Malaysia is looking to China’s rice-prawn farms as a model to extract more from its shrinking paddy land as a slide in rice self-sufficiency has left it increasingly reliant on imports from its Southeast Asian neighbours.
The experiment is also part of an attempt to confront other issues such as ageing farmers and more erratic weather, which have dented Malaysia’s rice output.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu said on Monday that Malaysia needed to raise its rice...
Philippine fast food giant Jollibee Foods Corp said on Tuesday it was planning to spin off and list its international operations on the Hong Kong stock exchange, abandoning earlier plans of a US listing.
Jollibee Foods said it was progressing in separating its international business, Jollibee Foods Corporation International, ahead of its planned spin-off and listing.
The fast food restaurant operator now plans for a Hong Kong listing citing its existing presence in the city and brand...
Award-winning Swedish chip expert Henry Homayoun Radamson has died in Shanghai at the age of 63.
Radamson, who moved to China in 2016, was working as the chief scientist at the Guangdong Greater Bay Area Institute of Integrated Circuit and System.
The institute said on Tuesday that he died from a “sudden illness” on August 12.
In 2023, Radamson was awarded the Chinese Government Friendship Award, which recognises those who have made outstanding contributions to China’s development.
He was…
The Chinese-founded artificial intelligence start-up Manus announced on Tuesday that it had formally resumed independent operations, more than four months after Beijing blocked its US$2 billion acquisition by Meta Platforms.
The company’s founding team would continue to lead Manus as an “independent agent lab”, the firm said in a blog post on its website, as it sought to move on from a months-long saga that has sent ripples through the Chinese and global technology sectors.
The announcement…
China has made the first amendment in 16 years to its national defence mobilisation law to include a fresh focus on new technologies – a move experts said would cover AI and drones.
Analysts said the inclusion would make it possible to rapidly convert emerging infrastructure, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned systems, into defence capabilities.
The revised law, passed by the top legislature on Friday, says that “the state promotes the application of advanced technologies in...
A mahjong parlour owner in central China paid compensation of 19,000 yuan (US$2,800) following a failed first aid attempt on an elderly customer but received a refund after government intervention.
On August 17, a man in his 60s, surnamed Luo, visited the mahjong parlour in Hunan province and passed out while resting in a chair.
The shop’s owner, Xiao Aihua, sensed something was wrong with Luo and approached to administer first aid.
Believing that Luo had suffered from heatstroke, she dragged...
Tycoon Li Ka-shing and his family-backed conglomerate, along with Henderson Land Development and the Lee Shau Kee Foundation, have pledged 15 million yuan (US$2.2 million) each to support relief efforts for victims of the deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border.
Li family-owned CK Asset Holdings, CK Hutchison Holdings and the Li Ka Shing Foundation, as well as Henderson Land and the Lee Shau Kee Foundation, expressed condolences to those affected by the disaster.
The donations were…
A proposed troop access deal between the Philippines and Britain marks the latest step in Manila’s drive to draw more European and like-minded powers into its efforts to safeguard the free flow of trade through the South China Sea and neighbouring waterways.
The visiting forces agreement would allow troops from both countries to train and operate temporarily on each other’s soil, a move analysts said could deepen the Philippines’ ties with Nato members and reduce its reliance on the US…
Property-ownership complications and low public awareness have slowed landlords’ registration of Hong Kong subdivided flats under new housing regulations, industry observers have said, after the government received only 42.5 per cent of the applications expected in the first phase.
Monday marked the deadline for the initial six-month “early bird” registration phase under the Basic Housing Unit Ordinance. Landlords who applied during this period were eligible for a waiver of HK$3,000 (US$382)…
Chinese chipmakers are setting increasingly aggressive targets to source production equipment locally, adding pressure on domestic toolmakers to come up with machines that are reliable in the exacting environment of high-volume wafer production.
Several new wafer fabrication plants, or fabs, in the country were setting explicit localisation targets, according to Jie Chen, chairman of Britech Semiconductor Equipment (Shanghai) Corp, who spoke at an industry conference in eastern China’s Wuxi…
A Hong Kong secondary school has begun the new academic year without a principal while authorities vet a replacement for the former head, who was fired for swearing at security guards during a Singapore study trip.
Former lawmaker Edmund Wong Chun-sek, who is also a manager of San Wui Commercial Society Secondary School, said on Tuesday that the Education Bureau was currently conducting background checks on the candidate.
The school, located in Tuen Mun, was under the temporary leadership of…
Shenzhen, the southern Chinese city home to US-sanctioned telecoms giant Huawei Technologies and drone maker DJI, has seen an influx of investors and business leaders amid rising global interest in Chinese artificial intelligence and robotics.
On Tuesday, the tech hub hosted investor conferences led by three international financial institutions – HSBC, UBS and Nomura – with AI, robotics and other emerging technologies featuring prominently on their agendas.
