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News - South China Morning Post

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Pet owners evacuating UAE urge Hong Kong to loosen...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/22

Some Hong Kong residents planning to leave the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with their pets because of conflict in the Middle East are considering flying to other countries rather than returning home due to the city’s 120-day quarantine requirement for cats and dogs. The pet owners called on authorities to relax the “excessive” quarantine rules for Dubai, saying the requirement had made returning to Hong Kong unfeasible. In a reply to the South China Morning Post, the Agriculture, Fisheries and...

‘Super-aged’ Singapore’s secret to growing old well?...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/22

The clack of mahjong tiles, the soft rattle of exercise bikes and the slow thrum of sewing machines are the soundtrack to Monday afternoons at the Yong-en Active Hub: a senior centre with the vibe of a social club, where new skills and friendships are the antidote to old age. At the Bukit Merah estate in central Singapore, Agnes Chen, 74, strolls through the swinging doors, declines entreaties to join a game of Rummikub – a tile-based hybrid of mahjong and rummy – and fixes herself a...

China will stockpile critical resources and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/22

China is prioritising “strategic material security” under its new five-year plan, which elevates the supply and domestic stockpiling of critical resources to a matter of national security. Under its 15th five-year plan, Beijing has placed “key commodities” on the same strategic level as food and energy security, pledging a more proactive approach to bolstering “energy and resource supply security” by “preventing and mitigating major risks in systemically important areas”. To achieve this, the...

Indonesia’s new aircraft carrier is more vanity...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/22

If everything goes according to plan, Indonesia will be in possession of an aircraft carrier come Armed Forces Day on October 5. When that happens, it will become only the second country in Southeast Asia, after Thailand, to operate such a vessel. But this does not mean Indonesia’s maritime power will increase significantly. The issue here is prestige, not combat power. The warship in question is the Italian navy’s Giuseppe Garibaldi. The 14,000-tonne flat-top was commissioned in 1985 and...

Could ultra-precise harvest forecasts give China an...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/22

As tensions around Iran intensify, a potential disruption to global fertiliser supply chains is raising concerns about food production worldwide. But for China, an unusual advantage is coming into focus: the ability to predict grain output more than six months in advance with striking accuracy. That capability – refined over decades – could allow Beijing to move early, reshaping risk into strategic leverage. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global energy and commodity flows, has

Premier Li Qiang calls for a global pledge to open...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/22

Beijing has urged global commitment to opening up, while pledging to create more blue ocean markets in a world engulfed by protectionism. Delivering the opening address to the China Development Forum on Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said, “protectionism is by no means a panacea for solving problems”, instead calling for opening up and technological progress to drive new market growth. “[Now,] power politics is running rampant, acting with impunity; at the same time, calls to uphold

Hong Kong’s border tourism push must not put Mai Po...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/22

For decades, parts of Hong Kong’s border like the Frontier Closed Area have been shrouded in mystery, their natural landscapes preserved as much by policy as by their remote geography. Recent plans to relax restrictions – including discussions around the Mai Po closed area – and the establishment of the Robin’s Nest Country Park signal a new era of accessibility. Having co-managed the Mai Po nature reserve for decades, the World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong (WWF) views this shift with both...

HSBC asks victim of credit card theft to pay...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/22

A Hong Kong mother has been asked to pay more than HK$126,000 (US$16,100) in charges racked up by thieves who stole her credit card last November after HSBC said she failed to report the loss immediately. But 42-year-old Janice Choi* accused the bank of double standards, saying a friend who also had her credit card stolen on the same day reported the case to HSBC the next day and had the fraudulent charges waived. Choi told the South China Morning Post that she was notified in February that

China reports ‘stunning’ critical minerals finds as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

China has announced major discoveries of various critical minerals, including rare earths and fluorite, bolstering its reserves of the resources essential for the hi-tech, new energy and defence industries.At the Maoniuping mine in Sichuan province’s Mianning county, authorities announced the discovery of 9.7 million tonnes of rare earth oxides, bringing the site’s total proven reserves to 10.4 million tonnes, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday. Surveys also revealed 27.1 million...

