An air group comprising Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers and Chinese Hong-6K bombers conducted a patrol over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean. Fighter cover was provided along the entire flight route by Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S aircraft, as well as J-16 and J-11BS aircraft. The air group was also supported by a Chinese KJ-500A airborne early warning and control aircraft, providing reconnaissance and command support for the mission. South Korean F-35As were also spotted. The patrol lasted approximately eight hours.
People's Republic of China (PRC) : News & Discussions
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Exclusive: How China built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned.Completed in early 2025 and now undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines or EUVs, according to two people with knowledge of the project.
China's machine is operational and successfully generating extreme ultraviolet light, but has not yet produced working chips, the people said.
In April, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said that China would need "many, many years" to develop such technology. But the existence of this prototype, reported by Reuters for the first time, suggests China may be years closer to achieving semiconductor independence than analysts anticipated.
Nevertheless, China still faces major technical challenges, particularly in replicating the precision optical systems that Western suppliers produce.
The breakthrough marks the culmination of a six-year government initiative to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency, one of President Xi Jinping's highest priorities. While China's semiconductor goals have been public, the Shenzhen EUV project has been conducted in secret, according to the people.
The project falls under the country's semiconductor strategy, which state media has identified as being run by Xi Jinping confidant Ding Xuexiang, who heads the Communist Party's Central Science and Technology Commission.
CHINA'S MANHATTAN PROJECT
One veteran Chinese engineer from ASML recruited to the project was surprised to find that his generous signing bonus came with an identification card issued under a false name, according to one of the people, who was familiar with his recruitment.Once inside, he recognized other former ASML colleagues who were also working under aliases and was instructed to use their fake names at work to maintain secrecy, the person said. Another person independently confirmed that recruits were given fake IDs to conceal their identities from other workers inside the secure facility.
The team includes recently retired, Chinese-born former ASML engineers and scientists—prime recruitment targets because they possess sensitive technical knowledge but face fewer professional constraints after leaving the company, the people said.
Two current ASML employees of Chinese nationality in the Netherlands told Reuters they have been approached by recruiters from Huawei since at least 2020.
The ASML veterans made the breakthrough in Shenzhen possible, the people said. Without their intimate knowledge of the technology, reverse-engineering the machines would have been nearly impossible.
Their recruitment was part of an aggressive drive China launched in 2019 for semiconductor experts working abroad, offering signing bonuses that started at 3 million to 5 million yuan ($420,000 to $700,000) and home-purchase subsidies, according to a Reuters review of government policy documents.
Recruits included Lin Nan, ASML's former head of light source technology, whose team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shanghai Institute of Optics has filed eight patents on EUV light sources in 18 months, according to patent filings.
Two additional people familiar with China’s recruitment efforts said some naturalized citizens of other countries were given Chinese passports and allowed to maintain dual citizenship.
China officially prohibits dual citizenship and did not answer questions on issuing passports.
INSIDE CHINA'S EUV FAB
ASML's most advanced EUV systems are roughly the size of a school bus, and weigh 180 tons. After failed attempts to replicate its size, the prototype inside the Shenzhen lab became many times larger to improve its power, according to the two people.The Chinese prototype is crude compared to ASML's machines but operational enough for testing, the people said.
China's prototype lags behind ASML's machines largely because researchers have struggled to obtain optical systems like those from Germany's Carl Zeiss AG, one of ASML's key suppliers, the two people said.
The Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CIOMP) achieved a breakthrough in integrating extreme-ultraviolet light into the prototype's optical system, enabling it to become operational in early 2025, one of the people said, though the optics still require significant refinement.CIOMP did not respond to requests for comment.
In a March online recruitment call on its website, the institute said it was offering "uncapped" salaries to PhD lithography researchers and research grants worth up to 4 million yuan ($560,000) plus 1 million yuan ($140,000) in personal subsidies.
Export-restricted components from Japan’s Nikon and Canon are being used for the prototype, one of the people and an additional source said.
HUAWEI SCIENTISTS SLEEP ON-SITE
While the EUV project is run by the Chinese government, Huawei is involved in every step of the supply chain from chip design and fabrication equipment to manufacturing and final integration into products like smartphones, according to four people familiar with Huawei’s operations.CEO Ren Zhengfei briefs senior Chinese leaders on progress, according to one of the people
Huawei has deployed employees to offices, fabrication plants, and research centers across the country for the effort. Employees assigned to semiconductor teams often sleep on-site and are barred from returning home during the work week, with phone access restricted for teams handling more sensitive tasks, according to the people.
Inside Huawei, few employees know the scope of this work. "The teams are kept isolated from each other to protect the confidentiality of the project," one of the people said. “They don't know what the other teams work on.”
