Fresh off commissioning new aircraft carrier, China starts sea trials of amphibious assault ship

China began sea trials of its most advanced amphibious assault ship on Friday, only a week after commissioning its latest aircraft carrier as part of the rapid modernization of its navy, which is already the world’s largest.

The Sichuan Type 076 vessel, which set sail from Shanghai’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard, combines some of the attributes of an aircraft carrier and earlier amphibious assault ships, with the ability to launch both aircraft and landing craft loaded with troops.

It is about half the size of the Fujian, the latest aircraft carrier commissioned by China on Nov. 7, with a displacement of some 40,000 tons. Both ships were indigenously designed and built.

Exact technical specifications have not been released, but amphibious assault ships are typically faster than carriers, which gives them more operational flexibility, but they are more lightly protected against attack, and cannot carry as many or as broad a range of aircraft.

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Rare Earths Roil China-EU Relations

This year marked the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations. Over the years, the relationship has centered on trade cooperation mechanisms. The foundation for strong and structured economic relations was laid 40 years ago, in 1985, with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the two. Relations took a new turn with the turning of the 21st century, when China and the EU established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2003.

Today, that not-so-distant past looks like another era. Over the past few years, China-EU ties have developed into a systematic rivalry, which has become even more complex during the past few months after China introduced new license requirements for the export of rare earth elements and related products in April.

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Destruction in the Heart of Old Samarkand

Beyond the narrow alleys of the mahalla east of Samarkand’s famed Registan, past ladas parked beside irrigation ditches and high walls hiding garden courtyards, what was once a neighborhood adjacent to a modest mausoleum is now a barren landscape. Despite months of warnings and concerns aired from both abroad and domestically, a part of Samarkand was quietly demolished even as visitors flocked to its grand attractions.

Samarkand – branded at present as the “cultural capital of the Islamic world” – just hosted UNESCO’s 43rd General Conference. It was the first time the biannual conference had been held outside of Paris since the 1980s, a great honor for Uzbekistan.

UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – is dedicated to “strengthening our shared humanity through the promotion of education, science, culture, and communication.”

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China used its trade juggernaut to withstand US tariffs. Can it keep its edge?

As US duties on Chinese imports spun higher and higher earlier this year, Derek Wang braced for major disruption.

With US orders ground to a halt, Wang, 36, who sells intelligent cookware out of southern China’s Guangdong province, looked elsewhere to fill the gap. After finding new buyers in Brazil, Japan, Malaysia and Cambodia, he learned what he describes as a key lesson: “Nothing is more important than the markets close to us.”

Stories like Wang’s have played out across China’s vast economy where businesses, large and small, scrambled to fill the void after temporary triple-digit duties – and the threat of their return – upended Chinese exports to the world’s wealthiest market.

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Japan’s next-gen missile crafted to crack China’s Pacific push

Japan is quietly rolling out a new generation of modular, long-range missiles that threaten to turn the Miyako Strait – one of the few international waterways that allows China’s navy to access the Pacific Ocean from the East China Sea – into a lethal no-go zone.

This month, Defense Blog reported that Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) unveiled a prototype for a modular long‑range anti‑ship missile aimed at strengthening Japan’s island defense.The weapon’s compact, low‑observable airframe is powered by an XKJ301‑1 turbojet and designed to validate propulsion, guidance and seeker integration for naval target engagement at extended ranges across Japan’s remote islands and surrounding waters.

Development posters show an open‑architecture design with internal modular bays and interchangeable payloads—dual and infrared (IR) seekers, jammer/decoy units, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors and high‑power warheads—enabling anti‑ship, decoy, reconnaissance and strike variants.

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Japan and China continue to spar over Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks

The Japanese and Chinese governments continue to trade words over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about a role for Japan in a Taiwan contingency, with the Japanese government protesting the Chinese government’s issuance of a travel warning about Japan to its citizens.

This exchange followed each government’s summoning the other’s ambassador for reprimands. On Friday, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned China’s ambassador to lodge a protest with his government; Japan’s ambassador had previously been summoned for a similar dressing down in Beijing.

The Takaichi government may be reluctant to escalate further – notwithstanding calls from within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Ishin no Kai to declare Xue Jian, China’s consul-general in Osaka, persona non grata – but even if the two governments are able to refrain from further steps, it is difficult to see how Tokyo and Beijing will be able to put the relationship on a sounder footing in the near term.

