Kinaforum

onsdag 19. august 2026

Pentagon orders audit of 30 universities’ partnerships with foreign institutions

The Department of Defense has ordered 30 U.S. universities to audit their partnerships with mostly Chinese universities and military training institutions as the Trump administration scrutinizes the country’s growing global influence.

If the schools don’t complete a review and terminate any arrangements deemed problematic within the next two weeks, they face losing funding. The goal is to protect taxpayer-funded research from theft and exploitation, the Pentagon said Monday.

“The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security,” Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, said in a news release.

Trump's North Korea overture triggers fears for US alliances

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he had instructed the Pentagon to limit the scaleof US involvement in military exercises with South Korean units planned for this week, causing alarmamong South Koreans and experts concerned at the deteriorating security situation in Northeast Asia.

In a social media post, Trump said he had ordered the US to "substantially reduce" its involvement, claiming the exercises were "expensive." Trump added that US involvement in the exercises would send a "signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he said has been "unthreatening and respectful" to his presidency.

Trump's statement seemed to disregard North Korea's recent spate of missile tests, and Pyongyang threatening last Friday a "new level" of nuclear deterrence in response to the planned drills, which North Korean state media called "a rehearsal for an invasion war."

Japan is no longer Asia’s defensive power

For nearly eight decades, East Asia’s security architecture rested on a predictable premise: Japan would remain a strictly defensive fortress, constrained by Article 9 of its 1947 constitution and its historical Senshu Boei (exclusively defense-oriented) doctrine.

That foundational assumption has now evaporated – with major implications for regional security.Confronted by China’s rapid military expansion, North Korea’s relentless missile testing, and deepening Sino-Russian security coordination, Tokyo has undertaken its most radical defense transformation since World War II.

The strategic catalyst arrived in December 2022 with the revision of Japan’s National Security Strategy (NSS), which formally authorized the acquisition of counterstrike capability (hangeki noryoku). This policy shift broke the long-standing 1% of GDP cap on defense spending, aiming for 2% by 2027, effectively creating the world’s third-largest defense budget.

Can China’s new Arctic sea route to Europe replace Middle East chokepoints?

China has announced a new shipping route through the Arctic Ocean, which could ease the way for global trade amid the Middle East crisis that has paralysed critical waterways, including the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on the edge of the Red Sea.

Shipping companies have become increasingly interested in alternative trade routes through the Arctic in recent years as conflicts, such as the US war on Iran, restrict vital routes like the Red Sea and the Gulf. One answer may be China’s new “Ice Silk Road”, which begins at Ningbo on China’s east coast, cuts through the Arctic Circle by running along Russia’s Northern Sea Route and then heads south in the North Sea, terminating at Felixstowe in eastern England.

In recent weeks, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the key transit point to the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, has become a no-go route for many ships as the Iran-backed Houthis target shipping linked to Saudi Arabia. That has disrupted traffic heading to and from the Suez Canal, the vital waterway connecting West Asia to Europe.

US sanctions International Criminal Court president and trial lawyer

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has added the head of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as one of its senior lawyers to a list of sanctioned individuals. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio framed the widening sanctions as part of his campaign to “dismantle” the international court.

“The Trump Administration is sanctioning ICC President Tomoko Akane and Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye in our unwavering mission to protect Americans from this sham of a court,” Rubio wrote on social media. “In honor of our Declaration of Independence, Americans will never be transported beyond seas to be tried for pretend offenses.”

Akane, a Japanese judge, has served as the ICC’s president since her election in March 2024. Seye, who hails from Senegal, works as a senior trial lawyer at the court.

South Korea, US scale back annual military drills after Trump’s order

South Korea and the United States have shortened the duration of their joint military drills and scaled back field training exercises after US President Donald Trump ordered a “substantial reduction” in the annual war games.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which began on August 17, will be cut from 11 days to five and will now end on August 21, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Tuesday. The adjustment to the duration of the drills was agreed at Washington’s suggestion, the JCS said, adding that some combined ‌field manoeuvre training would also be scaled back.

