Month: August 2026

A hospital in east China has used reprogrammed stem cells to treat severe heart failure, with 90 per cent of patients showing significant recovery in heart function after the novel therapy. On Wednesday, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, affiliated with Nanjing University, released the long-term follow-up results of a phase 2 clinical study, which was published in the journal Nature Medicine. While dead heart muscle cannot regrow, this stem cell technology can help ageing or damaged hearts grow new… South China Morning Post

Taiwan has unveiled a record NT$1.12 trillion (US$35 billion) defence budget for 2027, with sharp increases in spending on weapons, ammunition and military operations amid growing pressure from Beijing. The proposed spending – the first to cross the NT$1 trillion threshold – is NT$173 billion, or 18.2 per cent, higher than this year’s allocation, according to the government budget approved by the cabinet on Thursday. It accounts for about 28.6 per cent of the government’s proposed NT$3.93… South China Morning Post

Every summer, China’s gaokao, the national higher education entrance examination, provides an unusually revealing snapshot of household expectations. The critical metrics are not average scores or admission volumes. They are the choices families make about how their children will spend four years of their lives. The 2026 examination attracted 12.9 million registered candidates. This is a decline from 13.35 million in 2025 and 13.42 million in 2024. Demographics explain much of this contraction…. South China Morning Post

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is planning a visit to China next month – his first in over a year – as the Southeast Asian country looks to deepen trade ties with Beijing. According to people familiar with the planning, Anwar is expected to make a three-day visit to China in late September at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, with stops in Shanghai and Hangzhou. The trip does not include a stop in Beijing. His itinerary was still being finalised, sources told the South China Morning… South China Morning…

China has spent 80 years building formidable marine science capabilities. The harder test now is whether it can build rules for ocean data that its neighbours trust – and share. When China’s first department of oceanography was established in 1946, the country had only a modest capacity to study the seas around it. China now commands one of the world’s most extensive marine science enterprises, with research fleets, satellites, ocean-observation networks, deep-sea technology and advanced… South China Morning Post

The “glory days” of the world’s longest-serving aircraft carrier are over, reflecting fatigue in the broader US fleet amid a decline in the country’s shipbuilding capacity, according to official Chinese military analysts. In a report on Wednesday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the US Navy’s reliance on extended carrier deployments was a cause for concern, particularly in the case of the USS Nimitz. The Nimitz was commissioned in 1975, making it the world’s longest-serving aircraft carrier… South China Morning Post

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung told visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday he would use the coming Apec leaders’ meeting in southern China to elevate bilateral ties, as Seoul and Beijing step up diplomatic rapprochement. “I look forward to travelling to Shenzhen in November to attend the Apec summit, using it as a major opportunity to work with China to elevate the South Korea-China strategic cooperative partnership to a higher level,” Lee was quoted as saying by Chinese… South China Morning Post