Kinaforum

fredag 2. oktober 2026

US bans Chinese data center gear as Beijing grounds its AI talent

The artificial intelligence (AI) race between the United States and China has accelerated in model protection, supply chains and talent controls, even as the two nations’ leaders agreed last week to open a new dialogue on AI safety.

A string of moves announced or uncovered this week shows that both sides are now guarding their models, hardware and engineers more tightly than ever. The rivalry has spread from chips to the data center equipment and the people behind the technology.

OpenAI said Wednesday that it had disrupted a coordinated campaign of adversarial distillation, the unauthorized use of one model’s outputs to train another. It attributed a core cluster of the activity to individuals associated with Moonshot AI, the Beijing-based developer of the Kimi K3 chatbot, and said it had shut down related activity across more than 15,000 users by July 28.

As India and China repair ties, a Tibet film tells the story of a forgotten resistance

In the mountains of Nepal’s Mustang region, just hours from the homeland he had never seen, Tenzin Rigzin Phurpatsang struggled to breathe the air his Tibetan ancestors had adapted to over generations. The thin air felt heavy.

The 37-year-old, first-time actor was in Mustang to film “Four Rivers Six Ranges,” a historical drama about resistance fighters who helped the Dalai Lama escape Tibet in 1959. A year later, Phurpatsang’s own grandfather, Yeshi Wangyal, had returned to Tibet after CIA training to lead a separate guerrilla mission. He was killed fighting Chinese forces.

Born in exile in India, Phurpatsang is now a New York model. As he filmed firefight scenes in the mountains, a world away from his life, he thought of his family’s past.

“Wow, is that what my grandfather went through?” he asked himself.

Restaurant named after Xi Jinping attacked by Chinese nationals in South Korea

A restaurant in South Korea named after Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been vandalised by a group of Chinese nationals who fled home right after the attack, police say. Surveillance footage from the restaurant in Seongnam, a city south of Seoul, shows four masked men storming the premises in the early hours of 24 September, smashing furniture and spraying lacquer.

The restaurant's owner told local media he picked the name Xi Jinping because he "wanted it to be the best Chinese restaurant [in South Korea]". He added that "There was no political intent". The restaurant has been running for eight years but only began getting demands for a name change over the past year, The Chosun Daily reported.

China has cracked down on AI relationships. Is it ahead of the game?

In early 2024, a young man in the city of Huangshi, south-eastern China, reportedly posted a message on the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin. The caption read: "Farewell to this world." Within minutes, the suicide prevention team at Douyin kicked into gear. The team, which is staffed 24 hours a day, shared the man's posts with five police stations in Huangshi.

After geolocating one of his videos to a local park, police found him in emotional distress and intervened before he was able to take his own life. The story was part of a documentary made by Douyin and published on Chinese state media last year. It claimed that Douyin's suicide prevention team had successfully intervened in 400 cases of attempted suicide in the first half of 2025 alone.

Japan raises permanent residency fee by 20 times

Japan has raised fees for foreigners seeking permanent residency in the country by 20 times to 200,000 yen ($1,270; £955). Those seeking permanent residency must now also meet new income, pension and Japanese-language requirements.

Long lines formed outside immigration offices earlier this week as applicants sought to beat the fee hikes, with Tokyo's main immigration bureau reporting wait times of over seven hours. The fee increases are part of a series of changes to Japan's immigration policy under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, which aim to manage its rapidly growing foreign population.

In July, Japan implemented a five-fold increase in visa fees for all foreigners – its first visa fee hike in 50 years. Authorities said this was meant to "reflect inflation and exchange rate fluctuations".

Spain and China are cosying up - to the anger of many in the EU

On the streets of Barcelona, fiery red and gold Chinese dragons (presumably with very sweaty people inside the costumes) danced among delighted crowds, while Chinese acrobats elicited gasps of amazement as they rolled, tossed and threw spherical lanterns in the air, keeping - as if by magic - the candle inside them upright at all times.

Shanghai made history this week: the first Asian metropolis to be invited as the city of honour to Barcelona's famously rambunctious cultural festival, La Merce. Vast street processions here are overwhelmingly aimed at celebrating centuries-old Catalan traditions. So it was quite something to witness velvet-clad Catalan pipers, sashaying down Barcelona's main boulevards, their medieval tunes intermingling with lilting music that accompanied flocks of brightly dressed Chinese performers.

Shanghai Vice Mayor Lu Shan flew to Barcelona to speak at La Merce's opening ceremony. Chinese and Catalan cultural traditions differ in form, he remarked, but they share "a common spirit".

South Korean President Lee warns of ‘measures’ against Ukraine over prisoner row, demands apology

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday slammed Ukraine over its disclosure of handing North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul, demanding a public apology and threatening “additional measures” against Kyiv.

In a post on X, Lee said that Kyiv had unilaterally revealed that some captured North Korean soldiers had been sent to South Korea, despite having demanded confidentiality and later claiming there was no secrecy agreement, making the Korean leader look like a “liar.” “As this is a matter concerning the honor of the Republic of Korea’s people and nation, we cannot overlook it,” he said.

Inside Man: How Chinese spies used lies, love and betrayal to target the Federal Reserve

John Harold Rogers was walking Prada, his tiny spaniel, past a school bus stop in his suburban Washington neighborhood when FBI agents surrounded him. They handcuffed the former senior Federal Reserve official and took him into custody to face charges of spying for China.

An agent took Prada’s leash, and investigators from multiple federal agencies began an intensive search of Rogers’ house.

The now 65-year-old economist was arrested in January 2025, days before he was set to travel to China with his wife, a Chinese national, and their 6-year-old daughter. Investigators believed that Rogers passed information about the Fed to a Chinese government spy, who, over more than a decade, helped him with his career, his finances and his marriage to a woman 24 years his junior.

UK accuses China of using academics to spy on AI and other tech research

Britain’s MI5 spy agency issued an unprecedented alert on Wednesday to warn that a Chinese organization was involved in funding academic research into topics such as AI on behalf ‌of Beijing’s state security service. In its “Espionage Alert”, MI5 said more than 100 UK-based academics had contributed to projects funded by the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI), which had “very strong ties” to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), Beijing’s civilian intelligence service.

“MI5 has identified that the primary purpose of CGTRI is to fund academic research that directly improves MSS technical capability for espionage,” the alert said.

“UK academics have contributed to CGTRI-funded projects on topics including Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography. This activity supports MSS espionage, which poses a threat to UK national security.”

One of Xi’s top security officials has been identified – with the help of a White House guest list

One of China’s most important - and mysterious - security officials has stepped out of the shadows and been identified, thanks in part to a guest list published by the White House.

The man, a bespectacled official with a neat crew-cut who has made a handful of appearances alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping in recent years, has long been considered by China watchers to be Zhou Hongxu, the Director of the Central Guard Bureau, an office similar to the US Secret Service. Beijing has never publicly confirmed Zhou’s job title, and his official biography has few clarifying details.

It was only when the White House published a list of Chinese guests and their official titles for the recent state banquet hosted by US President Donald Trump for Xi that Zhou’s official position was finally confirmed.

Exile administration releases revised vision paper for Tibet and its democratic governance

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) at Dharamshala, India, has on Sep 30 released a revised version of its “Vision Paper: Securing Tibet’s Future”, encapsulating the totality of its political, administrative, and socio-economic policies, programmes, and goals.

The paper defines CTA’s two key responsibilities as: seeking an early resolution to the Sino-Tibet conflict and promoting the welfare of the Tibetan community in exile, while also ensuring efficient and effective administrative functioning of the CTA through strengthening its capacity.

Guided by the principles of Equitable Justice, Cooperative Effort, and Moving Forward, the revised paper aims to provide clear direction and guidance to the staff and leadership of the CTA. It seeks to further strengthen institutional efficiency, enhance productivity, foster cohesive collaboration, promote sustainability, and ensure greater self-reliance in the face of emerging challenges, said the CTA on its Tibet.net website Sep 30.

Senate punts bill to permanently ban Chinese cars until after midterm elections

Legislation to permanently ban the sale of Chinese vehicles in the United States stalled out on Wednesday as senators struggled to seal an agreement, virtually guaranteeing that the bill will have to wait until after the November elections.

The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, aims to prevent China’s auto industry from gaining a foothold in the U.S. market. It would ban the import, manufacture and sale of internet-connected vehicles, software and hardware linked to China or other foreign adversaries, including Russia and North Korea.

