Chinese

Country in the South Caucasus has witnessed several serious incidents involving the illicit trade in nuclear materials in recent years.

Three Chinese citizens have been arrested in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, while allegedly trying to buy 2kg (4.4lb) of uranium, the State Security Service says.

The suspects planned to transport the nuclear material to China through Russia, the security service said on Saturday in a statement, while also releasing video footage of the detention operation.

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Authorities accused a Chinese citizen already in Georgia who was in breach of visa regulations of bringing experts to Georgia to search for uranium throughout the country.

Other members of the criminal group coordinated the operation from China, authorities said. The perpetrators were identified and detained while “negotiating the details of the illegal transaction”, the State Security Service said.

The agency did not specify when the arrests occurred or provide the identities of the suspects.

Members of the group planned to pay $400,000 for the radioactive material, authorities said. They face charges that could see them imprisoned for up to 10 years.

Several serious incidents involving the illicit trade in nuclear materials have occurred in Georgia over recent years. In July, Georgia arrested one Georgian and one Turkish national and charged them with the illegal purchase, possession and disposal of radioactive substances, which the State Security Service said could have been used to make a bomb.

The security of nuclear materials left over from the Soviet era was one of the biggest concerns after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was a member. After Soviet research institutions shut down, the country became a rich picking ground for smugglers.

In 2019, Georgia said it had detained two people for handling and trying to sell $2.8m of uranium-238.

In 2016, authorities arrested 121 people, including Georgians and Armenians, in two sting operations in the same month and accused them of trying to sell about $203m of uranium-238 and uranium-235.

The United States has imposed multiple sanctions on Chinese companies for assisting the Russian military-industrial complex in its war against Ukraine. The US Department of Commerce and the Treasury alleged that several Chinese companies evaded US sanctions by selling sensitive technology needed by Russia to manufacture military weapons. One of these Chinese companies subject to US sanctions and its military dealings with Russia is “Sino Electronics Chinese Company,” which is considered as a part of a network of companies that has allegedly sent shipments worth approximately $200 million to Russia since the Chinese company was placed on the US sanctions list in September 2022. The shipments sent by the “Chinese Sino Network” to Russia included several microchips, cameras, and navigation equipment, technologies critical to Russian weapons used in its war with Ukraine, according to US accusations against Beijing.

 These measures include broad US sanctions in 2024 and 2025 targeting entities in China and several other countries that support Russia’s war efforts. In October 2024, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Chinese drone companies, accusing them of participating in the production and supply of long-range attack drones to the Russian Air Force. Immediately following, in May 2024, US sanctions targeted Chinese companies and companies in several other countries for allegedly supplying electronic components and chemicals used in the manufacture of Russian weapons and missiles. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also warned that “the United States will take action against any Chinese companies that assist Russia in its efforts to obtain military supplies.” As a result of these US sanctions, Chinese banks have become more cautious in dealing with Russia, leading to a slowdown in trade between the two countries during 2024.

  Since July 2025, the United States has threatened to impose secondary sanctions on any entity that continues to cooperate with Russia in an attempt to isolate Moscow by striking its cross-border trade networks, particularly with China. Secondary sanctions target third parties that deal with the directly sanctioned country, Russia in particular.  The sanctions are not imposed because of the actions of the third party, but rather because of its economic ties to the sanctioned entity. Washington uses these sanctions to deter any entity that might indirectly contribute to supporting the sanctioned regime or helping it circumvent sanctions. In 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on a Chinese bank for allegedly conducting financial transactions with North Korea, even though the bank itself had not previously been subject to any sanctions.

 A series of US sanctions on China have been imposed, alleging its military cooperation with Russia in its war against Ukraine. In July 2025, US intelligence reports alleged that Chinese companies were shipping engines to the Russian arms company IEMZ Kupol by mislabeling them to evade sanctions.

The US Department of Commerce expanded its blacklist of Chinese companies and state-owned entities, alleging their cooperation with Russia and supporting it in its war against Ukraine. The US Department of Commerce added several Chinese companies to the US blacklist, including Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics, which was added to the US list of banned Chinese companies for supplying technology to the Russian military sector. Washington also imposed controls on the Chinese export sector, expanding export control restrictions to include Chinese companies that are 50% or more state-owned, as well as entities on the US blacklist. 

 Here, China has rejected all US accusations regarding its dealings with Russian military companies in its war against Ukraine. Beijing has repeatedly denied US accusations of providing military support to Russia. China has also taken several countermeasures, such as imposing sanctions on US companies, in a move to escalate trade tensions between the two countries. Regarding China’s response to US sanctions, China has publicly rejected all these accusations. At the same time, these US sanctions have raised concerns among Chinese banks and companies about secondary sanctions, which may indicate that these US measures are having an impact on trade relations between China and Russia.

 As for China’s official response to the US sanctions imposed on it for its dealings with Russia, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed in an official statement that the United States, by demanding that countries stop purchasing Russian oil, is participating in threatening and undermining international trade.  In response to Trump’s threats regarding the purchase of Russian oil, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “China will take decisive countermeasures if its legitimate rights and interests are harmed, and that China opposes the United States using Beijing as a pretext to impose illegal unilateral sanctions on the Russian side.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry also stressed that “China has lodged a protest with Britain regarding the inclusion of Chinese companies on the sanctions list against Russia. Cooperation between Russian and Chinese companies should not be subject to interference or influence.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry also commented on the British sanctions imposed on it for allegedly dealing with Russian companies and entities, saying that “Beijing will take necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

 China has categorically rejected all unilateral US sanctions against it, and the punitive tariffs imposed by Trump have angered Beijing. However, unlike Europe or other countries, China has shown confidence, with official Chinese authorities declaring that “it will fight to the end.” An official statement issued by China on October 13, 2025, stated that “threatening to impose high tariffs is not the right way to negotiate with China. The United States must adjust its position.” Beijing has already responded by imposing counter-tariffs and restrictions on US exports, including rare earths.

 As for the nature of the sanctions directed against Russia in 2025, these new US sanctions focus on indirectly strangling the Russian economy by pressuring countries and companies that deal with Moscow in strategic sectors such as energy, metals, and technology. In July 2025, US President Donald Trump announced a 50-day deadline for reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine; otherwise, tariffs of up to 100% would be imposed on countries importing Russian oil or gas. Meanwhile, the US Congress is discussing a bill that would impose tariffs of up to 500% on Russian exports, including secondary sanctions on financing or transporting entities.  Trump warned that all companies dealing with Russia, especially Chinese companies, entities, and institutions, particularly those operating in the technology and metals sectors, could be barred from entering the US market or using the international financial system.

  Finally, regarding the impact of these unilateral US sanctions on China and other countries for allegedly dealing with Russian companies, I believe these US threats will not go unchallenged, as they could undermine confidence in the global economic system and raise questions about who has the right to punish whom and under what international legitimacy? Applying this to Russia, we find that Moscow is linked to extensive trade networks with major economies in strategic sectors such as energy, minerals, and food. These Russian entanglements with global economies make attempts to isolate Moscow a test not only of Washington’s ability but also of the ability of the entire global system to bear the cost of confrontation.

