US no longer 'confident, optimistic and open'

Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the US, is puzzled by the change in a country where he has lived and worked for many years. "Is the America I used to know - an open, confident, optimistic America - still there?" he said in a speech at Harvard University's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies on April 17.

Shrinking space for secessionists' tricks

The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Dominican Republic and the People's Republic of China was only a matter of time.

Some give as well as take needed for talks trade-off

"We're going to have very frank discussions", US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a TV interview broadcast on Monday. Which is all well and good. But whether there will be any positive outcomes from the discussions in Beijing on Thursday and Friday will depend on whether the delegation he is heading comes to try and lay down the law to China or amicably find ways to resolve the trade feud that has erupted.

Allowing indoor smoking areas is pragmatic tobacco control measure

HANGZHOU, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, has given a green light to setting up indoor smoking areas in public places in a draft of its newly revised smoking control regulation. Beijing News comments:

Baidu should stop using paid listings

SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION about illnesses on Baidu, the most popular Chinese online search engine, you are unlikely to find any useful information on the diseases on the first one or two pages as they are full of advertisements for healthcare products. Beijing News comments:

Encouragement alone will not make packaging greener

A PROVISIONAL REGULATION on express deliveries came into effect on Tuesday, which requires express delivery enterprises and customers to use biodegradable or compostable materials for packaging purposes. Beijing News comments:

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US trade case against China very weak

On the surface, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer appears to have made an ironclad case against China in the so-called Section 301 report issued on March 22. Laid out in a detailed 182-page document (which, with 1,139 footnotes and five appendices, would make any legal team blush with pride), the USTR's indictment of China on charges of unfair trading practices regarding technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation seems both urgent and compelling.

Paid leave for only child a welcome step

Editor's note: Eight provinces, including Heilongjiang and Hubei, have passed local legislation granting paid leave to only child to allow them to take care of their sick parents. In force for two years, the measure has been welcomed by many people, especially the large number of single offspring and their parents. Now, some National People's Congress deputies are trying to get a national regulation passed on the subject. Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily's Liu Jianna. Excerpts follow:

No reason for city clusters not to succeed

In a debate on "Urbanization: Testing the City Cluster Model" that we (Asian Development Bank officials) participated in at the Boao Forum for Asia in South China's Hainan province in April, all the panelists agreed that integrating cities and urban systems in coordinated city clusters is a global challenge.

Pyongyang to align time with Seoul

The Democratic People Republic of Korea will shift its clocks 30 minutes earlier to align its time zone with the Republic of Korea, and Seoul said it will remove loudspeakers that blared propaganda across the border, according to reports on Monday.

May appoints Javid as interior minister

LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a former banker of South Asian origin as interior minister on Monday, trying to draw a line under an immigration scandal threatening her authority as she negotiates Brexit.