinese government bonds once the volatility of these assets is taken into account,...

Politics

3 w. ago Outrage in China over release of 1,000 cats into reservoir in ‘life release’ ritual

A “life release” event saw 1,100 cats dumped near a protected water reservoir in China, causing many of the animals to panic, jump into the water and drown. On November 1, videos surfaced online showing a group of people wearing masks releasing large numbers of cats near the Yingzui Reservoir in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, southern China. “Life release” is a traditional Buddhist practice where animals such as fish, turtles or birds are released into the wild as a form of compassion and...

Politics

3 w. ago Public outrage in China over release of 1,000 cats into reservoir in ‘life release’ ritual

Public outrage in China over release of 1,000 cats into reservoir in ‘life release’ ritual  South China Morning Post

Politics

3 w. ago Outrage in China over release of 1,100 cats into reservoir in ‘life release’ ritual

A “life release” event saw 1,100 cats dumped near a protected water reservoir in southern China, causing many of the animals to panic, jump into the water and drown. On November 1, videos surfaced online showing a group of people wearing masks releasing large numbers of cats near the Yingzui Reservoir in Qingyuan, Guangdong province. “Life release” is a traditional Buddhist practice where animals such as fish, turtles or birds are released into the wild as a form of compassion and spiritual...

Politics

4 w. ago King Maha Vajiralongkorn to make first China trip by Thai monarch in 50 years

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn will embark on the first trip to China by a Thai monarch since the two nations established diplomatic ties half a century ago. The state visit, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and scheduled to take place from November 13 to 17, will make China “the first major country” that the Thai king has officially visited since ascending the throne in 2016, according to Beijing’s foreign ministry. “In recent years bilateral relations have maintained...

Politics

4 w. ago Chinese student boom helps create more college places for Americans, study finds

China’s college boom has helped boost US postgraduate education and local economies in college towns, according to a new study. The country’s massive higher education expansion – which lifted annual undergraduate enrolment in China from about 1 million in 1999 to 9.6 million by 2020 – resulted in waves of students going abroad and produced measurable effects inside US universities, according to a team at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a non-profit based in Cambridge,...

Politics

4 w. ago Chinese student boom helps create more university spots for Americans: study

China’s university boom has helped boost US postgraduate education and local economies in college towns, according to a new study. The country’s massive higher education expansion – which lifted annual undergraduate enrolment in China from about 1 million in 1999 to 9.6 million by 2020 – resulted in waves of students going abroad and produced measurable effects inside US universities, according to a team at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a non-profit based in Cambridge,...

Politics