South China Morning Post

Philippine senators have called for an investigation into the security implications of China’s part ownership of the national energy grid, after officials said engineers in Beijing could plunge the entire country into darkness with the flick of a switch.

The State Grid Corporation of China, China’s largest utility company, holds a 40% stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), a private consortium in charge of running the country’s power grid. 

Opposition Liberal Party…

Having worked for a newspaper in mainland China, Fang Kecheng is no stranger to how Beijing maintains its grip on news and information. Still, the former journalist was perturbed by the online abuse he received after broaching Hong Kong politics. 

Seizing on his posts on Facebook and Weibo, Fang’s detractors have accused him of betraying China after he shared stories about the unrest in Hong Kong. 

Fang said he has been bombarded with thousands of abusive messages. He quoted one as saying: …

Hong Kong leaders who claim not to know what is behind the violence strafing the streets need only look in the mirror. Their arrogance, self-entitlement and ignorance are the ultimate cause.

But they are not alone, as we are seeing with their counterparts in the West, the United States’ Donald Trump, Britain’s Boris Johnson and Australia’s  Scott Morrison among them.

Whatever the protesters’ demands, at the root is a struggle between baby boomers on one side and millennials and Generation Z…

Sun Hang, a 19-year-old first-year student from eastern China’s Zhejiang province, decided to study in the United States at George Washington University despite his concern about growing US-China tensions and the US government’s increasingly restrictive visa policy.

“It will allow me to have a good resume, get a good job in China and enjoy myself,” said Sun, a history major dressed in a long black coat against the cold. 

“US education is much better” than that in Australia or England, partly…

Zhai Yiping clearly broke the law. But is what he did wrong?

The question has been raised as part of a discussion of China’s health care system after Zhai was punished for selling foreign drugs to cancer patients in a country where those medications are unavailable or expensive.

After being diagnosed with liver cancer in 2014, Zhai devoured news of the latest cancer drugs released around the world. In 2016, he found two new overseas medicines that were more effective than similar medications…

Beijing has stationed troops in Hong Kong since 1997, after China regained control of the former British colony, but they are rarely seen outside of their barracks.

But in their second high-profile appearance on the streets of Hong Kong in 22 years, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers streamed out of their camps on Saturday to remove roadblocks set up by anti-government protesters.

While not military in nature, the exercise served as a gentle warning to activists in the highly autonomous…

One of the most delightful modern discoveries is the realization that dinosaurs still roam our planet. We just call them birds. 

For every adult who was once a dinosaur-obsessed 8-year-old kid, we can thank Professor Xu Xing, a Chinese paleontologist and one of the world’s most prolific dinosaur hunters. 

He is on a mission to broaden our mental images of dinosaurs and improve the popularity of all dinosaurs -- not just the famous species. 

“If you ask kids about their favorite dinosaurs,…

Hundreds of protesters and police officers remained locked in a stand-off at a Hong Kong university on Monday afternoon, with many fearing a bloody showdown. 

Protesters, some of whom are minors, have occupied the Polytechnic University as part of efforts to pressure the government to address their demands, including an independent investigation into police conduct and democratic reforms.

But both sides are unwilling to yield, creating concern among the general population that the conclusion…

Visitors and staff trying to enter a university in Hong Kong that was the site of a fiery battle between protesters and police this week have encountered a makeshift checkpoint.

Protesters wearing black who guard the booth – made of bamboo sticks, umbrellas and a door from a trashed car – have roughly searched through any visitor belongings and questioned the purpose of their visit to the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in Sha Tin.

A plank at the checkpoint has the words “CU arrival”…

Someday, perhaps soon, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump will sign an agreement resolving the US-China trade war. But the trade dispute has exposed more fundamental cleavages between China and the community of democratic nations.

The most important clashes between China and the West concern not soybean exports nor the protection of patents, but free expression and open inquiry. Nowhere are those clashes taking place more vigorously than on university campuses.

Consider the case of Nathan Law, the…