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Taiwan opposition leader promotes cross-strait peace...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

The need for Beijing and Washington to pursue “reconciliation and cooperation” and avoid war is the central message of her US trip, Taiwan’s main opposition leader Cheng Li-wun said in San Francisco. Cheng, leading a delegation from the Kuomintang (KMT), arrived in San Francisco on Monday evening, beginning a two-week US visit closely watched in Beijing, Taipei and Washington. In San Francisco’s Chinatown on Tuesday, Cheng said China and the US should forge “a relationship of friendship and...

US House votes to stop Iran war in rebuke to Trump

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

The Republican-led House voted to halt the US war with Iran, breaking with President Donald Trump on an unpopular foreign conflict that is taking an escalating economic toll on Americans. The 215-208 vote on Wednesday showed worries over the war spreading in the president’s own party five months before congressional elections. Last month, a Senate resolution to end the war also advanced past a procedural hurdle for the first time, though that legislation hasn’t yet come to a formal vote. The...

US’ Bessent says China eyeing more Boeing purchases...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Wednesday that China is “very interested” in additional Boeing plane purchases, an issue the Trump administration plans to press when President Xi Jinping visits the United States in September.“They agreed to 200 aeroplanes during the visit. We will see if they commit to a larger number when Xi Jinping arrives in Washington,” Bessent said in his budget request testimony to the Senate Finance Committee. China’s commitment to buy 200 Boeing

First Trump, then Putin go to China. Does great-power...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Despite recent back-to-back visits to Beijing by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, no new trilateral framework or major diplomatic breakthrough has emerged. Yet, according to observers, the summits highlight Beijing’s growing ability to manage its two most important relationships on separate tracks: sustaining a deep strategic partnership with Moscow, while pursuing a more transactional, stability-focused engagement with Washington. Several analysts said the

US and ‘Five Eyes’ allies warn of LinkedIn China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

The US and its “Five Eyes” intelligence partners issued what they said was an unprecedented joint notice warning about attempts by Chinese spies to use websites such as LinkedIn to recruit assets. “China’s military intelligence services are using an increasingly wide array of professional networking sites and online job platforms to target Five Eyes government and military personnel – and anyone with access to classified or privileged information,” according to a joint statement by the FBI,...

5 lessons for Asia as it studies wars from the...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Since the Ukraine war began in 2022, Asia has been watching conflict as if enrolled in a study course. We have heard every argument: Nato enlargement, Russian insecurity, Ukrainian sovereignty, European fear, American power, energy politics, sanctions, nationalism and resistance. We have watched Gaza burn. We have watched the United States capture Venezuela’s president and defend the act as lawful. We have watched Iran absorb attacks and retaliate. For Asians, these are no longer distant

Trump says may leave UFC arena on White House lawn...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

US ⁠President Donald Trump suggested he might keep the Ultimate Fighting Championship cage-fighting arena being built on the lawn of the White House as a permanent fixture. The Republican compared ‌the structure, which is being built for a night of cage fighting to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence – on Trump’s 80th birthday – to France’s Eiffel Tower which was supposed to have been dismantled 20 years after it was built in ⁠1889. “We’re building something in front of the White

Ukraine and Hungary agree on minority rights, paving...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said ⁠on Wednesday that Hungary ⁠and Ukraine reached an agreement on the ⁠rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, which could allow approval of the first cluster, or a group of negotiating chapters, in Ukraine’s EU accession talks. The agreement marks a potential breakthrough in a long-running dispute over minority rights that had strained ‌ties between Budapest and Kyiv and complicated Hungary’s support for Ukraine’s EU ambitions. Every step of the...

China, EU slam proposed US tariffs, reject forced...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

The administration of US President Donald Trump has proposed new tariffs of up to 12.5 per cent on imports from China and dozens of other trading partners, using a forced-labour investigation to advance what analysts see as a bid to rebuild its tariff regime after recent court setbacks. The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said on Tuesday that China and 59 other economies failed to prohibit or adequately restrict US imports made with forced labour, subjecting them to punitive

Portugal and Austria defeat Germany for seats on UN...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Portugal and Austria defeated Germany for seats on the powerful but deeply divided UN Security Council on Wednesday in a hotly contested race after intense campaigning.The 10 rotating seats on the 15-member Security Council are earmarked for different regions of the world. The assembly elects five countries by secret ballot every year to serve two-year terms alongside the council’s five permanent veto-wielding members – the US, Russia, China, Britain and France. In the other contested race,...

