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Coroner’s Court, watchdog to probe delayed blood...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Hong Kong’s medical watchdog and Coroner’s Court will look into an incident in which an eight-year-old girl died two years ago after a delayed blood transfusion during surgery at a public hospital. Eddie Chau, the father of the girl, Chau Tin-yu, said on Friday that the Medical Council inquiry would take place from October 27 to 30 and that he would attend as a witness. The Coroner’s Court also notified him that it had decided to open an inquest into Tin-yu’s death, with the date to be

Leaders Xi, Putin meet over tea; rare earth find in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Substance for Putin, ‘face’ for Trump as China, Russia deepen strategic alliance Days after US President Donald Trump’s visit framed around managing risks, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached a...

Vietnam sells disgraced tycoon’s Hermes bags to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Vietnam auctioned off two Hermes handbags owned by real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, convicted in the nation’s largest fraud case, for 14.21 billion dong (US$539,000) as efforts to claw back billions of dollars in ill-gotten wealth accelerate. The government is auditing assets owned by Lan and her affiliates to recoup billions in losses after courts ordered her to repay US$27 billion in damages. Lan has so far repaid a total of more than 12 trillion dong to about 42,000 bondholders with more...

China’s Tsinghua University honours German Gref,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

A leading Chinese university has given a Russian banker sanctioned by the United States a prestigious honorary academic title, soon after they signed a partnership agreement on innovative development. German (also known as Herman) Gref, CEO and chairman of Russia’s Sberbank, has been given the title of “distinguished visiting professor” by Tsinghua University, according to Russian state news agency Ria on Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the matter. Gref was part of the delegation...

China’s vast new canal link to Southeast Asia set to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

China’s landmark Pinglu Canal has entered its final phase of construction and is set to begin trial operations as early as September, with a first shipping route linking the country’s heartlands to the free-trade port of Hainan, according to Chinese state media reports. The Pinglu Canal – China’s most ambitious waterway project in centuries – will stretch 134km (83 miles) from Nanning, capital of the southern Guangxi region, to the Gulf of Tonkin, known as the Beibu Gulf in China. The aim is

Chinese gang caught using AI in Malaysia bungalow for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

A scam syndicate has been renting a bungalow in an upmarket area in Malaysia’s Johor state and using AI to carry out job scams all the way in Spain. Police uncovered their activities when they arrested a total of 35 Chinese nationals during a raid at the bungalow in Gelang Patah at 11.50pm on May 14. Iskandar Puteri OCPD Assistant Commissioner M. Kumarasan said the suspects, aged between 21 and 39, used artificial intelligence technology and ready-made language templates to communicate with...

China-US stability may not last, ex-Asia adviser to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Dr Evan Medeiros is the Penner family chair in Asia studies and the Cling family distinguished fellow in US-China studies at Georgetown University. He has served as the National Security Council’s director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, and later as special assistant to the president and senior director for Asia. Medeiros was former president Barack Obama’s top adviser on the Asia-Pacific and was previously a policy adviser to Hank Paulson when he was Treasury secretary. He has also held

1 dead, 4 injured as Hong Kong subdivided flat fire...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

A Hong Kong resident has died and four others were injured after a fire broke out late on Thursday in an old building under renovation in Jordan, prompting the evacuation of about 300 people. Police received a report at 10.49pm of a fire in a subdivided flat in the 62-year-old Man Yuen Building on Man Wai Street. The Fire Services Department deployed 20 fire engines, 10 ambulances and 106 personnel, and extinguished the blaze at 11.53pm. According to the fire department, the affected

China-Russia: energy ties

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

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Boeing went to China to sell planes. Beijing is...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

When Air Force One touched down in Beijing, one of the most photographed passengers was Boeing’s chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, there to close a deal. Washington had come to sell aircraft. Beijing was buying something else. The last time this scene played out in 2017, China signed an agreement for 300 Boeing aircraft. Since then, it has pursued an industrial programme aimed at reducing dependence on precisely such orders. That effort has not failed, but neither has it advanced at the pace...

