Beijing

Zheng Zhongwei, an official with China's National Health Commission, holds a chart showing different priority groups for a coronavirus vaccine as he speaks during a press conference held to discuss COVID-19 vaccine-related issues at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. A Chinese health official said Friday that the country's annual production capacity for COVID-19 vaccines will top 1-billion next year, following an aggressive government support program for new factories. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

China aims to make 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses a year

Sep. 25, 2020 7:21 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese health official said Friday that the country's annual production capacity for coronavirus vaccines will top 1 billion doses next year, following an aggressive government support program for construction of new factories. Capacity is expected to reach 610 million doses by the end of...

Flower vendors wait for buyers at a wholesale market in Bengaluru, India, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. The nation of 1.3 billion people is expected to become the COVID-19 pandemic's worst-hit country within weeks, surpassing the United States. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

The Latest: $14M more in virus funds for 3 Ariz universities

Sep. 24, 2020 9:23 PM EDT

PHOENIX — Arizona will provide the state’s three public universities with $14 million in additional funding to boost their efforts to test, track and respond to the coronavirus. Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday the money will help the universities build on their current efforts to track and contain...

Yin Weidong, CEO of the Chinese pharmaceutical company SinoVac, speaks to journalists during a tour of a vaccine factory in Beijing on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. SinoVac, one of China's pharmaceutical companies behind a leading COVID-19 vaccine candidate says its vaccine will be ready by early 2021 for distribution worldwide, including the U.S. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Chinese company says coronavirus vaccine ready by early 2021

Sep. 24, 2020 9:15 PM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese pharmaceutical company said Thursday the coronavirus vaccine it is developing should be ready by early 2021 for distribution worldwide, including the United States. Yin Weidong, the CEO of SinoVac, vowed to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell CoronaVac in the...

Visitors wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus look at a Tesla vehicle on display at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. Auto executives are flying in early to wait out a coronavirus quarantine ahead of the Beijing auto show, the year's biggest sales event for a global industry that is struggling with tumbling sales and layoffs. Organizers say they will impose intensive anti-disease controls on crowds and monitor visitors and employees for signs of infection. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

China auto show forging ahead under anti-virus controls

Sep. 24, 2020 9:12 PM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — The first event for the CEO of Swedish electric car brand Polestar at this month’s Beijing auto show: A two-week quarantine in a hotel. The auto show, the first major in-person sales event for any industry since the coronavirus pandemic began, opens Saturday in a sign the ruling...

FILE - In this March 16, 2020, file photo, Neal Browning receives a shot at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, in the first-stage safety study clinical trial of a potential vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Many world leaders at this week's virtual U.N. summit hope it will be a vaccine made available and affordable to all countries, rich and poor. But with the U.S., China and Russia opting out of a collaborative effort to develop and distribute a vaccine, and some rich nations striking deals with pharmaceutical companies to secure millions of potential doses, the U.N. pleas are plentiful but likely in vain. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

'Are people to be left to die?' Vaccine pleas fill UN summit

Sep. 24, 2020 9:39 AM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — If the United Nations was created from the ashes of World War II, what will be born from the global crisis of COVID-19? Many world leaders at this week’s virtual U.N. summit hope it will be a vaccine made available and affordable to all countries, rich and poor. But with the...

Various of groups of pro-democracy activists including Joshua Wong, center, arrive at a court in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. Prominent activists Jimmy Lai and Joshua Wong were among more than two dozen activists appearing in court after being charged of participating in unlawful assembly. They were charged for joining a vigil last June 4 to commemorate the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. While the event has been held every year, authorities did not grant permission for the gathering this year citing concerns over the spread of coronavirus. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Hong Kong activist Wong arrested over unauthorized assembly

Sep. 24, 2020 6:42 AM EDT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong said he was arrested again Thursday for allegedly participating in an unauthorized assembly last October. Wong tweeted that he was arrested when he reported to the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s Central Police Station as part of a...

FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2020, file photo, women wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus chat as they pass by the headquarters of ByteDance, owners of TikTok, in Beijing, China. TikTok's owner said Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, that it has applied for a Chinese technology export license as it tries to complete a deal with Oracle and Walmart to keep the popular video app operating in the United States. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

TikTok's owner applies for Chinese license to close US deal

Sep. 24, 2020 6:25 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — TikTok's owner said Thursday it has applied for a Chinese technology export license as it tries to complete a deal with Oracle and Walmart to keep the popular video app operating in the United States. Beijing tightened control over technology exports last month in an effort to gain leverage...

A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the coronavirus walks past a shopping mall on a rainy day in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Even as China has largely controlled the outbreak, the coronavirus is still surging across other parts of the world. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Asia Today: China to let in more foreigners as virus recedes

Sep. 24, 2020 5:43 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — Foreigners holding certain types of visas and residence permits will be permitted to return to China starting next week as the threat of the coronavirus continues to recede. The new regulation lifts a monthslong blanket suspension covering most foreigners apart from diplomats and those in...

2 scholars, said to be banned, had no China travel planned

Sep. 24, 2020 3:42 AM EDT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Two Australian scholars reportedly banned from China said Thursday they had no intention of traveling there for fear for their personal safety. The Chinese Communist Party’s English-language newspaper Global Times cited unidentified sources in reporting the two had been...

In this Monday, July 6, 2020, file photo, a police van is surrounded by press photographers at a court in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's professional journalism association on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, protested new rules restricting who can provide press coverage during demonstrations, saying the government has no right to determine who is or isn't a reporter. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu/ File)

Hong Kong journalists protest new accreditation rules

Sep. 24, 2020 2:42 AM EDT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s professional journalism association on Thursday protested new rules restricting who can provide press coverage during demonstrations, saying the government has no right to determine who is or isn't a reporter. The rules outlined in a Tuesday letter from police have been...

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