Chinese state media on Sunday trumpeted a record-breaking domestic travel season for the Lunar New Year holiday, which was one of the heaviest travel seasons in the world before the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese dictator Xi Jinping used his Lunar New Year address to praise tighter “integration” with Hong Kong and Macau.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen thanked the free world for its support in her Lunar New Year message, while China threatened an invasion.
China’s Spring Festival was one of the biggest travel seasons in the world before the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, and on Thursday, the state-run Global Times anticipated it would return to its full glory this year, with over nine billion passenger trips taken during the next 40 days.
The Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) warned during a press conference on Thursday that the “explosive surge” in travel expected for the Lunar New Year in February will result in elevated levels of Wuhan coronavirus infection and, potentially, an increase in “the risk of severe illness and death.”
China’s state-run Global Times on Wednesday quoted travel agencies that expect an “explosive surge” of “outbound tourism” during the “first post-pandemic New Year and Spring Festival holidays.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed appreciation that the United Nations voted to add Lunar New Year to its “floating holiday” calendar.
Chinese state media on Monday sought to pass off the huge wave of coronavirus illness and death that swept across the country over the past month as a “smooth transition” to a new era of looser restrictions and renewed economic activity.
Chinese officials claimed on Thursday that coronavirus fatalities have dropped by almost 80 percent since the beginning of January, indicating the vast wave of infections sweeping the country is quickly coming to an end.
Chinese state media reported on Sunday that the big Lunar New Year holiday week was a smashing success at theaters, which reported a huge surge in profits following the termination of coronavirus lockdown policies.
The suspect in Saturday night’s Lunar New Year celebration shooting in Torrance, CA, was found dead in a white cargo van, according to the Los Angeles Times. Police believe the death was caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A mass shooting took place late Saturday night after a Chinese New Year celebration in the city of Monterey Park.
Reports of multiple deaths after a mass shooting at a Lunar New Year celebration Saturday night in Monterey Park, Calif., just east of Los Angeles, drew dozens of police responders to the scene.
China’s Ministry of Transportation reported on Saturday that over 42 million people have traveled by car, train, ship, and plane during the early days of the long Lunar New Year travel season, and over two billion trips will have been taken by the time the holiday is done, even though a massive wave of coronavirus infections is raging across China.
Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang announced on Wednesday that every citizen of the island nation will receive a cash gift of $6,000 Taiwanese dollars, or $195.61 in U.S. dollars, as a “New Year blessing.”
Travel bookings surged in China on Tuesday after the National Immigration Administration announced passport applications will once again be processed as of January 8, 2023. The policy change ends years-old travel restrictions just as the biggest coronavirus wave of the entire pandemic sweeps across China. Several other countries, such as Japan and India, announced their own restrictions on Chinese travelers in response.
The Chinese province of Zhejiang, an industrial hub located southwest of Shanghai, reported a million new coronavirus infections on Christmas Day – and expected that caseload to double by New Year’s Eve. Anecdotal reports of overwhelmed hospitals continue slipping past Chinese censors to reach foreign reporters and social media, even though the regime in Beijing continues to insist it has suffered absolutely no Covid-19 fatalities over the past five days.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams spoke at the Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival in Chinatown, Manhattan, on Tuesday as the guest of honor, addressing the crowd in front of a giant banner reading “Support Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics” and featuring the official logo of the Games.
Chinese dictator Xi Jinping welcomed the Lunar New Year in a speech this weekend celebrating China’s “global leading position in economic development,” largely attributable to the collapse of rival economies in the face of a pandemic that would have likely remained a local outbreak had the Communist Party not acted to repress local doctors.
Chinese state media on Thursday giddily hailed the arrival of Watergate Bridge, the hastily-filmed sequel to China’s Korean War propaganda film The Battle at Lake Changjin.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) subjected an audience at Tuesday night’s game between the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers to a speech by Chinese Ambassador to America Qin Gang.
Travel in anticipation of China’s Lunar New Year launched on Monday initiating a massive wave of bookings for train, bus, and air transport expected to reach 1.18 billion by the holiday season’s end on February 25, Xinhua, China’s official state-run press agency, reported.
The mayor of Wellington, New Zealand, faced criticism Friday for his participation in a local Lunar New Year celebration which included New Zealand Han Chinese dancers dressing up in the cultural garb of Uyghur Muslims, New Zealand’s Stuff news site reported.
China’s Global Times state propaganda newspaper featured on its online front page Tuesday a large gathering of migrant workers in Beijing celebrating the Lunar New Year holiday by making dumplings together.
Chinese broadcaster CCTV opened its annual four-hour-long Lunar New Year variety show Friday with a “multicultural” dance performance featuring ethnically Han Chinese performers in black skin paint pretending to be African. The use of blackface prompted global ire, as it was not the first instance of it appearing in the program.
Chinese media outlets praised President Joe Biden on Wednesday for what they characterized as a respectful, “positive” call between the head of state and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping.
The city of Beijing reportedly went into “emergency response mode” Saturday after the discovery of five new coronavirus cases in the northern Shunyi district, which is located near the Beijing International Capital Airport.
A physicians group that educates about potential U.S. disasters says the novel coronavirus outbreak could become a pandemic.
Chinese citizens are masking their flu-like symptoms to make it through airport checkpoints set up around the world to screen for the coronavirus, according to several reports on Thursday citing Chinese social media posts.
Chinese authorities added four cities to their lockdown of Wuhan, home to a deadly new virus spreading rapidly, on Thursday afternoon, bringing the total population within the transport shutdown zone to about 20 million people.
Around a dozen independent Lunar New Year fairs have sprung up across Hong Kong over the past week in support of the city’s ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations, with organizers attempting to raise money and morale among supporters.
Chinese officials confirmed the death toll of a mystery coronavirus spreading from central China doubled to six people from Monday into Tuesday, insisting that Beijing is prepared to screen potential carriers as Asia prepares for Lunar New Year, one of the continent’s biggest travel days.
Organizers of Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year parade, a major annual event since 1996, announced it will not be held in 2020 because its route through an area that has seen a great deal of protest activity over the past five months is “too risky.” The parade will reportedly be replaced by a carnival, which would be stationary and easy to secure.
