On July 20, the Chinese and Philippine coast guards clashed near Second Thomas Shoal. The Philippine side accused Chinese personnel of using clubs in an attack that injured a Filipino service member; the China Coast Guard responded that Philippine personnel rammed Chinese vessels and used clubs and oars to attack Chinese personnel.
Jiang Wangzheng released news claiming that Li Qiang might succeed to power at the 21st National Congress and, after taking office, push for the disclosure of officials' assets in 2027 or 2028.
Screenshots circulating on Weibo show that the CCP is requiring personnel in the system to surrender their passports, with some units even demanding the "voluntary cancellation" of passports and conducting audits of overseas travel records from the past five years.
Wang Yi met with the ASEAN Secretary-General, the Philippine Foreign Secretary, and the Indian External Affairs Minister in Manila, and chaired the China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
The US military launched a new round of airstrikes against Iran in the early hours of July 21, hitting Iran's military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems.
When the CCTV-affiliated account “Yuyuantian” posted photos of the South China Sea standoff, it re‑edited the image to erase the “Chinese People's Armed Police” label on the loudspeaker; after netizens raised doubts, it opened a comment highlight.
On the second day after the new Shenzhen Metro security check regulations took effect, someone at Bihaiwan Station rushed the card reader and knocked a security officer down, causing severe queues at the security checkpoint.
Multiple locations in Hebei experienced heavy rain and strong winds, causing damage to many houses, and a car was hit by a steel pipe blown by the wind.
Xi'an was hit by a massive rainstorm and strong winds, trees were uprooted, rooftop metal sheds were overturned, old walls collapsed and struck vehicles, and road surface flooding was severe.
The Hunan Library issued an announcement on its official WeChat account stating that due to recent incidents where readers used public Wi-Fi to circumvent the Great Firewall and access prohibited overseas websites, posing serious cybersecurity risks, it has temporarily shut down its wireless network for rectification and exposed the mobile phone numbers of some readers.
According to a hospital staff member, as the number of births declines, obstetrics and gynecology departments and maternal and child health hospitals in some parts of China have been abolished or converted into psychiatry and mental health departments.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has recommended banning the import and marketing of some foreign-managed military-grade drones, and plans to publish the recommendation before soliciting 30 days of public comment.
US President Trump met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House to discuss implementing the Lebanon-Israel agreement and disarming Hezbollah, among other issues.
OpenAI confirmed on July 21 that an autonomous agent powered by its advanced AI model went out of control during safety testing last week, triggering a hack against the infrastructure of AI startup Hugging Face.
The Florida state government is accused of having begun restricting visas for Chinese students, with relevant applicants facing stricter visa reviews.
On July 21, 2026, Reuters reported that during its annual civil defense drill in August, Taiwan will for the first time deliberately reduce mobile network speeds in 14 counties and cities for 30 minutes, to simulate a scenario of wartime communications blockade or a paralyzing cyberattack.
On July 21, 2026, the CCP Central Committee's Cyberspace Administration of China and other departments issued a plan to advance IPv6 single-stack technology innovation and application. Foreign media analysis argues that underlying architectural reforms such as NAT removal and enhanced source address verification could further deepen online censorship and real-name tracking.
On July 21, 2026, the Japanese government announced that it had lodged a formal protest with the Chinese side through diplomatic channels, opposing China's organization of live-fire military exercises within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
On July 21, 2026, shortly after a public service advertisement against animal abuse, placed on a shopping mall's big screen by a Shenzhen pet hospital, went live, the mall and the hospital received pressure calls from the local public security authorities and were forced to take the content down immediately.
On July 21, 2026, in response to the Chinese official media China Daily releasing an AI animation that caricatured Filipinos as monkeys, the Philippine mainstream media Forum Daily publicly posted an image of Xi Jinping as Winnie the Pooh on social platforms as a public opinion counterattack.
On July 21, 2026, netizens noticed that Yuanyuantantian, a new media account under CCTV, deliberately erased the Chinese Armed Police markings on a loudspeaker when it published official propaganda images of a maritime standoff in the South China Sea. After facing questions from netizens, it turned on comment selection.
On July 21, 2026, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan publicly responded to the controversial animation published by state media China Daily that used monkeys to allude to Filipinos, arguing that the content was an independent act of the media and had nothing to do with the Chinese government.
According to a submission from an insider posted by the X account Luo Xiang, Wu Qiren of China Three Gorges Corporation was taken away for investigation on July 21 after revealing the flood disaster and the internal truths about the Three Gorges at a dinner gathering and sending out information by circumventing the Great Firewall.
Around July 21, Xi'an was hit by exceptionally heavy rain. Large trees were uprooted and smashed into utility poles, collapsing walls crushed private cars, and rooftop metal sheds were blown away. The whole city was nearly paralyzed, and netizens questioned whether豆腐渣 projects could withstand wind and rain.
From July 21, 2026, Qizhen School in Zhangjiakou, Hebei was exposed for forcing senior year students to attend a fully closed summer tutoring program six days a week, sparking student protests over severe lack of rest.
On July 21, the official 'Boonie Bears' account released a video titled 'The World Cannot Be Without Little Doggies' on Bilibili.