While the world was focused on the Iran war, the Chinese Academy of Engineering removed three names from its official roster

QUORA

Icon for China - World Leader.

China – World Leader. · 

Posted by BL CheahMar 17

Small thing?

The academy lists 989 members. Almost nobody will have noticed this.

But Chinese netizens were not fooled.3 Military Tech Experts Removed From China’s Top Engineering AcademyRadar, missile, and nuclear specialists disappear from China’s top engineering body as a broader shake-up spreads across the defense industry. https://www.ntd.com/3-military-tech-experts-removed-from-chinas-top-engineering-academy_1132476.html

These three people were military tech experts. One a top radar scientist, one a top missile guidance specialist, and one a nuclear weapons engineer. And there is an ongoing purge in China’s defense industry.

Tiếp tục đọc “While the world was focused on the Iran war, the Chinese Academy of Engineering removed three names from its official roster”

All Railroads Lead to China: China’s Borderlands Strategy of Integration in Laos

Laos shift from landlocked to land-linked by lowering transport costs, boosting trade, attracting investment and tourism

Stepping onto the Laos-China Railway (LCR) in Luang Prabang, the picturesque former royal capital in Northern Laos, brings a rush of aesthetic familiarity to anyone who has ridden the high-speed rail in China. From the train station massage chairs to the voice over the loudspeaker and the advertisements on seatbacks, the experience is decidedly Chinese. The result is both comforting and disorienting: riders feel they are not quite in China, but not quite all the way out of it either. China’s borderlands strategy of integration through connectivity results in borders that are blurred and shifted. The LCR is a physical manifestation of this new kind of borderland.

Opened in December 2021, the LCR is celebrated by China and Laos as a major accomplishment. President Xi Jinping called the LCR a “landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.”1 The railway connects the Yunnan provincial capital of Kunming to Laos’s national capital of Vientiane, covering one thousand kilometers in less than ten hours—a trip that previously took days.2 It is a marvel of modern engineering, traversing the mountain jungle terrain of southern Yunnan and northern Laos with a long series of tunnels and bridges. It is the first leg constructed of China’s vision for a pan-Asia railway system connecting Kunming to Singapore via three trunks: Myanmar in the west, Laos and Thailand in the center, and Vietnam and Cambodia in the east.


The Laos-China Railway in Luang Prabang, Laos. By author, September 2025.

Tiếp tục đọc “All Railroads Lead to China: China’s Borderlands Strategy of Integration in Laos”

It turns out that China does have some serious heft to retaliate against Panama.

QUORA

Icon for China - World Leader.

China – World Leader. · 

Posted by BL CheahMar 15

Nice! Well done China!

It turns out that China does have some serious heft to retaliate against Panama. And the best thing is, the Panamanians can do practically nothing to retaliate against this. Anything they try is likely to cause more problems for themselves.

Those who have followed me should know that I posted about Panama’s actions having consequences. When they screwed over the biggest Chinese player, the port operator itself, it sent a chilling feeling down other Chinese players in the trade.

For instance, you can see this link to my previous post:https://qr.ae/pCfYTw

CK Hutchinson is a highly professional and respected port operator. Decades in the trade. Operates 53 ports across 24 countries. Decades of experience in Panama with billions invested.

Tiếp tục đọc “It turns out that China does have some serious heft to retaliate against Panama.”

How High-Speed Rail is Reshaping Chinese Regional Air Travel

cirium.com August 20, 2025

China’s high-speed rail network is reshaping regional air travel, challenging short-haul aviation and redefining how passengers move across the country. Yuanfei Zhao (Scott) explores the co-evolution of rail and air, and examines the implications for airline strategy, fleet demand and the future of China’s regional aviation market.

China’s transportation landscape has undergone a quiet but profound transformation, one that is redefining how people move across the country and recalibrating the roles of air and rail in the national mobility ecosystem. At the heart of this shift is the rapid rise of high-speed rail (HSR), which has not only captured market share from short-haul aviation but has fundamentally altered traveller behaviour, airline network strategies, and urban connectivity.

Tiếp tục đọc “How High-Speed Rail is Reshaping Chinese Regional Air Travel”

It’s not China suddenly becoming greater

QUORA

Icon for China's Future

China’s Future · 

Posted by Paul DenlingerFeb 3

It is more about the US’s decline rapidly accelerating and going out of control.

China made a lot of right moves, and the US made all the wrong moves because China made llong-term decisions, while the US always chose short-term expediencies.

Short-term expediencies eventually led to the US running out of road.

3.2K views

View 108 upvotes

View 4 shares

14 comments from 

Long Huang

 and more

In 2000, China’s president, Jiang Zemin, sat down for a rare interview with American television broadcast

CBSnews.com On the eve of his visit to the United States, China’s president, Jiang Zemin, sat down for a rare interview with Mike Wallace.

