Hong Kong murder suspect arrested after 37 years on run to be extradited

A 62-year-old man who fled Hong Kong after a brutal murder on a Sai Kung beach nearly 37 years ago has been arrested in Thailand and will be extradited back to the city on Thursday, the South China Morning Post has learned.
Mui Yiu-keung was reportedly detained on Monday at a house in Bangkok’s Nong Chok district.
Thai police said the arrest was made at the request of Hong Kong authorities, who had been pursuing the last of four suspects linked to the killing of a man at Lung Ha Wan beach in…

Wang Huning urges cross-strait peace and exchanges in talks with Taiwan’s KMT

Wang Huning, mainland China’s top official on Taiwan affairs, told the vice-chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT), the island’s main opposition party, that Beijing sought to promote cross-strait exchanges and peace on Wednesday.
KMT vice-chairman Hsiao Hsu-tsen was received by Wang, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Beijing’s No 4 official, and Song Tao, head of the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on…

US ‘pressure’ a major challenge to CK Hutchison’s arbitration against Panama: experts

Pressure from the United States remains a major challenge in CK Hutchison Holdings’ arbitration against Panama and it may take years to resolve the dispute, legal and political experts have said of the continuing controversy over the Hong Kong conglomorate’s ports.
The company, led by billionaire Li Ka-shing’s family, said on Wednesday that its subsidiary, Panama Ports Company (PCC), had initiated arbitration against Panamanian authorities over a court judgment declaring its concessions to…

Xi tells Putin that China-Russia ties are on ‘right trajectory’ and need ‘grand plan’

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a video call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, telling him that relations were on the “right trajectory” and that the two countries needed a “grand plan” to develop ties.
Putin told Xi that China-Russia ties were a stabilising factor at a time of global turbulence, according to Russian media reports.
It was the first meeting between the two leaders this year as both sides seek to ramp up strategic alignment amid rising global geopolitical…

China retail chain boss rescues man by pulling car from freezing river, earning high praise

The founder of China’s leading supermarket chain, Pangdonglai, has won admiration for wading into icy water to save a man trapped in a car.
The drama unfolded on January 21, when Yu Donglai and his friends were driving several SUVs past the banks of the Ru River in Ruzhou, central Henan province, Elephant News reported.
When Yu saw a BMW SUV being trapped in a marsh, he told his friends to stop their vehicles to help.

Yu, 60, took off his coat and got into the freezing water, which was up to…

Israeli strikes kill 17 Palestinians, mostly women and children as Gaza ceasefire crumbles

Israeli fire in Gaza killed at least 17 Palestinians, most of them women and children, hospital officials said on Wednesday. Israel said its strikes came after militants fired on its soldiers, seriously wounding one.
Seven women and five children were killed, hospital officials said, including a 5-month-old and a baby just 10 days old. They are the latest Palestinians in Gaza to die since a ceasefire deal, which has been punctuated by deadly Israeli strikes, came into effect on October 10, 2025….

US and Iran now eyeing Oman for nuclear talks as tensions run high

Nuclear talks between the United States and Iran are expected to take place in Oman ‍on Friday, a regional diplomat said, with a possible confrontation looming as US President Donald Trump builds up forces in the Middle East.
Trump has warned that “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached, ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Republic in a stand-off that has led to mutual threats of air strikes and stirred fears of escalation into a wider war.
Iran has said it will not…

Panama ports defeat shows China faces tougher test in Latin America

China said Panama risks paying a “hefty political and economic price” following the cancellation of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings’ contract to operate two major ports serving the Panama Canal.
“The Panamanian authorities’ insistence on this despite widespread concerns is tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot,” China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said in a commentary posted on its WeChat account on Tuesday. The decision by the Panama Supreme Court “is legally unfounded and…

China and Spain in talks for PM Pedro Sanchez to visit Beijing – again

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to visit China later this year, as tensions with the United States prompt more European countries to rethink ties with Beijing.
A source familiar with the talks said the two sides were discussing details of the trip. If it goes ahead, it will be Sanchez’s fourth to China in four years.
Miguel Otero-Iglesias, a senior analyst at the Madrid-based Elcano Royal Institute, said the prime minister had suggested in the past that visits to China should be an…

‘Vibrant’ Hong Kong market to attract more listings from abroad, bankers say

When Malaysian civil engineering contractor BBSB International listed in Hong Kong last month, its offering was oversubscribed by a factor of nearly 11,000, and its shares rose more than fivefold from their offer price of HK$0.60 on the morning of their trading debut.
BBSB is one of several non-Chinese companies that have flocked to Hong Kong to list recently, and banks expect more to follow this year as the city’s initial public offering (IPO) market booms.
While New York and London used to be…

