Theme: China

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law ratifying the intergovernmental agreement with China for the joint construction of a second main line of 1,435 mm gauge on the Zabaikalsk–Manzhouli border section. Under the document, the two countries will carry out the works jointly and in a synchronized way. The ratified document appears on Russia’s official legislative information portal. The ratification is presented as a step forward in Russia’s “eastward pivot” toward China, in the SCMP’s assessment.

A Hong Kong court sentenced activist Joshua Wong to 10 years in prison on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to “foreign collusion,” his second conviction under a national security law. The sentence stems from the global campaign to instigate sanctions against mainland China and Hong Kong after the 2019 protests. Wong was already serving a sentence for subversion in the primary election case and was charged alongside his former party colleague Nathan Law and other activists. Foreign consuls attended the hearing, with a heavy police presence and a large crowd of media outside the court.

The People’s Bank of China is working to extend e-CNY operating capability to offshore banks, including branches of existing operators in Hong Kong, said Lu Yuan, deputy head of the bank’s digital currency research institute, on a panel at Hong Kong Fintech Week. ICBC has already accumulated hundreds of billions of yuan in transactions in the currency, and the central bank counts around 4.3 billion transactions worth around 31 trillion yuan as of September.

High Court Judge William Tam has set 9:30 a.m. this Thursday for the sentencing of Joshua Wong for foreign collusion, in a hearing lasting about 30 minutes. Wong pleaded guilty in September and faces a prison term ranging from three years to life imprisonment on the charge of conspiring with external forces to endanger national security. The 30-year-old activist is already serving a four-year, eight-month prison term. Before the new charge, lawyer Derek Chan told the court Wong had been due for release in January 2027.

A test by France 24 Observers using a Chinese IP address showed that Doubao replies that the content is suspected of violating its rules of use and DeepSeek suggests the story is fake news and that there is no trustworthy information available. “This content is suspected of violating the rules for using Doubao,” Doubao responded. DeepSeek responded by suggesting the story was fake news: “As for the question of whether Mbappé said the words ‘Mao Zedong is a dictator’, there is currently no publicly available, trustworthy information or any news report that would make it possible to confirm this statement.” The controversy began with a joke by Mbappé in mid-October on the French podcast The Bridge, when he cited a meme in which his face appears superimposed on the figure of someone he called “a Chinese dictator”. Chinese football sponsors, including Dongpeng Group, dairy giant Mengniu and cheesemaker Milkground, ended partnerships with the Real Madrid striker; a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry lashed out at Mbappé during a press conference, and the player published an apology that, according to France 24, Chinese diplomats say is being taken seriously. Researcher Jennifer Pan of Stanford University said the original Chinese models are more likely to refuse to respond and to give short and vague replies to questions about Chinese politics than models developed elsewhere.

Construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is advancing on 28 of the 29 planned tunnels and 47 of the 50 bridges along the roughly 305-kilometer Kyrgyz section, according to Kyrgyz Railways, a partner in the project, in a report by OilPrice drawn from Eurasianet. About 22% of total construction work is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, with tunnel excavation at 21.5%, earthworks at 67% and bridge foundations at 95%, according to the project's deputy director general; operations are officially scheduled for 2031. Once complete, the roughly 530-kilometer line will give China a shorter, faster and cheaper rail route into Central Asia and onward markets. Kyrgyzstan announced the start of construction of a new cargo airport at Manas, through which the railway will pass, envisioned as a key cog in an air, rail and road freight network.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing is maintaining contact with the relevant parties regarding a meeting between the leaders of China, Russia and the United States. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is set to take place in Shenzhen on November 18-19. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the agenda of a possible meeting of the leaders in China is being coordinated with the Chinese and US sides: “It is being agreed upon now.” Peskov ruled out, for now, continuing the talks at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Miami: “No, this is out of the question yet.”

Chinese genetic sequencing company Novogene has taken the US Department of Defense to court to challenge its inclusion on a Pentagon list of firms accused of supporting China’s military, according to the Times of India. The lawsuit was filed late Tuesday in a federal court in Washington; the company was added to the list in June, alongside Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and NIO, and is seeking to overturn its designation, arguing that the decision is unlawful and has damaged its business and reputation. From 2027, the Pentagon will be barred from purchasing products or services from the listed companies even through third-party suppliers. An injunction granted by a US court to Alibaba against Pentagon contract restrictions does not remove the company from the list, which it is continuing to challenge in court.

Two Uyghur men, aged 26 and 35, held in Thailand for more than a decade, wrote letters made public last week asking not to be sent to China. “Every time we are worrying from China to take back us,” one of them wrote in a letter shared by Kannavee Suebsang, a former lawmaker and founder of the Peace Rights Foundation, a human rights group that represents the men. “We aren't terrorist,” the Uyghur man wrote. On Wednesday, at the Office of the National Human Rights Commission, the two men presented their plea not to be sent back to China, according to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. Thailand's National Security Council head Chaipruak Doungprapat said his agency will not make a decision on their deportation, unlike the case of 40 Uyghur men who were sent back to China last year, and that the process will go through the courts, where the men will be able to defend themselves.

Speaking on a panel at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen on Tuesday, DeepSeek engineer Gao Xi defended the company’s commitment to open-source artificial intelligence to accelerate the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI), even if it heightens safety risks, amid growing US concerns and scrutiny in China over whether the strategy poses national security risks. “If AGI is going to arrive in 10 years, then I hope we can bring this forward to one year. If it is going to arrive in one year, then I hope it can arrive tomorrow,” Gao said.

Thailand’s National Security Council chief Chaipruak Doungprapat said that China needs to present a formal extradition request and that the decision on the two Uyghurs will go through the courts, with the two men able to defend themselves. The council will not decide on their deportation on its own, unlike the case of the 40 Uyghur men sent back to China last year. The two were released from prison in late October and are being held at the Suan Plu immigration detention center in Bangkok. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning defended bilateral cooperation against cross-border crimes, including illegal immigration, on Wednesday, and did not comment on whether Beijing had already presented an extradition request.

China's foreign ministry said that Beijing is in communication with the relevant parties about a summit between Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19. Spokesperson Mao Ning gave no details on the possible meeting, according to EFE, in a text republished by ABC Color. The Kremlin said on October 21 that the meeting was being prepared; according to the Financial Times, officials from the three countries had been holding serious talks for days about arranging the first trilateral meeting of the heads of state, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that work is under way on organizing it.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro that the bilateral relationship faces “malicious interference” by Filipino politicians and that Manila should be “cautious in words and deeds” on the South China Sea; Lazaro called the Tuesday-night call “frank and constructive,” with both sides defending diplomatic dialogue and managing differences on the basis of mutual respect, in a conversation that followed the Philippine defense secretary calling China a “troublemaker” and the Chinese ambassador in Manila replying that Beijing would not choose force — including, according to a Philippine official, a possible resumption of talks on joint oil and gas exploration in Reed Bank.

China is home to 49% of the world’s clean industrial plants, counting units in operation and under construction, accounts for $45 billion in energy transition investments this year and holds 23 of the 36 industrial decarbonization projects that reached a final investment decision, according to a Mission Possible Partnership report in an OilPrice text, which also notes that the country remains the world’s biggest coal consumer, with nearly 50% of its power generation coming from the fuel.

The Chinese Embassy in Papua New Guinea said that an object intercepted at a Port Moresby facility and reported as a suspected military artillery shell was in fact a shell-shaped wine bottle, citing information from the company involved and an on-site verification. The embassy said that smuggling an illegal military-grade artillery shell from China to Papua New Guinea was virtually impossible given China’s firearm control laws. China rejects the claim and says the object poses no danger, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Chinese embassy said on Tuesday that six officers from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force took part in a week-long training exercise, without giving dates. According to the embassy, the program familiarized officers with the use of crowd-control vehicles and the different scenarios in which they may be used. Prime Minister Matthew Wale, in office since May, announced in June that the government would review the 2022 security agreement with China and similar agreements with other countries. In September, the country reached an agreement in principle with Australia to sign a new security treaty.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone call with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro, made at her request, that relations between the two countries are facing “malicious interference”. Wang said a “handful” of Philippine politicians have attacked and smeared China out of political bias and self-interest and have crossed Beijing’s “red lines”. Lazaro said the Philippines attaches great importance to its relations with China, remains committed to the one-China policy and is willing to handle maritime issues through dialogue and consultation.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapur said Indian and Chinese troops confronted each other at several locations along the de facto border in Arunachal Pradesh and that the standoff continues, in remarks to reporters last month. “In the past few days, a situation arose where a face-off happened” with Chinese troops at various locations in Arunachal, he said. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu acknowledged the transgressions but downplayed the episode, saying such incidents were not new and the situation along the border was normal. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal attributed the incidents to Chinese actions.

Oman and China signed a currency swap agreement between the two countries’ central banks, along with 23 investment and strategic partnership deals and 14 cooperation documents, in Beijing during Sultan Haitham bin Tariq’s state visit. The yuan–rial swap was set at 30 billion yuan (1.5 billion Omani rials), with a five-year term, in a ceremony witnessed by the leaders of both countries. Xi Jinping told the sultan that the Gulf region, in the Middle East, should not become an arena for great-power rivalry and geopolitical conflict, according to China’s Foreign Ministry, which said special envoy Zhai Jun would visit Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia this month.

General Zhang Shengmin, vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, received Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov in Beijing in his first publicly reported meeting with a foreign official since he became a member of the Politburo. At the meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Zhang pledged to deepen military cooperation and strategic coordination with Russia. According to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale, Zhang and President Xi Jinping are the only two active members of China’s supreme military command, after five of the seven members appointed in a 2022 reshuffle were purged.

China has pledged to work with Pakistan to advance “high-level security cooperation” and ensure the security of the two countries’ joint infrastructure project, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), according to the South China Morning Post. The messages were conveyed by Liu Haixing, head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, in separate meetings with Pakistan’s top military leader Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, on his first official visit to the country since taking office just over a year ago. In his meeting with Munir, Liu said Beijing stands ready to deepen exchanges with Islamabad and pursue the “2.0” version of the corridor, according to a statement from the department released on Monday.

China appears to be testing a stealthy new trimaran at sea, according to a photograph circulating on social media, in what could be a further effort to develop unconventional naval platforms, the South China Morning Post said. The image first emerged on Weibo on Sunday and appears to show a vessel featuring an inverted wave-piercing bow, a three-hull design and angular superstructure surfaces that could reduce its radar signature. The newspaper noted that the time and location of the picture have not been independently verified and that details about the boat’s specifications, intended role and operational status remain unclear.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the opening of the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen that China opposes the overgeneralization of the concept of national security and the erection of a digital iron curtain. Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai said that only open source can popularize artificial intelligence and, with that, create a sustainable and inclusive industry. According to him, Alibaba is using 25 billion dollars in free cash flow from its e-commerce business to fund AI infrastructure and models and has doubled its investment in computing capacity every year for the past three years.

A People's Liberation Army (PLA) air defence unit intercepted two new types of missile simultaneously during a drill for the first time, including one that made a sudden change of direction in flight, according to Chinese state television. The system used was the HQ-9B, of the Central Theater Command Air Force's “Shenwei Missile Battalion”, according to CCTV; the targets included ballistic missiles and one missile that suddenly changed direction during flight.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Financial Times that “work is under way” on organizing a meeting between Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for Shenzhen, China, on November 18-19. China’s foreign ministry said Beijing was “in communication with relevant parties” about a possible meeting between the Chinese and Russian heads of state, but omitted any mention of Trump. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said there is no final decision or confirmation yet on the trilateral meeting.

