US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday called India a natural partner and invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, turning the page at least rhetorically on friction despite new-found US warmth towards China. One week...
An early glimpse of the battle to succeed US President Donald Trump atop the Republican ticket played out last week in classic Trumpian fashion when Vice-President J.D. Vance was temporarily demoted to play press secretary. His hour-long...
India’s state-run refiners raised retail prices again of diesel and petrol on Saturday to help processors cut losses on discounted sales and to control a spike in demand. Prices of both fuels rose by nearly one per cent, or less than 1...
China appears to be close to launching the world’s largest naval support ship. On Thursday, the China State Shipbuilding Corporation released a picture of one of its shipyards on social media as part of a message marking a new Chinese...
New Zealand intends to spend about NZ$1.6 billion (US$936 million) on drones, ship maintenance and naval upgrades to bolster the island nation’s maritime security at a time of increasing concern about supply routes. Defence Minister...
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is visiting China as the country seeks support for its efforts to mediate in the conflict between Iran and the United States. The visit also coincides with the 75th anniversary of the establishment...
China is turning coal waste into a source of critical metals including lithium, gallium and germanium, leveraging its advantages in extraction technology and industrial infrastructure. Coal mining and burning produce large amounts of...
A US and Philippine-led military drill seen as targeting China grew this year into the largest yet, prompting Chinese experts to warn that the annual event will exacerbate regional instability amid heightened tensions in the...
China’s decision to ease residency restrictions on social insurance applicants will help unleash positive, long-term economic growth, according to analysts. The new measures announced on Friday by the State Council are part of China’s...
Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio has twice in recent weeks urged the country’s armed forces to defend its sovereignty, in a carefully calibrated attempt to sound more assertive on the South China Sea issue without directly...
France has committed €23 billion (US$26.7 billion) to Africa’s private sector in a bid to counter Chinese dominance and rebuild its influence on the continent. Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi earlier this month,...
For many Indonesians who have built careers abroad, Nadiem Makarim once represented a particular kind of homecoming success story. The Brown and Harvard University-educated co-founder of Gojek had walked away from the start-up world to...
At least 82 people have been killed in a blast at a coal mine in the central Chinese province of Shanxi. State news agency Xinhua reported that the gas explosion happened in Qinyuan county, about 520km (320 miles) southwest of Beijing,...
Donald Trump’s blunt warning that he was not looking to have “somebody go independent” after his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping has reignited debate in Taiwan over whether Washington is hardening its message on the island. For...
A rare albino buffalo with flowing blond hair has become an unlikely celebrity in Bangladesh ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival, drawing crowds of curious visitors who say the animal bears a striking resemblance to US President Donald...
When Xi Jinping and Donald Trump concluded their Beijing summit, the most consequential outcome – for China at least – may prove not material, but conceptual: the adoption of “constructive strategic stability” (CSS) as the guiding...
A mock political party erupted across Indian social media this week, becoming a symbol of Gen Z disillusionment with the country’s political establishment and anger over a worsening jobs crisis in the world’s most populous nation. The...
Scientists in Shanghai have used stem cells to create the world’s first laboratory-grown sinoatrial node – the tiny structure that acts as the heart’s natural pacemaker. Capable of beating autonomously, the organoid is a breakthrough...
Seated in a wheelchair, an elderly woman bends silently as her wrinkled fingers move with surprising speed to fold pieces of coloured origami paper into intricate shapes. Beside her, another woman does the same, both adding their...
Hong Kong will send its first astronaut to the Tiangong space station, the China Manned Space Agency announced on Saturday. Lai Ka-ying, a police chief inspector and tech expert with a doctorate in computer science, will join the...
In a swanky penthouse office outside Kuala Lumpur, tech firm Zetrix AI is putting a grand plan into motion to get 1 million people across Southeast Asia using its artificial intelligence agent, Avatar, by the end of the year. Designed as...
Chinese President Xi Jinping viewed the Thucydides Trap as the “best diagnosis” of the challenge Beijing faces with Washington when he raised the concept with US leader Donald Trump this month, signalling an awareness that their current...
When Marco Rubio was confirmed as US Secretary of State last year, fireworks of optimism went off in New Delhi. Given his years as a senator championing a pro-India, staunchly anti-China posture, policymakers anticipated an unprecedented...
Two Chinese nationals were indicted on charges of conspiracy to launder money for drug cartels, the US Justice Department announced on Friday. Ruhuan Zhen and Hongce Wu allegedly hid the source of illegally obtained funds on behalf of...
The original think tank paper was published in Chinese. SCMP Plus members can read an English translation here. A Chinese state think tank has offered a detailed road map to steer China and the US towards peaceful coexistence, as the...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s coming trip to New York and Canada is expected to lay the groundwork for President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the US and warmer ties with Ottawa. China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that Wang would...
