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News - South China Morning Post

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Bid-rigging and loopholes: pledges fall short of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

New measures to strengthen Hong Kong’s building maintenance regime after the deadly Tai Po fire only scratch the surface of long-standing issues that require deeper systemic reforms and tougher laws, according to experts and industry figures. The damning verdict came after the government’s pledges and proposals on Wednesday to close policy gaps and tackle entrenched problems laid bare by the blaze at Wang Fuk Court. At the first Legislative Council meeting of the year, officials unveiled a

European allies send troops to Greenland amid Trump’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

European countries were sending small numbers of military personnel to Greenland on Thursday as Denmark and its allies ‌prepared for exercises to try to assure US President Donald Trump of its security as he pushes to acquire the island. A meeting of officials from the United States, Denmark ‍and Greenland on Wednesday avoided the type of public humiliation meted out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year, but also produced no quick fix for the dispute. “The American ambition to...

The US has sent a ‘dangerous’ message in Venezuela...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

China needs to legislate to protect itself against the risk of “external suppression” and safeguard its technology and supply chains, a legal expert with a top Beijing think tank has warned. Li Honglei, head of a Communist Party committee that oversees two law institutes under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said tighter national security legislation was needed to make the country more “resilient”. He said the risks had been laid bare by America’s abduction of the former Venezuelan...

US seizes another Venezuela-linked tanker ahead of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

The United States has seized another Venezuela-linked tanker, US officials told Reuters on Thursday, ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. The seizure marks the sixth vessel targeted since mid-December that was either carrying Venezuelan oil or had ⁠done so in the past. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the seizure took place in the Caribbean. The US military’s Southern Command confirmed the

3 new Hong Kong lawmakers fail to declare company...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

At least three newcomers to Hong Kong’s legislature, including two from the city’s largest political party, have failed to declare company shareholdings, the Post has found, with the trio blaming the omissions on heavy workloads or misunderstandings. The three lawmakers are Jody Kwok Fu-yung and Hung Kam-in of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), and Thomas So Shiu-tsung, a lawyer. “I am still a newcomer and have to handle many matters, such as [a new]...

China warns against the ‘law of the jungle’ amid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

China has warned that the “law of the jungle” must not apply in Iran amid the current wave of anti-government protests. Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, by phone on Thursday, telling him that Beijing was willing to play a “constructive role” in resolving differences through dialogue. Some observers have described the recent protests in Iran as the largest since the 1979 Islamic revolution with an estimated death toll ranging from 2,000 to...

Chinese firms to incur higher costs for deploying...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Chinese companies are expected to shoulder higher costs for deploying advanced chips from the US, owing to a new 25 per cent tariff imposed by Washington on select high-performance semiconductors, according to analysts. The administration of US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the new import duties on advanced artificial intelligence chips covered Nvidia’s H200 and Advanced Micro Devices’ MI325X graphics processing units, as well as their equivalent products and derivatives. According

China and Canada at ‘new starting point’ as Mark...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

China and Canada are at a “new starting point” and the two countries should deepen cooperation to protect multilateralism and free trade. That was the message Premier Li Qiang had for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Beijing on Thursday, on the second day of a four-day state visit to China. “Standing at a new starting point, China is willing to work with Canada to uphold the strategic partnership, strengthen dialogue and communication, enhance political mutual trust, respect each

Hong Kong employee insurance costs to jump 15% amid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

More Hong Kong employees are seeking to have minor day procedures covered under the inpatient services of their group medical insurance, a joint study has found, while projecting a near 15 per cent increase in employers’ premiums this year. The findings, published in the Hong Kong Employee Medical Insurance Index, were released on Thursday by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in collaboration with corporate employee benefits and MPF consultancy GUM. The index, which tracks data from Hong...

Kremlin warns Ukraine running out of time to accept...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukraine was running out of options to strike a deal to end almost four years of war with Russia, as thousands were without heating in Kyiv in -12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures following waves of Russian strikes on the country’s energy grid. Moscow has not backed down from its intention to seize the rest of east Ukraine as the fourth anniversary of its offensive – Europe’s worst war since World War II – looms. “The situation is...

