Day: May 9, 2026

There is growing unease in how we describe political systems today. Words that once seemed clear no longer illuminate as they should. “Free”, “democratic”, “liberal” and “authoritarian” are among the most commonly used terms in political discourse, yet their meanings have become increasingly blurred and contested. This is not simply a matter of semantics. It reflects a deeper mismatch between the language we use and the realities we are trying to describe. The problem is not new. In George… South China Morning Post

Beneath the shining white glaciers of the Andean mountains lie valuable deposits of gold, copper and molybdenum which, until recently, were off-limits to the mining companies that have set their eyes on these untapped minerals. That could be about to change, after legislators in Argentina agreed to amend the Glacier Law that has prohibited all mining and exploration activities in the country’s glacier regions since 2010. The legislation defined the country’s 16,000 glaciers – covering an area of… South China Morning Post

Foreign affairs are not a series of disconnected episodes. They are a test of whether nations learn from history and act with foresight. The United States has often failed that test. It forgets that unchecked aggression leads to wider wars and that removing governments without building new authority invites chaos. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Iran’s destabilising role in the Middle East and the collapse of Libya and Afghanistan all testify to what happens when those lessons are ignored. China,… South China Morning Post

US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China comes as the Iran war disrupts global energy supplies, fuels economic uncertainty and adds fresh strain to Washington-Beijing ties. In the latest part of a series examining how rivalry, interdependence and geopolitical crises are reshaping the relationship between the two powers, we look at how Trump’s weakened hand could tilt summit talks. When next week’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was first… South China Morning Post

China and France must respect each other’s core interests, particularly the one-China principle, and strengthen a strategic partnership “free from external interference”, top diplomat Wang Yi said during talks with a senior adviser to the French president on Friday. Wang, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, held talks in Beijing with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Wang said the… South China Morning Post

China is sending a new kind of explorer to the moon – with a humanoid upper body and four wheels. The 100kg (220lbs) robot will transport, deploy and install instruments and sensors at their designated lunar locations after the Chang’e-8 probe lands. It is also tasked with collecting samples of the moon’s surface. Advertisement “We have heard that Chang’e-7 is probably going to see the first humanoid robot landing on the [moon’s] south pole. But our robot will go to a different part of the south pole – it is…

China has built the world’s first dual core quantum computer, a development that could “significantly enhance” efficiency, official media has reported. The breakthrough signalled that Chinese quantum computing technology was “entering a new stage”, according to the official newspaper Science and Technology Daily. While other quantum computers rely on high energy consumption and need to be run in temperatures close to absolute zero, the design of this computer uses neutral atoms – which consume less energy and make it easier to maintain. Advertisement According to the report, the twin cores…

As US President Donald Trump prepares to visit Beijing next week after a six-week delay, the cause of the delay – the war on Iran and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz – risks becoming a fresh point of friction in his summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. While both China and the US stand to benefit from the reopening of the strait and a permanent end to the war, Beijing and Washington have viewed the crisis through different lenses and sharply diverged over how to achieve…