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China must watch out for US-led Quad as tensions fail to dent unity: observers
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Beijing should remain alert to the continued solidarity between the US and its regional partners in countering China, despite their trade tensions with Washington, Chinese observers have warned. They cited this week’s meeting of Indo-Pacific Quad partners as the latest example of such unified signalling. The top diplomats of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, meeting in Washington on Tuesday, agreed to deepen cooperation on Indo-Pacific maritime security and introduce a critical...
Wang Yi tells top EU officials to unite against ‘unilateralism and bullying’
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Beijing’s top envoy has called for China and Europe to join forces against “unilateralism and bullying” in a thinly veiled swipe at the United States, after meeting European Union leaders in Brussels. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, before sitting down for marathon political talks with the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas that were expected to run over dinner. “The world today...
Hong Kong should tap space economy, attract more top-end gatherings: Regina Ip
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Hong Kong can boost growth by tapping into the space economy and hosting more top-tier international events such as the Apec finance ministers’ meeting, the top adviser to the city’s leader has said. Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convenor of the key decision-making Executive Council and chairwoman of the New People’s Party, also proposed a HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) fund on Wednesday to help young local musicians and artists train and compete overseas. She cited pianist Aristo Sham Ching-tao, who...
PLA landing ship spotted off northern Taiwan ahead of major military drill
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A People’s Liberation Army (PLA) landing ship has appeared unusually close to northern Taiwan, raising tensions ahead of the island’s biggest military exercise of the year. The Type 072A tank landing ship was spotted on Friday as close as 60 nautical miles (111km or 69 miles) northeast of the Taiwanese city of Keelung, a key naval base and northern maritime gateway to Taipei, Taiwan’s defence ministry confirmed on Tuesday. Chiu Chun-jung, chief of staff of Taiwan’s navy, said that the ship had...
China AI champion Baidu rolls out sweeping changes to online search platform
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Baidu, one of China’s artificial intelligence (AI) champions, said it is using the technology to upgrade and make the most significant changes to the company’s core internet search service in a decade. Beijing-based Baidu has now enlarged the mobile app’s search bar and turned it into a “smart box” that supports long text input and handles more tasks than simple text-based queries and information retrieval, according to the company’s statement on Wednesday. This search box is capable of handling...
Chinese sellers bracing as Amazon Prime Day sale and tariff pressure to collide
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Ahead of Amazon’s annual Prime Day sales event, Chinese sellers are already walking a tightrope as they try to strike a balance between staying competitive and adjusting to Washington’s tariffs. Gloria Gu, an Amazon seller based in Zhejiang province, said her outlook for this year’s summer event – extended this year to a record four days, July 8-11 – was “not optimistic”. Her company mainly sells household consumables – low-margin products that are highly price-sensitive. “Depending on the item,...
Mainland China chipmaking capacity to outstrip Taiwan by 2030: report
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Mainland China is on track to surpass Taiwan in semiconductor foundry capacity by 2030, according to a report from Yole Group, underscoring Beijing’s progress in its push for chip self-sufficiency amid ongoing US tech restrictions. The mainland’s share of global foundry capacity is projected to reach 30 per cent by the end of the decade, up from 21 per cent in 2024, the French market research firm said. Taiwan is currently the market leader with a 23 per cent share last year, while mainland...
Communication expert Julian Cheng leaves Canada career for China university
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Julian Cheng Zhizhen, a global expert in optical and radio frequency wireless communication, has left his position in Canada to join the newly established Great Bay University (GBU) in southern China. Cheng, previously an electrical engineering professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), will be chair professor and dean of the school of information science and technology, GBU announced in a post on its official social media account on June 23. The announcement came just four days...
Honor’s AI agent-equipped foldable smartphone is world’s thinnest and lightest
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Honor, the Chinese smartphone maker spun off from Huawei Technologies, has unveiled what it touted as the world’s “thinnest and lightest” foldable smartphone, boasting built-in agentic artificial intelligence (AI) as competition heats up among Chinese handset brands. The Magic V5 smartphone, with prices starting at 8,999 yuan (US$1,256), measures just 8.8 millimetres thick when folded and weighs 217 grams, the company said during its Wednesday launch event. The device is Honor’s first flagship...
Why President Xi is turning to the ocean for China’s growth – and who benefits?
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President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to advance the “high-quality development” of China’s marine economy, highlighting its growing strategic importance during a high-level economic meeting on Tuesday. He also called for stronger policy support to accelerate the sector’s growth. In this explainer, the Post examines why the marine economy matters to the country's overall economic strategy, where government policy is heading, and which sectors stand to benefit. Why does the marine economy...
Hong Kong to simplify written taxi exam in effort to ease driver shortage
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The written test for aspiring taxi drivers will be made significantly easier by reducing and simplifying questions about locations and routes in an effort to ease the government’s severe hiring difficulties for its premium taxi scheme, with half its vehicles lacking sufficient drivers. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that the Transport Department (TD) was undergoing a comprehensive review of the written test, with changes to be rolled...
China’s real consumption ‘far from as low as it seems’, think tank argues
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China’s actual consumption power may have already surpassed that of Mexico and reached 40 to 50 per cent of the levels seen in developed nations such as Japan and Germany, a Beijing-based think tank contends. That conclusion, put forth by China Finance 40 Forum, which comprises senior Chinese regulators and financial executives, runs contrary to the market consensus that China’s consumption is underdeveloped, while providing a new perspective from which to assess the consumer potential of the...
Alibaba’s US$7 billion subsidy deepens China’s instant shopping battle
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Alibaba Group Holding’s instant commerce service announced on Wednesday a substantial subsidy programme totalling 50 billion yuan (US$7 billion) over the next 12 months for both consumers and merchants, intensifying the fierce competition in China’s on-demand delivery sector, where JD.com and Meituan are also major players. Consumers using Taobao’s in-app Shangou service, the instant commerce business of Alibaba, will enjoy significant incentives, including cash vouchers, free purchase coupons,...
Hong Kong must raise its game to attract multifamily-office operators, study says
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Hong Kong’s government needs to dig deeper for the next stage of the city’s development as a hub for family offices by creating an ecosystem capable of supporting more multifamily-office operators, according to a white paper. “Hong Kong has been very successful in attracting single-family offices, and the next step forward should be how to attract more multiple-family offices,” said Marshall Jen, executive director of Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Family Business, which published...
Beijing says Dalai Lama’s succession plan breaks tradition, tensions set to rise
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Beijing said the succession of the Dalai Lama should be in accordance with tradition and Chinese law, in a swift rejection of a plan announced by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. The comment was made hours later after the 14th Dalai Lama said his office – the Gaden Phodrang Trust – held the sole authority to recognise the next Dalai Lama. On Wednesday, four days ahead of his 90th birthday, he posted a statement to X discussing the future of the Tibetan spiritual leadership, particularly his...
Indonesia and Malaysia set model for dispute resolution with Ambalat pact
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The decision by Indonesia and Malaysia to jointly develop the resource-rich Ambalat sea block signals a pragmatic step towards defusing a decades-old territorial stand-off, even as legal uncertainties over sovereignty remain unresolved. The agreement was announced last week during Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Indonesia, where he met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to discuss maritime and land border disputes, investment, and regional conflicts, among...
The world is going all-in on stablecoins. Is China’s digital yuan any different?
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When South Korea reportedly halted its digital currency pilot programme this week in favour of stablecoins – cryptocurrencies pegged to a reference asset, typically a fiat currency – it sent shock waves through central banks across the world. It also left China – a pioneer in central bank-backed digital currencies with its digital yuan, or e-CNY – with an important question to answer, namely whether it should continue to explore such digital assets or revisit the possibility of adopting the...
China’s emergency power bank ban catches domestic fliers off guard
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An emergency ban on some power banks imposed by China’s aviation regulator over the weekend caught travellers off guard, many of whom arrived at airports only to be told that such portable devices could not be taken onto their flights. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) began enforcing the strict ban on lithium-based power banks over safety risks on Saturday, two days after issuing the notice. The ban applies to devices without proper safety and quality certifications or those...
Chinese firms eye Hong Kong listings after mainland investors’ buying spree
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A slew of mainland-listed Chinese technology companies are speeding up fundraising plans in Hong Kong to capitalise on the upbeat market sentiment. Hong Kong’s equity market has been buoyed by mainland investors’ record buying of HK$731.2 billion (US$93.1 billion) of stocks in the first half of the year, according to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) data and Bloomberg on Monday. The buying spree, driven by attractive valuations and a re-rating of China’s technology sector, has led to a...
Labubu’s rise reflects hitmaker ability of China’s digital ecosystem
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The global frenzy around China’s Labubu, the candy-coloured monster character with the mischievous smile adorning bags, desks, streets and social feeds worldwide, is often hailed as a triumph of Chinese soft power. But Labubu’s success reveals something deeper: the unmatched sophistication of China’s integrated platform economy. Pop Mart, Labubu’s retailer, started with a small shop in Beijing in 2010 but has leveraged China’s unique digital ecosystem in recent years to build a global...
Libby Lee to lead Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority, steer medical reforms
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Undersecretary for Health Libby Lee Ha-yun will head the Hospital Authority as the new chief executive from August, steering reforms of the city’s public hospitals. Authorities said on Wednesday that Lee, who previously served with the Hospital Authority’s senior management, would take over the new role after current chief executive Tony Ko Pat-sing stepped down when his term ends on July 31. Cecilia Fan Yuen-man, currently a consultant in family medicine at the Department of Health, will...
BYD, Geely bank on big discounts to set record car sales, dent smaller rivals
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China’s leading electric vehicle (EV) makers from BYD to Geely Auto sustained their strong sales last month as big price cuts lured new buyers, helping boost their market share and heaping pressure on smaller, unprofitable rivals. BYD, the world’s largest EV builder, delivered 382,585 vehicles in June for its best month this year, the Shenzhen-based company said in a filing on Tuesday. While deliveries were little changed from May, they jumped 12 per cent from a year earlier. Geely, China’s...
Hong Kong temperatures set to soar in coming days, Observatory says
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This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. New users who download our updated app get a seven-day free trial. Hong Kong is set to be hit by inclement weather this week with the city’s observatory forecasting the potential development of a tropical cyclone near Luzon by Thursday. The forecaster also said on Wednesday that temperatures would soar over the next couple of days, reaching a maximum of 33...
China’s Laopu Gold surges 15% as investors devour newly available shares
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A surge in the supply of Laopu Gold shares after the end of a lock-up period turned out to be a buying opportunity for investors who missed out on the luxury jeweller’s 14-fold surge since its 2024 debut. The Beijing-based company’s shares jumped 15 per cent to a record of HK$1,008 on Monday, bucking concerns of a pullback after 69 million shares – a 40 per cent stake – became free-floating, allowing pre-listing investors including founder Xu Gaoming to sell without restrictions a year after the...
China’s Xi singles out ‘disorderly low-price competition’ for attention
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In addressing the price wars plaguing many industries in China, the country’s top leadership has resorted to a phrase rarely seen at a high-level meeting, saying that enterprises’ “disorderly low-price competition” needs to be regulated. Speaking at a top-level economic meeting on Tuesday, President Xi Jinping used that phrase to explicitly characterise the much-debated phenomenon, in stark contrast to officials who have, since late last year, favoured the vaguer term “involutionary competition”...
Hong Kong restaurant Super Star closes last branch, leaving 50 workers in limbo
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A 36-year-old Hong Kong seafood restaurant chain has abruptly shut down its last remaining branch, leaving about 50 employees in limbo as they seek to recover their unpaid wages. A notice announcing the closure of Super Star Seafood Restaurant was posted at its Moko shopping centre branch in Mong Kok on Wednesday. “In recent years, the catering industry in Hong Kong has been facing structural challenges. The local consumer market has continued to be weak and there has been a fundamental change...
Hong Kong stocks gain amid surge in mainland fund inflows, Beijing pledge
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Hong Kong stocks rose from a one-week low as mainland funds ploughed more money into the city’s assets on optimism that Beijing will push for high-quality growth and rein in excessive price competition in some industries. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 per cent to 24,182.88 at 9.50am local time on Wednesday, while the Hang Seng Tech Index declined 0.5 per cent. On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 per cent and the CSI 300 Index weakened 0.1 per cent. Casino operator Galaxy...
Hong Kong intervenes to defend dollar peg as carry trades pressure trading band
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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) intervened in the foreign exchange market for the second time in seven days as interest rate disparity and carry trades pushed the local dollar to the weak side of its trading band. The authority sold US$2.55 billion during New York trading hours on Tuesday and bought the equivalent of HK$20.02 billion at HK$7.85 per US dollar, it said on Wednesday. The move would trim the aggregate balance – a measure of the banking sector’s liquidity – by the same amount...
Hong Kong education chief puts onus on schools amid competition for students
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Hong Kong’s education minister has said that schools struggling with insufficient student enrolment must evaluate their own performance in meeting parents’ expectations rather than relying on government intervention. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also said the education sector should not insist on keeping the existing number of schools and emphasised a need for “metabolism” to ensure its vitality. In an interview with local media last Friday, she said that the recent policy...
Hong Kong banks can leverage AI and trade changes to fuel growth: KPMG
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The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and corporate realignment in response to trade and tariffs is expected to present significant opportunities for Hong Kong banks, according to a KPMG executive. Opportunities would arise as the financial performance of the city’s banking sector this year might lack growth drivers, with “interest rates, margins and loans unlikely to change significantly”, said Paul McSheaffrey, senior banking partner for Hong Kong at the consultancy. Last year, Hong...
‘Unprecedented’: Taiwan to test war fitness, urban survival under 24/7 live fire
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For the first time, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercise will combine conventional war games and urban survival drills under “unprecedented” live-fire conditions when it gets under way next week. The move signals growing concerns in Taipei that Beijing could trigger a prolonged conflict requiring both military defence and civilian resilience. The 41st Han Kuang exercise from July 9 to 18 would test joint operational readiness under “unprecedented 10-day, round-the-clock live-fire...
Hong Kong’s all-male boards are all but gone as firms embrace diversity
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Hong Kong’s bourse operator has declared victory in its quest to eliminate all-male boards from companies listed on the region’s third-largest stock exchange, an improvement in corporate governance that analysts said would help attract international investors. Fewer than 10 of Hong Kong’s around 2,600 listed companies had all-male boards as of the end of June, according to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX). A spokesman said these exceptions were companies that had long been suspended from...
Hong Kong public universities to seek more top-notch overseas students: minister
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Hong Kong’s public universities will push to enrol more “quality overseas students” to ensure greater diversity on campuses, a minister has said, after mainland Chinese candidates made up more than 70 per cent of their first-year, non-local undergraduates in the 2024-25 academic year. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also said that four local universities had sent 36 offers to those affected by the United States’ recent policy changes for international students, noting they had...
Post-Iran strikes, will North Korea now treat US nuclear talks as a ‘trap’?
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When the US bombed Iran’s nuclear sites last month, Washington may have inadvertently sent Pyongyang the clearest signal yet that relinquishing its nuclear arsenal could expose North Korea to the very attacks it aims to avoid. Political analysts say Washington’s hardline approach to Iran’s uranium enrichment has only cemented the North Korean leadership’s deep-seated conviction that nuclear weapons are the ultimate deterrent. Compounding this, as Pyongyang has forged closer strategic bonds with...
Regulatory curbs hurt mainland China IPOs, ceding first-half crown to Hong Kong
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Mainland China’s three stock exchanges had a sluggish first half, raising a third of the bounty from initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong, due to a regulatory crackdown that has hobbled fundraising since August 2023 and left the primary market in the lurch. Some 50 companies raised a combined 33.6 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion) by selling new shares on the nation’s three exchanges, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was a third of the US$13.5 billion raised on the Hong Kong...
China mostly unscathed by turbulent 6 months, but 2025 still an uphill climb
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While China’s economy has shown considerable resilience through a turbulent first half of 2025 – navigating the dramatic twists and turns of US trade policy while maintaining steady growth - experts warn Beijing’s challenges are far from over. Although many believe the country can still hit its annual goal of “around 5 per cent” for gross domestic product growth, more pressure points are expected to emerge in the latter half of the year. After the bilateral trade war saw a temporary...
Huawei to open-source self-developed programming language Cangjie
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Huawei Technologies is set to open-source its self-developed programming language, Cangjie, marking the latest step in the company’s pursuit of technological self-sufficiency. First unveiled a year ago, Cangjie will be open-sourced and accessible to all developers starting July 30, Huawei announced during its annual developer conference earlier this month. Open-sourcing allows public access to a software program’s source code, enabling third-party developers to modify or share its design, fix...
What budget infighting means for America’s F-47 and a conflict over Taiwan
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America’s view of China as a “pacing threat” has shaped its defence priorities as the military seeks to maintain an edge over a rapidly modernising PLA. In the second of a three-part series on how US budget tensions will affect efforts to deter China, we look at the race for air superiority. The high-stakes race for air superiority between China and the United States will have profound implications should a conflict break out – including how a war over Taiwan would be fought. Both militaries are...
China boosts tech outreach to Global South as US collaboration dips: analysts
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China is ramping up its science and technology outreach to the Global South while its collaboration with the US on the same front is receding, analysts said on Tuesday at an event hosted by the Institute for China-America Studies, a Washington think tank. “China is very heavily engaging with those countries,” said Caroline Wagner of the Ohio State University, noting Beijing has signed science and technology agreements with “dozens and dozens of countries”. That development marks a “critical...
US Senate, passing Trump bill, bars energy tax credits for China-linked firms
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The US Congress is poised to bar companies with ties to China from gaining clean energy tax credits – a move that critics warn could jeopardise dozens of planned projects and freeze investment in a sector already struggling to decouple from the country. After an overnight series of amendment votes, the Senate on Tuesday passed its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – which would also remove the decades-old “de minimis” trade rule that allows low-value packages to avoid duties and rigorous...
Hong Kong teen dies on 5,276-metre peak in Sichuan province
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Hong Kong’s Immigration Department is assisting the family of a 16-year-old resident who reportedly died while climbing a snow-covered mountain in Sichuan province in mainland China. An image circulating online believed to show an official bulletin from the Mount Siguniang Scenic Area Administration said the victim was a Hong Kong resident living in Shenzhen in Guangdong province. His parents registered him on Saturday for an outdoor activity organised by a travel agency and provided a letter of...
Family of China-born neuroscientist Jane Wu files death-related civil complaint
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The family of late neurology professor Jane Wu has filed a civil complaint against a US university, saying the university’s actions became “a decisive factor in her decision to end her life”. In a civil complaint filed last week in Cook County Circuit Court, Wu’s family – acting through her legal estate – accused Northwestern University of discrimination and isolation. Wu took her own life in July 2024 after years of China-related investigations in the US. According to the filing, the university...
Pentagon reliant on Chinese suppliers and ‘not prepared’ for war, report warns
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The US defence industrial base remains dependent on Chinese suppliers despite efforts to decouple – and that raises concerns over war readiness, according to a report by data analytics firm Govini. Chinese firms still made up 9.3 per cent of the primary contractors, or Tier 1 suppliers, involved in major US defence programmes across nine critical sectors in 2024, Govini said in its annual National Security Scorecard. “The United States is not prepared for the war that we may have to enter if...
China’s Xi calls for oversight, Trump’s Golden Dome: SCMP daily highlights
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Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump’s Golden Dome: will the numbers add up to deter China in the Indo-Pacific? The planned defence system could make it harder for the PLA to strike US bases like those in Guam and Okinawa, or warships trying to defend Taiwan. 2. Beijing sanctions South China Sea legal claim architect Francis Tolentino China has sanctioned the former Senate majority...
China edges closer to Airbus mega-deal, leaving Boeing out in the cold: analysts
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China may be on the verge of placing another lucrative order with European aerospace giant Airbus, potentially for at least 100 to 200 new aircraft – even as some Chinese airlines remain heavily reliant on US rival Boeing’s jets. Europe has emerged as China’s go-to source for overseas commercial aircraft in recent years. Boeing, once a major supplier, has not secured a major order from China since 2017 – casting a shadow over its future in the world’s second-largest economy amid turbulent trade...
Philippines eyes multirole fighter jets for ‘credible deterrence’ against China
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The Philippines must acquire more advanced fighter jets – and soon – to build a “niche air force” capable of credible deterrence against Chinese intrusions, its air force chief has said, as Manila weighs whether to pursue US-made F-16s or Sweden’s Gripen. Manila last month signed a US$700 million deal to acquire 12 additional FA-50 light combat aircraft from South Korea, expanding the Philippine Air Force (PAF)’s fleet to 24 by the end of the decade. These upgraded models will come with enhanced...
Hong Kong police search for motorist over fatal hit-and-run in Yuen Long
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Hong Kong police are searching for the motorist involved in a suspected hit-and-run in Yuen Long that resulted in the death of a cyclist. A private car was travelling on Long Ping Road in the direction of Tin Shui Wai when the vehicle struck the man riding the bicycle near Fung Chi Tsuen at about 6.20pm on Tuesday, police said. The driver allegedly did not attend to the injured cyclist and instead left the scene. Emergency responders discovered the cyclist unconscious and took him to Pok Oi...
China’s Xi Jinping puts domestic market at forefront in high-profile meeting
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President Xi Jinping reiterated the need for China to develop a “unified national market” at a high-profile economic meeting on Tuesday, a task which has taken on greater urgency as the country prioritises domestic demand amid a more uncertain external landscape. Greater efforts are needed to address a variety of issues facing the world’s second-largest economy, the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission said in a readout from their sixth meeting, explicitly calling for a crackdown on...
Hong Kong customs arrests passenger from Bangkok over HK$1.5 million of cannabis
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Hong Kong customs officers have arrested a man after he was allegedly caught with HK$1.5 million (US$191,000) worth of suspected cannabis buds in his luggage at the airport. The Customs and Excise Department said on Tuesday the 37-year-old had flown from Bangkok the previous day During customs clearance, officers discovered 7kg (15lbs) of suspected cannabis in his checked-in suitcase. The man was subsequently arrested and charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The case is...