Global Pulse

标签： Asia

亚洲

  • Philippines opens key coast guard base in the disputed South China Sea

    Philippines opens key coast guard base in the disputed South China Sea

    MANILA, Philippines – In a high-stakes move that underscores its longstanding territorial claims in the contested South China Sea, the Philippines formally inaugurated a new coast guard district command on Thursday on Thitu Island, a Spratly chain outpost held by Filipino forces and communities for decades but claimed by multiple parties including Beijing. The launch was timed to coincide with the Philippines’ national Day of Valor, a holiday honoring wartime sacrifice, and framed by Philippine officials as a permanent assertion of national sovereignty in a region where Chinese maritime assets maintain constant, close presence.

    China has not yet issued an immediate official response to the opening of the new base. Thitu, known to Filipinos as Pag-asa (meaning “hope” in Tagalog), is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, and Chinese coast guard vessels and state-linked maritime militia ships regularly conduct patrols in the waters surrounding the island. While past encounters between Chinese and Filipino maritime forces have largely remained low-level, the regional security environment has grown increasingly tense in recent years amid overlapping territorial claims.

    China asserts sweeping jurisdiction over nearly the entire South China Sea, a critical global maritime trade route that carries trillions of dollars in annual commerce. However, a landmark 2016 international arbitration ruling, issued under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, fully invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims. Beijing refused to participate in the arbitration process, has rejected the ruling’s outcome, and continues to disregard it in its maritime operations.

    Top Philippine officials including Transport Secretary Giovanni Lopez, Senator Erwin Tulfo, and Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan traveled to Thitu for the brief inauguration ceremony. In remarks at the event, Lopez emphasized that the new command marks a permanent commitment to defending Philippine maritime interests, protecting the livelihoods of Filipino fishermen, and upholding national sovereignty. A commemorative marker inside the new coast guard building describes the outpost as the “vanguard and steadfast sentinel of our sovereignty, sovereign rights and maritime jurisdiction.”

    The new district command will be headed by a commodore, staffed by a dedicated contingent of personnel, and supported by patrol vessels and aircraft to carry out a range of missions: maritime law enforcement, regional surveillance, environmental protection, and search and rescue operations. Philippine coast guard officials also announced plans to construct smaller auxiliary outposts on other smaller outcrops occupied by the Philippines in the Spratlys.

    The tadpole-shaped Thitu Island, ringed by white sand beaches, is home to roughly 400 Filipino civilian villagers. It is one of nine Spratly features occupied by Philippine forces since the 1970s, when Manila offered incentives like free rice to encourage fishing families to relocate to the island as a way to solidify its territorial claim. Today, the 37-hectare outpost has been upgraded with modern infrastructure including internet and cellular service, more reliable power and water systems, a newly paved airstrip, a coastal wharf, an elementary school, a community gymnasium, and a typhoon evacuation center. Even with these improvements, the settlement remains a small, modest frontier outpost when compared to China’s heavily developed nearby facility on Subi Reef, located just 24 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of Thitu. Over the past decade, Beijing has transformed seven formerly submerged disputed reefs into full-fledged man-made island bases with military infrastructure, including a functional runway at Subi.

    For the civilian community on Thitu, the arrival of the permanent coast guard command has delivered a significant boost to morale. “Everyday, our villagers see Chinese coast guard and militia ships all around the island,” said Rene Albayda, vice mayor of the island municipality that the Philippines recognizes as its most remote offshore township, administered under Palawan province. Speaking to the Associated Press, Albayda framed the new base as a critical step toward greater security for the island’s permanent residents.

  • Chinese icebreaker Xuelong returns after fruitful Antarctic expedition

    Chinese icebreaker Xuelong returns after fruitful Antarctic expedition

    After more than five months of groundbreaking scientific exploration in one of the planet’s most remote and unforgiving environments, China’s iconic research icebreaker Xuelong — meaning “Snow Dragon” in Chinese — sailed back to its home port of Shanghai on Thursday, capping a highly productive voyage as part of the country’s 42nd Antarctic expedition. The expedition’s total runtime stretched to 160 days, during which the vessel and its on-board team of researchers, engineers, and support staff navigated treacherous sea ice, extreme sub-zero temperatures, and harsh wind conditions to carry out a wide range of critical scientific work across the Southern Ocean and Antarctic continent.

