Beijing

a walk through Beijing, Ebro, Chery and the silent streets

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This is the third time in two years that I have visited China. The first time was for visit OnePlus and OPPO headquarters in Guandong. The second, for get into the kitchen at the Honor factory and headquarters in Shenzhen. Now I do it for something totally different and that’s why I would like to do something different. I tell you. On this occasion I accompanied Ebro, yes, the car company of the Chery group, to the Beijing Motor Show and the Chery headquarters in Wuhu. And I do it for a reason: cars, historically, have not been my greatest passion, but now, at almost 32 years of age and with a view to starting a family, I am thinking about changing cars and I know China has a lot to say about this.. In Córdoba, my city, everything always arrives late. I mean, relatively recently they opened the first bowling place. açaito give you an idea. That’s why I know that something is changing, because every time I take my car, a small Seat Ibiza, I see cars from brands on the road that I didn’t see two years ago: Omoda, Jaecoo, Ebro, MG and BYD, mainly. Understanding his success requires understanding the context of his native country. and, to do this, there is nothing better than coming to it and experiencing it first-hand. And that’s why I propose something to you. Ebro S900 PHEV | Image: Ebro I propose that we live this together through a kind of daily blog in which I will tell you what I have seen, what I have learned and what things have caught my attention. Not from the perspective of an engine expert, but from the curious point of view of someone who knows that A new car is part of your next stage in life and you can’t stop seeing how Chinese brands are becoming more and more popular. Together we will visit the Beijing Motor Show, we will tour the streets of the Chinese capital, we will travel to Wuhu and we will see what and how is cooked in the bowels of Chery. That’s why I think the first thing is to put ourselves in context. At the group level, Chery takes bronze in the Chinese market, only behind BYD and Geely. Only in 2025, the firm sold 2,860,393 cars exactly, which is said soon. Chery, in turn, has several brands and subsidiaries such as Chery Automobile (where we find Chery New Energy and Fulwin), Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas, Zongheng, Luxeed (along with Huawei), Exeed, Jetour, Karry, iCar, Rely, Soueast and the Chery Jaguar Land Rover joint venture. Its most famous products are, without a doubt, the Tiggo and the Arizo. Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas (arrives in Spain this year) and Exlantix (in China it is Exeed and will arrive in Spain next year) are the brands that the company uses to boost your export strategy. Ebro, for his part, It is a joint venture established in 2024 between Chery and Ebro EV. Roughly speaking, this partnership allows Chery to assemble vehicles at the former Nissan plant in Barcelona and distribute them in Spain and Portugal under the (revived) Ebro brand. It’s a little more complex, but let’s stick with that idea. Tiggo 9 | Image: Xataka Actually, Ebro cars use Omoda platforms | Jaecoo (with some adjustments, for example in the suspension) and these, in turn, are the exported versions of the Tiggo. He Omoda 9 SHS It is, clearly, a Tiggo 9. Why so much branding? Because so they can attack different market segments with specific models and strategieshas no more. It is exactly the same thing that other Chinese groups such as Geely do, which has Geely, a large part of Volvo and Polestar, almost half of Proton Holdings, Zeekr or Lynk&Co, to name just a few. Aito M7, the electric SUV owned by Huawei | Image: Xataka Having said that and having that context, the first thing that has caught my attention in the short time I have been in China is how ubiquitous local brands are. I’ve seen endless BYD, Xpeng, Leapmotor, Nio, BAIC and ArcFox. I have even had the chance to see a couple of Xiaomi SU7s. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes or Audi, because there are, but it gives me the impression that they have a more luxury component. From the models I have seen, I get the feeling that European cars still have a certain premium aroma here. Toyota, Hyundai and Honda are also relatively common, but the omnipresence of local brands is evident. One of the few Chery that we have seen in Beijing Something that stands out in Beijing, where I am right now, is that you hardly see Chery cars. There are, a priori, three reasons: Chery​ is a great exporteris a Chinese brand whose power is not in China (despite being one of the best-selling brands), but in the international market. It makes sense, since abroad there is much, much, much less competition than in the local market and, above all, in the big capitals. We are in Beijing, a Tier 1 city. There is more capital and users are looking for higher-end/premium products, which explains the greater presence of Tesla, European, electric brands such as Nio or Arcfox and, above all, BAIC (Beijing Automotive Industry Holding). BAIC is a local brand and all taxis are BAIC. Arcfox is BAIC’s premium electric range. The registration system. Buying a car in Beijing is not about going to the dealership and that’s it. To avoid pollution, the government established a points and lottery system to obtain permission to buy a car. Gasoline cars go by lottery and the chances are tiny, 0.1%. New Energy cars (electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, etc.) are on a waiting list. It is long, very long, but unlike the lottery, it is safe. If you want a car in Beijing, the easiest thing is to buy an electric one and there … Read more

