Month: July 2025

MI6 operatives and UK special forces named in leaked Afghan database

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. MI6 operatives and British special forces personnel were among more than 100 UK government personnel named in the leaked database that put as many as 100,000 people in Afghanistan at risk of Taliban reprisals. Email addresses for British personnel were recorded in the case notes of Afghans they were sponsoring for relocation to the UK, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The identity of British spies…

As China’s speedy maglev train breaks records, US ambitions go off the rails

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A week after China said its supercharged rail system has reached speeds of 600km/h (373mph), US President Donald Trump seemingly pulled the plug on American rail progress. Advertisement In a controversial move being challenged by the state of California, Trump cancelled US$4 billion in federal funding for its high-speed railway project. Regardless of the outcome of any legal challenge, Trump’s announcement highlights the contrasting development paths of the economic superpowers in their rail aspirations, or lack thereof. China is widely expected to extend its lead over the United States as…

A new cold war with China won’t help the US

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world The writer is senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School and the author of ‘Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of US Global Supremacy’ No one, perhaps not even Donald Trump, knows where US policy towards China is heading. But Trump’s second term has created significant unknowns, whether it’s what US tariff rates will be…

How does space affect the mind? China sends ‘mini-brain’ to Tiangong to find out

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China has sent a living “mini-brain” – a chip the size of a credit card containing human brain cells and blood vessels – to its Tiangong space station to find out how space messes with the mind. Advertisement Researchers aboard the International Space Station have previously used brain cell cultures and early-stage brain organoids to study ageing and disorders such as Alzheimer’s. But China’s experiment appears to be the first time a highly integrated brain chip featuring blood-brain barrier functions has been sent into space. Launched on the Tianzhou-9 cargo…

Taiwan holds annual live-fire, air raid drills that simulate Chinese attack

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Air-raid sirens blared in Taipei and other cities in northern Taiwan on Thursday, part of annual drills testing the country’s response to a potential invasion by China. Video: Air raid sirens wail as Taiwan simulates Chinese missile attackPolice stopped personal vehicles and public buses and directed pedestrians into shelters, such as basements and subway stations. Some shops and restaurants pulled down shutters and turned off lights, moves aimed to reduce their visibility during a potential nighttime attack. The drills also involved simulating wartime aid distribution and a mass-casualty event. Earlier…

US-China trade deal clues, flight to Hong Kong diverted: SCMP daily highlights

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Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US-China trade deal may resemble phase 1 pact from Trump’s first term: ex-official The US-China deal under negotiation is likely to bear similarities to the phase one trade agreement from Donald Trump’s first term, according to a former senior official in that administration – offering clues to what the highly anticipated pact may look like just weeks before a trade truce between the two…

Taiwan holds ‘urban resilience’ drills to test war readiness amid PLA pressure

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Taiwan on Thursday launched sweeping civil defence exercises across Taipei and several northern cities, testing society-wide wartime readiness and urban resilience in the face of escalating pressure from Beijing. Advertisement This year marks the first time that the government has officially integrated its long-running civil response and air defence drills into a single, comprehensive “urban resilience exercise”. At 1.30pm, air-raid sirens sounded across northern Taiwan, prompting a coordinated response that included the evacuation of civilians and vehicles, lighting blackouts, and shelter-in-place procedures. In Taipei, mass rapid transit (MRT) stations implemented…

Risk of undersea cable attacks backed by Russia and China likely to rise, report warns

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The risk of Russia- and China-backed attacks on undersea cables carrying international internet traffic is likely to rise amid a spate of incidents in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan, according to a report. Submarine cables account for 99% of the world’s intercontinental data traffic and have been affected by incidents with suspected state support over the past 18 months. Analysis by Recorded Future, a US cybersecurity company, singled out nine incidents in the Baltic Sea and off the coast of Taiwan in 2024 and 2025 as a harbinger for…

Why a fling with a foreigner insults China’s “national dignity”

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LIKE HIS Greek namesake, Danylo Teslenko, formerly a professional gamer known online as “Zeus”, presents himself as a ladies’ man. On a trip to China in December the Ukrainian had a tryst with a female student and, without permission, shared intimate, though not sexual, videos of her online in a fan group (one clip showed her sleeping). But it is she who has faced a storm over their encounter. The Economist

China’s exporters shrug off the trade war—for now

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TRADE TENSIONS are hardly apparent in Qingdao, a bustling port city in eastern China. The roads leading to the port’s terminals are crammed with lorries. A string of cargo vessels can be seen in the blue haze over the bay. China’s other ports seem to be just as busy: on July 14th officials announced that the country’s total exports grew by a healthy 5.8% year on year in June. In the first half of the year, exports grew at the same pace as they did in 2024, helping to keep…