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Beijing confirmed on Friday the arrest of Min Zin, a US citizen and political analyst at a Myanmar-focused think tank, on suspicion of espionage and endangering national security. “It is understood that Min Zin has been placed under criminal detention by the relevant authorities in accordance with the law on suspicion of engaging in espionage and endangering China’s national security,” foreign min...
Three property sites will be handed over to the future operator of the planned green transit system in Hong Kong’s East Kowloon to boost the project’s financial viability under arrangements approved by the government. The project, which will link Choi Hung and Ma Yau Tong, will be put to tender next month with the goal of opening the 7km (4.3 mile) rail line by 2033. Similar to the arrangements fo...
China has established a top-level laboratory in Shanghai dedicated to photonic computing as the country strives to bypass the power constraints and US technology curbs hobbling its ambitions in artificial intelligence development. The Shanghai Key Laboratory of Integrated Photonic Computing Chips and Systems, launched on Wednesday, was China’s first industry-academia platform dedicated to the fiel...
The state elections in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, scheduled for July 11 and August 1, have opened two battlegrounds where economic issues take precedence over the political wrangling of Malaysia’s coalition parties. The ballot will also test whether Singapore-linked rail projects, economic zones and a data centre investment push have translated into support among Johor’s 2.73 million voters grappl...
A Hong Kong district councillor criticised for her links to the former owners’ committee of the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court has resigned from her advisory role for another housing estate in Tai Po, following the announcement of a petition. A notice from the incorporated owners of Plover Cove Garden, seen by the South China Morning Post, announced on Friday that Peggy Wong Pik-kiu had resigned from...
Beijing is seeking to expand people-to-people exchanges with Taiwan as it hosts hundreds from the island for an annual event, despite the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) banning Taiwanese officials from taking part. The Straits Forum, now in its 18th edition since 2009, is Beijing’s key platform for cross-strait people-to-people engagement, promoting exchanges in fields from culture to e...
Hong Kong airport’s security contractor has expanded its canine patrol unit to the newly relaunched Terminal 2, deploying 20 dogs and their handlers to cover the expanded facility. Jacob Cheung Tat-keung, executive director of the Aviation Security Company (Avseco), said on Friday that operations at Terminal 2 had been generally smooth, although passenger numbers had increased as 15 airlines had m...
China’s chip design software industry is rallying behind Huawei Technologies’ ambitious new architecture aimed at producing chips that can rival leading global products, but analysts warn a steep uphill climb remains before local players can break the market stranglehold of US rivals. Empyrean Technology, a major Chinese electronic design automation (EDA) provider, became the latest supporter of t...
China’s chip design software industry is rallying behind Huawei Technologies’ ambitious new architecture aimed at producing chips that can rival leading global products, but analysts warn a steep uphill climb remains before local players can break the market stranglehold of US rivals. Empyrean Technology, a major Chinese electronic design automation (EDA) provider, became the latest supporter of t...
Hong Kong is reeling from a double tragedy on Wednesday after a 48-year-old social worker jumped to her death from her 19th-floor home in Taikoo Shing after arguing with her 12-year-old daughter about “education problems”. Hours later, the girl also jumped from her living room. The South China Morning Post breaks down the sequence of events and examines how Hongkongers can cope with stress and mai...
A man in China who sparked public outrage for abusing and killing his adopted dogs has been detained for throwing objects from a height and vandalism. The period of administration detention he was placed under lasts for as long as 15 days and it is the toughest penalty the police could impose in the case because of inadequate anti-cruelty to animals law in the country. According to the statement i...
As the European Union prepares tougher measures to counter what it sees as the “China shock 2.0”, a researcher with a Beijing-linked think tank has accused Brussels of clinging to a flawed narrative that China’s economic rise is an inherent threat to Europe. The criticism came as Beijing reportedly cancelled two high-level meetings with the EU in the Chinese capital this month, including a ministe...
The Hong Kong government gazetted a bill on Friday that, if passed, would waive salary tax on fund managers’ performance-linked bonuses, so long as they meet certain requirements, in a move to introduce further tax reform to strengthen the city as a wealth management centre. The bill, which will be first read by lawmakers on June 24, may attract more fund managers and family offices to operate in ...
Hong Kong actress Barbara Chan Man-yee has died at the age of 66, five years after the death of her husband, actor Liu Kai-chi. Chan’s sons said that she died peacefully on Friday morning, surrounded by family at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin after an illness. The announcement did not specify the nature of her condition. Her husband died in the same hospital in 2021 after reportedly battling...
