South China Morning Post
Xi Jinping meets foreign leaders: tracker, August 2026
Month: August 2026
US university to pay US$2.1 million settlement over claims it didn’t disclose China ties
A prominent American university has agreed to pay a US$2.1 million settlement to resolve allegations that it failed to disclose employees’ ties to China when applying for federal grant funding, the Department of Justice announced on Monday. Ohio State University’s (OSU) settlement relates to Nasa and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants that provided funding to the university from November 2012 to August 2023. Both Nasa and the NSF required the public university to disclose “foreign government support received by any principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on the grant application”, according…
The laptop, the social media user and the false alarm in Taiwan over a Beijing ‘spy’
A false espionage alarm about a Taipei subway user has fuelled concerns that growing fears of Beijing are breeding unhealthy suspicion on the island and eroding public trust. The controversy erupted after a social media user posted a photograph of a man holding a laptop on a Taipei Main Station metro platform on Saturday. Seeing the words “2nd Theatre Photosynthesis System” appeared in simplified Chinese on the laptop’s screen, the social media user suspected that the man was a mainland Chinese spy on a mission. The social media user reported…
Trump praises China for remaining ‘relatively inactive’ during Strait of Hormuz crisis
US President Donald Trump praised China on Monday for remaining on the sidelines during the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, just weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Washington. “Even with the Strait of Hormuz, he’s relatively inactive. He’s been relatively inactive by comparison to what he could have been,” Trump said while responding to a reporter’s question on Xi’s likely visit. “He’s coming in a couple of weeks. He looks forward to it. I look forward to having him. We have had a very…
India needs to make up its mind about economic ties with China
As India prepares for the Brics summit less than two weeks away, relations with China are warming up. On July 22, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during the East Asia Summit; five days later, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited China. Last week, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also visited Beijing, for border talks. But India remains deeply ambivalent when it comes to economic engagement with China: it seeks Chinese capital, technology and expertise while fearing the shocks they may bring. Justifying the…
Can Chinese sleeper hit Dear You conquer the US box office next?
China’s biggest box-office surprise this year – a Teochew-language family drama that became a hit in Southeast Asia – is finally coming to North American cinemas on September 4. Dear You, whose Chinese title translates as “Love Letters for Grandma”, has grossed nearly US$300 million in mainland China. Its North American release will test whether a Chinese film rooted in migration, family, and regional culture can find an audience beyond the Chinese-speaking diaspora. The seemingly non-political film also sparked debate over China’s cultural influence among overseas Chinese communities, raising questions…
Chile fines Chinese mafia inmate after cocaine found at maximum-security prison
A Chilean court on Monday fined a Chinese man caught with cocaine inside a Santiago prison, where he is being held on charges of homicide, kidnapping and drug trafficking. It was the second such ruling in five involving a Chinese inmate in five months, with prosecutors linking the two men to the same criminal network. Officers had searched Haifeng Tang at Santiago Uno prison on August 12, a day before his move to La Laguna, the maximum-security jail at the centre of President Jose Antonio Kast’s tough prison policy. They…
Taiwan steps up AI defenses as China election interference fears grow
China is likely to use artificial intelligence to influence Taiwan’s Nov. 28 local elections, analysts told Radio Free Asia. Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, warned this month that Beijing could use AI to target groups of voters, impersonate Taiwanese social media users and circulate fabricated recordings or scandals shortly before election day. The warning comes as Taipei steps up its defenses against AI interference in the election regardless of whether it originates inside or outside of the democratic island, which China considers to be its territory. Taiwan’s government…
US targets China’s global trade surplus at G20 meeting ahead of Xi-Trump summit
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday targeted China’s global trade surplus, raising concerns over “excessive imbalances,” weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to arrive in Washington for a bilateral summit with US President Donald Trump. “We are confronting persistent global imbalances that undermine prosperity,” Bessent said in his opening address at the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. The United States holds the G20 presidency in 2026, leading a forum of the world’s major advanced and emerging economies. Without naming China, Bessent said that the…
Xi, Putin vow to deepen strategic ties after meeting at SCO summit
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Xi said the SCO has a mission to safeguard regional stability and promote regional development amid growing uncertainty and unpredictability in a fast-changing international situation, according to a readout from the Chinese side. “China is willing to work with all parties, including Russia, to discuss the future development of the organisation, help it achieve steady and long-term growth, and strengthen the force that leads the reform of global governance and advances an equal and orderly world…