https://www.scmp.com/rss/323324/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The United States and its allies have accused China of hacking a Microsoft email server as part of a state-backed campaign, adding to growing claims of Chinese involvement in high-profile cyberattacks. Already an issue between China and the US before their relations deteriorated, cyber espionage has become another of the fronts on which Beijing and Washington are set to confront each other in the coming years. A coalition of accusers The US, Britain, the European Union and Nato on Monday accused... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3141865/what-are-hacking-accusations-against-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3141865/what-are-hacking-accusations-against-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jul 2021 14:30:15 +0000 From India to Malaysia, Indonesia to Thailand, Asian politicians are realising this week that they won’t be spared the blowback their Western counterparts are facing over controversial data-driven campaigning practices that have been thrust into the spotlight by the Cambridge Analytica scandal.  Since the initial blitz of revelations in mid-March about the British-based data-mining firm’s alleged illegal use of Facebook data from millions of US voters to aid Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2139719/cambridge-analytica-asia-modern-day-colonialism-or-empathy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2139719/cambridge-analytica-asia-modern-day-colonialism-or-empathy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Mar 2018 23:00:00 +0000 You’ve long spoken about the “political awakenings”, from the Arab Spring to the Maidan protests in Ukraine, as a new element affecting world affairs. Now, a different form of awakening is sweeping Western democracies – populism that seems to have an affinity for Vladimir Putin. What is that about? I think the affinity for Putin is overblown, largely promoted by self-serving journalists. Certainly, some individual leaders of these movements profess admiration for his strongman approach to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2057960/china-ties-are-too-valuable-us-throw-away-whim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2057960/china-ties-are-too-valuable-us-throw-away-whim?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Dec 2016 02:34:56 +0000 It is clear that, while the US election may be over, much of the rancour remains. In a season of surprises, the latest controversy now swirls around how a long-time adversary – Russia – hijacked America’s election to secure a Trump presidency. Americans seem to be transfixed by this latest thriller, with President Barack Obama promising retribution, but Donald Trump warning against politicising US intelligence. American concerns about foreign interference, however, appear to be much ado about... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2057624/why-us-must-not-cry-foul-over-moscows-alleged-role-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2057624/why-us-must-not-cry-foul-over-moscows-alleged-role-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Dec 2016 07:00:45 +0000 Democracy relies heavily on voters’ ability to discern the useful from the harmful. Sometimes, voters make the right choices, sometimes they make the wrong calls. Mostly, the decision at the ballot box is made in a calm, rational manner, although “likeability” or charisma of candidates may colour the voters’ choice. For most democratic countries, this form of governance has worked fairly well. But this system is now facing a new threat: impulse voting, where facts and reasoning take a back seat... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2048554/blame-social-media-state-democracy-today?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2048554/blame-social-media-state-democracy-today?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Nov 2016 04:24:39 +0000 In an interview this week, former US ambassador to China Gary Locke expressed concerns about many aspects of US president-elect Donald Trump’s possible trade and foreign policies. He said Trump had “misimpressions” about China, as evidenced by his claims it was manipulating its currency. He also called on Trump to continue America’s pivot to Asia and to push ahead with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact. Locke also expressed concerns that the US might lose its leadership role or... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2046650/former-top-us-envoy-china-gary-locke-trump-trade-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2046650/former-top-us-envoy-china-gary-locke-trump-trade-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Nov 2016 23:00:15 +0000 Donald Trump’s stunning upset victory in the 2016 US presidential election is historic in several ways, and his tenure in the White House will no doubt spring on his country and the rest of the world many more surprises over the next four years. To say that the man is unpredictable and polarising is already a cliché. Rarely has an outgoing president mobilised against one of his potential successors to the degree Barack Obama has. For that reason, it is easy to portray Trump as Obama’s and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2046133/how-trump-might-actually-build-obamas-us-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2046133/how-trump-might-actually-build-obamas-us-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Nov 2016 07:22:52 +0000 No matter what course US president-elect Donald Trump takes with China, he starts out with at least one loss in his tangles with Beijing authorities. Despite waging a long court battle, Trump failed to trademark his own name in the construction industry on the mainland. A Liaoning construction firm unrelated to Trump’s businesses beat him to the punch in November 2006, trademarking the Trump name just two weeks before the US businessman filed his own application, according to a Beijing court... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2045724/day-donald-trump-took-chinese-government-and-lost?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2045724/day-donald-trump-took-chinese-government-and-lost?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Nov 2016 05:00:15 +0000 I implore all who have been seized by an attack of schadenfreude, having witnessed what transpired on November 8 in the US, to rein in the gloating. The pleasure of seeing other people’s misfortune will fade very quickly, particularly in this case. The president of the world’s sole superpower can make life hell for people living outside America, too. It’s not just ethnic minorities, Muslims, and gays and lesbians in America who need to watch their backs. With Trump as US president, let’s sit... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2045133/heed-anger-rebels-among-us-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2045133/heed-anger-rebels-among-us-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Nov 2016 01:04:35 +0000 The stunning victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the American presidential election threatens Asian countries with strategic abandonment by the United States. Instead, Europe and its relations with Russia could return to the centre of American foreign policy. If that were to be the case, China would benefit most in Asia from the Trump presidency. Under Trump, the US will accept China’s rise – as long as it doesn’t challenge the status quo Trump’s desire for strategic rapprochement... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2045081/will-asia-disappear-us-radar-under-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2045081/will-asia-disappear-us-radar-under-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Nov 2016 04:18:56 +0000 The new administration of ­Donald Trump will not repudiate the US “pivot to Asia” strategy, and it may even strengthen the country’s military capacity and presence around the world, ­according to the president-elect’s top military advisers. The implications of Trump’s foreign and defence policy ­remain to be seen, but some ­observers have said that a Trump administration might provide strategic opportunities for China to extend its presence in Asia. Watch: Obama and Trump’s first White House... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044878/us-pivot-asia-likely-continue-smaller-scale-under-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044878/us-pivot-asia-likely-continue-smaller-scale-under-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Nov 2016 14:00:00 +0000 A number of my colleagues, and executives I know, have been asking me what I think about the Trump victory. “It’s amazing,” I say enthusiastically to rather bewildered faces. I am a born optimist and see the glass half full. Let me elaborate. Full disclosure: before being a supporter of Mitt Romney, I supported Herman Caine (the computer scientist and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza). I also favoured Dr. Ben Carson (a paediatric neurosurgeon) to be the Republican nominee. I am a lifelong... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2044814/trump-means-business-every-sense?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2044814/trump-means-business-every-sense?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Nov 2016 08:25:40 +0000 Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the US presidential election reflect a global desire for change, which could serve as a signal for Hong Kong’s coming chief executive election, a veteran pollster said. Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, who heads the University of Hong Kong’s public opinion programme, said it would be “impossible” for a Hong Kong chief executive to complete 10 years in office, or two terms. “Even in such an open and democratic country as the US, eight years is already difficult [for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2044728/impossible-hong-kong-chief-executive-last-10-years-office?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2044728/impossible-hong-kong-chief-executive-last-10-years-office?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Nov 2016 04:30:30 +0000 The Age of Trump has begun, a new chapter in American history where social-media-driven people power will set the nation’s agenda and redefine government’s role in its life. Historians compare Trump’s triumph to the rise of Andrew Jackson in 1828 and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Both presidents defeated long-entrenched powers, cobbled together new constituencies from the grass roots, defied the distant power brokers of finance and defined new, sweeping roles for the presidency and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044695/and-so-age-trump-begins-agenda-fuelled-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044695/and-so-age-trump-begins-agenda-fuelled-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Nov 2016 01:15:00 +0000 The true test now begins for Donald Trump. The Republican president-elect paid little attention to transition planning leading up to his stunning victory. With 72 days before he takes control of the executive branch, Trump and his senior team on Wednesday immediately began the herculean task of picking a Cabinet and tapping hundreds of appointees to senior roles in key departments — State, Defence, Homeland Security, Commerce and Treasury among them — many requiring multiple security reviews or... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044692/trumps-white-house-attention-turns-cabinet-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044692/trumps-white-house-attention-turns-cabinet-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Nov 2016 00:45:15 +0000 US presidential elections hardly ever hinge on foreign policy, but Donald Trump’s victory has raised serious concern in Asia about US policy in the region, given his rhetoric on the campaign trail on diplomatic isolation and trade protectionism. While most analysts said they did not think Trump would make good on his claims to take the United States back to its pre­-second world war level of isolationism, many expected some major changes to US foreign policy ­towards Asia during his presidency.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044521/trump-trade-and-us-pivot-asia-what-lies-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044521/trump-trade-and-us-pivot-asia-what-lies-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 23:00:30 +0000 It was around midnight Wednesday just as it was becoming clear that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States that longtime immigration advocate Maudia Melendez reached out to family and friends online. “Attention: this is a call to all of you who are hearing from others that you need to pack your bags because Donald Trump is winning the election. Please stop injecting fear into the people. Fear of man is sin,” she wrote in capital letters on Facebook. Trump’s ascent to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044612/fear-sweeps-through-illegal-migrants-us-after-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044612/fear-sweeps-through-illegal-migrants-us-after-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:15:00 +0000 BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, said that market turmoil resulting from Donald Trump’s presidential victory may cause the Federal Reserve to hold off on an interest rate increase in December. “Any Fed delay in raising rates is a near-term negative,” according to a bulletin released by the New York-based company Wednesday. Prior to the result, the Fed seemed poised to lift rates next month for the first time since December 2015. In the election’s aftermath, market volatility could... https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/2044577/blackrock-says-market-turmoil-trump-upset-win-may-cause-fed-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/2044577/blackrock-says-market-turmoil-trump-upset-win-may-cause-fed-push?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:30:30 +0000 Donald Trump called for national unity and promised to work with all nations in a triumphant victory speech on Wednesday that capped the 70-year-old real estate mogul’s election as the United States’ 45th president. Trump’s stunning upset over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who had been widely ­expected to become the US’ first woman president, defied almost all odds and polls, shocked political and business elites and sent financial markets around the world into panic. Chinese President... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044544/trump-reaches-out-unity-after-stunning-upset-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044544/trump-reaches-out-unity-after-stunning-upset-us?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 15:45:45 +0000 Democrats were never on safe ground in the toss-up state of Ohio. And they knew why long before the votes were tallied. Donald Trump took Ohio’s 18 electoral votes, winning 454,983 more votes than Hillary Clinton. Earlier polls suggested that Trump had a 1 per cent lead in Ohio. US President Barack Obama won Ohio four years ago by 3 percentage points. Towards the end of the campaigning, two of Clinton’s most important rallies took place in the state. On Friday, she was joined by Beyonce and Jay... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044542/blacks-and-young-voters-fail-turn-out-clinton-swing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044542/blacks-and-young-voters-fail-turn-out-clinton-swing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 15:20:09 +0000 President-elect Donald Trump’s win in Florida, a long-time battleground state in US elections, set him on the path to the White House. With 29 Electoral College votes, Florida is one of the nation’s largest battleground states. Just two other states, California and Texas, have more votes in the Electoral College, which determines the president of the United States. Yesterday, Florida was one of the first swing states to finish voting. Florida is also the state with the oldest population in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044535/older-white-voters-handed-trump-florida-victory?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2044535/older-white-voters-handed-trump-florida-victory?