Day: September 28, 2026

In a written statement issued on Sunday, the US embassy in Manila backed the Philippines and said Beijing’s “dangerous blocking and irresponsible manoeuvres” had threatened a collision and prevented a lawful resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal, one of the flashpoints in the South China Sea disputes. The statement called on Beijing to “cease the use of escalatory tactics” and hailed Manila’s “professionalism and restraint”. The Chinese embassy in the Philippines swiftly hit back, urging Washington “to stop fanning the flames” and refrain from actions that undermine regional peace and…

Donald Trump asked President Xi Jinping whether Beijing wanted to buy American weapons, the US ambassador to China said on Sunday, prompting the State Department to quickly rule out any such deal with Washington’s principal strategic competitor. “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some at one point,” the ambassador David Perdue said on Fox News after Xi’s state visit to the White House last week. He did not say when Trump raised the question, what prompted it, or how the Chinese leader responded. A State Department…

China has produced an electron beam using a cutting-edge electron gun, taking a step towards building a “super microscope” that could help drive breakthroughs in everything from Alzheimer’s research to advanced microchips. The Hefei Advanced Light Facility (HALF) in central China’s Anhui province fired its first electron beam on September 20. Bunches of electrons generated by the gun were accelerated by a 192-metre (630-foot) linear accelerator until they reached 2.2 billion electron volts, marking a milestone for the fourth-generation light source project. South China Morning Post