Last Thursday, the European Union added 14 Chinese companies to its latest round of sanctions, accusing them of providing support for Russia’s war against Ukraine – but few of the names were recognisable to anyone outside narrow trading and compl...

China’s factory activity unexpectedly slipped into contraction for the first time in five months, and construction activity fell to its lowest since the pandemic, underscoring a divide in the nation’s economy that complicates efforts to revive gr...

Hong Kong’s economy expanded by 4.3 per cent year on year in the second quarter of 2026, with the government expecting “solid growth” to continue for the remainder of the year. A government spokesman attributed the robust momentum to buoyant ex...

Singapore announced on Friday it took possession of 38 Oxley Road, the former home of its founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and would study how it could be developed into a public space, ending years of public debate over what to do with the prop...

HSBC Holdings has agreed to sell its US$25 billion Australian home loan portfolio to a unit of Blackstone, which is expected to result in an immaterial pre-tax loss of less than US$100 million for the group by the first half of 2027, according to a s...

Not a day passes without someone in Europe or the United States complaining about China’s “overproduction” and “China shock 2.0”. The narrative is of a deliberate, subversive Chinese strategy, underpinned by subsidies, to undermine the manu...

Students sitting Hong Kong’s university entrance exam in mainland China next year will pay a registration fee of HK$8,000 (US$1,020), a 220 per cent increase from the current HK$2,500 after a pilot scheme ends. The Hong Kong Examinations and Assess...

Chinese President Xi Jinping held discussions with the leaders of Slovakia and Namibia in Beijing during July, as well as meeting the heads of Cambodia, Thailand and Kazakhstan in Shanghai on the sidelines of the World AI Conference. Xi also hosted N...

A powerful earthquake that struck southern Japan this week has exposed the vulnerability of the country’s manufacturing supply chains, a decade after a devastating quake in the same region triggered widespread industry disruption. Tuesday’s 7.1-m...

A super typhoon named after Hong Kong’s Chinese white dolphins is set to bring very hot weather to the city in the latter part of next week, according to the Observatory. Kong Yu-chau, a senior scientific officer with the forecaster, said on Friday...

Hong Kong authorities have backtracked on plans to require hotels to provide fire escape hoods in guest rooms and other spaces after industry leaders expressed concerns, and have said they will only encourage the equipment’s usage at this stage. Th...

A Malaysian pilot who tested positive for meth, MDMA, and cocaine after flying a passenger plane to Indonesia risked the death penalty for allegedly smuggling more than 70,000 Ecstasy tablets in his suitcase, officials said on Friday. The 39-year-old...

This report was translated from Chinese into English using Alibaba’s Qwen3.7-Plus, then checked and tweaked for accuracy by a South China Morning Post journalist. It is for reference only, and is not the official English version of the original Chi...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the People’s Liberation Army to enhance its use of AI as part of a drive to develop an intelligent military. He told a Politburo group study session that the PLA should “strengthen the military applicati...

Singapore’s Senior Minister K. Shanmugam and Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry) Tan See Leng have each been awarded S$145,000 (US$113,000) in legal costs following their successful defamation suit against Bloomberg and its journa...

An apparent communication breakdown between US and South Korean militaries led South Korean troops to train their weapons on an American drone launched during a joint exercise on Thursday, triggering an evacuation alert near the inter-Korean border. ...

Xiaomi, one of Tesla’s biggest challengers in mainland China over the past year, has priced its newest cars at a 23 per cent discount to the US carmaker’s Model Y L SUV amid intensified competition in the country’s premium electric vehicle (EV)...

A man from southeastern China transformed his experience with paralysis into a source of inspiration, creating a mind-controlled wheelchair prototype in just 48 hours during a technology competition. Wang Ning, 33, and his wife from Shenzhen recently...

A Hong Kong law firm allegedly involved in a series of “crash-for-cash” scams has dropped a judicial challenge over the seizure of its confidential documents during a police raid earlier this year. The High Court on Friday dismissed an applicatio...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please conside...

The parents of a Hong Kong infant are applying for a legal order to review welfare authorities’ decision to remove the boy from their care, expressing “fear and anger” over arrangements for him to receive “medical intervention” against thei...

A Type 052D destroyer fired a YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile into the air, Chinese media footage showed, displaying capabilities that pose defence challenges for the United States and its allies. A YJ-20 missile was launched from a vertical launc...

The police and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have opened investigations after British trip-hop band Massive Attack expressed support for the Palestinians at their concert in Singapore on Wednesday. “Police confirm that reports wer...

Singapore fashion retailer Love, Bonito said that some customers’ personal data may have been exposed after a security vulnerability on its website allowed unauthorised access to account information. In an email to customers on Thursday, CEO Dione ...

