Friday, March 29TRUSTED FEARLESS INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS PORTAL

Tag: China

Opinion

Preventing a China-Taiwan conflict

In this image taken from video, assault boats take part in naval drills in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan. Taiwan is holding spring military drills following its recent presidential election and amid threats from China, which claims the island as its own territory that it is determined to annex, possibly by force. | Photo Credit: AP With expanding national interests, India has stronger compulsions to act against far-off hazards. India finds its interests entangled in disputes on the far edges of Asia, including in Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as its own, and is feverishly preparing to seize the island by force if necessary, while the U.S. has increasingly clearly signaled that it would probably fight to defend Taiwan. India is highly unlikely to fight in a conflict over Taiwan. It has vital...
Sports

Unlike Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia, here’s how brand David Beckham made MLS go big on Lionel Messi

“All petulant in pink like some thuggish flamingo,” read the pages of South China Morning Post. There was no hiding it: China was fuming at Lionel Messi.Nearly 40,000 had thronged to the Hong Kong Stadium to watch him play, how could he ditch them at the last second? Speculation ran amok. ‘Was it a snub to mainland China from the world’s most popular footballer?’ Regina Ip, member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, went as far as suggesting, “Messi should never be allowed to return to Hong Kong”, calling the Argentine a ‘hypocrite’. An attempt was made to douse the political flames as Messi took to China’s biggest social media app to address the aforementioned claims as ‘false’. But the damage was done and strange as it may sound, for his club – Inter Miami – it was one of the man...
Sports

For Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, China’s smiling assassins biggest challengers heading into Olympic year

Of all the pairings that Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty battled this outstanding season, the Chinese Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang have proven to be the trickiest to tactically break down.A couple of specific pairings, Seo-Kang and Astrup-Rasmussen, will demand a few technical tweaks from the Indians but Satwik-Chirag will be on their way against those sooner than later. Against Liang-Wang, though, they need careful and constant threadbaring and strategy upgrades and improvs heading into the 2024 season. The Chinese are not exactly nemeses who just can’t be stubbed out or swatted aside like the Minions once were. They aren’t India’s bogey team either, yet can morph into a bee in a bonnet. For, their ability to shape-shift and dish out new threats is dangerous as Indians head ...
Sports

How intimidating is it to play Fan Zhendong, the Virat Kohli of table tennis, in China?

Hangzhou: He tries not to show it, but as he lifts the paddle to serve, Jang Woojin’s hands quiver.It’s the semifinals of the Asian Games. And the match has gone off the script. The South Korean has made the ‘mistake’ of taking a game off Fan Zhendong. The Chinese world number 1 and two-time world champion doesn’t look like he needs outside help. But the crowd has made this personal. They worship Zhendong here. And that’s putting it mildly. A Chinese journalist tells a story that recently was a trending topic for days. Zhendong was staying at a hotel in Beijing. When he stepped out, a fan connived with the hotel staff, snuck into his room and stole his underwear. This other time, the Zhendong diehards took over an airport in southern China’s Guangdong province before he could board a fl...
Sports

What will happen in China if they lose to India in badminton men’s team finals on Sunday. And why

China has won 42 of 89 gold medals at the Asian Games. It also has 47 of 121 total Olympic medals of all three colours. Ping pong still sits above badminton, and Indonesia still stakes claims to having the craziest diehards of the sport, but shuttle occupies a uniquely special place in the Chinese social and sporting-scape. As the shuttle week plays out at Asian Games, Hangzhou will ensure it showcases just how much it loves and dominates badminton.Watch out for the din when India’s Men’s team challenge China for the gold on Sunday. The chants of ‘Jia You’ (“Come on or “Rule for China”) will reverberate and silence will be deafening should India win the ultimate gold.Badminton is called Yumáoqiú (pronounced yoo-mao chi-oh) locally, and China maintains that the first sighting of a shuttl...
Sports

China’s Asian Games ambitions: To top the medal pile, to show it has bounced back from the pandemic and to flex its economic and geopolitical muscle

