Vietnam has been building up its defences in the Spratly Islands over the past two years to “ensure it can strike Chinese facilities” in the disputed archipelago, a report by a Washington-based think tank said.Emplacements for air and coastal def...

A Chinese foreign exchange official said on Friday that Beijing will “study” a plan to allow all mainland residents to invest in offshore securities and insurance policies up to an annual limit of US$50,000.It is hard to underestimate the plan’...

Multiple attempts by Chinese coastguard vessels to approach Japanese vessels in the East China Sea represent Beijing’s intensifying efforts to assert its sovereignty over the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan, analysts said on...

Hong Kong police are searching for an elderly man in an electric wheelchair who was spotted travelling about 1.5km down the middle of a busy highway late Monday morning, one of two such incidents in the span of just five hours.Officers were called wh...

The Philippines has approved Sinovac Biotech Ltd’s coronavirus shots for emergency use, paving the way for the nation to get its first vaccine shipment of 600,000 doses possibly within days.The Chinese developer’s shots may be effective to preven...

Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has announced fundamental electoral and administrative reforms for the city that will require “patriots” to hold key positions in all three branches of its government – the executive, legisl...

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her top officials on Monday became the first to receive a Covid-19 vaccine in the city, the day before bookings open for the mass immunisation programme launching later this week.Hailing the vaccination...

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the United States to scrap tariffs on Chinese imports and remove restrictions on the tech sector, laying out conditions for restoring damaged China-US relations.Wang told a forum in Beijing on Monday that relati...

Australia will quickly deliver the result of a planned independent inquiry into parliament’s workplace culture, the government said on Monday, as pressure grows after a newspaper published a third accusation of rape.Two female employees of Prime Mi...

Donald Trump offered North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a ride home on Air Force One after their summit in Hanoi two years ago, according to a new documentary.Kim and Trump first engaged in a war of words and mutual threats, before an extraordinary dipl...

Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong pupils on Monday returned to campus for the first time in months under an easing of Covid-19 restrictions allowing all schools to bring back at least a third of students for in-person classes.Students and parents to...

Japan has ordered a halt to all flights of Boeing 777s equipped with the engine that failed on Saturday over Denver as US aviation regulators ordered emergency inspections of the model’s fan blades.Japan’s transport ministry on Sunday ordered ANA...

Coronavirus variants emerging from the southern hemisphere can weaken the most powerful vaccines but people should still have the shots to guard against severe disease, according to researchers.In a non-peer-reviewed study published last week, a team...

Myanmar police began to disperse protesters in the capital, Naypyidaw, on Monday as businesses around the country shut in a general strike called to oppose the military coup, despite a threat from authorities that confrontation could cost lives.Three...

Hong Kong’s finance minister is banking on the city’s economic recovery lying in the creation of a green ecosystem, a source has told the Post, and residents should expect fewer sweeteners in Wednesday’s budget.Battling an estimated deficit of ...

With wreath-laying ceremonies, tree plantings and church services, Italians on Sunday marked one year since their country experienced its first known Covid-19 death.Towns in Italy’s north were the first to be hard-hit by the pandemic and put under ...

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Sunday it had struck a deal with Iran to cushion the blow of steps Tehran plans to take this week that include ending snap inspections, with both sides agreeing to keep “necessary” monitoring for up to three months...

China’s top health authority has denied that it will lift birth control restrictions in the northeast of the country.Last week, the National Health Commission triggered speculation it was going to end limits on the number of children families could...

A person of interest in the slaying of Yale graduate student Kevin Jiang this month stole a car on the day of the killing before driving to Connecticut, according to a police report.The report filed by police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, alleged Qinx...

A young woman struggles to stay upright under the weight of an enormous bag spilling over with blankets and bedding, cradling a baby in one arm and keeping hold of a backpack in the other as she shuffles towards her destination.If a single photograph...

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says he has offered to go to Beijing to find a way to cooperate over Hong Kong, but his proposition has so far not been accepted by China.Speaking on a video call on Friday organised by the powerful Conservative...

The powerful interior minister of Libya’s unity government survived an assassination attempt Sunday, an aide said, sparking fears of resurgent violence despite UN-led peace efforts.Fathi Bashagha’s convoy “was fired on from an armoured car” w...

The United States was on the brink Sunday of the grim milestone of 500,000 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, as the nation’s top virus expert warned a form of normalcy may not return until the end of the year.Signs of hope...

[Sponsored Article] The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme offered by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) was the first of its kind in Asia and, marking its 25th anniversary this year, is continuing to show the way.   It re...

Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, is pledging he’ll take the lead in prosecuting participants in the group that attacked the Capitol on January 6.“If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white suprem...

China’s political elite will gather in Beijing next month for the year’s biggest legislative set piece facing a number of major political challenges, including the aftermath of the coronavirus and the ongoing rivalry with the United States. In th...

