Author: Media Library

Brazil intends to sell yuan bonds in China every year rather than once, a senior Brazilian treasury official said on Wednesday, in a plan that would make the Chinese currency a permanent fixture of its external debt. The debut is expected before the end of the year and is small enough that the government is not relying on the proceeds, with external debt at four per cent of the federal stock. Francisco Segundo, deputy secretary for public debt at the National Treasury, told a webinar hosted by the China-Brazil Business…

Even as Congress remains divided over the latest US defence bill, lawmakers in both parties remain united on one issue: China. The National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), which sets US defence policy and authorises military spending each year, reflects a broad bipartisan consensus on expanding Washington’s military, technological and economic rivalry with Beijing. While the House and Senate versions differ on a number of provisions, both include new measures on Taiwan, artificial intelligence, defence supply chains and preparations for a potential South China Sea crisis, underscoring how competition with Beijing…

Washington has reopened discussions on billions in arms sales to Taiwan, casting a shadow over a leaders’ summit just weeks away – a meeting already burdened by bilateral trade frictions. US President Donald Trump is expected to submit a US$14 billion Taiwan arms package to the US Congress soon, according to senior Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul on Tuesday. “I am confident the president will forward soon another package to Congress with an additional US$14 billion in critical military defence articles,” the Texas congressman said at a security forum during his…

Beijing has been urged to create its own law to protect its underwater fibre-optic cables, as global fears grow over sabotage of critical ocean infrastructure. The recommendation by Shanghai Maritime University law professor Guo Ran comes amid growing threats to the undersea cables that carry about 99 per cent of global intercontinental data, including in critical chokepoints such as the Red Sea and the Baltic Sea. As a major coastal state and a key investor in the Digital Silk Road, China has a strong interest in safeguarding these cables, which…

Zhang Jianhua, former deputy head of China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, was sentenced on Wednesday by the Dazhou Intermediate People’s Court in Sichuan province, according to state news agency Xinhua. The court was told that between 2008 and last year, Zhang exploited his various leadership roles at the administration to help third parties with approvals and investment, accepting more than 43.38 million yuan in cash and valuables in return. Zhang’s roles included head of the administration’s finance and audit department, chief engineer and deputy…

Japan’s efforts to build a long-range capability to strike Chinese warships reached a milestone last week as flight testing began for the air-launched variant of its upgraded Type 12 anti-ship missile, a weapon with a reported range of about 1,000km (620 miles). Photographs taken by aviation enthusiasts on July 30 at Gifu airbase in central Japan show a Mitsubishi F-2B fighter carrying two inert examples of the missile beneath its wings, marking the first public confirmation of a flight test. The trial – which is designed to verify aerodynamic characteristics…

The People’s Liberation Army has unveiled the first official footage showing a nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile, the Jing Lei-1, mounted on an H-6N bomber in combat-ready status during a joint anti-ship exercise. The strategic bomber was seen in flight, carrying a massive missile under its belly, in the final episode of the documentary Securing Victory, which has been airing on state broadcaster CCTV as part of the celebrations of the PLA’s 99th anniversary on August 1. While CCTV did not name the missile, its giant size and unique body profile…