NEWS / For the week of March 1 to March 6, 2026
Current news about China and the Chinese people
NOTE: The news reports below are not in chronological order. There is often a time lag in their reaching the US and in gaining our attention. These reports reflect the opinions of a variety of news sources.
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
What Is Shen Yun – the Chinese Dance Troupe that Received a Bomb Threat Causing the Evacuation of The Lodge? / February 25, 2026
Yesterday’s evacuation of the prime minister from The Lodge has been linked to the Chinese dance troupe Shen Yun. In a bomb threat emailed to the group, the sender said explosives would be detonated if Australian performances by Shen Yun proceeded. This is just the latest controversy surrounding Shen Yun. But this use of a security threat as a prop to achieve other goals exposes a deeper and increasingly consequential struggle over culture, representation and political voice in the transnational Chinese world. At stake is not a dance performance, but a deeper question: who gets to represent “Chinese culture” on the global stage?
China’s Ice Cold Calculus Over Iran (subscription required) / March 5, 2026
When American and Israeli warplanes struck Iran this weekend, killing Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, China’s flagship nightly news programme covered the story with notable frankness. The basic facts were reported, clearly and promptly. Contrast that with what happened barely two months earlier, when massive protests erupted across the Islamic Republic. For the first two weeks, China’s newscasters said nothing. When they did eventually cover the unrest, they depicted the protesters as pawns of “external forces”.
China Scraps a Decades-Long Political Tradition as Xi Tightens Control Amid Economic Woes / March 3, 2026
Thousands of delegates from across China are gathering in Beijing this week for the start of the country’s most prominent annual political event, where leaders will signal how they plan to steer the world’s second largest economy in the year ahead—and try to dispel deepening concern about the challenges it faces.
As US and Russia Unbind from Nuclear Treaty, China’s Arsenal has Been Growing / March 4, 2026
As the United States and Russia navigate uncharted waters without a nuclear arms treaty, China’s nuclear buildup is like a storm mounting on the horizon. Beijing has dramatically multiplied its force since Chinese leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. China had held its stockpile steady at around 200 since the 1970s. Now, it contains more than 600 nuclear warheads and is projected to exceed 1,000 by 2030, according to a 2025 Pentagon report.
Religion
Christians Face Brutal Year in China; Don't Let Beijing Bury Repression of Religious Freedom / March 4, 2026
A congressional op-ed by Reps. Chris Smith and Dale Strong are calling on the Trump administration to take action ahead of a planned Trump-Xi summit. The piece recounts how hundreds of armed police swept through Wenzhou in December, reportedly tearing down crosses and arresting over 100 members of unregistered Protestant churches. It also describes how 18 Zion Church leaders were formally arrested on charges of "illegal use of information networks."
A Daughter's Plea from Geneva: The Fight for China's Disappeared Pastors / March 3, 2026
Grace Jin Drexel, daughter of imprisoned Zion Church pastor Ezra Jin, addressed the 18th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, calling the crackdown "one of the largest takedowns of an independent Christian congregation in China since the Cultural Revolution." Pastor Jin and 22 co-workers have been detained at Beihai Detention Center in Guangxi since October.
From Sojourner to Co-Laborer / Feb 20, 2026
Taiwan is currently at a critical moment of social transition. At present, the number of international students in Taiwan has exceeded 120,000. When combined with more than 800,000 migrant workers, the island is rapidly moving toward what may be described as an “immigrant society.” Hsu Chia-ching, Minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC), has also pointed out that Taiwan is entering a new era marked by the interweaving and integration of diverse ethnic communities. Amid these profound social changes, the nations living in diaspora communities in Taiwan are precisely the harvest field that God Himself has brought to the doorstep of the Taiwanese church.
Shame Into Honor (February 26, 2026, China Partnership)
We have spent the last several months praying for the persecuted church in China. In this last interview in that series, the wife of a persecuted pastor shares how God is using her husband’s imprisonment to heal the scars of her past. Xu Jing says that, since childhood, she has borne the scars of shame that came from her father’s imprisonment. But now that her husband is in jail—even though it is difficult and sad—she sees how God is turning her former shame into honor as she rejoices that her husband has been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus.
A Statue That Connected Hearts / March 3, 2026
When my four-month-old daughter, Kathryn, was placed in my arms, my heart became instantly connected to China through the miracle of adoption. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my heart would also soon be connected to the woman whose statue I had noticed in the entrance courtyard. Later that day, I asked our adoption facilitator whose statue it was. He told me, “Soong Qingling.”
Society / Life
The Little Town Making Nearly All of China’s Lanterns / March 4, 2026
In China, red lanterns could guide a traveler to safety in cold winter alleyways, be symbols of power outside an imperial hall, or act as a call to religious devotion when hung in a temple. They are also absolutely synonymous with lunar new year celebrations right across the vast country and link today’s Chinese people with the culture of their ancestors.
Why, As a Chinese Woman, I Believe Washing Your Hair and Sweeping Is Bad Luck Today / Feb 26, 2026
With the lunar new year now upon us, there’s no better time than this festival to lean into your full Chinese selves and understand what this season requires of you, and what superstitions you may want to take on board. Growing up in a Chinese family in Singapore, my year was consistently marked by various traditional celebrations and rituals—and never more so at the start of the new year.
On 310 Yuan a Day, She Builds China’s Towers—and Streams the Struggle / Feb 25, 2026
In the predawn darkness of a winter morning, wind whistles through the unfinished stories of a construction site in Xi’an, capital of the northwestern Shaanxi province. Liu Yan, severely nearsighted, pushes up her glasses with the back of a dust-covered hand, leaving black smudges on her face. The 24-year-old female rodbuster stands among the scaffolding, her hands moving tirelessly as she ties rebar after rebar. Around her, the construction site is still sleeping.
Economics / Trade / Business
China Moves to Unite National Market to Curb Cut-Throat Competition at Home / Feb 24, 2026
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) leadership has elevated the creation of a “unified national market” from a technocratic slogan to a top-tier political priority—and the National People’s Congress (NPC) looks to set enshrine this goal in its 15th Five–Year Plan (FYP) in March. Policymakers are positioning themselves to cut the Gordion knot of national, regional and communal interests that has left China a jumble of dozens of provincial markets and hundreds of local ones—an economic patchwork at odds with a unitary political system.
Arts / Entertainment / Media
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for January 2026, Part Two / Feb 27, 2026
Below is Part Two of CDT’s summary of deleted content from January 2026. (Part One, included 21 deleted articles; Part Two, 19 articles; and Part Three, 14 articles.) Between January 1–31, CDT Chinese added 55 new articles, mostly from WeChat, to the archive. (One of the articles was voluntarily deleted by the account owner at the request of the person who contributed the article, and thus is not included in this summary.)
A Prize Against the Odds / March 2, 2026
Over the weekend, the results of the seventh edition of the Journalists Home News Prize (记者的家新闻奖), a grassroots journalism awards initiative that has been affectionately called “China’s Pulitzers” (中国普利策), were published through the WeChat public account of veteran investigative journalist Liu Hu (刘虎). The release is remarkable considering Liu’s circumstances just a few short weeks earlier.
Science / Technology
China’s Next Cyber Crackdown / Feb 26, 2026
After changes to existing cybersecurity laws came into effect last month, China is considering sweeping new cybercrime legislation aimed at further tightening the country’s online environment. (As ever, I am indebted to Yale University’s China Law Translate project for drawing my attention to this.) Since the early 2000s, China has managed the difficult task of maintaining a closed, highly monitored internet that serves the country economically without threatening it politically. Though Westerners often focus on the Great Firewall as China’s primary means of limiting access to the outside world, its system of censorship and control is far more complicated.
From Red Envelopes to Robots: How AI Took Over China’s Spring Festival / Feb 25, 2026
The Lunar New Year festival that just passed is more than China’s biggest annual holiday and the world’s largest human migration. It’s also a high-stakes battleground for China’s tech titans to showcase their latest strategic priorities. The most famous example dates back to the last Year of the Horse in 2014, when Tencent used the holiday to push digital red envelopes and accelerate mobile payments adoption; a move Jack Ma famously described as a “Pearl Harbour attack.”
Why Wait? China Should Skip a Step in Self-Driving Cars, Xpeng Founder and CEO Says / March 2, 2026
The head of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng said the country should accelerate the development of autonomous driving technology amid slowing sales growth in the sector. He Xiaopeng, founder and CEO of the Guangzhou-based company, said on Monday that the country should skip an intermediate step and move directly to a more advanced version of autonomous capabilities, adding that Beijing should adjust regulations and policies faster to make this happen.
Education
China Mandates 15-minute Breaks Between School Classes / March 3, 2026
China has extended mandatory breaks between classes for primary and secondary school students from 10 minutes to 15 nationwide, as authorities seek to ease student stress and improve health. The reform, announced Feb. 27 by the Ministry of Education, also reiterated a requirement that students receive at least two hours of physical education daily, a rule first introduced in 2024 after reports that some schools were canceling PE classes or manipulating timetables to prioritize academics.