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Preliminary investigations show 47 people from 18 households missing in mountainous region, broadcaster CCTV reportsForty-seven people were buried in a landslide in China’s south-western Yunnan province, state media has reported.CCTV said on Monday that about 18 households were buried, and more than 200 people were evacuated. Authorities launched an emergency response involving more than 200 rescue workers as well as dozens of fire engines...

Fire broke out in dormitories of primary school in central Henan provinceThirteen pupils have died after a fire broke out in dormitories at a primary school in central Henan province, Chinese state media reported.All of the dead were third-grade students, a teacher at Yingcai school told Zonglan news, a state-backed media outlet from Hebei province. One person rescued from the scene was being treated...

Taiwan says China has launched significant joint air and sea patrols, but analysts say Beijing’s reaction to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s election win has so far been relatively quietChina conducted joint combat patrols around Taiwan on Wednesday, in a potential resumption of military intimidation after Taiwan’s presidential election last weekend. But analysts say the reaction from China’s ruling Communist party has been relatively...

Ambassador says there is ‘no room at all’ for compromise on ‘sensitive’ issue, and offers gloomy assessment on prospects for release of writer Dr Yang HengjunGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastChina has lodged diplomatic protests with Australia for congratulating the winner of Taiwan’s presidential election, with the Chinese ambassador warning there is “no room at all” for...

Nauru become first ally to switch allegiances to Beijing after weekend’s presidential elections in TaiwanNauru has switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China less than 48 hours after Taiwan’s presidential election.In a statement, the government of the tiny island country in Micronesia, north-east of Australia, said it had decided to recognise the People’s Republic of China and was seeking the resumption of full diplomatic...

China urges US, UK and Japan not to interfere in ‘China’s internal affairs’ after they congratulate Lai Ching-te for election winGlobal leaders have congratulated Lai Ching-te for winning Taiwan’s presidential election, praising the high turnout and democratic process – and drawing ire from Beijing, which had hoped to see Taiwan’s ruling party ousted.Lai won an unprecedented third term in power for the pro-sovereignty Democratic...

Lai’s Democratic Progressive party wins unprecedented third term in result likely to anger ChinaTaiwan has voted for Lai Ching-te to be its next president, ushering in a historic third term in power for the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive party (DPP), in a result that will anger Beijing and heighten tensions across the Taiwan strait.The victory of Lai, who since 2020 had served as vice-president to...

Beijing has criticised frontrunner Lai Ching-te as a ‘separatist’ as it seeks to intimidate self-ruling islandVote counting got under way on Saturday in Taiwan’s presidential election, held under the shadow of threats from China that choosing a leader it disapproves of could set the stage for war on the self-ruled island.Beijing criticised frontrunner Lai Ching-te, the current-vice president, as a dangerous “separatist” in the...

China mediates truce that would halt months of conflict that has displaced half a million people in country’s northMyanmar’s military and an alliance of armed ethnic minority groups have announced a China-mediated ceasefire after months of conflict that has posed the biggest threat to the junta since it seized power in 2021.Fighting has claimed hundreds of lives and displaced more than half a million...

Mistranslation of ‘satellite’ to ‘missile’ in message causes alarm and confusion days before presidential electionA Chinese satellite launch has triggered a nationwide emergency alert in Taiwan days before its presidential election, prompting alarm and confusion as the English portion of the message erroneously translated satellite to “missile”.The bilingual air raid alert blasted over loudspeakers and was sent to every mobile phone in Taiwan shortly...

Wenheng Zhao, 26, pleaded guilty in October to passing sensitive military information to Chinese intelligence officerA US navy petty officer who pleaded guilty to providing sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer was sentenced to more than two years in prison on Monday, the US justice department said.Wenheng Zhao, 26, and another US sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August on suspicion of...

Corruption and the cost of living have trumped concerns about a belligerent neighbour in close race for the presidencyDeep in the mountains of Hsinchu county in north Taiwan, a few dozen residents of Smangus are holding their daily morning meeting in a weatherboard hut, overlooking the towering peaks nearby.The remote Indigenous village, home to about 200 Atayal people, is preparing for Saturday’s presidential election....

Campaigners say testing is among methods used to surveil people in the tightly controlled regionThe US biotech company Thermo Fisher has halted sales of its DNA identification kits in Tibet, nearly five years after it made a similar commitment about the sale of its products in the neighbouring western Chinese region of Xinjiang.It decided to stop sales in Tibet after months of complaints from...