Australia
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‘Temple Street Father’ and his life mission helping Hong Kong’s homeless | South China Morning Post
Since arriving in Hong Kong in 1985, John Wotherspoon has spent his time helping the city’s disadvantaged. The Australian priest was first posted to a Kowloon parish and on Lantau Island before spending a period of time teaching English in mainland China. In 2009, Wotherspoon moved to a subdivided flat in Yau Ma Tei…
Australian scientists discover one of the world’s largest dinosaur species | South China Morning Post
Australian scientists have announced the discovery of one of the largest dinosaur species ever, formally named Australotitan cooperensis. Paleontologists believe that the new species was as long as a basketball court and as tall as a two-storey building. The bones were first uncovered more than a decade ago, althoug…
Heavy police presence in Hong Kong stops mass commemoration of June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong police shut down Victoria Park on June 4, 2021, to stop people from gathering for a banned candlelight vigil commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Officers also set up roadblocks at major thoroughfares to check vehicles. For the second year in a row, police objected to the m…
Japan likely to defend Taiwan if Beijing makes moves, says ex-US national security official | South China Morning Post
Japan first suggested an alliance with the US, India and Australia – now known as the “Quad” – as a defence strategy against China, former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger said in a panel discussion on June 2, 2021. In the virtual meeting with other former top Trump administration officials, Pottinger…
Tiananmen vigil organisers close Hong Kong’s June 4 museum after government launches licensing probe | South China Morning Post
Organisers of Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen vigil have shut down their June 4 museum commemorating the 1989 crackdown, a day after the government launched an investigation into a licensing complaint. Earlier, police banned the annual candlelight vigil at Victoria Park for the second year in a row, citing social-dista…
Mice plague overwhelms farmers in Australia | South China Morning Post
A severe mice infestation that has been plaguing eastern Australia for months continues to wreak havoc, with millions of rodents swarming farms and homes in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. The mice crisis has left entire towns engulfed in pungent odours and farms reeling from crop losses with rodents d…
Japan hosts military exercises with the US, France and Australia amid tension over East China Sea | South China Morning Post
Troops from Japan’s Self-Defence Forces, the US Marines and the French Army conducted joint drills at training grounds in Japan’s Miyazaki prefecture on May 15, 2021 - a first for France in the region. The joint exercises, which also included Australia’s navy, comes at a time when Washington and Tokyo are ramping up…
HK activist Joshua Wong to be jailed for 10 more months over unauthorised Tiananmen Square vigil | South China Morning Post
Imprisoned Hong Kong opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has been sentenced to an additional 10 months in jail. The sentence was handed down on May 6, 2021, after he and three others pleaded guilty a week earlier to taking part in an unauthorised vigil in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020. District councillors Lester S…
China-Australia tension rises as Beijing suspends high-level economic dialogue ‘indefinitely’ | South China Morning Post
China’s top economic planner said on May 6, 2021, said Beijing had “indefinitely suspended” high-level economic dialogue with Australia. The announcement was made following Australia’s move last month to revoke participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative by the state of Victoria, after deeming its agreements w…
Myanmar swimmer will boycott Tokyo Olympics to defy military junta following coup | South China Morning Post
Myanmar swimmer Win Htet Oo has gone public with his intentions to forgo qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in what he describes as a form of protest against the "military dictatorship" in his homeland. The athlete now based in Australia had previously written to the International Olympic Committee asking to compete …
Trade ‘only one part of the battle‘ in China-Australia dispute, says legal expert Bryan Mercurio | South China Morning Post
Trade is only one aspect of the current dispute between China and Australia, according to Bryan Mercurio, a professor of law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who is a specialist in international economic law. Mercurio, who has legal expertise related to the World Trade Organization (WTO), tells the SCMP's poli…
Hong Kong’s new pop-up luxury picnic service sees business opportunity during Covid-19 pandemic | South China Morning Post
Karen Wong set up an online business, which started in the US and Australia, providing a luxury pop-up picnic service. Spotting a new business opportunity during the Covid-19 pandemic, Wong brought the idea back to Hong Kong from Perth in October 2020. The business the 25-year-old launched with two partners offers a…
Hong Kong’s historic clock tower in Tsim Sha Tsui marks 100th anniversary | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong’s iconic clock tower in Tsim Sha Tsui celebrates its centenary in March 2021. The 44-metre-tall (144ft) tower was built in 1915 as part of the now-demolished Kowloon-Canton Railway station. Despite sustaining some battle damage, the building survived the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong during World War II. …
‘I am disgusted’: Australian PM Scott Morrison comments on leaked videos of sex acts in parliament | South China Morning Post
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was “shocked” and “disgusted”, at a press conference on March 23, 2021, after videos were leaked of staff from Australia’s conservative government performing sex acts in parliament. The footage included one man masturbating over a female MP’s desk. The whistle-blower …
Blue whale devoured alive by 75 orcas off coast of Australia | South China Morning Post
A 16-metre long blue whale was devoured alive by 75 hungry orcas off the west coast of Australia. The three-hour wildlife battle was captured on March 16, 2021, when 40 people went on a whale-watching tour.
