Nicole Kidman’s series on Hong Kong expats, China unveils new warship technology: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

1. Why antennas will go almost unseen on China’s next-generation warships

China’s third and newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has yet to undergo sea trials but its design details – including an advanced “all in one” mast – are gradually being revealed.

The Fujian’s much talked about electromagnetic plane catapults were seen on state television for the first time early this month, showing that it has one less launch track than the USS Gerald R. Ford – the only other aircraft carrier in the world equipped with the technology.

2. Expats TV show puts Hong Kong officials in ‘awkward position’, seen as glamorising

A new television series starring Nicole Kidman about expats in Hong Kong has put the government in an awkward position and does not portray the city in a positive way, according to lawmakers, while some members of the community it portrays say the way the show depicts their lives is unrealistic.

3. China’s rose-tinted growth scrutinised through jaundiced eyes of wary foreigners

Across China, a large cross-section of foreign businesses is struggling to cope amid what has been a gulf between their tepid business performances and Beijing’s rose-tinted account of the economy.

4. Hong Kong leader unveils details of domestic national security legislation

Hong Kong’s leader has unveiled plans to enact sweeping domestic national security legislation targeting ­treason, insurrection, sabotage, foreign interference, theft of state secrets and espionage, promoting it as a “defensive law” to ward off attacks against the city amid escalating geopolitical tensions between China and the West.

5. ‘Political time bomb’: North Korean workers reportedly riot in China over wages

Pyongyang’s persistence in funding its weapons programme could become a “political time bomb” for the regime, observers have warned, after North Korean workers in China were said to have rioted over the discovery their back wages had been transferred to prop up their country’s arms production.

6. ‘10 cups of tea’: China’s top intelligence agency lays out reasons for summons

For the first time, Beijing’s top intelligence agency has laid out 10 conditions subject to scrutiny by its agencies – mainly concerning national security, state secrets and violating the country’s updated anti-espionage law – that could lead to questioning, known in slang as “an invitation to tea”.

7. Elderly Chinese parents tricked by son into signing over flat end up homeless

The plight of an elderly Chinese couple driven out of their own home by their son after signing the property over to their grandson, has outraged mainland social media.