South China Morning Post

Regardless of what led to a failure to conclude a trade agreement between the US and China, the new reality is that hardliners on both sides have now gained the upper hand over those seeking to find an agreed way forward.

It means both sides now have fewer inhibitions to provoke the other on trade, and even more sensitive and dangerous subjects.

Historians will debate whether China reneged on understandings reached between the negotiators, or President Donald Trump decided it was politically…

A high school in China has decided that not everyone deserves air-conditioning.

Located in central China’s Henan province, Shangqiu No. 4 Senior High School stipulated that only two classes of seniors with exceptional grades can study in the comfort of cooled air.

The rest of the senior students are asked to suck it up. The school went as far as cutting the cord in some classes where air-conditioners were turned on without authorization, video news portal Pear video reported on Monday.

The…

The anchors of Chinese state channel CGTN and Fox will come head-to-head in a live television debate on Wednesday.

The two women, Liu Xin and Trish Regan, are both TV personalities in their home countries who regularly deliver opinions that support the Communist Party of China and the Trump administration, respectively.

The show is expected to be broadcast on Fox Business at 8pm EDT Wednesday. Liu said on Twitter that CGTN would not broadcast it live because of copyright issues.

The debate…

Singapore has overtaken the United States to become the world’s most competitive economy, according to Switzerland’s IMD Business School’s annual rankings.

It regained a spot it last claimed in 2010, an accolade that means it came up tops among the 63 economies assessed for sustainable growth, job generation and welfare for its citizens.

The US was knocked off its perch at the top, slipping to third as the confidence boost from tax cuts faded and high-technology exports weakened. The…

The first time Liu Xin traveled abroad for a speech competition in London in 1996, the college student was confused by everything the Western world had to offer.

“I was bewildered. Everything was new,” Liu told Chinese news outlet ThePaper.cn in a 2017 interview. “I felt like I was in an unreal world.”

Despite the confusion, Liu won the top prize with her flawless British English and a powerful speech advocating for women’s rights to reach their full potential. 

Two decades later, Liu is a…

It’s been a good week or so for Taiwan, where I was born. My heart burst as I watched the crowd of more than 40,000 supporters packing the streets of Taipei as they celebrated Taiwan's legalization of same-sex marriage.

But the parade that celebrated a monumental advancement in Taiwan’s history left a small feeling of discomfort within.

I had been in Taipei in early March, and attended the annual Women’s Day March, which aimed to highlight issues including gender violence, social inequality…

China’s economy is flashing worrying signs reminiscent of Japan’s economic bubble in the 1990s, said a Japanese economist.

Japan’s home prices nosedived in 1992 after a period of asset price inflation and sank the economy into a recession that lasted almost 25 years.

Naoyuku Yoshino, dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute, said China’s housing sector is looking similar to what it was like in Japan three decades ago.

As Japan did then, China in recent years has adopted a loose…

Albert Pi, in his second year of a PhD program in electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), endured an 85-day wait for his US visa while visiting family in Beijing over the winter break.

A trip meant to last only two weeks nearly turned into a permanent homecoming. The reason for the delay: “administrative processing,” a designation for visa applications undergoing additional vetting for security reasons.

Several students in science and…

In 2010, the Chinese woke up to the fact that they were producing 95% of the rare earths in the world. The metals, such as lanthanide elements and scandium, are largely used in catalytic converters, rechargeable batteries, powerful miniature magnets and for making very hard alloys used in military armored vehicles and projectiles.

They are dirty to mine and, as China is also the biggest user, they made a half-hearted attempt in that year to protect the trade by slashing exports by 40%. Others…

With a rooster in the center, surrounded by Chinese and Vietnamese writing, and the bottle topped with its iconic green squeeze cap, Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha sauce is arguably one of the most recognizable condiments in the world.

The sauce is lauded for its spicy kick, vinegary tang and garlicky aftertaste and has developed a cult following since it first tantalized tastebuds in 1980.

Heat seekers are known to add it to almost any dish – drizzling it on pizza and sushi; mixing it into bowls…