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My Take

My Take
My Take, a popular and sometimes controversial daily column of the South China Morning Post, analyses a variety of hot-button issues concerning Hong Kong, mainland China and the region.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
Nippon Steel President and CEO Eiji Hashimoto attends a press conference at the company headquarters in Tokyo on January 7, 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

My Take | Steel firm sale to Japan a threat to US national security, really?

Sorry saga of collapsed deal between US Steel and Nippon Steel shows ‘friendshoring’ in America may mean just pain for friends and allies.

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Canada

My Take | A Conservative Canadian PM is likely to worsen tense China ties

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My Take | Amid the warnings, China and Trump show much-needed willingness to talk

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My Take | Simplistic criticisms of China are little better than propaganda

Foreign pundits admit terrible phenomena in their societies are complicated but readily blame communist misrule for any and all Chinese social ills.

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A man looks at candles left outside the Zhuhai Sports Centre on November 12, 2024, a day after a car rammed through the site killing dozens in Zhuhai. Photo: Amber Wang
China society

My Take | Table tennis will not be the same without three Chinese superstars

The sport’s governing body says it will now hold ‘extensive consultation’ over new rules. This should have been done before they were announced.

United States

My Take | Jimmy Carter’s vision was what could have been in the Mideast

The United States and Israel could have stood for justice and peace, but today they now merely represent the unaccountable use of naked power.

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United States

My Take | How America ended up creating the adversarial Brics of today

What began as a newfangled investment theme for emerging economies now holds hope for those trying to flee US financial coercion and abuse.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a family photo during the Brics summit in Kazan on October 23, 2024. Photo: AFP
Nato

My Take | New Nato chief has penned a war poem for Europe and America

Whether or not the Ukraine conflict continues, the European Union has been tasked with containing Russia while the US aims to focus on China.

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Hong Kong society

My Take | The UK should do more to tap into the talent Hongkongers offer

While many former residents have encountered difficulties since making the move, they will, if properly utilised, be of great value to their new home.

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United States

My Take | Trump symptom of pathological imperialism of US foreign policy

He says or does something outrageous knowing he can get away with it and, by extending that principle to global politics, because America can.

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US president-elect Donald Trump. Photo: Getty Images
China economy

My Take | China’s extended visa-free tourist stays drive momentum for opening

Its latest foreign-visitor policy shows that China is willing to be pragmatic, rather than adhering strictly to ideologies.

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Tourists from Spain in Shanghai. Photo: Xinhua
US-China relations

My Take | Chinese garlic, tomato paste and chilli peppers on sanctions menu

Season of goodwill sees no let-up in the ever-vigilant United States, with food sources from China identified as new threat to national security.

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My Take | As global tensions rise, peace and goodwill is needed more than ever

The Christmas spirit has universal appeal and has, in different ways, been embraced by people of other faiths and beliefs around the world.

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Israel-Gaza war

My Take | Countries get on their high horse while being accessories to murder

As the world’s most respected human rights groups warn against the continuing Palestinian genocide, the US and Canada penalise China.

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A child looks on following an Israeli strike at a post office where people were sheltering in the central Gaza Strip on December 12. Photo: Reuters

My Take | Is Turkestan Islamic Party a foreign proxy force to destabilise Xinjiang?

A video by the militant group against ‘Chinese infidels’ has been spread widely by mainstream news media, while similar propaganda by Hamas and Hezbollah are routinely suppressed or ignored.

People fix straw checkerboards on sandy land in Qiemo County, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Photo: Xinhua
Canada

My Take | Shock resignation by their deputy PM has shaken up Canadians

An ignominious exit awaits unpopular Justin Trudeau after his long-time ally walks, but let’s hope he does not drag the country down with him.

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US-China relations

My Take | China and the paranoid style in US foreign policy

Two erudite commentators explain why the West’s strategic antagonism towards Beijing is both self-serving and misconceived.

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US-China relations

My Take | Showbiz is preparing the American public for war with China

The warmongering fantasies of the US entertainment and defence establishment are increasingly indistinguishable.

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China and US flags. Photo: TNS
Hong Kong politics

My Take | YouTuber rounded on the Hong Kong government, then apologised

Pro-Beijing commentator who goes by the pseudonym ‘Wah Kee’ should have the courage of his convictions when it comes to criticising officials.

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LGBTQ

My Take | End the foot-dragging when it comes to progressive judgments

Rather than fighting court battles, the government should put in place comprehensive legislation upholding the LGBTQ community’s rights.

Canada

My Take | Canada’s Beijing sanctions are not only useless but hypocritical

Ottawa might be on stronger ground if it had sanctioned both China and Israel on human rights, but just punishing one shows double standards.

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then-US President Donald Trump (left) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talk prior to a NATO round table meeting at The Grove hotel and resort in England, December 4, 2019. Photo: AP
Hong Kong society

My Take | Extinction? Time has come to give our diminishing boars a break

With a back-of-the-napkin calculation suggesting animals will be no more within two years at current rate of culling, a wildlife action plan is needed.

The wild pig or Eurasian wild pig (Sus scrofa) is the largest native terrestrial mammal in Hong Kong. Photo: Shutterstock
South Korea

My Take | Is South Korea a burnout society?

If normal is stressful in the world’s most high-pressured country, maybe Koreans need to blow off steam, now and then, by going against their government and politicians.

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United States

My Take | Trumpian economics will hurt the world more than it will hurt China

Plaza Accord 2.0 reportedly set in motion by the incoming US president’s unorthodox team is likely to end with mutually destructive decoupling.

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Middle East

My Take | An immoral and unjust proposal to resolve the Palestine question

Accept ‘Greater Israel’ as a de jure state, resettle most Palestinians across the West and some in friendly Arab states, then compensate a small, token minority by granting them full Israeli citizenship.

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Demonstrators hold a banner reading “Stop Genocide” during a protest organised by pro-Palestinian associations and French leftist parties in Paris, November 13, 2024. Photo: EPA/EFE

My Take | Mixing Marx with Confucius: the heart of the matter for China

Xi Jinping wants the country to have its own belief system to counter Western values but there is one thing missing.

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Xi Jinping is looking to Confucianism to develop a Chinese ideology. Photo: Shutterstock
US-China relations

My Take | How will China fight a new trade war under Trump 2.0?

With hindsight from Trump’s first term, Beijing could adopt a different approach this time around.

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United States

My Take | Trump has been Beijing’s most effective science talent recruiter

Many fear the supposedly defunct ‘China Initiative’ – a racial profiling programme targeting Chinese-born scientists in the US – could return with a vengeance.

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