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China may be developing a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarine with improved range and stealth, according to analysis based on recent satellite imagery. The images, captured at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard, show what analysts believe is a previously unidentified submarine featuring a dramatically reduced sail compared with existing Type 093 attack submarines – a design they say could impr...
A Hong Kong taxi driver contesting an HK$8.4 million (US$1.07 million) personal injury lawsuit has denied deliberately ramming his car into a crowd during the 2019 anti-government protests, insisting he lost control of the vehicle after being assaulted by vigilantes. Henry Cheng Kwok-chuen took the witness stand on Friday to defend against the claim by Park Hoi-lam, who suffered serious injuries i...
Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has fired a manager at its WeChat division after details of his multimillion-yuan bonus package leaked online, sparking animated discussion across social media. The employee, surnamed Ye, was dismissed for passing sensitive corporate information to external parties, which caused a “severe negative impact both inside and outside the company”, according to an inte...
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China have called for a lasting settlement to the current war in the Middle East and pledged further cooperation on energy security. A joint statement, released after a meeting between the bloc’s foreign ministers and their Chinese counterpart in Manila, came amid an ongoing energy crisis. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused prices to rise ...
A series of explosions sounded near a military base hosting US forces in northern Iraq and sirens rang out in Bahrain on Friday, hours after the American military said it finished its 13th night of strikes against Iran. The conflict has flared again over the past week, as the US has pounded Iran while Tehran has attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted US assets and allies in the region...
In an era where short-form videos and viral commentary can dominate public discourse on geopolitics, one Chinese political scientist is on a mission to correct what he calls a “negative one” level of understanding. Yan Xuetong, honorary president of Tsinghua University’s Institute of International Relations in Beijing, is doing this by challenging the public to avoid social media sensationalism an...
Southeast Asia’s governments have spent months trying to blunt the effects of war-driven energy shocks from the Middle East, but renewed fighting between the United States and Iran has exposed how limited those defences are, analysts have warned. The latest flare-up has revived fears of a second round of fuel disruption across the region, where many economies remain heavily dependent on imported o...
When a man in China went travelling and helped a Taiwanese tourist take pictures, they chatted casually only to find out that the tourist was a long-lost relative of the man’s family. This incredible experience was shared on social media by the man, Chen Jie, who lives in Shanghai, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported. In early July, Chen took a business trip to Yunnan province in southwest China...
Massive forest fires burned out of control in southwestern France and central Spain on Friday, prompting authorities to evacuate an estimated 200,000 people from their homes. Some even fled by boat when flames swept through the touristic area on France’s Atlantic coast. Dozens of firefighters were injured, authorities said in France, but no deaths were reported in either country. Some 141,000 fled...
Spain’s government declared a national emergency on Friday after wildfires forced the evacuation of some 10,000 people in the central region of Madrid, while in southern France around 40,000 people also had to flee. Fire there has ravaged over 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres), French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, saying the blaze was “the largest of the season”. “As I speak, gradually, 40,00...
Malaysia has ordered the UN refugee agency to stop registering new refugees while it builds a biometric identification system that officials say will give them greater control over a population of more than 215,000 displaced people. But rights advocates warn the freeze risks leaving newly arrived asylum seekers with no way to prove they need protection, opening a dangerous gap in a country that do...
A Hong Kong police officer has been removed from duty after he repeatedly swore at a passer-by with a loudspeaker in a patrol van, a source has said. According to a video clip circulating on social media on Friday, a police vehicle marked “AM 7155” on its roof arrived at Cho Yiu Chuen housing estate in Lai King with its siren on. Someone inside the vehicle then appeared to use the on-board loudspe...
A Hong Kong police officer has been removed from duties after he repeatedly swore at a passer-by with a loudspeaker in a patrol car, a source has said. According to a video clip circulated on social media on Friday, a police car marked “AM 7155” on its roof arrived at Cho Yiu Chuen housing estate in Lai King with its siren on. Someone inside the vehicle then appeared to use the on-board loudspeake...
After devoting the first half of 2026 to an ineffectual, expensive and inconclusive military adventure in Iran, it seems US President Donald Trump is about to turn afresh to the wars he loves best – the tariff wars he still believes can make America great again. He can’t quite walk away from the war in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s refusal to capitulate has left Trump with an awkward obligation to figh...
Stock exchange operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will allow all listing applications to remain confidential and will reduce market-capitalisation requirements for listings by start-ups and international firms immediately, it announced on Friday. Confirming a report by the South China Morning Post, HKEX will proceed with confidential filing as it proposed in March in its biggest set ...
