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News - South China Morning Post

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Green group calls for action after Hong Kong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

A green group has called for long-term measures to tackle overtourism in Hong Kong’s scenic Sai Kung district after the number of tents at a campsite reached more than nine times its capacity on the second day of Lunar New Year, although authorities described the situation as “under control”. Greenpeace said on Thursday that it had counted 585 tents at the Ham Tin Wan and Sai Wan campsites the previous day, far exceeding the designated capacity of 50 at each location. Ham Tin Wan had 450

Protect Hongkongers in Japan, authorities urge Tokyo...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Authorities in Hong Kong have expressed concern to the Japanese consulate after a resident was struck on the head with a beer bottle in Sapporo, urging Tokyo to better protect visitors from the city. Thursday’s statement followed a warning issued a day earlier by the Chinese consulate in Sapporo advising nationals against travelling to Japan, at a time when relations between Beijing and Tokyo are at a low point. However, local tour operators said the attack was likely to be an isolated

Hong Kong hotels, tourist-area eateries report brisk...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Hong Kong’s hotels and tourist-area restaurants have reported robust business during the Lunar New Year holiday, even as an increase in outbound travel by residents underscored the city’s increasingly visitor-driven festival economy. An industry leader said the city had also seen more mainland Chinese tourists this year partly because of worsening ties between China and Japan. Figures from the Immigration Department released on Thursday showed locals left the city in droves from February 13

China’s EV momentum slows as pricier batteries steer...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Rising battery costs and a cooling car market are likely to tilt China’s electric-vehicle race in favour of hybrids this year, as budget-conscious consumers turn away from fully electric models, analysts say. Material cost inflation is expected to slow momentum for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), allowing plug-in hybrids to regain market share after years of rapid electrification in the world’s largest car market. “A loss of pure electric car sales can be expected this year due to

Former prince Andrew arrested and held for hours on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

The former prince Andrew was arrested and held for hours by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein, an extraordinary move in a country where authorities once sought to shield the royal family from embarrassment. It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest, and it underscored how deference to the monarchy has eroded in recent years. King Charles, whose late mother lived

Is Singapore’s plan to regulate blind boxes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Attracted by the element of surprise, Faye Jimeno is a regular buyer of blind boxes – toys or merchandise sold in sealed packaging, with consumers unaware of their design until after a purchase.The 33-year-old creative executive from Singapore said her passion for blind boxes began in 2021, and their attractiveness and mystique had led her to buy them weekly, mainly in shops located in shopping centres. “They are compact, relatively affordable and easy to purchase on a whim… Beyond that,...

Tokyo defence involvement in Taiwan would amount to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

China’s envoy to the United Nations, Fu Cong, has warned that any military involvement by Japan in the Taiwan issue would amount to aggression against Beijing, which would “retaliate resolutely”. Fu told a UN meeting on Wednesday that Tokyo had publicly tied the question of the island’s defence to what it called an existential crisis and that Japan was “attempting to intervene militarily in the Taiwan issue under the guise of collective self-defence”. But those were “fallacies” that betrayed...

Can Trump’s Board of Peace succeed while Hamas still...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Hamas is cementing its hold over Gaza by placing loyalists in key government roles, collecting taxes and paying salaries, according to an Israeli military assessment and sources in the Palestinian enclave. Hamas’ continuing influence over key Gaza power structures has fuelled widespread scepticism about the prospects of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which requires the militant group to give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory. Trump’s...

India-Europe trade corridor gathers pace as Modi,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

India and France have agreed to strengthen links between two of their largest ports and others, giving fresh momentum for a proposed commercial corridor stretching from South Asia to Europe that analysts say could rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The agreement between India’s Adani Ports and France’s Port of Marseille Fos marks a key step towards realising the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). The memorandum of understanding, signed on Wednesday, calls for the creation

Iran sentences British couple on world motorcycle...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

A British couple detained in Iran since January last year have been sentenced to 10 years in jail for espionage, their family announced on Thursday, prompting condemnation from the UK government. Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their fifties, were arrested while travelling through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey, according to relatives, and have consistently denied Tehran’s spying claims. Their family say the sentences follow a court appearance last October which

China says it won’t seek reciprocity with South...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

China will not seek reciprocity in its latest trade agreement with South Africa, its ambassador said, as Beijing prepares to roll out an expanded zero-tariff policy for African nations from May 1. The deal means South African goods can enter the Chinese market tax-free without any requirement for Pretoria to reciprocate by lowering its own import duties on products from China. “In this process, China will fully accommodate South Africa’s interests and will not seek reciprocity,” Chinese...