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 15:00:15 +0000 When Donald Trump called China the “greatest” currency manipulator 3 ½ months ago, few in Beijing bothered to respond to his comments. At the time, Trump appeared to have a slim chance at taking the White House, and promises and threats made on the campaign trail are often neglected when the dust settles. Now, with Trump’s surprising victory in the US election, Beijing will have to take his comments regarding the yuan seriously and prepare for a scenario where he might ask the US Treasury to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044500/trumps-potshots-yuan-campaign-trail-unlikely-escalate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044500/trumps-potshots-yuan-campaign-trail-unlikely-escalate?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:00:15 +0000 The American people have spoken and so have global markets. The former wanted a big change, while the latter are highly change averse, so global investors responded to the Trump triumph with a mighty vote of no confidence. What happens next is not clear. However, we do know some things. First, markets always overreact to news they were not expecting and, my oh my, they sure were not expecting this result. Thus, share prices have plunged, there has been heavy selling of the US dollar etc.... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2044436/one-predictable-trend-will-emerge-donald-trumps-shock-election-victory?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2044436/one-predictable-trend-will-emerge-donald-trumps-shock-election-victory?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 09:19:41 +0000 In every politics textbook in China, US presidential elections are belittled as money games among the ruling bourgeois to win power and deceive the general public. It doesn’t matter who wins office because a US president will defend moneyed interests at home and extend American imperialism abroad, according to Communist Party orthodoxy. On the surface, the Chinese government does appear to have taken a lofty and detached view of the US election. Watch: Trump receives concession call from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044308/experienced-tough-talker-or-avid-china-basher-clinton?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044308/experienced-tough-talker-or-avid-china-basher-clinton?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 03:45:45 +0000 When China’s ambassador in Washington, Cui Tiankai, tried to reach out to Hillary Clinton’s campaign team in January, former assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell acted as a go-between. Campbell was invited to Cui’s residence in northwest Washington for a coffee on January 5, according to a hacked Clinton campaign email released by WikiLeaks. “He [Cui] wants to have an informal, private, off-the-record get-together with a few of us to discuss the next year and the current state of US-China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043657/how-china-reached-out-clintons-campaign-team?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043657/how-china-reached-out-clintons-campaign-team?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Nov 2016 22:00:00 +0000 Unlike Hillary Clinton’s star-studded campaign team, analysts seem to have few clues who is advising Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on foreign policy issues. “We know so little about Trump and, quite frankly, we don’t know very much about the kind of people he would take advice from,” said David Lampton, director of China studies at Johns Hopkins’ school of advanced international studies. We don’t have any real idea of what their China policy would be David Lampton, Johns... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043643/whats-world-make-donald-trumps-foreign-policy-advisers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043643/whats-world-make-donald-trumps-foreign-policy-advisers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Nov 2016 21:05:06 +0000 Although race and identity have emerged as the principal dividing line between the main American political parties, both the Republican and Democratic parties are also deeply divided internally. The Democratic Party is socially liberal; its leadership is pro-business, but it has a broad-based insurgent progressive wing. The Republican Party is socially conservative; its leadership is pro-market, but has a dominant white working-class support base. Hillary Clinton, a Washington insider and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2043933/how-race-and-identity-divide-america-republican?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2043933/how-race-and-identity-divide-america-republican?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Nov 2016 03:18:21 +0000 It’s often said that the only candidates who could lose to Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton are Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Here’s one indication that it’s more than a wry joke. The latest Bloomberg Politics national poll asked voters who they’d support in hypothetical matchups between Trump and President Barack Obama, and between Clinton and the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney. The result: Obama would clobber Trump and Romney would trounce Clinton. Obama can’t run for a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2043902/how-awful-are-trump-and-clinton-obama-and-mitt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2043902/how-awful-are-trump-and-clinton-obama-and-mitt?