https://www.scmp.com/rss/314381/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com When US President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act on Wednesday, he seemingly ignored threats from China about retaliation. But he also suggested that signing the bill and enacting it are two different matters. China reacted to the signing with the expected anger and outrage on Thursday, blasting the United States for “interfering in China’s domestic affairs”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called in US ambassador Terry Branstad to lodge its protest. And... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3039826/hands-tied-hong-kong-democracy-act-donald-trump-sends-signal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3039826/hands-tied-hong-kong-democracy-act-donald-trump-sends-signal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Nov 2019 15:30:07 +0000 China’s religious leaders met in Beijing on Tuesday to work on ways to reinterpret religious doctrine to bring it in line with socialism, as the ruling Communist Party presses on with its campaign to “Sinicise” religion. The meeting, convened by Wang Yang, the country’s top official overseeing religious affairs, focused on how to ensure that religious dogma “meets the requirements of the progressing times” and fits “core socialist values”, according to state news agency Xinhua. Wang, who is also... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3039636/chinas-religion-chiefs-double-down-bringing-doctrine-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3039636/chinas-religion-chiefs-double-down-bringing-doctrine-line?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Nov 2019 14:30:17 +0000 The head of an American organisation has hit back at accusations from Beijing that it is a “black hand” behind the months-long protests in Hong Kong, calling the claim “patently false” and an attempt to spread misinformation.  Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a US Congress-funded organisation supporting democratic practices, made the rebuttal after Beijing’s top diplomat lashed out at the US over congressional passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3039453/american-democracy-group-takes-aim-beijings-black-hand-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3039453/american-democracy-group-takes-aim-beijings-black-hand-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Nov 2019 15:00:07 +0000 Hong Kong’s legal scholars have warned Beijing’s latest statement suggesting the city’s courts cannot rule on constitutional matters could spell the end of “one country, two systems”, even as pro-establishment heavyweights sought to placate such fears. The concerns were sparked after the Legislative Affairs Commission of China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), on Tuesday criticised the court’s decision on the government’s mask ban against... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3038479/hong-kong-mask-law-beijing-claim-unconstitutional-ruling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3038479/hong-kong-mask-law-beijing-claim-unconstitutional-ruling?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2019 02:00:23 +0000 As this week’s major escalation of violence shows no sign of abating, a question that has hung over Hong Kong from the start of the protest movement is again weighing heavily on the city: Will Beijing finally lose its patience and decide to intervene? Traffic and public transport were disrupted across the city, office workers took to the streets during their lunch break every day and university campuses turned into blazing battlegrounds. A man was set on fire after being doused in flammable... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3037791/beijing-ready-step-stop-hong-kong-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3037791/beijing-ready-step-stop-hong-kong-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Nov 2019 14:13:10 +0000 Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong says the city is “sliding into the abyss of terrorism” and a harsher crackdown is needed to end the unrest and restore order.  The warning comes as the financial hub reels from some of the worst violence since massive anti-government protests started five months ago, with the number of protesters arrested since Monday surpassing the total for the whole previous week. This week, a protester was shot by police, a man was set on fire, roads were blocked and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3037495/sliding-abyss-beijings-top-office-hong-kong-urges-stronger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3037495/sliding-abyss-beijings-top-office-hong-kong-urges-stronger?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Nov 2019 05:14:52 +0000 Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has pledged to make sure district council elections are held as scheduled – despite mainland state media saying for the first time that a return to peace was a prerequisite for fair elections in the city. Lam, speaking on Tuesday ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, said she did not yet see the need for a deadline to decide whether to postpone or cancel the district polls. She noted, however, that the offices of some candidates had been... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3037444/chief-executive-carrie-lam-vows-hong-kongs-district-council?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3037444/chief-executive-carrie-lam-vows-hong-kongs-district-council?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 13:57:55 +0000 One of China’s top state media outlets has said for the first time that a return to peace is a prerequisite for holding any “fair elections” in Hong Kong, while also voicing support for a harsher police crackdown on the city’s unrest. The morning after one of the most violent days in Hong Kong’s months-long anti-government movement, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily ran a commentary online giving its staunch backing to the city’s police force, demanding it to be given more support to put... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3037329/hong-kong-elections-hinge-return-peace-peoples-daily-suggests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3037329/hong-kong-elections-hinge-return-peace-peoples-daily-suggests?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 05:18:29 +0000 As Monday morning’s police shooting of a protester triggered a wave of shock and outrage in Hong Kong, across the border in mainland China, the response online was just as swift – but in support of the force. “Support Hong Kong police opening fire! Clean up Hong Kong’s cockroaches!” one popular financial blogger on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, said as he shared footage of the incident. In the video, an officer grapples with a protester and points his gun towards another approaching... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3037256/police-shooting-exposes-deep-divide-online-between-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3037256/police-shooting-exposes-deep-divide-online-between-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Nov 2019 14:30:12 +0000 In a year of monumental challenges for China, what keeps President Xi Jinping awake at night is probably not the trade war with the United States, nor the economic downturn, nor even the festering social unrest in Hong Kong, but the Communist Party itself. This week, China’s 300 or so of the party’s most powerful elites gather behind closed doors for a long-anticipated high-powered party meeting. As usual, it is shrouded in secrecy, with little information available other than an eye-watering... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3034761/soul-searching-chinas-communist-party-elite-they-consider-way?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3034761/soul-searching-chinas-communist-party-elite-they-consider-way?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Oct 2019 15:00:13 +0000 The elite of China’s ruling Communist Party will meet for their long-awaited fourth plenum from Monday, according to state media. More than 300 full and alternate members of the party’s powerful Central Committee will gather behind closed doors for four days in Beijing to discuss how to improve the country’s socialist system and governance, according to state news agency Xinhua. The gathering was announced on Thursday at a Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping, who is the party’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3034379/communist-party-elite-meet-monday-set-chinas-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3034379/communist-party-elite-meet-monday-set-chinas-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Oct 2019 07:00:27 +0000 A Chinese rights lawyer who says he was harassed and silenced by mainland authorities after reporting on the Hong Kong protests in August made his social media return at the weekend in a video in which he vowed to continue to speak out on the issue. Chen Qiushi – who had 740,000 followers on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, before his account was deleted – had been out of the public eye since making the broadcasts in which he challenged state media reports that the people leading the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3033215/chinese-lawyer-chen-qiushi-censured-over-hong-kong-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3033215/chinese-lawyer-chen-qiushi-censured-over-hong-kong-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Oct 2019 10:39:46 +0000 Hundreds of black-clad demonstrators took to the streets of Hong Kong again on Saturday to protest against the anti-mask law, and even as the rallies remained largely peaceful, petrol bombs were thrown at metro stations, while some shops were vandalised. Protesters also gathered in Prince Edward and Wan Chai to call for an end to alleged police brutality, hours after Cardinal John Tong Hon, the head of Hong Kong’s Catholic community, made an appeal for peace on a radio programme and said law... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3032654/hong-kong-protests-petrol-bombs-thrown-mtr-station?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3032654/hong-kong-protests-petrol-bombs-thrown-mtr-station?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Oct 2019 08:55:20 +0000 China’s top internet regulator has given itself a pat on the back for successfully mobilising the world’s largest online population as its unofficial censors. People blowing the whistle on one another for uploading “harmful” content has become a crucial part of the country’s online governance, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement released on Friday. Last year alone, 165 million reports of such material were filed across the country, a figure more than double the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3032647/chinas-internet-regulator-praises-whistle-blowers-keeping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3032647/chinas-internet-regulator-praises-whistle-blowers-keeping?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Oct 2019 07:20:54 +0000 Beijing has thrown its weight behind the Hong Kong government’s controversial ban on people wearing masks at public assemblies, declaring the move “extremely necessary” and calling for more forceful steps to curb violence and restore order in the city. Invoking sweeping colonial-era emergency powers, Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, announced on Friday a new anti-mask law intended to quell the city’s escalating unrest, fuelled by roiling public anger towards perceived... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3031649/extremely-necessary-beijing-backs-hong-kongs-mask-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3031649/extremely-necessary-beijing-backs-hong-kongs-mask-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Oct 2019 14:22:49 +0000 Protesters on Saturday put up thousands of posters across downtown Hong Kong, many declaring “We are back” to the government on the fifth anniversary of the Occupy movement. The anti-government activists started by building a so-called Lennon Wall at Victoria Park at around 3pm. They continued to stick posters – on walls, escalators, footbridges and the pavement – all the way from Causeway Bay to government headquarters in Admiralty, some 2.7km away. Some protesters formed human chains along... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3030789/hong-kong-pro-democracy-protesters-declare-we-are-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3030789/hong-kong-pro-democracy-protesters-declare-we-are-back?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Sep 2019 12:46:07 +0000 District council elections in November could be partially cancelled if protesters attempt to disrupt polling stations, according to a plan being studied by the Hong Kong government. Word of the potential move, revealed by a government source, came as Joshua Wong Chi-fung, the poster boy of the city’s pro-democracy movement, announced on Saturday that he planned to run in the election, which comes on the heels of the months-long unrest triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill. “[The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3030783/hong-kong-protests-plan-mulled-partially-cancel-district?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3030783/hong-kong-protests-plan-mulled-partially-cancel-district?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Sep 2019 10:39:49 +0000 China’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that an American pilot employed by US courier company FedEx was detained in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou last week on suspicion of smuggling ammunition. The pilot was detained on September 12 at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on his way to Hong Kong after customs authorities found a box of 681 airgun pellets in his luggage, the ministry said. He was later released on bail. Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the pilot entered China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3029747/china-confirms-detention-american-fedex-pilot-after-air-gun?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3029747/china-confirms-detention-american-fedex-pilot-after-air-gun?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Sep 2019 12:41:35 +0000 The United States Senate has passed a bipartisan bill urging the government to take action to counter China’s crackdown on Muslims and other minorities in its far western region of Xinjiang. The Uygur Human Rights Policy Act, which passed on Wednesday, appeals for the Trump administration to consider human rights sanctions against Chinese officials and prohibit the export of US goods and services to state agents operating in Xinjiang. It also calls on US President Donald Trump to condemn the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3026982/us-passes-uygur-human-rights-policy-act-calling-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3026982/us-passes-uygur-human-rights-policy-act-calling-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Sep 2019 14:00:06 +0000 Chinese social media platforms, websites and apps that use algorithms powered by artificial intelligence to recommend or suggest content to their users must ensure the technology steers people towards material that adheres to “mainstream values”, the country’s top internet regulator said. The Cyberspace Administration of China released its draft regulations on “managing the cyberspace ecosystem” on Tuesday in another sign of how the ruling Communist Party is increasingly turning to technology to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3026784/chinas-internet-regulator-orders-online-ai-algorithms-promote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3026784/chinas-internet-regulator-orders-online-ai-algorithms-promote?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Sep 2019 12:30:12 +0000 The Communist Party has finally named the new party chief of Xian, the biggest city in China’s northwest, filling a position that had been vacant for more than half a year. Local authorities announced on Tuesday that Wang Hao, who was party boss of Tangshan, an industrial city in Hebei province, had been appointed Xian’s party secretary and a member of the Shaanxi provincial leadership. Xian, an ancient capital at the eastern end of the old Silk Road, is now the most important economic centre in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3025574/communist-party-names-wang-hao-new-chief-scandal-hit-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3025574/communist-party-names-wang-hao-new-chief-scandal-hit-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2019 00:45:10 +0000 Joy had never joined a protest – despite growing up in Hong Kong, a city now known for just that. But that changed on Saturday. She wore no surgical mask or balaclava. She entered the fray for the first time entirely unguarded, and knowing full well that the march had been outlawed by police. “If merely walking on the street will get you arrested for illegal assembly, then this is white terror,” said the 25-year-old accountant, using the phrase “white terror” to refer to what she saw as the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3025227/i-wanted-test-rule-law-first-time-anti-government-protester?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3025227/i-wanted-test-rule-law-first-time-anti-government-protester?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2019 14:32:27 +0000 At least two Hong Kong lawmakers arrested along with prominent activists in connection with anti-government protests were released on bail on Saturday after being held overnight by police. Speaking outside Tsuen Wan Police Station, Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam Man-ho accused the force of detaining him on police obstruction allegations in a political move designed to deter protesters. Another pro-democracy politician Au Nok-hin was also released on bail on Saturday afternoon. Neither has been... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3025200/hong-kong-protests-three-arrested-lawmakers-still-detained?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3025200/hong-kong-protests-three-arrested-lawmakers-still-detained?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2019 05:40:40 +0000 China effectively expelled a Wall Street Journal reporter from the country on Friday, weeks after he co-wrote an article detailing an investigation by Australian authorities into a cousin of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chun Han Wong, a Singaporean national who has covered Chinese politics for the newspaper’s Beijing bureau since 2014, was denied a renewal for his press credentials, publisher Dow Jones said. “We can confirm that Chinese authorities have declined to renew Chun Han’s press... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3025143/china-forces-out-wall-street-journal-reporter-chun-han-wong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3025143/china-forces-out-wall-street-journal-reporter-chun-han-wong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Aug 2019 12:36:14 +0000 As tear gas filled Hong Kong’s streets over the weekend amid an unending governing crisis, a different political show played out just an hour’s ferry ride away in Macau. On Sunday, 400 members of the gambling hub’s pro-Beijing elite went ahead as expected and picked Ho Iat-seng, the son of an industrial tycoon with strong ties to China, as the city’s next leader. He was the only candidate on the ballot. For Hong Kong’s young protesters, the tightly scripted appointment of Ho is yet another... https://www.scmp.com/politics/macau-positions-itself-poster-child-one-country-two-systems-amid-hong-kong-unrest/article/3024859?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/macau-positions-itself-poster-child-one-country-two-systems-amid-hong-kong-unrest/article/3024859?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Aug 2019 10:03:28 +0000 As Hong Kong’s streets were choked with tear gas, petrol bombs and water cannons in a dramatic escalation of clashes over the weekend, just an hour’s ferry ride away in Macau all was going to Beijing’s plan. On Sunday, 400 members of the gambling hub’s pro-Beijing elite went ahead as expected and “elected” former legislature head Ho Iat-seng, the only candidate on the ballot, as the city’s next leader. For Hong Kong’s young protesters, the tightly scripted appointment of Ho, the son of an... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3024535/affluent-quiet-macau-chinas-new-unification-golden-child?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3024535/affluent-quiet-macau-chinas-new-unification-golden-child?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Aug 2019 10:00:06 +0000 An employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong has been detained in mainland China for breaking the law, Beijing confirmed on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after the man disappeared returning to the city. Simon Cheng Man-kit, a trade and investment officer at the consulate’s Scottish Development International section, was being held for 15 days under administrative detention in Shenzhen – a city that neighbours Hong Kong – for violating “public security management regulations”, the Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3023735/china-confirms-detention-british-consulate-trade-officer-simon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3023735/china-confirms-detention-british-consulate-trade-officer-simon?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Aug 2019 08:42:02 +0000 China’s state media has launched scathing personal attacks on leading pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong, labelling them the “new Gang of Four” that “colludes” with Western forces to instigate unrest and destroy the city. In an escalation of rhetoric, the articles published over the weekend lashed out at media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, Democratic Party founder Martin Lee Chu-ming, former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang and former lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan, calling them the “Gang of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3023487/chinese-state-media-labels-hong-kong-pro-democracy-figures-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3023487/chinese-state-media-labels-hong-kong-pro-democracy-figures-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2019 00:00:15 +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 The unrest in Hong Kong does not yet warrant direct intervention by Beijing despite hardening public sentiment and calls for tougher action in mainland China, according to Chinese government advisers. Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at Renmin University and an adviser to the State Council – China’s cabinet – said China would risk damaging its ties with the United States and other major foreign powers, upsetting its own development and losing Hong Kong’s special status if it took... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3022788/risks-still-too-big-china-send-troops-quell-hong-kong-unrest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3022788/risks-still-too-big-china-send-troops-quell-hong-kong-unrest?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2019 23:00:09 +0000 The attacks on two mainland Chinese men at Hong Kong airport on Tuesday evening by anti-government protesters have set off a firestorm of criticism on the mainland. The two men – Fu Guohao, who was later identified as a reporter from the state-owned Global Times tabloid, and Xu Jinyang – were mobbed and assaulted by Hong Kong protesters, who suspected they were undercover agents. News of the attacks spread like wildfire on the mainland, where public sentiment towards Hong Kong has already... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3022829/hong-kong-airport-attacks-trigger-nationalist-frenzy-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3022829/hong-kong-airport-attacks-trigger-nationalist-frenzy-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2019 13:56:54 +0000 The shutdown of operations at Hong Kong International Airport for a second consecutive day on Tuesday has tarnished the city’s reputation and could prompt airlines to reassess the facility’s role as the main air transport hub for the Greater Bay Area, analysts said. That reassessment could be supported by Chinese government efforts to expand the capacity of other airports in the area to handle the expected increase in passenger traffic in coming years, they added. Hong Kong International Airport... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3022655/could-hong-kong-airport-shutdown-give-shenzhen-edge-top-air?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3022655/could-hong-kong-airport-shutdown-give-shenzhen-edge-top-air?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2019 00:00:15 +0000 Chinese tycoon Li Jianhua once planned to live next door to his daughter in Vancouver after he retired from a career that has brought him political prestige and great wealth in China. The daughter, Carol Li, proclaimed “devotion and filial piety” to her father. He declared “love and affection” for his only child. But instead of living out his days beside his daughter, widowed Li Jianhua, 65, is battling her in Canadian courts over a $14.1 million Vancouver real estate fortune. Unproven and... https://www.scmp.com/business/chinese-tycoon-li-jianhua-and-daughter-carol-li-canadian-court-battles-over-fortune/article/3021784?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/chinese-tycoon-li-jianhua-and-daughter-carol-li-canadian-court-battles-over-fortune/article/3021784?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Aug 2019 09:34:03 +0000 Tycoon Li Jianhua once planned to live next door to his daughter in Vancouver after he retired from a career that has brought him political prestige and great wealth in China. Two multimillion-dollar mansions were built on a steep and wooded hillside overlooking Vancouver and the Salish Sea, side by side in the exclusive British Properties neighbourhood. It was a fitting location for the former deputy in the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament – in a corporate profile he called... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/3021721/chinese-tycoon-li-jianhua-fights-daughter-over-canada-real?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/3021721/chinese-tycoon-li-jianhua-fights-daughter-over-canada-real?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:32:53 +0000 Hundreds of Hong Kong protesters were on Sunday night occupying roads outside Tseung Kwan O railway station, after a brief stand-off around the police station. Shortly after 6pm, police warned of a dispersal operation as protesters threw bricks and other items at the force’s compound, breaking multiple windows. But about 10 minutes after the warning, protesters were gone. They later occupied the roads outside the MTR station, about half an hour’s walk from the scene of the stand-off. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3021360/thousands-march-tseung-kwan-o-hong-kong-continues-weekend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3021360/thousands-march-tseung-kwan-o-hong-kong-continues-weekend?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Aug 2019 07:46:33 +0000 President of Hong Kong’s Lingnan University Leonard Cheng Kwok-hon on Saturday took the unusual step of attending the march in Yuen Long as an “observer” for about half an hour, two hours before police officers fired tear gas at protesters. Cheng, who said he was worried about the dangers facing students and staff, became the first incumbent university chief to show up at a major protest since the Occupy movement of 2014. Lingnan University is one of Hong Kong’s eight publicly-funded... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3020353/lingnan-university-president-attends-yuen-long-protest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3020353/lingnan-university-president-attends-yuen-long-protest?