Last year, almost no robots finished the Beijing half marathon. This year one has broken the human world record by seven minutes

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The half marathon world record is held by Jacob Kiplimo with a time of 57:20 achieved just a month ago in Lisbon. This Sunday a humanoid robot called Lightning ran that distance in 50:26achieving for the first time a milestone that had never been achieved. Robots seemed clumsy and unable to outrun humans, but that is no longer true. And it’s just the beginning. Robots are already faster than humans. In the half marathon held on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Beijing, the absolute dominators were the humanoid robots. Lightning not only broke the human world record by almost seven minutes: he managed to arrive 17 minutes before the first human runner to cross the finish line. The first three classified They were also Lightning models developed by Honor. From disaster to excellence. The first edition of this same event, the Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, It was an absolute disaster for humanoid robots. Only a third of those who ran it managed to finish the race, they were controlled remotely and ran at a pace much lower than that of human runners. This year things were very different: more than 100 robots were presented and most finished the test, but also almost half ran autonomously and several managed to surpass even the best human runners in the world. This is Lightning. The winning robot measures 169 centimeters, weighs 45 kg and was specifically designed to adapt to complex terrain and move at high speed. Its legs measure about 95 cm and its proportions are designed to imitate the stride of elite human runners. It has a liquid cooling system which curiously has been adapted from the one found on Honor smartphones. Du Xiaodi, engineer in charge of this project at Honor, explained that “Running faster may not seem significant at first glance, but it allows technological transfer, for example in structural reliability and cooling, and eventually in industrial applications“. Not everything went well. The race, however, also had moments in which the robots failed. One of them collided with a nearby vehicle although he managed to stabilize himself and continue walking. The H1 model from Unitree, the most famous humanoid robot manufacturer in China, collapsed as it approached the finish line and had to be removed from the road. One of the Lightning models hit a barrier after crossing the finish line, and some other robots they had difficulties with the curves and unevenness of the route. The event also served as a test bed for batteries, joints, motors and algorithms that control these machines. Industrial applications. Xiaodi mentioned it but also Liu Xiangquan, professor of robotics at the University of Science and Information in Beijing. According to him, these long-distance races allow the resistance and behavior of these robots to be evaluated, something essential for their application in industrial environments. Here not only speed is evaluated, but also the aforementioned resistance, stability or the capacity for autonomous navigation in uncontrolled environments. But a key component is missing. Although the demonstration and milestone is fascinating, what this field needs most is other things. For example, advance manual dexterityperceive the real environment in unforeseen situations and be able to perform varied tasks and not focus so much on repetitive movements. Industrial robots are already good at that, but here we are looking for much more versatility because at the moment these robots They are not able to fold clothes or put the plates and cutlery in the dishwasher with sufficient speed and dexterity. China continues to set the robotic pace. The Asian country has completely devoted itself to the world of robotics. Dominate this segment and its companies They manufacture 80% of global production. In recent months we have seen spectacular demonstrations such as the one Unitree carried out with a dozen humanoid robots at a martial arts show. Sunday’s half marathon is one more element of that narrative and that message that China is leaving to the world: robots are our thing. And in a year, what? Breaking the world record is very striking, but this event tells another story: that of how in just one year Chinese manufacturers have managed to improve their models in an amazing way. If everything continues to improve at this rate, it is difficult to predict what the robots that run the next marathon will be capable of, but it seems logical to think that at this point the athletic ability of robots will be absolutely amazing. Image | CGTN In Xataka | In China they are not satisfied with creating advanced robots: a company has developed a head that gestures like a human

