Senior US officials on Monday pushed back against suggestions of American retreat from the Indo-Pacific, declaring that Washington is recalibrating its foreign assistance to more effectively outcompete China in the strategically vital region while maintaining support for allies through targeted aid and security cooperation. The focus, they said, is shifting away from broad assistance towards…
Hong Kong plans to deploy large passenger-carrying drones within the next two to three years as part of its drive to become a regional hub for the low-altitude economy, a senior official has said, predicting the aircraft will be significantly cheaper than current helicopter services. Dominic Chow Wing-hang, deputy director general of civil aviation, outlined…
Hong Kong’s chief executive has pledged to harness the city’s unique advantages to bring mainland China’s strengths, technology and compassion to belt and road nations while fostering people-to-people ties at the launch of the headquarters of a charity founded by former leader Leung Chun-ying. “Hong Kong has been leveraging its ‘hard power’ in professional services…
China has accused the United States of trying to undermine its relations with Greece after the US ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle urged Athens to sell the Chinese-operated port of Piraeus. Guilfoyle called the presence of China’s state-owned shipping giant Cosco at the port in the south of Greece “unfortunate”, in an interview last week with Greek…
The US-China rivalry has long been cast as a contest between two superpowers, with one rising and the other defending its primacy. This competition has been largely measured in GDP growth, military spending and the number of aircraft carriers and alliances each side could marshal. The central criteria is “who holds power” or “who has…
President Xi Jinping has given the southern province of Guangdong the task of strengthening technology, infrastructure and regulatory cooperation with Hong Kong and Macau to advance the Greater Bay Area scheme. “Developing the Greater Bay Area is both a major responsibility and a rare development opportunity for Guangdong,” state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as…
Chinese businesses should pivot their attention to the “rising” Global South such as Africa and the Middle East while minimising foreign investment risks through localisation, according to a former senior diplomat. Le Yucheng, who was a Chinese foreign vice-minister from 2018 to 2022, offered the assessment on Wednesday at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in…
The US-UK technology deal announced in September 2025 promises to accelerate Britain’s AI sector, but critics warn it will happen at the expense of national tech sovereignty. It reflects the steady trend of US government and private interests extending a technologically driven form of hegemony, employing communications, data and AI systems to deepen dependence on…
China’s 15th five-year plan is more than a policy blueprint; it is a pivotal turning point. This plan and the next one will define an era of innovation-led growth, solidifying China’s status as a major power and peer competitor to the United States. Since the reform and opening-up policy was launched, China’s economic development has…
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said “a multipolar world is emerging”, positioning Beijing’s latest vision for global governance as a unifying and stabilising framework at a time of increasing turbulence and Washington-driven unilateralism. Speaking in Beijing on Monday, Wang also called for “an end to politicising economic and trade issues, artificially fragmenting global markets, and…