China Life | 中国生活 | Expat Life

Chinese state media has released a propaganda video that lambasts India over a border dispute, sparking accusations of racism. The English-language clip, which accuses India of committing “sins”, features a Chinese actor in a turban, mockingly speaking in an Indian accent. Xinhua published the clip on Wednesday which is from a chat show discussing the ongoing Doklam stand-off. It has been met with both bewilderment and anger in India....

China has successfully sent “hack-proof” messages from a satellite to Earth for the first time. The Micius satellite beamed messages to two mountain-top receiving stations 645 km (400 miles) and 1,200 km away. The message was protected by exploiting quantum physics, which says any attempt to eavesdrop on it would make detectable changes. Using satellites avoids some limitations that ground-based systems introduce into quantum communic...

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has killed at least 19 people and injured 247 in China’s south-western province of Sichuan. Six tourists are thought to be among the dead, with up to 45,000 people evacuated from the area. A separate 6.6-magnitude tremor struck the remote area of XinJiang, injuring 32 people. More than 87,000 people were killed in an earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008. The quake struck at about 21:20 (13:20 GMT) on Tuesday abo...

An earthquake has killed at least five people and injured more than 60 in China’s south-western province of Sichuan, officials say. The 6.5-magnitude quake struck in the sparsely-populated north of Sichuan, the US Geological Survey said. Some reports suggest the death toll could be much higher. The epicentre was close to an area popular with tourists. Sichuan province is prone to earthquakes. More than 70,000 people were killed in a quake i...

China has carried out an internet drill to practise closing down websites the authorities consider to be harmful. State run media said Thursday’s exercise was also aimed at forcing internet data centres to hand over contact details of website owners. China already operates a strict internet censorship regime. Analysts say it appears to be tightening controls ahead of an important political meeting later this year. Beijing also recently bega...

Two Chinese tourists were arrested in Berlin for making Hitler salutes outside the German parliament on Saturday. Criminal proceedings have been started against the middle-aged men for using symbols from a banned organisation. The pair have been released on bail of €500 (£450; $600) each. Germany has strict laws on hate speech and symbols linked to Hitler and the Nazis. The men – aged 36 and 49 – could face a fine or a prison sente...

A popular Chinese messenger app has ditched two experimental chat robots, or “chatbots”, which were apparently voicing criticism of the government. Messenger app Tencent QQ introduced chatbots Baby Q and Little Bing, a penguin and a little girl, in March. But they have now been removed after social media users shared controversial comments that they said were made by the bots. Some of the remarks appear to criticise the Communist Part...

Sri Lanka has signed a $1.1bn (£837m) deal with China for the control and development of the southern deep-sea port of Hambantota. The deal had been delayed by several months over concerns that the port could be used by the Chinese military. The government has given assurances that China will run only commercial operations from the port, on the main shipping route between Asia and Europe. Sri Lanka’s government says money from the deal wil...

Apple boss Tim Cook has defended his company’s decision to comply with the Chinese government’s demand it remove VPN software from the App Store. Virtual Private Networks are often used to skirt censorship and surveillance in countries with tight restrictions on internet use. The company has been heavily criticised for removing several VPN apps, and was accused of “aiding Chinese censorship efforts”. Apple said it disagreed with China’s...

Outrage is growing in China over a video that appears to show mistreatment of two giant panda babies at a famed research facility in Chengdu. In the video, which has since gone viral, a staff member can be seen “dragging and throwing” the cubs. The incident has drawn criticism from Chinese netizens, who have raised concerns about animal cruelty. However, panda keeper Guo Jingpeng defended himself saying the cubs were being violent. Mr...