Last Updated:January 28, 2026, 15:15 IST Select units of the People’s Liberation Army have been placed on first-level combat readiness, typically associated with elevated threat perceptions or internal security concerns Analysts also point to long-standing distrust between President Xi Jinping and sections of the PLA, as well as sensitivities surrounding succession planning. (AP) Unusual military…
China has moved its army, naval, air force and rocket force units to surround Taiwan for military drills, warning outside forces against supporting Taiwanese independence. The operation, dubbed “Just Mission 2025”, aims to test Beijing’s combat readiness, and will involve live-fire exercises on Tuesday. China’s Eastern Theatre Command said five zones surrounding Taiwan would be…
China’s People’s Liberation Army has shown off a “real steel” style military robot that mimicked a soldier’s combat moves in real time to defence representatives from 13 countries. Capturing every attack manoeuvre of a person wearing a lightweight motion-sensing device, the motion-controlled robot could precisely match moves with the help of artificial intelligence, according to…
Beijing has blasted Japan’s missile deployment on an island only 110km (68 miles) away from Taiwan as “extremely dangerous”, saying it stokes regional tensions and military confrontation amid deteriorating ties between the two Asian powers. But Shinjiro Koizumi, Tokyo’s defence minister, believed the deployment on Yonaguni Island would “reduce the likelihood of any armed attack…
A man from southern China who donated 140 yuan (US$20) as a child to help build an aircraft carrier has seen his dream of the country becoming a stronger nation come true. To top his wish, in November, the China State Shipbuilding Corporation invited him to visit the carrier fleet and gave him a commemorative…
A 90-year-old man from northern China, who has been travelling across the country in his van with his wife for the past two decades, has captured significant attention on social media. Wang Ruisen, from Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, bought his first van in 2003 to fulfil his dream of a…
A commentary by state news agency Xinhua on Monday said that Taiwan will be “governed by patriots” after reunification with mainland China, and that all of its products could enter the mainland’s market duty free. “We not only seek reunification in formality, what’s more important is the mental bonding of compatriots on the two sides…
China‘s state-owned defense giant Norinco in February unveiled a military vehicle capable of autonomously conducting combat-support operations at 50 kilometres per hour. It was powered by DeepSeek, the company whose artificial intelligence model is the pride of China’s tech sector. The Norinco P60’s release was touted by Communist Party officials in press statements as an…
Australia has lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing after a Chinese fighter jet released flares close to an Australian surveillance plane in the South China Sea, in yet another potentially dangerous encounter between the two militaries. Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Australian P-8 surveillance plane was conducting a routine patrol over the South China…
China’s President Xi Jinping has launched yet another sweeping purge of the military, expelling nine top generals including the country’s second-highest-ranking officer in what can be called as one of the largest public crackdowns on the armed forces in decades.The nine senior officials were accused of “seriously violating party discipline” and showing a “total collapse…