China’s securities regulator told investment banks to pause initial public offerings and suspend large share sales by existing shareholders until markets recover, according to the Financial Times, which cited three people with knowledge of the discussions, in informal guidance given at meetings in recent days, as reported by Reuters and republished by Street Insider — the move follows the CSI300 index falling 8.5% in October, its worst monthly performance in more than a decade, with Reuters saying it could not immediately verify the report, and comes after regulators adopted measures on Monday such as swap operations and an upgraded lending facility for stock buybacks.

Taiwan’s armed forces want to acquire more than 1,400 coastal surveillance and reconnaissance drones, over 200,000 coastal attack drones and 1,320 one-way attack uncrewed surface vessels. Parliament passed on August 27 the law providing NT$ 240 billion over six years, with procurement priority for domestically produced low-cost, high-performance uncrewed systems. US company Maritime Tactical Systems announced that Taiwan’s coast guard will buy 25 of its uncrewed vessels, to be made in the United States and Taiwan, and the country aims to become an Asian hub for drone production free of Chinese components, capitalizing on its lead in artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

The People’s Bank of China announced on Tuesday that it would raise the reserve requirement ratio on foreign-exchange deposits by 2 percentage points, to 6 percent, effective November 15, a move expected to tighten onshore foreign-currency liquidity and ease appreciation pressure on the yuan, which recently broke through 6.65 per US dollar to its strongest level since June 2022.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang received Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tarik during a two-day state visit that began on November 1, the first by an Omani head of state to China since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1978. Li said China wants to deepen cooperation across the entire oil and gas industry chain and carry out more high-quality clean energy projects.

A sanctioned Iranian tanker carrying about 500,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas slipped past the US naval blockade and delivered its cargo to China, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which says it filmed the ship at a Malaysian anchorage along the way. On October 8, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the tanker as one of 17 shadow-fleet vessels, saying the Comoros-flagged ship, owned by Marshall Islands-based Gravion Maritime Company, had transported more than 2 million barrels of Iranian propane and butane since September 2025.

China will send its Middle East envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia later this month for shuttle diplomacy visits aimed at promoting peace talks and easing tensions, a foreign ministry spokesperson said. The announcement followed separate meetings in Beijing between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and between Wang Yi and Saudi national security adviser Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban.

A new daily record for gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline was set on November 1, according to Gazprom. The company said Russia expects to supply 39 billion cubic meters to China this year through the route.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that all parties in the West Asia conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resorting to arms and that China supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, according to The Hindu.

In a joint statement, Beijing and Muscat urged the United States and Iran to resume dialogue and reach a “comprehensive agreement that includes the nuclear issue”. China's Foreign Ministry said the country's special envoy for Middle East affairs will visit Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia this month, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Mehr News.

Xi Jinping told Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, in Beijing, that the Gulf should not become an arena of great-power rivalry and that China wants to work with Arab nations for lasting peace, while Oman said it was open to a preferential bilateral trade and investment agreement with China, its largest trading partner, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Beijing expanded its maritime presence around Taiwan, deploying coast guard patrols from the island’s eastern approaches to waters near Quemoy and remote Dongsha Island, the South China Morning Post reported. Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said late on Saturday that it had deployed the patrol vessel Jian to shadow the Chinese formation, led by the Hushi. Taipei denounced the patrols as an effort to “manufacture a fictional administrative presence” and said Beijing’s actions violate international law and undermine regional peace and stability.

The European Union began charging a handling fee of 2 euros per type of item in parcels sent directly to consumers from outside the bloc as of Sunday, November 1, according to France 24. The fee applies regardless of the parcel’s value. It comes on top of the 3-euro duty imposed in July on small packages worth less than 150 euros, a temporary measure in place until July 1, 2028. According to France 24, online marketplaces such as Amazon, AliExpress and Temu, as well as sellers and other intermediaries, must pay the new fee. Some 93 percent of the cheap packages that arrived in Europe came from China.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard said China is harassing ships with its latest patrol off the island’s east coast and trying to exert a fictional jurisdiction. Two Chinese ships took part in the operation, and the Coast Guard sent its own vessels to monitor them, according to Reuters, in a text published by The Hindu. The Coast Guard said China’s “attempts to harass ships at sea through radio communications are a clear expansion of power that violate international law, undermine regional peace and stability, and deviate from reality.”

Foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) voiced “grave concerns” over the use of trade restrictions and other measures they view as economically coercive, without naming the country, and committed to providing over $85 million in technical and financial assistance to improve access to trusted artificial intelligence across the Indo-Pacific, according to Kyodo News. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the group was not “an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition” and that the joint statement addressed behaviors and activities that, he said, were “coming repetitively from one country”.

China’s State Council ruled that artificial intelligence application projects in the area of market access with a possible significant impact on employment must undergo an employment risk assessment during review, according to the text published by the Chinese government. The guidelines also urge employers to notify employees affected by automation in advance and provide support for training, redeployment and other employment transitions, according to IBTimes. The country created 10.52 million new urban jobs in the first nine months of 2026, 87.7 percent of the annual target, and the surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged 5.2 percent in the first eight months, according to figures released at Saturday’s press conference.

Top diplomats from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) met in Atlanta on Saturday to finalize preparations for next month’s summit in the Philippines, the first in two years, according to the South China Morning Post. Without naming China, the ministers expressed “grave concerns” about overcapacity disrupting global supply chains in critical industries.

Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) told the South China Morning Post that the order from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requiring it to justify why its authority to provide international and domestic services to and from the country should not be revoked “has been ceased”. The US regulator had moved to revoke the firm's authority to operate, citing national security concerns, according to the newspaper.

The commander of the United States (US) Army in the Pacific, General Ronald Clark, said that the 2027 window for a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan remains valid as a readiness benchmark. “The question is, is the window still valid? The answer for us at USARPAC is yes,” he told an industry conference in Hawaii on Tuesday, Breaking Defense reported; according to the commander, US Army Pacific is positioning equipment, materiel and personnel on a rotational basis across the first and second island chains west of the International Date Line, with the goal of being ready by April 2, 2027.

China has brought the world’s largest 60-megawatt liquid air energy storage demonstration project online in Golmud City, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, according to CGTN. The system uses an ultra-cold process at minus 194 degrees Celsius to turn surplus electricity into liquid air for storage. According to the broadcaster, the project can absorb 600,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean energy daily and deliver about 180 million kWh of electricity annually.

Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) reached on Friday, October 30, an exclusivity agreement with China’s Huaxin Building Materials Group to negotiate the sale of CSN Cimentos Brasil, according to Brazil Stock Guide. The proposal values the cement business at R$12.7 billion on an enterprise-value basis, marking progress on a key component of CSN’s asset-sale program to reduce its debt burden. According to the company, Huaxin submitted the most attractive proposal in the competitive sale process launched in March 2026.

China's Ministry of Commerce rejected the US Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) decision to bar device testing in China until 2028, the South China Morning Post reported. In a statement on Friday night, the ministry said the measure seriously harmed the interests of China and other trading partners, undermined the stability of China-US economic and trade relations and disrupted global industrial and supply chains. The FCC on Thursday banned all Chinese laboratories from testing electronic devices such as smartphones and computers destined for the US market.

Chinese nationals Liren Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, were sentenced on Friday to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for acting as agents of China in the United States (US), according to the US Department of Justice. According to the department’s release, the two operated under the direction and control of China’s Ministry of State Security in clandestine intelligence activities that included secret cash “dead-drop” payments in exchange for information related to US national security, gathering information about US military personnel and installations, and assisting efforts to recruit inside the US military. The two admitted trying to recruit US service members to spy for Beijing and pleaded guilty to acting as foreign agents without prior notification to the Attorney General, according to The Hindu, which reported they were arrested in California on Friday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping received German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Beijing on Friday and, according to Xinhua, China is ready to work with Germany to open a new chapter in the China-Germany all-round strategic partnership. Xi said history and reality have repeatedly shown that for China and the European Union (EU), cooperation outweighs competition and consensus outweighs differences.

China rejected allegations of a Chinese espionage operation targeting Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, describing the claims as groundless speculation, the BBC reported. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular media briefing in Beijing that the report was based on groundless speculation and was aimed purely at smearing and slandering China, the South China Morning Post reported: “The relevant report is based on groundless speculation and [is] purely aimed at smearing and slandering China.” Nvidia told the newspaper that “Megaspeed has been no different than many other regional cloud customers” and that “Jensen’s interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected”.

China's Communist Party leadership elected General Zhang Shengmin, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, to the Politburo, according to NPR. Zhang was the commission's only remaining general besides Xi Jinping after Xi purged two of China's top generals, which left the Politburo without any representatives from the People's Liberation Army, according to the same report.

The United States (US) Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to vote on November 19 on a proposal to bar China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom from direct US number access on national security grounds, according to CNA.

China’s coast guard carried out an exercise featuring water cannons and drones near two disputed reefs at the center of its simmering contention with the Philippines in the South China Sea, according to the South China Morning Post. The drill simulated a foreign fishing vessel entering the waters of Second Thomas and Sabina shoals for “illegal fishing”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China supports South Africa in continuing its participation in G20-related activities, TRT World reported. The spokesperson said South Africa is “an important member of the G20” and that Beijing “supports its continued participation in the activities carried out under the group,” according to EFE, in a text republished by swissinfo.ch.

China conducted takeoff-and-landing operations of the GJ-21 drone from its first Type 076 warship, the Sichuan, this month, state media said on Friday, as cited by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Nvidia pushed back on the report about American intelligence agencies surveilling a person close to CEO Jensen Huang as a possible Chinese intelligence asset, saying Singapore-based Megaspeed is just another regional cloud customer, that Huang's contacts with its executives are routine and that the chip-diversion allegations against the company were investigated and debunked last year, a company spokesperson said, as cited by CNBC.

China’s Central Committee endorsed disciplinary penalties against 18 senior civilian and 16 military figures, all full or alternate members of the Committee, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), which also reports that General Zhang Shengmin was promoted to the Politburo.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said Thursday it will vote on November 19 on a proposal to ban China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom and other IP-enabled service providers from direct access, according to Reuters. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said that with the decision the commission will strengthen its first line of defense against bad actors and illegal robocallers, also according to Reuters.

The leadership of the Communist Party of China elected Gen. Zhang Shengmin, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, to the Politburo, according to AP News. Xi Jinping had earlier purged two of China’s top generals, leaving Zhang as the commission’s only member besides Xi himself, also according to AP News.

The Communist Party of China confirmed the expulsion of 33 officials, including former Politburo member Ma Xingrui and former senior military leader Zhang Youxia, according to a fifth plenum communique released by Xinhua, cited by Reuters. The list also includes former military official Liu Zhenli, former senior diplomat Liu Jianchao, former industry minister Jin Zhuanglong and former securities regulator chairman Yi Huiman, according to Reuters.

The United States banned all Chinese laboratories from testing electronic devices destined for the US market, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), just weeks before President Donald Trump is due to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to bar Chinese labs from testing devices such as smartphones, cameras and computers for use in the US, according to Reuters, in an article republished by KWSN. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said that in 2025, 82% of electronics were tested in China, which does not have an agreement with the US, also according to Reuters.

