Free Republic

China has removed two top generals from its highest military command body and expelled two other senior commanders from a Communist Party-controlled legislature, as turbulence continues within the upper echelon of the country's armed forces.Once China's No. 1 general, Zhang Youxia, has been removed from the national Central Military Commission (CMC), according to a brief statement issued by the National People's Congress Standing Committee via state media Xinhua on Aug. 28.The statement didn't offer any reason for the swift dismissal of Zhang, who had served as vice chair of the national CMC since 2018.Zhang, also a member of the Chinese...

The Global Government Affairs team over at X dropped a bombshell Thursday night, revealing that the X Safety team had uncovered proof positive of a foreign influence campaign targeting the build out of AI and data centers in the United States. It turns out that, after launching an investigation, the team uncovered a massive bot farm consisting of roughly 200,000 "suspected Chinese inauthentic accounts," including hundreds that appear to have been trying to manipulate debate in the U.S. over artificial intelligence, data centers, and the associated energy costs. ... According to X, about 200 accounts within the bot farm network...

A 20-year-old Chinese researcher dressed in a red crayfish costume has become a symbol of Beijing’s ambition. At a scientific conference in Paris last fall, he explained that he was working on an important project. His plans would enable his country’s astronauts to prepare spicy crayfish soup, a Chinese favorite, on Mars. “That’s what we’re competing with. The vibe is good in Beijing,” Drew Endy, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, said in evidence to a Senate hearing last month. The hearing examined whether the US is losing its innovation advantage to China. Concerned senators saw the big red...

A government watchdog group is urging lawmakers to crack down on foreign money flowing into U.S. nonprofits that influence American politics and public policy, according to letters exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.Americans for Public Trust (APT) is sending letters to all 50 governors and officials on six congressional committees directing them to its newly launched FollowForeignMoney.org database, which has cataloged a running total of more than $5 billion flowing from foreign governments, foreign nationals and foreign charities into U.S.-based nonprofits .... The group is calling on state and federal officials to examine whether existing laws adequately prevent...

A ⁠robot ran the 100m in 9.32 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games on Saturday, beating Usain Bolt’s record. The machine reached a peak velocity of 14.5 meters per second during a test run before running face-first into a wall. The robot, named Lightning and developed by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor, outran Bolt’s 9.58-second record set 17 years ago at the World Athletics Championship. The red and black humanoid also won the Beijing half marathon in April in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, surpassing the men’s world record set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo earlier this year. Researchers later increased...

AI-powered cyberattacks are already here. Quantum computing could soon break the encryption underpinning the modern economy.

Peter Daszak, who as president of EcoHealth Alliance directed government funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, thanked a former Fauci aide in newly-released emails for helping shut down public speculation over the possibility that Covid-19 emerged from a lab. David Morens, a former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to hiding federal records from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests during the Covid-19 pandemic. Investigators obtained emails between Daszak and Morens in which Daszak mentioned sending bottles of wine to Morens and thanked him for his “behind the scenes shenanigans.”...

Guo Degang was accused of “violating public order and good customs” after changing the lyrics of a classic Chinese revolutionary song during a recent performance.Prominent Chinese comedian Guo Degang has come under investigation after improvising new lyrics to a well-known revolutionary song, with a complaint accusing him of violating “social order and good customs”. The incident spotlights the fine line performers in China must navigate between creative licence and political sensitivities, amid Beijing’s continued emphasis on ideological discipline. Guo changed the lyrics of Playing My Beloved Pipa during a Peking opera adaptation of Ji Gong, a legendary Chinese Buddhist...

Unitree Robotics shares rose 542% in early trading Wednesday as the Chinese humanoid robot maker made its stock market debut in Shanghai. The Hangzhou-based robot maker, whose backflipping and dancing machines have drawn global attention, raised about 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in its IPO, according to its prospectus. Shares rose to 968.1 yuan apiece, after hitting as high as 1,100 yuan earlier. The IPO also drew backing from Chinese AI company DeepSeek, which invested about 140.8 million yuan, according to a company filing. Unitree’s existing investors also include Chinese tech giant Tencent. Unitree’s product lineup spans bipedal humanoid robots...

As the USS George Washington aircraft carrier heads to the Middle East, expected to relieve sailors and Marines on the USS Abraham Lincoln, fresh scrutiny has fallen on living conditions aboard U.S. Navy ships—especially as the move will leave the U.S. without a single carrier deployed in Asia to stare down China.U.S. lawmakers have demanded answers about conditions on the Lincoln, after family members and text messages purportedly sent by those on board detailed plumbing problems, dipped morale, unreliable water supplies and food shortages.The carrier has spent more than 200 days at sea without a port call and was scheduled...

Travellers entering and leaving China will face stricter controls under new regulations covering travel applications from Sept 15. These regulations, approved at a State Council executive meeting, were announced on July 31, Xinhua reported. Under the rules, applicants must state a truthful and lawful purpose when applying to enter or leave China, or to stay or reside in the country, reported The Nation. Immigration and visa authorities may question applicants, including requiring them to provide documents and data. Those who submit false documents or statements may be denied permission to enter or leave China. Strengthened warnings for citizens travelling to...

The British Telegraph reported that US officials are investigating suspicions that funds originating from a network linked to China reached organizations involved in pro-Palestinian protests in the UK. According to the report, American lawmakers investigating allegations of covert Chinese support for the left-wing organization Code Pink are examining the group's activities in the UK as part of a broader inquiry into foreign interference. Code Pink has encouraged activists to participate in large pro-Palestinian marches and organized demonstrations outside the British Ministry of Defence and at the London offices of a weapons manufacturer. The investigation is focusing on businessman Neville Roy...

For nearly two decades, Pew Research Center surveys delivered the same reliable finding: The world viewed the United States more favorably than China. That era is over. In its July 2026 report, Pew found China now ranks higher in favorability than the United States across most of the 36 countries surveyed. Gallup data from 2025 already showed China’s median approval edging past America’s. Confidence in Xi Jinping now exceeds confidence in Donald Trump by a clear margin in the countries Pew tracks annually. The Council on Foreign Relations rightly asked what happened. The answer is simpler – and more damning...

Over the past eighteen months, nearly every condition analysts have long said would erode the dollar's dominance arrived at once. War broke out in the Persian Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz has closed, reopened, and closed again, and remains shut as this is written. Iran began charging transit tolls denominated in yuan. Indian refiners started settling Russian crude in yuan and dirhams, the first time a top-five oil importer structurally routed around the dollar for energy. China's cross-border payment system posted record volumes, clearing 1.22 trillion yuan in a single day in March. Central banks bought gold at a pace...

Shanghai airports canceled hundreds of flights on Monday as Tropical Storm Dolphin dumped heavy rain in eastern China, causing flooding in places after making landfall as a typhoon the previous day. Shanghai’s Hongqiao and Pudong airports canceled more than 900 flights, or about 40% of those expected, after about 1,300 were canceled the day before, according to Shanghai Airport Group. Shanghai also suspended some of its metro lines on Monday, and China Railway Chengdu Group suspended 115 trains, state news agency Xinhua reported. Authorities warned of risks of severe flooding and landslides in some areas. State broadcaster CCTV reported that...

As cities and towns across America reckon with power-hungry data centers, the Chinese Communist Party is sowing division. As small towns across the United States reckon with power-hungry data centers springing up, the Chinese Communist Party is muddying the waters and sowing division. By tapping into the tensions around water usage, power demands, and environmental costs, the regime is trying to widen the wedge using an old playbook: influence peddling and propaganda. There’s no discounting the groundswell of anger in American towns about data centers in their neighborhoods. Local resistance has blocked or delayed at least 75 data center...

The world is focused on Iran. Dr. David Wurmser says the real threat is much bigger. In this urgent conversation, he explains how China, Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar, and a weakened Iran are aligning against Israel and the United States, why containment may fail, and what could finally bring the Iranian regime down from within.

Sunday saw the 10-year anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling against China’s nine-dash line. Fourteen countries reacted by reaffirming the ruling. China, predictably, reacted with saber-rattling. To recap the case: In 2012, prompted by a standoff at Scarborough Shoal, the Philippines sought international arbitration. China refused to participate in or recognize the process. It went ahead anyway, and the court ruling eviscerated China’s position, ruling its infamous nine-dash line invalid and faulting China on other points. China still refuses to recognize it and has tightened its grip over the area via salami-slicing gray-zone tactics. But the ruling stands....

The Fauci diaries have been a very revealing insight into how not only Anthony Fauci but the media and Democrats ran the COVID response. This entry, however, may be one of the most revealing ones. Apparently, President Joe Biden spoke with China's President, Xi Jinping, who told the former that a dictatorship was the way to go in terms of COVID response. Here's some of that passage (emphasis original): "However, during the discussion the president began to philosophize a little bit about the stress that is on the country. He refers specifically to a conversation he had with Xi Jinping,...

Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, as it rebuilds its defences amid war with the United States. The purchase, valued at $60-70 million, ‌is one of Tehran's largest-known efforts to strengthen its short-range air defences since the outbreak of its war with the U.S. and Israel, which exposed gaps in ‌Iran's ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure. The contract covers the purchase of between 300 and 400 man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), including Chinese-made QW-12 and...