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Nov 2016 01:02:55 +0000 With hours to go before Americans vote, Democrat Hillary Clinton has about a 90 per cent chance of defeating Republican Donald Trump in the race for the White House, according to the final Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation polling project. Her chances are roughly similar to last week’s odds. An upset win by Trump remains possible, but it would rely on an unlikely combination of turnouts of white, black and Hispanic voters in six or seven states, according to the survey released on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2043897/final-reuters/ipsos-survey-gives-clinton-90-cent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2043897/final-reuters/ipsos-survey-gives-clinton-90-cent?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Nov 2016 00:30:45 +0000 In the hours after the president is elected, equity investors need to brace for volatility. What they shouldn’t do is panic. That’s because regardless of how prices react on November 9, next-day moves in the S&P 500 Index are useless in telling what comes after. While the index swings an average 1.5 per cent the day after the vote, gains or losses over the first 24 hours predict the market’s direction 12 months later less than half the time. This matters because the compulsion to act in the... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2043810/stock-markets-normally-go-nuts-after-us-presidential-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2043810/stock-markets-normally-go-nuts-after-us-presidential-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Nov 2016 19:35:56 +0000 When Americans vote Tuesday after the most divisive presidential election campaign in living memory, one certainty about the winner can be safely predicted. It won’t be James Comey, FBI Director and campaign wildcard, now assailed from both sides of the political divide. Those two sides are likely to be arguing for years over the question of who was helped and who was hurt by the pair of political bombshells that Comey dropped into the final stages of the race. But one effect seems beyond... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2043638/biggest-loser-how-fbi-was-tainted-corrosive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2043638/biggest-loser-how-fbi-was-tainted-corrosive?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Nov 2016 07:15:30 +0000 Despite last-minute good news from the FBI that saw Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s name cleared over a new batch of her emails linked to her private email server, the gridlock in US politics exposed during the presidential campaign trail has already left deep dissatisfaction among the electorate, according to polls and voters. The FBI informed Congress on Sunday that it would not recommend charges over these latest Clinton emails while secretary of state – removing a dark cloud that has... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043592/clintons-name-cleared-storm-clouds-loom-us-presidential?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043592/clintons-name-cleared-storm-clouds-loom-us-presidential?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Nov 2016 05:31:19 +0000 Brexit taught me not to pretend that anyone can predict how a Trump or Clinton victory would impact the markets. Although a Trump victory would be improbable and unpredictable it more importantly represents an enormous impact. Voter frustration finally finds a revolutionary symbol for the current problems plaguing the US economy. And, Hong Kong could see a mirror reflection of its own problems. Stagnant income for average workers persist despite strong productivity increases; job creation is... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2043436/donald-trumps-rise-explained-need-economic-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2043436/donald-trumps-rise-explained-need-economic-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Nov 2016 10:19:15 +0000 People in China are more upbeat about the future development of Sino-US relations than their Asian counterparts, even though the two nations are often in confrontation over issues ranging from maritime disputes to cybersecurity, according to a survey ahead of the US presidential election. Clinton ‘wins’ US election among most Asians – but support for Trump stronger in China: survey The survey, commissioned by the South China Morning Post, also shows that Chinese people believe that both... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043315/chinese-more-upbeat-asian-neighbours-over-sino-us-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043315/chinese-more-upbeat-asian-neighbours-over-sino-us-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Nov 2016 15:31:56 +0000 An overwhelming majority of people across east Asia favour Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in next week’s US election, but negative sentiment towards Trump is much lower in mainland China than in its five neighbouring countries, according to a survey commissioned by the Sunday Morning Post. The poll finds that while only 13 per cent of respondents in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia want to see Trump elected, the support rate for the brash Republican candidate in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043316/clinton-wins-us-election-among-most-asians-support?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2043316/clinton-wins-us-election-among-most-asians-support?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Nov 2016 15:30:45 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2043280/what-asia-thinks-us-presidential-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2043280/what-asia-thinks-us-presidential-race?