China could win the AI race if delays in establishing the United States’ artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure are not addressed, a congressional hearing heard on Thursday, just days before the deadline for the release of new industry guard r...

After soaring 466 per cent in its Shanghai trading debut on Monday, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) became the most valuable company on mainland China’s stock market – the first semiconductor firm to hold the top spot in the market’s 35-yea...

Hong Kong cancelled Friday’s second amber rainstorm warning in the afternoon, even as the local forecaster said the wet weather was expected to last until Monday. The Observatory issued the first amber alert of the day at 10.20am, before upgrading ...

The death toll from a landslide in Chongqing province, southwest China, earlier this month rose to 51, with 10 people still missing, local authorities said late on Thursday night. The landslide, which occurred two weeks ago in Pengshui county, swept ...

August 1 sees the 99th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army. To mark the occasion, SCMP Plus has republished its February 2026 factsheet on efforts to modernise China’s armed forces.

Apple is taking its first concrete steps to roll out initial artificial intelligence (AI) features in China, but CEO Tim Cook warned that a full integration of a revamped Siri AI there would take longer. Mainland Chinese consumers would first get a t...

A father in central China, whose gaming-addicted son swallowed 18 fever pills in one go, has sued four mainland gaming companies, seeking a symbolic compensation of 10 yuan (US$1.5). However, his primary hope is that the court will supervise these co...

Ten international climbers led by a renowned Nepal-born mountaineer were missing after an avalanche struck Broad Peak, one of the world’s highest mountains in northern Pakistan. The Alpine Club of Pakistan received initial reports that the avalanch...

China has won approval for domestically developed surgical robots to be used in Vietnamese hospitals, marking a major step forward as the country’s high-end medical equipment makers push to challenge Western dominance overseas. The Chinese-made sur...

The government has started public consultation on Hong Kong’s first five-year plan. The accompanying consultation document sets out principles which will be applied and includes a section on “Integrated Development of Culture, Sports and Tourism,...

Malaysian police are investigating three reports of alleged vote-buying ahead of Saturday’s Negeri Sembilan state election. Negeri Sembilan police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Alzafny Ahmad said on Friday two reports had been lodged in Seremban and one ...

The Pentagon has introduced mandatory testosterone screening for active-duty service members aged 30 and older, with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth saying the policy is intended to strengthen combat readiness. Announcing the programme earlier this...

The soon-to-open revamped Huanggang Port border crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen should include a public transport link to the city’s airport to leverage its proximity to a high-speed intercity rail network in mainland China, experts have sa...

Japan and South Korea’s prominent roles in this year’s US-led Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) military exercises have fuelled speculation over whether the two neighbours might set aside their historical grievances and deepen defence cooperation. Held...

Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday imposed a bar on foreigners who express “hate” towards the Latin American country, which he claims is the target of a sinister campaign. Experts have cast doubt on the legal feasibility of the emergenc...

US President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the United States’ international broadcasting agency pledged on Thursday to sharpen its media challenge to China, including by expanding into short-form videos, podcasts and diaspora group chats. Sarah ...

As the People’s Liberation Army marks its 99th anniversary on August 1, one year from the deadline for its centenary goals, its evolution highlights the past, present and future of China’s military strategy. In the first part of a series, Liu Zhe...

Russia used a North Korean missile for a strike on a village that killed five members of the same family, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, in what would be the first time such a weapon has been fired in the ‌war in nearly a ...

A scaremongering narrative has taken root in Western corridors and financial press columns: China, having saturated developed markets, is now aiming to crush fragile industries in developing nations, effectively slamming the door on their industrial ...

A US government map of Africa mislabelled every country during a State Department presentation at a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and posted them online. Reuters viewed a ‌vi...

The Trump administration is weighing a plan to charge international students US$100,000 to stay in the country and work after graduating, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a potentially devastating move for student visa holders alrea...

The United States sanctioned two China-based companies and a Chinese executive on Thursday over their alleged support for Iran’s Mahan Air, which Washington described as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “airline of choice” for transport...

Rebeca Grynspan, the former vice-president of Costa Rica, emerged as an early front runner to be the next United Nations secretary general on Thursday, as the Security Council began the selection process, with a first “straw poll” held behind clo...

A man who gave his son the gun he used to kill two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Georgia was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison. Colin Gray’s sentencing comes days after his son, Colt Gray, was sentenced to life in pri...

Spain will deploy its military to restore order at its border with Morocco in Ceuta after thousands of migrants streamed into the tiny Spanish territory, with at least nine dying in the attempt. The announcement came after local authorities in Ceuta ...