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News - South China Morning Post

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Angry passengers left high and dry after Star Cruises...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Star Cruises cancelled a scheduled departure from Hong Kong on Friday evening because of “an unforeseen technical issue”, leaving angry passengers who had waited for hours to board complaining they had been treated like “refugees”. The cruise operator apologised, offering customers the choice of rescheduling or a full refund. “Star Cruises regrets to inform [passengers] that the Star Voyager sailing scheduled on February 13, for the ‘2 Night High Seas Cruise’ departing from Hong Kong Ocean...

US inflation cools more than expected, kindling hopes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Consumer inflation in the US cooled slightly more than expected in January, government data showed Friday, as energy prices dipped. Analysts say the figure allows the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again later this year, but warn that policymakers need to see sustained improvement to do so – despite US President Donald Trump’s insistence that there is virtually no inflation. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.4 per cent year-on-year, the Department of Labour said, down from

Pentagon adds Chinese firms to military list, then...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

In a move that escalates tensions between Beijing and Washington just weeks ahead of US President Donald Trump’s anticipated trip to Beijing, the Pentagon added a wide range of Chinese companies to a list of firms with alleged links to the military before withdrawing the document. Giants like Alibaba Group Holding, Baidu and BYD are among the firms added to the list. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post. Released on Friday, the updated designation also names firms...

As Chinese provinces slash revenue outlook, analysts...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Fiscal strains are forcing Chinese provinces to slash their budget-revenue expectations for 2026 due to the knock-on effects of a five-year property market slump, and analysts cite the shift as a warning sign that intense debt pressures continue to drag down the nation’s economic growth outlook. Major provinces are budgeting for 2 to 3 per cent growth this year in general public operating revenue, broadly in line with last year but below broader economic growth targets, Fitch Ratings said in

China mulls US manufacturing fund ahead of Xi-Trump...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

China and the US are likely to secure several “very positive” outcomes but not a “grand bargain” at their presidential summit in April, according to the board chief of a major American business lobby. James Zimmerman, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said on Friday that “the optics [of] announcing deals” such as aircraft and soybean sales might be US President Donald Trump’s main objective for his meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing this

Chinese power line projects seek private capital in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

In the latest sign of China’s push to channel private capital into infrastructure, several local governments have begun actively seeking private investors for two major ultra-high-voltage power line projects – the first schemes of their kind to open up to non-state funding since a Beijing directive encouraging the practice last November. China is building a series of vast power lines to funnel clean energy from its resource-rich but sparsely populated western regions to power-hungry

Hong Kong’s West Kowloon arts hub secures HK$3...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

The authority managing Hong Kong’s West Kowloon arts hub has averted a funding crisis after securing a longer-than-usual 10-year loan facility of HK$3 billion, which comes in addition to a US$1 billion (US$383.8 million) bond sale programme announced earlier. The financing would provide a much-needed lifeline to the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in the coming decade before its residential property development could start to generate income, board chairman Bernard Chan said on...

Hong Kong to test 5-second facial recognition...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Hong Kong plans to test a new clearance channel using facial recognition at one of its checkpoints by June to cut processing time to five seconds, with immigration authorities handling a record 335 million people entering and leaving the city last year. Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung said at an annual press conference on Friday the city handled 12 per cent more passengers overall than in 2024. “Last year’s record high immigration figures mean that our immigration clearance work

Will tourism slump force Trump to rethink his...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

As Hong Kong braces itself for the Lunar New Year tourist surge, and perhaps long-awaited evidence of a return to the tourism heydays of 2017 and 2018, spare a thought for the US and mounting evidence of a “Trump slump” in US tourism this year. While UN Tourism data shows that international tourism was up by 4 per cent globally in 2025 – back to levels not seen since the Covid-19 crash in international travel – the US stood alone worldwide, with at least a 4 per cent fall. US President Donald...

Missing French tourist in Chad found dead ‘after a fall’

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

A French tourist who went missing in northeastern Chad after heading off to visit an oasis in the desert has been found dead “after a fall”, Chad’s tourism minister said on Friday. The 70-year-old man – from the city of Dijon, according to a French newspaper report – had been missing since Wednesday. He was part of a group visiting Chad for the International Festival of Saharan Cultures in the city of Amdjarass, about 100km (60 miles) from the Sudan border. “We found the body in the Bachekele...