Beijing just gave the best news to NVIDIA

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NVIDIA has been caught in the crossfire of the trade war between the United States and China for more than a year. Its most powerful chips could not be sold to the Asian giant because Washington required export licenses and later Beijing did not give the green light to imports. This week the two fronts have been unlocked simultaneously and Jensen Huang has taken advantage of his annual developers conference to announce it out loud. Your factories they are starting enginesand the future is brighter than ever for her. H200 chips, unlocked. The H200 chip, NVIDIA’s second most powerful chip today, had become the center of trade and technological tensions between China and the United States. The Trump administration had already granted export licenses but of course, as long as she got her cut. Which was missing it was him approval from Beijingthat according to Reuters It has arrived this week for many of the customers who were demanding access to these chips. Among them are ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba and DeepSeek. China is a gold mine. Before the restrictions imposed For the US, China represented 13% of NVIDIA’s total turnover. The export veto was highly criticized by Jensen Huang, who did not stop criticize the measureof try to avoid it and to explain that what the US had done was not protect its technology, but rather shoot itself in the foot. During this blockade, Chinese companies have been advancing both in the development of AI models and in the development of their own chips. They still have room for improvement, but this effort to “become independent” from US technology is already bearing fruit and perhaps would not have occurred if it were not for the US veto. There will also be Groq chips. NVIDIA will not only export its H200 chips, but is preparing a version of its AI inference accelerators for the Chinese market. Specifically, we are talking about Groq chips, a company in which NVIDIA invested $20 billion to “license” its technology, although In practical terms I have acquired it. These chips are especially interesting because they are not used to train AI models, but to execute and “serve” them. This is the market that is growing the fastest right now, and where competition is toughest. But China already has inference chips. Companies like Baidu they are already producing its own inference chips, which means that NVIDIA will not enter the Chinese market from a monopoly position, but as another competitor. What is striking here is the fact that Groq chips are not refined versions nor are they adapted to this market according to the cited sources. in Reuters: They will be the same ones that companies in the US or other parts of the world use. China will continue without access to Vera Rubin. This week NVIDIA presented a new line of products built around its next AI chips, the Vera Rubin. These chips cannot be sold to China due to current restrictions, so at NVIDIA they have found a hybrid architecture: Vera Rubin for markets where it can operate freely, and Groq as an inference component for China. NVIDIA is brimming with optimism, and with good reason. Jensen Huang spoke precisely in his inaugural conference about how promising the company’s future looks. Previous projections spoke of medium-term revenues of $500 billion for its Blackwell and Rubin chips. Inference solutions and this “opening” to China now mean that this forecast is doubled: Huang hopes to achieve at least $1 trillion in cumulative orders by 2027a simply dizzying figure that makes it clear that NVIDIA’s business seems to be in an enviable state of health. Image | NVIDIA In Xataka | DLSS 5: Millions invested in AI graphics improvements so people say it looks like an Instagram beauty filter

Ten years ago Beijing was an unbreathable city. Today its air quality is better than that of Madrid for a reason

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On December 8, 2015, schools were closed in Beijing. Construction stopped. Only a handful of cars could circulate on the streets. The atmosphere was unbreathable. We don’t say it, the city leaders said it at that time. As stated BBCit was the first time that the red alert due to contamination. In China, an action protocol with four levels had been launched to deal with this type of episode. That day marked a before and after. Just over a decade later, Beijing is one of the Chinese cities with the best air quality. The country still has a serious problem with pollution but the data show that the country’s capital has left those days of constant fog behind. And it has done so, in large part, by a huge investment in cleaning up transportation. Better air quality than Madrid That December 8, Beijing registered 291 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5ultrafine particles especially harmful to health. They are polluting emissions that can come from different sources but in whose production diesel engines intervene decisively. That’s why DGT environmental labeling that It is used in Spanish ZBEs discriminates (by age) between diesel vehicles and gasoline vehicles. Is 291 micrograms a lot? To get an idea, the WHO recommended At that time, it did not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meter. Obviously, this pollution rate occurred on a specific day under specific circumstances, but the annual levels were so high that in 2013 they signed 89.5, as stated in Motorpassion. Last year, according to published data By the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, the city signed 27 micrograms per cubic meter of PM 2.5. A fact that improves the air breathed in Madrid, “which did not exceed 31 micrograms of PM 2.5” on average, in the words of the Madrid officials. The decline is absolutely spectacular and is marked by profound changes in mobility, lowering the 30 microgram barrier for the first time in its history per cubic meter on the annual average. In addition, 311 days of 2025 were classified within the parameters that point to the best air quality. For this, Beijing launched a campaign against pollution which became especially relevant a little over a decade ago, although it already took its first steps with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Days. It was not until 2013 when the city took serious measures. More than a million coal-fired boilers in the city were replaced with boilers that run on gas or electricity. The city added more than 600,000 new energy vehicles (electric or plug-in hybrids that generally operate in completely electric mode). But, above all, 1.9 million cars that were considered too old and polluting were taken off the road. Low emission zones had a key effect in achieving this. Then, the 6NI mechanical (which was equivalent to our Euro 6) to let vehicles pass or not. Automobiles that, in addition, had to stay at home alternately (discriminating by license plate) when high pollution episodes were activated. The evolution of Beijing has been so spectacular in the last 10 years that it is common to see it as an example for those most polluted cities, like New Delhi, in India. Photo | zhang kaiyv and Quique Olivar In Xataka | Tire pollution is as serious as engine pollution. This company says it has found the solution

