Worldcrunch
-OpEd- HONG KONG — Lately there have been snarky voices and Internet taunting directed at Hong Kong. This mostly comes from Chinese mainlanders declaring that Hong Kong’s economy is doddering and unprogressive, and that from both an entrepreneurial and infrastructure point of view, it is lagging behind the world and mainland China. Other critics say […]
CHINA BLAMED FOR U.S. DATA BREACH Chinese hackers recruited by their government are being accused of breaching the computer system of the federal Office of Personnel Management in December, The Washington Post reports. The personal data of as many as four million federal employees, including their banking records and credit card information, has been affected. […]
Hong Kong’s umbrella protesters have all but conceded defeat, and China is taking a victory lap. The showdown offers a glimpse of Beijing’s new use of smart power, and its deeper weaknesses.
HONG KONG — A journalist from mainland China asked me recently whether the current unrest in Hong Kong is perhaps because residents there “are losing their confidence.” The question took me by surprise. I’ve heard people in Hong Kong complain and criticize a lot, particularly with regards to Chinese mainlanders, but I never thought these […]
Chinese and German leaders met last week to further extend economic ties. Yet in the shadow of Hong Kong, issues like espionage, democracy and competition make for a fragile relationship.
BEIJING — While the clouds of the student protests are still casting a shadow over Hong Kong, the impact of the “Occupy Central” movement on the city’s middle- and long-term prospects is particularly concerning. A forecast from the University of Hong Kong predicts a sharp drop in growth from the 3.4% predicted earlier to 2.2% […]
While newspapers have been heavily censored, real discussion is taking place on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, and other online forums. But even there, someone is keeping watch.
Could the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong spread to the mainland? The choices taken by the Chinese Communist Party could have long-term implications.
HONG KONG — Pro-democracy protesters took to the streets over the weekend in Hong Kong, flooding downtown around Admiralty, the government complex. Occupy Central activits rallied against the government’s plan to limit electoral changes. The city’s authorities had promised Hong Kong residents they would be allowed to choose their own leader by 2017, but the […]
HONG KONG — Harvard University received the largest financial gift in its history earlier this month when the Morningside Foundation, founded by brothers and Hong Kong developers Ronnie and Gerald Chan, donated $350 million to its School of Public Health. “It could be asking for trouble to do good deeds in mainland China,” 65-year-old Ronnie […]
This hole in Repulse Bay hotel in Hong Kong is not merely the result of an architect’s whim. In accordance with the “invisible forces” of feng shui, many high-rises and hotels feature such “windows,” to let air flow naturally through the city. In this case, we were told by locals that the hole also allowed […]
Chinese tourists flood in, leaving behind filth and stretching public resources. And that’s just scratching the surface. A Hong Kong writer dissects growing tension between two cultures.