On the face of it, US President Donald Trump’s China visit can be characterised by five Bs: beef, beans, Boeings, a board of investment and a board of trade. No wonder Trump rated his visit a “12 on a scale of one to 10”. Just the 200...
On Great Nicobar, a remote island located closer to Indonesia than mainland India, New Delhi is embarking on one of its biggest developments in decades. The US$9 billion project is intended to transform the country’s southernmost tip...
All three of China’s aircraft carriers could soon be able to operate the country’s J-35 stealth fighter, which Chinese experts say would “significantly” bolster the PLA Navy’s combat abilities. Currently, only China’s most advanced...
Two Indian climbers have died on Mount Everest during a record-breaking period of ascents via Nepal’s southern route, as experts warn of overcrowding on the world’s highest peak. “They fell ill while descending at high altitude. We are...
An alleged Myanmar crime boss and members of his syndicate were put on trial this week in the latest stage of Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on cross-border scam networks. Wei Huairen, also known as Wai San, faces charges including fraud,...
Thousands of protesters in Bangladesh clashed with police in a bid to seize a suspect accused of raping a four-year-old girl, officials said on Friday. In recent months, the South Asian country has seen a spike in reported cases of...
After three agonising days with no word from his son, Warsono finally saw the face he had been waiting for. The 60-year-old Indonesian from Bandar Lampung in Sumatra spoke by video call on Thursday evening to his son, Andre Prasetyo...
For decades, publishing a paper in Nature was regarded as the ultimate academic achievement in China – a fast track to promotions, research grants, hospital appointments and elite national talent programmes. But a growing wave of...
Beijing reaffirmed its opposition to arms sales to Taiwan after the acting secretary of the US Navy said Washington was pausing a US$14 billion weapons purchase by the self-governed island. “China’s firm opposition to US arms sales to...
This report was translated from Chinese into English using Alibaba’s Qwen3, then checked and tweaked for accuracy by a South China Morning Post journalist. It is for reference only, and is not the official English version of the original...
The Javan and Sumatran rhinos are down to their last few dozen, just like the Cat Ba langur of Vietnam, while the soala living in Laos’ Annamite mountains may already be gone for good. Southeast Asia’s remarkable biodiversity is under...
China criticised the United States for filing criminal charges against former Cuban president Raul Castro, as the Trump administration stepped up pressure on the Communist-ruled Caribbean island. “The United States needs to stop wielding...
Perhaps the most fascinating and important aspects of US President Donald Trump’s jolt to the global economy have been its unintended consequences, especially the impact on relations between China and India. Two consistent aspects of...
Bowing to pressure from within its ranks, the Democratic National Committee released on Thursday its long-withheld “autopsy” of Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race – only to quickly disavow it. The report...
Former Malaysian economy minister Rafizi Ramli’s breakaway gamble is unlikely to bring down Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on its own, analysts say, but could still wound the ruling coalition by peeling away reformist voters who helped...
Scientists from China and the Netherlands have created a corn protein-based biopolymer with a process inspired by spider silk that could offer a sustainable alternative to plastics based on fossil fuel. “Plant-derived biopolymers may...
The Brazilian head of a victims’ association for the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris said that justice has yet to be served in France’s worst aviation crash after a Paris appeals court found Airbus and Air France guilty of...
On Cenang Beach, Mohamad Zaki Najmi sells fun and adventure activities that have powered Langkawi’s tourism economy for years – jet ski rides and boat tours on the Malaysian island’s turquoise waters. But costs are rising fast at the...
Financial news outlet Bloomberg harboured “unprecedented” malice in the publication and handling of an article about the purchase of good class bungalows in Singapore, lawyers for two Singaporean cabinet ministers alleged on Friday...
The presidents of the United States and Russia visited Beijing on separate trips in May to meet with President Xi Jinping. The South China Morning Post produced extensive coverage of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s summit meetings in...
Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is expected in Brussels for crunch talks with EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic on June 29 and 30, as trade tensions between the sides threaten to reach fever pitch. Wang’s trip – confirmed by people familiar...
Paul McCartney led an all-star line-up for the final episode of The Late Show as frontman Stephen Colbert bowed out after broadcaster CBS cancelled his show as it courted US President Donald Trump. But one A-lister who eluded the comic...
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has launched a US$10 billion facility to support members dealing with the impact of the US-Israel war on Iran, the group announced on Thursday. The Energy, Food Security and Economic...
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin privately warned that authorities could stop processing international travelers and cargo at major U.S. airports in "sanctuary cities" that have declined to cooperate…