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Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia plan defence pact as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

As tensions between the United States and Iran threaten to plunge the Middle East into chaos again, regional military powers Turkey and Pakistan have revealed they are planning a tripartite defence partnership with Saudi Arabia. Thursday’s disclosure comes as Iran’s neighbours await clarity on US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on the Islamic Republic’s trading partners earlier in the week – a measure which threatens to disrupt supply chains across the

Hong Kong government’s cargo-tracking digital...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

The Hong Kong government has launched a digital logistics platform offering real-time cargo tracking, with some 2,300 companies registered on the system. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Friday the new Port Community System would streamline transport data and improve transparency for users. The system integrates sea, land and air data and uses artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology to provide instantaneous cargo tracking services, which Chan said was...

Malaysian man arrested for forcing son, 10, to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

A Malaysian man previously convicted of child abuse has been arrested again on suspicion of forcing his son, 10, to shoplift daily necessities. Police in Bahau, in Negeri Sembilan state’s Jempol district, were alerted to what initially appeared to be a simple case of theft on Wednesday, The Sun newspaper reported. Staff from a wholesale supermarket had caught the boy trying to steal a 200-gram pack of instant coffee. But officers soon uncovered a troubling pattern of child exploitation,

South Korea’s Yoon sentenced to 5 years in prison...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

Impeached former South Korean president Yoon Seok-yeol was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of resisting arrest and other offences linked to his attempted imposition of martial law in 2024. The verdict marks Yoon’s first conviction among eight ongoing criminal trials, in one of which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for his alleged role as the “ringleader” of an attempted insurrection. The 2024 decree unleashed a wave of political unrest,

China’s US envoy says world faces ‘stark choice’ as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

China’s top diplomat in the United States delivered a sharply worded rebuke on Thursday over US President Donald Trump’s tumultuous approach to global relations, laying out a stark choice between a world informed by China-led stability and one battered by Washington. Chinese ambassador Xie Feng’s comments to the 1,000-member China General Chamber of Commerce come two weeks into Trump’s second year of his latest term in the White House. The past fortnight has already seen the Trump

Chinese woman swallows raw fish gallbladder, hoping...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

A woman from eastern China ended up in the intensive care unit (ICU) hours after swallowing a raw fish gallbladder, believing it would cure her headache. The 50-year-old woman, surnamed Liu, from Jiangsu province, adhered to the folk remedy that claimed raw fish gallbladders could clear heat, detoxify the body, and alleviate a persistent migraine that had been troubling her. On the morning of December 14, Liu bought a 2.5kg grass carp at the market, extracted the gallbladder at home, and...

Hong Kong’s Chris Tang defends police’s ‘difficult...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

Hong Kong’s security chief has defended police’s “difficult decision” to shoot dead a man who brandished a knife and took a woman hostage in a shopping centre, but a relative of the deceased said officers could have aimed for his limbs to avoid killing him. After officers fatally shot the 34-year-old man on Thursday at Tuen Mun Town Plaza, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said the suspect was mentally unstable at the time and might have been influenced by drugs as suspected

‘Shared interests’: Xi Jinping and Mark Carney embark...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

China and Canada should build a new strategic partnership based on mutual respect and shared interests, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday as both sides sought to turn the page on years of diplomatic friction. In talks with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Beijing, Xi called for deeper and broader economic cooperation. “China-Canada economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in nature, and both sides have gained from cooperation,” state news agency Xinhua

China’s quantum warfare weapons; ‘rising star’ quits...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese military says it is developing over 10 quantum warfare weapons The People’s Liberation Army said more than 10 experimental quantum cyber warfare tools were “under development”, many of which were being “tested in front-line...

Chinese power stocks surge on State Grid’s record...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

Shares of Chinese electricity and grid equipment makers surged after State Grid unveiled a 4 trillion yuan (US$574 billion) plan to upgrade the country’s power networks, as surging demand and the global race in artificial intelligence drive investment in energy infrastructure. Transformer makers Sieyuan Electric and Shanghai Guangdian Electric triggered the trading halt mechanism after surging 10 per cent on Friday morning. At least 11 mainland-listed companies rose 10 per cent or more in the...

