China — updates

China's new Arctic route to Europe is three weeks faster than Suez. It's also more expensive.

2026-09-09T18:00:00+02:00

Chinese ships now sail a weekly Arctic route to Europe, three weeks faster than Suez — but pricier, and 2025's cargo missed Russia's own target.

The Philippines filed a map with the UN. China answered with warships and bombers.

2026-09-05T13:00:00+02:00

The Philippines filed a UN chart on Scarborough Shoal's baseline. Within days, China sailed a destroyer and anti-ship bombers to the same waters.

China froze its rare-earth crackdown for a trade truce — then blacklisted the two US firms built to escape it

2026-09-04T16:00:00+02:00

China paused its toughest rare-earth rules for a US trade truce — then blacklisted the Pentagon's own fix, MP Materials and USA Rare Earth.

Trump and Xi meet a third time in eleven months — and the truce between them still has no signature

2026-09-04T15:00:00+02:00

Trump hosts Xi on 24 September — the third meeting in a truce built on unsigned promises and a tariff pause that expires in November regardless.

Trump turned Taiwan's own weapons into his bargaining chip with Xi

2026-09-04T12:00:00+02:00

Trump paused Taiwan's $14bn arms package to use as leverage with Xi, while China sanctions US defense firms and Taiwan's own backlog nears $30bn.

China Doesn't Need to Import Banned Nvidia Chips — It Rents Them

2026-09-02T15:45:00+02:00

A Chinese AI lab matched top US models on banned Nvidia chips it never imported, rented instead in Thailand. The fix has sat in the Senate since January.

Nepal Asked China for Flood Warnings. Then a Mountain Fell.

2026-08-31T19:10:00+02:00

A Himalayan glacier collapse killed at least 955 and left 4,400+ missing — months after Nepal asked China for the early-warning data it never got.

China blamed the Iran war for its growth miss — its own exports say otherwise

2026-08-12T11:00:00+02:00

China's Q2 growth miss was blamed on the Iran war's oil shock. The same data shows exports up 27% and property investment down 18%.

China's squeeze on Japan followed one line about Taiwan

2026-07-31T06:00:00+02:00

Japan's PM called a Chinese attack on Taiwan existential. China cut rare earths to zero, banned seafood, and sailed warships past Japan since.

Britain committed to 12 AUKUS submarines — delivery is a 2030s promise

2026-07-29T10:30:00+02:00

Britain committed to 12 AUKUS submarines to counter China in the Indo-Pacific. Delivery is a 2030s promise — and its own MPs say the programme is slipping.

Sweden called rare earths national security — the mine is a decade off

2026-07-24T07:00:00+02:00

Sweden made mining a national-security interest to cut reliance on China — but its flagship rare-earth deposit is a decade off, and China's grip is refining.

Russia ships more to China than ever — and earns less

2026-07-21T01:57:23+02:00

Sanctions didn't stop Russia's pivot to China — they repriced it. Oil volumes hit records, trade value fell 6.9%, and payments are where sanctions bite.

Europe calls it sovereignty — its own numbers say it doubles the price

2026-07-15T03:48:41+02:00

The EU's Tech Sovereignty Package and the China overcapacity fight behind it — a five-question analysis of a policy whose critics cite the Commission's numbers.