More investors could arrive to…
The US threat of sanctions on China because of Beijing’s relationship with Iran isn’t credible. The artificial intelligence bubble and its own precarious bond market make the US more vulnerable to a shock than China. Even if the US risks massive self-harm and kicks major Chinese institutions off SWIFT, the global messaging system enabling dollar-based cross-border payments, it will merely accelerate the yuan’s rise. China’s trading partners can easily switch to the perfectly functional yuan...
A Thai court has sentenced a 25-year-old activist to two years in prison for violating the country’s strict royal insult law, a rights group said, with her lawyer on Tuesday vowing to appeal.
A criminal court convicted Tantawan Tuatulanon on Monday over a live streaming she aired near a royal motorcade in March 2022, legal advocacy group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said in a statement.
The court found Tantawan intended to defame Thailand’s highly revered monarchy when she questioned…
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. Why US visa pause could have ‘real consequences’ for Asian applicants
Asian workers and families already facing years-long waits for US visas could be pushed deeper into uncertainty by a global pause on immigrant visa appointments, as President Donald Trump’s...
Malaysian police have crippled a cross-border drug syndicate with the seizure of 86.2kg of methamphetamine worth 4.31 million ringgit (US$1 million) in Penang and Selangor.
The bust resulted from intelligence sharing between Malaysian and Thai police after Thai authorities seized 166kg (370lbs) of suspected methamphetamine from a Malaysian man in Hua Hin on August 8.
Penang police chief Dennis Lim Kwang Keng said the information led to Ops Zoraptera, resulting in the arrest of four suspects –...
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation should take on a bigger global role in technology and security, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday, describing the Eurasian bloc as having vast potential.
At the SCO’s summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Xi said the group had shown “strong vitality” since its founding 25 years ago amid the “sobering lessons of the Cold War”.
In a veiled reference to Washington’s system of military alliances, Xi said a key lesson from the bloc’s quarter of a century…
Foreign investors are expected to keep adding to their China A-share holdings, though the pace of buying is likely to slow from the surge in the first half of the year, according to a UBS analyst.
“We still expect net inflows in the second half, but the pace will be somewhat slower than in the first half,” said Meng Lei, China equity strategist at UBS Securities, at UBS’s annual China A-share strategy conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday.
Foreign appetite for A shares – domestic shares of…
Two years ago, Narendra Modi skipped the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) summit in Astana entirely, sending his foreign minister instead.
That absence was redressed first at last year’s summit in Tianjin and again this week in Kyrgyzstan, where India’s prime minister stood shoulder to shoulder with China’s Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of other SCO member states.
Analysts say New Delhi’s revived engagement with the 10-member bloc reflects both its…
Parts of eastern and southern China are bracing for heavy to torrential rain over the next three days, with authorities warning of floods, landslides and mudslides, as Typhoon Saudel re-forms over the South China Sea.
Several airports could be affected, including Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Baoan, Zhuhai Jinwan, Xiamen Gaoqi, Fuzhou Changle, Wenzhou Longwan, Ningbo Lishe and Hong Kong International Airport, according to aviation data platform VariFlight.
So far, no large-scale flight...
Japan eased overtime regulation starting on Tuesday in a move meant to help spur economic growth but criticised as a relapse into the country’s ingrained workaholic culture.
The move comes after the government led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi – a self-proclaimed workaholic – adopted a growth strategy in July, calling for revisions to the current oversight of work hours.
The change in part reflects calls from certain business sectors for more flexible work styles as they grapple with a...
US financial institutions Citigroup and Invesco have separately announced that they would continue to expand their presence in Asia, even as the financial industry faces geopolitical uncertainties and Beijing tightens its control on overseas investment.
Citi would boost the headcount of its north Asia and Japan corporate banking desk network by 25 per cent following double-digit growth in client activities, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The US lender would also expand its China desk…
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s party swept to victory in special elections on Monday, boosting the leader’s parliamentary majority as a trade war with the United States escalates.
Carney’s Liberal Party secured three seats, taking the district of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in French-speaking Quebec from the opposition Conservatives, and two other districts in Ontario and British Columbia that were previously held by the Liberals.
Carney congratulated the winning candidates in a post on X,…
A veteran mainland Chinese economic crime investigator and former police official has been appointed to lead the discipline inspection and supervision group at Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs.
Hua Liebing, a former director of the Ministry of Public Security’s economic crime investigation bureau, fills the vacancy at the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) left by Geng Changyou, who stepped down last year to become secretary of Hebei province’s Commission for…
Heavy rain and internet outages marred the launch of Hong Kong’s first humanoid robot-operated convenience stores on Tuesday, but visitors said they still appreciated the work of the new robots.
Embodied-intelligence robotics company Galbot opened two outdoor stores in Hung Hom and Wan Chai and an indoor shop in Kai Tak.
The Galbot Stores offer a mix of snacks and drinks, along with local offerings such as pineapple-bun and egg-tart-themed merchandise, with prices ranging from HK$14 to HK$139...