I have been to the Xiaomi Store in Beijing. It is a glimpse of the future that awaits us in Spain

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Seven years ago we visited one of the Xiaomi stores in China. It was the My Home in Shanghaiand we found a space full of devices, without much glamor from the outside and full of ‘gadgets’ that we did not yet have in Spain. Things have changed a lot in these years. The Xiaomi store is now surgical, from the outside we see the company’s cars and the space is an ode to good taste. The most interesting thing is not that: it is that almost everything we see is going to reach Spain. Store/experience. In one of the shopping centers on Dongdan Avenue in Beijing, you will find one of the several Xiaomi Stores in the Chinese capital. If you have ever been in a Apple Storethe concept is the same: a neat space, employees who don’t harass you if you don’t ask for assistance, and a sea of ​​devices to fiddle with. Image | Xataka Image | Xataka For a technology lover, having the Xiaomi 17 Exposed there and within my reach, it was a joy. You can try any of the models, but you also have tablets, computers and even speakers. One of the employees told me I could connect my cell phone to see how they sounded. Image | Xataka They also have technology that we have not seen around here yet, such as Xiaomi AI Glasses that they go for the Meta models and that in person they are very discreet. Image | Xataka Home. But despite all the junk, what impressed me most was the catalog of home devices. Televisions, vacuum cleaners and even air conditioning we have already seen them herebut in China the catalog expands greatly. In a time when some They insist that we not cook at homethe range of gadgets The kitchen that Xiaomi has is unfathomable. Image | Xataka Again, we have many of them in the Spanish store, but for every rice cooker sold here, they have three other models there. And the same with devices such as the food processor, warming jugs of all kinds, mixers, thermoses, faucets, water (and air, many) purifiers… Image | Xataka It is a legion of devices for the home. And, sharing the same space, curiously there are two that will soon disembark in our country. If a few lines ago I was talking about air-conditioning that opened the gap, now I mention both the washing machine and the refrigerator. Image | Xataka a few months ago confirmed their arrival in the west with a single objective: that our entire home remains within its ecosystem. Pride. Because entering that store makes you realize that, while my house must be controlled with four or five different applications for different devices, in China you need… one. That of Xiaomi Home, in this case. But Huawei is working towards something similar, a sign that the ecosystem is what the Asian giant’s companies are taking most seriously. Image | Xataka And, within this strategy, is the pride of the store. In plural, better: cars. A couple of Xiaomi SU7 Ultra and two or three others Xiaomi YU7. The same thing: you can touch them, ride wherever you want, ask and an expert will appear to tell you the benefits. It’s a dealership experience. Image | Xataka Image | Xataka Image | Xataka Lifestyle. And if all the devices are within the same ecosystem (something that He has even fallen in love with the CEO of Ford), to round out the experience is the ‘Xiaomi Life’ wall. Here you already have “toys”, such as mugs with the colors of the cars, bags, amazing replicas of the cars, caps, t-shirts and a lot of other accessories for the vehicle. Image | Xataka It’s… another bummer, but if seven years ago we couldn’t even dream of the arrival of a quarter of what we saw in Shanghai, today we can say that, sooner or later, everything I saw will be here over the next few months. Xiaomi already has its first official store in Spaina first step for them to disembark cars that already have a launch segment. And once the most ambitious product in the company’s history is here, nothing prevents everything else from also appearing in the store. PS Sony. But hey, although I found the Xiaomi store amazing, I have to say that other stores in the shopping center (one of the shopping centers on the avenue) were just as impressive or more impressive. Sony’s thing is also impressive. Image | Xataka Huawei also had a car parked in its store, for example, and Sony has another megastore with movie theaters to take a look at its most cutting-edge TVs and speakers… and even miniatures so that customers can try out the benefits of their cameras. I can only say one thing: I left that street overwhelmed. And thinking that I should have bought the Xiaomi 17 Ultra because it was at a VERY good price. What I did want to buy is the Pixar-style lamp shown a while ago: the PIPI Lamp. After asking about her, no one knew how to answer me until another girl appeared who – sadly – cleared my doubts: it was an experiment and there is no evidence that it can even be ordered from stores. Images | Xataka In Xataka | I have asked for water from the first humanoid robot working in Beijing. It’s a weird vending machine.