Chinese soldiers march during a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, on Sept. 3. On Friday, President Xi Jinping fired nine of his top military officers for corruption. File Photo by Kremlin Press Office | License Photo

Oct. 17 (UPI) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has expelled nine of his top military generals from the People’s Liberation Army for what China says is corruption, including the country’s number two general.

Gen. He Weidong, one of the two vice-chairs of the Central Military Commission, was fired by Xi. He was the third in command of the PLA and a member of the Chinese politburo.

“The removal of He Weidong is one of the biggest shake-ups within the PLA in decades,” said Lyle Morris, an expert on the Chinese military at the Asia Society Policy Institute, the Financial Times reported. “He was on a fast track to become the next senior vice-chair of the [Central Military Commission], possibly replacing Zhang Youxia, and skipped a grade when he was elevated to the CMC during the 20th Party Congress.”

Another high-ranking official removed in the purge is Miao Hua, the army’s top political officer. He had been suspended in November 2024.

A statement from Xi said those removed are suspected of “grave official misconduct, involving exceptionally large sums of money. The nature of their offenses is extremely serious, and the impact is profoundly detrimental,” Newsweek reported.

Eight of the nine removed were members of the Central Committee, which is scheduled to meet next week to discuss the coming five-year development plan.

When Xi took over the party in 2012, he launched a sweeping corruption probe, and more than 4 million members have been investigated. The campaign accelerated in 2023 as it began focusing on the military and procurement.

Though the crackdown is popular in China, it has also allowed Xi to expel his rivals, Newsweek reported.

Oct. 14 (UPI) — The Trump administration recently began charging fees for Chinese ships docking at U.S. ports, prompting China to retaliate.

The move, which has been long planned, is intended to correct the imbalance between American and Chinese shipbuilding businesses. The U.S. shipbuilding business has dwindled over the years as China has become dominant.

On Friday, China vowed reciprocal fees on American-made ships in its ports.

“This is symbolic — less than 1% of U.S. vessels docking in China annually are U.S.-flagged vessels, so the reality is this basically has no real impact,” Cameron Johnson, a senior partner at Shanghai-based supply chain consultancy Tidalwave Solutions, told Politico. “But it signals that Beijing will match every single effort the United States targets against China — if the U.S. sanctions a Chinese company, they’re going to sanction a U.S. company. If we impose export controls on technology, they’re going to do export controls on technology. We have just now escalated to a whole new level of trade warfare that nobody was expecting.”

Supporters say that China has used subsidies for an advantage in shipbuilding, and that the fees can deter ocean carriers from buying Chinese ships, The New York Times reported.

“Anything we can do to chip away at the disparity in shipbuilding that exists between the United States and China is to our benefit,” Mihir Torsekar, a senior economist at the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a group that supports many of Trump’s trade moves, told The Times.

Chinese-owned shipping companies must pay the levies, as well as non-Chinese-owned companies, when they send Chinese-made ships to U.S. ports.

The new fees will also target all foreign car-carrying ships that come to the United States. Car-makers lobbied against the fees, arguing that they could add hundreds to the cost of a vehicle. Shipping analysts say it could take many years for the U.S. shipbuilding industry to build a car-carrier ship.

“The idea that these fees will lead to anyone ordering a U.S.-built car carrier are, I think, extremely remote,” Colin Grabow, an associate director at the Cato Institute, told The Times.

The port fees levied against Chinese ships are $50 per ton, with the fee set to increase by $30 per ton each year over the next three years. Politico reported. China’s port charges will also annually escalate to a maximum of $157 in 2028.

“If the goal is to get U.S. shipbuilding back up and running, we think there are other ways that we need to focus on doing that — just putting fees on Chinese vessels isn’t going to solve that issue,” said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, told Politico.

IF a Chinese bloke had been caught spying for the UK in Beijing, he’d currently be hung up by his toes in a cell, awaiting execution.

That’s how the Chinese sort things out. Nobody in Beijing would be worrying much if the UK is a threat or not.

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Bullet or lethal injection, Wu’s yer uncle.

Or maybe they would be pawed to death by an angry panda.

But it’s more often a bullet between the eyes.

Most countries take spying and espionage very seriously.

Indeed, ensuring we are safe from foreigners who might do us harm is the first duty of a government.

But clearly it is a duty that Sir Keir Starmer does not take remotely seriously.

Last week, two Brits were due to be tried for spying for the Chinese.

They were Christopher Cash, a parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, a researcher who works in China.

Both deny any wrongdoing.

But suddenly, at the last minute, the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case.

It didn’t bother explaining why — one minute the trial was on, the next it was dead meat.

Industrial secrets

It now transpires that the CPS took advice from British government officials.

It is entirely possible that the UK’s National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, a good mate of Keir, was one of the officials involved.

Shortly after their meeting with the CPS, the decision was taken to drop the case.

Why? They apparently told the CPS China couldn’t be called a “threat” to the UK.

Instead, it was just a “geo-political challenge”.

And so the charges against Cash and Berry wouldn’t stick.

In a previous spying case it was decided that charges were relevant only if it involved “a country which represents, at the time of the offence, a threat to the national security of the UK”.

Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous?

If China isn’t a threat to the UK, then who is?

The head of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, has reported that the Chinese have tried to entice 20,000 Brits to act as spies for them, against our interests.

Did nobody think to ask Sir Ken if he thought China was a threat? I suspect I know the answer that would have been forthcoming

He also claimed that 10,000 UK businesses were at threat from the Chinese trying to nick industrial secrets.

In addition, he said that MI5 had 2,000 current investigations into Chinese spying activity — and that a new case was opened on the Chinese — behaving very deviously indeed — every 12 hours.

Did nobody think to ask Sir Ken if he thought China was a threat?

I suspect I know the answer that would have been forthcoming.

Of course the country is a threat.

It is menacing other nations down in South East Asia.

It has a whole bunch of nukes pointed directly at the West.

It arrests dissidents who want western-style freedoms.

And it does everything it can to undermine the UK’s politics and industry.

Truth be told, anybody who is working secretly for a foreign country in the UK is a threat to this country.

Especially if they are working in the House of Commons.

This seems to me so obvious that it should not need stating.

If their secret outside income involves a vast load of Yuan, some fortune cookies and cans of bubble tea, then we should investigate very seriously.

The truth in this particular case, though, is particularly damning.

It seems almost certain that Whitehall officials intervened at the behest of the Government.

And that they did this so as not to p**s off the Chinese — because aside from being a threat to the UK, which China certainly is, we are going cap in hand begging for investment from them.

Other nations don’t have a problem with employing a dual approach.

Make no mistake, we may need to do business with the likes of China, much as we did once with Russia — but they ARE the enemy

They understand that while they all need to do trade with horrible totalitarian countries such as China, they also need to count their spoons, if you get my meaning — and at the slightest sign of devious behaviour, call them out.

