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News - South China Morning Post

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Why Beijing has struggled to rally Asia against Japan...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

China and Japan’s long-standing rivalry has deep historic roots, and relations between the two have taken a significant turn for the worse in recent months. This, the second in a three-part series, looks at whether Beijing overplayed its hand on the Taiwan issue in the face of what is a ‘strategic reality’ for Japan and how it may leverage its history of Japanese aggression. Find the first part here. More than four months into the bitter chill that has settled over China-Japan relations, the...

Fears grow over US drug supply’s rising dependence on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Beijing’s global pharmaceutical push is following a playbook seen in rare earths, semiconductors and electric vehicles, US lawmakers said on Wednesday, as concerns grow over the United States’ reliance on Chinese drug ingredients. “China is cornering the market on our medicines – from the supply of generic drugs that Americans depend on every day, to the cutting-edge biotech pipeline that will determine who leads medicine in the years and decades ahead,” said John Moolenaar, the chair of the...

Europe says no to Trump’s Iran demands: ‘not our war’

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

When US President Donald Trump ⁠asked countries to join a global effort against Iran and deploy ships to prise open the Strait of Hormuz, whose near closure has held the global economy in a vice, he was rebuffed by some of America’s closest allies. Using unusually blunt language, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told his country’s lawmakers on Wednesday that he agreed Iran must not be allowed to pose a threat to its neighbours but expressed doubts about the rationale behind the US-Israeli...

Iran can still attack US interests, government...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Iran’s government has been degraded since the war began on February 28, but it ⁠appears to be intact and Tehran and its proxies remain capable of attacking US and allies’ interests in the Middle East, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Wednesday. “The regime in Iran appears to be intact but largely degraded by Operation Epic Fury,” Gabbard said, referring to the US-Israel military campaign against Iran, in her opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s...

US Fed defies Trump to keep interest rates unchanged...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as expected, in defiance of President Donald Trump as the world’s largest economy battles stubborn inflation, weak labour demand and an “uncertain” outlook due to the war in Iran. The Fed’s 11-1 vote kept rates steady at a range between 3.50 per cent and 3.75 per cent, with officials flagging one expected rate cut by the end of the year. “The implications of developments in the Middle East for the US economy are uncertain,” the...

US says mainland China not planning to attack Taiwan...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Beijing is unlikely to attack Taiwan next year, given security and economic deterrents, including its belief that an amphibious assault could fail and that the technological, supply chain and investor costs would be huge, according to a US threat assessment released on Wednesday. The intelligence overview appeared to walk back a projection by the Pentagon last year that Beijing wanted to take the self-governing island by force as early as 2027 and comes as US President Donald Trump takes a

Iran blames Israel for gas field attack, fires at...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Iran accused Israel of striking its facilities in the huge South Pars gas field on Wednesday in a major escalation in the US-Israeli war that sent oil prices shooting higher, and retaliated by vowing attacks on oil and gas targets throughout the Gulf, firing missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Qatar’s state oil giant QatarEnergy reported “extensive damage” after the Ras Laffan Industrial City, an energy-industry hub, was hit by Iranian missiles. Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and

Trump allows foreign ships between domestic ports to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

US President Donald Trump has announced a temporary 60-day suspension of the Jones Act, the century-old law that mandates cargo moving between domestic ports be transported on vessels built, operated and staffed by American citizens or permanent residents. The move comes in response to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – a key chokepoint – amid the escalating US-Israeli war against Iran, which has triggered the most severe global oil supply disruption in recent history. The waiver allows...

2 Hongkongers held after raids on 3 illegal fuel...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Hong Kong authorities have raided three illegal fuelling stations and arrested two men, seizing more than 1,800 litres (475.5 gallons) of petrol with an estimated market value of HK$54,000 (US$6,891) as oil prices continue to spike amid the widening conflict in the Middle East.The joint crackdown by the Fire Services Department and the Customs and Excise Department in the past week also led to the detention of three vehicles and the arrest of a suspected station operator and...

Chaos over Donald Trump’s China trip likely to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Visits to China by foreign leaders are tightly choreographed and meticulously planned affairs, even by the usual standards of international diplomacy. But the chaotic nature of Donald Trump’s White House and his request to delay a planned visit to China in the wake of his decision to attack Iran are widely believed to be causing increasing frustration in Beijing. The South China Morning Post has previously reported that preparations for the visit had been dogged by problems, with the Chinese...

