Zhong Shu, host of the podcast 'A Single Tree Does Not Make a Forest', went viral online after interviewing director Christopher Nolan. The interview showcased a depth of civilization and philosophical contemplation, and was praised by netizens as Nolan's best interview over the years.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officially announced that a commemoration marking the 100th anniversary of Jiang Zemin's birth will be held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on August 17, and that Xi Jinping will attend and deliver a speech.
Thirteen retired state-level elders, including Wen Jiabao, Zeng Qinghong, and Wang Qishan, attended a high-level political ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. Hu Jintao's absence has sparked various rumors regarding Beidaihe secret talks and power succession.
An account under Hubei Daily called "Donghu Youli" published an article stressing the importance of opening up to the global market and praising Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening-up policy, which was interpreted as a veiled criticism of Xi Jinping's contractionary policy.
The US White House released declassified FBI documents disclosing that CCP beauty spy Fang Fang influenced American politics through sexual seduction, donations and other means, and that while working at Air China she served as a flight attendant aboard Hu Jintao's special plane.
Li Qiang presided over a State Council meeting, calling for persisting in expanding domestic demand, focusing on the principal contradiction, seizing on areas with long industrial chains and large scale, and promoting the domestic economic cycle and consumption upgrading.
A memorial event for Jiang Zemin was held at the Great Hall of the People, attended by a number of retired senior officials; according to leaks from outside the Great Firewall, the military took part in security inside the venue and around its perimeter at the same time.
An AI short drama set against the background of the Yellow Turban Rebellion at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty was released on Bilibili, quickly racking up tens of millions of views and millions of likes, and sparking viewers’ resonance with and discussion of real social issues.
U.S. President Trump confirmed on August 17 that the U.S. maintains informal communication channels with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and urged the Iranian regime to surrender.
US Presidential Special Envoy Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog on August 17 to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and disarmament issues.
Trump stated that North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un has responded to his dialogue proposal, following his order to significantly scale down joint US-South Korea military exercises.
The US Department of War has notified 30 domestic academic institutions, demanding an immediate and comprehensive review of their academic funding and research collaborations with China and other foreign entities of concern.
Trump confirmed at a press conference that he has made contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, drawing widespread attention and disrupting the plans of the Chinese Communist Party and South Korea to position themselves through the Korean Peninsula issue.
China's National Bureau of Statistics announced that fixed-asset investment fell 6.7% year-on-year from January to July, private investment fell 9.4%, and infrastructure investment fell 3.6%.
According to a netizen's post, the anime "Niu Lai" took 8 million at the box office in a single day, with real-time box office including presales exceeding 16 million, and Maoyan predicts total box office could reach 135 million, sparking large-scale fan creations and heated discussion across the internet.
A symposium marking the 100th anniversary of Jiang Zemin's birth was held at the Great Hall of the People, with several retired elderly people attending offstage, drawing outside attention to their seating and attendance.
A mainland Douyin user left a comment asking whether Xi Jinping was an emperor, a dictator, and a traitor to the Han people. Subsequently, that user's account as well as the blogger's account with 161,000 followers were banned by the platform.
At a conference marking the 100th anniversary of Jiang Zemin's birth, Xi Jinping once again mentioned the history of Jiang Zemin's initiative to no longer hold leading positions in the central leadership and to resign as chairman of the Central Military Commission, with the intention of emphasizing the political virtue of "voluntarily handing over power."
A netizen in Guangdong, afraid of having blood drawn, did not undergo the required chikungunya blood screening. Their residential compound access permission was subsequently revoked, leaving them unable to return home.
The centenary commemoration of Jiang Zemin was held, and Cai Qi was accused of speaking on behalf of the conservatives, continuing to emphasize the "Two Establishes" and the "Two Safeguards" in his remarks.
US and South Korean officials announced that joint military exercises will be held from August 17 to 27, incorporating for the first time responses to drones, GPS jamming, and cyberattacks.
The U.S. Embassy in China posted on the social media platform X, reminding American citizens in China to pay attention to their personal safety and to guard against China's arbitrary law enforcement and surveillance, pointing out that hotel rooms, communications, and digital payments may be subject to monitoring.
Indian students held protests in New Delhi on August 17, opposing the National Testing Agency's decision to re-examine academic tests, and demanding the abolition of the agency and a judicial investigation.
The White House Transparency Task Force has released declassified FBI documents detailing the relationship and interactions between Fang Fang and former U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell.
The first three of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States have taken off from the Greenville factory in South Carolina, preparing for delivery to the Taiwan Air Force.
Commercial satellite imagery provider Vantor released images showing new facilities near Linyang Reef in the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on August 17, sparking speculation about potential military use.
Geely Auto released its first-half financial report, showing a 46% year-on-year increase in core net profit, but announced on the same day that founder Li Shufu has resigned as Chairman of the Board to become Lifetime Honorary Chairman, with An Conghui succeeding him.
