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Are these the first pictures of China’s new military...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

China’s newest transport aircraft has conducted its maiden flight, images circulating on social media suggest, as the People’s Liberation Army moves to update its tactical transport fleet. Photographs and videos circulating online on Tuesday showed a four-engine turboprop aircraft. The most detailed images showed it had six-blade propellers, a T-tail, a blended winglet configuration and possibly an aerial refuelling probe positioned above the cockpit – a structure found on the Airbus A400M. A...

UK rejoins Erasmus student exchange programme in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

Britain is to rejoin the European Union’s popular Erasmus student exchange programme almost five years after leaving the scheme following Brexit, a joint UK-EU statement said on Wednesday. “The UK has successfully agreed terms to join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027, widening opportunities for young people from all backgrounds, learners, educational, youth and sport staff to study and train abroad,” a UK government statement added. The scheme, which will have to be approved by all EU member...

China warns platforms on monopolistic tactics such as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

China’s market regulator has warned that internet platforms demanding merchants offer the “lowest price across the internet” may face antitrust action, as Beijing steps up efforts to curb malpractice.The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) explained some details of its draft – Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms – at a press conference on Wednesday, according to Xinhua. The “lowest-price” requirement, where platforms bar merchants from selling cheaper

Xiaomi launches open-source model to compete against...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

Chinese smartphone and electric vehicle (EV) giant Xiaomi has released and open-sourced a new artificial intelligence model, MiMo-V2-Flash, that is expected to match up well against the latest systems from DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Anthropic and OpenAI. Available worldwide on Xiaomi’s developer site MiMo Studio, Hugging Face and the API Platform, MiMo-V2-Flash “particularly excels in reasoning, coding and agentic scenarios, while also serving as an excellent general-purpose assistant for

Ukraine war: US readies new Russia sanctions if Putin...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

The US is preparing a fresh round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector to increase the pressure on Moscow should President Vladimir Putin reject a peace agreement with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. The US is considering options, such as targeting vessels in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to transport Moscow’s oil, as well as traders who facilitate the transactions, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private...

Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium lifts city’s status as a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

The 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium is transforming Hong Kong into a major sports and events destination, as it drives repeat tourism, supports retailers and helps prop up the city’s retail property landlords, according to experts. It served as the venue for British rock band Coldplay’s four-night concert in April and K-pop girl group Twice’s first-ever shows in the city earlier this month. A three-night gig by K-pop sensation Blackpink will also be held there next month. The stadium has been

Vietnamese woman’s death amid raid in South Korea...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

The death of a Vietnamese woman in Daegu after she reportedly tried to evade a South Korean immigration raid has intensified scrutiny on the country’s restrictive work visa rules for international students who graduate from local universities. Vu Tu Anh, 25, died after falling three stories from an air-conditioning unit of a car parts factory where she had been working illegally, according to the Hankyoreh newspaper. She had hidden behind the unit as immigration officers cracked down on...

Hong Kong police probing HK$88,000 in burned...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

Hong Kong police are investigating the source of more than HK$88,000 (US$10,280) in banknotes seen falling from a residential block, many of which were burned. Security staff at Lei Yue Mun Estate’s Lei Sang House reported at 8.20am on Wednesday that a number of banknotes were falling from the building and scattering across the ground. Officers arrived to find numerous HK$500 notes, some with scorch marks or burned corners. Police collected a total of HK$88,030 in banknotes, including

Deadly Indonesia fire fuels claims of ‘back-room...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

A week after a deadly fire tore through a Jakarta office building and killed 22 people, labour groups and urban planners say the tragedy is a stark example of how weak enforcement, “back-room dealings” and risky conversions of office space continue to endanger workers in Indonesia’s capital. The blaze broke out on December 9 at a seven-storey building in central Jakarta rented by drone operator Terra Drone Indonesia, where employees became trapped inside as smoke spread through the...

