China

  FILE - Uyghurs and their supporters rally across the street from United Nations headquarters in New York City, March 15, 2018. As Donald Trump’s second White House term nears, Uyghur American advocates push for tougher action on China’s Xinjiang policies. Washington — Following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, leaders in the Uyghur American community are advocating for renewed U.S. attention on human rights abuses in Xinjiang in northwest China, where Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have reportedly faced severe repression. Advocates urge Trump to continue his administration’s previous measures against China, citing the impact of his first-term policies on Uyghur rights. During Trump’s first term, his administration formally l...

  A woman lights a candle near flowers placed outside the Zhuhai People's Fitness Plaza where a man deliberately rammed his car into people exercising at the sports center, in Zhuhai in southern China's Guangdong province, Nov. 12, 2024. A man in China has killed 35 people and injured 43 more after ramming his car into a crowd outside a sports complex in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. The 62-year-old driver, who authorities say is surnamed Fan, "forced his way into the city\'s sports center, ramming people who were exercising on the internal roads," according to a police statement. Fan was detained and “controlled on the spot" as he attempted to drive away, according to police statements on...

  FILE - Shein and Temu logos are seen in this illustration taken August 22, 2024. HANOI, VIETNAM — Vietnam said Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu need to register with the government before the end of November or it will block their internet domains and apps from being used in the country. Vietnam\'s government and local businesses have expressed concern about the impact of Chinese online platforms on local markets due to deep discounting. The trade ministry has also said it is worried about the potential for the sale of counterfeit items. Nguyen Hoang Long, Vietnam\'s deputy trade minister, told a government meeting at the weekend that the ministry had worked with both Shein and Temu on the licensing matter. "After the ministry\'s notification, if these platform...

RFA Tibetan2024.10.25 Beijing has slammed as hypocritical a statement released by 15 Western countries that calls on Chinese authorities to release arbitrarily detained Uyghur and Tibetan prisoners and allow human rights observers to access the regions in which they live. The 15 countries delivered the statement to the U.N. Human Rights Committee during a session in New York on Tuesday. Speaking at a regular press conference on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian accused the West of “hypocrisy on human rights” and “ideological bias.” But he saved his most scathing criticism for Australia, whose U.N. ambassador delivered the statement. “Australia, long plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes, has severely violated the rights of refugees and immigrants, and left indigen...

Wang Yun for RFA Mandarin2024.10.26 It was a clear September afternoon with the Alps clearly visible in the distance when 16-year-old Tang crossed the border from neighboring Slovenia into Italy just over a month ago. “I’m finally free!” he told himself at the time. “I’m going to Italy to see the sea!” Tang’s journey to “freedom”— as he described it — had taken him thousands of kilometers, through eight countries, across several time zones, before he finally set foot in Italy. “I went from mainland China to Hong Kong, from Hong Kong to Malaysia, from Malaysia to Singapore, from Singapore to Mumbai, from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi, from Abu Dhabi to Sarajevo; from Sarajevo to Bihać, the border city of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he told RFA Mandarin’s Newcomers podcast. “From there, I sneaked acr...

Sun Cheng for RFA Mandarin and RFA Cantonese2024.10.28 Democracy activists in the United States have begun fasting in relays in protest at the treatment of jailed Chinese dissident Xu Zhiyong, who is on hunger strike in China’s Lunan Prison. Organized by the U.S. branch of the banned China Democracy Party, the protest began on Oct. 23, and will run until mid-November, with two people fasting for 24 hours at any given time, in solidarity with Xu’s protest over his treatment in prison. Exiled rights lawyer Chen Chuangchuang, who kicked off the protest on Oct. 23, said dozens of people have signed up to take part so far. “Initially we thought we would have one person fasting per day, but soon we had more than a dozen people, so I suggested making it two people per day, so it didn’t drag o...

RFA Staff2024.11.06 Updated at 12:45 pm ET on Nov. 6, 2024 Beijing on Wednesday gave a muted reaction to the U.S. presidential election victory for Donald Trump, as state media hit out at “U.S. hawks” and called on the incoming president to improve bilateral ties. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press briefing that China’s policy towards the United States would remain “consistent.” “We will continue to view and handle Sino-U.S. relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation,” Mao said. But the China Daily, in a commentary titled “Onus on new U.S. president to improve ties,” expressed frustration with “U.S. hawks” for the deterioration in Sino-American relations. “No matter who wins the election, the result wi...

Jane Tang for RFA Investigative2024.11.07 This story was reported with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Read their story here On an early morning in late July, a luxury expedition cruise ship, boasting the latest in high-end Arctic travel, made a slow approach to the docks of Ny-Ålesund, a remote settlement in Norway’s Svalbard Islands. At 79 degrees north latitude, Ny-Ålesund is the northernmost inhabited outpost on Earth. Isolated in the Arctic’s desolate winter, it hosts just 30 year-round residents. Newayer, a Chinese travel agency, chartered the vessel for 183 tourists from Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. Each passenger paid at least $13,000 for a two-week “Three Arctic Islands” tour, marketed as an exclusive opportunity to reach the “top of the Earth,” complete with “the...

Huang Chun-mei for RFA Mandarin2024.11.07 Taiwan’s government was quick to congratulate Donald Trump on his election as U.S. president as residents waited to see if he would follow through on comments made on the campaign trail that the island should have to pay for U.S. protection. Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo said the island’s government “will work together with the new U.S. administration and Congress to create a new situation in Taiwan-U.S. relations.” Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang, which currently controls the Legislative Yuan, also sent congratulations, with party Chairman Eric Chu highlighting Trump’s four years of experience in the job. “During his tenure, he led a number of pro-Taiwan bills and helped Taiwan strengthen its defenses,” Chu said. “The KMT expects T...