Blog Band – Fridayeveryday

Idea: Existing tech can be used to ease Hong Kongers’ time spent in Chinese mainland

The ‘iAM Smart’ platform, which serves as a real-name database, can be used to make it easier for Hong Kong people to spend time in the Chinese Mainland PROMINENT HONG KONG businessman Herman Hu Shao-ming last week suggested that the city’s “iAM Smart” ID-card linked real name database could be integrated with the national-level identity…

5 days ago0Comments ByNury Vittachi

A lawyer’s journey: from 1980s China to a top spot at the United Nations

SOME POSITIVE NEWS! While the news is full of war, a nice story of international bridge-building just emerged, unnoticed. A girl called Lingling was born to the Zhang family in Beijing in 1981. She grew up and went into the law. In 2011, she went to study in Hong Kong, which has a reputation as…

March 16, 20260Comments ByNury Vittachi

China news Culture

Chinese legal system growing fast, with continuous refinements

THE LEGAL SYSTEM in China is maturing fast. Although the law in the country has a very long history, the system has recently been evolving rapidly in many ways, such as in dealing with international cases, using digital technology, and fostering the rise of women judges. The Supreme Court of China this week celebrated female…

March 12, 20260Comments ByNury Vittachi

Features News

China has opposed the idea of killer robots but others are pressing ahead

BREAKING NEWS: A BATTLE is running right now between the US Department of War and defenders of top AI firm Anthropic on a terrifying plan to create an army of autonomous killer robots. Two hours ago, Secretary for War Pete Hegseth issued a statement blasting the company and ordering all government-linked departments to cancel contracts…

March 10, 20260Comments ByNury Vittachi

China news Opinion

Behind the China EV advance, there’s a network of issues to consider

O THE IRONY. As the illegal US-Israel attack on Iran sent petrol prices soaring, there was celebration in China this week as BYD launched an electric car battery that can be “refueled” for 400 km in just five minutes—in other words, as quickly as a petrol car. Final barrier gone. Given the bargain prices of…

March 10, 20260Comments ByNury Vittachi

News

12 statements on the illegality of the US-Israel attack on Iran

THE WEST IS IN TURMOIL. Countries’ top legal minds are declaring the US-Israel attack on Iran to be illegal, as China did. But Israel-friendly western politicians including Starmer, von der Leyen, Albanese, and others are desperately blocking their ears as they try to justify actual war crimes. Here's what the specialists say: . 1. The…

March 10, 20260Comments ByNury Vittachi

China news

Ships are pretending to be Chinese to get through the Straits of Hormuz

THE "I'M TURNING CHINESE" viral trend on TikTok is being used by ships trapped in the Gulf by the US-Israel war on Iran, reports said today. “At least 10 ships over the past week have altered their destination signal to read ‘Chinese Owner’, ‘All Chinese Crew’ or ‘Chinese Crew Onboard’,” the Financial Times reported,…

March 10, 20260Comments ByNury Vittachi

News

Unintended consequences: The attack on Iran will harm S Korea, Japan, but China is better prepared

10 unintended consequences: 1. South Korea is frantic. Its economy is extremely oil-intensive, unlike that of its mixed-mode neighbor China—and Seoul largely relied on West Asian oil from the Straits of Hormuz. 2. Taiwan is a panic. Its LNG reserve will run out later this month. Rulers of the Chinese island are looking to fully…

March 10, 20260Comments ByNury Vittachi

China news Hong Kong News

Hong Kong can ‘integrate more deeply’ with growing mainland economy

ONE OF CHINA’S top leaders called on Hong Kong to become more deeply involved with the Chinese Mainland’s steady program of economic development. The financial city on the south coast of the country could “better integrate into national development”, said Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, during the Two Sessions—an annual government meeting in Beijing. This could certainly…

March 9, 20260Comments ByFriday Writers

China news Chinese history Opinion

Japan election: Recycling the past to ruin the future

Nostalgia for your country's past military adventures is a common tool used by politicians. But when those adventures included the killing of tens of millions of people in neighboring countries and the use of rape as a weapon, that's different. And when you propose reviving that army, that's a serious concern for the world. A…

March 7, 20260Comments ByRichard Cullen