    As a core component of China’s longstanding polar research program, this expedition focused on advancing global understanding of Antarctic climate systems, ice sheet dynamics, marine ecosystem biodiversity, and geological features of the southern polar region. Teams conducted on-ice field surveys, collected water and ice core samples, deployed and maintained autonomous scientific monitoring equipment, and carried out logistical support for China’s permanent Antarctic research stations, laying critical groundwork for future polar scientific collaboration and discovery. The successful return of Xuelong marks the conclusion of another major milestone for China’s polar exploration efforts, contributing valuable new data to the global scientific community’s ongoing study of the Antarctic and its critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate.

    This voyage adds to a decades-long legacy of polar research carried out by the Xuelong vessel, which has served as China’s primary platform for Antarctic expeditions since it entered service. The 42nd expedition’s outcome reflects continued progress in China’s investment in scientific polar exploration, alongside growing international collaboration to address shared global challenges such as climate change, which is disproportionately impacting polar regions. Local port officials and the expedition’s leadership welcomed the vessel and its crew back to Shanghai, noting that the data and samples collected during the voyage will now undergo detailed analysis by research institutions across China and in partnership with international scientific bodies.

  • Macao airport reports Q1 passenger growth, steady holiday traffic

    Macao airport reports Q1 passenger growth, steady holiday traffic

    Macau International Airport (MIA) has announced solid performance gains for the first quarter of 2026, with double-digit growth in both passenger volumes and aircraft operations, driven largely by strong travel demand across Greater China. In an official press statement released Wednesday, the airport authority reported that total passenger throughput reached 2,117,427 between January and March, marking a roughly 15% increase compared to the same period last year. Aircraft takeoffs and landings, a key metric of airport operational activity, also climbed 10% year-on-year to hit 15,952 movements for the quarter. Breaking down passenger demographics, travelers from mainland China made up the largest single segment, accounting for 41% of all Q1 passengers, while visitors from Taiwan region represented 19% of total traffic. International travel continues its steady recovery as well: the airport recorded 224,000 international passenger arrivals and departures in the first two months of 2026, representing an 11% year-on-year uptick. The robust growth trend held steady during the recent back-to-back Easter and Qingming Festival holiday travel window, which ran from last Friday through Tuesday. Over the five-day holiday period, MIA handled 115,000 total passengers and 856 aircraft movements, representing year-on-year increases of 2.6% and 9.1% respectively. Looking ahead to the peak summer travel season, MIA says it is actively accelerating efforts to broaden its regional and international route network. Airport officials confirmed they are working closely with partner airline carriers to launch new scheduled services connecting Macau to additional destinations across mainland China and Northeast Asia, positioning the hub to capture further growth in travel demand in the coming months.

  • Vietnam’s top leader To Lam to visit China from April 14 to 17

    Vietnam’s top leader To Lam to visit China from April 14 to 17

    BEIJING – A high-profile diplomatic visit between two neighboring socialist nations is scheduled for mid-April, with Vietnam’s top leader General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and Vietnamese President To Lam set to travel to China for an official state visit spanning April 14 to 17. The visit comes at the formal invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to an official announcement released Thursday by Hu Zhaoming, spokesperson for the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

    This upcoming visit marks a key milestone in the continuous development of bilateral relations between China and Vietnam, two major regional powers that share a long land border, deep historical and cultural ties, and expanding cooperation across trade, infrastructure, security, and people-to-people exchange. Diplomatic analysts note that high-level exchanges between the ruling parties and top leadership of both countries play a central role in guiding the direction of bilateral cooperation, addressing shared regional challenges, and managing any outstanding differences through constructive dialogue. As neighbors with integrated regional economies, the meeting between the two countries’ top leadership is widely expected to reinforce strategic communication, boost mutually beneficial collaboration, and contribute to greater stability and prosperity across the broader Southeast Asian region.

