China, Philippine coastguard vessels clash in South China Sea.
Washington and Beijingโs top police officials met on Friday in the Chinese capital, the latest meeting by senior level representatives in advance of a much-anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, expected in the US capital in late September. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel met Wang Xiaohong, Chinaโs state councillor and minister of public security, in Beijing on Friday, according to state news agency Xinhua. Wang said the two...
Beijingโs point man on Hong Kong affairs has called on lawmakers to better support the cityโs leader, enhance governance, inject new momentum into local development and address residentsโ needs. Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, made the call as he met 88 legislators on Friday at a seminar during their unprecedented week-long national affairs study tour to the capital. Meeting the group in the Hong Kong Room of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xia affirmed...
Two Peking University alumni made history by winning the Fields Medal this week, a victory that points to a wave of young, high-achieving Chinese scientists behind them. The International Congress of Mathematicians announced that Wang Hong and Deng Yu, who both entered the top Chinese university in 2007, were awarded the highest honour for mathematicians under 40 years of age. It is the first time Chinese nationals have received the prestigious award. Mathematician Cai Tianxin, a distinguished...
China may be developing a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarine with improved range and stealth, according to analysis based on recent satellite imagery. The images, captured at Shanghaiโs Jiangnan Shipyard, show what analysts believe is a previously unidentified submarine featuring a dramatically reduced sail compared with existing Type 093 attack submarines โ a design they say could improve performance. The submarine first came to public attention in early June when naval analyst H.I....
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China have called for a lasting settlement to the war in the Middle East, while pledging further cooperation on energy security. A joint statement was released on Friday after a meeting in Manila between the foreign ministers of China and the Asean, against the backdrop of an ongoing energy crisis. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused prices to rise and led to shortages across Southeast Asia, prompting the Philippines to declare a national...
In an era where short-form videos and viral commentary can dominate public discourse on geopolitics, one Chinese political scientist is on a mission to correct what he calls a โnegative oneโ level of understanding. Yan Xuetong, honorary president of Tsinghua Universityโs Institute of International Relations in Beijing, is doing this by challenging the public to avoid social media sensationalism and to take a 60-minute closed-book test on their grasp of foreign affairs. The fourth edition of the...
When a man in China went travelling and helped a Taiwanese tourist take pictures, they chatted casually only to find out that the tourist was a long-lost relative of the manโs family. This incredible experience was shared on social media by the man, Chen Jie, who lives in Shanghai, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported. In early July, Chen took a business trip to Yunnan province in southwest China. During a break from his work, he travelled to Lugu Lake, a famous tourist site. At 6am on July 9,...
The Philippine Coast Guard says 12 China Coast Guard vessels and three Chinese maritime militia vessels were involved.
South Korea has returned a pair of Qing dynasty (1644-1911) marble sculptures to China, a symbolic gesture as the two nations work to repair bilateral ties through cultural diplomacy. The male and female lions, each standing 1.9 metres (6ft) tall and weighing 1.25 tonnes, were officially handed over by the Kansong Art Museum at a ceremony in Seoul on Thursday and were set to depart for China on Friday, according to the Chinese embassy. Senior cultural officials and diplomats from both nations...
China has added 14 entities from the European Union to its export control list, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday. Effective immediately, the order means the export of dual-use items โ products with civilian as well as military application โ from China to the named entities is prohibited, as is the shipment of dual-use items of Chinese origin to the listed companies and institutions. The move came after another round of sanctions from Brussels against Russia, announced on Thursday,...
China-Philippine clashes continued near the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal for the second day on Friday, as Beijing started military drills in the South China Sea that are expected to run until the end of the month. โOn July 24, the China Coast Guard took control measures in accordance with the law toward multiple Philippine vessels engaged in illegal activities in waters under Chinaโs jurisdiction off Huangyan Island,โ the coastguard said in a statement on Friday, referring to Beijingโs name...
Chinese unicorn Moonshot AIโs Kimi K3 model trails far behind top American rivals in its ability to launch cyberattacks, joint British-US government research shows, challenging Washingtonโs brewing anxiety over the rapid rise of Chinese open-source artificial intelligence. The model, currently considered Chinaโs most powerful large language model, performs โsignificantly below the most recent frontier cyber-capable modelsโ, according to a report published on Thursday by the UK Artificial...
