Global News

[ad_1] Tokyo, Japan CNN  —  Japan’s population has fallen for the 12th consecutive year, as deaths rise and the birth rate continues to sink, according to government data released Wednesday. The population stood at 124.49 million in 2022 – representing a decline of 556,000 from the previous year, figures show. That figure represents both the natural change in population – meaning deaths and births – and the flow of people entering and exiting the country. The natural change last year was the biggest on record, with a fall of 731,000 – cushioned by the influx of people entering Japan, which provided an increase of 175,000, said Cabinet Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno in a news conference on Wednesday. “It is essential to take firm measures to address the declining birthrate, which is a major factor in the decline in population, as one of the top priority ...

[ad_1] Hong Kong CNN  —  China will fully reopen borders with its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao next week, in what is expected to be a major boost for the economies of the two cities. From Monday, travelers entering mainland China from Hong Kong or Macao will no longer need to provide proof of negative Covid tests, as long as they have not traveled abroad in the previous week, the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a Friday statement . Daily quotas on the number of travelers will also be scrapped. The resumption of normal travel is expected to provide much support to the battered economies of the two cities. Hong Kong is a major international financial center, and, before the pandemic, Macao was the world’s casino capital. Hong Kong’s economy contracted last year, according to preliminary government data , shrinking by 3.5% com...

[ad_1] CNN  —  The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced Tuesday that it will return to hosting tournaments in China in 2023 after previously suspending all events in the country, including Hong Kong, last November due to the uncertainty over tennis player Peng Shuai’s safety . Peng was feared to be held incommunicado by the Chinese government after she accused retired Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of forcing her into sex during a years-long on-off relationship. The immediate response from Chinese authorities was to censor any mention of the accusation online and block Peng’s Weibo account from search results. Peng disappeared from public view for more than two weeks, prompting the world’s biggest tennis stars and the United Nations to demand answers as to her whereabouts – as well as a full investigation into her allegations against Zhang. Peng, a three-tim...

[ad_1] Hong Kong CNN  —  Ride-hailing giant Didi received approval to resume new user registration in China, it said Monday, providing more evidence that Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on tech giants might be coming to an end. The move is the latest sign that regulators are loosening the reins on the country’s beleaguered tech companies in a bid to spur economic growth. “For more than a year, our company has cooperated with the government’s cybersecurity review, seriously dealt with the security issues found in the review, and carried out a comprehensive rectification,” Didi said in a statement posted on its Weibo account. With the approval of the Cybersecurity Review Office, Didi will be able to resume adding new users “immediately,” it added. Didi is a poster child for Beijing’s years-long crackdown on its tech companies. Just days after its $4.4 billion IPO ...

[ad_1] Taipei CNN  —  The number of companies in Taiwan saying they’re experiencing business disruptions due to rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing has almost doubled, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan . An annual survey, which polled 214 member firms in Taiwan, showed that the number of companies reporting “significant disruption” rose from 17% to 33% between August and December 2022, the chamber said Tuesday . Last August, then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, and China stepped up military drills in response. China’s ruling Communist Party has increasingly exerted its territorial claims over democratic Taiwan, a self-governing island, despite having never controlled it. The business disruptions were caused by elevated concern from global headquarters, increased shipping, insurance or financial costs, as well as staff anxiety, the c...

[ad_1] CNN  —  Authorities in Hong Kong have raided a shop suspected of selling dog and cat meat as food – more than 70 years after the trade was outlawed. Officers seized “suspected samples of dog or cat flesh” at a shop in the Yau Ma Tei district during a “joint blitz operation” by the city’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on Thursday evening. The AFCD said it had carried out the raid after receiving reports that the meats were on sale in Yau Ma Tei – a densely populated commercial and residential district in the Kowloon area – and that it had arranged testing of the seized samples. It said it was also investigating whether the shop was trading fresh meat without a license. “Prosecution will be instituted should it be proven,” the AFCD said in a statement. Eating dog and cat meat...