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Monthly Archives: September 2025 - 6. page

Vietnam Surpasses India as China’s Fifth-Largest Rare Earth Buyer

Russian outlet Sputnik reported that Vietnam has overtaken India to become China’s fifth-largest importer of rare earths, based on July 2025 trade data. Vietnam’s imports more than doubled to about US$1.3 million, while India’s purchases fell by over one-third, dropping it to eighth place.

Japan remained the top buyer, nearly doubling imports to US$13.8 million. The Netherlands moved into second place, South Korea rose to third, and the United States slipped to fourth after a 20 percent decline in purchases.

The shift highlights Vietnam’s rising importance in the global rare earth supply chain and signals changing dynamics in China’s export market.

Source: Sputnik, August 27, 2025
https://sputniknews.cn/20250827/1067074922.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Chinese Investment Reshapes Athens Through Real Estate and Business

Huanqiu Times reported that Chinese investors are bringing both visible and subtle changes to Athens, primarily through property purchases under Greece’s “Golden Visa” program and a growing cultural and business presence.

  • By mid-2025, nearly 8,000 Chinese citizens had applied for a Golden Visa for the first time, with about 4,795 approvals – accounting for 47.8 percent of all new applicants. Among renewals, Chinese nationals represented an even larger share at about 61 percent.
  • Many buyers acquire apartments quickly – often without deep knowledge of the neighborhoods – simply to secure residency rights. Real estate agents say Chinese clients frequently arrive in groups, use translators, and make rapid purchase decisions.
  • Beyond property, Chinese influence is increasingly visible in the city center, where authentic restaurants such as hot pot spots and Cantonese cafés are opening. Chinese workers, including those from shipping giant COSCO, are also contributing to the city’s changing character.
  • Locals note both visible and subtle transformations. Renovations, refurbishments, and building upgrades are becoming more common, sometimes even in apartment blocks owned by Chinese nationals.
  • Some Greek commentators view the trend positively, saying it has revitalized neighborhoods, boosted the construction and renovation sectors, and spurred related industries.

Source: Huanqiu Times, August 17, 2025
https://oversea.huanqiu.com/article/4NxFTq4TmwV

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: China Achieves World’s First Pig Lung Transplant into Human

A Chinese medical team has achieved a world first by transplanting a genetically edited pig lung into a brain-dead human. The procedure, led by Professor He Jianxing of Guangzhou Medical University, used a pig with six targeted gene edits to minimize immune rejection. The operation followed standard single-lung transplant techniques, with the donor confirmed brain-dead and family consent obtained.

Over nine days of observation, the transplanted lung functioned normally, maintaining ventilation and gas exchange without hyperacute rejection or infection. Pathogen screening further confirmed safety.

The research team plans to refine gene-editing methods and anti-rejection treatments, while also working to reduce ventilator-related injury. Their ultimate goal is to advance xenogeneic lung transplantation toward clinical use.

Source: People’s Daily, August 27, 2025
https://world.people.com.cn/n1/2025/0827/c1002-40550713.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

China Reveals Espionage Cases Involving Foreign Recruitment and Infiltration

Russian outlet Sputnik reported that China’s Ministry of State Security has warned of increasingly sophisticated methods used by foreign intelligence agencies – including money, seduction, emotional manipulation, and intimidation – to infiltrate targets and steal sensitive information.

One case involved “Xiao Zhe,” an 18-year-old Chinese exchange student in Taiwan. He was drawn into a romantic relationship with a woman posing as a senior student, who later coerced him into passing on sensitive research after he began working in a classified defense laboratory. Over time, he provided nearly 100 pieces of defense-related intelligence in exchange for payments before being exposed.

Another case centered on Zhang, a former Chinese ministry official cultivated by a foreign diplomat while stationed overseas. Zhang eventually spied for that country, fathered two children with a female official there, and secretly hoarded more than 5,000 classified documents, including dozens marked top secret. In 2019, he was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for espionage and illegally obtaining state secrets.

The ministry also cited examples from Guangdong, where two nationals, Li and Huang, were recruited online with offers of high pay. Li was tasked with reconnaissance near military facilities, while Huang used his job as a wedding photographer near a naval port to take almost 400 photos of warships. Both were arrested and sentenced, with Huang receiving 14 years in prison and the confiscation of his assets.