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Nov 2016 11:00:00 +0000 Jack Wang Zhengxian had always voted for the Democratic Party since he emigrated from China to the United States 30 years ago. Today, however, he is an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. As one of 6,000 members of the nationwide campaign “Chinese Americans for Trump”, Wang helped organise state-level events in North Carolina in support of the candidate who, according to a poll, won the hearts of just one in 10 Chinese American voters. “In the past I did not... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2042778/though-small-number-chinese-american-voters-gain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2042778/though-small-number-chinese-american-voters-gain?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Nov 2016 23:00:15 +0000 Several recent editorials in the Chinese media have taken the view that the US election process is confirmation that American-style democracy is corrupt and scandalous, and would never work in a country like China. The unease is reasonable without a better understanding of the underlying principles of our system of choosing our leaders. Simply put, our electoral system is an exercise in public discourse, transparency and civic engagement. The US is making a mockery of democracy, and China must... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2042274/us-electoral-system-isnt-always-pretty-it-open-engaging-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2042274/us-electoral-system-isnt-always-pretty-it-open-engaging-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Nov 2016 03:14:02 +0000 Some Republican lawmakers seem to be trying to delegitimize a Hillary Clinton presidency before it’s clear there will be one. They are threatening to block her Supreme Court nominees, investigate her endlessly, or even impeach her. Perhaps it’s no surprise in an election in which the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, has branded his opponent “Crooked Hillary,” and shouts of “lock her up!” are a staple at his rallies. Few Republicans appear eager to suggest a new era of bipartisan deal-making... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2042515/republican-plan-clinton-presidency-obstruct-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2042515/republican-plan-clinton-presidency-obstruct-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Nov 2016 20:48:31 +0000 Perceptions of American democracy have been blotted by the bitterness of the contest between presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Those views have been further tainted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation director’s suggestion in the most heated days of the campaign that there could be more of the Democratic Party challenger’s private emails to probe. The US Department of Justice, of which the FBI is part, takes pains to enforce laws without regard for politics and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2042483/fbi-director-james-comey-between-rock-and-hard-place?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2042483/fbi-director-james-comey-between-rock-and-hard-place?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Nov 2016 18:52:46 +0000 Even if FBI agents discover classified information on a newly seized laptop, Hillary Clinton is unlikely to face criminal charges, according to legal experts and former federal prosecutors. That’s largely because the Justice Department and FBI Director James B. Comey have already declined to prosecute based on a legal conclusion that there was no evidence that Clinton and her aides intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, a key element of such a criminal... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2042312/why-clinton-probably-wont-ever-be-charged-even-if?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2042312/why-clinton-probably-wont-ever-be-charged-even-if?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Nov 2016 06:45:54 +0000 If Hillary Clinton wins the US presidential election, the conventional story will be that her victory was built on her egalitarian economic policy, gender concerns, international relations, strong defence policy and good ties with Europe and Japan. But that’s just the facade – a carefully orchestrated result of millions in campaign funds, good ties with “super PACs” (political action committees), a skillfully manoeuvred electoral college, shrewd public relations and a long series of political... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2041894/hobbled-home-expect-president-clinton-be-hawkish-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2041894/hobbled-home-expect-president-clinton-be-hawkish-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Nov 2016 05:01:14 +0000 Donald Trump’s claim that the 2016 presidential election is “rigged” against him has become a central part of his closing argument to voters in the final days of the campaign, as the Republican nominee insists that a growing range of “corrupt” public institutions are to blame for his sharply narrowing path the White House. As he heads into a potential loss on November 8, Trump has expanded the scale and scope of his accusations to include Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, the media,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2040957/trumps-chances-winning-have-shrunk-size-his?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2040957/trumps-chances-winning-have-shrunk-size-his?