Month: April 2026

Taiwan has received its final shipment of US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks, completing a long-delayed order aimed at modernising the island’s ageing armoured forces. Considered among the world’s most powerful tanks, these vehicles are expected to bolster the island’s defence amid rising military pressure from Beijing. The shipment of 28 tanks arrived at the Port of Taipei over the weekend and was moved overnight under police and military escort to the army’s Armour Training Command in Hsinchu county’s Hukou township, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry. Advertisement Ministry officials said the tanks…

Zardari arrived in China on Saturday. The Pakistani foreign ministry said he would be visiting Changsha in the central province of Hunan before heading to Sanya in the southern island province of Hainan on Tuesday, where he would stay until heading home on Friday. “During the visit, the president will hold meetings with provincial leadership to review the full spectrum of Pakistan-China ties, with particular focus on economic and trade cooperation as well as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” the ministry said, referring to the flagship project of the Beijing-led multinational…

China Military Bugle, a social media account run by the People’s Liberation Army, posted a video on Sunday of the PLA Navy conducting strike tests at sea, including multiple YJ-20 launches. The post did not specify when and where the missiles were fired. However, the footage was released two days after Beijing said a naval fleet led by Type 055 destroyer Zunyi had “recently conducted” live-fire drills and joint air-sea exercises in waters east of Luzon, a Philippine island near Taiwan. Advertisement While some of the footage matched video released…

Europe’s territorial integrity is a “red line” in Finland’s relations with the United States and other powers, according to Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. “I can only say that certainly territorial integrity is the red line. “We defend the UN Charter, the territorial integrity of nations and sovereignty, and if need be, then we have to react through the means which we have at hand,” she told the South China Morning Post when asked about Greenland. Donald Trump seriously damaged relations with… South China Morning Post

Profit growth at China’s industrial firms accelerated to a six-month high in March, as long-suppressed factory-gate prices turned positive amid disruptions from the Iran war. Total profits for China’s major industrial enterprises – those with annual revenues greater than 20 million yuan (US$2.93 million) – grew by 15.8 per cent last month, the fastest rate since September, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. Profits in the first quarter reached 1.696 trillion yuan (US$248 billion), a year-on-year rise of 15.5 per cent – far…

China has delivered its largest-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, bringing the number of domestic shipyards capable of designing and building the advanced vessels to five, as the country steps up its challenge to South Korea’s dominance in the high-value sector. The milestone was marked by China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu), a subsidiary of China Merchants Group, which delivered the 180,000-cubic-metre (6.36-million cubic-feet) vessel on Sunday, according to a company press release. Construction on the 298.8-metre-long (980-foot-long) ship, named Celsius Georgetown, began in October 2023 as the first of six…