A mammoth trek across southern China by a herd of elephants that has captivated the world with their playful antics has thrown a spotlight on the loss of their habitat and conservation challenges.

The first astronauts arrived at China’s new space station yesterday in the country’s longest crewed mission to date, a landmark step in establishing Beijing as a major space power.

China said yesterday radiation levels remained normal at one of its nuclear power plants and there were no safety concerns, after the station’s French operator reported a gas build-up.

The Group of Seven richest democracies yesterday sought to counter China’s growing influence by offering developing nations an infrastructure plan that would rival President Xi Jinping’s multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

China yesterday berated the US and EU consulates in Hong Kong for displaying candles to commemorate the June 4 Tiananmen crackdown, slamming it as a “clumsy political show” to destabilise the city.

Australia’s ambassador to China was barred from the trial of an academic held on spying charges yesterday, in a case that has exacerbated a bitter row between the two nations.

China’s Mars rover drove from its landing platform and began exploring the surface yesterday, state-run Xinhua news agency said, making the country only the second nation to land and operate a rover on the Red Planet.

China said yesterday a US warship had illegally entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea, the latest salvo in the two nations’ dispute over Beijing’s territorial claims in the busy waterway.

China said yesterday the risk of damage from a rocket falling back to Earth was “extremely low”, after the United States warned it could crash down on to an inhabited area.

Taiwan’s defence minister yesterday said authorities were investigating whether a man from mainland China had managed to cross the Taiwan Strait in a rubber dinghy in a bid to seek political sanctuary.

Hong Kong yesterday passed a new immigration law that includes powers to stop people entering or leaving the city, raising fears Chinese mainland-style “exit bans” could be deployed in the international business hub.

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on a brief visit tomorrow, officials confirmed.

China yesterday said Australia’s sudden scrapping of a Belt and Road Initiative deal risked “serious harm” to relations and warned of retaliatory actions, but Canberra insisted it would not be bullied.

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was jailed yesterday for 14 months along with four other veteran democracy activists for their roles in protests that helped trigger a sweeping crackdown on dissent by China.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday the United States is concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a “serious mistake” for anyone to try to change the status quo in the Western Pacific by force.

Candidates for public office in Hong Kong will have their entire history vetted, its top justice official said yesterday, after China announced a radical overhaul to ensure only “patriots” run the city.

Nine veteran Hong Kong activists face jail after they were convicted yesterday for their roles in organising one of the biggest democracy protests to engulf the city in 2019.

In jade waters off Hong Kong’s eastern shoreline, scientists are thrilled to spot a cuttlefish protecting her eggs inside an artificial, 3D-printed clay seabed helping to restore the city’s fragile coral reefs.

Hong Kong’s leader defended her administration’s use of “ambush lockdowns” yesterday after a spate of overnight operations to conduct surprise mandatory coronavirus tests uncovered no new cases.

A Chinese lawyer nominated for a top human rights award is in poor health after years in prison, his wife told AFP yesterday.