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Oct 2016 05:30:45 +0000 It’s happening again. Markets around the world, from stocks to metals and bonds, have slowed to a crawl, revisiting lows in volatility that have stood for two years. Muted moves just sent a cross-asset gauge of price swings in equities, rates, currency and commodities to the lowest since 2014. That everything should go quiet at once just before the US election is especially alarming to a cadre of market watchers who see threats stretching from Washington to Beijing. They see a rerun of past... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2040077/uneasy-calm-shrouds-global-markets-us-elections?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2040077/uneasy-calm-shrouds-global-markets-us-elections?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Oct 2016 20:08:22 +0000 For months, Donald Trump has been promising to be tough on the Islamic State and has criticized the Obama administration for not taking the fight to the terrorists. Now that the battle of Mosul is underway, Trump has become a cheerleader for the failure of the mission while promoting a conspiracy theory that it’s all about him. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that the ongoing Iraqi-led offensive against the Islamic State’s stronghold in Mosul was failing: “The attack on Mosul is turning out to be a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2039844/analysis-why-donald-trump-cheerleading-against-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2039844/analysis-why-donald-trump-cheerleading-against-us?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Oct 2016 04:31:25 +0000 The only sure revelation from this election is that Americans have demonstrated they are finally fed up and disgusted with its political elite. Like a mad prophet of our times, Trump is bearing witness to this. And the political and business elite who gain comfort from the resounding wall of anti-Trump bias from mainstream media do not appreciate the apocalyptic choice that America faces on November 8th. That is why a Trump television/media network is inevitable after the election. The Financial... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2039381/trump-tv-may-be-inevitable-outcome-donalds-candidacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2039381/trump-tv-may-be-inevitable-outcome-donalds-candidacy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Oct 2016 11:43:04 +0000 Many Americans are appalled by the prospect of Donald Trump winning the US presidency. Many are just as scared over what might happen if he loses. By insisting the November 8 election is rigged, the Republican nominee has stoked fears that he’s giving his supporters free rein for some kind of morning-after backlash if he loses to Democrat Hillary Clinton. Ominously, the billionaire businessman has also urged his people to go to polling places in minority-rich places like Philadelphia and guard... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2032840/if-prospect-president-trump-frightening-imagine-his?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2032840/if-prospect-president-trump-frightening-imagine-his?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Oct 2016 06:33:51 +0000 Speculation is swirling around whether Donald Trump’s Plan B is to create a Trump-branded TV network to capitalise on his fervent support. On Monday, the Financial Times reported that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, quietly approached Aryeh Bourkoff, a former UBS banker who runs the boutique firm LionTree Advisors in New York, to discuss potential financing for a startup media venture — should Trump lose the presidential election. Kushner was not available for comment. Bourkoff, through a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2028975/trump-tv-his-secret-plan-b-son-law-held-talks-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2028975/trump-tv-his-secret-plan-b-son-law-held-talks-media?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Oct 2016 01:38:37 +0000 The damage that has been done to the American psyche as a result of this circus of a presidential election is disastrous and will have lingering consequences. The American political process has been reduced to sound bites filled with idiocy, insults, superficiality and non sequiturs. It does not say much good about America’s people, government or media that they have allowed their electoral process to descend to such depths. Insults and abuse: not what the world wants from its most powerful... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2028669/americas-falling-global-standing-no-cause-glee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2028669/americas-falling-global-standing-no-cause-glee?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Oct 2016 04:23:31 +0000 He is preaching to the converted. He is lashing out at anyone who is not completely loyal. He is detaching himself from and delegitimising the institutions of American political life. And he is proclaiming conspiracies everywhere - in polls (rigged), in debate moderators (biased) and in the election itself (if he loses, it will have been stolen). In the presidential campaign’s home stretch, Donald Trump is fully inhabiting his own echo chamber. The Republican nominee has turned inward,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2028654/unshackled-reality-inside-trumps-echo-chamber?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2028654/unshackled-reality-inside-trumps-echo-chamber?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Oct 2016 01:51:01 +0000