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Privacy screens and police dogs: how Beijing is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/13

Beijing intensified security and prepared key venues on Tuesday as the Chinese capital awaited the arrival of US President Donald Trump and his high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. Trump is expected to stay at the five-star Four Seasons Hotel in northeastern Beijing after arriving on Wednesday night. His delegation is expected to stay at the nearby Kempinski Hotel Beijing Yansha Centre. While neither country has officially disclosed the delegation’s lodging,

How Australia’s mining giants are helping China to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/13

Australia’s mining giants are aiding China’s push to internationalise its currency and reduce the dominance of the US dollar, as they gradually shift towards using the yuan for financing and settlements, analysts said. China has been using its heft as the world’s dominant iron ore buyer to push global mining companies to adopt the yuan. And several firms are already making the switch, with China’s relatively low interest rates becoming an added incentive. BHP, the world’s largest mining

China actor who stopped growing at 9 faces mockery...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/13

An actor in China nicknamed the “ageless man” because of a childhood condition which halted his growth has silenced detractors with his nuanced performances. According to Beiqing.com, Hou Xiang, 40, from Beijing, was born prematurely after his mother suffered from malnutrition during pregnancy. His growth and voice development stopped around the age of nine, leaving him less than 1.6 metres tall. Even in adulthood, strangers often mistake Hou for a boy, asking his age or where he

Hong Kong teens dive deep to safeguard global...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/13

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] A group of Grade 8 students from Canadian International School of Hong Kong (CDNIS) has made waves on the global innovation stage, returning from the Conrad Challenge Global Innovation Summit in Houston with multiple top honours. The team captured the coveted Innovation Summit Power Pitch Award and the Equinor Searching for Better Award – achievements that also earned them a sponsored educational trip to Boston,...

Hong Kong to launch public consultation on 5-year...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/13

Hong Kong is expected to launch a public consultation in early June for its inaugural five-year plan to align with the national blueprint, with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu set to present a preliminary framework and gather feedback from various industries through face-to-face sessions, according to sources. The South China Morning Post learned that the government was also planning a large-scale publicity campaign to promote the consultation exercise, including television advertisements,...

Southeast Asia warned of ‘Godzilla El Nino’ whiplash...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/13

Southeast Asia must brace itself for a punishing spell of climate whiplash, with an expected El Nino threatening drought-like conditions, flash floods, crop losses and haze across the region, experts have warned. The threat is also landing at a fragile moment for emerging economies, analysts add, as geopolitical tensions, higher energy costs and pressure on remittances leave governments and households with less room to absorb climate shocks. Sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific...

Malaysia’s Jho Low seeking Trump pardon for 1MDB fraud

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

Jho Low, the fugitive Malaysian financier accused by the United States of being the mastermind of one of the largest financial frauds in history, has asked US President Donald Trump for a pardon. Low, who was charged in 2018 but has evaded arrest, submitted a pardon application to the US Justice Department this year, according to a notice on its website. He is accused of being the architect of a scheme that siphoned at least US$4.5 billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia...

US confirms delegation to Apec meeting in China,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

The United States announced on Tuesday that it would send a delegation to the second Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) 2026 Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM2) and related meetings in China this month, just hours after US President Donald Trump departed for Beijing ahead of a high-stakes summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The US delegation will head to Shanghai and Suzhou from May 11 to 24 to “continue advancing ‘America first’ foreign, trade, and investment policies,” according

Takeover of Hong Kong Golf & Tennis Academy’s Central...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

The takeover of a prime venue at an exclusive Hong Kong sports club in Central has been postponed following opposition from some members, who have also called on management to scrap the plan entirely, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source said that following a meeting involving members of the Hong Kong Golf & Tennis Academy (HKGTA), the date of the merger of operations for its Town Club at Central’s New World Tower with private members’ club Carlyle & Co would be pushed back by

FBI Director Kash Patel denies drinking allegations...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

FBI Director Kash Patel angrily lashed out at a Democratic lawmaker at a budget hearing Tuesday, calling allegations that he drinks excessively on the job and has been unreachable to his staff at times “unequivocally, categorically false”. “I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent statements from the media,” Patel told Senator Chris Van Hollen during a testy exchange that began when the Maryland Democrat confronted him about a recent article in The Atlantic magazine that...