From massive typhoons and severe floods to scorching heat, China is being hit by a barrage of extreme weather events. Behind this surge in volatility lies a brewing โsuperโ El Nino, according to researchers. Scientists warn that we are only seeing the prelude, and with the current event already rivalling historic climate disasters, it signals a potentially perilous future for the nation and the globe. Jiang Hua, chief El Nino forecaster at the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre,...
Young people in China are homemaking kombucha, reviving a 1980s fad from the previous generation after the drink became a globally recognised health product. In recent years, kombucha has gone viral in Western countries as a commercial beverage, endorsed by stars such as Kourtney Kardashian and Lady Gaga. The trend has reached China and prompted some drinks makers to release kombucha products. Meanwhile, some Chinese youngsters are making their own kombucha at home and sharing their methods...
China unveiled its 15th five-year plan for renewable energy on Thursday. Below are the key targets outlined in the blueprint, which was released jointly by the National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration. See original document in Chinese: ๅฏๅ็่ฝๆบๅๅฑโๅไบไบโ่งๅ by scmp
Chinaโs securities watchdog has pledged to channel more medium- and long-term capital into the countryโs stock markets and fortify financial defences against external shocks, as authorities move aggressively to stabilise sentiment following recent market turbulence. At a meeting on Thursday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced a raft of measures aimed at maintaining smooth market operations and reinforcing the capital marketโs resilience. The regulator said it would โmore...
We have selected seven stories from this weekโs news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US slaps fresh tariffs on China, 50-plus countries in latest wave The United States imposed late on Thursday a fresh wave of tariffs against 60 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and European Union member states,...
Joseph Chang Yanfeng was ordained bishop of Chifeng in Chinaโs northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Wednesday, highlighting the uneasy diplomatic engagement between Beijing and the Vatican on the sensitive issue of Catholic appointments. According to Vatican News, Pope Leo XIV approved Changโs appointment on June 15, under the terms of the 2018 provisional agreement between the Holy See and Beijing. The ordination fills a vacancy for the Catholic diocese of Chifeng that had lasted nearly...
Chinaโs A-share market has seen another high-profile divorce case result in a massive asset split, involving the transfer of 6 billion yuan (US$886 million) โ the highest this year โ and raising concerns over corporate governance stability and share price fluctuations. Although the scope of the divorce settlement is not at all comparable to that of Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates, it has made tens of thousands of retail investors worry about their portfolio holdings and paper wealth. Maxone...
China has unveiled its latest ambitious space-based computing network designed to process satellite data in orbit using AI before sending the results to Earth. Xingshu, or โStar Hubโ, will eventually comprise around 1,000 satellites, according to Chi Nan, an optical communications professor at Fudan University. The network is being jointly developed by Fudan and Shanghai Xingshu Tiansuan Space Technology Co. It would offer on-demand, time-based computing services in orbit, allowing governments,...
More than one-third of Americans see China, and not the United States, as the global leader in artificial intelligence (AI), according to a Pew Research Centre survey released on Thursday, as US President Donald Trump confirmed the technology would be on the agenda when his Chinese counterpart visits the US later this year. The survey found that 36 per cent of Americans believe China is more advanced than the United States in developing artificial intelligence. By comparison, only 12 per cent...
Even as local retail spending remains resilient, Hong Kong consumers are shopping more across the border in mainland China, drawn by lower prices and wider adoption of digital payments, according to data from payment giant UnionPay International. Offline UnionPay card spending in mainland China by Hong Kong residents rose nearly 30 per cent year on year in the first half of 2026, while online and digital transactions recorded even stronger growth, data released on Thursday showed. The trend...
There is a change in the skies and waters around Taiwan. In the first half of this year, the number of Peopleโs Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jets detected near the island more than halved year on year to 1,334. It was a three-year low and marked the lowest operational tempo since 2023, according to a tally by the South China Morning Post based on data from Taiwanโs defence ministry. At the same time, the number of days no PLA jets were detected by Taiwan hit a new high, and the PLA did not...
US senators broadly agree that Chinese connected vehicles should be kept off American roads. But a bipartisan attempt to codify and expand existing restrictions has exposed divisions over whether the proposed ban could ensnare European carmakers and increase costs for American electric-vehicle producers. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation advanced the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026, a bill that would prohibit the import, manufacture and sale of connected...
The United States imposed late on Thursday a fresh wave of tariffs against 60 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and European Union member states, hours before a temporary 10 per cent blanket levy was due to expire. The tariffs, ranging from 10 to 12.5 per cent, are the outcome of a Section 301 investigation into forced labour, with Washington arguing that existing measures have failed to keep goods produced with forced labour out of supply chains. โTodayโs action will begin...
