China

The donation was from the Peoples’ Republic of China.

Recipients included the 17 constituency offices around Tonga, schools and government departments.

The Government hopes the tractors and ploughs will assist members of the public to farm their land so they are also able to start planting root-crops.

Farms and vegetation were extensively damaged by salt water and volcanic ash following the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruptions and tsunami.

The contributions were brought into Nuku’alofa by two Chinese navy vessels, two Chinese fishing vessels and two military aircraft over recent weeks.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fekitamoeloa 'Utoikamanu expressed the Government and people of Tonga’s heartfelt gratitude to the Government and people of China for their continued support and assistance in our recovery from the volcanic eruption.

She said the assistance has come at a critical juncture between emergency relief and the recovery phase, hence this assistance is timely.

Three people have been arrested in connection with the case.

A video of the mother-of-eight sparked massive anger online when it emerged two weeks ago.

Officials first dismissed trafficking claims, but outraged netizens had kept up pressure, with some making daily calls for investigation.

Many of them also raised suspicions about kidnapping and abuse.

Even the hype around the Beijing Olympics has failed to distract people from the issue - a Weibo topic on the woman's plight has received more than 3bn views since the news first emerged.

Chinese Ambassador, Cao Xiaolin said “This is the first batch of grant-aid assistance from China to the new Tongan Government at the beginning of 2022.”

“More water tanks, farm tractors, computers, solar power street lights and police vehicles will be provided to the Tongan government and the Tongan people.”

The donated goods was received by the Prime Minister, Siaosi Sovaleni at the the Fa’onelua Convention Centre in Nuku’alofa, yesterday.

He thanked the Chinese Embassy for their support across a variety of sectors.

A woman, only identified as Ms Wang, posted on Chinese social media platform WeChat last week that she had got locked down with her date after visiting his house for a meal.

In the post, she said that she had recently returned to the city of Zhengzhou from Guangzhou ahead of the Lunar New Year.

"I'm getting quite old, so my parents arranged more than 10 blind dates for me," she said in this post. She wrote that her fifth date had said "he was good at cooking, and invited me to his house so he could cook a meal".

Xi'an is at the epicentre of China's current Covid outbreak, and authorities have enacted drastic measures.

All 13 million residents are confined to their homes and cannot leave to buy food or supplies.

Authorities are hoping to eliminate the outbreak before Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics in Beijing next month.

The situation in Xi'an has led to heightened tensions, with many taking to social media in recent days to complain.

During a recent meeting of the China-Pacific Island Countries Fishery Cooperation and Development Forum, held in Guangzhou, China, Ma Youxiang, the deputy minister of fisheries at China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said China stands ready to cooperate on finding solutions to problems related to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, proposing the establishment of an “intergovernmental multilateral fishery consultation mechanism.”

The US, UK, Australia and Canada will not send government representatives to the Games because of concerns over China's human rights record.

This includes widespread allegations of abuse against the Uyghur minority group.

France, host of the next Summer Games, said it would not join the boycott.

The Winter Olympics are set to take place in Beijing in February.

"The United States, Britain and Australia have used the Olympics platform for political manipulation," Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry, said.

The firm has come under intense pressure since its US debut in July.

Within days of the initial public offering (IPO) Beijing announced a crackdown on technology companies listing overseas.

Earlier on Thursday the US market watchdog unveiled tough new rules for Chinese firms that list in America.

"Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong," the company said on its account on Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging network.

No reason was given for the notice from the Ministry of Commerce, but it came amid ongoing coronavirus lockdowns and concerns over vegetable supplies after unusually heavy rain damaged crops.

The ministry also asked local authorities to keep supply chains running smoothly and prices stable.

State media later sought to quell concerns amid reports of panic buying.

"As soon as this news came out, all the old people near me went crazy, panic buying in the supermarket," one user wrote on the Chinese social media site Weibo.