Kinaforum

fredag 20. mars 2026

China won't help the United States reopen the Straits of Hormuz

China won’t help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz as requested by President Donald Trump, but it is probably welcoming the delay in Trump’s highly anticipated trip to Beijing as the U.S. risks getting bogged down in the Middle East, analysts say.

The latest developments are unfolding as Trump’s Iran war, in its third week, is faced with mounting pressure as oil has stopped moving through the strait and U.S. allies have refused to step up to secure the strait. That has produced concerns that China, the United States’ biggest geopolitical rival, could stand to benefit from a war that some say was ill-considered.

“President Trump’s request to delay his long-awaited summit with President Xi Jinping underscores how significantly he underestimated the fallout from Operation Epic Fury,” said Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser for U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group. “A show of U.S. force that was meant to intimidate Beijing has instead served to puncture the illusion of U.S. omnipotence: Unable to reopen the Strait of Hormuz alone, Washington now needs its principal strategic competitor to help it manage a crisis of its own making.”

China’s Hubei province arrests 7, shuts websites in fentanyl crackdown

A Chinese province has launched a crackdown on the fentanyl trade — a contentious issue in U.S.-China relations — arresting seven people and shutting down more than 200 websites in recent months, state media reported Thursday.

The announcement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would postpone a highly anticipated trip to China because of the Iran War. Trump has used tariffs to try to pressure China to do more to stem the export of fentanyl precursors — the chemical ingredients that go into the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually in the U.S.

The Hubei Daily News said in an online report that a fentanyl precursor task force established in December had investigated 22 cases in Hubei province through February.

More families in Southeast Asia sinking into debt

From Phnom Penh to Bangkok, a growing share of mainland Southeast Asia's economic story is no longer about exports, investment or factory growth, but about households borrowing simply to get by. What was once sold as financial inclusion is curdling into financial stress, analysts say, as years of easy credit, weak wage growth, and inadequate public services have left millions of households dangerously exposed. There are fears a household debt problem could become a broader financial one.

Cambodia is at the center of the crisis. The country's credit boom lifted the private debt-to-GDP ratio from 24.2% in 2010 to 134.5% in 2023, one of the region's sharpest expansions. That boom is now colliding with a softer property sector, border disruptions with Thailand, and new US trade restrictions.

According to Cambodia's Credit Bureau, as of December 2025, the average outstanding personal loan per borrower was around $6,500 (€5,665). The garment-sector minimum wage is $208 per month.

The US is re-evaluating the threat of Chinese military action in Taiwan

Recent years have brought heightened concern in Western intelligence circles that China could invade the self-governing island of Taiwan as early as next year. But the United States now says an imminent attack is unlikely.

An annual threat assessment by the US intelligence community said Beijing prefers to achieve so-called unification without the use of force, and recognizes that an amphibious assault would be extremely difficult and carry a high risk of failure, especially if the US intervenes.

“Beijing almost certainly will consider a variety of factors in deciding whether and how to pursue military approaches to unification, including PLA readiness, the actions and politics of Taiwan, and whether or not the US will militarily intervene on Taiwan’s behalf,” the report said, referring to China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Trump and Takaichi are close. Iran puts their relationship to the test

A White House meeting between Japan’s Prime Minster Sanae Takaichi and US President Donald Trump was meant to be a routine show of unity – not a stress test, as it’s now become. The two leaders were hoping to build on momentum from Trump’s recent visit to Tokyo that framed the US–Japan alliance as entering a “golden era.”

For Takaichi, it was also a chance to demonstrate credibility on defense and security. Trump leaned into the symbolism, praising Takaichi as Japan’s first female prime minister and striking a familiar tone of personal diplomacy, telling her to “just call” if she needed anything.

But in recent days, the tone of this upcoming meeting has shifted dramatically.

Japan’s leader heads to Washington for a visit complicated by the Iran war fallout

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi headed to the United States on Wednesday for what she expects to be a “very difficult” meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump after he called on Japan and other allies to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

The three-day visit to Washington was originally expected to focus on trade and strengthening the U.S.-Japanese alliance as China’s influence grows in Asia. It is now expected to be overshadowed by the war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran on Feb. 28.

”I think the U.S. visit will be a very difficult one, but I will do everything to maximize our national interest and to protect the daily lives of the people when the situation changes daily,” Takaichi told parliament on Wednesday, hours before her departure.

3 men are charged with conspiring to smuggle US artificial intelligence to China

A senior vice president of Super Micro Computer Inc. and two others affiliated with the company were charged Thursday with conspiring to smuggle billions of dollars of computer servers containing advanced Nvidia chips to China.

The men violated U.S. export controls laws by scheming to divert massive quantities of the high-performance servers assembled in the United States to China between 2024 and 2025, according to the indictment in Manhattan federal court.

In a release, FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. said the defendants used fabricated documents, staged bogus equipment to pass audit inventories and utilized a pass-through company to conceal their misconduct and true clientele list.

Torbjørn Færøvik: Donald Trump - Warrior Without Friends

He loves to show off his muscles and loudly proclaims himself the strongest man in the world. No one can defeat him—he stands in a league of his own.

Then he steps into the ring and promises the audience a quick technical knockout. But the days pass, and nothing happens. The bout has now dragged on for nearly three weeks, and the muscleman is crying out for help.

Donald Trump’s plea over the weekend spread across the world at lightning speed, but no helping hands came back. Britain’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, says the UK does not wish to be drawn into a wider war in Iran. Germany says the same: “This is not our war.” France maintains a significant naval presence in the region, yet President Emmanuel Macron stresses that its measures are defensive and that France will not engage in combat operations.

China Covers 1 Billion People With Basic Medical Insurance

Health care coverage in China continued its steady expansion last year, with more than 1.3 billion people enrolled in medical insurance, according to official data.

The country of 1.4 billion has made major public health gains over recent decades as rising incomes have lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, pushing average life expectancy to 79 in 2024, on par with the United States. But benefits remain limited, funding varies by province, private care plays a growing role, and access gaps persist, especially between urban and rural areas.

China’s medical insurance system, comprising public basic insurance and supplementary private coverage, covered 1.33 billion people, or about 95 percent of the population, at the end of 2025, according to a report released Monday by the country's National Healthcare Security Administration.

Xi Jinping’s anticorruption drive sweeps up senior Chinese military chiefs

As thousands of Chinese government officials gathered in Beijing for China’s annual legislative meetings known as the “two sessions” this month, at least a dozen active and retired military officers were absent from the proceedings. Among the absentees was General Zhang Youxia, who has been under investigation since late January for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law”, according to China’s state Xinhua news agency.

Zhang is one of the highest-ranking officials to be caught up in a wider anticorruption sweep that has become a hallmark of Xi Jinping’s long tenure as president and chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.

Xi launched the initiative shortly after rising to power in 2012, setting off an “unprecedented anticorruption storm” that targeted “both high-flying ‘tigers’ and lower-level ‘flies'” across China’s state, military, and Communist Party apparatus, according to a Xinhua report last year.

China Issues Warning to Trump as Upcoming Trip Delayed

Beijing's international trade representative warned Monday that President Donald Trump's latest moves on tariffs could harm the trade relationship between the two countries, hours before the U.S. president said he wanted to postpone his visit to China later this month.

Speaking in Paris, Li Chenggang said there was serious concern from the Chinese side over the Trump administration's trade investigations into manufacturing in foreign countries. “We are concerned that the possible results of such investigations may interfere with or damage the hard-won and stable China-U.S. economic and trade relations,” Li told reporters after high-level talks.

Meanwhile, officials in the Trump administration said the president might delay his trip to China because of the ongoing Iran war. Later Monday, Trump confirmed he wanted the trip delayed by a month or so.

Tencent’s 2025 revenue beats estimates as Chinese tech giant ramps up AI investment

Tencent on Wednesday reported full-year revenue that topped analyst predictions, as the Chinese tech giant continues to ramp up investments in AI. Here’s how Tencent did in its full-year earnings for 2025:Revenue: 751.8 billion Chinese yuan ($109 billion), surpassing the 750.7 billion Chinese yuan expected by analysts, according to data compiled by LSEG.

“We sustained healthy growth rates in 2025, as AI capabilities improved our ad targeting and supported more engagement with our games, and as our cloud business delivered improving revenue growth and profit at scale,” Ma Huateng, Chairman and CEO of Tencent, said in a statement. “Our highly resilient and cash-generative core businesses provide us with the resources to fund our increasing investments in AI, including recruiting top-tier AI talent and upgrading our AI infrastructure.”

