South China Morning Post

China has long been aware of the need to develop a strong semiconductor industry of its own. The recent trade war with the US, which threatens to cut off critical access to US components for national tech champions, has added extra urgency.

What many people might not be aware of is that China was close to the US in the 1960s when it came to early semiconductor technology – so close that it had a fighting chance of leading the industry.

However, a combination of political upheaval and…

Eileen Gu, a Chinese-American freestyle ski champion who competes for China, is bringing home her first major international win. 

On Wednesday, Gu won first place in freeski halfpipe at the Winter Games New Zealand, one of the top five winter sports festivals in the world, according to RAD Season, an online action sports events curator. 

Chinese fans are celebrating Gu’s win. They see her success and her recent decision to represent China as evidence of the country’s growing sporting clout.

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Hong Kong police are buying new anti-riot protective gear from a Chinese manufacturer, which has also supplied law enforcement units in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. 

Senior superintendent Kong Wing-chueng from the police public relations branch confirmed on Tuesday that the force had bought new protective suits. Sources said 500 sets of the suits had been purchased from a mainland company. 

Kong said the purchase was made after protests in Hong Kong turned increasingly violent in…

August and September are usually busy months for clothing trader Michael Hui Wah-kit, whose international clients arrive in Hong Kong for fashion shows and trade events.

Buyers from Australia and Europe come to him for the latest casual wear produced by his suppliers on the Chinese mainland and in Southeast Asia.

This year, two long-time clients decided not to come, put off by the ongoing anti-government protests in Hong Kong. They might go online and order directly from the manufacturers.

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Ever since Jeremy Lin became a global sensation known as “Linsanity” in 2012, basketball fans in China have enthusiastically tracked this trailblazing Asian-American sports star’s every move. 

Now, their dreams of having their idol play in their national league have come true.

The former NBA champion announced on Tuesday that he had signed with the Beijing Ducks, a three-time championship team in the Chinese Basketball Association, or the CBA, China’s top league. 

Lin thanked his NBA fans on…

President Donald Trump’s escalation of the trade war with China could soon be about to hit him where it hurts, with large quantities of materials for his 2020 presidential campaign set to be affected by import tariffs.

Workers at Fuyang Jiahao, a small factory in Fuyang city about 400 miles north of the megacity of Shanghai, are busy producing flags with slogans including “Trump 2020” and “Keep America Great.”

But with national flags and other articles made from textiles set to be subject to…

So many bargain-hunting customers flocked to Costco’s first store in China that it was forced to close early due to safety concerns.

The new Costco branch in Shanghai became packed with shoppers pushing their carts soon after the store opened at 8.30am on Tuesday. Even the roads leading to the suburban location was jammed by customers’ cars.

The crowd eventually forced Costco to announce an early closure after 1pm, according to a notice on Costco’s Chinese app. 

In a Weibo post in the…

As more Chinese-Americans find themselves targeted in the increasingly bitter stand-off between Beijing and Washington, legislators, community groups and legal experts are pushing back in hopes of sending a message that enough is enough.

Prime objects of their frustration are the US government’s justice and intelligence communities, which have investigated and filed a slew of cases against scientists of Chinese origin on industrial espionage, theft of trade secrets and other charges.

Chinese…

At the Purple Garden Hotel in downtown Taipei, there is little sign that it had once hosted Chan Tong-kai, the Hong Kong student who confessed to killing his pregnant girlfriend in February last year.

It was a gruesome murder that, unpredictably, helped to plunge Hong Kong into its worst political crisis since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and has spilled over into Taiwan’s elections next year.

These days, workers at the hotel are reluctant to discuss the case…

For American audiences, the Netflix documentary American Factory reveals the life of US workers on Chinese-owned production lines. 

But for Chinese audiences, the film serves as a reminder of the human costs behind China’s rise as a manufacturing superpower. 

The film, backed by Barack and Michelle Obama’s new production company, documents how Chinese auto-glass company Fuyao built a factory near Dayton, Ohio, where thousands of workers were laid off when General Motors closed its plant in…