Primary school pupils returned to class across Hong Kong on Tuesday with a mix of excitement and anxiety over the year ahead, as the education chief pledged to strengthen mental health support in schools.
During a visit to the Hong Kong Taoist Association Wun Tsuen School, Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin announced the launch of a new campaign aimed at improving student well-being.
“This initiative encourages students to support and care for one another to prevent campus…
As a sensor sounded, scientist Akiko Takii hurried to a bear trap deep in the forests of Nagano in Japan, where rising nationwide attacks have brought fear and resulted in the culling of thousands of the animals.
“It’s a small bear, I think, about a year and a half old,” Takii said as she peered at the 15kg (33lbs) Asiatic black bear thrashing in the cage. “It must have just parted from mum.”
Its mother was not around, and Takii took blood and fur samples after her co-researcher tranquillised...
Twelve people were killed and several more injured in Russian air attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region on Tuesday, authorities said, in the sixth consecutive day of strikes on the Ukrainian capital.
Attacks both in Ukraine and Russia continue as efforts are ongoing to find a solution to end the deadliest conflict on the European continent since World War II, which started with Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Eight people were killed and another five wounded in Kyiv,…
Private investors in Asia, including family offices operating in Hong Kong, are showing a growing appetite for advanced medical technologies such as brain-computer interfaces and surgical robotics, as healthcare deal activity picks up across the region amid China’s biotechnology boom.
“Asia is ageing, so there’s a structural, long-term demand for better surgery and medicine,” said William Chow, deputy group CEO of Raffles Family Office, headquartered in Hong Kong and Singapore. “A lot of the...
Hong Kong’s tax chief has apologised after the ombudsman found that unclear wording in the eTAX system led more than 33,000 people to leave their returns incomplete, triggering penalty notices for nearly 5,200 taxpayers and prosecutions of two.
“Some taxpayers were unable to complete the submission of their tax returns; we apologise for the inconvenience caused to them,” Commissioner of Inland Revenue Benjamin Chan Sze-wai told a radio programme on Tuesday.
“The system is under the Inland...
A couple who survived the deadly Tai Po blaze last year have been barred from leaving Hong Kong pending trial for allegedly obtaining more than HK$330,000 (US$42,000) in government-guaranteed loans by overstating the decline in revenue of their decoration business.
Former Wang Fuk Court residents Jason Kong Cheung-fat, 65, and Rosanna Cheung Yeuk-lan, 62, appeared in Sha Tin Court on Tuesday to face two counts of fraud and one of money laundering.
The couple were not required to enter pleas...
South Korea on Tuesday unveiled its most aggressive financial spending plan on record, setting total government expenditure for 2027 at 821 trillion won (US$600 billion) to strengthen the country’s technological edge amid the global AI race.
In its annual budget proposal, the budget ministry said the spending plan represented a 12.8 per cent rise from 2026, marking the largest year-on-year increase in the country’s history.
The proposal signals a shift in Asia’s fourth-largest economy under...
Modern simplified Chinese characters form a tightly connected network from just 514 basic components that evolved through a process similar to natural selection, according to researchers who say their findings could change how Chinese writing is taught.
“Chinese characters evolve like living organisms,” lecturer Xie Yonghui of Shanghai Normal University said on August 24.
The research into the evolution of Chinese writing over thousands of years, led by Huang Wei, of Beijing Language and…
Australian home prices fell for a fifth month in August in the biggest downturn since the pandemic, and there is further pain ahead as stubborn inflation puts upward pressure on interest rates.
Figures from property consultant Cotality released on Tuesday showed national home prices fell 0.9 per cent in August from July, when they dropped 1.2 per cent. Sydney and Melbourne again led the monthly decline with falls of 1.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent, leaving prices down about 7 per cent from…
Chinese President Xi Jinping ended August in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, kick-starting a potential run of overseas trips after what has so far been a quiet year for foreign travel.
Xi met the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia and Uzbekistan in Bishkek on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. He may hold talks with other attendees, possibly including Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian. After the summit, the Chinese president will fly to Egypt, where he will meet...
South Korea’s chief presidential policy adviser has resigned, the presidential Blue House said on Tuesday, after President Lee Jae Myung reshuffled his cabinet and senior aides amid a drop in his approval rating.
Kim Yong-beom was a key adviser to Lee on economic policy, including on housing and stock market issues.
Kim had offered to step down from the post on Monday, which oversees the administration’s economic and domestic policy agenda.
During his term, Kim had drawn criticism over the...
After more than 250 days at sea, much of it fighting the war on Iran – and amid reports of dire conditions on board – the USS Abraham Lincoln is finally set to dock near Pattaya this week, giving more than 5,000 American sailors and Marines shore leave as the Thai resort city hopes they will spend big during their last pit stop before home.
The eastern Thai beach resort, known for its colourful nightlife, has faced a grim low tourist season, driven in part by the economic downturn triggered…
China’s leading brokerages are accelerating their push overseas, pouring billions of yuan into their international arms as cross-border deals expand and profits from overseas operations grow, according to their latest interim reports.
