ASIA: China said on Monday it has imposed sanctions on 11 Americans, including six US lawmakers, for “behaving badly on Hong Kong-related issues.” The US on Friday sanctioned Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam as well as 10 other Chinese and Hong Kong officials for their role in crackdowns on political freedom in the […]

ASIA: US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday sweeping bans on US transactions with China’s ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent, operator of the WeChat app, starting in 45 days, in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing. Trump said this week he would support the sale of TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft […]

  ASIA: China’s economic growth indicators are lopsided, pointing to possible downside risks for the country in the second half of 2020 as it tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, an analyst said Thursday. Recent data showed China’s June retail sales fell 1.8% from a year ago, much worse than the 0.3% growth analysts […]

    ASIA: Senior US and Chinese officials will review the implementation of their Phase 1 trade deal and likely air mutual grievances in an increasingly tense relationship during an August 15 video conference, two people familiar with the plans said. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the principal negotiators […]

ASIA: US President Trump’s suggestion that the US government take a cut from the forced sale of the viral Chinese app TikTok sparked a new round of anger and reflection in China, as TikTok’s founder warned employees about “rising anti-Chinese sentiment.” On Tuesday, a number of prominent figures in China, including Google’s former country head, […]

ASIA: China said on Monday it was firmly opposed to any US actions against Chinese software companies, responding to remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Washington will take action shortly against Chinese firms feeding data to Beijing’s government. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters during a daily briefing that China […]

ASIA: Buoyed by a construction boom, China’s economic recovery continued apace in July, new sentiment data suggested. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for July stood at 51.1, with a reading above 50.0 suggesting expansion in factory output. This was slightly better than June’s reading of 50.9 and was better than analysts’ expectations, with […]

ASIA: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers on Thursday that the “tide is turning” on China, as the US has led the push to ramp up international pressure on the Communist regime on issues from property theft to international surveillance to the Chinese crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong. China warned on Thursday […]

ASIA: China on Wednesday expressed its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to smears against China on a series of issues by the US and Australia, and has lodged solemn representations with them, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry said at a press briefing. Wang’s remarks came after the US Secretary of State Mike […]

ASIA: China has said Hong Kong will suspend extradition treaties with Britain, Canada, and Australia after they took similar steps over the territory’s controversial new security law. The Foreign Ministry spokesman accused the countries of “gross interference in China’s internal affairs.” Earlier this month, US lawmakers approved sanctions in response to the law, targeting banks […]