  • Unique AI model tracks global carbon emissions

    Unique AI model tracks global carbon emissions

    A groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind artificial intelligence model developed to map and track carbon emissions across global production chains, consumption patterns, and natural carbon sinks has been unveiled by a team of Chinese researchers, a development that experts say could reshape dynamics in international climate negotiations and rewrite how global emissions accountability is calculated.

    The innovative large language model was publicly launched on Wednesday by the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (SARI) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, rolling out at a pivotal moment when China works to support domestic enterprises in hitting ambitious carbon reduction targets while cementing its position as a technical leader in global climate governance frameworks.

    Built as a large language model trained on petabytes of structured and unstructured environmental data, the system boasts 32 billion parameters — the core AI building blocks that act like neural synapses, enabling the tool to detect complex emission patterns and generate accurate, data-backed predictions. To handle the multifaceted nature of global carbon tracking, the model integrates five specialized artificial intelligence sub-programs, called intelligent agents, each tailored to a distinct critical task.

    These specialized agents cover a wide range of use cases: digital simulation to identify the most energy-efficient operational configurations for industrial factories, cross-border carbon transfer tracking that maps how embodied carbon moves between countries through global trade, full life cycle assessment that calculates a product’s total environmental footprint from raw material extraction through end-of-life disposal. The system also includes a natural carbon source accounting agent to quantify carbon sequestration from ecosystems like forests, and an uncertainty analysis agent to validate the reliability and consistency of all output data.

    Gao Yunhu, a lead researcher at SARI, described the AI as a specialized “carbon accounting butler” that outperforms legacy carbon tracking methods by a wide margin. Traditional carbon accounting workflows are notoriously slow, labor-intensive, and costly for businesses, but the new model enables real-time simulation of production processes to help companies identify the most cost-effective pathways to cutting emissions.

    Zhang Xian, director of the Division of Global Environment at the Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21, echoed this assessment, noting that conventional accounting methods not only drain time and resources but also make it nearly impossible for enterprises to measure emissions accurately across every stage of a product’s supply chain. Unlike these outdated approaches, the new AI tool can conduct a full life cycle assessment starting from the extraction of raw materials, turning what was once a costly regulatory burden into a competitive advantage for businesses by enabling targeted deployment of emission-cutting technologies.

    Lai Xiaoming, chairman of the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, explained that by standardizing emissions quantification across entire industrial and supply chains, the model improves market monitoring, emissions quota verification, and climate policy impact assessment. It also provides robust, reliable technical infrastructure to support global green trade and transparent carbon pricing systems, he added.

    The launch comes at a particularly critical juncture for Chinese exporters, who now face new carbon-based import taxes under the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes a price on carbon embedded in carbon-intensive goods including steel and cement entering the EU bloc.

    Mi Zhifu, a professor of climate change economics at University College London, pointed out that the EU currently relies on standardized “default values” to estimate emissions when an importing company cannot provide independently verified emissions data. For many Chinese products, most notably steel, these default values are often significantly higher than the actual emissions generated during production, incorrectly painting Chinese goods as more carbon-intensive than they truly are and exposing exporters to unnecessary extra taxes. By generating independently verifiable, granular emissions data, the new AI model helps Chinese firms avoid these inflated tax assessments, especially in key CBAM-regulated sectors including steel, cement, hydrogen, electricity, and fertilizers.

    One of the model’s most distinctive contributions to global climate accounting is its core focus on consumption-based emissions accounting, a departure from the territorial-based standards that dominate current international frameworks. Under current common standards, emissions are attributed entirely to the country where production takes place. The SARI model, by contrast, tracks “embedded carbon” — the total carbon footprint hidden within finished products traded across borders — to recognize that consuming countries share equal responsibility for the emissions generated during production.

    As an example, Wei Wei, vice-president at SARI, cited China’s exports of renewable energy technology. In 2024, the manufacturing of Chinese-made wind turbines and solar panels generated approximately 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions. Over the operational lifespan of these products, however, they will help countries around the world cut more than 350 million metric tons of carbon emissions, a net climate benefit that is not reflected in traditional territorial accounting.

