Another Incident of Beijing-Organized Supporters Clashed with Protesters During Xi’s Visit to the U.S.
Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States drew demonstrations by at least 39 anti-CCP groups. Chinese authorities reportedly organized large numbers of supporters—one source estimated nearly 1,000—to welcome Xi. Supporters and protesters clashed outside Joint Base Andrews during Xi’s arrival (see Chinascope briefing).
Another altercation occurred around 3:30 p.m. on September 24 outside the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., where Falun Gong practitioners were peacefully demonstrating. A woman identified as Li Huahong confronted practitioner Xin Qin, who was photographing the demonstration. Xin said Li repeatedly pressured him to move back before grabbing and pulling him down, after which several people accompanying Li allegedly struck, scratched, and bit him. Xin said he did not fight back and called police. A police officer reportedly witnessed the incident and intervened, handcuffing Li, who was later taken away by ambulance.
According to the report, Li had previously attacked Falun Gong practitioners in New York and had been arrested several times. She was convicted of assault in 2013.
Also, an earlier incident occurred on September 22 outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto, Canada, where a Chinese-Canadian man allegedly damaged Falun Gong protesters’ display boards and banners, issued threats, and injured a practitioner who tried to protect a banner. Police reportedly arrived, documented the incident, and said the case could proceed to legal action.
Sources:
{1} NTDTV, September 25, 2026
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2026/09/25/a104136302.html
{2} NTDTV, September 26, 2026
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2026/09/26/a104136553.html
Taiwan Scholar: PLA’s Actual Combat Effectiveness May Lag Its Visible Military Strength
At a seminar hosted by the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, National Defense University professor Ma Zhenkun assessed the “substance and appearance” of China’s military expansion. He said China’s People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) tangible capabilities have improved significantly since the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, including a sharp increase in missiles, broader precision-strike capabilities, more survivable mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers, and advances in second-strike capability.
However, Ma argued that extensive purges of senior PLA officers have weakened its command structure and operational effectiveness. Citing think-tank estimates, his research said roughly 28–30 senior generals and more than 40–50 lieutenant generals have been detained, expelled, or absent from important meetings since 2023. He also pointed to the absence of large-scale, centrally commanded joint exercises around Taiwan following the removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli. As examples of possible operational weaknesses, Ma cited a PLA formation sent to the Western Pacific after a Japanese destroyer transited the Taiwan Strait that consisted of only two combat ships, lacked a supply vessel, returned after three days, and did not disclose its training objectives. He also cited a confrontation near Sandy Cay in the South China Sea in which two larger Chinese vessels reportedly failed to intercept a smaller Philippine vessel, which he said reflected weaknesses in tactical coordination and force deployment.
Ma concluded that while the PLA’s tangible military strength has grown and affects U.S. force planning in the First Island Chain, its “intangible” capabilities—including senior leadership, joint command, and combat effectiveness—have been weakened. His overall assessment was that the PLA’s actual military strength may currently be lower than its visible military capabilities.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 18, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202609180243.aspx
Sulfur-Cured Bamboo Shoots Renew Scrutiny of China’s Food Safety Oversight
China is facing fresh food safety controversy after a food-safety blogger, who previously exposed formaldehyde-treated cabbage in Hebei, uploaded video showing a processing site in Qingyuan, Guangdong, buying fresh bamboo shoots and curing them with burning sulfur in a remote mountain location. Mainland outlets including Xinmin Evening News and The Paper reported that the footage showed crude conditions and thick white smoke, with witnesses describing the fumes as pungent and irritating to the respiratory tract.
Following the video’s spread online, Qingyuan’s market regulation bureau confirmed the site was found to match what was shown, said the case is under further investigation, and thanked media and internet users for their oversight.
