East Asia

Tomorrow's celebration marking the 80th anniversary of the “Victory over Japan”, featuring a display of China's arsenal, is the other side of Beijing's “multilateralism”. In 2024, China spent US$ 314 billion on new weapons, second-highest military spending in the world after the United States. Japan too is also rearming in a dangerous race for the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Gazprom's CEO announced a “legally binding agreement" with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The pipeline, which Russia has been pushing for years, could supply up to 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year to China over 30 years. For Russia, it would be vital to offset lost markets in Europe. Chinese media have been silent on the details that have blocked the agreement so far.

The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation condemns last April’s attack in Kashmir that sparked border fighting between India and Pakistan, but also terrorist attacks in Balochistan, which Islamabad blames on New Delhi. Modi, unlike his Pakistani counterpart Shahbaz Sharif, avoided expressing support for the Belt and Road Initiative. For China, despite tensions in South Asia, multilateralism remains the best option for building an anti-US bloc.

In Jiangxi, where Matteo Ricci carried out his apostolate, Bishop Li Xuguang presided over the rite in the local cathedral before a large crowd of faithful. These ordinations join the 16 other performed in China since the start of the year, with two more scheduled in Beijing. These signs of hope come amid a drastic drop in vocations in recent years.

Some 22 heads of state and government will attend the "expanded" summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in Tianjin opening tomorrow. Vietnam’s Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính will attend as China's “invited guest”. The meeting will focus on growing economic co-operation but also competition in the South China Sea.

China continues to violate the rights and abuse Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the western region. Victims' families are silenced and threatened. Those waiting for the return of a relative from detention centres tell their stories. For Brooks, Amnesty’s China Director, “lives have been destroyed, families separated, and communities dismantled by the Chinese authorities’ continuing cruelty.”

At the White House summit, Trump said he was open to the idea. The meeting could take place in conjunction with the APEC summit in Gyeongju at the end of October, which Trump is expected to attend. So far, North Korea has made it a precondition that the US not continue to demand denuclearisation. Meanwhile, Lee has pledged to increase South Korea’s military spending and invest US$ 150 billion in shipbuilding in the US.

Thanks to climate change, the race to uphold local beauty standards that require fair skin is taking on new forms in China, such as the ever-increasing popularity of clothing and accessories that allow full-body coverage (including the face) without the need for sunscreen, both on the beach and in the city.

Cyberbullying is growing among young people in China, through the dissemination of personal information to harm victims. Lonely and vengeful minors under 16 act without consequences finding a false sense of power, due to a legislative gap. The government is fighting back, while some stories show the possibility of redemption from online abuse.

Next Saturday Taiwanese voters are set to approve or reject the reactivation of the Maanshan plant in a referendum called by the opposition after the country's last plant shut down in May after 40 years of operation. After Fukushima, environmentalists have achieved a gradual phase-out, but fears that China might stop natural gas supplies are now reviving the issue. For its part, China has 33 plants under construction.

Concern is growing around the world about the health of the 77-year-old businessman, a symbol of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, who has been imprisoned for nearly 1,700 days under China’s national security law. The prosecution began its closing arguments in a trial that has dragged on since December 2023 and could end with a life sentence. The verdict, handed down by three judges specifically selected by the pro-Beijing camp, is expected in October.

The depreciation of the local currency is making the costs of traditional universities in the West, from the United States to Europe, increasingly unsustainable. Hence the choice of alternative destinations such as Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea. After Covid-19, the number of young people abroad is growing again. Tokyo has set a target of increasing the number to 500,000 by 2033.