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Against the backdrop of a shifting diplomatic landscape, US President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Beijing this week for a high-stakes summit. While Washington frames the visit, delayed by the war in Iran, as a pivotal effort to rebalance ties, the bravado of maximum pressure masks a deepening domestic vulnerability. Trump’s arrival comes at a critical juncture; his administration faces multip...
A French woman infected in the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung, a doctor at the Paris hospital caring for the sickened passenger said on Tuesday. The outbreak has now reached 11 total reported cases, nine of which have been confirmed. Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were ...
A French woman infected in the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung, a doctor at the Paris hospital caring for the sickened passenger said on Tuesday. The outbreak has now reached 11 total reported cases, nine of which have been confirmed. Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were ...
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has become the first American defence chief in decades to accompany a sitting president on a state visit to China, in a rare departure from long-established diplomatic practice. Hegseth boarded Air Force One bound for Beijing alongside US President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon, according to the White House. Trump is set to hold highly anticipated bilateral ta...
Beijing lashed out at Paraguay on Monday after President Santiago Pena wrapped up a four-day visit to Taiwan, branding Paraguayan leaders as willing “chess pieces” for independence forces on the self-ruled island that China claims as its own territory. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China “firmly opposes and condemns” the trip and urged Asuncion to “change course at an early date” and ...
US President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence shield will cost as much as US$1.2 trillion to deploy and operate, six times above current forecasts, according to a new estimate – and would still probably fail to stop an all-out attack. The new forecast from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office relies on capabilities spelled out in Trump’s January 2025 executive order unveiling the...
US President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence shield will cost as much as US$1.2 trillion to deploy and operate, six times above current forecasts, according to a new estimate – and would still probably fail to stop an all-out attack. The new forecast from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office relies on capabilities spelled out in Trump’s January 2025 executive order unveiling the...
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on Tuesday urged Pakistan to ramp up mediation efforts in the Iran crisis, as the war threatens to overshadow US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. In a call with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, Wang lauded Pakistan’s efforts in facilitating negotiations between Washington and Tehran and helping to extend the ceasefire. But he also called for Pakistan ...
US President Donald Trump departed for China on Tuesday for a closely watched summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, carrying hopes of stabilising ties between the world’s two largest economies, even as deep divisions remain over trade, Taiwan and global security crises. Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening ahead of two days of meetings with Xi, his first trip to China s...
US Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary resigned on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said, the latest leadership change at the federal health department which comes after weeks of public speculation and a mounting pressure campaign. FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Kyle Diamantas will lead the agency in an acting capacity, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Politico first rep...
Marco Rubio will become the first sitting US Secretary of State under Chinese sanctions to visit Beijing. Images of Rubio leaving for China on Air Force One with Donald Trump appear to have answered previous questions about whether he would skip such a globally important event. Rubio is also serving as the US National Security Adviser and would normally have been expected to visit China to lay the...
Russia on Tuesday test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to modernise the country’s nuclear forces, a launch hailed by President Vladimir Putin just days after his claim that the fighting in Ukraine was nearing an end. Putin said that the nuclear-armed Sarmat missile would enter combat service at the end of the year. It was built to replace the ageing Soviet-built V...
Russia on Tuesday test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to modernise the country’s nuclear forces, a launch hailed by President Vladimir Putin just days after his claim that the fighting in Ukraine is nearing an end. Putin said that the nuclear-armed Sarmat missile would enter combat service at the end of the year. It was built to replace the ageing Soviet-built Vo...
First lady Melania Trump is not travelling with US President Donald Trump to China, the Office of the First Lady told South China Morning Post. “First Lady Melania Trump is not travelling this time,” a spokesperson said in an email response. Unlike the 2017 state visit, the US leader will travel without his wife for a three-day trip to China, beginning on Wednesday. In November 2017, Melania Trump...
The US customs agency has processed refunds including interest worth US$35.46 billion as of May 11 for tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump last year that were deemed illegal, according to a Tuesday court filing. As of 7am on May 11, the US Customs and Border Protection had received 126,237 applications for refunds covering an undisclosed number of shipments or entries, according to the c...
Cooperative symbolism behind tea with the Trumps in the Forbidden City This article was first published on November 10, 2017 by Laura Zhou Beijing’s Forbidden City was more than just an opulent backdrop for US President Donald Trump’s first day in China. One of the main halls used to stage a set piece on Trump’s tour of the former imperial palace was weighted with meaning and chosen to underscore...
