People’s Daily: Establishing Xi Jinping as the Core of Party Leadership Is the Greatest Political Achievement Since the 18th Party Congress
October 26 marked the opening of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which focused on Party building. On the same day, People’s Daily published a lengthy editorial under the pen name Ren Zhongping (任仲平), a name that is a homophone for “People’s Daily’s Important Commentary.” The article emphasized the need for the entire CCP to follow Xi Jinping’s leadership. The following are key excerpts from the article.
Since the 18th Party Congress, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. The greatest political achievement of this era has been establishing Comrade Xi Jinping as the core of the Party Central Committee and the entire Party, and establishing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guiding ideology.
Advancing Party building as a great project while consistently upholding the principles of the Party governing itself and exercising strict self-governance has been a major instrument for establishing the Party and the state and strengthening both.
“Upholding the Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership” is an important component of Xi Jinping’s thinking on Party building and the highest principle of Party leadership.
The primary task of “upholding political building as the overarching principle of Party building” is to “ensure that the entire Party obeys the Central Committee and upholds the authority of the Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership.”
Source: People’s Daily, October 26, 2026
http://dangjian.people.com.cn/n1/2026/1026/c117092-40821438.html
People’s Daily: Aging Equipment and Supply Chain Weaknesses Challenge U.S. Military Readiness
The U.S. Air Force recently outlined progress under its “Polaris Readiness Plan,” which covers 76 B-52H and 45 B-1B strategic bombers. The initiative aims to improve maintenance efficiency by reorganizing logistics and supply-chain operations. However, salvaging parts from retired aircraft offers only temporary relief from shortages and may prove inadequate during prolonged, high-intensity conflict.
Years of global deployments have placed mounting pressure on aging equipment across the U.S. military. The Navy’s aircraft carrier fleet faces particularly acute challenges. Several Nimitz-class carriers have served for more than 40 years, contributing to recurring maintenance problems and growing repair backlogs. Meanwhile, the newer Ford-class carriers continue to face reliability issues with electromagnetic catapults and arresting gear. Extended maintenance periods have limited the number of carriers readily available for deployment to fewer than four. Meanwhile, prolonged operations accelerate equipment wear and further increase maintenance demands.
Other major weapons systems face similar difficulties. The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile fleet has exceeded its originally intended service life, while its replacement program has progressed slowly. Aging Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines and delays in building their Columbia-class successors add to the pressure. The Air Force’s airborne early-warning and aerial refueling fleets also contain aging aircraft with increasing structural maintenance requirements.
These challenges are compounded by weaknesses in the U.S. defense industrial base. Shrinking domestic manufacturing capacity, fragmented supply chains, limited production of critical components, and a reduced pool of major contractors constrain the industry’s ability to produce new weapons while maintaining existing systems.
The Polaris Readiness Plan cannot reverse the broader erosion of U.S. military readiness on its own.
Source: People’s Daily, October 28, 2026
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2026/1028/c1011-40823166.html
China Develops High-Precision Underground Positioning and Navigation Technology
China has completed a national science and technology assessment of a high-precision positioning, navigation, and control system for large underground spaces, marking what Chinese authorities describe as an original achievement in ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning technology. The project was led by the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Space-Time Networks and Equipment Technology at the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) Network Communication Research Institute.
The project addresses the challenges of positioning and autonomous navigation in underground environments, where satellite navigation signals cannot penetrate soil, concrete, or metal structures. Narrow passages, extensive shielding, metal equipment, and dust can also severely interfere with wireless signals, creating highly challenging electromagnetic conditions.
The research team developed a digital-twin channel-modeling method that combines real-time data collection with offline model optimization. The technology creates a detailed map of the underground wireless environment, capturing signal power, propagation delays, and transmission directions to characterize the complex propagation of UWB signals. The team also developed a scalable space-time information network that can expand from a single-station system to city-scale deployment. Tests showed that the system can support up to 69,894 positioning nodes, with more than 23,675 nodes capable of simultaneous positioning.