China bets big on copper, but ‘weaponisation’ risks...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

China is accelerating efforts to secure its copper supply chain, designating the metal as critical across strategic industries such as electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and defence amid rising geopolitical tensions. Provincial governments are leading the charge. On Monday, Jiangxi – already a hub for heavy rare earth mines – pledged in its 15th five-year plan to develop a world-leading hub for advanced copper-based new materials. That follows a similar move in Shandong, where

China ALS woman holds funeral home party, says...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

A Chinese woman who has lived for eight years with the rare neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) recently held a farewell ceremony at a funeral home to celebrate love and life. Liu Jie, 42, organised the gathering at a funeral parlour in southwestern China’s Chongqing municipality. Before her diagnosis with ALS eight years ago, Liu was a tour guide. During her illness, she experienced multiple emotional breakdowns as she witnessed her condition progress. Recalling her...

Newcomers in charge at PLA’s corruption-hit command...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

The mainland Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command, the corruption-hit division that oversees Taiwan, appears to be headed by two recent additions to the command. The appointments will enable the command to maintain continuity of operations despite the corruption cases among its leadership, according to an analyst. PLA Air Force Lieutenant General Yang Zhibin, 62, and Lieutenant General Zhang Jichun, 57, stood alongside other senior officials at mainland China’s annual commemoration of

Not lovin’ it: Chinese fume at McDonald’s raised...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

McDonald’s China arm has raised prices on most menu items, igniting a social media backlash as consumers grapple with job uncertainty and stagnant wages. Patrons discovered this week that prices for burgers, snacks and combos rose by up to 1 yuan (US$0.14). While modest, the increase drew attention because the chain’s budget combo has long been dubbed the “poor man’s meal” by frugal young adults. Some quipped online that “McDonald’s prices are rising, but my salary isn’t”, or that the popular...

Cheaper fresh water in China, potential Parkinson’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China desalination tech makes fresh water cheaper than tap water – plus hydrogen China has launched a revolutionary facility in the eastern province of Shandong that produces fresh water from seawater for just two yuan (US$0.28) per cubic metre, generating green hydrogen as a by-product in a breakthrough

South Korea reopens bitter debate on lifting ban on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

A group of lawmakers from South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is seeking to relax a decades-old ban on North Korean websites like the online Rodong Sinmun, reigniting debate over national security and freedom of information. The proposed revision, drafted by Representative Han Min-soo and 11 other lawmakers, would allow people in South Korea to freely visit North Korean websites, while maintaining existing bans on distributing or actively promoting content that violates the National

US export controls have fuelled China’s AI development

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

US President Donald Trump finally agreed to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s plea that the company be allowed to sell H200s to China, estimated to be a US$10 billion opportunity. Although Trump claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping responded “positively”, early signs indicate that China may want to limit H200s imports to reduce reliance on the US and develop domestic capability. The White House’s artificial intelligence (AI) tsar, David Sacks, said that China is rejecting H200s, and the

Singaporean community in Hong Kong comes together to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

The Singaporean community in Hong Kong will donate HK$1.83 million (US$235,230) to the government’s relief fund for the Tai Po blaze, praising city residents for embodying the “Lion Rock Spirit” as groups rallied to support those affected. The Singapore consulate said on Wednesday that the fundraising was jointly organised with Singapore International School, the Singapore Chamber of Commerce, the Singapore Association and other members of the community. The fire, which broke out on November

Why the Philippine Army is turning to locally built...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

The Philippine Army has rolled out a locally developed remote weapons system that officials said would boost troop protection while advancing Manila’s push to build a self-reliant defence industry amid limited manpower and resources. The Controller Operated Battle-Ready Armament (Cobra) was formally turned over to the Department of National Defence on Thursday at the Army Armour Division headquarters in Camp O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, following two years of development led by the Department of...

Policy body urges China to confront economic...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

China’s top economic policy coordinator has urged the country to confront unavoidable challenges, while expressing confidence that investment and consumption growth will recover next year as efforts to boost domestic demand intensify. An unnamed official from the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission said the current challenges were “issues arising in the course of development and transition”. “[They] cannot be avoided or sidestepped, but with effort they can be...

Peking University keen to start research institute in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2025/12/17

Peking University plans to establish a research institute in Hong Kong’s future university town in the Northern Metropolis, the city’s leader has said as he wrapped up his three-day duty visit to Beijing. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu met Peking University’s party secretary He Guangcai on the campus before having breakfast with four young Hongkongers working or studying in Beijing on Wednesday. At the meeting, Lee shared the Hong Kong government’s plans to accelerate the development of the...

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