On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched joint airstrikes against Iran. Iran's Revolutionary Guard subsequently announced a ban on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude oil prices surpassed $100 in March, at one point rising to $126.
The United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran, which Trump subsequently defended.
The United States and Israel began military action against Iran on February 28, causing shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and fluctuations in international oil prices.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the first few hours after the start of the military operation on February 28.
On February 28, 2026, Han Song voluntarily surrendered.
Jing Tian flew to Los Angeles on Justin Sun's private jet. On the eighth day of her hotel stay, she demanded $50 million before she would have her eggs retrieved, causing the surrogacy plan to be terminated.
The rules for the H1B visa lottery have changed: employers must provide the salary level of the position when registering, and the higher the salary level, the greater the weight in the lottery.
The Ministry of Education issued a document mentioning that Shanghai is implementing the "Construction Standards for Ideological and Political Courses in Universities," requiring private universities to establish the awareness that "the School of Marxism is the primary school" and "ideological and political courses are the primary courses," and to fulfill their primary responsibility for the construction of ideological and political courses. Public data shows that the number of Schools of Marxism in universities nationwide has expanded 18-fold over twelve years (2012 to 2024).
On February 27, according to ABC News, HungryPanda in Australia experienced another dispute during the Spring Festival, and the company admitted to being in contact with Chinese police.
One week before the Two Sessions, the National People's Congress terminated the credentials of 9 military delegates, including 5 full generals, 1 lieutenant general, and 3 major generals.
Recently, a JD Logistics employee publicly called out Liu Qiangdong at a labor-rights defense venue in Hangzhou, saying he joined JD because Liu had promised not to mistreat employees, but now his wife is in the hospital receiving emergency treatment while his wages have been withheld for over a year, and he demanded to know why.
Trump said in his State of the Union address that he had not heard Iran make the statement he demanded.
On February 24, Xiaomi's legal department announced that, in the lawsuit against the self-media account "AutoReport Auto Industry & Economics" for infringement, the company received the court's first-instance judgment, and the account was ordered to pay 5 million yuan in compensation.
A blogger's footage of a funeral home's departure notice is circulating on X. On the list, apart from one 98-year-old, the ages of the deceased range from 20 to 70, with those aged 30 to 50 making up the largest number.
On February 22, a netizen posted a video of Meng Wanzhou returning to China, after which the bullet chats were flooded with comments such as "making a fool of herself" and "the thief is back."
Recently, the Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism designated the influencer with millions of followers, "Russian Nana" Na Yina (real name Zhai Geying), as a disgraced performer and revoked her performance license.
On February 21, a delivery rider for HungryPanda in Australia who had previously organized a strike posted an apology video on Douyin. He admitted that the police had called him and his father due to the strike, but claimed the calls were not threatening and thanked the consulate for their concern, raising suspicions of domestic pressure.
The video says that in February 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the related tariff measures unconstitutional.
About ten US Air Force F-16 fighter jets stationed in South Korea headed straight for international waters in the Yellow Sea. CCP fighter jets scrambled for a standoff. The incident occurred in the Northern Theater Command's area of responsibility.
On February 18, an explosion occurred at a fireworks and firecracker shop in Zhengji Town, Yicheng City, Hubei Province, resulting in 12 deaths. Surrounding buildings were damaged to varying degrees, with rolling shutters blown off by the shockwave and glass shattered. The affected road section was temporarily placed under a full lockdown.
On February 12, former journalist Gao Qinrong released a video review stating that in 1998, because he exposed a 280 million yuan vanity project in Yuncheng, Shanxi, which prompted hundreds of media outlets to follow up, he subsequently paid a heavy price.
On February 12, 2026, Wang Lixia, former chairwoman of the government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was expelled from the Party and removed from public office for illegally interfering in judicial activities, illegally accepting huge amounts of property, and other violations.
On February 11, a Didi driver displayed an order: the passenger paid 83 yuan, but the driver's app showed the passenger paid 62.89 yuan. The platform then took a 29% cut, leaving the driver with 44.66 yuan, resulting in a total commission of 50%.
On February 10, 2026, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Yi Lianhong was under investigation; on February 26, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress announced the removal of the NPC deputy credentials of military representatives including Li Qiaoming (Army) and Li Wei (Information Support Force), with the qualifications of 19 deputies terminated in total.
On February 10, 2026, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Yi Lianhong, formerly Party Secretary of Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces and currently deputy director of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is under investigation.
On February 10, 2026, the U.S. State Department submitted a report to Congress, formally naming the far-left nonprofit organizations "Code Pink" and "People's Forum" as recipients of pro-CCP online funding, serving as vehicles for China's overseas influence operations in the United States.
On July 24, China's Ministry of Public Security announced that all 630-plus buildings in the KK Park compound in Myawaddy, Myanmar, have been demolished.
Representatives of the United States and Iran continued negotiations in Muscat, Oman.
On February 6, the drafting group for the Fifth Plenary Session documents held its first plenary meeting at Huairentang. Xi Jinping proposed 39 major issues across 8 areas, setting a strict tone.
Between 2020 and 2024, a transnational criminal gang composed primarily of highly educated Chinese men residing in Germany and the Netherlands, established a secret group called 'German Old Driver's School' on the encrypted social platform Telegram own. They used female identities on social software such as WeChat and Xiaohongshu to post fake rental or help-seeking information to lure newly arrived Chinese female students and young women to private residences, secretly administering date rape drugs (such as GHB/GBL, sedatives, etc.) to commit sexual assault, and used slang like 'car', 'refueling', and 'dead pig' within the group to brag and communicate, recording and disseminating sexual violence imagery. In February 2026, the Frankfurt District Court issued a first-instance judgment against the main perpetrator Zhang Dapeng (who was an IT supervisor of a car company before the case), finding him guilty of 22 charges including attempted murder and especially severe rape, sentencing him to 14 years of imprisonment and additional preventive detention (security supervision). Other accomplices Jiang Zhongyi was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in Munich, Zhou Tong was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in Berlin, and Shao Zhiting, who provided drug formula guidance, was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in July. This case, due to its heinous criminal methods and targeting of specific groups, caused a shock to the overseas Chinese community and directly pushed the German Federal Cabinet to pass a bill increasing the penalties for date rape crimes.
Rumors claim that Zeng Qinghong, on behalf of retired Politburo Standing Committee members and the red second-generation, put demands to Xi Jinping such as handing over power and not seeking another term; no public reports of this claim exist, and it originates from an online video.
The New START bilateral nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, signed in 2010, officially expired on February 5, 2026.
The NPC removed three deputies on February 4, 2026.
On August 5, 2026, the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch released a human rights report, pointing out that Chinese authorities continue to intensify strict crackdowns on domestic dissident groups and have extended long-arm jurisdiction and transnational repression tactics overseas.
On February 3, 2026, the jury found Rogers not guilty of conspiracy to commit economic espionage, but determined that he made false statements to investigators. During the trial, Rogers claimed that Hummin Lee was a spy and that he had been deceived.
On February 2, 2026, the Jinjiang Branch of the Chengdu Public Security Bureau announced that former investigative journalist Liu Hu and self-media person Wu Yingjiao were subject to criminal coercive measures on suspicion of fabricating accusations to frame others and illegal business operations. The two had previously published reports alleging that Pu Fayou, the Party Secretary of Pujang County, was suspected of illegally seizing corporate assets. The incident sparked condemnation from journalist organizations and public opinion both at home and abroad. On February 14, the police, citing the application of the two individuals, changed the coercive measures to release on bail pending trial in accordance with Article 67 of the Criminal Procedure Law. On September 10, 2026, defense lawyer Zhou Ze released the decision of the Jinjiang Branch to lift the bail pending trial, citing 'changes in the case circumstances,' and Liu Hu would not need to stand trial. Liu Hu had previously filed real-name reports against several high-ranking officials between 2012 and 2013, leading to multiple detentions.
On February 2, 2026, the Munich Regional Court opened the trial of a Chinese international student accused of repeatedly drugging, sexually assaulting and filming his girlfriend; the prosecution charged him with seven counts including attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and aggravated rape.
Following the major fire, the Hong Kong government suddenly announced it would spend 6.8 billion HKD in public funds to completely buy out the property rights of over 1,700 disaster-affected households in Wang Fuk Court, demolish the buildings, and convert the site into a park, sparking public suspicion that this is an effort to destroy evidence of engineering corruption.
According to global payment data measured by SWIFT standards, as of February 2026, the RMB's share of global payments has fallen to just 2.74%.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a version of the Save America Act, but the program said the bill did not receive enough support from Republican lawmakers.
Chinese drone manufacturer DJI filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court, seeking removal from the regulatory list of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Huawei concept stocks such as Seres, JAC Motors, iSoftStone, and Talkweb Information all peaked in February 2026, subsequently falling sharply by 40% to 60%.
People's Daily reported that Xi Jinping visited veteran comrades during the Chinese New Year, in which Hu Jintao was mentioned.
Yang Lanlan has moved out of her penthouse in Sydney's eastern suburbs and taken up residence in a top-tier mansion near Sydney Harbour, and has not appeared in public since.
The lawsuit brought by blind rights activist Chen Guangcheng, based in the United States, against Wang Zhian for defamation and libel held its first hearing in February 2026, since which five hearings have been conducted.
A working paper published by the U.S. National Bureau of Research shows that in a business decision experiment involving 1174 participants, after the use of AI the gap in answers between highly educated and less educated people narrowed from 0.55 standard deviations to 0.14 standard deviations.
Overseas reports claim that in February 2026, Peng Liyuan attempted to transfer a major general from the Shanghai armed police system—a trusted confidant—to Beijing to take control of the Beijing Garrison. The move was rejected by the garrison troops, and the heavy armored units of the 82nd Group Army deployed to the outskirts of the capital, locking down Beijing.
S&P’s February 2026 report said that China’s housing supply exceeds demand, and that home prices are expected to fall another 2% to 4% in 2026, with steeper declines in core cities, creating a vicious cycle.
In a report in early February 2026, S&P lowered its forecast, projecting that China's property sales would fall 10% to 14% in 2026, compared with a previous forecast in October of a 5% to 8% decline.
Sources floating the story say that the ousted Zhang Youxia may be accused of leaking nuclear secrets to the United States; if true, it would be the oldest charge of treason and collaboration in the communist regime's history.