In a wide-ranging and surprisingly frank interview, Jiang talked about many topics, including relations between the United States and China, Tiananmen Square and American morals.

Britainnica.com

Jiang Zemin (born August 17, 1926, YangzhouJiangsu province, China—died November 30, 2022, Shanghai, China) was a Chinese official who was general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP; 1989–2002) and president of China (1993–2003).

Jiang joined the CCP in 1946 and graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University the following year with a degree in electrical engineering. He worked in several factories as an engineer before receiving further technical training in the Soviet Union about 1955. He subsequently headed technological research institutes in various parts of China. In 1980 Jiang became vice minister of the state commission on imports and exports. Two years later he became vice minister of the electronics industry and from 1983 to 1985 was its minister. He had meanwhile become a member of the Central Committee of the CCP in 1982. Named mayor of Shanghai in 1985, he joined the Political Bureau in 1987.

Tiếp tục đọc “In 2000, China’s president, Jiang Zemin, sat down for a rare interview with American television broadcast”

Iran’s Hormuz shipping disruptions raise risks for energy, fertilizers and vulnerable economies

Global Agriculutre

13 March 2026, London: Military tensions in West Asia are beginning to disrupt maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, raising serious concerns for global energy markets, fertilizer supplies and vulnerable economies. In a rapid assessment titled “Strait of Hormuz disruptions: Implications for global trade and development,” UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has highlighted the potential risks posed by interruptions in one of the world’s most critical trade corridors.

The Strait of Hormuz carries nearly one quarter of global seaborne oil trade, along with large volumes of liquefied natural gas and fertilizers. Any disruption in this narrow passage therefore has immediate consequences for global energy prices, maritime transport costs and agricultural input supply chains.

Tiếp tục đọc “Iran’s Hormuz shipping disruptions raise risks for energy, fertilizers and vulnerable economies”

China and Russia challenge the Arctic order

But understanding how means looking beyond their partnership

DIIS.dk DIIS Policy Brief 9 July 2025

Sino-Russian Arctic cooperation is real but limited – and should not distract from the broader strategic challenges each country poses individually. While the partnership merits attention, some aspects are more symbolic than substantive, with Russia ultimately controlling the pace and direction.

Media narratives often highlight the growing alignment between China and Russia in the Arctic and the potential threat this poses to other states. Yet the partnership remains constrained by diverging priorities, Russia’s wariness of Chinese influence, and China’s reluctance to expose itself to sanctions or engage in risky ventures.

At the same time Russia’s increasing dependence on China since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has given Beijing opportunities to pursue deeper access to the Russian Arctic on its own terms and in areas that align with its long-term objectives. Rather than engaging broadly, China is selective in how and where it invests or participates – a dynamic that could intensify underlying frictions between the two even as global geopolitical shifts continue to draw them closer in the region.

Tiếp tục đọc “China and Russia challenge the Arctic order”

Who owns the Arctic and Why the Arctic is climate change’s canary in the coal mine

Global warming is heating up the Arctic, and global powers like the United States, Russia and China are manoeuvring to stake a claim to the resources under its melting ice. Some experts say the region, once known as an exception – an island of international cooperation in the midst of geopolitical struggles – is becoming the site of a second cold war.

The Arctic may seem like a frozen and desolate environment where nothing ever changes. But the climate of this unique and remote region can be both an early indicator of the climate of the rest of the Earth and a driver for weather patterns across the globe. William Chapman explains why scientists often describe the Arctic as the “canary in the coal mine” when it comes to climate change

Who gets to have nuclear weapons and why?

Jul 30, 2025 #AJStartHere #CubanMissileCrisis #IsraelIranTensions
Israel and the US – both nuclear-armed states – recently attacked Iran. They said it was to prevent Iran getting a nuclear weapon, something Iran denies it’s trying to do.
What determines which countries can, and can’t, have nuclear weapons? And are we seeing a new nuclear race?

Chapters:
01:09 – How the Cuban Missile Crisis led to a new nuclear order.
01:58 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the nine nuclear-armed states.
04:49 – The key factors that affect a country’s calculation on nukes.
05:47 – Security: do nuclear weapons make a country more, or less, safe?
07:22 – The US nuclear umbrella – can it still be trusted?
08:10 – Do nuclear weapons enhance a country’s status?
09:40 – What’s going on with Iran?
14:32 – Who gets to police the global nuclear order?
14:52 – How the nine nuclear-armed states are increasing their spending on nukes.

Dark fleet tankers: Estonia’s case study warning for Southeast Asia

The increasing number of false-flagged and stateless tankers is reshaping maritime security challenges across the world’s sea lanes.

imarest.org

There are tankers that exploit gaps in international law by fraudulently registering under flags of convenience or assuming false identities to avoid enforcement. Indeed, approximately 100+ false-flagged tankers now operate with limited scrutiny in critical regions like the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, bringing new impetus to the questions for coastal states: do they have the legal right to act, and should they exercise that right? 

