Day: November 1, 2025

There’s a new gold rush in Southeast Asia, but the prize is not quite so shiny – think green and spiky. Advertisement A retired police chief is chasing it. Someone else just built a flashy new house with the income earned from it. Cashew and coffee plantations are being flattened to make space. Sorting and processing sheds dot the roadsides. To get a closer look, take a road trip with Huynh Kuan Thu, a 55-year-old government worker in Ho Chi Minh City. Every two to three weeks he gets into…

Much to the relief of markets, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping finally met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. The friendly meeting indicates both sides prefer a mode of “controlled” confrontation. Advertisement The bilateral relationship remains confrontational, nonetheless. Some give and take on trade certainly helps to de-escalate tensions, but China has no illusions about the US’ fundamental hostility. Trump prides himself on his ability to end conflicts by coercion, but the US no longer calls the shots everywhere all…

Alibaba Group Holding on Friday unveiled a 2 billion yuan (US$281 million) investment as part of a programme that will see a network of Taobao-branded convenience stores across China support the operations of the firm’s instant commerce and on-demand delivery business. Advertisement Rather than establishing Taobao Shangou’s own bricks-and-mortar shops, the programme would primarily provide existing convenience stores with a tech facelift, leveraging Alibaba’s digital infrastructure, according to Hu Qiugen, the instant commerce unit’s general manager. Alibaba owns the Post. Under the programme, the operators of partner convenience stores would…

Since the Nobel Prize began recognising exceptional achievements in science, literature and peace in 1901, only five scientists from Europe and the United States have been double recipients of this prestigious award. Advertisement Could a Chinese scientist have joined their ranks? Yang’s long-time friend Chen Fong-ching, an honorary professor at the physics department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that since the 1980s, many scientists had suggested that Yang deserved a second Nobel. Advertisement Yang and Lee made history in 1957 as the first Chinese-born scientists to be…

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) as a practical tool is far outweighed by overinflated hype around it. The trending topic of AI is being driven by pundits with seemingly minute-by-minute hot takes, advice and products to sell. Advertisement However, as the AI bandwagon picks up pace, there is an urgent need for a more thoughtful, independent conversation about preparing for a new reality. The Microsoft/LinkedIn 2024 Annual Work Trend Index trumpets aggressive conclusions such as “Employees want AI at work and won’t wait for companies to catch up”. However,…

US President Donald Trump’s call to “immediately” resume testing of nuclear weapons, citing Beijing and Moscow’s rapid nuclear build-up, could drive China to “accelerate” its own efforts to develop its strategic forces, according to analysts. Advertisement On Thursday, Trump posted on social media that he had instructed the Pentagon to start testing US nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with Russia and China because of “other countries’ testing programmes”. “That process will begin immediately,” Trump said in a post published just a few minutes before his meeting with Chinese President…

China’s decision to host next year’s Apec summit in the innovation hub of Shenzhen reflects Beijing’s “resolve to uphold openness”, according to analysts. Advertisement Highlighting the southern city’s spectacular growth over the past few decades, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the decision at the end of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday. “Located on the Pacific coast and adjacent to Hong Kong, Shenzhen has transformed from a backward fishing village into a modern international metropolis in just a few decades,” Xi said. ‘We…

Rare earths will remain an “important card” for China in its relations with the United States, despite the Group of Seven’s commitment to challenge Beijing’s dominance of the critical minerals, according to a Chinese observer. Advertisement At a meeting in the Canadian city of Toronto on Friday, G7 energy ministers agreed to establish a critical minerals production alliance. The plans include more than two dozen new investments, partnerships and measures to accelerate and unlock C$6.4 billion (US$4.57 billion) in critical mineral projects, according to the government department Natural Resources Canada.…

A cutting-edge radio telescope built through a long-term partnership between China and Argentina was due to begin peering into the heavens in a few months, but the project is instead staring at lengthy delays – mired in political friction between Beijing and Washington. Advertisement Perched at the top of a mountain, the China-Argentina Radio Telescope (CART) has been described as a celestial “lighthouse” for Earth’s southern sky. Once operational, the largest single dish telescope in Latin America is expected to reveal new insights about stellar formations, objects such as pulsars…

The European Union welcomed China’s suspension of expanded rare earth restrictions imposed last month, even as crisis talks in Brussels on Friday appeared to yield no relief for European firms still constrained by the original export controls. Advertisement After a full day of talks in the Belgian capital, the European Commission described the pause in controls – announced following US-China talks in South Korea on Thursday – as an “appropriate and responsible step in the context of ensuring stable global trade flows in a critically important area”. Commission spokesman Olof…