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For International News Sources, I looked at a Chinese news source and BBC. It was very interesting to see that Xinhua (a Chinese source) significantly downplayed the amount of COVID cases in China and focused on how the economy has significantly bounced back even better after a short "blip" of COVID cases. Very nationally biased source. I don't think we'd see anything like this in USA.

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The Gazette is a paper based in Maryland that I have come across a few times throughout my life. I never typically get my news from this source, because often it talks about Maryland news which does not really interest me. It is also very left-leaning but does contain some good stories from time to time. I had to dig a little bit for a story on the China/US balloon controversy, but ultimately found one that got my attention. The article on Biden calling for sharper rules on unidentified objects is something that I believe people on both sides of the isle can get on.

Because I live 30 minutes outside of DC, my family has been getting the Washington Post as long as I have been alive. To be honest, I have typically only used the Washington Post for their Sports section (which is really good), but as I have gotten older, I have started to look at more news based content. I am aware that the Post is quite left-leaning, and this helps me tremendously when I try to glean knowledge from articles I read. As Ms. Cloud has said, opinion and political bias is ok, but you must understand the slant something can have when evaluating its credibility.

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I started this semester looking at the current event of COVID in China. I looked at a couple articles from Reuters for News Wires.
It seemed that China significantly downplayed how many COVID cases they had. Their holiday rush (around Chinese New Year) was a COVID superspreader. With China being locked down for so long, it only makes sense that so many people got COVID due to their immune systems having not experienced the virus other than the vaccine.

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COVID in China all but completely fell out of the news, so I switched topics to Chinese/US tensions over balloons flying over our airspace. I looked at what Fox News vs. CNN had to say on the initial balloon that flew over the continental US. Fox News attacked China for their excuses for why the balloon flew over the US. CNN talked about Biden's rationale behind waiting to shoot the balloon down. One thing that both agreed on though: this was not a weather balloon, but a spy balloon. It was just interesting to see the different aspects of the story different news outlets tended to gravitate towards depending on which side the lean towards.

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To be completely honest, I get a lot of my news from YouTube. I found a video about China criticizing the US for shooting down their "property." YouTube contains a lot of videos that seem to be very unbiased. You just have to know where to look. A lot of the local YouTube news networks like "Fox2 News" etc. provide a lot of good facts on stories with little bias. Twitter, on the other hand, is all opinion based. I found some links to stories, but it seemed like mainly entertainment reading people's responses to certain issues. Very interesting, but twitter is not super reliable for good news.

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China Reporting on its Economy After COVID

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China Reporting on its Economy After COVID

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Trucks transport containers at the international container terminal of Taizhou Port in Taizhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 17, 2023. (Photo by Tang Dehong/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's economy has gotten off to a good start in 2023, as shown by encouraging indicators ranging from tourism and box office revenues to the purchasing managers' index (PMI).

During the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, China saw nearly 2.9 million cross-border trips, up 120.5 percent year on year, and 308 million domestic trips, up 23.1 percent and back to 88.6 percent of the 2019 level for the same period. The country's box office raked in 6.76 billion yuan (about 1 billion U.S. dollars), the second-highest gross figure for the annual holiday, topped only by 2021. The PMI for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.1 in January, returning to expansion after three consecutive months of contraction.

Increasing activity and mobility signal that the world's second-largest economy is set to see a faster-than-expected recovery this year. The current momentum is built upon China's hard-won economic performance amid COVID-19 pandemic and mounting global uncertainties.

Compared with other major economies, China has successfully reduced the impact of the pandemic on its economic and social development to the greatest extent. It posted a growth rate of 2.2 percent in 2020, becoming the only major economy to realize growth that year. It has remained a standout engine for the world economy, growing 8.4 percent in 2021 and 3 percent in 2022. Over the past three years, China's average growth rate reached 4.5 percent, far higher than the global average of approximately 2 percent, and its annual rates were also much higher than those of major economies such as the United States and Germany.

The key to China's economic growth lies in its effective coordination of COVID-19 prevention and control with economic and social development under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Institutional strengths, such as the mobilization of resources to accomplish major initiatives, enabled the nation to secure strategic outcomes in its COVID-19 fight in early 2020, and allowed it to tackle more than 100 cluster infections quickly nationwide. This meant that economic activity could resume at an accelerated pace, as long as the virus was brought under control in affected areas.

