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By James Edgar The top three in Sunday’s Beijing half marathon have been stripped of their medals, organisers said, following an investigation into the finish that saw China’s He Jie controversially win. The race’s bizarre finish saw He cross the line first after the Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, and Dejene Hailu from Ethiopia, […]

Beijing half marathon organisers said Monday they were investigating after footage shared widely online appeared to show three African runners deliberately allowing China’s He Jie to win. Video clips of Sunday’s race showed the Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, Dejene Hailu of Ethiopia and home runner He approaching the finish. The three African runners […]

By Beiyi Seow US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang sounded a hopeful tone on US-China cooperation on Sunday, though the American policymaker noted both sides cannot shy away from tough conversations. The US-China relationship can only move forward with direct and open communication, Yellen told Li, after arriving in the Chinese […]

Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping clashed in a telephone call Tuesday about US trade restrictions on technology and on Taiwan, but they looked to manage their tensions, with two top US officials heading shortly to Beijing. The nearly two-hour telephone conversation was the two leaders’ first direct interaction since a summit in November in […]

By Peter Catterall Thousands of delegates from across China will convene in Beijing next week for the start of the country’s annual legislative meetings known as the “Two Sessions”. The tightly controlled voting on legislation already pre-approved by the ruling Communist Party means there will be no major changes. But the meetings do provide a […]

Severe weather warnings were in place across swathes of China on Wednesday as temperatures plummeted across the south and Beijing shivered in snowy conditions. Authorities renewed an orange alert — the highest in the country’s three-tier system — warning that average temperatures in the south could fall by six to 12 degrees Celsius (43 to […]

By Qian Ye and Greg Baker It’s just after midday in a quiet studio in Beijing, and Xuan Yi is finally getting the deep sleep she’s craved for months. Xuan is one of an estimated 300 million Chinese people suffering from insomnia, the product of a high-stress, high-pressure culture that has left many young people […]

China’s air pollution worsened in 2023, the first time it has done so in a decade, a study released on Friday said. “2023 is the first year that China’s national average PM2.5 level has increased year-on-year since the beginning of China’s ‘war on pollution’ in 2013,” a study by independent research organisation the Centre for Research […]