    Traditional accounting frameworks attribute all emissions from manufacturing for export to China, which obscures the emissions responsibility of developed countries that consume these traded goods, Zhang noted. By quantifying these unrecognized “carbon leaks” embedded in global trade, Chinese climate officials and researchers believe the model provides a more scientifically sound foundation for future international climate negotiations, enabling more equitable allocation of global emissions reduction responsibilities.

  • Asian airlines trim flights as fuel supplies tighten

    Asian airlines trim flights as fuel supplies tighten

    The ongoing Middle East conflict, centered on tensions that led to the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has triggered an unprecedented jet fuel supply crunch across Asia, forcing regional carriers to slash flight schedules, adopt costly fuel-carrying workarounds, and raise ticket prices to weather the unfolding crisis.

    According to trade data platform Kpler, Iran’s closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne jet fuel transits daily — removed nearly one-fifth of global seaborne jet fuel supply from the market. While Iran, the United States, and Israel announced a tentative two-week ceasefire on Wednesday, uncertainties about the durability of the truce and the reopening of the strait persist. Iran has maintained it will assert full control over waterway access, impose transit fees on passing vessels, and continue its uranium enrichment program, leaving global energy markets on edge.

    Unlike past oil market shocks that primarily drove up commodity prices, this crisis has created both pricing spikes and acute physical supply shortages, pushing governments, airport operators and airlines to contingency planning that includes fuel rationing. Aviation industry analysts note that Asia is far more vulnerable to the supply squeeze than other regions due to its thinner strategic fuel reserves and heavier reliance on energy exports that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Within Asia, lower-income nations that depend almost entirely on jet fuel imports, such as Vietnam, Myanmar, and Pakistan, have seen the worst disruptions so far.

    Carriers have already deployed a range of emergency measures to manage limited fuel access. One of the most common workarounds is “tankering” — the practice of loading up on extra fuel at an airline’s home airport before flying to destinations with restricted fuel supplies. AirAsia X CEO Bo Lingam confirmed that the long-haul budget carrier now carries extra fuel from Malaysia for all flights to Vietnamese airports, as local fuel providers cap the volume they sell to foreign carriers. Air India has also added a mandatory refueling stop in Kolkata on its Yangon-to-Delhi route, due to persistent fuel shortages at Myanmar’s main Yangon International Airport. While tankering resolves supply uncertainty, it is an expensive solution: carrying extra weight increases the jet fuel an aircraft burns in flight, eroding carrier profit margins.

    For prolonged shortages, deep capacity cuts have become the go-to response for many airlines. Vietnam’s national aviation authority confirmed that Vietnam Airlines has cut 23 domestic flights every week to conserve limited fuel stocks. Myanmar’s transport ministry reported that local carriers suspended multiple domestic services for much of March amid total fuel shortfalls, and aviation data provider Cirium shows several Myanmar airlines have continued trimming capacity through April. Batik Air Malaysia, one of the region’s largest budget carriers, has gone even further, slashing 36% of its domestic capacity to mitigate risk. CEO Chandran Rama Muthy framed the cuts as a necessary proactive step, noting that continuing full operations would expose the airline to unacceptable operational and financial volatility amid the “crisis-mode” market environment.

    Industry insiders warn that the uncertainty stretching far beyond the current two-week ceasefire is adding to already crippling pressure on an industry that has not fully recovered from post-pandemic demand shifts. “In my conversations with airlines, they are very concerned about what the future looks like, because we do not know when the war will end and we don’t know when the supply chain, the feedstock, will come from the Gulf area,” said Shukor Yusof, founder of Malaysia-based aviation consultancy Endau Analytics.

    Brendan Sobie, an independent aviation analyst based in Singapore, explained that fuel access restrictions have a cascading effect across the region. “Some countries are in better shape than others. Some may be limiting (fuel for) foreign airlines, which then leads to tankering. This could be proactive as some countries fear they could run out,” he said.