Thanks to its consistent opening-up policy, China has maintained growth in foreign trade and the actual use of foreign investment for the past three years. For high-quality growth, its innovation strategy has sharpened the international competitiveness of Chinese enterprises and contributed to the development of high-tech industries, including aviation and aerospace, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The value of China's booming digital economy accounted for 39.8 percent of its GDP in 2021.

The size of China's economy has exceeded 120 trillion yuan. With the most complete industrial system in the world, an increasingly complete infrastructure network, more resilient industrial and supply chains, and an improved ability to ensure food, energy and resource security, the Chinese economy now enjoys a more solid material foundation to maintain stable, healthy and sustainable development.

As global growth is projected to fall in 2023 from the 2022 level, international institutions are widely upbeat about China's growth prospects. The International Monetary Fund on Monday projected that China's economy will grow by 5.2 percent in 2023, 0.8 percentage points higher than its October 2022 forecast. An earlier flagship report from the United Nations forecast China's GDP growth would hit 4.8 percent this year.

In terms of its arduous COVID-19 fight or its remarkable economic growth, China has been continuing to play its role as an active participant in the joint construction of a community with a shared future for humanity, and its role as a key driving force for the world economy. With its optimized COVID-19 response and advancement of high-quality growth, China will continue to share its development bonus with the rest of the world. ■

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Xinhua Commentary: China's economy off to good start amid new-phase COVID response

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Trucks transport containers at the international container terminal of Taizhou Port in Taizhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 17, 2023. (Photo by Tang Dehong/Xinhua) BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's economy has gotten off to a good start in 2023, as shown by encouraging indicators ranging from tourism and box office revenues to the purchasing managers' index (PMI).

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President Biden wants ‘sharper rules’ on unknown aerial objects

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President Biden said that the U.S. is developing “sharper rules” to track, monitor and potentially shoot down unknown aerial objects.

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Writing by John Geddie and Frances Kerry

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BEIJING, Jan 20 (Reuters) - People across China crowded into trains and buses for one of its busiest days of travel in years on Friday, feeding fears of new surges in a raging COVID-19 outbreak that officials say has hit its peak.

In comments reported by state media late Thursday, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the virus was at a "relatively low" level, while health officials said the number of COVID patients in hospital and with critical conditions was on the decline.

But there are widespread doubts about China's official account of an outbreak that has overwhelmed hospitals and funeral homes since Beijing abandoned strict COVID controls and mass testing last month.

That policy U-turn, which followed historic protests against the government's tough anti-virus curbs, unleashed COVID on a population of 1.4 billion that had been largely shielded from the disease since it emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019.

Some health experts expect that more than one million people will die from the disease in China this year, with British-based health data firm Airfinity forecasting COVID fatalities could hit 36,000 a day next week.

"Recently, the overall pandemic in the country is at a relatively low level," Sun said in comments reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

"The number of critical patients at hospitals is decreasing steadily, though the rescue mission is still heavy."

She spoke on the eve of one of the most frenetic travel days in China since the start of the pandemic, as millions of city-dwellers travel to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday that officially begins on Saturday.

More than 2 billion trips are expected to take place across China between Jan. 7 and Feb. 15, the government estimates.

'EAGER TO GO HOME'

Excited passengers laden with luggage and boxes of gifts boarded trains on Friday, heading for long-awaited family reunions.

"Everyone is eager to go home. After all, we haven't seen our families for so long," a 30-year-old surnamed Li told Reuters at Beijing's West railway station.

But for others, the holiday is a reminder of lost loved ones.

Gu Bei, a writer from Shanghai, said on the Weibo social media platform that she had been waiting nearly two weeks to have her mother cremated and that the funeral home could not tell her when the service would be scheduled.

China's internet regulator said this week it would censor any "fake information" about the spread of the virus that could cause "gloomy" sentiment during Lunar New Year festivities.

"I heard no dark and gloomy words are allowed during the new year. Then let me mourn my mother now," Gu said in her post, which did not specify her mother's cause of death.

