Rubio invokes China, Russia to defend disputed Venezuela oil deal

South China Morning Post - Oct 27, 2026

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended Washington’s oil agreement in Venezuela as an alternative to Chinese and Russian involvement, pushing back against criticism from opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Rubio said most of the oilfields controlled by the company partnering with Washington had previously been held or operated by Chinese or Russian firms. He argued that the agreement would help revive production while securing US access to reserves in...

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The ‘Queen of the Chinese’ and a forgotten history on the US-Mexico border

At Texas’ dusty Concordia Cemetery, grass grows over graves in a 140-year-old Chinese burial ground. Some headstones have been stolen or vandalised; others have been marked by flat concrete slabs etched with names in Chinese and English. The slabs were harder to steal than traditional headstones. Still other graves have no visible markers. “I don’t think many people go out there,” says Linda Chew, a retired judge in El Paso, the state’s sixth-largest city. Yet interest in the history of the...

The ‘Queen of the Chinese’ and a forgotten history on the US-Mexico border

Lula’s win in Brazil deals blow to Trump’s Latin America push: former China envoy

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s re-election marks a turning point for Latin America and US-Latin American relations, said Chile’s former top envoy to China, who predicted a slowing of Washington’s regional push. “I do think the re-election of President Lula marks a major turning point in Latin America and in US-Latin American relations, while also having a broader significance for the Global South,” said Jorge Heine, who served as Chile’s ambassador to China from 2014 to 2017 and...

Lula’s win in Brazil deals blow to Trump’s Latin America push: former China envoy

German leader’s China visit latest sign of foreign diplomacy pivot beyond Beijing

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has begun his state visit to China in the eastern province of Anhui, spotlighting a growing trend among visiting foreign leaders to look well beyond Beijing. Steinmeier arrived in the provincial capital Hefei early on Tuesday to begin a five-day state visit, marking his first trip to China in nearly eight years and confirming an exclusive report by the South China Morning Post earlier this month. When foreign dignitaries bypass Beijing for provincial...

German leader’s China visit latest sign of foreign diplomacy pivot beyond Beijing

Taiwan vows vigilance as Beijing releases detailed satellite imagery of island landmarks

Taiwan’s military has vowed to remain vigilant against mainland Chinese intelligence-gathering activities after Beijing released high-resolution satellite images of the island, raising concerns about its growing surveillance capabilities. “The defence ministry will not lower its vigilance at any time regarding all such satellite imagery and related intelligence collection directed at Taiwan,” Defence Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung told reporters on Tuesday. “We will also take appropriate...

Taiwan vows vigilance as Beijing releases detailed satellite imagery of island landmarks

How China ‘risk factors’ loom over Anthropic’s hotly anticipated IPO filing

Open-weight models, China-US tensions, Taiwan – just a few of the more than dozen references to China-related risks cited in Anthropic’s much-anticipated listing prospectus, which was finally released on Monday after months of speculation. Mostly concentrated within the 93-page “risk factors” section of the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the disclosures reveal how the Silicon Valley start-up assesses the commercial threats posed by China and its artificial intelligence...

How China ‘risk factors’ loom over Anthropic’s hotly anticipated IPO filing

China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun to miss Asean defence talks as fifth plenum convenes

China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun will skip this week’s meeting of Southeast Asian defence chiefs and their dialogue partners in Cebu, with Beijing instead sending its defence attache in the Philippines. Dong has attended the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) for the past two years. This year’s ADMM and ADMM-Plus, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, coincide with a major Communist Party meeting known as the fifth plenum, which is running in Beijing from Monday to...

China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun to miss Asean defence talks as fifth plenum convenes

US, Japan rehearse coordinated strikes to challenge PLA control of waters near Taiwan

US and Japanese forces have rehearsed coordinated anti-ship strikes and mobile missile deployments across Kyushu and Japan’s southwestern islands, testing tactics designed to challenge Beijing’s ability to control surrounding waters in a conflict over Taiwan. Now in its second week, the 11-day Keen Sword 27 exercise has tested how the allies could threaten Chinese warships from multiple directions while keeping their own forces harder to target. They have also practised repairing runways and...

US, Japan rehearse coordinated strikes to challenge PLA control of waters near Taiwan

US ends visa waiver for Chinese over birth tourism, people smuggling allegations

Washington has suspended visa-free entry for Chinese visitors to the Northern Mariana Islands amid allegations of birth tourism and people smuggling in the US territory. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday the suspension of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorisation Programme. US Senator Mike Lee hailed the move on social media, calling the programme a “Biden-era loophole for Chinese birth tourism” and...

US ends visa waiver for Chinese over birth tourism, people smuggling allegations

Fragile India-China thaw tested by reported fresh Himalayan border face-offs

A fragile rapprochement between China and India is facing a renewed test following reports of military face-offs along their hotly contested border. Shatrujeet Kapur, director general of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), said last week that confrontations with Chinese troops were “continuing at multiple locations along the Arunachal Pradesh border”. “In the past few days, a situation arose where face-off[s] happened at several locations in Arunachal and it still continues,” Kapur said at a...

Fragile India-China thaw tested by reported fresh Himalayan border face-offs

EU-China hybrid car deal won’t really help European carmakers

Earlier this month, simmering trade tensions between the EU and China ease as the two sides reached an agreement in Beijing limiting hybrid car exports from China to an annual quota of 350,000 units. After the European Union imposed tariffs on fully electric cars from China in 2024, hybrid imports surged. The quota would result in more than a halving of the 800,000 hybrid cars expected to be sold this year, a figure which may soon exceed a million if unchecked. The quota would likely shift...

EU-China hybrid car deal won’t really help European carmakers

Is China’s H-6K strategic bomber getting powerful jamming capabilities?

A Chinese H-6K strategic bomber has been sighted with two new electronic warfare pods used for jamming, according to images circulating on social media, potentially indicating an expansion of the aircraft’s capabilities. The photos – which have not been independently verified – emerged on Saturday and show an H6-K in flight with the pods on two of its six pylons. They appear to be similar to the RKZ930 pods carried by China’s J-16D electronic warfare aircraft. The location and date of the photos...

Is China’s H-6K strategic bomber getting powerful jamming capabilities?

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