Overseas Chinese Media Launch Guizhou Tour to Showcase Province’s Development
The 2026 “Overseas Chinese Media Visit Guizhou” program kicked off in Guiyang on October 13, bringing together 23 overseas Chinese-language journalists and social media creators from the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Hong Kong, China News Service reported.
During the field trip, the delegation will visit major infrastructure projects, rural revitalization demonstration sites, ethnic minority villages and ecological protection areas. The aim is to learn how Guizhou is advancing at the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period and to gather material on its high-quality development.
At the launch ceremony, a promotional film for “Overseas Chinese Hearts Toward the Party: Passing the Torch,” an oral history project, made its debut. Started in late 2025 by Guizhou’s overseas Chinese affairs office and federation of returned overseas Chinese, the project records the experiences of elderly returned overseas Chinese who settled in Guizhou and contributed to Third Front construction, science, education, healthcare and local development. The material will be circulated on platforms at home and abroad.
Ji Jie, vice chairperson and secretary-general of the provincial federation, described overseas Chinese media as an important bridge between China and the world, and urged participants to present Guizhou’s natural beauty and rapid changes from many angles.
Chen Lin, publisher of Canadian magazine Souluo, said overseas outlets would use their language and platform strengths to tell Guizhou stories through short videos and in-depth interviews, and hoped to build lasting cooperation for regular coverage of the province.
Sun Yonghui, director of the provincial overseas Chinese affairs office, called on the media to serve as witnesses, communicators and promoters of friendly exchanges. He said Guizhou will build an external communication network combining mainstream and overseas Chinese media and develop the program into a brand that rallies overseas Chinese support.
Zhu Huanhuan, a reporter for Germany’s Europe Times, said she would use multilingual channels to promote Guizhou’s tourism, ecology and development achievements to mainstream German audiences and local Chinese communities.
Source: China News Service, October 13, 2026
https://www.chinanews.com/hr/2026/10-13/10714070.shtml
Taiwanese Student in Nanjing Says Rumors of “Professional Students” Make Classmates Wary of Speaking Out
A Taiwanese graduate student at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine says rumors circulate on campus about “professional students,” people who allegedly pose as students to monitor and report on others. Liu Minghao, a pseudonym, told Radio Free Asia he cannot identify who they are, but teachers have privately warned Taiwanese students to be careful in class and avoid sensitive topics.
Liu said political and public issues are restricted in class discussions, and some controversial social events rarely make it into teaching. He said the suspected informants look like ordinary students who attend class, eat in the canteen and join outdoor activities. Classmates in Shanghai and Hangzhou told him cameras have been installed in their classrooms. A friend studying media in Beijing was disappointed to find that many contentious issues could not be discussed even in journalism classes. Liu contrasted this with Taiwan, where students can freely criticize government officials.
A Shanghai-based man surnamed Peng, who has a legal background, said he had not heard of such students but considered it plausible, noting that young people have historically initiated major protests. Activist Lu Jun said that, whatever the truth of the rumors, surveillance is pervasive, citing big data, street cameras and nationalist students, and argued that the climate leaves people afraid to speak honestly.
Liu said mainland students are not incapable of independent thinking but rarely discuss politics, which he attributed to an education system that discourages dissent. Most of those who follow current affairs study journalism or media.
He added that campus life centers on grades and internships. Some students aim from the start for postgraduate recommendation, while others begin interning off campus in their second year and attend class only for exams and presentations. Clubs carry little weight with employers compared with internship experience.
Citing China’s economic slowdown, Liu said postgraduate degrees are less attractive and jobs are hard to find. He may try working on the mainland first but expects to return to Taiwan long term.
Source: Radio Free Asia, October 13, 2026
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shehui/2026/10/13/china-nanjing-university-taiwan-students-professional-students/
China Marks 10 Years of Luban Workshops, Its Vocational Education Export Brand
China’s Ministry of Education said on October 12 that the country has built 38 Luban Workshops in 32 countries, calling them a shining calling card for Chinese vocational education abroad. Peng Binbai, director of the ministry’s Department of Vocational and Adult Education, made the remarks at a press conference introducing the 2026 World Conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training and related international cooperation efforts.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the world’s first Luban Workshop. The ministry will hold a symposium to review a decade of experience and push the program toward higher quality and an upgraded model, with the aim of making this “small but beautiful” brand shine even brighter.
The Luban Workshop is an international vocational education brand guided by the Ministry of Education and originally developed and driven by the city of Tianjin. It seeks to share China’s vocational education achievements with the world and promote the spirit of the “master craftsman.” Named after Lu Ban, an ancient Chinese craftsman, the program combines academic education with vocational training. It exports Chinese vocational standards, equipment and the Engineering Practice Innovation Project (EPIP) teaching model to train young skilled workers needed by countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.
