KEN MORITSUGU

In this December 3, 2018, file photo, residents line up inside the Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center which has previously been revealed by leaked documents to be a forced indoctrination camp at the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux in western China's Xinjiang region. (AP/Ng Han Guan, File)

December 21, 2020, 1:58 pm

Chinese official signals no letup in ‘crackdown’ on Uighurs

Beijing’s alleged persecution of Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang has caused major rift with Western nations; analysts say over 1 million detained

By KEN MORITSUGU

In this image made from video, a fire truck is seen outside the Chinese consulate in Houston, July 21, 2020. (KTRK via AP)

July 22, 2020, 2:02 pm

US closes Chinese consulate in Houston, drawing protest from Beijing

China warns move will ‘sabotage relations’ between the two countries; State Department says Washington will not tolerate ‘violations of our sovereignty’ or intimidation

By KEN MORITSUGU

An employee takes the fingerprints of a woman who died from the new coronavirus before her remains are cremated at La Recoleta crematorium in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, June 27, 2020. The Ministry of Health reported on Saturday the highest number of deaths in Chile since the start of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

June 29, 2020, 1:07 am

500,000 dead: World hits coronavirus milestone amid fears worst to come

10 million cases confirmed and a record 189,000 new infections in a single 24-hour period reported globally; 1 in 4 deaths and infections from US, where numbers keep climbing

By Nicole Winfield and KEN MORITSUGU

A group of people wearing face masks wait in a queue to undergo COVID-19 coronavirus tests in Beijing on June 19, 2020 (NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP)

June 20, 2020, 9:32 am

Beijing sees drop in coronavirus cases as Brazil passes 1 million

China records fall amid strict containment regulations; Germany and South Korea see increases; outbreak in Normandy leads to worries in France; UK lowers threat level

By KEN MORITSUGU

Workers in protective suits direct people to get a virus test at a stadium in Beijing, June 14, 2020. (AP/Andy Wong)

June 16, 2020, 5:21 am

Climb in virus infections shows need for vigilance as world reopens

Europe reopens borders after 3-month shutdown; lockdowns ease in Brazil and Mexico despite spike in cases; China battles fresh outbreak in Beijing

By KEN MORITSUGU, Geir Moulson, MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS and Alan Suderman

Xu Lin, vice head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party, shows a copy of the white paper on fighting COVID-19 China in action during a press conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, June 7, 2020 (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

June 7, 2020, 1:31 pm

China defends virus response, says it provided info in a timely, transparent way

Beijing says it ‘wasted no time,’ denying report that official labs sat on genetic map of the coronavirus needed to develop tests, drugs, vaccine

By KEN MORITSUGU

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, technicians work on a second generation disinfection robot in a technological company in Qingdao, eastern China's Shandong Province on February 11, 2020. (Li Ziheng/Xinhua via AP)

February 12, 2020, 7:35 am

China’s new virus cases fall again, deaths now exceed 1,100

Authorities say 44,653 people have been infected, although many believe actual toll much higher; US postal service suspends deliveries to China over flight cancellations

By KEN MORITSUGU

Paramilitary policemen wear face masks as they march in formation into a pedestrian underpass next to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, February 4, 2020. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

February 4, 2020, 11:56 am

China virus death toll rises to 425, total cases now near 20,500

Chinese President Xi Jinping declares ‘people’s war’ on epidemic, threatens punishment for those who neglect their duties

By KEN MORITSUGU

In this photo taken January 24, 2020 and released by Xinhua News Agency, a military medic from the Air Force Medical University prepares to leave for Wuhan from Xi'an, capital of northwestern China's Shaanxi Province.(Zhang Haopeng/Xinhua via AP)

January 26, 2020, 8:49 am

Virus death toll in China rises as US prepares staff evacuation

With 56 killed and some 2,000 cases — including the first in Canada — authorities are taking precautions, including banning private cars; Hong Kong Disneyland closes temporarily

By KEN MORITSUGU

Health Officials in hazmat suits check body temperatures of passengers arriving from the city of Wuhan, Jan. 22, 2020, at the airport in Beijing, China (AP Photo Emily Wang)

January 23, 2020, 10:44 am

China closes off large city of Wuhan to stop spread of deadly virus

In step seen as unprecedented, city of 11 million sealed after coronavirus causes 17 deaths; millions travel for Lunar New Year, one of world’s largest annual migrations of people

By KEN MORITSUGU and Yanan WANG

Pro-democracy supporters celebrate after pro-Beijing politician Junius Ho lost his election in Hong Kong, November 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

November 25, 2019, 5:46 pm

In major rebuke to Beijing, democracy camp wins Hong Kong elections in landslide

‘It’s nothing short of a revolution,’ analyst says after official results are published; however, China still likely to resist demands by protesters

By EILEEN NG and KEN MORITSUGU

Fires burn at the steps to Hong Kong Polytechnic University as police storm the campus in Hong Kong, early Monday, Nov. 18, 2019. Hong Kong police have stormed into a university campus held by protesters after an all-night standoff. Fiery explosions could be seen inside as riot officers entered before dawn Monday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

November 18, 2019, 3:13 am

Hong Kong police storm university held by protesters as fires rage

Riot police try to break in after an all-night siege that includes firing repeated barrages of tear gas and water cannons; students respond with fire bombs

By KEN MORITSUGU

A protestor throws a molotov cocktail towards a barrier in Hong Kong on August 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

September 1, 2019, 12:17 am

Hong Kong police storm subway with batons as protests rage

With pro-democracy marches showing no signs of abating, demonstrators hurl gasoline bombs at government headquarters and set fires in streets

By KEN MORITSUGU and RAF WOBER

A protester gestures after they broke into the parliament chamber of the government headquarters in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019, on the 22nd anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China. (VIVEK PRAKASH / AFP)

July 1, 2019, 7:52 pm

Hong Kong protesters break into legislature, deface building

Hundreds of demonstrators tear down portraits of leaders, shatter windows, and spray-paint pro-democracy slogans on walls

By KEN MORITSUGU

In this June 5, 1989 file photo, a Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Changan Blvd. in Tiananmen Square (AP Photo/Jeff Widener, File )

June 5, 2019, 11:01 am

After 30 years, China keeps forcibly blocking any talk about Tiananmen protests

Beijing imposes information lockdown on anniversary, continuing political repression to erase mass killings from public memory; some activists unreachable by phone or text

By KEN MORITSUGU