Zheng Yongnian is a political scientist in China and a government adviser. His academic work is mainly about contemporary China, particularly politics, the country’s transformation and its external relations.
This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.
Many have offered a lukewarm assessment of the Xi-Trump summit in Washington, citing the lack of a breakthrough. What is your take?
There are two primary views right now. One is...
A morning stop for breakfast before work. A coffee picked up between meetings. A grocery stop on the way home. A stop for health and beauty products. A weekend trip to choose furniture for a growing family. A rewards offer that helps make the weekly shop go further.
These are ordinary moments in Hong Kong life. Yet for DFI Retail Group, they represent the foundation of a business that has grown with the city for 140 years.
Founded in Hong Kong in 1886, DFI has evolved from a local enterprise...
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George Long does not talk like a man selling vision. The founder, chairman and chief investment officer of LIM Advisors is understated and unshowy. After three decades running an independent firm in Hong Kong, what comes through is a temperament suited to difficult Asian markets: calm, pragmatic and focused on protecting capital when conditions turn.
How the business began
Long left Barclays’ Asia Pacific asset...
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The Link Hong Kong Open 2026 is set to host the ultimate ‘Par-tee’ for golf fans from across the region during its historic 65th staging of the world-famous tournament from October 22 to 25 at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. The Jockey Club Fan Village offers non-stop entertainment right near the green next to the first tee daily from 7:00am to 6:00pm.
Inside the bustling village, visitors of all ages can enjoy...
Hong Kong police officers were attempting to force their way into a flat at a Wong Tai Sin estate on Sunday night after a woman suspected of carrying a knife and wandering in the area was traced to the home during a search.
Police received a report at about 6.50pm that a woman in her forties carrying a knife had travelled from Diamond Hill MTR station towards the nearby Plaza Hollywood shopping centre.
Officers were deployed to the scene and searched the area.
Members of the Counter Terrorism...
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Nine young construction competitors from the Construction Industry Council returned from WorldSkills Shanghai with three Medallions for Excellence, the strongest finish the CIC has recorded at the competition.
The honours went to Law Chak-sum in painting and decorating, Tse Yu-lok in welding, and the concrete construction work team of Huang To-kong and Wan Tsz-ho.
It was Hong Kong’s first WorldSkills honour in concrete...
Beijing has been urged to do more to protect its overseas interests with a call for diplomatic engagement to reshape international rules and deeper security cooperation with other countries.
As China’s expanding global footprint comes under pressure from geopolitics and restrictions from the West, a Chinese analysis posted on the Global Security Research social media account has called for a major shift in strategy.
The author was not identified, but the account regularly posts analysis and...
Losses linked to the abrupt closure of Hotstone Yoga have risen to nearly HK$8 million (US$1 million), with close to 700 reports filed by affected customers in Hong Kong, according to authorities.
The Customs and Excise Department said that as of 6pm on Sunday, it had received 694 reports relating to the yoga chain, involving service contracts worth about HK$7.8 million.
The Consumer Council said it had received 416 complaints by 5pm the same day, with claimed losses totalling HK$5.42...
More than 1,500 Hong Kong residents toured the revamped Huanggang Port border crossing on Sunday as authorities pushed ahead with preparations for its opening.
A Security Bureau spokesman said that participants took franchised buses or cross-boundary coaches from various districts to reach the crossing and were shown the new port building in groups.
“The event effectively enhanced participants’ understanding of the public transport arrangements, immigration and customs clearance and...
A range of public and private-sector Chinese buyers have acquired a total of 44 small-model Bell helicopters, often for sightseeing and corporate travel. This makes China the vendor’s second biggest market in the Asia-Pacific, with growing demand for more despite safety concerns surrounding rotary-wing aircraft, an aviation services firm said.
China lagged behind only South Korea in the total number of five-seat Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopters, according to a statement by the Hong Kong-based...
The Hong Kong Observatory has issued an amber rainstorm warning, with the signal expected to remain in place until 10pm on Sunday.
The weather forecaster issued the warning at 8.20pm.
“A few squally thunderstorms are expected to occur over Hong Kong,” a spokesman for the Observatory said.
Showers would be heavy at times in the evening.
The forecaster also warned that intense gusts reaching 70km/h (43mph) could affect the city.
It said there would be flooding in some low-lying and poorly drained...
A 60-year-old Hong Kong woman has lost more than HK$21 million (US$2.7 million) in a cryptocurrency scam after a fraudster posing as an investment expert she met online duped her.
The clerk reported the case to police on Saturday, saying she had befriended an individual claiming to be an investment specialist on “Baby Kingdom”, a popular online parenting forum and community website, on March 15 this year, a source said.
The fraudster duped her into investing on a fake cryptocurrency platform...
Hong Kong health authorities will deploy on-site staff and step up support via a dedicated hotline for patients visiting Kai Tak Hospital amid booking and transport queries as the city’s largest public hospital begins its phased opening.
From Monday, Kai Tak Hospital’s family medicine integrated centre will start operations, while specialist outpatient services and automated features in the hospital’s blood-taking services are scheduled to launch in late October.
