https://www.scmp.com/rss/77948/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com As video clips of US President Donald Trump’s arm-jerking, clasp-patting handshakes with world leaders and his own administration members have gone viral, the diplomatic world is trying to come to grips with a gesture that breaches etiquette and protocol. This may be an issue Chinese officials are questioning as both sides negotiate a possible meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and Trump at the G20 in July – how can China get the upper hand in this mano a mano presidential... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2073814/how-can-xi-jinping-project-strength-first-handshake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2073814/how-can-xi-jinping-project-strength-first-handshake?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Feb 2017 03:00:30 +0000 Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his American counterpart, Rex Tillerson, on Friday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 ministers meeting, marking the first face-to-face Sino-US encounter at a high level since the election of President Donald Trump. During their meeting, Wang told Tillerson that the recent phone conversation between President Xi Jinping and Trump was “very important”, because Washington had made it clear that it would continue to adhere to the one-China policy, according to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2071854/wang-yi-rex-tillerson-highest-level-sino-us-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2071854/wang-yi-rex-tillerson-highest-level-sino-us-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Feb 2017 12:30:45 +0000 The United States can still offer significant support to Taiwan in the form of arms sales and other assurances of assistance, even as US President Donald Trump seeks to mend ties with Beijing by acknowledging the one-China policy, analysts say. Trump spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, in their first conversation since the American leader was sworn into office in January. Trump told Xi he would continue to honour the one-China policy, which recognises Taiwan as part of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2070523/despite-one-china-pledge-trump-still-has-plenty-room?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2070523/despite-one-china-pledge-trump-still-has-plenty-room?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Feb 2017 01:00:15 +0000 The Chinese government may be allowing some discussion of protests and allegations of corruption on social media to keep a closer eye on local officials and potential threats to ­stability. That is the conclusion of a team of researchers from Hong Kong, Sweden and the United States who mined a data set of more than 13 billion blog posts in 2009-2013 on Sino Weibo, the mainland’s biggest microblogging platform. The mainland has tightened its grip on online comments in recent years, including... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2070261/chinese-censors-looser-social-media-grip-may-help-flag?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2070261/chinese-censors-looser-social-media-grip-may-help-flag?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Feb 2017 00:01:36 +0000 Donald Trump made his first phone call as US President to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday morning, during which he reaffirmed the one-China policy at Xi’s request. This signalled an about-face by Trump, who had questioned on several occasions the long-standing policy’s validity since his election victory in November. Trump reaffirms one-China policy in surprise phone call with Xi Jinping The one-China policy, which recognises that Taiwan is part of China, has been seen as the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2069877/what-has-donald-trump-been-saying-about-one-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2069877/what-has-donald-trump-been-saying-about-one-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Feb 2017 10:08:12 +0000 The head of China’s famed Palace Museum has suggested granting Beijing household registration to skilled craftsmen who undertake the monumental task of renovating the historic complex. The director of the Palace Museum, Shan Jixiang, said in an interview it was a challenge to retain skilled craftsmen, the news website Thepaper.cn reported. Chinese archaeologists solve mystery of Beijing’s Forbidden Palace Many of the elderly craftsmen are nearing retirement age, Shan said, and they are... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2069479/bureaucracy-hindering-efforts-maintain-forbidden-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2069479/bureaucracy-hindering-efforts-maintain-forbidden-city?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:00:33 +0000 A Chinese homeless man has been reunited with his family a decade after he left them for a life on the streets, mainland media reported. Wang Rong, a native of Hunan province, was found loitering in a park in Dongguan, southern Guangdong province, by voluntary workers on Sunday, the news website Sina.com reported. He could not recall his exact home address when asked to do so by the volunteers from a Shenzhen non-profit organisation that helps homeless people track down their relatives. Woman... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2069477/chinese-homeless-man-reunited-family-after-decade-streets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2069477/chinese-homeless-man-reunited-family-after-decade-streets?