https://www.scmp.com/rss/283367/feed Chow Chung-yan began his journalistic career at the South China Morning Post and rose to become Editor-in-Chief in 2025. He has been running the SCMP’s day-to-day news operations since 2011. He led the newsroom’s organisational restructuring, streamlined its production workflows and set up dedicated teams for both the print and digital products to facilitate the newspaper’s digital transformation. He also assembled an award-winning infographics desk and spearheaded the redesign of the newspaper.... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan As the world watches in horror at death raining from the skies in the Middle East, millions of Chinese are glued to the television watching a turbulent drama that unfolded in their own country, albeit some eleven centuries ago. Swords into Ploughshares, a historical TV drama set during the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, has emerged as an unexpected smash hit coming into China’s festive season. Yet it is more than just a television phenomenon. In some ways, it sheds light on the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3345366/what-historical-smash-hit-tells-us-about-chinas-strategic-focus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3345366/what-historical-smash-hit-tells-us-about-chinas-strategic-focus?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 10:41:52 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan This year’s Munich Security Conference arrived as less of a shock to Europeans, who have largely accepted that the good old days are gone for good. A few might still have got teary-eyed when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described America as eternally “the child of Europe”, but most in the audience understood the underlying message: “You are on your own now, Granny.” The difference between Rubio’s more measured phrasing and Vice-President J.D. Vance’s blunt remarks last year is largely a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344695/europe-ready-strategic-autonomy-what-cost?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344695/europe-ready-strategic-autonomy-what-cost?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 01:00:10 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan In today’s chaotic world, we can sum up the shift in the global economy and geopolitics with a single number: 1 trillion. The year 2024 will be remembered as the first time in history that a national government’s interest payments on its debt exceeded US$1 trillion, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis. Despite US President Donald Trump’s pledge to cut federal spending and his aggressive global trade war, the United States is now adding US$1 trillion in national debt every... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339507/forget-venezuela-and-greenland-here-real-trillion-dollar-question?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339507/forget-venezuela-and-greenland-here-real-trillion-dollar-question?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 01:00:15 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan As families and friends gather to bid farewell to a turbulent 2025, the unassuming potato will, no matter where you live, almost certainly find its place on the dinner table. Domesticated nearly 10,000 years ago in Peru, it did not voyage beyond the Americas until the 16th century. Yet no vegetable has played a more significant role in human history and politics than this humble tuber. Dubbed the calorie king, potatoes produce more calories and nutrients per unit of land than any other major... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3338149/be-potato-lesson-resilient-staple-resonates-2026-approaches?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3338149/be-potato-lesson-resilient-staple-resonates-2026-approaches?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Dec 2025 01:00:12 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan Between the Lines, from SCMP Plus, provides in-depth analysis and context for key Chinese government documents. This is the official English translation of the original Chinese document released by Xinhua. https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3330147/chinas-fourth-plenum-communique?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3330147/chinas-fourth-plenum-communique?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Oct 2025 07:00:16 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan As next-generation tanks and fighter jets roll past the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, many in China will be swept up in a sense of national pride. The Chinese leadership has set a target for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to emulate the American military – often described as the greatest fighting force in history – by 2049. The futuristic hardware on show by the PLA will prompt optimism at home that China is on track to meet that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3323606/chinas-military-closes-gap-us-economic-front-opens-race-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3323606/chinas-military-closes-gap-us-economic-front-opens-race-security?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:09 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan As next-generation tanks and fighter jets roll past the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, many in China will be swept up in a sense of national pride. The Chinese leadership has set a target for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to emulate the American military – often described as the greatest fighting force in history – by 2049. The futuristic hardware on show by the PLA will prompt optimism at home that China is on track to meet that... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3323615/chinas-military-closes-gap-us-economic-front-opens-race-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3323615/chinas-military-closes-gap-us-economic-front-opens-race-security?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 07:02:10 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan The global economy breathed a collective sigh of relief as China and the US stepped back from the brink of a damaging trade decoupling. The better-than-expected results from their Geneva negotiations sent ripples of confidence through financial markets. Yet beneath the surface optimism lingers the sobering reality that this is merely a 90-day reprieve rather than a lasting resolution. Given the intricate and often contentious nature of their economic interdependence, the prospect of a sweeping... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3311006/us-china-tariff-truce-offers-hope-resolution-fentanyl-and-other-issues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3311006/us-china-tariff-truce-offers-hope-resolution-fentanyl-and-other-issues?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:11 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan From Sun Tzu to Carl von Clausewitz, strategists have long emphasised that the key to winning a war lies in the clear alignment of purpose, goal and means, coupled with a deep understanding of the adversary. Without these, a stronger opponent will inevitably lose to a weaker foe who possesses them. This is the immutable law of war. A month into Donald Trump’s global tariff war, even the president’s closest associates have struggled to agree on or articulate a coherent purpose, goal or strategy... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3308657/us-fixated-beating-china-it-needs-stop-beating-itself?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3308657/us-fixated-beating-china-it-needs-stop-beating-itself?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 May 2025 01:00:13 +0000 Relying on brute strength has never been the Chinese way of fighting. A smaller fighter with superior inner balance and core strength can overcome a larger opponent. As China faces an escalating economic war with the United States, this ancient wisdom also applies. Beijing is not eager to negotiate and is not under any illusion that the tariff war with Donald Trump’s America will end soon. The Chinese leadership now recognises that unlike the trade disputes of Trump’s first term, America’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3307226/could-trumps-tariffs-make-china-faster-leaner-and-stronger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3307226/could-trumps-tariffs-make-china-faster-leaner-and-stronger?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Apr 2025 01:00:15 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan Dear friends, This month marks the third anniversary of our small but dynamic science reporting team. To celebrate, I’d like to share a story with you. In 2014 – a year after Edward Snowden’s exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post – we published a follow-up. Our science reporter, Stephen Chen, wrote that China was developing a “hack-proof” quantum communication network that would revolutionise encryption. The story was met with scepticism. Few people knew what quantum... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307160/science-fiction-reality-charting-unexplored-aspect-chinas-rapid-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307160/science-fiction-reality-charting-unexplored-aspect-chinas-rapid-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Apr 2025 01:00:22 +0000 When US President Donald Trump signed the historic tariff orders that launched the global tariff war on April 2, the pen he used could well have been made in China. Even if we leave aside that particular pen, the paperwork that follows will mainly be processed with tools sourced from Chinese factories, which now face an accumulated American tariff of around 125 per cent. The irony underscores a deeper truth about the US-China trade relationship: tariffs meant to punish Beijing often end up... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3305890/why-chinas-grip-american-life-will-stay-unshaken-trump-tariffs-or-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3305890/why-chinas-grip-american-life-will-stay-unshaken-trump-tariffs-or-not?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:36 +0000 Speed is the essence of warfare and the global trade war launched by US President Donald Trump is no exception. Trump’s Liberation Day of reciprocal tariffs was historic. No major economy in modern history has tried such a daring move. But despite the name, the US tariffs offer no liberation and are not reciprocal. However, they should not have come as a surprise. Most politicians are condemned for not fulfilling their election promises, but Trump has got it the other way around – explicitly... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3305469/picking-trade-war-china-donald-trump-may-find-time-not-his-side?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3305469/picking-trade-war-china-donald-trump-may-find-time-not-his-side?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:13 +0000 Never before have we faced such rampant information manipulation in our daily lives – and with the rise of artificial intelligence, this may only be the beginning. To navigate this relentless onslaught of misinformation, we should take a lesson from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the immortal Sherlock Holmes. Since his debut in 1887, Holmes has become one of history’s most beloved fictional characters; the epitome of logical reasoning, sharp observation, and scientific deduction. Doyle,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3305233/chinas-collapse-or-domination-avoid-mistakes-sherlock-holmes-creator?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3305233/chinas-collapse-or-domination-avoid-mistakes-sherlock-holmes-creator?