Kinaforum

onsdag 25. februar 2026

North Korea promotes Kim Jong Un’s sister as he vows to boost economy

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been promoted in the ruling party structure at the party congress, during which he set the country’s economic agenda for the next five years, according to state media.

The ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee named the North Korean leader’s sister, Kim Yo Jong – who was previously a deputy department director – as a full department director, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday.According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Kim Yo Jong will likely be assigned to lead the propaganda department, whose role includes overseeing inter-Korean relations or external strategies.

Thousands of party elites have packed the capital, Pyongyang, for the once-in-five-years Workers’ Party summit, a gathering that directs state efforts on everything from diplomacy to war planning.

China restricts exports to 40 Japanese entities with ties to military

China on Tuesday restricted exports to 40 Japanese entities it says are contributing to Japan’s “remilitarization,” in the latest escalation of tensions with Tokyo.

Beijing has shown continued displeasure with Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November implied Japan could intervene if China used military force against Taiwan, an island democracy China claims as its own. The Chinese Commerce Ministry put 20 Japanese companies on an export control list and 20 others on a separate watchlist.

Companies on the export control list will not be able to import from China dual-use goods, which can be used for civilian and military purposes. They include multiple business subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries involved in shipbuilding and the production of aircraft engines and maritime machinery, as well as some of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Fujitsu, among others.

Trade, Ukraine and new world order are top concerns on German leader’s visit to China

The first official trip to China by German Chancellor Friedrich Merzcomes as his country’s manufacturers face increasing pressure from Chinese competitors and as U.S. President Donald Trump shakes up a post-World War II global order that Europe has long depended on. Merz is set to arrive Wednesday for a two-day visit, the latest in a parade of world leaders to visit Beijing ahead of a trip by Trump in about five weeks.

Besides Germany’s growing trade deficit with China, Merz is expected to raise Chinese backing for Russia’s position in the war in Ukraine, though no change from the Chinese side is foreseen.

China is seeking support from other nations to push back against Trump’s challenges to international rules and organizations, but Merz has signaled wariness about China’s view of a 21st century order. Success may be measured by finding small ways to cooperate despite differences on major issues.

German leader arrives in China to press for fair trade and help ending Ukraine war

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is meeting China’s top leaders Wednesday at the start of a whirlwind two-day visit to press for a fair economic playing field for German companies, and China’s assistance in bringing about an end to Russia’s four-year-old war in Ukraine.

The German leader’s plane touched down in the late morning on an overcast day in the Chinese capital. Before his departure, he emphasized the importance of placing Germany’s China policy in a European context, saying it was no coincidence that he is visiting not long after French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — and ahead of a planned trip by U.S. President Donald Trump in early April.

“Our message from a European point of view is the same: We want partnership with China balanced, reliable, regulated and fair,” Merz said. “This is our offer. At the same time, it is what we also hope for and expect from the Chinese side.”

The real winner from the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling? China

The Supreme Court ruling that nullified global tariffs from United States President Donald Trump has created renewed uncertainty for many of its major trade partners – and a clear vindication for its biggest economic rival: China.

The dramatic rebuke to the US president’s trade agenda comes weeks before Trump is set to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a crucial three-day summit in Beijing to discuss high-priority topics such as trade, technology and Taiwan.

Tariffs have been one of Trump’s go-to tools for economic negotiations with other nations. But on Friday, Supreme Court justices ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority in utilizing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose broad tariffs on nearly all of its trade partners, including China.

Scale of Xi’s military purges could hinder China’s ability to fight, says think tank

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has taken his purge of the country’s military to the very top, targeting his highest-ranked general in a stunning move last month. But Xi’s shake-up cuts across a much wider swath of his armed forces –– with more than 100 officers potentially ousted since 2022.

A new report from a prominent Washington-based think tank reveals just how deeply the anti-corruption drive has reached into the ranks –– and why operationally, that could result in serious unintended consequences for Xi.

Thirty-six generals and lieutenant generals have been officially purged since 2022, while another 65 officers are listed as missing or potentially purged, the report published Tuesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found.

Young Americans are embracing ‘Chinamaxxing’. That’s a soft power boost for Beijing

This article may be meeting you at a very Chinese time in your life.

At least, if you’ve spent enough time recently on social media, where the phenomenon of “Chinamaxxing” has swept feeds with videos of people sipping hot water, shuffling around the house in slippers and donning a viral Adidas jacket resembling historic Chinese fashion.

