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1. Why top German diplomat’s China trip aims to manage rivalry but won’t reset ties

   German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s trip to China this week signals a mutual desire to resume high-level dialogue amid mounting economic and geopolitical tensions, according to analysts. But they cautioned that the visit, which could lay the groundwork for a trip by Chancellor Friedrich Merz early next year, should be viewed as pragmatic management of a complex “systemic rivalry”, rather...

2. China boy in blackboard plea for used bottle donations to fund sick mum’s treatment

   A Chinese secondary school pupil who asked his classmates to save their used water bottles so he could sell them to help ease his family’s financial position has been praised online. The plea in the form of a blackboard message was written by a Grade Two pupil at No 5 Middle School in Huainan, in eastern Anhui province. His request went viral on social media at the end of November after fellow...

3. Welfare chief can not rule out deaths of 13 missing households in Hong Kong blaze

   Thirteen households from the Hong Kong estate devastated by the inferno in Tai Po remain uncontactable more than 10 days on from the blaze, with the city’s labour and welfare chief not ruling out that all may have died in the fire. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the Wang Fuk Court blaze had prompted the government to consider expediting legal amendments to ban smoking at...

4. Hong Kong blaze may have started on scaffolding between first and second floor

   The fire that tore through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po and killed at least 159 may have started on scaffolding between the first and second floors of one of the blocks, according to preliminary investigations by Hong Kong fire services. The city’s fire services director also said a life-size replica of the floors in question might be built to help determine the exact ignition...

5. Lee Kuan Yew’s pain and his deputy’s resolve in Singapore-Malaysia separation

   In the tumultuous days before Singapore’s separation from Malaysia in 1965, founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew clung to the hope that the city could still be part of the federal government under a looser arrangement, but his deputy had no desire to pursue this ideal. While Lee was conflicted and even wavered at the eleventh hour when he asked then Malaysian prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman if...

6. 618 dead in Sri Lanka landslides as rains batter South, Southeast Asia

   Sri Lankan authorities issued fresh landslide warnings on Sunday, with rains lashing areas already devastated by a powerful cyclone as the death toll rose to 618. A chain of tropical storms and monsoonal rains has battered Southeast and South Asia, setting off landslides, flooding vast tracts and cutting off communities, from the rainforests of Sumatra to Sri Lanka’s highland plantations. At...

7. Hong Kong scaffolding net sample ignites in test despite passing safety standards

   A scaffolding net sample from a large Hong Kong housing estate produced flaming droplets and ignited a fire in a lab experiment despite passing the authorities’ safety standards, a test commissioned by the Post has found. The findings have prompted calls from experts to review the standards set for the nets and improve the existing safety regulations targeting scaffolding on renovation...

8. How China can ensure Tazara rail deal in Africa is a win-win

   Ground has quite literally been broken on a Chinese-funded project to modernise the Tanzania-Zambia railway after years of negotiations, amid intensifying “corridor wars” as major powers compete to shape transport and trade networks across not just Africa but also Eurasia and beyond. The US$1.4 billion upgrade will restore the 1,860km railway, known as Tazara, a vital corridor linking Zambia’s...

9. China promised zero tariffs for Africa. Why is South Africa missing out?

   South Africa, China’s largest trade partner in the continent, and other Southern African Customs Union (SACU) members are suffering from an unforeseen barrier to enjoying Beijing’s zero-tariff policy. The hurdle is eSwatini’s continued diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and hence exclusion from the favourable policy. SACU customs deals are negotiated collectively among the five member states,...

10. Operation Santa Claus backs expansion of Hong Kong teen counselling project

    A project offering counselling to teenagers with depression and anxiety in Hong Kong will be expanded next year to reach more students, after about half of those it has helped showed no further signs of mental health issues, according to a local charity. Mind HK, the charity running the three-year initiative, also offers psychological support to people affected by the inferno at Wang Fuk Court...