Dr Eric Cheung Fuk-chi, cluster...
In the third instalment of a four-part Health Matters series on traditional Chinese medicine, Aidyn Fitzpatrick speaks to a Hong Kong fencer studying TCM and local practitioners to see how athletes, both elite and amateur, are using TCM alongside Western medicine for smarter injury recovery.
Fresh off helping Hong Kong clinch a bronze medal in the women’s foil team event at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, fencer Janelle Leung Ya-lei – ranked 53rd in the world – knows the fine margin between peak...
Hong Kong will begin importing hundreds of foreign domestic carers as early as the second half of 2027 under a new pilot scheme, with their pay up to 20 per cent higher than that of domestic helpers, the city’s labour minister has said.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Sunday that the carers would be equipped with both specialised elderly care skills and general domestic capabilities, and would first need to complete a 150-hour course in their home country.
“We now need...
Hong Kong’s first Legislative Council president suggested reviewing the number of seats in the city’s legislature, citing the need to use public funds properly.
Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai also said on Sunday that Hong Kong and Shenzhen authorities had discussed the development of a plot at the two cities’ border before the handover to Chinese rule in 1997, but the plan failed because of opposition within the government.
Fan made the remarks during an appearance on a radio show, in which she was asked...
When Cado Lee Ka-to carries Hong Kong’s flag into the Paloma Mizuho Stadium on Sunday, he will do so at the head of what remains of the most successful Asian Games delegation in the city’s history.
While only a handful of the 580 athletes who made up the team will attend the closing ceremony, their impact will be felt far beyond the past fortnight, although it may be in what wasn’t achieved that a lasting legacy is created.
At first glance, an overall medal count of 54, only one more than the...
At a two-day trade exhibition in Hong Kong earlier this week, Vera Nikitina, a representative of Russian confectionery producer Belyov Pastila Manufacture, was looking for new buyers – while also trying to reassure them that the company’s products were genuinely made in Russia.
The company made its first attempt to enter China in 2019, before beginning regular shipments and establishing a local office in 2022-23. Its sales grew in 2024 amid booming Chinese demand for Russian consumer goods.
That...
More than 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s eight-year-olds could be short-sighted by 2028, optometrists have predicted, citing a shrinking “hyperopic reserve” that normally helps delay nearsightedness.
The Hong Kong Association of Private Practice Optometrists released the findings on Sunday from a study of more than 3,500 pupils at eight primary schools conducted between November and May, urging parents to begin comprehensive eye checks when children turned three.
The association found that 67 per...
Despite signs that Hong Kong property prices could have bottomed out and begun rebounding in August, market sources said at least 100 secondary residential homes were sold at a loss in September, up from at least 81 the previous month.
Hong Kong’s property market dodged an immediate setback from the US Federal Reserve’s rate increase in September, and agents estimated that home prices could end the year 15 per cent higher than a year earlier. The positive trend, however, did not generally apply...
Funds raised through initial public offerings in Hong Kong more than doubled year on year to over HK$388 billion (US$49.4 billion) in the first nine months of 2026, already surpassing the total amount for the whole of last year, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.
Adding to the positive outlook, Clara Chan Ka-chai, CEO of the government-owned Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC), noted on Sunday that more than 30 of its portfolio firms were preparing to apply for Hong Kong...
A flight bound for Okinawa returned to Hong Kong airport on Sunday morning after its landing gear was suspected to have failed to fully retract after take-off.
Hong Kong Airlines said the crew of flight HX676, which departed at 8.57am, decided to return to ensure flight safety, in line with standard procedures.
“[The flight] encountered a suspected incomplete landing gear retraction issue after take-off,” the airline said.
The aircraft landed safely at 10am, with no injuries reported on board....
Future settlers on Mars would need houses, but they must either spend huge sums transporting construction materials from Earth or use enormous amounts of energy to melt Martian soil into bricks.
Scientists in Hong Kong say they have developed a quick and low-cost “living” building material made from genetically engineered yeast, gelatin and sand that can be 3D printed under conditions simulating the Martian environment.
Their study, published online last month in Chem Circularity, an...
Hong Kong should enact laws on data governance and underlying safety standards to ensure the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI), experts have said, as the government pledged to tackle disputes or crimes involving the technology’s application with tailored legislation.
They also said that legislation was needed to define liability boundaries, which could bolster business and public confidence in expanding its adoption.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in his recent policy...
Small independent bookstores tucked away in walk-up tenement buildings above neon-lit streets have long made Mong Kok a sanctuary for Hong Kong book lovers, until recently when one after another was forced to close due to economic headwinds or political uncertainty.
Defying the trend, 41-year-old bibliophile Grace Lau invested a six-figure sum to launch New Year Bookshop, a move driven by passion and lower rents that some in the community regarded as a bold gamble on the neighbourhood’s literary...
Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words.
I am writing in response to the op-ed, “3 easy wins to modernise Hong Kong’s education system” (September 4), particularly its argument that assessment must adapt to artificial intelligence.
