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Showing posts from February, 2026

What is behind China’s rapid rise as a pharmaceutical powerhouse?

ADCs are a newer class of cancer drugs designed to target tumours more precisely. They have three main parts: A monoclonal antibody that targets a specific protein on the surface of cancer cells. Chemotherapy drug payloads. Linker molecules that connect the two. The linker is engineered to break apart once the ADC enters a cancer cell, releasing its toxic payload. This helps limit damage to healthy cells. Zhu believes the US still leads China in identifying the right biological targets, but argues that China is especially strong in the technical and chemical aspects of developing these drugs. "(It's about) what kind of linker you choose, what kind of payload you design. You need medicinal chemists to design it, and then you have to engineer it," he said. "On this side, China's capability is actually very strong – and getti ng stronger. China has excellent medicinal chemists and excellent engineers, and we can also scale up well." He added that Chinese t...

China sees consumption boom during Spring Festival holiday

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Australian warship transits Taiwan Strait, tracked by China's navy

China's state-backed Global Times newspaper, citing an unnamed Chinese military source, reported late on Saturday that "the Chinese People's Liberation Army carried out full-process tracking, monitoring, and alert operations throughout the transit." US warships traverse the strait every few months, enraging Beijing, and some US allies, such as France, Australia, Britain and Canada, have also made occasional transits. China has ramped up its military presence around Taiwan and staged its latest war games around the island in late December. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.

China calls for cancelling unilateral tariffs

China urged the United States on Monday to cancel unilateral tariffs announced by President Donald Trump after the US Supreme Court struck down many of his measures. The court ruled six to three on Friday that Trump does not have the authority to impose tariffs under a 1977 law he has relied on to impose sudden levies on individual countries, upending global trade. Trump reacted furiously, announcing first a new 10 percent global duty on imports under a different legal authority, before raising it to 15 percent on Saturday. China's commerce ministry said on Monday it was conducting a "comprehensive assessment" of the ruling's impact, and called on Washington to lift the tariffs. "China urges the United States to cancel its unilateral tariff measures on its trading partners," the ministry said in a statement. "There are no winners in a trade war and that protectionism leads nowhere." The new 15 percent global duties are due to kick in on Tuesd...

How archaeology reveals roots of Chinese civilisation

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Brazil races to China beef cap as 55% tariff risks price collapse

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China scrambles jets to challenge US fighter jets near Korea, says Yonhap

US and Chinese fighter jets briefly faced off above waters near the Korean Peninsula this week, Yonhap News reported, marking a rare confrontation in that area between the two superpowers. (Feb 20): US and Chinese fighter jets briefly faced off above waters near the Korean Peninsula this week, Yonhap News reported, marking a rare confrontation in that area between the two superpowers. Around 10 US fighter jets on Wednesday departed an airbase in Pyeongtaek for drills above international waters off South Korea's western coast, the news outlet reported citing military sources it didn't identify. While the US planes didn't enter China's air defence identification zone, Beijing scrambled planes as they neared that region, according to the report. "The Chinese People's Liberation Army organised naval and air forces to monitor and effectively respond to the activ ities throughout the process, in accordance with laws and regulations," the...

How China overtook the US in hypersonic arms and may leave air defences ‘powerless’

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Philippine senator calls out China in visit to disputed island

THITU ISLAND, Philippines: A Philippine senator called for deepening defence relationships and "continuous" pushback against China's claims in the South China Sea while visiting one of Manila's tiny possessions in the disputed waterway on Saturday (Feb 21). Thitu Island, known as Pag-asa in the Philippines, is home to about 400 Filipinos, mostly fishermen and their families, who China accuse of living there illegally. It lies about 450km west of Palawan within the disputed Spratly island chain, a group of more than 700 islets, reefs and atolls believed to sit above vast natural resources. Senator Risa Hontiveros, an outspoken critic of China, told AFP on Saturday she believed Filipinos were not ready to give up "any portion of the West Philippine Sea", using Manila's favoured term for the waters off its western seaboard. "We need continuous diplomatic and political pushback," Hontiveros said after a plane journey of more than two hours wi...

