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This image shows a drone-to-drone refuel test flight with two signalling bulbs being blocked. Photo: NPU

Landmark in-air refuelling test extends China’s drone swarm delivery range to US

Strike radius of Chinese drone programme capable of carrying deadly military weapons doubled to reach Washington, New York and Miami.

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How China’s Fujian aircraft carrier deceived US military experts at launch

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Diplomacy

China’s military build-up could ‘seriously’ affect Japan’s security, Tokyo warns

Release of defence ministry report comes amid soaring tensions with Beijing and a boost to Japan’s military budget and goals.

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China Economy

China discovers Asia’s largest undersea gold deposit

Country has been steadily stepping up mineral exploration, with nearly 450 billion yuan invested since 2021.

Society

Hong Kong fire: authorities seek to dissolve Wang Fuk Court owners’ committee

Home affairs minister Alice Mak says government intervening for first time on record in residential estate’s affairs.

Economy
China is now in third place among foreign US Treasury holders, behind Japan and the United Kingdom. Photo: dpa

China cuts US Treasury holdings to lowest level since 2008

Politics

Taiwan’s opposition lawmakers vow to impeach leader William Lai

Proposal is likely to be a symbolic gesture as impeachment would require 76 legislators to agree, while opposition camp holds only 62 seats.

Tensions between Taiwan’s legislature and the Democratic Progressive Party-led government have been high since William Lai Ching-te took office as the island’s leader in May last year. Photo: EPA
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Military

Chinese military tightens review of weapons pricing to fight corruption

CMC Equipment Development Department releases new rules amid push for quality equipment and ‘professional ethics’.

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Tech Trends

China’s video game sales reach record amid overseas expansion, AI investment

In 2025, China is expected to surpass the US as the world’s largest gaming market, with revenue of US$53.2 billion, according to Newzoo.

Travel & Leisure

The journey ahead: AI paves the way for tourism business of the future

AI travel technology company Dida’s innovative solutions aim to bridge the gap between the industry and travellers.

In partnership with:
Dida
Dida is collaborating with the tourism industry to respond to the challenges and opportunities that AI is bringing to the sector.

United States & Canada

Trump leaves war with Venezuela on the table, threatens more seizures: NBC

The comments increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s regime, but Trump wouldn’t say if ousting the Venezuelan leader was his ultimate goal.

US President Donald Trump (left) and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Trump told NBC News he’s keeping the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table. Photo: AFP

Russia & Central Asia

Putin vows new Ukraine offensive as Russia advances and US pushes for deal

During his annual address, Putin touts Ukrainian gains, warns of retaliation over asset seizures, and demands surrender as Russia eyes more territory.

Politics

Is Philippines being unfairly named in Australia’s Bondi Beach shooting?

Australian police are looking into a trip the two suspects made to Davao City, but Philippine officials say it is not connected to the shooting.

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Science

How China cracked US ‘super code’ that controls most power grids in the world

Breakthrough could shake-up global tech markets with nations able to run their own grids and break away from US dominance.

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China’s Southern Regional Electricity Market, the world’s largest unified power market, has fully switched to the homegrown Tianquan solver, which is 14 per cent faster than US rivals. Photo: EPA-EFE

East Asia

‘Limits’ to hospitality: 10 times Asia overtourism became a problem in 2025

From Japan to Indonesia, excessive tourism has created issues in some of Asia’s travel hubs this year.

Foreign tourists relax on Kuta Beach on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali in November 2023. Photo: AFP

Diplomacy

China still targeting US-based researchers for ‘malign’ purposes, lawmakers told

Multiple US government agencies told a House committee that security concerns should not stop efforts to retain foreign-born researchers.

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Economy, Trade & Business

TikTok reaches deal on new US venture with American investor group

The deal was signed on Thursday, with the landmark move ending years of legal and political uncertainty.

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Big Tech

Alibaba ramps up China instant commerce push with Cainiao and Tmall tie-up

Partnership designed to expand warehouse network and boost Taobao Shangou’s rapid service as rivals Meituan and JD.com scale up facilities.

Cainiao will launch new or expand instant commerce warehouses for Tmall Supermarket. Photo: Shutterstock

China Business

China Vanke’s managers have no plans to sell shares as firm fights for survival

Vanke, responding to queries from investors, says top managers have not notified it about their intentions so far.

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Vanke said it had completed 19 bulk asset transactions in the first three quarters of this year totalling 6.86 billion yuan. Photo: Reuters

United States & Canada

Suspect in Brown University shooting and MIT professor’s killing found dead

Portuguese national suspect took his own life as investigators reveal a years-old academic connection to a slain MIT scientist.

Travel & Leisure

See dreamlike dunes and meet modern nomads in world’s biggest sand desert

In the Omani part of Rub’ al Khali, tourists can explore a constantly changing landscape with all the comforts of the present.