Myanmar parliament dominated by pro-military party convenes after 5 years

Myanmar’s parliament has convened for the first time since the 2021 coup after recent elections saw the pro-military party winning most of the seats as major opposition parties were barred from running.

The opening of ⁠the new parliament on Monday followed phased elections in December and January, which the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) dominated amid low voter turnout and no viable opposition.A quarter of the available seats in the upper and lower houses – 166 seats – were reserved for the military, and the USDP won 339 of the rest. Twenty-one other parties won from one to 20 seats each.

During Monday’s session, Khin Yi, the chairman of the military-backed USDP, was elected speaker of the lower house. He is a former general and police chief, widely regarded as a close ally of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s military ruler.

Iran war overlaps with Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict

While international attention is focused on the war between Iran, Israel, and the United States, an "open war" is escalating between nearby Afghanistan and Pakistan, which could have a strategic ripple effect throughout the region.

Taliban rulers in Afghanistan on Tuesday accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike that killed at least 400 people at a drug treatment hospital in Kabul late Monday. Afghan officials said the strike hit the 2,000-bed rehabilitation facility at around 9 p.m. local time (1630 GMT), causing extensive damage and leaving hundreds wounded, in a major escalation of the weekslong cross-border fighting between the neighbors.

Islamabad denied targeting civilian infrastructure, saying its armed forces carried out "precision airstrikes" that aimed at "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" in Kabul and eastern Nangarhar province. That is according to Attaullah Tarar, the country's information minister.

Iran’s chokehold on Hormuz threatens India’s beloved samosas and chai

Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has sparked global fears of fuel pumps running dry, but in India, it’s also leaving a bad taste in the mouth of some restaurateurs and street stall diners, with samosas off the menu and the ubiquitous chai lacking its usual aroma in parts of the country.

The world’s fastest-growing major economy imports about 85% of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Middle East, much of it used in cooking food for its 1.4 billion people. With supplies impacted by the US-Israel war with Iran, the government has begun diverting the precious fuel away from industrial users, like canteens, hotels and restaurants, to keep flames alight on household stoves.

North Korea watches and learns as US attacks Iran

North Korea quickly condemned military attacks on Iran, its long-time ally in the Middle East, and analysts suggest that Pyongyang will be looking for military and diplomatic weaknesses and tactical errors from Washington. One of the most valuable lessons from events since the first US and Israeli missiles were launched into Iran on February 28, is that retaining nuclear weapons is critical to the survival of the regime led by Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang can use the threat of its nuclear arsenal, combined with advancements in ballistic missile technology, both as leverage in negotiations and to ensure that the US would need to risk nuclear war to topple the regime.

In February, Kim said North Korea's "status as a nuclear-armed country plays an important role in deterring enemies' potential threats and maintaining regional stability," according to a statement carried by the state-run KCNA broadcaster.

Can American car companies survive American politics?

The Biden administration was all in on electric vehicles. The Trump administration is all but hostile to them. Ford used to call the transition to EVs a new Model T moment. Now it’s regrouping, taking a $19.5 billion hit and pulling back from the revolution. GM is also retreating from its plans for EVs. Chrysler is hitting the “reset” button.

Meanwhile, innovation in China has many wondering whether US companies will be left behind, assuming consumers do ultimately pivot away from internal combustion engines. China’s government formulated a plan for its auto industry and has stuck to it. The US government, in successive elections, has done the opposite of that. And now President Donald Trump has begun a war on Iran, which is spiking the price of gasoline.

Torbjørn Færøvik: The Ancient Faith That Still Burns in Iran

I travelled by bus across Iran to seek out the world’s most famous fire temple – and I found it. The city of Yazd lies in the central part of the country and looks as if it has grown out of the sand itself.

“Here you will find a fire that has burned uninterrupted since the year 470,” my guidebook told me.

My anticipation grew with every mile until the city finally appeared with its low mud-brick houses. In the evening sun the unruly settlement took on a warm yellow-brown glow. “The city has half a million inhabitants and is surrounded by salt flats and stony deserts,” I read further. That last part was perfectly true.

“Why have you come here?” the hotel receptionist asked.

“Because I want to see the sacred fire.”

Early the next morning I set out for Atash Behram, as the temple is called; it means “Fire of Victory.” Before Iran was conquered by Islam in the seventh century, the inhabitants followed Zarathustra. He is believed to have lived more than 2,500 years ago and made fire the centre of people’s religious life. The religion he founded was even the state religion for around a thousand years.