Japan PM Takaichi warns of China ‘coercion’, vows security overhaul

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned of growing Chinese "coercion" in her first post-election speech to Parliament on Feb 20, and pledged to overhaul defence strategy, ease curbs on military exports and strengthen critical supply chains. Ms Takaichi's four-month tenure has been marked by a diplomatic dispute with China, after she said Japan could deploy military force to counter any attack on Taiwan that also threatened Japanese territory. After turning a fragile majority into a landslide victory in February's Lower House election, Ms Takaichi outlined an agenda aimed at countering what she sees as a growing economic and security threat from Chin a and its regional partners. With more than two-thirds of seats now controlled by her ruling coalition, she faces little resistance to her plans. "Japan faces its most severe and complex security environment since World War II," Ms Takaichi said, pointing to China's expanding military activ...

China to prioritise stimulating consumption in 2026

BEIJING – China is expected to put boosting domestic demand – especially spurring consumption – at the core of its economic agenda in 2026, with policymakers likely to roll out stronger fiscal support and structural reforms to further unlock the potential of household spending, a senior expert said. Dr Wang Wei, senior researcher and former director of the Institute of Market Economy at the Development Research Centre of the State Council, said that to ensure stable economic growth during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) period, China needs to achieve a notable increase in final consumption as a share of its gross domestic product. "That means China's future e conomic growth will need to rely more on domestic demand – particularly on the sustained, steady growth and innovation of consumption – to provide effective support for overall growth," Dr Wang said during a recent exclusive interview with China Daily. She said China has finished the "from nothing to so...

China to support 'reunification forces' in Taiwan, go after 'separatists'

China has long offered Taiwan a Hong Kong-style " one country, two systems " model of autonomy, though no major Taiwanese political party supports that. Taiwan's government says Beijing's rule in the former British colony has only brought repression, with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Tuesday citing the sentencing of Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison the previous day. "Jimmy Lai's sentencing exposes the Hong Kong national security law for what it is - a tool of political persecution under China's 'one country, two systems' that tramples human rights & freedom of press," Lai wrote on X. There was no immediate response to Wang Huning's comments from Taiwan's government, which says only the island's people can decide their future. Beijing has repeatedly warned other countries including the US again st meddling in Taiwan issue, which it said is its internal affair. In a call with US President Donald Trump l...

China’s Wang meets US’ Rubio before planned Trump-Xi summit

Published Sat, Feb 14, 2026 · 01:43 PM [MUNICH] Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich, as the two countries prepare for a planned visit by US President Donald Trump to Beijing in April.  Wang called for 2026 to be a year in which China and the US move towards mutual respect, according to state media Xinhua News Agency. The two sides agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in various fields, and to promote the stable development of relations, Xinhua reported.  "As long as we uphold equality, mutual respect and reciprocity, we can find solutions to address each other's concerns and properly manage our differences," Xinhua ci ted Wang as saying on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.  The meeting took place amid preparations for Trump's scheduled trip to China for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in April. The two leaders spoke by phone last week and discussed trade and geopolitical flashpoints, ...

Nexperia’s China unit seeks local wafer suppliers amid dispute – report

The Chinese unit of Nexperia is moving to line up domestic suppliers of silicon wafers while expanding its packaging operations within China. The move comes as the company looks to stabilise production after supply disruptions caused by an ongoing corporate dispute. Citing a report by Chinese news agency Caixin, Reuters reported the supplier selection process is expected to be largely completed in the first quarter. The shift comes after wafer deliveries from Nexperia Netherlands were halted, disrupting supplies to the Chinese business. It was reported in December that the unit had since secured Chinese-made silicon wafers sufficient to meet its entire 2026 output needs for one category of power chip, following the suspension of shipments from the Dutch unit. The supply freeze followed a decision by the Dutch government in September to take control of Nexperia from Wingtech Technology, citing governance concerns. Wafer supplies to the Chinese unit were sus...

