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China's strict corona measures worked, the economy grew during the pandemic. Now Omicron has reached the country and many fear the consequences. Chinese state television 's announcement this week sounded whimsical: "Minimize the purchase of overseas goods from countries with a high incidence," the CCTV website reads.   And if so, it went on to say, packages and envelopes should be opened outdoors if possible and the recipients should definitely wear masks and gloves. In short: There is a warning about postal items as a potential way of spreading the coronavirus. Various local health authorities had previously whispered in press releases that the first Omicron case registered in the capital, Beijing, may have come via a package from Canada, the United States and Hong Kong. The person is said to have infected two other people, and a case with the Delta variant was also reported in the capital. From a scientific point of view, such transmission routes are considered impl...

It is the second Hong Kong outlet closed after a police raid and facing charges of sedition after the 'Apple Daily'. After more than 200 uniformed and plainclothes officers searched the newsroom and detained seven of its employees, the Hong Kong pro-democracy outlet 'Stand News' announced its closure on Wednesday, in one more example of the constant suffocation of freedom press in the region. It is the second Hong Kong newspaper to cease its activity after a police raid after the 'Apple Daily' case. Early in the morning, the media reported through its Facebook account that the police were conducting raids on the homes of several officials of the newspaper. This is the case of the editor of 'Stand News' and president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Ronson Chan, who, although he was not arrested, was questioned at the police station and is accused - like those arrested - of the crime of "conspiring" to issue "a seditious publicatio...

After the "Pillar of Shame" at the HKU, a wall relief and a statue were dismantled at other universities. A picture of the "goddess of democracy" was painted over. In Hong Kong, monuments commemorating the Tiananmen protests in Beijing in 1989 have been removed from two other universities. This is followed by the two universities of the Hong Kong University (HKU), which on Thursday dismantled the eight-meter-high pillar of shame by the Danish artist Jens Galschiot. Now the 6.4 meter high bronze statue of the goddess of democracy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has also been dismantled. The university management announced that the statue had not been approved. After an internal evaluation, the decision was made to take this step. Europe, At The Mercy Of The Omicron "I'm heartbroken and shocked," said Felix Chow, a former CUHK student and a member of the district council. For him this statue represents "an open school environment"...

So far, US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping have only talked on the phone. Now they have met for the first time by video - and admonished each other. US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping started their eagerly awaited video summit with mutual reminders. Biden warned of a confrontation between the world's two largest economies. It is their mutual responsibility "to ensure that competition between our countries does not degenerate into conflict, whether intentional or unintentional," he said. It takes "common sense guidelines," Biden said. Xi called on the US president, whom he referred to as "my old friend", to work together more closely. China and the US should respect each other, peacefully coexist and cooperate, as the state media quoted him. Both countries should also live up to their international responsibilities. It is the first personal, albeit virtual, encounter between the two presidents since Biden took o...