    European carriers are now bracing for similar disruptions, as the supply crunch spreads beyond Asian markets. Since the conflict began, jet fuel prices have more than doubled, prompting airlines that have not cut capacity to raise ticket fares and add new fuel surcharges to pass higher costs on to consumers. While the ceasefire has offered a brief reprieve for markets, the unresolved standoff over the Strait of Hormuz means widespread volatility in jet fuel supply and pricing is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

  • KMT chairwoman visits Meituan headquarters in Shanghai

    KMT chairwoman visits Meituan headquarters in Shanghai

    In a cross-strait exchange move that underscores growing engagement between the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) and mainland China’s digital private sector, KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun led a party delegation to Meituan’s Shanghai headquarters on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. During the visit, Cheng got hands-on experience with two of Meituan’s most innovative consumer services: placing a custom order via the platform’s popular on-demand delivery app, and testing the company’s cutting-edge autonomous drone delivery system, which has been rolled out across multiple Chinese cities to cut delivery times for small, time-sensitive goods.

    The visit, first reported by China’s official Xinhua News Agency, was updated in public records on April 9, 2026. Photographs released by Xinhua show Cheng interacting with Meituan’s technical team while navigating the platform’s user interface, marking a high-profile example of cross-strait political engagement focused on China’s fast-growing digital economy. Meituan, China’s leading on-demand services platform, has expanded beyond food delivery to build out a portfolio of emerging services including autonomous logistics, local lifestyle services, and retail, making it a key representative of the mainland’s dynamic private tech sector.

    Cross-strait exchanges between the KMT and the Chinese mainland have ramped up in recent years, as the party emphasizes people-centered engagement and economic cooperation across the Taiwan Strait. This visit to one of mainland China’s most valuable technology companies highlights the KMT’s focus on exploring opportunities for digital and economic collaboration that can benefit people on both sides of the strait.

  • Australia’s drugmakers brace for new US tariffs

    Australia’s drugmakers brace for new US tariffs

    Australia’s $1.32 billion annual pharmaceutical export sector faces unprecedented uncertainty after the Trump administration imposed a sweeping 100 percent tariff on all imported patented pharmaceuticals, a policy designed to force global drugmakers to shift manufacturing operations to U.S. soil. Announced in late March 2026, the new levy only applies to patented medications produced outside U.S. borders, though the administration has offered a steep reduction to 20 percent for any company that relocates its production facilities to the United States.

    The tariff announcement marks the latest escalation in a series of trade restrictions the Trump administration has rolled out targeting Australian goods over the past 12 months, following a 10 percent baseline tariff on most Australian imports and a 50 percent levy on Australian steel and aluminum implemented last year. In justifying the new policy, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the importation of foreign-made pharmaceuticals and active ingredients posed an unacceptable threat to U.S. national security and economic stability.

    Australian officials have slammed the new measures as a betrayal of decades of mutually beneficial free trade between the two nations. Speaking to reporters on April 3, Australian Health Minister Mark Butler described the tariff as deeply disappointing and out of step with the two countries’ long-standing friendly trade relationship. “For more than 20 years, we have shared free and fair trade in pharmaceutical products that flows both ways, delivering benefits to our mutual economies and to patients on both sides of the Pacific,” Butler said. “We are now working closely with Australian pharmaceutical exporters that serve the U.S. market, and we remain deeply concerned about the potential impact on their businesses and the thousands of Australian jobs they support.”

    Butler noted that one of Australia’s largest pharmaceutical exporters, biotech giant CSL, which is a leading supplier of blood plasma products to the U.S., does not expect a material impact on its operations in 2026, as the company has already invested heavily in expanding U.S.-based production capacity in recent years.

    Industry groups representing Australian drugmakers have issued firm opposition to the new tariff regime. Medicines Australia, the leading trade association representing the nation’s research-driven pharmaceutical sector, released a statement reaffirming its commitment to free, fair and open global trade and rejecting the new levies on Australian patented and branded drug exports to the U.S.

