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Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was welcomed back to China by a 100-strong crowd gathered on the tarmac in Shenzhen, her company’s base, on September 25, 2021. Meng had spent nearly three years under house arrest in Canada, where she fought a lengthy court battle against extradition to the US on fraud …
In China, crickets are more than just insects. Locals often put them in the “ring”. Cricket fighting is a tradition in China that has a history dating back to the Tang dynasty (618-907AD). While it’s illegal to gamble on the matches, cricket fights themselves are both legal and common across the country.
Huawei Technologies Co executive Meng Wanzhou reached a deal with US prosecutors on September 24, 2021, paving the way for her immediate return to China and reportedly for the release from China of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The pair had been held on spying charges, and Spavor was serving an 1…
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Search operations continued through the night for five people missing after an overloaded river ferry capsized in bad weather in China’s southern Guizhou province on September 18, 2021. At least 10 passengers were killed in the accident involving a ship operated by Xiling Shipping Company. The vessel reportedly had …
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A Beijing court has dismissed a sexual harassment case brought against a high-profile anchor at Chinese state television CCTV. The ruling, delivered on September 14, 2021, following “insufficient” evidence, was described by observers as “disappointing.” The case, filed by former CCTV intern Zhou Xiaoxuan against TV …
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A centre providing food for Asian elephants has been built in China’s southwestern province of Yunnan to try and encourage the endangered animals not to stray far from home. The Jinghong Food Base for Wild Asian Elephants was a response to the widely followed story of a herd that went on a 500km (300-mile) journey t…
Universal Studios Beijing is set to open on September 20, 2021. An invitation-only test operation began on September 1, when a large crowd gathered to try out rides and other attractions. The massive venue in China’s capital is the fifth Universal Studios theme park in the world, the seventh overall and the third in…
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on September 3, 2021, that he will not run in the upcoming leadership race for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The decision throws the election wide open, with Suga serving just one year in office. Suga said he wants to focus on dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic duri…
Universal Studios Beijing is set to open on September 20, 2021. An invitation-only test operation began on September 1, when a large crowd gathered to test out rides and attractions. The new theme park in China’s capital is the fifth Universal Studios-branded theme park in the world, the seventh Universal-built park…
6 people were wounded during a supermarket stabbing attack in Auckland, New Zealand on September 3, 2021. The attacker, reportedly inspired by the militant group Islamic State, was shot dead by police within 60 seconds of beginning the stabbing spree. He was a Sri Lankan national who arrived in the country 10 years …
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on September 3, 2021, that he will not run in the upcoming leadership race for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The decision throws the election wide open, with Suga serving just one year in office. Since taking over from Shinzo Abe, who resigned in September 2020, Sug…
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After almost 1,000 days of wrangling in Canada, extradition hearings for Huawei Technologies Co executive Meng Wanzhou concluded on August 18, 2021. The verdict regarding whether the court will free the telecoms company’s chief financial officer or send her to stand trial in New York on fraud charges, could take mon…
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The credibility of Hong Kong’s legal system is at stake because of questions raised over a 2019 drugs case that sentenced a young noodle-shop worker to 23 years in prison, says the SCMP’s Cliff Buddle. The special projects editor explains why an investigation must take place to look into the unfair conviction of the…
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned on August 16, 2021, after tendering his resignation to the country’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah. Muhyiddin stood down after 15 members of parliament from the Umno party withdrew their support from the ruling coalition government, Perikatan Nasional alli…
Canadian businessman Michael Spavor has been sentenced by a Chinese court to 11 years behind bars on espionage charges. Canadian observers criticised the ruling on August 11, 2021, as “hostage diplomacy” in retaliation for the arrest of a top Huawei executive. Spavor is one of two Canadians arrested in 2019, weeks a…
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The first person to be convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law has been sentenced to nine years in jail. Former restaurant worker Leon Tong Ying-kit was arrested for driving his motorcycle into a group of police officers in 2020 while flying a flag calling for the city’s “liberation”. The High Court senten…
Siobhan Haughey has done it again for Hong Kong. The 23-year-old has clinched silver in the 100m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics to become Hong Kong’s most successful Olympian. Her medal win on July 30, 2021, comes two days after she earned silver in the 200m freestyle. Also on Day 7, Hong Kong’s badminton duo Tang …
A 24-year-old former restaurant worker has been found guilty of secession and terrorism charges in Hong Kong's first case to be tried under the Beijing-imposed national security law. Leon Tong Ying-kit was found guilty of incitement to commit secession and terrorism on July 27, 2021. Tong had ridden his motorcycle i…
Corazon Enriquez’s 21-year-old son was shot dead by police in 2016, weeks after Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines and ordered a crackdown on drug dealers and addicts. But five years later, workers at the cemetery in the capital Manila had to exhume the remains because a lease on the gravesite expir…
The malevolent posting of personal details on digital platforms in Hong Kong must be prevented, but there is a need for balance, according to SCMP special projects editor Cliff Buddle, who says it is also time for laws that make legitimate access to information easier.
