Hot War

How Trump’s Iran war boosted Beijing

China’s diplomacy in the Middle East has seen highs and lows, most recently garnering some success in the Iran war, after troughs during the post-7 October 2023 period and initial highs when the US withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. Chinese academic Fan Hongda explains.

Fan Hongda

18 Jun 2026

Why bombs don’t break Iran

The domestic issues and fragile regime in Iran would have led one to believe that an attack by the US would result in a quick defeat. Commentator Tao Ray offers a perspective on why Iran remains resilient: not because of its military strength or strategy, but the strong sense of “us versus them”.

Tao Ray

26 May 2026

Iran war: The unnecessary war that strengthened Iran

In this unnecessary war with Iran, the US now has no choice but to negotiate and make compromises. Iran may even emerge with its regional standing strengthened. To go into the US-China summit with the best hand, President Trump needs to settle the Iranian question quickly. Academic Fan Hongda explains.

Fan Hongda

08 May 2026

[Big read] Nuclear power plants: Energy security or wartime risk? 

Following major nuclear disasters including Chernobyl and Fukushima, safety measures have been ramped up on nuclear facilities, but mostly for accident scenarios during peacetime, and without internationally binding commitments. With energy needs increasing yet geopolitical tensions rising and nuclear power plants sited in potential conflict zones, what concrete steps can governments take to mitigate the risks? Lianhe Zaobao’s associate foreign editor So Geok Lan finds out more.

So Geok Lan

07 May 2026

Unravelled: How the Iran war triggers a global realignment

Beyond immediate economic chaos and regional instability, the US-Israeli conflict with Iran is catalysing a historic global realignment. From a fractured Middle East and a widening transatlantic rift to China’s burgeoning influence over energy and diplomacy, the war is forcing allies and rivals alike to redraw the map of 21st-century power, observes US commentator Ian Bremmer.

Ian Bremmer

06 May 2026

Can the Gulf-South Asia corridor rewire global trade and energy flows?

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has driven alternative routes, strengthening energy supply chains and boosting cooperation across the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia, while expanding cross-border trade — so the outlook is not entirely bleak despite disruption at Hormuz, says Chinese academic Peng Nian.

Peng Nian

24 Apr 2026

From airspace to sea lanes: A new front in US-China rivalry

From the skies over Africa to the strategic waters of the Middle East, the world’s vital transit nodes are being transformed into tools of statecraft. As major powers move beyond traditional warfare to weaponising global infrastructure, smaller nations find themselves navigating a high-stakes era of chokepoint diplomacy and economic coercion. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Miao Zong-Han finds out more.

Miao Zong-Han

24 Apr 2026

[Photos] I was in Israel in 1984: Where rifle and bible are one

In 1984, historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao travelled to Israel as a young Taiwanese journalist expecting a conventional war zone, but found instead a society where military life, religion and daily existence were tightly interwoven in ways that shaped every encounter.

Hsu Chung-mao

24 Apr 2026

How civilisational politics fuels today’s wars

Academic Ma Haiyun traces the history of civilisational conflict narratives in Western strategic thinking, built on Jewish intellectual foundations, long before the rise of Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Such approaches have had a profound effect on influencing the US’s behaviour in the Middle East and spillover effects in the region.

Ma Haiyun

22 Apr 2026

[Video] Is the world entering a more dangerous nuclear era?

The collapse of the last US-Russia nuclear constraints under New START leaves the world’s nuclear guardrails in tatters, raising fears of great power friction and a renewed arms race. As limits fall away, states from Iran to North Korea are reassessing their options. With extended deterrence under strain, ThinkChina’s Lu Lingming and Yi Jina examine how this unravelling nuclear order is reshaping global and regional security.

Lu Lingming, Yi Jina

10 Apr 2026

How China and Russia keep Iran fighting — without firing a shot

The Iran war is exposing how great powers wage proxy conflict at arm’s length. China sustains Tehran’s missile and drone industry with dual‑use components, chip tools and BeiDou access, while Russia boosts its punch with satellite imagery, upgraded drones and electronic‑warfare know‑how. Together they keep a heavily sanctioned state in the fight, as researcher Tahir Mahmood Azad explains.

Tahir Mahmood Azad

10 Apr 2026

Hormuz chokes: China’s ‘world supermarket’ Yiwu feels the pain

One month on, the war in Iran rages on and the Strait of Hormuz remains a chokepoint for trades around the world. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Meng Dandan hones in on the impact on merchants from Yiwu, Zhejiang province — often dubbed the “world’s supermarket”.

Meng Dandan

01 Apr 2026