The Chinese understand this too.

Yes, being caught with a bunch of spies in our Parliament may be embarrassing for a short while.

But it won’t be allowed to get in the way of China making more money.

It seems that our government was too frit to risk it.

Too scared that the Chinese might react nastily and pull investment.

Or decide not to invest in the future. We mustn’t offend the Chinese.

Strategies like this simply do not work — and the Chinese, just like their big mates the Russians, will continue to spy on our institutions and do everything they can to harm our state.

Enemy is laughing

Make no mistake, we may need to do business with the likes of China, much as we did once with Russia — but they ARE the enemy.

And currently an enemy that is laughing its head off.

The government officials involved will be coming before the House of Commons Joint Committee on National Security Strategy.

If it is discovered that Jonathan Powell did warn off the CPS from pursuing the cases against Cash and Berry, then Powell should resign or be sacked.

Unless, of course, Powell was simply doing the bidding of the Prime Minister or the then Foreign Secretary, the intellectual colossus who is David Lammy.

If that’s the case then THEY should resign.

One way or another, we cannot allow Chinese spies to run amok in this country of ours just because we want to trouser some more wonga down the line, through Chinese investment.

This is a truly important week for Starmer.

The Chinese spygate scandal is the most serious he has faced since taking office last July.

It could yet be the finish of the man.

Which won’t make me lose a terrific amount of sleep, I have to tell you.

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THE Man Who Never Sweats is probably feeling a bit moist under the armpits right now.

It has been discovered that Prince Andrew was still sending chummy texts to disgraced paedo Jeffrey Epstein long after the royal said he was.

Andrew is alleged to have messaged him to say: “We are in this together.”

This happened 12 weeks after the point at which Andrew claimed, in that BBC interview, to have cut off all contact with the odious slimeball.

It’s high time King Charles took action and kicked Andrew out of his Royal Lodge home in Windsor Great Park.

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I’M sure there must be some people on those pro-Palestinian marches who are not actually dyed-in-the-wool antisemites.

But if so, how do they react to a comrade saying that they “don’t give a f***” about the Jewish community?

Or the protesters in Glasgow who unfurled a banner praising the “martyrs” of Hamas for murdering about 1,200 Israeli civilians and taking 251 hostage on October 7, 2023?

Or the chants about killing the IDF?

Or the demands for Israel to cease to exist?

Or for a global intifada?

It is one thing to have a few doubts about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It is altogether another to stand alongside rabid, Jew-hating jihadis, chanting their odious slogans.

Isn’t it time these fellow travellers had a Mitchell and Webb moment and asked themselves: “Hey . . . are we the BAD guys?”

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Friday that he’s placing an additional 100% tax on Chinese imports starting on Nov. 1 or sooner, potentially escalating tariff rates close to levels that in April fanned fears of a steep recession and financial market chaos.

The president said on his social media site that he is imposing these new tariffs because of export controls placed on rare earth elements by China. The new tariffs built on an earlier post Friday on Truth Social in which Trump said that “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea.

Trump said that “starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying.”

The announcement after financial markets closed on Friday risked throwing the global economy into turmoil. Not only would the global trade war instigated by Trump be rekindled at dangerous levels, but import taxes being heaped on top of the 30% already being levied on Chinese goods could, by the administration’s past statements, cause trade to break down between the U.S. and China.

While Trump’s wording was definitive, he is also famously known for backing down from threats, such that some investors began engaging in what The Financial Times called the “TACO” trade, which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” The prospect of tariffs this large could compound the president’s own political worries inside the U.S., potentially pushing up inflation at a moment when the job market appears fragile and the drags from a government shutdown are starting to compound into layoffs of federal workers.

The president also said that the U.S. government would respond to China by putting its own export controls “on any and all critical software” from American firms.

It’s possible that this could amount to either posturing by the United States for eventual negotiations or a retaliatory step that could foster new fears about the stability of the global economy.

The United States and China have been jostling for advantage in trade talks, after the import taxes announced earlier this year triggered a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Both nations agreed to ratchet down tariffs after negotiations in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, yet tensions remain as China has continued to restrict America’s access to the difficult-to-mine rare earths needed for a wide array of U.S. technologies.

Trump did not formally cancel the meeting with Xi, so much as indicating that it might not happen as part of a trip at the end of the month in Asia. The trip was scheduled to include a stop in Malaysia, which is hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit; a stop in Japan; and a visit to South Korea, where he was slated to meet with Xi ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

“I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so,” Trump posted.

Trump’s threat shattered a monthslong calm on Wall Street, and the S&P 500 tumbled 2.7% on worries about the rising tensions between the world’s largest economies. It was the market’s worst day since April when the president last bandied about import taxes this high. Still, the stock market closed before the president spelled out the terms of his threat.

China’s new restrictions

On Thursday, the Chinese government restricted access to the rare earths ahead of the scheduled Trump-Xi meeting. Beijing would require foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements abroad. It also announced permitting requirements on exports of technologies used in the mining, smelting and recycling of rare earths, adding that any export requests for products used in military goods would be rejected.

Trump said that China is “becoming very hostile” and that it’s holding the world “captive” by restricting access to the metals and magnets used in electronics, computer chips, lasers, jet engines and other technologies.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, said Beijing reacted to U.S. sanctions of Chinese companies this week and the upcoming port fees targeting China-related vessels but said there’s room for deescalation to keep the leaders’ meeting alive. “It is a disproportional reaction,” Sun said. “Beijing feels that deescalation will have to be mutual as well. There is room for maneuver, especially on the implementation.”

The U.S. president said the move on rare earths was “especially inappropriate” given the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza so that the remaining hostages from Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack can be released. He raised the possibility without evidence that China was trying to steal the moment from him for his role in the ceasefire, saying on social media, “I wonder if that timing was coincidental?”

There is already a backlog of export license applications from Beijing’s previous round of export controls on rare earth elements, and the latest announcements “add further complexity to the global supply chain of rare earth elements,” the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement.

Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., said China signaled it is open to negotiations, but it also holds leverage because to dominates the market for rare earths with 70% of the mining and 93% of the production of permanent magnets made from them that are crucial to high-tech products and the military.

“These restrictions undermine our ability to develop our industrial base at a time when we need to. And then second, it’s a powerful negotiating tool,” she said. And these restrictions can hurt efforts to strengthen the U.S. military in the midst of global tensions because rare earths are needed.

Trump’s trade war

The outbreak of a tariff-fueled trade war between the U.S. and China initially caused the world economy to shudder over the possibility of global commerce collapsing. Trump imposed tariffs totaling 145% on Chinese goods, with China responding with import taxes of 125% on American products.

The taxes were so high as to effectively be a blockade on trade between the countries. That led to negotiations that reduced the tariff charged by the U.S. government to 30% and the rate imposed by China to 10% so that further talks could take place. The relief those lower rates provided could now disappear with the new import taxes Trump threatened, likely raising the stakes not only of whether Trump and Xi meet but how any disputes are resolved.

