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News - South China Morning Post

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China offers US olive branch with fentanyl raids...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

China this week announced a major crackdown on fentanyl precursors, a move widely seen as a gesture of goodwill ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit. But analysts warned that while this might address one major US grievance, it remained to be seen whether the United States would reciprocate and help the two sides move on to tackling other serious disputes, such as tariffs. The crackdown in the central province of Hubei started in December and included a raid on a company in the...

Taiwan’s opposition parties join forces for local...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Taiwan’s two main opposition parties are set to join forces in local elections, a midterm contest this autumn that analysts say could lay the groundwork for potential cooperation in the 2028 leadership race to challenge the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The elections, scheduled for November and commonly known as the “nine-in-one” elections, will determine local officials and councillors across nine categories, ranging from mayors and county magistrates to village chiefs, as well

Trump’s Pearl Harbour joke falls flat in Japan over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

People across Japan have recoiled in shock over US President Donald Trump’s joke about the attack on Pearl Harbour in the presence of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the White House, perceiving the incident as an insult to a long-time ally of Washington. The Japanese leader won some approval at home for her measured response even as she stiffened visibly over Trump’s comments at the joint press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday. Addressing a question from a Japanese reporter about...

Strait of Hormuz tensions flare as Iran tightens grip...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Global concerns are rising over the fate of ships and crews trapped in the Strait of Hormuz amid the intensifying Middle East conflict, as reports spread that Iran is rolling out screening processes and steep transit fees for vessels using the waterway. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) called for the establishment of a “safe maritime framework” to ensure the swift evacuation of merchant ships confined within the Persian Gulf, after holding a special session on the Middle East...

Chongqing mayor under investigation as China’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

The mayor of China’s southwestern metropolis of Chongqing has been placed under investigation by the country’s top anti-corruption agency. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) issued a statement on Friday saying that Hu Henghua, mayor of Chongqing and deputy secretary of the city’s Communist Party municipal committee, was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law” – a term commonly used to refer to corruption. Chongqing is among China’s four

13 arrested over HK$113 million laundered using...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Hong Kong police have arrested 13 people on suspicion of laundering more than HK$113 million (US$14.4 million) using the government’s “iAM Smart” app in scams run by a syndicate. The force said on Friday that nine men and four women, aged between 38 and 75, were suspected of using victims’ “iAM Smart” accounts to launder money through “mule” bank accounts. “The syndicate placed fake job advertisements in newspapers, claiming to be hiring cleaners,” said Wong Yuk-yan, acting superintendent

Red faces at bureau after anti-drug advert sends...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Hong Kong’s Security Bureau has apologised for an advertising blunder in its anti-drug campaign, after a banner in a railway station appeared to encourage the use of illegal substances when viewed from certain angles. The bureau addressed the issue in a social media post on Friday, a day after an internet user circulated a photo of the poorly placed advert at Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. The banner was part of the government’s latest anti-drug campaign, featuring one of Hong Kong’s “Four

China woman working away from home receives care...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

An unwell Chinese woman working away from home has received a care package from her concerned parents which contained a whole cow. On March 7, a woman posted a video of herself receiving the heavy package at her home in Beijing. She says in the video that the package, sent from her hometown in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, contains a whole cow. The 33-year-old woman, surnamed Chang, said her father bought the cow near the grasslands in her hometown, which is known for quality beef

China’s Hainan free-trade hub reinvents itself as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

As Hainan pushes ahead with its free-trade port, the tropical island is emerging as a potential rival to Hong Kong’s long-standing role as a regional shopping and low-tax hub – even as both sides signal interest in closer cooperation. Since launching a separate customs regime three months ago, Hainan – now a gateway to the Chinese market – has positioned itself as a “super partner” to Hong Kong across industry chains, finance, tourism and other sectors, according to officials. “Hong Kong

Trump to praise Japan in China, Xi summit delayed,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

US President Donald Trump said he will be “speaking Japan’s praises” when he makes a delayed trip to China, even with the two Asian nations engaged in a long-running dispute over Taiwan. The Beijing visit, including a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, has been postponed “for about a month and a half”, Trump told reporters in the White House alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The US president was due to arrive in China on March 31. Trump’s remarks underscore how China

Trump ally Steve Daines will be first sitting US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Republican Senator Steve Daines, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, is expected to visit Hong Kong at the end of this month, according to sources. It would mark the first trip to the city by a sitting US senator since the Covid-19 pandemic. Daines would meet American business leaders in Hong Kong on March 30, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly on the matter. The senator from Montana has played a prominent role in...