China’s supercooling tech packs 40% more punch into...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

Chinese scientists have unlocked a revolutionary supercooling innovation in semiconductor technology, paving the way for a 40 per cent leap in the performance of gallium nitride-based radar systems, which are widely used in China’s most advanced stealth aircraft. The new Chinese-made chips can handle extreme power loads in the X and Ka bands – frequencies critical for advanced radar systems, satellite communications and next-generation wireless computer networks. “This is the most significant...

Japan, US vow ‘unshaken’ defence alliance despite...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

The defence chiefs of Japan and the United States on Thursday agreed that the bilateral alliance is “unshaken” and pledged to reinforce its deterrence capabilities amid concerns in Asia that Washington’s focus is shifting from the region. Following his meeting with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon near Washington, Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said he was reassured that the administration of President Donald Trump remains committed to peace and stability in the...

Hong Kong temperatures to fall to 12 degrees next...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Temperatures in Hong Kong are expected to sharply dip to as low as 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday next week as a cold front moves through the city midweek. The Hong Kong Observatory said the fine and relatively warm weather on Friday, brought by a dry northeast

Philippines’ Cebu residents cry foul over mounting...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

A garbage landslide that killed 19 people and left more than 20 missing in the central Philippines last week has prompted outrage from civic and green groups over poor enforcement of environmental laws for contributing to the disaster. The deadly avalanche of debris struck on January 8 at a 15-hectare (37-acre) landfill in Binaliw village, Cebu City, when more than 100 sanitation workers were on site. Officials said recent earthquakes and heavy rainfall might have destabilised the soil,...

US ambassador to China David Perdue to visit Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

America’s ambassador to China, David Perdue, will visit Hong Kong at the end of January to speak at a business conference, according to sources. Perdue will address the Goldman Sachs Global Macro Conference Asia-Pacific 2026 on January 27, several people familiar with the matter told the South China Morning Post. They said the envoy was expected to spend “several days” in the city. The US consulate in Hong Kong, the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese foreign ministry in Hong Kong and the

Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda driving countries...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

United States President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda is helping to make China great again and ushering in a “truly multipolar world”, according to a survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations. “A year on from Trump’s return, in countries across the globe, many people believe China is on the verge of becoming even more powerful,” the think tank said after surveying 25,949 people from 21 countries, including the US, China, Russia, Britain and Brazil. Most respondents thought...

China’s slowing growth, bilateral tensions top...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

Concerns about China’s slowing economic growth and “strained” Beijing-Washington relations rank as the top two concerns among members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China this year, according to a chamber survey released on Friday. The growth concern was raised by 64 per cent of the 368 respondents, making it the leading issue, the annual China Business Climate Survey found. Fifty-two per cent of respondents reported being profitable or very profitable last year, 6 percentage points

Could China’s Yaogan-47 satellite have a lens as wide...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

One of China’s latest Earth observation satellites operating in low orbit could feature an optical aperture at a two-metre scale with “global leading” remote sensing capabilities, according to a China Science Daily report on Thursday last week. The report refers to the Yaogan-47 satellite, which was launched aboard a Long March 4B carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on December 9. For comparison, the Hubble Space Telescope and likely the US KH-11 spy satellite have main...

Japan ramen eatery bans ‘troublesome’ China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

A Japanese ramen restaurant has ignited controversy by slapping a ban on Chinese customers, accusing them of being troublemakers. Iekei restaurant in the western city of Osaka announced on social media on January 4 that it had banned all Chinese people. It said a Chinese person had caused trouble in the restaurant, forcing it to call the police. The post said 90 per cent of the trouble it has with foreigners involves Chinese customers. The move triggered controversy and accusations of

What’s cooking? Hong Kong restaurants thinking...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/16

Scroll through Tam Jai International’s mobile apps and you will encounter a wave of perks, menu offerings and other choices laid out to tempt you to the Hong Kong restaurant group’s staple offering, noodles. The apps are among several strategies, along with filling all dining segments from breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner with new menu items, that the chain has introduced in the past few months to win back diners who continue to cross the border in droves for leisure and dining. Ronald Wong...

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