Estonia’s recent boarding of the tanker Kiwala has put these questions in the spotlight. Acting within its territorial sea, the Estonian Navy relied on the powers granted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to intervene when a vessel’s passage is no longer ‘innocent’. The vessel was known to be operating under a false flag — a clear violation of international shipping norms. 

Tiếp tục đọc “Dark fleet tankers: Estonia’s case study warning for Southeast Asia”

Europe’s youth have more realistic view of China

chinadaily.com By Kerry Brown,Zhang Li and Ivona Rajevac | China Daily | Updated: 2026-02-09 07:32

MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY

Editor’s note: The Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released a survey report in Beijing on Feb 4 examining European youth’s perceptions of China and China-EU relations. The report is based on a large-scale survey of nearly 20,000 respondents conducted across 36 European countries. Scholars and policy experts discussed the findings at the briefing. Below are excerpts of the remarks by three of the experts.

Opening their eyes to the real China

Europe stands at a critical juncture in evaluating its stance toward China, especially as the global geopolitical landscape grows increasingly complex in 2026. The survey findings reveal a nuanced mosaic of attitudes. Young Europeans, in particular, are engaging with China not merely through an ideological lens but by examining its tangible economic, technological and social footprint. This growing sophistication reflects both the accessibility of information through digital platforms and the lived realities of globalization, where China’s influence touches supply chains, consumer goods, education and technology.

The perception of China as a significant player in global technology is gaining traction. For European youth, understanding China is no longer a simple matter of curiosity; it is increasingly about engaging with a country that is transforming before their eyes. Long-held notions of China as a technologically backward or peripheral actor are rapidly fading. China’s investments in research and development now far exceed those of the United Kingdom, many European countries, and even the European Union in aggregate. In the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, China is set to strengthen its capabilities in life sciences, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and other critical sectors.

Tiếp tục đọc “Europe’s youth have more realistic view of China”

Bố Cái Đại Vương dùng điệu múa “Con đĩ đánh bồng” để khích lệ quân sĩ chiến đấu?

Chào các bạn,

Ngày nay chúng ta thỉnh thoảng nghe nói đến Phùng Hưng, Bố Cái Đại Vương, là thủ lĩnh chống lại ách đô hộ An Nam của nhà Đường năm 791, thời Bắc thuộc lần thứ 3 (602-905) trong lịch sử VN. Vương hiệu Bố Cái Đại Vương được coi là một trong những trường hợp sử dụng chữ Nôm cổ nhất VN – Bố Cái là cha mẹ.

Theo sách Việt điện u linh tập của Lý Thế Xuyên thì ông sinh vào năm 760, lên ngôi năm 791, và mất năm 802. Vậy là ông làm vua được 11 năm.

Ngày nay, chúng ta cũng thường nghe lưu truyền trong dân gian câu truyện cho rằng Phùng Hưng đã dùng điệu múa “Con đĩ đánh bồng” để khích lệ tinh thần binh sĩ trước ngày tấn công doanh trại đầu não của nhà Đường ở An Nam. Và câu truyện này có vẻ không được ổn về tâm lý, chiến lược quân sự, cũng như văn hóa chính trị trường kỳ.

Bố Cái Đại Vương Phùng Hưng
Tiếp tục đọc “Bố Cái Đại Vương dùng điệu múa “Con đĩ đánh bồng” để khích lệ quân sĩ chiến đấu?”

Top 10 Ship Building Countries In The World (Vietnam is on the list)

China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, USA, Germany, France, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Vietnam

marineinsight.com ByZahra AhmedFebruary 11, 2025

The shipbuilding industry is growing at a tremendous rate, with its market size expected to increase from USD 155.58 billion in 2025 to 203.76 billion in 2033, owing to greater container and dry bulk trade and the opening of new markets, per Straits Research. Around 85% of shipbuilding activities are concentrated in China, Japan, and South Korea, which are the top shipbuilding countries in the world.

Shipbuilding, which involves the construction of large seagoing vessels, manufacturing marine equipment, and refurbishing old vessels is a lucrative industry, propelled by the rising sea trade between countries, as the world population increases amidst rising consumer demands worldwide.

Apart from commercial vessels, naval vessels are also witnessing an increased demand with several navies like the Chinese and American, building new ships to showcase naval prowess.

ship building countries

In this article, we will mention the top 10 shipbuilding countries in the world, the majority of which are in Asia, Europe and the Americas, leading through their technological breakthroughs, and strategic investments in port infrastructure and ship equipment.

Tiếp tục đọc “Top 10 Ship Building Countries In The World (Vietnam is on the list)”