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OPINION
David Dodwell

Outside In | Six years on, are we better prepared for the next pandemic?

David Dodwell
Xiaogang Wu

Opinion | Fix housing to help young Hongkongers feel they belong here

Xiaogang Wu
Wenran Jiang

Opinion | Mark 2025. It’s the year China became a peer power to America

Wenran Jiang
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Letters

Letters | Asia is not built for extreme weather. This must change

Letters
SCMP Editorial

Editorial | Hong Kong right to strike a balance on New Year’s events

SCMP Editorial
Harry’s View | 19 Dec 2025
December 19, 2025
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Tech War

China eyes mastery of EUV lithography, bolstering AI chip ambitions: analysts

Science

Landmark in-air refuelling test extends China’s drone swarm delivery range to US

Tech Trends

China’s video game sales reach record amid overseas expansion, AI investment

Politics

Taiwan’s opposition lawmakers vow to impeach leader William Lai

Video | Even China’s small factories are turning to robot workers

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China Business

China Vanke’s managers have no plans to sell shares as firm fights for survival

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SCMP Series
WWII: 80 years on
China Inc. goes global
Chinese scientists return home
How China is telling its own story
Simon Li, executive director of the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre, with students (from second left) Kavira S. Kazimoto, Gem Peduche and Josue Camarena, at Andrews University’s Hong Kong campus. Photo: Handout
SCMP SeriesWWII: 80 years on

After The War | Virtual reality and the Nanking massacre: where does historical immersion become trauma?

Amid push in China for museum digitalisation, one educator seeks to help students ‘feel history without being flooded by it’.

After The War | How the post-WWII order was formed and why China wants to reshape it

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After The War | Chinese scholars slam Western ‘historical nihilism’ on World War II

Open Questions series

Science

Open Questions | Sci-fi writer Liu Cixin on why he’ll be happy if AI surpasses humans

Acclaimed author of the Three-Body trilogy also discusses his ‘dark forest’ theory, and the struggle to come up with original ideas.

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Illustration: Davies Christian

China Economy

Open Questions | Economist Huang Yiping on why China’s AI push must be ‘job-oriented’

Dean of Peking University’s National School of Development says ‘balance’ needed in AI development to protect employment, ‘human well-being’.

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Diplomacy

Open Questions | Ex-PLA colonel Zhou Bo on Taiwan reunification, lessons from the Ukraine war

Commentator and former senior colonel on Beijing’s row with Japan, lessons from the Ukraine war and why playing global policeman is a trap.

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China Economy

Open Questions | ‘A mistaken view’: US economist Nicholas Lardy on the ‘peak China’ hypothesis

The veteran China watcher talks Beijing’s need for financial reform and how US-China economic convergence could still be on the horizon.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
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Tech Trends

China’s open-source AI models rival US giants, making engagement urgent: report

The report calls on US actors to engage with Chinese firms as the AI landscape continues to evolve.

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Chinese AI developers are largely pursuing an open-source approach, releasing the weights of their models for end-users to freely deploy and modify. Photo: Shutterstock

Tech War

China eyes mastery of EUV lithography, bolstering AI chip ambitions: analysts

‘As the semiconductor dream has become a national security issue, I would not underestimate China’s ambition,’ Natixis analyst Gary Ng says.

China Business

BeOne Medicines names R&D chief Wang Lai as co-president amid global expansion

BeOne generated global revenue of about US$3.8 billion last year, driven by its flagship products Brukinsa and Tevimbra.

Banking & Finance

Chinese AI, chip start-ups court global investors with Hong Kong listing plans

GigaDevice and Montage are each aiming to raise as much as US$1 billion from Hong Kong listings as early as January, report says.

The MetaX booth at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, July 26, 2025. Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Military

Why China’s rapid military build-up is ‘hardly the whole story’

The PLA has been moving fast to modernise its arsenal and warfare strategy, but it’s seen as ‘seriously deficient’ in some areas.

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Illustration: Henry Wong

China Economy

Surviving the shocks: what China and the US learned from 2025’s trade war

Businesses and officials faced a year of disruption – and in some cases, resilience – as tariffs and export controls roiled global markets.

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Diplomacy

Why ‘relative stability’ in US-China ties is unlikely to last

The temperature has lowered after a downward spiral since Trump’s return to the White House, but relations may face ‘strong headwinds’ again.

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17

Military

Why has reference to Taiwan attending Rimpac been removed from US defence bill?

Senators’ bid to ‘strongly encourage’ invitation is removed from compromise bill, raising questions in Taipei.

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Some of the naval ships taking part in the 2024 Rimpac exercises, as seen from the Japanese JS Kunisaki. Photo: Reuters
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