China and India have held their tenth round of border talks and said the two sides had “completed” the disengagement of forces from a lake that has become a key flashpoint in their months-long stand-off.A joint press release said the two sides ha...

Some 70 bars across Hong Kong are to close for good after the Lunar New Year holiday, as tough social-distancing rules gutted the city’s once-bustling nightlife scene, according to an industry poll.The Hong Kong Bar & Club Association said the city...

Women in Saudi Arabia can now take up arms and enter the military, the latest profession in the kingdom to open up to female recruits.Saudi Arabian women can be employed as soldiers, lance corporals, corporals, sergeants, and staff sergeants, accordi...

US President Joe Biden has chosen a slew of China specialists for key positions in his administration, signalling a shift in resources to continue Washington’s tougher approach against Beijing in a renewed “pivot to Asia”.The appointments acros...

Israel took a step towards normalcy on Sunday, reopening a raft of businesses and services following its third national lockdown, with some sites only available to those who have been vaccinated.Nearly three million people, almost a third of Israel�...

Hong Kong’s development minister has promised to strive for a balanced expansion of the city’s biggest outlying island of Lantau, with an aim to preserve the natural beauty of its southern region while pushing for more growth in the north.In a pi...

Iran said it won’t negotiate with the US until it rejoins the nuclear deal, or broaden the accord to address its missile programme and regional activities, digging in to long-standing positions as a crucial deadline nears.“Once everybody implemen...

The long hours and gruelling schedules of the so-called “996” work culture have been the scourge of workers in the Chinese tech industry for many years.The term, which means working from 9am to 9pm six days a week, has led many white-collar profe...

Beijing continued to put pressure on Taiwan with another round of military exercises over the weekend as the island reshuffled the officials responsible for security and relations with the mainland.On Friday and Saturday, the People’s Liberation Ar...

A Chinese blogger has asked for police help after claiming he was being cyberbullied for criticising the traditional custom of kowtowing to the elders during Lunar New Year.Huang Zhijie runs an influential account called You You Lu Ming (a line from ...

A delivery worker was killed when two trucks collided on a Hong Kong thoroughfare on Sunday morning.The 68-year-old woman, who was travelling in the cabin of a Sheung Shui-bound vehicle, was severely injured when it collided with the rear of another ...

The UK will significantly accelerate its Covid-19 vaccination programme, offering shots to all adults by the end of July and everyone over 50 by mid-April as the government beefs up efforts to contain one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the coron...

The Chinese embassy in Cambodia has urged its citizens to comply with local coronavirus control rules after an outbreak among Chinese nationals in the country.“Chinese nationals must strictly follow the pandemic control rules of the Cambodian gover...

Police on Sunday intercepted a fleet of 45 luxury sports cars including Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches over suspected illegal racing on Hong Kong Island.Officers said one of the vehicles pulled over was towed away during the 7am operation, code-...

A demand by the Philippine government that the United States quadruple its aid to Manila in exchange for allowing US troops to operate in the country may have shocked Washington, but some experts think the country’s strategic position in the South ...

Investors from the Chinese mainland bought US$40.1 billion in shares through the Hong Kong stock connect trading scheme last month, cashing in on government relaxation of outflows.The January total released by the State Administration of Foreign Exch...

Tens of thousands of opponents of Myanmar’s February 1 military coup gathered on Sunday in towns from north to south, undeterred by the bloodiest episode of their campaign the previous day when security forces opened fire on protesters, killing two...

It was the evening of the second day of Lunar New Year, and at the only Chinese school in Kolkata, the sound of drumming filled the air. Soon, the heady beat was joined by crashing cymbals and a gong, as costumed performers leapt from pole to pole in...

Days before a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe earlier this month, nearly 90 Chinese investors gathered in a grand ballroom in a Beijing hotel to listen to an appeal from President Milo Djukan...

American security contractor Erik Prince, a close ally of former US President Donald Trump, violated the United Nations arms embargo against Libya along with three United Arab Emirates-based companies and their top managers during an operation to hel...

Two recent decisions by the government suggest to me that Bible study is still prevalent among the top echelon. The first was the move by the government, with regard to the findings of the Minimum Wage Commission, to freeze the statutory minimum wage...

A Chinese doctor with more than 2 million followers online has apologised for inhaling an anaesthetic to support her claim that the drug could make people faint instantly.The doctor, who works in a major hospital in Wuxi in the eastern province of Ji...

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison received his first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday, marking the start of the nation’s vaccination programme and what he called a “massive step” towards a return to normality.Up to 4 million Australi...

E-commerce firm Shopee’s rise in Southeast Asia over the past five years has been rapid, to say the least.The mobile commerce platform, owned by Singapore-based tech behemoth Sea Group, had the most-downloaded shopping app last year in the region�...