China

China has welcomed Argentina into its global Belt and Road Initiative as President Xi Jinping capped a weekend of frenetic diplomatic activity on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics. China and Argentina have inked an agreement on “jointly promoting the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century …

Russian energy giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a deal to supply more natural gas to China via the Far Eastern pipeline, Gazprom announced in a statement on Friday. This contract is the second signed between Russia and China, covering the planned supply of nearly 10 billion …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed sanctions against Russia over doping in sports ahead of a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing at the Winter Olympics. In an interview with Chinese media on Thursday, Putin denied his government had orchestrated a massive doping programme at the 2014 Winter …

The United States has moved to block 44 flights to the US by Chinese airlines in retaliation for China forcing the cancellation of flights by US airlines. The Transportation Department order affecting four Chinese airlines on Friday is the latest development in a long-running dispute over Covid-19 restrictions. The department …

China and Russia have blocked a US push to impose United Nations sanctions on five North Koreans in response to recent missile launches by Pyongyang. China’s block came on Thursday before a new closed-door Security Council meeting on North Korea, also requested by Washington, and was followed by Russia’s decision …

Beijing’s actions are inconsistent with its obligations under the US-China Air Transport Agreement, US Transportation Department says. US has criticised China’s decision to cancel a growing number of flights from the United States to China because of passengers who later tested positive for Covid-19 and warned it could take action …

Hong Kong’s government has announced that it will create new local legislation that will outlaw a new set of crimes. Hong Kong will outlaw a host of new national security crimes, the city’s leader said, as she presided over the first session of a new “patriots only” legislature scrubbed of …

Police in southern China paraded four suspects through the streets for allegedly smuggling people across sealed borders in breach of pandemic control measures — a controversial act of public shaming that triggered backlash on Chinese social media. On Tuesday, four people wearing hazmat suits, face masks and goggles were paraded in Jingxi …

At least 16 people were killed and 10 others injured Friday in a gas explosion in southwestern China, according to the country’s Ministry of Emergency Management. The ministry said a cafeteria for a local government district office in Chongqing city collapsed after a suspected gas leak and explosion, trapping a total …

Chinese President Xi Jingping promised African countries to cancel all their interest in loans due this year but those loans only take part in a small proportion of its debt problem. Many African countries are in debt after the coronavirus has accelerated economic recession. Nearly 20 African countries are in …