China-Policies & politics

1. China’s official Panchen Lama tells Tibetan Buddhists to stay away from separatist forces

   Tibetan Buddhists have been told by a Beijing-appointed leader to stay away from “separatist forces” and adapt their religion to “socialism and Chinese conditions”, according to state media.Gyaincain Norbu, the Panchen Lama chosen by Beijing, made the remarks on a tour of Tibetan areas in Sichuan and Gansu provinces earlier this month, the official China News Service reported on Tuesday.The report came days after President Xi Jinping visited Tibet for the 70th anniversary of its “peaceful…

2. Taiwan plans coronavirus vaccine offensive for diplomatic allies

   Taiwan plans to offer its allies locally developed Covid-19 vaccines as part of its efforts to counter Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy and attempts to woo Taipei’s allies.The island’s health authorities gave emergency use approval to local developer Medigen Vaccine Biologics this month after it completed phase 2 clinical trials, and it is expected to give the green light in coming days to another developer – United Biomedical – which has also finished phase 2 trials.Health authorities have ordered…

3. Britain could pursue Sizewell C nuclear project even without Chinese funding, source says

   The British government is planning to press ahead with its flagship Sizewell C nuclear project even without Chinese funding, according to a person familiar with the situation.The proposed £20 billion (US$27.5 billion) plant in eastern England is still viable, despite the government exploring ways to remove state-owned China General Nuclear Power (CGN) from all future projects in the UK, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.The government committed in December to financing at…

4. Extreme weather, flooding puts climate change in focus

   If anyone wants to turn a blind eye to climate change, they have no excuse to continue to do so after a series of events this month.Scientists and the world watched in disbelief when unprecedented flooding caused by two months’ worth of rainfall in two days inundated cities and towns and killed at least 200 people in Germany and Belgium.A few days later, it was China’s turn. From July 17, the city of Zhengzhou received a year’s worth of rain in just three days. Serious floods swept through the…

5. Take the initiative to stop disasters, China orders local officials

   China has issued an emergency order telling local officials to better prepare for disasters in extreme weather. The move follows last week’s catastrophic floods in Henan province which killed at least 69 people.The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top planning agency, issued a directive on Monday telling local officials to step up during emergencies.“Once abnormal situations such as extreme weather happen, [officials] must take resolute steps to suspend schools, stop…

6. What now for the homeless from China’s floods?

   Ma Chengfeng counts himself lucky.He said that if he had run out of his house just two minutes later, he would have been swept away by floods triggered by heavy rain last week.Ma lives in Mihe township in Gongyi, a small city about 80km (50 miles) west of Zhengzhou in the central Chinese province of Henan.On Tuesday, he was woken by his wife Wang Fengjuan and the couple fled with their two children to a neighbour’s home on higher ground.On the weekend, Ma was sitting by the side of a road…

7. China vs the WHO: where to look next in the hunt for Covid-19’s origins

   For China, the road ahead is clear.In the country’s most detailed comments on the issue yet, six of the country’s top health experts and officials said on Thursday that the next step in the search for the origins of Covid-19 should extend to countries and regions around the world, not just in China where the coronavirus was first detected.“We should not limit our field of vision to a single place, but expand it, and carry out multi-country, multi-place origins tracing worldwide,” said Wang Chen…

8. Paul Chan lays out why Hong Kong is ideal choice for mainland Chinese firms eyeing IPOs

   This is the fourth in a series of articles based on a wide-ranging Post interview with Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po. Read part one here, part two here and part three here.Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has given mainland Chinese companies an assurance that they will not suffer “sudden regulatory shocks” if they choose to go public in the city.Chan was referring to possible effects of geopolitical risks at a time of strained relations between the United States and Hong Kong…

9. Nanjing rolls out more tests as China’s latest coronavirus cluster grows

   The eastern Chinese city of Nanjing reported two more coronavirus cases on the weekend, taking the total in the country’s latest cluster to 57 as the city wrapped up its first round of mass testing.Yang Dasuo, deputy director of the Nanjing Health Commission, said on Sunday that more than 9.2 million samples were collected in three days of mass testing, and of the 57 cases now in the city, 20 were asymptomatic carriers.Further tests were under way, he said.“To stop the spread of the virus, our…

10. Typhoon In-fa: eastern China battens down as Henan death toll rises to 63

    Flights and rail services were cancelled in several Chinese coastal cities on Sunday as Typhoon In-fa arrived and the death toll in flood-stricken central Henan province rose to 63.China’s National Meteorological Centre (NMC) raised the alert for heavy rain from yellow to amber – the second-highest level – across large areas of the country on Sunday while a typhoon amber alert has been in place since Friday.It said In-fa made landfall in the city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang province at around 12…