Latest news with #ChineseUniversityofHongKong
3 days ago
- Business
China forms new global mediation group with dozens of countries
HONG KONG -- Dozens of countries joined China on Friday in establishing an international mediation-based dispute resolution group. Representatives of more than 30 other countries, from Pakistan and Indonesia to Belarus and Cuba, signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong to become founding members of the global organization, following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The support of developing countries signaled Beijing's rising influence in the global south amid heightened geopolitical tensions, partly exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs. At a ceremony, Wang said China has long advocated for handling differences with a spirit of mutual understanding and consensus-building through dialogue, while aiming to provide 'Chinese wisdom' for resolving conflicts between nations. 'The establishment of the International Organization for Mediation helps to move beyond the zero-sum mindset of 'you lose and I win,'' he said. The body, headquartered in Hong Kong, aims to help promote the amicable resolution of international disputes and build more harmonious global relations, he said. Beijing has touted the organization as the world's first intergovernmental legal organization for resolving disputes through mediation, saying it will be an important mechanism in safeguarding the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. It also positioned Hong Kong as an international legal and dispute resolution services center in Asia. Wang said the city's rule of law is highly developed, with the advantages of both common law and mainland Chinese law systems, asserting that it possesses uniquely favorable conditions for international mediation. Hong Kong leader John Lee said the organization could begin its work as early as the end of this year. The ceremony was attended by representatives from some 50 other countries and about 20 organizations, including the United Nations. Yueming Yan, a law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the new organization is a complementary mechanism to existing institutions such as the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. 'While the ICJ and PCA focus on adjudication and arbitration, IOMed introduces a structured, institutionalized form of alternative dispute resolution — namely, mediation — on a global scale,' she said. Although many details about the new body are yet to be clarified, it could open the door for greater synergy between formal litigation or arbitration and more flexible methods like mediation, she said. Shahla Ali, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the International Organization for Mediation would have the capacity to mediate disputes between states, between a state and a national of another state, or in international commercial disputes. 'Conventions can provide opportunities to experiment with new approaches," she said, noting rising interest in mediation globally as a means to resolve investor-state disputes.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
For China to be an education power, Hong Kong universities must stay free
China has laid out its most ambitious education road map to date. The Education Power Construction Plan Outline aims to transform the country into a global education powerhouse by 2035. As the mainland's universities climb up global rankings and research output surges, Hong Kong's role in advancing this vision deserves greater attention. Advertisement Amid rising geopolitical tensions – exacerbated by moves such as US universities cutting ties with select Chinese institutions – Hong Kong's globally connected, academically credible universities stand out. They can serve as platforms for international cooperation that maintain legitimacy in both Chinese and Western contexts. The University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology feature among the world's top 100 . But what sets them apart is their ability to operate bilingually, attract global faculty and forge research partnerships across ideological and geopolitical divides. These capabilities have taken on new importance as governments elsewhere reassess academic collaboration with China. Unlike most mainland institutions, Hong Kong's universities offer familiar legal protections, relatively autonomous governance and robust international networks. This makes them uniquely positioned as credible mediators in scientific, technological and cultural exchanges. China's education strategy emphasises cultivating high-level talent and innovation capacity, especially in strategic sectors like artificial intelligence semiconductors and biotechnology. Hong Kong's institutions are already contributing. HKUST , for instance, plays a key role in robotics and digital technology while HKU advances biomedical research. Advertisement Their partnerships with Hong Kong Science Park and Cyberport create collaboration channels vital to the Greater Bay Area's ambition of becoming a global innovation hub.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
China forms new global mediation group with dozens of countries
