Kinaforum

fredag 9. oktober 2026

Nepal ends search and rescue after the Aug 26 Tibet-Nepal flash floods catastrophe, 5,285 still missing

Nepal has brought to an end on Oct 5 its search and rescue operation for those still missing after the devastating flash floods of Aug 26 that killed at least 1,455 people as of Oct 3, switching the main focus on rehabilitating the survivors while continuing only essential search operations. Operations are also stated to be continuing in key locations, including tunnels.

Apart from the above figure of confirmed deaths, a total of 5,285 remain missing, including 636 foreigners.

On the Tibet side, China has stuck to its bald claim of just 43 deaths, with 519 people missing, including 261 foreigners.

Critics, Western agencies, and Tibetan advocacy groups have raised sharp questions over the wide discrepancy between the low number of reported casualties in Tibet compared to the devastating toll in downstream Nepal from the flash floods.

Seminar discusses upgrading China’s first Tibetan-language AI model to promote ‘ethnic integration’

China held a seminar on Sep 5 in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, to discuss issues such as improving Tibetan artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and expanding the application of its Tibetan large language model (LLM) into multilingual simultaneous interpretation. And the creators of China’s first Tibetan-language AI mode, DeepZang, have pledged to speed up upgrades aimed at promoting ethnic integration, reported the scmp.com Oct 7, citing the state-run portal Chinanews.com.

Tenzin Norbu, founder of CHOKNOR, which developed DeepZang, has said his research team will continue to upgrade Tibetan-language AI and expand its applications, using technology to support interethnic exchanges and promote digital and intelligent development in ethnic minority regions.

DeepZang was launched in March, roughly three years after the unveiling of Monlam AI, a Tibetan-language LLM developed by Monlam Tibetan IT Research Centre, a non-profit organisation based in Dharamsala – the Indian hillside town that has hosted the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan administration-in-exile since 1960.

China and EU trade envoys seek ways to ease tensions over growing imbalances

The top trade envoys for China and the European Union were wrapping up two days of talks Friday aimed at calming escalating tensions over growing imbalances between the two giant economies. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic traveled to Beijing saying it was crucial that the negotiations deliver “tangible outcomes” in rebalancing trade between China and the 27-nation bloc.

It was unclear, however, if the two sides would find the will to resolve key factors behind China’s growing trade surplus, which hit 360 billion euros ($410 billion) last year. China is pushing for the EU to stop blocking its imports of advanced computer chipmaking machines, restrictions imposed on national security grounds at Washington’s behest.

EU weighs safeguard tariffs as China refuses hybrid car limits

Beijing has rebuffed a European Union request to voluntarily cap hybrid car exports to the bloc, raising the prospect of new, steep EU tariffs on Chinese hybrids, which have so far escaped the duties on pure electric vehicles.

China has refused to set quotas on its exports of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) to the EU, the Financial Times reported. Brussels had proposed that Chinese brands limit their share of the bloc’s hybrid market to about 15%, down from more than one-third now. After Beijing refused, the European Commission is weighing temporary safeguard tariffs that do not require proof of unfair trade practices, the newspaper said, citing two diplomats. Under the plan, a set quota of Chinese hybrids would enter the EU on standard terms, while shipments above that ceiling would face steep extra duties.

Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Brussels sees the hybrid curbs as a test case that could later be extended to other sectors with large trade imbalances.

This old CIA airfield is now a Chinese base

China’s military has opened a new outpost on a site in northwestern Laos which was once a Vietnam-era CIA airfield. The base, about 40 miles north of the capital Vientiane and just 25 miles from the nearest border with Thailand, comprises the China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center at Ban Keun Airport, and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy. It began operations on September 29, according to an announcement from China’s Defense Ministry.

Photos obtained by CNN from satellite imagery and intelligence platform Vantor show a 6,500-foot-long (2,000-meter-long) runway, taxiway and parking apron for 22 aircraft have been completed at the base since December.

South Korea’s hypersonic leap runs into North Korea’s nuclear wall

South Korea’s maiden flight test of a domestic hypersonic glide vehicle highlights an accelerating bid to field counterstrike assets capable of bolstering autonomous deterrence against North Korea’s expanding nuclear threat.

This month, multiple media outlets reported that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung oversaw the country’s first test launch of a domestically developed hypersonic glide vehicle, accelerating its drive to field high-speed conventional strike assets that can penetrate regional missile shields.

