Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years leaves at least nine dead and almost 1,000 injuredMagnitude 7.3 quake topples dozens of buildings and leaves others tilting, particularly in eastern county of HualienWed Apr 03 2024 - 18:49
US and China first phone call in two years deemed constructive despite ‘negative factors’Xi Jinping highlights Taiwan and US curbs on high-tech exports as red lines in conversation with Joe BidenWed Apr 03 2024 - 18:21
Relations with foreign investors in spotlight at ‘China’s Davos’Boao Forum for Asia focuses on the future of the Chinese economy and the two-day event is attended by chief executives from some of the world’s biggest companiesFri Mar 29 2024 - 06:00
Boao Forum: Global South urged to seize its moment as western ‘values’ questioned Boao Letter: ’ It’s the global majority which is now on the move, which is now growing as the new epicentre of the world’s civilisation’Fri Mar 29 2024 - 05:00
China’s food deliverers: ‘Online order platforms don’t treat their riders well. They don’t have kind hearts’ Biking food from Beijing’s cafes and restaurants, some six million drivers work long hours daily for low pay in dangerous traffic conditions. Liu Wei is one of them who works hard and draws dignity from his seven-day-a-week labourSat Mar 23 2024 - 06:00
Ring fades as antique snapshots trace a Chinese family circleExporting antiques was a good way to make money but Communist Party restrictions turned traders into smugglersFri Mar 22 2024 - 05:00
Hong Kong passes national security law aimed at quashing dissent with severe penaltiesSome offences carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, including colluding with external forces to damage public infrastructureTue Mar 19 2024 - 22:08
Hong Kong security law was inevitable, but speed of its passing was a surpriseTruncated timetable meant Washington had no time to prepare packages of sanctions to threaten legislators during debateTue Mar 19 2024 - 18:10
Economy on track for greener pastures this year, says McGrath Exchequer returns continue to perform well and the labour market is buoyant, but headwinds remain, Minister for Finance warnsMon Mar 18 2024 - 10:06
Meet the Irish man who is China’s top whiskey influencerA 36-year-old from Downpatrick, Co Down, has become China’s top whiskey influencerFri Mar 15 2024 - 05:00
China’s National People’s Congress highlights Xi’s dominant position and diminishing profile of collective leadership around himThe focus was on ‘new productive forces’, a new slogan for what amounts to a dramatic reshaping of the Chinese economyMon Mar 11 2024 - 18:47
China strengthens Communist Party’s control over central governmentMove puts State Council, which oversees ministries and local governments, under direct authority of partyMon Mar 11 2024 - 16:36
New Hong Kong security legislation would carry draconian penaltiesDefinition of sedition and state secrets could expand, putting journalists and workers in financial services at risk of prosecution for espionageFri Mar 08 2024 - 17:33
Where women are family leaders and flexible marriages with few rules are the normThe Mosuo people of southwest China are among the few surviving matrilineal societies, where spouses often live apartFri Mar 08 2024 - 06:48
China’s foreign minister criticises Washington and EU while lauding Sino-Russia relationsAnnual legislative meeting in Tiananmen Square includes a lengthy press conference to lay out Communist Party’s global agendaFri Mar 08 2024 - 05:00
New security Bill raises fears for freedom in Hong KongJustice secretary says legislation is aimed at people who ‘spread speech that harms or jeopardises national security’Thu Mar 07 2024 - 16:41
China sets ambitious target of 5% growth for yearPremier say it won’t be easy to achieve and cites internal and external pressures on economyTue Mar 05 2024 - 11:20
China scraps premier’s press conference as National People’s Congress meets in BeijingLi Qiang the first premier in three decades not to take questions from the media at end of annual parliamentary sessionMon Mar 04 2024 - 11:45
China’s ‘Two Sessions’ set to get under way amid slowing economy and trade tensions with US and EUManufacturing continues to stall along with property, debt and foreign investment woes as world of commerce looks to Beijing for swing away from domestic security concernsSun Mar 03 2024 - 16:00
‘There are just too many people moving here’: The popularity problem in China’s idyllic Yunnan province The province of Yunnan attracts people in pursuit of their dreams with its idyllic setting, openness and low cost of living. But the classic processes of gentrification and spiralling rents inflict cultural damage on the local communitySat Mar 02 2024 - 05:00
Party cadres urged to ‘emancipate the mind’ but Chinese officials remain more cautious than everXi’s crackdown on corruption has created a culture of fear just when China’s stagnating economy is badly in need of fresh thinkingFri Mar 01 2024 - 05:00
Jimmy Lai and six Hong Kong activists allowed to appeal against march convictions Media tycoon is on trial in Hong Kong on separate charges under controversial National Security LawFri Feb 23 2024 - 16:07
‘Don’t come back’: Messi not the first high-profile target of online anger in ChinaIntense and sometimes destructive social media storms have been a regular occurrence for more than a decadeThu Feb 22 2024 - 18:01
Taiwan seeks to play down China tensions following coast guard incidentsDefence ministry in Taipei says it has not increased military presence around Kinmen islandsWed Feb 21 2024 - 15:08
China slashes key mortgage rate in bid to head off downturn Five-year loan prime rate is cut from 4.2% to 3.95% as sales of new homes continue to fallTue Feb 20 2024 - 12:51
