This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. New users who download our updated app get a seven-day free trial. The Hong Kong Observatory issued a red rainstorm warning for an hour on Monday night, while a suspected waterspout was spotted off…
TAIPEI, July 8 (Reuters) – China’s gradually increasing pressure tactics risk creating an entirely new status quo in the Taiwan Strait, which the international community may not realise until it is too late, a senior Taiwan official said on Wednesday. Speaking at a forum in Taipei, Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, which…
Nearly 60 per cent of Hong Kong parents mistakenly believe that invasive meningococcal disease is no different from a common cold, a survey has found, prompting doctors to urge greater public awareness of the potentially fatal infection ahead of the summer travel season. The warning follows a survey by the Hong Kong Early Childhood Educators…
BEIJING, July 5 (Reuters) – The Chinese and Russian navies will hold joint exercises in the waters and airspace off the Chinese city of Qingdao next week, China’s defence ministry and Russian state media said on Sunday. “Following the exercises, some of the forces from both sides will proceed to relevant areas of the Pacific…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The Hong Kong Observatory has cancelled the No 1 typhoon signal but warned the city will still be hit by strong winds, swells and heavy showers, with unsettled weather expected to continue until mid…
Australia has raised concerns about Beijing’s maritime activities near Taiwan directly with Chinese officials, as reports suggest a changing strategy in the region. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, sent coast guard ships last month into the waters off Taiwan’s east coast for what it called a “special maritime traffic law-enforcement…
Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, who publicly recounted being abducted and detained by mainland Chinese authorities in 2015, has died at the age of 70 after a years-long battle with lung cancer, according to Taiwanese media. Local media reported that Lam, who moved to Taiwan in 2019, was admitted to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei…
Rather than promote ethnic harmony, activists say Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress could justify transnational repression. Published On 2 Jul 20262 Jul 2026 China says it has the right to pursue legal action against overseas individuals and organisations that undermine its ethnic unity as Beijing moves to expand its extraterritorial reach….
Last week, while preparing a lecture on the visual culture of the Global South, I caught Google’s Gemini in a double hallucination. Cross-referencing a historical event between English and Chinese data sets, I found the English AI to be authoritative but inventing citations. In Chinese, the fabrications vanished but so did global context, replaced by…
TAIPEI, June 25 (Reuters) – China has been contacting U.S. states and private firms to discourage engagement with Taiwan and mischaracterising U.S. policy, but links with Taiwan should be expanded, three U.S. government departments said in joint letters. The U.S. is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic…