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South China Morning Post

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

Is the US pushing South Korea to the fore in deterring a war over Taiwan?

Mounting US pressure on allies to bolster the first island chain’s defence in the western Pacific Ocean is raising concerns about South Korea’s possible but reluctant involvement in a conflict over Taiwan, analysts have said. In its recently released National Security Strategy (NSS), US President Donald Trump’s administration highlighted the importance of a “favourable conventional military...
Vote to disband Hong Kong’s Democratic Party looms as members weigh ‘rough ride’

For years, Winfield Chong Wing-fai, an executive committee member of the Democratic Party and long-term advocate against bid-rigging, has juggled countless invitations from Hong Kong residents to attend meetings of owners’ corporations, so homeowners can seek his advice on building maintenance projects. The number and frequency of those invitations increased exponentially after last month’s...
Southeast Asia barely features in America’s new security strategy

Washington’s latest national security blueprint may be one of its most consequential in years, yet it barely mentions Southeast Asia. Analysts say that absence speaks volumes, signalling a narrowing of American priorities that risks turning the region into a “bargaining chip” in the US-China rivalry. The National Security Strategy published by the White House on December 4 presents the Trump...
Soft power – hard work: can China harness social media apps to rewire its global image?

Mary Roettger was just one of millions of Americans seeking a social media life raft when she warily logged onto China’s RedNote platform for the first time in January. As fears loomed over a threatened US ban on TikTok, the Florida writer braced for a clumsy, spam-filled experience full of “negative people”. Instead, she was struck by a starkly different culture. Roettger was “blown away with...
China’s growing young billionaire class masks innovation hurdles, analysts say

While China continues to produce many young self-made billionaires, showcasing its economic dynamism, observers have urged the creation of a more supportive environment, saying that innovation is still being held back. About 98 per cent of the super-rich in mainland China, with assets valued at US$1 billion or more, are relatively young first-generation entrepreneurs, reflecting the vitality and...
Europe fears hidden Russian threat in Trump-backed Ukraine peace plan

European officials are growing concerned that an emerging US-brokered peace deal in Ukraine could be exploited by Russia, paving the way for a reinvasion of territory in the war-battered nation’s eastern Donbas region. The fear, a main sticking point in recent talks, is that the US plan for a demilitarised zone would give the Kremlin cover to deploy covert forces in the contested area, according...
Operation Santa Claus helps Hong Kong domestic workers rise as community leaders

Two non-governmental organisations serving Hong Kong’s large community of about 400,000 domestic helpers, mostly women from the Philippines and Indonesia, have joined forces to train some of them as community leaders to support their peers. Many NGOs may lack the resources and capacity to help individual workers, who work long hours far away from home and face a variety of issues. But Uplifters...
Virtual reality and the Nanking massacre: where does historical immersion become trauma?

In October, as Simon Li finished speaking at an international conference about embracing technological innovation in education, several Chinese history educators approached him with a potent, pressing question: could a virtual reality (VR) project about the 1937 Nanking massacre become the next pedagogical frontier? Li, executive director of the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre, recalled...
Age just a number for Singapore Slinger Lim, 71-year-old sets world darts record

A year after Luke Littler became the youngest winner of the PDC World Darts Championship, 71-year-old Paul Lim became the oldest winner of a match in the tournament’s history. Roared on by the usual raucous Alexandra Palace crowd on Saturday, the Singapore veteran stunned Dutch-born Swede Jeffrey de Graaf. The previous oldest player to win a round was Northern Ireland’s John MaGowan in 2008 when...
Japan’s proposal to ‘speedily draft’ anti-spy laws raises human rights concerns

The Japanese government’s plans to tighten espionage and secrecy legislation have been welcomed as a necessary bulwark at a time of deepening national security concerns, although analysts fear that any revisions will be too broad and could be used to stifle free speech and media freedom. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a long-time proponent of tightening rules on espionage and secrecy, was...