China will hit EU firms with reciprocal measures if the bloc targets Chinese firms as planned under its proposed cybersecurity regulations, Beijing has warned. In a 30-page document submitted to the European Commission on Friday, China’s commerce ministry explicitly warned that broad retaliation was on the table if firms such as Huawei and ZTE were penalised by the law, which was announced in January but is still in draft form. “If the EU designates China as a ‘country posing cybersecurity...

Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation said on Monday that it had received eight bids for a commercial and residential development at one of the critical hubs in the Northern Metropolis, a large-scale project that aims to bolster the city’s economic base and foster closer integration with the Greater Bay Area. The number of bids for the Kam Sheung Road Station Phase Two property development exceeded expectations, indicating developers’ interest in the Northern Metropolis project, according to analysts. The...

Pope Leo lamented during an event in Angola on Monday that many people in the world were being “exploited by authoritarians and defrauded by the rich”, the latest example of a forceful new speaking style he has adopted on his ‌four-nation Africa tour. The first US pope, who has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump with his more outspoken comments, told worshippers at a Mass in Saurimo, near the Democratic Republic of Congo border, that violence and oppression went against the Christian...

A reported US pullback in intelligence-sharing with South Korea has exposed a new trust gap between the allies after Unification Minister Chung Dong-young publicly mentioned a suspected North Korean uranium-enrichment site. Washington viewed Chung’s remark as disclosing sensitive information about Kusong – a site long discussed in outside analyses, but not previously identified publicly by a South Korean official in such terms – and responded by reducing the intelligence it shared with Seoul,...

The number of inbound trips to Hong Kong by mainland Chinese visitors is expected to reach 980,000 for the coming Labour Day “golden week” holiday across the border, a 7 per cent increase from last year, with city authorities saying they will enforce environmental regulations around the clock at popular camping spots. The estimate from the Immigration Department on Monday came as the government revealed it had stepped up measures for crowd control, transport and tourism in anticipation of a...

Chow Yun-fat, the legendary Hong Kong actor, has sold a Mid-Levels flat after more than three decades, securing a roughly 91 per cent gain, as the city’s secondary housing market continues to strengthen. The 541 sq ft, three-bedroom flat in Corona Tower fetched HK$7.5 million (US$960,000), or HK$13,863 per square foot. The sale agreement was signed on February 11 and the transaction was registered on March 11, according to Land Registry records. The deal generated a gain of HK$3.58 million...

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and Douyin, saw its net profit plummet by more than 70 per cent in 2025 as it poured money into artificial intelligence, according to Chinese media reports. At the same time, revenue from overseas markets surged by nearly 50 per cent, far outpacing the roughly 20 per cent growth in China, according to reports on Monday by outlets including Securities Times and 36Kr, which cited a person familiar with the matter. For the first time, overseas revenue...