Autumn has arrived, and it is time to take stock of Donald Trump’s activity on Truth Social over the past three months. That is where he addresses humanity with his proclamations and fits of rage. So here are the figures—but first, brace yourself against a doorframe or something similar, or sit down safely in a chair with sturdy armrests.
According to Roll Call’s database, Trump published 2,455 posts on Truth Social in June, July and August—681 in June, 750 in July and 1,024 in August. His activity was therefore highest in August, when he posted roughly once every 44 minutes, around the clock.
Trump does not write all the posts himself. The figures show only the activity on his account, not how many times he personally tapped away at his phone. His most important aide is Natalie Harp, Trump’s personal assistant. According to several American media outlets, she drafts some of the texts with him as he dictates. She also finds images, videos and other people’s posts that can be shared. Harp is also the one who logs into the account and presses the send button once Trump has approved the content.
onsdag 9. september 2026
Japan's empty temples seek new ways to survive
The 370-year-old structure has all the attributes of a classically designed Japanese temple, from the curved roof to the timber-frame walls, spacious tatami-mat prayer hall and elaborately decorated altar.
Set in manicured gardens on the Chita Peninsula in central Japan, the 350-square-meter (3,767-square-foot) property is on the market for 482 million yen (€2.66 million, US3.01 million). The estate agent's pitch says the price includes dismantling by "expert heritage craftsmen" and delivery to anywhere in Japan, where it would be fully restored into a "stunning" two- or three-bedroom home.
The sale and removal of the temple marks the end of its role in the local community in the hills above the Nagasawacho district, but it is a better fate than many places of worship across Japan. There are around 77,000 temples across the country, but as many as 17,000 no longer have a full-time resident priest as congregations have shrunk — particularly in rural districts experiencing rapid depopulation — and financial pressures have taken their toll.
Set in manicured gardens on the Chita Peninsula in central Japan, the 350-square-meter (3,767-square-foot) property is on the market for 482 million yen (€2.66 million, US3.01 million). The estate agent's pitch says the price includes dismantling by "expert heritage craftsmen" and delivery to anywhere in Japan, where it would be fully restored into a "stunning" two- or three-bedroom home.
The sale and removal of the temple marks the end of its role in the local community in the hills above the Nagasawacho district, but it is a better fate than many places of worship across Japan. There are around 77,000 temples across the country, but as many as 17,000 no longer have a full-time resident priest as congregations have shrunk — particularly in rural districts experiencing rapid depopulation — and financial pressures have taken their toll.
China Teaches the West About ‘Checkbook Diplomacy’ Again
A “landmark new treaty” expected between Australia and the Solomon Islands could become a roadblock for China's lightning diplomatic offense in the South Pacific—but it will come at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Canberra’s pledge to invest at least $980 million Australian dollars, or just over U.S. $700 million, in Honiara’s economy and politics was confirmed in a leaked text message first reported by Australia’s ABC News.The deal will be welcome news for Washington, D.C. It would make the Solomon Islands the latest Pacific island nation to pivot away from China, after Australia concluded separate new security agreements this summer with Vanuatu and Fiji. Chinese officials reacted poorly to the setbacks, having sent over $1 billion in aid to both countries in the last two decades.
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Canberra’s pledge to invest at least $980 million Australian dollars, or just over U.S. $700 million, in Honiara’s economy and politics was confirmed in a leaked text message first reported by Australia’s ABC News.The deal will be welcome news for Washington, D.C. It would make the Solomon Islands the latest Pacific island nation to pivot away from China, after Australia concluded separate new security agreements this summer with Vanuatu and Fiji. Chinese officials reacted poorly to the setbacks, having sent over $1 billion in aid to both countries in the last two decades.
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How not to be a human rights lawyer in China
China’s new rules for becoming a lawyer is a cautionary tale on how not to become one especially if one’s main interest is to become a human rights lawyer. The Party-state has made support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership an explicit legal qualification for lawyers, said an organiser.org commentary Sep 3, citing an amendment to the country’s Lawyers Law, adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Aug 28 and enacted on Sep 1.
The amendment turned a political requirement previously imposed through Ministry of Justice regulations into a formal requirement of national law. The move effectively introduced a political loyalty test for lawyers before they can practise in China. The change gives the requirement of political loyalty to the CCP a stronger statutory foundation.