Citic Securities, one of China’s largest brokerages, saw revenue generated outside mainland China rise 45.5 per cent, year on year, to 15.86 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) in the six months ended June, according to its interim report. The growth slightly outpaced...
Hong Kong’s mega-event economy is thriving. In a blog post last month, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po noted that in the first half of 2026, the city hosted more than 130 mega-events, drawing 1.75 million visitors and injecting roughly HK$5.8 billion (US$739.9 million) into the local economy.
These figures are the ongoing dividends of the government’s sustained policy and financial backing. This momentum is well-documented: in the last two years, the concerts of global A-listers such as...
An almost year-long legal dispute involving a prestigious Hong Kong international school and its US-based co-founder, a Lutheran church, has been resolved out of court, with the school making a substantial payment and ending its association with the religious body.
A source familiar with the legal community told the South China Morning Post that former Hong Kong chief justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li had overseen mediation between the two parties over two days in early August.
Harold Kim, chairman…
Rajendra Dawadi was inside his classroom when a colleague rushed in with a warning: floodwaters were racing through Nepal’s Trishuli Valley, tearing apart homes, bridges and entire villages.
Then a teacher received another warning by phone. Moments later, a parent arrived to take her child home. The danger had not yet been confirmed, but Dawadi, the principal, had little time to act. He rang the school bell and ordered his students and staff out of the building and towards higher ground.
“I...
A prominent American university has agreed to pay a US$2.1 million settlement to resolve allegations that it failed to disclose employees’ ties to China when applying for federal grant funding, the Department of Justice announced on Monday.
Ohio State University’s (OSU) settlement relates to Nasa and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants that provided funding to the university from November 2012 to August 2023.
Both Nasa and the NSF required the public university to disclose “foreign...
A false espionage alarm about a Taipei subway user has fuelled concerns that growing fears of Beijing are breeding unhealthy suspicion on the island and eroding public trust.
The controversy erupted after a social media user posted a photograph of a man holding a laptop on a Taipei Main Station metro platform on Saturday.
Seeing the words “2nd Theatre Photosynthesis System” appeared in simplified Chinese on the laptop’s screen, the social media user suspected that the man was a mainland…
Two schools in northwestern China have ignited controversy by enforcing a strict hairstyle policy on students, who may be stopped at the school gate or even turned away if they fail to comply with the requirements.
August 23 marked the first day of the new school term at Yinchuan High School and Yinchuan No 24 Middle School in Yinchuan, the capital city of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
Viral videos revealed that several teachers were stationed at the gates of these two schools,…
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Monday she met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and agreed that orderly yen movement is critical for global market stability.
The two countries also confirmed that continued, cooperative measures would contribute to this common goal, Katayama told reporters after attending the Group of 20 finance leaders’ gathering. She declined to comment when asked if recent yen moves were orderly.
Katayama and Bessent discussed Japan’s…
Shein Global Holdings plunged as much as 10 per cent in its Hong Kong trading debut on Tuesday after raising HK$13.6 billion (US$1.7 billion), further shaking market confidence in the company’s valuation.
The shares opened flat at the offer price of HK$48.56 before falling as much as 10 per cent to HK$43.72. They later pared most losses, trading at HK$48.50 by market close – a 0.1 per cent drop.
Shein founder Sky Xu Yangtian attended the listing ceremony but remained low profile. He did not…
Yokohama’s mayor has become the latest local official in Japan to be forced from office by scandal, as analysts say voters are no longer willing to look the other way.
Takeharu Yamanaka reportedly called his staff “human trash” and told a senior official to “commit seppuku” (ritual suicide) if the city failed to win a bid for an international conference.
He stepped down on Friday after a prolonged investigation found he had repeatedly verbally abused city employees and humiliated...
Some elite schools in Hong Kong have been criticised for failing to provide sufficient learning opportunities or challenging tasks to stretch top performers, with reviewers urging teachers to design questions and tasks with greater depth.
The remarks appeared in the Education Bureau’s External School Review reports, which assessed 68 secondary and primary institutions. Some institutions were told to better cater for learners’ diversity, including by setting extended activities for pupils who...
A woman randomly stabbed two people in New York City’s Times Square on Monday, killing one woman, and then was fatally shot by police, according to officials.
The shooting happened just before 4.30pm next to a New York Police Department substation, just outside One Times Square, the building that hosts the city’s annual New Year’s Eve ball drop celebration. It is one of the most heavily touristed and policed spots in all of New York.
The 49-year-old woman from Queens pulled out two knives from…
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, the White House said Monday, in the latest departure of a top military leader during the Trump administration.