After nearly 9 years, Trump is landing in a totally...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China comes as the US-Iran war disrupts global energy supplies, fuels economic uncertainty and adds fresh strain to Washington-Beijing ties. In this story, part of a series examining how rivalry, interdependence and geopolitical crises are reshaping the relationship between the two powers, we explore how the countries’ standing in the world has changed – mostly to China’s benefit – since Trump’s previous trip. When US President Donald Trump

Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ playbook is failing as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

Against the backdrop of a shifting diplomatic landscape, US President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Beijing this week for a high-stakes summit. While Washington frames the visit, delayed by the war in Iran, as a pivotal effort to rebalance ties, the bravado of maximum pressure masks a deepening domestic vulnerability. Trump’s arrival comes at a critical juncture; his administration faces multiple crises. The looming 2026 midterms have intensified pressure from a restless agricultural...

French hantavirus patient ‘critical on artificial...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

A French woman infected in the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung, a doctor at the Paris hospital caring for the sickened passenger said on Tuesday. The outbreak has now reached 11 total reported cases, nine of which have been confirmed. Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America. The French passenger hospitalised in...

US defence secretary joins Trump on China trip in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has become the first American defence chief in decades to accompany a sitting president on a state visit to China, in a rare departure from long-established diplomatic practice. Hegseth boarded Air Force One bound for Beijing alongside US President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon, according to the White House. Trump is set to hold highly anticipated bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday. A South China Morning Post tally

Beijing calls Paraguay leaders willing ‘chess pieces’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

Beijing lashed out at Paraguay on Monday after President Santiago Pena wrapped up a four-day visit to Taiwan, branding Paraguayan leaders as willing “chess pieces” for independence forces on the self-ruled island that China claims as its own territory. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China “firmly opposes and condemns” the trip and urged Asuncion to “change course at an early date” and recognise the one-China principle. “The wheels of history wait for no one. Rejecting the

Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ to cost US$1.2 trillion, may...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

US President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence shield will cost as much as US$1.2 trillion to deploy and operate, six times above current forecasts, according to a new estimate – and would still probably fail to stop an all-out attack. The new forecast from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office relies on capabilities spelled out in Trump’s January 2025 executive order unveiling the idea rather than any government plan because the administration has given no details about what

China presses Pakistan to deepen Iran mediation ahead...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on Tuesday urged Pakistan to ramp up mediation efforts in the Iran crisis, as the war threatens to overshadow US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. In a call with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, Wang lauded Pakistan’s efforts in facilitating negotiations between Washington and Tehran and helping to extend the ceasefire. But he also called for Pakistan to “step up its mediation efforts to contribute to … the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the...

Trump heads to Beijing seeking stability in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

US President Donald Trump departed for China on Tuesday for a closely watched summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, carrying hopes of stabilising ties between the world’s two largest economies, even as deep divisions remain over trade, Taiwan and global security crises. Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening ahead of two days of meetings with Xi, his first trip to China since 2017, and the first state visit between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White...

US Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary is out,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/12

⁠US Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary resigned on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said, the latest leadership change at the federal health department which comes after weeks of public speculation and a mounting pressure campaign. FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Kyle Diamantas will lead the agency in an acting capacity, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Politico first reported the development. “Marty is a terrific guy, but he’s ‌going to go on and he’s going to lead

Deaf artist who lost life’s work in Hong Kong’s Tai...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/10

For Hong Kong-based artist Apple Tong Wing-yin, Wang Fuk Court has always been more than a home address. It was a library of her life’s work.Tong, a prominent deaf illustrator and graphic designer who communicates through what she calls her “silent language” of art, kept the many canvases that spoke for her inside her flat in the Tai Po housing estate. In November last year, that library was reduced to ash in one of Hong Kong’s deadliest fires. She lost everything – her awards, her backlog

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