Homes swept away as Australia’s worst flooding forces 18,000 people to evacuate | South China Morning Post
Thousands of people, including a soon-to-wed couple, have fled their homes in what’s been described as once-in-a-century flooding in Australia. Authorities plan to evacuate thousands more from flood-affected areas on March 22, 2021. The country’s east coast in the state of New South Wales has seen unrelenting rains …
Australia’s political sex assault scandals spur nationwide protests against gender violence | South China Morning Post
Thousands of people marched across Australia on March 15, 2021, to protest against sexual violence, harassment and gender inequality. The #March4Justice rallies had been sparked by recent allegations of sexual assault, discrimination and misconduct in some of Australia’s highest political offices.
After Quad summit discusses China threat, Beijing says ‘cliques’ drive wedge between countries | South China Morning Post
US President Joe Biden and the leaders of three major Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, India and Japan), an alliance known as the Quad, discussed “aggression” and “coercion” against members of the group by China in their first summit on March 12, 2021. In a strong reaction to the Quad’s virtual meeting, Chinese fo…
Electoral overhaul the ’death of democracy’ for Hong Kong, says fugitive former lawmaker Ted Hui | South China Morning Post
Former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung described a move by the Chinese central government to overhaul the city’s electoral system as the "death of democracy" for the former British colony. Hui was speaking in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He had been in the UK since he fle…
Head of World Trade Organization and former Australian Prime Minister discuss women and leadership | South China Morning Post
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala , Director-General, World Trade Organization and Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia took part in a webinar discussion on women and leadership presented by the South China Morning Post on International Women's Day 2021. Among the issues discussed was the so-called 'glass cliff', …
Pair of black swans spotted in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour | South China Morning Post
A pair of black swans have been spotted in Victoria Harbour over several weeks in February 2021, surprising passers-by including one birdwatcher who captured the birds’ movements with a drone. The swans, which were first seen at a pier in Yau Ma Tei early in the month and last in the sea off Quarry Bay on February 2…
Sheep shorn of 35kg fleece after being rescued in Australia | South China Morning Post
Baarack the sheep received a long-overdue trim after he was found in a forest in Australia. It was not clear for how long he had gone without a shearing.
Fiji rugby team sings to hotel staff at end of Covid-19 quarantine | South China Morning Post
A Fijian rugby league team has sung to pay tribute to hotel staff as their mandatory 14-day coronavirus quarantine in Sydney, Australia came to an end. The 33-member team of the Kaiviti Silktails had to undergo self-isolation before they continued practising for their first full season in the Ron Massey Cup competit…
Vaccines not compulsory for Tokyo 2020 athletes, says IOC | South China Morning Post
Covid-19 vaccines will not be compulsory for athletes attending the Tokyo Olympics but they are encouraged to get inoculated, said International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates. Speaking to the press on February 25, 2021, he revealed details about the operational arrangement of the Games, which is set f…
Wild Sheep With Overgrown Fleece Rescued in Australia
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Koala gets prosthetic foot in world first in Australia | South China Morning Post
A five-year-old koala in eastern Australia has received the world's first prosthetic foot specially designed for the marsupial, from a local dental prosthetist. The male koala named Triumph was born without a right foot and had struggled to walk and climb. He was rescued in 2017 by veterinarian nurse Marley Christia…
Australian shark attack survivor’s ‘Bite Club’ helps other victims cope with past trauma | South China Morning Post
Dave Pearson was almost killed by a bull shark in 2011 when he was surfing off Australia’s east coast. After living with the trauma of the incident for a year, Pearson formed a group called “Bite Club” to connect shark attack survivors with each other. Since then, the 58-year-old has been reaching other victims to h…
To Help American Spotlight Rare Disease, Australian Man Runs 880 Kilometers
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Australian journalist Cheng Lei formally arrested in China for ‘illegally supplying state secrets’ | South China Morning Post
Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei was formally arrested in China on February 5, 2021, after being detained for six months. Cheng, who worked as a TV anchor at CGTN has been formally arrested for “illegally supplying state secrets overseas”. Before her detention, she had written a number of Facebook posts criti…
Chinese-Canadian man known as Asia’s ‘El Chapo’ arrested at Amsterdam airport | South China Morning Post
Tse Chi Lop, the alleged ringleader of Asia’s biggest crime syndicate and one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, was arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport in the Netherlands on January 22, 2021. The Chinese-born Canadian national was detained after Australia issued an Interpol request and warrant for his arres…
Australia bush fires: uncontrolled blaze north of Perth threatens lives and homes in western state | South China Morning Post
An out-of-control bush fire has raged through an area near the Western Australia city of Perth since January 2, 2021. Thousands of hectares of land have been destroyed and hundreds of residents have been evacuated from Red Gully, about 130km (80 miles) north of the state capital which is home to more than 2 million.