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Feb 2017 07:39:50 +0000 A Chinese university student’s ploy to sneak her cat on board a train by sticking it under her clothes and feigning pregnancy failed after the animal started meowing at a security checkpoint, mainland media reported. The unnamed woman tried to conceal the cat under her clothes by feigning pregnancy because she knew that live animals were not permitted on trains, the news website Thepaper.cn reported. Chinese man fails to sneak stowaway puppy hidden in KFC bucket onto train The pet was discovered... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2069417/cats-meow-foils-pregnant-chinese-students-ploy-sneak-pet-train?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2069417/cats-meow-foils-pregnant-chinese-students-ploy-sneak-pet-train?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Feb 2017 04:03:32 +0000 A senior judge in China has branded Donald Trump “an enemy of the rule of law” and protested how judicial independence in the US was being trampled on. These were some of the harsh words from Supreme People’s Court judge He Fan to the newly inaugurated US president, and smacked of turning the tables. In a WeChat post on Sunday, He criticised Trump’s serial Twitter-attacks on Seattle Federal Judge James Robart, who had suspended the president’s controversial executive order, a 90-day entry ban on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2068775/china-judge-blasts-trump-enemy-rule-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2068775/china-judge-blasts-trump-enemy-rule-law?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Feb 2017 08:20:05 +0000 A fire at a foot massage parlour in Zhejiang in eastern China left 18 people dead and 18 others injured, state media reported. The fire broke out in the parlour, which was located on the first and second floors of a six-storey building in Tiantai county at 5.30pm on Sunday, according to the local government. People were seen jumping from the windows. Eight people died at the scene, and 10 others after being rushed to hospital, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Xinhua reported that the fire was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2068275/18-people-die-fire-massage-parlour-eastern-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2068275/18-people-die-fire-massage-parlour-eastern-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Feb 2017 15:30:00 +0000 Authorities in Kunming are investigating multiple intrusions by drones into the restricted airspace of the city’s airport. Drones have been flown into the 1,028-square-kilometre restricted area of Changshui International Airport, posing risks to flight safety, news portal www.yunnan.cn reported. Local officials appealed to the public to report any sighting of drones in the area. Mainland China exerts tight control over its airspace and maintains very strict regulations governing civilian drones.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2068243/chinese-authorities-investigate-drone-flights-restricted-airspace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2068243/chinese-authorities-investigate-drone-flights-restricted-airspace?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Feb 2017 13:41:17 +0000 A Zhejiang province factory boss traversed 5,000km to deliver his Lunar New Year greetings to employees who hail from the southwestern hinterlands, the Qinjiang Evening News reported. Most of his 100-plus employees at the leather goods business are from Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Flamboyant Chinese boss takes luxury-car motorcade on road trip into harsh Tibetan Plateau, damaging half of them Owner Lin Zhigang decided he should trace their footsteps and visit their home villages after he last... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2068224/boss-ventures-chinas-deep-southwest-deliver-new-years-greetings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2068224/boss-ventures-chinas-deep-southwest-deliver-new-years-greetings?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Feb 2017 09:48:11 +0000 British Prime Minister Theresa May offered Lunar New Year greetings in a video posted on her Twitter page on the weekend, ­heralding what she said would be a year of blossoming ties between China and Britain. “What a year it is set to be, ­particularly, for the relationship between Britain and China,” May said in the clip, capping it with a festive greeting in ­Putonghua. PM: I want to send my best wishes to everyone in Britain, China and around the world celebrating Chinese New Year.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2066329/britains-theresa-may-lauds-sino-uk-ties-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2066329/britains-theresa-may-lauds-sino-uk-ties-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Jan 2017 08:41:48 +0000 The proprietor of a shooting game stall sentenced to more than three years in prison received a complete reprieve on appeal on Thursday from the No 1 Intermediary People’s Court in Tianjin. Zhao Chunhua, 51, was jailed last October after local police seized six air rifles used to shoot targets and score prize balloons at her booth. Fourteen other migrants were also caught up in the crackdown and will face prosecution for keeping air guns at their stalls dotting the promenade near the Tianjin Eye... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2065830/woman-jailed-china-over-air-rifle-game-freed-appeal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2065830/woman-jailed-china-over-air-rifle-game-freed-appeal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jan 2017 15:48:39 +0000 With only days to go before the Lunar New Year holiday unleashes hordes of travellers, China’s tourism officials are calling for a boycott of a Japanese hotel chain that stocks its rooms with a book questioning the death toll in the Rape of Nanking. The book is by Seiji Fuji, the pen name for Toshio Motoya, CEO of the Tokyo-based APA hotel chain. The book contains a paragraph that calls into question the toll of 300,000 dead during the 1937 massacre of Chinese civilians by the Japanese military.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2065081/china-urges-boycott-japanese-hotel-chain-centre-spat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2065081/china-urges-boycott-japanese-hotel-chain-centre-spat?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Jan 2017 15:39:37 +0000 One of the China’s leading comedians is out on bail after being charged with possession of drugs and a loaded gun in New York in the United States. Zhou Libo, a Shanghai native, was driving a black Mercedes Benz in Long Island early on Thursday when he was stopped by police for talking on his mobile phone while behind the wheel. A search of the vehicle turned up a loaded Colt Mustang 380 calibre pistol and two bags of crack cocaine, Xinhua reported. Police also arrested passenger Tang Shuang,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2064257/leading-chinese-comedian-arrested-loaded-gun-and-crack-new-york?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2064257/leading-chinese-comedian-arrested-loaded-gun-and-crack-new-york?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jan 2017 14:58:15 +0000 Six people were injured when explosions ripped through two public buses in separate incidents in Foshan, Guangdong province, on Wednesday afternoon. Nanhai district police received a call at around 3.30pm about a blast in a rubbish bin on a bus, Shanghai-based news portal Thepaper.cn reported. All four passengers on the vehicle suffered minor injuries and the explosives were believed to have been planted on board the bus. Another explosion was reported 45 minutes later on another bus in Nanhai,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2063281/six-injured-two-chinese-bus-blasts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2063281/six-injured-two-chinese-bus-blasts?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Jan 2017 13:58:09 +0000 Subway riders in Hangzhou were surprised to find 10 men brave the winter cold – and some cold stares - to go trouserless on Tuesday, according to a report on the news website Sina.com. The men seemed to have heeded the call, if belatedly, from “Global No Pants Subway Ride”, an annual event worldwide where people ride metro systems without wearing trousers. The event was held on January 8 in most cities. In years past, only people in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai have taken part in China. “If... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2061924/chinese-subway-passengers-brave-stares-travel-their-undies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2061924/chinese-subway-passengers-brave-stares-travel-their-undies?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Jan 2017 07:30:20 +0000 One person was killed and eight injured after part of an old viaduct in central China collapsed on Thursday evening, hitting a bus. The accident, which took place around 8.50pm in Zhengzhou, Henan province, occurred when workers were demolishing the ramp section of the viaduct at an intersection between Nongye Road and Shakou Road, news portal Thepaper.cn reported. 17 dead in northern China after 56 vehicles collide Part of the viaduct fell to the ground, hitting the front of a public bus below... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2061854/one-killed-eight-injured-after-viaduct-collapses-and-hits-bus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2061854/one-killed-eight-injured-after-viaduct-collapses-and-hits-bus?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Jan 2017 03:40:06 +0000 One person was injured after an explosion in a Chinese residential building on Wednesday night, mainland media reported. The blast occurred shortly before 9pm in a second-floor flat in Kongjiang Road, near Fudan University, in Shanghai’s Yangpu district, the news website Thepaper.cn reported. Five killed as explosion rips through Xiamen apartment building The explosion, believed to have been triggered by a natural gas leak inside the flat, caused the facade of the second and third floors of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2061585/one-person-hurt-after-suspected-gas-explosion-chinese-block-flats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2061585/one-person-hurt-after-suspected-gas-explosion-chinese-block-flats?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jan 2017 08:02:32 +0000 Australia’s first consul general in Chengdu is heading home after her 3½ year stint in the southwestern Chinese city – and she’s packed her bags full of the local products she has enjoyed while in the post. “In my suitcases, there are several packs of Pi county fermented bean paste, a replica of the Sanxingdui ancient city bronze mask and some green tea from Mount Emei,” Nancy Gordon told reporters from the news website Thepaper.cn. The products are all unique to Sichuan province where Chengdu... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2061513/australian-envoy-heads-home-taste-chinese-provinces-fiery-cuisine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2061513/australian-envoy-heads-home-taste-chinese-provinces-fiery-cuisine?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jan 2017 04:54:48 +0000 China has vowed to set up an Asia-Pacific security framework and continue building up its armed forces, citing complex security concerns in the region. In its first policy white paper on Asia-Pacific security cooperation, Beijing said on Wednesday that the present security framework should be upgraded. Military alliances in the region should be made with transparency and confrontation should be avoided, it says. It also calls for more military exchanges between China and other nations in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2061241/china-set-asia-pacific-security-framework-amid-growing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2061241/china-set-asia-pacific-security-framework-amid-growing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Jan 2017 08:42:58 +0000 As a real estate developer, Jared Kushner is used to chasing deals and tapping deep pockets, including many in China. But then Kushner isn’t just a typical developer – after the son-in-law of US President-elect Donald Trump was named his senior policy advisor, Kushner’s wheeling and dealing, especially with Chinese investors, has courted fresh media scrutiny. His appointment as the unpaid special adviser to the incoming president has raised questions of nepotism and conflicts of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2061215/son-also-rises-how-ivanka-trumps-husband-jared-kushner?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2061215/son-also-rises-how-ivanka-trumps-husband-jared-kushner?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Jan 2017 08:00:30 +0000 Three suspected terrorists were shot dead on Sunday night in China’s restive Xinjiang region while resisting arrest, its government said. The shootings took place in Hotan while security officers were pursing the suspects and encountered violent resistance, the regional government said on its official news website. The three were suspected of carrying out an attack two years ago in Pishan county in Hotan prefecture, but no details were given. Pishan has experienced some of the heaviest levels of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2060507/three-terrorism-suspects-shot-dead-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2060507/three-terrorism-suspects-shot-dead-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Jan 2017 06:00:30 +0000 In the eight years of the Obama administration, and especially since it launched its “pivot to Asia” in 2011, the United States has consolidated its ties with some traditional allies in the region and seen others weaken. It has also improved its relations with other countries, including former bitter adversaries. In February, Barack Obama also became the first US president to host a meeting of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), at Sunnylands in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2059942/what-did-obama-achieve-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2059942/what-did-obama-achieve-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Jan 2017 02:50:20 +0000 Debris that has rained down on a city in the central China province of Henan is believed to be from two recently launched satellites. The debris found in Lingbao, some of which bears the wording “China Aerospace”, was confirmed by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre to be pieces of two high-resolution Earth-imaging satellites, The Beijing News reported. The satellites were the payload aboard a Long March 2D rocket that lifted off from the centre on Wednesday last week. Chinese rocket launch... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2058543/space-debris-northern-china-confirmed-recently-launched?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2058543/space-debris-northern-china-confirmed-recently-launched?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jan 2017 13:38:09 +0000 Beijing residents and visitors to the capital city who wanted to spend their new year holiday weekend outdoor on the ice were sadly disappointed. Balmier than usual temperatures have meant all six major outdoor skating rinks on the capital’s lakes have remained closed for safety reasons. Authorities require a minimum ice thickness of 15cm before skating and other activities are allowed on the frozen waterways. Most years, at least some of the rinks have opened by December, so that all remain... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2058537/beijings-balmy-weekend-temperatures-offer-cold-comfort-outdoor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2058537/beijings-balmy-weekend-temperatures-offer-cold-comfort-outdoor?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jan 2017 09:51:07 +0000 A man in eastern China who used a fake gun to rob a mahjong parlour, said he did so intending to go to jail to evade a debt to a loan shark. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the man, surnamed Zhu, walked into the mahjong parlour in Zhengjiang, Jiangsu province, news portal Thepaper.cn reported. Wearing a mask and brandishing a gun and an electrical baton, Zhu subdued the seven people inside and robbed them of a total of 10,000 yuan (US$1,440). He made his getaway in a black sedan. Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2058538/chinese-man-uses-fake-gun-mahjong-parlour-robbery-hoping-evade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2058538/chinese-man-uses-fake-gun-mahjong-parlour-robbery-hoping-evade?