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Industry

Scott Bessent confirms weekend meeting with He Lifeng days before Xi’s US visit

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday confirmed that he will meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this weekend for the final preparatory talks between the two sides, less than a week before Chinese President Xi Jinping travels to Washington for a bilateral summit with US President Donald Trump. “With China, we have had some very good private discussions, and I look forward to those continuing this weekend when I meet my Chinese counterpart Vice [Premier] He Lifeng,” Bessent said during a...

September 15, 2026

Industry

Taiwan tests US-made MQ-9B drones to counter PLA ‘grey-zone’ operations

More advanced derivative of MQ-9A Reaper to be used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, island’s military says The first two of four MQ-9B SeaGuardians ordered from the United States took off from Hualien Air Base in eastern Taiwan on Monday, according to military sources. It was their first test flight since arriving in Taiwan by sea in June, following nearly three months of assembly, testing and preparations by the air force and US manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. The drones were handed over to Taiwanese personnel in the US on March 17 before being shipped to the southern city of Kaohsiung and transported to Hualien county, where they were assembled in a US military-certified hangar.

September 15, 2026

Industry

Has a Chinese DF missile been used for the first time in the Middle East?

Video of a DF-15A rocket motor in Marib hints at secret arms deliveries as Saudi-Houthi fighting escalates Video clips circulating on social media in the past week showed debris from the booster stage of a short-range ballistic missile with “DF-15A” written on its side found in the Raghwan district of Marib governorate, about 170km (105 miles) by road from the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The same images were carried uncensored by multiple Chinese online news outlets. The discovery marks the first time the DF-15A missile, and more broadly the Dongfeng missile series, has been found operating in the Middle East. There are no previous confirmed reports of its export to Middle Eastern entities, suggesting the Chinese-made missile may have been delivered covertly to the region. The DF-15A is the advanced variant of the Chinese DF-15 short-range ballistic missile, a series with a range of up to 900km. While the DF-15 series is classified as a single-stage solid-propellant missile system, the recovered hardware appears to correspond to the large solid-rocket motor casing used during the initial boost phase of flight.

September 15, 2026

Industry

US judge blocks Trump’s ‘absurd’ visa caps for students, journalists

The last-minute freeze keeps old rules in place as legal challenge by university groups and labour unions makes its way through the courts Judge F. Dennis Saylor in Boston said the rationale for the restriction was “exceptionally weak”, and the connection between the rule and the problems it purported to address was “exceptionally attenuated”. He wrote that the US Department of Homeland Security had built the case “almost entirely on a small handful of anecdotes, each of which involved incidents that the new rule would do nothing to prevent or even mitigate”.

September 15, 2026

Industry

China urges ‘constructive dialogue’ with EU in high-level call with France

Amid tensions over subsidies and deficits, Beijing’s top diplomat tells French counterpart the two sides should keep to their partnership Wang told Barrot that China and the EU should keep to their partnership, pursue mutually beneficial cooperation and openness, maintain mutual openness, properly resolve economic and trade frictions through constructive dialogue, and avoid escalating confrontation, according to a Chinese statement. “Protectionism will not enhance Europe’s competitiveness but will instead deprive consumers of high-quality and affordable products, drive up inflation and hamper the process of green transition,” Beijing’s top diplomat was quoted as saying.

September 15, 2026

Industry

Top Singaporean chemist Lu Yixin to join Chinese university EIT next year

The distinguished scientist is the latest prominent academic to sign up with the privately funded research powerhouse Lu Yixin, a professor with the National University of Singapore (NUS), said he planned to move to the private research institute in early 2027, in a full-time role. Lu is a fellow of the Singapore National Academy of Science and president of the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry, in addition to his position as NUS Provost’s Chair Professor. “According to the plan, I will join EIT in Ningbo full time in January 2027,” he said, adding that he remained fully committed to his present duties at NUS for the coming months.

September 15, 2026

Industry

Chinese plant extracts critical rare metals from lithium waste in world first

China has launched a 500-tonne production line to extract rubidium and caesium from lithium waste. A demonstration line in Jiangxi province – the world’s first with an annual capacity of 500 tonnes for continuous tower extraction and separation of low-grade rubidium and caesium – has achieved stable production, according to the Institute of Process Engineering under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Rubidium and caesium are critical to aerospace, quantum computing, biomedicine, new energy...

September 15, 2026

Industry

German intelligence report warns of rising Chinese, Russian spy threat

A report by Germany’s counter-intelligence agency said some surveillance activities targeting military infrastructure can be linked to China Germany’s military counter-intelligence agency, known as MAD, has warned of a growing threat from hybrid attacks and the use of recruited contract agents, or low-level agents, saying Germany is a “prioritised target of Russian espionage activities”. According to the agency’s annual report released on Monday, it cited Germany’s geostrategic position in Europe and Nato the expansion of the Bundeswehr and the introduction of new weapons systems as reasons for the heightened targeting. “The hybrid threat situation in Germany has continued to deteriorate,” MAD says. These include cyberattacks, drone attacks, attempts at political influence, and disruptive attacks targeting transport, energy facilities and telecommunications. MAD said the potential threat of sabotage by low-level agents has also increased significantly. The report does not provide comparative figures, which could lead adversaries to draw conclusions from the data.

September 14, 2026

Industry

Trump condemns ‘sick conspiracy’ against AI, says he is only guardrail needed

US president criticises industry leaders’ calls for slowdown in development, as it only benefits China in battle for global tech dominance “The only control or ‘guardrails’ ‌that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” Trump wrote on social media. “We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these ⁠companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data ‌Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China.” In recent months, the US president has accused China of amplifying anti-AI and anti-data centre rhetoric, a sentiment he appeared to echo in Monday’s post.

September 14, 2026

Industry

Brics leaders act to hedge – not revolt – against US dollar dominance

The family photograph did the political work the summit’s final declaration could not. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood shoulder to shoulder as the Brics summit closed in New Delhi on Sunday – a single frame capturing an 11-nation bloc that now spans four continents and nearly half the world’s population. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attended the gathering of emerging economies...

September 14, 2026

Industry

Japan eyes quantum sub-hunting drone sensors as China extends undersea reach

Japan is looking to develop submarine-detecting quantum sensors for aerial drones, the latest move in a growing undersea competition pitting China against the United States and its allies across the Indo-Pacific. Released in late August, Tokyo’s defence budget request for fiscal 2027 includes research into a smaller, more capable quantum magnetic sensor, a technology that uses the properties of atoms to detect tiny changes in magnetic fields that could reveal a submarine. The project is one of...

September 14, 2026

Industry

Xi touts Brics cooperation on AI as US titans flag tech risks

President Xi Jinping promoted China’s vision for artificial intelligence (AI) at the annual Brics summit, seeking to win support from the Global South amid tech competition with the US. China would spearhead development of an AI Brics “community”, support cooperation in developing large language models and offer training, Xi said on Sunday in New Delhi. The previous day, he invited Brics nations to join the newly formed World AI Cooperation Organisation. Brics countries must “strengthen...

September 14, 2026