China news roundup / Nachrichten 2026-08-20/21

How US military funding propelled China’s robot dogs

"China’s Unitree Robotics – among the world's biggest producers of humanoid and quadruped robots – based designs for its most successful robot dogs on innovations funded by the U.S. military, according to a former U.S. defense technology official and three top researchers involved in the project."

--- Oh, what a surprise! Everybody who has seen these robots should know that already. You don't need a scientific study for that.

"Ben Katz, who worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab, among a consortium of universities financed by the military programs, said the dimensions of Unitree’s popular Go series were “to the millimeter” almost identical to a groundbreaking robot he helped develop called Mini Cheetah."

--- Well, at least now they have proof. But will it change anything?

"Unitree did nothing underhanded in using the U.S. Army research. The program's findings were published openly to stimulate progress in the field, a common practice."

--- Morons.

"None of the U.S. robotics researchers who spoke with Reuters advocated for keeping such government-financed research secret. Instead, they said, U.S. policymakers should focus on enabling companies to quickly commercialize such advances to compete with China. Reyk Knuhtsen, a robotics analyst at SemiAnalysis, called the United States’ failure to commercialize domestic research a “dropped ball,”"

--- Germany has dropped the ball so often, I cannot count it anymore. And now the US is obviously making the same mistake.

"Months earlier, Katz published his MIT masters thesis, detailing Mini Cheetah’s actuators. Within six months, he found Chinese companies manufacturing actuator copies “you could buy on AliExpress,”"

--- Six months is actually quite a long time for China to copy and produce something. Usually it's much quicker. Very often if an inventor or startup is to produce something new and for some stupid reason uses a Chinese factory, the copies are actually on the market before the original.

"Unitree has said in public statements that its products are intended for civilian use. In 2022, the company signed an open letter along with U.S. companies pledging not to weaponize robots, citing risks of harm and serious ethical issues."

"Chinese state television has featured Unitree’s Go2 model robots alongside Chinese troops and a modified version of the firm’s B1 series robot firing a mounted assault rifle."

--- If China does it, then it is obviously not a serious ethical issue.

Is the US actually too chicken to take on China for trade?

"Cracking down on rerouted imports won’t dent the US import bill either. Despite Trump’s many tariffs, it is running higher than in 2024. And it looks unlikely to do much harm to China, whose exports have kept growing despite US efforts to squeeze them out."

--- Which goes to show that Trump is a lot of talk, a lot of show, but nothing much comes of it in the end.

The U.S. banned Nvidia’s best chips from going to China. Now it’s trying to close a crucial loophole

"A proposed piece of legislation, the Remote Access Security Act (RASA), seeks to expand U.S. export controls to include the remote cloud-based access of critical hardware and software."

--- Sounds good. If it is implemented. But...

"“The challenge will be in making a rule that’s effective and enforceable,” she added. “Policymakers will need to decide what compute is covered, who should be prohibited from remotely accessing the compute, and how to implement a robust know-your-customer scheme.”"

--- And there you will have numerous new loopholes.

Meanwhile: China reportedly allows ByteDance and Tencent to import 10,000 H200 chips

China’s ‘Digital Bombs’: Threats to Civilian Infrastructure and America’s Readiness

"As the simulation progressed, tensions escalated. They learned that their standard protocols would likely overwhelm their resources, underscoring a frightening truth: the current insurance frameworks may not suffice in the face of a large-scale cybercatastrophe. Executives openly debated whether claims could be contested based on governmental definitions of “acts of war” similar to those after significant past cyberattacks. Ultimately, the war game highlighted the severe limitations of the insurance industry to respond effectively to a catastrophic cyber event."

--- Oh, those poor insurance companies. What would they do in case of a Chinese cyberattack? The bigger question is not really answered. What about the actual infrastructure? Would people still get drinking water in the USA in case of such a cyberattack?

China blocks cooperation with EU probe into JD.com’s Ceconomy bid

"The EU investigation concerns JD.com's $2.5bn bid for German electronics retailer Ceconomy. The European Commission (EC) opened an "in-depth" probe in May 2026 under the FSR, citing a preliminary assessment that flagged possible subsidies to JD.com, including preferential financing, tax incentives and grants, from entities that may be attributable to China. The EC has said these measures may have allowed JD.com to offer terms that affected the takeover negotiations. “We hope the EU will immediately correct its erroneous practices, cease abusing the 'foreign subsidies' investigation tool, and create a fair, just, and predictable market environment for companies investing and operating in the EU. If the EU persists in its unilateral actions, China will resolutely retaliate in accordance with the law.”"

--- How dare the EU investigate whether some acquisition in the EU was happening according to European laws? How dare you? It's all about Chinese law and what the CCP wants, don't you know?

After a sexual assault case went viral, China’s corporate drinking culture is under fire

"This is not the first time a high-profile sexual assault case has been linked to such a work-related event. In a highly publicized case in 2021, a young female employee at tech giant Alibaba accused her boss and a client of sexually assaulting her following a business dinner."

--- And has it changed much in corporate or official drinking culture? Not really. Just like in this case nothing much will change. It's just another case of western media finding some viral stuff online in China and thinking it fits their political narratives. But almost nobody outside of China is interested and inside China the CCP controls everything anyway.

