South China Morning Post
Historian on Trump’s new world order, Ukraine war and a Europe in crisis
Day: February 4, 2026
Could China’s first hybrid transport drone prove a ‘game changer’ in Taiwan Strait?
Beijing’s new hybrid-powered unmanned transport aircraft has completed its maiden flight, a development one analyst said could be a military “game changer” in the Taiwan Strait by helping supply elite frontline troops. On Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV described the CH YH-1000S as “the world’s first hybrid-powered unmanned transport aircraft” and said it had completed its maiden flight on Sunday at an airport in the southwestern city of Chongqing. “[The drone] carried a high-powered hybrid power train jointly developed with a leading new energy vehicle company, significantly shortening take-off and landing…
US launches plan to tackle China’s critical minerals dominance
The event was attended by representatives of more than 50 countries, the White House said. BBC
Brazil scraps EV tariff break for China carmaker BYD amid pressure from rivals
Brazil has ended a temporary tariff exemption that allowed electric and hybrid vehicles assembled using imported parts from China to enter the country at sharply reduced costs, closing a measure that fuelled months of confrontation between the government, Chinese carmaker BYD and Brazil’s established automotive industry. The exemption expired on January 31 and was not renewed, the South China Morning Post confirmed with multiple sources on Wednesday. Companies like BYD and Great Wall Motors will once again have to pay import taxes on vehicle kits brought from abroad for assembly…
China slams EU probe into wind turbine maker Goldwind as ‘discriminatory’
China has criticised the European Commission’s anti-subsidy probe into Chinese wind turbine maker Goldwind Science & Technology as “targeted” and “discriminatory”, warning that such measures would undermine Chinese companies’ confidence in the European market and disrupt the bloc’s green transition. “The European side’s related investigations have generalised the concept of ‘foreign subsidies’ and have many problems, such as insufficient evidence for opening cases and a lack of procedural transparency,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is a typical case of practising protectionism in the name…
Leapmotor: China’s no-frills EV maker aiming to become the next BYD
Even as China’s BYD moved ahead of Elon Musk’s Tesla in the world’s EV race in 2025, a less known local rival has been in the rear-view mirror. Leapmotor has produced no-frills, low-cost EVs that have proved a hit with many Chinese consumers. Leveraging its experience from manufacturing security cameras and walkie-talkies, the carmaker has notched sales of nearly 600,000 plug-in hybrids and pure battery EVs last year, double its sales of 2024 and four times that of 2023. Regarded by some industry experts as the next BYD, Leapmotor is…
Nato member Turkey reaffirms Brics ambitions amid transatlantic rifts
Turkey remains committed to becoming a full member of the Brics bloc, positioning itself as a bridge between Asia and Europe despite widening transatlantic rifts, according to the new Turkish ambassador to China. Ankara, meanwhile, would continue to work with Beijing to deepen trade ties, promote high-level visits, expand cultural and academic exchanges and build political trust through dialogue on security, counterterrorism and other sensitive issues, the envoy told the South China Morning Post. In an interview on January 24 during his first trip to Hong Kong, Selcuk Unal described…
The future of globalisation? Less economic dependency on China, Canada’s Freeland hopes
Countries having cautious reliance on China while maintaining constructive engagement is essential to the future of globalisation in a world where trade is increasingly used as a weapon, according to Canada’s former deputy prime minister. “In a world where the weaponisation of trade is real, we need to be thoughtful about where we’re building economic dependencies,” Chrystia Freeland told the Peterson Institute for International Economics during a discussion about the securitisation of trade and the future of globalisation on Wednesday. Freeland endorsed European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s 2023…
Green energy sector drove more than 90% of China’s investment growth last year, analysis finds
China’s clean energy industries drove more than 90% of the country’s investment growth last year, making the sectors bigger than all but seven of the world’s economies, a new analysis has shown. For the second time in three years, the report showed the manufacture, installation and export of batteries, electric cars, solar, wind and related technologies accounted for more than a third of China’s economic growth. Despite the chilling effect of Donald Trump’s tariffs and support for fossil fuels, the new data highlighted the continuing momentum behind the shift towards…
Trump Says His Unpredictable Style Gives Him Leverage. But It Has a Cost.
President Trump, who considers himself a master deal maker, has never made any secret of his belief that the secret to winning at negotiation is to keep the other side off balance. But a year into his second term, his act is starting to wear on both allies and adversaries, some of whom are starting to view him as so mercurial and unreliable that they appear willing to consider waiting him out or turning away from him rather than enduring the abrupt starts, stops and humiliations that can accompany engaging…