ON A damp, overcast day, the ‘Big Lotus’, or the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, blooms bright.Its shape inspired by ancient silk texture and its weaving patterns, the 81,000-seater coliseum stands tall, despite being surrounded by Hangzhou’s gleaming skyscrapers, which are submerged in the low, dense clouds that also cover the picturesque Xihu, or West Lake. Alone or in groups, the local residents converge at the hallowed water’s edge; some elegantly performing Tai Chi, a few others sitting calmly with a fishing rod in one hand, waiting patiently for their catch. “The Love We Share,” the official theme song of the Hangzhou Asian Games, is on the air in Hangzhou’s Linping. Check it out! #Hangzhou #AsianGames #TheLoveWeShare #ThemeSong #Linping #HangzhouAsianGames pic.twitter.co...
Sports

Malaysian Syazrul Idrus records best bowling figures of 7 for 8 in Men’s T20

Syazrul Idrus. Photo: Twitter/@ICC Little known Malaysian seamer Syazrul Idrus on July 26 became the first male cricketer to take seven wickets in a T20 International when he achieved the feat against China in the opening game of the T20 World Cup Asia B Qualifier here. Idrus' astonishing figures of 7 wickets for 8 runs, the best bowling figures in a men's T20I, helped Malaysia record a commanding eight-wicket victory over China at Bayuemas Oval. All his seven wickets were bowled dismissals. The 32-year-old, who played in 22 T20Is before Wednesday, broke Nigerian Peter Aho's earlier record for the best bowling figures in a men's T20Is. Aho had picked up 6 wickets for 5 against Sierra Leone in 2021. Among full members of the ICC, India's Deepak Chahar holds the record of best bowling f...
Sports

Lessons for Saudi Arabia: Why did the Chinese Super League fail?

A few years before Saudi Arabia’s recent cash splurge, China was the one to carry the mantle of a burgeoning Asian super power. Buoyed by president Xi Xi Jinping’s desire to develop the nation into a footballing force, a lot of businesses, especially from real estate, started investing in the sport. Soon, the Chinese Super League (CSL) was signing players like Oscar, Hulk, Paulinho and Jackson Martinez, something that was unheard of for Asian clubs at that time. But soon, everything fell apart. The financial issues that the coronavirus pandemic raised were too much for the CSL as well as the country to handle. In 2021, Jiangsu FC went out of business after its owners pulled out. One of the biggest blows, however, was dealt to Guangzhou FC who had won 8 Chinese titles and two Asian champ...
Sports

I didn’t expect this would happen but Gopi sir kept pushing me: HS Prannoy

Sleep-deprived Indian shuttler HS Prannoy had almost given up on winning his next title and breaking a six-year long drought before chief national coach Pullela Gopichand instilled in him the belief that he remains a force to reckon with. On Sunday, Prannoy ended the title drought with a three-game win over China’s Weng Hong Yang in a pulsating men’s singles finals at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament here. “I think there are too many emotions. The last six years have been too much of a rollercoaster. I didn’t expect that it will happen after six years to be honest. I mean if you would have asked me in 2017 I don’t think I would have told you that I will win in 2023. So lots of mixed emotions,” Prannoy said after the title triumph. “Thanks to all the coaches, support staff and G...
Sports

ITF resumes tennis in China with no word on Peng Shuai

The International Tennis Federation will play tournaments this year in China with no word of a resolution to the case of Chinese doubles player Peng Shuai. Peng disappeared from public view shortly after accusing a former high-ranking Communist Party official — in a web posting in November of 2021 — of sexual assault. The ITF, which conducts tournaments below the elite level in its World Tennis Tour, lists its first tournament in China on June 5-11 at Luzhou. The ITF’s last full season in China was 2019, prior to COVID-19. “The ITF anticipates a resumption of tournament activity within China for each of the ITF Tours later this year,” the ITF said in a statement. The WTA, which runs the sport’s top-tier women’s events, hasn’t announced if it will resume staging tournaments in China. In ...