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News - South China Morning Post

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China caught between Iran and Gulf states as Tehran...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

As missiles fly throughout the Middle East, China is walking a diplomatic tightrope between strategic partner Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council states, with whom it has deep economic ties. All six GCC members have been struck as Tehran has widened its retaliation for US and Israeli attacks that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior officials. Its strikes have also expanded beyond United States’ assets to include landmark buildings and airports, causing death and...

Song Ping, ‘loyal communist fighter’, dies aged 108...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

Song Ping, a veteran Chinese revolutionary who lived through five generations of Communist Party leaders, has died at the age of 108. He died at 3.36pm in Beijing on Wednesday, state news agency Xinhua reported, describing him as a loyal communist fighter, and an outstanding state and party leader. Song’s career began in the 1930s before the founding of the People’s Republic including a spell as political secretary to the future premier Zhou Enlai. Song held many important positions during

10 exhibitors and Iranian buying mission miss Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

About 10 exhibitors and an Iranian buying mission have missed the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show due to disruptions caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, while some Middle Eastern participants are bracing for weaker sales amid the conflict. The event, which opened on Wednesday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, is being held alongside the Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show at AsiaWorld-Expo. The two shows feature about 4,000 exhibitors from over 40

Hong Kong launches 3-year action plan to help...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

Hong Kong has launched its first action plan on weight management, aiming to reduce the proportion of people who are overweight or obese to less than half the population in three years from the current 51.3 per cent of adults. On Wednesday, World Obesity Day, the Department of Health announced more than 40 measures, ranging from installing more weighing scales in government venues to exploring the inclusion of novel weight-loss injections in the drug formulary, in a bid to reverse the rising...

What a historical smash hit tells us about China’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

As the world watches in horror at death raining from the skies in the Middle East, millions of Chinese are glued to the television watching a turbulent drama that unfolded in their own country, albeit some eleven centuries ago. Swords into Ploughshares, a historical TV drama set during the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, has emerged as an unexpected smash hit coming into China’s festive season. Yet it is more than just a television phenomenon. In some ways, it sheds light on

Trump’s Iran attack sparks calls in Russia to abandon...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

When US President Donald Trump returned ⁠to the White House last year, some Russian hardliners were cautiously optimistic, hoping his unpredictability ⁠and transactional nature might benefit Moscow on Ukraine. But his attack on Iran means many now see him as a growing threat to Russia itself and are questioning if Trump is the pragmatic, potentially pro-Moscow strongman ready to deal in realpolitik that they thought he was. Some hawks are publicly demanding that Moscow abandon US-brokered

China’s EV battery leader CATL to step up use of AI...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

The founder and chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) said his company plans to ramp up the use of artificial intelligence in research and take Chinese battery technology and standards further overseas, as the battery giant maps the next phase of growth. The world’s largest maker of electric vehicle (EV) batteries would step up research and development (R&D) spending and apply more AI methods to strengthen its technological edge, said billionaire Robin Zeng Yuqun at a

Mideast oil crisis revives stagflation spectre,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

Rising energy costs driven by Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions may provide some relief to China’s years-long struggle with weak prices, but analysts warn that a spike in oil prices could spark a scenario in which stagnant economic growth collides with rising inflation, hindering the nation’s economic recovery. “Rising oil prices [could] lead to stagflation, which helps increase the inflation rate but also leads to a decline in economic growth and an increase in unemployment,” said Su

China actress, 75, triggers debate by playing teenage...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

A 75-year-old Chinese actress has ignited a nationwide debate over age representation after portraying a teenage girl and sharing a kiss with a much younger male co-star in a mini-drama. Liu Xiaoqing, a cherished figure in Chinese cinema with over 10 million social media followers, has long been celebrated for her youthful energy and commitment to her craft, earning her the title of China’s “ageless goddess.” In the mini-drama Splendid Tranquility, which aired in February, Liu plays Su

What’s the one big thing missing from Beijing’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/04

Beijing has built military capacity and strengthened political resolve but needs to project a more credible deterrence as it steps up unification with Taiwan over the next five years, according to a mainland Chinese policy adviser. Li Yihu, dean of the Taiwan Research Institute at Peking University, said the reunification process would enter an “accelerated phase” in the next five years and the mainland needed to do more to communicate an understanding of what he said was the inevitability of...

