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CIA targets Chinese military officers in new...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

The CIA released a provocative recruitment video on Thursday targeting Chinese military officers, a move that exposes the underlying tensions threatening a fragile calm in US-China relations ahead of April’s highly anticipated meeting between the two countries’ leaders. The release of the recruitment video comes on the same day US President Donald Trump boasted about his “very good relationship” with China. It is likely to draw the ire of Beijing in the lead-up to the key diplomatic meeting

UK’s top civil servant quits as PM Starmer tries to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

The UK’s top civil servant resigned Thursday, the third senior aide to Prime Minister Keir Starmer to quit in a matter of days in fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. “Chris Wormald will stand down as the cabinet secretary and head of the civil service by mutual agreement from today,” said a joint statement released by the government. His departure comes after two top aides quit earlier this week over the row triggered by the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington...

UK nursery worker Vincent Chan jailed for sexually...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

A UK childcare worker who filmed himself sexually abusing youngsters at a nursery where he worked and downloaded over 26,000 indecent images of children was on Thursday jailed for 18 years. Vincent Chan, 45, who admitted a raft of 56 charges including sexual assault, was described in court as “every parent’s worst nightmare”. Passing sentence, Judge John Dodd told him he was guilty of an “utterly wicked, perverse and depraved” campaign of sexual abuse. “You became a sexual predator and

Hong Kong diners urged to avoid raw oysters as more...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

Hong Kong health authorities have urged diners not to eat raw oysters for the time being after another seven people in two groups suffered norovirus-related food poisoning from consuming the seafood.The Centre for Health Protection said on Thursday that six women and a man, aged between 24 and 45, came down with diarrhoea, abdominal pain, vomiting and fever around 28 to 36 hours after dining at a branch of the O Delice! French bistro chain in Tsim Sha Tsui on January 31 and February 1. Three...

Trump privately weighs quitting USMCA trade pact he...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

US President Donald Trump is privately musing about exiting the North American trade pact, people familiar with the matter said, injecting further uncertainty about the deal’s future into pivotal renegotiations involving the US, Canada and Mexico. The president has asked aides why he shouldn’t withdraw from the agreement, which he signed during his first term, though he has stopped short of flatly signalling that he will do so, according to the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to...

Trump’s US$10 billion BBC defamation suit going to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

A federal judge in Florida on Thursday set a February 2027 trial date for US President Donald Trump’s US$10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC. Trump filed the suit against the British broadcaster last year over the editing of his speech ahead of the US Capitol riot in a documentary on the flagship BBC current affairs programme Panorama. Trump alleges that the BBC’s editing of his January 6, 2021 speech made it appear that he had explicitly urged supporters to attack the Capitol,

Hong Kong’s West Kowloon arts hub seeks US$1 billion...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

The loss-making authority that manages Hong Kong’s West Kowloon arts hub will sell bonds for the first time, aimed at raising up to US$1 billion to fund its operations. According to documents submitted to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing on Thursday, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority appointed the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) as arrangers for the medium-term note programme. This will mark the first time the authority, which

Trump to end Minnesota immigration crackdown, border...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

The immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to mass detentions, protests and two deaths is coming to an end, border tsar Tom Homan said on Thursday. Democratic Governor Tim Walz said on Tuesday that he expected Operation Metro Surge, which started in December, to end in “days, not weeks and months”, based on his conversations with senior Trump administration officials. “As a result of our efforts here, Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals,” Homan said at a news...

Hong Kong may allow more pupils to use English in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

Hong Kong is considering letting more junior secondary school pupils use English as their medium of instruction (MOI), with the education minister pointing to an improved learning environment, better qualified teachers and other developments in the sector. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also said on Thursday that publicly funded primary and secondary schools could expect more cuts in resources in the coming two years as the government tightened its belt further. The existing

China cuts EU dairy tariffs, easing trade tensions...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

China on Thursday reduced tariffs on European Union dairy imports worth over US$500 million, in the final ruling of an 18-month anti-dumping investigation started in response to the bloc’s duties on Chinese electric vehicles. The new tariffs ranging from 7.4 per cent to 11.7 per cent on dairy imports from the EU will ‌apply for a five-year period from February 13, replacing the 21.9 per cent to 42.7 per cent range imposed in a preliminary decision in December, as stated by China’s Ministry of...