Source: Sputnik, September 4, 2025
https://sputniknews.cn/20250904/1067271620.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Government/Politics

Sputnik: China Plans Kinetic Impact Test to Defend Against Asteroids

At the 3rd Tiandu International Conference on Deep Space Exploration, Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s lunar program, announced that China is preparing a kinetic impact mission to test asteroid defense strategies. The objective is to determine whether striking an asteroid with a spacecraft can alter its orbit and provide a viable method of planetary defense.

The mission will follow a “fly-along + impact + fly-along” model, launching both an observer spacecraft and an impactor. The observer will arrive first to conduct detailed surveys of the target asteroid’s size, shape, and orbit. The impactor will then collide with the asteroid at high speed. The entire process will be monitored by ground- and space-based instruments, using high-speed imaging and other techniques to measure orbital shifts, structural changes, and the behavior of ejected material.

Source: Sputnik, September 6, 2025
https://sputniknews.cn/20250906/1067334451.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

China Sanctions Japanese Lawmaker Ishii Taira; Japan Protests

Ishii Taira (Chinese name Shi Ping, 石平), born in Sichuan in 1962, joined China’s democracy movement in the early 1980s and graduated from Peking University in 1984. After moving to Japan in 1988, he broke with the Chinese Communist Party following the Tiananmen protests. He became a Japanese citizen in 2007, later served as a visiting professor at Takushoku University, and was elected to Japan’s House of Councilors this year. A vocal critic of Beijing, he has frequently spoken on Taiwan, the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.

On September 8, 2025, China’s Foreign Ministry announced sanctions against Ishii, accusing him of spreading “fallacies,” and visiting the Yasukuni Shrine. The measures include freezing any assets he holds in China, banning Chinese organizations and individuals from engaging with him, and barring him and his immediate family from entering China, Hong Kong, or Macau.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi condemned the sanctions as an attempt to intimidate dissenting voices and called on Beijing to withdraw them. Ishii dismissed the move, noting he has no assets in China and no intention of visiting, and described the sanctions as proof that his political activities were “an honor.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian defended the countermeasures, calling Ishii a “thorough anti-China element” who aligned with hostile forces after naturalizing in Japan. He said the actions were legal, necessary to safeguard China’s interests, and consistent with international practice, while criticizing Tokyo for failing to restrain its lawmakers and instead “shifting blame” onto China.

Sources:
1. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, September 8, 2025
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/wjbxw_new/202509/t20250908_11704050.shtml
2. Epoch Times, September 9, 2025
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/25/9/9/n14590627.htm
3. Xinhua, September 10, 2025
http://www.news.cn/world/20250910/58e53b9debb347fd94c1772c2f08b2d0/c.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Lianhe Zaobao: U.S. Plans to Restrict Imports of Chinese Drones and Heavy Vehicles

Singapore’s leading Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that the U.S. government is preparing new regulations to restrict – or even ban – the import of Chinese drones and medium- to heavy-duty vehicles.

Chinese products dominate the U.S. commercial drone market, with DJI alone accounting for more than half of all sales. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Chinese companies collectively control at least 75 percent of the market.

In December 2023, the Biden administration signed legislation prohibiting DJI and Shenzhen Autel from selling new drones in the United States. Yet in June 2024, three senior Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the Trump campaign, warning that DJI and Autel equipment still holds “a significant share of the U.S. market and is widely used.”

Washington has already placed heavy restrictions on Chinese auto imports. In September 2024, the Biden administration imposed a 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, followed by rules finalized in January 2025 banning Chinese-made smart car software and hardware. However, vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds were exempted, enabling companies such as BYD to continue assembling electric buses in California.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, September 6, 2025
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/finance/china/story20250906-7471969?ref=global-finance

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

UDN: Canadian and Australian Warships Sailed Through Taiwan Strait

United Daily News (UDN), a major Taiwanese outlet, reported that the Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Québec and the Australian destroyer HMAS Brisbane sailed through the Taiwan Strait on September 6.

The vessels traveled north along the eastern side of the Strait’s median line, though their final destination remains unclear. China’s military claimed it was conducting “full surveillance” during the transit and asserted that the situation was “under control.”

The joint Canadian-Australian fleet had departed days earlier from the U.S. naval facility in Subic Bay, Philippines. The Ville de Québec recently joined a trilateral patrol with Philippine and Australian forces in nearby waters, an operation that already drew criticism from Beijing. The Canadian Ministry of National Defense has not confirmed the ship’s passage through the Strait.

Source: UDN, September 6, 2025
https://udn.com/news/story/7331/8987939

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend