China’s top leadership has made party governance the focus of a coming key conclave, signalling the significance of a clean record in the selection process ahead of next year’s national congress. The Politburo, China’s top decision-making body, announced on Thursday that the fifth plenary session of the Communist Party’s 20th Central Committee would be held in October, state news agency Xinhua reported. The meeting is likely to be the party’s most important gathering ahead of its 21st national...

China has seen a spike in Covid-19 in recent weeks, overtaking influenza as the top respiratory pathogen for the first time this year, but most patients experienced mild symptoms, while the medical authorities said data suggested the infection rate was significantly lower than last year’s peak. The spread of the Omicron NB.1.8.1 variant has reached a “moderate transmission level”, according to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC does not give a weekly total of...

The Chinese government has appealed to the public for information as part of its investigation into a reservoir dam that collapsed in southern China earlier this month, causing heavy casualties. State media reported on Monday that the public could call a hotline to submit information related to the collapse of the Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on July 6. People also have until August 15 to post submissions to an investigation and assessment work group from the...

Taipei mayor Wayne Chiang Wan-an has emerged as the biggest political winner from an opposition protest against the government’s handling of a food safety scandal that drew what organisers said were more than 200,000 people onto the streets of the city. The unexpectedly large turnout on Saturday appears to have given the island’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang, fresh momentum ahead of the local elections in November, and could reshape the race to become the party’s candidate in the next...

Alleged scam-network mastermind Chen Zhi could face the death penalty, with Chinese prosecutors adding intentional injury to the list of charges against him. Chen, 38, was extradited from Cambodia to China six months ago and formally arrested on July 6, according to Chinese business magazine Caixin. He founded the Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group, which authorities say was linked to a sprawling online scam network. Caixin reported on Monday that prosecutors dropped a previous count of...

As Typhoon Noul barrelled into southern China on Sunday with winds reaching 160km/h (99mph), violent gusts ripped a cot from indoors and flipped it over several metres away, sending the child inside flying to the ground. Hongxing News, a Chinese media outlet, reported that a six-year-old girl lying in her cot in the southern city of Shenzhen was blown from inside a building onto the grass verge outside. Footage released by Hongxing showed a ground-floor grocery shop being battered by the gale,...

International students once saw US colleges as a gateway to a world-class education and career head start but shifting United States immigration policies, tightening visa conditions and high-profile ICE raids are causing them to reconsider. In the first in our series, Phoebe Zhang looks at how Chinese students are preparing for life – and safety – in America. The second instalment in our series is here. Beijing student Lulu Lu was just preparing for bed when she was startled by loud banging at...

Minutes after a Berlin court sentenced a Chinese man to five years in prison for aiding and abetting aggravated rape and sexual coercion, two women who had sat through the trial hugged each other and cried. But the case left one of those women, named Kristina, balancing mixed emotions as she struggled to reconcile her desire to see the perpetrators punished and questions about what justice really meant in a case of this nature. The 32-year-old accused, who was studying medicine, was jailed for...

High-speed rail services and flights across Guangdong province were cancelled on Sunday after Typhoon Noul made landfall in the province, bringing heavy rainfall to large parts of southern China. Noul – the strongest typhoon to hit China so far this year – made landfall at Huizhou city in Guangdong at around 3.50am on Sunday. The National Meteorological Centre issued its first red typhoon warning of the year – the highest alert level in a four-tier system – on Saturday evening. The following...