Fireworks shop explosion kills 12 in China

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Big news from China: Trump may extend tariff truce for a year

By CNBCTV18.com February 12, 2026, 8:46:47 AM IST (Updated)While there's no official confirmation, it's widely speculated that US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will meet at the Beijing Summit in early April 2026. Now, a new report says the two leaders may agree to extend the current tariff truce, in effect since November 2025 , by another year. The latest report in the South China Morning Post, headquartered in Hong Kong, cites multiple sources familiar with the discussions between Washington, D.C. and Beijing.Asian markets hit a new record high on Feb 12, extending their winning streak to a fifth straight day. With the latest rally, the MSCI Asia Index is up around 13% so far this year, its best start to the year relative to the S&P 500 this century, according to Bloomberg. The November 2025 rollback of tariffs and export controls followed an hour-and-forty-minute meeting between Trump and Xi in Busan, China. The two leaders agreed to...

China’s Nanjing Museum apologises after rare Ming dynasty painting sold illegally at auction

The painting appeared at an auction in May 2025, before being withdrawn following a report to the NCHA by Pang Shuling, a descendant of Pang Zenghe. Pang and her lawyers subsequently visited the museum twice but the museum was unable to account for five of the donated paintings, including Spring in Jiangnan. The remaining 132 paintings still remain in the museum's collection. Investigators conducted inquiries across 12 provinces and municipalities, NCHA said  - interviewing more than 1,000 people and reviewing at least 65,000 documents. They collected more than 1,500 pieces of evidence and examined over 30,000 calligraphy and painting artefacts. ILLEGALLY SOLD FOR 25,000 YUAN An employee, surnamed Zhang, exploited her position managing state-owned assets - illegally trading cultural relics for personal gain, NCHA said. Zhang came across the Spring in Jiangnan painting back in 1997, which had been illegally transferred for sale and priced a t 25,000 yuan. "Believing there ...

China celebrates New Year with huge gala, heralding Year of the Horse

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Did China just replace America as the Middle East peacemaker?

For a brief moment in early 2026, the world braced for another Middle East conflagration. Trump threatened strikes on Iran. US armadas set sail. Fighter jets relocated. The gun was loaded and ready to shoot. Then, suddenly, everything descaled. Not because Washington backed down, but because Riyadh said no. Saudi Arabia denied airspace. It denied bases. It denied the automatic loyalty that had defined Gulf security architecture for decades. The refusal carried weight because a dtente existed between Riyadh and Tehran. And that dtente carried a Chinese signature. On 10 March 2023, Beijing hosted the final trilateral talks that restored diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after seven years of rupture. Iraq and Oman had handled earlier rounds, but China stamped the guarantee. The arithmetic was simple. Iran depended on Chinese buyers for 90 per cent of its oil exports. Saudi counted China as a key customer. Embassies reopened. Non-interference pledges surfaced....

Feeling unwell? Over 1,000 GP clinics remain open during Chinese New Year

While many businesses are closed for the festive season, those who are feeling unwell during Chinese New Year will not have to worry.  1,095 general practitioner (GP) clinics will remain open at various times during the public holidays from Feb 16 to Feb 18, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Sunday (Feb 15). Those who require medical care during the holidays can visit the GPGoWhere website to check the list of clinics nearby and their opening hours by keying in their address or postal code.  A search by AsiaOne on the website showed that 22 clinics will be open 24 hours a day during the Chinese New Year public holidays.  Other clinics generally operate from morning until afternoon. The health ministry also advised the public to make an appointment or call the clinic before heading down. "Members of the public, including children, who feel unwell during the festive period are encouraged to visit a GP or a 24-hour clinic for minor conditions," MOH said. Those seeking ...