Chinese automakers are already effectively banned from selling or building vehicles in the U.S. under a policy put into place by the Biden administration, but senators are hoping to more permanently shut the door.

In China’s Taoist martial arts schools, fighting is only part of the lesson

There was a time when Chinese master Yuan Shimao thought martial arts were all about punching and kicking. As a young practitioner, he focused on speed and strength.

“I trained that way for many years without becoming still enough to search within myself,” said Yuan, who founded a kung fu academy in central China in 2004. “But as you gradually settle into stillness, you begin to understand what the scriptures mean by spirit,” he added. “You can begin to rediscover yourself.”

That process is known as “entering the Dao” in martial arts. It is a guiding principle at Yuan’s academy in the sacred Wudang Mountains, where disciplines like kung fu and tai chi draw on Taoist thought. Practitioners like Yuan start by strengthening the body. As they progress, the mind becomes more resilient and willpower develops.

What Actually Happened at the Xi-Trump Summit

Was the Trump-Xi summit a success? Despite all the pomp and circumstance of the state visit, the deliverables announced by the two sides were partial and circumscribed. But how much that matters depends on what you think is the point of meetings between the two presidents.

Is it to maintain diplomatic stability between China and the United States? Beijing and Washington agreed to elevate their bilateral ambitions by building a “constructive relationship of strategic stability on the basis of respect, fairness, and reciprocity.” Both Trump and Xi confirmed their intention to attend November’s APEC summit in Shenzhen and December’s G20 summit in Miami, setting the stage for a record four presidential meetings this year. But the trade truce was extended only by two months, meaning that these meetings will likely focus on working out how to extend the status quo.

China’s Young Women Are Rewriting the Rules of Adulthood

In the U.S. state of Hawai‘i, Iris lives far from the pressures of urban China. Growing up in Zhejiang, she spent much of her childhood on what her mother called “self-improvement”: Olympiad math, piano lessons, and daily swimming. After graduating from New York University (NYU), Iris chose a simple, quiet life in Hawai‘i, using geographic distance to protect her personal autonomy from the pressure facing Chinese women in their 20s to settle down, marry, and have children.

Halfway across the world, Jessica is confronting the same expectations from within China. After studying in Shanghai and Europe and working at an international organization in New York, where a mentor once urged her to stop working late and “enjoy the New York night,” Jessica returned to China to finish her master’s thesis and enter the domestic job market.

Nepal floods leave women and girls vulnerable Lekhanath Pandey in Kathmandu

One month after deadly flash floods in Nepal swept away Karishma Tamang's community in Rasuwa District, the pregnant 26-year-old is still struggling to find a safe place to call home. Karishma, who is expecting her second child, has been moving from place to place with her 4-year-old daughter since the devastating floods swept through Nepal's Bhotekoshi-Trishuli river corridor near the Chinese border at the end of August.

"Initially, we were kept in a covered hall at Bidur Municipality in Nuwakot District," she told DW, adding that hundreds of people shared the same shelter for days.

"Now we have shifted to a small makeshift family tent at the nearby Barahachaur area. Still, we can't sleep during rainy nights as it leaks when it rains." Her brother and his two children remain missing after the flood.

Trump disputes his ambassador’s account that he asked China’s president if he wanted to buy US arms

President Donald Trump disputed that he asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping if he wanted to buy weapons from the United States, contradicting an account from the U.S. ambassador to China.

Trump on Monday acted confused when a reporter asked him about Ambassador David Perdue’s remarks over the weekend, suggesting the diplomat was confusing China with Taiwan. But then Trump said “maybe it’s a good idea” to make such an offer to China. The whiplash over the prospect of arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival underlines the Trump administration’s often uncoordinated and contradictory approach to China, including Xi’s pomp-filled state visit to Washington last week during which Trump appeared to get little in return on key issues.

Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Sunday” days after the summit, didn’t specify when the offer was made. But such a proposal, if realized, would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and expose U.S. technology to a potential foe.

Factory activity returns to expansion in a positive sign for China’s economy

China’s factory activity expanded in September for the first time in three months, striking a more positive tone as Chinese officials look to bolster economic growth. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, climbed to 50.1 from 49.8 in August, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. The index reading, based on an official monthly survey of companies, was in line with what economists had expected.