Year: 2025

US sends a shot across the bows of its allies over submarine deal

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When Joe Courtney, a Democratic congressman, learnt the Pentagon was reviewing the Australia-UK-US deal designed to enable Canberra to procure nuclear-powered submarines, he was stunned. “This was an absolute thunderbolt,” Courtney, who has championed Aukus, told the Financial Times. The pact, which is designed to boost capabilities in the Pacific to counter China, would enable Australia and the UK to co-produce an attack submarine known as SSN-Aukus with top secret US nuclear-propulsion technology. More than 15,000km away in Australia, the news reignited a debate about Aukus, with three former Australian…

UK ‘woefully’ unprepared for Chinese and Russian undersea cable sabotage, says report

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China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations targeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis. A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) analysed 12 incidents where national authorities had investigated alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which a suspect vessel was identified, eight were directly linked to China or Russia through flag-state registration or company ownership. The involvement of “shadow fleet” commercial vessels in these incidents is consistent with…

Majority of Australians think China will be world’s most powerful country by 2035, poll finds

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A majority of Australians expect China will be the most powerful country in the world by 2035 as trust in the US tumbles, new research has found. Just over one in three Australians (36%) trusted the US to act responsibly on the world stage, representing a 20-point fall from 2024 and the smallest proportion since the Lowy Institute began polling in 2005. The thinktank’s 2025 report found only one in four respondents had any confidence in president Donald Trump’s approach to world affairs – less than half of the 46%…

Tariff dodgers take big risks to cut small corners | Gene Marks

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If you put up a barrier, people will find a way around it. So its not shocking to read recent news stories about how some businesses are trying to skirt around tariffs – particularly from China. They’re shipping goods through third countries, rather than directly from China, using special “shoppers” to skirt minimum quantity amounts, colluding with suppliers to falsify country-of-origin labels, undervaluing goods, or “assembling” products out of China where tariffs are lower. They’re creating shell companies in more tariff-friendly countries and even going so far as forging certificates…

Xi to meet Central Asian leaders as both sides seek ‘stronger coordination’

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Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to reaffirm Beijing’s commitment to Central Asian ties and higher quality development projects when he visits Kazakhstan for a summit next week. Advertisement Xi will be in Astana from Monday to Wednesday for the China-Central Asia Summit, which is expected to focus on areas including transport, energy, security governance and the digital economy, according to analysts. It follows the first such summit in the Chinese city of Xian in 2023, when Xi vowed to strengthen trade and investment ties. The resource-rich Central Asian region…

China’s extreme heat shield breaks thermal limit on hypersonic flight

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Chinese scientists have created a carbide ceramic capable of withstanding temperatures up to 3,600 degrees Celsius (6,512 degrees Fahrenheit) in an oxidising environment, exceeding current thermal limits on hypersonic flight. Advertisement The development holds significant potential for applications in aerospace, energy and other extreme high-temperature fields. Modern hypersonic aircraft and advanced engines demand materials that can maintain structural integrity under extreme thermal conditions. However, most materials begin to fail well below 3,000 degrees. The heat shield tiles of SpaceX’s Starship, for instance, could withstand temperatures around 1,371 degrees, according to…

Why China’s officials are braced for another round of performance inspections

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Chinese officials already have to deal with a series of inspectors knocking on their doors to keep tabs on their activities, but now they will also have a new group of “performance observers” looking over their shoulders to check that they are not wasting government funds. Advertisement Local officials in China are often castigated for spending money on “white elephants”, such as flashy construction projects, in the hope these will provide a quick fix for the local economy and win favour with their supervisors. But in recent years, as local…

China considers lifting sanctions on UK parliamentarians as relations warm

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China is considering lifting the sanctions it imposed on UK parliamentarians in 2021, in the latest sign of warming relations between London and Beijing. The Chinese government is reviewing the sanctions, which it introduced four years ago in response to what it called “lies and disinformation” about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, according to two UK government sources familiar with the conversations. Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said: “China has always attached importance to developing relations with the UK. Currently, UK-China relations are showing…

Beijing’s top Taiwan official warns independence forces will bring ‘disaster’

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Mainland China’s top official on Taiwan affairs has called on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to oppose “Taiwan independence and external interference” and promote closer integration. Advertisement “Taiwan independence forces and their activities undermine national sovereignty and territorial integrity, disrupt peace and stability in our homeland, and incite confrontation and division among compatriots,” said Wang Huning, the fourth-ranking official of China’s ruling Communist Party. He made the comments at the opening ceremony of the annual Straits Forum in Xiamen, Fujian province on Sunday. “They will only bring disaster to…

Chinese media contrasts US pageantry and violence on Trump’s parade day

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Donald Trump’s first large-scale military parade in decades has prompted Chinese commentators to compare and mock the contrast between the US president’s pageantry and the nationwide unrest sparked by his immigration policies. Advertisement The festivities in Washington on Saturday occurred on a day marked by protests around the nation that underscored the country’s deep divisions. In China, some state media and online commentators declared Trump’s “America First” policy a failure in light of the mass demonstrations and law enforcement response, and said it reflected the United States’ “uncertain future”. 02:01…