The amendment turned a political requirement previously imposed through Ministry of Justice regulations into a formal requirement of national law. The move effectively introduced a political loyalty test for lawyers before they can practise in China. The change gives the requirement of political loyalty to the CCP a stronger statutory foundation.
Witnesses estimate deaths, missing in Tibet due to Aug 26 Nepal-border flash floods to be much higher
While China has said nothing about any devastation caused on towns, villages and other human settlements in Kyirong County in Tibet as a result of the catastrophic flash floods of ice, rock, mud, and, of course, water in the morning of Aug 26, the Tibetan Service of Radio Free Asia (rfa.org) reported Sep 6, citing a local Tibetan source, that 26 people had lost their lives in one village alone. However, the report did not say whether other villages and so forth were also hit by the flash flood.
China has officially confirmed that as of Sep 5, a total of 43 people had died on the Tibet side, with 519 people missing, including 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries.
The report cited the Tibetan resident as saying 26 people had died in Risur village, where the Gyirong Port is located.
China has officially confirmed that as of Sep 5, a total of 43 people had died on the Tibet side, with 519 people missing, including 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries.
The report cited the Tibetan resident as saying 26 people had died in Risur village, where the Gyirong Port is located.
Professor Thomas Kell: The Dilemma of the Democratic System of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile
As a researcher in Tibetan studies, I have interviewed many Tibetans in exile, including former Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, and heard numerous views on the “democratic system” of the Tibetan government-in-exile (referred to as Central Tibetan Administration, or CTA). In my opinion, the democratic system of the Tibetan government-in-exile suffers from multiple structural defects and practical dilemmas. The following represents only my personal views and is offered for discussion.
The democratic system of the Tibetan government-in-exile began in the 1960s. The Charter of the Tibetans-in-Exile of 1991 established a three-branch framework, and after the Dalai Lama formally transferred political power in 2011, it was further “democratized,” with the election of a Sikyong (political leader) and a parliament. However, it is not the democracy of a mature sovereign state, but a limited experiment of a refugee community in exile.
The democratic system of the Tibetan government-in-exile began in the 1960s. The Charter of the Tibetans-in-Exile of 1991 established a three-branch framework, and after the Dalai Lama formally transferred political power in 2011, it was further “democratized,” with the election of a Sikyong (political leader) and a parliament. However, it is not the democracy of a mature sovereign state, but a limited experiment of a refugee community in exile.
Remembering Gyirong: The Bustling Port That Vanished in a Flash
Photographer He Xu first passed through the China-Nepal border at Gyirong Port in 2010. He remembers that it was just a row of rustic, clay-colored bungalows. Over the past 16 years, he has revisited at least 100 times, witnessing the area’s steady growth, with those bungalows eventually replaced by a grand, imposing building.
Yet that progress came to a violent halt on the morning of Aug. 26, when a flash flood caused by a mountain glacier ripped through the port in Shigatse, in China’s southwestern Xizang Autonomous Region. As of Sept. 2, the disaster had killed at least 1,204 in Nepal and 21 in China, according to Xinhua News Agency. Almost 5,000 people remain missing, including 546 in Gyirong.
Yet that progress came to a violent halt on the morning of Aug. 26, when a flash flood caused by a mountain glacier ripped through the port in Shigatse, in China’s southwestern Xizang Autonomous Region. As of Sept. 2, the disaster had killed at least 1,204 in Nepal and 21 in China, according to Xinhua News Agency. Almost 5,000 people remain missing, including 546 in Gyirong.
On the ground in China’s wiped-out border zone, the fate of hundreds is still unknown
A rock-strewn crevasse is all that remains of what used to be Gyirong Port. The high-altitude hub has been completely washed from existence, leaving a moonscape of stones, gravel and sludge still being searched by emergency workers, as witnessed by a CNN team that gained access to the site on Sunday as part of a government-organized visit.
Reporters were given hard hats and boots, to contend with the still-unstable mud-caked ground, and the ever-present risk of further landslides. This border crossing was once a bustling nexus for tourists and traders moving between China and Nepal. Hundreds of people would typically pass through each day going to or from Nepal’s Rasuwa port, just across the river.