According to South Korean media, Seoul’s Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the allies were moving to cancel the second phase of the drills, which had been expected to involve counterattack operations after an initial defensive phase.

Military drills between US and South Korea cut short at Washington’s request

The joint military drills between the United States and South Korea have been cut in half at Washington’s request, days after President Donald Trump called for their reduction, citing his close relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, which began on Monday, was due to run for 10 days, but will now end on Friday August 21, the militaries of both nations said. “Based on direction from the President and Secretary of War, the Department has substantially reduced Exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield while continuing training that enhances tactical capability,” a Pentagon official said.

“Associated live-training events have been reduced, with certain events canceled or converted to simulations. These adjustments preserve essential readiness and training objectives,” the official said. “There will be no degradation to US training objectives.”

Taiwan’s Opposition Leader Says Talking to China Is the Island’s Best Defense

Cheng Li-wun once called for the destruction of the party she now leads. Back in 1988, when she was still a teenager, Cheng took the dais at a farmers’ rally to condemn Taiwan’s Nationalist Party, or KMT, as “the most detestable ruling force,” urging her compatriots to “overthrow KMT tyranny and establish our own country.”

Today, Cheng runs the KMT from its Taipei headquarters, where her chairperson’s office boasts the eclectic talismans of her unconventional journey: a cuddly kangaroo, a model Xiaomi electric car, and a jade Buddha statue guarding her desk. “I’m a very devout Buddhist,” Cheng tells TIME.

Cheng’s stunning transformation from Taiwanese independence zealot to leader of the self-ruling island’s China-friendly opposition is illustrated by another office adornment: a framed copy of the China Daily newspaper documenting her April meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, under the headline “Xi calls for closer bonds across Strait.”

Torbjørn Færøvik: "Thank you for your attention. Donald J. Trump"

Donald Trump’s mobile phone is never far away when he is playing golf. Last Sunday, he spent the day at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey. Then came the bombshell on Truth Social: “Because of my good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, I am unhappy that the United States previously agreed to take part in joint military exercises with South Korea.”

He went on to say that the exercises were not only expensive but also “totally inappropriate,” given that North Korea had behaved respectfully during his time as president. He therefore instructed “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth to reduce U.S. participation in a military exercise due to begin the following day.

Yes, the following day.

Trump has handed a gift to Kim Jong Un and deepened concerns over US reliability

President Donald Trump’s sudden announcement the US is scaling backmajor military drills with South Korea risks renewing concerns US forces are too stretched to support crucial Western allies or maintain deterrence against autocracies that threaten them. It’s also a gift to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un at a time when he has ramped up his own nation’s threat to global stability –– and offered no concessions in return.

Just as the 10-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises involving tens of thousands of troops were set to begin, Trump said he had ordered the war games scaled back because North Korea has been “unthreatening and respectful” to his administration.

US pulls last aircraft carrier in Asia as Trump focuses on Iran and the Western Hemisphere

President Donald Trump’s war against Iran is stretching the limits of U.S. aircraft carriers and leaving the western Pacific without one of the key American warships as China shows more signs of aggression.

The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East amid growing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed carrier. The Lincoln has had its time at sea extended from its original May return date to support operations against Iran.

The lack of a U.S. carrier in the Pacific may be short-lived if the Navy deploys another in the next couple of months. But it shows how the open-ended operations with Iran are running some American sailors ragged, analysts say, while the Trump administration further retreats from the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on the Western Hemisphere.

China censors public mourning as it holds former premier's funeral

Flags at government sites are flying at half-mast and security vehicles are parked in the heart of Beijing, as China mourns former Premier Zhu Rongji. Zhu died of an illness last week at 97 and was cremated at a funeral in Beijing on Tuesday. The ceremony, attended by senior leaders including President Xi Jinping, was kept low-key. No footage has been released.

Zhu, who served as China's premier from 1998 to 2003, is remembered as one of the country's most important economic reformers. While hailing the late premier as a "loyal" party member, the Chinese state is also wary that public mourning for his era of reform can easily turn into veiled criticisms of the current government under Xi.

