China News

A Chinese combat robot tore through the competition at the Games of the Future Abu Dhabi 2025 on Sunday, sealing the Battle of the Robots title in a shower of sparks after slamming its rival into the glass wall of the arena. The robot, dubbed Deep-Sea Shark 3, was built by a China-based student team calling itself Fierce Roc, which was crowned champion, according to organisers. The contest was staged as part of a multi-sport festival of so-called “phygital” games – sport that blends real-world...

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China accused the United States on Monday of violating international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela, as Washington intensified pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government and a senior US official openly suggested that he should be removed from power. At a regular press briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the United States “seriously violated international law” by intercepting foreign vessels and reiterated China’s opposition to unilateral...

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A mistrial was declared on Monday in the closely watched case of a former senior New York official charged with acting as a Chinese agent after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. The jury remained deadlocked on all 19 counts after several days of deliberation in the case of Linda Sun, a former aide to New York governors Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo, on charges of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara). She and her husband and co-defendant Chris Hu were also charged with...

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All eyes are on how Beijing’s “Chinese dream” of eventual Taiwan reunification will unfold at a time when the leader of the United States – Taipei’s top international backer – appears less likely to intervene in case of a cross-strait conflict. In the first of a three-part series, Amber Wang looks at how recent moves signal a recalibration of Beijing’s Taiwan policy – outlining post-unity governance visions, ramping up messaging to the island’s public and scaling back military...

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The Federal Communications Commission said on Monday it is adding China’s DJI, Autel and ‍all foreign-made drones and components to a list of companies determined to pose unacceptable risks to US national security and will bar approvals of new types of drones for import or sale in the United States. The addition to the FCC’s “Covered List” means that going forward, DJI, Autel and other foreign drone companies will not be able to obtain FCC approval ⁠to sell new models of drones or critical...

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China recently announced it would impose an export licensing regime on around 300 steel products starting January 1. The move, while seemingly technical, sends a clear signal Beijing is attempting to address a key source of trade friction with its emerging market partners. To understand the policy’s intent, it needs to be placed in the broader context of China’s trade position this year. As global trade protectionism intensifies, China’s exports have shown remarkable resilience. Even as...

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Weeks after US immigration authorities arrested and separated 6-year-old Yuanxin from his father, Fei Zheng, during a routine immigration check-in in New York, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the pair had been deported to China. “We are happy to report we were able to remove the family back to their home country on December 17, 2025,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to the South China Morning Post. Jennie Spector, a volunteer and community...

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Two senior Democratic lawmakers on Monday asked the ‌US Commerce Department to disclose details ‍and any approvals of continuing licence reviews for potential sales to Chinese firms of Nvidia’s second-most powerful AI chips. US President Donald Trump this month said he would allow sales of Nvidia’s (NVDA.O) H200 chips to China, with the US government collecting a 25 per cent ‍fee, and that the sales would help ‍keep US firms ahead of Chinese chipmakers by cutting demand for Chinese...

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While China has already logged a record-breaking trade surplus in the first 11 months of 2025, that milestone could be a harbinger of more protectionist pushback, an American research firm said on Monday – a development that could complicate the country’s efforts to meet its economic growth target in 2026. Though export performance remains the “most important” variable for China's real economic growth rate next year, trade measures adopted by other countries and weaker demand will also have an...

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China’s leader has promoted two PLA commanders who oversee the Taiwan Strait and the city of Beijing, suggesting that the dust has begun to settle following a massive purge in the military over corruption concerns. President Xi Jinping promoted Yang Zhibin, commander of the Eastern Theatre Command, to the rank of full general on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The move formally confirms Yang as head of the Eastern Theatre Command. Yang previously served as a lieutenant general in...

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A whispered word of command could allow spies to take control of an army of robots, security researchers have warned. The vulnerability in humanoid robots, which could see disruptive behaviour spread from one machine to another and cause widespread chaos, was exposed a few weeks ago at the GEEKCon competition in Shanghai. Since its inception in 2014, GEEKCon has successfully held 17 events, bringing together “white-hat hackers” from China, the US, Russia and elsewhere to compete. Security...

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China’s central bank has unveiled a credit-rehabilitation policy to help individuals who defaulted on small loans rebuild their financial standing – part of a broader push to bolster the economy and repair household balance sheets. The People’s Bank of China said the measure targets borrowers with a single instance of overdue debt incurred between 2020 and 2025 and not exceeding 10,000 yuan (US$1,421). If the debt is fully repaid by March 31, the default record will be hidden from credit...

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1. Blackpink for Ayumi? Why China may reward South Korea’s soft stance on Japan row In a bid to overhaul their economic relationship, China and South Korea are reviving long-stalled trade talks, with an eye on moving beyond factory floors to target the lucrative services sector as geopolitical shifts redraw the region’s alliances.
2. Holiday travellers hit...

