Kinaforum

tirsdag 3. februar 2026

China’s fading power and prestige in South Asia

China sought to prove its capabilities through major projects in South Asia, but those same projects now challenge its image as a rising power.

Over the past two decades, China has expanded its footprint across South Asia, presenting itself as a reliable provider of infrastructure and stability. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 further elevated expectations that Beijing would fill the emerging power vacuum.However, recent evidence, from stalled China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects to persistent security threats in Afghanistan, and even Beijing’s inability to facilitate meaningful progress in Taliban-Pakistan negotiations, suggests a widening gap between China’s ambitions and its on-the-ground performance.

This raises a critical question: How much do these mounting project disruptions erode Beijing’s claim to regional leadership and its prestige as Asia’s rising power?

The bus left in 2014: why Modi’s 2026 Budget can’t overtake China

India’s central government budget for fiscal year 2026-27, known as the Union Budget, was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Parliament on February 1, 2026. It marks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest effort to steer India toward technological and economic self-reliance.

Coming amid global shifts in supply chains and escalating geopolitical tensions, this budget appears as a frantic bid to board a bus that India has missed during Modi’s over a decade in power. Past budgets under his tenure prioritized populist fiscal measures, infrastructure and fiscal prudence at the core but largely overlooked the critical sectors defining today’s global economy: rare-earth minerals and magnets, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and green energy transitions.

India sets record budget for infrastructure, defense

India is set to spend a record amount on infrastructure and defense, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament on Sunday. New Delhi plans to invest $133 billion (€112 billion) in infrastructure and $85 billion on defence — an increase of around 9% and 15%, respectively, compared to last year's budget.

The finance minister also announced that the government will scale up manufacturing across seven strategic sectors. They include pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, rare earth magnets, chemicals, capital goods, textiles and sports goods.

"India will continue to take confident steps towards Viksit Bharat (Developed India), balancing ambition with inclusion," said Sitharaman in her national budget speech for the 2026-2027 financial year.

Vietnam boosts EU partnership to match ties to China, US

Vietnam and the European Union have elevated diplomatic relations as both sides seek secure footing amid global trade and security shocks.

The announcement of a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" between Brussels and Hanoi last week places the EU side by side with China, the United States and Russia as one of Vietnam's top-tier diplomatic relationships. Vietnamese President Luong Cuong described it as a "historical milestone underlining the great achievements that the two sides have made," during a meeting with the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Hanoi.

Costa pointed out that the new partnership "highlights the importance we attach to the region and to Vietnam's growing role."

"At a moment when the international rules-based order is under threat from multiple sides, we need to start to stand side by side as reliable and predictable partners," he added.

Trump refuses to be outdone by Europe, signing his own U.S.-India trade deal

U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement Monday that he has agreed a trade deal with India comes hot on the heels of Europe’s own trade agreement with New Delhi, signaling Washington is not willing to be outdone by its global competitors.

The U.S. deal comes after global trading partners like the European Union and India, and China and Canada, have signed their own trade pacts since the new year, leaving America — which has been trigger-happy when it comes to imposing punitive tariffs on trading partners — looking ostracized. Analysts had said those deals, and particularly the EU-India pact, could “light a fire” under the U.S. to get its own stalled trade agreement with India done and dusted, but it has come quicker than most expected.

As a parade of US allies rattled by Trump visit China, Beijing claims a win for its new world order

As US President Donald Trump takes a sledgehammer to longstanding alliances with a volatile foreign policy that’s included threats to take control of Greenland and a spiraling feud with Canada, he’s also creating a significant opening for China.

Look no further than the revolving door of Western leaders hosted by Xi Jinping in recent weeks aiming to reset relations or deepen cooperation with the world’s second-largest economy.

That procession includes the leaders of some of the US’ closest traditional allies: Britain’s Keir Starmer and Canada’s Mark Carney last month, as well as NATO ally Finland’s Petteri Orpo. French President Emmanuel Macron made a visit in December, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected soon.

Flooded by cheap Chinese goods, Latin America is fighting back to protect its industries

China has been flooding Latin American markets with low-priced exports, especially autos and e-commerce goods, as its exporters adjust to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and geopolitical moves.

