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Guohua Power Station, a coal-fired power plant, operates in Dingzhou, Baoding, in the northern China’s Hebei province. Engineers are looking into turning retired power plants into nuclear facilities to help reach its decarbonisation goals. Photo: AP

China mulls converting coal-fired power plants to nuclear facilities

Retiring plants could be given a new lease of life and help China reach its decarbonisation goals under a bold proposal.

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‘Absolutely impossible’: how China created super steel for nuclear fusion

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Economic Indicators

China’s economy strains in August as retail sales, industrial output miss forecasts

Weaker retail sales, investment and industry join slowing export growth, leaving analysts split on whether Beijing will step up policy support.

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Politics

An ‘Arab Nato’? Israel’s air strikes on Qatar may have just brought it to life

A new military coalition is reportedly under discussion at an Arab-Islamic summit in a direct response to Israel’s attack.

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Society

93% of 30 clay masks found to contain heavy metals: Hong Kong consumer watchdog

Apivita Express Beauty, Aromatica Tea Tree Pore Purifying Clay Mask found to have levels of arsenic and lead exceeding mainland Chinese and US limits.

Open Questions
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Zheng Yongnian on why China must look beyond the West to build a better AI

Politics

Central Asia beckons for China’s cultural tourists retracing ancient Silk Road

Beijing’s infrastructure programme and other partnership initiatives with the Central Asian republics have seen visitor numbers soar.

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Tourism is booming in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, with visitors from China drawn to the “crossroads of civilisation”. Photo: EPA
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United States & Canada

Thousands throng Washington memorial for slain US activist Charlie Kirk

Amid the outpouring of grief, new details emerged about the uncooperative suspect and his ‘extremely cooperative’ transgender roommate.

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Politics

North Korea threatens ‘unfavourable consequences’ over US-led drills

The joint drills with South Korea and Japan were denounced by Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister as ‘reckless muscle-flexing’.

Business

Singapore’s IMDA Accreditation programme helps tech start-ups grow

Follow the journey of three accredited companies – Kong, Yugabyte and Confluent – from market entry to achieving success in the city state and Southeast Asia.

In partnership with:
IMDA
IMDA, a Singaporean government agency under the city state’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information, helps develop and regulate tech, media and communication innovation to promote a vibrant economy and digitally inclusive society.

World

Australia’s anti-immigration rallies, Hong Kong weather: 5 weekend reads

From Chinese discussing Charlie Kirk’s murder to ‘march for Australia’ rallies, here are five stories you may have missed over the weekend.

Protesters take part in a “March for Australia” anti-immigration rally in Melbourne on August 3. Photo: AFP

Global Economy

China, US trade delegations kick off fourth round of talks in Madrid

Amid continued trade tensions, top teams from world’s two largest economies are meeting in Madrid in their latest effort to reach a deal.

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Europe

Ukraine makes advances as Romania condemns Russian drone intrusion

The drone violation in Romania comes days after a similar incident in Poland, prompting accusations that Russia is ‘testing’ Nato.

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China Business

China’s stock rally set to run on as savings pour into equities

Central bank figures confirm that rotation out of bank deposits fuelled bull run, as Chinese equities now stand out among asset classes.

An investor reacts to gains at a brokerage house in Hangzhou, in east China’s Zhejiang province. Photo: Shutterstock

Health & Environment

Landslides in Malaysia’s Sabah cut power to almost 250,000 people, kill 1

At least seven landslides were reported over the past week after flash floods hit areas in and around Kota Kinabalu.

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A flooded road in Kota Kinabalu after days of nonstop rain triggered by flash floods hit areas in and around Sabah’s capital over the past week. Photo: Facebook/GregoryTan

People

Malaysian MPs targeted by US$100,000 deepfake sex video blackmail

At least 10 lawmakers have received threats, mostly members of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s own party.

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United States & Canada

Trump concerned South Korean arrests could ‘frighten’ investors

US president said foreign workers sent to the US are ‘welcome’ days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia.

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Politics

Japan’s Komeito party facing ‘existential crisis’ after bruising election defeat

Observers say its ageing support base and weakened alliance with the ruling LDP have left the faith-linked party in political limbo.

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Makoto Nishida, Komeito’s secretary general, at a public engagement in 2020. The party is now wrestling with what it describes as “a crisis of the party’s survival” after electoral losses and waning influence. Photo: Senado Federal (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Business

China’s property sector shows fragile signs of stabilisation amid ongoing challenges

August figures continued their month-on-month decline, though the sluggish sector’s year-on-year numbers narrowed marginally.

FILE PHOTO: Men work at the construction site of an apartment building in Beijing, China, July 29, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

East Asia

ChatGPT deepfakes military IDs for North Korean hackers, researchers find

The hackers generated a realistic-looking military ID document used in a phishing attempt against South Korean targets.