    Liz de Somer, chief executive officer of Medicines Australia, explained that the tariffs will disproportionately harm smaller Australian firms that are still working to break into the U.S. market, rather than large established players with existing U.S. production footprints. Data from the Australian government cited by the organization shows Australia already runs a pharmaceutical trade deficit with the U.S., exporting roughly A$1.91 billion ($1.32 billion) in pharmaceutical products annually while importing A$3.34 billion from U.S. manufacturers.

    De Somer added that the new tariff is not the only policy causing alarm for the Australian sector. The U.S. has also proposed a reference pricing benchmark that could undermine Australia’s long-standing Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), a public program that lets the federal government negotiate lower drug prices for Australian patients. U.S. trade lobbyists have repeatedly criticized the PBS as an unfair trade practice, and a U.S. reference policy could pressure Australia to raise drug prices, which currently sit far lower than prices in other wealthy nations. De Somer noted that other developed nations including the United Kingdom and Japan have already entered negotiations with the Trump administration to address both the tariff and reference pricing proposals, adding that “We must now consider the consequences of not addressing these global developments.”

    Economic analysts echo the concern that small and mid-sized Australian exporters face the greatest risk from the new policy. Ben Udy, lead economist at Oxford Economics Australia, told reporters that around 45 percent of all Australian pharmaceutical exports are destined for the U.S. market, with the vast majority of those shipments consisting of blood and plasma products. Udy explained that the “area of greatest uncertainty” created by the new tariffs centers on smaller exporters of patented branded medicines that do not qualify for any exemptions from the new levies. For these firms, Udy said, there are only two viable paths forward: lobbying the U.S. administration for individual tariff relief, or shifting their export focus to other alternative global markets.

  • China unveils large model for carbon emission accounting

    China unveils large model for carbon emission accounting

    In a landmark technological advance that reshapes global climate action infrastructure, China publicly launched a groundbreaking generative artificial intelligence large model dedicated to carbon emission accounting in Shanghai on Wednesday. This launch marks the first full-spectrum carbon accounting system in the world that integrates measurement across production-side emissions, consumption-side emissions, and natural carbon sources, according to its developer, the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

    Carbon emission accounting serves as a non-negotiable foundation for global climate policy compliance, a core underpinning for international carbon pricing mechanisms, and a mandatory prerequisite for nations working to meet their peak carbon and carbon neutrality commitments. For decades, the field has been held back by persistent bottlenecks: steep knowledge barriers for practitioners, convoluted and time-consuming data processing workflows, long analysis timelines, and low spatial and temporal resolution in results. The new large model is specifically engineered to overcome these limitations, leveraging generative AI to rewrite the standard operating paradigm of carbon accounting.

    Built upon CAS’s existing foundational scientific model ScienceOne, the new carbon accounting model rests on three core technical pillars. First, it incorporates eight independently owned proprietary datasets that support high-frequency data updates and seamless cross-source data fusion. Second, it relies on a home-grown methodological framework powered by a large language model-based multi-agent collaboration system, which drastically improves the accuracy of accounting results. Third, it operates on a hybrid computing cluster that optimizes resource allocation across internal institutional servers and external high-performance computing centers.

    Currently, the model’s open service interface hosts a 32-billion-parameter vertical-domain large language model paired with an intelligent emissions database, offering access through both conversational user interfaces and open programming interfaces for developers and researchers. Five functionally distinct specialized intelligent agents have been integrated into the system, each tailored to handle specific core tasks: digital simulation and process optimization for industrial systems, accounting for carbon transfer embedded in cross-border trade, full product life cycle assessment, natural carbon source accounting, and systematic uncertainty analysis of results.

    Of particular note is the life cycle assessment agent, which can autonomously complete the entire end-to-end workflow of product carbon footprint accounting — from defining assessment goals and scope, compiling emissions inventories, conducting formal accounting, to interpreting final results — fully automating a process that previously required extensive manual input from specialized experts.

