Expelled Chinese generals ‘disloyal’, dealt ‘serious blow’ to army: PLA Daily China has accused the nine generals expelled from the Communist Party on Friday of seriously undermining the principle that the military should be loyal to the party and dealing a serious blow to the army’s unity and the image of senior officers. An editorial published by PLA Daily on Saturday also said the nine generals – including He Weidong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and a member of the 24-man Politburo – were “being disloyal” and losing their “chastity”. It...

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Sacked Chinese generals ‘disloyal’, dealt ‘serious blow’ to military: PLA Daily

Editorial’s scathing criticism of senior officers echoes language used when former defence chief Wei Fenghe was sacked last year.

Japan’s political turmoil will weigh heavily on its economy, and beyond Are politicians dispensable, and can elite bureaucrats run a country more efficiently? The question has become one of more than academic importance in Japan, where the political situation has degenerated into chaos as potential leaders and their parties vie for power. This is a question that has considerable economic and financial as well as political significance. Japan is a key trade, investment and security partner to other leading nations in and beyond Asia and its financial markets are...

South China Morning Post

Macroscope | Japan’s political turmoil will weigh heavily on its economy, and beyond

More than just who heads the government, the fate of Japan’s leadership race has implications for markets, regional economies and geopolitics.

Hong Kong police bust vice ring exploiting minors, arrest 18-year-old mastermind Hong Kong police have dismantled a local vice syndicate allegedly led by an 18-year-old woman, which exploited underage girls for sex services, arresting 58 people in two crackdowns. Yim Wan-ha, Kowloon West chief inspector of police, said on Saturday that the force recently apprehended 23 people in a crackdown on the local syndicate suspected of recruiting teenage girls for prostitution through online social platforms and youth hang-out spots with the lure of quick money. “Core members befriend...

South China Morning Post

Hong Kong police bust vice ring exploiting minors, arrest 18-year-old mastermind

Force says local syndicate allegedly recruited teenage girls for prostitution through online social platforms and youth hang-out spots with the lur...

Guangdong motorists must follow Hong Kong laws under new scheme: transport chief Motorists from mainland China entering Hong Kong under a new travel scheme must abide by the city’s laws, the transport minister has warned. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan also said that authorities would have systems in place to track their unpaid penalties through their registered mainland payment methods. Under the “Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles” scheme, motorists from the southern Chinese province will be able to apply to drive into Hong Kong next month. The...

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Guangdong motorists must follow Hong Kong laws under new scheme: transport chief

Hong Kong authorities will have systems in place to track unpaid traffic fines through registered mainland payment methods.

Thailand, Singapore investigate Chen Zhi’s group after Western fraud allegations Authorities in Thailand and Singapore are looking into a Cambodian real estate group after the United States and Britain imposed sanctions on the company’s chairman on allegations of fraud and money laundering. Surapol Prembutr, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, said Thai officials would work with their US counterparts to review the asset seizure process and legal proceedings involving Prince Holding Group, the Bangkok Post reported. Singapore police were looking into the...

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Thailand, Singapore investigate Chen Zhi’s group after Western fraud allegations

Investigators are reviewing financial ties to the Prince Group after its chairman was charged by the US with running a cyber fraud empire.

‘Phenomenal’: how Hongkongers’ generosity helped 4.5 million in need worldwide Hong Kong supported 4.5 million people in need worldwide over one year through relief agency World Vision, its president has said, envisioning the city becoming a humanitarian aid hub. Andrew Morley, president and CEO of World Vision International, a child-focused charity operating in more than 100 countries, also urged people to contribute more as he said government funding to humanitarian aid across the world decreased by about 25 per cent this year compared with 2024, despite a surge in need...

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‘Phenomenal’: how Hongkongers’ generosity helped 4.5 million in need worldwide

World Vision CEO Andrew Morley says city supported children in countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Overseas expansion adds fuel to Chinese energy storage firms’ hunt for bosses Openings at overseas energy storage operations flood John Yang’s screen anytime he browses recruitment websites, with listed giants and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) alike offering salaries well above those typically found in China’s manufacturing sector. “Job seeking has never felt easier. The only worry is whether the new role could last beyond next year,” joked Yang, Thailand director at a Shenzhen-based energy storage firm. Yang’s experience reflects the recent, rapid overseas...

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Overseas expansion adds fuel to Chinese energy storage firms’ hunt for bosses

Global hiring spree sees million-yuan salaries become the norm, but long-term prospects of smaller players called into question.

