Xiao Zibang

Mar 30, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Xiao Zibang

The US is set to impose new visa restrictions on some Hong Kong officials after the city fast-tracked into law domestic security legislation that Washington says muzzles open discussion in the global finance hub. The State Department will take the steps against multiple Hong Kong officials responsible for the intensifying crackdown on rights and freedoms, according to a statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken Friday. It did not specify a time frame or name the officials targeted.

Mar 13, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Yanping Li |Jing Li |Xiao Zibang |Lucille Liu

At a national meeting of lawmakers this month, the Communist Party’s top official in Chongqing was thrown an offbeat question: Is it harder to design a spaceship or govern a Chinese megacity? Speaking on the sidelines of China’s parliament, former aerospace engineer Yuan Jiajun replied in English “this is a personal question,” before delivering his own assessment of the risks involved in both tasks.

Mar 13, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Xiao Zibang

Officials in a Chinese city near Beijing apologized after a state media journalist was prevented from covering a fatal explosion, an incident that underscores the difficulty of reporting in the world’s second-largest economy. A clip from state broadcaster China Central Television shows one of their reporters working near the scene of a blast resulting from a suspected gas leak that killed at least seven people on Wednesday in Yanjiao, just east of the capital.

Mar 12, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Xiao Zibang

US President Joe Biden pledged to look into a petition from a group of unions asking his administration to review China’s subsidies for shipbuilders, as tensions between the world’s two largest economy simmer during a major election year. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai “will take a hard look at this petition in accordance with the law,” Biden said Tuesday DC time in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mar 12, 2024 | bloomberg.com | Xiao Zibang

The US ambassador to China made a rare visit to Hong Kong as the Chinese city races to complete new security legislation that raised concerns of a chilling effect among some businesses and foreign governments. Nicholas Burns, the envoy, was hosted by US Consul General Gregory May in the Asian financial hub for meetings from March 11 to 12, according to a statement from the US Consulate General in Hong Kong. The spokesperson didn’t elaborate on what these meetings are.