Differences continue over America’s access to rare earths from China, U.S. restrictions on China’s ability to import advanced computer chips, sales of American-grown soybeans and a series of tit-for-tat port fees being levied by both countries starting on Tuesday.

Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon said “China has not been a fair-trade partner for years,” but the Trump administration should have anticipated China’s restrictions on rare earths and refusal to buy American soybeans in response to the tariffs.

How analysts see moves by U.S. and China

Wendy Cutler, senior vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Trump’s post shows the fragility of the détente between the two countries and it’s unclear whether the two sides are willing to de-escalate to save the bilateral meeting.

Cole McFaul, a research fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said that Trump appeared in his post to be readying for talks on the possibility that China had overplayed its hand. By contrast, China sees itself as having come out ahead when the two countries have engaged in talks.

“From Beijing’s point of view, they’re in a moment where they’re feeling a lot of confidence about their ability to handle the Trump administration,” McFaul said. “Their impression is they’ve come to the negotiating table and extracted key concessions.”

Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank, said Trump’s post could “mark the beginning of the end of the tariff truce” that had lowered the tax rates charged by both countries.

It’s still unclear how Trump intends to follow through on his threats and how China plans to respond.

“But the risk is clear: Mutually assured disruption between the two sides is no longer a metaphor,” Singleton said. “Both sides are reaching for their economic weapons at the same time, and neither seems willing to back down.”

Boak and Tang write for the Associated Press. AP writers Stan Choe in New York and Josh Funk in Omaha, Neb., contributed to the report.

Chinese hhipping containers were seen unloaded May 2019 from arriving cargo ships at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif. In addition to new tariffs and ship fees imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, China will now reciprocate by slapping the same fee on China-bound U.S. ships. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 10 (UPI) — China said Friday it will start charging U.S. ships docking at its ports in a direct response to the Trump administration imposing the same fee on Chinese vessels entering U.S. shores.

The Chinese Ministry of Transportation announced beginning Tuesday it will charge about $56 per ton for American vessels entering China’s ports in a reciprocal response to ship fees imposed by the United States of about the same at $50 per ship via China.

In addition, China stated it will match the United States by increasing fees over time through April 2028.

In the short term, however, this will “result in an increase in costs for U.S. consumers, a decrease in profits for shippers, and a small decline in demand for exports to the U.S. in certain category,” according to Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

The U.S. and Chinese shipping fees are set to take effect the same day.

On Friday, Beijing said the initial U.S. ship fees imposed by the Trump White House “seriously violate” global trading principles and “seriously damages” China-U.S maritime trade.

“China can give as good as it gets and has demonstrated a willingness to take direct action,” Peter Alexander, managing director of Z-Ben Advisors in Shanghai, told CNBC.

China’s Transportation Ministry said fees will apply to ships owed by American citizens, businesses, organizations and other entities under the U.S. flag holding a 25% ownership stake or more.

Alexander suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump continues to “underestimate China and this needs to stop” and was “just more tit-for-tat negotiation tactics.”

“There seems to be little consideration given to second and third-order effects of policy choices,” he added.

It arrived as communist China and President Xi Jingping seeks to leverage control over export of rare Earth minerals and Trump’s tax-like tariff policies.

“Have there been any lessons learned by the Americans over the past six months?” Alexander questioned. “It certainly doesn’t seem so,” he added.

WASHINGTON — The State Department said Wednesday that it has fired a U.S. diplomat over a romantic relationship he admitted having with a Chinese woman alleged to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The dismissal is believed to be the first of its kind for violating a ban on such relationships that was introduced late last year under the Biden administration.

The Associated Press reported earlier this year that in the waning days of President Biden’s presidency, the State Department imposed a ban on all American government personnel in China, as well as family members and contractors with security clearances, from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens.

Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that the diplomat in question was dismissed from the foreign service after President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reviewed the case and determined that he had “admitted concealing a romantic relationship with a Chinese national with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”

“Under Secretary Rubio’s leadership, we will maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any employee who is caught undermining our country’s national security,” Pigott said.

The statement did not identify the diplomat, but he and his girlfriend had been featured in a surreptitiously filmed video posted online by conservative firebrand James O’Keefe.

In Beijing, a Chinese government spokesperson declined to comment on what he said is a domestic U.S. issue. “But I would like to stress that we oppose drawing lines based on ideological difference and maliciously smearing China,” the Foreign Ministry’s Guo Jiakun said at a daily briefing.

Lee writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, seen here at the U.N. General Assembly in September, will travel to North Korea this week to attend events commemorating the founding anniversary of the North’s ruling party, both countries said Tuesday. File Photo by Peter Foley/UPI | License Photo

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (UPI) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit North Korea this week to participate in events commemorating the founding of the North’s ruling political party, both countries said Tuesday.

Li will “lead a party and government delegation to the DPRK to attend the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Workers’ Party of Korea and pay an official goodwill visit” from Thursday to Saturday, China’s Foreign Ministry announced.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

“China and North Korea are traditionally friendly neighbors,” a ministry spokesperson said about the trip. “Maintaining, consolidating and developing China-North Korea relations has always been the unwavering strategic policy of the Chinese [Communist] Party and government.

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency also reported on the visit, which marks the highest-level appearance by a Chinese leader since President Xi Jinping‘s trip to Pyongyang in 2019.

The relationship between the two longtime allies has shown signs of warming after widespread speculation of a rift over Pyongyang’s growing military alignment with Moscow.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Beijing last month to attend a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, where he held his first summit with Xi in six years.

More recently, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui met with Li Qiang and her counterpart Wang Yi on a trip to Beijing last week.

Other high-ranking delegates slated to visit North Korea for the anniversary celebrations include Russia’s second-in-command, former President Dmitry Medvedev, and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam.

Lam’s visit will be the first by Vietnam’s top leader since 2007.

According to an analysis of satellite imagery by Seoul-based SI Analytics, North Korea is preparing to hold its largest-ever military parade to mark the occasion. At least 14,000 personnel are expected to participate, and new weapons, such as the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, are likely to be unveiled.

Sept. 30 (UPI) — A 47-year-old Chinese national has pleaded guilty in Britain to a multi-billion-dollar Bitcoin scheme, according to Metropolitan Police, which said it has made what is possibly the “world’s largest” cryptocurrency seizure, worth more than $7.3 billion

Metropolitan Police said Zhimin Qian of no fixed address pleaded guilty Monday to charges of acquiring criminal property and possessing criminal property, with the property in both offenses being cryptocurrency.

The charges stem from allegations that Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, orchestrated a massive fraud scheme in her native China, defrauding more than 128,000 victims between 2014 and 2017.

Authorities said she stored the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin assets. She fled to Britain in September 2018 with the use of false documents and attempted to launder the proceeds by purchasing property.

wHer guilty plea on Monday follows seven years of investigation by the Metropolitan Police, authorities said.

