How Xi Jinping and Communist Party elders shaped key plenum document addressing wrongdoing

South China Morning Post - Nov 2, 2026

Retired cadres were consulted during the eight-month drafting of a landmark document on building China’s Communist Party endorsed at a major political meeting in Beijing last week, according to state media. A detailed account published by Xinhua on Monday gave a behind-the-scenes look into how the 20th Central Committee finalised its resolution on “persevering with full and rigorous party self-governance”, adopted at the fifth plenum, which ended on Thursday. The 17,000-Chinese character,...

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Raising the bar: Taiwan trims draft exemptions to add thousands to armed forces
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Taiwan is tightening its military service exemption rules in a sweeping overhaul expected to halve the exemption rate and add thousands of conscripts to the armed forces each year as the island grapples with persistent manpower shortages. Under the revised standards, which took effect last week, men will generally be exempt on weight grounds only if their body mass index (BMI) exceeds 45, while the height threshold for exemption has been lowered to 144cm (4.7 feet). Rules covering hypertension...

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Nov 2, 2026
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China’s top diplomat has again stressed the need for a political settlement to strife in the Middle East, telling a senior Iranian official in Beijing on Monday that armed conflict was not the way out. “As conflicts in the Middle East drag on and risk further spillover, dialogue and negotiation remain the only viable path forward,” Wang Yi told Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. “All parties should … focus on a political settlement in a rational and...

Turkey signed US-led Artemis Accords. Its moon rovers will hitch a ride with China
Nov 2, 2026
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Beijing doubles down on Type 071 amphibious warships, signalling a Taiwan focus
Nov 2, 2026
Beijing doubles down on Type 071 amphibious warships, signalling a Taiwan focus

Beijing is accelerating production of its Type 071 amphibious transport docks by expanding construction to a second shipyard, potentially strengthening its ability to move troops and military equipment across the Taiwan Strait in a conflict. The expansion comes amid long-standing United States assessments that Beijing lacks enough landing ships and logistical support for a large-scale assault on Taiwan, suggesting the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) may be moving to address a significant...

China and Oman unite in Mideast peace call on sultan’s ‘historic’ Beijing visit
Nov 2, 2026
China and Oman unite in Mideast peace call on sultan’s ‘historic’ Beijing visit

China and Oman have called for a peaceful resolution and full ceasefire between the US and Iran, stressing that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz must be restored. The call came during talks in Beijing on Monday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. In their joint statement, Beijing and Muscat encouraged the United States and Iran to resume dialogue and reach a “comprehensive agreement that includes the nuclear issue”. The two sides also affirmed that...

China’s fifth plenum: everything you need to know from the war on corruption to promotions
Nov 2, 2026
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Chinese mechanic reports short-lived GE engine blades in Boeing 787
Nov 2, 2026
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China’s fifth plenum readout
Nov 2, 2026
China’s fifth plenum readout

This article is the official English translation of the original Chinese document released by Xinhua.

Chinese scientists found giant ‘chimneys’ in deep water that could alter submarine warfare
Nov 2, 2026
Chinese scientists found giant ‘chimneys’ in deep water that could alter submarine warfare

Chinese researchers have mapped how energy from surface wind surges thousands of metres into the seabed, revealing massive underwater conduits they called “inertial chimneys”. The discovery, based on data collected by a US-funded ocean sensor array off the east coast of Japan, coupled with future long-term underwater monitoring, can provide underwater acoustic environmental support for marine detection and communication, the team said. The scientists from the Institute of Oceanology of the...

Ex-Kissinger partner on how China, US can evolve together or die together
Nov 2, 2026
Ex-Kissinger partner on how China, US can evolve together or die together

Joshua Cooper Ramo is chairman and CEO of Sornay, an investment and advisory firm. Previously he was CEO of Kissinger Associates. Ramo is the author of the new book Darwin’s Lock: America, China and the Shared Future of Nations. His 2004 analysis of “the Beijing consensus” contrasted the Western and Chinese economic development models. He is the author of two New York Times bestselling books and now lives in Shanghai with his family. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click...

Apec China summit: from traffic curbs to tree planting, Shenzhen’s plans enter final phase
Nov 2, 2026
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Construction workers have been working late into the night in downtown Shenzhen as the city makes its final preparations for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in two weeks’ time. On a weekday night, a South China Morning Post reporter saw at least 50 construction workers gathered at an intersection about 1km (just over half a mile) from the Apec venues in the central district of Futian, laying down pebbles and planting trees along the pavements. The main road that leads up to the...

Yerevan Pathway sets course for biodiversity action
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