Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has rejected a plan by Vietnam’s VinGroup to set up an electric taxi business in the kingdom using VinFast EVs, according to the Khmer Times newspaper. VinGroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong made the proposal following a meeting in Hanoi with Hun Manet on Dec. 12 during his first official visit to Vietnam since becoming prime minister. A Cambodian government announcement, carried by the local media two days later, stated: “On Wednesday, December 13, 2023, some media outlets reported that Vietnam’s Vingroup was planning to launch…
Day: December 21, 2023
Hong Kong Court Rejects Activist Publisher Bid to Throw Out Sedition Charge
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court on Friday rejected a bid by prominent activist publisher Jimmy Lai to throw out a sedition charge against him, delivering the ruling on the third day of his landmark national security trial. Lai, 76, was arrested during the city’s crackdown on dissidents following huge pro-democracy protests in 2019. He faces possible life imprisonment if convicted under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. He is charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to publish seditious…
Beijing flexes its muscles in South China Sea, cold spell hits Hong Kong, how to survive Christmas: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Beijing flexes muscles in South China Sea as Manila puts it on the defensive China is likely to ramp up its actions in stand-offs with the Philippines in the South China Sea amid Manila’s “assertive transparency” tactic, observers say, while also warning Beijing to carefully…
China Starts Erecting Temporary Housing After Deadly Earthquake
BEIJING — Hundreds of temporary one-room housing units were set up Thursday in northwest China for survivors of an earthquake that destroyed more than 14,000 homes and killed at least 144 people, according to state media reports. The death toll rose by nine as search teams dug through heavy mudslides that had inundated two villages, a city official in Qinghai province said Friday morning. Three people remained missing in the mudslides. State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of cranes lifting white, box-like housing units and lining them up in an open…
ICBM Test May Soon Bring All of US Within North Korean Nuclear Range
Washington — North Korea’s launch of a Hwasong-18 this week shows it may soon have a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile that can target any part of the United States, analysts say. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday’s test “of the most powerful ICBM” demonstrated the reliability of the country’s nuclear strategic force. He added that Pyongyang will not hesitate to strike back if provoked, the state-run KCNA reported Thursday. On Wednesday, U.S. B-1B and South Korean and Japanese fighter jets conducted joint aerial drills off the South Korean…
To shoot or not to shoot: Chinese-developed ‘golden veil’ could make deadly missiles look like passenger planes
While China’s overall military posture remains defensive, such abilities would serve as an effective deterrence against foreign intervention in regional affairs such as Taiwan or the South China Sea, according to some Chinese military experts. The veil is made of fine metal threads which are gold-plated, according to Zong Yali and her colleagues in a paper published in the peer-reviewed Chinese Journal of Radio Science last month. The golden threads then form a web of complex geometry to reflect radar signals. 04:00 PLA will show ‘no mercy’ against Taiwan independence…
How a JPMorgan star faded at Hong Kong stock exchange
Running Hong Kong’s stock exchange was never going to be an easy job for Nicolas Aguzin, but some who worked with the former star JPMorgan banker say the task was not helped by some of his more unconventional ideas. Months after joining Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing as chief executive in May 2021, Aguzin proposed that it should award “tokens” to listed companies based on how diverse their boards were. Modelled partly on crypto and partly on carbon credits, “Project Diamond” would compel companies with all-male boards to either appoint…
US Bans Pentagon From Using Chinese Port Logistics Platform
washington — The U.S. Congress has passed legislation that would ban the Pentagon from using any seaport in the world that relies on a Chinese logistics platform known as LOGINK. LOGINK, by tracking cargo and ship movements, lets Beijing monitor America’s military supply chain, which relies on commercial ports, according to sponsors Senator Tom Cotton and Representative Michelle Steel. Their amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2024 also bans federal funding of any port that uses LOGINK. The spending bill passed December 14 and the LOGINK…
Escaped North Koreans urge China to stop the ‘genocide’ of forced repatriation
They were brought together on a cold November morning by Beijing’s recent decision to send at least 500 North Korean escapees back to their homeland. Gathered in front of the gates of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, many were friends and relatives of those who have been forcibly repatriated in years past, and some of them had experienced the ordeal themselves. Those sent back on Oct. 9 would face almost certain punishment – torture, labor camp, sexual violence and even death, warned Human Rights Watch. Heo Young-hak is an escapee…
Latest Alibaba leadership reshuffle set to make China’s largest e-commerce market more tech-focused, analysts say
Alibaba Group Holding’s decision to put its e-commerce and cloud units under a single chief executive is set to make China’s largest online market more technology-driven and consumer-oriented as it seeks to fend off rising competition, according to analysts. Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, on Wednesday named Eddie Wu Yongming, the co-founder who is already CEO of the conglomerate and its cloud unit, as head of the Taobao and Tmall Group (TTG), the tech giant’s key revenue driver. He replaced Trudy Dai Shan, another Alibaba co-founder. The…