Beware of ‘political swindlers’, China’s cadres...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

China’s anti-corruption watchdogs have again put cadres on notice, ordering tighter discipline and greater scrutiny of Communist Party officials in the countdown to next year’s leadership reshuffle. Among the fresh warnings on Thursday was a caution against associating with “political swindlers”, people who fraudulently claim to have links to senior officials so they can peddle promotions for cash. The orders were issued jointly by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the...

Beijing and Tokyo in new maritime stand-off after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Beijing has urged Tokyo to protect its crew members’ rights after Japan said it had seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its captain. Japanese authorities said the incident occurred on Thursday inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off its southwestern Nagasaki prefecture after the Chinese vessel allegedly tried to flee an inspection. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Friday that the Chinese government had consistently required the country’s fishermen to operate...

China charges former AstraZeneca executive – what it...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

AstraZeneca’s former China head has been formally charged with medical insurance fraud, illegal trading and unlawful collection of personal information, more than a year after he first came under investigation – casting a shadow over the Swedish-British drug maker’s expansion in its second-largest market. The pharmaceutical giant confirmed to the Financial Times and Reuters that Leon Wang was one of two individuals indicted, as referenced in its latest earnings report published on Tuesday.

Chinese fighter jets locked radar on foreign stealth...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

China’s official military paper has revealed another incident in which PLA fighter jets radar-locked a foreign stealth aircraft, four months after state media reported a similar encounter. A social media account affiliated with the PLA Daily said in an article published on Wednesday that Eastern Theatre Command fighter jets locked their radar onto a foreign stealth aircraft at a distance of 800 metres (2,624 feet). The article did not say when or where the encounter took place. Military...

China, US top diplomats Wang Yi, Marco Rubio meet in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The meeting comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China in April. The trip is expected to take place in early April, although the exact dates have yet to be confirmed. Trump has said that Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will visit the United States “towards the end of the year” but details of that trip also have

US ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon to enter plea in Minnesota...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is due in federal court in Minnesota on Friday to enter a plea in a criminal case stemming from his coverage of a protest at a church against US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Lemon, now an independent journalist, livestreamed a protest against Trump’s deployment of ‌thousands of armed immigration agents into Democratic-governed Minnesota’s biggest cities. The protest disrupted a January 18 service at Cities Church in St Paul. He was charged with...

22 arrested as Hong Kong’s ICAC raids firms linked to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Hong Kong’s anti-graft watchdog has arrested 22 people on suspicion of corruption and other illicit activities linked to seven building renovation projects worth more than HK$200 million (US$25.6 million). The suspects – 17 men and five women, aged 36 to 78 – included directors and employees of four project consultancy firms and three contractors, as well as several chairmen of owners’ committees of the housing estates and buildings. The arrests followed a two-day operation, code-named “Lion...

How garlic in brides’ dowries in China promotes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Garlic occupies a unique position in Chinese wedding traditions and broader cultural beliefs. In parts of Guangdong province, brides traditionally include garlic in their dowries, as it is believed to ward off evil spirits, dispel negative energy, and enhance feng shui in southern China. China stands as the largest producer and consumer of garlic globally, which serves as a foundational aromatic ingredient, alongside ginger and spring onions, in most regional Chinese cuisines. In traditional...

China tightens gold trading rules in Shenzhen after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Authorities in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen have warned gold market operators not to use exaggerated slogans such as “get rich by buying gold”, barring them from making inflated promises to retail investors after two trading platforms failed amid sharp price swings in global markets. Ten government departments – including the local financial regulatory bureau and the Shenzhen branch of the People’s Bank of China – issued a notice on Friday to “prevent and defuse market risks, protect...

China overhauls consumer price basket, with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/13

Beijing has for the first time revealed the intricate composition of China’s consumer price index (CPI) basket, and a fresh recalibration sees it shift more weight towards services and new types of consumption goods. The basket adjustment itself, conducted every five years, comes as the Chinese leadership seeks to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of deflationary pressure while avoiding a prolonged Japan-style spiralling of prices. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has...

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