China passes law to 'regulate' wild animal products

BEIJING (AFP) -- China has passed a new wild animal protection law banning the sale of food from endangered species, but allowing other products to be made from them, state media said, amid controversy over its wildlife policies.The measure, approved by China's Communist Party-controlled parliament on Saturday, "strengthens regulation of the use of wild animals and products derived from them," the official Xinhua news agency said.Environmental campaigners previously slammed a draft of the law fo

July 4, 2016

Aide to China's former leader gets life in prison for bribes

BEIJING (AP) -- A former top presidential aide and consummate Chinese political insider was sentenced Monday to life in prison for taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abusing his power in a downfall set off by an alleged cover-up of his son's death in a speeding Ferrari.A court in the northern port city of Tianjin delivered the verdict against Ling Jihua nearly one month after the trial, which was held behind closed doors because the case involved state secrets, the official Xin

July 4, 2016

Brexit a possible boon for China, say analysts

BEIJING (AFP) -- Britain's decision to quit the world's largest single market presents China with a golden opportunity to seek better business terms with a more isolated UK, analysts said Friday, pointing out that London has not had its own trade negotiators for 40 years."Now that the referendum has happened, I would imagine that China will be quick to seize the opportunities," Guy de Jonquieres, senior fellow at the European Centre for International Political Economy, told AFP.If a departing Br

June 24, 2016