Thailand has a gun problem - 10 million of them

Just three days after a 14-year-old opened fire at his school, killing eight people before shooting himself, another incident in the same province illustrated even more starkly Thailand's troubled relationship with guns.

Chalong Riewrang, a 71-year-old former politician, went into the local administration office to discuss a large sum of money he says he was owed by the administration chief, Thongchai Yenprasert, a man he called his friend. The conversation ended abruptly with Chalong pulling out a gun and firing four shots through the window of Thongchai's car, hitting him and his driver. Thongchai later died from his wounds. Chalong then left the scene, and phoned a startled journalist he knew who was in the middle of a live broadcast on YouTube, to tell her what had happened.

After the police intercepted him and took him to the station, he was allowed to speak to reporters, casually smoking a cigarette and seemingly unperturbed by what he had done.

US Navy destroyer spent four days without power last month in South China Sea

A US Navy guided-missile destroyer spent four days last month without working toilets, galley services and air conditioning in the blistering heat of the South China Sea after the warship lost power. The incident was due to an engineering failure aboard the warship, the US 7th Fleet said in a statement to CNN, another setback as concerns mount over the heavy strain on the US Navy due to the Iran war and global commitments.

The USS Benfold, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, was on routine operations in the Indo-Pacific on July 24 when an “engineering casualty involving its generators” occurred, Navy Cmdr. Matthew Comer, spokesperson for the 7th Fleet, said.

China’s most famous comedian under investigation for joke about communist song

A stand-up comedian, considered one of China’s most influential cultural figures, has been placed under investigation and had performances cancelled after he joked about a communist party song.

Guo Degang, China’s best-known comic, was accused of violating public morals after he improvised his own lyrics to a famous Chinese revolutionary song during a performance in Wuhan at the end of July. He was reported to the city’s Culture and Tourism Bureau by a complainant who said he had “not only distorted and vulgarized a classic revolutionary work, but also violated public morals and accepted standards of conduct,” according to a screenshot of the letter published by state-affiliated media thePaper.

Guo’s trouble underscores the delicate line comedians must tread in highly censored China, especially as its ruling communist party steps up its ideological drive.

Five years after the Taliban won, Afghanistan is still losing

In the five years since the chaotic US withdrawal from Kabul and the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan has become home to one of the world’s worst human rights and humanitarian emergencies.

Once central to US foreign policy, with American taxpayers footing a $2.3 trillion bill for its 20-year war there, Afghanistan and its people have largely slipped out of much of the world’s view, despite a convergence of man-made and natural crises that have pushed millions of children to starvation and stripped women and girls of their most fundamental rights.

Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan – which is needed by approximately 45% of the population – has been dramatically cut by international donors since the Taliban returned to power, with women and girls bearing the brunt of those cuts. The United States, once the top provider of assistance to Afghanistan, no longer even ranks in the top five of donor nations.

Taiwan: 'To destroy a nation, first erase its history; to destroy a people, first destroy its culture’

Minister of Culture Li Yuan on Saturday lamented the erosion of Taiwan’s cultural sector, saying opposition parties had used cuts to the ministry’s funding “to destroy a people, first destroy its culture.”

The Ministry of Culture’s proposed publicity budget of NT$47.38 million (US$1.48 million) was deleted in the budget cuts passed in the legislature on Friday, while funding for the Public Television Service (PTS) was reduced by NT$21.85 million and Taiwan Plus saw its budget cut by NT$200 million. Li on Saturday said the ministry’s publicity budget has been slashed for a second consecutive year.

From Apple to Ford: How Chinese tech is becoming harder for global companies to ignore

Washington has been stepping up efforts to curb Beijing’s technological ambitions, but from artificial intelligence to electric vehicle batteries, Chinese technology is becoming increasingly embedded in the businesses of some of the world’s biggest companies.

Apple has tapped Alibaba and Baidu for AI in China, while Ford has turned to CATL for battery technology. Volkswagen has teamed up with Xpeng to develop smart EVs in China, while Stellantis is expanding its partnership with Leapmotor on EV production and joint purchasing. Analysts say a broad shift is underway, with Chinese companies becoming sources of technology and innovation that global businesses cannot easily sidestep.