These things, content creators joke, will help you “become Chinese” – reflecting a growing Western fascination with Chinese culture and aesthetics.“Morning routine as a new Chinese baddie,” one TikTok creator captioned a video in which he does a series of traditional Chinese exercises. Another video, viewed more than 2.4 million times as of late February, shows the creator boiling apples to make fruit tea – a supposedly old-school Chinese elixir for gut health.

Panama seizes 2 key canal ports from Hong Kong operator following Supreme Court ruling

The Panamanian government seized two ports at the entrances of the Panama Canal on Monday according to a Hong Kong-based company that has operated them for decades, a move triggered by a final Supreme Court ruling that declared the company’s concession unconstitutional.

A decree issued Monday authorized the Panama Maritime Authority to occupy the ports for “reasons of urgent social interest,” including all movable property within or outside the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals and specifically naming cranes, vehicles, computer systems and software.

A statement from the operator, CK Hutchison, said it had ceased operations at the ports after government officials arrived and took them over, threatening criminal prosecution if the company did not comply.

US sheds light on its allegation of Chinese nuclear test and urges nations to push for disarmament

A U.S. official focusing on arms control on Monday provided what he called new, declassified details of a Chinese underground nuclear test nearly six years ago and urged countries to press China and Russia to do more on nuclear disarmament.

Christopher Yeaw, assistant secretary of state for the bureau of arms control and nonproliferation, spoke to a U.N.-backed body after the last nuclear arms pact between the United States and Russia expired this month. That has ended limits on the arsenals of the world’s biggest nuclear powers and raised concerns about a possible new arms race.

Yeaw called for greater transparency from China and pointed to some shortcomings of the New START treaty, such as that it didn’t address Russia’s large arsenal of nonstrategic nuclear weapons — which counts up to 2,000 warheads.

Torbjørn Færøvik: Time passes - also for the Dalai Lama and those closest to him

Time passes — also for the Dalai Lama and those closest to him. Last year his elder brother died, and four days ago his youngest brother also passed away. Gyalo Thondup was 97; Tenzin Choegyal had just turned 80. Both left deep marks, not least the large and broad-shouldered Thondup. Yet he ended his days as a disappointed noodle maker in the town of Kalimpong in northern India.

“We human beings need not only the blessings of the gods, but also noodles,” he is said to have remarked in one of his lighter moments.

Gyalo Thondup — usually simply called Thondup — was the second eldest brother of the present Dalai Lama. Unlike his world-famous brother, he did not live as a monk, but as a political actor, diplomat and unofficial envoy for Tibet for more than sixty years. And as a noodle maker.

He was born in 1928 and grew up in modest circumstances. When his younger brother, nine years later, was recognized as the reincarnation of the recently deceased Dalai Lama, the entire family moved to the capital, Lhasa. Thondup was later educated in China, where he came into contact with people high and low — even with the nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, who governed the country at the time.

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Who’s laughing now? China’s humanoid robots go from viral stumbles to kung fu flips in one year

Chinese humanoid robots are having a moment in the spotlight after a standout performance at the country’s annual Spring Festival Gala earlier this week, with videos from the event circulating widely online. The gala, widely considered the world’s most-watched television program, featured robots from several startups performing everything from kung fu moves to choreographed dances to elaborate gymnastics displays.

The showing marked a sharp contrast from the 2025 Gala, which had featured less advanced versions of the robots twirling handkerchiefs in a wobbly folk dance. Around that time, public demonstrations of the humanoids often drew skepticism, such as a robot marathon in April that made headlines for stumbles, crashes and breakdowns.

China’s leverage rises before high-stakes summit as Supreme Court curbs Trump tariffs

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs has strengthened China’s hand ahead of a summit with his counterpart Xi Jinping, where Beijing is expected to push for reduced U.S. support for Taiwan, analysts said.

In a ruling Friday, the court said Trump wrongfully invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to implement broad tariffs. That decision has weakened Trump’s negotiating leverage as he prepared for a trip to Beijing in April, said Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “He has effectively had his wings clipped on his signature economic policy,” said Cutler, who was also a former U.S. trade representative.

