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Asia’s silver dividend can offset ageing’s economic toll

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

Population ageing is fast becoming a global phenomenon. Even regions currently enjoying youthful demographics will eventually undergo demographic transition – and this is increasingly relevant for developing countries too. Some Southeast Asian economies, Thailand and Vietnam among them, have already reached the intermediate stages of this transition. It has begun even in younger economies such as the Philippines, where the fertility rate has now fallen below replacement level. Conventional...

Mainland brands power Hong Kong retail recovery as...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

Hong Kong is likely to attract more mainland Chinese retail brands, but unlike the previous wave, non food and beverage (F&B) retailers are the ones ramping up their presence, according to analysts. The change in profile of mainland brands coming to Hong Kong is helping the city’s landlords fill vacant spaces amid an uneven recovery in the retail property market, according to JLL. In the first four months of the year, more than one fifth of new entrants in the city’s retail market were

Like Serbia, the EU should be open to partnership...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

As I return to China, I do so with an abiding sense of respect for a nation that has become one of Serbia’s most indispensable partners and a defining force of our century. In Europe, discussions about China are too often clouded by suspicion and strategic anxiety. I understand that every major political community must guard its future, but I believe Europe should approach China not with fear and suspicion but with confidence and a serious, open-eyed willingness to cooperate. Serbia has

Is Hong Kong following Beijing’s lead and ousting...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

Hong Kong’s technology infrastructure is undergoing a major transformation as local government and businesses replace Western products with domestic alternatives, driven by closer integration with mainland China and rising geopolitical risks, according to tech experts. US tech giants like Microsoft have long “served as the bedrock of Hong Kong’s digital landscape”, but that dominance is now being actively contested, particularly in the government sector, according to Francis Fong Po-kiu,...

⁠Under-construction building collapses in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

Two people feared trapped after a building collapse in the ‌Philippines were alive and communicating with rescuers on Sunday, an official said, as rescue efforts continued. “They are in constant communication. We are awaiting more details, but our rescuers are doing their best to pull the survivors out of the rubble,” Jay Pelayo, information officer Angeles City north of the ⁠capital Manila, said. The number rescued in the collapse of the nine-storey ‌building under construction, including

US Pax Silica hub plan hits Philippine sovereignty...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

A US plan to build an “AI-native” industrial hub in the Philippines has highlighted the political sensitivities around Washington’s push to secure critical technology supply chains, after Manila rejected proposals for the zone to be governed by US laws or covered by diplomatic protections. Philippine officials said the planned economic security zone under Washington’s Pax Silica initiative would remain covered by local laws, clarifying that there would be “no special arrangement” for the...

Hong Kong holds off on annual LGBTQ publicity drive....

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

For the first time in a decade, a Hong Kong government task force did not conduct any publicity campaign covering gender identity and sexual orientation in the latest financial year, triggering concerns that authorities are taking a lukewarm attitude towards the local LGBTQ community. Figures from the Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Unit (GISOU), which falls under the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, also showed that it only received seven complaints from 2015 to 2025, a

China boy wants to raise silkworms to create silk...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

A boy in central China dreamed of making his own silk quilt, prompting his parents to buy 10,000 silkworm eggs to nurture his curiosity. In May, a mother surnamed Ruan from Wuhan, Hubei province, revealed online that her family was raising silkworms to help realise her six-year-old son’s unusual dream. Ruan told the mainland outlet Chengshi Interactive that the idea came during the silkworm-rearing season. The optimal window generally runs from May to October. The family, who raise silkworms...

Budget cuts leave Thailand’s twin-sea navy at risk of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/24

Thailand’s navy has to watch two seas at once. To the east lies the Gulf of Thailand, with its busy shipping lanes, offshore energy interests and long coastal frontier with Cambodia. To the west is the Andaman Sea, a gateway to the Indian Ocean with its own trade routes, chokepoints and strategic pressures. That twin-sea geography has long given the Royal Thai Navy a role larger than its public profile might suggest. It also underpins the navy’s stated goal, laid out in a 2023 white paper, to...

US Secret Service fatally shoots gunman who opened...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shoot-out during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said. US President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time as he worked to negotiate a deal with Iran, but was not affected by the incident, Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. The confrontation took place just after 6pm (local time) when a man near the White House...

