Day: February 8, 2024

Pakistan election results delayed after mobile phone service blackout

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Pakistan’s election results were delayed on Friday following widespread turmoil on polling day, but early signals pointed to strong turnout for the party of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan despite a military-backed crackdown. Results were only available for a handful of seats more than 12 hours after polls closed. Candidates loyal to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party had won five seats, while the Pakistan Muslim League-N party of three-time former…

China’s academic star sacked, Hong Kong’s Messi saga, ‘Harvard girl’ back in spotlight: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

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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. China’s rising academic star fired after students accuse him of falsifying data For more than a month, 11 students at Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei province, had been quietly preparing a “revolution” to overthrow their supervisor. “For us,…

China warns Philippines against ‘playing with fire’ as Manila boosts military presence near Taiwan

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“The Philippine side should have a clear understanding of it, act prudently and refrain from playing with fire on the issue of Taiwan, so as to avoid being exploited by others and leading to their own detriment,” Wang said in Beijing. China and the Philippines shared a long history of friendship, he said, adding that good neighbours should treat each other with mutual respect on issues like national sovereignty and territorial integrity and not interfere in each other’s internal affairs. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited…

Chinese firm helps websites push pro-Beijing content: research

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A Chinese company in the southern city of Shenzhen has assisted at least 123 websites operating in China but posing as local media outlets in 30 countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America to disseminate disinformation, according to a recent study.  The research lab at the University of Toronto found that Shenzhen Haimaiyunxiang Media Co. (Haimai), a public relations firm, was behind the push to promote pro-Beijing business and political “propaganda,” and vilifying reports of former United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen meeting when U.S.-China…

One-third of Myanmar population in need of aid, says UN

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The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar has soared to more than 18 million, or one-third of the population, from just over 1 million prior to the military coup, the United Nations announced this week, as the junta entered its fourth year in power. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or UNOCHA, said in a statement marking the third anniversary of the Feb. 1, 2021, takeover that widespread conflict has left millions displaced, facing food insecurity and malnutrition, unable to access health…

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei raided in France by financial prosecutors

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Chinese wireless equipment maker Huawei Technologies said its office in France was searched as part of a preliminary investigation by French financial prosecutors. The probe is into suspicions of atteinte à la probité, a justice ministry official said on Thursday, referring to a catch-all term that could include corruption, misuse of public funds or influence peddling, among other infractions. He declined to provide any further details on the alleged actions. Huawei France, which is based near Paris, said in an emailed statement that the search occurred on Tuesday at its…

Vietnam court sentences Khmer Krom man to 3½ years in prison

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A court in Vietnam’s Soc Trang province has sentenced an ethnic Khmer Krom man to three-and-a-half years in prison for “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331 of the country’s criminal code, state-controlled media reported. Prosecutors said Wednesday that Danh Minh Quang, 34, used his personal Facebook account to post comments and live-stream videos which “violated Vietnam laws.” Quang set up the account in Dec. 2018 and the prosecution claimed that from 2021 to July 2023 there were 51 comments, photos and videos that  had “contents that were negative, propaganda and…

China’s ‘protectionism’ problem at local levels must be quelled, government adviser warns Beijing

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China must come to grips with disorderly competition among its localities – along with an irresponsibly excessive adherence to the old ways of operating – to unleash the nation’s economic growth potential, according to a prominent political scientist who has also called for more economic integration with neighbouring countries. Zheng Yongnian, an adviser to the central government, also called for “re-establishing” Hong Kong’s role as an international financial centre as he assessed choke points in invigorating the Chinese economy, in an article published on Wednesday. “While Shanghai as a financial…

South Korea releases top secret survey of North Korean escapees

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An exhaustive, 10-year survey of 6,351 North Korean escapees about their former lives in the isolated country paints a bleak picture: Food and energy are both scarcer, and government surveillance and crackdowns are stricter. Women now play a more elevated role in families and society – though not because of a heightened sense of equality, but rather out of economic necessity, those interviewed said. They have become the main breadwinners, setting up stalls in makeshift markets that now are the main source of food and other basics for daily life.…