China’s Great Firewall blocks website of UK newspaper Guardian
UK-based newspaper The Guardian‘s website is blocked in China as of Tuesday, according to censorship monitoring activist website Greatfire.org. Tech in Asia staff in China have confirmed the block today. …
“As the Light Goes Out” rakes in HKD 12.35 million after four days
Nicholas Tse’s new movie is a box office hit after only four days of release in Hong Kong
China sets targets for curbing air pollution
China has set new targets for its provinces to reduce air pollution by 5 to 25 percent, state media said late on Tuesday, underscoring the government’s concern about a source of public anger. China regularly issues directives to try to tackle air pollution in major cities, but these have had limited effect. Former health minister Chen Zhu said air pollution in the country causes premature deaths of 350,000 to 500,000 people yearly, state media reported on Tuesday. Air quality in large parts of northern and southern China reached unhealthy levels on Tuesday.
Nintendo shares surge as China eases gaming console ban
Shares in Nintendo Co Ltd jumped as much as 7.5 percent to a two and a half-year high on Wednesday after China temporarily lifted a 14-year-old ban on selling video game consoles. The move could pave the way for Nintendo, Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp to enter the world’s third-largest video game market in terms of revenue. “Nintendo hasn’t had a catalyst for a long time, so if it can revive (via) the Chinese consumer market then it would be positive,” a Tokyo-based trader said. The most popular video games in China are often free to play with gamers only paying for add-ons such as weapons or extra lives.
Imagining a Chinese game console
Now that game consoles are officially legal in China, everyone is talking about what that could mean for the big console makers Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. But there’s another question worth asking: …
More smokers worldwide than in 1980: study
More people smoke worldwide today than in 1980, as population growth surges and cigarettes gain popularity in countries such as China, India and Russia, researchers said Tuesday. For instance, China boasted nearly 100 million more smokers in 2012 than it had three decades ago, even though its smoking rate fell from 30 to 24 percent in that span, said the findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The rise in the number of smokers comes despite overall declines in the smoking rate in recent decades, as many people have realized the health dangers of tobacco, said the report. The data was published as part of a series of tobacco-related articles to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first US Surgeon General’s report on the risks of smoking.
Chinese investment in US doubled in 2013: study
China’s investment in the United States doubled to $14 billion last year despite sometimes rocky political ties, with private firms leading the way, said a study out Tuesday. About half of the value consisted of Shuanghui International’s takeover of prominent pork producer Smithfield Foods, a $7.1 billion deal that marked the largest ever Chinese acquisition of a US company. But the report by the Rhodium Group, a New York-based firm that looks closely at Chinese investment, found that the total number of deals had also risen from 2012 to 82. The total value of investment hit a record high of $14 billion, with high-profile deals in real estate as well as Chinese investors took stakes in the General Motors Building and Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York.
Japan FM arrives in Spain amid China row
Japan’s foreign minister arrived Tuesday in Spain, the first venue in a European tour that will also include a stop in France that he is expected to use to press Tokyo’s case in its spat with China. Fumio Kishida’s trip comes as Japan is locked in an increasingly bitter row with China, with Beijing accusing nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of whitewashing his country’s empire-building past with a visit to a controversial spot that honours convicted war criminals. Abe’s pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine on December 26 came after more than a year of high tensions over the sovereignty of disputed islands in the East China Sea, which has left some observers warning of the danger of an armed clash in the area.
Bad to the Bone: Dealer Pleads Guilty in Fossil Smuggling Scheme
Ishihara backs sacked military chief for Tokyo governor
China-baiting former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara on Tuesday threw his weight behind the political ambitions of an ex-military chief who was sacked after insisting Japan was not a World War II aggressor. The acerbic Ishihara, 81, who was governor of Tokyo for 13 years to 2012, said he believed the next leader of the metropolis should be fellow hardline nationalist Toshio Tamogami, the onetime chief of staff of Japan’s Air Self-Defence. Tamogami was fired from the role in 2008 after he said Japan was an Asian bulwark against Western imperialism in World War II, rather than the nation responsible for continent-wide suffering. Ishihara’s bid to buy the disputed Senkaku Islands during his tenure as Tokyo governor sparked a nosedive in relations with China, which claims them as the Diaoyus.