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jan 2017 09:48:34 +0000 Secondary school pupils in northwestern China protested on Tuesday night last week after their celebrations ahead of the new year were abruptly cancelled by the principal. It had been a tradition at Puji Secondary School in Wugong county, Shaanxi province, to allow each class to hold its own celebrations, and the students had bought snacks in anticipation, provincial newspaper Hua Shang Bao reported. When teachers announced on short notice that this year’s celebrations would be scrapped, nearly... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2058528/chinese-school-pupils-protest-abrupt-cancellation-class-year-end?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2058528/chinese-school-pupils-protest-abrupt-cancellation-class-year-end?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jan 2017 07:29:58 +0000 China’s western region of Xinjiang has been plagued by violent attacks over the years, which Beijing blames on Uygur separatists. It has claimed Uygur separatists have gone to Central Asia and Syria for training as “jihadists” (holy warriors), and sneaked back to Xinjiang to plot attacks. Five dead in car bomb terror attack in China’s western Xinjiang region, official media reports However, some people from the Muslim-dominated region have complained about Beijing’s repressive policies, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2057928/chinas-xinjiang-region-plagued-violent-attacks-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2057928/chinas-xinjiang-region-plagued-violent-attacks-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Dec 2016 08:15:00 +0000 The US Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday charged three Chinese citizens with fraudulently trading on information they had obtained from hacking into the email networks of two New York City law firms, hauling in almost US$3 million in illicit profits. In a complaint unsealed on Tuesday, the commission said that between April 2014 and late 2015 Iat Hong and Chin Hung from Macau, and Bo Zheng from Changsha, Hunan province, installed malware on the law firms’ networks, thereby gaining... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2057608/chinese-corporate-hackers-accused-attacking-us-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2057608/chinese-corporate-hackers-accused-attacking-us-law?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Dec 2016 03:20:37 +0000 China and the United States could head down the slippery slope ­towards ideological confrontation after US President Barack ­Obama quietly signed an “anti-propaganda bill” into law, mainland observers said. China is mentioned just once in the 1,623-word Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act, but observers said it could become a tool to counter Beijing. The legislation was signed as part of the National Defence ­Authorisation Act of 2017 shortly before Christmas. Deputy director reshuffle... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2057492/us-anti-propaganda-law-may-set-stage-war-ideas-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2057492/us-anti-propaganda-law-may-set-stage-war-ideas-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Dec 2016 15:15:45 +0000 China’s first aircraft carrier has for the first time taken part in a live-fire drill, which included the launch of several missiles as Beijing showed off its military might. Footage of the military exercise – which involved the Liaoning carrier and dozens of other ships and aircraft in the Bohai Sea – was broadcast by state-run China Central Television on Thursday night. Fresh batch of Chinese J-15 pilots to bolster aircraft carrier’s fighting force During the drill, the Liaoning and several... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2055138/chinas-liaoning-aircraft-carrier-conducts-first-live?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2055138/chinas-liaoning-aircraft-carrier-conducts-first-live?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Dec 2016 05:15:30 +0000 Wing Luke and Donnie Chin, Chinese Seattleites who died 50 years apart, have both recently been recognised for their life's work in civil rights. A Cantonese émigré born to a laundryman and grocer, Luke (1925-1965) rose to become Seattle's first minority city councilman and Washington state's first Asian assistant attorney general in the 1960s. Last September, the state's attorney general dedicated to Luke the civil-rights unit of the office he served until he died, in a plane crash. He... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1962468/seattle-city-spaces-honour-chinese-civil-rights-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1962468/seattle-city-spaces-honour-chinese-civil-rights-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jun 2016 12:26:18 +0000 In 2009, a video-game arcade that recreated the milieu of the notorious Kowloon Walled City opened in a suburban Tokyo warehouse. Artefacts salvaged nearly a decade after the demolition of the notorious housing estate - postboxes, frayed posters, fluorescent signboards, birdcages, electric fans, period calendars - lent the arcade an air of authenticity. Lok Fu, corner of Kowloon that encapsulates Hong Kong’s history And it seems the Japanese cannot get enough of our most famous den of iniquity;... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1947279/why-japanese-love-hong-kongs-kowloon-walled-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1947279/why-japanese-love-hong-kongs-kowloon-walled-city?