Top China shipbuilding voice Li Yanqing on why the US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

Li Yanqing, executive vice-president and secretary general of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (Cansi), discusses the impact of US trade policies, global market cycles and China’s strategic pivot towards high-quality manufacturing.As a shipbuilding veteran who also serves as chairman of the ISO/TC 8 ships and marine technology committee, which oversees international standardisation for shipbuilding and marine operations, Li is a prominent voice for China’s industry

Supporters of ex-president Bolsonaro rally across...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro demonstrated in cities across the South American nation on Sunday, as organisers hoped to build momentum for a right-wing victory in the coming presidential elections. Protesters draped in yellow and green – the colours of the national flag – took to the streets in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the capital Brasilia to voice their opposition to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who faces a tough re-election bid in...

Now is the time for China to show it’s serious about...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

As China’s leaders convene for the annual “two sessions” starting this week, the eyes of the world will be fixed on Beijing. This gathering is no ordinary policy meeting. Beyond setting the economic growth target for 2026, it will finalise the 15th five-year plan (2026–2030), a blueprint that will define the nation’s economic and social priorities for the second half of this decade. In an era of intensifying great-power competition, particularly with the United States, these decisions will

CIA tracked Iranian leaders ‘for months’ before...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

The CIA had been tracking the movements of senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for months. That is according to a person familiar with the operation who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on Sunday on condition of anonymity. The intelligence was shared with Israeli officials, and the timing of this weekend’s strikes was adjusted in part because of that information, the person said. The New York Times earlier reported on the CIA’s efforts

Iran football federation chief says World Cup...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

Iran’s football federation president Mehdi Taj has given a bleak outlook regarding the World Cup in summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada the day after the US and Israel started air attacks against his country. “What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 on Sunday. “The US regime has attacked our homeland and this is an incident that will not go unanswered.” Iran has been drawn into

Suspect in Texas shooting wore ‘Property of Allah’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

Federal authorities are investigating whether a shooting outside a bar in Austin, Texas early on Sunday was a reaction to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, people familiar with the investigation said. The gunman who killed two people at a bar in Texas early Sunday in a shooting that left 14 others wounded was wearing a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah”, and another shirt with an Iranian flag design, a law enforcement official told Associated Press. The shooter has been identified as...

Pentagon confirms three American deaths in Iran war

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

US President Donald Trump vowed to press ahead with a sweeping military campaign against Iran until US objectives are fully achieved, warning that additional American casualties were likely even as Washington intensified what he described as one of the largest offensives in modern history. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said in a video posted on social media, referring to the deaths of three US service members confirmed earlier by the US Central Command. “That’s the

Hongkong Post’s airmail services to 24 countries...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

Hong Kong’s public airmail services to 24 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia have been affected after a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran forced flight cancellations to two Gulf states and disrupted transit journeys. A Hongkong Post spokesman said on Sunday evening that the department’s airmail services to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were suspended with immediate effect until further notice. “Airmail services transiting through these locations will also be...

Khamenei is dead. But China’s ties with Iran will...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

China has strongly condemned the killing of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which has left Tehran in turmoil and the Middle East facing a major regional escalation. However, analysts believe that China’s position as Iran’s top oil buyer and trade partner will endure through any political upheaval. They also expect Beijing to adopt a pragmatic approach towards Iran’s next leadership, despite the potential threat to Chinese diplomatic and defence ambitions in the Middle East...

Is Europe, the world’s geopolitical punching bag,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/01

For over a year, Europe has become the world’s geopolitical punching bag, taking economic roundhouses from the east and geopolitical uppercuts from the west without ever swinging back. From US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and covetous glances at Greenland to Beijing’s rare earth embargoes and lightning blockade of semiconductor shipments, Europe’s first response has been to freeze, not fight. But now, it may be ready to counterpunch. After a fresh Trump tariff threat emerged last week, a...

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