Hong Kong actress Barbara Chan Man-yee has died at the age of 66, five years after her husband and actor Liu Kai-chi’s death. The former TVB actress’s death was announced by her sons, who said that she died peacefully on Friday morning, surrounded by family at Prince of Wales Hospital after an illness. Her husband also died in the same hospital. Chan, a devoted Christian, is survived by her two so...
Chinese regulators are stepping up public enforcement against the nation’s corporate giants, marking a departure from the low-key approach adopted after a bruising 2021 tech crackdown. In recent months, agencies have summoned company representatives, launched high-profile investigations, and named and shamed offenders. However, while the uptick in activity has rattled investors, some analysts and ...
China called on major nations to “foster a free and facilitative trading environment” ahead of two summits next week that may herald a trade war with the European Union. Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing said China was “steadfastly expanding high-standard opening up” in a videoconference hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Canadian Prime Minister M...
Chinese scientists have uncovered differences between American and Chinese vaginal microbiomes, revealing that a bacterium closely linked to bacterial vaginosis and preterm birth is more prevalent and virulent in American women. The study underscores the need for localised treatments and “fills a critical gap for Asian populations and provides a foundational platform for global vaginal microbiome ...
Chinese scientists have uncovered differences between American and Chinese vaginal microbiomes, revealing that a bacterium closely linked to bacterial vaginosis and preterm birth is significantly more prevalent and virulent in American women. The study underscores the need for localised treatments and “fills a critical gap for Asian populations and provides a foundational platform for global vagin...
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr will travel to Russia next week for a summit with Moscow and Southeast Asian leaders, a visit analysts say will allow Manila to show it can fulfil its role as Asean chair and keep diplomatic channels open with major powers despite closer security ties with Washington. While the trip is unlikely to signal a shift in Philippine foreign policy, observers say ...
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr will travel to Russia next week for a summit with Moscow and Southeast Asian leaders, a visit analysts say will allow Manila to show it can fulfil its role as Asean chair and keep diplomatic channels open with major powers despite closer security ties with Washington. While the trip is unlikely to signal a shift in Philippine foreign policy, observers say ...
In their 2022 book Sinostan, Raffaello Pantucci and Alexandros Petersen saw Central Asia as China’s “inadvertent empire”. If that is true – and the five-country region embracing Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan (informally called the C5) certainly sits at the heart of China’s Belt and Road Initiative – then Beijing could not have chosen a less noticed corner of the w...
EU tech sovereignty may prove an “illusion” in an AI world dominated by China and the US, a Chinese expert has argued, urging Beijing to seize the opportunity during Donald Trump’s second term to make its products indispensable to middle powers. The past few weeks have seen a number of efforts by middle powers to try to control their AI technology stacks. Last week, the European Union rolled out i...
The EU’s concept of tech sovereignty may prove an “illusion” in a world where artificial intelligence is dominated by China and the US, a Chinese expert has argued, urging Beijing to seize the opportunity provided by Trump to render its products “indispensable” to middle powers. In a bid to help the bloc become “a global leader” in artificial intelligence and protect its “digital independence”, th...
Bangladesh and India have agreed to deepen cooperation along their shared border with improved intelligence sharing and coordinated patrols, according to a joint statement released on Friday, amid strained relations over alleged undocumented migration. Dhaka has accused Indian authorities of attempting to force migrants across the border without due process, complicating efforts to stabilise ties...
A series of emergency management and local government officials in central China’s Hunan province have come under investigation following a catastrophic fireworks factory explosion that killed 37 people last month. The provincial discipline inspection commission announced on Thursday that three senior figures within the emergency management system were under investigation for “serious violations o...
Anti-corruption watchdogs in China’s central Hunan province have ensnared multiple emergency management and local government officials in a sweeping investigation following a catastrophic fireworks factory explosion that killed 37 people last month. The provincial discipline inspection commission announced on Thursday that three senior figures within the emergency management system were under inve...
Hong Kong will allow dogs into 1,000 restaurants starting on July 9, under a scheme that caterers say could lift business by up to 20 per cent. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on Friday announced the scheme’s roll-out date after holding a ballot to select 1,000 restaurants from the 1,615 eligible applications. Licensed restaurants are evenly distributed across Hong Kong Island, Kowlo...
Pet-friendly caterers in Hong Kong say a new licence allowing dogs in restaurants from July could lift business by up to 20 per cent, after 1,000 operators secured places in the scheme’s first ballot. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) on Friday held a ballot to select 1,000 restaurants, after receiving 1,615 eligible applications since submissions opened last month. Lawmaker Cha...
Hong Kong can be “more than New York and Silicon Valley combined” by positioning itself as a hub integrating global financial depth with technological innovation and manufacturing capacity, the city’s finance chief has said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said at a financial forum on Friday that Hong Kong had a unique edge over New York and Silicon Valley in advanced manufacturing capabilitie...
