China’s agriculture sector needs more advanced technology and innovation to boost yields and improve food security – not more farmland and crops, according to a rural policy expert. The remarks came after a state media investigation alleged that officials in central China had inflated the size of mandatory rice crops to hit their targets. CCTV programme Focus Report aired its investigation on July 14, claiming officials in Jianghua Yao – a county in Yongzhou, Hunan province – had misreported the...

Two people were killed and five others were wounded in a shooting Sunday evening during a food festival at an events complex near the Space Needle in Seattle, a city fire department spokesperson said. Police were investigating the shooting and urged people to avoid the area just northwest of downtown. The gunfire erupted around 6pm at the Seattle Centre during the Bite of Seattle festival. Harborview Medical Centre spokesperson Susan Gregg said the hospital admitted four victims including a...

The University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) president and vice-chancellor Xiang Zhang has announced that he will be stepping down in 2028 after completing a second five-year term, according to an email seen by the South China Morning Post. In the email, sent to the university community in the early hours of Monday, Zhang described the past eight years spent working to elevate HKU’s academic standing as “a defining honour” of his life. A member of the university’s council told the SCMP a council meeting...

When Zhou Yuxiang, founder and CEO of Shanghai-headquartered Black Lake Technologies, wanted to sell his artificial intelligence (AI) automation solutions to millions of family-run factories across China, he came up with an unconventional strategy: hiring food delivery workers to make sales. His entire sales team, hired from various industrial cities, survived a gruelling five-day boot camp on articulating how AI can solve specific manufacturing pain points. “They are very street-smart,” the...

The University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) President and Vice-Chancellor Zhang Xiang has said he will step down in 2028 and return to the laboratory to focus on research. University of Hong Kong president and vice-chancellor Zhang Xiang. Photo: University of Hong Kong. The 62-year-old Chinese-American mechanical engineer said in a letter to the university community that he had informed the governing HKU Council of his decision, so a successor could be found. Zhang said it was an honour to lead HKU, citing the transformative impact of AI and the challenges of a complex global environment for his decision. “[I] have reflected deeply on what we have achieved and where this great university is heading. We live in a complicated, rapidly changing world, marked by polarized views and conflicts. At the same time, the AI tsunami is transforming human life in ways not seen for hundreds of years,” he said in the letter. “I have realized that it is time for HKU to embrace fresh ideas and for a new leader to guide this great transformation. At the same time, I remain a scientist and a professor at heart. I yearn to return to my laboratory, to answer profound scientific questions, and to make a societal impact.” Zhang Xiang’s letter in full – click to view Dear colleagues, students, alumni and friends of the University, I hope you have all enjoyed a restful summer. I am writing to you today regarding an important matter concerning university leadership and my own future. As I enter the ninth year of my tenure as your President and Vice-Chancellor, I have reflected deeply on what we have achieved and where this great university is heading. We live in a complicated, rapidly changing world, marked by polarized views and conflicts. At the same time, the AI tsunami is transforming human life in ways not seen for hundreds of years. How do we redefine education to ride these rapid societal changes? What is the new paradigm for a university where humans and machines coexist and collaborate? And how do we transform our legacy teaching systems to address these grand challenges? I have realized that it is time for HKU to embrace fresh ideas and for a new leader to guide this great transformation. At the same time, I remain a scientist and a professor at heart. I yearn to return to my laboratory, to answer profound scientific questions, and to make a societal impact. Therefore, I am announcing my decision to retire from the Presidency and Vice-Chancellorship after I complete my ten-year tenure in 2028. I am sharing this decision with you now to give the University ample time to search for its next leader. I have also informed the Council Chairman of my decision. Over the past eight years, it has been the defining honor of my life to work with you to elevate HKU’s academic standing. Together, we have achieved a staggering amount. We have risen to 11th globally and 1st in Asia in the QS rankings. The brilliance of our faculty shines brighter than ever, with Clarivate’s highly cited researchers more than tripling to 54. We have welcomed over 100 top-tier scholars worldwide, including Nobel laureates and Fields Medalist. Nearly 86% of our disciplines have improved significantly, with 15 in the global top 20. In the next two years, I hope to continue this path with you. We will pursue our transformative reform agenda, ensuring our structures serve our greatest asset—our people. We will also match intellectual growth with an expanded physical footprint: the soon-to-complete Tech Landmark, Pokfield Campus, and visionary Global Innovation Centre, alongside our growing presence in Shanghai and planned campus in Europe. Becoming a world-leading university is within our grasp. We must fulfil our founding mission as China’s international university: a nexus of East–West knowledge that advances the nation’s leadership in science and human development. Change is never easy, and I thank you for your steadfast support. The academic standards we have set and the outstanding scholars we have welcomed form a durable foundation for HKU to innovate and thrive in the future. Lastly, I would like to thank all of you, all our stakeholders, HKU Council, HKSAR Government and the Central Government for supporting HKU and myself in our mission. With your continued support, let us work together to make HKU truly world-leading. Thank you. Professor Xiang Zhang, JPPresident and Vice-ChancellorThe University of Hong Kong He said he would continue to push for research and campus development during the final two years of his ten-year term. He will focus on the Tech Landmark, the Pokfield Road campus, the Global Innovation Centre, and campus projects in Shanghai and Europe. Chequered tenure During Zhang’s tenure, the city’s leading university rose to 11th globally in the QS World University Rankings and first in Asia. The institute also set a new record last year with 54 academics named in Clarivate’s “Highly Cited Researchers 2025” list. The University of Hong Kong. File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP. However, HKU has also faced scandals over the use of AI by academics and students, as well as criticism over censorship after a campus memorial to the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown dead was replaced with seating. In 2024, he was cleared of misconduct after a 6-month internal investigation in which he was accused of mishandling funds and hiring a headhunter without following procurement procedures. In 2020, he joined other university heads in publicly backing the national security law.