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China urges its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan

China on Friday urged its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, as comments by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Japan’s possible role in a Taiwan conflict deepen a diplomatic dispute. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that “the atmosphere surrounding people-to-people exchanges has severely deteriorated, posing serious risks to the safety of Chinese citizens.”

While China claims self-ruled Taiwan is its territory, other countries do view it as a sovereign nation. The United States does not formally recognize Taiwan, but leaders have raised concerns over China's efforts to bring it under Beijing's control using military force.

In recent days, China has issued threats to Japan's new leader after Takaichi suggested Japan could deploy its forces to the region if China makes a move.

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China’s Xi and Thai King Vajiralongkorn pledge closer ties during landmark visit

China’s leader Xi Jinping and Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn pledged closer ties on Friday during the first-ever visit to China by a reigning Thai monarch. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, greeted Vajiralongkorn and his wife, Queen Suthida, at Beijing’s vast Great Hall of the People. The visit was intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the countries establishing diplomatic ties.

Xi described China and Thailand as “truly good relatives, good friends and good partners,” according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Beijing was looking forward to boosting agricultural imports from Thailand and advancing cooperation in fields such as railway development, artificial intelligence and aerospace, Xi said.

Vajiralongkorn described his country’s relationship with China as “brotherly cooperation” and expressed his desire to deepen exchanges in various areas.

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Trump’s trade war is pushing Canada closer to China

It is an image that just a year ago would have seemed unfathomable: the Canadian and Chinese leaders standing side by side, shaking hands and grinning.

Ties between the two countries cratered in 2018 when Canadian police arrested Chinese technology executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on US fraud charges. Days later, Beijing locked up two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, on spying charges that Canada slammed as bogus. (Kovrig and Spavor were released nearly three years later after the US dropped the extradition request for Meng).

The diplomatic tussle soured the relationship and engendered a deep mistrust between Ottawa and Beijing. But as President Donald Trump escalates his trade war with one of the US’s closest allies, Canada has looked to a longtime foe for some common ground.

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South Korea bans flights as 500,000 take crucial university admission test

More than half a million people in South Korea sat for the country’s grueling university entrance exam on Thursday as police mobilized to ensure they made it to the test sites on time and all flights were halted for half an hour.

The number sitting the test, essential to secure a place at the country’s top universities, was the highest in seven years. Most of the candidates were born in 2007 when there was a surge in births because it was considered an auspicious time to have a baby.

Flights at all airports, including Incheon International Airport, were banned from landing or takeoff between 1:05 p.m. and 1:40 p.m. to ensure there was no disturbance while the students sat for the listening comprehension section of the English test.

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Trump’s Venezuela war threat a gift to China

Having once promised to halt America’s “endless wars,” Donald Trump now finds himself deliberating whether to start another one in Venezuela. A number of rationales have been floated to support this prospective military intervention, including stopping “narco-terrorism” and spreading democracy.

Another related justification is that “great power competition” means the US must be more aggressive in curtailing China’s rapidly growing influence in Latin America. And while it’s true that Beijing’s ties with Latin American nations have been expanding, a US military intervention against Venezuela would likely backfire by energizing China’s growing influence there.

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Modi’s victory in a key farm state may tip the balance on India-U.S. trade deal

The electoral victory for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in a key state is set to pave the way for New Delhi to make farm-related concessions, a central demand of U.S. trade negotiators. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), is poised for landslide victory in Bihar with trends showing it leading in nearly 200 of the 243 seats, while the opposition is ahead in less than 30 seats, data from India’s election commission shows.

A strong and positive verdict from Bihar — India’s third most populous state and a large producer of corn — is expected to encourage the government to conclude a trade deal with the U.S. Such a deal would include purchases of more agricultural products from the U.S., said Amitendu Palit, senior research fellow and research lead at the Institute of South Asian Studies.

However, these purchases of farm products from the U.S. will be “couched in a manner that does not suggest that the government is going to back away on its commitment to domestic farmers,” he said.

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Torbjørn Færøvik: Ernest Hemingway and His Moveable Feast

A hundred years ago, Ernest Hemingway lived in Paris — a city of beggars, drunks, and the ever-present stench from sewage carts pulled by horses through the narrow streets. And since it is now autumn and the rain is pouring down, it feels like the perfect time to read his incomparable A Moveable Feast once again.

“Then the bad weather set in,” he wrote. “It came suddenly one day when autumn was over. We had to close the windows at night against the rain, and the cold wind stripped the leaves from the trees on Place Contrescarpe.”

Yet Café des Amateurs was packed, the windows fogged by the warmth inside.

“It was a sad, dreary café where the drunkards of the quarter gathered, and I stayed away from it because of the smell of unwashed bodies and the sour stench of drink. The men and women who frequented the Amateurs were drunk all the time, or whenever they had money; mostly on wine bought by the half- or full liter.”

Torbjørn Færøvik: Farvel regntid, velkommen sol!

Farvel regntid, velkommen sol!

Denne uken skulle jeg gjerne ha feiret regntidens slutt i Ayutthaya, min thailandske favorittby. Festivalen, som thaiene kaller Loy Krathong, falt i år på 6. november, mens fullmånen speilet seg i elvene og risåkrene som omgir byen.

Ayutthaya ligger et par timers kjøretur nord for Bangkok, ved Chao Phraya, landets viktigste vannåre. Byen var i en lang periode landets hovedstad, men mistet etter hvert sin status til fordel for Bangkok. Denne gang foregikk feiringen i litt dempede former på grunn av dronning Sirikits bortgang, men thaiene – rundt 70 millioner – benyttet likevel anledningen til å utføre sine årvisse ritualer.

Loy Krathong betyr bokstavelig talt «å flyte en kurv». Kurven i dette tilfellet kan være en bitteliten båt eller, enda oftere, et bananblad dekorert med blomster, røkelse og et tent lys. Hver familie lager en kurv og lar den stille flyte av sted. Handlingen symboliserer takk, renselse og fornyelse.

Schools go hybrid as Delhi's air quality worsens

Schools in Delhi have been asked to run hybrid classes for primary students and non-essential construction activity has been banned as air quality worsens in the Indian capital. On Tuesday, authorities enforced stricter anti-pollution measures which include limiting movement of goods carriers in the capital and its suburbs.

Delhi's air quality has deteriorated to "severe" levels according to authorities, which can affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases.  On Wednesday, the capital's PM2.5 levels in the air reached 438, according to the Central Pollution Control Board - dangerously high concentrations of fine particles that can clog the lungs.

This is nearly 30 times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit and about eight times higher than India's national average. The WHO considers a 24-hour average of no more than 15 to be safe.

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Australia at risk of 'high-impact sabotage' from China, says spy chief

Australia's spy chief says hackers linked to the Chinese government and military are targeting the country's critical infrastructure, warning the country was increasingly at risk of "high-impact sabotage". Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), said "unprecedented levels of espionage" meant a growing threat of "cyber-enabled sabotage" in the next five years.

He singled out "one nation state - no prizes for guessing which one - conducting multiple attempts to scan and penetrate critical infrastructure in Australia" and its allies, "targeting water, transport, telecommunications, and energy networks".

The Chinese embassy has been contacted for comment.

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Two meals for $1: Why China's youth are not spending

China is facing a number of economic challenges and its government wants the next generation of consumers to start spending more for the good of all, but it is not having much luck convincing them to do so. Officials say insufficient domestic consumption across much of society is dragging on growth, but recent graduates have more reasons than most to be cautious.

Youth unemployment has been hovering at just under 20% for some time, those who have jobs fear they could lose them, and the ongoing property crisis can make the prospect of home ownership seem unreachable, especially in big cities.

This uncertainty is encouraging many of China's youth to instead embrace frugality, and social media has been flooded with tips on how people can survive on small amounts of money.

"My work is dedicated to a minimalist way of life," one full-time influencer tells the BBC.

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How the Japan PM's Taiwan remarks provoked the fury of China

Over the past week, China and Japan have been locked in an escalating war of words.

It all started when Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested that if China attacked Taiwan then Japan could respond with its own self-defence force. Since then, foreign ministries on both sides have lodged serious protests with the other, and a Chinese diplomat made what some interpreted as a threat to behead Takaichi. The spat touches on the historical animosity between China and Japan, as well as longstanding "strategic ambiguity" on the sovereignty of Taiwan.

Here's what to know.

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