Wang Qishan, who had not been seen in public for a long time, attended the centenary of Jiang Zemin's birth together with other retired leaders at the vice-national level and above.
A giant hand-made "Niu Lai" poster, the largest in the Chinese Communist Party's occupied territory, appeared at Aiqing Plaza in Baoding, Hebei, sparking heated discussion and viral spread among netizens.
The South Korean government responded to Trump's call to scale back military exercises, stating it hopes the friendly relationship between Trump and Kim Jong Un will facilitate talks to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
From January to July 2026, China's real estate development investment fell 19.2% year-on-year, while data related to newly started projects fell 24%.
On August 17, 2026, China's National Bureau of Statistics rarely broke its long-standing convention of releasing data in the morning, postponing the July national economic data to 3 p.m., after the A-share market closed, sparking market concerns that the data was under pressure.
On August 17, 2026, Republic of China President Lai Ching-te announced that, driven by semiconductor and AI economic growth, government revenue has risen sharply, and the central government will include over 200 billion in its 2027 general budget to issue NT$10,000 in cash to all citizens.
On August 17, 2026, the CCP Central Committee held a meeting at the Great Hall of the People to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jiang Zemin. Xi Jinping attended and delivered a lengthy speech, in which he twice reiterated the official characterization of the 1989 political turmoil while reviewing history.
On August 17, 2026, an investigation by foreign media revealed that Chinese authorities are pushing full speed ahead with the construction and external sharing of datasets, attempting to change the landscape dominated by Western language models and implant official ideology into global AI.
From August 17, 2026, outside the Times Fengjun Building in Nan'an District, Chongqing, large groups of young people and celebrity-chasing fans broke into a physical conflict, splashing liquid on each other and brawling; SWAT police subsequently arrived at the scene and took away multiple people.
On August 17, 2026, Caixin reported that as the school-age population shrinks, surplus school places have appeared in primary schools across the country, yet some megacities have chosen to cut places, and the threshold for migrant children to enroll remains as high as ever.
On August 17, 2026, after the resume of Yu Tingdong, deputy head of Binjiang District in Hangzhou, was taken down, a former investigative journalist wrote an article revealing the unwritten rules of the real estate circle, in which drinking gatherings are used to court officials and harm women. The article quickly went viral online.
On August 17, 2026, Bloomberg reported that driven by Chinese domestic tech companies accelerating purchases of domestically produced replacement chips, China's DRAM leader CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) turned profitable after long-term losses and rose to become the world's fourth-largest memory maker.
On August 17, 2026, media reported that Korean companies came to China to recruit auto repair technicians, offering monthly salaries of up to 33,000 yuan along with two-day weekends. The video drew wide attention, and the on-screen comments were flooded with the word "civilization."
On August 17, WeChat updated the "WeChat Privacy Protection Guidelines," specifying that when using the AI assistant Xiaowei, it collects users' typed text, voice, images, documents, and output content, and that when Xiaowei is invoked in scenarios such as Official Accounts, Channels, and Moments, it also processes the information users view or enter in the corresponding scenarios.
On August 17, 2026, a property owner in Guangdong posted to report that, out of fear of having blood drawn, he did not cooperate with the local chikungunya blood screening, and afterwards his access rights to the residential compound's entry system were revoked by the grassroots community.
On August 17, 2026, a netizen posted to expose that merchants on a second-hand e-commerce platform were forging everyday metal objects bearing the marking "731", passing them off as evidence of Japanese army crimes and selling them at high prices to reap improper gains.
On August 17, 2026, a technician in Sichuan posted a video on a social platform showing that ordinary trains, at the request of regulatory authorities, have had all removable interior parts stripped out and iron netting installed, converting them into dedicated long-distance prisoner escort carriages.
On August 17, 2026, with official approval, China Post officially issued a set of two special stamps and a souvenir sheet commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jiang Zemin, as one of the official series of centenary commemorative events.
On August 17, 2026, a new media account under the CCP Central Committee's United Front Work Department reposted an article that characterized the American academic school of the "New Qing History" as a political conspiracy by separatist forces and launched an open criticism of it.
On August 17, 2026, tech media exposed macOS system code showing that Apple has established an independent content security filtering mechanism for the Chinese mainland market, with user editing restricted and security updates required.
On August 17, 2026, one month since the underground garage collapse accident at Midea Times City in Shenyang, affected owners report that they remain homeless and must continue repaying their loans on schedule, while online rights defense has encountered platform throttling.
On August 17, 2026, the Jinlaike factory in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, triggered a mass work stoppage after long-term wage arrears, with large numbers of workers gathering at the factory gates to block the entrances and demand their unpaid wages.
On August 17, 2026, at the Fengya Yuzhu Lake No. 1 project in Sihong County, Suqian, Jiangsu, workers went on collective strike because the developer had long been in arrears with their wages, and they blocked the main gate of the construction site with three excavators to defend their rights and demand payment.