No reason was given for the departure of Driscoll, who is a friend of US Vice-President J.D. Vance, but tensions with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported. It marks the latest in a series of shake-ups of the military leadership, with the US Army especially seeing major…
Malaysia is looking to China’s rice-prawn farms as a model to extract more from its shrinking paddy land as a slide in rice self-sufficiency has left it increasingly reliant on imports from its Southeast Asian neighbours.
The experiment is also part of an attempt to confront other issues such as ageing farmers and more erratic weather, which have dented Malaysia’s rice output.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu said on Monday that Malaysia needed to raise its rice...
Philippine fast food giant Jollibee Foods Corp said on Tuesday it was planning to spin off and list its international operations on the Hong Kong stock exchange, abandoning earlier plans of a US listing.
Jollibee Foods said it was progressing in separating its international business, Jollibee Foods Corporation International, ahead of its planned spin-off and listing.
The fast food restaurant operator now plans for a Hong Kong listing citing its existing presence in the city and brand...
Award-winning Swedish chip expert Henry Homayoun Radamson has died in Shanghai at the age of 63.
Radamson, who moved to China in 2016, was working as the chief scientist at the Guangdong Greater Bay Area Institute of Integrated Circuit and System.
The institute said on Tuesday that he died from a “sudden illness” on August 12.
In 2023, Radamson was awarded the Chinese Government Friendship Award, which recognises those who have made outstanding contributions to China’s development.
He was…
The Chinese-founded artificial intelligence start-up Manus announced on Tuesday that it had formally resumed independent operations, more than four months after Beijing blocked its US$2 billion acquisition by Meta Platforms.
The company’s founding team would continue to lead Manus as an “independent agent lab”, the firm said in a blog post on its website, as it sought to move on from a months-long saga that has sent ripples through the Chinese and global technology sectors.
The announcement…
China has made the first amendment in 16 years to its national defence mobilisation law to include a fresh focus on new technologies – a move experts said would cover AI and drones.
Analysts said the inclusion would make it possible to rapidly convert emerging infrastructure, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned systems, into defence capabilities.
The revised law, passed by the top legislature on Friday, says that “the state promotes the application of advanced technologies in...
A mahjong parlour owner in central China paid compensation of 19,000 yuan (US$2,800) following a failed first aid attempt on an elderly customer but received a refund after government intervention.
On August 17, a man in his 60s, surnamed Luo, visited the mahjong parlour in Hunan province and passed out while resting in a chair.
The shop’s owner, Xiao Aihua, sensed something was wrong with Luo and approached to administer first aid.
Believing that Luo had suffered from heatstroke, she dragged...
Tycoon Li Ka-shing and his family-backed conglomerate, along with Henderson Land Development and the Lee Shau Kee Foundation, have pledged 15 million yuan (US$2.2 million) each to support relief efforts for victims of the deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border.
Li family-owned CK Asset Holdings, CK Hutchison Holdings and the Li Ka Shing Foundation, as well as Henderson Land and the Lee Shau Kee Foundation, expressed condolences to those affected by the disaster.
The donations were…
A proposed troop access deal between the Philippines and Britain marks the latest step in Manila’s drive to draw more European and like-minded powers into its efforts to safeguard the free flow of trade through the South China Sea and neighbouring waterways.
The visiting forces agreement would allow troops from both countries to train and operate temporarily on each other’s soil, a move analysts said could deepen the Philippines’ ties with Nato members and reduce its reliance on the US…
Property-ownership complications and low public awareness have slowed landlords’ registration of Hong Kong subdivided flats under new housing regulations, industry observers have said, after the government received only 42.5 per cent of the applications expected in the first phase.
Monday marked the deadline for the initial six-month “early bird” registration phase under the Basic Housing Unit Ordinance. Landlords who applied during this period were eligible for a waiver of HK$3,000 (US$382)…
Chinese chipmakers are setting increasingly aggressive targets to source production equipment locally, adding pressure on domestic toolmakers to come up with machines that are reliable in the exacting environment of high-volume wafer production.
Several new wafer fabrication plants, or fabs, in the country were setting explicit localisation targets, according to Jie Chen, chairman of Britech Semiconductor Equipment (Shanghai) Corp, who spoke at an industry conference in eastern China’s Wuxi…
A Hong Kong secondary school has begun the new academic year without a principal while authorities vet a replacement for the former head, who was fired for swearing at security guards during a Singapore study trip.
Former lawmaker Edmund Wong Chun-sek, who is also a manager of San Wui Commercial Society Secondary School, said on Tuesday that the Education Bureau was currently conducting background checks on the candidate.
The school, located in Tuen Mun, was under the temporary leadership of…
Shenzhen, the southern Chinese city home to US-sanctioned telecoms giant Huawei Technologies and drone maker DJI, has seen an influx of investors and business leaders amid rising global interest in Chinese artificial intelligence and robotics.
On Tuesday, the tech hub hosted investor conferences led by three international financial institutions – HSBC, UBS and Nomura – with AI, robotics and other emerging technologies featuring prominently on their agendas.
