China successfully conducted take-off and landing operations of the GJ-21 drone from its first Type 076 warship, the Sichuan, this month, Xinhua said on Friday. More to follow …

Chinese President Xi Jinping renewed a years-long anti-corruption drive at a major Communist Party meeting, while the general who led a military anti-graft purge was promoted to the Politburo. The party must “ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to commit corruption”, read a communique passed at the fifth plenum of the party’s Central Committee. The document also highlighted “unwritten rules” as a key issue to address. Zhang Shengmin, Xi’s vice-chairman on the...

Flying cars developed by Chinese companies are by design more feasible for commercial use than Tesla’s Roadster, according to an executive at Xpeng, after a recent demonstration by the US tech giant sparked discussion about tech leadership in mainland China. Wang Tan, co-founder of Aridge, the affiliate of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng, said Chinese companies had adopted different technologies than Tesla did. While the Roadster’s mid-air flip and successful landing as seen in a live...

A leading economist warned on Thursday that the United States and China are in a “conflicted co-dependency” that this year’s two bilateral summits failed to address. “I think there’s a good chance that we’re in a temporarily more stable place. But to say that has solved the deep-rooted problems between us, I think is a real stretch,” said Stephen Roach, a veteran China-watcher and the former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, at the China Institute of America. “You mentioned the two summits that...

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has revealed that personal data and flight details of 53,000 bookings were compromised after hackers breached its technology service provider’s system. The carrier is among hundreds of airlines worldwide that use technology solutions provided by Amadeus IT Group. Cathay said on Friday that the unauthorised access took place between August 2023 and September 2026. “We apologise to our customers for the concern and inconvenience caused by this...

Amid attempts this year to impress each other with splendour, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping appear to have decided that the relationship between their two countries should primarily run through their personal relationship. This has been a hallmark of the Trump years. The American executive branch has always held near-unilateral authority over foreign policy, but Trump has concentrated that in himself. Dozens of ambassadors and senior national security advisers have...

Beijing has given new details about the scale of its anti-corruption drive into the People’s Liberation Army and defence industry, with fresh names confirmed as being investigated. They include top generals who once oversaw theatre commands, heads of the powerful Central Military Commission’s General Office and executives in key defence companies. The names are included in a communique released at the close of the fifth plenum of the 20th Central Committee on Thursday, as the party concluded its...