Taiwan’s Iran-style attack drone could swamp PLA air defences: analysts

South China Morning Post - Oct 21, 2026

A flight-tested attack drone similar to Iran’s Shahed model that its Taiwanese maker says could reach military targets in mainland China is meant to swamp PLA air defences, analysts said. Drawing on battlefield lessons from Ukraine and the Middle East, military experts broadly agree on the utility of such low-cost systems but differ on how it could be deployed in a conflict with Beijing should it enter service. While some see greater value in targeting People’s Liberation Army forces in the...

Read full article

More News

Strongest storm of the year barrels towards Taiwan and mainland China

Strongest storm of the year barrels towards Taiwan and mainland China

As Super Typhoon Champi – now the strongest storm of the year worldwide – barrels towards eastern China, authorities are planning evacuations and urging those in its path to prepare. Airports in major Chinese cities could be affected by the storm, including Wenzhou Longwan, Fuzhou Changle, Ningbo Lishe, Hangzhou Xiaoshan, Shanghai Hongqiao, Shanghai Pudong and Xiamen Gaoqi, according to aviation data platform VariFlight. Travellers are bracing for potential disruptions, though there have been no...

Outcry after Peak walking trail ‘marred’ by controversial lighting project

Outcry after Peak walking trail ‘marred’ by controversial lighting project

Work on a controversial lighting project along a walking trail on The Peak has been suspended amid mounting complaints that the installations were damaging the environment, the South China Morning Post has learned. The project’s future remains uncertain after residents accused the Tourism Board of removing trees and flowers to make way for the installations, while a lawmaker said a district councillor from the city’s largest political party had not been involved in the initial...

Queen Elizabeth visits Hong Kong for the last time in 1986 – from the SCMP archive

Queen Elizabeth visits Hong Kong for the last time in 1986 – from the SCMP archive

This article was first published on October 22, 1986. ‘Our thoughts will always be with you’: Queen confident on HK future Hongkong gave Queen Elizabeth a warm and enthusiastic reception yesterday (October 21, 1986) when she arrived for her long-awaited visit. And in return she gave the people a message of confidence in the future. Fresh from her triumphant tour of the mainland, the Queen told a welcoming ceremony in City Hall that the Sino-British agreement over Hongkong’s future had made...

China-US team’s ‘gold factory’ relic; next-gen diabetes care: 7 science highlights

China-US team’s ‘gold factory’ relic; next-gen diabetes care: 7 science highlights

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China breakthrough unlocks low-cost, high-margin sustainable aviation fuel Chinese researchers have developed a catalyst that converts synthesis gas into sustainable jet fuel – an advance that could boost production, help meet net-zero carbon goals and yield a gross profit margin above 50 per cent. 2. Landmark...

Abby Choi’s ex-father-in-law pocketed HK$7 million rebate on flat purchase: court

Abby Choi’s ex-father-in-law pocketed HK$7 million rebate on flat purchase: court

The former father-in-law of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung received a cash rebate of nearly HK$7 million (US$891,900) after buying a HK$72 million flat using the model’s money, a court has heard. Property agent Marco Wong Tak-sing told the High Court on Wednesday that Kwong Kau had requested a share of the agency’s profit from the 2019 sale of the luxury flat at the Kadooria development in Ho Man Tin. The court previously heard that Choi issued two cheques and bought two cashier’s...

‘How much longer?’Chau Tin-yu’s father hits out at last-minute delay to doctor’s hearing

‘How much longer?’Chau Tin-yu’s father hits out at last-minute delay to doctor’s hearing

A high-profile disciplinary hearing for a doctor accused of leaving a girl in a vegetative state six years ago has been adjourned pending a coroner’s inquest, a decision the girl’s father learned of just a week before proceedings were due to begin. The Medical Council informed Eddie Chau, father of Chau Tin-yu, on Tuesday night that the hearing, originally scheduled to start on October 27, would be postponed until after the inquest. The decision leaves both proceedings in limbo. Just last month,...

Terracotta warriors were mainly built by women and children, batch fingerprints show

Terracotta warriors were mainly built by women and children, batch fingerprints show

Some 5 metres (16.4 feet) underground near one of China’s oldest cities lies the life-size army of thousands of terracotta warriors. The purpose of the army, located 35km (22 miles) northeast of historic Xian, was to protect China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in the afterlife. The Terracotta Army was buried with him after his death in 210BC. Now, a new study shows that a portion of the terracotta warriors was largely made by adult women and minors, not solely by men as previously...

Hong Kong police arrest 4 teenagers over viral back-alley assault video

Hong Kong police arrest 4 teenagers over viral back-alley assault video

Hong Kong police have arrested four boys on suspicion of inciting another person to become a member of an unlawful society and assault causing bodily harm, after a clip of a back-alley dispute in the early hours on Monday went viral. A police spokesman said on Wednesday that officers arrested four local boys aged 13 to 17 the day before, following an investigation based on a clip of a suspected attack in a back alley in Sai Wan Ho that had circulated online. “All arrestees are under custody for...

Why is Hong Kong so hot in October and will winter be warmer than usual?

Why is Hong Kong so hot in October and will winter be warmer than usual?

Hong Kong’s exceptionally warm October weather is being driven by a combination of a super typhoon, El Nino and global warming, a climate expert has said, warning that higher-than-usual temperatures are likely to persist through the winter. The warning came as autumn temperatures across the city topped 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) over the past few weeks. Professor Amos Tai Pui-kuen, of the earth and environmental sciences department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, explained on...

China builds the world’s smallest wearable brain monitor with a cortex-wide view

China builds the world’s smallest wearable brain monitor with a cortex-wide view

Chinese scientists have developed what they say is the world’s smallest wearable mini brain monitor that can track the activity of thousands of neurons at the same time. Weighing in at one gram (0.35 oz), the wireless “Airscope” is the lightest device of its kind and enables researchers to track a wider range of brain activity in untethered laboratory animals. The device was jointly developed by scientists from Tsinghua University and the Chinese PLA Medical School, and detailed in a paper...

Only 3% of Hong Kong firms have fully integrated AI into workflows, survey finds

Only 3% of Hong Kong firms have fully integrated AI into workflows, survey finds

Only 3 per cent of Hong Kong companies have fully integrated AI into their workflows, with many facing hurdles including resistance to organisational change and outdated digital infrastructure, a survey has found. Consultancy Accenture, which polled 150 companies and released the results on Wednesday, said the survey suggested businesses had a strong desire to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in their work but many struggled to put it into practice. “Hong Kong really has strong AI ambitions...

Taiwan admits paying for retired US general to observe largest annual war games

Taiwan admits paying for retired US general to observe largest annual war games

Taiwan’s defence ministry has confirmed for the first time that it has allocated funding for the US Indo-Pacific Command to send a retired general and other personnel to observe the island’s largest annual war games. The disclosure sheds rare official light on military exchanges that Taipei and Washington have traditionally kept out of public view, as security cooperation between the two sides deepens amid growing pressure from Beijing. According to a defence ministry report submitted to the...

Recommended

Asia Viral News

Asia Viral News features the latest and most trending news from Asia. Get ready to immerse yourself in the daily engaging topics with share-worthy news only in Asia Viral News.

ABOUT US
Newsletter

Copyright © 2015 - 2026 Asia Viral News. All Rights Reserved.