New York City

A New York City police officer charged with acting as an agent for China has been denied bail by a US federal judge in New York. Prosecutors said Baimadajie Angwang’s financial records showed “unusually large” wire transfers to and from China. They said the 33-year-old defendant – a naturalized US citizen who is accused of spying on fellow ethnic Tibetans – might flee to China’s consulate in New York. Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann of the US Justice Department’s Eastern District of New York granted the request for continued detention on Monday because “no credible sureties” were offered to assure that Angwang would appear for court proceedings. “Given that Angwang considered himself the ‘100 p

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Inkstone Explains unravels the ideas and context behind the headlines to help you understand news about China. They are fast, quiet, fashionable, and taking over the streets of America. The popularity of electric mopeds has spiked in major US cities in less than a year, driven largely by the popularity of moped sharing services.  Renters jump on mopeds for thrills (it can go up to 30 miles per hour) as well as convenience. The mopeds first caught on in Brooklyn, New York, where its small size and speed make for a convenient alternative to cars, bicycles, or walking. One company that is driving the moped popularity boom is a Chinese startup called NIU Technologies.

Rideshare drivers in New York are trapped between their fear of contracting the coronavirus and need to earn a living. Most drivers have stopped working to avoid Covid-19 infection, but some cannot afford to lose the income. Ke Jun, an Uber driver in New York, is back on the road after a one-month pause in March 2020. His work as a driver is the only source of income for his family, and he is struggling to make ends meet.

As deaths from the coronavirus mount in New York City, a temporary field hospital has been built in Central Park to help ease the burden on local hospitals. Covid-19 cases continue to surge in the city, with the death toll surpassing 900 on Monday, March 30. Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has estimated that about 200,000 Americans could die from the pandemic. US President Donald Trump has extended stay-at-home guidelines for the nation to the end of April. 

The day after he avoided the Chinese government’s lockdown in Wuhan, Hubei province, Scott Liu was already planning how he could support his hometown’s fight against the coronavirus from abroad. Lucky enough to have boarded the last direct flight from Wuhan to New York on January 22 – just before travel bans were imposed to stop the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19 – Liu settled back into his home in Queens, New York, and began a 14-day period of self-quarantine. In solitude, while reports of thousands of coronavirus cases began to overtake the news cycle, he started organizing the overseas Wuhan-born community to donate to the city of 11 million people, the epicenter of the Covid-19

By ranking fourth in the world, the megacity of Shenzhen was the highest-ranking Chinese metropolis in a new study that ranked how important a city is to the global economy.  China generally performed well in the rankings, but the list was dominated by the US.  New York City topped the chart for the third consecutive year. London took the second spot, followed by Singapore and Shenzhen. San Jose, California took fifth and Tokyo was sixth.  The report, which was produced by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the United Nations Human Settlements Program, measured a city’s economic influence based on its “connectivity.” Connectivity was defined by both “hard” and “soft” networks.  The