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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is considering calling a snap election before a mounting fuel subsidy crisis forces him to make spending cuts that would strip him of the conditions needed to win one. A national vote is not due until early 2028, but the political logic of going early is becoming harder to dismiss. Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance is fraying at the edges, coalition partn...
In ancient China, summer heat could be deadly long before the advent of air conditioning. To survive it, people resorted to remedies ranging from imperial ice sculptures and water-powered fans to the more carefree practice of dressing minimally. One of the most devastating examples occurred during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), when an extreme heatwave swept across ...
Few relationships among world leaders have been portrayed as personally as that between President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Xi, who rarely publicly reveals much about his personal life or emotions, once described Putin as his “best and most intimate friend”. Over the years, their rapport has been defined not only by summits and state visits, but also a growing catalogu...
The number of ride-hailing vehicle licences will be determined based on Hong Kong’s unique conditions and the need to maintain passenger experience, the city’s leader has said, adding that the proposed subsidiary legislation will be submitted for approval on schedule. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also said on Tuesday that a mechanism would be established to monitor market operations and data, ...
Indonesia has proposed hosting an Asean oil storage hub to reinforce the region’s emergency fuel reserves, as supply disruptions from the Middle East lay bare the region’s vulnerability to energy shocks. But analysts say the plan, while attractive in principle, is likely to be hampered by political distrust, uneven national priorities and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ record of rolli...
Asian airlines need government support to cope with the more than doubling of jet fuel prices that otherwise risks some carriers collapsing like US-based Spirit Airlines, according to the new head of the region’s industry body. Wong Hong, who took over as director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines last month, said carriers needed varying levels of help and relief, from direct fin...
We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘Godzilla El Nino’: Southeast Asia warned of punishing climate whiplash Southeast Asia must brace itself for a punishing spell of climate whiplash, with an expected El Nin...
Hong Kong’s economy and trade with the United States will benefit from greater stability and certainty brought by the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump, the city’s leader has said. “Hong Kong is an externally oriented economy, susceptible to the influence of the main market,” Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday. “More certainty and stabili...
Manila should not use “geographical proximity” and a “large population of migrants” as an excuse to interfere in another country’s internal affairs or meddle in its sovereign affairs, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday. When asked about earlier comments made by Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jnr during a daily press conference, Guo said the Philippine leader had r...
The Philippines is likely to be involved in any conflict over Taiwan because of its proximity and the nearly 200,000 Filipinos working there, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr told Japanese media on Monday, ahead of a state visit to Japan next week. He said Manila did not want to be involved in any war over Taiwan, but would be forced to because of its geography. “Except that if there is actual confr...
The Philippines is likely to be involved in any conflict over Taiwan because of its proximity and the nearly 200,000 Filipinos working there, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr told Japanese media on Monday, ahead of a state visit to Japan next week. He said Manila did not want to be involved in any war over Taiwan, but would be forced to because of its geography. “Except that if there is actual confr...
A study from Tsinghua University has opened a new front in the global technology race by asking a question that may have profound implications for industrial powers. When commanding an artificial intelligence (AI) model to, say, design a better aircraft, does it matter whether you speak to it in English or Chinese? The answer, according to the research published in China’s top aviation journal Act...
South Korea’s food conglomerate Shinsegae Group has fired the head of Starbucks Korea after a promotion campaign sparked public uproar on the anniversary of pro-democracy protests. Shinsegae, the South Korean licensee of the US coffee chain, said in a statement on Monday that chairman Chung Yong-jin sacked Sohn Jeong-hyun, the head of Starbucks Korea, for carrying out “inappropriate marketing”...
Hong Kong’s leader will travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan next month to explore and seize new business opportunities, making Central Asia his latest area of focus and with the largest delegation accompanying him. After several years of promoting the city in the Middle East and Southeast Asia amid geopolitical uncertainties, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that he was eyeing Cent...
Hong Kong’s leader will travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan next month to explore and seize new business opportunities, making Central Asia his latest area of focus and with the largest delegation accompanying him. After several years of promoting the city in the Middle East and Southeast Asia amid geopolitical uncertainties, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that he was eyeing Cent...
