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The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on dozens of people, companies and ships tied to Iran's oil sector, stepping up its campaign against a key revenue source for Tehran.

The Treasury announced more than 50 targets aimed at people who help to facilitate Iran's shipments of liquified petroleum gas, and include a Chinese port and a China-based "teapot" oil refinery.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement that it had slapped sanctions on around 40 others, including "some of the largest buyers of Iranian petrochemical products by volume and value, as well as the leadership of the companies involved in that trade."

The new flurry of sanctions comes less than two weeks after the UN announced so-called snapback sanctions against Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, deepening Tehran's isolation on the world stage.

"The Treasury Department is degrading Iran's cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran's energy export machine," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement announcing the sanctions on Thursday.

Among those targeted was Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group Co., a China-based refinery that the Treasury Department said had purchased millions of barrels of Iranian oil since 2023.

The Treasury also hit the company which operates the Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal at Lanshan Port, accusing it of accepting more than a dozen shadow fleet vessels shipping millions of barrels of Iranian oil.

Thursday's actions are the Treasury's fourth set of sanctions targeting China-based refineries since President Donald Trump's return to office in January, according to the statement.

The move adds to the hundreds of people, firms, and ships punished for their links to Iran as part of the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign.

The Treasury's designation means that any "property and interests in property" held by the sanctions targets in the United States, or controlled by a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or company, are now blocked and must be reported to the its sanctions division.

Any companies owned directly or indirectly by one of the sanctioned individuals are also blocked, the Treasury said.

"So long as Iran attempts to generate oil revenues to fund its subversive activities, the United States will act to counter and to promote accountability for Iran and its partners in sanctions evasion," U.S. State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

Japan and the Philippines kicked off a five-day joint air force exercise this week on the central island of Cebu, marking the first time the two militaries have trained together since a Reciprocal Access Agreement was signed last year.

The drills, known as "Doshin-Bayanihan 5-25," focus specifically on improving coordination between the Philippine Air Force and Japan's Air Self-Defense Force for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

This week's drills in the Philippines coincided with an announcement on Wednesday that the PLA will resume joint naval exercises with Malaysia next week in the South China Sea.

This will be the sixth "Aman Youyi-2025" naval exercises between the two countries since 2014, and the first in two years.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Japan's growing military presence in Southeast Asia is a very important trend to watch. Beyond the ongoing drills in the Philippines, two Japanese warships also docked earlier this year at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base.

This is significant because of Japan's colonial history in this region, which is still a very sensitive issue in some countries. Plus, there are growing concerns that the U.S. may want to reduce its security presence in the Western Pacific, creating new opportunities for regional powers like Japan to play a larger role.

Indonesia's Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani confirmed on Wednesday that talks are underway with Chinese creditors to restructure the $7.3 billion of debt owed by the Sino-Indonesian joint venture that operates the Whoosh high-speed railway.

Although the train has been popular with travelers, carrying more than 10 million passengers in its first two years of operation, it's nonetheless struggling to generate enough revenue to service the debt.

Roeslani's comments on the negotiations came just one day after the China Exim Bank finalized a similar debt restructuring process with Kenya over its $3.5 billion of outstanding loans used to build the Standard Gauge Railway.

In that deal, Kenya converted its U.S. dollar loans to lower-interest yuan-based loans, resulting in a $215 million savings in debt servicing costs. 

The Indonesian minister did not indicate in his comments to reporters whether he's aware of the Kenya deal and if that type of arrangement will be used to restructure the Whoosh debt.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Indonesia, like Kenya, is not at risk of debt default and has a relatively low debt-to-GDP ratio of around 40%. So, the restructuring here is less about averting a debt crisis and more about instituting reforms within the JV that operates Whoosh to bring down the debt servicing costs.

China is in the midst of a massive oil stockpiling campaign that will add at least 169 million barrels of crude to its strategic reserves over the next year.

So far, 37 million barrels of storage capacity have been built at 11 sites across the country, with around half a million new barrels added to the reserves daily.

With oil now priced well below $70 a barrel, Chinese policymakers are taking advantage of the low price to build a stockpile that will store the equivalent of two weeks of net crude imports.

Chinese leaders have long been concerned about energy security, particularly in the wake of the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran in June that could have led to a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key transit point for about 40% of China's imported oil and gas.

But analysts say the current stockpiling binge may have less to do with geopolitics and more to do with timing the market. "Chinese commodity officials have demonstrated they are canny traders with a very long-term view. And oil is cheap," said Bloomberg columnist Javier Blas.

Other factors, according to Blas, include excess available storage inventory combined with a desire to divert savings from U.S. Treasuries to invest in crude as a way to diversify their portfolio.

It's also important to note that oil is by no means the only commodity that China is stockpiling. The country has enormous strategic reserves of food and critical minerals, among other things.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? While the current stockpiling effort may be both opportunistic and a response to heightened geopolitical tensions, it's certainly not a new phenomenon. Ever since China began to rely on imported food (in the early 90s) and foreign energy (in the early 2000s), Chinese leaders have anxiously fretted over the vulnerability this presents to their national security.

