Day: June 26, 2026

Beijing is rewriting its trade playbook by bypassing years of protracted bilateral negotiations to grant continent-wide market access for African coffee, chillies and cashews. The streamlined “green channel”, announced by China’s General Administration of Customs, applies uniform sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards to all 53 African countries with diplomatic ties to Beijing. Products meeting baseline requirements on pest risks, processing and safety are now immediately eligible, eliminating the need for individual country-by-country trade deals. The growing appetite for fiery hotpots in Hunan and Sichuan provinces has fuelled demand for the…

A high-profile visit to Washington by Taiwanese Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu reflects a broader US effort to strengthen ties with the island’s main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), according to analysts. The succession of arrivals suggested Washington was preparing for political uncertainty after Taiwan’s 2028 leadership election by cultivating relationships across the KMT on issues ranging from defence spending to semiconductor cooperation, analysts said. ‘A milestone visit’: Xi and Trump set sights on stability for China-US relations Han arrived in the United States on Monday leading a seven-member, cross-party parliamentary delegation after…

As the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump fades in the rear-view mirror, marked by anaemic deliverables, poor transparency and missed opportunities, analysts and former US officials point to another disappointment: the world’s most consequential relationship has become inordinately dependent on the two nations’ top leaders. Trump’s May China trip, the first by a US president in nearly a decade, produced vague and contradictory readouts, puffed up promises, a few underwhelming deals and no communique. And the two sides failed to address deep-seated structural problems,…

The first scientific ship built by private interests in China is still waiting for its first assignment after it launched last month near Wenling, in Zhejiang province, on the east coast, according to Chinese media reports. The 82 metre-long (269-foot), 3,500-tonne Haiying Jiake research vessel was built with 150 million yuan (US$22 million) raised by 37 Zhejiang fishermen. It is designed to operate anywhere in the world’s oceans, including in thin sea ice, and support research ranging from seabed mapping to deep-sea biological and geological surveys. But as of mid-June,…

A light sport aircraft hit Beijing’s tallest skyscraper, Citic Tower, on Friday, triggering evacuations and scattering debris across the Chinese capital’s central business district. It was not immediately clear whether the crash caused any casualties or how many people had been on board the aircraft. The origin of the aerial vehicle and the circumstances leading to the crash were also unknown. Videos posted to social media showed the aircraft striking the upper floors of the 528-metre (1,732-foot) tower, with chunks of wreckage falling onto the surrounding pavement and green space.…

Leaders of the G7 rich nations might have gone into this month’s summit in France hoping for a united front against China. But, overshadowed by the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine and alienated by a mercurial US President Donald Trump, the lacklustre gathering came up short. There was no public agreement on how to address the so-called China shock 2.0, the supposed overcapacity issues and currency manipulation that is considered to be the cause of Chinese exports flooding into Europe. Instead of declaring a joint plan, as the French hosts…