Month: July 2025

Advertisement In a series aired on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV reported that the elite air force unit, the First Fighter Brigade, now “flies missions over the Bashi Channel and Tsushima Strait, and conducts patrols around Taiwan”. The unit was among the first to receive the new-generation aircraft and while the report did not refer to the J-20 directly, footage of the stealth fighter was shown throughout the segment, leaving little doubt about the aircraft involved. The Tsushima Strait is a narrow and heavily monitored waterway. It separates South Korea from…

Passenger traffic at airports across China’s Greater Bay Area continued to rise in the first half of 2025, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen leading the region’s aviation rebound. Advertisement Guangzhou’s Baiyun Airport handled 40.04 million passengers during the period, up 9.2 per cent year on year, while Shenzhen’s Baoan Airport served 32.55 million – a 10.8 per cent increase, according to figures released by the two airports. Both have now surpassed their pre-pandemic highs. International traffic at both airports also surged, partly due to China’s expanded visa-free entry policy. Baiyun logged…

Two performers at a beer festival in eastern China gave an “electric dance” using Tesla coils. South China Morning Post

China has appointed a new abbot to the Shaolin Temple, two days after authorities at the Buddhist monastery announced that Shi Yongxin, its head monk for more than 25 years, was under investigation for alleged financial and sex scandals. The abbot of White Horse Temple, Shi Yinle, will replace him, according to a brief statement from the Shaolin Temple on Tuesday. “In accordance with the regulations on the appointment of abbots of Chinese Buddhist Temples, after democratic evaluation and… South China Morning Post

China’s top regulator of the manufacturing sector has vowed to phase out outdated capacity amid Beijing’s efforts to combat excessive competition, while promoting hi-tech consumer goods as part of a broader push to revive domestic demand. Advertisement The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said at a meeting of senior officials on Monday that it would “consolidate the results of a sweeping crackdown on ‘neijuan’ competition in the electric vehicle sector and tighten oversight of key industries such as solar power”. “[We will] use upgraded standards to force out…

China has unveiled Mazu, an AI-powered weather warning system named after a Chinese sea goddess and designed to help developing nations prepare for natural disasters. Advertisement Mazu is one of the most revered Chinese deities in Southeast Asia, sometimes conflated with the Virgin Mary. The Multi-hazard Alert Zero-gap and Universal (Mazu) system was purpose-built for global reach, according to China’s national weather service. The initiative, which was unveiled at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday, is expected to support partner countries under China’s Belt and Road Initiative…