3 h. ago Welcome to a world where wars don’t end and sanctions don’t work

For much of the modern era, power was easy to recognise. It belonged to the states that could win wars decisively, enforce sanctions effectively and impose political outcomes far beyond their borders. That definition no longer works. The world is moving towards what scholars have described as a form of “distributed multipolarity”, a landscape in which no single actor – not the United States, not China, not Russia – can fully shape events in the way great powers once expected. Tools once seen as...

Events

4 h. ago US confirms Chinese boy in federal custody, but his whereabouts remain unknown

More than a week after US immigration authorities separated 6-year-old Yuanxin from his father during a routine check-in with ICE in New York, it has been confirmed that the child has been placed in the custody of the US Office of Refugee Resettlement. However, his location still remains unknown. The ORR, a federal agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services, is almost always the agency that takes custody of immigrant children classified as unaccompanied or separated minors...

Politics

4 h. ago US confirms Chinese boy Yuanxin, 6, is in federal custody. But where is he?

More than a week after US immigration authorities separated 6-year-old Yuanxin from his father during a routine check-in with ICE in New York, it has been confirmed that the child has been placed in the custody of the US Office of Refugee Resettlement. However, his location still remains unknown. The ORR, a federal agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services, is almost always the agency that takes custody of immigrant children classified as unaccompanied or separated minors...

Politics

12 h. ago ‘If Jesus were born in America now’: church’s nativity challenges ICE policy

Mother Mary wearing a respirator mask to protect herself from tear gas. Baby Jesus with zip-tied hands, wrapped in a thin blanket that looks like aluminium foil. Masked centurions with sunglasses and green vests labelled “ICE”. This is how the Lake Street Church of Evanston in suburban Chicago chose to assemble its nativity scene for the Christmas season. The church and its leaders have been vocal critics of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz and expressed a message with their...

Events

16 h. ago Why Gulf region’s dreams of aviation domination are built on sand

We should call it the “Neom factor”: the force that transforms reasonable aggressive ambition into hallucinogenic fantasyland. It glared out at me last week in a Financial Times headline: “Three ‘Heathrows’ of growth: the unstoppable rise of Middle East airports”. In short, Dubai, Istanbul, Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi in aggregate have airport expansion plans to lift passenger capacity almost threefold to around 750 million a year over the coming decades. In the words of Paul Griffiths, chief...

Politics

23 h. ago Legco poll a chance for Hong Kong to show its resilience after Tai Po fire

Last week’s deadly fire has cast a heavy shadow over Hong Kong, reminding us of the fragility of life and the need for solidarity in hard times. The central government has responded swiftly with its full attention and support. Aid and sympathy have poured in from across China, underscoring that Hong Kong’s pain is shared. The cause of the fire must be investigated and learned from in due course, but for now the priority is resilience. The announcement that the Legislative Council election will...

Events

24 h. ago A Decade of Nurturing Potential: ASHK Blends Joyful Learning with Academic Excellence

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] As the American School of Hong Kong (ASHK) celebrates its first decade, it reflects on its success in achieving: creating a warm and happy learning environment where students from ages 5 to 18 can thrive. Since its opening in 2016, the school has distinguished itself by striking a careful balance between academic rigour and a commitment to the all-round development of the whole child. Holistic Education and Diverse...

Politics

25 h. ago Opinion | The One Child Policy’s Legacy: A Surplus of Single Men

Opinion | The One Child Policy’s Legacy: A Surplus of Single Men  The New York Times

Events

27 h. ago America’s opioid crisis won’t be solved without India’s help

Much has been written about China’s alleged role in the US opioid crisis. Chemicals from Chinese suppliers have supposedly been used by Mexican cartels to produce fentanyl, which is then trafficked into the United States where it has fuelled a deadly overdose crisis. Successive US administrations have pressured Beijing to crack down on its chemical industry. China has taken repeated steps to regulate precursors, including most recently last month when it restricted 13 new chemicals at US...

