翻译：
十四届全国人大常委会第十三次会议在京举行 审议代表法修正草案、增值税法草案等 赵乐际主持
新华社北京12月21日电 十四届全国人大常委会第十三次会议21日上午在北京人民大会堂举行第一次全体会议。赵乐际委员长主持。
Read more台湾舆论关注澳门回归25周年：“掌上明珠”机遇广阔
中新社台北12月21日电 12月20日是澳门回归祖国25周年纪念日。连日来，台湾舆论对此高度关注，一些媒体认为澳门回归以来经济发展、民生改善、居民安居乐业，且未来发展机遇依然广阔。
Read more美方发布2024年《中国军事与安全发展报告》 国防部回应
中新网12月21日电 据国防部发布微信公众号21日消息，国防部新闻发言人张晓刚就美方发布2024年《中国军事与安全发展报告》发表谈话。
Read more涉案近6千万元！江苏省政府原副秘书长王思源受贿案一审宣判
中新网12月21日电 据“江苏高院”微信公众号21日消息，2024年12月20日，江苏省南通市中级人民法院公开宣判被告人王思源受贿案，对被告人王思源以受贿罪判处有期徒刑十三年，并处罚金人民币四百万元；对其犯罪所得依法予以追缴，上缴国库。
Read more海峡两岸花卉行业产教融合共同体成立
中新网漳州12月21日电 (游雪慧)12月21日，由漳州城市职业学院、福建农林大学、海峡生物科技股份有限公司牵头组建的海峡两岸花卉行业产教融合共同体成立大会在福建漳州东南花都举行。本次大会是2024年海峡两岸现代农业博览会·海峡两岸花卉博览会系列活动之一。
Read more中国第十批赴南苏丹（朱巴）维和步兵营全部回国归建
今天(21日)早晨6时，中国第十批赴南苏丹(朱巴)维和步兵营第二梯队350名官兵乘坐包机抵达河北石家庄正定国际机场。至此，顺利完成为期12个月维和任务的第十批赴南苏丹(朱巴)维和步兵营全部回国归建。
Read more澳门回归祖国25周年｜奋发有为，打开澳门发展新天地——习近平主席重要讲话激励澳门各界扬帆再出发
新华社澳门12月20日电#8195;题：奋发有为，打开澳门发展新天地——习近平主席重要讲话激励澳门各界扬帆再出发
Read more冬至两岸特写：回家，我们要回家
中新网杭州12月21日电(林波 曹丹)“回家，是去台老兵最深切的盼望，在生命的尾声，他们会一遍遍地诉说着那份深埋心底的归家渴望。”12月21日，中国“冬至”节气，台胞刘德文收到了许多去台老兵亲属的问候。
Read more瞭望·治国理政纪事｜争做创新赋能发展的西部示范
Read more
第1视点｜习近平对澳门提出3点期许
国家主席习近平12月19日晚出席澳门特别行政区政府欢迎晚宴并发表重要讲话，对澳门提出3点期许。
Read more盛世莲开｜掌上明珠
南海北面的小小一角
Read more澳门回归祖国25周年｜回归廿五载 濠江话巨变
盛世莲花，灼灼生华
Read more拼搏创新，不负嘱托——习近平主席考察澳门科技大学和横琴粤澳深度合作区回访记
新华社澳门12月19日电#8195;题：拼搏创新，不负嘱托——习近平主席考察澳门科技大学和横琴粤澳深度合作区回访记
Read more时政Vlog丨在澳门科技大学 追闪亮的“星”
19日上午，国家主席习近平在澳门特别行政区行政长官贺一诚陪同下，来到澳门科技大学考察，同学校师生和科研工作者亲切交流。
Read more大国外交·回响丨上比利牛斯省具有历史意义的时刻
开栏的话
Read more时政画说丨澳门·典礼
12月20日上午，庆祝澳门回归祖国25周年大会暨澳门特别行政区第六届政府就职典礼举行。中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平出席并发表重要讲话。
Read more盛世莲开 | 99秒看祖国的掌上明珠 引以为“澳”
“澳门是祖国的掌上明珠，我一直惦念着这里的发展和全体居民的福祉。”12月18日下午，习近平主席乘专机抵达澳门，出席庆祝澳门回归祖国25周年大会暨澳门特别行政区第六届政府就职典礼并对澳门进行视察，在机场发表讲话。
Read more一见·五次横琴之行里的启示
珠江潮水连海平。澳门回归祖国25周年之际，习近平总书记再到紧邻澳门的广东珠海横琴来。12月19日上午，总书记考察横琴粤澳深度合作区，同在合作区居住、创业的澳门居民以及参与合作区规划、建设、管理、服务等各方面代表亲切交流。
Read more第一观察｜习近平澳门之行的“科技足迹”
Read more
中国拟修法明确科普服务应具科学性 不得有虚假错误内容
中新社北京12月21日电 (记者 李京泽 梁晓辉)科学技术普及法修订草案21日提请十四届全国人大常委会二次审议。草案二审稿明确，组织和个人提供的科普产品和服务、发布的科普信息应当具有合法性、科学性，不得有虚假错误的内容。
Read more什么？随手拍的照片中居然还有这些重要信息！
拍照，已成为我们记录生活、分享经历的重要方式，每次按下快门，都是对瞬间的定格。但一张看似平常的照片往往包含着很多信息，稍有不慎就可能成为泄密源头。
Read more民营经济代表人士学习贯彻中央经济工作会议精神专题研讨班在北京举办
