Author: Media Library

The recent joint patrol between China and Russia around the Japanese archipelago showed how the nations’ military cooperation was becoming “progressively more ambitious”, analysts said. The Japanese defence ministry revealed on Tuesday that three Chinese naval vessels – Type 055 and Type 052D missile destroyers alongside a Type 903 support ship – were spotted moving southwest through the Korea Strait between Sunday and Monday. The ministry said that Maritime Self-Defence Force vessels and patrol aircraft conducted surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations along the route taken by the Chinese naval ships. The…

Following in the footprints of its ambitious Great Green Wall, China is leaning into a solar-powered pivot as part of its decades-long effort to tackle desertification in the arid north. The expanding Great Solar Wall initiative, centred in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, could help to power China’s economic hubs as the country accelerates its transition away from fossil fuels. Transforming the desert into solar power hubs could generate clean energy while at the same time halting desertification and creating habitats that will allow plants and wildlife to thrive. Solar…

The career of Kuan Jimmy Hsia, a prominent researcher in interdisciplinary mechanics, has long spanned two worlds – he is an acclaimed scientist and a skilled administrator who unites fields and stakeholders. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Hsia has published more than 100 papers and made substantial contributions in the fields of high-temperature deformation, micro/nano mechanics and biomaterials. Hsia has also served as associate vice-chancellor for… South China Morning Post

China’s latest export controls and sanctions against American companies in response to recent US measures underscore Beijing’s expanding economic toolkit and its growing willingness to deploy it, according to analysts. “The multiple actions that China undertook underscore the breadth and depth of China’s retaliatory toolbox,” said Wendy Cutler, the senior vice-president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. She added that Beijing’s latest response stood in “sharp contrast” to its “ability and willingness” to retaliate during US President Donald Trump’s first term. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday announced a…

The People’s Liberation Army is just a year away from its centenary goals in its evolution into a “world-class” fighting force. In this part of a series, Amber Wang looks at the growing influence of artificial intelligence in combat and the private firms stepping into the area. Roughly two months before the United States launched air strikes on Iran, a little-known Chinese technology company was watching an unusual pattern emerge on its screens. Drawing on open-source intelligence and artificial intelligence-powered analysis, Hangzhou-based Jingan Technology said it had detected an unusually…

China’s national childcare subsidy is an encouraging acknowledgement of a simple truth: raising children is expensive. This year, the central government allocated 99.9 billion yuan (US$14.8 billion) to the programme, which provides families with 3,600 yuan annually for each child under three. According to state media, the families of more than 25 million babies have received the subsidy as of last month. For families struggling with the cost of nappies, milk, clothes and healthcare, any… South China Morning Post