Man found dead by hiker 200 metres from summit of Hong Kong’s iconic Lion Rock A man was found dead about 200 metres from the summit of Hong Kong’s iconic Lion Rock on Saturday morning, police said. Police received a report at 10am on Saturday from a hiker, who had spotted the man collapsed in a mountain area near the popular peak. Responders from the Government Flying Service and the Fire Services Department arrived at the scene, but the man was pronounced dead. His body was later airlifted by helicopter to the Government Flying Service headquarters in Chek Lap...

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Man found dead by hiker 200 metres from summit of Hong Kong’s Lion Rock

Hong Kong police received a report at 10am on Saturday from hiker, who saw man had collapsed in the mountain area.

2,600 student hostel spaces under way to match surging demand in Hong Kong Education authorities have received more than 10 applications to convert commercial buildings and hotels into 2,600 dormitory spaces, a move to address the increased demand after raising the cap for non-local students at Hong Kong tertiary institutions to 50 per cent. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said on Saturday she was encouraged by the response to the “Hostel in the City” scheme, as it was only launched in July, together with the Development Bureau. “We have approved a few...

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Rush to create 2,600 student hostel spaces to meet surging demand in Hong Kong

Government has received more than 10 applications to turn commercial buildings and hotels into dormitory spaces, education minister says.

US call centre act threatens Philippines’ US$30 billion outsourcing boom As dusk settles over Angeles City, Justin Cunanan prepares for another long night. While the rest of the Philippines sleeps, he joins millions of his compatriots powering a global industry that is now facing threats from both Washington and Silicon Valley. For the next nine hours, the 33-year-old will field customer service calls for a company based in the United States. The night shift is gruelling, but for Cunanan, who previously worked in hospitality, the benefits of a business process...

South China Morning Post

US call centre bill threatens Philippines’ US$30 billion outsourcing boom

Nearly 2 million Filipinos’ jobs are on the line, with the BPO sector under siege from US protectionism and the rise of AI.

Germany’s military conscription ‘draft lottery’ plan raises alarm Germany is seeking to boost military recruitment to deter a hostile Russia, but a proposed “draft lottery” has sparked a row in the ruling coalition and unsettled many young people. The flashpoint issue of bringing back any form of military conscription has rattled the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the centre-left Social Democrats of Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. Merz, citing dangerous tensions between Nato and Russia and doubts about future US security commitment to Europe,...

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Germany’s military conscription ‘draft lottery’ plan raises alarm

The controversial ‘lottery’ plan has split the ruling coalition as Berlin seeks to build Europe’s ‘strongest conventional army’.

Dying art in modern times: Hong Kong’s bone-setting trade nears breaking point In Hong Kong’s ageing neighbourhood of Cheung Sha Wan, an old street store stands out for its unusual charm. Against the backdrop of its pinkish walls and the classic black-and-white floor tiles, more than 20,000 skeleton figurines are on display, in striking contrast to the surrounding Chinese-style homes. The eclectic decor reflects the creative spirit of Leung Tin-chu, a 49-year-old bone-setting master determined to breathe new life into his decades-old family clinic passed down from his...

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Dying art in modern times: Hong Kong’s bone-setting trade nears breaking point

Traditional Chinese treatment for sprains, bruises, bumps and injuries fails to lure younger customers as older masters retire.

Hong Kong may issue T3 on Monday as Tropical Storm Fengshen edges closer Hong Kong’s weather forecaster may issue the No 3 typhoon warning signal on Monday as Tropical Storm Fengshen moves closer to the coast of Guangdong, with temperatures set to fall to about 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit). The Hong Kong Observatory said on Saturday that Fengshen, which means “the god of wind” in Chinese, would come within 800km (497 miles) of Hong Kong the following day and would be closest to the city on Tuesday. “With Fengshen edging closer to the coast of Guangdong later on...

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Hong Kong may issue T3 on Monday as Tropical Storm Fengshen edges closer

Forecaster says it may skip T1 and directly issue T3 on Monday, adding temperatures will drop to around 20 degrees Celsius next week.

Chinese Nobel Prize-winning physicist Chen-ning Yang dies, aged 103 Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist Chen-ning Yang, died in Beijing on Saturday at the age of 103. He was often ranked alongside Albert Einstein as one of the 20th century’s greatest physicists. In 1954, he co-authored a set of equations with the American physicist Robert Mills that turned out to be as important to physics as Einstein’s theory of relativity. The resulting Yang–Mills theory described how three of nature’s four fundamental forces — the electromagnetic, weak and strong...