HONG KONG — Dozens of countries joined China on Friday in establishing an international mediation-based dispute resolution group. Representatives of more than 30 other countries, from Pakistan and Indonesia to Belarus and Cuba, signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong to become founding members of the global organization, following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The support of developing countries signaled Beijing's rising influence in the global south amid heightened geopolitical tensions, partly exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs. At a ceremony, Wang said China has long advocated for handling differences with a spirit of mutual understanding and consensus-building through dialogue, while aiming to provide 'Chinese wisdom' for resolving conflicts between nations. 'The establishment of the International Organization for Mediation helps to move beyond the zero-sum mindset of 'you lose and I win,'' he said. The body, headquartered in Hong Kong, aims to help promote the amicable resolution of international disputes and build more harmonious global relations, he said. Beijing has touted the organization as the world's first intergovernmental legal organization for resolving disputes through mediation, saying it will be an important mechanism in safeguarding the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. It also positioned Hong Kong as an international legal and dispute resolution services center in Asia. Wang said the city's rule of law is highly developed, with the advantages of both common law and mainland Chinese law systems, asserting that it possesses uniquely favorable conditions for international mediation. Hong Kong leader John Lee said the organization could begin its work as early as the end of this year. The ceremony was attended by representatives from some 50 other countries and about 20 organizations, including the United Nations. Yueming Yan, a law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the new organization is a complementary mechanism to existing institutions such as the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. 'While the ICJ and PCA focus on adjudication and arbitration, IOMed introduces a structured, institutionalized form of alternative dispute resolution — namely, mediation — on a global scale,' she said. Although many details about the new body are yet to be clarified, it could open the door for greater synergy between formal litigation or arbitration and more flexible methods like mediation, she said. Shahla Ali, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the International Organization for Mediation would have the capacity to mediate disputes between states, between a state and a national of another state, or in international commercial disputes. 'Conventions can provide opportunities to experiment with new approaches," she said, noting rising interest in mediation globally as a means to resolve investor-state disputes.
The Star
7 days ago
- Health
- The Star
Hong Kong warned of surge in inflammatory bowel disease rates
The number of Hongkongers suffering from incurable chronic gut conditions could surge by 150 per cent over a 20-year period due to unhealthy diets, high in sugar and fat, according to a global study. Scientists from the study that was co-led by researchers from Hong Kong and Canada raised the alarm after a projection model estimated that the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in the city would rise from 40 cases per 100,000 people in 2014 to 100 in 2034. 'The 150 per cent increase in the total number in terms of prevalence – this is quite scary,' said Professor Ng Siew Chien, associate dean of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's medical school and an expert in gastroenterology who co-led the study. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. 'We call this probably an explosion.' Researchers found that the rates were related to economic development and that less developed places, such as Malaysia and mainland China, had lower rates than Hong Kong, although they were also trending upwards. IBD refers to a group of conditions that cause swelling and inflammation of tissue in the digestive tract, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis being the two most common types. Common symptoms of such conditions include diarrhoea, abdominal pains and cramps, and blood in the stool. IBD sufferers are also more likely to develop serious illnesses such as colon cancer. The researchers' projection model is based on real-world data collected from more than 500 studies in 82 regions that took place between 1920 and 2024. It also anticipated a rise in the local incidence rate for IBD, which involves the number of new cases per 100,000 people. While the rate in Hong Kong was 0.1 in 1985, it rose to about three in 2013 and is estimated to have exceeded four in 2023. The figures placed the city in the second part of a four-stage model outlined in the study, meaning it was experiencing a phase of 'acceleration in incidence' in IBD cases. Other jurisdictions that were seeing similar trends to Hong Kong included many relatively newly industrialised nations in Asia and Latin America, such as mainland China, Japan and South Korea. In the mainland, the rate of new cases rose from two per 100,000 people in 2010, to 15 in 2020. The total number of IBD patients in the country is expected to exceed 1.5 million by this year, according to Ng. The study, which was published in top scientific journal Nature last month, placed countries with low incidence and prevalence rates, such as many places in Africa, in the stage one category. Most countries in North America, Europe and Oceania were classified as being in stage three, meaning the number of new cases had already slowed down, but the total number of patients had steadily increased. While such conditions are not fatal and can be managed with medications and treatments, they cannot be cured. Serious cases can require surgery to remove a patient's colon and rectum, who must then carry a pouch to collect their waste. The late Shinzo Abe resigned as the prime minister of Japan in 2020 due to his struggles with ulcerative colitis. Study co-leader Professor Gilaad Kaplan, a gastroenterologist from the medical school of Canada's University of Calgary, said increases in new cases of IBD correlated with economic advancement. 'The earlier a country transitions into economic advancements, the earlier we see that trigger into stage two,' he said. Kaplan said that while higher incidence and prevalence rates were due to improved detection and diagnostic tools in economically advanced regions, environmental factors also played a crucial role. A person's diet was one of the strongest pillars under the category of environmental factors that contributed to a rise in cases, Kaplan and Ng said. Diets that were high in fat, sugar, ultra-processed foods, additives and colourings could change the health of a person's gut, she said. 'These foods actually affect our gut microbiome, which is the bacteria and viruses inside our gut,' the researcher said. 'They can induce [and] increase bacteria that can cause inflammation ... These bacteria produce toxins and chemicals inside the gut, and then it makes the gut very thin.' Ng explained that the resulting toxins and inflammatory responses inside the gut could then disturb one's immune system. She added that a growing number of IBD patients could see the local healthcare system face an increased economic burden, citing her own separate analysis on the topic. The academic noted that the average medical cost for a patient with the condition was about HK$40,000 to HK$50,000 (US$6,380) a year, about twice the amount paid by someone suffering from type 2 diabetes. Kaplan, meanwhile, said that IBD patients would get older and become more challenging to manage if they developed other conditions such as diabetes or dementia. Both researchers called for preventive actions to slow down IBD's growing prevalence and incidence rates. 'Our models show that if we can prevent the incidence of new diagnoses, even just by a small amount, that has a huge impact on blunting the overall growth or prevalence of the disease,' Kaplan said. He added that people could stave off such conditions by adopting a healthy, whole food diet, while officials could create policies that increased the availability of healthy foods. Sharing her tips on preventing the condition among the children of IBD patients, Ng said: 'Less processed food; just cook everything from scratch. Try not to use so many antibiotics if you can, because that changes the gut microbiome as well.' More from South China Morning Post: For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Virtuoso Surgical completes first bladder cancer removal cases with robotic system
US-based Virtuoso Surgical has completed the first-in-human bladder cancer removal cases using its surgical robotic system. The system features two robotically controlled, needle-sized manipulators less than 1mm in size. Operated from the tip of a rigid endoscope, the minuscule size of the company's equipment facilitates the removal of bladder lesions intact rather than piecemeal using the en bloc technique. Removing a total of 11 lesions in six patients, the first-in-human cases of Virtuoso's system were performed by Dr Jeremy Teoh, a leading bladder cancer surgeon and researcher based at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). While research indicates that en bloc holds benefits, the procedure is not typically performed in the US, potentially due to the dexterity limitations of current equipment, which makes the procedure challenging to learn and perform effectively. According to Virtuoso, its system helps overcome dexterity issues typically associated with performing en bloc procedures. The company adds that the system's instrumentation and multiple-arm dexterity are designed to improve rigid endoscopy by providing retraction and precise control through its patented concentric tube robotic arm technology. Trial results published in 2024 by a team led by Dr Teoh demonstrated that en bloc resection of the bladder tumour (ERBT) resulted in a 29% reduction in the one-year recurrence rate of ERBT post-procedure versus 38% in the standard resection control. Dr Teoh commented: "The ability to perform an en bloc resection for bladder cancer with this level of robotic assistance is a game-changer even for an expert in the technique. 'This approach has the potential to enable the widespread adoption of en bloc techniques, thereby minimising local recurrence and providing a more definitive pathological specimen, which is crucial for guiding subsequent treatment decisions.' Virtuoso's chief operating officer Richard J Hendrick asserted that the company's system will be useful in multiple areas of the body where rigid endoscopes are used to deliver interventional tools. Looking ahead, the company said it plans to soon submit an investigational device exemption (IDE) application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to study its system in the US. "Virtuoso Surgical completes first bladder cancer removal cases with robotic system" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
