President Xi Jinping warned Saturday that China was facing a "grave" situation as authorities took urgent action to halt the spread of a virus that has killed 41 people and is overwhelming hospitals at the epicentre of the health emergency.The world's most populous country scrambled to contain the disease that has already infected nearly 1,300 people, building a second field hospital to relieve overwhelmed medical facilities and closing more travel routes as the country marked

China's bid to contain a deadly new virus by placing cities of millions under quarantine is an unprecedented undertaking but it is unlikely to stop the disease spreading, experts warn.The contagious virus has already reached elsewhere in China and abroad, and even an authoritarian government has only a small timeframe in which trapped residents will submit to such a lockdown, they say."I think we have passed the golden period of control and prevention," said Guan Yi, an expert

China and the United States (US) may have laid down their arms for now in a trade truce, but their technological rivalry is still raging, raising the spectre of a high tech cold war.The coming battle played out this week in the corridors of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, where Chinese executives rubbed shoulders with Silicon Valley supremos, and US diplomats lobbied hard to keep companies from embracing Made in China for their tech revolution.At the centre of this cold war 2.0 is Hu

China locked down some 20 million people at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak on Thursday, but the World Health Organization (WHO) said the disease did not yet constitute a global health emergency.The respiratory virus has claimed 18 lives since emerging from a seafood and animal market in the central city of Wuhan, infected hundreds of other people and been detected as far away as the United States.The new virus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respirat

Asia stepped up its defences Tuesday against a new SARS-like virus, introducing mandatory screenings at airports of arrivals from high-risk areas of China as authorities move to head off a billowing regional health crisis.From Bangkok to Hong Kong and Seoul to Sydney, authorities have gone onto high-alert over the new coronavirus, following China's confirmation of the first case of human-to-human transmission of the deadly illness.Four people have died in China while scores more have bee

The true scale of the outbreak of a mysterious SARS-like virus in China is likely far bigger than officially reported, scientists have warned, as countries ramp up measures to prevent the disease from spreading.Fears that the virus will spread are growing ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, when hundreds of millions of Chinese move around the country and many others host or visit extended family members living overseas.Authorities in China say two people have died and at least 45 have been i

Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to usher in a "new era" of ties with Myanmar after a red-carpet welcome Friday on a state visit aimed at buttressing the embattled government of Aung San Suu Kyi and driving through multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deals. Myanmar fighter jets escorted Xi's plane as it touched down in Naypyidaw where children presented him with flowers, according to China's official Xinhua news agency, as he was whisked off to a greeting party.

97 kilometres of rocks in Thai waters stand between Beijing and dominance over the Mekong, a mighty river that feeds millions as it threads south from the Tibetan plateau through five countries before emptying into the South China Sea.China has long wanted to dredge the riverbed in northern Thailand to open passage for massive cargo ships – and potentially military vessels.Ultimately, a link could be carved from Yunnan province thousands of kilometres south through the Mekong countries – Myan

Myanmar leader, Aung San Suu Kyi made a rare trip to a region bordering China days before President Xi Jinping is expected to push for controversial port and dam projects during a visit to the country.Wearing traditional ethnic attire, Suu Kyi danced with a street procession on Friday in northern Kachin state's capital Myitkyina, a day after supporters cheered her arrival at the airport.She urged a crowd of thousands to "focus on the present" and called for peace in the remote

When a single building collapses and kills several people, it’s a tragedy. But if it happens again within the span of only a few months, then it becomes a problem – one that needs to be paid serious attention to and addressed quickly.In June last year, a seven-storey building collapsed in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.