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Industry

EU lawmakers arrive in China for high-stakes talks to manage mounting tensions

Wang Yi calls on delegation to strengthen exchanges across Chinese society for ‘a genuine, multi-dimensional and evolving perspective’ The eight-member delegation from the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, led by committee chairman David McAllister, arrived in China on Tuesday for the committee’s first visit to the country. Wang said both sides should address disputes as partners and avoid the politicisation of economic and trade matters, or overstretching security concepts into normal exchanges. The delegation – comprising lawmakers from Germany, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland and Belgium – will also visit Shanghai to meet municipal officials and tech representatives, with topics to include tech sovereignty, competition and the global governance of AI.

July 21, 2026

Industry

To win the chip war, China needs a multinational strategy

Nvidia’s H200 chips, a step down from its most advanced Blackwell line, have resumed imports into China, albeit in small quantities. Meanwhile, China’s chip exports nearly doubled in the first half of this year. Much of these exports are mature logic integrated circuits for applications in consumer electronics and automotive sectors. While the US is the undisputed leader in the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips, China is emerging as a dominant player in mass market legacy...

July 21, 2026

Industry

Perfume ban, no-fly zone – as Apec summit looms, Shenzhen ramps up security

The southern city has prohibited more items from the subway and outlawed drones from the downtown area In a notice on Sunday, the city government said subway passengers would be scanned and their carry-on items would be X-rayed to “completely ensure travel safety”. In addition to items such as explosives that have long been banned on the system, passengers would not be allowed to travel with large bottles of perfume, open bottles of alcohol, cigarette lighters or pesticides, the government said. The rules on scanning and X-raying are not new but they were applied flexibly in the past, with passengers often just opening their bags to show staff the contents. Passengers complained on social media that the stricter policies and enforcement had led to long queues, causing some people to be late for work.

July 21, 2026

Industry

China lodges protest with Philippines after latest clash near Second Thomas Shoal

Beijing summons the Philippine ambassador to complain about what it describes as a ‘malicious’ attack on its coastguards Monday’s clash near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal involved a Chinese coastguard vessel and two Philippine Navy rubber dinghies. It accused the Philippine servicemen of “using tools such as oars and long sticks to maliciously attack Chinese law enforcement officers”. The day after the incident, Beijing summoned Philippine ambassador Jaime FlorCruz and said Chinese law enforcement activities in the area were “reasonable and lawful”. “The Philippine side initiated the provocation, yet they have turned around to falsely accuse China, distorting the facts and maliciously hyping up the incident,” the Chinese foreign ministry said.

July 21, 2026

Industry

How Chinese police infiltrated and monitored the dark web with the help of AI tools

Researchers linked to law enforcement collected data and devised tools to help classify sensitive and illegal material Chinese police scientists have offered a rare insight into how they were able to break into the dark web using artificial intelligence to decode underground content. In recent years, researchers both in China and abroad have made progress in analysing dark web content, but most of those efforts have concentrated on English-language material and little research has been published about content in Chinese. But in May, a research team from the Criminal Investigation Police University of China published a paper in the Journal of Chinese Computer Systems about a model specifically trained to translate and assess dark web content in Chinese. The first challenge was infiltrating dark websites to collect data. The researchers found that login requirements varied widely across platforms, and traditional web crawlers struggled with Captcha verification and the constantly shifting anti-scraping tactics adopted by these sites. To overcome this, the researchers designed a system to handle different tasks such as logging in, making lists and downloading images.

July 21, 2026

Industry

‘Groundless’: China dismisses Japanese protest over live-fire drill within Okinotori EEZ

Japanese defence ministry says PLA Navy vessels were spotted in the Pacific, southwest of the remote island Japan’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that the People’s Liberation Army vessel was one of three conducting exercises with a Russian navy ship in the Pacific on Sunday. It said that at one point the Chinese ship conducted a live-fire drill about 180km (112 miles) southwest of Okinotori Island and within Japan’s claimed EEZ while a Russian frigate was nearby. The ministry said it had contacted China through diplomatic channels and that Japan was continuing to monitor operations in the area. But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China “firmly refuted” the Japanese claims, saying they were “groundless”. He also said that Chinese authorities had been “clear” about the location of the China-Russia exercise and patrol in accordance with international law.

July 21, 2026

Industry

US claims 3 China-linked spy sites in Cuba monitoring American military activity

State Department report alleges Beijing and Moscow regard Cuba-based facilities as among their ‘most critical foreign listening posts’ Some Chinese and Russian facilities were assessed as jointly operated with Cuba, the report said, citing prior reporting by The Wall Street Journal. Citing an unnamed senior US official, the report said Beijing and Moscow regarded their Cuba-based sites as among their “most critical foreign listening posts”. The report did not identify the three facilities it said were operated by China, nor did it provide new intelligence to support its assessment.

