Workers in southern China shovelled large piles of mud and debris off the streets as officials assessed the losses on Saturday after the strongest typhoon in 50 years killed 104 people and left 190 missing. Typhoon Saomai bore down on Zhejiang and Fujian provinces on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of 1,7-million people.
Four people were killed when torrential rains from Typhoon Kaemi caused widespread flooding in south-eastern China on Wednesday, as more than 700 000 evacuees remained in shelters. The typhoon, which hit south-east China’s Fujian province on Tuesday, packing winds of 120kph, was downgraded to a tropical storm on Wednesday morning.
Typhoon Kaemi struck the south-east coast of China on Tuesday, sparking the evacuation of more than 500 000 people in an area still reeling from a tropical storm that claimed more than 600 lives. The typhoon first passed over Taiwan, causing widespread disruption to daily life but not enormous damage.
The death toll in China from Tropical Storm Bilis has risen to 198, official media said on Tuesday, as 140 people remained missing and heavy rain continued to pound the south of the country. Forecasters had expected the storm to weaken as it hit mainland China but instead it brought more death and destruction, as well as paralysing transport and communications infrastructure.
About 620 000 people were evacuated from southern China on Wednesday as Typhoon Chanchu, the strongest storm to date to hit the region at this time of year, churned towards the coastal province of Guangdong. The province also ordered more than 58 000 fishing boats and other vessels to return to their home ports.
Governments in Asia are considered among the world’s worst ”enemies” of internet freedom, as they increasingly censor websites and jail people who express views deemed dangerous online. Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, experts say countries including China, Vietnam and Nepal are feeling more threatened by cyberspace than ever as internet use booms.
The United Nations’ top official on bird flu urged China on Tuesday to share its experience with other countries on how to tackle the disease. Speaking at the end of his third visit to China as UN coordinator for avian influenza, David Nabarro said he had tried to persuade Chinese officials that the knowledge and experience they gained fighting bird flu could help the rest of the world.
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/ 7 November 2005
From esteemed college professor to one of China’s most recent prisoners of conscience, the fate of Zheng Yichun (47) has followed a familiar pattern for the country’s growing community of cyber dissidents. The former English literature professor was sentenced to seven years in prison in September for posting essays critical of the government online.
The Chinese government found itself in a tricky position on Friday, debating how to respond to the shooting of a Taiwanese president it does not recognise and wants out of office. None of China’s state-run press reported the story hours after it broke.