China

HONG KONG (AP) — A Chinese diplomat accused the U.S. consul general in Hong Kong of interfering in its affairs after he said the city’s freedoms were eroding and warned the American not to cross political “red lines.”

Consul General Gregory May gave a video address last month in which he expressed concern over diminished freedoms in Hong Kong and said its reputation as a business center depended on adherence to international standards and the rule of law.

BEIJING, February 24. /TASS/: China published on Friday its position on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. The text of the document is posted on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and includes 12 points.

BEIJING, Feb 24 (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry said on Friday that the United States had refused to reply to a Chinese request for information on the balloon that it had shot downed off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month.

The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before President Joe Biden ordered it to be shot down. The episode strained further ties between Washington and Beijing, leading America's top diplomat to postpone a trip to China.

BEIJING, Feb 24 (Reuters) - China called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine on Friday and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was open to considering parts of a 12-point peace plan put forward by Beijing.

On the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moscow's ally China urged both sides to agree to a gradual de-escalation, warned against the use of nuclear weapons and said conflict benefited no one.

BEIJING (AP) — China called for a cease-fire and peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, in a vaguely worded proposal released Friday that analysts said was unlikely to deliver results.

Beijing claims to have a neutral stance in the war that began one year ago, but has also said it has a “no limits friendship” with Russia and has refused to criticize its invasion of Ukraine, or even refer to it as an invasion. It has accused the West of provoking the conflict and “fanning the flames” by providing Ukraine with defensive arms.

ALXA LEAGUE, China (AP) — Work crews trying to find 47 people missing after a collapse at an open-pit mine in northern China have had to change their excavation methods to avoid causing more landslides, state media reported Friday.

Six people have been confirmed dead and six injured people have been rescued at the mine in Inner Mongolia’s Alxa League as of Thursday night, broadcaster CCTV said.

SHENZHEN, Feb 23 (Xinhua/APP): China’s southern metropolis of Shenzhen will build 10,000 5G base stations in 2023, local authorities have said.

By the end of 2023, the 5G base stations will be distributed at a density of 42 per 10,000 people and 37 per square km in the city, according to an action plan issued by the municipal industry and information technology bureau.

Since 2019, Shenzhen has constructed over 65,000 5G base stations, with over 10 million 5G users, said the plan.

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A 7.2-magnitude earthquake jolted Tajikistan at 8:37 a.m. Thursday Beijing Time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The epicenter was monitored at 37.98 degrees north latitude and 73.29 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 10 km, the CENC said.

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll from the collapse of an open pit coal mine in northern China has risen to four, with 49 people still missing, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday.

Work had been suspended for several hours after an additional landslide at the gigantic facility following Wednesday’s mine collapse in the vast Inner Mongolia region’s Alxa League.

State media said the landslide struck at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, about five hours after the initial cave-in of one of the pit’s walls buried people and mining trucks below.

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Xi's meeting with Putin will be part of a push for multi-party talks on peace in Ukraine and allow China to reiterate its calls that nuclear weapons not be used, the report added. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year.