Events

40 h. ago India and Japan show impact of Trump’s tariffs extend beyond trade

For a sign of the degree to which US President Donald Trump’s decision in August to double tariffs on most Indian goods to a staggering 50 per cent – the highest rate across Asia – is weighing on investor sentiment, look no further than the rupee. Having plumbed a series of record lows in recent months, India’s currency has been the worst performer in Asia this year and has breached the psychologically important level of 90 per US dollar. One of the last major economies yet to strike a trade...

Politics

47 h. ago Oxford slammed for not naming Indonesian researchers in rare flower find

A recent rediscovery of the extremely rare Rafflesia hasseltii, a giant parasitic red flower, in a forest in Indonesia’s West Sumatra has sparked backlash following an initial social media post by Oxford University that left out local researchers involved in the search and credited only its scientist. The uproar has exposed the perceived lack of equal recognition for Western researchers and their Global South counterparts when they collaborate, and the lingering legacy of colonialism in...

Politics

47 h. ago How China went from generic drug factory to biomedicine innovator

China’s pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of enormous growth and transformation. In just a few years, it has moved on from being the world’s cheapest source of active pharmaceutical ingredients to becoming a major hub for pharmaceutical innovation – a place where new, more effective drugs are born. It is now the second-largest developer of drugs, trailing only the United States. In the global drug development pipeline, China’s growth rate is phenomenal, leaping from 3 per cent in 2013 to...

Events

47 h. ago Opinion | How China went from generic drug factory to biomedicine innovator

Opinion | How China went from generic drug factory to biomedicine innovator  South China Morning Post

Events

47 h. ago How China engineered the rapid rise of its drug innovation industry

China’s pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of enormous growth and transformation. In just a few years, it has moved on from being the world’s cheapest source of active pharmaceutical ingredients to becoming a major hub for pharmaceutical innovation – a place where new, more effective drugs are born. It is now the second-largest developer of drugs, trailing only the United States. In the global drug development pipeline, China’s growth rate is phenomenal, leaping from 3 per cent in 2013 to...

Events

47 h. ago Opinion | How China engineered the rapid rise of its drug innovation industry

Opinion | How China engineered the rapid rise of its drug innovation industry  South China Morning Post

Events

51 h. ago Why peeling back layers of strategic ambiguity will only hurt Japan

Putting aside the ongoing war of words between Beijing and Tokyo surrounding Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s statements on Taiwan last month, there is a simple question that needs answering. Can Japan’s Self-Defence Forces really afford to fight the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) without American military support? Takaichi’s answer appears to be that Japan’s military must do so. The legislation approved by Japan’s Diet in September 2015 allowed the country to exercise its right of...

Politics

57 h. ago Digging through Hong Kong’s disaster site left them wanting to cry

Hazy air laced with a pungent odour, dark rooms filled with debris, bodies that had to be carefully extracted by hand. The discovery of a dead child. The head of the police team responsible for the search of the Hong Kong residential complex destroyed in an inferno gave an account on Wednesday of the harrowing conditions they faced inside the seven towers as work came to an end. The task of checking the more than 1,000 flats at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po was both physically and emotionally...

Events

60 h. ago Hong Kong insurers identify 8,700 policies owned by Tai Po fire victims

About 30 Hong Kong-based insurance companies, including AIA and Manulife, have issued 7,600 life insurance and 1,100 property policies to policyholders listed as residing at Wang Fuk Court, according to the Insurance Authority. Insurance Authority CEO Clement Cheung Wan-ching said the authority had set up a special task force, led by senior executives, to urge all insurers to identify policyholders affected by the blaze at Wang Fuk Court last week that killed 159 people, injured 79 and left an...

Events

64 h. ago China’s shrinking credit reflects a financial reset, not a collapse

China’s latest credit figures have raised eyebrows, but they need not raise alarm. New bank lending, aggregate social financing and total credit growth all came in weaker than expected for October, marking their softest readings in more than a year. For markets conditioned to expect Beijing to counter every slowdown with a surge of liquidity, the numbers may suggest a worrying loss of momentum. But that reading misses the broader structural shift under way. The data reflects not a collapse, but...

Politics

64 h. ago Opinion | China’s shrinking credit reflects a financial reset, not a collapse

Opinion | China’s shrinking credit reflects a financial reset, not a collapse  South China Morning Post

Politics