Those fears have heightened in recent years as relations with the U.S. deteriorated and concerns mounted that Washington could cut off key sea lanes, like the Straits of Malacca, that could potentially starve China of food and energy.

China announced further controls Thursday on the export of rare-earth technologies and items, adding to existing regulations on the critical industry.

Rare earths have represented a major sticking point in recent trade negotiations between China and the United States, with Washington accusing Beijing of slow-walking export licence approvals.

China is the world's leading producer of the vital minerals used to make magnets that are essential to the automotive, electronics and defense industries.

The new controls -- which kick in immediately -- mean exporters must obtain permission for technologies used for rare-earth mining and smelting, among other processing steps, a Chinese commerce ministry statement said.

They will also apply to technologies used in the "assembly, adjusting, maintenance, repair and upgrading of production lines", it said.

In another announcement, the commerce ministry said there would be additional restrictions placed on foreign entities that export related items outside of China.

"For some time, some overseas organizations and individuals have directly or after processing transferred or provided controlled rare-earth items originating in China... for direct or indirect use in sensitive areas such as military operations," a ministry spokesperson said in a separate statement.

The practice has caused "significant damage or potential threats to China's national security and interests (and) adversely impacted international peace and stability", the statement said.

There's been a noticeable increase in recent weeks in the number of environmentally themed news stories published by China's state-backed outlets Xinhua and CGTN, focused specifically on the South China Sea.

On Tuesday, Xinhua distributed a video that showcased newly hatched green sea turtles heading into the water on one of the Spratly Islands.

While these stories may be legitimate, they also coincide with an announcement last month that Beijing plans to create a nature preserve near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, and these media assets could be part of a larger effort to use conservation as a pretense to assert territorial claims in this hotly contested region.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? China's claims that it seeks to protect the marine environment in the South China Sea are dubious, given that it has repeatedly dismissed credible claims of massive ecological destruction brought about by its island reclamation projects and massive overfishing in the area by Chinese trawlers.

So, the appearance of these stories by Chinese state and Communist Party-run outlets around the same time that the government announced plans to establish a nature preserve in the South China Sea understandably prompts some skepticism.

China's envoy to Kenya, Guo Haiyan, paid a courtesy call to Kenya's Interior Ministry on Monday, where she met with Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen for talks focused on enhancing cooperation in law enforcement, security, and border management.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Normally, a pro forma meeting like this between an ambassador and a minister would go unnoticed. However, in today's charged geopolitical environment, where the U.S. is increasingly concerned about Kenya's close ties with China, this kind of gathering will no doubt be closely monitored in Washington.

More than five months after India and Pakistan engaged in a brief military conflict in early May, the two countries are still squabbling over how many of each other's fighter jets they shot down.

The issue resurfaced last week when a Pakistan military spokesman told Bloomberg that Chinese military technology performed "exceptionally well." This prompted a response over the weekend from the Indian side that claimed they successfully shot down some of the Pakistani Air Force's Chinese-made JF-17 fighter jets:

• WHAT INDIA SAID: “As far as air defence is concerned, we have evidence of one long-range strike … along with that five fighters, hi-tech fighters between F-16 and JF-17 class, our system tells" — Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)

• WHAT PAKISTAN SAID: “We are open to all sorts of technology... Of course, lately, recent Chinese platforms they’ve demonstrated exceptionally well," — General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry (BLOOMBERG)

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? This dispute is part of a larger effort to control the narrative about the four-day conflict known by the Indian side as Operation Sindoor.

The stakes are quite high for the Chinese military industry, which widely regarded this conflict as their "DeepSeek moment" when Chinese mil-tech was tested for the first time in real-world battle conditions and seemingly performed far better than many expected. 

Therefore, it's crucial for Chinese arms manufacturers that Pakistan's narrative prevail in this kind of dispute to bolster future sales of fighter jets like the J-10C and the JF-17, among other weapons. 

The Kenyan cargo airline Astral Aviation launched new direct service between the southern Chinese island province of Hainan and Africa, with service to both Nairobi and Johannesburg. The first flight took off late last week, ferrying 48 tons of Chinese electronics and e-commerce goods.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Until recently, Beijing sought to position Hainan as a major trading hub focused primarily on Southeast Asia. Now, though, it appears authorities have larger ambitions to leverage the Haikou free trade zone to serve Africa and other regions as well.

Public opinion of China among Zambians rebounded for the first time last year after a decade of steadily falling, according to the findings of Afrobarometer's latest survey.

While Zambians were more upbeat about China when asked in relation to other countries (right), they were much more skeptical about the impact of Chinese economic engagement in their country, with favorability ratings plunging from 75% a decade ago to 44% last year (left).

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Afrobarometer's latest survey findings in Zambia highlight the complex feelings that a lot of residents in Zambia and other African countries have about the Chinese.

They like what China represents in terms of being a powerful developing country that can stand up to the West and articulate the interests of developing countries. But up close, they don't always like what they see and feel that some aspects of Chinese engagement in their country mirror the exploitative practices of other foreign powers.