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2025 01:00:19 +0000 Much has been said about Thucydides’ trap, but few talk about Pericles’ walls. Yet, if we look for historical lessons from the Peloponnesian war some 2,500 years ago, the story of the Long Walls is more relevant. The story of the war between Athens and Sparta in the fifth century BC – narrated masterfully by Athenian general and historian Thucydides – was unfamiliar to most modern readers until American scholar Graham Allison coined the term “Thucydides’ trap” to describe the “inevitable” clash... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3304162/us-china-war-inevitable-why-its-time-set-thucydides-aside-and-talk-about-pericles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3304162/us-china-war-inevitable-why-its-time-set-thucydides-aside-and-talk-about-pericles?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Mar 2025 01:00:10 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan Chinese strategists love to draw lessons from the country’s rich history, just as Cesare Borgia inspired Niccolo Machiavelli in Renaissance Italy. The downfall of Viscount Xiang of Zhi (Zhi Bo) in the fourth century BC was often told as a cautionary tale and an example of diplomacy over force. Such a dramatic story bears retelling, and 2,473 years later, we can still learn a thing or two from it. The powerful central kingdom of Jin, one of the hegemonic powers in the late Zhou dynasty, was on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3303414/could-start-chinas-warring-states-period-have-lessons-present-day?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3303414/could-start-chinas-warring-states-period-have-lessons-present-day?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Mar 2025 01:00:24 +0000 Last Wednesday, the leaders of the world’s two greatest powers laid out starkly different visions for their countries. The outcomes of these conflicting doctrines may impact the global balance of power and even settle a centuries-old debate on economics and public governance. In Washington, US President Donald Trump, in his first address to Congress of his second term, gave a speech that would please the followers of his 1980s predecessor Ronald Reagan or free-market economist Milton Friedman –... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3302121/can-trump-and-chinas-contrasting-economic-visions-finally-settle-state-vs-market-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3302121/can-trump-and-chinas-contrasting-economic-visions-finally-settle-state-vs-market-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Mar 2025 00:00:14 +0000 History is a series of pendulum swings, and we have just witnessed a major oscillation – less than a century after the world order was last rearranged. In 1944, months before the Allied powers secured their final victory over Germany and Japan, the top leaders had already begun thinking about the post-war world order and how to secure long-lasting peace. British prime minister Winston Churchill flew to Moscow that October to discuss with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin how to divide up Europe. What... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3301181/old-world-order-new-again-and-time-us-leading-retreat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3301181/old-world-order-new-again-and-time-us-leading-retreat?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Mar 2025 01:00:14 +0000 Even for those who take no interest in traditional Chinese mythology, the phenomenal success of the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 deserves attention. The story of a rebellious “demon” boy who dared to challenge the celestial order and take destiny into his own hands has captivated millions in China. The animation, loosely based on traditional Chinese mythology, is set to become the first Chinese film to gross 10 billion yuan (US$1.37 billion). This goes beyond a successful business story. It... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3297913/what-success-wukong-nezha-and-deepseek-holds-future-china-us-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3297913/what-success-wukong-nezha-and-deepseek-holds-future-china-us-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Feb 2025 13:30:07 +0000 Until now, November 5 has been remembered chiefly for the gunpowder plot of 1605, when a group of fanatical Catholics in England tried to blow up the Protestant establishment to bring back “the good old days”. Future generations in the United States may mark this date for Donald Trump’s stunning presidential election victory, with a similar gambit. The populist leader stormed to an odds-defying second term on the promise to “Make America Great Again” – and to deliver on that, Trump needs to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286596/there-method-madness-donald-trumps-gunpowder-gambit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286596/there-method-madness-donald-trumps-gunpowder-gambit?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Nov 2024 00:00:12 +0000 Some 25 years before Deng Xiaoping first proposed “one country, two systems” as a creative political solution to facilitate Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau’s return to China, Mao Zedong tasked him with finding an answer to the Tibet issue. It was 1957, six years after Beijing and Lhasa signed the Seventeen-Point Agreement that confirmed Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China and its autonomous status. Tensions started to flare between the two sides shortly afterwards. The central leadership... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3276947/how-deng-xiaopings-one-country-two-systems-dates-back-1957-tibet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3276947/how-deng-xiaopings-one-country-two-systems-dates-back-1957-tibet?