中新网北京12月21日电 民营经济代表人士学习贯彻中央经济工作会议精神专题研讨班19日至21日在京举办，中共中央政治局委员、中央统战部部长石泰峰出席开班式并作动员讲话。
Read more中国拟修法完善反不正当竞争监管和处罚规定
中新社北京12月21日电 (记者 谢雁冰 梁晓辉)反不正当竞争法修订草案21日提请十四届全国人大常委会初次审议。修订草案共5章41条，主要明确反不正当竞争总体要求，完善不正当竞争行为相关规定，完善反不正当竞争监管和处罚规定。
Read more中国大唐集团有限公司原总经理寇伟被查
中新社北京12月21日电 中国官方21日通报，中国大唐集团有限公司原党组副书记、总经理寇伟涉嫌严重违纪违法，目前正接受中央纪委国家监委纪律审查和监察调查。
Read moreBros’s Matt Goss on love and loss; ‘my father, the serial killer’; Marina Hyde on Prince Andrew and the spy; and Philippa Perry on finding purpose at 80 – podcast
The Duke of York is a royal problem, says Marina Hyde: it’s time they owned it. Matt Goss discusses mega-fame, political correctness and loneliness with Simon Hattenstone. After April Balascio’s foster brother was killed, she started piecing together evidence that revealed her father was a serial killer. And Philippa advises an 80-year-old reader how to face the existential void that is overwhelming them.
Continue reading...Read more民营经济代表人士学习贯彻中央经济工作会议精神专题研讨班在京举办 石泰峰出席并讲话
新华社北京12月21日电 民营经济代表人士学习贯彻中央经济工作会议精神专题研讨班19日至21日在京举办，中共中央政治局委员、中央统战部部长石泰峰出席开班式并作动员讲话。
Read more【盛世莲开】习言道｜25年，澳门灿若“明珠”“宝地”
中新网12月21日电 题：25年，澳门灿若“明珠”“宝地”
Read more民营经济促进法草案提请全国人大常委会初审
中新社北京12月21日电 (记者 梁晓辉 谢雁冰)民营经济促进法草案21日提请十四届全国人大常委会初次审议。
Read more我国拟立法进一步加强对国家公园建设的支持保障
中新网北京12月21日电(记者 谢雁冰 李京泽)国家公园法草案21日提请十四届全国人大常委会二次审议。草案二审稿进一步加强对国家公园建设的支持保障。
Read more2024鼓岭论坛在北京举行
中新网北京12月21日电(记者 国璇) 2024鼓岭论坛20日在北京举行，论坛主题为“跨越文化差异 传承友谊信任”。包括“鼓岭之友”成员在内的150余位中美两国嘉宾参加论坛，围绕“努力推动中美友好交流行稳致远”“共同探寻中美正确相处之道”等重要议题深入交流探讨。
Read more中国大唐集团有限公司原党组副书记、总经理寇伟被查
中新网12月21日电 据中央纪委国家监委网站消息，中国大唐集团有限公司原党组副书记、总经理寇伟涉嫌严重违纪违法，目前正接受中央纪委国家监委纪律审查和监察调查。
Read moreRos Atkins On... Four reasons why the relationship between the UK and China is strained
The BBC's Analysis Editor Ros Atkins looks at how relations between the UK and China became so strained.
Read moreXi Jinping urges Macau to diversify economy away from casinos
Chinese president calls for city to ‘focus on cultivating new industries’ as he attends inauguration of new leader
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged the gambling hub of Macau to diversify away from casinos, as he addressed the Chinese territory at the inauguration of its new leader.
