Hong Kong can empower commuters by embracing e-bikes

In the global shift towards carbon-neutral mobility, a striking role reversal is taking shape on the pavements of the world’s most populous cities. While geopolitical analysts focus on the high-altitude rhetoric of the Xi-Trump summit in Beijing, a more profound urban reality is unfolding at eye level. Broadcasting live from a teeming Beijing intersection, Fox News anchor Bret Baier recently captured this fascinating counter-narrative. Away from the grandeur of diplomacy, a small revolution is… South China Morning Post

This compact Chinese device can detect cancer biomarkers in a drop of blood

A single drop of blood could soon be used to screen for early-stage cancer, according to Wen Liaoyong of Westlake University in Hangzhou. Wen’s team has compressed what was once a refrigerator-sized detection system into something that fits in your hand – and boosted accuracy to about 10,000 times that of conventional methods. The findings were published in the journal Nature Photonics on May 13. “This work establishes a scalable and robust nanophotonic biosensing paradigm for miniaturised,… South China Morning Post

Stable US-China ties? It won’t last long, says Evan Medeiros

Dr Evan Medeiros is the Penner family chair in Asia studies and the Cling family distinguished fellow in US-China studies at Georgetown University. He has served as the National Security Council’s director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, and later as special assistant to the president and senior director for Asia. Medeiros was former president Barack Obama’s top adviser on the Asia-Pacific and was previously a policy adviser to Hank Paulson when he was Treasury secretary. He has also held senior positions at Eurasia Group and the RAND Corporation. This interview…

Trump, Putin summits show an Eastward power shift

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China last week saw the signing of some 40 documents and a joint statement on strengthening the Beijing-Moscow partnership. The visit, just days after US President Donald Trump’s Beijing trip, is more than a diplomatic coincidence. It is a vivid reminder that the global order is now being shaped less by alliances than by a fluid triangle of China, the United States and Russia, with Beijing increasingly sitting at the centre. Timing is diplomacy. When President Xi Jinping receives Trump and then welcomes Putin…

Cuba receives 15,000-tonne shipment of rice donated by China

A shipment of 15,000 tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government to Cuba has arrived at the port of Havana, the island’s president said on Sunday. The shipment is the first batch of a promised 60,000 tonnes that China says it will donate to Cuba, which is grappling with dire shortages. “That noble gesture of solidarity will reach millions of consumers throughout all the provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, in addition to our health and education institutions,” President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on social media.…

Trump’s Pursuit of a Partnership With China Raises Concerns in India

Between the military honor guard, flag-waving schoolchildren and state banquet in Beijing last week, President Trump found time to lavish praise on Xi Jinping, the head of the Chinese Communist Party, calling him “a great leader” and “a friend.” The two men, Mr. Trump said, would “have a fantastic future together.” Mr. Trump flew home without stopping anywhere else in Asia. In interviews during and after the trip, he made no reassuring remarks on U.S. allies or partners in the region. He did say, however, that he would revisit arms…

China merges lunar programmes as race to moon with US heats up after latest SpaceX launch

As the race to send humans back to the moon heats up, China has been fine-tuning its plans. On Saturday – the day after the US company SpaceX successfully launched its largest and most powerful Starship – the China Manned Space Agency unveiled further details about its plans to integrate its crewed and uncrewed lunar landing programmes into a single mission. The purpose was “to fully leverage the technical foundations and practical experience accumulated over decades through crewed space programmes and the Chang’e lunar exploration missions”, agency spokesman Zhang Jingbo…

Hong Kong’s first astronaut Lai Ka-ying lifts off into space on Shenzhou-23 mission

The Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern China’s Gansu province at 11.08pm local time on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The rocket left the launchpad with a deafening blast and sent massive clouds of sand high up into the sky. Advertisement The crew included Lai Ka-ying, the Hong Kong police superintendent and tech specialist who will serve as the payload specialist. The mission will be commanded by Zhu Yangzhu, who was the flight engineer on the…