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News - South China Morning Post

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TikTok deal good for Chinese owners but terrible for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

If American users of TikTok think its transition to majority US ownership would make it more secure and freer, they are sorely mistaken. Rather, they should expect the opposite. Some 170 million TikTokkers received a pop-up message telling them that if they wanted to continue with the service, they had to agree to new terms of service and privacy policy under new US majority ownership. Users almost immediately sensed a difference in the online environment. There were news reports that the

New rail routes to mainland China nearly sold out...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Tickets for most of the new high-speed rail destinations in mainland China from Hong Kong have sold out for the weekend preceding the Lunar New Year holiday, according to a check by the South China Morning Post on Sunday. The official 12306 train service app indicated that all classes of tickets from Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Station to 14 of the 16 new mainland stops were fully booked from Friday through next Sunday, just ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday starting on February 17. Nanjing

Memorial for Swiss bar fire victims goes up in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

A memorial for the victims of a deadly New Year’s fire in Switzerland itself caught fire early on Sunday, likely sparked by candles left burning inside, police said. It was a makeshift tribute to the 41 people killed and the 115 injured in the January 1 fire that erupted at the Le Constellation bar in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, which was packed with mainly teenagers and young adults. The memorial, laden with flowers, candles and messages of condolence, had been set up near the site

How Hong Kong can bring China and Britain closer:...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently concluded his four-day visit to China, during which he met President Xi Jinping. He was accompanied by a sizeable delegation of prominent British business leaders across finance, pharmaceuticals, clean energy and aviation. Starmer met Chery chairman Yin Tongyue, who announced his intention to open the carmaker’s European headquarters in Liverpool. Separately, AstraZeneca also announced a US$15 billion investment in China over the next five

A very Chinese time? How memes are paving the way for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Drinking hot water, eating warm congee and dressing in red to pray for good luck are daily rituals shared by social media users across the globe who have embraced a new lifestyle trend, declaring: “You met me at a very Chinese time in my life.” The phrase has been popularised over the past year by influencers on TikTok and Instagram who post themselves performing stereotypically Chinese activities. The trend reflects a positive shift in how China, or “Chineseness”, is perceived globally. This...

Japan bear intrusions driven by fruit, not hunger,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Bears entered areas near human dwellings despite being adequately nourished, even during years when acorns were scarce in their natural habitats, likely attracted by fruit trees left on abandoned farmland, a recent study in western Japan showed. Japanese black bears are encroaching on human settlements not necessarily out of desperation, but because they are lured by the easy meals found on abandoned farms. A recent study in western Japan showed that bears entered areas near human dwellings...

Hong Kong woman arrested at airport over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

A traveller bound for Singapore has been arrested at the Hong Kong airport for allegedly carrying a knuckleduster in her luggage, according to police. The force said on Sunday that airport security staff found the weapon, which is worn over the knuckles, in the local woman’s carry-on luggage during regular screening the day before. Police arrested the 19-year-old on suspicion of violating the Airport Security Ordinance. She was later released on police bail, pending further...

Hong Kong reserves 4,000 homes for tenants hit by...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Hong Kong authorities have pledged to reserve nearly a fifth of the city’s 21,000 transitional homes for tenants displaced by a new law regulating subdivided flats, with the housing chief downplaying concerns about a potential wave of evictions under the policy. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin offered the assurance on Sunday after more than 100 households at Yee Wa Building on Un Chau Street in Cheung Sha Wan were forced to relocate, as landlords sought to convert the flats to meet

Russia says suspect in shooting of top general...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Sunday that the man suspected of shooting a deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency in Moscow was detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia. Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalised after being shot several times on Friday by an assailant at a residential building in northwestern Moscow, Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said. The attack followed a series of assassinations of senior military officers...

2 more food poisoning clusters tied to consuming raw...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Hong Kong’s health authorities are investigating two food poisoning clusters linked to five people falling ill after eating raw oysters, adding to dozens of cases recorded in recent weeks. Officials also reminded residents on Sunday to maintain personal hygiene, as norovirus was more active in the winter months from December to March. The Centre for Health Protection reported that the latest two epidemiologically linked food poisoning clusters involved Chef’s Cuts at The Southside shopping...

