Day: December 6, 2025

A rare military confrontation occurred in the waters northeast of Taiwan near the Miyako Strait on Saturday when Japan claimed that Chinese naval fighters had conducted intermittent fire-control radar illumination – a tactical precursor to missile engagement – on its F-15J fighter jets. According to Japan’s Ministry of Defence, J-15 fighters launched from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier performed two separate instances of radar targeting. The first incident happened between 4.32pm and 4.35pm local time over international airspace southeast of Okinawa’s main island, while the second happened between 6.37pm and 7.08pm.…

The southern Chinese megacity of Shenzhen, a symbol of the country’s rapid urbanisation and development, has spent decades transforming urban villages and tenement blocks into dense public housing estates and massive industrial and office parks. Now, in a move that speaks volumes about its scarcity of land, the tech hub is relocating an enormous landfill from the city centre, an act that could allow for the development of floor space totalling more than 1 million square metres (10.76 million sq ft) on 30 hectares (74 acres) of newly open land.…

ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has moved to tighten controls on its artificial intelligence-powered smartphone after several of China’s most widely used apps restricted its voice-operated functions. The company said it had scaled back the capabilities of Doubao, the agentic AI that runs on the device. In a statement issued on Friday, ByteDance said it would prevent the Nubia M153 AI phone from claiming incentives that were intended for active human users. Advertisement It was also disabling the assistant’s interaction with financial apps, including banking and payment services, and suspending…

Now, scientists have shed light on the pet’s origin in the country, suggesting its earliest presence dates back to the Tang dynasty (618-907), with its arrival via the Silk Road. A Tang dynasty provincial governor was recorded as the first person in Chinese history to name his dozens of cats. The avid cat lover also set aside a large area at home to play with them. Advertisement Wu Zetian, China’s first and only woman emperor, is also said to have gifted a pet cat to her ministers – a story…

Western analysts often frame automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics as an existential threat to workers, with the risk of impending unemployment potentially triggering economic unrest. However, 74 per cent of all industrial robots deployed last year were in Asia, where they do not appear to be replacing workers but are instead redefining roles amid innovative modes for production and higher efficiency. As digital factories become ubiquitous, countries such as Vietnam and China are embracing AI “factory brains”, making manufacturing more resilient and competitive by reshaping work and traditional supply…

A pale-grey, nearly one-metre-tall, four-legged robot drew crowds at Tokyo’s International Robot Exhibition, lowering itself down some steps before lifting its right foreleg as if to greet onlookers. It rolled around one of the exhibition halls on wheels, avoiding obstacles in its path. The quadruped, dubbed the D5, is the latest model unveiled on Wednesday by Chinese robot maker Pudu Robotics at IREX – a biennial industry showcase at Tokyo Big Sight from December 3 to 6. It is Pudu’s second robot dog model after a smaller, less-agile version released…

Chinese medical experts have created an ultra-efficient stem cell approach to Parkinson’s disease, raising prospects for treatment for a condition for which there is no known cure. While researchers around the world are exploring stem cell therapies to replenish lost dopaminergic neurons, the team of neurology specialist Shi Jiong at the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei is leading the way. Advertisement The team’s regenerative treatment differentiates stem cells into functional cells with superior efficiency. “Internationally leading teams recently reported a…