The world’s second-largest economy has become a major trading partner for many Latin American nations, seeking access to their abundant natural resources and growing markets while expanding its influence in a region Trump views as America’s Backyard. Chinese businesses face slow demand at home. They need new markets for their products as the country ramps up production in many industries. Exports to Latin America, a market of more than 600 million people, and other regions have climbed while exports to the U.S. fell by 20% last year.

US ambassador warns of China’s growing manufacturing dominance

hina has spent decades making inroads in Latin America. Will the ‘Donroe doctrine’ push it out?

Why China is building so many coal plants despite its solar and wind boom

Even as China’s expansion of solar and wind power raced ahead in 2025, the Asian giant opened many more coal power plants than it had in recent years — raising concern about whether the world’s largest emitter will reduce carbon emissions enough to limit climate change.

More than 50 large coal units — individual boiler and turbine sets with generating capacity of 1 gigawatt or more — were commissioned in 2025, up from fewer than 20 a year over the previous decade, a research report released Tuesday said. Depending on energy use, 1 gigawatt can power from several hundred thousand to more than 2 million homes.

Overall, China brought 78 gigawatts of new coal power capacity online, a sharp uptick from previous years, according to the joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which studies air pollution and its impacts, and Global Energy Monitor, which develops databases tracking energy trends.

China to ban hidden door handles on cars starting 2027

China will ban hidden door handles on cars, commonly used on Tesla’s electric vehicles and many other EV models, starting next year. All car doors must include a mechanical release function for handles, except for the tailgate, according to details released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday.

Officials said the policy aims to address safety concerns after fatal EV accidents where electronic doors reportedly failed to operate and trapped passengers inside vehicles. The new requirement will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027. For car models that were already approved, carmakers will have until Jan. 1, 2029, to make design changes to match the regulations.

China criticizes decision to award a Grammy to the Dalai Lama

Beijing on Monday criticized the Dalai Lama ’s first Grammy win, describing the music industry award for an audiobook, narration and storytelling as “a tool for anti-China political manipulation.”

The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, who lives in exile in India, took the award on Sunday for his book, “Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” He said in a statement on his website that he saw the award “as a recognition of our shared universal responsibility.”

“I receive this recognition with gratitude and humility,” he added.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “It is well known that the 14th Dalai Lama is not merely a religious figure but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the guise of religion.”

Torbjørn Færøvik: The Other America - California and the Struggle for America's Soul

There is another America than the benighted mass that has twice voted Donald Trump into the White House—and this America is found above all in California.

“Welcome to California—we believe in science!” reads a banner as we approach Silicon Valley. “Welcome to California—diversity is our strength,” says another. And on the border between Nevada and California, someone has gone so far as to write: “You are now entering Trump-free territory.”

California is the most populous U.S. state, with 39 million inhabitants. The first Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived here in 1769. Later, hundreds of thousands of settlers streamed to the state in search of gold, and it continues to attract hopeful people from all corners.

“The name California is associated with the future,” writes the American historian Kevin Starr. He points out that the state often defines itself by what does not yet exist, or by what is in the process of emerging—such as new technology, advanced research, and green industry.

Les mer

Why China moved so quickly to execute 11 members of a notorious mafia family

No-one should be surprised that China has swiftly executed the 11 members of an organised crime family from north-eastern Myanmar who were sentenced to death in September. China executes more people than anywhere else in the world, according to human rights groups – the exact figure is a state secret. Officials are often executed for corruption. The accusations made against the Ming family were far more serious.

The Ming, Bau, Wei and Liu clans have dominated the remote border town of Laukkaing in Myanmar's impoverished Shan state, since 2009. They rose to power after General Min Aung Hlaing, the current coup leader in Myanmar, led a military operation to drive out the MNDAA, the ethnic insurgent army which had dominated Laukkaing and the area around it since the 1980s.

The four families, as they became known, took over and began shifting from the old dependence on opium and methamphetamine production to a new economy based on casinos and, eventually, online fraud.

Healthcare, visas and whisky: What did UK and China get from Starmer's visit?

Sir Keir Starmer's visit to China this week is the clearest sign yet the two countries are seeking to end the diplomatic "ice age" that has defined their relationship. Both leaders face economic pressures at home and are seeking new opportunities for trade and investment.

For Sir Keir, the first UK prime minister to visit China since Theresa May in 2018, the trip was a chance to highlight the strength of British firms in finance, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, clean energy and car making. President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, aimed to show that China can be a reliable partner for Western economies, as US President Donald Trump continues to rattle the global trading system.

Although no sweeping free trade deal was reached, the visit marked a cautious but tangible reset of UK–China economic ties.

Starmer invites Japan PM to UK after Tokyo talks

Sir Keir Starmer has invited Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to visit the UK following talks in Tokyo, saying the relationship between the countries was the "strongest" it has been "in decades". The prime minister arrived in Japan after his four-day trip to China, in which he attempted to reboot the UK's relationship with Beijing. The leaders of UK and Japan said they had discussed their "joint values" and set out plans to strengthen trade and security ties, including boosting defence and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region.

Any UK visit will depend on the results of snap elections on February 8, with Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party seeking a return to power.

Record 10,500 Tibetan students taken to schools in China in 2025 as Sinicization drive intensified

The number of Tibetan students sent to study in classes especially set up for them in schools in various provinces of China has increased in recent years in keeping with Beijing’s intensified drive to Sinicize Tibet and set a new record last year, reported the Tibetan-language tibettimes.net Jan 19, citing Chinese government sources. The number of such classes has also seen a sharp increase in order to accommodate the additional students.

The report cited a recent announcement from the Shigatse City government, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), as saying that in 2025, a total of 10,500 students from across Tibetan regions were enrolled in Tibet Classes set up in schools in provinces and provincial-level cities across China. It was stated to have been announced as the highest number of enrolment of Tibetan students in such classes in such schools in China thus far.

Himalayan populations have strongest genetic links with Tibet, Siberia, less so with China

The Himalayan populations have strongest of ancestral affinity with Tibet and Siberia but less with China, reported the timesofindia.com Jan 31, citing a recent DNA study presented at an ongoing international conference. A recent DNA study on Himalayan populations reveals the strongest genetic ties with Tibet and Siberia, while links to China are relatively weaker, the report said, citing Rakesh Tamang, a Himalayan gene expert from the Calcutta University.

Tamang’s finding has highlighted the fact that the MYBPC3 gene, a major contributor to heart attacks in South Asia, is almost absent in Himalayan populations, translating to a lower risk of heart attacks linked to this gene.

He has revealed his finding in a lecture he delivered on the second day of an ongoing international conference ICAB-2026 at Banaras Hindu University, where he presented the findings of his DNA study on the people of the Himalayan region.

World leaders flock to Beijing, hedging against U.S. disruptions

Countries that shunned China during its trade dispute with the U.S. are now sending their leaders to Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping — and are keen to strike business deals.

At least five national leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, have visited Xi in January alone. Uruguay’s President Yamandú Orsi is due to make the trip next week — the first by a South American leader since U.S. President Donald Trump captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in early January.

The Canadian and British leaders’ trips are the first in at least eight years, while a visit by Ireland’s prime minister on Jan. 5 was the first in 14 years. China had closed its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic and only reopened them in earnest in early 2023.

“These visits reflect managed, selective resets under rising U.S. policy uncertainty, rather than a strategic pivot to China,” said Yue Su, principal economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

How China Caught Up on AI—and May Now Win the Future

It was a controversy laced with pride for He Xiaopeng. In November, He, the founder and CEO of Chinese physical AI firm XPeng, had just debuted his new humanoid robot, IRON, whose balance, posture shifts, and coquettish swagger mirrored human motion with such eerie precision that a slew of netizens accused him of faking the demonstration by putting a human in a bodysuit.

To silence the naysayers, He boldly cut open the robot’s leg live on stage to reveal the intricate mechanical systems that allow it to adapt to uneven surfaces and maintain stability just like the human body. “At first, it made me sad,” He tells TIME in his Guangzhou headquarters. “The robot is like our classmate, our child. But later, I was proud.”