“Today’s guilty plea marks the culmination of years of dedicated investigation by the Met’s Economic Crime teams and our partners,” Will Lyne, Metropolitan Police’s head of Economic and Cybercrime Command, said in a statement.

“This is one of the largest money laundering cases in U.K. history and among the highest-value cryptocurrency cases globally.

“I am extremely proud of the team.”

Authorities said that Qian had worked with Jian Wen, who was sentenced to more than 6 1/2 years in prison for her role in the scheme in January.

Wen, a 44-year-old former restaurant worker, had purchased two properties worth more than $672,000 in Dubai for Qian in 2019.

Authorities said that Wen was in possession of a cryptocurrency wallet with more than $403.3 million. She told police that she had worked for a Chinese national who had asked her to buy the Dubai properties and that she was unaware that the Bitcoins in her possession were the product of crime.

Metropolitan Police said it had seized more than 61,000 Bitcoin from Qian.

Specifics of how Qian defrauded victims of so much money in China were not initially clear.

“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organized criminals to disguise and transfer assets, so that fraudsters may enjoy the benefits of their criminal conduct,” Robin Weyell, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said.

“This case, involving the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the U.K., illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters.”

Metropolitan Police

‘The goddess of wealth’

Crown Prosecution Service

Sept. 24 (UPI) — Chinese pre-release viewers of an Australian movie saw a straight couple’s wedding when it should have been two men getting married.

The horror film, Together, starring Dave Franco and Allison Brie, was altered seemingly by using artificial intelligence before it was shown in China.

In a scene with a wedding between two men, one of the men’s faces was altered to be a woman’s, purportedly using AI, Out reported. The scene reveals plot points in the movie, which means the change created confusion for viewers.

Viewers in China only noticed the change when they saw side-by-side screenshots on social media, The Guardian reported. “What’s happening outside the film is even more terrifying than what’s shown in it,” wrote one Weibo user. Weibo is a Chinese social media site.

It’s not unusual for western movies to undergo Chinese censorship before being shown there. Often, the censorship is performed via cut scenes. But the use of AI or other technology to change the scenes is new, The Guardian said.

The film was scheduled to be released in China on Sept. 19, but after the outcry about the change, the film’s Chinese distributor has pulled the film, citing “changes in the film’s distribution plan.”

Homosexuality is no longer a crime in China, but it still faces strong stigma. The government had a longstanding stance to neither support or oppose LGBTQ+ relationships, but that has changed in recent years with a crackdown on gay groups.

In 2016, China’s censors banned “abnormal sexual behavior,” among other things the government disapproves of, in films and TV.

One RedNote user said that the use of AI to gender-swap gay characters was “humiliating minority groups.” Public opinion of homosexuality is on the rise in China.

The TWZ Newsletter

Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.

What looks to be a previously unseen low-observable flying-wing drone variant with a ‘cranked kite’ planform has emerged in a satellite image from China’s secretive test base near Malan in the country’s far western Xinjiang province. The design has a strong resemblance to a known Chinese uncrewed high-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed aircraft called the CH-7, and is most likely an evolution thereof, or at least it shares a very similar planform.

TWZ obtained the image from Planet Labs. It was taken on August 14, but it only recently appeared in the company’s online archive database. Malan is a hub for leading-edge military aviation developments, and work on advanced uncrewed aircraft in particular, in China. Another new and especially large, low-observable, high-altitude long-endurance flying-wing also emerged in a Planet Labs image of Malan taken back in May, which we were first to report on. That design may have now flown if it didn’t prior to the satellite image.

The very dark-colored drone seen in the August image, which is positioned at the end of a runway, has a wingspan of around 137 feet. It also looks to have a single air intake at the front of its center body section and a matching exhaust at the rear.

There are some unusual shadows cast around the outer edges of the drone’s wings, which might point to vehicles or other equipment on the tarmac underneath. Vehicles and/or other equipment are clearly seen nearby on the runway. It is also worth noting that the image was taken in broad daylight, and there are no indications of any efforts to conceal the drone from prying eyes, despite the knowledge when specific imaging satellites, including those far more powerful than what Planet Labs has access to, regularly pass overhead. Malan notably features a massive high-security hangar to help with operational security.

As mentioned, what is visible of the design in the image taken in August bears clear similarities to a drone that officially broke cover in China in November 2024. That uncrewed aircraft was said to be the first real example of a design called the CH-7 (or Caihong-7, meaning Rainbow-7), and notably differed in shape and size from models and mock-ups that had previously been shown publicly. Available top-down imagery may point to them being very close in size based on their width relative to the runways they are on. However, it is unknown whether the runways have similar widths.

The uncrewed aircraft seen at Malan in the image from last month itself has a wider and longer forward nose section and other differences in its overall shape compared to the CH-7 design seen last year. Smaller differences in wing and trailing edge sweep and wing chord, as well as wingtip geometry, also appear to be present with this new drone.

It is still very possible, if not probable, that this is a further evolution of the CH-7, which has looked most suited for the intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR) role, but has also been described as a potential uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV) capable of performing strike missions. Size-wise, the uncrewed has emerged in the satellite image of Malan from last month looks to be in between a large UCAV-like drone and the much larger design that we previously reported on.

Other drone designs with ‘cranked kite’ planforms have also emerged in China in the past, including one spotted years ago in Chengdu, where one of the country’s major military aviation companies is based. However, none of them seem to directly align with what is visible in the August image of Malan.

It’s interesting to point out here that uncrewed aircraft seen in the recently released imagery of Malan bears some resemblance, in broad strokes, to certain unofficial renderings of the U.S. Air Force’s secretive so-called high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) RQ-180, something we also previously noted in relation to the CH-7. TWZ has explored in detail what the RQ-180 might look like, as well as its likely capabilities, which are in line with what we’ve now seen at Malan, in a past feature you can find here. The status of the program is unclear at this time.

Designs with cranked kite planforms have been eyed for other crewed and uncrewed U.S. military aircraft programs over the years, as well. The most well-known of these is the abortive X-47B UCAV developed by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Navy. There were also relevant B-3 bomber concepts that preceded the U.S. Air Force’s Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) program that produced the B-21 Raider.

What is well established at this point is China’s very active pursuit of multiple tiers of flying-wing type drones intended to perform various missions. Years ago, TWZ assessed that this was an area of the Chinese aviation industry that was likely to see an explosion of investment, and in which the academic side of the country’s weapon development ecosystem would be deeply involved.

Just this week, another new twin jet engine-powered flying wing drone tied to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) emerged ahead of the opening of an airshow in the northeastern part of the country, as you can read more about here. Though that uncrewed aircraft still remains unidentified, some similarities have now been drawn between it and a design concept called Star Shadow that a Chinese company called Star Systems first showed in model form at the Singapore Air Show in 2018. Most notably, both designs look to have a split air brake at the rear of the center body section between their engine exhausts.

