Chinese cities rolled out mass testing of millions of people and imposed fresh travel restrictions as health authorities battled Sunday to contain the country's most widespread coronavirus outbreak in months.China on Sunday reported 75 new coronavirus cases with 53 local transmissions, with a cluster linked to an eastern airport now reported to have spread to over 20 cities and more than a dozen provinces.The outbreak is geographically the largest to hit China in several months after the

Hundreds of thousands of people in China were in lockdown on Friday as the country battled its worst COVID-19 outbreak in months, while Japan – a week into the Olympics – extended its state of emergency due to surging infections.The average number of new daily cases globally jumped by 10 percent over the last week, according to an AFP tally, largely due to the highly contagious Delta variant, after slowing between late April and mid-June.While the Asia-Pacific region has been hard-hit – with

Cambodia imposed fresh coronavirus restrictions Thursday for eight provinces bordering Thailand, clamping down on the movement of millions of residents to curb the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.In recent weeks, scores of Cambodian migrant workers have returned home from Thailand, which is battling a Delta-fuelled COVID-19 wave.Cambodian health authorities raised the alarm this week, citing 39 new Delta cases – 21 in migrant workers returning from Thailand and the rest in conta

Junta authorities in Myanmar are seeking help from the international community to tackle the coronavirus, state media said Wednesday, as the impoverished country looks beyond ally China in its struggle to beat back a new wave.The nation has been in turmoil since the military took power in February, with many hospitals ill-equipped to cope with a surging caseload after many medical staff walked out in protest at the coup.Stay-at-home orders affecting millions have failed to halt the surge, wit

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Beijing's expansive claims in the South China Sea have "no basis in international law", taking aim at China's growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters.Austin's broadside came at the start of his first trip to Southeast Asia as United States (US) defence secretary, as he seeks to rally allies in the region as a bulwark to China.President Joe Biden's administration wants to reset relations with Asian countrie

A Hong Kong court convicted a former waiter of terrorism and inciting secession on Tuesday in the first trial conducted under a national security law that was imposed by China to stamp out dissent.The watershed ruling lays down a new marker in the city's changing legal landscape and confirms that certain political slogans are now outlawed in the international finance hub. Tong Ying-kit, 24, was charged with secession and terrorism after he drove a motorbike into three police off

China reported 76 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the highest daily rise since January, including 40 domestic transmissions prompting authorities to test millions in eastern Jiangsu province. Beijing has a zero-risk approach to the virus, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

China has supplied over 10,000 COVID vaccines to a Myanmar rebel group operating near its southern border, its spokesman said Saturday, as Beijing seeks to halt the influx of cases from the coup-wracked country.Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military took power in February, with a resurgent virus wave striking with many hospitals empty of pro-democracy medical staff.The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Myanmar's far north, has received 1

China on Thursday said a World Health Organization (WHO) proposal to audit Chinese labs as part of further investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic showed "disrespect" and "arrogance towards science".Last week, the WHO said a second stage of the international probe should include audits of Chinese labs, amid increasing pressure from the United States (US) for an investigation into a biotech lab in Wuhan. The proposal outlined by WHO chief Tedros

China on Tuesday sharply denied United States (US) allegations it carried out a massive Microsoft hack, countering that Washington was the "world champion" of cyberattacks while raging at American allies for signing up to a rare joint statement of condemnation.The US on Monday accused Beijing of carrying out the cyberattack on Microsoft and charged four Chinese nationals over the "malicious" hack in March.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attack on Microsoft Ex