Hong Kong tourists are choosing South Korea and other mainland Chinese cities over Japan for their Christmas holidays, a trade body has said, as around 1,500 outbound tours are expected to depart the city. Fanny Yeung Shuk-fun, executive director of the Travel Industry Council, said on Wednesday that 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s tour…
Short-video platform Kuaishou Technology reported a major cyberattack to the police after a breach on Monday evening allowed explicit content to flood high-traffic live rooms for more than an hour. Kuaishou’s live-streaming services were thrown into chaos at around 10pm when recommended feeds were inundated with explicit material, according to news website Sina. Viewership in…
The emergence of a so-called “super flu” has gripped global headlines, prompting authorities in Hong Kong to urge residents to get vaccinated. Amid the spate of infections, a local research team also found that 99 per cent of residents lacked sufficient antibodies needed to protect themselves from the new strain. With many people travelling for…
Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Blackpink for Ayumi? Why China may reward South Korea’s soft stance on Japan row In a bid to overhaul their economic relationship, China and South Korea are reviving long-stalled…
China is estimated to have secured more than half of the 12 million tonnes of soybeans that Washington says Beijing committed to purchase by early 2026, based on US government data and market conventions that analysts say usually indicate China, though little has been shipped so far, heightening concerns over potential cancellations. While the US…
It has been a turbulent year for the fraught US-China relationship. In the fourth part of a series looking back at the events of 2025, we examine the impacts of Trump’s foreign policy on global geopolitics. As the administration of US President Donald Trump ends its first year, expect the unabashed disrupter to continue applying…
SEEN FROM East Asia, America is a partner with a commitment problem, demanding ever more of Asian allies while promising ever less. That leaves governments in the region wondering how to hedge against their worst fear: Trumpian abandonment. Alas, today’s America is both fickle and jealous. The Telegram was recently in Seoul and heard about…
Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard on Monday defended Mexico’s decision to impose new tariffs on imports from China and other Asian countries, describing the move as a necessary step to protect hundreds of thousands of domestic jobs rather than a provocation to any trading partner. Affected imports span 17 sectors, including textiles, footwear, steel, aluminium, plastics,…
The global air travel market has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, with the industry upbeat about 2026 and the Asia-Pacific region expected to lead worldwide traffic growth, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday. Load factors in Asia-Pacific were projected to hit an all-time regional high of 84.4 per cent next year, according…
Hong Kong-based travellers seeking to visit the US without a visa were left in a state of disarray last week when the country’s government proposed requiring tourists to hand over up to five years of social media information as part of strengthened entry requirements. The proposal, a continuation of US President Donald Trump’s expanded scrutiny…