The new space race is heating up, with the United States warning that its major rival China is narrowing the gap as it makes rapid technology gains. While China says its ambitious plans remain peaceful and that it rejects the weaponisation of space, some of the technologies it has developed in recent years also have…
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has lauded his country’s growing ties with Brazil as at their “best in history”, as both nations brace for a battle with the US over trade and the global order. Meeting Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for talks on Saturday ahead of the Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro,…
Amid escalating geopolitical tensions including the Israel-Iran conflict and renewed strife between India and Pakistan, China is leaning on regional diplomacy to safeguard its strategic interests. Central Asia stands out as a zone of stability, offering Beijing both geographic proximity and strategic opportunity. On June 17, the leaders of China and five Central Asian states…
Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong chose China for his first state visit outside Southeast Asia since he won the general election in May. That was a clear message as it came at a time of intense rivalry between China and the United States. All his predecessors since Lee Kuan Yew treasured the stable bilateral relations…
A senior Chinese official with a background in water resources and ethnic affairs has been named as the new Communist Party boss of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. In a one-paragraph announcement on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua said the party’s Central Committee “recently decided” that Chen Xiaojiang would serve as party secretary of Xinjiang. The…
Hong Kong’s return to the top three in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is more than a statistical milestone; it is a testament to the collective efforts of our entire society. Our government, business, academia and civil society have all played a part in restoring confidence, stability and ambition. This resurgence has not come easily,…
New Delhi: China is securing loans to low-income and developing nations with commodity revenue streams and cash held in restricted escrow accounts in Chinese banks, with such practices implemented for almost half of the total loans worth $991 billion, according to a new study. China significantly ramped up loans to developing countries in Asia, Africa…
OpenAI said its analysts found that Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Zhipu AI had made “notable progress” in providing infrastructure solutions to governments and state-owned firms in non-Western markets, as Beijing seeks to strengthen its global leadership in the rapidly evolving technology. In a post on Wednesday, the ChatGPT maker, which has previously urged Washington…
CAS is crucial to China in many ways. China shares direct borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The region lies between China and West Asia, the Middle East and Europe. CAS is rich in oil, gas, uranium and rare earths, whereas China has an appetite for these resources. In return for access to these resources,…
Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to skip the BRICS Summit in Brazil next month, which, if confirmed, will be his first-ever absence from the meeting of the grouping of emerging economies since taking office 12 years ago, according to a media report. Xi will not attend the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Hong…