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SCMP

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 consider subscribing.
1. China protests against India tunnel opening, warns it will complicate border issue
Beijing has lodged a diplomatic protest with New Delhi after Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened a tunnel built in territories along the two countries’ disputed Himalayan border, weeks ahead of general elections in the South Asian state.
2. What are some of the key legal flashpoints under Hong Kong’s Article 23 law?

With lawmakers on Thursday unanimously approving the government’s changes to the bill and days away from writing it into the statute books, the Post takes a look at potential scenarios that have sparked public concern.
3. Near-death experiences may prove the soul and afterlife exist, a doctor says

Is there a soul? How about an afterlife? A doctor, who has found no scientific explanation for the thousands of near-death experiences he has studied, discusses what he considers their implications to be.
4. Hong Kong’s minibuses are struggling. Will they soon be replaced?

Expanding rail and franchised bus networks, new roads and bridges, and changes in tolls have caused a big shift in how Hongkongers navigate the city.
5. ‘A whole new ball game’: China’s central bank looks to learn from US blunders

After changes to its leadership and structure, and with draft laws altering its scope, China’s central bank looks to be taking on a different role from years past – one which seems notably distinct from Western norms.
6. More Japanese men resist buying White Day gifts: ‘it doesn’t mean anything’

Some Japanese men say White Day is just a marketing campaign and prefer to save the money for other things, while others find it an old-fashioned concept.
7. Ex-China nursery school teacher, now a celebrity, slams sex for money online slur
A former preschool teacher who became famous last year when she appeared in a video singing to children, has claimed she has become the target of an online pornography slur.


Selfies and symbolism: behind the scenes from Xi’s summit with Trump and Putin

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Shenzhen’s 24-hour spa, a glimpse of 1970s Hong Kong: 7 Lifestyle highlights

Xi’s back-to-back meetings with Trump and Putin in Beijing: everything you need to know

SCMP Highlights

China-India tunnel dispute, Hong Kong Article 23 bill unpacked, near-death experiences: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

The opening of the Sela Tunnel in the disputed Himalayan border region between China and India has sparked a strong response from Beijing. Photo: X/gemsofbabus_

Lawmakers review the Safeguarding National Security Bill. Photo: Dickson Lee

Many people who have had a near-death experience recall travelling through a tunnel towards a bright light. One doctor who studies people’s accounts of them says they may suggest the existence of a life after death. Photo: Shutterstock

Illustration: Brian Wang

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

A Japanese couple walks in the Gion area of Kyoto. More Japanese men say they are “fed up” with “manufactured” occasions such as White Day. Photo: EPA-EFE

The dark side of Japanese nightlife, Taiwan’s forgotten disco era, beach clubs in Bali: 6 weekend reads you may have missed

Kabukicho red light district in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Getty Images

Yu, not her real name, is a Japanese woman who previously visited a Kabukicho host club in Tokyo regularly, became heavily indebted and was forced to do sex work to repay her debts. Photo: Julian Ryall

Chinese coastguard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel on March 5 in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters

Chinese tourists pose for a group photo at a museum in Samut Prakan, Thailand, on March 1. Photo: Xinhua

Women across Asia are challenging bias to carve out entrepreneurial success. Photo: Shutterstock

A disco single by Frankie Kao. As Taiwan’s younger generation dust off disco records from the 1970s and 80s, scholars are looking into how the island came to embrace the Western music genre at a time when even dancing in public was illegal. Photo: CYP

In 2000, Ku De Ta (pictured) in Bali set off a trend of the Indonesian island hosting beach clubs. It is not, however, the only place in Southeast Asia with a thriving beach club scene. Photo: Facebook/Ku De Ta

China’s GDP gap with US, Malaysians mock Starbucks franchisee, Japan’s geisha visitors ban: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

China’s rise, exemplified by the size of its GDP, was thought to be inevitable. But questions have arisen over whether it will close a gap with the United States that is now widening. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Celia Wong (second left) and Witman Hung (centre) during the latter’s 53rd birthday party at Reserva Iberica Tapas Bar and Cafe in Wan Chai. Photo: Handout

Vincent Tan pictured in 2013. The now 72-year-old is Malaysia’s 28th richest person, according to Forbes. Photo: AFP

Japanese geisha visit Minamiza Theatre in Kyoto to watch a kabuki performance. Photo: Kyodo

Piano Mok explains how Korean table settings feature chopsticks and an elongated spoon, which is used to eat rice and stew. Photo: Piano Mok

Malaysia seeks to revive MH370 plane search, the Nepalis paid to fight for Russia: 6 weekend reads you may have missed

A person looks at the names of passengers and crew on doomed flight MH370, during a memorial in Malaysia on March 3. Photo: Hadi Azmi

Singapore couple Corinne Chow and Ryan Tan posted a video on TikTok showing their viewers what a day in their life as a DINK couple looks like. Photo: Handout

Khim Bahadur Thapa in a Russian army uniform at an unidentified location. Photo: Khim Bahadur Thapa

A version of the Disney-designed logo which adorned the planes of the Flying Tigers, volunteer American and British fighter pilots who took to the skies to protect Free China from the Japanese during World War II. Photo: EJ Hersom/US Department of Defense

Crowds galore on a Saturday at Tai Po Hui Cooked Food Centre, Tai Po, on January 13, 2024. Photo: Sam Evans

An imperial throne in the Wang Shu Room, at the Humboldt Forum, in Berlin, Germany. Photo: David von Becker

Hong Kong property curbs scrapped, Taylor Swift deal questioned, China’s durian king: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

View of residential buildings at the Mid-Levels. Photo: May Tse

Singer Taylor Swift performs on stage during a concert as part of her Eras World Tour in Sydney, on February 23. Photo: TNS

China’s appetite for the spiky, pungent durian fruit is only set to grow as the global market expands. Photo: Xinhua

The transformation of 57-year-old actor Tang Jianjun was such that his wife did not recognise him. Photo: Xiaohongshu

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Lifestyle

From China lodging a diplomatic protest with India to a scientist studying near-death experiences, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting


From China lodging a diplomatic protest with India to a scientist studying near-death experiences, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting.


China-India tunnel dispute, Hong Kong Article 23 bill unpacked, near-death experiences: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}From China lodging a diplomatic protest with India to a scientist studying near-death experiences, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting

1. China protests against India tunnel opening, warns it will complicate border issue

2. What are some of the key legal flashpoints under Hong Kong’s Article 23 law?

From China lodging a diplomatic protest with India to a scientist studying near-death experiences, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting