https://www.scmp.com/rss/314690/feed Billy Huang is a media veteran who has worked at leading organisations across the Pacific, including Xinhua News Agency in Beijing, CNN headquarters in Atlanta, MediaCorp in Singapore, KyLinTV in New York and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He was part of the CNN team that won the 2005 Peabody Award and the 2005 DuPont-Columbia University Award. billyhuangpost@gmail.com en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Billy Huang Billy Huang As Tencent unveiled a dozen artificial intelligence (AI) agents at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, one name was conspicuously absent: Manus. Once a rising star in China’s AI scene, Manus has since relocated its headquarters to Singapore, quietly stepping out of the mainland spotlight just as Big Tech players from Tencent to ByteDance rush to fill the void. The timing is not coincidental. Manus’ departure didn’t trigger fireworks, but it did mark a turning point. The... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3320594/manus-leaving-china-reflects-tough-balancing-act-amid-geopolitical-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3320594/manus-leaving-china-reflects-tough-balancing-act-amid-geopolitical-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Aug 2025 12:30:08 +0000 The Covid-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll, with more than 9,000 people dead, including over 3,200 in China alone. But has China learned its lessons from the tragedy, to put its people’s lives before anything else and regain the world’s trust? Given what happened to the whistle-blower-turned-national-hero Dr Li Wenliang, my answer is no. Li – one of eight doctors who attempted to alert the public about the coronavirus outbreak, only to be reprimanded by local police – died on February 7. Li’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3075810/has-china-learned-its-lesson-coronavirus-tragedy-judging-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3075810/has-china-learned-its-lesson-coronavirus-tragedy-judging-its?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2020 00:35:07 +0000 The US-China phase-one trade deal, under which Beijing committed to huge purchases of agricultural products, is a shot in the arm for farmers in America’s heartland. But the overall picture still looks grim, especially for Chinese investment in the US. According to global research firm Mergermarket, purchases of US firms by Chinese buyers has plummeted by 95 per cent, from US$55.3 billion in 2016, to US$3 billion in 2018. It can be argued that with China purchasing more US farm goods, more jobs... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3047035/chinese-investment-saving-american-factories-and-manufacturing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3047035/chinese-investment-saving-american-factories-and-manufacturing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jan 2020 19:00:12 +0000 Accusations of violence against both protesters and police have been a constant in the Hong Kong protests. Perhaps we need to turn to great minds like Mahatma Gandhi for some perspective.  First, the Hong Kong government should be held responsible for the escalation of violence after trying to push through the extradition bill that would have subjected Hongkongers to Beijing’s arbitrary jurisdiction. In early June, more than a million people took to the streets to express their concern, only for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3039531/gandhis-real-lesson-hong-kong-midst-protests-cowardice-worse-using?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3039531/gandhis-real-lesson-hong-kong-midst-protests-cowardice-worse-using?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Nov 2019 03:00:12 +0000 Last Sunday, an estimated 1.7 million people joined the mass protest in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. The rally was peaceful, showing the world that Hongkongers can advance or retreat as required. More amazingly, protesters apologised for the sporadic violence and inconvenience caused to the public at the airport. That apology helped reinstate my confidence in the resilience and adaptability of Hong Kong protesters. Yes, violence will only invite fear and doubt but apology ensures understanding and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3023958/hong-kong-protests-spark-clashes-among-overseas-chinese-way?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3023958/hong-kong-protests-spark-clashes-among-overseas-chinese-way?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2019 19:00:08 +0000 I was overwhelmed by mixed feelings of pride and shame on June 9, the day Hong Kong people, especially its young men and women, took to the streets in peaceful protest against the proposed extradition law. Pride in the extraordinary courage shown by the Hong Kong people, and shame because such courage and conviction has become so rare in Chinese youth. I am not talking about the people still living behind the Great Firewall, but those who study and work overseas and breathe the same fresh air as... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3014230/chinese-youth-cant-be-blamed-their-missing-sense-history-they-dont?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3014230/chinese-youth-cant-be-blamed-their-missing-sense-history-they-dont?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jun 2019 04:30:13 +0000 At the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilisations, in Beijing on May 15, President Xi Jinping emphasised that “no civilisation is superior to others”. In the first place, it would be quite a challenge to compare Asia’s diverse civilisations. But for the sake of argument, let’s consider India and China, both countries with long histories and deep traditions, through the prism of women’s rights, for starters. In India, there was once the practice of sati, whereby a widow immolated herself on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011598/china-could-become-world-class-civilisation-rival-west-if?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011598/china-could-become-world-class-civilisation-rival-west-if?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 May 2019 02:00:09 +0000 There has been palpable confusion and anxiety lately in the Chinese-American community amid the ever-escalating hostility between Washington and Beijing. I felt a mix of relief and other emotions when the Committee of 100, or C100, a New York-based group of influential Chinese-Americans including cellist Yo-Yo Ma, architect I.M. Pei, figure skater Michelle Kwan and Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, took a stand in a statement on April 7. It condemned racial profiling whereby “Chinese-Americans are being... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3007607/steve-bannon-right-about-overseas-chinese-theyve-been?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3007607/steve-bannon-right-about-overseas-chinese-theyve-been?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Apr 2019 19:00:11 +0000 The legendary Italian merchant Marco Polo built his name on extensive travel in the East and particularly China. However, history has not given enough credit to his father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo who took the Silk Road to China in 1266 when Marco was only 12 years old. Only on a trip to China in 1271, did the brothers bring the then 17-year-old with them. When the Polo brothers met Chinese emperor Kublai Khan, the grandson of founding emperor Genghis Khan, the ruler of the middle kingdom liked... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3004965/xi-jinping-can-take-lessons-kublai-khan-reaching-out-west?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3004965/xi-jinping-can-take-lessons-kublai-khan-reaching-out-west?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Apr 2019 10:44:03 +0000 Federal prosecutors in the United States on March 12 charged 50 people – including Hollywood celebrities and business big names – over an admissions scandal to get their children into prestigious schools. The breadth and audacity of the scandal has aroused public ire about the fairness of college admissions. However, the discourse has exacerbated the vulnerability of Asian-Americans, the most unfairly treated ethnic group so far in college admission. The Asian-American Coalition for Education, a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/world/article/3003000/college-admissions-scandal-highlights-vulnerability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/world/article/3003000/college-admissions-scandal-highlights-vulnerability?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Mar 2019 11:15:59 +0000 Huawei is starting to fight back by slapping lawsuits on both the US and Canadian governments. This could be a grave miscalculation, as misjudged as its decision to let its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, travel to Canada last year. The United States Department of Justice probably cheered and high-fived at the news that the Chinese telecoms equipment maker is suing. On January 28, the Justice Department had announced criminal charges against Huawei, two affiliates and Meng, which would be... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/3001505/why-huaweis-lawsuit-against-us-defies-common?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/3001505/why-huaweis-lawsuit-against-us-defies-common?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Mar 2019 17:00:05 +0000 Reclusive Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has recently been taking the limelight and talking to the international media. In an interview with CBS that aired on February 19, he promised that the telecoms company would never spy on the United States and that even if he was required by Chinese law to share customer data with Beijing, he would “firmly reject that”. The statement sounds genuine, but does not square with what he told foreign reporters at a round table weeks ago, when he said that he loves... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2187891/perils-chinese-ambiguity-how-and-why-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2187891/perils-chinese-ambiguity-how-and-why-us?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:00:15 +0000 On a business trip to Poland 10 years ago, friends there told me a joke over dinner: When the Solidarity movement against the communist government was in its prime in Poland in the early 1980s, it seemed inevitable that the Soviet Union would launch an invasion, supported by other Warsaw Pact countries. When martial law was declared, a worker went up to a soldier on a Warsaw street and asked him: “If the Russians and the East Germans were to invade at the same time, who would you shoot first?”... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2183490/what-polands-arrest-huawei-executive-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2183490/what-polands-arrest-huawei-executive-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Jan 2019 02:30:00 +0000 Despite the New Year vibes everywhere, no major progress has been made on the big issues affecting regional security and people’s lives: the US-China trade war, with a showdown around the corner; the escalating tension between Canada and China over the arrests of a Chinese hi-tech company executive and two Canadians, one of them a former diplomat; and Kim Jong-un’s return to ground zero with a New Year message that there will be no nuclear-free North Korea unless the US makes a security... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2180404/2019-its-time-vatican-and-communist-bloc-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2180404/2019-its-time-vatican-and-communist-bloc-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jan 2019 05:00:30 +0000 US Vice-President Mike Pence has added fuel to the fire of the trade war and also reportedly threatened “a cold war” unless China makes substantial changes on a wide range of issues, with technology theft at the top of the list. He made the remark in the wake of President Donald Trump’s claim that China “got rid of” its “Made In China 2025” plan because he told the Chinese he “found it insulting”. And looking at the case of Chinese memory chip maker Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co, accused... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2174184/chinese-chip-maker-fujian-jinhua-accused?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2174184/chinese-chip-maker-fujian-jinhua-accused?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Nov 2018 06:00:45 +0000 The disappearance of Interpol’s president, Meng Hongwei, and the Chinese government’s subsequent announcement that he had been detained, stunned the world. On October 7, Interpol issued a media statement saying that the organisation had received Meng’s resignation with immediate effect. The statement also said: “The Interpol general secretariat, under the leadership of Secretary General Jürgen Stock, and its National Central Bureaus around the world remain focused on their mission: to help law... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2171183/why-interpol-must-keep-pressure-case-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2171183/why-interpol-must-keep-pressure-case-its?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Nov 2018 18:00:45 +0000