July 20, 2026

Industry

Trump turns to China in renewed US birthright citizenship push

After losing in court, administration targets alleged Chinese ‘birth tourism’ with prosecutions and new legislative efforts When the US Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, his attention soon turned from the justices to China, prompting a sarcastic social media post. “I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” Trump wrote on social media. In the hours that followed, the Department of Justice instructed federal prosecutors to prioritise investigations of so-called “birth tourism” schemes. Days later, US House Speaker Mike Johnson said lawmakers were examining legislation addressing women who enter the country to give birth. The moves suggest that, after losing its constitutional challenge, the Trump administration and its congressional allies are shifting towards immigration enforcement and possible legislation, with China increasingly central to their rhetoric. Yet no federal data set directly measures how many women enter the United States primarily to give birth, and available figures indicate that births to women living in China represent a minute share of US births.

July 20, 2026

Industry

China’s Li congratulates Andy Burnham on becoming Britain’s new prime minister

Li said strengthening dialogue and cooperation between ⁠China and the UK will benefit ‌the nations and ‘inject stability into global ‌peace’ Chinese ⁠Premier ⁠Li Qiang on Monday extended congratulations to Andy Burnham on ‌becoming Britain’s new prime minister. Strengthening dialogue and cooperation between ⁠China and Britain will benefit ‌the two countries and “inject stability into global ‌peace”, Li said in ⁠his ⁠message, Reuters reported. “I am willing to ‌work with the prime minister ‌to strengthen exchanges, ‌enhance mutual ‌trust, promote communication and cooperation, ⁠and advance the long-term, ⁠stable comprehensive strategic partnership” between the two countries, ‌Li ‌added. In his first call to the US president, Burnham assured ⁠Donald Trump that London would be committed to defence and security and would help ‌support the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Burnham’s office said in a statement on Monday. “The prime minister … underlined his commitment to ⁠defence and security and said ensuring the ‌security of the UK and its allies was at the top ‌of his agenda,” a Downing ⁠Street spokesperson ⁠said in a readout of the call, ‌which took place soon after Burnham became prime minister.

July 20, 2026

Industry

Hungary investigates deal with China’s BYD after ex-foreign minister takes job there

Peter Szijjarto’s announcement that he would take a job at the world’s top electric carmaker prompted accusations of a conflict of interest Hungary’s government announced an investigation on Monday into a large foreign investment by Chinese carmaker BYD negotiated by a former foreign minister who last week resigned from parliament to take an executive position at the company. Peter Szijjarto’s announcement last Wednesday that he would take the job at the world’s top electric carmaker prompted accusations of a conflict of interest and criticism over his role in organising substantial government subsidies to the company while in office. Prime Minister Peter Magyar told lawmakers on Monday that Szijjarto, a close ally of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, had helped BYD while he was in office “with hundreds of billions (of forints) in public money, diplomatic support and state infrastructure”. “We will examine all the decisions, negotiations and state commitments made by Péter Szijjarto that were related to the BYD Hungary investment,” Magyar said on Monday.

July 20, 2026

Industry

China’s military mouthpiece issues full-page warning on Japan’s growing drone power

PLA Daily says unmanned platforms have allowed Tokyo to circumvent constitutional constraints on military development “Japan is seeking to build asymmetric advantages on future battlefields by relying on unmanned combat capabilities, thereby advancing its broader agenda of ‘remilitarisation’ – a trend whose potential risks should not be underestimated,” another article stated. It said Japan’s three key national security documents, passed in 2022, had identified “unmanned defence capabilities” as a priority to establish Japan’s counterstrike ability. In its 2022 Defence Build-up Programme, Japan said it would invest 1 trillion yen (US$6.2 billion) in uncrewed systems over the five-year period starting in 2023.

July 20, 2026

Industry

China and US still in contact on Xi summit trip despite Trump’s election claims

‘Head-of-state diplomacy provides irreplaceable strategic guidance’, foreign ministry says, after Marco Rubio downplays derailment fears China and the United States have stayed in contact about exchanges between their leaders this year, Beijing said just hours after America’s top diplomat downplayed the possibility that allegations of Chinese meddling in US elections would derail high-level engagement. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday that the Chinese and American sides had “maintained communication regarding the arrangements for the heads of states’ interactions later this year”.

July 20, 2026