Arrests for illegal use of e-bikes, scooters in Hong Kong up 17% to 760 in 2025

Hong Kong police intensified their crackdown on the illegal use of electric bicycles and scooters in 2025, leading to a 17 per cent jump in arrests to 760, according to transport authorities.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan on Wednesday also pledged to roll out a certification mechanism later this year for electric mobility devices, as such vehicles are known.
Addressing the Legislative Council, she said the surge in arrests – up from 647 cases in 2024 – underscored the urgent…

Thai funeral ‘food court’ blunder: tourists looking for buffet attend wake

Foreign tourists mistaking a funeral for an open air food court were given a taste of Thai hospitality when the hosts served them a meal anyway.
In two posts uploaded on social media, Charantorn Chaloemkiad, an ethnic Chinese Thai who was at his family’s funeral, shared how the tourists innocently gatecrashed the funeral in the city of Nakhon Si Thammarat over the weekend thinking that it was part of a buffet.
According to Charantorn, long tables had been set up to serve funeral goers. In…

New Apec chair China positions as global defender at ‘pivotal juncture’ while US retreats

China is seizing its role as the chair and host of Apec 2026 to position itself as a staunch defender of multilateralism, according to analysts, and they see the platform being used to elevate the nation’s economic governance initiatives to a global level.
The strategic push was on display at the two-day Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting that began on Wednesday in Shanghai, where Vice-Minister of Finance Liao Min called on members to uphold multilateralism.
“Closer cooperation is…

Chinese buyers top the list in Malaysia’s MM2H golden visa scheme

Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share of property buyers under Malaysia’s revamped “My Second Home” (MM2H) programme, the country’s tourism minister said on Wednesday, while cautioning against politicising the issue.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing told parliament that 744 MM2H participants bought homes in Malaysia between 2023 and 2025, with another 2,637 still negotiating purchases.
As of December 31, 304 purchases had been made by buyers from mainland China,…

Youth support puts Japan’s Sanae Takaichi on track for landslide

The handbag she carries is sold out, her pink pen has gone viral and even her favourite snacks are in hot demand: Japan’s 64-year-old leader Sanae Takaichi has sparked an unlikely youth-led craze that could propel her to a big election win.
Polls suggest sanakatsu, roughly translated as “sanamania”, can help give Japan’s first female prime minister a decisive mandate in Sunday’s general election and unleash the spending plans she has promised will jolt the country’s moribund economy.
Backed by…

Tibet’s exploitable green power could meet China’s energy needs: official survey

Tibet’s exploitable solar, wind and hydropower resources alone could theoretically meet all of China’s energy needs, government survey data suggests.
According to researchers from the China Society for Hydropower Engineering and the state-owned Power Construction Corporation of China, the technically exploitable capacity of hydropower in Tibet could reach 178 gigawatts, and more than 100GW for wind power.
They said the development potential of solar power could reach 10,000GW, which is…

Xiaomi’s ‘Tesla killer’, Beijing-Ottawa tariff deal promising for China market: 7 EV reads

We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. China’s flying car makers aim for deliveries this year as passenger use nears
China could see its first flying car begin carrying paying passengers in 2026, as government backing and a growing pipeline of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle makers push the country’s…

Malaysia did not cede any land to Indonesia, Anwar insists

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told parliament on Wednesday that his government had not agreed to hand over any land to neighbouring Indonesia, calling claims of a large territorial concession “not true” and “a lie”.
The row erupted after Indonesian officials were quoted in local media as saying that parts of three villages in Nunukan regency, North Kalimantan, had been designated Malaysian territory and that Jakarta would receive 5,207 hectares (12,866 acres) “in compensation” to…

China raises taxes on some sectors to boost finances: a one-off fix or tough times ahead?

Beijing has recently targeted tax incentives in telecoms and other select industries after fiscal revenue dropped sharply in late 2025, fuelling market speculation of similar, larger-scale moves and triggering volatility.
Here, we examine the latest developments and outline how economists view the changes.
What has the Chinese government announced?
Beijing has moved to boost government finances by tightening tax incentives and raising preferential rates across several sectors, following a sharp…

Hong Kong recalls Aptamil baby milk formula batch over toxin contamination fears

Hong Kong’s food safety watchdog has recalled a batch of Aptamil powdered infant milk formula over fears it may be contaminated with a toxin found in similar products.
The Centre for Food Safety said on Tuesday evening that a local retailer had sold “a small quantity” of a batch suspected to contain cereulide, prompting a precautionary recall.
The affected product is Aptamil Profutura DUO Pre D 800g, with a use-by date of April 20, 2027.
The watchdog said it had earlier learned that German…