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AdvertisementUS-China relationsEconomyChina EconomyChinese eyeing US degrees turn more discerning – is the opportunity still worth the risk?US has ‘pre-eminent global research universities, for now,’ professor says as data shows Chinese still want American degrees but are pickier
Reading Time:5 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPRalph Jenningsin San FranciscoPublished: 6:00am, 26 Jul 2025Updated: 6:15am, 26 Jul 2025Jason Lin of Xiamen surprised his mother this year by applying to 10 undergraduate schools in the United States and receiving a US$15,000 annual scholarship from Brandeis University near Boston. There, he intends to earn a master’s degree in economics over the next five years.
AdvertisementBut to his mother, it’s like he’s venturing into the wild, compounding the anxiety parents often feel when their adult children leave the nest.
She’s afraid of “instability” in the US. And Lin, 19, has concerns that even a traffic ticket could get him deported. But he weighed the pros and cons, ..

AdvertisementChina-EU relationsOpinionWorld OpinionLanxin XiangOpinion | How the EU has marginalised itself on the global stageTrump’s “America first” stance should have forced the EU to address its own strategic vulnerabilities and pursue a more multipolar world strategy
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPLanxin XiangPublished: 5:30am, 26 Jul 2025The summit between the European Union and China has turned out to be a non-event, the worst so far. The reason for this is not too difficult to understand.AdvertisementAfter US President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the EU has found itself falling between two stools, torn between Washington and Beijing. Europeans were surprised when Trump won the US presidential election in 2016 but viewed it as a one-off aberration. Without the challenge posed by Trump, though, EU leaders might not see the need to make any fundamental changes.European leaders have made three miscalculations. First, they cannot grasp the sea change broug..

Representational photo (Getty Images) Starlink faced a major service outage on Thursday, affecting users across the United States and several other countries. Thousands of users reported sudden internet disruptions and, in many cases, complete blackouts. Cities like Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Seattle, and Washington, DC were among the worst hit. Users in Canada, the UK, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines also faced similar problems. Outage tracker DownDetector showed a spike from 3,400 reports at 3:09 p.m. ET to nearly 58,000 by 3:24 p.m. The number began dropping after 4 p.m., but issues continued, according to Newsweek. Starlink confirmed the disruption on its website, saying the team was investigating. In a post on X, the company said, “We are actively implementing a solution
we appreciate your patience.”Elon Musk also responded, saying, “Service will be restored shortly. Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” The outag..

Screengrab from Trump's interaction with reporters during Fed visit US president Donald Trump on Thursday visited the Federal Reserve’s renovation site in Washington, DC — and used the opportunity to take fresh shots at chair Jerome Powell. Standing in front of the half-finished project, Trump mocked the rising costs. “It looks like it’s about $3.1 billion. It went up a little bit — or a lot,” he said, while Powell shook his head in disagreement. Asked by a reporter how he’d handle such a budget mess as a developer, Trump didn’t hold back, “I’d fire him!” The central bank’s renovation was originally estimated at $1.9 billion. Now, it stands at $2.5 billion. The Fed says the hike is due to inflation, old infrastructure, and post-Covid material costs. But Trump and his aides say it's more than that — calling it excessive and accusing Powell of poor oversight. The visit was rare. Presidents usually avoid appearing to influence the independent central bank. But Trump has long cla..

AdvertisementTibetChinaDiplomacyExplainer | What do we know about the site of China’s mega dam in Tibet and what is its significance?The location in the remote and sparsely populated Tibetan borderlands has the potential to cause environmental and political ructions
Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPMeredith ChenPublished: 6:00am, 25 Jul 2025Updated: 6:08am, 25 Jul 2025China has officially broken ground on what is set to become the world’s largest hydropower dam on the Tibetan Plateau.AdvertisementThe dam is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Medog – a remote yet geopolitically significant county close to the disputed border with India.
As well as becoming a major energy source, the dam is a key element in Beijing’s plans to develop the region and strengthen its border security.
However, it could also aggravate tensions with India as a result of a long-running border dispute and concerns about the impact on the environment and water security.What is the location?Medog, als..

AdvertisementScienceChinaScienceChina unveils the largest crystal for high-powered laser weaponsSynthetic crystal can withstand hundreds of megawatts of laser power and produce far-reaching infrared beams capable of attacking satellites
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPStephen Chenin BeijingPublished: 6:00am, 25 Jul 2025Chinese researchers have manufactured the world’s largest barium gallium selenide (BGSe) crystal, a breakthrough that could pave the way for ultra-high-power laser weapons capable of zapping satellites from the ground.
AdvertisementThe synthetic crystal, measuring 60 millimetres (2.3 inches) in diameter, efficiently converts short-wave infrared lasers into mid- to far-infrared beams that can penetrate atmospheric windows for long-distance transmission.
Crucially, it can withstand laser power as intense as 550 megawatts per square centimetre – exceeding the damage threshold of existing military-grade crystals by an order of magnitude.
The resulting laser frequ..