The first workshop opened in Thailand in March 2016, and the program has since expanded across Asia, Africa and Europe. As of September 2025, there were 36 workshops in 29 countries. The workshops offer 60 majors in 14 categories, including smart manufacturing, rail transit, traditional Chinese medicine, artificial intelligence and modern agriculture, matching local industrial needs.
Results so far include nearly 10,000 students in degree programs and more than 31,000 person-times of vocational training. Fourteen internationalized teaching standards have been incorporated into partner countries’ national education systems. The program has also helped bring Chinese equipment abroad and serves as an important bridge for people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries.
Source: China News Service, October 12, 2026
https://www.chinanews.com/gn/2026/10-12/10712055.shtml
China to Host UN Peacekeeping Staff Officer Course and Counterterrorism Forum
China’s Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Chen Xi announced on Friday that China will hold an international training course for United Nations peacekeeping staff officers, along with a major counterterrorism forum, as part of upcoming military-related activities.
According to Chen, the Ministry’s Peacekeeping Affairs Center and the Foreign Languages College of the National University of Defense Technology will jointly host the training course in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, in the second half of October. Instructors and trainees from 12 countries and international organizations, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria and the United Nations, will take part.
The course focuses on building the skills required for UN peacekeeping staff posts. It consists of three modules: basic theory, professional skills and headquarters exercises. Covering 31 topics, including the basic principles of peacekeeping operations, civilian protection, and command and control, the program is intended to help participating countries’ militaries conduct peacekeeping operations in a more professional, standardized and coordinated manner.
Chen also said the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force will host the “Great Wall-2026” International Counterterrorism Forum in Beijing from Oct. 13 to 15. More than 320 Chinese and foreign representatives from 62 countries and international organizations are expected to attend.
Themed “Advancing Practical Counterterrorism Cooperation and Jointly Safeguarding Our Homeland,” the forum will address four topics: terrorism trends and counterterrorism capacity building in an unmanned and intelligent environment; preventing and combating maritime terrorism; protecting key targets against terrorist attacks; and countering infiltration across borders. Chen said the forum will help strengthen friendship and mutual trust between the Armed Police Force and its foreign counterparts, deepen bilateral and multilateral counterterrorism cooperation, and help maintain regional peace and stability.
Source: China News Service, October 10, 2026
https://www.chinanews.com/gn/2026/10-10/10710613.shtml
Beijing Calls on Overseas Chinese to Back Unification and Advance Party Aims Abroad
In a speech reported in Chinese state media, Chen Xu, deputy minister of the Central United Front Work Department and director of the State Council’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, described how Beijing wants to mobilize overseas Chinese communities. He framed his remarks as study of a July 2026 instruction on overseas Chinese affairs from Xi Jinping, which he said sets the direction for the work.
Chen argued that engagement with the roughly 60 million overseas Chinese and 40 million returned overseas Chinese and relatives serves several national goals, among them economic modernization, cultural influence and “a community with a shared future for mankind.” His most politically sensitive passage concerned Taiwan. He said overseas Chinese have long conducted publicity, solidarity and protest activities against “Taiwan independence” abroad, and that separatist forces are colluding with foreign backers, making unification harder. He called for strengthening the “Chinese nation community” consciousness, combining “unity and struggle,” and squeezing the overseas space for what he termed hostile separatist forces while building up pro-unification forces worldwide.
Chen also said overseas Chinese have supported China’s bilateral and multilateral ties and the Belt and Road Initiative, and should act as a “golden ribbon” and “bridge of friendship” between China and their host countries.
On organization, he stressed that the Party’s centralized leadership must run through all overseas Chinese work. United Front departments at every level, he said, should coordinate ministries, community groups, universities, financial institutions and companies, under unified Party committee leadership.
Chen acknowledged challenges, including weakening ties to China among younger overseas Chinese and disunity among community groups. He also urged overseas Chinese to obey local laws. The speech reflects how Beijing links diaspora outreach to its sovereignty and foreign-policy goals, and the language on countering Taiwan independence abroad is likely to draw scrutiny from host governments.
Source: Study Times, October 9, 2026
https://www.studytimes.cn/lltt/202610/t20261009_92572.html
China Reportedly Orders 18 Stability Measures Ahead of Fifth Plenum
The Chinese Communist Party’s Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee is set to open in Beijing on October 26. According to the X account “Baodian Weekly,” a confidential central-level document discloses for the first time 18 security and stability measures the party has arranged for the meeting, including stepped-up intelligence gathering on, and behavior prediction of, “sensitive” foreigners.