First China-Philippines talks in over a year: is a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

A war of words between Chinese diplomats and Philippine politicians over the disputed South China Sea has prompted calls in Manila to declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata – the second such call in three years. While Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has rejected the idea, the latest spike in tensions led to officials of the two countries breaking a year-long hiatus and sitting down for talks in Cebu. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the talks on January 29 were...

Assistant of successful China influencer steals...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

A fashion influencer with three million followers says her personal assistant is a con artist who stole her online profiles and pretended to be a student at Harvard University. The influencer Chen Xin, who uses the handle @Daxin-kissis, accused her assistant of six years of faking an identity of a rich young Chinese woman studying at Harvard Medical School on January 24. The woman, surnamed Jiang, allegedly used her employer’s password to enter her home, wore her luxury clothes, including...

Are Hong Kong lawmakers also to blame over seat belt...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Hong Kong’s U-turn on its seat belt rule for buses is a sobering reminder to lawmakers that they must meet higher standards even under the “executive-led” governance model recently underlined by Beijing, according to several policy experts. They said some lawmakers had been complacent, prioritising speed over efficacy in policymaking in a “patriots-only” legislature with no opposition presence, and would have to share the responsibility for administrative missteps. Xia Baolong, director of

Iran defies Trump and US pressure over uranium...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday ruled out Tehran ever giving up uranium enrichment in its negotiations with Washington, insisting it will not be intimidated by the threat of war with the United States. The minister, Abbas Araghchi, told a forum in Tehran that Iran had little trust in Washington and even doubted that the US side was taking renewed negotiations seriously. “Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up, even if a war is imposed on us? Because

China’s ‘micro drama’ industry emerges as jobs...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Over 10 million students graduate from Chinese universities every year, straining an already crowded labour market. Yet the “micro drama” industry is emerging as a crucial lifeline for hundreds of thousands of young jobseekers: offering the chance to turn creativity into a stable pay cheque. The sector was estimated to directly generate about 690,000 jobs in 2025 – mostly for young people – and over 2 million positions when counting upstream and downstream roles, according to a recent report

Malaysia’s data centre boom faces backlash as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

The rapid increase in data centres in Malaysia came under the microscope on Saturday, with the AI-driven build-out drawing its first public protest in the Southeast Asian country. More than 50 people gathered in front of a data centre construction site close to a residential area in the southern state of Johor, demanding an end to dust pollution and compensation for any negative impact that the project might have on their health. The protesters also expressed concern that the facility will...

How the US can actually benefit from China’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Western media and policymakers enjoy wagging their fingers at China’s industrial “overcapacity”, which in reality is simply the ability to produce solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, steel and other goods more cheaply and efficiently than others can. Yes, some industries are subsidised, but they also benefit immensely from rapid growth in technical know-how and economies of scale. China hasn’t really built too much; it’s just built too efficiently for the comfort of its

Mandelson Epstein scandal: demands grow for ex-envoy...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

The former British ambassador to the United States and former government minister Peter Mandelson is facing demands to hand back the payoff he received after being sacked as US envoy. The senior Labour Party figure was sacked over his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, but anger in Westminster has intensified after the latest release of documents which indicated he leaked information to his friend while he was a government minister. Allies of Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Outcry in Bangladesh over politician’s call to curb...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

Controversial remarks in Bangladesh by a politician who questioned women’s ability to perform jobs because of their child-bearing role have caused an uproar ahead of the general election in a country where female workers form the spine of its mainstay garment sector. Shafiqur Rahman, the chief of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, also ruled out the possibility of a woman assuming the Islamist party’s top post. In a TV interview, Rahman said women with babies should be given the option of fewer...

China’s future growth rate could drop to 2.5% without...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/08

China’s long-term growth trajectory will depend on the introduction of market reforms, and the country’s potential growth rate could fall to about 2.5 per cent in the coming years unless action is taken, a prominent Chinese economist has warned. “Without a strong turnaround in total factor productivity and a meaningful expansion in household consumption, it will be difficult for China’s economic growth to reach 4 per cent or higher,” said Zhou Tianyong, former deputy head of the Central Party...

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