Reporters were given hard hats and boots, to contend with the still-unstable mud-caked ground, and the ever-present risk of further landslides. This border crossing was once a bustling nexus for tourists and traders moving between China and Nepal. Hundreds of people would typically pass through each day going to or from Nepal’s Rasuwa port, just across the river.
tirsdag 8. september 2026
The embedded AI inside ‘Made in China’
Western coverage of Chinese artificial intelligence still tends to treat the competition as a model contest: can a Chinese company match the best American system? China is certainly in that race.
But it is also pursuing a quieter route. Chinese companies are putting AI into cars, robots, cameras, smartphones, appliances, and industrial equipment already manufactured at an enormous scale.“Made in China” once meant where the hardware was assembled.
Increasingly, origin also involves who wrote the software, where the data travels, and who can update the product after it has been sold. The product’s identity is no longer settled when it leaves the factory. Software provenance is becoming a second country of origin. The border has moved inside the machine.
But it is also pursuing a quieter route. Chinese companies are putting AI into cars, robots, cameras, smartphones, appliances, and industrial equipment already manufactured at an enormous scale.“Made in China” once meant where the hardware was assembled.
Increasingly, origin also involves who wrote the software, where the data travels, and who can update the product after it has been sold. The product’s identity is no longer settled when it leaves the factory. Software provenance is becoming a second country of origin. The border has moved inside the machine.
50 years on, Mao still matters in China
On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong died. The revolutionary leader who led the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to power and founded the People's Republic of China left behind a profoundly contradictory historical legacy.
He shaped the narratives of revolution, nation-building and national independence, but also left behind immense social trauma as a result of successive political campaigns and persecutions.Over the past five decades, China has undergone radical changes.
When Mao died, China was still a poor and relatively isolated communist state. Today, it is the world's second-largest economy, deeply embedded in the supply and value chains of global capitalism, with a vast private sector, a large urban middle class and a highly digitalized society.
Zhang Lun, a professor at Cergy-Paris University, said Mao left behind four major political legacies: the authoritarian and highly centralized political system; a model of governance that relies on revolution and political campaigns to solve social problems; populist tendencies marked by anti-elitism and anti-rationalism; and utopian visions of egalitarianism and moralism.
He shaped the narratives of revolution, nation-building and national independence, but also left behind immense social trauma as a result of successive political campaigns and persecutions.Over the past five decades, China has undergone radical changes.
When Mao died, China was still a poor and relatively isolated communist state. Today, it is the world's second-largest economy, deeply embedded in the supply and value chains of global capitalism, with a vast private sector, a large urban middle class and a highly digitalized society.
Zhang Lun, a professor at Cergy-Paris University, said Mao left behind four major political legacies: the authoritarian and highly centralized political system; a model of governance that relies on revolution and political campaigns to solve social problems; populist tendencies marked by anti-elitism and anti-rationalism; and utopian visions of egalitarianism and moralism.
Chinese theater, promoter fined for altered patriotic song in a comedy show
Authorities fined two companies and said that one of China’s best-known comedians had caused a “negative impact” on society, after an audience reported him for changing the lyrics of a patriotic song during a performance.
The Culture and Tourism Bureau in Wuhan city said Monday they found the comedian Guo Degang “distorted” a patriotic song. It fined the company hosting Guo and the theater for violating rules on commercial performances. It also said it will “deal seriously” with relevant personnel, without specifying what those punishments will entail.
Guo is considered the country’s most prominent performer of traditional xiangsheng, a form of Chinese comedic dialogue using word play and rhymes. He was placed under investigation by the Wuhan authorities in August, local media reported.
The Culture and Tourism Bureau in Wuhan city said Monday they found the comedian Guo Degang “distorted” a patriotic song. It fined the company hosting Guo and the theater for violating rules on commercial performances. It also said it will “deal seriously” with relevant personnel, without specifying what those punishments will entail.
Guo is considered the country’s most prominent performer of traditional xiangsheng, a form of Chinese comedic dialogue using word play and rhymes. He was placed under investigation by the Wuhan authorities in August, local media reported.
China’s exports pick up in August, jumping 25% as its trade surplus widens
China’s exports jumped 25% in August from a year earlier on strong demand for autos and high-tech goods as its record trade surplus widened further, its customs agency said Tuesday.