Spending by funeral homes on items from body bags to cremation ovens has risen in many provinces, documents show, one of several indications of COVID's deadly toll.

China has said nearly 60,000 people with COVID died in hospital between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12. However, that toll excludes those who died at home, and some doctors have said they are discouraged from putting COVID on death certificates.

PENT-UP DEMAND

President Xi Jinping said this week that he was concerned about an influx of travellers to rural areas with weak medical systems, and that protecting the elderly - many of whom are not fully vaccinated - was a top priority.

The World Health Organization's immunisation director, Kate O'Brien, praised China on Friday for making quick progress on vaccinating older people with COVID shots and boosters since lifting anti-virus controls last month.

However, she added that some elderly people found it "difficult" to understand changes in its vaccination policy since they had previously been advised not to seek protection.

A WHO report on Thursday said China reported a large jump in COVID hospitalisations in the week through Jan. 15, to the highest since the pandemic began. Hospitalisations rose by 70% on the previous week to 63,307, according to the WHO, citing data submitted by Beijing.

But in a news conference on Thursday, health officials said the number of COVID patients reporting to hospital had peaked with more than 40% fewer people being treated with critical conditions on Jan. 17 compared with a peak on Jan. 5.

While China's reopening has been chaotic, investors are hopeful that it will help revive its $17 trillion economy, placing bets that have lifted Chinese stocks and its yuan currency to multi-month highs.

"Markets widely anticipate a surge of pent-up demand will be unleashed from the reopening of China's economy," Nomura analysts said in a note.

They cautioned that a fall in household wealth and a surge in youth unemployment, a hangover from years of lockdowns and travel curbs, may temper the rebound.

While international flights are in short supply, Chinese tourists, a much-missed mainstay of the world's retail and travel industry, are starting to travel again.

Malls from Macau to Bangkok are aiming to lure them in with red lantern displays and special dances to mark the Year of the Rabbit - and steep discounts.

Chinese spending on travel had grown to $255 billion in 2019, accounting for 33% of spending in the global luxury personal goods market, according to estimates from the Bain consultancy.

Reporting by Liz Lee, Alessandro Diviggiano, Bernard Orr and the Beijing newsroom Writing by John Geddie and Frances Kerry Editing by Robert Birsel and Chizu Nomiyama

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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China plays down COVID outbreak with holiday rush at full tilt

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BEIJING, Jan 20 (Reuters) - People across China crowded into trains and buses for one of its busiest days of travel in years on Friday, feeding fears of new surges in a raging COVID-19 outbreak that officials say has hit its peak.

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John Geddie - Lead Writer, Japan - Reuters News Agency | LinkedIn

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View John Geddie’s profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional community. John has 3 jobs listed on their profile. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover John’s connections and jobs at similar companies.

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COVID Deaths Have Fallen in China Since Spike

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COVID Deaths Have Fallen in China Since Spike

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HONG KONG, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Critically ill COVID-19 cases in China are down 72% from a peak early this month while daily deaths among COVID-19 patients in hospitals have dropped 79% from their peak, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

The figures, published on the centre's website, come after a prominent government scientist said over the weekend that 80% of China's 1.4 billion population had already been infected, making the possibility of a big COVID-19 rebound over the next two or three months remote.

China abruptly ended its strict zero-COVID policy in early December after three years and infections surged across the world's most populous country.

While officials have said infections have peaked, some global experts have warned about the possibility of a surge in cases in rural areas less equipped to deal with them as millions of Chinese travel home for family reunions during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday.

The CDC said the number of critically ill patients in China peaked on Jan. 4 at 128,000 cases and fell to 36,000 cases by Jan. 23.

The number of deaths in hospitals, meanwhile, reached a daily peak of 4,273 on Jan. 4 and fell to 896 by Jan. 23. Visits to fever clinics fell 96.2%, from a peak of 2.867 million on Dec. 22 to 110,000 on Jan. 23.

The CDC added that on Dec. 22, 2022, the number of infected people and the number of fever outpatient consultations reached a peak, with the number of new infections "exceeding 7 million per day and the number of daily fever outpatient consultations peaking at 2.867 million".