Hong Kong welcomes 2021 with live-stream virtual fireworks display amid Covid-19 pandemic | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong replaced a traditional fireworks display over Victoria Harbour with a live-streamed virtual display to welcome 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the second year in a row that New Year fireworks have been cancelled. The previous year’s show was called off due to citywide anti-government protests.
‘Shachuhaku’ therapy: cooped-up Hongkongers sleep in their cars to explore city during the pandemic | South China Morning Post
Shachuhaku is a Japanese term for “staying overnight in a vehicle”, and refers to a leisure activity that is popular in places like Australia that has more recently caught on in Japan. Now a growing number of Hongkongers are hitting the road to camp in their cars, in part because many cannot travel abroad for holida…
Will iron ore be dragged into the ongoing China-Australia trade conflict? | South China Morning Post
Amid the ongoing trade tensions between China and Australia, South China Morning Post reporter Su-Lin Tan moderates a panel discussion involving Navigate Commodities Managing Director Atilla Widnell and Australian trade consultant Daryl Guppy. They discuss how speculative trading in iron ore derivatives is driving u…
Australia seeks WTO mediation on China barley tariffs | South China Morning Post
Australia will launch a formal appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) seeking a review of China’s decision to impose hefty tariffs on imports of Australian barley, Australia Minister for Trade Simon Birmingham said on December 16, 2020. China is the Australian barley growers' largest market. China effectively …
China to Australia: Coal import restrictions are responsible for domestic industries and customers | South China Morning Post
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China’s recent decision to place restrictions on Australian coal imports was a “responsible action towards Chinese domestic industries and customers”. Speaking at a press conference on December 16, 2020, Wang said any export restrictions were being handled by relev…
No-deal Brexit 'a strong possibility', says UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson | South China Morning Post
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on December 10, 2020, there was "a strong possibility" the UK and the European Union would fail to safeguard free trade past the end of the year. Johnson urged businesses and the public to “get ready” for a no-deal Brexit as Britain leaves the EU single market and customs ar…
Japanese asteroid probe brings back samples that may reveal origin of planets | South China Morning Post
A Japanese capsule carrying the first extensive sample taken from an asteroid has been retrieved on the morning of December 6, 2020. Having landed in Australia, the return of the samples marked the end of the six-year mission of the Hayabusa2 unmanned spacecraft.
Senior Chinese diplomat says Australian prime minister overreacted to ‘war crimes’ tweet | South China Morning Post
China’s Deputy Ambassador to Australia said that Prime Minister Scott Morrison overreacted to a Chinese official’s tweet which included a fake image while accusing Australian soldiers of committing war crimes in Afghanistan. Chinese envoy to Australia Wang Xining made his remark about Morrison’s response on December…
Bush fires destroy heritage-listed forests on Australia’s Fraser Island | South China Morning Post
Firefighters in Australia have been battling massive bush fires that have been burning for six weeks across Fraser Island, as the country experiences a record-breaking heatwave following the hottest November on record. Over 70,000 hectares of the unique forests on the popular tourist spot had been destroyed, as of N…
Australia ditched diplomacy for ‘adversarial approach’ to China and ‘a pat on the head’ from US | South China Morning Post
Interview with former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr to discuss the reasons behind the deteriorating relationship between Beijing and Canberra. Carr served between 2012-13 and was involved in preliminary discussions for the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), which was signed in 2015.
Beijing says ‘Five Eyes’ allies risk having ‘eyes poked out’ for meddling in Hong Kong affairs | South China Morning Post
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rebuked the United States and its “Five Eyes” allies over their condemnation of a Beijing ruling that led to the immediate ousting of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, warning they risked “having their eyes poked out” for meddling in China’s internal affairs. The Five Eye…
Sony PlayStation 5 goes on sale but not in China, scalpers sell it for triple the retail price | South China Morning Post
Sony’s PlayStation 5 officially went on sale on November 12, 2020 in six markets including Japan, Australia and North America, with launches elsewhere on November 19. As the launch date for China has yet to be announced, Chinese scalpers were taking orders with the price up to four times the retail price.
China-Australia trade: Beijing set to ban nearly US$400 million worth of Australian wheat imports | South China Morning Post
Wheat exported from Australia is expected to join a list of goods banned by China, which has already halted imports of barley, sugar, red wine, timber, coal, lobster, copper ore and copper concentrates from the country. Starting from November 6, 2020, the items will be barred from China even if the goods were alread…
Swimmers have no idea sharks joining them in salmon school off Australian beach | South China Morning Post
Dozens of swimmers in Sydney, Australia were filmed swimming near a large school of salmon, and seemingly unaware that sharks were also among the fish. Drone footage shot at the city’s Bondi Beach on October 23, 2020, showed the school of salmon and what were believed to be a pair of grey nurse sharks in the area fo…