Xi was in Macau to mark the 25th anniversary of its return from Portuguese to Chinese rule on 20 December 1999. In the quarter-century since then, Macau has been run as a special administrative region of China, a semi-autonomous territory with a similar legal status to Hong Kong, but it has traditionally been much more pliant to Beijing’s rule than the former British territory. More than half of its 700,000 population have immigrated from China in recent decades.
Continue reading...Read moreThe US supreme court’s TikTok case will put free expression on the line | Trevor Timm
Let’s hope the court does the right thing, and strikes down this potential censorship before it spins out of control
The US supreme court surprisingly decided, this week, to hear TikTok’s emergency appeal to its imminent ban in the United States. It may be the most important case at the intersection of the first amendment and national security in decades. Whether or not you see China as a nefarious threat, all Americans who care about free expression should worry about the precedent this case could set – and should want the TikTok ban overturned.
After a fifth circuit court of appeals ruling earlier this month, TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has until 19 January to either sell the popular video-sharing app or face a nationwide ban. The decision stems from Congress passing a law last year that essentially proclaims that if the government says a foreign-owned platform threatens national security, then it can force its sale or censor it.
Trevor Timm is executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation
Continue reading...Read moreNigel Farage and other MPs are mistaken over parliamentary privilege | Letter
Stephen Sedley writes in response to MPs threatening to name Yang Tengbo in parliament last week before the high court identified him
Contrary to what Nigel Farage and many other MPs and peers appear to believe (MPs consider naming Chinese ‘spy’ linked to Prince Andrew, 15 December), there is no parliamentary privilege in our constitutional law that allows them to defy court orders or decisions if they think it right to do so.
Insofar as we have a written constitution, the Bill of Rights 1689 forbids the courts to adjudicate on anything said or done in parliament. This is the immunity incorrectly referred to as parliamentary privilege. Parliament has for centuries reciprocated by respecting court decisions and orders, however strongly members object to them.
Continue reading...Read moreMacau: a city of contrasts – in pictures
Macau is marking the 25th anniversary of its handover to China. It was administered by the Portuguese until 20 December 1999 and was the last outpost under European rule in Asia. Photographer Eduardo Leal documents a city that has gone through enormous development
Continue reading...Read moreWill Japan’s close ties with US survive the caprice and quirks of Donald Trump?
Japan’s complex defence alliances built up over years as protection against China could be put at risk in a Trump-launched trade war
Arguably, no country in Asia has better reason to be in a state of anxiety over the return of Donald Trump to the White House than Japan, since the US has been the linchpin of Japanese foreign and security policy since the second world war.
Back in 2017, well before he became prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba described Trump’s method as one of “placing his counterpart in a state of anxiety and tension, creating psychological instability and then initiating a deal”.
Continue reading...Read moreFiji defence minister welcomes US security deal and criticises China missile test
Pio Tikoduadua tells the Guardian the Pacific is ‘not a space for missile testing’ after China’s launch earlier this year raised concern in the region
Fiji’s defence minister has stressed the need for stability in the Pacific and welcomed moves to strengthen security ties with the US, while adding to criticism over China’s recent missile test for posing a threat to peace in the region.
Fiji, a country of about 1 million people strategically located in the Pacific, maintains ties and receives support from Washington and Beijing amid a wider struggle for influence by the two powers in the region.
Continue reading...Read moreUnited Front: China's 'magic weapon' caught in a spy controversy
The UFWD is a decades-old - and increasingly controversial - arm of China's Communist Party. What does it do?
Read moreUS Senate passes defense bill that raises troop pay and strips trans care for kids of military
Bill authorizes pay raises, strips coverage of trans medical treatments for children and aims to counter China’s power
The Senate passed a defense bill on Wednesday that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China’s growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895bn while also stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children of military members.
The annual defense authorization bill usually gains strong bipartisan support and has not failed to pass Congress in nearly six decades, but the Pentagon policy measure in recent years has become a battleground for cultural issues. Republicans this year sought to tack on to the legislation priorities for social conservatives, contributing to a months-long negotiation over the bill and a falloff in support from Democrats.
Continue reading...Read moreNew York man pleads guilty to running Chinese police station in Manhattan
Chen Jinping pleads guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of China’s government and faces up to five years in prison
A New York man has pleaded guilty to running an undeclared police station for the Chinese government in lower Manhattan, more than a year after the US justice department unveiled efforts aimed at disrupting Beijing’s efforts to locate and suppress Chinese American pro-democracy activists.
Chen Jinping, 60, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to act as an agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China, in connection with opening and operating an overseas police station for the PRC’s ministry of public security, or MPS.
