China’s Ministry of State Security Warns Officials: “The Dining Table Is Not a Safe Zone”
China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) has issued a public warning through its official WeChat account, cautioning government officials with access to classified information about the espionage risks lurking at social dinners. The statement signals a continued push by Beijing to tighten internal security among personnel handling sensitive state matters.
According to the MSS, foreign intelligence operatives may use the guise of friendly gatherings, consultations, or business investment meetings to host banquets, using the relaxed atmosphere to gradually extract classified information from unsuspecting officials. By building rapport over food and drink, spies can subtly probe for details about sensitive and classified projects.
The ministry stressed that “the dining table is not a vacuum zone,” and that those in classified positions must remain vigilant in every word and action. It noted that some officials, when flattered or loosened by alcohol, have lowered their guard and casually disclosed state secrets in an attempt to appear important or knowledgeable.
The MSS also warned that foreign spies may attempt to lure classified personnel into bringing sensitive documents or electronic devices to such gatherings. Officials are instructed to decline any dinner invitations that could compromise their impartiality, avoid contact with individuals of unclear identity, and follow the principle of “no contact unless absolutely necessary.”
The statement reminded officials to “remember that careless words cause trouble,” and to refrain from discussing state secrets, internal work matters, undisclosed policy documents, key data, or personnel arrangements in casual settings. The MSS reaffirmed that China’s Law on Guarding State Secrets explicitly prohibits the disclosure of classified information through private social interactions or personal communications.
The warning reflects Beijing’s broader and intensifying counterintelligence campaign targeting everyday social situations as potential security vulnerabilities.
Source: Sputnik News, April 4, 2026
https://sputniknews.cn/20260404/1070605523.html
China’s Universities Rapidly Cutting Traditional Majors Amid AI and Market Pressures
Driven by the rise of artificial intelligence, shifting employment trends, and structural changes in industry, Chinese universities have been accelerating the elimination of academic programs in recent years. Traditional majors in management, languages, the arts, and select engineering and humanities disciplines have become the primary targets for cuts.
Shanghai University of Electric Power recently reviewed a restructuring plan proposing to add three new programs — resource recycling science, smart grid information engineering, and energy economics — while discontinuing enrollment in environmental engineering, optoelectronic information science, and information and computational science, and fully eliminating its public administration department.
The trend is widespread. Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics halted enrollment in eight programs in 2025, including urban management, Japanese, and logistics management, while scrapping its public administration and digital media arts departments entirely. Hubei University of Arts and Science similarly announced plans to eliminate several programs including logistics engineering and automotive service engineering.
Statistics cited in the report show that between 2020 and 2024, the five most frequently eliminated majors nationwide were information management and information systems (160 programs cut), public administration (138), information and computational science (123), marketing (104), and product design (93).
Arts programs have also faced heavy cuts. At this year’s national political advisory sessions, a university party secretary made headlines by announcing the elimination of 16 undergraduate programs and tracks, including translation and photography. Jilin University suspended 19 programs, six of them in the arts. Analysts note that AI has particularly disrupted the design and arts fields.
Sichuan University has trimmed its total number of programs from 144 to 105 since 2019 — a reduction of 39 — as part of a broader national push to expand science, engineering, and medicine programs while scaling back oversaturated fields like economics, management, and the arts.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 4, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202604040059.aspx
China Expands Digital Yuan Network to 22 Operators
China’s central bank has announced the addition of 12 new institutions to its digital yuan operating network, bringing the total number of authorized operators to 22 following the latest expansion.
The newly added institutions include China CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, Hua Xia Bank, China Minsheng Bank, Guangfa Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Zheshang Bank, Bank of Ningbo, Bank of Jiangsu, Bank of Beijing, Bank of Nanjing, and Bank of Suzhou. These institutions will begin offering digital yuan services once they have completed the necessary business and technical preparations.
The expansion is closely tied to China’s broader push to promote its digital yuan pilot program, which was launched in late 2019. The pilot has since grown to cover Beijing and numerous other major cities across the country.
The People’s Bank of China stated that it will continue to expand the roster of operating institutions in an orderly manner, guided by principles of market orientation and the rule of law. The central bank emphasized its intention to further stimulate the enthusiasm and creativity of market participants, while fostering an open, inclusive, and fair competitive environment for the development of the digital yuan.
In a related international development, Russian Central Bank Governor Nabiullina noted that Russia’s digital ruble platform is technically prepared to connect with the systems of other countries, signaling potential cross-border interoperability between the two nations’ central bank digital currencies in the future.
Source: Sputnik News, April 3, 2026
https://sputniknews.cn/20260403/1070591389.html
DeepSeek Down for Over 12 Hours without Being Repaired
Shanghai-based Chinese financial news site East Money recently reported that, around 9:35 PM on March 29th, well-known Chinese AI provider DeepSeek flagged a “Major Outage”. This sudden outage persisted until the following morning without being resolved.
During this extended period of no service, social media platforms across China were quickly filled with related discussions. DeepSeek officially announced several fixes, but in reality, the entire outage lasted at least half a day before the issue was truly resolved. During this extended 12-hour downtime, netizens’ reactions shifted from initial “understanding and support” to “give me back my productivity,” and finally to “have you guys run away?”
As the capabilities of large-scale models continue to improve, system load is also increasing accordingly. Taking 1M-Tokens long contexts as an example, while supporting more complex tasks, it also significantly increases computing power consumption. Infrastructure such as optical modules, liquid cooling systems, and GPU clusters still constitute the underlying support for current AI services. With the combined pressure of high-frequency calls and long text interactions, the continuous rise in computing power costs has become an industry consensus.
Publicly available data shows that in the first quarter of 2025 alone, DeepSeek’s daily active users surged from 120 million to 200 million, an increase of nearly 70 percent. However, sources familiar with the matter revealed that during the same period, DeepSeek’s computing power increased only by 8.3 percent.
Source: East Money, March 30, 2026
https://finance.eastmoney.com/a/202603303688405329.html
China’s Commercial Rocket Tianlong-3 Launch Fails
According to a report by Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao, the large liquid-fueled rocket Tianlong-3, developed by Chinese commercial aerospace company Space Pioneer (Tianbing Technology), failed during its launch on April 3. The rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at around 12:17 p.m., but experienced a flight anomaly that led to mission failure. The company said it would conduct a full review and implement corrective measures.
The launch had originally been scheduled for April 2 but was postponed, possibly due to weather conditions. Tianlong-3 is designed as a heavy-lift rocket capable of carrying more than 20 tons to low Earth orbit and is intended to compete with leading international launch vehicles such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9. It is also designed to deploy up to 36 satellites in a single mission.
This is not the rocket’s first setback. During a test in June 2024, Tianlong-3 accidentally lifted off and crashed, catching fire, though no casualties were reported. The latest failure underscores ongoing challenges in China’s commercial space sector as it works to develop high-capacity launch capabilities.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao, April 3, 2026
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20260403-8837860
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Issued Threatening Statements on Chinese EVs Imports
Shanghai-based Chinese online news site Guancha recently reported that In January of this year, Canada announced a policy adjustment, allowing up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles to enter its market annually with preferential tariffs. The U.S., after its efforts to pressure Canada with both soft and hard tactics failed, has resorted to a new round of threats.
In a recent interview, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra stated that the United States will not allow Chinese electric vehicles from Canada to enter its market. Citing so-called “security concerns related to the collection and transmission of data from vehicles,” Hoekstra claimed, “These vehicles can be exported from China to Canada, but there is absolutely no way they will cross the border into the United States, and that will never happen.” He added, “We will not open the floodgates for Chinese cars to pour into the United States from Canada.”
In January of last year, on the eve of his departure from office, the Biden administration in the United States introduced so-called “protective measures” that banned the import and sale of connected cars and key components containing Chinese and Russian technologies, and planned to impose bans on related software and hardware in 2027 and 2030, respectively. China has expressed its strong condemnation and opposition to this.
Most Canadian-made cars contain a significant number of parts manufactured in the United States. “Cars sold across borders contain 50 percent, 75 percent, of American parts. That’s the type of car we’re happy to import,” Hoekstra suggested.
Source: Guancha, March 31, 2026
https://www.guancha.cn/internation/2026_03_31_811983.shtml
Middle East Tensions Disrupt Supply Chains, Raising Costs for China’s High-Tech Industries
Escalating tensions in the Middle East are increasing risks to energy supplies, with spillover effects reaching China’s manufacturing sector. While China’s power system—largely reliant on coal—can maintain basic electricity stability, key industries such as petrochemicals, synthetic fibers, and semiconductors remain heavily dependent on oil and liquefied natural gas from the region.
Chinese companies are already experiencing ripple effects. BYD has warned that rising prices for electrolyte solvents and battery separator chemicals could increase per-vehicle costs by 3,000–5,000 yuan (US$440–730) in the second quarter. CATL is accelerating domestic lithium mining and recycling efforts while adjusting logistics to reduce maritime risks. Huawei is reportedly implementing price-protection measures for some products, SMIC is facing pressure on supplies of advanced semiconductor materials, and Xiaomi has issued warnings of potential product shortages due to raw material constraints.
The core supply shock stems from shortages of petrochemical feedstocks. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have reduced Asia’s naphtha supply by about 40 percent, driving up prices of upstream chemicals such as phenol and acetone by 28 percent in mid-March. This, in turn, is increasing costs for semiconductor packaging and PCB production. Several PCB manufacturers have raised prices by 12–15 percent, while shortages of engineering plastics such as polycarbonate and polyamide have forced some suppliers to suspend deliveries. With Brent crude prices exceeding $115 per barrel and competition for energy resources intensifying, analysts warn that if supply constraints persist, global electronics prices could rise in the second quarter of 2026.
Source: Creaders.Net, March 25, 2026
https://news.creaders.net/china/2026/03/25/2985695.html
China’s Communist Party Journal Warns Against Blindly Chasing Trade Surpluses
A journal published by the Chinese Communist Party has warned that blindly pursuing export growth and trade surpluses carries significant risks to the country’s economic development, including crowding out industries tied to domestic demand. Analysts say the article signals that Beijing is paying increasing attention to concerns raised by trading partners such as the European Union over China’s massive trade surpluses.
The article, published on March 31 in Qiushi — the CCP’s flagship theoretical journal — acknowledged that China’s exports and trade surplus have grown substantially in recent years, attributing this not to government directives but to structural and industrial factors reflecting the strength of China’s manufacturing and supply chains.
However, the journal cautioned that bigger exports are not always better. Domestically, over-allocating resources to the export sector can squeeze industries serving internal demand and hinder the development of homegrown economic momentum. Externally, heavy reliance on exports makes the economy more vulnerable to global market fluctuations, and persistent surpluses can invite trade protectionism and friction.
The article stressed that balancing trade does not mean cutting exports, but rather expanding imports, optimizing trade structure, and moderately reducing surpluses. It also recommended lowering provisional import tariff rates on advanced technologies, critical equipment, energy resources, and quality consumer goods.
China’s trade surplus exceeded $1 trillion in 2025, with exports contributing nearly one-third of economic growth. Premier Li Qiang, speaking at the China Development Forum on March 22, pledged to import more quality foreign goods and said China does not pursue trade surpluses.
Duncan Wrigley, chief China economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said Chinese policymakers are sending a clear signal that expanding domestic demand is now a long-term strategy. He noted that Beijing does not wish to sustain large surpluses indefinitely, as they increase geopolitical vulnerability, and that current surpluses largely reflect weak domestic demand that will gradually be addressed through policy measures.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 2, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202604020097.aspx