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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.
Residents were forced to look on from the streets as the fire ripped through Wang Fuk Court. Photo: Dickson Lee
Hong Kong

My Take | We must ensure that such a tragedy never occurs again

A horror on the scale of the Wang Fuk Court catastrophe must result in fundamental and lasting change.

Germany

My Take | How China goes toe to toe with the West and softly-softly with the rest

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Britain

My Take | BN(0) visa holders deserve clarity on the pathway to a new life in the UK

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Mainland China

My Take | Takaichi’s stance over Taiwan is just what the West wants

Japan can protect its security and national interest by peaceful means rather than going down a belligerent path.

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Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Photo: Reuters
Mainland China

My Take | Is China committing ‘genocide’ by promoting tourism and development?

Much of UK media and academia have helped manufacture spurious claims about Xinjiang while denying real monstrous crimes elsewhere that many of them sponsor or otherwise justify.

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Mainland China

My Take | Poppies remain a poignant reminder of the catastrophic human cost of war

It is a tragic irony that commemorations on this Remembrance Sunday are taking place against the backdrop of today’s conflicts.

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Argentina

My Take | How Anglo-American ideologues have exploited HK’s ‘free market’ success

If Hong Kong people can remove their colonial blinds, they would be able to see the economic detritus left around the world by Western ideology.

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A view of the Hong Kong government headquarters in Admiralty. Photo: Jelly Tse
Hong Kong society

My Take | National Games are just the start, not finishing line, of sporting ambitions

Much-awaited events are a defining moment in the city’s post-pandemic recovery, but complete transformation of its sports scene will require better coaching, facilities and support for athletes.

Mexico

My Take | A moral case for China to stop buying American soybeans permanently

Apart from persistently high state subsidies, labour exploitation, human trafficking and crime cartels also plague US agriculture and are reasons enough for Beijing to sanction the industry.

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Hong Kong society

My Take | One measure of a just society is the way it treats those who transgress the most

The case of one of the ‘hired thugs’ who killed a newspaper seller highlights the delicate balancing act requiring fair reviews for those jailed for life.

Stanley Prison, one of Hong Kong’s maximum security facilities. Photo: Sun Yeung
Peter Thiel

My Take | America’s billionaire tech bros are bringing us closer to the end times

Whether it’s the Antichrist, the eugenic need to propagate smart babies to colonise Mars, or Cold War rhetoric against China, they are imposing eccentric and often dangerous ideas on the public.

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Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, holds hundred dollar bills as he speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 Conference at Miami Beach Convention Center on April 7, 2022 in Miami, Florida. Photo: Getty Images
Britain

My Take | A national flag should be a symbol of unity not of prejudice and divisiveness

Sadly it is difficult to dissociate the flags flying across England from a political position that in its most extreme embraces racism and hate speech.

Mainland China

My Take | The times of giants are gone and a new ‘century of humiliation’ awaits Europe

China has mistakenly thought the European Union could play a greater and more independent role in world affairs, not necessarily to tilt towards Beijing but to stop being a lapdog to Washington.

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Mainland China

My Take | Tourism might be everywhere but not everywhere can cope with mass tourism

The ‘golden week’ holiday drew more than 1.4 million arrivals from the mainland. But amid the good news were warning signs for some of our more sensitive sites.

Mainland Chinese tourists at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront during the National Day holiday. Photo: Jelly Tse
Canada

My Take | How anti-China witch-hunts in Canada and the UK ruin lives

Security services such as London’s MI5 and Ottawa’s RCMP appear to be going after individuals and organisations out of pure antagonism and distrust against Beijing rather than having actual evidence.

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Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer stands guard as King Charles and Queen Camilla attend a wreath-laying ceremony. Photo: Reuters
Singapore

My Take | Singapore did right by throwing out Hong Kong fugitive Nathan Law

The times when the US could manipulate opposition figures to destabilise governments in East Asia are long gone. How disappointing that all that investment has gone to waste.

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Britain

My Take | Digital ID may be a bridge too far for those Brits wanting to ‘stop the boats’

The initiative is seen by many as a threat to cherished freedoms. But, if handled sensitively, it could make interactions with the government and private sector easier.

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China shipbuilding

My Take | Chinese ferries caught in political storm in a Canadian teacup

With hardline ex-transport minister Chrystia Freeland now appointed as special representative for Ukraine, British Columbia may yet get its four vessels built by China Merchants Industry without more controversy.

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A drone view shows workers building a vessel at a shipyard in Yizheng, China’s Jiangsu province, August 25, 2025. Photo: cnsphoto via Reuters
Hong Kong

My Take | Not playing King Canute during a typhoon is a matter of common sense

The government is looking at new legislation after some souls risked their lives during Ragasa. But the laws will not be easy to draft.

Hong Kong culture

My Take | Hong Kong is barking up the right tree by embracing the pet economy

Besides licensing animal-friendly restaurants, the government should have a plan to promote food, healthcare, and more in the industry.

Britain

My Take | More pomp and pageantry than politics as Britain plays its ‘Trump card’

For Keir Starmer, the US president’s state visit was a chance for some positive headlines. And it may have done just that – at least for now.

Donald Trump and Keir Starmer appear full of cheer after signing a tech pact at Chequers, the British prime minister’s country estate, on September 18. Photo: EPA
Belgium

My Take | Yes, China and Russia really did win in WWII, as allies of Britain and America

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’ pointless jabs at China during the SCO summit in Tianjin and events in Beijing to mark victory over Japan betray wilful ignorance and diplomatic incompetence.

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A boy salutes at the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Beijing on Sunday. Photo: Eugene Lee
Hong Kong society

My Take | Government must go back to drawing board on rights of same-sex couples

Vote by lawmakers is far from the end of the matter, which will not go away and only lead to more legal challenges in an international city that presents itself as inclusive, vibrant and diverse.

Montenegro

My Take | Kim Jong-un in Beijing shows why it is good to have nuclear bombs

The essential difference between the North Korean leader and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is that between the haves and the have-nots of the ultimate weapon.

Hong Kong society

My Take | Britain must prove its commitment to the BN(O) scheme for HK migrants

While the UK needs to calm the headwinds gathering around immigration, it should also declare that the status quo for Hongkongers will stay.

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Union Jack flags are seen in front of the Big Ben in London. File photo: AP
China-UK relations

My Take | More BN(O)ers find the UK more purgatory than heaven

Migrant numbers decline as Hong Kong people hear horror stories about the country of their former colonial masters.

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The UK has received 166,300 people under the BN(O) scheme as of June. Photo: EPA-EFE
Japan

My Take | The sacrifice made during Japan’s occupation must not be forgotten

Eighty years after the end of WWII, the best way of remembering those who gave so much is to do everything possible to rid the world of war.

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India

My Take | Trump offer of 600,000 Chinese student visas just more cheap talk

US president says one thing while his administration and numerous states do the opposite via discrimination and ill-treatment of arrivals.

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