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Hong Kong lawmaker Duncan Chiu leads Legco affluence...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Hong Kong lawmaker Duncan Chiu owns 54 properties at home and overseas, more than any of the other 89 lawmakers, a review of their declaration of interests shows. But Chiu indicated that he is considering selling his properties in the West, citing geopolitical risks and his limited time for managing them. Chiu, the son of the late entrepreneur Deacon Chiu, represents the technology and innovation sector. He is among the five lawmakers who have declared ownership of more than 10 properties,

China-EU tariff agreement on EVs seen cutting...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

A requirement to set minimum prices for their cars in the European Union will reduce sales there for Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers, but higher profit margins will eventually improve their bottom lines and brand reputations, according to analysts and industry officials. Assemblers of Chinese pure-electric cars from BYD to Leapmotor will avoid a brutal discount war after European authorities accepted price undertakings to replace punitive anti-subsidy tariffs of up to 35.3 per

Trump sets 180-day deadline to counter China’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

US President Donald Trump has put allies and trade partners on notice, invoking national security powers to ease China’s chokehold on critical minerals, warning global suppliers to negotiate agreements to secure reliable, diversified supplies for the US or face new trade barriers, including tariffs. In a proclamation signed on Wednesday, the “America first” president declared that the US’ reliance on foreign-processed critical minerals poses a national security threat. He directed US Trade...

Japan’s Takaichi faces uphill task in lower house...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/15

Komeito is emerging as a potential political kingmaker in Japan ahead of a widely expected snap lower house election, three months after the party affiliated with a religious movement announced it was ending an alliance with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party over differences with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. On January 23, the opening day of the Diet, Takaichi is expected to announce the dissolution of the House of Representatives, with polling likely to take place on February 8 or

Nasa sends 4 astronauts back to Earth in first...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

An astronaut in need of doctors’ care departed the International Space Station with three crewmates on Wednesday in Nasa’s first medical evacuation. The four returning astronauts – from the US, Russia and Japan – are aiming for an early Thursday morning splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego with SpaceX. The decision cuts short their mission by over a month. “Our timing of this departure is unexpected,” Nasa astronaut Zena Cardman said before the return trip, “but what was not surprising to

Hong Kong, China stocks to outpace US equities all...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stocks outpaced their US peers for the first two weeks of 2026 and should continue to do so for the rest of the year on the back of relatively cheaper valuations, a firmer yuan and policy tailwinds, as geopolitics drives more global investors to look to China as a hedge against rising risks in US assets, according to analysts. The CSI 300 Index has gained 2.4 per cent so far this year, while the Hang Seng Index has climbed 5.3 per cent, both outpacing a 1.7 per...

Trump praises ‘terrific’ new Venezuela leader after call

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had held a “long call” with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, the first known contact between the two leaders since the ousting of Nicolas Maduro. “We just had a great conversation today, and she’s a terrific person,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He later said on social media that he and Rodriguez had discussed “many topics”, including oil, minerals, trade and national security. “We are making tremendous progress,” Trump...

OpenAI expects another ‘seismic shock’ from China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

The race between the US and China to dominate the world’s artificial intelligence industry has become “complex and challenging to forecast”, according to ChatGPT creator OpenAI. In a blog post this week, published ahead of the first anniversary of DeepSeek’s release of breakthrough reasoning model R1 on January 20, OpenAI said another “seismic shock” from China could be on the cards, as anticipation heightened about a potential new major release from the Hangzhou-based start-up around the

White House says Biden decision to scrap China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

The White House’s top science adviser on Wednesday said that the Biden administration’s decision to get rid of the Justice Department’s China Initiative was “damaging”, though stopped short of recommending that it should be fully brought back. Asked by Florida Republican Daniel Webster whether the termination of the programme aimed at combating alleged economic espionage from Beijing was detrimental, Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,

Trump administration faces backlash over Nvidia H200...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

Witnesses and lawmakers at a foreign affairs hearing blasted the Trump administration’s approval for the sale of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to China and called for it to reverse the decision, as the White House’s top technology adviser defended the move in the administration’s first public testimony discussing the latest export control measures. Allowing China to buy Nvidia’s second most powerful AI chip is a “wrong path” that would “supercharge” Beijing’s military modernisation and damage the

China’s EV makers face slowdown in export growth...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

China’s electric vehicle (EV) exports doubled in 2025 amid rising overseas demand for affordable cars and Beijing’s anti-involution campaign. The country – the world’s leading EV manufacturer – sold more than 2.6 million units to overseas markets last year, up 104 per cent from a year earlier, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on Wednesday. Despite persistent trade tensions, Chinese brands were expected to further deepen their presence in overseas...