‘Reversed parenting’: China couples imitate their...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

A novel way of bringing up children, known as “reversed parenting”, has become popular among millennial Chinese parents. The trend sees mothers and fathers mimic the behaviour of their children to promote more equal conversations. It stems from a viral incident in November 2022, when a mother in Heilongjiang province, northeastern China, allowed her daughter to experience the harsh winter cold first-hand. In freezing temperatures, the woman’s three-year-old insisted on going outside in a thin...

Chinese tourists escaping cold flock to Malaysia for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

More people in China are choosing to stay away from their villages and families during Lunar New Year, according to Chinese national and businessman Xue Gang, 44. “Our parents do not mind, and even my parents are currently travelling around China. “Maybe next year I will bring them to Penang to witness the celebrations here,” he said. Xue, who was in Malaysia’s Penang state with his wife, daughter and friends, said festive performances were no longer common to enjoy back home. “If we want to...

Crowds continue to flood Hong Kong attractions...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Locals and visitors flocked to popular destinations across Hong Kong on the third day of Lunar New Year on Thursday, despite official data showing a nearly 16 per cent increase in net outflow during the holiday period. Crowds began building up at about 10am on The Peak and at Sha Tin’s Che Kung Temple, with authorities later reporting that footfall at the High Island Reservoir’s East Dam, a popular tourist spot, in Sai Kung ranged between 500 and 999 visitors from around noon to

Peru Congress picks country’s eighth president in a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Peruvian lawmakers picked Jose Maria Balcazar as the country’s new interim president on Wednesday, making him the country’s eighth leader in a decade after Jose Jeri was impeached on corruption allegations. The left-wing lawmaker was elected head of Peru’s Congress after a vote broadcast live on TV, meaning the 83-year-old lawyer and former judge will become Peru’s eighth head of state since 2016. The vote brought to an end a power vacuum of more than 24 hours, unprecedented in the country’s...

‘Romance’ between scientists and AI leads to progress...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Chinese scientists have used artificial intelligence to make progress on a more than 300-year-old maths problem that has implications for large-scale data storage and advanced telecommunications. Using an AI system called PackingStar, the researchers made record-breaking advances on the “kissing number” problem, surpassing the limits of human geometric intuition and standard computing. The work done by the team was like a “romance” between machines and humans exploring science together, they...

Satellite photos show Iran has been repairing and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Satellite images show that Iran has recently built a concrete shield over a new facility at a sensitive military site and covered it in soil, experts ⁠say, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel ⁠in 2024 amid tensions with the United States. Images also show that Iran has buried tunnel ⁠entrances at a nuclear site bombed by the US during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last year, fortified tunnel entrances near another, and has repaired missile bases struck in the

Why China’s fast turnaround gives its projects an...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Chinese deals in Kenya often move from signing to construction in less than a year, according to the head of the African country’s investment agency, with most of the agreements signed during Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to Beijing in 2025 well under way. John Mwendwa, CEO of the Kenya Investment Authority (InvestKenya), noted that in contrast, projects funded by the West typically took longer due to stricter environmental, social and governance standards and complex regulatory...

Chinese AI and robotics firms appoint millennial and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Chinese tech companies from Tencent Holdings to AgiBot have named millennials and even Gen Z talent as chief scientists to lead cutting-edge research into artificial intelligence and robotics. The most watched is Vinces Yao Shunyu, who turns 28 this year. He is a former researcher at OpenAI and joined Tencent in December as chief AI scientist under the CEO’s office, reporting directly to president Martin Lau Chi-ping. A graduate of Princeton University and Tsinghua University, Yao was a core...

How Guangdong drivers are celebrating Lunar New Year...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/19

Some of the roughly 500 Guangdong motorists in the southbound travel scheme drove into Hong Kong’s urban areas during the Lunar New Year holiday for offbeat sightseeing and festive shopping. Authorities said bookings under the “Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles” scheme were “favourable”, with more than 500 cars entering the city in the early days of the holiday. Visitors were spotted in left-hand drive vehicles with FT-prefixed number plates. Among them were a Mini Cooper driver who...

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