More investors could arrive to…
The US threat of sanctions on China because of Beijing’s relationship with Iran isn’t credible. The artificial intelligence bubble and its own precarious bond market make the US more vulnerable to a shock than China. Even if the US risks massive self-harm and kicks major Chinese institutions off SWIFT, the global messaging system enabling dollar-based cross-border payments, it will merely accelerate the yuan’s rise. China’s trading partners can easily switch to the perfectly functional yuan...
A Thai court has sentenced a 25-year-old activist to two years in prison for violating the country’s strict royal insult law, a rights group said, with her lawyer on Tuesday vowing to appeal.
A criminal court convicted Tantawan Tuatulanon on Monday over a live streaming she aired near a royal motorcade in March 2022, legal advocacy group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said in a statement.
The court found Tantawan intended to defame Thailand’s highly revered monarchy when she questioned…
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. Why US visa pause could have ‘real consequences’ for Asian applicants
Asian workers and families already facing years-long waits for US visas could be pushed deeper into uncertainty by a global pause on immigrant visa appointments, as President Donald Trump’s...
Malaysian police have crippled a cross-border drug syndicate with the seizure of 86.2kg of methamphetamine worth 4.31 million ringgit (US$1 million) in Penang and Selangor.
The bust resulted from intelligence sharing between Malaysian and Thai police after Thai authorities seized 166kg (370lbs) of suspected methamphetamine from a Malaysian man in Hua Hin on August 8.
Penang police chief Dennis Lim Kwang Keng said the information led to Ops Zoraptera, resulting in the arrest of four suspects –...
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation should take on a bigger global role in technology and security, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday, describing the Eurasian bloc as having vast potential.
At the SCO’s summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Xi said the group had shown “strong vitality” since its founding 25 years ago amid the “sobering lessons of the Cold War”.
In a veiled reference to Washington’s system of military alliances, Xi said a key lesson from the bloc’s quarter of a century…
Foreign investors are expected to keep adding to their China A-share holdings, though the pace of buying is likely to slow from the surge in the first half of the year, according to a UBS analyst.
“We still expect net inflows in the second half, but the pace will be somewhat slower than in the first half,” said Meng Lei, China equity strategist at UBS Securities, at UBS’s annual China A-share strategy conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday.
Foreign appetite for A shares – domestic shares of…
Two years ago, Narendra Modi skipped the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) summit in Astana entirely, sending his foreign minister instead.
That absence was redressed first at last year’s summit in Tianjin and again this week in Kyrgyzstan, where India’s prime minister stood shoulder to shoulder with China’s Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of other SCO member states.
Analysts say New Delhi’s revived engagement with the 10-member bloc reflects both its…
Parts of eastern and southern China are bracing for heavy to torrential rain over the next three days, with authorities warning of floods, landslides and mudslides, as Typhoon Saudel re-forms over the South China Sea.
Several airports could be affected, including Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Baoan, Zhuhai Jinwan, Xiamen Gaoqi, Fuzhou Changle, Wenzhou Longwan, Ningbo Lishe and Hong Kong International Airport, according to aviation data platform VariFlight.
So far, no large-scale flight...
Japan eased overtime regulation starting on Tuesday in a move meant to help spur economic growth but criticised as a relapse into the country’s ingrained workaholic culture.
The move comes after the government led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi – a self-proclaimed workaholic – adopted a growth strategy in July, calling for revisions to the current oversight of work hours.
The change in part reflects calls from certain business sectors for more flexible work styles as they grapple with a...
US financial institutions Citigroup and Invesco have separately announced that they would continue to expand their presence in Asia, even as the financial industry faces geopolitical uncertainties and Beijing tightens its control on overseas investment.
Citi would boost the headcount of its north Asia and Japan corporate banking desk network by 25 per cent following double-digit growth in client activities, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The US lender would also expand its China desk…
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s party swept to victory in special elections on Monday, boosting the leader’s parliamentary majority as a trade war with the United States escalates.
Carney’s Liberal Party secured three seats, taking the district of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in French-speaking Quebec from the opposition Conservatives, and two other districts in Ontario and British Columbia that were previously held by the Liberals.
Carney congratulated the winning candidates in a post on X,…
A veteran mainland Chinese economic crime investigator and former police official has been appointed to lead the discipline inspection and supervision group at Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs.
Hua Liebing, a former director of the Ministry of Public Security’s economic crime investigation bureau, fills the vacancy at the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) left by Geng Changyou, who stepped down last year to become secretary of Hebei province’s Commission for…
Heavy rain and internet outages marred the launch of Hong Kong’s first humanoid robot-operated convenience stores on Tuesday, but visitors said they still appreciated the work of the new robots.
Embodied-intelligence robotics company Galbot opened two outdoor stores in Hung Hom and Wan Chai and an indoor shop in Kai Tak.
The Galbot Stores offer a mix of snacks and drinks, along with local offerings such as pineapple-bun and egg-tart-themed merchandise, with prices ranging from HK$14 to HK$139...