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2024 01:30:08 +0000 Some 25 years before Deng Xiaoping first proposed “one country, two systems” as a creative political solution to facilitate Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau’s return to China, Mao Zedong tasked him with finding an answer to the Tibet issue. It was 1957, six years after Beijing and Lhasa signed the Seventeen-Point Agreement that confirmed Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China and its autonomous status. Tensions started to flare between the two sides shortly afterwards. The central leadership... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3276952/how-deng-xiaopings-one-country-two-systems-dates-back-1957?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3276952/how-deng-xiaopings-one-country-two-systems-dates-back-1957?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Sep 2024 04:42:14 +0000 As China commemorates the 120th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth, the Post examines his legacy across generations. In the first of a three-part series, we look at Deng’s continuing resonance with the ruling Communist Party’s leadership. Chairman Mao Zedong called him the “steel factory” for his uncompromising resolve. Yet he was also a master of charm – winning the hearts and minds of the American public in one swoop by donning a cowboy hat on the first visit by a Chinese communist leader to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3275339/china-celebrates-deng-xiaopings-legacy-country-again-crossroads?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3275339/china-celebrates-deng-xiaopings-legacy-country-again-crossroads?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Aug 2024 22:00:19 +0000 Patricia Flor, German ambassador to China, talks to the Post in the wake of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s pivotal visit to China in April. The conversation delves into the spectrum of shared understandings and points of contention between the two countries, including overcapacity, Ukraine, climate change and the sensitive topic of espionage arrests. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to China generated a lot of discussion. Some said it was very successful while others criticised him for not being tough... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262185/german-carmakers-want-compete-china-it-must-be-fair-fight-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3262185/german-carmakers-want-compete-china-it-must-be-fair-fight-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 May 2024 22:00:30 +0000 A year after taking up his appointment as French ambassador to China, Bertrand Lortholary sits down with the Post to share his views on China-France relations – from trade frictions and technology competition to cooperation in global challenges, as well as people-to-people exchanges and the celebrations that will mark 60 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. In a lot of ways, France is important to China, not only because economically it is a great partner but also in the political... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3258215/france-europe-engage-china-their-terms-their-own-interests-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3258215/france-europe-engage-china-their-terms-their-own-interests-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Apr 2024 22:00:31 +0000 The new buzzword in China’s politics is “new quality productive forces”. First used by President Xi Jinping last September, the cryptic phrase is now on every official’s lips, seemingly becoming the answer to China’s economic troubles. Unfortunately, few outside the establishment understand what it means. Some have dismissed it as a wordplay to mask Beijing’s inadequacies to revive its growth trajectory. History will tell whether the Chinese leadership can succeed in creating these forces, but... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3254844/what-does-xis-hi-tech-push-mean-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3254844/what-does-xis-hi-tech-push-mean-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Mar 2024 01:30:10 +0000 The biggest surprise to emerge at this year’s gathering of the two top Chinese government bodies came at a news conference on Monday, a day ahead of the meeting of the National People’s Congress: Premier Li Qiang will not be holding a press conference at the end of the meeting of the top legislative body this year, or in coming years, barring unforeseen circumstances, a parliament spokesman said. So ends 30 years of tradition. This move immediately sparked concerns about opacity, as the annual... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3260432/two-sessions-premier-lis-workaday-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3260432/two-sessions-premier-lis-workaday-report?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Mar 2024 10:21:03 +0000 We introduce this inaugural edition of the Daily Pulse by previewing the once-a-year gathering of China’s two main political bodies in early March, an event at which the country’s premier will unveil the government’s policy agenda for the next year. The main theme to emerge from last year’s “two sessions” was the Chinese Communist Party’s further centralisation of control over key sectors. This included the establishment of the Central Financial Commission, for example, to strengthen supervision... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3260431/two-sessions-inside-chinas-corridors-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3260431/two-sessions-inside-chinas-corridors-power?