Chinese scientists say they have developed a new coronavirus test that is as accurate as a Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) lab test but gives results within four minutes.PCR tests are widely considered the most accurate and sensitive for the virus that causes COVID-19, but they usually take several hours.Some countries have experienced severe backlogs in the face of heavy testing demand, fuelled by the explosive spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.Researchers from Fudan Univers

When Hong Kong made a COVID check-in app mandatory at restaurants, friends Birdy and Bu – wary of government tracking – decided to avoid eateries entirely and go for picnics instead.The idea caught fire: their private social media picnic group has swelled from 50 in December to more than 6,000 members, as many look to avoid sharing data in a city where distrust of the Beijing-backed authorities runs deep.Instead of scanning QR codes at restaurants with the government's "Leave Home S

On the eve of the Winter Olympics, China promised the world a “streamlined, safe and most splendid” Games. But just two days into the event organisers are facing a litany of complaints from athletes and countries on multiple fronts.The Swedes have suggested that the conditions in the mountains are perilously cold. A Polish skater says she was living in fear in a Beijing isolation ward and has “cried until I have no more tears”.

China’s Winter Olympics may be more of a drag on Beijing’s regional economy than a boost, as virus flare-ups and pollution curbs weigh on consumer and industrial activity.A ban on public spectators means there won’t be the usual bump up in tourism and consumption that a city hopes to gain from hosting the international games. Tighter controls to contain the outbreaks of two virus variants are keeping holidaymakers away.

President Xi Jinping declared the Beijing Winter Olympics open Friday as China tried to turn the page on a build-up overshadowed by human rights concerns, COVID and a United States (US)-led diplomatic boycott.Fireworks exploded over the "Bird's Nest" as the lattice-shaped stadium took centre stage, just as it did at the 2008 Games, as Beijing becomes the first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics.Xi, under whose rule China has adopted a more muscular attitude internat

In recent days, Beijing has called for calm on both sides and the end of a Cold War mentality, while also making it clear it supports Moscow's concerns.It would seem obvious that China would side with its long-time ally and former Communist comrade Russia.

Few parts of the world paid as high a cost during the Cold War as Southeast Asia.

The pandemic prevented Shanghai schoolteacher Chen Hainan from returning to her hometown to reunite with family for the past two Lunar New Year holidays, but not even lingering virus concerns and repeated COVID tests will keep her away this time.Chen, 30, needs to get her nose or throat swabbed a grand total of five times to ensure passage home to eastern Zhejiang province and back."I was not planning to go home this year, either.

Last year marked the 30th anniversary of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Dialogue Relations. The two sides, ASEAN and China, have come a long way since the establishment of the ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations in 1991.

One of my favourite cartoons shows an elderly, professorial-looking man talking to a much younger fellow, possibly a student. “Those who don’t study history,” says the old guy, “are doomed to repeat it.” He then adds, “Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it.” Like many jokes, this one works because it contains a kernel of truth.