Day: September 27, 2025

China’s Sanxingdui archaeological site – considered a cornerstone of early Chinese civilisation from 4,500 years ago – is pioneering digital exhibitions to show a broader international audience its immense collection, including top national treasures not permitted to travel overseas. Advertisement Yu Jian, deputy director of the Sanxingdui Museum in southwestern China, said the institution planned to show its artefacts at an international exhibition next year. Final plans for the exhibition required state approval, Yu told reporters last week at the museum in Guanghan, Sichuan province. While many of Sanxingdui’s most…

Convergence theory has long been a Western fantasy in conquering the world with liberal democratic values. It proposes that societies, especially as they industrialise, tend to become more alike in various aspects of social organisation, including work, class structure, family patterns and culture. Advertisement However, convergence theory oversimplifies the complexities of social change and ignores the unique cultural and historical contexts of different societies. It does not adequately account for power dynamics between nations and it overestimates the potential for developed nations to impose their values and structures on less…

This year marks half a century of formal diplomatic relations between China and the European Union as well as the 25th anniversary of the founding of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. As part of a series of reports examining ties between the two powers, Meredith Chen and Nora Mankel look at how China flipped the technology script with Europe. Advertisement In 1978, as China was emerging from the ruins of the Cultural Revolution, Beijing sent a high-powered delegation on a whirlwind 36-day mission to western Europe. They…

When the General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session opened on September 23, the cavernous hall in New York was once again filled with the familiar spectacle: heads of state taking the rostrum, diplomats scribbling notes and the global press parsing every phrase. Advertisement But this year’s theme – “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights” – rang painfully hollow. As delegates extolled cooperation, the world outside the glass walls at Turtle Bay seemed consumed by war, inequity and mistrust, not least with…

The end of this month’s military parade in Beijing – a time slot traditionally reserved for the People’s Liberation Army’s most lethal nuclear weapon – was marked by a formation of DF-5C missiles, the latest variant of China’s first-ever long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) DF-5 series. Advertisement The PLA’s other latest ICBM systems include the DF-61 and DF-31BJ, as well as the DF-41 – known to be China’s latest ICBM version in service. The DF-61 and DF-31BJ were also first unveiled in the September 3 Victory Day parade marking the…

China’s top anti-espionage agency has warned of foreign attempts to bypass Chinese export controls to obtain rare minerals essential for cutting-edge military applications. Advertisement The warning from the Ministry of State Security on Saturday came as it revealed two antimony smuggling cases, one involving a family-run criminal network and the other a group of traffickers. “Certain foreign countries, in an effort to expand their reserves of rare metals such as antimony, have sought to circumvent China’s export controls in order to obtain our scarce strategic resources,” the ministry said in…

Iran has recalled its ambassadors to Britain, France and Germany, according to its state media. Advertisement The move came hours after the UN Security Council voted down a resolution backed by China and Russia seeking to prevent the reimposition of global sanctions against the Islamic republic. China and Russia tabled a draft resolution on Friday aimed at halting the snapback mechanism under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of 2015. This mechanism, initiated by the United Kingdom, France and Germany, seeks to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran that were…

As Beijing gears up to host a global summit on gender equality and women’s empowerment, Chinese authorities and non-governmental organisations have been engaging in discussions on issues ranging from traditional family values to the rights of women in the digital age. Advertisement The summit is understood to be planned for some time in October, although details have yet to be announced. The foreign ministry said on Monday that the event would take place “soon”, but did not elaborate. Stressing that women’s rights in China had advanced greatly in the past…

Obtaining a visa to enter mainland China often requires filling out pages of paperwork, paying more than US$100, and waiting days for the documents to be processed. Advertisement But for a growing number of visitors, some hurdles have been lowered or removed entirely as Beijing continues to relax visa-free entry rules to attract more foreign visitors and boost the nation’s tourism sector. Immigration officials now allow travellers from certain countries who are transiting through China to stay without a visa for up to 10 days, and a growing list of…