A new study says some 90 percent of investments by China’s businesses in American operations don’t succeed. Chinese experts explain.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 APEC SUMMIT ENDS WITH CHINESE FREE-TRADE PROGRESSAfter two days of meetings at the Beijing-hosted Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, leaders of the 21 regional economies agreed to begin work toward possible adoption of a free-trade pact proposed by China, AP reports. A two-year study of the initiative will be launched with the […]
HONG KONG — While migrating to Hong Kong has become trendy for certain Chinese middle-class families, a wavelet of Hong Kong’s own middle class seems to be moving off the wealthy island. According to data from Hong Kong’s Security Bureau, some 3,900 people emigrated in the first half of this year. Though this is still […]
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 ISIS SHOWS OFF CAPTURED U.S. WEAPONS ISIS fighters released a video in which they appear to be in possession of at least one cache of weapons dropped two days ago by U.S. military aircraft and intended to supply Kurdish fighters battling against the terrorist group in the Syrian border town of […]
Monday, October 13, 2014 TURKEY AGREES TO SHARE BASES Turkey has agreed to allow the U.S.-led coalition to use its military bases as part of the campaign to fight the ISIS terrorist group, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice told NBC in an interview Sunday. Rice said the White House welcomed this “new commitment,” as […]
AUSTRALIA APPROVES ANTI-ISIS STRIKESAustralia has become the latest country to join the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s cabinet approved Iraq strikes against the group, the BBC reports. The Turkish parliament also voted yesterday to send troops to Iraq and Syria, and to allow foreign forces to use its territory for operations. But […]
TURKEY EXPECTED TO JOIN ANTI-ISIS COALITIONToday could see the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition expand, as the Turkish Parliament is expected to vote on whether to send Turkish troops into Iraq and Syria to fight against the terrorists and whether to allow foreign troops to use Turkish military bases, newspaper Today’s Zaman reports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip […]
ISIS CLOSING ON BAGHDADISIS fighters are close to entering the Iraqi capital of Baghdad despite U.S. airstrikes in the area, with the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East saying that they are “less than two kilometers away,” The Independent reports. The newspaper also notes that ISIS and the al-Nusra front are working […]
WILL UK JOIN ANTI-ISIS COALITION?All eyes will be on Westminster today, where the House of Commons will vote on what the British media are calling the “third Iraq war.” Members are expected to support the the anti-ISIS coalition with strikes in Iraq, though Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said these might be extended to Syria in […]
Plans include a modern art museum double the size of London’s Tate Modern, the world’s most visited museum.
Since the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal, little has changed in the Chinese dairy industry. Interest groups and nationalism are to blame.
In spite of the economic growth and rising living standards in many Asian countries, the status of women has strangely stagnated, and even regressed. If women’s status is only measured by remuneration, Asia surely wouldn’t be the only place where there is a marked disparity between the sexes. For instance, according to the United States […]
THE STANDARD, SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (Hong Kong) Worldcrunch HONG KONG– A five-story-high rubber duck floated into Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour on Thursday morning. Maybe you’ve seen this before. Maybe not. Maybe you’re really not amused? Well this particular duck happens to be a piece of conceptual art from Dutch sculptor Florentijn Hofman; and the […]
SOUTHERN PEOPLE WEEKLY (China), MING PAO (Hong Kong) Worldcrunch HONG KONG – Martial arts star, Jackie Chan, has kicked up a fuss this week when suggesting that Hong Kong authorities should crackdown on the nation’s burgeoning protest movement. Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, told China’s Southern People Weekly: “Hong Kong has become a […]
MING PAO, THE STANDARD (Hong Kong), LIBERTY TIMES (Taiwan), EPOCH TIMES (USA) Worldcrunch HONG KONG – Is Hong Kong nostalgic for British colonial times? Hundreds of people turned up in front of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong earlier this week to mark China’s National Day. They were waving red-white-and-blue […]
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, THE STANDARD (Hong Kong), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch HONG KONG – A large-scale rescue search is still looking for potential survivors after two ferries collided southwest of Hong Kong on Monday night, leaving at least 36 people dead, Hong Kong’s The Standard reports. “All of Hong Kong’s emergency forces are focused […]
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (Hong Kong), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s pan-democracy wing has failed to capitalize on the growing anti-Chinese sentiment, after a disappointing outcome in the legislative council elections. Albert Ho, the leader of Hong Kong“s biggest pro-democracy party has announced he will step down as chairman after his party […]
HONG KONG – This is the second improvised camp to appear in Hong Kong’s business district. As the last remaining diehards continue to occupy the atrium of the HSBC tower, school kids, students, parents and teachers have set up their own tents and mats outside the parliament buildings at the Tamar site, on Hong Kong’s […]
HONG KONG STANDARD (Hong Kong), BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), ASSOCIATED PRESS (U.S.) Worldcrunch HONG KONG – A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the eviction of the protesters camped around the HSCB headquarters in the center of the city, reports the Hong Kong Standard. Protesters have until August 27 to leave the area […]