United States & Canada

Trump threatens to ‘federalise’ US capital over immigration dispute

The threat is the latest in a series of escalations that began with the US president’s deployment of National Guard troops to fight crime.

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OPINION
Letters

Letters | How the Miss Hong Kong finalists hold up a mirror to society

Letters
Alice Wu

Opinion | John Lee’s policy address must illuminate Hong Kong’s way forward

Alice Wu
Sophie Wushuang Yi

Opinion | China’s Victory Day parade was a message to the Global South

Sophie Wushuang Yi
SCMP Editorial

Editorial | John Lee’s policy address must inspire faith in Hong Kong’s future

SCMP Editorial
SCMP Editorial

Editorial | Privacy is paramount as Hong Kong deploys drones to enforce traffic laws

SCMP Editorial
Harry’s View | 15 Sep 2025
September 15, 2025
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Society

Singaporean’s HK$30,400 bill sparks warning over Hong Kong pharmacy malpractices

South Asia

Indian forces kill top Maoist commander who had US$113,000 bounty on his head

Culture

In pictures: when the Light Rail Transit system transformed transport

People

Malaysian universities reject ethnic Chinese star student, reigniting quota row

Politics

Explainer | How will Hong Kong leader’s 2025 policy address differ from previous ones?

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North Korea threatens ‘unfavourable consequences’ over US-led drills

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Liu Jun, one of the world’s leading statisticians and a longtime professor at Harvard University, has returned to China full time, accepting a prestigious chair at Tsinghua University last month. Photo: Handout
SCMP SeriesChinese scientists return home

Exclusive | Why did Harvard top mathematician Liu Jun leave the US for China?

Professor’s decision to return to Tsinghua University amid rising tensions and US funding cuts had ‘nothing to do with Trump’.

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After 40 years in US, pioneering mathematician Zhongwei Shen returns to China

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Harvard’s top mathematician Liu Jun leaves US for China

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Open Questions series

Global Economy

Open Questions | Oxford’s Ian Goldin on the biggest challenges for China’s transitioning economy

Professor and former World Bank official says globalisation will become ‘more Asian’ in wake of US policy, with China as a potential leader.

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Science

Open Questions | The ‘godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton on preventing takeover by the technology

The ‘godfather of AI’ discusses the risks of the technology and whether superpowers can find common ground to rein it in.

7

Diplomacy

Open Questions | ‘Ignorance and neglect’ mark flawed US policy in China race: Da Wei

Tsinghua University expert looks at prospects for a Xi-Trump summit and explains why China is not ready to take the US’ place on world stage.

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Global Economy

Open Questions | Jing Qian unpacks the US-China trade talks and their ‘manageable’ rivalry

The scholar goes in-depth on the world’s two largest economies, how their competition is making waves in Europe and how China can handle domestic hurdles.

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China Future Tech
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Big Tech

Alibaba releases record-setting next-generation Qwen3 model to cut costs by 90%

A variant of the new model is 10 times more powerful and can be built at a 10th of the cost of its predecessor, Qwen developers say.

Alibaba Cloud’s latest open-source AI model, the Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B, features 80 billion parameters. Photo: Shutterstock

Tech

Exclusive | Cyberport may use Chinese GPUs at supercomputing centre, CEO says

Cyberport bought four GPUs made by different mainland Chinese chipmakers and has been testing them at its AI lab, CEO Rocky Cheng said.

Big Tech

How Alibaba builds its most efficient AI model to date

The new mechanism has sparked excitement among AI experts, who are increasingly concerned about the rising costs of scaling up models.

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Big Tech

Immediate gratification: instant commerce transforms China’s retail market

Instant commerce has developed over a short period of time, as providers expanded their on-demand delivery coverage beyond food.

Illustration: Henry Wong

Science

US scientists find ‘critical gaps’ in Nasa plan to beat China on the moon

American pursuit of long-term human missions to the moon hampered by budget cuts to bioregenerative technologies, paper says.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Politics

After years of US sanctions, how is Xinjiang’s economy doing?

Chinese scholars say the measures have led to job losses and shrinking profits for some firms, but the region shows resilience.

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China Economy

China’s cash-conscious consumers force Europe’s luxury giants to think small

A slowing economy, shifting tastes and higher prices have dampened Chinese enthusiasm for overly expensive luxury goods.

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Science

Exclusive | Why did Harvard top mathematician Liu Jun leave the US for China?

Professor’s decision to return to Tsinghua University amid rising tensions and US funding cuts had ‘nothing to do with Trump’.

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Liu Jun, one of the world’s leading statisticians and a longtime professor at Harvard University, has returned to China full time, accepting a prestigious chair at Tsinghua University last month. Photo: Handout
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