The China Labour Bulletin posted some videos from Chinese social media showing workers fainting from the gruelling shifts at the Foxconn plant in conjunction with the release of its new smartphone models. Overtime can reach up to four times the limit established by Chinese law.
Myanmar’s military strongman met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during a two-day summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion. Chinese source stresses infrastructure projects undermined by the civil war, noting that Beijing has also held discussions with the militias that control the borders and the rare earth trade.
From Sarajevo, where the World Congress of Uyghur Exiles is taking place, Director Zumretaj Arkin's denounces Beijing's pressure. ‘The positive narrative that the standard of living in Xinjiang continues to improve is just propaganda’.
A state research institute in Guangzhou is working on integrated offshore power plants based on the combined use of wave, wind and solar energy to create self-sufficient communities of up to a thousand people. The goal is to boost China’s presence on the artificial islands it created, and boost its claims to the sea, which are challenged by other countries in Southeast Asia.
China is bucking the trend of the rest of the world where smoking is falling. Sales reached 2.44 trillion in 2023. In 2022, smokers represented 24.1 per cent of the adult population, a figure well above the world average of 17 per cent. For experts, countrywide legislation is needed to control tobacco.
Five years now since the pro-democracy protests out of 10,279 people arrested only 28.8% have been remanded for trial. But for Justice Secretary Chris Tang, ‘the authorities must be given time to gather evidence’. Chow Hang-tung's request to call people living abroad to testify on video at the trial was rejected.