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 May 2016 15:15:00 +0000 This just might be proof that reports of Chinatown's death have been greatly exaggerated. The Chicago Public Library's ultra-modern Chinatown branch, boasting views of the city's downtown skyline, opened last August. Costing US$19 million to build and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the architectural firm that erected the city's two tallest commercial towers, the library is the world-renowned local firm's first hometown project in decades. A triangular, curvilinear glass structure,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1941459/swanky-new-library-shows-chicagos-chinatown-alive-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1941459/swanky-new-library-shows-chicagos-chinatown-alive-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 May 2016 09:00:30 +0000 Lying on theThai  coast, close to the Cambodian border, the city of Chanthaburi has long been known for its precious stones. In 1408, Chinese traveller Ma Huan made the first known reference to the area's natural bounty: Siam rubies, sapphires and other gems. This is also where Chinese and Vietnamese first settled in the late 1700s, when Bangkok, 250km to the northwest, was made the Siamese capital. Then came a Chinese goldsmith whose invention is still sought after today. In the 1850s, a man... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1929973/legacy-chinese-immigrant-who-invented-chanthaburis-magic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1929973/legacy-chinese-immigrant-who-invented-chanthaburis-magic?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Mar 2016 14:45:45 +0000 Karate might be considered a quintessentially Japanese martial art but the word literally means "China hand": " kara" is Japanese for "Tang" or "China", and " te" is "hand". And recently a group in Okinawa - where the martial art is said to have developed - has been exploring karate's Fujian province origins. Since 2012, researchers and karate masters from Urasoe, in southern Okinawa, have twice visited Quanzhou, the home of ngo cho kun - a southern Chinese martial art also known as "five... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1865173/karates-chinese-origins-explored?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1865173/karates-chinese-origins-explored?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Oct 2015 14:56:12 +0000 It's a happy accident, I'm sure you'll agree, that the Occupy Central protesters' blockades have returned the streets to the people. Parts of Admiralty are, for the time being, pedestrian friendly, much like the downtowns of many metropolises in the world. No longer do I have to go above or under Connaught Road Central in order to get anywhere. However, the occupiers aren't the only ones blockading the streets. It turns out the police are as well - only they're obstructing pedestrians rather... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1628113/rant-rights-way?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1628113/rant-rights-way?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2014 14:27:20 +0000 On the Malabar Coast of southwest India, an enduring mystery relating to medieval China-India contact lives on in the form of fishing nets. The cheenavala - as the Chinese net has been called by locals in the Indian state of Kerala for nearly half a millennium - is cast wide and high off the waters in Fort Kochi. Each net is suspended at least 10 metres above sea level and spans about twice that distance between teak or iron posts. The cantilever net structure is balanced by huge rock... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1600115/city-scope-casting-wide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1600115/city-scope-casting-wide?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Sep 2014 01:14:52 +0000 I had to pinch myself. Dragonflies were flitting across a lotus pond, a 100-year-old traditional Chinese gable roof stood above me and Ming dynasty-style wooden fixtures abounded. No, I hadn't gone back in time: I was in Kowloon circa 2014, at the city's newest heritage hotel. Perched on the lush hillside of Castle Peak Road is the boutique Heritage Lodge, in the former Lai Chi Kok Hospital building, which is now part of the newly christened Jao Tsung-I Academy, named after the 96-year-old... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1563327/something-new-heritage-lodge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1563327/something-new-heritage-lodge?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Aug 2014 15:31:18 +0000 For nearly 20 years, a small group of Seattleites have been toiling to build a Sichuan-style garden in their city. And with craftsmen from Chongqing, rocks from Lake Tai, in the Yangtze River Delta, and peonies from Luoyang, Henan province, it is finally coming together. This labour of love began as the United States west coast city reached across the Pacific to build ties with China. In 1979, one of the first non-government trade associations focused on China was founded here. When Chongqing... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1525851/city-scope-seattle-chinese-garden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1525851/city-scope-seattle-chinese-garden?