36 h. ago Why is China’s Xi Jinping putting the political heat back on illegal villas and resorts?

Chinese President Xi Jinping has refocused national anti-corruption efforts on illegal villas and “private resorts”, luxury developments that have come to symbolise excess and graft over the past two decades. According to newly released excerpts of a speech, Xi singled out the developments for special mention at the central urban work conference in July, highlighting them as examples of the need to improve governance, combat corruption and promote sustainable urban development. “[Officials must]...

Politics

36 h. ago Why is Xi Jinping putting the political heat back on illegal villas and resorts?

Why is Xi Jinping putting the political heat back on illegal villas and resorts?  South China Morning Post

Politics

38 h. ago Canada Cozies Up to China As Trump Turns Up the Heat | Insight with Haslinda Amin 01/16/2026

Canada Cozies Up to China As Trump Turns Up the Heat | Insight with Haslinda Amin 01/16/2026  Bloomberg.com

Politics

1 week ago Why China is turning down the nationalist heat in its row with Japan

A little over a decade ago, a diplomatic row with Japan would have been enough to bring people out into the streets in China or at least stir a patriotic retail boycott. In 2012, for instance, tensions boiled over after Tokyo bought and then nationalised three of the Diaoyu Islands, a group of eight uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that Japan calls the Senkakus. China and Japan have a long-running territorial dispute over the islands and authorities appeared to tolerate the...

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2 w. ago Great Green Wall 2.0: China is geoengineering deserts with blue

Deserts are hard to reclaim because plants cannot survive on shifting sand, but scientists in northwest China are changing that – by dropping vast amounts of blue-green algae onto the dry terrain. These specially selected strains of cyanobacteria can survive extreme heat and drought for long periods, according to China Science Daily on Thursday. When rain finally comes, they spring to life, spreading rapidly and forming a tough, biomass-rich crust over the sand. This living layer stabilises the...

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3 w. ago Why has Beijing turned down the heat in the Taiwan Strait in the second half of 2025?

All eyes are on how Beijing’s “Chinese dream” of eventual Taiwan reunification will unfold at a time when the leader of the United States – Taipei’s top international backer – appears less likely to intervene in case of a cross-strait conflict. In the third of a three-part series, Amber Wang looks at how PLA activity may reflect the wider political picture. In the past five years, People’s Liberation Army activity near Taiwan has been seen by many observers as a key indicator of when and whether...

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4 w. ago China’s heat pump tech, Tokyo clarifies Taiwan stance to Beijing: SCMP’s 7 highlights

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. China’s ultra-hot heat pump breakthrough paves way for melting ore with sunlight For over a century, the dream of efficiently concentrating low-grade heat into high-temperature industrial energy has been constrained by a stubborn...

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