US accused of ‘sabre-rattling’ over Taiwan The view that Washington is acting provocatively is shared across much of AsiaFri Feb 16 2024 - 05:00
Beans spilled over secret coffee with a friend’s husbandThe Year of the Dragon brings marriage-related suspicions and a sour response over lunchFri Feb 09 2024 - 05:00
Switzerland plans to involve Russia in Ukraine peace talksForeign minister Ignazio Cassis has invited China to take part in a peace conference, but has not so far received a responseWed Feb 07 2024 - 14:51
Chinese markets jump as state investment fund pledges to buy more sharesRegulator has promised to clamp down on what it describes as market manipulation and ‘malicious short-selling’Tue Feb 06 2024 - 16:27
Ireland increasingly seen by China as a bridge to the EU Extensive media coverage of prime minister’s visit to Dublin focused on Ireland’s neutrality and ‘openness’ in face of EU protectionismThu Jan 18 2024 - 18:26
Irish beef exports to China to resume immediatelyAnnouncement of move following BSE-linked suspension comes as Chinese premier Li Qiang meets Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in DublinWed Jan 17 2024 - 16:19
China’s population fell by more than 2m last yearCoronavirus drove deaths upwards as birth rate plunged to a record lowWed Jan 17 2024 - 09:21
Taiwan blames China for loss of diplomatic relations with south Pacific island of NauruTaipei claims Beijing offered Nauru financial inducements to make the diplomatic switchMon Jan 15 2024 - 18:39
China’s premier may be hoping to find a sympathetic ear in Dublin during visit this weekLi Qiang is a longstanding confidant of president XI Jinping and in forefront of China’s efforts to engage with international financial and corporate worldsMon Jan 15 2024 - 16:42
Comfortable Lai win in Taiwan’s election but he is first president to be elected without a majority for more than 20 yearsBeijing’s initial response to result is low key, saying it will not change its commitment to reunification and asserted that Lai’s failure to win majority means he does not represent mainstream opinion in TaiwanSun Jan 14 2024 - 19:00
Taiwan election: All eyes on Beijing’s reaction following historic victoryNew president Lai Ching-te sounds conciliatory note after his party wins third successive term in officeSat Jan 13 2024 - 16:39
Taiwanese voters defy Beijing to elect Lai Ching-te as president Ruling party candidate urges China to accept result and says he will not cross red line by declaring Taiwan an independent stateSat Jan 13 2024 - 15:37
Elections in Taiwan: Beijing has made clear its preference that next president should be anyone other than LaiLai takes strongest anti-China stance where other candidates are more willing to placate the Chinese in hopes of avoiding military confrontationSat Jan 13 2024 - 06:00
Taiwan’s two bigger parties fear support for smaller Taiwan People’s Party from younger voters could cost them the presidencyResult of election could have major impact on self-governing island’s relationships with mainland China and the USFri Jan 12 2024 - 17:39
Taiwan’s past injustices and authoritarianism still casting a shadow When Chiang retreated to Taiwan from mainland China he put the island under martial law. Communists and those accused of associating with them were persecuted, jailed, tortured and sometimes executedFri Jan 12 2024 - 05:00
‘He looks very old’: Stakes high in Taiwan election but candidates draw little enthusiasm from votersContest to succeed Tsai Ing-wen as president has become keener, the rallies louder and the campaigning more frantic as election nearsThu Jan 11 2024 - 18:38
As bears return to China from zoos around the world, some ask if panda diplomacy era is overChina retains ownership of any cubs born to pandas on loan overseas and zoos must agree to send cubs back to China when they reach the age of fourFri Jan 05 2024 - 05:00
Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty to breaching Hong Kong national security lawProsecutor tells court that Lai used his media business and the platform it gave him to pursue political agenda against the governments in Beijing and Hong KongTue Jan 02 2024 - 15:34
China’s Xi warns Taiwan over independence ahead of electionTaiwan’s president has urged Beijing to respect the outcome of January 13th voteMon Jan 01 2024 - 13:46
China faces into an uncertain 2024 with an economy hobbled by a drawn-out property crisisHousing crash, slowdown in foreign investment weigh on nation’s economic healthSat Dec 30 2023 - 06:00
‘Still the greatest.’ China remembers Mao but prefers to focus on his youth than later yearsBeijing Letter: Deng Xiaoping said China’s former leader was ‘70% right and 30% wrong’ and that remains, more or less, the official viewFri Dec 29 2023 - 15:00
A snapshot of house prices in five cities around the world and how they compare to IrelandTight supply and a shortage of affordable housing are common themes despite recent cooling of prices in several marketsThu Dec 28 2023 - 06:01
China threatens Taiwan with further trade sanctions as elections approachTaiwan will elect a new president and a new parliament next month, and polls show the DPP’s candidate, vice-president Lai Ching-te, as the favourite to succeed Ms Tsai Ing-wenWed Dec 27 2023 - 16:13
Best of five: A glimpse at rental prices in cities around the worldFive Irish Times foreign correspondents looked at rental prices and issues in their city, to get a snapshot of whether the rental crisis in Dublin is also experienced in other parts of the worldWed Dec 27 2023 - 06:01
2023 ends with much of the world at war, and a quarter of the global population affectedGaza and Ukraine dominate news in the western world, yet more than 50 other conflicts continue around the globeMon Dec 25 2023 - 06:00
