"In a recent maritime incident that has escalated tensions between Taiwan and China, two Chinese fishermen perished after their speedboat capsized during a chase with the Taiwanese coast guard near the Kinmen archipelago.
Xiaomi, the leading player in India's smartphone market, has voiced concerns over the intensified scrutiny of Chinese companies, which is causing apprehensions among smartphone component suppliers about establishing their operations in the world's largest internet market.
"BASF, the German chemical conglomerate, announced its decision to divest from two joint ventures in Xinjiang, China, amidst rising concerns over alleged human rights abuses linked to its local partner, Xinjiang Markor Chemical Industry Co.
"Microsoft and OpenAI have disclosed how nation-state-backed hacking groups from Russia, North Korea, Iran, and China are harnessing the power of advanced AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to fortify their cyber-attack strategies.
Taiwan launched its largest-ever Han Kuang military exercises on Wednesday, initiating 10 days of live-fire drills simulating a Chinese assault on its command systems and communications infrastructure. The exercises began just hours after a Chinese military spokesperson reaffirmed Beijing's commitment to "inevitable reunification," escalating tensions between the two governments.
China's factory-gate prices fell 3.6% in June from a year earlier, the steepest drop since July 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The decline, deeper than the 3.2% fall forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, underscores intensifying deflationary pressure across the world's second-largest economy amid persistent oversupply, waning consumer demand, and global trade tensions.
Eight individuals have been arrested in China following a food safety scandal in which over 200 kindergarten children in Gansu province were diagnosed with lead poisoning after consuming contaminated meals at their school.
Germany summoned the Chinese ambassador to Berlin on Tuesday after a Chinese warship allegedly directed a laser at a German surveillance aircraft taking part in a European Union maritime security operation over the Red Sea, escalating tensions between the two countries amid concerns over China's military activity in international waters.
The Biden administration has lifted export restrictions on chip-design software to China, easing one of the more contentious trade controls imposed amid escalating tensions earlier this year. The move, announced Thursday by major U.S. and European software firms, signals incremental progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations and comes as both sides begin rolling back retaliatory measures.
China's factory activity contracted for the third consecutive month in June, with the official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rising slightly to 49.7 from 49.5 in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. While the figure met analysts' expectations, it remained below the 50-point threshold separating expansion from contraction, signaling continued strain on the world's second-largest economy.
More than 40,000 residents have been evacuated from Rongjiang city in Guizhou province after a second wave of intense rainfall submerged large parts of the region, authorities said Saturday, as China grapples with some of the most extreme flooding in decades. The deluge, which has already claimed six lives, marks another escalation in the country's annual flood crisis, now increasingly linked to climate change.
The United States and China have finalized a framework agreement to expedite rare earth mineral exports and ease certain technology restrictions, the latest sign of a fragile détente between the world's two largest economies. The deal, confirmed Friday by China's Ministry of Commerce, follows months of stalled implementation after a preliminary consensus was reached in Geneva this spring.
Crude oil markets surged and global shipping routes reeled on Monday after U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities sparked fears of retaliation in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical maritime oil chokepoint. Supertankers began zig-zagging, U-turning, or anchoring outside the strait, and freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) more than doubled in a week to over $60,000 per day, according to freight data.
A Royal Navy patrol vessel transiting the Taiwan Strait has triggered a fierce response from China, which accused the United Kingdom of "deliberately causing trouble" and undermining regional peace. The HMS Spey sailed through the contested waterway on Wednesday in what the U.K. Defense Ministry described as a routine "freedom of navigation operation" consistent with international maritime law.