Primary school pupils returned to class across Hong Kong on Tuesday with a mix of excitement and anxiety over the year ahead, as the education chief pledged to strengthen mental health support in schools.
During a visit to the Hong Kong Taoist Association Wun Tsuen School, Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin announced the launch of a new campaign aimed at improving student well-being.
“This initiative encourages students to support and care for one another to prevent campus…
As a sensor sounded, scientist Akiko Takii hurried to a bear trap deep in the forests of Nagano in Japan, where rising nationwide attacks have brought fear and resulted in the culling of thousands of the animals.
“It’s a small bear, I think, about a year and a half old,” Takii said as she peered at the 15kg (33lbs) Asiatic black bear thrashing in the cage. “It must have just parted from mum.”
Its mother was not around, and Takii took blood and fur samples after her co-researcher tranquillised...
Twelve people were killed and several more injured in Russian air attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region on Tuesday, authorities said, in the sixth consecutive day of strikes on the Ukrainian capital.
Attacks both in Ukraine and Russia continue as efforts are ongoing to find a solution to end the deadliest conflict on the European continent since World War II, which started with Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Eight people were killed and another five wounded in Kyiv,…
Private investors in Asia, including family offices operating in Hong Kong, are showing a growing appetite for advanced medical technologies such as brain-computer interfaces and surgical robotics, as healthcare deal activity picks up across the region amid China’s biotechnology boom.
“Asia is ageing, so there’s a structural, long-term demand for better surgery and medicine,” said William Chow, deputy group CEO of Raffles Family Office, headquartered in Hong Kong and Singapore. “A lot of the...
Hong Kong’s tax chief has apologised after the ombudsman found that unclear wording in the eTAX system led more than 33,000 people to leave their returns incomplete, triggering penalty notices for nearly 5,200 taxpayers and prosecutions of two.
“Some taxpayers were unable to complete the submission of their tax returns; we apologise for the inconvenience caused to them,” Commissioner of Inland Revenue Benjamin Chan Sze-wai told a radio programme on Tuesday.
“The system is under the Inland...
A couple who survived the deadly Tai Po blaze last year have been barred from leaving Hong Kong pending trial for allegedly obtaining more than HK$330,000 (US$42,000) in government-guaranteed loans by overstating the decline in revenue of their decoration business.
Former Wang Fuk Court residents Jason Kong Cheung-fat, 65, and Rosanna Cheung Yeuk-lan, 62, appeared in Sha Tin Court on Tuesday to face two counts of fraud and one of money laundering.
The couple were not required to enter pleas...
South Korea on Tuesday unveiled its most aggressive financial spending plan on record, setting total government expenditure for 2027 at 821 trillion won (US$600 billion) to strengthen the country’s technological edge amid the global AI race.
In its annual budget proposal, the budget ministry said the spending plan represented a 12.8 per cent rise from 2026, marking the largest year-on-year increase in the country’s history.
The proposal signals a shift in Asia’s fourth-largest economy under...
Modern simplified Chinese characters form a tightly connected network from just 514 basic components that evolved through a process similar to natural selection, according to researchers who say their findings could change how Chinese writing is taught.
“Chinese characters evolve like living organisms,” lecturer Xie Yonghui of Shanghai Normal University said on August 24.
The research into the evolution of Chinese writing over thousands of years, led by Huang Wei, of Beijing Language and…
Australian home prices fell for a fifth month in August in the biggest downturn since the pandemic, and there is further pain ahead as stubborn inflation puts upward pressure on interest rates.
Figures from property consultant Cotality released on Tuesday showed national home prices fell 0.9 per cent in August from July, when they dropped 1.2 per cent. Sydney and Melbourne again led the monthly decline with falls of 1.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent, leaving prices down about 7 per cent from…
Chinese President Xi Jinping ended August in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, kick-starting a potential run of overseas trips after what has so far been a quiet year for foreign travel.
Xi met the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia and Uzbekistan in Bishkek on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. He may hold talks with other attendees, possibly including Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian. After the summit, the Chinese president will fly to Egypt, where he will meet...
South Korea’s chief presidential policy adviser has resigned, the presidential Blue House said on Tuesday, after President Lee Jae Myung reshuffled his cabinet and senior aides amid a drop in his approval rating.
Kim Yong-beom was a key adviser to Lee on economic policy, including on housing and stock market issues.
Kim had offered to step down from the post on Monday, which oversees the administration’s economic and domestic policy agenda.
During his term, Kim had drawn criticism over the...
After more than 250 days at sea, much of it fighting the war on Iran – and amid reports of dire conditions on board – the USS Abraham Lincoln is finally set to dock near Pattaya this week, giving more than 5,000 American sailors and Marines shore leave as the Thai resort city hopes they will spend big during their last pit stop before home.
The eastern Thai beach resort, known for its colourful nightlife, has faced a grim low tourist season, driven in part by the economic downturn triggered…
China’s leading brokerages are accelerating their push overseas, pouring billions of yuan into their international arms as cross-border deals expand and profits from overseas operations grow, according to their latest interim reports.