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng has begun mass production of autonomous cabs powered by its own chips, likely to mount yet another challenge on Tesla as both companies pursue a leading position in self-driving. Robotaxi has become the latest area where the two firms could go head-to-head, after smart EV and humanoid robot, as the booming development of physical artificial intelligence (A...
A boy began sexually abusing his younger sister from when she was five and he was 12, continuing the assault for seven years and raping her repeatedly. At times when she resisted, the boy punched her, slapped her and pinched her. The offender, now 26, was sentenced in Singapore on Monday to 18 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane. He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault and ...
A Russian hiker was seriously injured in the mountainous west of Tokyo on Sunday morning, raising fears that Japan could be heading for another record year of human-bear encounters. Police said a bear attacked the man as he was hiking along a forest road near Mount Sanukido, close to the town of Okutama. The man, who has not been named, sustained severe injuries to his face and arms and was airlif...
In February, a landmark study in the journal Science delivered rare good news for conservation: a five-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River had halted seven decades of biodiversity near-collapse. Fish biomass has surged, and the critically endangered finless porpoise has begun to rebound. Researchers showed that sustained, collective action can revive an ecosystem. The lesson for Hong Kong is bot...
With their domestic profits narrowing and production capacity expanding, China’s firms are continuing to widen their overseas footprints in search of new, more lucrative markets. In this series, we examine China Inc.’s next phase of “going global” and the complex, challenging international environment its companies have chosen to enter. Not long ago, plans were in motion to build an enormous batte...
China’s military mouthpiece has issued a rare warning that personnel may be insufficiently trained to operate new weapons, including unmanned systems, despite Beijing’s rapid advances in hardware. Some military units showed a low level of integration between personnel and equipment, Monday’s PLA Daily article cautioned, highlighting limited trust in systems and weak coordination between human oper...
Ancient China’s legal system was never only about crime and punishment. It was also a mechanism of imperial control, used to protect the throne, discipline officials and regulate social order. Across millennia, it gave rise to sophisticated codes such as the Tang Code, as well as rules that now appear bizarre or even absurd. Rules for public roads began to take shape more than 2,000 years ago. Th...
Hong Kong’s finance chief has begun a five-day European tour, starting in France, as part of the city’s latest push to attract global capital and reinforce its status as an international financial hub. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po arrived in Paris on Monday, where he met representatives of the Association Francaise de la Gestion Financiere (AFG) and Paris-based think tank Asia Centre, sourc...
Residents from US Gulf coast communities in Texas who say Japanese-backed fossil fuel projects tied to tariff negotiations with US President Donald Trump threaten their health and safety have taken their fight to Tokyo. Members of community groups from Texas’ Freeport area met officials from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), government-run Nippon Export and Investment Insurance ...
Prosecutors in Minnesota on Monday charged a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent with assault in connection with the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis in January during US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city. Christian Castro, 53, was charged with four felony counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and a misdemeanour of falsely rep...
Prosecutors in Minnesota on Monday charged a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent with assault in connection with the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis in January during US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city. Christian Castro, 53, was charged with four felony counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and a misdemeanour of falsely rep...
Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate on Monday as a wind-driven wildfire threatened suburban homes in Southern California. The Sandy Fire was reported at around 10am in the hills above Simi Valley, about 48km (30 miles) northwest of Los Angeles. By mid-afternoon it had consumed more than 200 hectares (500 acres) of dry brush and damaged at least one home, according to the Ventura County Fi...
Mainland Chinese investors shed its holdings of US Treasury bills in March, echoing the move of many overseas institutions and central banks amid uncertainties over the US-Israel war on Iran. Such reductions in Treasury holdings reflected mounting doubts in global markets, analysts said, as the escalating war in Iran fuelled concerns over inflation, energy prices and fiscal pressures, driving Trea...
Hong Kong’s residential property market recovery is unlikely to be derailed by a potential increase in interest rates amid the Middle East conflict, as demand is supported by professionals relocating to the city and surging rents, according to Moody’s Ratings. At the same time, the moribund office and retail property sectors were showing signs of improvement on the back of leasing activity despite...
The United States said Monday it is bolstering precautions to prevent the spread of Ebola, including screening air travellers from outbreak-hit areas and temporarily suspending visa services. The measures shared by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) come as the World Health Organization has declared the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo an international...