The most useful change would not be another rule telling students whether artificial...
Malaysia is proving to be a middle ground for many Hong Kong and mainland Chinese investors looking to buy property in a country that provides the stability Singapore offers, but with competitive price points similar to those found in Thailand, according to analysts.
Data from Juwai IQI, a property portal with 7 million listings across 111 countries, showed that in the first half of 2026, Malaysia was the fourth-highest destination for inquiries received from Chinese buyers. That compared with...
Hong Kong is playing a central role as part of a broader regional hub for research breakthroughs, the head of a leading global cancer organisation has said, adding that the city’s success in reducing its smoking rate has set an example for others to follow.
Cary Adams, CEO of the Union for International Cancer Control, praised the city’s tobacco control efforts as the organisation held the World Cancer Congress in Hong Kong last month for the first time.
“We’ve all become aware globally that the...
Since July, Hong Kong has permitted dogs in approved dining premises under a tightly regulated scheme. More than 2,200 restaurants applied, with more than 980 taking part within the first month. On the surface, these are straightforward changes to the rules around where dogs are allowed. But they reflect something more significant: a changing relationship between Hong Kong and the dogs who also call it home.
Small companion breeds are familiar in urban life, while larger dogs, local mixed breeds...
There has been a common theme running through Hong Kong’s Asian Games gold medallists when it comes to talking about the pressure of being on top: Siobhan Haughey and James Christie both referred to it as a privilege, and it would not be a surprise to discover it is an entirely alien concept to Coleman Wong Chak-lam.
Before Saturday, Hong Kong had never won a medal in men’s tennis at the Games, let alone gold. Faced with making history, adding another title to the city’s growing collection and...
Despite a government cash incentive for young couples to have children, Hong Kong’s birth rate continues to fall. It is driving the ageing of a society in which one in four people is projected to be 65 or over by 2028. Unless the trend is arrested, one in three residents is projected to be 65 or over by the 2040s. One projection puts the number of elderly residents at 2.74 million by 2046.
Granted, it is not all bad news. One reason for the population ageing is increased longevity. But the fact...
When one of my seniors from medical school was pregnant during her surgical residency, she planned the exact date of her C-section so she could complete her training on time. When I asked why she didn’t consider taking maternity leave to recuperate afterwards, she said she couldn’t bring herself to lag behind her peers. “I didn’t want motherhood to slow me down,” she said.
In medicine, it is common for women to delay childbearing until after their early career years, often into their...
More than 30,000 Hong Kong fans gave Gianni Infantino their raucous verdict on his leadership of world football on Saturday, before and after watching the city team beat Cambodia 2-0 to be crowned inaugural Fifa Asean Challenge Cup champions.
Infantino, the Fifa president, was lustily booed when he delivered the trophy to the pitch alongside local football association president Pui Kwan-kay before kick-off. When he returned to present the spoils to Hong Kong, the stadium PA was raised to an...
Authorities have launched a probe into the building quality of a luxury residential development in one of Hong Kong’s most expensive neighbourhoods in the Southern district after receiving a complaint from an owner that insufficient steel bars were used during construction.
The Buildings Department said on Saturday it was “very concerned about the matter” relating to One Stanley in Stanley, but stressed that its previous inspections did not find any imminent danger.
The department said it would...
Christie’s auctioneer Rupert Banner leans forward with practised showmanship as bidding stalls on a rare Yongzheng bowl near New York’s iconic Rockefeller Centre. He pauses as if willing offers from thin air, scanning dozens of in-person buyers and phone banks connecting with China, London, Texas.
It will be a bad look if the frenzy abates for this delicate peach-decorated bowl highlighted on Christie’s glossy Chinese sale catalogue and online advertising. But bidding soon resumes with a...
Business-class flights, once largely the domain of company reps on paid trips, are becoming more popular among tourists in China who do not mind spending a bit extra for a comfortable ride from start to finish, industry insiders said.
Businesspeople once occupied 90 per cent of the spacious seats, but have lost that edge to leisure travellers who can buy their way out of economy class but not into first class, said Wong Hong, director general of the 18-member Association of Asia Pacific...
Hong Kong public universities will raise undergraduate tuition fees for non-local students studying general courses by up to 26 per cent in the 2027-28 academic year, marking the sharpest increase in recent years as institutions adjust to an expanded quota.
Non-local students admitted to the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) medicine and dentistry programmes will face the steepest jump, with annual tuition rising by 137 per cent to HK$590,000 (US$75,187) to recover the high costs of clinical...
As global adoption of the open-source RISC-V chip architecture accelerates, US intellectual property provider MIPS is collaborating with Chinese firms at an unprecedented level, according to a senior executive, highlighting how cross-border cooperation persists despite intense tech rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
MIPS, which was acquired by US chipmaker GlobalFoundries last year, was driving RISC-V standardisation “very closely with China”, chief technology officer Yankin Tanurhan said...
75-year-old Raymond Lo says a liver cancer diagnosis three decades ago taught him to live differently, and he is now preparing to paddle 65km to support others.