Trump claims killing in Iran ‘has stopped’, even as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday made a vague statement that he had been told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, even as Tehran has indicated fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters. The US president’s claims, which were made with few details, come after he told protesting Iranians in recent days that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Iranian government. But Trump has not...

Does Trump’s Nvidia chip flip reveal anxieties on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

When US President Donald Trump gave his blessing to sales of Nvidia’s powerful H200 artificial intelligence chips to China, he sparked a national security backlash in both countries. Rather than seeing it as an olive branch, many Chinese commenters interpreted the move as a sophisticated Trojan horse-style trap that aimed to make Beijing dependent on American technologies in advanced semiconductors and other chokepoint sectors. Trump’s green light for the H200 – a template that he said would

High Seas Treaty a chance for China to lead on marine...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

On January 17, a quiet revolution will take place across around two-thirds of the world’s oceans. A landmark United Nations agreement known as the High Seas Treaty will formally enter into force, creating the first legally binding global framework to protect marine biodiversity in international waters. For the first time, activities beyond national jurisdictions – from industrial fishing to deep-sea mining and bio-prospecting – will be subject to environmental impact assessments, marine...

‘Wartime footing’: US Navy chief unveils Trump’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

The US Secretary of the Navy on Tuesday outlined US President Donald Trump’s Golden Fleet initiative, stating that revitalising the American shipbuilding industry was essential for restoring strategic maritime dominance over China. Speaking at the Surface Navy Association symposium, Secretary John Phelan emphasised the importance of a strong industrial base, warning that the US Navy is currently unable to compete with Beijing’s production capacity. “To be a superpower, you need a dominant...

Ford suspends worker who heckled Trump and got...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

The Ford employee whose heckling of Donald Trump prompted an obscene gesture from the US president has been suspended, the US vehicle workers’ union said on Wednesday. During a tour of the Ford Motor Company’s F-150 factory in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday, Trump raised his middle finger at the worker following catcalls, according to widely seen video of the incident. The heckler seemed to shout, in part, “paedophile protector”, US media reported – an apparent reference to suspicions that

France charges maths professor accused in China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

A French applied mathematics professor has been charged with allowing a Chinese delegation to visit sensitive sites in a case of suspected espionage, a prosecutor said on Wednesday. The lecturer at a university engineering institute in the southwestern town of Bordeaux was charged on December 16 but released under judicial supervision, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. The charges against him include “providing information to a foreign power” and “colluding with a foreign power”, which can

FBI raids home of US journalist who reported on Trump...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

FBI agents searched a Washington Post reporter’s home on Wednesday as part of an investigation into sharing secret government information, officials said, ‍in a move that press advocates said threatened journalistic freedom. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, has covered US President Donald Trump’s campaign to fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers and shift remaining workers to implementing his agenda. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal agents had executed the search at the

Trump envoy says Gaza entering second phase of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

The US said on Wednesday that it is moving into the next phase of a Gaza ceasefire plan that involves disarming Hamas, rebuilding the war-ravaged territory and establishing the group of Palestinian experts that will administer daily affairs in Gaza under American supervision. US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in a social media post that the ceasefire deal that the Republican president helped broker was entering its second phase following two years of war between Israel and...

US halts visas for 75 countries indefinitely; China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/14

The administration of US President Donald Trump is suspending the processing of immigrant visas, including family-based green cards, for applicants from dozens of countries, the US State Department has confirmed to the Post. “The State Department is pausing immigrant visa processing for 75 countries,” an official from the agency said on Wednesday. China is not included in the list, which has countries like Thailand, a US ally, and Brazil, a close neighbour in the western hemisphere, along

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