Month: August 2026

The People’s Liberation Army is increasingly embracing broader “systems-oriented warfare” rather than relying on individual weapons platforms – a shift Taiwanese analysts say could pose new challenges to the island’s defences. Instead of focusing on individual weapons, the PLA has progressively emphasised integrating intelligence, AI, communications, weapons, logistics and infrastructure into an overall combat system, they warn. “The PLA is no longer concerned only with whose weapons are stronger, but with who can connect different weapons to generate greater overall combat power,” said Chen Chia-sheng, a researcher at a government-funded…

Earlier this month, when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened sanctions against any nation continuing to purchase Iranian crude oil, he did not name China. He did not need to. China, the Islamic Republic’s largest oil customer, is squarely in Washington’s crosshairs. The US has already unveiled new sanctions against 60 individuals, companies and vessels linked to Iranian trade, including some in mainland China and Hong Kong. Just three months after the May summit between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump appeared to stabilise bilateral trade relations, the fragile…

For many, losing hair isn’t just a cosmetic worry – it is a deeply personal struggle that can chip away at confidence, social life and mental health. Now, a surprising candidate is offering new hope: a pill originally designed to treat arthritis. The condition is called alopecia areata. It is an autoimmune disease where the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing unpredictable hair loss. Sometimes it is just a few patches but in severe cases, the entire scalp, eyebrows and even body hair can vanish. Until now,…

Shanghai has named career finance official Zhu Zhongming as the municipal government’s new party chief, an appointment that puts him in line to become the city’s next mayor. The appointment was announced on Saturday in a social media post that said he had chaired a meeting of the city government’s party leadership group. Zhu replaces the current mayor, Gong Zheng, in the post. However, the city’s most senior position is that of the secretary of the Shanghai Communist Party committee, which is currently held by Chen Jining. Zhu’s appointment comes…

Uzbekistan has confirmed that it has become the second foreign country to acquire the J-10CE fighter, as Beijing makes inroads into a Central Asian market previously dominated by Russian combat aircraft. Reports previously suggested that Uzbekistan had ordered 24 J-10CEs, although neither country confirmed the deal. However, at least six of the jets were shown in footage released by the Uzbek president’s office on Friday as part of the country’s independence day celebrations. The footage showed the Uzbek air force warplanes sitting on the runway, flying in formation and receiving…

In the quiet of a Peking University research room, shelves groan under the weight of 60 thick volumes. Stacked, they stand taller than an average human. Inside their pages lie the details of more than 23,000 ancient Chinese bronze vessels, weapons, chariot fittings and ritual objects that left China’s shores long ago and now sit in museums, private collections and auction houses across nearly 30 countries. Published in April by Shanghai Classics Publishing House, the Collection of Chinese Bronzes in Overseas Collections is the product of a painstaking 14-year investigation.…

China and the Philippines have been urged to resume joint South China Sea energy exploration as a way of easing tensions in the disputed waters. A joint report by Chinese and Philippine analysts also said the two countries should work together in other “low-sensitivity” areas such as marine environmental protection and combating crime at sea. The report, published on Monday by the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies think tank, said the relationship between the two countries was at a “rather sensitive and critical crossroads”. “Joint oil and gas exploration in…