More than 40 years ago, he became the first person from his rural family to study at a university in China. Four decades on he was appointed chancellor of UC Riverside, a prestigious school in the United States. The story of S. Jack Hu, a Chinese-American who is the first individual with a bachelors education from mainland China to head a top US ...

Japan and China are Asian powerhouses that should collaborate responsibly for the peace and prosperity of the region. However, bilateral relations have experienced ups and downs since the start of the century and are now at their lowest point after normalisation in 1972. A major cause of this is the widening perception and information gap between the two ...

Members of unlicensed hiking tours were among the hundreds of visitors who packed into Hong Kongs Ham Tin Wan campsite on the second of mainland Chinas Labour Day golden week break. The sink at the scenic Sai Kung hotspots only public bathroom was left clogged by food scraps after some visitors opted for hotpot, among other options. On Saturday evening, a ...

When Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto recently visited Seoul for a state visit, one of the most memorable moments was a photo that he took with a 19-year-old Indonesian K-pop idol. Nyoman Ayu Carmenita, better known as Carmen of the girl group Hearts2Hearts, symbolises Indonesias ascendancy in the K-pop universe: no longer just a vast market for the ...

As the closest mainland Chinese province to Taiwan, Fujian is a key site for Beijings messaging towards the island. In the second of a two-part series, Xinlu Liang looks at how the ancestral home village of William Lai Ching-te has become a focus for efforts to promote closer ties based on kinship and religion. The village of Xintian in Fujian province is ...

Driven by intensifying competition in advanced manufacturing, the world is waking up to China shock 2.0. The first shock, associated with Chinas accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, focused on low-tech manufacturing. Of course, this latest shock isnt framed as such by Chinese policymakers. They present it as an upgrade in export strength, ...

Bankrupt discount carrier Spirit Airlines ceased operations on Saturday, the industrys first casualty linked to the Iran war, after failing to secure creditor support for a US government bailout plan. The collapse of the carrier following a doubling in jet fuel prices during the two-month-old Iran war will cost thousands of jobs. It is a blow to US ...

A rescue team on Saturday released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March, witnesses said. Nicknamed Timmy by German media, the whale was spotted swimming near Germanys Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean. The mammals health deteriorated as ...

Hong Kong police have arrested two people on suspicion of burglary after one of them allegedly climbed maintenance work scaffolding at a residential building and prised open window grilles at two homes before stealing HK$6,000 (US$765) in cash. The force also warned on Saturday that it was becoming a trend for burglars to enter flats at buildings undergoing ...

A 25-year-old Hong Kong woman was cheated out of more than HK$2.25 million (US$287,190) in one month after falling prey to a job scam, prompting calls for tighter rules requiring online employment platforms to verify employers. The victim said on Saturday at a press briefing held by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions that she came across a posting for ...

Beijing has labelled Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-tes surprise visit to eSwatini, the islands sole African ally, a political stunt. In a Facebook post on Saturday evening, Lai said he arrived earlier in the day. The eSwatini government also confirmed his arrival on its own Facebook page. Hello to my fellow citizens. I arrived earlier today in our ...

Hongkongers are forming long queues at betting stations for the chance to win a share of the HK$228 million (US$29.1 million) snowball draw the citys largest Mark Six jackpot. The winning numbers are set to be announced late on Saturday evening, with the turnover reaching more than six times the amount for the previous draw of over HK$63 million. For the ...

A top US medical anthropologist believes the United States and China must transcend geopolitical tensions and spur a global revolution in social technology to survive the looming ageing crisis. Arthur Kleinman, a physician-anthropologist with joint appointments at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, proposed that the US learn from Chinas recent ...

Russian troops are inching towards the city of Kostiantynivka in Ukraines eastern Donetsk region, trying to establish a foothold close to a heavily defended area, Ukraines top army official said on Saturday. Kostiantynivka, along with other cities, forms a so-called fortress belt in the countrys east an area well-fortified by the Ukrainian military. We are ...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMPs journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong is expected to experience thunderstorms on Sunday, as a cold front sweeps across the coast of Guangdong and brings temperatures down to as low as about 21 degrees Celsius (69.8 Fahrenheit) a day later. The Hong ...

China Eastern Airlines apologised to passengers on Saturday after one of its aircraft struck a boarding bridge on arrival at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. The Shanghai-based airline said a mechanical malfunction occurred as the flight from Chengdu was taxiing slowly towards its gate and the aircraft hit the bridge. The collision was minor and all ...

Hong Kong authorities issued 300 verbal warnings to people visiting Sharp Island on the first day of mainland Chinas Labour Day golden week holiday, when thousands flocked to see attractions in the citys Unesco Global Geopark. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said on Saturday that the number of visitors to Sharp Island a day earlier ...

Hong Kong authorities are searching for a 28-year-old man who went hiking and lost contact with family after a dispute with his girlfriend, prompting rescuers to deploy a helicopter to locate him. Police said on Saturday that they received a report at 11.30am from an informant who said his younger brother lost contact with his family after arguing with his ...

A trial beginning in New Mexico on Monday could prompt a judge to order sweeping changes to how Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp operate a move Meta Platforms has warned could force it to withdraw from the state. The case, which will be tried before a judge in Santa Fe, stems from a lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Ral Torrez, a Democrat, ...

Hong Kong authorities expect the eastern section of the HK$7 billion (US$893 million) Fanling Bypass, which opens to traffic on Sunday, will prevent congestion ahead of residents moving into a nearby new development area later this year. At the opening ceremony on Saturday, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said the 4km (2.49 miles) dual ...

A home in the upscale Shouson Hill area in Hong Kongs Southern district has allegedly been burgled, with luxury watches and foreign currency worth a total of more than HK$1.1 million (US$140,400) stolen. Police are looking into whether the burglars scaled the wall of a vacant neighbouring detached house at Orchid Hill to enter 26 Shouson Hill Road in Deep ...

Dianjiang, a small county tucked away in southwestern Chinas Chongqing, was transformed into a bustling live music hub in April as fans flocked to a concert headlined by Mandopop stars, including Jeff Chang. Such scenes are no longer unusual. Once the preserve of megacities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, high-profile concerts are now breathing life ...

The United Arab Emirates is expected to continue making high-risk geopolitical moves with potentially high rewards, following its exit from the Opec oil cartel, as the small but extremely wealthy Gulf state strives to become a global power. Framed by Emirati officials as an orientation towards strengthening economic autonomy, the UAEs decision to leave the ...

Hong Kong recorded a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in mainland Chinese visitors on the first day of the golden week Labour Day holiday, with more than 300,000 inbound trips made throughout the day. Meanwhile, the number of Hongkongers leaving the city on Friday also surged by 45 per cent compared with last year, reaching more than 430,000 outbound ...

At the December premiere of the Chinese-dubbed 1957 Billy Wilder classic Witness for the Prosecution in a Shanghai cinema, dubbing artist Qiao Zhen voiced a more immediate mystery: Do you still enjoy Chinese-dubbed films? When audience members, mainly nostalgia-seeking fans, responded with applause and shouts of Yes!, the 83-year-old veteran became ...