Hong Kong securities watchdog urges stock exchange to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Hong Kong’s securities regulator on Wednesday recommended strengthening the stock exchange’s regulations to better protect investors following a review of 2024 compliance and enforcement cases. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) submitted its findings after vetting listed companies’ internal control reviews, their handling of late auditor resignations and the processes of the Hong Kong stock exchange’s listing division. The regulator noted that while thestock exchange “had taken

Zelensky urges EU to bypass Hungary’s ‘blackmail’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged the European Union to overcome a veto by Hungary on a €90 billion (US$103 billion) loan vital for his country. Zelensky, during a visit to Madrid to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, said he considered that the “main issue” of an EU summit to be held Thursday and Friday in Brussels. “We are really counting on the countries and the EU to find ways to resolve this issue,” he said. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban – Russian...

Why tariffs aren’t the biggest factor holding back...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

When the Trump administration rolled out sweeping tariffs on “Liberation Day” in April 2025, the reaction across Southeast Asia was swift: markets dipped, supply chains scrambled and governments went into damage control. Governments had a choice: retaliate or negotiate. They negotiated. Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia have signed Agreements on Reciprocal Trade with the United States. Those deals lowered tariffs from their peak levels and opened market

Red Sea fix? China-bound oil tankers tap Saudi plan...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Saudi Arabia is activating its Red Sea “Plan B” to divert crude via the port of Yanbu, allowing tankers – including Chinese very large crude carriers (VLCCs) – to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, though analysts warn the route has limited capacity. The move comes after Iran effectively closed the strait in response to United States and Israeli military strikes, a conflict now in its third week that has rattled global energy markets. New Vista, a VLCC owned by China Merchants Energy Shipping, had...

Iranian women footballers return home after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

The Iranian women’s soccer team crossed the Turkish border into Iran on Wednesday to complete a fraught return journey from Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there. Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran. Concerns over their safety surfaced when several players failed to sing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match...

Chinese experts assess military decapitation in Iran,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Iran’s power structure, succession mechanism and geographic conditions are all factors in its military resilience, despite the decapitation of its leadership by the US and Israel, according to Chinese experts. They also said the United States was unlikely to achieve regime change in Iran without deploying ground forces, a lesson one expert argued Beijing would take into account for any operation on Taiwan. Beginning on February 28, the US and Israel have killed a string of senior Iranian...

Hong Kong campsite operator who murdered ‘alien’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

A Hong Kong campsite operator has been convicted of murdering his live-in girlfriend and sentenced to life imprisonment after telling police he believed she was an alien, with the judge describing the killing as a “vicious, brutal and savage attack and murder”. A High Court jury of four men and three women on Wednesday unanimously found Tang Lung-fai, 56, guilty of causing the death of Fok Sin-yee, 38, who was also known as Maggie, on or about April 14, 2022. Madam Justice Susana D’Almada...

Hong Kong to establish global version of university...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Hong Kong’s education authorities plan to establish an “internationally benchmarked” version of the city’s university entrance exam on a pilot basis to allow foreign students to apply for admission to higher education institutions both locally and in mainland China. They revealed that technical explorations and studies with relevant bodies on developing the international version of the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exam were under way. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin

Pakistan’s fuel smugglers squeezed by rising costs as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

In Pakistan’s southwestern mountains, pickup trucks loaded with plastic cans of fuel smuggled from Iran line dusty roads as youngsters unload the containers, fill smaller cans and strap them onto motorbikes to supply nearby markets. The illicit trade has long thrived in the region but is feeling the knock-on effects of the war which has engulfed the Middle East following US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Supplies coming across the 900km (560-mile) border between Pakistan and Iran have dropped by...

China-based Cosco Shipping Ports expects ‘limited’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/18

Cosco Shipping Ports, a unit of state-owned giant Cosco Shipping, reported modest earnings growth for 2025, as management expects to expand in emerging markets amid rising geopolitical risks to global trade. Net profit rose 1.1 per cent to US$312.1 million, and revenue increased 11 per cent to US$1.67 billion, according to its 2025 results. Total container throughput climbed 6.2 per cent to 153 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The company’s overseas terminals saw strong growth,

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