Month: April 2026

The United States House Select Committee on China recently released a report on artificial intelligence. Titled “Buy What It Can, Steal What It Must: China’s Campaign to Acquire Frontier AI Capabilities”, it captures a hardening view in Washington that Beijing’s artificial intelligence rise is closely tied to both market access and security concerns. Whether fully substantiated or not, such beliefs are increasingly shaping the policy lens through which technology competition between the two countries is understood in the US – less as a matter of innovation, and more as one…

China’s next-generation “drone-carrier” amphibious assault ship is en route to the South China Sea for critical sea trials, China’s military announced Tuesday, in the same waters where the US, the Philippines and Japan are conducting large-scale joint military exercises and the aircraft carrier Liaoning is apparently sailing to. “The Sichuan, our country’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, has set sail from Shanghai for relevant waters in the South China Sea to carry out scientific research trials and training missions, testing the performance of multiple on-board systems and platforms,” the…

US President Donald Trump’s long-standing obsession with sea power was underscored by his pledge to rebuild the US Navy into what he called a “Golden Fleet” as he returned to the White House. His financial year 2027 budget released on April 3 puts a price tag on the ambition: US$65.8 billion for 34 warships, including initial funding for a next-generation battleship he wants to name after himself, part of the largest US$1.5 trillion defence-spending request in history. But analysts say the record budget blueprint must first survive a sceptical Congress…

Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te was forced to postpone a visit to the island’s last African partner after three other nations abruptly refused to allow his aircraft to fly over their territory, in a move Taipei blamed on pressure from Beijing. This is the first time any Taiwanese leader has had to delay an overseas visit at the last minute, Lai’s office said. He had been due to depart on Wednesday for a five-day trip to eSwatini, the sole African country that maintains official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, to attend…

Japan has scrapped long-standing restrictions on arms exports in a major break with its post-war pacifist policy that is likely to derail any potential thaw in relations with China. Japan’s Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology had previously limited exports to five non-combat categories: rescue, transport, warning, surveillance and minesweeping. Advertisement But the changes now allow Japan to sell lethal weapons to 17 countries with which it has signed equipment and technology transfer agreements, including the United States, Australia and Britain. Other potential buyers include countries embroiled…

The West’s narrative of Chinese “overcapacity” is a double standard, said a former chief economist of the World Bank as he urged advanced economies to draw on “Eastern wisdom” rather than protectionism to navigate the rise of hi-tech competition. Justin Lin Yifu, a prominent advocate of Beijing’s industrial policy, dismissed claims that China’s auto-export surge was a sign of industrial imbalance. Speaking at Hong Kong Chu Hai College, Lin drew a contrast with Germany to expose a logical inconsistency in the current Western rhetoric. Advertisement “[Western countries] say China became…

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that American forces had intercepted a “gift from China” to Iran. Speaking ahead of the expiry of the current two-week ceasefire on Wednesday, Trump told CNBC that Tehran had “probably done a little bit of restocking” and implied that Beijing had been helping its efforts to replenish ammunition. The “America first” president said that the US had used the last “four-five weeks” to “restock” and that the US had “so much ammo”. Advertisement He added: “We caught a ship yesterday that had some…