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WeRide boss Tony Han Xu believes the first fully autonomous cars may arrive on streets by 2035, as global carmakers and tech firms accelerate the application of self-driving technologies despite roadblocks. The latest setback came when Chinese regulators stepped in after an incident in Wuhan on March 31. Authorities scaled back the issuance of new autonomous driving licences after a system failure...
As China’s role in Africa’s economy continues to grow, so do the opportunities for locals that can speak Chinese. The change is partially being driven by the expanding footprint of smaller Chinese companies, which would rather hire locally than bring their own staff from China, and by the increasing role played by African firms in trade. Few of the thousands of Chinese executives, managers and wor...
Hong Kong authorities have vowed to follow up on a case of a detached MacLehose Trail sign after a woman shared a photo of herself posing with the wooden marker on social media that went viral and sparked online discussions. The woman shared the photo on her RedNote account on Monday, the fourth day of the five-day Labour Day “golden week” holiday. The image showed her holding the trail sign besid...
A backpacker has shared photos of herself holding a MacLehose Trail sign apparently removed from its metal stand during the Labour Day “golden week” holiday, drawing criticism from Hong Kong internet users. In one of two photos posted on her RedNote account, “2 star”, on Monday, the woman is seen holding the wooden panel, with a caption reading: “This is my favourite tourist picture” and a hashtag...
A hantavirus outbreak tied to a cruise ship off Cabo Verde has grown to seven cases, including two confirmed infections, the World Health Organization said on Monday, with three deaths among those linked to the voyage. The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries. Among the passengers are 17 Americans, 19 Britons and 13 from Spain. Sixty-one crew members are a...
A Malaysian minister urged the country’s police chief to clarify the status of investigations into allegations that a network of businessmen was colluding with anti-corruption agency officials to oust executives. The government has ordered law enforcement agencies, including the Malaysian Anti‑Corruption Commission (MACC), to look into the allegations involving the businessmen, nicknamed the “corp...
Hong Kong police have arrested a 12-year-old boy in Tseung Kwan O on suspicion of attempting to manufacture explosives after he posted online videos of himself conducting a chemistry experiment with baking soda under a flyover. The boy, a Form One student, allegedly carried out the experiment on Sunday and uploaded footage claiming he was making a bomb, acting chief inspector Tsoi Ting-kwong of Ko...
A 12-year-old boy in Hong Kong has been arrested on suspicion of manufacturing explosives and posting about the process online, the South China Morning Post has learned. Police said they were expected to reveal details of the case on Tuesday afternoon. Anyone who makes or knowingly possesses an explosive substance is liable to a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment. However, under the Juveni...
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog has arrested seven people linked to a syndicate that allegedly targeted large maintenance projects with undisclosed conflicts of interest and a contractor who served in a dual role as consultant. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Tuesday said it had arrested five men and two women, aged 37 to 75, last week, including the chairman of an inc...
The death of a runner from heatstroke after a Penang hill run event has put a spotlight on the rising risks of soaring temperatures in Malaysia, as authorities report a spike in heat-related illnesses and are seeding clouds to trigger rains in the country’s drought-hit northern region. The death of the 41-year-old, the island’s first-ever confirmed heatstroke fatality linked to a sporting event, c...
When a South Korean cargo ship exploded and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday, Donald Trump wasted no time declaring what he thought it meant. “Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!” the US president wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, invoking the incident as fresh justification for Seoul to send naval forces to the embattled waterway. Seoul...
Singapore schools used caning as a disciplinary measure only when all other options were inadequate, given the gravity of the misconduct, Minister for Education Desmond Lee said on Tuesday. Responding to more than 20 parliamentary questions on the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) updated efforts to tackle bullying, Lee acknowledged that studies linked poorly administered and frequent corporal punishm...
A former senior Hong Kong police inspector has been jailed for six weeks after lying to colleagues to borrow HK$140,000, as he struggled with debts exceeding HK$2 million (US$255,308). Kwun Tong Court on Tuesday sentenced Tang Chun-ho, 45, after finding him guilty of making false claims to secure loans from colleagues in 2023. Magistrate Lau Suk-han said the defendant had shown no remorse. “The co...
HSBC, Hong Kong’s largest lender, reported broadly flat first-quarter profit as lower interest rates and provisions linked to the Middle East conflict offset solid growth in its wealth management business. Net profit for the first three months of 2026 rose 0.14 per cent year on year to US$6.94 billion, or 41 US cents per share, the London-based bank said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing on Tue...
A stray dog in central China has gone viral after a group of taxi drivers raised money for his surgery following a car accident. At the high speed rail station in Xuancheng, Anhui province, a yellow dog became a beloved figure among the local cabbies. Lively, friendly and always eager to run, the dog quickly warmed his way into the drivers’ hearts. Last summer, driver Zhang encountered the dog and...
A biofuel company backed by the family office of tycoon Peter Lee Ka-kit will invest HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plants in the Greater Bay Area, a project that Hong Kong’s leader has hailed as a “milestone” collaboration between the city and mainland China. EcoCeres, a Hong Kong-based renewable fuel producer backed by the tycoon - who is also chairm...
Sudan’s armed forces blamed a drone attack on Monday that targeted Khartoum airport on the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia, the latest in a barrage of assaults in recent days that has shattered months of relative calm in Sudan’s capital, three years into its civil war. Reuters could not independently verify the claims. Neither country immediately commented on the allegations made late on Monday...
Philippine annual inflation accelerated to a three-year high in April, as a surge in fuel prices triggered by the Middle East conflict raises the chance of more policy tightening. Consumer prices rose 7.2 per cent last month, the statistics agency said on Tuesday, the highest since March 2023. That was above the 5.5 per cent median forecast in a poll of economists. The April print also breached...
The operation of claw and pinball machines could be regulated by capping fees and prize values as a first step to curb addiction to automated games, lawmakers have said, while also warning of “deceptive” designs that make winning impossible. While calling for a balance between user protection and industry development, two legislators said the caps could follow the existing Gambling Ordinance, unde...
Brussels is rallying support among EU industry groups for a trade weapon to tackle Chinese overcapacity, as the European Commission races to propose a sweeping new tool this summer. While the contours of the new instrument remain a closely guarded secret, it is expected to be presented to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on May 29, at a rescheduled debate on China among all 27 commissione...
Brussels is rallying support among EU industry groups for a trade weapon to tackle Chinese overcapacity, as the European Commission races to propose a sweeping new tool this summer. While the contours of the new instrument remain a closely guarded secret, it is expected to be presented to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on May 29, at a rescheduled debate on China among all 27 commissione...
One of the two Hong Kong hikers stranded on a treacherous slope in Japan’s Northern Alps has been found dead, hours after the other was rescued. Gifu Prefecture police dispatched a four-member rescue team, comprising police officers and civilian experts, from the mountain base at dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to reach the pair, aged 30 and 22, respectively, according to local media. A disaster pre...
Japanese authorities have rescued one of two Hong Kong hikers stranded on treacherous slopes in the country’s Northern Alps. Gifu Prefecture police dispatched a four-member rescue team, comprising police officers and civilian experts, from the mountain base at dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to reach the duo on foot, according to local media. A disaster prevention helicopter from neighbouring Nagano...
Japanese police have dispatched a rescue team to the country’s Northern Alps to search for two missing climbers, including a 30-year-old man from Hong Kong, after they were stranded on treacherous slopes. Gifu Prefecture police on Tuesday confirmed that a team of four rescuers, comprising police officers and civilian experts, set out from the mountain base at dawn in an attempt to reach the duo on...
Japanese police have dispatched a rescue team to the country’s Northern Alps to search for two missing climbers, including a 30-year-old man from Hong Kong, after they were stranded on treacherous slopes. Gifu Prefecture police on Tuesday confirmed that a team of four rescuers, comprising police officers and civilian experts, set out from the mountain base at dawn in an attempt to reach the duo on...
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. More Singaporeans are choosing jobs below their qualifications. Here’s why A new survey shows 19.4 per cent of Singapore’s resident workforce had academic qualifications b...
Japan’s defence minister is touring Southeast Asia this week with what analysts describe as a clear, if diplomatically understated, mission: turning Indonesia and the Philippines into harder targets for Chinese maritime ambition. Shinjiro Koizumi landed in Jakarta on Monday to sign a defence cooperation pact with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, coming hot on the heels of Tokyo’s la...
Fuminori Arita once farmed iyokan, a Japanese citrus variety, but about 10 years ago he switched to growing avocados, revelling in the challenge of producing crops of what he describes as a “sensitive and difficult to grow” fruit. The 67-year-old is symbolic of efforts by the western Japanese city of Matsuyama in Ehime prefecture, long known primarily for citrus cultivation, to shift more to avoca...
Authorities in Thailand are unspooling a “phantom birth’’ racket involving possibly hundreds of babies – mainly Chinese – falsely registered as Thais by corrupt officials so that their parents can gain land and company ownership rights. Scores of birth certificates have come under scrutiny, with several officials arrested for suspected bribery in a scam that first came to light in northern Chiang ...
China has debuted a massive driverless mining truck that can “crab-walk” across difficult terrain, highlighting the country’s push to modernise its mining industry through technology. Despite a kerb weight of nearly 100 tonnes, this advanced model boasts exceptional manoeuvrability – it can move sideways and pivot on the spot, allowing it to operate in narrow pits and across complex, sloped roadwa...