Hawaii suffers worst flooding in 20 years, with more...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years as heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago, officials said on Friday, while warning that more rain was expected during the weekend. Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu’s North Shore, a community world renowned for its big-wave surfing. Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu. Authorities cautioned that a

Does the USS Tripoli’s deployment to the Middle East...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Washington’s deployment of an amphibious assault ship from Japan to the Middle East could signal a temporary reduction in US military capacity in the Indo-Pacific region but will not necessarily diminish its deterrence of China, according to analysts. According to American media reports, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli has left its home port in Japan and is making its way to the Middle East, carrying 2,500 marines on board. According to Marinetraffic.com, which monitors ships based on...

China, India and why Jeffrey Sachs says the US needs...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

China should support India’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, a prominent US economist has suggested, saying the two Asian powers could overcome historical grievances and political distrust to inject stability into the world. “China’s real interest is true, stable multipolarity,” Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs told a seminar in Beijing on Friday, urging India not to become a pawn in a US game to hold China back. “I believe that China should, after...

Plan for full taxi access to Discovery Bay sparks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Some Discovery Bay residents have expressed frustration over a proposal to allow unrestricted taxi access to the seaside resort-like neighbourhood in Hong Kong, with a petition calling for greater public consultation garnering more than 1,100 signatures. In a reply to the South China Morning Post on Saturday, the Transport Department also confirmed it had received a taxi proposal from Discovery Bay’s management company, as well as “different views” from residents. Taxis have had limited

Most of Ukraine’s Chernihiv region has no power after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Most of Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region was ‌left without power on Saturday after a Russian drone attack, local governor Viacheslav Chaus said. He ⁠said repair works were under way ‌to fix the damage. The region, which ‌borders Russia and Belarus, ⁠had ⁠a pre-war population of nearly ‌a million. The regional capital, also called ‌Chernihiv, ‌was fully without power, ‌the city administration there ⁠said. Russia has conducted a vast ⁠bombardment campaign against Ukrainian energy facilities...

Could Taiwan’s military continue to fight after an...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

The survival of Iran’s political and military apparatus following a massive US-Israeli decapitation strike has ignited a strategic debate in Taiwan, with experts weighing the island’s ability to withstand a similar “surgical” opening to an attack from the mainland. Military analysts and officials in Taipei are closely studying the February 28 strikes that killed Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, and Iran’s ability to sustain organised resistance in the weeks that have followed. Iran’s...

Hong Kong police arrest 5, recover nearly HK$100...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Hong Kong police have arrested five people and recovered nearly HK$100 million (US$12.7 million) worth of gold stolen in a suspected deception case, in which a “buyer” allegedly worked for a group that seized the haul before fleeing. The incident took place at about 2.45pm on Friday at an office in Peninsula Square, a commercial building on Sung On Street in Hung Hom, where a staff member was conducting a gold handover to the “buyer”. The South China Morning Post earlier reported that the

Iran fires missiles at UK-US base in Indian Ocean’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Iran launched ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base in Diego Garcia on Friday, showing a missile capability that goes beyond what Tehran was known to have possessed. The base, a strategic airfield that can host B-2 stealth bombers located nearly 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Iran, suffered no damage, according to a person familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity. The attack was the first time in the three-week-old war that Tehran was reported to have used weapons...

China decries ‘unjust war’ on Iran as it calls for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

China called for a halt to the “unjust war” in Iran in a phone call between top diplomats on Friday and expressed willingness to work with France to prevent other nations from being drawn into the conflict. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president, that as members of the UN Security Council, the two countries should work together to firmly uphold international law and prevent the world from reverting to the “law of the jungle”. “The

At least 14 die in South Korea fire at car parts factory

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Fourteen people died and 25 were seriously injured in a fire at a car parts factory in the South Korean city of Daejeon, fire authorities said ⁠on Saturday. The fire broke out around lunchtime on Friday and was contained ‌by 11.48pm, the safety ministry said. Another 35 people suffered minor injuries, the fire authorities added. As of Saturday morning, 28 people were sent to hospital, and four of them had surgery for broken bones and other injuries. Fire officials said the factory was owned

Nvidia’s Huang calls China ‘formidable’ in robotics...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/21

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says the US robotics industry will have to rely on China’s supply chain despite the US pioneering the market, as the company bets on physical AI and looks to return to the Chinese market. “I think China is formidable,” Huang said when asked about the country’s rise in the robotics industry during a podcast hosted by Silicon Valley tech executives. “The reason for that is because their microelectronics, motors, rare earth and magnets – which are foundational to robotics

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