China

BEIJING (AP) — Pandemic lockdowns are expanding across China, including in a city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as the number of COVID-19 cases hits a daily record.

Residents of eight districts of Zhengzhou, home to 6.6 million people, were told to stay home for five days beginning Thursday except to buy food or get medical treatment. Daily mass testing was ordered in what the city government called a “war of annihilation” against the virus.

FUZHOU, Nov 23 (NNN-XINHUA) – A giant offshore wind turbine, with the world’s largest per-unit capacity, has moved off the production line in east China’s Fujian Province.

The 16-megawatt wind turbine is equipped with a 146-metre hub, equal to the height of a 50-storey building, and has the world’s longest impeller diameter of 252 metres and the lightest per megawatt weight, according to China Three Gorges Corporation.

BEIJING (AP) — Employees at the world’s biggest Apple iPhone factory were beaten and detained in protests over pay amid anti-virus controls, according to witnesses and videos on social media Wednesday, as tensions mount over Chinese efforts to combat a renewed rise in infections.

Videos that said they were filmed at the factory in the central city of Zhengzhou showed thousands of people in masks facing rows of police in white protective suits with plastic riot shields. Police kicked and hit a protester with clubs after he grabbed a metal pole that had been used to strike him.

BEIJING, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe on Tuesday told his U.S. counterpart that Taiwan is at the core of China's core interests and was a "red-line" that must not be crossed.

"The resolution of Taiwan is a matter for Chinese people, no external force has the right to interfere," Wei said at a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of a gathering of Southeast Asian defence chiefs in Cambodia.

BEIJING (AP) — Major global stock markets advanced Tuesday after Wall Street sank and Chinese anti-virus controls fueled concern about an economic slowdown.

London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai and Tokyo gained, while Wall Street futures were lower. Oil prices gained.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index declined Monday after a Federal Reserve official rattled investors last week by saying already-elevated interest rates might have to go higher than expected to stop surging inflation.

BEIJING (AP) — More than 253,000 coronavirus cases have been found in China in the past three weeks and the daily average is rising, the government said Tuesday, adding to pressure on officials who are trying to reduce economic damage by easing controls that confine millions of people to their homes.

BEIJING, Nov.21 (APP): The Huawei ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Competition is an international annual competition that provides students with a platform to compete healthily and exchange ideas.

Two teams from Pakistan participated in the Network Category of the Practice Competition and won prizes.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets sank Monday after Wall Street ended with a loss for the week amid anxiety about Federal Reserve plans for more interest rate hikes to cool inflation.

Hong Kong’s benchmark fell more than than 3%. Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney also retreated. Oil prices declined.

All the major U.S. stock indexes ended with a weekly loss after a Fed official, James Bullard, rattled investors by suggesting the U.S. central bank’s base lending rate might have to be raised to as much as almost double its already elevated level.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong leader John Lee tested positive for the coronavirus after meeting with other regional leaders the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Thailand, the city’s government said Monday.

Lee tested negative throughout his four-day stay in Bangkok but his test upon his arrival at Hong Kong’s airport on Sunday night was positive, it said.

Lee is now in isolation and will work from home, according to the statement from the Chief Executive’s Office. Other officials at his office who went to Thailand with Lee all tested negative.

BEIJING, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Michael Bloomberg apologised last week at a business forum hosted by the news agency he founded for remarks by British former Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticising China as autocratic.

The controversy highlights China's influence in Asia and sensitivities about overt criticism of Beijing.