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Chinese Nobel Prize-winning physicist Chen-ning Yang dies aged 103

Researcher whose contribution to science was described as ‘close to Einstein’ specialised in the study of subatomic particles.

Top US and China trade envoys set trade talks after ‘constructive’ phone call Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a phone call on Saturday morning and stated that trade negotiators from their countries would meet next week. “This evening, Vice-Premier He Lifeng and I engaged in frank and detailed discussions regarding trade between the United States and China,” Bessent wrote on social media on Friday evening in Washington. “We will meet in person next week to continue our discussions.” In a separate read-out, China described He’s...

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Top US and China trade envoys set for talks after ‘constructive’ video call

Hours before call, US Treasury chief says negotiations with Beijing to take place in Malaysia, ahead of Xi-Trump summit in South Korea.

Alibaba Cloud claims to slash Nvidia GPU use by 82% with new pooling system Alibaba Group Holding has introduced a computing pooling solution that it said led to an 82 per cent cut in the number of Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) needed to serve its artificial intelligence models. The system, called Aegaeon, was beta tested in Alibaba Cloud’s model marketplace for more than three months, where it reduced the number of Nvidia H20 GPUs required to serve dozens of models of up to 72 billion parameters from 1,192 to 213, according to a research paper presented this...

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Alibaba Cloud claims to slash Nvidia GPU use by 82% with new pooling system

The new Aegaeon system can serve dozens of large language models using a fraction of the GPUs previously required, potentially reshaping AI workloads.

Chinese spy drama Silent Honour inspires praise for real-life agents The Chinese public has come out in force to pay tribute to Communist Party undercover agents who perished during the 1940s civil war, inspired by a television drama that gained a passionate following and sparked an outpouring of praise. The fervour centres on Silent Honour, the mainland’s first television series to chronicle the Communist Party’s espionage activities in Taiwan in the war’s final months when one of the party’s major intelligence operations was systematically crushed by the...

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Chinese spy drama Silent Honour inspires praise for real-life agents

‘Sudden surge’ of visitors to memorial park and one agent’s family home comes as series about mainland intelligence operation in Taiwan ends.

New lending and repo plans accelerate the yuan’s challenge to the US dollar When Hong Kong businessman Sunny Yip Yuk-chik heard about a new scheme that would make it easier and cheaper to borrow Chinese yuan, he immediately called his staff on the Chinese mainland with the news. Earlier this month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched a 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) Renminbi Business Facility (RBF) that would enable business owners like Yip to borrow yuan from Hong Kong banks for up to 12 months at the onshore yuan interest rate, easing trade...

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New lending and repo plans accelerate the yuan’s challenge to the US dollar

Hong Kong is the largest offshore yuan market worldwide, with 76 per cent of offshore yuan payments in August conducted in the city.

64 South Korean ‘pig butchering’ suspects return home from Cambodia Sixty-four South Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia for alleged involvement in cyberscam operations returned home Saturday. South Korea had sent a team to Cambodia on Wednesday to discuss cases of fake jobs and scam centres involved in kidnapping dozens of its nationals. “A total of 64 nationals just arrived at Incheon International Airport on a chartered flight,” a police official said. Seoul had said around 60 South Koreans had been detained by authorities in Cambodia over the alleged...

South China Morning Post

64 South Korean cyber scam suspects repatriated from Cambodia

The group includes both voluntary workers and people forced into Cambodia’s ‘pig butchering’ crypto fraud networks.

A perfect purr-scription? How ‘pet doctors’ can help Hong Kong hospital patients One of the greatest wishes of Fung, an elderly patient hospitalised at Hong Kong’s Caritas Medical Centre for the past three months, is to see her pet cat, Silver. The internal medicine patient said it would be a “precious memory” if she could be reunited with her 13-year-old calico cat. “I miss Silver very much. My daughter will show me videos, but if I can see it face to face, I can hug and kiss it and say goodbye,” she said. “If we can have a final reunion, I can tell it to be obedient and...

South China Morning Post

A perfect purr-scription? How ‘pet doctors’ can help Hong Kong hospital patients

Hospital Authority to allow palliative care patients to spend time with pets and already has volunteer animals to comfort those in need.