The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Kevin Warsh as a governor on the board of the Federal Reserve, clearing the way for him to take the reins of the central bank later this week as the world’s largest economy faces inflation at a three-year-high. The Senate voted 51-45 to confirm Warsh’s appointment to the board for a 14-year term, with the results largely along party lines. The Senate will hold a ...
A 44-year-old Hong Kong man has died after a suspected fall from the Tai Po Waterfront Park’s Spiral Sprial Lookout Tower. Police said on Tuesday that they had received a report from a passer-by at about 3.49pm that the man had been found lying near the base of the 32-metre (105-foot) tower, which was built to commemorate Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. The man, surnamed Ng, was...
Driven by global appetite for artificial intelligence, China’s computing hardware exports have emerged as a pivotal new engine for growth, providing Beijing with strategic leverage as US tech titans accompany President Donald Trump on a high-stakes visit to the Chinese capital this week, according to analysts. Chinese trade received another significant boost from the technology sector in April, as...
Wang Fuk Court’s administrator has revealed that HK$180 million (US$22.9 million) has been paid to parties involved in the estate’s renovation project, with the remaining HK$127 million to be refunded to owners displaced by one of Hong Kong’s deadliest fires in decades. The details were disclosed during a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, one of two sessions arranged for residents by Hop On Management Comp...
A senior Chinese diplomat has accused Europe of taking an outdated, inward-looking approach to China, while signalling that Beijing is open to addressing Brussels’ concerns. Li Jian, director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s Department of European Affairs, delivered his strongly worded speech at a high-level forum on Tuesday. At the conference hosted by the European Union delegation to Ch...
Top Swedish universities are eager to deepen collaboration with Hong Kong in areas such as life sciences, the city’s innovation and technology minister has told the South China Morning Post during a visit to the country to strengthen ties. “What impressed us most during this trip to Sweden is the incredible enthusiasm of Swedish organisations, groups and individuals for cooperating with Hong Kong....
Taiwan is watching the coming summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping with unease, concerned that any discussions over arms sales could see the island used as leverage in a broader Sino-American deal. Trump arrives in Beijing on Wednesday for a three-day state visit. According to the White House, the engagements will include a bilateral meeting with Xi and a state ba...
US consumer prices climbed sharply again last month as the 10-week war with Iran pushed energy prices higher. The Labor Department’s consumer price index rose 3.8 per cent from April 2025, according to data released on Tuesday. On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 0.6 per cent from March as petrol prices rose 5.4 per cent during the month; the month-over-month gain was down from 0.9 per ce...
Beyond high-profile names like Apple’s Tim Cook, a number of lesser-known CEOs joining US President Donald Trump on his trip to China this week represent industries caught in the crossfire of the trade war, analysts said, and are expected to push for deeper engagement rather than risk becoming a “geopolitical football”. Seventeen American CEOs have been invited in total, according to a list releas...
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Cuba was asking for help and “we are going to talk”, without providing any more detail. “No Republican has ever spoken to me about Cuba, which is a failed country and only heading in one direction – down! Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk!!! In the meantime, I’m off to China!” Trump wrote on social media. Representatives for the White Hou...
When US President Donald Trump’s delegation touches down in Beijing on Wednesday night, he looks to be flanked by a cadre of corporate executives, headlined by a man seen by much of the Chinese public as the most familiar American entrepreneur of his generation: Elon Musk. The Tesla and SpaceX chief’s presence alongside Trump for meetings with President Xi Jinping adds a distinctive commercial and...
Hong Kong police have arrested two women on suspicion of animal cruelty after a sick three-month-old Golden Retriever was found dumped in a rubbish bin in Mong Kok, covered in sewage, and later euthanised. Inspector Yip Ho-lam said on Tuesday that police opened an investigation Saturday morning after a street cleaner discovered the puppy inside a bin in the alley behind 104 Hak Po Street. Officers...
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reaffirmed its “firm support” for Hong Kong’s judicial authorities when asked whether Beijing would consider releasing jailed former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying ahead of US President Donald Trump’s three-day state visit starting Wednesday. “[Jimmy] Lai Chee-ying is the principal mastermind and perpetrator behind the riots that shook Hong Kong,” ministry s...
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reaffirmed its “firm support” for Hong Kong’s judicial authorities when asked whether Beijing would consider releasing jailed former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying ahead of US President Donald Trump’s three-day state visit starting Wednesday. “[Jimmy] Lai Chee-ying is the principal mastermind and perpetrator behind the riots that shook Hong Kong,” ministry...