China’s most famous comedian under investigation for joke about communist song

"A stand-up comedian, considered one of China’s most influential cultural figures, has been placed under investigation and had performances cancelled after he joked about a communist party song. [...]The original lyrics are: “The sun is about to set in the west; all is quiet on Weishan lake.” But Guo adapted the second part to instead say “all is quiet in the Forbidden City,” and performed the song in a comedic style. The mention of the Forbidden City –– the sprawling palace complex in the heart of Beijing that served as the seat of power for China’s imperial rulers for hundreds of years –– could be politically sensitive in China because of its close historical association with whoever is in power. The Wuhan Culture and Tourism bureau said, “the adapted portion performed by Guo Degang was not included in the materials submitted for prior approval and is suspected of violating the Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Performances,” reported thePaper. "

--- Goes to show how petty Emperor Xi and the CCP are. And how oppressive the situation under Emperor Xi is getting.

US demands China release ‘wrongfully detained’ American held on spying charges

"The detained scholar, Min Zin, traveled to Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar, in June to attend an academic conference at the invitation of the Chinese government"

--- Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. You should not trust the CCP, even if you are invited.

"In a sharp rebuke to the department, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy rejected the designation and said that “China is a country governed by the rule of law. Its judicial authorities handle cases in accordance with the law, and there is no such thing as so-called wrongful detention.”"

Beijing resumes demolition of major Tibetan Buddhist academy, satellite imagery shows

German spy agency opens helpline for those exiled from Russia, China

China ‘likely’ ran targeted campaign to align Pacific with its latest five-year plan

TikTok to pay $400m to US in one of largest child privacy settlements

--- China Uncensored featured the usual weekend news variety:

--- China Uncensored: "What is Happening in China?!"

Deutsche Industrie steht vor China-Wende - BDI diskutiert härteres Vorgehen

"Vor wenigen Tagen hatte der Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA) als einer der wichtigsten BDI-Mitgliedsverbände bestätigt, dass er seine China-Politik überdenke. Der Maschinenbauverband VDMA als zweiter mächtiger Vertreter mit bislang großem China-Geschäft hatte seine Position vor mehreren Monaten geändert. "Wir werden aktuell mit unfairen Maßnahmen deindustrialisiert – und das wollen die meisten Unternehmen nicht mehr hinnehmen", sagte VDMA-Außenwirtschaftsleiter Oliver Richtberg der Zeitung. Wenn jetzt nicht gehandelt werde, entstünden künftig zusätzliche kritische Abhängigkeiten von Maschinen aus China, da europäische Hersteller zunehmend unter Druck gerieten. Er forderte schnelles Handeln ohne Furcht vor chinesischer Vergeltung."

--- Jetzt plötzlich verlangt man schnelles Handeln. Nachdem man 20 Jahre lang zusammen mit der Politik alles getan hat, um China groß und zu einem Konkurrenten zu machen.

China bleibt Deutschlands Top-Handelspartner

"Bei den Einfuhren nach Deutschland dominieren dagegen seit Jahren chinesische Produkte: Mit einem Importvolumen von 89,1 Milliarden Euro war China auch in der ersten Jahreshälfte des laufenden Jahres das mit Abstand wichtigste Lieferland für Deutschland."

--- Große Erfolge bei der Reduzierung von Abhängigkeiten.

Wie China-Shops mit deutscher Tarnung täuschen

"Der Name klingt deutschsprachig, und die Webadresse hat die länderspezifische Domain .de: Alles an dem Online-Shop wirkt auf den ersten Blick wie ein in Deutschland ansässiges Unternehmen. Doch mittlerweile sitzen immer mehr dieser scheinbar deutschen Online-Shops im Ausland, und die Waren kommen aus China. [...] Wolle man die bestellte Ware dann wegen Qualitätsmängeln zurückschicken, sei das oft mit hohen Kosten verbunden. Der HDE warnte, dass die Kosten für einen Rückversand nach China je nach Größe des Pakets den Warenwert deutlich übersteigen könnten. Viele Käufer verzichteten deshalb auf ihr Widerrufsrecht und behielten die Ware. "Genau darauf basiert das Geschäftsmodell vieler dieser Anbieter", erklärte Tromp. Die hohen Rücksendekosten machten die Ausübung des Widerrufsrechts und sogar Reklamationen wirtschaftlich unattraktiv."

--- Hauptsache billig. Da brauch ich den Shop nicht zu kennen, da brauch ich nicht auf die Garantie zu achten. Was soll's? Es ist billig, billig, billig.

Erinnerung an ein etwas freieres China

"Felix Wemheuer, der an der Universität zu Köln zur modernen chinesischen Geschichte forscht, spricht von der vielleicht "neoliberalsten Phase" der Geschichte der Volksrepublik, mit Auswirkungen auf die Gesellschaft. "Im Guten wie im Schlechten gab es viele Freiheiten, weil einfach der Staat für vieles noch keine Gesetze hatte oder gar nicht in der Lage war, seine Gesetze auch dann wirklich durchzusetzen." Von vielen Kadern sei vor 20 Jahren die Parteiideologie nicht mehr ernst genommen worden, auf dem Land seien viele Parteizellen nicht mehr aktiv gewesen und große Teile des Parteiapparats, inklusive der Armee, hätten sich vor allem selbst bereichert."

--- Als wenn das heute anders wäre. Es wird nur nicht mehr so viel darüber berichtet, weil halt Journalisten und Internet viel stärker kontrolliert werden.