The US imposed tariffs as high as 12.5 per cent on 60 trading partners, including China, after President Donald Trump adopted a different method for pursuing his global trade war. The levies, which are related to forced labour, replaced a temporary 10 per cent global tariff that expired on Friday. The 10 per cent tax was imposed after previous Trump tariffs were struck down by the US Supreme Court...
Life insurance sales in Hong Kong rose 51 per cent in the first quarter to another record high, driven by affluent customers from mainland China and overseas buying policies for wealth transfer, protection and medical needs. The industry wrote HK$141.1 billion (US$18 billion) in new life policies in the first quarter, compared with HK$93.4 billion a year earlier, according to data from the Insuran...
South Korea has returned a pair of Qing dynasty (1644-1911) marble sculptures to China, a symbolic gesture as the two nations work to repair bilateral ties through cultural diplomacy. The male and female lions, each standing 1.9 metres (6ft) tall and weighing 1.25 tonnes, were officially handed over by the Kansong Art Museum at a ceremony in Seoul on Thursday and were set to depart for China on Fr...
China has added 14 entities from the European Union to its export control list, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday. Effective immediately, the order means the export of dual-use items – products with civilian as well as military application – from China to the named entities is prohibited, as is the shipment of dual-use items of Chinese origin to the listed companies and institutions. Th...
China has added 14 entities from the European Union to its export control list, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday. Effective immediately, the order means the export of dual-use items – products with civilian as well as military application – from China to the named entities is prohibited, as is the shipment of items of this type originating in China. More to follow...
Japan’s move to establish a new bureau to boost defence cooperation with allies is part of Tokyo’s wider policy to deepen deterrence against China, analysts say, adding that the internal reform was also long overdue for the government. The new unit will be under the defence ministry to oversee international coordination with like-minded countries, according to government and political sources cite...
First, the US-Israeli war on Iran sparked a Diet Coke shortage in India by squeezing supplies of aluminium cans, triggering an unusual wave of “Diet Coke parties” in one of the world’s largest consumer markets. But now, the fizzy drink is getting pricier. Across India, Coca-Cola has hiked prices of Diet Coke – sold predominantly in aluminium cans in the country – by more than 10 per cent due to t...
China-Philippine clashes continued near the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal for the second day on Friday, as Beijing started military drills in the South China Sea that are expected to run until the end of the month. “On July 24, the China Coast Guard took control measures in accordance with the law toward multiple Philippine vessels engaged in illegal activities in waters under China’s jurisdic...
US global asset managers, including BlackRock, have expanded stakes in mainland Chinese pharmaceutical contractor WuXi AppTec over the past two months, betting that a surge in weight-loss drug manufacturing orders will lift earnings in the first half of the year. Global investors were increasingly interested in China’s contract development and manufacturing organisation, and biotechnology sector, ...
A South Korean court on Friday ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his former wife Roh Soh-yeong 944 billion won (US$644 million) in a divorce-related property division case, lower than a previous 1.38 trillion won award that had drawn scrutiny of his stake in the group’s holding company. If finalised, the ruling from the Seoul High Court would be South Korea’s most expensive divorc...
Chinese unicorn Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 model trails far behind top American rivals in its ability to launch cyberattacks, joint British-US government research shows, challenging Washington’s brewing anxiety over the rapid rise of Chinese open-source artificial intelligence. The model, currently considered China’s most powerful large language model, performs “significantly below the most recent fron...
Chinese unicorn Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 model trails far behind top American rivals in its ability to launch cyberattacks, joint British-US government research shows, challenging Washington’s brewing anxiety over the rapid rise of Chinese open-source artificial intelligence. The model, currently considered China’s most powerful large language model, performs “significantly below the most recent fron...
From massive typhoons and severe floods to scorching heat, China is being hit by a barrage of extreme weather events. Behind this surge in volatility lies a brewing “super” El Nino, according to researchers. Scientists warn that we are only seeing the prelude, and with the current event already rivalling historic climate disasters, it signals a potentially perilous future for the nation and the gl...
Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will raise fuel surcharges by up to 41 per cent on most passenger flights from August, citing escalating tensions in the Middle East. The airline said on Friday that the higher passenger and cargo fuel surcharges would take effect on August 1, following a brief period of declines after prices peaked in April. “This is the first increase to passenger an...
A Hong Kong woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing electricity after a fire broke out in her Mong Kok flat, killing three cats and two dogs. Investigators said on Friday that the 56-year-old, surnamed Chan, had left her Tung Choi Street flat at about 6pm the previous day with the air conditioner switched on. The flat was believed to have caught fire due to a short circuit. She was apprehen...