The team also developed China’s first fully domestically controlled “Tanjie 100” pulse-positioning chip based on its proprietary signal architecture. Compared with international standard systems, the chip reportedly provides higher precision, longer range, and greater capacity for adaptive one-, two-, and three-dimensional positioning. The technology has been deployed and tested in underground facilities in Xiong’an and at a large coal mine, providing technical support for underground development and intelligent transformation.
Source: People’s Daily, September 21, 2026
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2026/0921/c1004-40802925.html
Unverified “Open Letter” Calling for Presidential Term Limits Appears on Obscure Website of Unclear Origin
An open letter claiming to come from students at multiple Chinese universities appeared at about 3 p.m. on October 26 on a website called “Siyuan Lake BBS,” according to Radio Free Asia. The letter calls for restoring term limits for China’s president, pursuing democratic constitutional reform, and protecting space for citizens to discuss national affairs.
Titled “A Joint Appeal from a Group of University Students of the Republic,” the letter is addressed to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, and members of the 20th Central Committee’s Fifth Plenary Session. It invokes Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping on democracy and checks on power, and questions the 2018 constitutional change that removed the two-term limit on the presidency. It makes three requests: abolishing indefinite presidential tenure, launching democratic constitutional revision, and safeguarding citizens’ ability to discuss state affairs. The authors say they do not intend confrontation.
The letter lists 14 signatory universities, including Peking University, Renmin University of China and Xiamen University, but provides no individual names or proof of endorsement. By midnight Beijing time on October 27, it had 656 views and one “like.” The author, “Lin Ziyi,” is a Level 1 account whose first post this was.
Radio Free Asia could not confirm the author’s identity, whether the signatories are students, or whether the listed schools were involved. Its checks found that the site’s registration data lists South Korea, with a mailing address in Singapore, while the administrator’s email is hosted on Tencent servers and the contact phone and WeChat are Chinese numbers. The site describes itself as an unofficial forum and uses a “.com” domain. Whether it operates inside China remains unclear.
Source: Radio Free Asia, October 26, 2026
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/podcasts/yataibaodao/2026/10/26/student-protest-xi-bbs/
Chinese Universities in Jiangsu Begin Paying Staff in Digital Yuan
Several universities in China’s Jiangsu Province, including Yangzhou University, Nantong University and Jiangsu Normal University, have recently notified staff that the salaries of permanent employees will gradually be paid into digital yuan wallets.
The People’s Daily reported that the cities of Changshu in Jiangsu and Meizhou in Guangdong had already piloted paying salaries in digital yuan.
The digital yuan is issued by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank. It has the same value as physical renminbi and is legal tender, meaning no organization or individual may refuse it.
The report distinguished the digital yuan from payment platforms such as WeChat and Alipay, describing the latter as tools for “moving money” that must be linked to a bank card before funds can be withdrawn from a bank and spent. The digital yuan, by contrast, is money itself and does not need to be routed through a third-party platform.
Yangzhou University’s notice states that faculty and staff may still choose whether to transfer money in their digital wallets back to their original salary accounts. According to the report, converting funds from a digital wallet back to a linked bank card incurs no fee and arrives instantly, including for transfers between different banks. The digital yuan can also be used through channels such as WeChat and Alipay.
Digital yuan wallets can earn interest. Since the start of this year, China’s six major banks have paid interest on balances in real-name wallets at the demand deposit rate. This shifts the digital yuan from a “cash-type” instrument to a “deposit-money-type” one, brings it under deposit insurance protection, and makes its legal and economic nature similar to that of a bank deposit.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 27, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610270302.aspx
Study Times Commentary: Party Building in Emerging Sectors Must Make Organizational and Work Coverage “Tangible and Effective”
A commentary in Study Times, the Central Party School’s newspaper, argues that a new central guideline on strengthening social work in the new era moves Party building in emerging sectors from strategic planning into policy implementation. The author, who heads the united front department at the Central Party School (National Academy of Governance), says making Party organizational and work coverage “tangible and effective” is the foundation of this effort. He ties it to improving social governance and to national rejuvenation, and notes that Xi Jinping has stressed Party building in new economic organizations, new social organizations and new employment groups since the 20th Party Congress.