The episode has drawn pointed commentary from state-run outlet Guangming Daily Online, which argued the incident is another blow to consumer confidence and an implicit indictment of regulators, asking why it is consistently ordinary internet users, rather than authorities, who uncover such problems. The commentary noted a repeating pattern behind recent vegetable safety cases: tips from netizens, on-the-ground investigation by independent bloggers, online public pressure, and only then regulatory action. It questioned whether authorities had received prior tips and failed to act, and suggested that if no one had reported concerns to regulators at all, that itself reflects a troubling public preference for trusting independent bloggers over official channels. The piece concluded that when local authorities are slow to detect — or altogether unaware of — food safety problems, it signals a serious structural gap in China’s food safety system.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 20, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202609200025.aspx
Trump and Xi Discussed U.S.-China WWII Alliance, Prompting Concern in Japan
During a September 24 welcoming ceremony for Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump recalled that China and the United States were allies during World War II, highlighting the American volunteer pilots known as the Flying Tigers. He expressed hope that the two countries could build on their wartime cooperation to create a better future. At a state dinner that evening, Xi echoed the historical theme, recalling how Chinese and American forces fought against Japanese militarism, established the Hump air route, and rescued American pilots during the war.
Trump’s remarks reportedly surprised some Japanese government officials and received extensive coverage in Japanese media. On September 26, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held a roughly 20-minute telephone call with Trump, who briefed her on his meeting with Xi. Takaichi emphasized that Japan and the United States had become each other’s “most trusted allies.” The two leaders exchanged views on China-related economic and security issues and reaffirmed bilateral cooperation and their shared commitment to regional and global peace and stability.
Sources:
{1} Radio France International, September 25, 2026
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/国际/20260925-特朗普称中国为-盟国-震惊日本
{2} Kyodo News, September 26, 2026
https://china.kyodonews.net/articles/-/16131
Chinese Firms and Local Governments Roll Out Marriage Incentives to Boost Birth Rates
A growing number of Chinese companies and local governments are offering cash rewards to encourage marriage and childbirth, as the country pushes to build broader social support for family formation.
In Daye, Hubei, beverage maker Jingpai organized a collective wedding for 52 couples, covering all costs and giving each pair a 10,000 yuan (US$1,490) gift package. The company also runs a matchmaking service for employees that has paired 58 couples, resulting in 10 marriages and three births so far.
Retailer Pang Dong Lai has been even more generous: since January 2025, 73 employees have received marriage bonuses totaling 3.65 million yuan (US$544,000), with 54 recipients sharing 2.7 million yuan (US$402,000) in 2026 alone. At a company event in Wuhan in February, over 50 employees who married or had children in 2025 received bonuses—10,000 yuan (US$1,490) for a single employee, doubling to 20,000 yuan (US$2,980) if both spouses work at the firm.
Local governments are joining in too. Shengzhou, Zhejiang offers free premarital and prenatal checkups plus a 300 yuan (US$45) reward for qualifying first-time marriages. Mingxi County, Fujian gives 3,000 yuan (US$447) to couples registering their first marriage locally who complete premarital checkups. In Lüliang, Shanxi, couples marrying for the first time where the bride is 35 or younger receive 1,500 yuan (US$224). Several other regions, including parts of Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Foshan, along with cities like Hangzhou, Ningbo, Yiwu, and Wuhu, have introduced similar rewards or wedding consumption vouchers.
The measures align with China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which calls for strengthening family-support policies and promoting a positive marriage and childbirth culture. Scholars note that since most Chinese births occur within marriage, encouraging marriage is an extension of birth-support policy and a way to ease the broader costs of marrying, having, and raising children.
Source: Yicai, September 21, 2026
https://www.yicai.com/news/103372556.html
China’s Service Sector Gap Seen as Key Drag on Growth
Chinese economist Lu Ming has identified structural imbalances between manufacturing and services as the core obstacle facing China’s economy, according to an interview published by the Communist Party-affiliated newspaper China People’s Political Consultative Conference Daily on September 21.
Lu, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Antai College of Economics and Management, said that despite sustained fiscal and monetary easing, growth has continued to slow—evidence that the problem lies not in aggregate demand but in economic structure.
He argued that China’s traditional growth model, based on expanding capacity and cutting prices, has reached its limits. Domestic manufacturing now faces saturated demand, while trade surpluses draw international pressure. Excessive, inefficient competition has triggered a price spiral that is difficult to break.
Meanwhile, the service sector—covering elder care, education, healthcare, childcare, culture and sports—suffers from mismatches in quantity, quality, diversity and distribution relative to demand.
Lu attributed the sector’s underdevelopment to several factors: a lower value-added tax rate for services (8 percent) versus manufacturing (13 percent), which makes local governments favor manufacturing projects; a collateral-based lending system unfriendly to asset-light service businesses; entrenched social bias viewing service work as low-skill; and lingering regulatory barriers to private investment in services.
China’s GDP grew 4.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2026, slowing to 4.3 percent in the second quarter, with the government targeting 4.5–5 percent growth for the year. Lu noted that current growth is concentrated in capital-intensive sectors like AI, EVs and batteries, which generate limited employment and income gains—while AI simultaneously displaces jobs in programming, statistics and accounting. He called for greater investment in cultivating skills AI cannot replace, such as aesthetic judgment, empathy and communication.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 23, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202609230353.aspx
Beijing-Organized Xi Supporters Clashed with Protesters Outside Andrews Airport as Xi Arrives in Washington
On September 23, clashes reportedly broke out outside Joint Base Andrews near Washington, D.C., between groups organized to welcome Xi Jinping and democracy activists and other protesters. Protesters carried banners calling for Hong Kong’s “liberation” and Xi’s resignation, while a large group of Xi supporters arrived on buses. According to China Democracy Party member Yang Lei, the groups initially remained separate, but a confrontation began after some Xi supporters entered the protesters’ area, allegedly attempted to take their materials, and attacked them with flagpoles. Protesters called police, who arrived shortly afterward.
Yang said the Xi supporters shouted that “Falun Gong hit people,” although he said no Falun Gong practitioners were present and the protesters involved were members of the China Democracy Party. He characterized the accusation as an attempt to blame Falun Gong for the confrontation.
After the clash, protesters reportedly obtained identification badges from Xi supporters representing two organizations: the United Chinese Community Organizations of the United States (美国侨学界社团联席会) and the America-China Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (美中企业总商会).
Also on September 23, former China Democracy Party chairman Wang Xizhe filed a civil lawsuit against Xi Jinping in a California federal court, alleging responsibility for an alleged attack on democracy activists outside the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles on January 4. The lawsuit claims consulate-hired security personnel used pepper spray against peaceful protesters, causing physical and psychological injuries, and seeks damages from Xi. The court accepted the case and issued a summons requiring a response within 21 days.
Sources:
{1} The Epoch Times Chinese, September 24, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/24/n14856206.htm
{2} The Epoch Times Chinese, September 24, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/24/n14856489.htm
{3} The Epoch Times Chinese, September 24, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/24/n14856800.htm
China-Europe Arctic Express Moves from Trial to Regular Weekly Service
On August 15, Haijie Shipping’s vessel “Dubai Tower” departed Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, sailing north through the Bering Strait and the Arctic Northeast Passage toward the UK, a roughly 20-day voyage. The departure marks the China-Europe Arctic Express route’s shift from a single trial run last year to regular weekly sailings this summer, part of Beijing’s “Ice Silk Road” initiative outlined in its 2018 Arctic policy white paper.
Industry analysts attribute the route’s rapid commercialization to several factors: declining Arctic summer sea ice (down 5.8 percent in maximum extent between 2024 and 2025), extending the ice-free sailing window; growing geopolitical risk along traditional routes through the Red Sea and Suez Canal; strong demand from high-value, time-sensitive Chinese exports such as batteries, solar components, and electric-vehicle parts, which benefit from the route’s naturally cold environment; and improved ice-class vessels and forecasting technology, including a new Arctic weather and sea-ice navigation service launched September 8.
The route cuts transit time from about 40 days via Suez to roughly 20 days, while reducing carbon emissions by up to 50 percent. A supply-chain manager quoted in the report said freight rates run $4,500–5,000 for 20-foot containers and $8,500–9,000 for 40-foot containers — higher than Suez routes — but all weekly slots for 2026 are already booked.
Constraints remain: the route is only navigable from July to October, and high costs for ice-class ships, polar transit fees, and insurance persist. Analysts expect the route to serve as a seasonal supplement in the near term, potentially evolving into a more normalized strategic channel over six to ten years.
Source: 21st Century Business Herald, September 18, 2026
https://m.21jingji.com/article/20260918/herald/c5a79ae33da1c8d2d762bfd8bfe13df7.html