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jul 2019 11:19:57 +0000 It is a prospect dreaded by many in Hong Kong, but a debate is growing on the mainland as to whether Beijing should end weeks of upheaval in the city by sending in the Chinese army. The People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, has had a presence in Hong Kong since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty, but memories of the military’s bloody suppression of pro-democracy students and activists in Beijing in 1989 are still strong here three decades on. However, images of protesters vandalizing... https://www.scmp.com/politics/hong-kong-protests-cost-sending-peoples-liberation-army-hong-kong-streets/article/3020048?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/hong-kong-protests-cost-sending-peoples-liberation-army-hong-kong-streets/article/3020048?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2019 09:34:15 +0000 It is a prospect dreaded by many in Hong Kong, but debate is growing in mainland China about whether the central government should end weeks of upheaval in the city by sending in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The PLA has had a presence in Hong Kong since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty but – unlike in mainland China – memories of the military’s bloody suppression of pro-democracy students and activists in Beijing in 1989 are still strong in the city three decades on. Still, images... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3019960/will-china-send-troops-stamp-out-protests-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3019960/will-china-send-troops-stamp-out-protests-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Jul 2019 15:30:04 +0000 A senior Chinese leader known for his relatively liberal style of governance has been named the ruling Communist Party’s handler of Xinjiang policy, amid increasing international criticism over the mass detention of Muslim minorities in the far western region. Wang Yang, a member of the party’s policymaking Politburo Standing Committee, attended a high-level three-day conference in Xinjiang as head of the Central Committee’s Xinjiang Work Coordination Small Group, the state-run news agency... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3019044/liberal-policy-chief-unlikely-mean-softening-xinjiang-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3019044/liberal-policy-chief-unlikely-mean-softening-xinjiang-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jul 2019 14:03:40 +0000 China paints its internment camps in Xinjiang as humane “boarding schools.” But a researcher has found evidence to refute the claims from the government's own documents. Adrian Zenz, an independent German researcher focusing on Xinjiang, has examined voluminous government documents to determine what he calls the “true nature and extent” of the camps, finding evidence of coercive internment, heavy presence of police guards and political brainwashing. The research was published on the website of... https://www.scmp.com/politics/china-calls-xinjiang-camps-training-centres-governments-own-documents-say-otherwise-researcher-finds/article/3016918?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/china-calls-xinjiang-camps-training-centres-governments-own-documents-say-otherwise-researcher-finds/article/3016918?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jul 2019 09:56:30 +0000 Bill Huang, a Chinese-American telecoms industry veteran, used to target China and its vast, untapped market with the technological know-how he had learned in the US. But over the past few years, the tables have turned. In his latest business endeavour, the engineer turned entrepreneur is relying on China for a key technology that would transform mobile communication for the next decade – and it is a technology the US has fallen behind on. As one of the first young mainland Chinese to attend... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3016856/how-us-trained-telecoms-entrepreneur-bill-huang-turned-china-wireless?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3016856/how-us-trained-telecoms-entrepreneur-bill-huang-turned-china-wireless?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jul 2019 22:59:17 +0000 While China has gone to great lengths to paint its internment camps in Xinjiang as humane “boarding schools”, a researcher has found abundant evidence to refute the propaganda claims from the government’s own documents. Adrian Zenz, an independent German researcher focusing on Xinjiang, has examined a vast body of government documents to determine what he calls the “true nature and extent” of the camps, finding evidence of coercive internment, heavy presence of police guards and political... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3016850/china-calls-xinjiang-camps-training-centres-governments-own?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3016850/china-calls-xinjiang-camps-training-centres-governments-own?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jul 2019 20:21:57 +0000 The US government on Friday condemned China’s “intense persecution” of religious faiths, days before the two countries’ leaders were expected to meet in Japan during the G20 summit.  “The Chinese Communist Party has exhibited extreme hostility to all religious faiths since its founding,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the release of the “2018 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom”. “The party demands that it alone be called ‘God’.” This year’s report departed from its... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3015632/us-slams-chinas-extreme-hostility-towards-religious-freedom-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3015632/us-slams-chinas-extreme-hostility-towards-religious-freedom-new?