Continue reading...Read moreSupreme court agrees to hear TikTok challenge to law ending its US operations
Court will hear two hours of oral arguments on 10 January and consider the social media app’s challenge to the law
The US supreme court said on Wednesday that it would hear TikTok’s challenge to a law that could make the company’s popular video app disappear from the US.
In its order on Wednesday, the supreme court said it would set aside two hours for oral arguments on 10 January to consider TikTok’s lawsuit against the justice department and the attorney general, Merrick Garland.
Continue reading...Read morePrince Andrew to miss royal family’s traditional pre-Christmas lunch
Duke of York said to have pulled out of Buckingham Palace event after controversy over links to Chinese ‘spy’
The Duke of York will not attend the royal family’s traditional pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace on Thursday amid controversy over his links with an alleged Chinese spy.
Prince Andrew is said to have decided to pull out of the occasion after speaking to his ex-wife and close friend, Sarah, Duchess of York. He had already withdrawn from joining senior royals at Sandringham for the festive period.
Continue reading...Read moreThe prince and the spy – podcast
Prince Andrew is in trouble again, this time for meeting a businessman who has denied spying for China.
In parliament, it has sparked fears about how far the British establishment has been infiltrated by spies. In Beijing, there has been outrage. For Prince Andrew, it has led to him missing Christmas dinner at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family.
It is fair to say the accusation that the Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo has been spying for China has caused a serious stir. Dan Sabbagh and David Pegg report
Read more:
Continue reading...Read moreFleeing Xi’s China: following the trail of migrants trying to reach Australia through Indonesia
A new and high-stakes escape route has been revealed, through the Indonesian archipelago to a smuggler’s boat
Paul, an Indonesian fisherman, says he was working as a rideshare driver in the dusty streets of Kupang in West Timor when he came across half a dozen Chinese men on the side of the road. They were wet up to their waist, carrying a backpack each, and spoke no Indonesian.
“They had walked from the beach, from the mangrove forest to the main road. They said they had difficulty with their boat engine,” Paul recalls. They asked for directions to a nearby hotel … and went on their way. Paul, a former people smuggler from Rote Island, called the police. “I used to bring people like this.”
Continue reading...Read moreChinese AI chip firms blacklisted over weapons concerns gained access to UK technology
Imagination Technologies had licences with two Chinese firms – but said it had not ‘implemented transactions’ that would enable the use of technology for military purposes
Chinese engineers developing chips for artificial intelligence that can be used in “advanced weapons systems” have gained access to cutting-edge UK technology, the Guardian can reveal.
Described by analysts as “China’s premier AI chip designers”, Moore Threads and Biren Technology are subject to US export restrictions over their development of chips that “can be used to provide artificial intelligence capabilities to further development of weapons of mass destruction, advanced weapons systems and hi-tech surveillance applications that create national security concerns”.
Continue reading...Read moreWhat does the China 'spy' row show? That Starmer can't just muddle through on foreign policy | Rafael Behr
The PM’s attitude to China exposes the void where there should be a strategic concept of Britain’s place in the world
When Keir Starmer met Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio last month he declared that Britain should build a “pragmatic and serious relationship” with China, which would be a meaningful ambition if anyone was calling for the opposite. Who stands for impractical and unserious dealings with Beijing? Prince Andrew, maybe.
The hapless royal scandal-magnet has no influence over policy, but he has enough elite contacts and cupidity to have made him worth cultivating by a Chinese businessman who is now banned from the UK on grounds of espionage. Yang Tengbo denies spying. He says he is the casualty of “sour” anti-China sentiment.
Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...Read morePrince Andrew’s ‘opaque’ finances provoke calls for register of royal interests
Claims of refused FOI requests into Duke of York’s business dealings come as controversy over alleged Chinese spy continues
Getting information from government departments about the Duke of York’s past business dealings is like playing “whack-a-mole”, it was claimed, as fallout over the alleged Chinese “spy” controversy continues, with China saying it was an attempt to “smear” it.
Calling for a register of royal interests, similar to that for MPs, and a full inquiry by the public accounts committee into royal finances, researchers trying to investigate Prince Andrew’s “opaque” finances claim their freedom of information (FoI) requests are regularly refused, making their work “impossible”.
Continue reading...Read moreThe prince and the ‘spy’ – podcast
Prince Andrew is in trouble again, this time for meeting a businessman who has denied spying for China. Dan Sabbagh and David Pegg report
In parliament, it has sparked fears about how far the British establishment has been infiltrated by spies. In Beijing, there has been outrage. For Prince Andrew, it has led to him missing Christmas dinner at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family. It is fair to say the accusation that the Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo has been spying for China has caused a serious stir.
While Dan Sabbagh tells Michael Safi what we know about the extent of Chinese spying in the UK and how it works, David Pegg examines how the scandal unfolded and caused Tengbo’s meetings with everyone from Prince Andrew to Theresa May to be put under scrutiny – and why, for the man at the centre of the story, it is all an unfair smear on someone who loves the UK and only wants to build better business relations between the UK and China.
Continue reading...Read moreLabour’s review of UK-China relations on hold until after chancellor visits Beijing
Exclusive: Despite calls for more scrutiny in light of Prince Andrew spy allegations, Starmer’s instinct is not to do anything to hamper growth
A review of UK-China relations has been delayed until after the chancellor makes her first trip to Beijing next month, the Guardian has learned, amid a row over an alleged spy who befriended Prince Andrew.
Rachel Reeves will travel to China in early January as part of a charm offensive by the Labour government. The trip will be focused on financial services, and Tulip Siddiq, the City minister, is expected to travel with the chancellor.
Continue reading...Read moreNigel Farage and Nick Candy say they met Musk at Mar-a-Lago to discuss doing ‘great things together’ – as it happened
Farage and Reform UK treasurer met Musk at Donald Trump’s Florida home, party says
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has announced that the scope of the compensation programme for victims of the Post Office scandal will be extended to cover earlier potential victims.
The government already has four schemes in place offering compensation to post officer operators who suffered because faulty Horizon IT software led to them being wrongly blamed for missing money. More than 900 people were prosecuted, more than 100 were jailed, but many more lost out because they were forced to repay money they were accused of losing or stealing, and/or because they lost their jobs.
A significant amount of time has also passed, and we recognise that this means that timescales are far greater, and the population of postmasters that used Capture will be more advanced in age, or a greater proportion of the population may have unfortunately died. We also recognise that the passage of time means that evidence of shortfalls and consequential losses, and evidence relating to suspensions, termination, prosecution, or convictions, will be far more difficult to find. It will therefore be difficult for claimants to corroborate their claims with contemporary evidence. Postmasters, the Post Office, or the UK government may not have enough evidence, and we may never find enough evidence to determine liability to the level that would be expected by the courts.
It is thanks to testimony of postmasters that this has been brought to light and failings have been discovered.
We must now work quickly to provide redress and justice to those who have suffered greatly after being wrongly accused.
We are considering the right form of redress for victims who have suffered.
This is a challenging exercise given the passage of time and the significant lack of records and evidence.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said that those whose brothers or sisters were infected with potentially deadly viruses while receiving care should be fairly compensated.
He also announced in a written ministerial statement that the government “accepts in full or accepts in principle” all of the 12 recommendations made as part of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Continue reading...Read moreThe rise of Yang Tengbo: what were his UK businesses?
Yang’s first firm was described as a tour operator; 17 years later he was in business with an adviser to Prince Andrew
During his time in the UK, Yang Tengbo created and operated a range of entities, interests and trade associations. The most intriguing is a company with a direct connection with one of Prince Andrew’s closest advisers.
In 2005, three years after he moved to the UK, Yang set up his principal company, Hampton Group International. Originally called Newland UK, its earliest accounts describe it as a tour operator rather than any form of consultancy. It appears to have been a quiet success, with an annual turnover of £1m just five years into its operations.
Continue reading...Read moreChina jails ex-football head coach for bribery
Li Tie, who also played for Everton in the English Premier League, was handed a 20-year sentence.
Read moreTop Chinese language novelist dies in apparent suicide
Chiung Yao's work has been adapted to movies and TV and launched the careers of big name stars.
Read moreFilipino vessel 'sideswiped' by China Coast Guard
The incident happened near the disputed Scarborough Shoal and Beijing said it acted "in accordance with the law".
Read more‘Italian’ purees in UK supermarkets likely to contain Chinese forced-labour tomatoes
Some products described as “Italian” appear to contain Chinese tomatoes, BBC investigation suggests.
Read moreTaiwan president's Hawaii trip draws Chinese anger
Lai Ching-te's trip to the US state is being billed as a stopover, but has been condemned by Beijing.
Read moreSilenced and erased, Hong Kong's decade of protest is now a defiant memory
The BBC speaks to Hongkongers whose hopes for a freer city have withered.
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Read moreScenery of Yulong Snow Mountain in Lijiang City, China's Yunnan
This photo taken on Dec. 9, 2024 shows sunlight shining on the Yulong Snow Mountain in Lijiang City, southwest China's Yunnan Province.This photo taken from Heilongtan Park shows sunlight shining on the Yulong Snow Mountain in Lijiang City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Dec. 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Tao)
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