Hong Kong doubles down on Covid restrictions to fall into line with mainland China

It used to be an international business centre, the bustling, vibrant commercial gateway to China and the rest of Asia. But after weeks of lobbying by Hong Kong’s global business community for the government to ease border restrictions and harsh mandatory quarantine to bring it into line with other trading hubs, the authorities have instead responded with even tougher measures. At her regular press conference on Tuesday, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, announced most exemptions from the city’s mandatory and self-funded quarantine periods of up to 21 days will…

China’s Weapon Tests Close to a ‘Sputnik Moment,’ U.S. General Says

General Milley’s reference to a near-Sputnik moment was meant to resonate with a generation that remembers a long-ago Cold War. Sputnik was the launch, in 1957, of a Soviet satellite. It created fear in Washington that the Soviets were getting ahead in the space race, and led to President John F. Kennedy’s declaration that the United States would be the first to land humans on the moon, an accomplishment that was reached in less than a decade. But it also helped spur the nuclear arms race, which was only tamped…

Chinese Overfishing Highlights Environmental Crisis in the Taiwan Strait

Advertisement Recent reports about barrages of Chinese squid-fishing boats in the Taiwan Strait have once again brought attention to the environmental impact of overfishing. However, teeming trawlers armed with green LED lights only represent the tip of the iceberg in terms of environmental challenges for Taiwan’s offshore islands, as the small island communities fall victim to China’s unfettered approach toward development and natural resource extraction. As environmental damage from China continues to spill over maritime borders – ranging from illegal fishing boats, to sand-mining dredgers, to marine debris – Taiwan’s…

How BRI Debt Puts China at Risk

Advertisement China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has once again become a lightning rod for criticism following AidData’s newly released report, which found China’s overseas lending was worth $843 billion, including $385 billion of “un- and under-reported debt.” Media headlines seized on BRI’s “hidden debt” and news articles evoked the “debt trap diplomacy” slogan that political pundits and the Trump administration popularized in commentary critical of BRI. Whether Beijing seeks to use debt as a tool to expand its influence and leverage over other countries remains under debate. However, what…

China amends Anti-Monopoly Law for the first time amid tech crackdown, increasing penalties and regulatory control

The national flag flies outside the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) office building on Beijing’s Financial Street on December 18, 2019. A new amendment to the country’s Anti-Monopoly Law, expected to go into effect next year, could have Big Tech companies facing much higher penalties for abusing market power or failing to disclose mergers. Photo: SCMP/Simon Song South China Morning Post

China will honour its climate pledges – look at the changes we have already made | Zheng Zeguang

In the run-up to the climate conference in Glasgow, there are suggestions that without real participation and greater contribution from China, neither the conference nor the global response to climate change will get anywhere. The unstated worry is this: will China honour its pledges to reduce emissions? This anxiety is unnecessary. Anyone who knows China well is sure that my country is serious about reducing carbon emissions and pursuing green development, and that we mean what we say. In China, it is already a national consensus that “lucid waters and…