Society

Hours before Asia’s biggest security summit began, China yesterday accused the Philippines of seeking to negate its sovereignty in the South China Sea after Manila described Taiping Island as a reef and not an island in its territorial court case.

“The Philippines’ attempt to define Taiping Island as a ‘reef’ exposes that the goal of its arbitration case is to try to negate China’s sovereignty and related rights over the Spratly Islands,” said China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

Five Beijing police officers involved in a high-profile case in which a 29-year-old man died after being taken into custody in early May have been placed under investigation, the capital's top procuratorate said on Wednesday.

Beijing People's Procuratorate posted a statement on its Sina Weibo account, saying the prosecuting body in Changping district had filed a case and conducted an investigation into the police officers.

The relaxation of China's family planning policy has led to a drop in the number of children being adopted, a trend that is expected to continue.

The policy used to limit many couples to having a single child, but now allows all couples to have a second.

"The fall in the number of adoptions is the result of economic growth, improvements to the social welfare system and adjustment of the family planning policy," said a director at the Ministry of Civil Affairs' Department of Social Affairs.

A luxury night club in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, was raided on Thursday night for providing sex services.

The Red Club Karaoke, pitching itself as a "five-star resort club in Henan province", opened about two years ago and occupies an area of more than 10,000 square meters.