Belt and Road paving way for China’s military presence in SE Asia

Last week, eight Chinese-made light attack jets sat on a half-finished runway at Ban Keun, flanked by more than two dozen military support vehicles, offering the first aerial glimpse of a new Chinese-Lao military facility north of the Lao capital, Vientiane.

The speed of the buildup and the earthmoving visible around the airstrip in the satellite imagery suggest China may have acquired its first full-fledged military base in Southeast Asia. If so, over a decade of Chinese infrastructure lending likely left Laos too indebted and too dependent to refuse the outpost.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled in Kazakhstan in 2013, has certainly not delivered the economic windfall it promised for Laos, not least from a US$6 billion high-speed rail line connecting the two neighbors that has likely done more for Chinese migration into Laos than mutually beneficial two-way trade.

China nominates health official to lead WHO

China has nominated health official Song Li to lead the World Health Organization, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday, as Beijing seeks to expand its presence in international governing bodies.

The World Health Assembly is set to elect the next WHO head in May. That person will succeed Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is finishing his second five-year term and is barred from running again under WHO rules.

“China’s nomination of Dr. Song Li to run for the position reflects China’s willingness to work with all parties to jointly promote the building of a community of health for all humanity, and demonstrates China’s firm support for multilateralism and the WHO,” spokesperson Mao Ning said.

US and China discussing reciprocal nuclear site visits amid concerns about a new arms race

The Trump administration has discussed beginning reciprocal nuclear site visits with China and plans to continue pushing for that possibility during in-person meetings in the coming months, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The discussions, which have been informal and preliminary, come amid mounting US concerns about China’s rapidly growing nuclear weapons program and after the last remaining arms control agreement between the US and Russia expired last year. The effort to establish a trilateral agreement began in Trump’s first term, but no tangible progress has been made and formal talks on a new accord have not begun, with China and Russia largely ignoring substantive US outreach efforts.

America shut out Chinese EVs. Britain welcomed them — and now faces a difficult choice

The U.K. broke with the U.S. by opening its doors to China’s electric vehicle juggernaut. Chinese EVs face only a 10% standard import duty in Britain, one of the largest major overseas markets without additional China-specific tariffs. Japan and Norway also lack them.

It’s in contrast to the U.S., where a 100% tariff effectively shut Chinese EVs out. The European Union, the U.K.’s biggest trading partner, has manufacturer-specific duties on Chinese EVs of up to 35.3%, in addition to a standard 10% import duty on all foreign cars. Now, the U.K. faces a difficult choice, as EU proposals may force it to impose tariffs to match the bloc’s.

After a yearslong slump, China’s real estate market may be set for a turnaround

An end is in sight for China’s yearslong property market slump, S&P Global Ratings analysts said in a report distributed Thursday.

Residential real estate prices may hit a bottom in the third quarter of 2028, the report said. It added that prices in China’s largest cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, will likely recover as soon as next year. That’s a big shift from February, when S&P said high levels of unsold housing kept “a property market recovery out of reach.”

What’s changed since are two government policies, according to the report’s author Edward Chan, a credit analyst at S&P Global Ratings. In August, Beijing announced new restrictions on developers’ ability to sell unfinished properties. A month later, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said the government would roll out policies for stabilizing the real estate sector. Beijing subsequently launched a mortgage rate subsidy for first-time homebuyers of units less than 1.5 million yuan ($220,000) and smaller than 120 square meters (1291.67 square feet).

EU sends envoy to Beijing as rising exports from China raise economic anxiety

The European Union is bracing for a confrontation with China as a trade deficit exceeding $1 billion a day heightens anxiety over potential job losses and pushes the bloc’s political leaders to take a more aggressive approach toward its second-largest trading partner.

The European Commission’s top trade envoy, Maroš Šefčovič, will be in Beijing Thursday for a two-day meeting with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. The goal is narrowing the EU’s 360 billion euro ($410 billion) trade deficit with China. Earlier this year, he gave Beijing a deadline of October to provide meaningful results in doing so.

Politicians and economists across the 27-nation bloc consider China’s massive subsidies and exports a major threat to core industrial sectors from steel foundries to car factories. China diverted many of its exports to the EU and other markets after the U.S. raised tariffs.

