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Blogger may have revealed how many Z-10ME helicopters Pakistan bought from China

Pakistan’s contract to buy Chinese Z-10ME attack helicopters covers 30 airframes, according to an image circulating on Chinese social media. The image was shared by a prominent military blogger on Sunday and marks the first time a concrete number for Pakistan’s fleet of the helicopters has surfaced since Islamabad o…

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China’s fifth plenum: cadre promotion rules overhauled, focusing on problem-solving

China’s ruling Communist Party has overhauled its personnel process in its search for clean and battle-tested cadres ahead of next year’s major leadership reshuffle. New rules were included in a resolution adopted at the 20th Central Committee’s fifth plenum last Thursday and published by state news agency Xinhua on…

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Iranian 'Ghost Fleet' Tanker Filmed Slipping US Blockade With 500,000 Barrels Of LPG For China

Iranian 'Ghost Fleet' Tanker Filmed Slipping US Blockade With 500,000 Barrels Of LPG For China A sanctioned Iranian tanker carrying about 500,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas slipped past the U.S. naval blockade and delivered its cargo to China, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which says it fi…

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Raising the bar: Taiwan alters draft exemption rules to add thousands to armed forces

Taiwan is tightening its military service exemption rules in a sweeping overhaul expected to halve the exemption rate and add thousands of conscripts to the armed forces each year as the island grapples with persistent manpower shortages. Under the revised standards, which took effect last week, men will generally b…

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Talks are the only way out, China tells Iran as US threat hangs over Middle East

China’s top diplomat has again stressed the need for a political settlement to strife in the Middle East, telling a senior Iranian official in Beijing on Monday that armed conflict was not the way out. “As conflicts in the Middle East drag on and risk further spillover, dialogue and negotiation remain the only viabl…

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China’s CXMT defends bet on risky new DRAM architecture to circumvent US chip curbs

Chinese memory chip giant ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is pressing ahead with an alternative chip architecture that US rival Micron Technology has chosen to bypass, highlighting an industry divide over how best to pack more data onto silicon under cost and geopolitical constraints. The Hefei-based company pla…

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Korea's top court upholds W18.6b fine on Broadcom for pressuring Samsung into unfair deal

South Korea's Supreme Court has upheld an 18.6 billion won ($13.9 million) antitrust fine against US chipmaker Broadcom for abusing its bargaining power to force Samsung Electronics into an unfavorable long-term component supply agreement. The court dismissed an appeal filed by Broadcom's US headquarters and affilia…

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Japan launches new national agency to boost disaster response

Japan on Monday launched a new national agency focused on disaster management with the goal of making the country better prepared should there be a megaquake along the Pacific coast or in Tokyo, or an eruption of Mount Fuji. More than 350 workers at the National Disaster Management Agency will oversee preparedness, …

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Finance minister, Hyundai Motor chief discuss EV policies: sources

South Korea's finance minister met with the head of Hyundai Motor Group to discuss ways to develop the country's electric vehicle industry, along with government tax incentives for the sector, sources said Monday. Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il met with Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung for around 20 …

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Turkey signed US-led Artemis Accords. Its moon rovers will hitch a ride with China

Turkey has signed America’s rule book for the moon, but its first ride to the lunar south pole – the icy region both Washington and Beijing are racing to reach – will probably come from China. A team of more than 120 students and professors at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara has built prototypes of…

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Beijing doubles down on Type 071 amphibious warships, signalling a Taiwan focus

Beijing is accelerating production of its Type 071 amphibious transport docks by expanding construction to a second shipyard, potentially strengthening its ability to move troops and military equipment across the Taiwan Strait in a conflict. The expansion comes amid long-standing United States assessments that Beiji…

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Millions in China moved by student who quit school to care for seriously ill mother

Millions of people in China were moved by the story of a secondary school graduate who put off university to care for her seriously ill mother – and of the classmates who donated their treasured collections to help her. Cao Feng, a graduating student at Yuwang Secondary School in central China’s Anhui province, rece…

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China and Oman unite in Mideast peace call on sultan’s ‘historic’ Beijing visit

China and Oman have called for a peaceful resolution and full ceasefire between the US and Iran, stressing that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz must be restored. The call came during talks in Beijing on Monday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. In their joint statemen…

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Beijing refreshes asset swap to support China’s stock market after sell-off

Chinese authorities have launched a renewed effort to stabilise the country’s struggling stock market, with a string of measures announced on Monday to boost liquidity, cut rates for share buy-back loans and ease curbs on leveraged trading. The concerted action by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China Securities …

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As BYD and Geely hit sales highs, pressure mounts on China’s smaller carmakers

China’s two largest carmakers, BYD and Geely Auto, recorded their strongest monthly sales of the year in October, bucking a downward trend in the world’s largest automotive market as smaller rivals come under increasing pressure to turn a profit. Shenzhen-based electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD handed over 490,168 car…

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Nexroc delays JYP takeover proposal as funding doubts grow

Japanese investment firm Nexroc has postponed its planned acquisition proposal for JYP Entertainment, it confirmed in an exclusive response to The Korea Herald, raising questions about its ability to finance a potential takeover of the K-pop powerhouse. Nexroc pushed its original Oct. 26 proposal deadline to Monday,…

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China touts AI milestone: models generate more tokens than used in training

For the first time, the amount of inference data generated by artificial intelligence systems in China has surpassed the amount of data used to train those systems, according to a new government-backed report, illustrating how the country is increasingly adopting AI at scale. The report released on Saturday by the C…

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China’s fifth plenum: everything you need to know from the war on corruption to promotions

We have put together stories from our coverage of China’s fifth plenum. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘Unwritten rules’ become newest target in Communist Party’s war on corruption The Communist Party of China has pledged to vigorously crack down on the “unwritten rul…

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Chinese start-up says it is developing country’s first home-grown new-energy business jet

A newly established Chinese start-up is developing what it describes as the country’s first home-grown new-energy business jet, adding to China’s efforts to cut aviation emissions. Beijing Airlink Aircraft, a Chinese private aircraft manufacturer founded in March, unveiled scale models of two variants of its Belyn 1…

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US criticism of China in Yellow Sea exposes strategic divide with Seoul: expert

The contrast between Seoul and Washington's approach to China's activities in the Yellow Sea is drawing attention to divergence in the allies' strategic priorities, raising questions about whether Beijing could become a source of friction in the South Korea-US alliance. The contrast emerged following a trilateral fo…

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South Korea probes death of frontline soldier near North Korean border

A South Korean army staff sergeant died after ‌suffering external injuries at a frontline unit in Cheorwon near the North Korean border on Monday morning, Seoul’s Defence Ministry said. Military and civilian ⁠investigators were examining the exact cause and circumstances ‌of his death, the ministry said. A unit memb…

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PPP slams Lee's budget speech for overlooking N. Korea, economic concerns

The main opposition People Power Party on Monday criticized President Lee Jae Myung's budget speech for failing to address North Korea's threats and economic concerns, while accusing his administration of excessive spending. PPP lawmakers staged a rally at the National Assembly ahead of Lee's speech on next year's b…

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Finance minister discusses economic ties, cooperation with US ambassador

Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il met with US Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel on Monday to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation, the finance ministry said. During the meeting held at the government complex in Seoul, Lee said the South Korea-US alliance has expanded beyond security to encom…

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S. Korea launches Defense Drone Headquarters

South Korea launched its new military drone headquarters Monday, seeking to make uncrewed aircraft a common battlefield tool across the branches, but experts say the country needs to match production capabilities to military goals. On Monday, the Ministry of National Defense held a ceremony marking the establishment…

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