标签： Asia

In a significant academic ceremony held at Renmin University of China’s Qianhai campus in Shenzhen on Wednesday, prominent Hong Kong business leader and sports administrator Timothy Fok Tsun-ting was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. The chairman of Fok Ying Tung Group received the prestigious honor from University Party Secretary Zhang Donggang, who presided over the traditional tassel-adjustment ceremony marking the academic achievement.

Secretary Zhang formally recognized Fok as an exemplary patriotic figure from Hong Kong SAR and a steadfast advocate of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. The university specifically acknowledged Fok’s substantial contributions to China’s reform and opening-up policies and his transformative impact on sports development, noting the alignment between his values and the institution’s educational mission.

In his acceptance address, Fok emphasized the diplomatic power of sports as a universal language that transcends national boundaries. ‘Sport has consistently proven to be an effective bridge for fostering international understanding and cooperation,’ Fok stated, highlighting how athletic soft power can advance global peace initiatives.

The business leader outlined his commitment to leveraging the university’s academic platform to enhance sports integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. He further pledged to support the expansion of China’s global sports partnership network through strategic collaborations.

Fok additionally expressed his hope that Renmin University students would develop theoretical frameworks from China’s sports diplomacy practices, explore innovative models for sports to serve national strategies, and promote traditional Chinese sports to facilitate cross-cultural understanding worldwide.

A Bristol secondary school has become embroiled in a national media controversy following the cancellation of a scheduled visit by pro-Israel MP Damien Egan last September. The Bristol Brunel Academy called off the event after receiving objections from pro-Palestine activists, including members of teaching unions.

The Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign publicly applauded the school’s decision, characterizing Egan as a supporter of “Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.” The MP serves as vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel and participated in a paid trip to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s Congressional Summit in February 2025, during the peak of Israel’s military operations in Gaza that have resulted in over 71,000 Palestinian casualties since October 2023.

Media coverage from major outlets including The Times, Telegraph, and initially The Guardian framed the cancellation through the lens of antisemitism, highlighting Egan’s Jewish identity in their reporting. The Times published an editorial demanding stronger laws to prevent such “antisemitism,” while The Guardian initially ran with the headline “Jewish MP’s visit to school cancelled” before quietly amending it to remove reference to his religion.

The controversy gained national traction after Labour minister Steve Reed referenced the incident at a Jewish Labour Movement event, describing it as a Jewish MP being “banned from visiting a school” without mentioning Egan’s pro-Israel advocacy.

Pro-Palestine commentators and journalists have expressed outrage at the media’s handling of the story. Rivkah Brown of Novara Media condemned The Guardian’s “irresponsible article,” while Bristol-based journalist Jonathan Cook asserted that the cancellation was motivated by opposition to Egan’s political stance rather than his religious identity, stating that local teachers and parents “oppose genocide and don’t want impressionable young minds exposed to someone who defends a state committing the ultimate crime against humanity.”

A profound mystery shrouds East London as authorities prepare to suspend the investigation into three abandoned newborn siblings discovered under nearly identical circumstances over a seven-year period. The case, unprecedented in modern Britain, has exposed critical gaps in understanding coercive situations that might drive such desperate acts.

The chronology began in September 2017 when a newborn boy, later named Harry, was discovered wrapped in a blanket in Plaistow Park. In January 2019, a second infant girl, Roman, was found in a shopping bag in a nearby park just before snowfall, discovered by dog walkers who heard crying. The pattern culminated in January 2024 with the discovery of a third sibling, named Elsa by hospital staff after the Frozen character, found less than an hour old in a shopping bag near a busy road.

In a breakthrough revelation last June, DNA testing confirmed all three children share the same biological parents. This discovery intensified concerns that the mother might be trapped in a coercive or captive situation, unable to seek help. Despite exhaustive efforts including profiling consultation, hundreds of surveillance hours reviewed, targeted DNA sampling of local residents, and an unclaimed £20,000 reward, investigators have reached an impasse.

Forensic psychology experts suggest the mother may be a migrant avoiding official detection or someone experiencing extreme terror, given the life-threatening risks of unattended births. The abandonment phenomenon is so rare in contemporary Britain that national statistics are no longer maintained, with only eight similar cases recorded in England and Wales between 2008-2018.

While the children now thrive in adoptive and foster care—described as ‘raucous bundles of excitement and laughter’—the emotional legacy of their unknown origins remains concerning. With no hospital birth records, the siblings will never be able to trace their biological mother, creating permanent psychological implications according to child development experts.