An order from Beijing has just left it on the brink of the abyss

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A Chinese attack on Taiwan would be “a situation that threatens the survival” of Japan. Sanae Takaichi, Japanese Prime Minister, said it on November 9, and it was the trigger for a diplomatic outbreak between the two nations which to this day remains very tense. One of its victims has been tourism. what’s happening. Following Takaichi’s statements, the Chinese government advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan and it seems that they have listened to him. They count in Nikkei Asia that the entire ecosystem of businesses that made a living from Chinese tourism in Japan is suffering due to this dispute. Some owners of accommodations that had the full sign posted have found themselves with massive cancellations and the Chinese restaurants in the most touristy areas are practically empty. Why is it important. It is an example of how tensions between China and Japan quickly translate into very concrete economic impacts. Most of Japan’s tourism comes from China and has created an entire industry around it called “yitiao long”, which translates to “a dragon”. It is estimated that it moves around 54,000 million euros per year. the dragon. It is the name given to the tourism industry for Chinese citizens who visit Japan. They offer itineraries, restaurants, transportation, entertainment, accommodations and much more. The peculiarity is that the services are offered by Chinese-owned businesses, so everything is done in the same language and they even use Chinese payment systems to avoid having to change money. The fact that they are businesses so oriented towards Chinese clientele makes it difficult for them to pivot towards other nationalities. Tensions. China’s request not to travel to Japan has not been the only consequence after the prime minister’s statements. China has also pressed threatening aerial maneuvers and the decision of leave japanese zoos without pandasa measure that may seem trivial but has a great background. Goodbye to ambiguity. China’s response to the Japanese Prime Minister’s phrase may seem excessive, but Takaichi’s phrase implies several important details. The first thing is that it breaks with the tradition of previous leaders, whose position on Taiwan had always been ambiguous. On the other hand, the mention of the “survival-threatening situation” is not trivial. It refers to a legal figure that would allow Japan to use force in the event that China attacks Taiwan, even if it does not attack them directly. Image | Gije Cho, Pexels In Xataka | The United States may win the AI ​​race, but its problem is different: China is winning all the others

Now their biggest challenge is to convince Beijing to let them use them

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China is experiencing an unexpected situation in the midst of the race for artificial intelligence: the country’s big technology companies want access to the chip NVIDIA H200but this time it is not Washington that sets the pace, but Beijing. The American government has opened the door to its export under clear conditions, although the final permit now depends on China, that has been tightening its policy for months on foreign semiconductors. Alibaba and ByteDance move in this delicate balance, aware that their ability to advance in AI in the immediate future will depend on what their own regulator decides. Two giants with enormous needs: Alibaba and ByteDance are not simple technology companies, but two of the companies with the greatest demand for computing capacity in China. Alibaba maintains an e-commerce network and cloud services that centralizes a good part of the purchases and sales that go through Taobao, Tmall or AliExpress, both in China and abroad. ByteDance operates TikTok and its Chinese version, Douyin, in addition to maintaining Doubao, its own AI chatbot. This combination of platforms with massive loads turns each jump in power into more than just a technical improvement: it conditions their ability to keep up with the pace of the sector. The change of course in Washington: On December 8, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would allow H200 to be exported to “approved customers” in China, a move that marked a turn from previous restrictions. The agreement contemplates that the US government receives 25% of the income from these sales, above the 15% applied to H20. The White House presented the decision as a formula to strengthen domestic manufacturing and sustain high-skilled jobs, while maintaining direct control over the flow of chips to China. Where the H200 fits into the NVIDIA lineup: The H200 belongs to the Hopper architecture, presented in 2022, and occupies an intermediate position between the generations already established in the market and the new Blackwell line, which is NVIDIA’s priority today. Blackwell-based servers can achieve tenfold performance gains on certain models compared to systems using H200, according to recent company data. Still, the H200 remains a relevant product for advanced training, especially in markets where access to newer hardware is restricted by export controls or limited supply capacity. NVIDIA H200 Why the H200 makes such a difference: The distance between the H200 and the H20 is still notable. According to the Institute for Progressthe H200 achieves a total throughput of 15,840 TPP, almost six times more than the 2,368 TPP of the H20. Compared to the most advanced domestic chips, the gap continues. He Huawei Ascend 910C It reaches 12,032 TPP and offers a memory bandwidth of 3.2 TB/s, while the H200 reaches 4.8 TB/s. That combination of power and speed explains why this chip is so coveted for training large-scale models. Alibaba and ByteDance have conveyed to NVIDIA their willingness to acquire large batches of the H200 if they receive approval from Beijing, according to information shared with Reuters by several sources. Chip availability is reduced because some manufacturing capacity is geared toward newer generations, increasing pressure on the purchasing window. In this scenario, both companies are trying to anticipate whether the Chinese regulator will allow a processor of this level to be incorporated into their training systems without additional restrictions. Access conditioned by the Chinese strategy: Authorization to purchase H200 depends not only on company demand, but on how it fits into the self-sufficiency goals set by Beijing. According to sources cited by the aforementioned agency, regulators are likely to demand precise details about the purpose of each order. In all this, it is no secret that China tries to accelerate the development of its own products through manufacturers such as Huawei and Cambricon, and any import of advanced hardware is examined in light of that strategic horizon. The situation leaves a market in which the rules seem inverted: chips like A100 and H100 They remain under export control, while the H200, more powerful and recent, could arrive in China under an exceptional framework. This asymmetry conditions the advancement of the country’s most ambitious models, which need competitive hardware to continue evolving. The outcome will depend on what Beijing decides in the coming days. Images | NVIDIA | Arthur Wang | In Xataka | Media China is talking about a feature of the ZTE Nubia M153. And the most surprising thing is that the phone is already out of stock.