Mid-July should have been a moment of quiet satisfaction in Beijing. Fresh data showed Chinaโs favourability surpassing that of the United States in 25 of 37 nations surveyed by Pew Research Centre, including key European countries. Domestically, the second-quarter gross domestic product growth of 4.3 per cent, while softer than the first financial quarter, kept the annual target within reach. The logic was simple: with the US distracted by Donald Trumpโs erratic trade wars and isolationist...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Brazil that Beijing would continue to support its sovereignty, security, and development interests, hours after a 25 per cent US tariff on Brazilian goods took effect. Wang met Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira on Wednesday in Manila, on the sidelines of the 59th meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers, where Vieira is also attending the third Brazil-Asean ministerial. China would go on to โsupport Brazil in...
The Pentagon has added Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University to a list of foreign institutions deemed a threat to US national security, extending Washingtonโs research-security crackdown to two of Chinaโs most prestigious civilian universities. The updated list identifies 88 institutions in mainland China and bars US Department of Defence-funded researchers from collaborating with them, or using their equipment, under restrictions taking effect in the 2026 financial year. The...
The Houthi militia in Yemen appears to be allowing some ships to pass through the Bab al-Mandab strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, despite its blockade of shipping to Saudi Arabia, experts said on Thursday. A Chinese oil tanker, Cosco Shippingโs VLCC Xin Long Yang, has been granted permission to pass through the waterway, according to the trade publication Lloydโs List. It said Chinese tankers returning from the Saudi port of Yanbu in the Red Sea may be able to negotiate passage with the...
The EU has watered down its latest round of sanctions on Moscow after concluding that banning Greek companies from transporting Russian gas to third countries could hand strategically important shipping assets to China. To remove a Greek veto against the 21st package of measures aimed at hobbling Russiaโs war machine, the blocโs member states agreed to allow EU operators to continue transporting Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to third countries for one year. Officials explained that Chinaโs...
For the first time, China has produced Fields Medal winners educated on its own soil โ and two at once. Chinese mathematicians Wang Hong and Deng Yu took the honour, alongside John Pardon and Jacob Tsimerman. The Fields Medal is the top honour for young mathematicians under 40 years of age. The medals, along with a modest cash prize, were given out on Thursday at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in Philadelphia. The prestigious medal, often called the โNobel Prize of...
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that there will be no change to the remaining sanctions on 39 Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials in the โnear futureโ, while acknowledging the issue came up in a meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Rubio, Washingtonโs top diplomat, also said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump had allowed a national emergency declaration on Hong Kong to expire last week after determining that the โcircumstances had changedโ, though he did not elaborate...
The global AI community has pushed back against the Trump administrationโs claims that Moonshot AIโs groundbreaking Kimi K3 distilled US models, citing a lack of justification and arguing that the practice does not constitute intellectual property theft. In separate posts on X on Thursday, a number of AI experts called the accusations โpoliticalโ and โrecklessโ, pointing out that an AI modelโs output was not copyrighted. A Moonshot employee on Thursday hit back at the US officialsโ claims that...
China and the United Statesโ agreement to pursue stability appeared to be holding, analysts said, even as President Donald Trump seemed determined to rock the boat ahead of the leadersโ second summit of the year in September. The assessment came as Beijing issued a measured response to his allegations of Chinese interference in the 2020 US elections. That restraint and recent tangible gestures โ including Washington lifting sanctions on Hong Kong and the expected trip to the US this week by a...
Southern and eastern China are bracing for another round of severe weather after twin typhoons and widespread flooding this month. Chinaโs top flood control and drought relief body held an emergency inter-agency meeting on Wednesday to coordinate disaster prevention ahead of the expected 12th named storm of the season. Meanwhile, rainfall remains widespread and intense nationwide, including regions still recovering from recent storms. Rivers and lakes are still swollen in some areas and the soil...
The foreign ministers of China and the United States adopted a largely cordial tone following a meeting on Wednesday where they discussed Chinese President Xi Jinpingโs upcoming trip to the US rather than President Donald Trumpโs accusations of election interference by Beijing. Their talks were โpragmatic, positive and constructiveโ, Chinaโs Wang Yi said in a statement after the conversation in Manila. Marco Rubio of the US said that โgreat differenceโ between the two countries must be managed...
Chinaโs durian imports rose 47 per cent, year on year, in the first half of 2026, with Thailand and Malaysia posting particularly strong gains, according to customs data, as Southeast Asian exporters offloaded a glut of the fruit that had sparked a price drop. Thailand exported nearly US$3.79 billion worth of the pungent spiky fruit shipped to China in the first half of 2026, the Chinese customs data showed, taking an 81 per cent share of the market. Thai shipments reached US$2.56 billion in the...
In China, many heartbroken women are spending thousands of yuan on services that claim they can help win back former lovers, with the first rule being โno contact with your exโ. A 28-year-old woman, using the pseudonym Wan, said she had paid a โrelationship coachโ 3,500 yuan (US$500) for a month of 24/7 coaching to win back her ex-boyfriend who recently broke up with her. The coach used an initial free 90-minute phone call as bait, concluding that Wanโs relationship had ended not because her ex...
Mainland China is conducting two-day live-fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait off coastal waters of the southeastern province of Fujian, its maritime authority said. The drill will run from 6am to 6pm on both Thursday and Friday, according to a navigation warning issued by the China Maritime Safety Administration on Wednesday. Peopleโs Liberation Army drills usually peak in mid and late July as the PLA seeks to improve its capacities in harsh environments, including under extreme heat. Based...
A man in northeastern China who was filmed pushing his bicycle through deep water on his way to work amid torrential rain has trended on social media. The video triggered an outpouring of emotion after internet users learned that the man was a doctor who had appointments to perform surgery on two patients that day, state news agency Xinhua reported. It was on July 13 when Shenyang, in Liaoning province, was hit by a serious downpour, with precipitation measuring 230mm. The local government...
In the past week, one regulation has forced many people in China to say goodbye to long-standing โrelationshipsโ. As of July 15, the government placed artificial intelligence (AI) companions under tight supervision. It comes as automated companions have experienced something of a boom over the past few years. According to the rules, AI-human interactions should not encourage violence or harm usersโ physical and psychological well-being. Moreover, AI bots should not lure users into sharing...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday warned his Philippine counterpart that Manila would โbear the bitter consequencesโ if it tried to provoke Beijing with the help of other countries. Wang made the remark as he lodged a โstrong protestโ during talks with Theresa Lazaro, the Philippinesโ top diplomat, in Manila over what he called an โaggressive act of ramming a Chinese law enforcement vesselโ at a disputed reef in the South China Sea on Monday. It was the third day Beijing has...
China has brought online a record-breaking particle accelerator that can produce the worldโs most intense beams of charged atoms. It gives scientists a new tool to create previously unknown atomic nuclei and advance research on cancer treatment and spacecraft materials. Scientific operations have now begun at the 2.6 billion yuan (US$384.1 million) facility in Huizhou, Guangdong province after construction was completed on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua reported. Known as the High Intensity...
Economist Mary Lovely dismisses the claims that getting automakers to produce more cars in America proves tariffs work.
Chinaโs private securities investment funds surpassed 8 trillion yuan (US$1.2 trillion) for the first time at the end of June, emerging as the core engine driving the expansion of the countryโs entire private fund industry, according to the Asset Management Association of China. Propelled by the huge growth in securities funds, assets under management in the broader private fund industry hit a record 23.66 trillion yuan, the association said. The sector has achieved record-breaking asset levels...
US President Donald Trumpโs administration will redirect billions of dollars in federal research funding away from universities to individual scientists and AI-focused projects, arguing the overhaul is needed to help the US compete with China. The plan, outlined in a White House Office of Science and Technology Policy report released on Tuesday, comes as the administration warns that China has reached parity with the US in research and development spending over the past 20 years, โa situation...
US lawmakers are examining tariffs, port fees and sanctions targeting Chinaโs shipbuilding industry, as US Congress searches for ways to rebuild Americaโs severely diminished commercial fleet without increasing costs for US importers and consumers. At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday, members of both parties described Chinaโs dominance of commercial shipbuilding as an economic and national security vulnerability, but witnesses cautioned that penalties alone would do little...
Rubio met his Chinese counterpart to discuss managing tensions ahead of President Xi Jinping's upcoming US visit.
The killing of a dog and her puppies in Guangdong has sparked outrage inside and outside the country.
After Donald Trumpโs high-stakes summit with Xi Jinping in May, the idea of US-China โstrategic stabilityโ appeared in readouts from both sides. While the White House framed this vision as a โconstructive relationship of strategic stability on the basis of fairness and reciprocityโ, Beijing said only that it was a โconstructive bilateral relationship of strategic stabilityโ. China watchers zoomed in on the phrase โ especially the Chinese version โ debating what it could reveal or conceal about...
Washington is still not receiving sufficient critical mineral exports from China, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday, even as top American and Chinese officials met to finalise key economic deliverables for President Xi Jinpingโs expected visit to the White House. โWe are getting a flow of critical minerals from China. Itโs not as much as we would want. Itโs not at the pace we would want, but we are getting them,โ Greer said during his testimony before the Senate Finance...
In April 1955, amid the Cold War, 304 representatives across 29 Asian and African nations convened in Bandung, Indonesia, to discuss the principles of a more complex future world order. Among them were India, China and host Indonesia. While India would go on to champion the non-aligned movement at the 1961 Belgrade Conference, Mao Zedongโs China and Sukarnoโs Indonesia were more sceptical of the colonial, Western order. Then the more US-sympathetic Suharto seized power in Indonesia in 1966....
Lawmakers called out Chinaโs growing footprint at the United Nations on Wednesday as a vehicle for espionage even as a Congressional hearing over its funding descended into a heated partisan battle over the Iran war started by US President Donald Trump. โThe Chinese peacekeeping department is concentrated in strategically sensitive regions, including areas along Belt and Road [Initiative] corridors, near ports, mineral resources, and existing or potential basing locations,โ Sheri Biggs, a...
Criminal syndicates increasingly turned from targeting Chinese nationals to Americans after Beijingโs 2023 crackdown on online scams in Southeast Asia, analysts said on Wednesday, triggering a global game of โwhack-a-moleโ. โChina has a huge advantage and a head start in terms of trying to protect its own citizens from scams compared to the US,โ said Sue-Lin Wong, who hosts the Scam Inc. podcast, adding that it is โterrible for Americans who are losing a lot of moneyโ. In recent years, Southeast...
A joint statement said the Quad reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific while extending โunwavering supportโ for โASEAN unity and centralityโ
China and the EU have renewed their joint research agreement, according to Chinese state-linked media, signalling a willingness to collaborate on climate and agriculture despite trade tensions. Peopleโs Financial News, a publication affiliated with Communist Party mouthpiece Peopleโs Daily, reported on the new two-year agreement on Wednesday. Chinaโs Ministry of Science and Technology and the European Commission had signed joint research funding agreements to support scientific cooperation...
The United States Coast Guard said it closely tracked Chinese polar expedition vessels transiting the Bering Sea on their way to the Arctic Ocean last week, amid unease over Beijingโs geopolitical ambitions in the region. The US Coast Guard Cutter Munro actively monitored the Chinese research ships Xuelong and Xuelong 2 as they passed northbound through the US exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and extended continental shelf in the Bering Sea towards the Arctic, the US Coast Guard said last...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Philippine counterpart in Manila on Wednesday, with both sides highlighting the need for โreducing the risk of miscalculationโ and maintaining stability in the South China Sea. The meeting on the sidelines of the Asean foreign ministersโ gathering marked the first formal talks between the top diplomats since Maria Theresa Lazaro assumed office in July last year. It also came days after fresh tensions in the disputed waters, with Chinese coastguard and...
A 71-year-old grandmother in eastern China jumped into a river to save a young man who tried to drown himself because of his relationship problems, winning widespread admiration on social media. The man was filmed on July 13 climbing onto a bridgeโs railing before decisively jumping into a river in Suixi county in Anhui province, the Anhui Daily reported. Liu Defang, a white-haired retiree, was chatting with friends near the bridge when she heard someone shouting, โSomeone has fallen into the...
Chinese regulators moved on Tuesday to improve the quality of credit ratings for panda bonds โ a yuan-denominated asset class that has seen a surge in interest from foreign sovereign and institutional investors this year as a key tool to bolster Beijingโs yuan-internationalisation push. Credit-rating agencies must adhere to the principles of independence, objectivity and prudence, according to a circular posted to the website of the National Association of Financial Market Institutional...
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signalled potential action against open source artificial intelligence (AI) models amid accusations that Chinese developers are creating low-cost systems using stolen US intellectual property. โThis administration supports open source models, but what we do not support is IP theft,โ Bessent said on Fox Business on Tuesday. โIf we see, especially, that overseas models are stealing from our great companies, we have the ability to sanction them.โ Watermarks from...
On July 9, a fire burned through a shoe factory in Jinjiang, Fujian province, killing at least 28 people. The accident signals a larger problem: firms operating under financial pressure often cut costs by compromising safety. Chinaโs low-cost business model needs reform, but why has change been so difficult? The plant that burned employed hundreds of workers, yet company filings for 2025 indicate that only a handful of them were enrolled in pension and medical insurance plans. A fire-safety...
A drink-driving suspect in central China faked his death with the help of his family to evade prosecution before fleeing south. Prosecutors in Anyang, Henan province, recently revealed the case to mainland media outlets, sparking widespread online attention. In January last year, the man, surname Si, was arrested for drink-driving. Police later discovered that he had previously been penalised twice for driving without a license while intoxicated. He was released on bail pending...
International luxury car brands from Mercedes-Benz to Land Rover took a further beating in China last month as wealthy consumers continued to shun expensive petrol-powered vehicles. Struggling against competition from Chinaโs rising electric vehicle (EV) powerhouses, international marques would find it more difficult to retain their market share and maintain profitability in the worldโs largest automotive market, analysts said. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA),...
China is pushing to ensure that electric trucks account for at least 40 per cent of new heavy-goods vehicle sales by 2030, as part of a broader effort to reduce carbon emissions in its vast transport sector. That would mean having at least 1.6 million electric heavy-goods vehicles on the road by the end of the decade, said Cai Tuanjie, an official from Chinaโs Ministry of Transport, at a Tuesday press briefing. Electric trucks currently make up nearly 30 per cent of Chinaโs new heavy-goods...
A satellite that can provide 24/7 surveillance of a third of the Earthโs surface relies on a rare mineral whose global supply is dominated by China, a new study has disclosed. The Ludi Tance-4 01 radar satellite, powered by gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, is the only satellite of its kind. It orbits 36,000km (22,000 miles) above the Earth and is able to stay in what is known as a geosynchronous orbit, which keeps it fixed over the same spot. This allows it to monitor both large areas of...
Proposed rules would have US regulator block the entry of swarm-capable drones, mainly from China.
Pacific island nations are facing a security challenge in responding to Chinaโs recent missile launch near Tuvalu and keeping their vision of a region as an โocean of peaceโ, as analysts say the diverse nature of their ties with Beijing is complicating efforts towards a united response. On July 6, China said one of its navyโs nuclear submarines launched a โstrategic missileโ carrying a dummy warhead towards โrelevant high seas of the Pacific Oceanโ, describing the test as routine annual military...
The struggle between the US and China over who will lead in artificial intelligence is one of the defining competitions of our time. In the second part of our exclusive interview with a key player defining Washingtonโs policy on AI, Jacob Helberg, US undersecretary of state for economic affairs, discusses Americaโs efforts to rally its allies and cut dependence on China by securing alternative rare earth and critical mineral supply chains. By the time US President Donald Trump signed his...
A tenant in a residential block in southern China called the police, reporting a smell resembling corpses in their building. It turned out that the odour was actually coming from a neighbour cooking with Guangdongโs traditional stinky vinegar. On July 14, a woman in Guangdong province, surnamed Chen, posted about someone calling the police to check on her home. She stated: โMy neighbour thought I was cooking a dead body,โ while tagging โthe power of stinky vinegar.โ The neighbour reportedly...
Chinaโs drug regulator has for the first time approved a novel, globally trialled medicine ahead of authorities in the United States, Japan and Europe, marking a โhistoric breakthroughโ as the country doubles down on biopharmaceuticals as one of its growth engines. The drug was filed for market approval in multiple countries, and โChina was the first in the world to approve itโ, Xu Xiaoqiang, head of chemical drugs registration at the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), told state...
Chinaโs electric vehicle (EV) industry sits at the centre of numerous economic and geopolitical trends: consumer spending, environmental protection, trade policy, high-end manufacturing, technology and more. In this short series, we assess the current state of the sector within these broader contexts. Here, Yeon Woo Lee asks whether Beijing has written a blueprint for developing countries to kick-start their own contenders in the field. Emerging markets once seemed like also-rans in the global...
Over the past year, Chinaโs Belt and Road Initiative has seen rapid development in Central Asia. This has been evidenced by the launch of several railway and road routes connecting Chinaโs industrial and economic centres to logistics hubs in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Chinaโs improved transport to the region reflects two interrelated trends: growing trade momentum and Central Asiaโs strengthening position in continental logistics. Last year, China became the largest trading partner...
