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Alibaba sues Pentagon, rare earth truce tested, Taiwan arms: 7 US-China relations reads

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to…

By Samantha Johnson / July 1, 2026
We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Trump thinks he is playing hardball. But China is playing Trump: analysts

Photo: AP
Photo: AP

As the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump fades in the rear-view mirror, marked by anaemic deliverables, poor transparency and missed opportunities, analysts and former US officials pointed to another disappointment: the world’s most consequential relationship has become inordinately dependent on the two nations’ top leaders.

Read the full story here.

2. Pentagon sued by Alibaba over ‘arbitrary’ military blacklist targeting Chinese firms

Photo: Kyodo
Photo: Kyodo

Chinese technology and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding sued the US Department of Defence in June, seeking to be removed from a blacklist of companies deemed to support China’s military.

Read the full story here.

3. ‘China Initiative 2.0’: US crackdown on Chinese scholars intensifies

Photo: Handout
Photo: Handout

Leading immigration lawyers and activists said the US government had intensified its crackdown on Chinese scientists and researchers – a campaign they argued was even more aggressive than the controversial “China Initiative” launched during Trump’s first term.

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