NIAS Area Studies
PAKISTAN READER
In Brief
INTERNAL
China’s President Xi Jinping to visit India for BRICS Summit, marking his first visit in seven years amid strained ties
On 10 September, SCMP reported that China’s President Xi Jinping will visit New Delhi this weekend for the BRICS Summit, marking his first trip to India in nearly seven years. Invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Xi's visit follows recent high-level diplomatic stops in Kyrgyzstan and Egypt, with an upcoming meeting scheduled with the US President Donald Trump. The trip comes as India and China work to mend relations that soured after a deadly 2020 border clash, following recent agreements to revive direct flights, resume border trade, and establish new military communication channels. While Beijing views the summit as a way to strengthen its ties with neighbors and lead the Global South, the visit also coincides with trade friction, as India intensifies scrutiny of China’s investments and tech firms such as Xiaomi.
(“China’s Xi Jinping to make first trip to India in 7 years for Brics summit,” South China Morning Post, 10 September 2026)
https://sc.mp/05d0f?utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=3367062&utm_medium=share_widget
Dinosaur fossil found 473 metres underground in Inner Mongolia mineral survey drill core
On 11 September, Xinhua reported that scientists discovered a dinosaur fossil buried 473.2 metres underground, found inside a drill core from a copper mineral survey in Inner Mongolia, rather than at a traditional excavation site. Co-author Xing Lida, a dinosaur expert at China University of Geosciences (Beijing), said such finds are extremely rare worldwide, comparing it to a 1997 discovery in Norway's North Sea. The specimen, dated to the Early Cretaceous roughly 120 million years ago, includes rib and tail bone fragments from an unfused juvenile, suggesting it died young. Comparisons with over 20 other bird-hipped dinosaurs found the tail bones most resembled Psittacosaurus, though limited material prevented precise species identification. The fossil also showed unexplained tiny holes on its tail bones, not previously reported in similar dinosaurs, and will soon go on public display at the Inner Mongolia Museum of Natural History.
("Across China: Dinosaur fossil found deep underground in drill core in north China," Xinhua, 11 September 2026)
https://english.news.cn/20260911/27b8142000fb403f835e1ae2a97cdde5/c.html
Beijing and Manila intensify rhetoric and diplomatic tensions over the South China Sea
On 11 September, SCMP reported on escalating South China Sea tensions after the Philippines exposed a coercive Chinese diplomatic note, drawing fierce backlash from Beijing. Beijing vehemently accused Manila of “grandstanding and lying” after Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr publicly read aloud a handwritten Chinese diplomatic note at the Seoul Defence Dialogue. The memo dismissed the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling. Secretary Teodoro condemned the delivery as blatant coercion and bullying, intensifying ongoing territorial tensions between the two nations.
(“Manila exposes South China Sea note; Chinese coal mine farming plan: SCMP’s 7 highlights,” South China Morning Post, 11 September 2026; “Beijing tells Manila to ‘stop lying’ after minister exposes South China Sea note,” South China Morning Post, 09 September 2026)
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3366935/beijing-tells-manila-stop-lying-after-minister-exposes-south-china-sea-note
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3367130/manila-exposes-south-china-sea-note-chinese-coal-mine-farming-plan-scmps-7-highlights
Chinese scientists seek to quadruple power of hydrogen fuel cell
On 11 September, SCMP reported that Chinese researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a breakthrough proton exchange membrane fuel cell design that quadruples power output while also reducing costly platinum usage. By creating a Brønsted acid-Lewis base interface that accelerates proton transport like a relay race, the technology significantly improves efficiency, durability, and range. Scientists are optimistic that this innovation promises to expand hydrogen applications from heavy duty long haul freight to demanding aerospace missions.
(“Chinese scientists boost hydrogen fuel cell power fourfold with new design,” South China Morning Post, 11 September 2026)
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3367077/chinese-scientists-boost-hydrogen-fuel-cell-power-fourfold-new-design
China warns of serious threat over Japan’s plan for AI-powered military satellites
On 10 September, SCMP reported that Japan plans to launch AI-equipped tactical satellites by 2030 to speed up its missile targeting and boost its independent military strike capabilities. This however has drawn sharp criticism from China’s state media. Unlike traditional reconnaissance spacecraft that send large, raw images back to Earth for slow processing, these new satellites will analyze data directly in orbit, cutting communication time from hours to seconds and allowing real-time tracking of moving targets like warships. By processing data in space, the system is less vulnerable to electronic jamming and reduces Japan's reliance on US intelligence, granting Tokyo greater operational autonomy. China has warned that this technology is a serious threat that marks a major step in the militarization of space, even as Beijing rapidly expands its own massive space-based AI computing network.
(“Japan’s AI satellites and other space ambitions ‘a serious threat’, China warns,” South China Morning Post, 10 September 2026)
https://sc.mp/qdr5e?utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=3367060&utm_medium=share_widget
CHINA AND EAST ASIA
Japan's military build-up faces mounting domestic constraints amid China tensions
On 09 September, South China Morning Post reported that Japan's most ambitious military transformation since World War II, driven by the risk of being drawn into a Taiwan conflict, faced significant economic, demographic, and political constraints at home. Analysts said Japan's Self-Defence Forces (SDF) had only 217,701 personnel against an authorised 247,154 as of March, with defence ministry projections suggesting numbers could fall to around 130,000 by 2045 without corrective action. The defence ministry requested a record JPY 8.9 trillion (USD 55.7 billion) for the 2027 financial year, its 15th consecutive annual increase, with officials indicating the figure could rise to around JPY 10 trillion once Japan's security documents are revised by year's end. Analysts warned that rising debt-servicing costs and a weak yen, which raises the cost of dollar-priced US equipment, could limit how much military capability Japan can actually afford. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks last November suggesting a Taiwan contingency could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" drew strong criticism from Beijing, which could tighten controls on rare earths and dual-use materials in response, analysts said, potentially reinforcing Japanese threat perceptions and further complicating regional dynamics.
("Japan's China-facing military build-up confronts labour, budget and political limits," South China Morning Post, 09 September 2026)
https://amp.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3366923/japans-china-facing-military-build-confronts-labour-budget-and-political-limits?module=top_story&pgtype=section
CHINA AND AFRICA
China, Rwanda launch 10-km road upgrade project in Kigali
On 09 September, Xinhua reported that Rwandan and Chinese officials launched a road expansion and upgrade project in Kigali's transport network on Tuesday, the latest China-aided infrastructure project in the country. State Minister Claudien Bizimungu said the 10-kilometre project, running from Prince House to Masaka, would improve traffic flow, reduce travel time, and strengthen connectivity, while boosting access to jobs, markets, and services. Chinese Ambassador Gao Wenqi called it a "tie binding China-Rwanda friendship." The project's initial 1.37-kilometre section upgrades an existing four-lane road into an interchange, while the remaining 9.04 kilometres will widen a two-lane road into four lanes. Built by Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group, it is framed as a key Belt and Road livelihood project following the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit.("China, Rwanda launch road expansion, upgrade project in Kigali," Xinhua, 09 September 2026)
https://english.news.cn/20260909/425a867e53f7436986a5c69eb934bd58/c.html
CHINA AND EUROPE
Cao Jiaxuan, “Far-right AfD party won big in Saxony-Anhalt. Will it affect Germany’s approach to China?,” South China Morning Post, 10 September 2026
“Analysts say the results in Saxony-Anhalt will have an indirect effect on Germany’s China policy … The AfD’s “economy-first” message was gaining ground among “some industrial voters and business constituencies”, Downes said, but its main effect was likely to be indirect, shaping public debate and the rhetoric of the CDU/Christian Social Union in Bavaria coalition, rather than determining federal policy … “There is currently no clear policy on China to anticipate,” Lehrer said. “Of course, the AfD wants to strengthen ties with China, and compared to other German parties, it is the least China-hawkish” … But even if the AfD entered federal government, which Lehrer said was unlikely in the near future, it would “face the same structural problems with China’s economy as any other party”, including securing inputs, markets and the position of German companies in China and Europe.”
https://amp.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367059/far-right-afd-party-won-big-saxony-anhalt-will-it-change-germanys-approach-china?module=top_story&pgtype=section