Day: September 6, 2026

This marks the first milestone for the flagship project under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, offering China a critical trade corridor bypassing Russia. The 210-metre (690-foot) tunnel was the first drilled through in the Kyrgyz section since full-scale work began in June 2025, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. Overall progress on the section had reached 17 per cent, it said. The CKU Railway spans over 500km (310 miles), including about 305km in Kyrgyzstan alone. It runs from Kashgar in China’s western Xinjiang region through the mountains of Kyrgyzstan…

Before boarding my flight to Boston late last month, I spent the better part of three days doing something I never imagined I would do in more than 30 years of covering China: scrubbing my phone. Old emails, screenshots, WeChat threads that might be read the wrong way, anything that could be misconstrued in an airport interview room – all deleted, just in case. I was not being paranoid. I was following advice now routinely passed among Chinese travellers to the United States: carry a clean… South China Morning Post

Radically rewriting world and Chinese history without solid proof could threaten China’s international image and national identity, a leading Communist Party journal has warned. There has been a growing trend to promote a less Western-centric view of history in recent years, while Beijing has also been keen to promote the idea that Chinese civilisation has a long and continuous history. But at the same time, the so-called pseudo-historical school – which has cast doubt on the origins of Western… South China Morning Post

China is rapidly expanding a flight-test facility deep in its western desert, satellite imagery has revealed, a push that analysts say could help fast track the development of its next-generation military aircraft as air-power rivalry with the United States intensifies. Latest satellite photos of the facility near Lop Nur, in China’s western Xinjiang region, show four large new hangars, new taxiway work, a circular pad believed to be an engine-run or turnaround area, and possible fuel-storage infrastructure, according to an August 28 analysis by defence website TWZ. The expansion comes…

China has been urged to draw on the lessons from Ukraine’s communications as it looks at new forms of wartime messaging. A recent study concluded that in the complex modern information environment, possessing advanced technology was not enough because success would depend on “weaving” together the information strategy and military operations. It said such campaigns should try to shatter the adversary’s sense of security while strengthening domestic resolve and gathering international support. Beijing should prioritise “multi-actor coordination”, where government, think tanks and internet influencers are all used to deliver the…