Gulf states again under fire as Iran says still...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Firefighters battled a blaze at a giant oil refinery in Kuwait on Friday after a fresh drone attack as Iran kept up a wave of strikes on its neighbours and vowed there was “no concern” about its missile production. Despite calls for an end to targeting Gulf energy infrastructure by European leaders on Thursday, Kuwait reported a fire at its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, a day after a direct hit on Qatar’s vital Ras Laffan facility. Iranian authorities had vowed to retaliate after an Israeli strike

Chinese stocks shake laggard image amid oil shock as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Chinese stocks have emerged as outperformers in the latest oil shock, reversing their reputation as laggards, as crude takes a back seat to renewable fuels in the world’s second-largest economy. The CSI 300 Index of stocks trading on the mainland’s exchanges has dropped 3.1 per cent since the US and Israel began attacks on Iran on February 28, outperforming the S&P 500, the Euro Stoxx 50 and Japan’s Nikkei 225, which have all slid at least 4 per cent during the period. This marked a

NIH-awarded life scientist Shu Xiaokun abruptly...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Eminent life scientist Shu Xiaokun has received numerous awards and significant funding from the US government over the past two decades. Earlier this year, he was appointed the prestigious Herfindahl Endowed Chair professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), capping a career that included pioneering fluorescent protein tools in Nobel laureate Roger Yonchien Tsien’s laboratory. The motto of Shu’s lab is a quote from the Nobel laureate physicist Richard Feynman: “If you’re

Preview of Alibaba’s strongest AI model tops Chinese...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Alibaba Group Holding unveiled the preview version of its most powerful artificial intelligence model to date, solidifying its position as China’s leader in the race to catch American giants like Anthropic, Google and OpenAI. Qwen3.5-Max-Preview, the flagship model of Alibaba’s Qwen 3.5 family, is now available on Arena, formerly known as LMArena, a model performance community created by researchers from UC Berkeley. Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, unveiled the model on...

5 jailed in Hong Kong crackdown on illegal employment

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

Five people have been jailed in Hong Kong after an Immigration Department crackdown on illegal employment. The department said on Friday that it had raided 23 locations, including restaurants, cleaning companies and commercial buildings, during an operation carried out from Monday to Thursday. Officers arrested six men and 13 women, aged 22 to 62, found or suspected to be working illegally and six employers who allegedly hired them. Thirteen of those arrested held tourist visas – 11 from...

Global drug giants double down on China amid trend to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

AstraZeneca said it would establish drug manufacturing facilities in Guangzhou and Shanghai as well as a separate innovation centre in Shanghai, joining a group of foreign players building new plants in China amid geopolitical tensions. The moves are part of a US$15 billion commitment the British firm pledged to make in the world’s second-largest drug market through 2030, unveiled during UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing in January. China’s manufacturing capabilities,

US military aircraft losses mount as Iran war...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

At least 16 US military aircraft have been lost since the start of the war with Iran, including 10 Reaper strike drones hit by enemy fire and a half-dozen other planes badly damaged in attacks or accidents. The most serious losses were because of accidents: three US F-15s downed by friendly fire in Kuwait, and a KC-135 tanker destroyed during a refuelling operation. All six crew members on the tanker were killed in the accident. Five other KC-135s were reportedly damaged by an Iranian missile...

China and Japan’s complicated ties in a turbulent 2026

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

‘Intimate touch therapy’ sparks debate in China over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/20

An emerging form of therapy in China has stirred controversy over blurred boundaries by using sensory tools, touch and hugging to ease clients’ stress. Mainland media reports say workshops and services centred on “intimate touch” have spread across social media since late last year. In quiet, softly lit rooms, intimate touch therapists offer what they describe as emotional healing through light caresses, hugs and sensory tools such as feathers and velvet gloves. Customers typically remove

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