Leopold Chen

2 weeks ago | scmp.com | Mandy Zuo |Leopold Chen

After two days of closely watched trade talks between the United States and China in London, US President Donald Trump has declared the negotiations have led to a wide-ranging deal to maintain the fragile truce laid out after earlier talks in Geneva. The agreement, Trump said, would cover numerous points of contention, including shipments of rare earth minerals, student visas and tariffs.

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Mandy Zuo |Leopold Chen

UN General Assembly president, Yang either forgot or doesn’t know the history of the region — and how the UN has undermined peace and the security of the Jewish state at almost every instance since 1948. To talk about a just peace and living with dignity in two states after the massacre of October 7 without first getting rid of Hamas, freeing the remaining hostages from Hamas clutches, and acknowledging Israel cannot safely go back to its 1967 borders is ludicrous.

2 weeks ago | scmp.com | Leopold Chen |Ralph Jennings

In a reflection of Beijing’s ability to quickly leverage its dominance over the critical-mineral supply chain, the value of rare earth elements exported by China last month plunged by nearly half compared with a year prior. The official data came as analysts have been saying that China’s export controls over large quantities of critical minerals are like the ultimate trump card in trade negotiations with the United States.

1 month ago | scmp.com | Leopold Chen |Kandy Wong |Frank Chen

China’s escalating protests against new US restrictions targeting Chinese-made microchips are a sign of Beijing’s determination not to cede any more ground in its stand-off with Washington over a basket of tech and trade issues, analysts said. The United States last week announced a global ban on the use of advanced artificial intelligence-powered chips made by Chinese companies – the latest in a string of export curbs targeting China’s semiconductor industry.

1 month ago | scmp.com | Alice Li |Leopold Chen

China’s imports of American soybeans and pork plunged to zero in early May and have yet to recover despite the US-China tariff truce, suggesting the trade war may have done lasting damage to a key US export trade. For years, China has been a vital market for US agricultural products, with American farmers exporting more than US$12.8 billion of soybeans alone to the country in 2024, according to US government figures.