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Industry

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi calls on Sweden to help rebuild trust

China’s top diplomat is visiting the Nordic countries amid a growing debate in the EU about how to respond to Beijing’s trade practices Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Sweden to help rebuild trust between the two countries and cultivate a “correct perception” of each other, despite their frictions in recent years. “Sweden was the first Western country that established diplomatic relations with China, which showed Sweden’s independence and strategic foresight while setting an example globally,” Wang told Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm on Saturday, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. “Although China-Sweden relations have encountered some difficulties in recent years, strengthening dialogue, enhancing understanding and rebuilding mutual trust have become particularly crucial for both sides, and maintaining a correct mutual perception remains the fundamental key.” Brussels complains that subsidised Chinese firms are undercutting local industries by selling products cheaply on the European market – a charge Beijing denies.

July 5, 2026

Industry

Energy transition scientist Chen Peipei leaves Cambridge to build her own lab in Hong Kong

Chen relocates to gain research autonomy and start-up grants for young scientists, which she says UK universities struggle to afford “For scientists, having funds and a team to carry out research is hugely appealing,” she said in an interview. “In Britain, a teaching position rarely comes with research start-up funds. New faculty members are mostly expected to teach, leaving little time to develop their own research.” As British universities grapple with a financial crisis, a recent survey by Universities UK found that nearly one third of the 48 responding member institutions had cut academic research activity in the past three years, more than double the 14 per cent reported in 2024. It also found staffing was a primary cost-saving target, with 79 per cent of universities pursuing voluntary redundancies over the past three years or putting hiring freezes in place. Many institutions across Britain have announced job-cut plans over the past two months, including the universities of Dundee, Sussex, Nottingham, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

July 5, 2026

Industry

How to manage China’s rise as a civilisational power

The world must deal with China by recognising its civilisational rhythm. China, in turn, must avoid the mistakes of arrogance Prudent Chinese literati do not lightly discuss how China should act in public. Weightier reflections are reserved for private circumstances, where the tone can be measured and the words chosen with care. Foreigners, if they wish to deal with China, might consider this. The world’s approach to China, in its variety of gestures, also sets the stage for how China may shape its outward posture. Zichan, the statesman of Zheng in ancient China and my favourite go-to expert, believed that small states must behave with caution towards great powers, and that great powers should show care for small states. His counsel was not abstract philosophy but practical advice, meant to prevent ruin. He argued that if small states acted rashly, they would invite destruction, and if great powers acted arrogantly, they would sow resentment and instability. The lesson is that restraint is a condition for endurance. Western history also echoes this. Thucydides recorded the dialogue between Athens and Melos in 416 BC, in which the Athenians declared “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.

July 5, 2026

Industry

Why US and China are struggling to reach a consensus over future shape of relationship

The two sides may have a common goal of ‘strategic stability’ but cannot agree on what that would look like, a forum in Beijing heard China and the United States may have agreed to establish a “constructive” relationship characterised by “strategic stability” but deep-seated differences have left the future shape of the relationship looking uncertain, a forum in Beijing heard on Saturday. Sun told the World Peace Forum held by Tsinghua University: “The two leaders have reached the consensus to establish a constructive relationship of strategic stability, but both sides do not have a shared consensus as for what exactly it means.” She also highlighted a fundamental difference in priorities, with Beijing focusing on the constructive aspects such as cooperation while Washington was more concerned about how to manage disputes. For the US, the most important issue was to establish regular communication channels between their militaries, she added. Sun also cited the stalled plans for US defence undersecretary Elbridge Colby to visit China this year as further evidence of clogged communication channels.

July 5, 2026

Industry

China offers sea cable detection tech to clients in Middle East, Europe and Asia

The move is expected to boost the country’s competitive standing in the global marine equipment sector, official science and tech paper says China aimed to secure its position in the marine equipment sector by introducing this technology to potential clients in these regions, the official newspaper reported last Monday. “By deepening cooperation in [these] offshore engineering markets, we will integrate Chinese intelligent cable detection solutions into the global ecosystem and bolster the international competitiveness of domestic marine equipment,” the report said. Developed by a team at Dalian Jiaotong University, the robots can locate cables buried under silt with a positioning error of less than 5 per cent and also cover exposed lines with sediment for protection. They can operate around the clock at depths of up to 300 metres (984 feet) and maintain stability in turbulent ocean currents. “We gave a robot two complementary eyes,” Chen Shaohua, a professor at Dalian Jiaotong’s school of railway intelligent engineering, told Science and Technology Daily.