China’s 2025 Local GDP Results and 2026 Targets

China's regional GDP growth in 2025 and 2026 targets reveal a shift in development patterns across the country as certain provinces benefit from manufacturing and tech booms while others fall short of expectations as a result tariff pressure and weak domestic demand. Meanwhile, 2026 and 2030 targets suggest the country expects slower growth in the coming year but for current momentum to last until the end of the decade and beyond. China's 31 mainland provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions have released their 2025 economic indicators and official GDP growth targets for 2026, revealing new patterns of regional development. With an uneven set of 2025 growth results, local governments in regions that underperformed have lowered their targets for 2026, while most kept them unchanged from the previous year. Others still have posted robust growth, with manufacturing continuing to take off...

China to grant visa-free policy to Canadian and British nationals from Feb 17

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As Trump shreds climate rules, China’s emissions start to fall

Chinese leaders envision a future in which clean energy dominates, while the US is betting on a future powered by fossil fuels Published Sun, Feb 15, 2026 · 11:39 AM [WASHINGTON, DC] This week's major climate news played out on a split screen with the world's two superpowers signalling different paths for the future.  In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) walked back its own authority to set regulations curbing greenhouse gases from major sources. Meanwhile, in China, initial analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air for Carbon Brief showed that carbon emissions fell 0.3 per cent last year – the first dip to occur since the Covid-19 pandemic. The decline in China's emissions, while small, may mark a turning point for the world's largest polluter. It was driven by factors including strong electric vehicle (EV) sales and clean power generation – the result of a decade of increasingly stronger policies aimed at protecting the ...

China grants visa-free visits to Canadian, UK citizens

China confirmed that Canadian and British citizens will be able to visit the country visa-free from Tuesday, after the two countries' leaders announced such agreements following official trips to Beijing. British and Canadian prime ministers Keir Starmer and Mark Carney both visited Beijing in January, seeking to bolster relations with China and pivot from the increasingly mercurial United States. The Foreign Ministry confirmed these agreements on Sunday, saying Canadian and British citizens will be able to travel to China visa-free from Tuesday, with the policy in effect until December 31. According to a ministry spokesperson, ordinary passport holders from the two countries can be visa exempt and stay for up to 30 days for business, tourism, visiting family or friends and exchange and transit purposes, Xinhua News Agency reported. The aim is to further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries, the ministry added. (AFP)

China seeks to take ties with Germany to 'new level': Wang Yi

MUNICH: China's top diplomat Wang Yi told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that Beijing hoped to bring bilateral ties to a "new level", as they met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday (Feb 14). Wang has been trying to present Beijing as a more reliable and stable partner of the European Union, as the bloc seeks to reduce its dependence on both China and an unpredictable United States. He told Merz that China hoped to work with Germany to bring the "all-round strategic partnership to a new level", according to a readout from Beijing's foreign ministry. With Berlin's support, Beijing also wanted to "prepare for the next stage of high-level exchanges", Wang added. Deep economic ties between the two countries have frayed in recent years over issues ranging from claims of unfair trade practices to protectionism. Merz is reportedly preparing to make his inaugural visit to China this month, with a pressing issue being ...

China hit by floods, landslides and heat as extreme weather takes its toll

BEIJING — Torrential rains swept across swathes of China on Wednesday (July 9) as Tropical Storm Danas drenched the country's coastal tech hubs while monsoonal rains further inland unleashed deadly landslides and flash floods over a 1,400 km arc. Compounding the challenge for authorities, a subtropical high-pressure system has been baking the US$19 trillion (S$25 trillion) economy's more north-easterly seaboard and central provinces since last week, straining power grids and parching croplands. The world's number two economy faces growing threats from extreme weather, which meteorologists link to climate change. Each year, the impact threatens to wipe out tens of billions of dollars worth of commercial activity, alongside loss of life, as ageing flood defences are overwhelmed and infrastructure gaps — such as limited access to air conditioning — are exposed. Chinese weather authorities urged residents to stay indoors as Storm Danas — which has weakene d from a typhoon ...

China vows 'resolute response' to any reckless acts after Japan election

BEIJING: Beijing warned Tokyo on Monday (Feb 9) that reckless actions would be met with a "resolute response", a day after Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is viewed as critical of China, won a landslide election . China and Japan have been locked in a spat over comments by Takaichi in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on self-ruled Taiwan. China claims the democratic island as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to annex it. A spokesman for China's foreign ministry on Monday urged Japan to retract the comments and warned of consequences for any rash actions. "If the far-right forces in Japan misjudge the situation and act recklessly, they will inevitably face resistance from the Japanese people and a resolute response from the international community," spokesman Lin Jian told a regular news conference. "We once again urge the Japanese side to retract the erroneous remarks made by Takaichi regardi...

China calls Taiwan’s President Lai a ‘war instigator’

Beijing - China called Taiwan's leader Lai Ching-te a "war instigator" on Feb 12 after he warned in an AFP interview that Beijing would target countries in the region should it seize control of the self-ruled island. Mr Lai told AFP in his first interview with a global news agency since taking office in May 2024 that if China were to take Taiwan, Beijing would become "more aggressive" and would next turn its expansionist ambitions to Japan, the Philippines and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing's foreign ministry accused Mr Lai on Feb 12 of provoking aggression, calling him a "war instigator". "Lai Ching-te's remarks once again exposed his stubborn pro-independence nature, fully proving that he is a peace disruptor, crisis creator, and war instigator," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular news conference. "No matter what Lai Ching-te says or does, it cannot change the historical and legal fact th...

How ‘cyberpunk’ Chongqing became China’s tourism hotspot

As a municipality that sits directly under China's central government, like Beijing and Shanghai, Chongqing has more autonomy and resources than many second-tier cities. Local authorities also offer performance-based incentives to travel agencies. Dan Wang, China director at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said while Chongqing's scale may be hard to match, aspects of its playbook can be replicated. "It's not that hard to replicate what Chongqing is doing to improve the living environment and ecosystem when it comes to tourism," she said. "So when we think about the convenience of getting to the city, for example, the high-speed railway, the waterway, they're quite clean, very convenient," she said. Wang noted that other cities are already following suit. "Even for places in Shandong, such as Yantai and Zibo, they're investing a lot to improve local transportation and the cleanliness when it comes to the local food scene. So I...

How China became fixated on cloud seeding

It all means the cost could often be outweighing the output, especially when using airborne methods. Ground-based methods, on the other hand, which rely on generators sending silver iodide or another trigger up into the clouds via air currents, are cheaper but far less predictable. "Airborne seeding is pretty efficient, but it's also very expensive, so that's why people do the ground-based seeding," says Friedrich. It's also impossible to know what the outcome will be of wider, consistent climate modification, in China or elsewhere. "It is very difficult to assess, let alone predict, regional climate impacts and remote anomalies from weather modification operations," says Manon Simon, a lecturer at the University of Tasmania, who's done extensive research on the potential geopolitical implications of China's weather modification. It's particularly hard to know whether long-term programmes may result in more frequent or intense droughts o...

President Lai warns countries in region could be ‘next’ if China seizes Taiwan

TAIPEI - Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te warned that countries in the region would be China's next targets should Beijing seize the democratic island, as he insisted on the need for Taiwan to dramatically shore up its defences. Speaking to AFP in his first interview with a global news agency since taking office in May 2024, Mr Lai said he was confident Parliament will approve an extra US$40 billion (S$50.45 billion) budget to fund crucial defence purchases, including arms from the US. China's President Xi Jinping has warned Washington against selling weapons to Taiwan, but Mr Lai said the US will stand by Taiwan and will not need to use it as a "bargaining chip" wi th Beijing. Mr Lai said if China were to take Taiwan, Beijing would become "more aggressive, undermining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and the rules-based international order". "If Taiwan were annexed by China, China's expansionist ambitions would not stop there," Mr...