The name China does not appear, everything else reminds us of Beijing

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By 2025, countries like Finland, Sweden and Lithuania had published guides for its population focused on concern about a possible war with Russia. In Taiwan they have gone a little further if possible. The nation has decided to publicly assume something that until a few years ago was avoided even being mentioned: that the military threat from China is no longer a remote hypothesis, but rather a daily pressure that forces to prepare to the entire population to stages. And they have done so without naming Beijing at any time. A manual for an island. The guide has a “trap”, since there are scenarios that range from natural disasters to a coordinated invasion by land, sea, air and cyberspace. That said, it is the first time that the Government sends a security manual to every home in the country (23 million inhabitants), an unprecedented gesture that reveals both the seriousness of the strategic situation and the political determination to show that civil society will not be a weak link in the event of conflict. The guide, redesigned to be understandable for any citizen, combines practical instructions, technological warnings, psychological guidelines and a central idea that structures the entire message: the defense of Taiwan depends on each person knowing what to do from the first minute of a crisis. Prepare at home. The manual starts from a basic principle: In a real crisis, public infrastructure may be disrupted and initial survival will depend on each family’s ability to be self-sufficient for at least a week. The guide explains how to evaluate the logistical needs of the home, from dry food, water and medicines to batteries, radios, hygienic materials and basic utensils for cooking without electricity. It is requested to maintain a “revolving stock”consuming and replenishing so that reserves are never lacking. It also introduces the need for consider vulnerable people (seniors, babies, dependents) and to always have chargers, cash, copies of documents and alternative means of communication in case the internet or mobile phones are sabotaged. Emergency luggage. The heart of the manual is the go-bag preparationa kit that should be able to be picked up and carried in seconds if the situation forces you to leave home. It includes water, ready-to-eat food, basic first aid kit, clothing for rain and cold, flashlight, radio, chargers, documents, simple tools and paper maps. This section insists that the population must internalize the logic of immediate mobilityunderstanding that in the first moments of a crisis, speed can be the difference between being trapped or reaching a safe point. Threat scenarios. One of the most striking new features is the explicit enumeration of hostile scenariosall of them based on patterns already observed in Chinese military exercises or on forms of coercion that Taipei identifies as part of a sustained hybrid war. They include the cable sabotage submarines, maritime blockades disguised as inspections, the creation of false no-fly zones, intrusive drones over Taiwanese space, disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks and the possibility that enemy forces try to infiltrate or simulate identities to confuse the population. The manual warns that, in such an environment, distinguish allies and enemies can be difficult, so the rule is simple: stay away from any detected military activity and do not broadcast images that could reveal Taiwanese defensive movements. Taiwanese army training How to act during bombings. The document also pragmatically details how survive an air raid If there is no time to reach underground shelter: move away from windows and walls, lie down on the ground, cover your head and open your mouth slightly to cushion the impact of the shock wave. For those who are on the street, we insist on adopting a protective position and facing the opposite direction to the explosion. The manual, in addition, updates evacuation routeshelp points and location of shelters, and highlights the importance of establishing three previously agreed upon family meeting places to avoid the fragmentation of groups in the midst of chaos. The psychological dimension. Another essential part is emotional management. It is encouraged to reduce exposure to irrelevant news to avoid saturation, to maintain rest and eating routines, and to talk openly about fear as a way to prevent it from growing uncontrollably. In the case of children, the guide recommends including them in the preparation of go-bags, explain to them what is happening with appropriate language and teach them to identify fake news, a threat that Taiwan suffers every day as part of the information harassment from abroad. Cybersecurity and technology. The manual dedicates an entire section to warning about the risks of using applications and technological devices linked to Chinese companies. The guide points out platforms such as TikTok, WeChat, RedNote or AI tools such as DeepSeek, and remembers that certain devices with cameras can be vectors for data collection. The instruction is clear: reduce its use, deactivate sensitive functions and be wary of any anomalous behavior in electronic equipment. Civic offensive. If you also want, the most relevant thing about this massive deployment is not only its content, but its strategic significance: Taiwan wants to show Beijing that its society is not passive or fragile, that it knows what to do and that the human, social and political cost of an invasion would not be low. The campaign, which will distribute more than 11 million of copies, seeks to reinforce the idea that the defense of the island does not depend solely on its army, but also on a prepared, conscious and coordinated civil fabric. The political message is explicit: the Taiwanese resistance does not expect a “D-Day”, possibly because it already lives under daily threat, but is willing to assume the consequences of defending itself if that day arrives. Image | 總統府, 總統府 In Xataka | Communist countries have a very long tradition of military purges. And China is joining it In Xataka | A phrase from Japan has put Pacific peace in suspense. China’s response has been to launch its drones and warships

