PODCAST

News - South China Morning Post

All the latest breaking news from Hong Kong, China and around the world

All Episodes

Ex-chief of Hong Kong journalist union serving 5-day...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

A former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association has failed in his bid to overturn a conviction and five-day jail sentence for obstructing a police officer. Ronson Chan Ron-sing, 45, had refused to present his identity card to police during a stop-and-search procedure nearly four years ago. Deputy Judge Lily Wong Sze-lai dismissed his appeal at the High Court on Friday and ordered him into custody immediately. Chan was sentenced to five days in jail in 2023 after a magistrate found

Education Bureau took action after teacher carried...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

The conduct of another Hong Kong educator has been thrust into the spotlight after photos showing him carrying a female student in his arms surfaced online, with education authorities revealing they dealt with the matter when they first learned of the images two years ago. The Education Bureau’s response to questions from the South China Morning Post about the photos on Friday came a day after the principal of another Hong Kong school resigned for swearing at security guards during a class

US judge freezes Trump ‘slush fund’ for allies

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving ahead with a US$1.8 billion compensation package that critics have denounced as a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump’s political allies. US District Judge Leonie Brinkema barred the administration from taking any further action to create or operate the fund while she considers whether to impose a longer-lasting pause. Her order blocks the transfer of money into the fund, the consideration of claims and the...

EU’s 6 biggest economies agree on capital markets...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Finance ministers ⁠from the EU’s six ⁠biggest economies (E6) have agreed a ⁠common position on a European Commission proposal for joint capital markets supervision, Germany’s finance ministry said on Friday. The push for financial market players to be supervised at a European Union rather than national level is part ‌of a bid to boost the bloc’s competitiveness as it struggles with weak growth and fierce competition from the United States and China. Supervision of significant market...

Kenya court blocks US Ebola quarantine centre set to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

A Kenyan court temporarily halted the opening of an Ebola quarantine centre for US nationals on Friday following a petition filed by a rights group. The facility was due to open in the east Africa nation on Friday according to US officials, to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is battling a major Ebola outbreak. Washington has defended its criticised decision not to repatriate Americans infected with the virus. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has...

2 footballers, bookie jailed up to 17 months in Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

A Hong Kong court has jailed two footballers and a betting agent for up to 17 months in the city’s largest match-fixing scandal in recent years, ruling that they deliberately undermined the integrity of the sport. Former Hong Kong Under-23 player Brian Fok, Brazilian player Luciano Silva da Silva and betting agent Waheed Mohammad returned to West Kowloon Court on Friday to be sentenced on five charges arising from a high-profile crackdown that saw 23 people arrested on suspicion of illegal...

Hong Kong’s John Lee, lawmakers hold talks on city’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu met lawmakers on Friday to discuss a “highly targeted, substance-heavy” report they compiled outlining proposals on how the city’s first five-year plan should proactively align with national development. The closed-door meeting took place ahead of the government’s planned launch of a public consultation on Hong Kong’s five-year plan in early June as previously reported by the South China Morning Post. The plan is expected to be announced by the end of this...

Students can play role in US-China ties, Xi says in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Young people from China and the United States should continue to contribute to cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said in a letter to a university student in Hong Kong. The Chinese University of Hong Kong said on Friday that fourth-year undergraduate Liu Runjie received the letter after he and other students shared their experiences in a China-US youth friendship programme with the president. “In his reply, President Xi...

Is PLA’s response to Dutch warship in South China Sea...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

China’s claim it had used “electronic interference” during a confrontation with a Dutch warship in the disputed waters of the South China Sea might signal growing confidence in its capabilities in this area, analysts said. The PLA’s Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea, accused the frigate De Ruyter of “illegally entering” waters near the Paracel Islands on Wednesday and repeatedly sending a helicopter into Chinese airspace. Chinese air and naval forces had issued

Missing hiker, 51, found dead after 2-day search on...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

A 51-year-old hiker who went missing on Lantau Island has been found dead after a two-day search amid a heatwave in Hong Kong. Authorities launched a search for the man, surnamed Chan, on Thursday after his wife made a report to police that morning. She said he had not returned home after leaving for a hike on Wednesday morning. Chan had told his family he planned to hike on section 8 of the Lantau Trail, which connects Shek Pik Reservoir with Kau Ling Chung on the southern part of the

Young, frustrated Chinese STEM PhDs turn to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

I did not pay much attention during maths and science classes in school. I could never get into the mindset for STEM study, but I can see there is comfort in the fact that the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter will always be pi, or that the quadratic formula will always produce the right answer when applied correctly. I envied my many STEM friends for their skills, their fields of certainty and practicality. But behind the curtain, beneath the veneer of any parent’s envy,

Chinese and UK officials at Shangri-La Dialogue vow...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

China and British delegations discussed concrete plans to strengthen military engagement during talks on Friday on the sidelines of a major security event in Singapore. Major General Meng Xiangqing, who led the Chinese delegation to Asia’s largest defence summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue, met United Kingdom military officials, signalling both militaries’ willingness to maintain communication. Meng, a professor at the PLA National Defence University, told the British officials that...

Ex-lawmaker Lo Wai-kwok, 73, to marry Cantonese opera...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Lo Wai-kwok, the 73-year-old chairman of Hong Kong’s largest pro-business party and a former lawmaker, has announced his engagement to a Cantonese opera actress 42 years his junior, becoming the talk of the city’s political circles. Lo’s engagement to 31-year-old Yemina Yu Chung-yan comes five years after the death of his wife Adelina Wong Siu-chun. The couple, whose wedding will be held in October, are set to add to the city’s growing number of remarriages, which rose from 15,832 in 2019 to...

Chinese astronauts land safely in former top secret...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

The Shenzhou-21 astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after staying in Tiangong space station for more than 200 days, establishing the record for longest on-orbit stay by a Chinese crew. The trio touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region at 8.11pm aboard the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Medical teams on the ground said the astronauts were in good physical condition. Their stay was extended by one month after their probe

‘Illegal and void’: China condemns Japan-Philippines...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

China has condemned the launch of maritime boundary negotiations between Japan and the Philippines, calling the talks “completely illegal and void”. The protest followed a joint statement released on Thursday after a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr in Tokyo. During the talks, the two sides agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership to strengthen cooperation in areas including the economy,

Taxpayers ‘won’t lose out’ if CUHK medical centre...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Hong Kong’s health minister has said the government will not lose out if the medical centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) repays its public loan early, rejecting calls for a penalty. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau’s comments came at a Legislative Council health services panel meeting on Friday, when CUHK Medical Centre CEO Chung Kin-lai also revealed that the hospital’s financial situation had improved. Lo was responding to criticism from lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit, who...

How Hegseth might shift his tone on Taiwan at this...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Beijing’s delegates to the Shangri-La Dialogue anticipate Washington will strike a less confrontational tone on Taiwan than it did last year, even as the issue remains the largest point of contention in Sino-US relations. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to speak at the annual security conference in Singapore on Saturday morning. His remarks will be closely watched by Beijing and by Washington’s regional allies for signs of any policy shift following the high-stakes summit

China sentences former Shaolin abbot to 24 years for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Shi Yongxin, former abbot of the world-famous Shaolin Temple, has been sentenced to 24 years in jail for crimes including embezzlement and taking bribes, state news agency Xinhua reported. Shi was also fined 3.5 million yuan (US$516,000). Xinxiang Intermediate People’s Court in China’s central Henan province found that Shi, whose birth name is Liu Yingcheng, had embezzled more than 131 million yuan between 2003 and 2025. Shi appeared in a public trial on Monday. The verdict was announced on...

The era when Europe viewed China as a partner is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

The European Union and China are entering a new, more turbulent era in trade relations, as China has evolved from Europe’s favoured customer into a sophisticated competitor, a Brussels lobbyist has said. Chinese businesses are likely to face tougher scrutiny in the EU market as a result, with Brussels already taking steps to diversify its trade and mulling more robust measures to shield local industry from Chinese competition, according to Michael Koplovsky, a senior adviser at the strategic...

Kenya arrests 8 students suspected of arson in deadly...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/29

Kenyan authorities have arrested eight students on suspicion of arson over a fire at a girls’ boarding school that killed 16 students, ‌police said on Friday. The fire at the Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in Gilgil in west-central Kenya broke out in the early hours of Thursday and also injured 79 students. Fires are common at Kenyan schools, with many set by students protesting harsh discipline and poor conditions, researchers ⁠have found. “Preliminary investigations have identified...

23,277 results