Interesting theory or consideration regarding the new unknown UAV from the Chinese Academy of Sciences via DanWangJZ/SDF:

“This model looks very similar to the Star Shadow (星影) conceptual stealth UAV displayed at the SGP airshow in 2018.” pic.twitter.com/ZQEYRgqy6c

— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) September 17, 2025

Unless it is some type of decoy meant for counter-intelligence purposes, which is always a possibility, although a remote one, the uncrewed aircraft seen in the August satellite image of Malan is yet another entry into China’s vastly expanding stable of stealth flying wing drones.

Contact the author: [email protected]

The TWZ Newsletter

Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.

A new twin-jet engine flying-wing drone design has emerged in China. While details are currently limited, the Chinese aviation industry has been developing an expanding array of flying-wing uncrewed aircraft, including as uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAV) and high-altitude intelligence-gathering platforms, often in cooperation with state-run research institutions. TWZ assessed years ago that there was likely to be an explosion of investment in flying-wing drones in China and that the academic side of the Chinese weapons development ecosystem would be deeply involved.

Pictures of the drone have been circulating online since at least yesterday. The images are said to have been taken recently in the city of Changchun in Jilin province in northeastern China amid preparations for the Changchun Air Show, which is scheduled to officially open this week. Local authorities say the show will also mark the first “full activation” of the Changchun International Aviation Expo City, a sprawling aviation-themed venue in Changchun that contains a theme park and other attractions.

From what we have seen so far of the drone, which is emblazoned on at least one side with the logo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), it looks to be more of a developed test article, rather than a mock-up. It has a notable dorsal hump in the center of its body with air intakes nestled up against it on either side. A look at the uncrewed aircraft from the rear also shows two separate exhausts. The intakes and exhausts might point to engines buried in the upper hemisphere of the center body.

The uncrewed aircraft has some features that are broadly in line with a stealthy design, including a chine along the leading edge of the center body and shaping of the engine intakes. At the same time, the exhausts are inset into the body, but are hardly concealed. The rear view also shows rivets or other fasteners that are not fully flush, as well as various seams and protrusions along the body and wings, all of which would have negative impacts on its radar cross-section. If what is seen is a test article, various aspects of the design and its construction may not be indicative of the expected final configuration.

The core design, with two engines situated relatively high up on either side of the center of the body, would create more space to work with in the middle. That space could potentially be configured to hold various payloads, including more fuel, sensors, communications arrays, and/or even a weapons bay.

What roles and missions the design might be intended to perform, and whether it is meant to be more than an experimental aircraft, are currently unknown. CAS, through various institutions under its broad umbrella, does have an extensive history of developing uncrewed aerial and maritime systems, as well as sensors and other advanced technology, with clear potential military applications. State-run research institutions in China often have strong ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), as well.

Local authorities are also billing the Changchun Air Show as a major showcase for the PLA Air Force (PLAAF).

Whatever the intended purpose of this new design from CAS might be, as noted, it does follow years now of very real development work on multiple flying-wing type drones in China. This includes the GJ-11 Sharp Sword, which looks increasingly set to be the PLA’s first operational UCAV. There are ever-growing signs that GJ-11 variants or derivatives are bound for future operation from the decks of aircraft carriers and big-deck amphibious assault ships.

Larger flying wing uncrewed aircraft designs that look more optimized to serve as high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms have also emerged in China. Just in June, TWZ was first to report on the appearance of a new and especially large low-observable HALE flying-wing drone, which may have now flown.

Flying-wing type designs are also just one part of an ever-more diverse array of uncrewed aircraft in development in China, which has increasingly positioned itself as a global leader in this space. The PLA debuted several new air combat drone designs at a huge military parade in Beijing earlier this month.

As TWZ regularly highlights, Chinese flying-wing UCAV developments stand in particular contrast to the U.S. military’s abandonment of interest in similar designs years ago, at least in the unclassified realm. Russia, India, Turkey, and France are also known to be currently pursuing flying-wing UCAVs.

With the Changchun Air Show set to open later this week, more details about the new CAS drone design are likely to emerge.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Walt Disney Co., Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday sued a Chinese artificial intelligence firm called MiniMax for copyright infringement, alleging its AI service generates iconic characters including Darth Vader, the Minions and Wonder Woman without the studios’ permission.

“MiniMax’s bootlegging business model and defiance of U.S. copyright law are not only an attack on Plaintiffs and the hard-working creative community that brings the magic of movies to life, but are also a broader threat to the American motion picture industry,” the companies said in their complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The entertainment companies requested that MiniMax be restrained from further infringement. They are seeking damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, as well as attorney fees and costs.

This is the latest round of copyright lawsuits that major studios have brought against AI companies over intellectual property concerns. In June, Disney and Universal Pictures sued AI firm Midjourney for copyright infringement. Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery also sued Midjourney.

Shanghai-based MiniMax has a service called Hailuo AI, which is marketed as a “Hollywood studio in your pocket” and used characters including the Joker and Groot in its ads without the studios’ permission, the studios’ lawsuit said. Users can type in a text prompt requesting “Star Wars’” iconic character Yoda or DC Comics’ Superman, and Hailuo AI can pull up high quality and downloadable images or video of the character, according to the document.

“MiniMax completely disregards U.S. copyright law and treats Plaintiffs’ valuable copyrighted characters like its own,” the lawsuit said. “MiniMax’s copyright infringement is willful and brazen.”

“Given the rapid advancement in technology in the AI video generation field … it is only a matter of time until Hailuo AI can generate unauthorized, infringing videos featuring Plaintiffs’ copyrighted characters that are substantially longer, and even eventually the same duration as a movie or television program,” the lawsuit said.

MiniMax did not immediately return a request for comment.

Hollywood is grappling with significant challenges, including the threat of AI, as companies consolidate and reduce their expenses as production costs rise. Many actors and writers, still recovering from strikes that took place in 2023, are scrambling to find jobs. Some believe the growth of AI has threatened their livelihoods as tech tools can replicate iconic characters with text prompts.

While some studios have sued AI companies, others are looking for ways to partner with them. For example, Lionsgate has partnered with AI startup Runway to help with behind the scenes processes such as storyboarding.

Almost one million tourists a year flock to the stunning – but deadly – tourist trap

An abandoned mine has been transformed into a glittering but deadly tourist trap in China. The stunning – but terrifying – former mine and includes death drops at the foot of beds, roaring water fountains and gaping canyons.

The majority of the fairytale town is built into the sides of cliffs, with Wangxian Valley was described as “the most dangerous tourist destination in the world” by one X user.

Now, this rocky death trap pulls in almost one million visitors a year, according to China Discovery. Nestled in Shangrao , in the Jiangxi Province, the quarry that fell into disrepair in 1969 has now been overhauled into a tourism superstructure.

It is surrounded by ancient Buddhist villages and farms, bordered by the Ling Mountain. Its name means “Gazing at Immortals” and legend says in ancient times, “Hu Zuyu ascended to the Immortal Palace”, marking the area as a land of outstanding natural beauty and spirituality.