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Beijing has lodged a protest with Tokyo over a series of visits to Taiwan by high-ranking officials from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) amid a sharp downturn in bilateral relations. Koichi Hagiuda, an LDP lawmaker and the party’s executive acting secretary general, is on a three-day trip to Taiwan that will end on Tuesday. Hagiuda on Monday held a meeting with William Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s leader. In total, about 30 Japanese lawmakers plan to visit the island between the end of...

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Huawei Technologies cut prices on its widescreen, flip-style Pura X handset over the weekend, as the foldable smartphone market braced for a new wave of high-profile launches from rivals Samsung and Apple. The Shenzhen-based smartphone giant said it was trimming as much as 800 yuan (US$114) from the Pura X, which debuted in March. The vertically folding model now starts at 6,899 yuan. The Pura X stands apart from Huawei’s other foldables for its wider 6.3-inch display and 16:10 aspect ratio –...

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China has slapped provisional anti-subsidy fees of up to 42.7 per cent on European producers of certain dairy products, including various types of cheese and cream, Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday. Chinese investigators made a “preliminary determination” – following a 16-month investigation – that the European Union provided “substantial subsidies” to the milk and dairy products industry “through programmes such as the common agricultural policy” and caused “material injury”...

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Hong Kong is putting gold at the centre of its push to become a global commodities trading hub, with officials prioritising plans for an international gold trading centre alongside a broader strategy to expand the city’s role in physical trade, derivatives and logistics. The government’s newly formed Commodity Strategy Committee held its first meeting on Monday under Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, as Hong Kong looked to build out a commodities ecosystem that would generate new growth...

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The US needs a more nuanced understanding of China to avoid policy missteps that hamper efforts to build trust between the two countries, a leading international relations professor has warned. Many scholars tended to interpret China primarily through an American lens, using frameworks designed to make sense of US politics and society, Diao Daming, from Renmin University, told a seminar last week. “Some view China simply as another superpower, assuming it follows the same logic as the US and can...

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Flight cancellations continue to disrupt travel between China and Japan into the holiday season with flights across 46 routes, including to popular tourism destinations, cancelled over the next two weeks amid deepening tensions between the two countries. Flight Manager, an app developed by Shenzhen-based Huo Li Tian Hui Technology, shows that there will be no flights on 46 air routes between the two neighbours for the next two weeks, affecting 38 airports in both countries. The widespread...

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China’s exports of permanent magnets to the European Union saw a sharp rebound in November, as Beijing confirmed last week it has begun granting general licences with lengthier terms for overseas shipments of the magnets, which contain valuable rare earth elements and are essential components in numerous hi-tech items. Last month’s total export volume of the magnets to the EU increased 59.5 per cent year on year to 2,568.8 tonnes, according to figures released on Saturday by China’s General...

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China’s official military newspaper has accused Japan of distorting the record of its wartime aggression, denouncing the island nation’s lack of “respect for history” and warning that such actions risk repeating past tragedies. In a commentary on Monday, PLA Daily said Japanese right-wing forces were systematically whitewashing the country’s wartime atrocities as the international community was commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the global victory against...

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Chinese archaeologists have uncovered a stretch of the celebrated Qin Straight Road, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in human history. Unveiled on December 9, following a 2024 survey by the Cultural Heritage Protection and Research Institute of Yulin, Shaanxi province, the discovery of a 13km (8-mile) stretch offers fresh evidence of the 2,200-year-old “highway” that once spanned nearly 900km across northern China. According to historical records, the Qin Straight Road was...

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China has taken a step towards regulating the childcare industry at the national level, drafting legislation to standardise services and lower costs as policymakers fight to reverse a demographic decline that could have long-term economic ramifications. The draft Childcare Services Law was submitted on Monday to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for review, according to Xinhua. The bill, comprising eight chapters and 76 articles, aims to establish a national legal...

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China is highlighting its success in joint law enforcement with the sentencing of two men in a drug-related money laundering case following a tip-off from the United States. Amid recent momentum in US-China cooperation to combat narcotics crimes, Chinese state media has outlined the prosecution of the pair who were charged with money laundering for drug dealers. The People’s Daily stated on Saturday that officers in Shenyang, in northeast China’s Liaoning province, had received information in...

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1. DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough could alter China’s ‘national fate’ in US tech war DeepSeek, extolled by some as the “biggest dark horse” in the open-source large language model (LLM) arena, now has a bull’s eye on its back, as the start-up is being touted as China’s secret weapon in the artificial intelligence (AI) war with the US. 2....

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