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Mar 2024 10:12:22 +0000 China and the United States must resume people-to-people exchange at all levels to prevent the delicate relationship from “getting knocked off the course again,” US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said. The envoy, who took part in the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden in San Francisco earlier this month, said both sides were able to discuss issues core to their interests, noting the importance of the two leaders’ commitment to bringing back... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3243214/china-us-cannot-afford-depopulating-relationship-american-ambassador-nicholas-burns-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3243214/china-us-cannot-afford-depopulating-relationship-american-ambassador-nicholas-burns-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Nov 2023 22:00:13 +0000 Last Friday, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) banned its students from using ChatGPT or any other artificial intelligence-based tool for coursework, threatening to treat any use of such tools as plagiarism. I asked a professor how the university intended to enforce the rule but did not get a straight answer. Instead, the professor told me what he thought should be the best practice in the age of AI, and I think that makes much more sense. A business school in the US, I’m told, has done the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3210812/universities-afraid-embrace-chatgpt-have-missed-point-education?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3210812/universities-afraid-embrace-chatgpt-have-missed-point-education?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Feb 2023 07:47:03 +0000 Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group Holding, is back in Hong Kong for the Lunar New Year, the South China Morning Post has learned. The tech tycoon is thrilled by what he sees here and feels excited that the city has regained its vibrancy and energy after a long spell of Covid-19 travel restrictions, according to people close to him. Jack Ma cites ‘difficult’ and ‘extraordinary’ year in address to rural teachers He has been shopping for the holiday celebrations and is “impressed by a great... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3207515/china-tech-tycoon-jack-ma-comes-hong-kong-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3207515/china-tech-tycoon-jack-ma-comes-hong-kong-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Jan 2023 05:47:00 +0000 The year 2022 ended with a bang, with China suddenly relaxing its Covid-19 restrictions after three years of what amounted to the strictest social control measures in recent history. Having kept the deadly virus at bay for most of the pandemic, the nation is now buried under an avalanche of cases, with millions falling sick and dead bodies piling up fast at Chinese hospitals and morgues. The changes are as abrupt as they are consequential, and this is a befitting end for a year full of dramatic... https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3205378/global-impact-china-ends-2022-bang-end-zero-covid-whats-around-corner-2023?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3205378/global-impact-china-ends-2022-bang-end-zero-covid-whats-around-corner-2023?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Jan 2023 06:00:17 +0000 South China Morning Post editorial adviser Wang Xiangwei has spent three decades in journalism covering the remarkable rise of China into a global powerhouse. First as a reporter and later as the Post’s editor-in-chief, he also saw great change within the news organisation. As Wang prepares to start a new chapter in his career, he spoke to executive editor Chow Chung-yan about the major transitions under way in Hong Kong, the Post and China as a whole. You have spent three decades covering... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3197759/dispatches-hong-kong-posts-wang-xiangwei-looks-back-3-decades-reporting-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3197759/dispatches-hong-kong-posts-wang-xiangwei-looks-back-3-decades-reporting-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Oct 2022 22:00:13 +0000 The recently concluded 20th Party Congress was exceptional because it shattered many long-standing conventions. These unwritten rules and customs were established over time after the Cultural Revolution to reduce party infighting, build consensus and avoid excessive concentration of power. At the end of the Cultural Revolution, party elders like Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun found themselves inheriting a party and country torn by bitter political strife and chaos resulting from the excesses of Mao... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3197442/communist-partys-moment-crisis-turned-xi-jinping-weakest-its-most-powerful-leader-history?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3197442/communist-partys-moment-crisis-turned-xi-jinping-weakest-its-most-powerful-leader-history?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Oct 2022 02:00:20 +0000 Karl Marx’s famous line that “everything happens twice in history: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce” again proves to be right on the nose. Two weeks after the storming of the United States Capitol in Washington by riotous Trump supporters, the world is still reeling and trying to make sense of it all. Numerous comparisons have been made. Some have likened the scenes to the sack of Rome by the Vandals in 455 while others, such as former California governor Arnold... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3118217/chaos-us-capitol-was-trumpian-farce-shades-mao?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3118217/chaos-us-capitol-was-trumpian-farce-shades-mao?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Jan 2021 21:00:14 +0000 When I was first sent to Shenzhen as the Post’s correspondent 16 years ago, it was a city in crisis. Today people may view the rise of China’s “Silicon Valley” as a smooth success. The real story is much more complicated. At the turn of the century, Shenzhen – the poster boy of China’s economic miracle – was a lost adolescent. Two decades of breakneck growth had transformed the sleepy village into one of China’s most dynamic cities, but increasingly it struggled to find a new direction. Up till... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3099329/shenzhens-success-story-holds-lessons-even-us-china-tech-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3099329/shenzhens-success-story-holds-lessons-even-us-china-tech-war?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 Aug 2020 00:30:11 +0000 At the South China Morning Post, we are used to sometimes becoming the subject of news. As the primary source of first-hand information on Greater China for millions of readers, such interest is understandable – ever more so in today’s fast-changing global political landscape. Often we shrug off this outside attention: when reports are erroneous and one-sided, we believe in letting our content speak for itself. However, when The Atlantic ran a report titled “A Newsroom at the Edge of Autocracy”... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3096325/polarised-hong-kong-media-should-have-common-enemy-bias?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3096325/polarised-hong-kong-media-should-have-common-enemy-bias?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Aug 2020 14:00:13 +0000 The game of politics, according to the philosopher Bertrand Russell, is the process by which people choose the man who will get the blame. And we have been seeing some masterful play lately. Downing Street is “furious”. Senior members of Boris Johnson’s cabinet – the virus-stricken prime minister is probably too short of breath to raise his own voice – told British media that China would face a “reckoning” for its mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak. Beijing lied, covered up and shanghaied... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3077946/blaming-china-coronavirus-will-come-back-haunt-west?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3077946/blaming-china-coronavirus-will-come-back-haunt-west?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2020 23:30:06 +0000 The most unforgettable scene in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, which is also its biggest mystery, revolves around the frozen Lucifer. In the deepest circle of hell, the prince of darkness is perpetually stuck in a lake of ice. The most powerful agent of evil desperately flaps his wings trying to break free, creating a colossal polar vortex around him. The ironic thing is that the more he struggles, the colder hell becomes, entrapping the three-faced devil in a pillar of ice for eternity. When I... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3036064/hong-kong-risks-being-condemned-its-own-circle-hell?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3036064/hong-kong-risks-being-condemned-its-own-circle-hell?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Nov 2019 14:05:40 +0000 Hong Kong risks “catastrophic” consequences if it does not stop itself from becoming a battleground between China and the United States, according to Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a nationalistic newspaper in the People’s Daily stable. In Hong Kong on a fact-finding trip as the city enters its 13th week of unprecedented social unrest, Hu said he was still hopeful of a “soft landing”, or peaceful end to the turmoil triggered by the now-shelved extradition bill. He said that while... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3025135/hong-kong-risks-catastrophe-china-us-proxy-battle-global-times?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3025135/hong-kong-risks-catastrophe-china-us-proxy-battle-global-times?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Aug 2019 13:30:12 +0000 When Hong Kong’s richest person, Li Ka-shing, took out newspaper ads to break his silence on the continuing anti-government protests, many readers had to recall their Chinese literature classes to decipher the message. Li, nicknamed “Superman” for his success, took out two full-page ads. One of the ads was simple enough.   It featured the Chinese word for “violence” with a red cross through it, flanked by slogans about loving China and loving Hong Kong. At the bottom, it said “stop anger and... https://www.scmp.com/politics/hong-kongs-li-ka-shing-leaves-everyone-confused-cryptic-ad/article/3023089?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/hong-kongs-li-ka-shing-leaves-everyone-confused-cryptic-ad/article/3023089?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Aug 2019 11:07:38 +0000 If ambiguity in politics is an art, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing has once again proved to be a master of it. The city’s business leaders have gone public one by one to condemn chaos and violence triggered by the massive anti-government protests. On Thursday, the 91-year-old, Hong Kong’s richest person, took out advertisements in some of the city’s newspapers. Two full-page statements – one in colour and one in black and white – were both signed off with “a Hong Kong resident Li Ka-shing”. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3023037/melon-huangtai-hong-kong-business-leader-li-ka-shing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3023037/melon-huangtai-hong-kong-business-leader-li-ka-shing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Aug 2019 03:05:50 +0000 Hong Kong businessman Sam Tsang does not like to talk politics. As a senior business consultant who travels frequently to mainland China and Taiwan, he knows silence is often golden. He was in for a shock when, one night in mid-July, his boss introduced him to two “mainland researchers” who were visiting Hong Kong. That evening, all they talked about was politics. It was just two weeks after the storming of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council chamber by young protesters, angry at the government’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3022970/blindsided-why-does-beijing-keep-getting-hong-kong-wrong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3022970/blindsided-why-does-beijing-keep-getting-hong-kong-wrong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Aug 2019 23:30:11 +0000 I have no idea when and how this festering unrest in Hong Kong, two months and counting, is going to end, but I do have an ominous inkling of where the next one might begin. So far, more than 500 people – mostly youngsters – have been arrested by the police. By the time this ends, hundreds more will be locked up. Let’s assume government prosecutors have all the luck and win every case. So what? Things are only going to get worse from there. Any student of history will tell you there is no better... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/locking-hong-kongs-protesters-and-then-what/article/3022139?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/locking-hong-kongs-protesters-and-then-what/article/3022139?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Aug 2019 09:41:27 +0000 I have no idea when and how this festering unrest in Hong Kong is going to end, but I do have an ominous inkling of where the next bout might begin. Two months after unprecedented protests took hold of our city, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel. The popular protests against the government’s hare-brained extradition bill are getting increasingly violent and out of control. The city’s government under Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, whose jaw-droppingly bad judgment and inaction have... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3022024/here-where-next-revolution-may-take-place-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3022024/here-where-next-revolution-may-take-place-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Aug 2019 23:15:07 +0000 Mainland Chinese officials in charge of Hong Kong affairs are working on a comprehensive strategy to solve the city’s political crisis that will be presented to the top leadership for deliberation soon, according to people familiar with the discussion, but resorting to military force is not on the table. Officials are developing both an immediate strategy to handle the increasingly violent weeks-long protests in the city, as well as a long-term plan that may lead to an overhaul of Beijing’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3019007/chinese-officials-scramble-deliver-new-hong-kong-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3019007/chinese-officials-scramble-deliver-new-hong-kong-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jul 2019 23:00:11 +0000 Strongman politics is back. And for anyone who thought otherwise, a quick peruse of this weekend’s headlines should help set them straight. On Saturday in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping received a thunderous ovation at the Great Hall of the People as he was sworn in for a second term, just minutes after receiving a unanimous mandate to do so and less than a week after lawmakers voted to revise the constitution and remove the two-term limit. On Sunday in Moscow, Vladimir Putin will seek to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2137644/chinas-xi-jinping-and-russias-vladimir-putin-are-putting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2137644/chinas-xi-jinping-and-russias-vladimir-putin-are-putting?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Mar 2018 13:00:45 +0000 Few human endeavours have such a hold on the public imagination as spycraft. The sheer volume of espionage films and television dramas flowing out of Hollywood every year attests to that.  The arrest of Jerry Chun Shing Lee – a former CIA officer accused of selling information to Beijing – understandably aroused wild excitement and speculation. Lee was said to have betrayed the CIA’s methods of communication to the Chinese government. Armed with the knowledge, Beijing allegedly killed or jailed... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2131614/why-china-and-us-will-continue-squander-money-spying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2131614/why-china-and-us-will-continue-squander-money-spying?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Feb 2018 02:45:00 +0000 China’s new leadership lineup has been revealed. The members of the Politburo Standing Committee are, in order of seniority, President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng. The unveiling of the new lineup marks the climax of the twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle after months-long intense horse trading and power struggles in the lead-up to the 19th party congress. The new lineup has essentially confirmed previous exclusive reports by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2116838/what-xi-jinpings-choices-his-new-leadership-team-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2116838/what-xi-jinpings-choices-his-new-leadership-team-show?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Oct 2017 00:00:15 +0000 Washington will release the results of an investigation into alleged Chinese intellectual property theft before a Sino–US summit in Beijing so both sides can reset bilateral trade with “a whole series of negotiations”, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told the South China Morning Post. In Hong Kong for an investors forum, Bannon said on Tuesday that China and the United States had “a lot of issues over trade that need to be worked out” but conflict between them could be... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2110893/bannon-us-flag-trade-probe-findings-xi-trump-summit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2110893/bannon-us-flag-trade-probe-findings-xi-trump-summit?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Sep 2017 15:00:00 +0000