‘We really do not trust each other’: former US envoy...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

Former US ambassador to China Max Baucus has described the latest US-China summit as ushering in a new phase of wary “constructive stability”, with both sides focused more on preventing crises rather than building trust or meaningfully resetting their relationship. In an interview on Wednesday, Baucus said last week’s Beijing summit between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump served as a guard rail to prevent breakdown and escalation, while revealing the limits of the...

China is losing the LLM race but it can still win in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

For years, Liu Wei was synonymous with Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings’ artificial intelligence efforts. A distinguished scientist at the Shenzhen-based company, Liu was also head of its Hunyuan team, the firm’s foundational model development unit for the generative AI era. But in late 2024, Liu’s departure from Tencent after more than eight years sparked immediate speculation as to why he left. Hunyuan was introduced only a year earlier – so why did Liu suddenly quit one of China’s most...

China inventor creates sword-shaped aerial vehicle,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

A Chinese influencer has turned the flying sword in Chinese xianxia fantasy novels into reality by creating a specially-shaped aerial vehicle. Fan Shisan, from southwestern China’s Sichuan province, recently posted a video of himself riding a sword-shaped aerial vehicle, amassing 3.3 million views and 284,000 likes. Dressed in black and striking a cool pose, Fan looks like a knight in China’s xianxia dramas. Xianxia is a popular genre of Chinese fantasy developed from the wuxia, or martial...

Northern Metropolis industrial park draws ‘global...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/22

The new industrial park under the Northern Metropolis megaproject has attracted strong global interest from companies in environmental and AI sectors, its chairman has said, with plans to provide international education and accommodation facilities. Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, the newly appointed chairman of the Hung Shui Kiu Industry Park Company, also aims to have the park operational by July next year, describing it as a “nice gift” for Hong Kong’s 30th anniversary of its return to Chinese...

Woman jailed for nearly 42 years over US$250 million...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/21

The leader of a Minnesota non-profit group was sentenced to 41 years in prison on Thursday after she was convicted last year of being the ringleader of a US$250 million ‌scheme to defraud a federally funded child nutrition programme. Aimee Bock, 45, was charged in 2022 with using her non-profit group Feeding Our Future to enact what the Justice Department said was the largest known fraud against the US government’s relief programmes during the ⁠Covid-19 pandemic. More than 70 other people

At least 19 killed in Honduras palm plantation massacre

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/21

At least 19 people were killed at a palm plantation in northern Honduras, authorities said Thursday, as the Central American nation prepares for a resurgent wave of anti-gang militarisation. The killings took place the previous night in Rigores, in the restive Bajo Aguan region, where rival gangs have fought over control of palm plantations and drug trafficking routes. The attack came shortly after the national legislature approved a series of reforms to confront criminal violence in

AI boom fuels US$11.6b data centre investment in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/21

The artificial intelligence boom is partially spurring investment in Asia-Pacific’s data centre properties with a record US$11.6 billion worth of capital poured into the segment in 2025, according to CBRE. In Hong Kong, while AI-related demand is unlikely to be met because of technical limitations, leasing of data centre space was supported by “hyperscale CSPs (cloud service providers), mainland Chinese technology and e-commerce companies and financial institutions”, the property consultancy...

Trump says he is sending 5,000 more troops to Poland,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/21

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US would send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from Trump and his administration about reducing – not increasing – the American military footprint in Europe. The Trump administration has said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and US officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer deploying to Poland. Trump’s social media announcement raises more...

First Gaza flotilla activists arrive in Turkey after...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/21

Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by its forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, as the first group arrived in Turkey following global outcry over their treatment in custody.Hundreds of activists from countries around the world were placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory. Turkish foreign ministry sources said 422 activists,...

China is replacing Middle East oil with Xinjiang...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/05/21

As the war in Iran disrupts global oil and chemical supplies, China’s coal-heavy energy sector is seizing an unprecedented opportunity. Dannie Peng visited the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture in northern Xinjiang – one of China’s four major bases for large-scale, modern coal-chemical production. In the second of a two-part series, she discovers how China is leveraging coal chemicals to offset oil shocks. It is late April, and northern Xinjiang is already gripped by scorching heat. Salt

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