Day: March 13, 2026

Chinese companies in several sectors – including energy, petrochemicals and agriculture – stand to benefit from surging oil prices and the yuan’s easing deflation, which analysts said could help investors find gains amid the negative effects of the Middle East war. Petrochemical companies on mainland China’s exchanges, including Satellite Chemical and Guangdong Redwall New Materials, raised product prices to reflect the surge in oil costs, a move that sent their stock prices soaring. Fertiliser makers, agricultural firms and green-energy companies would also be good bets due to either their ability…

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has been injured and pledged to continue ramping up attacks, while playing down the impact of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured”, Hegseth said during a press conference on Friday morning. The new Iranian leader’s first public address, issued on Thursday through a written statement, showed that “he’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run, and he lacks legitimacy”, according to Hegseth. The US official and former…

Trade talks between China and the United States in Paris this weekend are likely to focus on setting the scene for the Beijing summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump later this month, analysts said, downplaying the prospects of any significant breakthroughs. Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are expected to discuss potential deals on tariffs, investment, and trade in soybeans and rare earths, which would be presented as deliverables for the Xi-Trump summit. Bessent will be in Paris from March 15 to 16,…

The OpenClaw craze is rapidly driving up prices and depleting stock of Apple’s Mac Mini compact computer across China, according to local sellers, as consumers scramble to secure machines capable of safely running the open-source artificial intelligence agent amid a nationwide rush to “raise a lobster”. Beijing electronics seller Frank Chai said he was asking for a mark-up of at least 500 yuan (US$73) for a basic Mac Mini model, which comes with 16 gigabytes (GB) of memory and 256GB storage and normally sells for 4,499 yuan. Chai, who runs…

To prepare for its operations against Iran, the US military reportedly used Palantir’s Maven Smart System, an AI platform that incorporates models like Anthropic’s Claude to aggregate large amounts of data. A US-based source familiar with the matter said the only thing that Claude or any AI model would do in the process was sift through massive amounts of intelligence. Advertisement AI models like Claude can accelerate intelligence operations by identifying patterns and summarising vast datasets more efficiently than human analysts. The targeting process has always been and should remain…

China and Vietnam are to hold their first high-level ministerial talks under a new platform next week as they seek to cement their strategic alignment despite heightened tensions over Beijing’s new land reclamation works in the disputed South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong and Defence Minister Dong Jun will arrive in Vietnam on Sunday to meet their respective counterparts for talks that will run until Tuesday, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday. It will be the first meeting of its kind under…

Ships near the Strait of Hormuz are broadcasting Chinese affiliations in an apparent bid to avoid attack, at a time when Iran’s new supreme leader vows to keep the strategic waterway closed. The crews of at least 11 vessels sitting in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf had their transponders set to announce Chinese links on Friday afternoon, according to Kpler’s MarineTraffic data platform. The broadcasts were a defensive measure, said Cui Shoujun, director of the Institute of International Development Studies at Renmin University’s School of International Studies.…

In the high-stakes race for radar supremacy, China could leap two generations ahead of the United States following an advancement in semiconductor technology published last month that is poised to redefine the future of military electronics. While the US Air Force struggles to modernise its fighter fleet with gallium nitride-based radar systems, Chinese engineers are already pioneering the next frontier: gallium oxide semiconductors with built-in data storage capabilities. Today’s Chinese fighters, from the older J-10 to the most advanced J-20 and J-35, have radars built on third-generation gallium nitride technology,…

Beijing on Friday warned Washington against making moves involving Hong Kong or Taiwan ahead of the coming visit by US President Donald Trump later this month. It condemned United States’ calls for the release of jailed former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and reiterated opposition to American arms sales to the self-ruled island. Speaking at a regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Lai “should be severely punished according to the law”, and accused external forces of interfering in Hong Kong’s judicial process and China’s…