China’s subsidy change adds to EV makers’ stress as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Growth momentum in the mainland car market may shift from battery-powered to petrol-based models this year on account of a revised subsidy policy, exacerbating a bearish profit outlook for the country’s 50-odd electric vehicle (EV) builders. Slower growth in EV adoption would deal another heavy blow to assemblers from BYD to Leapmotor, which are known for low-priced cars, after big-name international banks reduced forecasts for car deliveries this year. “Petroleum-powered cars will regain

An internally split Europe can never fully engage...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

When contemporary Europe engages with the world, it increasingly presents as two distinct Europes operating within the same institutional framework. This duality – a Europe of strategic dependence vs a Europe of normative assertion – creates a contradiction. For partners, particularly in China and across Asia, this is not merely an abstract identity crisis but a practical geopolitical puzzle that complicates engagement and challenges assumptions about Europe’s global role. One Europe,

Hong Kong police shoot and kill man wielding meat...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Hong Kong police have shot and killed a man who brandished a meat cleaver at a shopping centre in Tuen Mun, with the force saying the officers involved had no choice but to open fire to save a passer-by. The tragedy unfolded around 7pm on Thursday near Tuen Mun Town Hall on Tuen Wui Road. Police said the 34-year-old man killed was a Hong Kong identity card holder. They said preliminary information from his family pointed to a history of mental illness, although authorities were still seeking

FMT apologises for racial question linking Malaysia’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) has issued an apology after one of its reporters posed a question during a public lecture that was believed to have carried racial overtones. In a statement on Wednesday, FMT said that the incident occurred during a public lecture featuring United Kingdom politician George Galloway titled “Gaza Exposes the Complicity of International Actors” held on January 12. “FMT wishes to put on record that it had no prior knowledge of the journalist’s intention to raise the...

Stalled work to resume as Hong Kong distributes 3,000...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Hong Kong’s construction industry body has begun distributing 3,000 rigorously tested scaffolding nets from a 12,000-unit shipment to 11 contractors overseeing 19 renovation sites, following the suspension of hundreds of projects after the deadly Tai Po inferno. The Construction Industry Council (CIC) said on Thursday that it had received 12,000 centrally procured nets from Guangdong province, with the remaining 38,000 from the 50,000-unit order expected to arrive in phases by early

China targets wealthy influencers with audits, fines...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

China has ramped up audits involving online influencers and high-wage earners, as part of broader efforts to expand tax revenue and refine the taxation system. The State Taxation Administration on Wednesday spotlighted two fresh cases involving influencers in the centrally administered city of Chongqing and in Gansu province. In Chongqing, authorities ordered an influencer surnamed Peng – who has 30 million followers and works in online video production and commercial advertising – to pay

Nie Weiping, Chinese Go master known for dramatic...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Nie Weiping, a legendary Go master in China, died in Beijing at the age of 73 on Wednesday. Nie is best remembered for his dramatic victory in the first Japan-China Super Go in 1985. Few had hope that China would win because its players had long lagged behind Japanese competitors in the strategy board game. By the time it was Nie’s turn to play in Tokyo, Japan’s top player, Kobayashi Koichi, had already won six straight games against his Chinese counterparts. Nie was the only Chinese player

How Chinese corruption busters are tracking down...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Beijing has revealed how its graft-busters are investigating bribes paid in hard-to-trace cryptocurrencies by tracking the ways in which corrupt officials have been spending the proceeds. A documentary shown on state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday highlighted the case of Yao Qian, the former director of the digital currency institute at the People’s Bank of China. Investigators became suspicious when Yao bought a villa in Beijing for more than 20 million yuan (around US$2.9 million) under the...

Philippines offers 2-week visa-free stays to lure...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Chinese nationals will be allowed to enter the Philippines without a visa for up to two weeks from Friday, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila. The visa-waiver programme will cover Chinese nationals entering the Philippines for both tourism and business, but will apply only to those entering via Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu. “This is in line with the president’s directive to facilitate trade, investments

Death toll from Hong Kong fire rises to 168 after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

The death toll of Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades has risen to 168 from 161 after the remains of more victims were identified, with the city’s security chief reporting seven weeks after the tragedy that the figure was “final”. Authorities on Thursday also released demographic information on the deceased in the Tai Po blaze. The inferno that swept through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate on November 26 last year claimed 58 male and 110 female victims, aged from six months to 98 years. Four...

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