All eyes are on how Beijing’s “Chinese dream” of eventual Taiwan reunification will unfold at a time when the leader of the United States – Taipei’s top international backer – appears less likely to intervene in case of a cross-strait conflict. In the first of a three-part series, Amber Wang looks at how recent moves…
US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a sweeping defence bill that would restrict US outbound investment in Chinese technology and curb federal contracts with Chinese biotechnology companies, amid an uneasy trade truce between Washington and Beijing. The bill, known as the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), cleared both the House of Representatives and Senate…
China’s massive aerial drone carrier the Jiu Tian has completed its first flight, adding to the potential swarming capacities of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The Jiu Tian, which is itself a large drone, took to the air for the first time in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday….
Aircraft carriers can serve as the “tip of the spear” for a military force, yet only a few nations have been able to muster the resources needed for them. China’s third carrier sets the bar for such vessels higher, underscoring a stunning pace of force modernisation meant to defend its interests rather than challenge or…
Hong Kong has started its National Day celebrations with an upbeat message from President Xi Jinping, two visiting PLA warships thrilling onlookers in Victoria Harbour and the restaurant sector betting on a business bump of up to 20 per cent during the extra-long “golden week” holiday. In a speech in Beijing on Tuesday to celebrate…
Hong Kong has started its National Day celebrations with an upbeat message from President Xi Jinping, two visiting PLA warships thrilling onlookers in Victoria Harbour and the restaurant sector betting on a business bump of up to 20 per cent during the extra-long “golden week” holiday. In a speech in Beijing on Tuesday to celebrate…
China has deployed a working prototype of a global defence system similar to the United States’ proposed Golden Dome, while hailing a breakthrough in data processing technology for worldwide threat management, according to scientists involved in the project. Although the “distributed early warning detection big data platform” is still in its early stages of development,…
Free tickets to visit two PLA naval ships during their stop in Hong Kong next week have been quickly snapped up, as enthusiasts welcome the second port call by Chinese warships in three months. Type 680 training vessel Qi Jiguang and Type 071 amphibious landing ship Yimeng Shan will be open to the public at…
In an unprecedented show of China’s advanced civilian drone technology, a swarm of heavy-lift unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has carried 180 tonnes of construction materials up a remote mountain in the country’s southwest, according to state media. State broadcaster CCTV reported last Thursday that the aerial operation had taken place in May at a solar…
For the first time, China has unveiled the production facilities of its fifth-generation fighters, hinting at the aircrafts’ readiness for carrier-based catapult launchers. At least two J-35 fighter jets were spotted in a hangar of its developer, Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, during an interview with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. The stealth aircraft – covered…