Taiwan monitoring PLA warplanes and ships after William Lai’s stopovers

Taiwan monitoring PLA warplanes and ships after William Lai’s stopovers

The defence ministry said it had detected 47 mainland Chinese warplanes near Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6am on Tuesday – the largest number since the PLA simulated a blockade of the island on October 14 in an exercise dubbed Joint Sword-2024B. The PLA sent 153 warplanes for that drill. In the latest exercise, … Read more

Chinese AI firms rush out costly ‘reasoning’ models to take on OpenAI’s o1

Chinese AI firms rush out costly ‘reasoning’ models to take on OpenAI’s o1

Chinese technology companies are rushing to unveil reasoning models – advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models designed to take more time to “think and reflect” before generating responses – as they move to narrow China’s gap with the US in the field. Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group Holding, was the latest to … Read more

Jack Ma returns to Alibaba campus, as China moves to boost business confidence

Jack Ma returns to Alibaba campus, as China moves to boost business confidence

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holding, on Friday visited the company’s campus in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, in a show of support for the e-commerce empire he created a quarter of a century ago, according to employees. Ma’s visit was his first known trip back to to his hometown since March 2023, … Read more

Wuzhen Summit: China creates AI advisory body, with Alibaba Cloud founder as chief expert

Wuzhen Summit: China creates AI advisory body, with Alibaba Cloud founder as chief expert

China has created a new specialist committee on artificial intelligence (AI), as part of the country’s vision for the development and governance of the technology, amid simmering tensions between Beijing and Washington. The AI Experts Committee will help spearhead efforts to promote the country’s perspective on how the fast-growing technology should be governed, according to … Read more

Facing tough economy, China cracks down on police abuse of power targeting businesses

Facing tough economy, China cracks down on police abuse of power targeting businesses

A report by prosecutors in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang has shed light on how entrepreneurs and private businesses can fall prey to the abuse of power by police. The report highlights a case dating back to May of last year, when two officials from the public security bureau of an unnamed province began extorting … Read more

Chinese government workers call up women to urge pregnancy in latest birth rate push

Chinese government workers call up women to urge pregnancy in latest birth rate push

Chinese grass roots government workers, who implemented decades of birth control policy, are now calling up women in their neighbourhood to urge them to get pregnant amid China’s demographic crisis. When Jane Huang picked up the phone to answer a call earlier this month, her first response to the person on the end was to … Read more

What to see and do in Hangzhou, China, from beautiful ancient sites to a jazz bar

What to see and do in Hangzhou, China, from beautiful ancient sites to a jazz bar

The natural charms of Hangzhou in China were immortalised more than 1,000 years ago in the poems of Bai Juyi and Lin Bu, and it remains a draw to this day even as the city has grown into a hub for innovation. Known for its ancient streets and tree-lined canals, on the first day of … Read more

The teething troubles of turning China’s kindergartens into homes for the aged

The teething troubles of turning China’s kindergartens into homes for the aged

In his 21 years of running kindergartens, Yu Bo has never had this much trouble filling places. Previously, he did not even need to advertise. Parents crowded his office asking if they could pay a year in advance to reserve a spot. Sometimes women even came to him while pregnant. At their business peak, he … Read more

China’s grass-roots officials told to ‘sift out losers’ to stop random attacks on public

China’s grass-roots officials told to ‘sift out losers’ to stop random attacks on public

Chinese authorities are stepping up efforts to screen people at risk of taking out their anger on innocent members of the public following a series of attacks involving mass stabbings or cars being deliberately driven into pedestrians. At the grass-roots level, there is a long-standing tradition of identifying people with financial and emotional problems. But … Read more

China’s ex-justice minister Tang Yijun faces corruption charges and is expelled from party

China’s ex-justice minister Tang Yijun faces corruption charges and is expelled from party

China’s top anti-corruption agency said on Monday that former justice minister Tang Yijun would be indicted on charges of corruption and misconduct after being investigated for taking bribes and abuse of power. Tang is accused of helping family members secure financial deals and accepting lavish gifts and travel expenses, in violation of the Communist Party’s … Read more