Month: August 2025

Taiwan would run out of natural gas supplies in about 10 days if Beijing blockaded the island, according to a report published by a Washington-based geopolitical think tank. Advertisement The report from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also said that its coal supplies would be depleted in seven weeks and its oil reserves in 20 weeks. The authors of the report, which was released on Thursday, analysed 26 war-gaming scenarios to understand Taiwan’s military challenges in countering a blockade from Beijing. They concluded that a blockade would…

China’s tropical island province of Hainan is accelerating its push to become a leading medical tourism hub, aiming to attract more nationals to use local healthcare services instead of seeking treatment abroad – after South Korea announced plans to scrap tax rebates for foreigners undergoing cosmetic surgery. Advertisement The popular tourist destination in southern China plans to draw more than 1.5 million domestic medical tourists annually by 2027, up from the current level of over 400,000, according to a local government document issued on Monday. Hainan has also pledged to…

Rare earths are needed for everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles, wind turbines and fighter jets – and China controls the supply chain. In a four-part series, we look at the race for rare earths, starting with the contest for reserves in developing countries. Advertisement Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once said that “the Middle East has oil, China has rare earths”. His words carry new weight today as China’s stranglehold over the rare earths supply chain gives it leverage in the trade war with the United States. China…

Advertisement The weekend announcement, effective July 30, came just days after the United States levied the new tariff, which is set to take effect on Wednesday. The measure has sent shock waves through Brazil’s coffee industry and forced exporters to seek other markets. The United States is the largest consumer of coffee globally, importing 3.3 million bags of Brazilian coffee in the first half of this year, nearly 23 per cent of Brazil’s total coffee exports. Advertisement Industry data shows that about 85 per cent of Brazil’s 2025 production of…

China’s air force has said it has developed techniques that allow older warplanes to shoot down more advanced stealth fighters by using advanced guided missiles. Advertisement On Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV said that during an exercise, a 10-year-old J-10C fighter got the better of an unidentified stealth fighter with the help of airborne warning and control system (Awacs) planes. Pakistan used similar tactics and technology during the recent conflict with India, when its J-10Cs downed at least one French-made Rafale warplane. Footage from the Chinese exercise was broadcast on Sunday…

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. Beidaihe meeting signals start of summer break for China’s political elite The appearance of President Xi Jinping’s chief of staff at the Beidaihe resort on Sunday indicates that senior Chinese leaders have started their annual summer break. 2. ‘It’s all changed’: how the trade war turbocharged an American rare earth mine USA Rare Earth is receiving a surge… South China Morning Post

There are four top-tier journals in mathematics academia: Annals of Mathematics, Inventiones Mathematicae, Journal of the American Mathematical Society and Acta Mathematica. Advertisement These journals put out only about 100 articles each year, and publishing even one is a mark of a leading mathematician. It is very rare to publish in all four. Li Hanfeng published 10 in total across all four between 2005 and 2019. The leading China-born mathematician has now returned from the United States. Chongqing University announced his appointment as a professor last month, and his name…

Taiwanese and mainland coastguard vessels engaged in a tense 22-hour stand-off near the disputed Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea on the weekend, the latest in a series of incidents that Taipei sees as a deliberate test of its maritime response. Advertisement According to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration, the confrontation began on Saturday afternoon when its Dongsha command detected the mainland vessel 3102 sailing southward towards the island group, which is administered by Taiwan but also claimed by Beijing. “The Chinese vessel was first spotted around 2.50pm on August…