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Jun 2014 16:58:08 +0000 Wang Lixiong and Tsering Woeser, argu-ably China's most famous dissident literary couple, could hardly be more different as individuals. A Han Chinese hailing from the Manchurian northeast, Wang, 60, aired his budding interest in political reform as early as 1978-79, during the Democracy Wall movement. Born into an army family in the heady first year of the Cultural Revolution, Tibetan poet Woeser, 47, rediscovered her heritage as a young adult but only much later eschewed poetry for polemics.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1406144/twos-company-dissident-literary-couple-tsering-woeser-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1406144/twos-company-dissident-literary-couple-tsering-woeser-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jan 2014 14:45:00 +0000 Every Saturday, come rain or shine, the stone-paved courtyard of a half-century-old ceramics factory in Jingdezhen is abuzz with creativity. Here, each of some 30 pitched white tents houses the artistic creations of a budding potter. Aptly called the Creative Market, this is a bazaar at which some of China's most original ceramics are showcased and sold. It was the 2,000-year-old ceramics industry that put this Jiangxi province town on the world map - and may have given China, the country, its... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1316624/intelligent-design-ceramic-renaissance-jiangxi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1316624/intelligent-design-ceramic-renaissance-jiangxi?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 As one of the oldest such neighbourhoods in the world, Bangkok's Chinatown is a mass of contradictions. It is at once cohesive and sprawling. Its denizens are assimilated into mainstream society but also maintain a culture apart. Its heritage has been subject to both the blessings of conservation and threats of demolition. Now, duelling sentiments are more in evidence than ever as this little enclave - older than the Thai capital itself - faces being smothered by high-rises and hollowed out an... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1150048/city-scope-transition-town?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1150048/city-scope-transition-town?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 On a lesser-trodden block of New York's Chinatown, the glass-and-wood facade and the Helvetica acronym of the Museum of Chinese in America (Moca) project modernity and modesty in equal measure. Inside, the high ceiling and red-brick walls that frame the main galleries conjure up an ancient feeling, as though you had walked into the ancestral hall of a village home in the New Territories. This juxtaposition of ancient and modern befits a 30-year-young museum telling a story that is nearly 200... https://www.scmp.com/article/1002788/inclusion-act?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1002788/inclusion-act?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Ah Bing, whose name lives on in the ubiquitous Bing cherry, was a Chinese foreman in the Lewelling family fruit orchards in Milwaukie, Oregon, in the 1870s. It isn't exactly clear why this popular variety of sweet cherry was named after him. Some claimed that he had cultivated the fruit; others surmised he merely cared for the crops. One thing is certain, however: like almost all Chinese migrants at the time, Ah Bing was forbidden from owning land. Despite his 'fame', after he left the United... https://www.scmp.com/article/1002787/bitter-sweet-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1002787/bitter-sweet-story?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Here you can find China's largest public toilet - within faux Romanesque architecture, no less - next to an imitation of San Francisco's Lombard Street. A growling devil stares down at the well-trodden lovers' walk. And there is an honour-vending system selling bottled water and pocket tissues that suffers few cheats. Welcome to Foreigners' Street, or Yangrenjie, in Chongqing, the largest, and perhaps only, non-theme park in the country. For many locals, this is an amusement park for cheap... https://www.scmp.com/article/988891/variations-theme-park?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/988891/variations-theme-park?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Even in her wildest dreams, Maria Yee never thought she'd become the brand name of a contemporary furniture line - in California. 'I never give up. I want to do things nobody else could do,' says Yee, on a stay in Hong Kong, her first since she emigrated to the United States, in 1988. But it was in this city that, Yee says, she learned her first, hard lessons about self-worth. In 1980, Yee passed through the Lo Wu border crossing with just a change of clothes and her life savings: HK$500. The... https://www.scmp.com/article/967692/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/967692/diaspora-diaries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 May 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Fourteen years after the Vietnam war ended, Thanh Tam Vu's parents exchanged gold for two places aboard a boat illegally bound for Hong Kong, for her and her sister. Their brothers and parents stayed behind. The girls clambered onto a small wooden fishing boat near their hometown of Haiphong, on Vietnam's northern coast. The vessel soon hit rough seas and lost its bearings. It took a month for the human cargo to reach Hong Kong's shores. The 40 refugees were among nearly a quarter of a... https://www.scmp.com/article/741386/big-picture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/741386/big-picture?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000