The report says the office of the central leadership group for safeguarding political security and social stability recently sent a notice to provincial-level coordination bodies, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, and relevant member units and task forces. The notice urges officials to maintain bottom-line and worst-case thinking, concentrate on defusing major political and social risks, and ensure stability throughout the session.
Authorities are told to enforce party and national security responsibility systems, with local governments, industry regulators and legal organs sharing accountability. Departments must keep staff on duty around the clock and report any major emergency promptly, without delay, omission, falsification or concealment. A daily reporting mechanism requires submissions by 6 p.m. each day, whether or not anything has happened.
Among the 18 requirements, officials must watch for infiltration and subversion by overseas separatist forces and tighten vetting and monitoring of diplomats, journalists and NGO staff from key countries traveling to sensitive areas in China. They are also to guard against flash-mob disruptions, reactionary slogans displayed on screens or banners, and illegal drone flights, and to curb foreign religious infiltration and illegal domestic religious activity. Other measures include enforcing the no-fly zone over the capital, tightly controlling petitioners traveling to Beijing, preventing mass incidents and individual extreme cases, and strengthening management of online public opinion.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 13, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610130073.aspx
China, Pakistan to Hold First Joint Army Training in Xinjiang
China’s Ministry of Defense announced that the Chinese and Pakistani armies will hold their first joint army training exercise in Korla, Xinjiang, in the second half of October. Ministry spokesperson Chen Xi said the drill, called “Karakoram-2026,” will focus on joint counterterrorism clearing operations in high-altitude terrain. It will include drone operations, moving-target shooting, long-range sniper training, and joint command and live-troop exercises. Chen said it would deepen exchanges and strengthen both sides’ ability to counter terrorist threats.
Hong Kong’s Ming Pao reported that militant groups in Pakistan have repeatedly targeted Chinese firms and projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, causing casualties among Chinese personnel and damaging facilities under construction. Beijing has repeatedly demanded severe punishment for those responsible. In March 2024, five Chinese engineers were killed in an attack in northwestern Pakistan, and in October of that year, an explosion at a Chinese-invested project killed two Chinese citizens.
The two countries have previously held “Warrior” counterterrorism exercises, but these mostly involved special forces or border units. Commentators cited in the report said the new drill marks an expansion of cooperation from special-operations units to regular army formations.
Chinese military expert Song Zhongping, quoted by Ming Pao, said joint action against cross-border terrorist groups has long been a shared training need. He argued that because the exercise is being held on the People’s Liberation Army’s home ground and involves a range of counterterrorism equipment, including drones, it intensifies the training. He said China has accumulated extensive counterterrorism experience in Xinjiang, and Pakistan should learn from it and acquire new equipment. Song added that the exercise is larger and more targeted than past cooperation, and that the Korla location can simulate plateau conditions. He did not rule out joint or cross-border counterterrorism operations between the two countries in the future.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 11, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610110143.aspx
Chinese Provinces Issue Plague Prevention Notices After Death of Russian Lab Worker
Health authorities in China’s Hunan and Guangdong provinces and the Hulunbuir region of Inner Mongolia have issued plague prevention guidance in recent days, following the death of a researcher at a Russian institute in Siberia. Hunan’s disease control authority published its health reminder on October 9, and Guangdong’s provincial disease control bureau released a plague information piece the same day. Hulunbuir’s disease control center issued a risk notice that explicitly mentioned the Russian case and urged people arriving from plague-endemic areas of the Russian Far East to monitor their health.
Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk-based Siberian and Far East anti-plague research institute, was hospitalized with severe pneumonia on September 29 and died on October 2 despite ventilator support. Russian officials said on October 8 that medical observation of all her contacts had ended and tests found no dangerous pathogens, but the cause of death remains unknown.
Hulunbuir’s notice advised anyone with suspected symptoms to seek immediate medical care and disclose any travel to plague-endemic areas. Hunan’s experts said the province has no natural plague foci and infection risk is extremely low. Its reminder listed “three reports and three don’ts,” covering reporting dead rodents, suspected patients and unexplained high fevers, and avoiding hunting, eating or transporting wild animals that carry plague. Hulunbuir issued a similar “three don’ts, three musts, three protections” guideline. Guangdong’s article reportedly did not mention the Russian case.
A Mongolian community member living in Japan said the warnings likely followed instructions from higher authorities, given Hulunbuir’s border with Russia. A Guangdong IT worker said Inner Mongolia sees a few mostly bubonic plague cases each year, with no sign of a large pneumonic outbreak. A Linyi, Shandong resident said she saw no local warning, but noted that some online posts discussing the issue were deleted.
Source: Radio Free Asia, October 12, 2026
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shehui/2026/10/12/china-cdc-plague-russia/