Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Peter Harmsen

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Peter Harmsen

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Oil on the agenda as Chávez visits China

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was set to arrive in China Tuesday on a visit likely to deepen already strong ties that focus on oil.

Blast in China coal mine kills 74, scores rescued

Seventy-four workers were confirmed dead and dozens trapped underground after a gas blast early on Sunday at a north Chinese colliery.

China steps up fight to stave off disease

China stepped up the fight on Thursday to stave off disease among over five million earthquake homeless as it tried to boost morale with plans to bring the Olympic flame through…

Aftershock terrifies China quake survivors

Thousands of terrified survivors of China’s earthquake huddled in the open with their meagre belongings on Tuesday as an aftershock struck and the government warned of more…

China ramps up rescue efforts

China ramped up its massive military rescue effort in the quake-hit south-west on Thursday, where more than 40 000 people lay dead or buried under rubble and rescue teams fought…

Tens of thousands dead, missing in China

China’s biggest earthquake for a generation left tens of thousands dead, missing or buried under the rubble of crushed communities on Tuesday, plunging the nation into an all-out…

Powerful quake kills thousands in China

A massive earthquake stunned south-west China on Monday, killing more than 8 000 people and flattening schools, factories and homes in a powerful tremor that was felt across a…

China says more than 660 surrender over Tibet unrest

China said Wednesday at least 660 people had surrendered over deadly protests in and near Tibet as French President Nicolas Sarkozy raised the prospect of boycotting the Beijing…

China ramps up security, cautions UK on Dalai Lama

China ramped up security on Thursday to quell a Tibetan uprising as it expressed concern over British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s planned meeting with the Dalai Lama. Huge…

China’s leaders scramble to limit weather fallout

Premier Wen Jiabao rushed on Tuesday to oversee disaster relief efforts as China’s leadership scrambled to limit the impact of the most brutal winter weather to hit the nation…

China, Russia plan mission to Mars

China announced on Wednesday it will launch a joint mission with Russia to Mars in 2009, marking ”an important milestone” in space cooperation between the two countries. A small…

An unwelcome story: China’s forex reserves

China’s foreign exchange reserves officially hit a record-shattering -trillion on Monday, and they could top -trillion sooner rather than later, economists said. Even if Chinese…

China tells growth-obsessed provinces to cool it

China has called on its 31 provinces to rein in their economies, state media said on Sunday, in a sign the central government has yet to persuade local bureaucrats that red-hot…

Cover-up claims as China storm toll leaps past 500

Chinese authorities were warned against cover-ups on Saturday after the death toll from Tropical Storm Bilis more than doubled overnight. A week after Bilis made landfall, the…

Ahmadinejad says incentive offer a ‘step forward’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday the international incentive offer to curtail his nation’s nuclear programme was a ”step forward” that would be carefully…

Chinese mega dam built to defy attacks

China’s Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River, the world’s largest hydropower project, shows the nation at its most powerful, but also makes it vulnerable in entirely new…

The dark side of Chinese mining

Li Shuanlin remembers the sweltering hot August day nine years ago when his mine shaft collapsed and, with it, life as he knew it. A coal miner since the age of 24, he was fully…

China raises Japanese-Nazi comparison

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Tuesday called on Japan’s leaders to stop visiting a controversial Tokyo war shrine, comparing their actions to the worship of Germany’s…

Long road to G8 membership for China, India

With vibrant economies and more than a billion people each, China and India might seem obvious candidates for the Group of Eight (G8), but analysts say the road to membership…

Google in ‘race to the bottom’ in China

Google and other Western internet companies are competing in a ”race to the bottom” as they bow to Chinese censors in order to gain a slice of the world’s most promising market,…