Free Republic

Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday afternoon for meetings with senior officials, receiving no significant honors upon his landing and preceded by loud warnings from the Foreign Ministry to avoid challenging the Communist Party on its belligerent policies. Blinken is expected to stay in China for three days, beginning his journey in the economic heart of China, Shanghai, and then traveling north to Beijing to meet top officials. According to the State Department, Blinken is expected to address a wide variety of international issues, many of them not directly relevant to China such as “the...

"Return my dowry": A husband's campaign to get a refund from his estranged wife for wedding expenses after their marriage lasted only 33 days trends in China. Weibo. A man in China who borrowed heavily to pay for his 510,000-yuan (S$98,000) wedding, which fell apart just 33 days later, has demanded his bride refund a substantial part of their marriage costs. The 25-year-old man, surnamed Hou, from Henan province in central China, trended on mainland social media after launching a one-man campaign late last month seeking the return of 140,000 yuan he spent on the wedding, reported Jimu News. The...

China will set up a "separation line" on the peak of Mount Everest to avoid possible COVID-19 infections by climbers from virus-hit Nepal, state media reported, after dozens were taken ill from the summit's base camp. While the virus first emerged in China in late 2019, it has largely been brought under control in the country through a series of strict lockdowns and border closures. More than 30 sick climbers were evacuated from base camp on the Nepalese side of the world's highest peak in recent weeks as Nepal faces a deadly second wave of COVID-19, raising fears that the...

COVID-19: It’s all we talk about, on the cable news, and in our 6-foot socially-distanced prison walks around our silent neighborhoods. And in nearly every conversation comes the intellectual shrug, “who could have seen this coming?” A single phrase that neatly absolves governments and experts alike of any responsibility of predicting the pandemic and, if not being able to stop it, at least cushioning its blow........ But is it unfair to engage in so much 20-20 hindsight? After all, who could see COVID coming? Well, we did. We — as in nodes within the U.S. Government tasked with tracking critical...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will cut import tariffs on textile products and metals, including steel products, to 8.4 percent from 11.5 percent, effective Nov. 1, the finance ministry said on Sunday.

A Chinese official is warning the U.S. to "exercise caution" following a report that the State Department wants to send a small team of Marines to guard a diplomatic facility in Taiwan. The State Department requested that a Marine Security Guard detachment be dispatched to the American Institute in Taiwan, a de facto embassy in Taipei City, CNN reported Friday. The news prompted a swift response from a Chinese foreign ministry official, who reminded Americans of the "one-China policy" meant to prevent the U.S. from having direct diplomatic or military exchanges with Taiwan. "[Those] are the political preconditions for...

A top Chinese defense official has accused Washington of being the mastermind behind a conspiracy to deprive Africa of peace and prosperity, and lauded anti-West dictators. Speaking April 27 at a banquet in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, Lt Gen. Qi Jianguo, deputy chief of staff for the People’s Liberation Army, launched a tirade against the United States and praised Zimbabwe’s 90-year-old dictator, Robert Mugabe. Gen. Qi was the guest of honor for Gen. Constanine Chiwenga, chief of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF). “General officers and men of China admire ZDF, especially your commander-in-chief, President Mugabe who has managed to stand against Western powers’ machinations to destabilize the African continent,” Gen. Qi was quoted as...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department renewed its criticism of the human rights records of Pakistan and China on Monday in a report that followed U.S. decisions to arm Pakistan with jet fighters and to avoid a showdown with China on the way it treats its people. The report, which focused on U.S. efforts to improve human rights in 98 nations, was issued by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who praised the Bush administration as being "on the right side of freedom's divide." "We have an obligation to help those who are unlucky enough to have been born on the...

HONG KONG - A notable feature of 2004 was the volatility in oil prices - New York light sweet crude prices reached a peak of US$55.67 on October 25, ending the year up 33.6% at $43.45 per barrel. While a number of supply-side and supply-chain factors have contributed to this situation, the most significant long-term factor contributing to rising oil prices is an increase in Asian demand, most notably from China. China's unprecedented growth not only makes it a driver of a long-term increase in energy prices, but also the most vulnerable to rising oil prices. China, which has been...

SINGAPORE (AFP) - A Singapore-listed Chinese company that sources jet fuel for China is in deep trouble after losing 550 million US dollars in speculative oil trades, triggering concern over other China-linked stocks. China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp.'s losses, announced by the company late Tuesday in a statement to the Singapore Exchange, equal its market capitalisation of 549 million US dollars, raising serious questions about the unit's future. It is the largest amount a company in Singapore has lost by betting on derivatives since rogue British trader Nick Leeson bankrupted Barings Investment Bank when he blew more than one billion...