Philippines’ Defense Chief Tells China: “Have Some Sense of Shame” at Seoul Forum
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro publicly rebuked a Chinese delegate during the Seoul Defense Dialogue on September 8, after being handed a note challenging the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling while he was speaking on stage.
According to The Manila Times, an unidentified Chinese representative passed Teodoro a note during the plenary session asserting that the 2016 ruling “violates fundamental principles of international law” and calling it “illegal, null, and void.”
The Philippines brought its South China Sea dispute with China to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2013. In July 2016, the tribunal ruled that China’s nine-dash line (now ten-dash line) had no basis under international law, and that the Philippines was entitled to exclusive rights over resources in its exclusive economic zone. China has never accepted or recognized the ruling.
Responding on stage, Teodoro said that if the note reflected China’s official position, it showed disrespect not only for international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, but also for South Korea as host and for the basic courtesy owed to other participants. He questioned whether the note was an appropriate document to hand him while he was mid-session answering questions.
Teodoro added that China should show “basic courtesy and decorum,” using a Filipino phrase to tell Beijing to have some manners, some sense of shame. His remarks drew applause from the audience.
He went on to reaffirm that the Philippines would not compromise on territorial integrity and sovereignty, would resist aggression from any state, and would continue defending international law while modernizing its military and deepening defense partnerships with like-minded countries.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 9, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202609090002.aspx
China Passes Medical Security Law; Expert Offers Analysis on Implementation
China’s legislature passed the Medical Security Law of the People’s Republic of China on August 28, which will take effect on January 1, 2027. Lou Yu, Director of the Center for Social Law and Social Policy Studies at China University of Political Science and Law, has closely followed the legislation and offered professional analysis and recommendations throughout the legislative process. In a recent interview with Economic Observer, Lou discussed how he believes the law will affect China’s medical insurance system and what reforms may follow.
According to Lou, the law changes the wording on medical insurance participation for several groups. While the Social Insurance Law—a separate law—states that flexible workers “may” participate in employee medical insurance, the new law “encourages” such participation, potentially paving the way for future policy or fiscal incentives. It also stipulates that citizens who are not enrolled in employee medical insurance or covered by other medical security programs “shall” participate in basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents, replacing the previous voluntary approach.
Lou noted that the law also states that citizens have a legal obligation to participate in basic medical insurance. However, it does not specify corresponding penalties for residents who fail to enroll, meaning the provision currently has more of a declaratory than enforceable function. In his view, authorities may eventually introduce measures to increase or require participation. For workers with sufficient income but no stable employment relationship, one possibility would be to calculate insurance contributions based on their income and require enrollment above a certain threshold. For people without sufficient income, government subsidies could continue to support enrollment in resident medical insurance.
Source: Economic Observer, September 4, 2026
https://www.eeo.com.cn/2026/0904/1024337.shtml
Saudi AI Company Launches Arabic Large Language Model Developed by China’s MiniMax
Xinhua reported that Saudi Arabian AI company Humain announced on September 3 the launch of humain-m3, a frontier Arabic large language model developed with assistance from Chinese AI company MiniMax.
According to Humain, humain-m3 is based on MiniMax’s M3 model and is a mixture-of-experts model with 428 billion parameters. It underwent additional pretraining using more than 1 trillion tokens of native Arabic content. In seven publicly available Arabic-language benchmark tests, humain-m3 achieved the highest average score among the frontier models evaluated, demonstrating strong Arabic-language understanding and reasoning capabilities.
Source: Xinhua, September 4, 2026
https://www.news.cn/world/20260904/f56eee960f7645d9adb6fc0c884bf9cb/c.html
China Accelerates Local Government Debt Restructuring and LGFV Exit
China’s latest round of local government debt restructuring, launched in 2024, is centered on replacing high-interest, short-term hidden debt with lower-interest, longer-term local government bonds. In November 2024, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an announced a RMB 6 trillion (US$890 billion) debt ceiling for replacing existing hidden local government debt, to be implemented over three years at RMB 2 trillion annually from 2024 to 2026. A report released by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee on August 25 showed that RMB 5.73 trillion of the bonds had been issued by the end of July 2026, with the program expected to save about RMB 600 billion in cumulative interest expenses.
Local governments previously relied on local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) to fund infrastructure projects because of restrictions on official borrowing quotas. Many LGFVs raised funds through bank loans or bond issuance, using assets such as land as collateral. However, the property market downturn reduced land prices and land-sale revenues, putting pressure on LGFV assets and cash flows and exposing accumulated local government debt risks.
In late August, authorities issued a notice requiring local financing platforms to exit the government financing platform system by the end of June 2027. According to Securities Times, platforms must meet three conditions to exit: eliminate hidden debt, sever government financing functions and become independently operated market entities, and either clear their operating financial debt or obtain approval from creditors holding at least two-thirds of the financial debt.
The transition has accelerated. More than 82 percent of financing platforms had reportedly exited by the end of 2025, while 226 additional LGFVs announced exits in 2026. However, some experts noted that certain platforms had completed only procedural exits through renaming, mergers, or debt swaps, without developing independent market-based businesses or sustainable profitability. After an LGFV exits, its debt becomes local governments’ official debt.
For China’s local governments, an immediate challenge will be how to raise funds for infrastructure and other investments after losing LGFVs as a major financing channel.
Source: Epoch Times, September 6, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/5/n14843523.htm
China’s Credit Card Numbers Keep Falling Despite New Interest Subsidies
China’s central bank has rolled out fresh incentives to boost consumer spending, including subsidies on interest for credit card installment payments. Yet newly released data show the number of credit cards in circulation continues to shrink.
According to the People’s Bank of China’s latest payment system report, the combined total of credit and debit cards nationwide stood at 677 million by the end of the second quarter of 2026 — down 10 million from the first quarter. The figure has now declined for 15 consecutive quarters, falling by 130 million cards from its peak of 807 million at the end of the third quarter of 2022.
Mainland media outlet Economic Daily attributes the drop to the rise of mobile payments and online credit. Where consumers once relied almost exclusively on credit cards for small transactions and everyday spending, apps like WeChat Pay and Alipay, along with lightweight credit tools such as Huabei and Baitiao, now integrate seamlessly into online shopping, food delivery, and ride-hailing — requiring no in-person application or approval wait. Analysts say this convenience has outpaced the traditional, paperwork-heavy credit card.
There has also been a cultural shift: overspending and buying on credit, once seen as markers of a better lifestyle, have fallen out of favor as many younger consumers grow wary of taking on debt.
To stimulate spending, Beijing began subsidizing interest on personal consumption loans last September, initially excluding credit cards. In January, credit card installment billing was added to the subsidy program, and its scope was expanded further in August. Under the policy, any credit card installment purchase now qualifies for interest subsidies, capped at 5,000 yuan (approximately US$745) per borrower, per lending institution, per year.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 8, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202609080100.aspx
Overseas Chinese Report Chinese Police Require Information on Their Work and Life
Several overseas Chinese nationals have recently reported that Chinese police are using “big data” to identify people who have lived abroad for extended periods and requiring them to provide information demonstrating that they are legally living and working overseas. The reports have sparked criticism online, with some users accusing authorities of expanding surveillance and control over Chinese citizens abroad.
On August 23, an Australia-based user said police contacted her family and then reached her through the local village committee, requesting proof of study, employment, and even salary records. Other users reported similar experiences. A Singapore-based user said police contacted her through WeChat and demanded photographs and employment documents, allegedly warning her of “consequences” if she refused.
On August 30, a U.S.-based user shared chat records showing that local police claimed to be using “big data” to identify long-term overseas residents and verify whether they were “legally living and working” abroad. Police reportedly requested passports, visas, photographs, video calls, and location sharing, but did not provide a clear legal basis for the requests.
Other accounts describe more intrusive measures. One overseas worker said Chinese police required her to unlock her phone and spent about two hours examining her photos, WeChat conversations, and Taobao, a Chinese online shopping platform, search history.
Source: NTDTV, September 2, 2026
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/mkt_ipad/2026/09/01/a104129222.html
CCP Establishes New Central Leading Group to Strengthen Social Governance
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has established a new Central Leading Group for Social Governance (中共中央社会治理工作领导小组), headed by Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi, to improve cross-departmental coordination, strengthen social governance, and maintain social stability. The group is believed to have been established around the time of the Central Social Work Conference in November 2025, although its existence was publicly disclosed only later by local authorities.
The CCP established the Central Social Work Department in 2023 to oversee social work and grassroots Party-building. Since then, it has strengthened Party-building and management of the 84 million “new employment groups,” including delivery workers, couriers, and ride-hailing drivers. It has also tightened regulation of national industry associations and chambers of commerce.
Cai Qi is believed to head the Central Leading Group for Social Governance, with Li Ganjie, Li Shulei, Chen Wenqing, and Mu Hong serving as deputy heads. Local disclosures subsequently confirmed the group’s establishment. In April, authorities in Henan’s Sheqi County stated that the group’s office was located within the Central Social Work Department, while in August, officials in Zhejiang’s Chun’an County referred to directives from a meeting of the central group.
In July, the CCP Central Committee and the State Council issued guidelines on strengthening social work in the new era, calling for stronger Party influence in emerging sectors, greater Party-building efforts within internet-platform companies, and new approaches to Party-building in technology companies. The guidelines also called for improved petition and complaint-handling mechanisms and for social conflicts to be resolved at the grassroots level before they escalate.
Source: Mingpao, September 8, 2026
https://news.mingpao.com/pns/中國/article/20260908/s00013/1788800364595/中國透視-中央社會治理小組-橫空殺出-蔡奇掛帥-文-劉實
Chinese Researchers Report Major Advance in Seawater Uranium Extraction
Scientists at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, say they have developed new materials for extracting uranium from seawater, with results published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials and Separation and Purification Technology.
The South China Morning Post reported on September 4 that the Chinese method is several times more efficient than a target set by the U.S. Department of Energy, potentially putting China ahead in efforts to tap this vast nuclear fuel source. State-run Science Daily, in a September 2 report on the same findings, described how researchers used a novel molecular design approach to create a phosphate-functionalized porous material called PhosCage, later combined with aramid nanofibers into composite aerogel microspheres (AC-POC) resistant to biofouling.
According to the Science Daily account, PhosCage reached adsorption equilibrium within five minutes in lab tests and achieved a uranium capacity of 50.4 mg/g in real seawater samples — 8.4 times the DOE benchmark. The AC-POC microspheres, tested continuously for 15 days in natural seawater, achieved a dynamic capacity of 22.55 mg/g, 3.8 times the benchmark, while their negative surface charge reportedly suppressed microbial attachment.
The report noted China’s growing reliance on imported uranium, citing World Nuclear Association data showing domestic mines produced 1,600 tonnes in 2024 against reactor demand of roughly 13,000 tonnes. It also recalled earlier, less successful U.S. efforts at Oak Ridge and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, where costs remained far above land-based mining.
Both outlets noted limitations: tests used only 25 liters (about 6.6 gallons) of near-shore Qingdao seawater in a lab system rather than open-ocean conditions, and neither study priced the recovered uranium. Researchers said future work will focus on scaling up production and cutting costs.
Source: Guancha.cn, September 5, 2026
https://www.guancha.cn/industry-science/2026_09_05_830106.shtml