By Azan Aziz Marwah, Hong Kong Committee on Children’s Rights The long-awaited reform of sexual offences is back on the agenda after the government launched its (brief) one-month public consultation on July 7. The consultation covers a wide range of proposals tackling the inadequacies and outdated language of the Crimes Ordinance. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The proposed improvements to the law include a clear definition of consent, gender neutrality, a new offence of grooming, and more deterrent sentences. It rightly addresses many long-standing gaps. We are also relieved to see the importance put in the proposals on protecting the vulnerable, such as children and people with mental impairments. However, there are important deficiencies that go unaddressed in the new law. See also: Hong Kong moves to reform its archaic sex laws, but victims of prolonged child sexual abuse feel left out The authorities should follow other jurisdictions and introduce a new offence of Persistent Child Sexual Abuse (PCSA). Under the current regime, if sexual abuse continues for years or decades (e.g. in-family sexual abuse), the prosecution must prosecute each incident separately. As has been shown time and again, this leaves the most traumatised children without any recourse. Persistent child sexual abuse is among the worst atrocities that can be committed upon a child. The nightmare forces the child to relive the trauma, melting the memories into one. Furthermore, child victims’ mental and cognitive development is not yet mature. When faced with prolonged, persistent, and repetitive sexual abuse, they are less likely to be able to identify the unique details of each incident (e.g. time, clothing) to meet the requirements for prosecution. It is absurd that a court can be certain that a child has been sexually abused and sure of who the perpetrator was but unable to convict. Why? Precisely because the abuse did not occur once, but many times. That is not justice. Lady Justice statue at the Court of Final Appeal. Photo: GovHK. There is a clear solution: many overseas jurisdictions have established the offence of “persistent child sexual abuse” to address this gap. The law focuses on proving the existence of a pattern of sexual exploitation between an adult abuser and a child over a period of time. Even if the victim cannot provide specific details of every sexual assault, prosecution is still possible as long as the victim can describe a pattern of repeated abuse occurring over a specific period and can give details of at least two counts of sexual abuse that took place during that period. Sentencing for a conviction is based on the entire duration of the sexual abuse relationship, rather than on individual incidents, to ensure that the punishment reflects the true extent and severity of the trauma suffered by the victim. The government put forward a PCSA offence proposal back in 2000, yet it could not gather sufficient support from the legal community. Twenty-six years have passed and there is already positive development of PCSA offences and experiences on how to close this gap for children in many overseas jurisdictions. For instance, all eight provincial jurisdictions in Australia have had the PCSA offence in place for decades. It is time to revisit the issue and bring justice to children. PCSA should not be treated as an all-or-nothing choice. An appropriate balance could be drawn between fairness to the victim/survivors and the rights of defendants through careful drafting and proper jury directions. We need the government’s determination to bring this proposal back to the table and actively discuss it with all stakeholders in the child protection community. Apart from the legal proposals, we need protection measures for vulnerable child witnesses. Victims of child sexual abuse often face lengthy and rigorous cross-examination during court proceedings. This not only leads to emotional breakdowns and secondary trauma but can even cause victims to withdraw or refuse to testify. Such situations are all too common. Photo: Irene Chan/HKFP. Therefore, we call on the Judiciary to draw on the practices of multiple overseas jurisdictions and establish Practice Directions for child sexual abuse cases, so that child witnesses can give testimony in a more reassuring environment and under more supportive conditions. For example, time limits should be set for cross-examination in court to ensure that proceedings cannot be extended indefinitely even if the cross-examination is not completed, and questions posed to child witnesses should be reviewed by the court in advance. Furthermore, court language should be strictly regulated; for instance, child witnesses should not be arbitrarily questioned or accused of lying. When a tragic sexual assault occurs, the physical and psychological harm inflicted on the child is immeasurable. However, amid such complex emotions, under the current arrangements, child victims of sexual abuse are still required to visit hospitals, forensic departments, home video recording studios, and courthouses – multiple locations that are both unfamiliar and frightening to children – to provide evidence and seek justice. This often discourages child victims of sexual abuse from coming forward. Therefore, we recommend that the government “adopt a trauma-informed one-stop support system” that integrates child protection mechanisms, medical services, forensic services, and judicial procedures under a single support framework (e.g. housed within a hospital). Through interdepartmental and interprofessional collaboration, this approach would reduce the number of times different individuals need to interview the child victim, thereby better safeguarding the well-being and rights of child victims and child witnesses. Even the most well-crafted legislation is rendered futile without child-friendly legal procedures in sensitive cases such as child sexual abuse. Evidence of child witnesses is of paramount importance in such cases. No one wishes to see another child pluck up the courage to come forward, only for it to result in frustration, withdrawal, or a refusal to testify. There remain unfinished chapters that need our joint and continuous efforts to improve the gaps both in laws and outside of the legal system. Azan Aziz Marwah is a barrister-at-law and chairperson of the Hong Kong Committee on Children’s Rights HKFP is an impartial platform & does not necessarily share the views of opinion writers or advertisers. HKFP presents a diversity of views & regularly invites figures across the political spectrum to write for us. Press freedom is guaranteed under the Basic Law, security law, Bill of Rights and Chinese constitution. Opinion pieces aim to constructively point out errors or defects in the government, law or policies, or aim to suggest ideas or alterations via legal means without an intention of hatred, discontent or hostility against the authorities or other communities.

China to legislate on preschool education

China to legislate on preschool education

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