At this time of year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s top priority is finalising the Hong Kong government’s budget for 2026-27, balancing requests for incentives and welfare against calls for a return to fiscal prudence. For decades, budget speeches have followed a familiar structure: a review of past performance, near- and medium-term forecasts, support measures…
A series of consequential political developments and controversies made 2025 a significant year for Hong Kong. Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s company CK Hutchison Holdings was caught in the crossfire of US-China tensions over a deal to sell its Panama Canal ports, which was eventually put on hold under pressure from Beijing. Locally, the city…
In a high-stakes bilateral exchange where Taiwan has historically been an enduring flashpoint, the unusual silence was deafening. Last week’s summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump produced a rare omission – no mention of Taiwan at all in official readouts from both Washington and Beijing. The rare departure from diplomatic…
Donald Trump said his decision came after realising that the US cannot be the only country that does not carry out tests, despite having a massive arsenal. Washington: US President Donald Trump once again affirmed his intention to restart nuclear testing in the United States, citing the nuclear ambitions of Russia and China as…
United States President Donald Trump reiterated on Tuesday (local time) that all Chinese goods entering the US will face a whopping 155 per cent tariff from November 1. Donald Trump also highlighted on Tuesday several trade deals he has been able to make with several countries in the last few months(AP) He added that such…
Alibaba Group chairman Joe Tsai has challenged the prevailing narrative of US-China artificial intelligence competition, arguing that the race has no definitive winner because success should be measured by adoption speed rather than model superiority. “When it comes to AI, there’s no such thing as winning the race. It’s a long marathon,” Tsai said at…
Iron ore declined due to a cautious tone ahead of a major holiday in China that’ll see mainland markets closed for a week from Wednesday. Futures fell to $103 a ton in Singapore, the lowest since early September, after dropping 2.8% last week. Demand for the steel-making staple may ease during Golden Week break. Iron…
Last month, I joined a US think tank delegation to China, participating in a round table at a top university in Beijing. A remark by a leading professor of diplomacy struck me: “If China and the US can’t cooperate on health issues, they can’t cooperate on others.” His words underscore the dire state of bilateral…
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that he expected a final agreement on the ByteDance-owned short-video app TikTok to be reached when US President Donald Trump speaks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday. China had a long list of demands during talks in Madrid this week, Bessent said. He described the negotiations…
Intensifying its battle against China, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has reportedly begun barring Chinese nationals with valid US visas from working on NASA space programs. “NASA has taken internal action pertaining to Chinese nationals, including restricting physical and cybersecurity access to our facilities, materials, and network to ensure the security of our…