    Building on the model’s high-resolution calculation capabilities, research teams have already completed an initial high-precision national-level carbon holographic map. Using 2022 emissions data as a test case, the model’s new, scientifically more equitable accounting framework produced adjusted emission figures for major economies that differed significantly from traditional production-side calculations published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): China’s total emissions were adjusted downward by 17.7%, while the United States’ emissions were adjusted upward by 15.2% and Japan’s by 7.2%.

    The model’s analysis also uncovered a key systemic bias in current international carbon policy: the default emission factors used in the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) systematically overestimate the carbon intensity of Chinese manufactured goods, a finding that underscores the urgent need for more accurate accounting and the adoption of localized, region-specific emission factors for trade policy.

    Beyond identifying structural gaps in global carbon governance, the model also quantifies the global climate benefits of China’s green technology exports. For example, it calculated that Chinese-produced wind turbines and photovoltaic products exported in 2024 generated roughly 2 million tonnes of carbon emissions during their domestic manufacturing phase, but will deliver an estimated 350 million tonnes of cumulative carbon emission reductions during their operational lifetime around the world.

    For China, the new model provides critical technical support for compiling national greenhouse gas inventories, developing the national carbon trading market, driving the green transition of high-emission key industries, and formulating evidence-based responses to international carbon-related trade policies. On the global stage, the breakthrough offers Chinese technical expertise to international efforts to build a fairer, more scientifically rigorous global system for carbon accounting and climate responsibility allocation, strengthening China’s technological influence in global climate governance.

  • Thousands of fans gather as BTS launches world tour in South Korea

    Thousands of fans gather as BTS launches world tour in South Korea

    SEOUL, South Korea – Thousands of dedicated BTS fans defied pouring rain Thursday to fill a Seoul-area stadium and witness the K-pop global supergroup officially open their first world tour in nearly four years, marking the band’s full return after all members completed South Korea’s mandatory military service requirements.

    The seven-member ensemble – RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook – has prepared a career-spanning performance setlist that pulls from their years of hit records alongside their brand-new fifth studio album *ARIRANG*, the group’s first full release since every member finished their compulsory service. Six of the seven members completed active military duty, while Suga fulfilled his requirement as a social service agent due to a pre-existing shoulder injury; he was the final member to be discharged in June 2025.

    This opening show marks BTS’ first headlining tour stop since their 2021–2022 *Permission to Dance on Stage* tour. Even with steady downpour, the 40,000-capacity venue reached full occupancy, a testament to the unwavering loyalty of the group’s global fanbase, known officially as ARMY. The Seoul tour run is scheduled to continue through April 12, kicking off a global itinerary that includes dozens of shows across the United States, Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia. Industry analysts project the tour could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in quarterly revenue, a staggering figure that underscores the band’s enduring commercial power years after their last group performances.

    The stadium launch comes less than one month after BTS first celebrated their full group comeback with a free open-air concert at Seoul’s iconic Gwanghwamun Square, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans from across the globe to the city center. Their new album *ARIRANG*, named for the centuries-old Korean folk song widely considered the unofficial anthem of the Korean peninsula, has already claimed the number one spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, while the record’s lead single “Swim” has also topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

    For context, South Korea’s mandatory conscription system requires all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 28 to complete up to 21 months of military service, a policy designed to maintain national defense readiness amid ongoing tensions with North Korea. The requirement had forced BTS to pause group activities starting in 2022, as members entered service one by one over the following years.

    First debuting in June 2013 under South Korea’s Big Hit Music, BTS – short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, translated as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” – built their global following gradually. The group launched with the hip-hop focused single album *2 Cool 4 Skool*, released three full-length projects, and earned their first major career momentum with the 2016 album *Wings*. Their global breakthrough arrived in 2017, when their hit single “DNA” became the first track by a Korean boy band to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A subsequent performance at the American Music Awards cemented their international popularity, turning their fanbase ARMY into one of the most engaged and widespread fan communities in the world.

    Following the conclusion of the South Korea shows, BTS will next travel to Tokyo for the next leg of the tour, before continuing on to stops across North America, Europe, South America, and the rest of Asia. The tour is scheduled to wrap in Manila next March, after a run of Australian shows scheduled for early 2027.