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India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has proposed a two-child policy citing “limited ecological and economic resources.” The plan to discourage couples from having more than two children was announced July 10, 2021, and is the second proposed in a state governed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Ove…
Five years since The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled China had no historic claims on the South China Sea, Philippine fishermen say they are still being harassed by Chinese coastguards in the disputed waters. The international tribunal also ruled that China had interfered with the Philippines’ traditiona…
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On June 30, 2020, mainland Chinese authorities imposed a national security law (NSL) on Hong Kong banning secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. In the year since, many opposition activists in the city have been arrested and charged under the legislation while others have …
The streets of Hong Kong were subdued on July 1, 2021, as the former British colony marked the anniversary of its handover to Chinese sovereignty 24 years ago. The date, which this year coincided with celebrations on the mainland for the 100th anniversary of China’s ruling Communist Party, is usually a time of prote…
Fiona Callanan lost a leg in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami while on holiday in Thailand. Sixteen years since that fateful day, Callanan has used that experience to overcome subsequent challenges, having since trained as a lawyer and raising a child as a single mother. The Hong Kong resident is also a TEDx speaker an…
China celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the nation’s Communist Party on July 1, 2021. President Xi Jinping, who is also party general secretary, delivered a keynote speech highlighting the ruling party’s achievements in front of more than 70,000 attendees. Senior officials who appeared alongside Xi…
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the Bund in Shanghai on June 30, 2021, to watch a light show marking 100 years since the founding of China’s ruling Communist Party.
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As the birthplace of China’s ruling Communist Party, the city of Shanghai is home to many sites that are important for its history. As the party prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding on July 23, 1921, the city has started a huge public relations push that includes special tours and exhibitions.
China’s swimming superstar, Sun Yang, will still miss the Tokyo Olympic Games in July and August, 2021, despite a shortened doping ban. Sun was banned from the sport after an incident in 2018 where he and members of his entourage were found to have deliberately broken vials of Sun’s blood samples taken by doping ins…
An Indian aviation firm has carried out initial tests of long-range drones for use in delivering medicines including Covid-19 vaccines to hard-to-reach areas. Throttle Aerospace Systems conducted the test flights on June 21, 2021, in India's southwestern state of Karnataka. The company has secured government permits…
A court hearing for two executives of Hong Kong’s tabloid Apple Daily charged under the city's national security law drew crowded outside West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on June 19, 2021. On June 17, police raided the homes of the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Ryan Law Wai-kwong, and four others, including publisher…
Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi went on trial on June 14, 2021, as the first witnesses took the stand to testify in cases against her, including on charges of illegal possession of walkie-talkie radios and for breaking coronavirus protocols. Min Min Soe, a member of Suu Kyi's legal team, said she appeared s…
China officially passed an anti-sanctions law on June 10, 2021, at a closing session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. While the details of the law are yet to be revealed, the new legislation is expected to provide a legal basis for Beijing to counter foreign sanctions. The US has already slapped…