Trump to make three-day visit to China next month, White House says

Donald Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2, the White House has said, in what will be the first official visit to Beijing by a United States president since Trump’s last trip there in 2017. The dates, confirmed by a White House official on Friday, come as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have respectively described “excellent” and “good communication” between the two countries in recent months.“That’s going to be a wild one,” Trump said on Thursday of the planned trip.

“We have to put on the biggest display you’ve ever had in the history of China,” Trump said.

The announcement of Trump’s China visit came shortly before the US Supreme Court on Friday struck down the tariffs that Trump had imposed on countries around the world, in a tactic the US president has openly used to influence other countries to support his policies.

Tariffs will likely be on the agenda in Beijing, as will China’s response to the US’s trade threats, including no longer buying soybeans, previously the top US export to China.

Hong Kong court rejects appeal in landmark subversion case

The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by jailed democracy campaigners in a high-profile subversion case brought under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

The verdict on Monday stems from the “Hong Kong 47” case, where many leading pro-democracy activists and politicians ⁠were arrested en masse ⁠for organising an unofficial primary election that authorities deemed to be a subversive plot.Forty-five of the defendants were sentenced in 2024 to between four years and 10 years in prison, with the punishments drawing criticism from foreign governments and rights groups.

Eleven of the activists who appealed their convictions lost their bids on Monday. They included former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Raymond Chan and Helena Wong, as well as former journalist Gwyneth Ho.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un re-elected as chief of Workers’ Party

⁠North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been re-elected as secretary-general of the nation’s Workers’ Party, extending his 15-year rule of the country’s sole governing party.

The election took place on Sunday, the fourth day of the party congress, held every five years, according to the state news agency KCNA. During the event, Central Committee members were also elected, and ⁠some party rules were modified, it ‌said without providing details.Kim has been North Korea’s supreme leader since the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.

In 2019, North Korea’s legislature approved constitutional changes to make Kim’s power “monolithic” over all state affairs, formally establishing him as head of state. During this year’s Workers’ Party Congress, Kim assessed the party’s last five years of work and outlined new strategies and goals for the next five-year period.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un pledges to lift living standards at rare congress

Dalai Lama’s 86th enthronement anniversary marked

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) marked on Feb 22 the 86th anniversary of the enthronement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the temporal head and spiritual leader of Tibet with the attendance of representatives from several religious faith systems on the Tsuglakhang courtyard in Dharamshala. The Dalai Lama himself did not attend the event.

Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and former Kalon Tripa Professor Samdhong Rinpoche were the Chief Guests. Among the guests of honour were Adrian Michael A Amatong and Rufus B Rodriguez from the Philippines House of Representatives.

Although the Dalai Lama was enthroned at the age of four, the Fifth Reting Rinpoche, who presided over the ceremony, continued to hold the reins of power as the Regent during his minority. He was succeeded by the Third Taktra Rinpoche (born 1874) in 1941. However, that all changed when China invaded Tibet and the Dalai Lama was compelled to assume full authority on Nov 17, 1950 at the age of 15.

Exclusive: US intelligence agencies tie Chinese explosive test to push for a completely new nuclear arsenal

US intelligence agencies believe that China is developing a new generation of nuclear weapons and has conducted at least one covert explosive test in recent years as part of a broader push to completely transform its nuclear arsenal into the world’s most technologically advanced, according to multiple sources familiar with the US intelligence assessments.

The US assessment of China’s intention to radically advance its nuclear weapons is fueling debate inside the intelligence community and beyond over whether there has been a shift in Beijing’s thinking on nuclear strategy, the sources said. The investment in its nuclear arsenal is pushing China closer to peer status with Russia and the US and could yield technical capabilities neither of the two dominant nuclear powers currently possess.

Trump won’t blink on tariffs — because he can’t

No, President Donald Trump isn’t looking for a new “most beautiful word” in the dictionary to replace his beloved tariffs. True to his philosophy of never accepting a defeat, he’s already battling back after the Supreme Court declared his exercise of emergency trade war powers unlawful.

Ahead of his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump is vowing to avenge the most damaging loss of his second term by promising even higher duties on imports. Many Republicans, however, would prefer a course correction as midterm elections loom.The president’s defiance brings great political risks for him and his party, and new uncertainties for an uneven economy. It is also already opening a new lane for Democratic attacks.

But he’s still convinced tariffs will unlock booming prosperity, even if a likelier outcome is a heavier affordability burden on millions of American voters.