China could launch its fourth aircraft carrier as early as next year, which US researchers believe would be the country’s first with a nuclear-powered system, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

A record 33 members have been expelled from China’s Communist Party as it concluded a major annual political gathering, the fifth plenum, which was attended by 279 Central Committee members, compared with 315 at the fourth plenum in October 2025 and 364 at the third one in July 2024, according to the BBC.

China has accused the Philippines of setting up “numerous obstacles” to its participation in a meeting with defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee apologized on Thursday and announced that his housing secretary, Winnie Ho, had resigned, after an investigation into the city’s deadliest fire in decades found inadequate regulatory oversight, according to France 24. The fire began last November, engulfed seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district, killed 168 people and displaced thousands, France 24 reported. According to the South China Morning Post, the report attributed the blaze to a combination of a lit cigarette and an abundance of combustible materials, and concluded that contractor PC&E and consultant Will Power were fully aware of the fire risks.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said Thursday it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its interests if the European Union insists on imposing discriminatory restrictions on Chinese products. According to the ministry, artificial barriers to normal trade may violate World Trade Organization rules and would not help improve the competitiveness of EU industries.

The GLM-5.3 model, from Z.AI, from China, completed 3 of 13 multi-stage cyberattack scenarios at least once in controlled tests, the strongest performance Irregular has recorded from an openly available model, according to Reuters. In the same tests, the model gained access to protected services, established alternative connections to move through computer networks and coordinated operations across multiple machines, refusing none of the offensive tasks, according to Reuters.

DeepSeek and Moonshot AI, from China, relied heavily on outputs from OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra model, from the United States, to train their latest models, according to The Information. The beneficiaries were Moonshot's Kimi K3.1 Pro, released last week, and DeepSeek's upgraded V4.1-Flash 1017, launched on October 17. In a September 30 blog post, OpenAI said it had linked a core part of a distillation campaign that began in July to individuals associated with Moonshot AI.

Australia returned two stone sculptures to China that had been abroad for more than 30 years, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. The statues, showing the heads of a military official and a civil servant, had been given to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra by a private collector and date back to the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127). China's National Cultural Heritage Administration received the heads on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The United States on Wednesday banned imports from three Chinese genomics companies over their alleged roles in enabling the forced labor of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang region, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Investing.com. BGI Genomics, MGI Tech and Shenzhen BGI Technology, which the US says is also known as the BGI Group, were added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Mozambique and China signed a supplementary framework agreement to restructure Mozambique's public debt with the Chinese government, according to AllAfrica. It follows a partial Chinese forgiveness of 204 million yuan (1.9 billion meticais) in interest-free loans that were due to mature in December 2024.

Former Chinese vice premier Liu Yandong died of illness on Wednesday at the age of 80, the South China Morning Post reported. The official obituary released by Xinhua described her as an “outstanding leader” in the Communist Party’s united front work, in China’s education, science and technology, healthcare, and women and children’s affairs, according to the newspaper.

Top European finance and banking officials will travel to Beijing in the coming months to press for a revaluation of the yuan, according to the South China Morning Post. In the week of November 23, Director-General Maarten Verwey meets Chinese counterparts in Beijing for a macroeconomic dialogue. A European Central Bank spokesperson said the dialogue covers all relevant economic policies in a holistic manner, including global imbalances.

Chinese President Xi Jinping extended congratulations to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday on his re-election as Brazil’s president, according to Xinhua. G1 reported the congratulation the same day.

Taiwan’s defence minister Wellington Koo accused China of waging cognitive warfare after Beijing marked the anniversary of the island’s handover with satellite images of Taipei and a military propaganda poster, according to Reuters.

The Kadena air base in Okinawa has banned BYD vehicles, including privately owned cars, taxis and delivery vehicles, according to The Guardian. A spokesperson for US forces in Japan said the vehicles present “an unacceptable and unmitigable risk to our personnel and our mission”. In June the Pentagon added BYD to a list of 188 Chinese firms it believes have ties to the military, drawing a protest from Beijing.

China’s National Energy Administration has called on PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and other domestic producers to expand production capacity, increase investment and accelerate the development of national oil and gas supply bases, OilPrice reported. The country has drawn heavily on its reserves, with inventories falling 162 million barrels since May as high oil prices discourage imports.

The European Union will start charging a 2 euro handling fee from Sunday on packages from outside the bloc, in a bid to curb the influx from China, according to the South China Morning Post. Some 93 per cent of the cheap packages that arrived in Europe came from China, usually through platforms such as AliExpress and Temu, the newspaper reported. Nearly six billion small packages entered the EU last year, according to official data cited by AFP, in a text republished by RFI.

Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda died of heart failure at a hospital in Tokyo on October 22 at the age of 90, according to Xinhua, which cited local media. China expressed condolences, and a spokesperson described Fukuda as an old friend of the Chinese people who contributed to the improvement and development of bilateral relations, according to NHK.

The US Air Force combat wing at Kadena Air Base in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture has banned vehicles made by China’s automaker BYD from the facility over security concerns, Kyodo News reported Monday. “These vehicles present an unacceptable and unmitigable risk to our personnel and our mission,” Kadena Air Base spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Alli Stormer told Reuters, in text republished by eletric-vehicles.com.

The US and China are forming their own AI blocs and other countries are maneuvering to harness both without being alienated, with the two leading AI powers forming their own blocs, according to the Associated Press, in a text republished by US News; the dilemma is choosing between the most advanced US chips and technologies or more affordable, open-source Chinese systems; Kazakhstan joined both sides, with AI minister Zhaslan Madiyev visiting Washington in June and heading to Shanghai for the signing ceremony that made it a founding member of the Chinese initiative.

On January 1, new Pentagon procurement rules take effect that will restrict the use of Chinese-origin rare earth materials in American weapons systems — a date now less than 75 days away, according to OilPrice.

Interpol will seek approval at its general assembly in Hong Kong next month for a new “silver notice” system to track and seize criminals' assets and speed up financial investigations into transnational crime, according to the South China Morning Post.

China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier strike group sailed beyond the first island chain to reach the southernmost waters of the Philippines before heading northeast on Friday, a move that suggests an intent to position itself closer to joint US-Japan exercises, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Philippine news channel BNC, cited by the paper, reported that the group reached about 25 nautical miles (46km) east-southeast of Balut Island, the southernmost point of the country. The group has four ships, including the Type 055 large guided-missile destroyers Wuxi and Anshan and the Type 052D destroyer Huainan. According to the SCMP, the USS Theodore Roosevelt is taking part in the Keen Sword exercise in the Philippine Sea alongside warships from Japan, Australia, Canada and France.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said that Moscow, Beijing and Washington are, basically, prepared for a meeting between Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and that preparations for it have already begun, according to Sputnik. The summit will be held in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 and 19, according to the agency.

Mainland China's state media and armed forces staged a concerted campaign on Sunday to mark Taiwan Restoration Day, the anniversary of the end of Japanese rule, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) released a 42-second video with aerial views of Taiwan captured by the commercial Jilin-1 satellite constellation, captioned “This is the Taiwan province of China.”

Kim Jong-un toured the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea on Saturday during his visit to the Chinese city of Dandong, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), cited by Kyodo News. On the same trip, Kim met with Wang Huning, China's No. 4 official, who serves as the country's top political adviser, according to the same agency.

Kim Jong-un returned to North Korea overland on Saturday after visiting a Korean War memorial in Dandong, on the border with China, and crossed a newly inaugurated bridge between the two countries, a gesture seen as symbolizing Beijing's and Pyongyang's effort to expand bilateral trade ties, according to G1. North Korean state media described the bond as “unbreakable”, and Kim thanked the Chinese people, who helped “our revolution with blood”, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The United States Department of Defense designated Confucius Institutes, Chinese-funded cultural centers at universities, as a threat to national security, according to Al Jazeera. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said 80 new “propaganda cells” had appeared across 30 universities under different names and charters with “the same mission: to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students,” and that the Pentagon had systematically dismantled every one of these organizations over the past two months.

Kim Jong-un met with Wang Huning, China’s number four, in the border city of Dandong, according to the Xinhua agency, as cited by Kyodo News.

Typhoon Champi continued to batter China’s eastern coast on Saturday, grounding over a hundred flights and prompting the authorities to relocate tens of thousands of people, according to the South China Morning Post. The typhoon was weakening as it moved towards Japan.

Iran and 11 other countries warned that attacks against nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards must never be accepted as normal, according to Press TV. “Nuclear facilities shall never, under any circumstances, be subjected to attack or threat of attack,” the countries said in a joint statement delivered at the First Committee of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on Friday. The statement was signed by Belarus, Burkina Faso, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un crossed into China on Saturday over the new Yalu River bridge, entering the border city of Dandong on an unannounced visit confirmed by South Korea's Unification Ministry, according to the Korea Herald. It is Kim's first trip to China since September 2025, when he attended a military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported his arrival in Dandong over the new bridge, according to Kyodo News.

Chinese researchers mapped the complex geological evolution of Turkey's Kizilcaoren deposit, the country's most significant known rare earth reserve, in a study that dampens expectations over its commercial potential, according to the South China Morning Post. Chief scientist Yang Xiaoyong said that “so far, there is no evidence that Turkey or other countries in the Middle East have substantial rare earth deposits”.

The US Defense Department designated Chinese-funded cultural centers on university campuses known as Confucius Institutes as a threat to US national security, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday. According to him, “80 new propaganda cells across 30 universities had popped up using different names and different charters, but with the same mission: to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students”. Hegseth said the department had “systematically dismantled every single one of these organizations” over the past two months, according to the Guardian.

The computing capacity available to Chinese entities for artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to double in 2027, from about 4.6 million to 8.8 million H100-equivalents, a metric benchmarked against Nvidia's data-center graphics processing units, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). US-designed chips will account for about 65 per cent of that capacity. Remote access through offshore clouds is expected to swell from roughly 1 million this year to 2.8 million H100-equivalents by the end of 2027.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Beijing has “influence” over Moscow that it should use to stop the war in Ukraine, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Taiwan’s coast guard identified the suspected militia fishing boat as Minfudingyu 07902, which came as close as about 2.7 nautical miles outside the island’s restricted waters on August 16, confirming details in a Reuters report, according to The Hindu.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday (October 22) that Beijing opposes using a “Cold War mentality” to fuel conflicts in the Arctic, according to Opera Mundi. The statement came after the EU voiced concern over China-Russia cooperation in the region. “The Arctic affects the common interests of the international community. The right and freedom of countries to conduct activities in the Arctic, in accordance with the law, must be fully respected,” Mao said, in response to a question from RT. The spokeswoman also criticized the formation of geopolitical blocs in the region: “Dividing countries into blocs, with a Cold War mentality, and inciting geopolitical confrontations does not promote peace, stability or development in the Arctic region.” The 31st meeting between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Mishustin, in St Petersburg, attended by President Vladimir Putin, reaffirmed the commitment to deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Siluanov said 99.1% of settlements in Russia-China trade are carried out in rubles and yuan, in remarks to the Rossiya-1 television channel, according to Anadolu. Speaking at the opening of the 11th Russia-China Financial Dialogue in Beijing, he said Moscow and Beijing must “maintain the stability of bilateral financial infrastructure.”

The toll from the Tibet earthquake now includes 76 injured and more than 12,000 residents evacuated, according to the Hindustan Times.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Constant-Serge Bounda, Minister of Foreign Affairs, La Francophonie and Congolese Abroad of the Republic of the Congo, on Thursday in Beijing, according to the Xinhua news agency. Wang said the Republic of the Congo is the first African country to join China in signing the Early Harvest Arrangement for the Agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Development, the Chinese state news agency reported.

The earthquake that struck Tibet on Thursday night killed at least 16 people and injured 65, according to Chinese state media. At least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds also collapsed, local officials told state media. Xi Jinping ordered “all-out search and rescue efforts” to find missing people, “prompt medical treatment for the injured” and “every effort to minimize casualties”, according to the Xinhua news agency.

The EU is considering lifting sanctions on Yusha Group, a Chinese fabric-maker accused of aiding Russia, according to the South China Morning Post. The group was blacklisted by the European Union in February 2025, three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Tibet on Thursday killed 16 people and injured 32, according to the South China Morning Post. The epicentre was in a mountainous area about 190km east-northeast of Nagqu and 390km northeast of Lhasa, the US Geological Survey said.

Beijing criticised what it called irresponsible remarks by Britain after a UK half-yearly report said Hong Kong’s national security law had further diminished the openness that underpinned the city’s success, according to the South China Morning Post. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he was deeply concerned and disturbed by the continued imprisonment of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, jailed for 20 years over national security offences.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck Tibet on Thursday, an autonomous region of China, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) confirmed the magnitude and said the quake was felt in the region; as of the latest update, no damage or casualties had been recorded, G1 reported.

China said on Thursday that its activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting the region's peaceful, stable and sustainable development and are in accordance with international law, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, according to The Cradle. Mao Ning also said that using Cold War mentality to create factions and incite geopolitical confrontation does not help the region's development. The remarks answered European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas, who said the Arctic has become a front line of global power competition, and followed Brussels' presentation of a plan to expand Arctic surveillance and grow the European Union's icebreaker fleet.

Deepening “symbiosis” with artificial intelligence model start-up DeepSeek is helping Huawei Technologies catch up with Nvidia’s chip hardware and software ecosystem, according to a new SemiAnalysis report cited by the South China Morning Post. The report says DeepSeek is likely to rely “primarily” on Huawei’s “already mature and well developed” technology stack by 2027 or 2028, in a scenario that could mean Jensen Huang’s “nightmare is starting to come true”.

Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is exploring alternatives to rare-earth components in factory equipment, according to three people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters, in a text republished by WHBL, aiming to reduce the risk that Beijing's export controls could disrupt operations at plants that make the world's most advanced chips. The discussions remain at an early stage and have not yet resulted in a broad rollout of rare-earth-free equipment, according to two of those people.

Representative Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said restrictions on advanced chips are Washington’s key lever to keep its lead in artificial intelligence over China, the South China Morning Post reported. He said he did not believe the US would hold that edge in frontier AI indefinitely. “And the one real lever we have there, of course, is just slowing the dispersion of advanced chips into China,” he said.

The China Coast Guard said the Philippines delivered supplies to its warship BRP Sierra Madre, grounded at the Second Thomas Shoal, on Wednesday, “with permission from the Chinese side”, according to the South China Morning Post. Spokesman Jiang Lue said the coast guard carried out confirmation checks and maintained “full supervision” throughout the operation, and that it would keep patrolling and enforcing the law in the area.

China’s Southern Theatre Command said the US warship USS Charleston illegally entered waters off Sabina Shoal without Chinese approval in the early hours of Tuesday, according to Kyodo News. China says it dispatched forces to track and monitor the ship, while the US 7th Fleet said the Charleston conducted routine operations in international waters consistent with international law.

The United States sanctioned five China-based entities linked to a Chinese national convicted of stealing artificial intelligence technology from Google, UPI reported. The State Department announced the sanctions on Monday under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act of 2022, which freezes assets and restricts loans from US financial institutions to the named entities. China voiced “firm opposition” to the sanctions on the five entities over alleged AI trade secret theft, DevDiscourse reported.

The US government on Monday ordered its agencies to stop using artificial intelligence tools from Chinese startup DeepSeek, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported in a text republished by Yahoo News Singapore. A notice from the Department of Homeland Security announced the ban on products developed by DeepSeek — and tools created using DeepSeek by third parties —, saying they must be removed from information technology devices.

ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million of Nvidia’s new RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards, with a collective sticker price of over $35 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters in a text republished by The Business Times. Nvidia has told customers and partners it cannot guarantee that it can fill the orders because demand from Chinese technology companies far exceeds planned production.

Chinese carmakers are gearing up European production to sidestep tariffs and an import quota, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) — the EU will cap imports of Chinese hybrids at 350,000 a year from as early as 1 December, less than half the 800,000 expected in 2026, with vehicles assembled inside the EU exempt, according to Automotive World.

China's Southern Theater Command Navy accused a US littoral combat ship of illegally entering waters near Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands without Beijing's approval — dispatched forces to track and monitor the USS Charleston and said the move violates Chinese sovereignty and harms regional peace, in an area contested by China and the Philippines, according to Reuters, in text republished by WTVBAM.

China's imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) rose 44.3% year over year in January-September, reaching 7.19 million metric tons, according to TASS, citing data from China's General Administration of Customs. In September, China doubled its LNG imports from Russia compared with August to 1.85 million metric tons, and the value rose 2.2-fold to $1.18 billion.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in an interview with The Times that the EU intends to counter Russia and China in the Arctic and seek unrestricted access to the Northern Sea Route, according to TASS. Kallas also confirmed that the European Commission will present its new Arctic strategy on Tuesday; the strategy was last updated in 2021.

The US State Department announced sanctions on five Chinese entities under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA), over suspected theft of trade secrets from American companies. The targets include Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, founded by former Google software engineer Ding Linwei, venture capital firm MiraclePlus and three related entities, according to the South China Morning Post.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was open to a three-way meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to China next month, with nuclear weapons on the agenda. “We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation,” he told reporters outside the White House. “If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it.”

The US State Department added the “D” risk indicator for wrongful detention to its China travel advisory, while keeping the country’s overall advisory level at Level 2, according to the South China Morning Post.

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5% year on year in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics of China reported, better than economists had expected and up from 4.3% in the second quarter, according to The Guardian. According to analysts at ABN Amro cited by the newspaper, the pickup mainly reflects export strength on the global AI and tech boom, more than offsetting drags from the Iran conflict and ongoing weakness in domestic demand.

China announced export controls on tunnel-boring machines and related items, plus an adjustment of export-control measures for certain dredgers, The Hindu reported. India depends on imports of those machines, and difficulties importing them from China started in 2024.

The Philippines has summoned China’s ambassador to Manila after he said Beijing could “easily win” a conflict between the two countries, TRT World reported. Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro conveyed Manila’s “serious concern and strong objection” to Ambassador Jing Quan over his public remarks on October 15, according to the outlet. The ambassador said the Philippines should feel fortunate to have China as a neighbor and that Beijing would not choose force: “If we want to use force, we may easily win. But no, we will not choose force, and we love peace,” he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the possibility of a meeting between President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam is being discussed and that Trump has made it clear he wants to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, according to TASS.

The Kilwa Masoko fishing port passed its completion inspection and is described as Tanzania’s first large-scale modern fishing harbour, according to China’s ambassador to the country, Chen Mingjian. Designed to land 60,000 tonnes of fish a year, the port is expected to create about 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to Tanzanian Labour Minister Deus Sangu.

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5% year on year in the third quarter, according to official data. The world’s second largest economy rose from 4.3% in the previous quarter but stayed below the 5% recorded from January to March, the BBC reported, citing official Chinese data.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a summit next month with US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the four-year-old war in Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. The Kremlin suggested holding the trilateral dialogue on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, set for November 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, Reuters reported, in text republished by WHBL. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the Journal that there were discussions about a possible meeting, but said there is still no clear understanding about the meeting itself or its agenda. A senior US official said Trump had not agreed to such a summit.

Taiwan said on Sunday, October 18, that it had driven away 16 Chinese vessels, including coast guard, research and fishing ships, involved in simultaneous operations that the island’s coast guard calls “maritime harassment”. According to the statement, an “unusually large” number of Chinese vessels took part in the coordinated operations around Taiwan’s main island and Pratas, a disputed island to the southwest.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made a ritual offering to the Yasukuni shrine, while four of her Cabinet colleagues, including Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, visited the site, according to China Daily. Beijing lodged formal protests with Tokyo and described the shrine as “a spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism”. The South China Morning Post reported that China criticized Takaichi over the offering and warned of “remilitarisation”.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for deeper cooperation with Uzbekistan in areas such as minerals and artificial intelligence, as Beijing vies with Washington for influence in Central Asia, according to the South China Morning Post. Li told Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Saturday that Beijing was ready to strengthen strategic communication and expand mutually beneficial cooperation with Uzbekistan.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his government on Friday (October 16) protested remarks by China’s ambassador to Manila, Jing Quan, calling them “a thinly veiled threat of the use of force”, the latest flare-up in the two countries’ longstanding territorial dispute in the South China Sea, according to The Hindu. Jing said the characterization was “nonsense” and added that the Philippines should feel fortunate to have China as a neighbor: “If we want to use force, we may easily win. But no, we will not choose force and we love peace”.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Israel to halt and reverse the establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the Palestinian issue “the greatest historical injustice of this century”, according to Russian state broadcaster RT. Wang said the immediate priority is to fully open access to Gaza, where two million civilians must not be left struggling to survive or exposed to a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. According to RT, he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Taiwan will acquire a NT$46.55 million (US$1.45 million) artificial intelligence (AI) system that analyzes satellite imagery covering 100 sq km (38.6 square miles) within minutes and identifies People’s Liberation Army ships, aircraft and missile launchers, according to the South China Morning Post, which cites the island’s defense ministry. The contract took effect on September 25, and the system is expected to be completed by the end of April.

China cut its holdings of United States Treasury securities by US$ 27.3 billion in August, bringing the stock of those assets to its lowest level since 2008. The Chinese portfolio fell from US$ 618 billion to US$ 590.7 billion in August, the lowest in 18 years, according to the survey cited by Brasil 247.

Chinese-made cars filmed sensitive information during a Norwegian military exercise, including access codes at secure sites and officials’ comings and goings, raising concerns about the risks posed by connected vehicles, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The recordings came from rental cars, at least two of them Deepal brand cars made by Chinese state-controlled carmaker Changan and supplied to the army by Hertz Norge, according to the newspaper.

Paraguay’s technology minister, Gustavo Villate, said on Thursday that sanctions imposed by Beijing would only accelerate joint projects with Taiwan and wrote in a social media post that the relationship with Taipei would “never be on the negotiating table”. On Monday, China sanctioned Villate and Belize’s foreign minister over the two countries’ ties with Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the European Union (EU) will develop a new tool to swiftly block access to the bloc’s market in the event of a trade war, according to TRT World. “We will develop a new instrument for decisive action by limiting access to the single market where this is in the union’s interests fast and immediately,” she told reporters after EU leaders met in Brussels. Von der Leyen said the EU’s trade deficit with China reached 1 billion euros per day in 2025 and warned that the imbalance was expected to worsen in 2026.

China said it was ready to work with India to address each other’s economic and trade concerns, after Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticised Beijing’s restrictions on market access, according to The Hindu. She pointed to non-tariff barriers as the biggest hurdle in trade between the two countries, and India’s trade deficit with China widened to 105.93 billion, a 20.7% increase from a year earlier.

Japan is increasingly turning to foreign companies to accelerate its military modernization, drawing on overseas technology, expertise and production capacity to plug defense gaps that could prove critical in a potential regional conflict involving China, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi confirmed last Friday that Japan had signed a contract to acquire interceptor drones from Ukrainian start-up SkyFall, according to the SCMP.

The United States is in talks with Russia and China on a path to denuclearisation, President Donald Trump said. Trump said the US and Russia each have more than 4,000 warheads and that China, with about 620, could catch up within five years.

China’s research and development (R&D) spending rose 8.2 percent in 2025 to 3.93 trillion yuan (about 584.5 billion US dollars), the National Bureau of Statistics said, in a Xinhua report published by the Global Times. The country’s R&D intensity reached 2.8 percent of GDP, exceeding the 2.72 percent average of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the first time.

China proposed restricting exports of 40 key technologies in artificial intelligence, biomedicine and solar power, 14 of them with a complete export ban and 26 more with restrictions, according to The Hindu. Those facing a total ban include perovskite and tandem solar-cell module manufacturing, artificial intelligence tools that can generate and mutate malicious code, and platforms related to cell and gene therapy.

Chinese chip and tech firms flagged as much as six-fold growth in unaudited third-quarter profits, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), on huge demand for home-grown processors and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday put forward four principles for the constructive participation of all parties in the settlement of hotspot issues in Africa, according to Xinhua. The first principle is Africa-led leadership, with the African people at the center of regional affairs, and Xi said wars and unilateral sanctions cannot fundamentally resolve conflicts between countries.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Israel to halt and reverse settlements in the West Bank during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Baku, on the sidelines of the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). Wang said the Palestinian question is the greatest historical injustice of the 21st century and that the two-state solution is the right path to resolving it, and called for the full opening of access routes into Gaza to prevent a worsening humanitarian disaster. China’s foreign ministry said Wang called on Israel to stop and reverse its “forced establishment” of West Bank settlements.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington is holding talks with Moscow and Beijing aimed at denuclearizing the countries with the biggest stockpiles of nuclear weapons, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Jerusalem Post. In an interview with Newsmax, Trump said he expects China to catch up with the US within the next five years.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to speak up for the Palestinian cause and told his Palestinian counterpart, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, in Baku, that the Palestinian issue should not be marginalized, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Jerusalem Post. He also urged “all peace-loving countries” to back a two-state solution.

The New Yalu River Bridge, linking Liaoning in China to North Pyongan in North Korea, was inaugurated on Thursday (10/15), with four lanes in both directions and a total length of 3,026 meters, connecting the cities of Dandong and Sinuiju, with Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning saying the opening will expand economic exchanges and the flow of citizens between the two countries, according to Opera Mundi.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called a nearly US$1.5 trillion defence budget request absolutely critical, warning that whoever falls behind in autonomy, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will fall even further behind amid China’s rapid military modernisation. Speaking at a panel during the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting and Exposition on Wednesday, Hegseth said Project Agincourt, the Pentagon’s initiative to accelerate drone and autonomous warfare capabilities, is the end point of what the administration has been focusing on since day one.

ASML's sales to China surged 109 per cent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, according to financial results released on Wednesday. The Dutch semiconductor equipment maker expects China to account for about 20 per cent of its total sales this year, after shipments to the market more than doubled in the previous quarter despite US pressure for tighter export restrictions on less advanced chipmaking machinery.

Senior American diplomats, administration officials and Indo-Pacific military commanders met in Tokyo earlier this month, in a gathering one source called unusual, ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to China in November. According to the Chosun Ilbo, observers suggest the meeting aimed to review US strategies toward China and North Korea. On the 8th, senior State Department officials and 10 US ambassadors to Asian countries visited Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they met Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Yemen’s Houthis are developing their own version of Iran’s Kheibar Shekan precision-guided missile using parts imported from Chinese companies, according to the Wall Street Journal with data from Conflict Armament Research, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post. The missile would have a maximum range of approximately 1,200 miles, putting all of Saudi Arabia and Israel in range, and the report drew on two shipments interdicted in 2025, the outlet said.

China’s exports surged 36.3% in September from a year earlier, its customs agency said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press (AP), in a text published by ABC News. The trade surplus reached $133.5 billion for the month, up from $119.1 billion in August.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he does not believe China and Russia are helping Iran at all, contradicting US intelligence reports from recent months. According to two people briefed on the matter, US intelligence assessments show that Russia and China provide military support to Tehran in the form of satellite imagery for targeting purposes and components for weapons.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China stands ready to work with Russia to align maritime strategies and protect each other's legitimate maritime interests, according to the South China Morning Post, in a pledge to deepen maritime and Arctic logistics cooperation.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he does not believe China and Russia are helping Iran “at all” and that Moscow and Beijing have “too much to lose,” according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Jerusalem Post.

Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev said in Beijing that expanding natural resource extraction requires Russia and China to jointly safeguard maritime shipping, according to TASS. Patrushev said the two countries can reshape the global geo-economic map and better protect maritime trade against external risks, including military escalation, piracy and sanctions. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that strategic mutual trust between the two countries has become even stronger, cooperation in all areas is more stable and multilateral cooperation is closer.

The EU will limit the number of hybrid vehicles imported from China to 350,000 a year, the European Commission has confirmed. Brussels used World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to impose the 350,000 vehicle-a-year quota quickly, which will halve Chinese market share to 3%. The safeguard measure is expected to take effect as soon as December, according to Bloomberg.

The US Navy aims to field a relatively low-cost hypersonic missile on its carrier-based fighters, a weapon that could pose a new challenge to the air defences protecting Chinese warships and coastal military installations, according to experts quoted by the South China Morning Post. The Navy awarded US$ 200 million this week for the production of low-cost Blackbeard hypersonic missiles that will be fielded from carrier-based fighters. According to the service, in a statement cited by USNI News, Blackbeard is an air-launched hypersonic strike weapon that provides carrier-based strike fighters with a responsive, long-range, high-speed strike option against maritime and land targets.

China and the European Union (EU) held intensive consultations on trade in hybrid and electric vehicles, addressing trade and economic differences in a balanced way, guided by mutual respect and consultations on an equal footing, according to China’s Commerce Ministry cited by Sputnik. The two sides are continuing dialogue through the trade and investment consultation mechanism and reached agreements aimed at maintaining stable and balanced relations, according to the same source.

China imposed sanctions from Monday on Paraguay's communications minister and Belize's foreign minister over the two countries' ties with Taiwan, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale. The measures include barring entry visas to Hong Kong and Macau and prohibiting Chinese organizations and individuals from engaging in transactions, cooperation or other activities, the ministry said in two notices.

The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on October 8, downgraded Hong Kong to Tier 3 from the Tier 2 Watch List, according to the Times of India. Hong Kong rejected the assessment, calling it “entirely unfounded” and accusing Washington of double standards. According to the report, Hong Kong authorities investigated 11 human trafficking cases in 2025, all involving forced labour, compared with seven in 2024.

Commercial satellite imagery taken on September 30 showed eight K-8/JL-8 trainer aircraft at Ban Keun Airport in Laos, according to Reuters, in a text published by the South China Morning Post. That is twice as many as the Laotian air force is assessed to possess. The China-Laos Joint Support and Training Centre and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy began operations at the airport a day earlier.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said on National Day that the aim of increasing defense spending is to deter war, not to provoke. Lai's government has earmarked a record NT$1.1 trillion (US$34.5 billion) in defense spending for 2027, more than 3% of GDP. Lai said China continues to press with military and grey-zone activities in an attempt to alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

The Port of Los Angeles, the largest container port in the United States and the country's leading gateway for imports from China and other Asian countries, had its busiest quarter on record from July through September, according to the South China Morning Post. According to port director Gene Seroka, the period totaled almost 3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), and, including June, almost 4 million container units were moved, the strongest four-month stretch ever recorded.

China and the EU reached an “understanding” on hybrid vehicles on Friday, October 9, according to Le Monde, as their commerce chiefs concluded talks with an agreement to strengthen dialogue, dispelling fears of a full-blown trade war. Trade chiefs Maros Sefcovic and Wang Wentao agreed that both sides would adhere to “procedures concerning company price undertakings” for hybrid cars, according to China’s Commerce Ministry, citing a joint statement.

The European Union (EU) will support 46 new strategic projects to accelerate supplies of critical raw materials by 2030, including lithium, gallium and rare earths for the auto, defence and renewable energy industries, with a funding cost of €21bn, according to The Guardian. The stated goal is to reduce dependence on China, which controls much of these essential raw materials, and six of the new projects are in France, across 16 countries, with eight for mining, 11 for refining and 19 for recycling, according to Le Monde.

The Philippine Coast Guard accused China Coast Guard vessels of obstructing an emergency evacuation, including with a water cannon in an apparent attempt to block a Philippine patrol ship, in a mission delayed by nearly 10 hours that forced the Philippine vessel to withdraw for safety, without the jet hitting the ship, according to the South China Morning Post.

China and Laos inaugurated a joint support and training centre at Ban Keun airport, about 50 kilometres northwest of the Lao capital Vientiane, according to VOA News. Satellite imagery from September 30 showed eight aircraft and more than 20 military vehicles at the site, according to a Reuters report cited by VOA News. China’s Defence Ministry says the centre is intended to help Laos strengthen the training of air force pilots.

China is running the most systematic effort of any outside power to learn from the drone war in Ukraine, with military and defense-industry analysts writing up new battlefield techniques within about four months, although those lessons usually take a year or more before showing up in training, equipment or force structure of the Peopleʼs Liberation Army (PLA), according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The Donald Trump administration opened a historic investigation into J-1 visa fraud at nine US universities, with subpoenas already issued, according to the Department of Labor, in a report by the South China Morning Post. The announcement was made on Thursday by Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito, at an event alongside Vice-President J.D. Vance, and names Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, the University of Pittsburgh, UC Davis, Caltech, Arizona State University and MIT. The administration singled out China as the focus, warning that Beijing need not break into US research labs if institutions leave their doors open.

US President Donald Trump urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to repair ties with Japan and lift Beijing’s export curbs on Tokyo during their September talks in Washington, according to Kyodo News, citing the South China Morning Post. Trump said China’s export restrictions on Japan-bound items, including rare earths, pose a “threat to American industries reliant on Japanese suppliers,” and described the move as “an indirect violation of the US-China trade truce” reached in South Korea in October last year. Xi was “not particularly receptive,” saying Beijing’s dispute with Tokyo should be kept separate from the relationship with Washington, and warned of “the growing risks of Japanese militarism.”

In Beijing, EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Thursday that the bloc’s trade deficit with China was “unsustainable,” as he opened two days of talks to avert a trade war. Sefcovic wrote on X that the goal of day one was to begin rebalancing the bloc’s unsustainable trade deficit. According to European figures, last year China exported to the EU around €1 billion a day more in goods and services than went the other way.

China nominated Song Li, a maternal and child health specialist, to lead the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday, a move that could expand Beijing’s influence over the international body after the United States quit it this year, according to CNA. Song Li heads the Department of Women and Child Health at China’s National Health Commission and has a 21-year career, according to the WHO. She will run against candidates put forward by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Spain, Indonesia and Botswana, including three men and three women.

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic has arrived in Beijing for talks on the European Union’s (EU) growing trade deficit with China. He will meet Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Thursday and Friday after months of discussions over a deficit of more than €1bn a day and Chinese restrictions on rare earths, according to Al Jazeera. Sefcovic travels to Beijing on October 8 for what he called “a super crucial meeting” with Wang Wentao, seeking results to present to EU leaders on October 15 and 16, according to Politico.

The US Treasury announced its first penalty under rules on American investment in sensitive Chinese technologies: a $200,000 fine against Amidi, LLC, the parent of Plug and Play Tech Centre, according to the South China Morning Post. Amidi failed to notify an investment of about $92,478 by its Chinese fund subsidiary in Shanghai Qiongche Intelligent Technology, known as Noematrix, on April 19, 2025.

The European Parliament approved a tougher stance on China, describing it as a decisive enabler of Russia and calling for continuous naval presence and joint exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait, according to the South China Morning Post. The report urges swift action to counter Beijing’s industrial policy, which it describes as an existential threat to the European Union. The vote saw 454 lawmakers in favour, 86 against and 110 abstentions.

EU trade negotiators are heading to China for two days of crunch talks starting Thursday, aimed at a breakthrough deal tackling China’s record £1bn-a-day trade surplus and at sealing a pilot deal on cars, according to The Guardian. Last month, the EU asked China to voluntarily restrict hybrid exports, warning that safeguards — which could include quotas — could be enacted, according to the newspaper. On Monday, Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, agreed to a “historic U-turn” on its policy on China by siding with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to The Guardian.

Wanying “Heather” Zhang, a 34-year-old realtor in California, was arrested at Los Angeles airport on October 4, 2026, as she was preparing to board a flight to Shanghai, accused of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, according to the Hindustan Times. The FBI says she travelled to Seattle in 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials and later sent photos, video and license plate information of the Taiwanese leader’s son and his family, according to The Hindu. The person being watched was Ting-Yu Lai, an engineer in his 30s who lives in the United States.

Britain is considering imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, amid concerns that Beijing is flooding the market with state-subsidised cars, according to Reuters. British ministers are ready to match the European Union's 45 per cent levy on Chinese electric cars, the Times reported. A British government spokesperson told Reuters no tariffs have been imposed on Chinese EVs.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the US House Select Committee on China was “fabricating claims out of thin air for political purposes” and had no credibility, according to the Times of India, after Starbucks opened stores in Xinjiang. Starbucks opened two cafes in Urumqi this week, one at the city’s international airport and another at the Grand Bazaar.

China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Sun Lei, told the General Assembly that Iran must honour its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and that its legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy must be respected, according to RT News. China and Russia blocked a resolution submitted by the United States to extend the mandate of a UN sanctions watchdog panel on Iran, according to RT News.

The United States delivered to Taiwan the first two new F-16V Block 70 fighter jets, the first of 66 aircraft approved for sale by Washington in 2019, according to RT. The two aircraft arrived on Friday.

China's Commerce Ministry launched an anti-dumping investigation on Saturday into imports of p-nitrotoluene from the EU, according to The Hindu. The investigation follows a request from China's domestic industry, which says low-priced European p-nitrotoluene is flooding the Chinese market. The move comes less than a week before the bloc's trade chief is due in Beijing for talks, the paper reported.

The US Department of Justice accused the chief executive of Earthmade Computer, 38-year-old Greg Lui, of using false paperwork to mask shipments of servers worth more than $300 million that he knew were destined for China, and of conspiring with freight-forwarding firms in countries such as Malaysia and Singapore to divert chip shipments into China, including Nvidia's A100 and H100 graphics processors, according to Ars Technica. He faces charges of conspiracy to violate US export controls, outbound smuggling and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to Bloomberg, in a text republished by Yahoo.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday attended the active phase of the Center-2026 strategic exercise at the Chebarkul training ground in the Urals, held from September 28 to October 3, involving more than 47,000 military personnel and contingents from seven foreign states, according to the Kremlin. Troops from China are taking part in the drills, according to the Washington Post.

For the first time, Latin America considers China's influence in the region more positive than that of the United States, according to the Latinobarómetro 2026 survey released this Friday (2), in a report by G1. Positive assessment of Chinese influence rose from 48% in 2020 to 65% this year, while positive assessment of US influence fell from 60% to 57% over the same period.

Chinese refiners suspended oil product exports planned for October, four people briefed on the matter told Reuters, to preserve domestic stocks. China canceled some October exports, including diesel and gasoline, to ensure domestic demand, according to Sputnik Globe, citing Bloomberg.

China’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Fu Cong, delivered a joint statement on behalf of 28 member states on Thursday at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, according to CGTN. The statement says unilateral coercive measures are a major source of international turbulence and disorder and that developing countries and their peoples continue to bear the brunt, according to Xinhua.

The US Commerce Department has slowed licensing for airplane parts to China and considered new limits on COMAC shipments, using aerospace supply chains to gain leverage in trade talks, according to Reuters. The effort to slow vital goods is part of Washington’s push to loosen Beijing’s grip on rare earth minerals needed by a wide range of US industries, including vehicle manufacturing, chipmaking and aerospace.

The UK Security Service (MI5) said that more than 100 UK-based academics had contributed to projects funded by the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI), according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Olympian. According to Reuters, in a text republished by UNN, MI5 established that CGTRI’s primary purpose is to fund academic research that directly enhances the technical espionage capabilities of China’s state security service (MSS). The funded projects include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography.

Hong Kong police arrested two people, including a journalist, for allegedly acting “with seditious intent”, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Local media identified the detainees as independent journalist Tang Ho-wing and activist Lee Ying-chi. They were detained for investigation under a homegrown national security law passed in 2024.

Kim Jong Un said in a telegram to Chinese President Xi Jinping that he intends to take relations between North Korea and China to a new strategic level, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), in text republished by TASS — the message was sent on the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and cites Kim’s meetings with Xi last year and this year, according to TASS.

MI5, the UK's domestic security service, said publicly on Wednesday that the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI) is a front for Chinese intelligence, namely the Ministry of State Security, and asked universities and researchers to halt collaboration with the institute, according to The Guardian. According to the paper, the organisation [gave money to 100 or more academics at a series of UK universities and in return obtained access to the research], in fields such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and part of the material is alleged to have reached the Chinese intelligence service. With the alert, MI5 said researchers who keep engaging with the Chinese institute will be subject to legal action, according to G1.

The United States (US) Treasury sanctioned ten individuals and companies accused of procuring weapons and parts for Iran’s military, with representatives and technology firms based in China, Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia among those accused. Three of the sanctioned entities were located in Iran. The Treasury said the action further degrades the Iranian regime’s ability to reconstitute its weapons programs and increases the costs for those who choose to aid Tehran’s military procurement efforts. The sanctions were undertaken as part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury Department effort to further restrict Iran’s access to global markets.

Taiwan’s defence minister said US arms sales to the island remain unchanged and that Taipei remains in talks with Washington over individual deals, on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, according to The Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by The Hindu. A record 14 billion arms package to the island, however, remains stalled. The United States paused the 14 billion deal after a May summit in Beijing between Trump and Xi Jinping, and China pressed Washington to halt the arms sales to the island, according to AP, in a text published by Mercury News.

China declared it will firmly support Cuba in defending its sovereignty and resisting outside interference, according to the South China Morning Post. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun made the announcement on Monday, as Beijing and Havana marked 66 years of diplomatic relations. The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said Havana “will fall”, according to RT.

Bessent said Iran’s oil shipments have been successfully blocked by the US and the West and that the country’s last batch, of about 15 million barrels, is on its way to China. He told Fox News that Iran will make its final oil deliveries to China and that, after that, it will have nothing to trade for anything, probably within the next two weeks.

The Kremlin said on Monday that arms control negotiations between Russia and the US are far behind and that, once resumed, they will require lengthy and careful talks, according to Reuters, in a text republished by G1. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such negotiations should have resumed “yesterday” and that China has repeatedly made clear that it would not take part in the trilateral arms control negotiations proposed by US President Donald Trump, a position that, as far as Moscow knows, has not changed.

The US ambassador to China, David Perdue, said on “Fox News Sunday” that President Donald Trump asked Xi whether he would like to buy American weapons. According to Perdue, Trump kept saying that “we sell arms to other people around the world” while discussing Xi’s state visit to Washington last week. He did not elaborate on whether the offer came during that visit, during Trump’s trip to Beijing in May or another time, and did not mention whether Xi responded. The ambassador also said Trump and Xi continue to talk about future US weapons sales to Taiwan.

The US and China unveiled a list of goods recommended for reduced tariffs following last week's summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, according to Al Jazeera. The agreement covers 30 billion dollars of each side's imports, with 77 Chinese goods and more than 1,600 US products, and China's Commerce Ministry said the sides would discuss a reciprocal tariff reduction framework of 30 billion for 30 billion.

China is set to cut tariffs on a broad range of US agricultural goods, from corn and wheat to meat and dairy, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu — but soybeans, the top import item, were excluded from the list and still face an additional tariff of 10%. Both sides agreed to form a trade council to discuss a reciprocal tariff cut on $30 billion worth of products, still according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu.

The US ambassador to Beijing, David Perdue, said in a Fox News interview that President Donald Trump asked Xi Jinping whether he wanted to buy American weapons. The remark came while answering about the administration’s stance on Taiwan’s independence, according to the Daily Beast. Trump and Xi agreed to meet again at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting in Shenzhen in November and at the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Miami in December, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

The United States and China agreed to set up a communication channel for artificial intelligence incidents, both sides said, after a Washington summit short on breakthroughs. According to RT, the next round of the formal China-US dialogue on artificial intelligence is scheduled for November.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng urged the United Nations General Assembly to respect the sovereignty and security of countries in the Middle East, including the Gulf and called on the “relevant country” to immediately stop threatening Cuba with force and immediately and completely lift the blockade and sanctions against the island. The speech did not name the United States, in contrast with Xi Jinping’s reception at the White House days earlier.

China said on Saturday it had agreed with the United States on a $30 billion reciprocal tariff-reduction arrangement and on launching a dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI), under an eight-point consensus reached during Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington. According to China’s Foreign Ministry, the two sides also agreed to set up a trade council and extend the outcomes of earlier talks in Kuala Lumpur. The ministry said the two countries will hold a dialogue on the technology’s risks and benefits, with the next round set for November, and set up a communication channel for AI-related incidents. The leaders agreed that Iran should fulfil its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and that no country or entity should impose transit tolls on international waterways.

The militaries of China and the United States agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding as soon as possible to strengthen communication and prevent crises, according to Sputnik Globe, citing the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. Donald Trump advocated trilateral arms control negotiations between the United States, Russia and China, and the two countries established a dialogue on superintelligence, with the next exchange due by November 2026.

In 2021, Xi Jinping pledged at the United Nations General Assembly to stop Chinese funding for overseas coal power plants. According to AP, in a text published by the Hindustan Times, China has canceled most of the coal projects it had planned that year, but experts warn that Chinese companies are taking advantage of regulatory loopholes to skirt the pledge and keep investing in coal abroad.