The Solomon Islands, widely considered Chinaโs closest security partner in the South Pacific, will soon sign a deal allowing the US Coast Guard to patrol its waters with local police aboard, Prime Minister Matthew Wale announced on a trip to Washington to strengthen bilateral ties. While the South Pacific nation has deepened its ties with China over the past few years, particularly following the signing of a secret security pact in 2022, Waleโs visit underscored efforts to strengthen maritime...
A Chinese researcherโs vision of serving spicy crawfish soup to astronauts on Mars became an unlikely symbol of Washingtonโs growing anxiety over Chinaโs scientific ambitions at a US Senate hearing on Tuesday. Drew Endy, associate professor at Stanford University and director of bio-strategy and leadership at the Hoover Institution, said that last autumn he met a 20-year-old Chinese researcher from Shanghai at a scientific conference in Paris. Dressed in a large red crawfish costume, the young...
For years, Washington has fixated on the gap between US and Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) models as AI has increasingly taken centre stage in the strategic competition between the worldโs two leading powers. The release of OpenAIโs ChatGPT in late 2022 established a clear early lead for the US, with the first batch of export controls on advanced semiconductor chips introduced in October that year, putting American tech ahead by three years or more, some experts estimated at the time. But...
Chinese researchers have called for more coordination among the countryโs maritime authorities to counter an American strategy that has put pressure on Beijing across three critical waterways in the first island chain. By synchronising operations across flashpoints in the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, Washingtonโs โthree seas linkageโ strategy aimed to force Beijing into multi-front operations and strategic overextension, warned Yue Shengsong, an associate professor...
Dispute erupts in South China Sea after incident near Second Thomas Shoal involving Chinese and Philippine vessels.
Chinese tourists are being unfairly blamed for Kyotoโs overtourism crisis, according to a new report, even as data shows mainland visitor numbers have fallen sharply amid worsening ties between China and Japan. The report released earlier this month by the Kyoto City Tourism Associationโs destination management organisation said many local residents assumed crowded public transport, congestion at popular sights and rising hotel prices were being driven by mainland Chinese tour groups. But...
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at reducing dependence on China for defence-related critical minerals, directing military contractors to shift away from Beijing-linked supply chains beginning in January 2027. Without naming China, Trumpโs executive order stresses the need to maintain US military dominance โin an era of renewed great power competitionโ. โThe United States must secure its supply chains against physical, cyber, and economic subversion,โ it...
When the US Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trumpโs attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, his attention soon turned from the justices to China, prompting a sarcastic social media post. โI would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP,โ Trump wrote on social media. In the hours that followed, the Department of Justice instructed federal prosecutors to prioritise investigations of...
As trade tensions with China reach boiling point, EU officials are ramping up engagement with Beijing in search of an off-ramp. Quietly behind the scenes, though, Europe is preparing for a trade war. In Brussels, a steely determination has set in to ensure the blocโs manufacturing heartlands are not deindustrialised by the โChina Shock 2.0โ. With some industries already haemorrhaging jobs, the EUโs resilience-building and de-risking plans are now laced with deterrents as Brussels looks to...
Beijing and Manila have exchanged fresh accusations over a clash in the South China Sea, just as Chinaโs top diplomat is due to attend the Asean foreign ministersโ meeting in the Philippines. On social media late on Monday, the China Coast Guard said that at around 9am that morning as a small Chinese coastguard vessel was patrolling near Second Thomas Shoal, two rubber dinghies were launched โillegallyโ from the Philippine Navyโs BRP Sierra Madre, a vessel grounded on the shoal by Manila about...
A group of Czech lawmakers are visiting China in the first high-level engagement between the two countries since 2019, a move Chinese analysts described as โtesting the watersโ rather than representing a more substantive thaw. Tomio Okamura, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and head of the delegation, has told local media he was hoping to secure agreements on more direct flights, an increase in Chinese tourist numbers and visa-free travel for Czech citizens. Representatives from 40 Czech firms...
Facing Europeโs ever-widening trade deficit with Beijing, Berlin is increasingly singing the same tune as Paris. The two nations displayed a united front at this yearโs Franco-German Ministerial Council, which will soon be put on paper in a joint road map due by September at the request of Germany. โOur work between Germany and France is indispensable at a time when Russia threatens our security, when the Peopleโs Republic of China challenges our economy, and when the transatlantic partnership...
Domestically produced novel drugs accounted for more than 80 per cent of market approvals in China in the first half of the year, reflecting a โleapโ in the quality of the countryโs pharmaceutical innovation, according to a government spokesman. A total of 38 innovative drugs were cleared for sale in the six-month period, of which 31 were home-grown medicines, said Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesman Tao Qing, at a media briefing in Beijing on Monday. The approvals, along...
European pilots have found โno major hardware risksโ with the Chinese-made C919 passenger jet during a months-long flight testing process in China, which is now beginning to wrap up, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. The news indicates that the C919 has taken a step closer to winning a crucial endorsement from European safety regulators, but the sources cautioned that the completion of in-flight testing did not mean that certification was imminent. The โtest driveโ by...
Ikeaโs parent company Ingka Group has hired property consultancy JLL as its sole sales agent to offload eight retail properties in mainland China, the multinational furniture brandโs largest asset disposal since it entered the market nearly 30 years ago. Seven of the properties were Ikea stores that ceased their operations in February. The remaining one, a site in Guiyang in the southern province of Guizhou, shut down in 2022 and has been vacant ever since, according to disclosure from JLL last...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China built megaprojects in Ivory Coast, now itโs own role is changing Beijing is transitioning from contractor to stakeholder in the fast-growing African economy, with US$209 million tourist complex in the mix. 2. Sun Fanglin, Chinese scientist who paved way for new cancer drugs, dies at...
A 20-year-old woman from central China who served as a bridesmaid had one of her vertebrae fractured and became seriously disabled after a prank activity at a wedding. A court in Ruyang county, in Henan province, released its verdict on the case to the public in early July, aiming to raise awareness of the controversial wedding revelry, news portal gmw.cn reported. As part of nuptial ceremonies, wedding hazing, called hun nao in Chinese, dates back thousands of years, originally being intended...
The UK move to take over British Steel fuels a brewing dispute with China amid political leadership change in London.
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Meredith Chen looks at how tensions and shrinking academic exchange may be eroding Americaโs deep, experience-based understanding of China. Long before China could be studied through satellite images, social media, big data or...
Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving unprecedented demand for computing, placing photonic chips at the centre of the race to develop next-generation AI hardware. By transmitting data with light rather than electricity, photonic technologies are widely seen as a way to overcome bandwidth and power constraints. However, translating that potential into mass-producible hardware is often bottlenecked by slow, complex manufacturing. A Chinese research team says it has overcome one of the fieldโs...
A man in eastern China was stunned to discover that his familyโs battered dining table was in fact a Qing dynasty (1644โ1912) honour board commemorating an ancestorโs success in the imperial examinations. Xu, a villager in Anhui province, shared the unusual story in an online video on July 12, which subsequently went viral on mainland social media. The footage shows a dark-red wooden table scarred by decades of use, with cracked edges and a faded surface. Yet two carved Chinese characters โ...
When devastating floods swept through Assam in northeastern India in 2018, the disaster quickly triggered a troubling question within New Delhiโs security corridors: could control over the weather become a new tool of geopolitical pressure or warfare? As technology advances, could control over the weather become a tool of geopolitical pressure, or even a weapon? Much of the concern centred on neighbouring China. Assamโs then finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, publicly warned about Beijingโs...
As Norwegian World Cup footballer Erling Haalandโs herbal drink advertising blitz captivates millions, his home country has emerged as a popular destination for Chinese travellers. An increasing number of Chinese citizens have visited Norway over the past two years, with interest surging during this summerโs international football competition. The draw was largely Norwayโs scenic allure, but in recent weeks Haalandโs social-media stagecraft had amplified the appeal, tourism professionals...
President Donald Trumpโs latest diatribe against China over alleged election meddling has laid bare a โhuge crisisโ within Americaโs democratic system, a prominent adviser to Beijing has suggested. Zheng Yongnian, a leading political scientist, said the claims were campaign rhetoric for Novemberโs midterm elections and were unlikely to have a significant impact on the China-US relationship. Instead of repeatedly shifting blame onto other countries, Washington should reflect on how to reform its...
Chinaโs yoga apparel market is grappling with fierce competition and slowing growth amid sluggish domestic consumption, as middle-class shoppers diversify their activities, according to analysts. Lululemon, the Canadian athletic apparel brand popular among Chinaโs middle class, continues to face sales pressure in the worldโs second-largest consumer market. Lululemonโs same-store sales growth at sampled Chinese shopping malls dropped 4 per cent year on year in May, compared with a 3 per cent...