The data follows comments from an official at the National Health Commission, who last week said that China had passed the peak of COVID patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and in critical condition.

On Jan. 12, authorities announced that nearly 60,000 people with COVID had died in hospitals since China dismantled its strict zero-COVID policy.

But some experts said that figure probably vastly undercounts the full impact, as it excludes those who die at home and because many doctors have said they are discouraged from citing COVID as a cause of death.

Reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong, Josh Horwitz in Shanghai, and the Beijing newsroom; editing by Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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China says COVID deaths, severe cases have fallen over 70% since peak

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HONG KONG, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Critically ill COVID-19 cases in China are down 72% from a peak early this month while daily deaths among COVID-19 patients in hospitals have dropped 79% from their peak, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

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BBC: China's COVID Cases Significantly Down in January

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BBC: China's COVID Cases Significantly Down in January

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According to CDC data, Covid deaths halved in consecutive weeks in January. A total of 12,658 deaths were recorded between 13-19 January, while 6,364 deaths were recorded the following week.

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Covid in China: Officials say current wave is 'coming to an end'

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According to CDC data, Covid deaths halved in consecutive weeks in January. A total of 12,658 deaths were recorded between 13-19 January, while 6,364 deaths were recorded the following week.

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China insists second surveillance craft over Caribbean was also thrown off course by weather

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China said a second spy balloon seen over the Caribbean and Latin America was also blown off course by the weather, the same explanation it gave for the one found over the U.S.

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Biden's Rationale Behind Waiting to Shoot Down Balloon: CNN

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Biden's Rationale Behind Waiting to Shoot Down Balloon: CNN

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international relations and national security

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Inside Biden's decision to 'take care of' the Chinese spy balloon that triggered a diplomatic crisis | CNN Politics

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When President Joe Biden first learned a likely Chinese spy balloon was drifting through the stratosphere 60,000 feet above Montana, his first inclination was to take it down.

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China Says U.S. Should ‘Reflect on Itself,’ Alleging American Balloons in Its Airspace

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In an image provided by the Department of Defense, a U.S. Air Force pilot looks down at the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovered over the central continental United States on Feb. 3. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Defense)

The Pentagon on Wednesday released a photograph of a U-2 spy plane soaring over the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it transited the mainland United States earlier this month, providing a new glimpse of the information U.S. officials gathered about the craft before shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean.
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The image appears to have been taken from the cockpit of the single-seat U-2 Dragon Lady, a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft in service since the 1950s. It can cruise at altitudes above 70,000 feet, allowing it look down on the Chinese airship that officials said had reached heights of 60,000 to 65,000 feet.

The photograph shows an Air Force pilot clad in a helmet as the balloon passes below. Large solar panels attached to the airship appear to be visible, with equipment strung from a canopy that U.S. military officials have described as 200 feet tall. The Air Force said the photograph was captured Feb. 3 over the "Central Continental United States." A day later, it moved off the coast of South Carolina and was shot down by a Sidewinder missile launched from an F-22 Raptor fighter jet.

The image was published Tuesday on the website Dragon Lady Today, a site devoted to the U-2 and its history. A Pentagon spokesman, Sabrina Singh, confirmed the image was authentic during a Pentagon news conference Wednesday afternoon, and the Defense Department released the image about an hour later.

The single-engine U-2 was initially adopted during the Cold War. With a distinctive, narrow wingspan stretching 105 feet, it has been used to photograph Soviet nuclear complexes, observe Islamic State compounds in the Middle East, and carry out surveillance missions over Ukraine just before Russia's invasion last year.

The balloon initially appeared off the coast of mainland Alaska on Jan. 28 before moving over the state and into Canadian airspace. It surfaced over northern Idaho on Jan. 31, and was observed by civilians over Montana on Feb. 1. Defense officials scrambled jets and considered shooting it down then, but decided it was safer to bring it down off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
This is a developing story and will be updated.

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U.S. releases photo of Chinese balloon captured by U-2 spy plane

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The Pentagon on Wednesday released a photograph of a U-2 spy plane soaring over the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it transited the mainland United States earlier this month, providing a new glimpse of the information U.S. officials gathered about the craft before shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean.