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As the US and Israel wage illegal war on Iran and Washington’s economic nationalism tears up the rules-based order it once championed, China is moving in a strikingly different direction. The 15th Five-Year Plan, unveiled in Beijing this March, sets out an ambitious roadmap for the next few years of Chinese-style modernisation: innovation-driven, people-centred, ecologically … Continue reading Chinese-style modernisation is an inspiring vision for the world

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Visits to China by foreign leaders are tightly choreographed and meticulously planned affairs, even by the usual standards of international diplomacy. But the chaotic nature of Donald Trump’s White House and his request to delay a planned visit to China in the wake of his decision to attack Iran are widely believed to be causing increasing frustration in Beijing. The South China Morning Post has previously reported that preparations for the visit had been dogged by problems, with the Chinese...

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Saudi Arabia is activating its Red Sea “Plan B” to divert crude via the port of Yanbu, allowing tankers – including Chinese very large crude carriers (VLCCs) – to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, though analysts warn the route has limited capacity. The move comes after Iran effectively closed the strait in response to United States and Israeli military strikes, a conflict now in its third week that has rattled global energy markets. New Vista, a VLCC owned by China Merchants Energy Shipping, had...

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Iran’s power structure, succession mechanism and geographic conditions are all factors in its military resilience, despite the decapitation of its leadership by the US and Israel, according to Chinese experts. They also said the United States was unlikely to achieve regime change in Iran without deploying ground forces, a lesson one expert argued Beijing would take into account for any operation on Taiwan. Beginning on February 28, the US and Israel have killed a string of senior Iranian...

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Cosco Shipping Ports, a unit of state-owned giant Cosco Shipping, reported modest earnings growth for 2025, as management expects to expand in emerging markets amid rising geopolitical risks to global trade. Net profit rose 1.1 per cent to US$312.1 million, and revenue increased 11 per cent to US$1.67 billion, according to its 2025 results. Total container throughput climbed 6.2 per cent to 153 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The company’s overseas terminals saw strong growth, with...

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As Chinese science makes great strides, some US China hawks have been sounding the alarm. In their view, Chinese scientific progress is a significant national security threat to the United States, as it signals the relative decline of US scientific dominance and potentially creates dependence on China. In one extreme case of this view, Leland Miller, a senior consultant for the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, declared in a recent interview that China discovering a cure for...

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A delegation from China’s People’s Liberation Army will travel to Brussels next week for talks with the European Union and Nato amid heightened concerns over global security caused by the war in Iran. The EU-China Security and Defence Consultations will take place next Tuesday, official sources confirmed, with the talks between Nato and the PLA’s Office for International Military Cooperation scheduled for the same week. On the EU side, the talks will be chaired by Benedikta von Seherr-Thoss,...

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As Washington steps up rhetoric and pressure on Cuba after its campaign in Iran, Beijing finds itself torn between geopolitical reality and ideological affinity. According to analysts, Beijing has few good options to counter US hegemony in Washington’s own backyard, and its response is likely to be constrained to diplomatic opposition and modest humanitarian aid. They said any disruption to global stability ultimately harmed Beijing’s interests and did not see prolonged US military action...

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China is offering solar energy to Cuba, an old ally left without power amid the US oil embargo, in a show of strength for Chinese renewable-energy credentials and a sign of Beijing’s economic footprint in Latin America. Beijing’s ambassador to Cuba, Hua Xin, on Monday outlined joint energy projects in progress as part of an effort to ease a “complex power situation” in the Caribbean nation, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “China has always maintained that Latin America and the...

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Turbulence in the global oil market caused by the war in Iran revealed a quiet shift that could reshape global energy security: the rapid rise of electric vehicles. Global uptake of electric vehicle fleets has led to avoided oil consumption rising to the equivalent of 70 per cent of Iran’s exports in 2025, according to a new report. Last year, EVs worldwide saved 1.7 million barrels of oil consumption per day. During the same timeframe, Iran exported 2.4 million barrels of oil through the Strait...

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The chief designer on the J-20 stealth fighter jet has been removed from the website of China’s national research institute, amid a sweeping campaign to stamp out corruption in the defence sector. Yang Wei, 62, had been listed as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the top academic body for science and technology. But as of Monday, his name was no longer on the site, according to a snapshot from Internet Archive, which seeks to preserve online content. Yang has not appeared in public...

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Tencent Holdings’s net income stayed largely in line with analyst expectations in the fourth quarter of 2025, registering a 17 per cent jump amid an artificial intelligence boom that is reshaping the global economy and fuelling a frenzy in China. The tech giant’s quarterly profits reached 64.7 billion yuan (US$9.4 billion) on a non-IFRS basis, just shy of analysts’ estimates of 64.9 billion yuan. Total sales reached 194.4 billion yuan for the quarter, a year-on-year increase of 13 per cent,...

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Mainland Chinese authorities say peaceful reunification will solve Taiwan’s energy supply fears that have been sparked by hostilities in the Middle East, insisting that “the removal of barriers between the two sides of the strait will ensure the smooth flow of resources”. Chen Binhua, spokesman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said peaceful reunification would create enormous opportunities for Taiwan’s economic and social development and bring tangible benefits to...

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In April 2020, as the world struggled with the Covid-19 pandemic and soldiers from India and China moved towards a large-scale border stand-off, New Delhi amended its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to require prior government approval for all investments from countries sharing a land border with India – a measure directed at China. Nearly six years on, India has changed its FDI policy again. It is a significant move for India-China relations. During the pandemic, the FDI regulation...

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The prospect of a meeting between President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump has become a focal point for investors seeking some reassurance on growth and stability as the conflict in the Middle East dampens appetite for risk. Investors are awaiting clarity on the summit, viewing it as a potential sign of cooperation that could steady mainland China and Hong Kong equities. The meeting had been scheduled for the end of the month, but the White House said it would be postponed by five or...

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Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has integrated its QClaw AI agent as a mini-program in its flagship WeChat app as it pushes to expand adoption of its OpenClaw-based tool. It said QClaw was now accessible as a mini-program inside WeChat after an upgrade on Wednesday that allowed users to transfer files to their personal computers. QClaw was launched last week as an OpenClaw-based artificial intelligence agent for personal computers that users could control remotely from WeChat on their...

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Chinese scientists have engineered E coli bacteria into a novel cancer therapy that colonises tumours, produces an existing drug on-site and delivers it directly – reducing the toxic side effects of traditional chemotherapy. The research, performed on mice with breast cancer, paves the way for targeted cancer treatments in future, according to the scientists from Shandong University in Qingdao, eastern China. Escherichia coli (E coli) is a group of bacteria commonly found in the gut. While most...

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Thursday’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was supposed to see the two leaders sit down in advance of Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to ensure the allies were on the same page. Instead, with the US-China summit postponed and the Israel-US war on Iran going full blast, their meeting is likely to find Japan more on the defensive, according to analysts and former government officials. Takaichi would be trying to finesse shifting...

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Iran’s air strikes on the Gulf states have turned the spotlight onto China’s dilemma in trying to develop long-term relations with those nations but also with their arch-rival Iran. Strikes on all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks on Iran have hit both American military assets stationed in those countries and civilian infrastructure, including oil refineries. As oil and gas producers, they are also bearing the brunt of the effective closure of...

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China’s leading planemaker is seeking to replicate the C909 regional airliner’s success in Laos, drawing on the experience as it steps up its sales pitch in Southeast Asia – a vital step in its effort to eventually rival Boeing and Airbus. The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) has ambitious plans in the region and beyond and is laying the groundwork through technical adjustments and regulatory adaptations, according to a company document seen by the South China Morning Post. To...

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From around the turn of the century, a revived Confucianism was all the rage. Mainland Chinese academia heavily promoted it. Beijing politicised it as compatible with communist ideology. For state propaganda departments, Confucianism was repackaged as a cultural product for foreign consumption. That wave of interest subsequently died down, along with the closure of many Confucian Institutes around the world. So why study Confucius today? Well, why read any great philosopher? But there is a more...

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Fang Daining, a key scientist in China’s hypersonic weapons programme, has died at the age of 68, according to an image of an obituary notice that began circulating on Chinese social media last week. Early online discussions included claims that Fang, who was also a Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) member, the country’s highest academic title in science and technology, suffered an unexpected medical episode during a work trip to South Africa. The South China Morning Post could not confirm the...

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A Chinese national and a Kenyan man were charged Tuesday with unlawfully dealing in wildlife species after they were found in possession of hundreds of live ants stored in specialised tubes. The case was the latest focused on the alleged smuggling of ants in the East African country, where authorities last year described a growing trend in the trafficking of ants to markets in Europe and Asia. Officials have not said if the ants are sought after as pets or for other purposes. The suspects,...

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The wealth management businesses of Chinese investment banks in Hong Kong are growing faster than those of international rivals, as a buoyant initial public offering (IPO) market and rising cross-border flows strengthen their competitive edge. “Chinese investment banks are seeing accelerated growth … because [their] base is smaller and the current market environment favours them,” said Wang Lei, CEO of Huatai Financial Holdings (Hong Kong), in an interview with the South China Morning Post,...

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A considerable period of rising tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan erupted into open and ongoing conflict on February 21. As a friendly neighbour to both countries China is actively working for the restoration of peace. Accordingly, on March 10, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone conversation with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign … Continue reading China working to restore peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan

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