Brazil and China unveiled plans for a $1 billion bilateral investment fund, with Brazil’s Development Bank contributing about $400 million and China’s Export-Import Bank committing the remainder.

The new fund will target sectors including energy transition, infrastructure, agriculture, and artificial intelligence, and is expected to start operating in 2026.

The initiative, described as the first of its kind between the two countries, aims to deepen economic ties and accelerate development in key growth areas.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? The China-Brazilian economic relationship is emerging as one of the most important bilateral partnerships in the Donald Trump era as both countries regard the other as a key bulwark against mounting pressure from the United States.

The participation of the China Exim Bank in the deal is also notable, given that Beijing's development banks (which also include the China Development Bank) have been particularly reluctant in recent years to make sizable commitments to countries in South America. That, however, appears to be changing, likely in response to the geopolitical conditions.

One of two China-built frigates for Cambodia has completed assembly and passed technical trials, with a second vessel halfway built, former Cambodia defense minister Tea Banh said in a Facebook post dated Oct. 3.

Tea Banh said the frigate is an aid from China to Cambodia, "which has been fully assembled and successfully passed technical trials,”. He added that the second frigate is “50 percent” complete.

Banh, now a member of the King’s Privy Council, inspected the construction site last September during his visit to China.

Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense previously said China would provide two warships and identified the class as Type 056C, built specifically for Cambodia, with the delivery expected this year or later.

Ream Naval Base: Facilities and Training Center

China and Cambodia have centered their defense cooperation on the Ream Naval Base. There, they inaugurated new Chinese-financed facilities on April 5, 2025.

Last April at the inauguration, Prime Minister Hun Manet dispelled persistent Western allegations that the base would serve as an exclusive Chinese military outpost.

“From now on, Cambodia welcomes all friendly parties to come,” he said. “Warships from any country weighing less than 20,000 tonnes may enter, provided prior notice is given, except in urgent cases. We have nothing to hide. This is our stance to maintain friendship with all parties.”

Cambodian officials have said the expanded base is open to “friendly countries.”

On the same day, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced a China–Cambodia Joint Support and Training Center at Ream, and major outlets, including AP, reported plans for foreign port calls tied to the expanded facilities.

Cambodia first confirmed on Sept. 4, 2024, that China would gift two warships to the Royal Cambodian Navy. The announcement coincided with ongoing work to expand the Ream Naval Base.

Cambodia has not publicly released a delivery date beyond “this year or later.” Tea Banh’s Oct. 3 post is the latest public status update.

A recent commentary from College Daily, the largest media platform for Chinese students overseas, examines how China’s newly launched K visa, set to take effect on October 1, is already drawing unusual attention abroad—particularly in India. Major Indian outlets are referring to it as “China’s H-1B,” framing it as a new career pathway at a time when U.S. and other Western visa options are tightening and costs are rising. The piece also raises concerns about how the policy might affect job competition for young people in China.

The piece warns that Indian professionals, with their sheer numbers, established networks, and fast-moving responses to policy shifts, could seize on the K visa just as they have elsewhere. It cites data to show the widespread prevalence of Indians: In the United States, Indians now account for more than 70% of H-1B approvals. In Canada, they make up over 40% of Express Entry technical immigrants. In the U.K., Indian students have already surpassed those from China in number. 

The impact is not only numerical but structural: Indian workers’ family members joined them on visas, forcing the British government to impose restrictions aimed directly at this group. Meanwhile, in Europe’s capitals like Paris and Rome, visible Indian migrant worker and student communities are expanding across sectors from tech to street vending.

The commentary stresses that this reflects not just population size but what it calls India’s “system utilization capacity”—a proven ability to exploit visa regimes wherever they emerge fully. While China’s K visa is not a direct immigration pathway, it could still become part of a long-term career strategy for Indian youth: a few years of research in China could boost résumés much as H-1B and Express Entry has done elsewhere.

The commentary points to three areas of concern:

• Research posts: visa-holders competing with Chinese PhDs and master’s graduates for scarce lab and project slots.

• Innovation resources: foreign talent tapping incubators and startup funding intended for domestic youth.

• Language and pay dynamics: highly educated Indian applicants with fluent English and flexible salary expectations are gaining an edge.

In short, the piece concludes that the risk is not an “immigration wave” but the dilution of career opportunities for China’s own youth in an already hyper-competitive job market. The real challenge is not whether Indians will arrive in large numbers, but whether China can establish clear standards for what constitutes “global STEM talent,” ensure strict oversight, and prevent the K visa from becoming another loophole rather than a genuine talent dividend.

Why Is This Important? China and India both produce large numbers of highly skilled STEM graduates who compete fiercely for opportunities in Western countries. At the same time, China’s domestic job market is already saturated with young talent in this field. The opening of the K visa as a direct channel for Indian professionals has amplified anxieties among Chinese youth, who fear increased competition not just abroad but also for scarce domestic research positions and innovation opportunities.