The Scam Industry Is Becoming a Big Problem in India

On September 15, investigators raided three call centers in Pune and Patiala, finding around 220 people at work. According to India’s Enforcement Directorate, the premises were being used to defraud Americans. Investigators said that they were establishing the workers’ identities and roles.

Officers also searched a Chandigarh property linked to a suspected organizer. They seized 66 mobile phones, 13 laptops, and unspecified records. Investigators said that they were examining calling scripts, internet telephony systems, and payment routes.

The published account did not provide an overall figure for victims’ losses.

Months earlier, another investigation exposed the damage one India-based network could inflict. An American woman’s $1.7 million loss helped investigators connect other victims to the operation. The FBI subsequently attributed more than $48.7 million in reported losses among over 600 American victims to the network. Indian authorities arrested six alleged leaders in December 2025.

Is Xi Jinping all right?

Chinese President Xi Jinping’a visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit over Sep 12-13 and, especially, his state visit to the USA over Sep 23-25 have reignite rumours about his health, although he is not known to be tied to any specific concerning medical condition.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said Oct 3 that Xi’s staff requested several breaks during his White House visit and to cut down the duration of some events, raising questions about the 73-year-old’s health. It also follows similar rumours that swirled during Xi’s trip to India for the BRICS summit, noted indianexpress.com Oct 4.

People familiar with the planning have told WSJ that Chinese officials asked the White House for a private room where Xi could rest between engagements and sought more downtime during his Washington visit.

Someone may have hacked the North Korean UN mission’s voicemail

For the past 29 years, one of the few ways to get in touch with the North Korean government has been a phone number printed in the United Nations member directory. It’s the line to North Korea’s permanent mission to the UN — their only diplomatic outpost on American soil — an office on the 13th floor of a midtown Manhattan skyscraper.

However, sometime within the past three years, an unknown person apparently hacked the mission’s voicemail, rerecording the greeting message as a satirical monologue about mass starvation and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

County in Qinghai overrun by Chinese tourists following completion of a highway

The Qilian (Tibetan: Chilen or Dhola) county in Haibei (Tsojang) Prefecture, Qinghai province, which is considered by Tibetans as the bulk of their historical Amdo (or Domey) province, has been overrun by Chinese tourists during China’s week-long National Day holiday which began on Oct 1, following the completion of a national highway. A place with a population of only about 50,000 suddenly found itself receiving more than 100,000 visitors in a single day, reported China’s official globaltimes.cn Oct 5.

While all the county’s more than 400 hotels and guesthouses were fully booked, nearly 500 people were accommodated in publicly provided beds on Oct 3, the report said, citing local cultural and tourism authorities. Some tourists have been cited as saying Oct 5 that “it’s like winning the lottery” to find accommodation there.

Nearly 35,000 vehicles entered the county on Oct 3, bringing more than 100,000 people into the area, Feng Lingling, head of the local tourism bureau, has said.

Why the U.S. Must Simultaneously Compete—and Cooperate—With China on AI

Last week, President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House. It's their second meeting this year, following the Maysummit in Beijing. This visit, the stakes were even higher.

We have learned about security incidents from nearly every major AI company, American and Chinese, built on both open and closed models. The leading AI labs are openly debating whether to pace their frontier model development, and the government is working out what role it plays in that decision.

I spent four years as Secretary of Commerce focused intently on America’s economic, technological, and security competition with China—instituting first-of-its-kind export controls on the sale of chips and chipmaking equipment to China to protect our national security, and leading implementation of the CHIPS Act to onshore chip manufacturing. I also created the AI Safety Institute so we could accelerate our AI development responsibly and safely. I have sat across the table from China, and I have an understanding of how they think about AI.

China among countries invited to international tourism summit in Tawang

The government of India is to hold a mega international tourism event in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, towards the end of this month, with China being among the invitees. China claims Arunachal Pradesh, especially the Tawang region, as part of its territory on the basis of its claim over Tibet, which has been under its occupation rule for more than seven decades.

The International Tourism Mart, being organised by the Ministry of Tourism from Oct 27 to Nov 1, will bring together delegates from around 20 countries, reported the indianexpress.com Oct 2.

Delegates from China have also been invited to the annual event which is held, by rotation, in one of the eight North-Eastern states of India. The 2025 edition of the event was held in Sikkim, and was attended by government representatives and industry stakeholders from over19 countries.