South China Morning Post

China’s top-rated TV series of the summer has made a leading man out of chiseled actor Li Xian.

The 27-year-old starred as professional video gamer Han Shangyan in the 41-part smash hit romantic drama Go Go Squid! opposite established actress Yang Zi. The title of the show refers to the online handle of Yang’s character, a social media influencer.

Li has been the talk of the town this summer. Since airing in July, the series has been streamed more than 9.6 billion times, making it China’s…

China got closer to being able to land a rocket after it successfully tested the use of SpaceX-style grid fins to steer a spent booster to a target site late last month.

The technology could help China develop reusable rockets like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and drive down launch costs as the country has ramped up its space program. 

Grid fins are aerodynamic control surfaces that are folded during launch but deployed in flight to control a rocket’s re-entry.

China on July 26 launched a Long March…

China’s top-rated TV series is in hot water after showing a map that doesn’t depict Taiwan as part of China.

The show, Go Go Squid!, is a light-hearted romantic drama about the relationship between a social media influencer and a professional gamer. The title of the show refers to the female lead’s online nickname.

Since airing last month, the series has been streamed more than 9.6 billion times, making it China’s most-watched TV program in July, according to Maoyan, a movie and TV rating…

The number of registered voters in Hong Kong between the ages of 18 and 35 has jumped more than 12% from last year.

More of these young people, the faces of the recent anti-government protests, became new voters than any other age group. 

The demonstrations that began in June opposing a contentious bill to allow extraditions to mainland China have exposed widespread concerns about eroding autonomy and freedoms.

The new voters could help weaken Beijing’s political influence in Hong Kong in…

When President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports last year, the move was supposed to bring jobs back to the US. That hasn’t happened.

US manufacturers in China are indeed packing up and heading elsewhere as trade tension continues to rise. Trump has just announced new tariffs to take effect on September 1.

Companies including Nike, Crocs, Roomba and GoPro are now producing most of their products outside China, having set up operations in Vietnam, India,…

As someone who calls Guangzhou home, I have for years sympathized with Hong Kong protesters’ pursuit of freedom and democracy, and shared their frustration with the authorities’ encroachment on political freedom in the territory.

Over the past few weeks, however, I have grown increasingly concerned about the apparent radicalization of the movement.

Last week, a video of young demonstrators jostling and swearing at an elderly man who arrived at the airport went viral.

There were conflicting…

Beijing has flexed its military muscles in Hong Kong by dropping a video showing off the firepower of Chinese troops based in the city. 

The three-minute video, with both Chinese and English subtitles, is trending online and widely interpreted as a warning to anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. 

The video was published on Wednesday on both Chinese and international social media. Here are three key messages from it. 

1. Chinese troops are trained in stopping riots

Much attention has…

China wants broadcasters across the country to keep “overly entertaining” TV shows off the air around a key anniversary of the country’s founding.

From August to the end of October, broadcasters are ordered to not air period dramas or shows starring youth idols, and instead air patriotic programs as part of events marking the People’s Republic’s 70th anniversary.

Since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, the Communist Party has tightened its grip on many sectors of society, including…

China’s carbon emissions could peak as soon as 2021, years earlier than the deadline it agreed to under the Paris climate accord, according to a new study.

As the world’s most populous country and second-largest economy, China emits more carbon dioxide than any other nation.

Under the Paris accord to keep global warming to 2℃ or less by the end of the century, China has pledged that its CO2 emissions would stop rising by 2030. 

But a study published in Nature Sustainability on July 29…

The elderly Chinese immigrant came to the office of Vancouver lawyer Trevor Todd, a long-time neighbor, with plans to write his will.

He brought with him his wife of 35 years – and the intention to disinherit her and their daughter, and instead leave the entire family fortune to the couple’s adult son.

“I told him ‘forget it’,” said Todd last week, of the encounter 15 years ago. 

Todd’s neighbor was hardly an outlier. Lawyers say sex-based disinheritance of Asian women is common in Canada,…