A new futuristic Chinese drone has just appeared on the scene. Beijing has shown it in a video without saying a single word

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China has decided to show its new stealth drone in the most direct way possible: iincluding it in an official video and letting the image speak for itself. The device appears rolling from a hangar and forming with two J-20, a gesture that does not require subtitles to capture attention. It is an austere presentation, almost silent, but full of intention. The movement that changes reading. The official video published by the chinese air force for its 76th anniversary, it combines historical images with recent scenes, following a format that the institution has used for years. It is a simple production piece, focused on showing some of the advances that they consider relevant at this stage. Within this general route, the final section incorporates material that until now had not been seen on official channels, among them the inclusion of the GJ-11. It is a drone that belongs to the category of flying wing stealth platforms, a design that China has been researching for years and that fits with long-distance attack missions and surveillance tasks. What is known comes from sightings at test bases and analysis of their configuration, since Beijing has not published technical specifications. Some analysts interpret that its size and architecture allow prolonged flights, but that information is not part of official statements. Is it already operational? The official video does not confirm that the GJ-11 is in service, but it does fit with the indications that point to a program in an advanced phase. In recent months there have appeared at least three units in Shigatse, an active site where China tests systems in real scenarios. The inclusion of the drone in institutional material adds another element to the chronology, although by itself it is not enough to affirm that its operational deployment is a reality. The key doubts. Despite the relevance of the video, the Chinese Air Force has not offered details about the capabilities, range, sensors or weapons of the GJ-11. There is also no data on its production rate or on possible contracts associated with the program. The footage confirms its form and activity, but does not clear up technical unknowns that allow us to understand its exact role within the operational structure. The absence of this information keeps the program partially in the shadows. The appearance of the GJ-11 in an official video does not dispel all doubts, but it does consolidate an idea: China wants the drone to be part of its public story without the need to communicate technical details. Between previous indications and recent material, the image that remains is that of an advanced program that advances at its own pace. Images | People’s Liberation Army Air Force (Weibo) In Xataka | They have just leaked Russia’s best kept secret: their “invisible” nuclear bomber has exploded into the air

The Fujian is officially China’s largest power catapult. Beijing already has a button to challenge the US Navy