Ukraine drone strikes causing ‘panic’ for Kremlin,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia are causing “panic” for the Kremlin, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday, saying Moscow was lashing out at Kyiv with increased attacks. Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in St Petersburg on Wednesday as officials gathered for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s flagship economic conference in the city. “It clearly shows also panic on the Russian side – why they are increasing the terrorist attacks that they’re doing in Ukraine

Lula thanks China for beef win and tells US after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thanked China for clearing the country’s beef of foot-and-mouth disease and fired a barb at US President Donald Trump, saying “I will sell to someone else”, after Washington announced new tariffs on Brazilian goods. Lula made the remarks on Tuesday, hours after Beijing announced wider access for Brazilian beef to the world’s biggest market for the product. “As God writes straight with crooked lines, nothing comes free for a Christian man like me....

Wim Wenders pulls 1975 film over nude scene with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

German filmmaker Wim Wenders on Wednesday said he has pulled his 1975 movie The Wrong Move over a nude scene featuring a then-13-year-old Nastassja Kinski. Kinski, now 65, has urged Wenders to re-edit the film. Last month, she told the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung: “That was my first film, he was my first director and he didn’t protect me.” Wenders, the acclaimed director behind Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire, issued a statement apologising to Kinski. “I recognise that Nastassja...

Trump says Vance and Rubio teaming up for 2028 run...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

US President ⁠Donald Trump said ⁠in a podcast interview aired on Wednesday that Vice-President J.D. Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, teaming up for a 2028 presidential run, would be ‌unbeatable. Both men are seen as contenders for the 2028 Republican nomination, and Rubio’s recent turn at the White House podium drew praise from Republicans and even some Democrats who noted his smooth performance, which included quips and ⁠a 1990s hip-hop reference to describe Iran’s negotiating...

MTR Corp boss Jacob Kam elected chairman of Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

The non-executive chairman of Hong Kong rail giant the MTR Corporation has been elected as the new head of the city’s largest business chamber for a one-year term. Jacob Kam Chak-pui, 64, took over as chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday following an election among members, expressing “strong confidence” in the city’s economic development. Kam, previously the chamber’s vice-chairman, said he believed the market outlook was rebounding as the global macroeconomic...

FBI kill man holding hostages in California after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

A man holding hostages inside a building in California that houses a bank branch and school district office has been shot and killed by the FBI, police said on Wednesday. The suspect was killed in “an officer-involved shooting involving Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel”, the Bakersfield Police Department said in a statement. The stand-off ended about 12 hours after police were called to the building, police said. All the hostages are free and none was harmed, police said. The

Kenya health minister says US Ebola quarantine centre...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Kenya’s health minister said on Wednesday that the US-funded quarantine centre would proceed, days after deadly protests erupted over the project. The US-built facility at Kenya’s Laikipia Air Base was due to open last week, according to US officials, to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is battling a major Ebola outbreak. But it has been temporarily blocked by a court order, and triggered protests on Monday that killed two people, according to a...

Sweden outlines child care policy amid registration...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Swedish authorities who have taken over the care of the daughter of a Hong Kong couple with a troubled parenting history have said that whether a child faces risks at home is one of the key factors when deciding if intervention is needed. But the social services department of Sweden’s Linkoping municipality declined to comment on the legal status of the couple’s daughter Lily on Wednesday, saying doing so would harm those involved. The preschooler’s case came to light through her parents’

Want to save the planet? Stop being so polite to AI...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

Skipping pleasantries like “please” and “thank you” when talking to chatbots could save enough energy to power the annual needs of 760,000 residents in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the massive but often hidden environmental toll of artificial intelligence, according to a new UN report. Released by the Institute for Water, Environment and Health under the United Nations University, the UN’s academic arm, the study published on Wednesday also warned that the true cost of AI extended far

Hong Kong launches DeepSeek-based AI model designed...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/06/03

The Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Centre (HKGAI) has officially launched a new DeepSeek-based large language model that can run on domestic chips, as the government-backed lab seeks to commercialise its products and export Chinese AI overseas. The HKGAI-V3 model, built on DeepSeek V4, has achieved “significant improvements” in efficiency and agentic capabilities, the centre said on Wednesday. The home-grown model delivered over tenfold improvement in the efficiency of token...

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