Citic Securities, one of China’s largest brokerages, saw revenue generated outside mainland China rise 45.5 per cent, year on year, to 15.86 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) in the six months ended June, according to its interim report. The growth slightly outpaced...
Hong Kong’s mega-event economy is thriving. In a blog post last month, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po noted that in the first half of 2026, the city hosted more than 130 mega-events, drawing 1.75 million visitors and injecting roughly HK$5.8 billion (US$739.9 million) into the local economy.
These figures are the ongoing dividends of the government’s sustained policy and financial backing. This momentum is well-documented: in the last two years, the concerts of global A-listers such as...
An almost year-long legal dispute involving a prestigious Hong Kong international school and its US-based co-founder, a Lutheran church, has been resolved out of court, with the school making a substantial payment and ending its association with the religious body.
A source familiar with the legal community told the South China Morning Post that former Hong Kong chief justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li had overseen mediation between the two parties over two days in early August.
Harold Kim, chairman…
Rajendra Dawadi was inside his classroom when a colleague rushed in with a warning: floodwaters were racing through Nepal’s Trishuli Valley, tearing apart homes, bridges and entire villages.
Then a teacher received another warning by phone. Moments later, a parent arrived to take her child home. The danger had not yet been confirmed, but Dawadi, the principal, had little time to act. He rang the school bell and ordered his students and staff out of the building and towards higher ground.
“I...
A prominent American university has agreed to pay a US$2.1 million settlement to resolve allegations that it failed to disclose employees’ ties to China when applying for federal grant funding, the Department of Justice announced on Monday.
Ohio State University’s (OSU) settlement relates to Nasa and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants that provided funding to the university from November 2012 to August 2023.
Both Nasa and the NSF required the public university to disclose “foreign...
A false espionage alarm about a Taipei subway user has fuelled concerns that growing fears of Beijing are breeding unhealthy suspicion on the island and eroding public trust.
The controversy erupted after a social media user posted a photograph of a man holding a laptop on a Taipei Main Station metro platform on Saturday.
Seeing the words “2nd Theatre Photosynthesis System” appeared in simplified Chinese on the laptop’s screen, the social media user suspected that the man was a mainland…
Two schools in northwestern China have ignited controversy by enforcing a strict hairstyle policy on students, who may be stopped at the school gate or even turned away if they fail to comply with the requirements.
August 23 marked the first day of the new school term at Yinchuan High School and Yinchuan No 24 Middle School in Yinchuan, the capital city of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
Viral videos revealed that several teachers were stationed at the gates of these two schools,…
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Monday she met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and agreed that orderly yen movement is critical for global market stability.
The two countries also confirmed that continued, cooperative measures would contribute to this common goal, Katayama told reporters after attending the Group of 20 finance leaders’ gathering. She declined to comment when asked if recent yen moves were orderly.
Katayama and Bessent discussed Japan’s…
Shein Global Holdings plunged as much as 10 per cent in its Hong Kong trading debut on Tuesday after raising HK$13.6 billion (US$1.7 billion), further shaking market confidence in the company’s valuation.
The shares opened flat at the offer price of HK$48.56 before falling as much as 10 per cent to HK$43.72. They later pared most losses, trading at HK$48.50 by market close – a 0.1 per cent drop.
Shein founder Sky Xu Yangtian attended the listing ceremony but remained low profile. He did not…
Yokohama’s mayor has become the latest local official in Japan to be forced from office by scandal, as analysts say voters are no longer willing to look the other way.
Takeharu Yamanaka reportedly called his staff “human trash” and told a senior official to “commit seppuku” (ritual suicide) if the city failed to win a bid for an international conference.
He stepped down on Friday after a prolonged investigation found he had repeatedly verbally abused city employees and humiliated...
Some elite schools in Hong Kong have been criticised for failing to provide sufficient learning opportunities or challenging tasks to stretch top performers, with reviewers urging teachers to design questions and tasks with greater depth.
The remarks appeared in the Education Bureau’s External School Review reports, which assessed 68 secondary and primary institutions. Some institutions were told to better cater for learners’ diversity, including by setting extended activities for pupils who...
A woman randomly stabbed two people in New York City’s Times Square on Monday, killing one woman, and then was fatally shot by police, according to officials.
The shooting happened just before 4.30pm next to a New York Police Department substation, just outside One Times Square, the building that hosts the city’s annual New Year’s Eve ball drop celebration. It is one of the most heavily touristed and policed spots in all of New York.
The 49-year-old woman from Queens pulled out two knives from…
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, the White House said Monday, in the latest departure of a top military leader during the Trump administration.
No reason was given for the departure of Driscoll, who is a friend of US Vice-President J.D. Vance, but tensions with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported. It marks the latest in a series of shake-ups of the military leadership, with the US Army especially seeing major…