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It has been almost two years since China ended its long-awaited Fujian aircraft carrierits largest warship with cutting-edge technology for the nation. From then until now it has been going through different scenarios of tests and tests that will confirm reliability of what should be the spearhead for Beijing to compete in the same league as the United States. That day has already arrived. The naval power of the 21st century. China has made official the entry into service of Fujian, its first aircraft carrier with electromagnetic catapultsa milestone that marks a qualitative leap in the country’s naval ambition and in their direct rivalry with the United States. In a ceremony held in the port of Sanya, on the island of Hainan, President Xi Jinping performed the symbolic gesture of pressing the launch button from the ship’s control bubble, in an act that state propaganda presented as the beginning of a new era for the People’s Liberation Army Navy. Projection and vulnerability. With 80,000 tons displacement, 300 meters in length and capacity to operate nearly 60 aircraft, the Fujian becomes the jewel of the Chinese fleet, the third in service after from Liaoning and the Shandong. Its distinctive feature is the electromagnetic catapultsan aircraft launch system similar to the American EMALS that only equips one other ship in the world: the USS Gerald R. Ford. China has thus jumped directly from aircraft carriers with a “ski jump” ramp to a generation of electromagnetic propulsion directed personally, according to Beijing, by Xi. This technical advance has clear strategic implications: improves the rate of departures, reduces wear and tear on aircraft and allows the operation of drones or lighter devices, opening the door to a more flexible and modern on-board aviation. Fujian The jump and the dimension. The Fujian represents more than just a technical improvement: it is the first completely designed and built in Chinafree of the Soviet legacy that conditioned the previous ones. The Liaoning was originally a ukrainian helmet unfinished work of the eighties and the Shandong su national derivativeboth with STOBAR systems short takeoff. With Fujian, China abandons that past and exhibits its technological maturity, especially in a context of industrial rivalry with the United States, whose own EMALS program has faced years of failures and cost overruns. In contrast to the Gerald R. Ford problemsXi’s speech and the staging of the ceremony convey a message of effectiveness and national pride: that of a power capable of manufacturing its own cutting-edge ships while the adversary hesitates. The choice of the port of Hainan was also not accidental. from there, China control access to the South Sea and projects its influence towards the western Pacific and the Taiwan Strait. On that board, the Fujian is not just a ship, but a political statement about Beijing’s ability to contest global maritime dominance. Fujian Target of the future. However, the relevance of these steel colossi coexists with a paradox. While the great powers continue to invest billions in building them, the conflict in Ukraine has shown that he size no longer guarantees invulnerability. With low-cost naval drones, Ukraine has managed to disable much of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, inflicting a “functional defeat” without possessing a single aircraft carrier. The contrast is eloquent: asymmetric warfare reduces the effectiveness of the most expensive conventional weapons, but not their strategic value. In the case of China and the United States, aircraft carriers maintain their role as projection and deterrence instrumentsuseful for both combat operations and coercive diplomacy. Make fear. Washington continues to use them as pressure tool geopolitics: Donald Trump himself ordered the deployment of the Gerald R. Ford against Venezuela as a symbolic warning to the Nicolás Maduro regime. The scene, with an aircraft carrier escorted by four destroyers and armed with 70 aircraft, illustrates the extent to which these ships continue to be armed ambassadors of the superpowers, beyond their debatable military profitability. Global deterrence. Modern navies are aware that aircraft carriers are both a symbol like a target. During the Cold War, it was estimated that twelve conventional missiles to sink a super aircraft carrier. In 2005, the experimental sinking of the USS America required four weeks of sustained attacks, confirming its structural resilience, but also its exposure. In a scenario saturated with hypersonic missiles, swarms of drones and long-range anti-ship systems, its survival in real combat is increasingly uncertain. However, no other platform offers the combination of mobility, air capacity and logistical autonomy that an aircraft carrier provides. That is why China, despite investing in missiles to repel a US fleet off its coast, considers these ships essential for its own global ambitions. As pointed out analyst Nick Childsfrom the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Beijing understands them as an indispensable tool to project influence and support an eventual operation on Taiwan. Geopolitics of steel. we have been counting: the rise of Fujian is part of a broader strategy of naval expansion that has turned Chinese shipyards into the most productive on the planet. The country’s surface and submarine fleet is growing at a pace the United States can no longer match, and each new vessel reinforces the narrative of industrial self-sufficiency that Xi Jinping presents as an emblem. of the “national renaissance”. Facing eleven US aircraft carriers (ten nuclear and one conventionally powered), China has threebut with plans to build at least a nuclear one, the future Type 004which could directly rival the Fords of the US Navy. Unlike Russia, whose only aircraft carrier, the aging Admiral Kuznetsovhas been out of service for years and is headed for scrapping, China and the United States are today the only powers capable to sustain fleets with great oceanic projection. Europe, for its part, maintains a symbolic presence: the United Kingdom uses its aircraft carriers Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales on diplomatic or training missions, while France prepares its new future-generation nuclear aircraft carrier. Century of the seas and fragility. If you like, Fujian also symbolizes the meeting point … Read more

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