Elderly Chinese people toast to celebrate moving into a new building at a nursing home in Chongqing in December 2012. (AP Photo)
Graying China taps rural elderly to care for those even older
QIANTUN, China--Two years short of 70, Zhang Guosheng spends his days caring for an 81-year-old fellow villager--washing his clothes, bringing meals to his bed, and keeping him company--a routine he'll keep up until he himself needs the type of care he is now giving.
China cracks down on over-the-top anti-Japan dramas. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
China cracks down on over-the-top anti-Japan dramas
BEIJING--China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on May 17, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines.
The unidentified flying object (UFO), which was seen in the sky in Enshi city, central Chinas Hubei province, on May 13, was in fact the missile, launched by China on May 13. China launched a large missile on May 13 that reached 10,000 km above the earth, its highest sub-orbital launch since 1976, according to a U.S. scientist at Harvard University. (Imaginechina via AP Images)
Source: U.S. sees China launch as test of anti-satellite muscle
WASHINGTON--The U.S. government believes a Chinese missile launch this week was the first test of a new interceptor that could be used to destroy a satellite in orbit, a U.S. defense official told Reuters on May 15.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during the BRICS 2013 Summit in Durban, South Africa, on March 27. (AP Photo)
Slower Chinese growth adds to pressure on leaders
BEIJING--Global economic malaise has knocked the stuffing out of Luo Yan's business making toy animals.
China has begun a crackdown on the sales of fake, diseased and tainted meat products after a series of scandals. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
China steps up inspection of meat trade after fake lamb scandal
BEIJING--China has begun a crackdown on the sales of fake, diseased and tainted meat products after a series of scandals that have further dented public confidence in the food industry, the official Xinhua news agency said on May 16.
Chinese can use the “We the People'' website to air their complaints. (The Asahi Shimbun)
Woman: China police ask to ax White House petition
BEIJING--Upset about plans for a petrochemical plant near her hometown in China, a woman turned to a new method that Chinese are using to air their complaints: she posted a petition on the White House's website. Then, Chinese police asked her to take it down.
Participants in the Arctic Council meeting hold a news conference on May 15 in Kiruna, Sweden. (The Asahi Shimbun)
China granted observer seat on Arctic governing council
KIRUNA, Sweden--The Arctic Council agreed on May 15 to admit emerging powers China and India as observers, reflecting growing global interest in the trade and energy potential of the planet's Far North.
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter takes off from Kadena Air Base on the southern island of Okinawa in August 2012. (AP file photo)
INSIGHT: China's new claims over Okinawa may harden Japanese resolve
BEIJING--China is trying to strengthen its claim on tiny, uninhabited, Japanese-controlled islands by raising questions about the much larger Okinawa chain that is home to more than a million Japanese along with major U.S. military installations. The tactic, however, appears to have done little but harden Tokyo's stance.
U.S. envoy on North Korea Glyn Davies, center back, briefs reporters at a hotel in Beijing on May 15. (AP Photo)
U.S. envoy: China content to continue North Korea sanctions
BEIJING--The top U.S. envoy on North Korea says China has indicated it will continue to implement sanctions against Pyongyang.
A rocket carrying the communications satellite blasts off at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang city, Sichuan province. A U.S. scientist at Harvard University says China launches from the same launch center a large missile that can reach 6,200 miles (10,000 km) above the earth, its highest suborbital launch since 1976. (AP file photo)
Scientist: China missile hit highest suborbital level since 1976
WASHINGTON--China launched a large missile that reached 6,200 miles (10,000 km) above the earth, its highest suborbital launch since 1976, according to a U.S. scientist at Harvard University.
View of red flags fluttering in the wind on Tiananmen Square in Beijing on March 4 (AP file photo)
Wang becomes most common last name in China
SHANGHAI—China has more Wangs than the Philippines has people.
Lawyer Li Heping (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
China tightens grip on discourse, ideology
BEIJING--Chinese authorities have shut down or frozen the microblog accounts of several prominent liberal intellectuals and harassed rights lawyers lobbying against unofficial “black jails,” underlining the determination of the country’s new leadership to control dissent even as it vows to root out corruption.
Tadashi Okamura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
JCCI postpones China visit because of tense bilateral ties
The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry has decided to postpone sending special delegates to Beijing for a meeting scheduled May 26-30 because of the poor state of relations between the two countries, sources said.
Taiwanese army tanks make advances during a drill simulating an invasion by China on an island in the Taiwan Strait on April 17. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Taiwan runs short of volunteers in military shift
TAIPEI--A Taiwanese plan to end mandatory military service and shift to an all-volunteer force is running into a problem: not enough volunteers.
CEO of Lion Air Rusdi Kirana of Indonesia, left, and CEO of Airbus, France's Fabrice Bregier, right, pose with a Airbus 320 model for the media while France's President Francois Hollande stands behind during a signing ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on March 18. (AP Photo)
Airbus to China: We support you, please buy our jets
BRUSSELS--China's decision to ease a boycott of some $11 billion in Airbus jet orders followed a high-level appeal from the plane maker urging Beijing to recognize its support over a trade row with Europe, a letter seen by Reuters shows.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
China premier to visit India, Pakistan on first foreign trip
BEIJING--New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will visit India and Pakistan on his first foreign trip since assuming office, on a week-long overseas foray that will also take in Switzerland and Germany, the Foreign Ministry announced on May 13.
Protesters hurl eggs at the Philippines representative office in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 13. (AP Photo)
Taiwanese protest killing by Philippine forces
TAIPEI, Taiwan--Some 200 Taiwanese gathered outside the Philippines representative office in Taipei on May 13 to protest the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippines coast guard in disputed waters.
Liu Tienan, deputy chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, after a news conference in Shanghai in April 2009 (AP Photo)
Senior China planner investigated in new corruption crackdown-state media
BEIJING--A deputy chairman of China's top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), is under investigation for suspected "serious discipline violations," state media said on May 12, as China's new leaders tackle deep-rooted corruption.
A student-led demonstration demanding democracy garnered broad public support but was eventually suppressed by force in the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Chinese authorities ban human rights, political discussions at universities
BEIJING--In an apparent sign of declining confidence in one-party rule by the Communist Party, Chinese authorities recently banned the discussion of political reform and human rights topics in classes at universities in major cities.
This international convention center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was built with Chinese aid. The photo was taken March 25. (Atsushi Okudera)
Despite its extravagance, Chinese aid not always welcomed in Africa
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania--There's a towering presence in the foreign aid landscape in Africa, once the domain of Western donor nations and Japan: It is China.