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jun 2019 21:31:21 +0000 The US government is poised to punish Chinese officials over the mass detention of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. A sanctions package has gained consensus across several government departments, according to a US official and two other individuals briefed on the matter. However, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is said to have held up its implementation due to concerns that it could disrupt the ongoing trade negotiations. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uygurs and other Muslim minorities are... https://www.scmp.com/politics/mnuchin-holding-xinjiang-sanctions-due-trade-talks-worries/article/3015525?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/mnuchin-holding-xinjiang-sanctions-due-trade-talks-worries/article/3015525?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jun 2019 08:28:07 +0000 The US government is poised to punish Chinese officials over the mass internment of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, months after a previous round of discussions about sanctions was quashed at the cabinet level, according to a US official and two other individuals briefed on the matter. A newly prepared sanctions package has gained working-level consensus across several departments, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is said to have held up the action due to concern that it could disrupt trade... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3015441/us-sanctions-over-xinjiang-internment-camps-are-ready-go?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3015441/us-sanctions-over-xinjiang-internment-camps-are-ready-go?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jun 2019 16:28:17 +0000 US President Donald Trump confirmed on Twitter on Tuesday that he and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, would meet next week at the G20 summit in Japan, adding that trade talks with China would resume before the meeting. The Chinese president, meanwhile, told Trump he was “willing” to meet and agreed that the two sides should keep their communications open, according to Chinese state media reports. The meeting’s confirmation and the restarting of talks were the first positive developments... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3015086/us-and-china-teams-restart-trade-talks-g20-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3015086/us-and-china-teams-restart-trade-talks-g20-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Jun 2019 14:39:01 +0000 Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in the United States on Sunday in a show of solidarity with the almost 2 million Hongkongers who marched to demand the controversial extradition bill be scrapped, and for the resignation of the city’s leader. The rallies in New York and Washington were part of 39 planned protests taking place over the weekend around the world, with protests in Britain, Germany, France, South Korea, Australia, and North America, among others. The global demonstrations... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3014771/hong-kong-protests-go-global-marchers-take-streets-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3014771/hong-kong-protests-go-global-marchers-take-streets-us?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Jun 2019 03:35:03 +0000 US President Donald Trump is sure Beijing and Hong Kong will “be able to work it out”, he said on Wednesday, after escalating protests against the city’s divisive extradition bill plunged the global financial hub into chaos. “They’re massive demonstrations. I looked today and that really is a million people,” Trump said, referring to the city’s enormous march on Sunday opposing amendments to the bill, which would allow the city to surrender residents and visitors to mainland China to face... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3014267/donald-trump-expresses-confidence-despite-massive-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3014267/donald-trump-expresses-confidence-despite-massive-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:38:20 +0000 Democracy advocates globally commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, despite Beijing’s continuing efforts to erase memories of the pro-democracy movement. On June 3 to 4, 1989, Chinese troops opened fire on the streets of Beijing as they tried to clear Tiananmen Square and put an end to a nationwide reform movement led by university students. While the Communist Party has suppressed public discussion of the event, witnesses, victims’ families and democracy supporters are... https://www.scmp.com/politics/global-commemorations-mark-30th-anniversary-tiananmen-crackdown/article/3013194?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/global-commemorations-mark-30th-anniversary-tiananmen-crackdown/article/3013194?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jun 2019 09:28:18 +0000 US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met more than 30 survivors of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on Tuesday in Washington, one of a number of events in the US capital commemorating the 30-year anniversary of the Chinese government’s brutal repression of pro-democracy protests. Several of those protests’ former student leaders, who had travelled to Washington from around the country, were hosted by Pelosi – the United States’ most powerful Democrat – in her offices and included prominent human rights... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3013124/pelosi-its-personal-us-house-speaker-meets-tiananmen-survivors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3013124/pelosi-its-personal-us-house-speaker-meets-tiananmen-survivors?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Jun 2019 22:24:41 +0000