Month: August 2026

The United States may want the world to choose sides in the AI race with China, but in Africa, many businesses are pursuing a more pragmatic strategy: using Chinese models where they offer better value or flexibility, while keeping their options open. For example, when African insurtech platform Curacel expanded the range of artificial intelligence (AI) models powering its internal infrastructure, it did not look only to Silicon Valley. Instead, the Nigeria-based firm – which provides AI-powered claims and fraud-detection infrastructure to African insurers and fintech companies – added GLM-5.3,…

The latest US AI and supply chain initiatives are doomed to fail, according to a prominent political scientist who also argued that efforts to restrict US companies’ access to low-cost Chinese models would backfire. Instead, he argued, the United States and China should collaborate on driving global economic development to generate the external demand needed to sustain long-term growth. “US frameworks such as Pax Silica, the chip alliance and the rare earth alliance explicitly target a third party, which is bound to fail,” Zheng Yongnian, dean of the School of…

China has stepped up its offensive against a US-born school of thought on China’s last imperial dynasty, accusing it of providing “theoretical ammunition” for attempts to divide the country. The denunciation comes as online debates over the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) continue to give rise to inflammatory rhetoric, and as Beijing’s ethnic policies and historical narratives are increasingly becoming an arena for international political competition. An article published by the state-run China Ethnic News last Monday warned that New Qing History was “seriously eroding the historical foundations of the community for…

The United States has pledged to take an “America First” approach to the latest round of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation talks, which are taking place in China weeks before President Xi Jinping’s visit to America. The US State Department said: “US leadership in Apec is a key dimension to pursuing America First policies that foster prosperity and advance economic growth in the United States and across the region by breaking down barriers for US business, boosting fair and reciprocal trade and supporting American job growth.” It added that the delegates, led…

China’s secondary school students are dropping history as an exam subject, a trend that could leave the public more vulnerable to distorted narratives in the future, an academic at a top university has warned. The note of caution comes as Beijing steps up efforts to counter “historical nihilism” – the official term for narratives that contradict or undermine the state’s official historical line – as well as pseudo-history, such as claims that Ancient Greece did not exist. “History education in secondary schools is an important means of preserving historical, cultural,…

Chinese scientists have created an AI-guided platform to engineer custom plant immune receptors to rapidly combat emerging diseases that threaten plants, including commercial crops vulnerable to devastating outbreaks. Their programmable synthetic immune receptors can be introduced into plants to help them detect proteins made by specific bacteria, viruses and fungi, triggering an immune response to neutralise the threat, according to the team. By leveraging protein design guided by artificial intelligence (AI), custom receptors could be engineered within weeks rather than years, fast-tracking the breeding of disease-resistant crops and enabling a…

India’s maritime rescue agency lost communication on Saturday with a Panama-flagged cargo vessel that sank off the coast of eastern ‌India, the Indian coastguard said. The vessel had 24 crew on board, including 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi, according to Commandant Amit Uniyal, a spokesman for the coastguard. The coastguard sent two vessels for the search-and-rescue mission ‌from Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly known as Port Blair, Uniyal said. The coastguard has ‌rescued two people from life rafts. The search-and-rescue ⁠mission ⁠is under way for the seafarers…

On paper, Western countries are rushing to sign defence pacts in the South Pacific, ensuring their influence in a region long neglected as a geopolitical backwater. But on the water, the island nations are playing a very different game. Instead of taking sides, local leaders are leveraging the geopolitical tug of war between China and the West, winning security guarantees from the latter while Beijing builds infrastructure and deepens its economic footprint. In June, Vanuatu – an archipelago nation around 1,750 km (1,090 miles) east of Australia – signed a…

China may have “little to lose” from talks between the United States and North Korea which, analysts say, may lead to Washington watering down its security commitments. Citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump said Pyongyang had been “unthreatening and respectful”, adding that Seoul had said “No thanks!” when asked to join the US in the “denuclearisation” of Iran. Following Trump’s order, the South Korean defence ministry announced that the joint exercise would end on Friday, six days earlier than initially planned, while also cancelling…

A fleet of Chinese J-16 fighters has arrived in Egypt ahead of a joint exercise that will be the aircraft’s first-ever deployment to Africa. The planes and aviators taking part in the Eagles of Civilisation 2026 exercise arrived at an Egyptian airbase on Friday morning after a 6,000km (3,700-mile) journey that took nine hours and required the planes to refuel in mid-air, according to the People’s Liberation Army. It added that the service personnel involved in the exercise had started preparations for the joint exercise. The PLA has previously said…