Pretty much confirms that there will commercial/resource measures implemented against JP if they continue to expand their military.
They are still way behind. To give a perspective, before hitting the mirrors the EUV light from the tin particles reach a focul point and the power of the beam at that point in watts determine the speed at which wafers could be etched with the semiconductor designs, as much of the light is lost when reflected off of the mirrors. China is struggling with 10 W (they haven't even turned the thing on yet), the west has deployed 250 watts and may reach 400 watts in the foreseeable future. The West's new generation of EUV machines also generate light at an astounding 8 nm. So, China can not match the technological sophistication and scale of deployment wtr to EUV machines that the west has anytime soon.
The aforementioned mirrors alone are so complex that only 1 company in the entire world (Zeiss) has mastered the ability to design and make them. The mirrors are so flat that if the Earth were as flat as those mirrors the tallest peak would have the height equivalent to the thickness of a playing card.
People who have been watching way too much X or IG have started to think that strides made by PRC have allowed them to catch up in all high-tech/niche industries. Unfortunately, this is not the case. All they need to do is analyse the released domain papers and recent domestic fillings for IP.
IW by CCP bots and a general world public tired of seeing US as numero 1 since 3 decades.
Unfortunately for them, the know not and are not capable of knowing the scale of differential still there. How are chips designed? First stage we have to use SystemVerilog or VHDL (both American origin) to design the logic, then we use ModelSim (American!) to simulate, then we use Quartus ( also American!!!) to convert it to logic gates, and then Cadence (American) or Synopsis (American) or Siemens (German) tools for the physical backend design. So even DESIGNING chips let alone producing them is done using 100% western tools.
China to technology companies: You can only buy Nvidia H200 AI chips if ... - The Times of India
Tech News News: No, China is not listening to CEO Jensen Huang on Nvidia chips. The Chinese government reportedly has set strict conditions for technology companies w.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Another critical tech for high performance GPUs used for developing AI is HBM high bandwidth memory a special type of RAM which enables GPUs to access and process high amounts of data, it's currently the reason why RAM prices are so high as only 3 companies, Samsung SK Hynix and Micron can or are close to making them and those 3 dominate RAM market. Not even Nvidia designs HBM it buys from either Micron Samsung or SK Hynix. China's domestic DRAM company the state owned CXMT has made remarkable progress but is nowhere even near HBM capability. Without HBM such GPUs dont work. So China is at the mercy of the west and its chamchas for high performance memory products.China to technology companies: You can only buy Nvidia H200 AI chips if ... - The Times of India
Tech News News: No, China is not listening to CEO Jensen Huang on Nvidia chips. The Chinese government reportedly has set strict conditions for technology companies w.
Memory chips are another beast altogether to manufacture so much so that even the fabled TSMC doesn't make DRAM or NAND products. Samsung is the only company in the world which is at the leading edge of logic and memory chips and only Korea and USA can manufacture the leading edge logic and memory chips at the same time.
The Chinese army has released footage of its troops training in anticipation of the emergence of drones on the battlefield. Drones have changed the course of combat. While air defense and electronic warfare systems are currently unable to fully counter drones, training is especially important. Troops are moving, exploiting terrain and any obstacles to reduce the threat of drone strikes.
After publicly praising China, Elon Musk is now facing direct competition from Chinese companies across electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and space technology. Tesla built its largest production base in Shanghai, which produces more than half of its global vehicles. But in 2025, Chinese company BYD became the world’s top EV seller with over two million vehicles sold, while Tesla recorded two consecutive years of falling sales and profits. Then, Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to build data centres in space. China is again challenging him there. What does all this mean? And can Musk take on China?
A volatile and dangerous time. The 62 war was a distraction from the famine to consolidate within. A war with India now may similarly try to mask their brittle internal economic situation and consolidate with the anti-Xi forces.
China executes four more Myanmar mafia members
China has executed four members of the Bai family mafia, which ran scam centres in Myanmar, state media report.
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China has executed four members of the Bai family mafia, one of the notorious dynasties that ran scam centres in Myanmar, state media report.
They were among 21 of the family's members and associates who were convicted of fraud, homicide, injury and other crimes by a court in Guangdong province.
Last November the court sentenced five of them to death including the clan's patriarch Bai Suocheng, who died of illness after his conviction, state media reported.
Last week, China executed 11 members of the Ming family mafia as part of its crackdown on scam operations in South East Asia that have entrapped thousands of Chinese victims
Chinese regulators have advised financial institutions to rein in their holdings of US Treasuries, citing concerns over concentration risks and market volatility, according to people familiar with the matter.