Chinese central bank to employ 3-part AI strategy, says governor
Beijing has appointed veteran propaganda official Mo Gaoyi as Communist Party secretary of Yunnan province in its latest leadership reshuffle, making him a rare example this year of a provincial head with minimal local governance experience. An analyst said that the move could reflect Beijing’s efforts to broaden the talent selection criteria for some senior roles, allowing specialists to take on important generalist positions. Mo – director of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and a...
Manila sent two strikingly different messages to Beijing on October 13. At the Malacanang Palace, a presidential spokeswoman reaffirmed Manila’s commitment to sustaining diplomatic and economic ties with China, saying “China needs the Philippines, and the Philippines needs China”. That same day, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr rejected a call for military-to-military communication with China, a move that received public support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Teodoro...
An American student considering studying in China attended a briefing with a senior FBI official at a Washington think tank last month to address her concerns about whether such an experience could jeopardise her prospects for a career in the federal government. The official’s message: travelling to China would not automatically disqualify her. She welcomed the clarification but said she wasn’t “completely reassured”. “I’m still wondering if it’s a good idea to go,” said the student, who...
Fresh-graduate job postings in Hong Kong fell 22 per cent in the first nine months of this year from the same period in 2025, according to data from one of the city’s biggest job-search platforms, with an industry leader warning that advances in technology will deepen the decline. Its data also showed more graduates chasing fewer jobs: a typical listing for graduates drew 56 per cent more applications than a year earlier. Yet about 85 per cent of the 298 companies Jobsdb surveyed in August and...
Lithium deposits formed by ancient volcanic activity may lie beneath parts of China’s battery manufacturing heartland, particularly along the southeastern coast, according to a new study. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, geologist Duan Zheng said that “potential targets for clay-type lithium deposits in southeastern China overlap with lithium battery industrial clusters in East and South China”. “Local supplies could significantly reduce transport costs and supply-chain risks,”...
Eswatini probably does not register on most people’s mental maps. Its relatively recent name might sound unfamiliar as many people still know it as Swaziland. That it demands attention from pundits like yours truly has much to do with it being the only African country that still formally recognises Taiwan. It is also the continent’s only absolute monarchy. The two facts are closely connected. Recognising Taipei makes little sense when every one of eSwatini’s neighbours recognises Beijing, but it...
Alibaba has won a preliminary court order blocking a US restriction that drove away its Washington lobbyists, after a federal judge found the Chinese technology giant was likely to succeed in challenging the measure on free-speech grounds. US District Judge Eumi K. Lee ruled on Monday that the government had failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify the restriction, which effectively forces lobbying firms to choose between representing Alibaba and clients seeking Pentagon...
The 2027 US defence bill, covering more than US$1 trillion in proposed defence spending, will be one of the most closely watched pieces of legislation when Congress returns after the midterm elections, with efforts to counter China running through nearly every corner of the text. The US House of Representatives passed its version of the bill, known as the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), in July. The bill faces a tougher path in the US Senate, where a July procedural vote to begin...
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended Washington’s oil agreement in Venezuela as an alternative to Chinese and Russian involvement, pushing back against criticism from opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Rubio said most of the oilfields controlled by the company partnering with Washington had previously been held or operated by Chinese or Russian firms. He argued that the agreement would help revive production while securing US access to reserves in...
At Texas’ dusty Concordia Cemetery, grass grows over graves in a 140-year-old Chinese burial ground. Some headstones have been stolen or vandalised; others have been marked by flat concrete slabs etched with names in Chinese and English. The slabs were harder to steal than traditional headstones. Still other graves have no visible markers. “I don’t think many people go out there,” says Linda Chew, a retired judge in El Paso, the state’s sixth-largest city. Yet interest in the history of the...
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s re-election marks a turning point for Latin America and US-Latin American relations, said Chile’s former top envoy to China, who predicted a slowing of Washington’s regional push. “I do think the re-election of President Lula marks a major turning point in Latin America and in US-Latin American relations, while also having a broader significance for the Global South,” said Jorge Heine, who served as Chile’s ambassador to China from 2014 to 2017 and...
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has begun his state visit to China in the eastern province of Anhui, spotlighting a growing trend among visiting foreign leaders to look well beyond Beijing. Steinmeier arrived in the provincial capital Hefei early on Tuesday to begin a five-day state visit, marking his first trip to China in nearly eight years and confirming an exclusive report by the South China Morning Post earlier this month. When foreign dignitaries bypass Beijing for provincial...