Blanketed by centuries old forests, the valley is dotted with bright streams, which you can now white water raft in. A stand out is the Wangxian Waterfall which creates its own localised fog with the force of its waters., whereas the serene Sanqing Waterfall is more gentle, complete with quaint mossy rocks.

There is also the fantastical Odd Rock Pool, which is made up of a plethora of quirky and unusually shaped rocks. At night, the cliff side transforms into a stunning light show, with it lit up by a network of warm yellow lights.

If you stay at the White Crane Cliff hotel, which has 12 glass-walled guest rooms, you can read a book with a head-spinning view in their cliff-side library, perched 110 meters above the valley floor. The cobblestone streets such as Baiwei Street, Rock Plaza and the ancient Yang Mansion house reconstructions of ancient Chinese buildings, offering a glimpse into architecture of a bygone era.

If you are more of an activity person, you can trek through a path that follows the valley’s collection of waterfalls. and if you fancy something that will raise your heart rate a little more, you can take a stroll down the breathtaking Cliffside Walkway, a terrifying 388-meter adventure along canyon walls, with 100 meters of vertical drop.

For the truly daring there is also a 50-meter Glass Walkway. Whilst you may rest assured the 28mm thick glass floor will support you, your mind may also be soothed as the glass has been made slightly opaque.

You can also raft in a thrilling 2.8km journey down the river through 185-meter canyon walls. The trip lasts about an hour after a half-an-hour walk up to the launch point

If you’re more interested in trying local food, Wangxian Tofu is a delicious and unique dish made from soybeans grown at an altitude of over 200 meters.

The tofu is prepared using mountain spring water. The Yuyu dumplings consist of a pork filling encased in chewy wrapper made from taro and tapioca starch and the Dengzhan Guo is a lantern-like structure made from filled with shiitake mushrooms, pork, soybean sprouts, and bamboo shoots.

Each evening the streets are filled with performances, folk music and traditional cultural experiences, ending with their famous fire show and bonfire party.

The TWZ Newsletter

Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.

The U.S. Air Force’s top officer in the Pacific says a key takeaway from China’s huge military parade tomorrow will be that “we are not deterred.” Several new Chinese air combat drones and air and missile defense systems, as well as a host of other advanced capabilities, will be showcased at the event in Beijing, as TWZ has been reporting on already.

Air Force Gen. Kevin Schneider, head of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), offered his own strategic signaling on the forthcoming Chinese parade during a virtual talk hosted today by the Air & Space Forces Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Schneider was responding to a direct question from Aviation Week‘s Steve Trimble, who specifically highlighted the new air combat drones, as well as the HQ-29 high-end anti-ballistic missile system, that are among the Chinese systems set to make their official public debut tomorrow.

“Nations like China, and North Korea, and Russia, and others do these kind of events. There’s certainly a big focus on messaging,” Schneider said. “You know, messaging is certainly a factor there, but I think the takeaway for this is we are not deterred.”

“We will continue to stay ahead of the challenges. We will continue to find ways to advance our capabilities and to deal with potential adversary systems as they are developed and fielded,” he continued. “I maintain a high degree of optimism that we have been successful in doing that, and we will continue to be successful in finding ways to mitigate threats by others as they are developed, and advancing our own capabilities, to be able to break down doors, to get into anti-access area/denial areas, and to be able to operate in weapons engagement zones, something that we have done as a nation since day one.”

Earlier in the talk, Schneider had also offered a basic rubric for understanding deterrence, which he said was imparted to him by a former head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).

“He described deterrence as a bit of a mathematical equation. It was capability times willingness times messaging. And his point was, if any of those factors are zero, then deterrence is zero. It wasn’t an addition problem. It was a multiplication problem.”

“Within that, capability is the outsized factor in deterrence,” he added. “So, finding ways that we can continue to improve our positions, our capabilities, and to be able to adapt ahead of what a potential adversary is doing, is by far the most important of those factors.”

Schneider specifically name-checked the B-21 Raider stealth bomber and the F-47 sixth-generation fighter as examples of how the Air Force is advancing its capabilities. New Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones are another centerpiece of the Air Force’s future plans, including in partnership with future crewed aircraft like the F-47 and B-21.

“By and large, it’s China that occupies the main focus of our attention,” including the “growing size and capability of the People’s Liberation Army [PLA],” Schneider acknowledged. He also highlighted “the aggressive behaviors that go along with that, and that plays out in the West Philippine Sea, against the Philippines, on an almost daily basis, as well as … in and around Taiwan, with the multi-domain pressure activities that take place with regularity.”

The remarks from the current PACAF commander are in line with other comments in recent years from senior Air Force officers about the capabilities of PLA, especially its growing fleet of J-20 stealth fighters.

“It’s [the J-20] not anything to lose a lot of sleep over,” Air Force Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, then head of PACAF, told members of the media, including TWZ, on the sidelines of the Air & Space Force Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference back in 2022. “Certainly, we’re watching them closely and seeing how they felt and how they operate them.”

“Well, I’m like Gen. Wilsbach,” now-retired Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, then Air Force Chief of Staff, had said while speaking separately at the same event. “[The J-20 is] not something to lose a lot of sleep over, but I’m gonna pay attention to it.”

“I don’t think that it’s a dominating aircraft at this point, compared to what we have [in terms of stealthy F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightnings],” Wilsbach said at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference. “They’ve done some good copying… pretty much most of the technology from that airplane [the J-20] was stolen from the U.S.”

Wilsbach was most recently head of Air Combat Command (ACC) and had been expected to retire soon, but is now reportedly among the contenders to succeed Gen. David Allvin as Air Force Chief of Staff.

All this being said, China has been pushing ahead with its own slew of new and advanced airpower developments in recent years. This is underscored by the air combat drones, or mockups thereof, that will be officially shown for the first time at the parade tomorrow.

Two of the new Chinese air combat drones, seen in the picture below, notably reflect the same kind of dichotomy, broadly speaking, in terms of configuration and performance, that has been seen in the pair of designs currently being developed for the U.S. Air Force CCA program.

The GJ-11 Sharp Sword stealthy flying-wing uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), or further iterations of that design, including ones intended for naval operations from carriers and big deck amphibious ships, will also be on display at the event. The GJ-11 represents a capability set that the Chinese are investing in heavily, but that the U.S. military continues to eschew completely, at least publicly. This is despite the United States being a leader in that arena for decades, as you can read more about in this seminal TWZ feature.

All of this reflects China’s ever-more prominent position in the uncrewed aviation space. This was further punctuated this year by the emergence of what appears to be a very large, high-altitude, long-endurance, stealthy flying wing-type drone, which TWZ was first to report on and that may now be flying.

Crewed military aviation developments have also continued apace in China. This includes the J-36 and J-XDS (also referred to as the J-50) next-generation crew combat jets that broke cover last December, followed shortly thereafter by a new jet-powered airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Y-20 airlifter. Just last month, another new Chinese stealth tactical jet design, which may or may not be piloted, emerged. A two-seat variant of the J-20, which would be well suited to the airborne drone controller role, and the J-35, a next-generation carrier-based fighter, also look poised to enter service.

As noted earlier, the parade in Beijing tomorrow will serve as a spotlight for a host of other advanced PLA capabilities, including new ballistic and cruise missiles, air and missile defense systems, armored vehicles, and uncrewed maritime platforms. Many of these systems factor directly into the Chinese anti-access and aerial denial ‘bubbles’ that Gen. Schneider mentioned as being among the challenges the Air Force will need to stay ahead of in order to succeed in any future high-end fight in the Pacific. This is also part of the expanding and evolving threat ecosystem facing U.S. airbases and other facilities across the region.

“I think there’s a couple of takeaways for us and things that we continue to take a look at [when it comes to base defense and resilience],” Schneider also said during today’s talk. “One is detection and sensing, our ability to recognize that our attacks are inbound, or even before they’re inbound, how an enemy or a potential enemy is starting to posture their forces. So indication and warning, and those capabilities that give us indication and warnings.”

Then there is “our ability to flush, our ability to get aircraft into the air quickly, to put fuel in aircraft, to put munitions on aircraft,” he continued. “As an outcome of that, [there is] our ability to repair runways, and what it is that we need for rapid airfield damage repair capability, whether it’s pre-staging equipment or new and innovative ways of putting fixes and taking holes and turning them into usable surfaces again.”

The PACAF commander also highlighted the ability to rapidly deploy forces, something the Air Force is focused heavily on as part of its Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concepts of operations, as well as active air and missile defenses provided by other services. Only a brief mention was given to talk of more physical hardening of facilities against attacks, which remains a source of very heated debate within the Air Force and the rest of the U.S. military, as you can read more about here.

Altogether, Gen. Schneider’s comments today are certainly meant to underscore confidence, at least publicly, that the U.S. Air Force and the rest of the U.S. military remain ahead of the PLA on the capability curve. At the same time, despite the continued downplaying by American officials, there are clear signs of growing concern about more and more advanced Chinese military developments.

Contact the author: [email protected]

United States President Donald Trump has announced that he will allow 600,000 Chinese students into US universities.

His announcement on Monday, which marks a sharp departure from the Trump administration’s crackdown on Chinese students launched earlier this year, has caught his conservative base off guard.

Here is more about what Trump is saying now, in contrast to what the administration has said in the past – and how some within his Make America Great Again (MAGA) support base are reacting.

What has Trump announced about Chinese students?

During a meeting on Monday at the Oval Office with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, reporters asked Trump whether he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump responded: “President Xi would like me to come to China. It’s a very important relationship. As you know, we are taking a lot of money in from China because of the tariffs and different things.”

He then talked about Chinese students: “I hear so many stories about ‘We are not going to allow their students’, but we are going to allow their students to come in. We are going to allow it. It’s very important – 600,000 students.”

On Tuesday, during a cabinet meeting, Trump reiterated his recent sentiments about Chinese students, saying, “I told this to President Xi that we’re honoured to have their students here.

“Now, with that, we check and we’re careful, we see who is there.”

Trump said that the US would struggle without Chinese students.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Trump told Xi during a phone call in June that “the US loves to have Chinese students coming to study in America”.

How has the Chinese government reacted?

Speaking at a regular news conference on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun expressed hope that Trump would act on his commitment to admit Chinese students into US universities.

Guo also urged the US to stop “unprovoked harassment, interrogation and deportation” of Chinese students.

What has the Trump administration said about Chinese students in the past?

In late May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Trump would “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students.

In an X post, Rubio wrote: “The US will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”

The Trump administration did not provide clear details at the time about which students would be affected by the revocations. Observers viewed the brief announcement as intentionally vague.

“I think the vagueness is part of the [Trump administration’s] strategy, because it is not about a concrete policy,” Kyle Chan, a researcher on China at Princeton University, told Al Jazeera in May. “I don’t think it’s really, at the end of the day, about national security and trying to find the few individuals who may pose a genuine risk.”

In August, the US State Department revoked 6,000 international student visas because of violations of US law and overstays, according to the BBC, which quoted an unnamed department official. The nationalities of the students whose visas had been revoked were not known.

While Rubio did not specify what qualifies as a “critical field”, in March, a US congressional committee of the House of Representatives sent a letter to leadership at multiple US universities requesting information about Chinese nationals enrolled in advanced science, technology, engineering, and medicine programmes on their campuses.

John Moolenaar, chair of the congressional committee, claimed that the Chinese Communist Party was placing Chinese researchers in top US institutions to access sensitive technology.

How many Chinese students are there in the US?

During the 2023-2024 academic year, 277,398 Chinese students were enrolled in US universities, making up 24.5 percent of the 1.13 million international students, according to the annual Open Doors report from the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the US State Department.

According to the report, Chinese students were second only to Indian students, who constituted 29 percent of international students in the 2023-2024 year.

During the 2022-2023 academic year, Chinese students made up 27.4 percent of the international student population.

The proportion was even higher in 2020-2021, when 34.7 percent of international students in the US were from China.

What is behind Trump’s latest announcement about admitting Chinese students?

During an interview with Fox News on Monday, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said Trump’s recent statements stem from a “rational economic view”.

Lutnick said that 15 percent of US universities would go out of business without international students.

International students at US colleges and universities contributed $43.8bn to the US economy and supported more than 378,000 jobs during the 2023-2024 academic year, according to data released by the nonprofit organisation, NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

According to NAFSA, there were 1.1 million international students in the US, each contributing about $39,800 on average.

By that calculation, the 277,398 Chinese students in the US in 2023-24 would have contributed in excess of $11bn to the US economy that year.

How have Trump supporters reacted?

Trump’s recent statements have drawn ire from some within his MAGA base.

Republican Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote in an X post on Monday: “If refusing to allow these Chinese students to attend our schools causes 15 percent of them to fail then these schools should fail anyways because they are being propped up by the CCP.”

We should not let in 600,000 CHINESE students to attend American colleges and universities that may be loyal to the CCP.

If refusing to allow these Chinese students to attend our schools causes 15% of them to fail then these schools should fail anyways because they are being…

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) August 26, 2025

Trump ally and far-right internet personality Laura Loomer made a series of posts on X opposing Trump’s idea of bringing in Chinese students. One of the posts read: “Nobody, I repeat nobody, wants 600,000 more Chinese ‘students’ aka Communist spies in the United States.”

News site Axios reported that former White House adviser and Trump aide Steve Bannon said on Tuesday: “Any foreign student that does come here ought to have an exit visa stapled to his or her diploma to leave immediately. Give them 30 days.”

Right-wing internet personality Christopher Rufo wrote in an X post on Monday: “We can’t accept 600,000 Chinese students. If anything, we should reduce the number of Chinese visas, especially for students with political connections to the CCP.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the main party in China, with about 100 million card-carrying members. China has about 400 million families, so on average, one in every four Chinese citizens has an immediate relative in the CCP.