Why Bangladesh could raise Indian red flags by buying...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

Bangladesh’s potential purchase of a Sino-Pakistani fighter jet could raise tensions in India’s sensitive northeast, as relations between Dhaka and New Delhi remain tense, analysts said. According to Pakistani media reports, the country has transferred a fully operational simulator of a JF-17 Thunder Block III combat aircraft to Bangladesh. Fighter jet simulators replicate the experience of flying an aircraft and are used to train pilots in combat tactics and systems management. Jointly...

Hong Kong can turn Hung Shui Kiu into a northwest...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

More than a decade ago, I argued that Hung Shui Kiu should be conceived as the “northwest stronghold” of Hong Kong, a geographic centre of the New Territories and a hinge point between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Today, that vision is beginning to materialise. Hung Shui Kiu is no longer just a dot on the planning map; it is emerging as a core node of the Northern Metropolis and a testing ground for institutional innovation and industrial policy. The government’s embrace of an industry-first

‘Fjord’ by Romania’s Mungiu wins Palme d’Or at Cannes

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set drama about political polarisation Fjord has won the Palme d’Or, handing the Cannes Film Festival’s top honour for the second time to Mungiu, the Romanian director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. At a 79th Cannes Film Festival that saw few films break out, Fjord found wide admiration for its engrossing tale of what Mungiu called “left-wing fundamentalism”. It stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian evangelicals who move to Norway, but soon after have...

Rubio renews US ties with India after Trump’s China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday called India a natural partner and invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, turning the page at least rhetorically on friction despite new-found US warmth towards China. One week after joining US President Donald Trump on a state visit to Beijing, Rubio – visiting both Asian powers for the first time – flew to New Delhi and met Modi for more than an hour, inviting the premier to visit the White House soon. “The world’s oldest democracy

‘Let’s give it a try’: motion sickness no barrier for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

Lai Ka-ying suffers from motion sickness, cannot stand hot weather, was not a top student and did not speak Mandarin – all of which made the 43-year-old mother of three an unlikely pick as Hong Kong’s first astronaut. But the Hong Kong-born payload specialist on China’s Shenzhou-23 mission, which is expected to blast off on Sunday night and head to the Tiangong space station, made it through almost two years of training. “I held a ‘let’s give it a try’ attitude,” Lai said in interviews with...

US, Iran aim to finalise ‘largely negotiated’ deal to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

The United States and Iran sought on Sunday to finalise an agreement to formally end the Middle East war after Donald Trump said a proposal that included opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz was “largely negotiated”. However, the US president emphasised that the deal was still “subject to finalisation”, while The New York Times reported that the two sides would only address thorny issues about Iran’s nuclear programme after an initial pact was reached. “An Agreement has been largely...

Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir banned...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

France has ⁠decided to ban Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from French territory, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Saturday, adding that this reflected ‌growing anger among governments around the world over the treatment of an activist flotilla heading to Gaza. “As from today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory,” Barrot wrote on X. “Along with ⁠my Italian counterpart, I am asking the European Union to ‌also take sanctions against Itamar...

Vance and Rubio emerge as early contenders to inherit...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

An early glimpse of the battle to succeed US President Donald Trump atop the Republican ticket played out last week in classic Trumpian fashion when Vice-President J.D. Vance was temporarily demoted to play press secretary.His hour-long spell fielding questions from the White House “lion’s den” press corps included statements chiding the media and the obligatory denial for ambitious politicians. “This is crazy. You guys have got to behave yourself,” he told reporters, before adding: “I’m not

Is China building the world’s largest naval support...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

China appears to be close to launching the world’s largest naval support ship. On Thursday, the China State Shipbuilding Corporation released a picture of one of its shipyards on social media as part of a message marking a new Chinese solar term, which showed a massive hull in a dry dock in the background. The photo prompted speculation among military observers that the hull was an auxiliary ship and triggered a debate about the future logistical capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army...

Hong Kong’s astronaut to gather data using...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/23

Hong Kong’s first astronaut will operate a locally developed observatory that monitors key sources of greenhouse gas emissions on Earth during her time aboard the Tiangong space station, the research team behind the project has said. The imaging equipment could pinpoint the location and intensity of emissions, providing data that could be used to reduce carbon sources in the Greater Bay Area and elsewhere in mainland China, Professor Li Jia of Lingnan University said on Saturday. Payload...

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