China’s BYD and Geely bid for Nissan-Mercedes Mexico...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

Two of China’s leading carmakers, BYD and ⁠Geely, are among the finalists vying to purchase a Nissan–Mercedes-Benz plant in Mexico, according to a ⁠person familiar with the matter, as China seeks a manufacturing foothold in a country where US tariffs are fuelling factory closures and lay-offs. The finalists emerged from nine companies expressing interest in acquiring the factory, including at least two other major Chinese manufacturers: Chery and Great Wall Motor, according to two sources...

China bought ‘legitimate’ Venezuelan oil from US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

China has bought some Venezuelan oil that was bought earlier by the US, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “China has already bought some of the crude that’s been sold by the US government,” Wright told the media in Caracas, without giving details. “Legitimate Chinese business deals under legitimate business conditions” would be fine, he said, when asked about possible joint ventures in the country. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said he wasn’t familiar with Wright’s...

Taiwan tensions poised to be primary flashpoint of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

Taiwan is likely to be “the most critical and contentious” issue when US President Donald Trump meets his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in less than two months, according to analysts, who called on Beijing and Washington to “turn the page” on trade. They also warned there was little chance the powers would make headway on nuclear arms control – an increasingly important fault line in bilateral ties – during Trump’s visit. While his precise arrival dates were still under discussion, Trump was...

Memory price surge of ‘more than 600%’ squeezes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

A global memory supply shock is sweeping through the electronics industry, as surging component costs threaten to squeeze China’s smartphone and broadband equipment manufacturers. New data from TrendForce and Counterpoint Research point to mounting risks across the consumer electronics supply chain, with memory prices soaring amid a supply crunch driven by relentless demand from artificial intelligence data centres. Prices for memory used in consumer devices – from PCs and entry-level...

John Lee vows ‘systematic framework’ to align Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

Hong Kong’s leader John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to establish a “systematic policy framework” to align development goals with mainland China’s 15th five-year plan, aiming to formulate the city’s own blueprint by the end of the year. The chief executive made the remarks during a steering group meeting on Thursday convened to discuss Hong Kong’s participation in the nation’s five-year plan, which will guide the mainland’s economic and social development from 2026 to 2030. Lee brought up his...

Average public housing wait time in Hong Kong rises...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

Hong Kong’s average waiting time for a public rental flat rose to 5.6 years as of December, marking an increase for three consecutive quarters, as the Housing Bureau attributed the increase to high demand for flats in urban areas. According to figures announced on Thursday, the latest average waiting time for general applicants – family or elderly households – over the past 12 months was higher than the 5.5 years recorded in September and 5.4 years in June. The figure was 5.3 years, as of

10, 9, 8 ... rocket test puts China neck and neck...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

China’s latest rocket test has put the country neck and neck with the US in the race to the moon, with crewed landings before 2030 a realistic goal for both nations, according to analysts. During Wednesday’s eight-minute flight from southern Hainan province, China successfully tested two major components of its crewed lunar system: a mid-air escape of the Mengzhou crew capsule and a full launch, re-entry and splashdown of the moon rocket’s core stage. Rand Simberg, an aerospace engineer and...

More Southeast Asian human trafficking gangs use...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

Human trafficking syndicates operating across Southeast Asia are increasingly laundering their profits through cryptocurrency, a shift that reflects how swiftly these networks are scaling up and exploiting the ease of moving funds across borders, according to findings by a US blockchain analysis firm. Crypto transactions linked to suspected trafficking operations surged 85 per cent in 2025 to US$260 million, Chainalysis said in its 2026 report on crypto crimes, which tracked illicit activity

China to dismantle local power protectionism in push...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

Beijing has issued a central directive to dismantle the administrative walls dividing China’s electricity sector, signalling a decisive shift towards a unified national power market designed to support the country’s energy security and green transition. A decade into its power-sector overhaul, China is doubling down on market unity during the just-started 15th five-year planning period. These structural shifts are widely seen as indispensable to the nation’s 2030 carbon-peak target, as the...

How Washington’s lawyers stack up against Beijing’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/12

The perpetual question of “who governs” finds stark expression in today’s US-China rivalry. As the two powers compete, the contrast between governance-by-technocrats in China and the predominance of lawyers in the United States is shaping each country’s respective development path. China is set to approve its 15th five-year plan, which will set development goals and strategies through 2030. It prioritises critical technological breakthroughs and industrial integration. Meanwhile, in the Trump...

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