-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Winnie Tang |Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill
North Korean soldiers sent by the government to fight Ukrainians were not told they were going to war and their parents do not know where they are. They were not prepared for drone warfare and were ordered to commit suicide rather than be captured. This was the extraordinary testimony of the first North Korean soldier to give an interview since Pyongyang sent 12,000 soldiers to Russia last autumn to join Vladimir Putin’s army in fighting in the Kursk region of western Russia.
-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Winnie Tang |Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill
In September 1938, Britain and France agreed to give Nazi Germany control of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia without a fight. It was called the Munich Agreement, or the Munich Betrayal by the Czechs and Slovaks. Their country was not represented at the talks. This week in Saudia Arabia the foreign ministers of the United States and Russia will meet to discuss an end to Russia’s three-year invasion of Ukraine. Neither Ukraine nor European countries will be present.
-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Winnie Tang |Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill
When the board of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) scheduled its first ever board meeting in the United States this week, next to the giant plant it is building in Phoenix, Arizona, it thought it could only earn credit from the U.S. government. It did not imagine the shock of Donald Trump.
-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Winnie Tang |Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill
A quarter of the 21st century has nearly passed. Looking back over the past 20 odd years, Hong Kong has experienced two epidemics, and has witnessed great ups and downs socially, politically and economically. Since the dot-com bubble burst at the beginning of the millennium, its core, the internet, has grown to be a necessity of daily life. What is coming in the next 20 years?
-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Winnie Tang |Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill
With the return of Donald Trump to the White House on January 20, negotiations to end Russia’s three-year invasion of Ukraine are imminent. The most difficult subject will be the future of the 27 per cent (62,000 sq m) of south and eastern Ukraine, which Russia has occupied. This occupation has caused dramatic changes. In January 2022, 6.3 million people lived in this part of East Ukraine.
-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Winnie Tang |Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill
I have written previously of the “manufacturing” of success by US President Donald J Trump. Much as consent and misinformation, success – too – has become an artificial product, one that is birthed from the algorithmic womb and bestowed life by the vindictive vitriol and fraying of trust that constitute America today.
-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Winnie Tang |Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill
Over the past decade, the amount of waste produced by Hong Kong residents has remained high. According to government data, the per capita municipal solid waste disposal rate per day in Hong Kong increased from 1.33 kilograms in 2013 to 1.44 kilograms in 2023, which is over 60% higher than the 0.88 kilograms in Japan and Singapore. To reduce the substantial amount of waste, uniting public efforts is crucial.
-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill |Winnie Tang
In 2018, China paid 255 million pounds to buy the former Royal Mint in London with the aim of turning it into the largest embassy in Europe. Fierce objections from the local government, NGOs and Conservative politicians have prevented implementation of the project. But a request from President Xi Jinping to British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and a visit by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to Beijing in January have removed the obstacles.
-
2 months ago | 
ejinsight.com | Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill |Winnie Tang
What makes or breaks a world-class city? Some would posit the answer rests with infrastructure – the more modern and advanced the hardware, the more developed the software. Others would advocate we prioritised talent development: human resources and capital comprise the bulwark of what drives cities forward, and we should double down on attracting, cultivating, and retaining the best talents.
-
Jan 23, 2025 | 
ejinsight.com | Brian Wong |Mark O'Neill |Winnie Tang
“We have brands here for every taste and requirement,” said Wang Limei at a grocery store in a popular tourist town. “The cheapest cost 13 yuan a packet, the workers buy those. The most expensive is a carton of ten Zhonghua (中華) for 1,000 yuan. People buy these not to smoke but as gifts for officials or company managers. They will be smoked at the restaurants in the town.”The culture of giving expensive cigarettes is deeply embedded in the mainland.
