SAN FRANCISCO/BEIJING (Reuters) - When Apple Inc begins hosting Chinese users' iCloud accounts in a new Chinese data center at the end of this month to comply with new laws there, Chinese authorities will have far easier access to text messages, email and other data stored in the cloud. That's because of a change to how the company handles the cryptographic keys needed to unlock an… Read more »

BEIJING — The next phase of Chinese President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption crackdown will see almost five times as many officials in Beijing under the state's watchful eye, officials said Tuesday. In the past five years, Xi's sweeping drive has punished more than 1.5 million corrupt Communist Party officials, including former political rivals and senior military leaders.… Read more »

As trade tensions escalate between the US and China, one of President Xi Jinping's most trusted advisers is paying a visit to Washington. Liu He, a Harvard graduate and senior Chinese Communist Party official, is in the US this week to talk about trade and other issues affecting the relationship between the world's two largest economies. Experts say his mission appears to be an effort… Read more »

BEIJING - China is developing new bullet trains with a speed up to 400 kph, said a leading figure in the country's high-speed railway technology development. Ding Rongjun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that China was also researching the next generation magnetic-levitation train with a top speed of 600 kph, at a press conference Monday. "We are now focusing… Read more »

BEIJING (AP) — Human Rights Watch says it has found new evidence that authorities in one of China's most repressive regions are sweeping up citizens' personal information in a stark example of how big-data technology can be used to police a population. The rights group used publicly available government procurement documents, media reports and interviews to assemble details of the… Read more »

BEIJING (AP) — In a rare public expression of dissent in China, a well-known political commentator and a prominent businesswoman have penned open letters urging lawmakers to reject a plan that would allow President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely. Their impassioned statements on a popular messaging app were circulated widely after the ruling Communist Party announced a proposal… Read more »

BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) - - The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee made public its proposal on amendments to China's Constitution Sunday. The proposal, raised to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), was made in accordance with the new situation and practice of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. … Read more »

BEIJING — Almost exactly five years ago, a newly anointed President Xi Jinping met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and declared they shared similar “personalities.” The comments, reported by the Kremlin news service but not by Chinese state media, went largely unnoticed at the time. But on Sunday, the parallels between the two leaders were too stark to… Read more »

TAIPEI —  A South Korean firm's uncontested discovery of oil in a sea where six other governments vie for sovereignty shows how outsiders harvest maritime resources without adding to decades of political friction. South Korean petroleum refining company SK Innovation Co. found crude oil at a Chinese tract in the South China Sea, the company said Thursday. Its case shows that… Read more »

Hong Kong's next budget looks set to be full of surprises amid the bright outlook for the city, but it should also be one that prepares us for future developments and grooms our next generation. One vital area in need of government investment is education, particularly STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) education. In today's fast-evolving world… Read more »