Day: January 22, 2026

The first confirmed deployment of a PLA drone within Taiwan’s claimed airspace is the latest example of Beijing’s “salami-slicing” strategy towards the self-ruled island, analysts say. One observer noted it was also meant to test, wear down and put pressure on Taiwan’s military. Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Saturday that a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) surveillance drone had entered its self-defined airspace – meaning the space above the 12-nautical-mile (22km) territorial sea baseline claimed by Taiwan – above Pratas Island that day. Advertisement Pratas Island, known as Dongsha Island in…

TikTok and its Chinese owner ByteDance have officially established a venture to transfer parts of its US business to a consortium of mostly US investors, effectively securing the platform’s future for its 170 million American users. The company made the announcement on Thursday, hours ahead of a Friday shutdown deadline. The deal – first outlined by TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi in an internal memo last month – was set to close this week, though it had not previously received the formal blessing of both countries. Advertisement In a…

The recent drama surrounding US action in Venezuela, its renewed interest in Greenland and tariff threats on governments that object, along with comments on Cuba, Colombia and Mexico, appear disjointed – part diplomacy, part law enforcement, part political theatre. Like many observers, I rely on the news to try to make sense of the policy logic and what it may mean for those who have to live with its consequences. Washington’s rationale for its actions in Venezuela was initially framed as law enforcement against narcoterrorism. Within days of the arrest…

Neurologist Sun Bomin’s mother led him to believe that Alzheimer’s disease might not be incurable after all. On January 21, Sun released a short video on China’s Yitiao.tv platform and an article detailing what he said was the world’s first effective treatment of Alzheimer’s disease using the high-intensity FUS procedure. His mother, who appeared in the video but was not named, is aged in her nineties and had been suffering from the progressive brain disorder for around eight years. Advertisement According to Sun, the disease had erased memories, stripped her…

As Chinese biotech and pharmaceutical firms gain importance on the global stage, foreign investors from sovereign wealth funds to industry players are securing strategic stakes in their future success. International institutional investors have built up significant positions in Chinese biotech firms over the past decade. These positions often approach, and in some cases exceed, the 5 per cent disclosure threshold for substantial shareholders in Hong Kong. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, held 5.76 per cent stake in Innovent Biologics, according to an analysis of the Hong Kong stock exchange…

China will closely monitor developments in Greenland as it seeks to become an important player in Arctic affairs. Still, Beijing is unlikely to respond with any major action in the near future to counter US President Donald Trump’s bid to annex the island, analysts said. “The Arctic is certainly a central matter for policy for China, and they know it’s going to be important in the future, especially with climate change,” said Eurasia Group’s China practice head, David Meale. In his escalated threats to take control of Greenland for the…

Ongoing tariff wars and a dependence on China are two of the top emerging risks for the global defence sector, according to a report released this week by the UK-based consultancy WTW (Willis Towers Watson). The defence sector is facing several new challenges in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment, framed by the industry’s dependence on China’s materials and ongoing uncertainty amid a tariff dispute between Beijing and Washington. “The defence sector’s reliance on Chinese materials and components, particularly rare earths and electronics, is presenting significant supply chain vulnerability amid geopolitical…

China’s government is likely to set this year’s economic growth target in a range between 4.5 per cent and 5 per cent, according to three sources briefed on the matter. Such a target would indicate a tolerance for a modest deceleration from last year’s 5 per cent gross domestic product growth as Beijing highlights the importance of “high-quality” development and urges local officials to embrace “the right concept of political performance”, the sources said. The range, if confirmed, would serve as another indication of a tilt towards economic rebalancing and…