Simina Mistreanu

Beijing (Forbes) - The idea of a “decoupling” between the United States and China started gathering steam earlier this year, as the trade war between the two countries intensified and negotiators on both sides repeatedly failed to reach a solution. In theory, decoupling would mean ripping up global supply chains, freezing foreign investment initiatives and burning down the geopolitical bridges that were built over the past four decades between Washington and Beijing. Decoupli

China is set to stage its largest military parade ever to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Communist Party coming to power. But while President Xi Jinping will use the occasion to reassert his position, he faces headwinds on multiple fronts. Beijing (dpa) – On October 1, more than 15,000 troops and 580 sets of military equipment will roll down Beijing's historic Chang'An Avenue, while more than 160 military aircraft will whiz through the air above. The military parade, C

Pigeons caged, dogs banned and Internet slowed as China prepares to mark 70 years of Communist rule Beijing, China (Al Jazeera) - Wu Xiaoliang gushes about the tanks and missiles that are set to roll through the streets of central Beijing on October 1 to mark 70 years of Communist rule, in what will be China’s largest-ever military parade and a show of the country's strength. The 32-year-old horticulturist is a fan of a popular military drama on television, The King of Land B

Hong Kong (dpa) - Nearly 2 million people took to the streets of Hong Kong to rally against a controversial extradition bill on Sunday, organizers said, in the largest protest since the city returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The figure was announced on Sunday night as thousands of people remained on the streets of Hong Kong, filling major highways and stopping traffic in the government district. Sunday's protest is even larger than a similar one held last weekend when organiz

Authorities use an app to collect personal data on Uighurs as part of a vast surveillance network, Human Rights Watch says Beijing (The Guardian) - Using too much electricity or having acquaintances abroad are among a list of reasons that prompt authorities in China’s western Xinjiang region to investigate Uighurs and other Muslims who might be deemed “untrustworthy” and sent to internment camps, according to a Human Rights Watch report. The report, released on Thursday, anal

Beijing (The Washington Post) - The potential power of China’s nascent social-credit system was glimpsed last month with the announcement that millions of Chinese were banned last year from traveling by air or high-speed rail. “Untrustworthy” people were blocked from buying airline tickets 17.5 million times, while 5.5 million high-speed rail ticket purchases were stopped. The people restricted from traveling were on a Supreme People’s Court blacklist for failing to repay deb

Speaking out against sexual harassment is an uphill battle for a growing number of Chinese women who decide to do so. Qingdao, China (dpa) – On the sixth day after university officials forced Renee Ren, a student, and her parents into two hotel rooms next to campus, a school administrator told them they were free to go. Ren had just one thought on her mind: suing them. Ren, 26, a master’s student at China University of Petroleum in Qingdao, has been clashing with her school a

Everybody agrees the North Korea crisis is heading to a boiling point after Pyongyang tested a hydrogen bomb on Sunday - its most powerful to date. But as the UN Security Council is preparing to vote on a new set of sanctions - the most draconic yet - experts say the battered North Korean people might, yet again, take the brunt of the blow. Beijing (dpa) - Russia, the United States and China can agree on one thing: the North Korean conflict is at a turning point. Their pers

China's labour activists work out of passion, with little or no pay, and expose themselves to increasingly higher risks as Beijing cracks down on civil society organizations. Beijing (dpa) - When Deng Guilian first met in person the man who would become her husband, in a train station in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, she thought he was skinny and not overly handsome or cool. But he was a nice, educated man, who was dedicated to helping China's factory workers enjo

Beijing (dpa) – Thirty heads of state and government adopted Monday a joint statement supporting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious plan to build a trade and infrastructure network across Eurasia. The country leaders posed in front of a traditional Chinese painting of a vast landscape with a red sun at the formal Belt and Road Forum dinner in Beijing on Sunday night. "This land so rich in beauty," read the Chinese calligraphy at the top of the painting, alluding to a po