The article credits recent progress. By the end of 2025, the Party had 201,000 grassroots organizations in social organizations, which it says essentially meets the goal of establishing them wherever required. Localities have also tried new models, including standalone, regionally joint and industry-wide Party organizations, plus “cloud,” project-based and industrial-chain Party building.
Problems remain, however. Coverage is thin among small and micro enterprises, platform franchisees and frontline outlets, which often have short lifespans. One-person companies built around AI collaboration add difficulty because they have few Party members who move frequently and work remotely. “Pocket” and “invisible” Party members persist. Some organizations exist without meaningful activities, joint branches are weak, and Party work is disconnected from business development.
The author proposes balancing four relationships: commonality and individuality, locality and workplace, mobility and fixity, and online and offline activity. He also urges ongoing surveys to build dynamic data on members, smoother online transfers of membership ties, identity markers for mobile members, and evaluation incentives. Coverage should be tailored by organization type: large firms can establish their own organizations, smaller ones can form joint branches, and one-person companies can rely on parks, buildings or neighborhoods. He also notes that many workers in these sectors were born in the 1990s and 2000s, which opens room for new approaches.
Source: Study Times, October 23, 2026
https://www.studytimes.cn/llsd/202610/t20261023_93464.html
China’s Land Sale Revenue Falls 27.9 Percent in First Nine Months as Property Slump Deepens
China’s Ministry of Finance released new statistics today showing that income from state-owned land use rights transfers fell 27.9 percent year on year in the first nine months of 2026, as the prolonged property downturn sharply reduced demand for land.
National government fund budget revenue dropped 18.6 percent over the same period. Central government fund revenue rose 12.4 percent, while local governments’ own fund revenue declined 22.3 percent, with land sale income making up the steepest part of that fall.
Property-related taxes also weakened. Deed tax revenue, which is levied when land or real estate changes hands, fell 14.5 percent year on year.
Land sale revenue has now declined every year since 2022, and this year’s full-year outlook is unlikely to be bright. Local governments have long relied on land finance as a major source of income, and the weak property market has dragged down both the volume and price of land sales. The resulting loss of revenue is adding to the fiscal pressure on local authorities.
Tax revenue, often viewed as a barometer of China’s economy, grew 6.1 percent nationwide in the first nine months. Among the four largest tax categories, domestic value-added tax rose 6 percent, domestic consumption tax fell 4.1 percent, corporate income tax grew 7.1 percent and individual income tax climbed 14.1 percent. Stamp duty on securities trading surged 65.1 percent, boosted by active capital markets.
Li Nan, deputy director of the ministry’s Financial Department, said today that the ministry will prepare policy reserves, focusing on key areas such as household consumption, private investment and improving the balance of supply and demand. It will also strengthen forward-looking research, expand its policy toolbox and continue promoting long-term coordination between fiscal and financial policy.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 23, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610230173.aspx
U.S. Forces Japan Bans BYD Vehicles From Kadena Air Base Over Security Concerns
U.S. Forces Japan has announced that, starting October 26, vehicles made by Chinese automaker BYD will be barred from entering Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, citing security concerns. The move follows earlier U.S. restrictions on the use of Chinese electronic devices at military bases and major military facilities, which were introduced to protect military secrets.
Korean media, citing a U.S. Forces Japan official, reported that the ban applies to all private vehicles, contractor vehicles, taxis, delivery trucks and commercial vehicles. The goal is to prevent sensitive information from the base from leaking through the cameras and sensors built into electric vehicles.
Internally, U.S. Forces Japan believes the measure could be extended to other major American bases in Japan, such as Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, and possibly even to U.S. bases in South Korea.
Analysts say the restriction is intended to keep information about the various military operations conducted at Kadena from being exposed, including details about the U.S. Air Force fighter jets, transport aircraft, radar systems and munitions stationed there.
China’s Foreign Ministry has previously stated that Beijing firmly opposes what it describes as the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security and drawing up discriminatory lists to unjustly suppress Chinese companies. It has urged Washington to correct its approach, arguing that such discriminatory measures serve no party’s interests. The ministry said the United States should abide by market economy principles, stop interfering with normal economic and trade cooperation, and safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains. It added that China will take necessary measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.
Source: Sputnik News, October 24, 2026
https://sputniknews.cn/20261024/1073767600.html