The United States and China will set up a bilateral communication channel for artificial intelligence (AI) incidents, the White House said on Friday, September 25, 2026. The announcement is in the fact sheet of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, which also established the U.S.-China Super Intelligence (SI) Dialogue, to exchange views on the risks and benefits of AI. The next meeting of the new dialogue will take place by November, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Typhon missile systems will stay in Japan after the exercises. According to the Russian agency TASS, Japan’s Defense Ministry said the Typhon systems deployed at Kanoya air field in Kagoshima Prefecture during the June and September exercises will be transferred to storage at Kadena air force base in Okinawa by mid-October, aboard C-17 transport aircraft. The ministry said the American side explained that storing the equipment at Kadena is not a permanent deployment in Japan. For the Daily Sun, the longer Typhon presence in the country creates a distributed network of strike, air-defence and targeting capabilities that complicates Chinese military operations around Taiwan.

According to The New York Times, Xi Jinping sought to tilt Donald Trump’s stance on America’s place in Asia. According to analysts cited by Reuters, in a text republished by GV Wire, US allies fear that Trump may offer concessions to Xi over Taiwan and trade in return for an economic win with Beijing.

Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister, Francois Wu, said on Saturday that providing weapons to Taiwan to protect its freedom and provide semiconductors to the world is in the United States’ national interest, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Straits Times. Xi Jinping told Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday that he hoped the United States would adhere to the “correct position” of opposing Taiwan independence. The United States ambassador to China, David Perdue, told CNBC on Friday that there has been no change in Trump’s Taiwan policy, including the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which mandates arms sales to the island.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News the U.S.-China trade truce would be extended until January 10, according to CNBC. The one-year truce, agreed at a meeting in South Korea last October, was set to expire in November and now runs until January 10, Bessent said. He said the deal keeps tariffs lower for longer and rare earths flowing.

Russia is ready to assist developing countries in strengthening their national capacity and ensuring economic sovereignty, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin. The statement was made at a high-level event at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, dedicated to the fifth anniversary of China’s launch of the Global Development Initiative (GDI).

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up their Washington summit under criticism that they had squandered the opportunity to pause their countries’ artificial intelligence (AI) arms race, according to The Guardian. On Thursday, Xi acknowledged that the U.S. and China have the “responsibility to develop and manage AI for good” and to “ensure that the development of AI is always under human control”, the paper wrote.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping ended their Washington summit on Friday, September 25, 2026, with ceremony but no progress on core issues, the Hindustan Times reported. The two sides extended their trade truce until January 10, 2027, according to Daijiworld, stretching relief that had been set to expire on November 10.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Friday, 25 September 2026, that two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, will be sent to the Atlanta zoo in the coming days, according to CNBC. Xi called the panda an “envoy of friendship” between Chinese and Americans, a goodwill gesture during his summit with Donald Trump, according to The Washington Post.

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday, 25 September 2026, that he discussed the Iran war with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their talks in Washington, according to the Hindustan Times. A U.S. official told CNBC that Trump made clear to Xi that it would be “unacceptable” for China to help Iran during the U.S. military campaign, according to The Guardian.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, September 25, 2026, that trade with China had reached $240 billion and keeps growing, TASS reported. Putin said he intends to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, depending on the domestic situation, TASS reported, and that Russia welcomes any positive agreement between China and the United States, Sputnik reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday, 25 September 2026, that he expects two more meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump this year — one at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, and the other at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in the United States. Xi invited Trump and the first lady to visit China for the APEC summit, according to Sputnik, and Trump said he would attend, confirming the trip to China in November for the APEC summit, according to Sputnik.

China’s President Xi Jinping said as his state visit to Washington ended that China and the United States must keep to “the line of no conflict and no confrontation” between them, and the two presidents signalled they intend to cooperate toward a “shared future,” according to G1.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, scheduled for November 18 and 19, should adopt a substantial package of documents setting the region’s future course, including a joint declaration by the bloc’s leaders, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, cited by TASS. The package will also include statements on connectivity, the digital economy and artificial intelligence (AI), with intense negotiations under way, TASS reports.

Gazprom said gas supplies to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline in the first half of 2026 exceeded those of the same period in 2025, according to the Russian state company, cited by TASS. Gazprom says it became the largest gas exporter to China in 2025, with 38.8 billion cubic metres delivered via Power of Siberia, 800 million above its initial contractual obligation, TASS reports.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Moscow expects the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to approve Russia’s bid to chair the forum in 2035, and that China and Vietnam already back the request officially, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. Rudenko said similar assurances came in contacts between Russian officials and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and that a number of other delegations had reacted positively.

Hosting Xi Jinping for a state dinner at the White House on the night of Thursday, 24 September 2026, Donald Trump had Elon Musk of Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple, Jensen Huang of Nvidia and Sam Altman of OpenAI at the table — a sign that trade and artificial intelligence were high on the state visit’s agenda, according to AFP, in a report carried by The Hindu. Earlier, Trump said he and Xi had made “tremendous strides”, while Xi called on China and the United States to “coexist in peace” and restated Beijing’s red lines on artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the war with Iran, according to AFP. Trump also called the meeting “very productive” for Washington and Beijing and wrote on Truth Social that “tremendous things will be happening”, according to Sputnik Globe.

U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue told CNBC that Donald Trump made clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping, in talks at the White House, that Chinese help for Iran is unacceptable, Middle East Eye reported.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the trade truce with China, due to expire in November, will be extended until January, DW reports. Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States, his first in ten years, was heavy on pomp and light on substance in trade, artificial intelligence and Taiwan, and the next meeting of the two presidents is expected on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen in November, according to DW.

President Donald Trump is taking Chinese President Xi Jinping to the National Archives on Friday, September 25, 2026, to wrap up a three-day state visit, with a stop at the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Associated Press reports. The two leaders made a show of harmony between the world’s two largest economies, though there were no major breakthroughs on issues such as trade or the safety of artificial intelligence, according to the same report.

Imagery and intelligence support from Chinese groups has helped Iran threaten ships in the Strait of Hormuz and launch precision strikes on U.S. military bases in the Middle East, CNN reports, citing sources the network does not identify. The imagery allowed Iran to hit a U.S. base in Jordan in July 2026, a strike that killed three American service members with a level of precision that U.S. officials believe was beyond Iran’s capabilities. In May 2026, the U.S. government sanctioned three Chinese satellite companies for providing imagery that, according to Washington, “enables Iran’s military strikes against U.S. forces in the Middle East.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remarks to Donald Trump in Washington on national reunification and territorial integrity a distortion of the facts, according to Reuters. The ministry said the statements reflect “the consistent Chinese approach of distorting facts and unilaterally conveying its position and claims,” that only the Taiwanese people decide the island’s future, and accused China of disturbing peace and stability, G1 reports. Xi had urged Trump to keep to the “correct position” of opposing Taiwan independence, Reuters added.

Chinese journalist Li Xiang said the killing of women, children and civilians is a “red line” when commenting on the attack on the Starobelsk Pedagogical College, he told TASS. According to the Russian account — still without independent confirmation — Ukrainian drones struck the college’s academic building and dormitory on the night of May 22, 2026, killing 21 people, with 86 children present, according to TASS.

United States President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping met at the White House in Washington on Thursday, September 24, 2026, on the second day of Xi’s three-day state visit — his first to Washington in 11 years, according to Al Jazeera, with Reuters and the Associated Press (AP). China’s state news agency Xinhua, cited by the broadcaster, reported that Xi urged Washington to handle Taiwan prudently and oppose the island’s independence; the White House published no readout of its own. On the war with Iran there was no breakthrough: Xi backed a return by Washington and Tehran to the interim agreement meant to pave the way for a larger deal.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, said he had a sincere and in-depth exchange of views with United States president Donald Trump during the state dinner at the White House, according to TASS; Xi added that the meeting infused new substance into constructive relations based on strategic stability, the Russian agency reports.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Friday, September 25, 2026, standing in for President Xi Jinping, according to G1. Xi arrived in Washington on Wednesday, September 23, for a bilateral meeting with United States President Donald Trump.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the United States and China to manage their superpower rivalry and keep artificial intelligence (AI) under human control, during his state visit to the White House in Washington on Thursday, September 24, 2026, according to AFP via The Standard. Xi said both countries have the capability and the responsibility to develop and manage AI for good, ensuring it always remains under human control.

Donald Trump hosted Xi Jinping at a White House state dinner attended by top United States tech and business leaders, including the chiefs of Nvidia, OpenAI, Google and Meta, with no Chinese executive on the official list.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, 24 September 2026, that the United States and China reached a common understanding on many issues in his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House. Xi called on the two militaries to keep regular dialogue and improve crisis communication and prevention mechanisms, the formula Beijing uses to avoid the “Thucydides trap”. The trade truce between the two countries, which was due to expire in November, was extended by two months, to 10 January.

US President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday, 24 September 2026, in a state visit with artificial intelligence, critical minerals, human rights, tariffs and Taiwan on the agenda. As of the time of writing, the two sides had announced no comprehensive deals on tariffs, rare earths or soybean purchases, and the trade truce between them was extended by two months. Xi told reporters that “achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand.”

China published on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, a set of guidelines for handling criminal cases involving fentanyl-related substances, according to The Hindu. The document is a joint statement by China’s Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate and Ministry of Public Security: it sets quantitative criteria for conviction and sentencing and divides the substances into medicinal and non-pharmaceutical categories. The authorities will investigate smuggling, trafficking, transportation, manufacturing, illegal possession and the use of the internet in such crimes. On Tuesday, 22 September 2026, China also added two chemicals to its export control list for drug precursors, requiring permits for shipments to the United States, Mexico and Canada, according to the Associated Press. That brings the number of chemicals under the regime to 18. Both measures come on the eve of the expected meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Washington, according to The Hindu.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi used her first address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, to call for an overhaul of the organization, including the removal of a 1940s-era clause that refers to Japan as an “enemy state” and that China has invoked in its row with Tokyo, according to The Japan Times. Takaichi said the UN has “never been more important” and “must be reborn as a ‘more resilient and effective United Nations’” to regain the trust of the international community, 70 years after Japan’s admission in 1956. In a meeting with Secretary-General António Guterres, she raised Security Council reform, according to the official UN readout carried by IANS. Japan is part of the Group of Four (G4) with Brazil, Germany and India, which back each other’s bids for permanent seats on an expanded Council.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States from 23 to 25 September 2026 at the invitation of President Donald Trump, according to the announcement by China’s foreign ministry carried by Reuters. Xi arrives on the afternoon of Wednesday, 23 September, at Joint Base Andrews, where Trump will greet him on the tarmac; the arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn, with 479 members of the United States Armed Forces, the military review in the Rose Garden and the state dinner are set for Thursday, 24 September, according to the White House. It is the first state visit by a Chinese president to the United States in 11 years, according to ABC News, which lists artificial intelligence (AI), tariffs, rare earths, technology and agricultural trade on the agenda. Beijing presents the trip as the consolidation of the “constructive relationship of strategic stability” agreed at the May meeting in Beijing and notes that it closes an exchange of visits between the two presidents within six months, according to the State Council of China. For Scott Kennedy, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, the most likely outcome is an extension of the trade ceasefire struck at the Busan summit in October 2025, which expires on 10 November, with deals on specific goods such as agricultural products and Boeing aircraft: “most of this will be theatre,” he told ABC News.

China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) is investigating whether DeepSeek and Moonshot AI sent sensitive domestic data to Anthropic servers in the United States, The Information reported, in a story cited by NDTV Profit and Yahoo Finance. The regulator summoned representatives of the seven Chinese companies named in Anthropic’s September threat report (DeepSeek, Moonshot, Alibaba, Zhipu, SenseTime, MiniMax and Xiaomi) before narrowing its focus to the first two, and has announced no penalties. Anthropic, which brought the allegation, says the seven Chinese labs accessed its Claude model illicitly to extract capabilities: according to the company, Moonshot routed nearly 300,000 customer requests through 5,380 fraudulent accounts over 10 days and displayed the answers as though they came from its own Kimi model, while DeepSeek rerouted more than 12.1 million exchanges over 14 days in July. Anthropic says some of that traffic contained sensitive material, including surveillance footage from cameras in Chengdu and data from a case-management system at a municipal public security bureau. The Chinese companies deny the allegations, which Beijing describes as an attack on its AI sector.

DeepSeek is among the companies invited to brief the United Nations Security Council this week on the risks posed by artificial intelligence, according to two sources familiar with the matter cited by Reuters, in a dispatch carried by The Straits Times. The 15-member council meets on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, to discuss AI and international security. The meeting is convened by France, which holds the council presidency this month, and will include OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman as well as senior Anthropic representatives, according to The Next Web. DeepSeek and other Chinese companies, including Moonshot, have been invited to make statements; DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng does not plan to attend, and the plan could still change. The Security Council first discussed the risks of AI in 2023, when China warned the technology should not become a “runaway horse”. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned last week that rapidly advancing AI poses risks that cannot be ignored, a position at odds with US President Donald Trump, who argues existing safeguards are sufficient. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, 21 September 2026, that the two countries agreed to hold further talks on AI safety, ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping expected this week in Washington.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, for a three-day state visit, with formal talks scheduled for Thursday, 24 September, and a visit to the US National Archives on Friday, 25 September, and is expected to press President Donald Trump to halt arms sales to Taiwan, invoking the third of the joint communiqués the two countries signed in 1982, according to Reuters, which spoke to three sources familiar with the discussions. In that communiqué, Washington said it intended to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan and did not seek long-term weapons sales to Taipei; an accompanying memorandum by then president Ronald Reagan conditioned that willingness on China’s continued commitment to a peaceful solution of differences over Taiwan. A package worth about US$ 14 billion in arms for Taiwan has been on hold for months. After the summit with Xi in Beijing in May 2026, Trump said he was keeping the package in abeyance and described it as “a very good negotiating chip”, according to Reuters. The sources said China has also asked the United States to stop deliveries of weapons already ordered by the island, and has offered help in pressing Iran over the war in the Middle East in exchange for concessions. The South China Morning Post, citing sources, reported that Washington is weighing postponing the announcement of new arms sales to Taiwan until after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen in November and the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Florida in December; one source said Trump considered delaying the decision until late 2028 or January 2029 but backed off after loud opposition from China hawks. In Taipei, Le Monde quoted Su Tzu-yun, a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research: “We need to stay alert, but not panic, because the United States’ geopolitical interest remains keeping China at arm’s length from Taiwan.” Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it was closely monitoring the talks.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council meets on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) and international security, with China’s DeepSeek among the companies invited to brief the body, according to Reuters, which cited two people familiar with the matter. The agency reported that DeepSeek and fellow Chinese firm Moonshot were invited to make statements, that DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng is not expected to appear and that plans could still change at the last minute. An OpenAI spokesperson told Reuters last week that chief executive Sam Altman will brief the council in person, and diplomats expect senior Anthropic officials to take part as well, according to The Next Web. France, which holds the council’s rotating presidency this month, called the meeting, and a concept note circulated by Paris highlights the risk of malicious use of the technology and of losing control over advanced models. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said last week that the risks of rapidly advancing AI cannot be ignored, a position at odds with that of US President Donald Trump, who argues existing safeguards are enough. The council first took up the issue in 2023, when China said AI must not become a “runaway horse”.

China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) has opened an investigation into DeepSeek and Moonshot AI to determine whether sensitive data leaked when user requests were routed to models made by the US company Anthropic, according to a report by The Information carried by NDTV Profit and The News. The allegations come from Anthropic’s own September 2026 report, which said DeepSeek rerouted more than 12.1 million exchanges to Claude over a 14-day period in July and that Moonshot, the developer of the Kimi family of models, routed nearly 300,000 customer requests through 5,380 fraudulent accounts over 10 days while presenting the answers as its own. Anthropic also said some of the rerouted requests contained sensitive customer information such as credentials and data from internal corporate systems. According to The News, the CAC summoned representatives of the seven Chinese companies named in the report for several rounds of questioning, among them Alibaba, Zhipu, SenseTime, MiniMax and Xiaomi, and is weighing possible violations against China’s cross-border data rules. No sanctions have been announced.

Ineos halted production on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, at three chemicals plants in Hull, north-east England, blaming the cost of gas in the United Kingdom, which the company says stands at 12 times the level in the United States and eight times that of China. Two units at the Saltend complex have already stopped and the third will be shut down in the coming days, according to The Guardian and the Yorkshire Post. The company says around 1,000 employees at Saltend are affected and that a further 3,000 skilled jobs across the Humber region could be hit; no redundancies are planned. The plants produce acetic acid, acetic anhydride and ethyl acetate, and are Europe’s last world-scale acetyls units. UK natural gas prices doubled between July and September and reached their highest level since December 2022, a move the Yorkshire Post links to the United States and Israel’s war on Iran and the disruption of oil and gas supply through the Strait of Hormuz.

Interpol elected Brazilian Valdecy Urquiza as its secretary-general on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, with 118 votes, according to the Russian state agency TASS, which cited a briefing by Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev in Beijing. Urquiza had been the international cooperation director of Brazil’s Federal Police. Source: Interpol.

T-Head, Alibaba’s semiconductor division, unveiled on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the Apsara conference in Hangzhou the Zhenwu V900 artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator, which the company describes as China’s most powerful AI chip by computing performance and which is scheduled for mass production in the first quarter of 2027, according to TechNode and TrendForce. According to the maker, the V900 has 216 GB of memory, 1,200 GB/s of chip-to-chip interconnect bandwidth and native FP8 and FP4 support, with a claimed performance three times that of its predecessor, the M890; clusters of up to 500,000 units, linked by T-Head’s own ICN Switch technology, would be able to train models of 5 trillion to 10 trillion parameters. Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu also set a target of lifting Alibaba Cloud’s global data centre capacity above 20 GW by 2032, backed by more than US$ 53 billion of investment over three years. The V900 figures are the maker’s own claims, with no independent benchmarking, and the capacity targets describe announced expansion, not contracted capacity.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that F-35 fighter jet parts shipped from the country to the United States for repair were diverted to Hong Kong, and said Canberra is assisting an investigation by the United States and Lockheed Martin, the programme’s prime contractor, per ABC News. Politico reported the cargo included a cockpit canopy with radar-absorbent material that reduces the jet’s signature on enemy radar. Marles described the material as not sensitive, according to AFP. No one has said why the shipment was diverted or who holds the parts today.

China rejected on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, United States sanctions on Iranian airlines and threatened to fly through US airspace, the The Guardian reports. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a CNBC interview that “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world” within days, according to Mehr News. “China consistently opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law or authorization from the UN Security Council,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. Mehr News is an Iranian state-linked agency, and China’s threats appear in the British newspaper’s live coverage.

Alibaba unveiled its new Zhenwu V900 artificial intelligence (AI) chip on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, describing it as the most powerful in China with three times the performance of its predecessor, and set a target of lifting Alibaba Cloud’s global data centre capacity above 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2032, according to Reuters and Mint, which cites the group’s official release. The announcement was made by company CEO Eddie Wu at the Apsara conference in Hangzhou, where Alibaba also laid out a plan to train Qwen models with 5 trillion to 10 trillion parameters on its path towards artificial superintelligence, and launched Qwen Intelligence for mobile devices, an end-to-end tool meant to run complex tasks on the handset itself. According to Mint, the chip, built by the group’s semiconductor arm, can be clustered at up to 500,000 units per cluster, as the company invests across three declared fronts: models, chips and cloud infrastructure.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that it opposes the “illegal unilateral sanctions” the United States has imposed on Iran and on Tehran’s trading partners and that it will take “all necessary measures” to protect Chinese interests, according to BBC News and Middle East Eye. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the package on Monday, September 21, branding it “Operation Economic Outcast” and describing it as the “single greatest financial offensive ever” against Iran, and said “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world” on September 23 under threat of secondary sanctions on anyone servicing them, according to Middle East Eye. The Treasury mapped financial channels and evasion networks and sanctioned almost 60 entities, individuals and vessels. China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, and David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, told BBC News the package will have “only a limited direct impact” on Iran’s energy flows. The announcement comes before Donald Trump’s scheduled meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday, September 24, and Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh told state television that Tehran is “fully prepared” for the sanctions.

The United States and Australia are investigating how components of F-35 fighter jets shipped from Australia to the United States for repair ended up diverted to Hong Kong as they crossed the Pacific, with some of the material still unaccounted for. The F-35 Joint Program Office at the US Department of Defense said it was “aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components” and that it was working with US authorities and industry partners “to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence,” according to the South China Morning Post and Defense News. The case surfaced in a Politico report on September 19, 2026; the shipment included a cockpit canopy, which carries a thin radar-absorbent layer, and the components were carried by a third-party company hired by Lockheed Martin, which manages the programme’s international spare-parts pool. On September 22, 2026, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed that Canberra is helping with the investigation: “We are examining very much everything that has occurred at the Australian end,” he said, according to ABC News. Marles played down the episode: “my understanding is that there is a sense of comfort, that we’re not talking about sensitive equipment here, or sensitive parts.” The US House Armed Services Committee is aware of the case and has received several briefings on it, committee spokesperson Heather Vaughan told Bloomberg. There is no public evidence that China obtained or inspected the material, and the Department of Defense has not said what exactly went missing. Australia operates 72 F-35s and has no facility able to repair the canopies. Hong Kong’s government said it does not comment on individual cases.

Alibaba unveiled the Zhenwu V900 accelerator on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at its Apsara conference in Hangzhou, billing it as China’s most powerful artificial intelligence chip. According to chief executive Eddie Wu, the chip delivers three times the performance of the previous-generation Zhenwu M890 and can be clustered up to 500,000 units to train frontier models; it is built by the company’s T-Head division and is scheduled for mass production in the first quarter of 2027. Wu also set a target for Alibaba Cloud to operate more than 20 gigawatts of global data center capacity by 2032, citing demand he said is growing exponentially, and the company plans to train a model with 5 trillion to 10 trillion parameters. T-Head has delivered 560,000 chips across the Zhenwu family, with more than 400 external customers, and the group has committed more than US$ 53 billion to artificial intelligence over three years, raising about US$ 10.2 billion in August 2026 in a follow-on share sale in Hong Kong. Performance, capacity and timing are the company’s own targets and claims.