Takaichi Supermajority Paves Way for Constitutional Reforms, Beijing Warns of Japanese Militarism
The 8 February 2026 elections consolidated PM Sanae Takaichi’s power as the LDP won 352 of 465 seats, surpassing a two-thirds supermajority. This enables constitutional reforms, including revising Article 9, which renounces war and limits Japan’s military to self-defense, potentially expanding forces and spending. Beijing condemned Takaichi’s late-2025 remarks threatening military action in Taiwan, part of China under UN Resolution 2758, recognized by Japan. Spokesperson Lin Jian (9 February 2026) urged Tokyo to respect agreements, pursue peaceful development, and warned that far-right recklessness could provoke domestic and international backlash.
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Beijing Launches US $80M Aid and 60,000 Tonnes of Rice to Cuba, Vows Continued Support Amid US Blockade
Following Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla’s visit to Beijing on 5 February 2026, spokesperson Lin Jian reaffirmed that China would continue to assist and support Cuba in every way possible. On 6 February 2026, Wang Yi denounced external interference in Cuba’s sovereignty. By 11 February 2026, Lin Jian reiterated China’s commitment to provide help as needed. China’s aid includes US $80 million in emergency funds and 60,000 tonnes of rice, approved by President Xi, as Washington escalates pressure via tariffs on nations supplying oil to the island.
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Eight Agencies Ban Virtual Currency Businesses on the Mainland as Hong Kong Prepares First Stablecoin Licences
Issued on 6 February, a joint notice from the People’s Bank of China and seven other regulators declared all virtual currency-related business activities illegal and banned the unauthorised offshore issuance of renminbi-pegged stablecoins; five days later, Chief Executive John Lee announced at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 that the city will grant its first stablecoin issuer licences next month, illustrating a dual-track approach to monetary sovereignty and financial innovation under ‘one country, two systems’.
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CPC-KMT Think Tank Forum Resumes After Nine-Year, Producing 15 Common Views on Cross-Strait Cooperation
Over 100 participants from both sides of the Taiwan Strait convened in Beijing on 3 February for the first structured think tank exchange between the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang since 2016, producing 15 common opinions on tourism, emerging industries, healthcare, environmental protection, and disaster prevention, while Wang Huning, China’s top political advisor, invited Taiwanese enterprises to participate in implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030).
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PBOC Extends Gold Buying to 15 Consecutive Months as Global Central Banks Accelerate Reserve Diversification
January data revealed an addition of 40,000 troy ounces bringing total holdings to 74.19 million ounces (2,308 tonnes), while the reserve’s dollar value surged from US $319.45 billion to US $369.58 billion amid record gold prices; the purchases are part of a global trend that saw central banks acquire a net 863 tonnes in 2025, well above the 2010–2021 average of 473 tonnes, as emerging economies accelerate the diversification of reserves away from dollar-denominated assets.
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Water-Saving Industry Exceeds US $108B as Total Consumption Achieves Zero Growth During 14th Five-Year Plan
With per capita water resources at merely 35% of the global average, policy-driven efficiency gains under the Three Red Lines framework have kept total annual consumption flat at roughly 600 billion cubic metres since 2015 while GDP continued expanding; water use per 10,000 yuan of GDP declined 20% and industrial water use intensity dropped 25% during 2021-2025, fuelling a sector that already exceeds 760 billion yuan (US $108.6 billion) and is projected to reach the trillion-yuan scale by 2027.
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Solar Installations on Course to Overtake Coal in Landmark Shift for World’s Largest Power System
According to the China Electricity Council, 2026 will mark the first year photovoltaic generating capacity exceeds the fossil-fuel fleet, with additions having grown 35% to reach 1,200 GW by end of 2025 while wind reached 640 GW; the clean energy sector – valued at 15.4 trillion yuan (US $2.1 trillion, 11.4% of GDP) – drove more than 90% of investment growth and over a third of economic expansion last year.
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Chang’e-6 Far-Side Lunar Samples Revise Decades-Old Crater and Reveal How Giant Impact Reshaped the Moon
Research on 1,935 grams of rock returned from the 2,500 km-wide South Pole-Aitken Basin, published in Science Advances and PNAS, confirmed that cratering rates were consistent across the near and far sides of the Moon – overturning the long-held Late Heavy Bombardment hypothesis – while potassium isotope analysis revealed that a basin-forming collision some 4.2 billion years ago volatilised deep mantle materials, offering the first direct evidence that such events reshape a planetary body’s internal structure and volcanic activity.
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Brain Network Behind Parkinson’s Disease identified, Enabling Non-Invasive Treatment at a Fraction of Surgical Cost
An international team led by Changping Laboratory identified abnormal hyperconnectivity in the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) as the mechanism underlying Parkinson’s symptoms, with a targeted transcranial magnetic stimulation trial achieving a 55.5% response rate – 2.5 times the control group – at under 200 yuan (approximately US $30) per session, compared with approximately US $30,000 for conventional surgery, offering an affordable option for more than 10 million patients worldwide.
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‘Becoming Chinese’ Trend Sweeps Western Social Media as Global Spring Festival Celebrations Reach Nearly 200 Countries
Ranked second globally in the 2026 Brand Finance Soft Power Index – with its reputation score surpassing the United States for the first time – the country enters the once-in-60-years Fire Horse cycle amid a viral ‘Chinamaxxing’ movement in which Western Gen Z users embrace Chinese daily habits from drinking hot water to exploring traditional wellness practices, reflecting what scholars describe as grassroots, peer-to-peer cultural exchange.
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Ming Dynasty Folk Dance Yingge Draws Thousands of Performers and Surging Tourism to Chaoshan’s Spring Festival
Listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2006, Yingge – a warrior dance inspired by the classic novel Water Margin, with over 300 years of history in Guangdong’s Chaoshan region – has gone viral on Chinese social media since 2023 and performed on international stages from London to Paris, while Puning city alone sustains over 100 troupes as school programmes and youth training initiatives ensure the tradition’s transmission to the next generation.
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