July 4, 2026

Industry

As the US turns 250, young Asian-Americans weigh identity and China

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Lucy Quaggin looks at how Gen Z Chinese-Americans are navigating identity amid shifting US-China tensions. As a high school student on New York City’s Upper East Side, Chinese-American Hannah Liu would take the subway downtown on...

July 4, 2026

Industry

The US and Iran publish their official agreement. Here’s what’s in it

The 14-point document was released following days of outcry over Trump administration’s lack of transparency regarding its details The outline of the agreement, titled “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran”, was released following days of pushback over the Trump administration’s lack of transparency. US President Donald Trump told reporters in France on the sidelines of the Group of 7 economies that the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) – reached on Sunday – “achieves everything we set out to accomplish, everything and much more”. 1. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon and other provisions of this paragraph. 2.

June 17, 2026

Industry

‘Climate change in trade’: battle lines drawn on Europe’s new China strategy

As national EU leaders meet in Brussels to thrash out a possible new China policy, speculation is high as to where they all stand amid fluid member-state dynamics. In the last part of this three-part series, we look at whether the conventional wisdom will be fundamentally changed in the EU and how the bloc could forge a united front in dealing with China. Over dinner on Thursday, leaders from the European Union’s 27 member states will chew on one of their toughest courses in years: “global...

June 17, 2026

Industry

Despite Trump’s promise of Iran peace, analysts say vague deal wobbly at best

US president hails accord as a major victory despite lingering questions, warns Tehran of renewed bombing if it fails to comply with terms “When I say permanent, it should be permanent. But if it’s not permanent, they will be bombed,” he added. “I told them, if you don’t adhere to that agreement, we’re going to bomb the hell out of you.” Trump’s much-anticipated appearance came as an economically dented world tries to assess how substantive and potentially lasting the Sunday memorandum of understanding (MOU) is, with its terms only released on Wednesday. According to the 14-point outline, the two sides agreed to “declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”; end the dual blockades and any Iranian claim to charge tolls; and work to return “at least” US$300 billion in seized funds to Tehran.

June 17, 2026

Industry

Europe rallies around tough new China strategy ahead of key summit

Broad coalition of EU members support new trade strategy to prevent China causing European deindustrialisation as key Brussels summit looms From free marketeers to long-term interventionists, EU countries of all stripes are converging on the need for urgent action to prevent a Chinese-driven European deindustrialisation ahead of a key summit in Brussels, multiple sources said on Wednesday. A broad coalition of members now support the development of a tough new trade strategy that could involve multiple new instruments and a more rapid-fire, strategic use of existing weapons. “There are different strands: a diversification instrument and a more protective instrument. There’s work to be done to see how both can be combined – this is why the commission needs guidance from leaders to find a compromise,” said a senior diplomat from a supportive member state, who, like many, spoke on condition of anonymity because policy is still evolving. “There’s a link between overcapacity and subsidies – especially if we can’t do a proper investigation in third countries on what kind of subsidies they are using, we have to defend ourselves against that,” the diplomat continued.

June 17, 2026

Industry

As the Iran war comes to a close, is the US pulling warships back to the west Pacific?

US Defence Department changes name of Indo-Pacific Command back to US Pacific Command, suggesting new focus The United States began turning its military attention to the Middle East early this year, moving global military assets, including those in the Pacific, nearer to Iran. The Tripoli group is still in the Middle East but US Navy statements and satellite images indicate that other naval forces are coming into the Pacific. The USS Boxer amphibious assault ship, accompanied by the amphibious transport dock USS Portland, joined the Seventh Fleet in the South China Sea from early June, according to US Navy statements and satellite images. The Boxer’s home port is San Diego and it was initially bound for the Middle East before being redirected to the Pacific.

June 17, 2026

Industry

Can China-US breadbasket diplomacy sidestep tension over American’s arrest?

Farm-belt officials from both sides meet as US voters consider issues for midterms and Beijing detains US citizen More than 200 representatives – including those from US battleground states such as Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota, as well as universities such as Harvard and Yale – convened in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. The Chinese side comprised officials from Henan, Liaoning, Anhui, Hunan and Shaanxi provinces, the agricultural heavyweights of the world’s second-largest economy.

June 17, 2026