The data was broadly in line with what economists had expected and comes just ahead of a planned meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. That’s set for late September, though Beijing has not yet confirmed the exact date for the visit. Trade is expected to be among the key topics of discussion between Trump and Xi when the two leaders meet.
China’s global imports climbed 28.2% in August from a year earlier, up from July’s 27.5% rise. Exports grew 23.9% year-on-year in July. The trade surplus expanded in August to $119.1 billion from $112.5 billion in July.
The data was broadly in line with what economists had expected and comes just ahead of a planned meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. That’s set for late September, though Beijing has not yet confirmed the exact date for the visit. Trade is expected to be among the key topics of discussion between Trump and Xi when the two leaders meet.
China’s global imports climbed 28.2% in August from a year earlier, up from July’s 27.5% rise. Exports grew 23.9% year-on-year in July. The trade surplus expanded in August to $119.1 billion from $112.5 billion in July.
China’s Huawei Technologies faces racketeering trial in New York
Huawei Technologies, a leading Chinese tech company, faces a criminal racketeering trial in New York over charges that it stole technology, plotted to steal U.S. trade secrets and committed wire and bank fraud, among other crimes.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday. The indictment alleges that, besides stealing trade secrets, Huawei and some of its subsidiaries did business in North Korea despite U.S. sanctions there and installed surveillance equipment that helped Iran spy on protesters during 2009 anti-government demonstrations in Iran.
Huawei’s lawyers have tried to get the broad criminal case dismissed, arguing in court filings that the U.S. allegations were too vague and impermissibly tried to extend American authority abroad. The company said in a statement that the narrative pushed by U.S. prosecutors is “demonstrably false.”
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday. The indictment alleges that, besides stealing trade secrets, Huawei and some of its subsidiaries did business in North Korea despite U.S. sanctions there and installed surveillance equipment that helped Iran spy on protesters during 2009 anti-government demonstrations in Iran.
Huawei’s lawyers have tried to get the broad criminal case dismissed, arguing in court filings that the U.S. allegations were too vague and impermissibly tried to extend American authority abroad. The company said in a statement that the narrative pushed by U.S. prosecutors is “demonstrably false.”
Japan protests as China slaps new measures against its exports of a key chipmaking material
Japan has protested against Chinese controls that will limit its exports of a key chemical used to make computer chips, saying Tuesday that Tokyo is studying the potential impact on Japanese companies. China imposed the curb on imports of dichlorosilane from Japan, saying its exports of the material, also known as DCS, have violated anti-dumping regulations and harmed China’s domestic industry.
Beginning Tuesday, companies importing the chemical compound from Japan must provide cash deposits to China’s customs at rates of up to 99.2%. The measure applies to Shin-Etsu Chemical and Denal Silane, among other Japanese exporters of DCS. Beijing says the measure is provisional as an investigation continues. A final ruling will come later.
Beginning Tuesday, companies importing the chemical compound from Japan must provide cash deposits to China’s customs at rates of up to 99.2%. The measure applies to Shin-Etsu Chemical and Denal Silane, among other Japanese exporters of DCS. Beijing says the measure is provisional as an investigation continues. A final ruling will come later.
Netizen Voices, on Gyirong Floods: “Controlling Speech is One Area Where ‘China Speed’ is Actually Real.”
Chinese cyberspace authorities announced that ten people from Tibet and several other provinces have been hit with unspecified administrative punishments (likely fines) for “spreading rumors” online about the death toll and scale of the massive debris-flow that destroyed the Gyirong checkpoint on the China-Nepal border late last month.
Nearly two weeks after an upstream glacial collapse destroyed the border crossing and inundated many villages in its path, Nepalese authorities have confirmed a death toll of at least 1,342, with 4,886 people still missing and search and rescue efforts ongoing. On the Tibet side, Chinese authorities have confirmed that 43 people died and 519 remain missing. Information and independent reporting in Tibet continue to be tightly controlled, with Chinese state media focusing on government rescue efforts rather than on the human toll of the disaster.
Nearly two weeks after an upstream glacial collapse destroyed the border crossing and inundated many villages in its path, Nepalese authorities have confirmed a death toll of at least 1,342, with 4,886 people still missing and search and rescue efforts ongoing. On the Tibet side, Chinese authorities have confirmed that 43 people died and 519 remain missing. Information and independent reporting in Tibet continue to be tightly controlled, with Chinese state media focusing on government rescue efforts rather than on the human toll of the disaster.
mandag 7. september 2026
Reading My Own Life - The Choices and Contradictions of a Generation of Urban Chinese Women
A few months ago, a book with a slightly torn ticket on its lilac cover began emerging on my Instagram feed. A small, faint Chinese translation of the title and the author’s last name, Lin, hinted it had something to do with China. I was intrigued because the cover had no trace of red, no stars or dragons, cranes or bamboo that scream CHINA!
The Memory Museum, is a collection of nine short stories by New York-based writer M Lin. Some stories felt so real they read like nonfiction. They are, in a nutshell, about the collective experience of the generation of urban Chinese women who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I had never read a book like this—about us—in either Chinese or English. It would not have passed censorship in China. Yet it’s nothing like the English-language literary fiction about China I’ve read in the past, which tends to be set in periods more familiar to the West, such as the Cultural Revolution. Some of the most established writers from China, Ha Jin and Yiyun Li for instance, write out of complicated political and personal relationships with a China distant from the one I have lived in. Reading The Memory Museum felt like reading my own life. It was almost alarming to find myself and my friends, our memories, feelings, and choices, laid bare like that.
The Memory Museum, is a collection of nine short stories by New York-based writer M Lin. Some stories felt so real they read like nonfiction. They are, in a nutshell, about the collective experience of the generation of urban Chinese women who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I had never read a book like this—about us—in either Chinese or English. It would not have passed censorship in China. Yet it’s nothing like the English-language literary fiction about China I’ve read in the past, which tends to be set in periods more familiar to the West, such as the Cultural Revolution. Some of the most established writers from China, Ha Jin and Yiyun Li for instance, write out of complicated political and personal relationships with a China distant from the one I have lived in. Reading The Memory Museum felt like reading my own life. It was almost alarming to find myself and my friends, our memories, feelings, and choices, laid bare like that.
The Trishuli Catastrophe: Himalayan Flood, Chinese Hydropower, and the Risks of a Seismic Frontier
The August 2026 Trishuli catastrophe is a stark reminder that the Himalayan environment remains capable of producing disasters on a scale that can overwhelm even major infrastructure networks. The immediate trigger appears to have been a glacial collapse and associated ice-rock debris movement rather than the failure of an existing hydropower dam. That finding should prevent premature claims about the role of dams in causing the disaster.
At the same time, the destruction of hydropower, transport, and border infrastructure shows the vulnerability created when critical assets are concentrated along narrow Himalayan valleys. The issue is not simply whether China is building dams, or whether Nepal needs hydropower. The larger issue is whether the current model of Himalayan infrastructure development adequately accounts for a landscape undergoing simultaneous geological and climatic change.
At the same time, the destruction of hydropower, transport, and border infrastructure shows the vulnerability created when critical assets are concentrated along narrow Himalayan valleys. The issue is not simply whether China is building dams, or whether Nepal needs hydropower. The larger issue is whether the current model of Himalayan infrastructure development adequately accounts for a landscape undergoing simultaneous geological and climatic change.
Dalai Lhama back in Dharamsala after over two months in Ladakh
The Dalai Lama returned to his exile home in Dharamshala, India, on Sep 4 morning to a rousing yet solemn welcome by the Tibetan and local host community after a knee surgery in Delhi followed by over two month’s summer stay in Ladakh, during which he gave audiences to more than 21,500 devotees, said the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website Sep 4.
While in Ladakh, the Dalai Lama attended celebrations marking his 91stbirthday on the Kalachakra Teaching Ground in capital Leh, located near his Shewatsel residence. He also attended prayer ceremonies at the Buddha statue in Stok and at the Buddha statue and stupa in Gonpa Village, besides visiting the Buddha Garden at the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre.
While in Ladakh, the Dalai Lama attended celebrations marking his 91stbirthday on the Kalachakra Teaching Ground in capital Leh, located near his Shewatsel residence. He also attended prayer ceremonies at the Buddha statue in Stok and at the Buddha statue and stupa in Gonpa Village, besides visiting the Buddha Garden at the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre.
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