Weekend Buzz: 4-5 April 2026

Iran Shoots Down Two US War Planes, Pilot of One Missing

Two US Air Force planes were shot down by Iran in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, with the US searching for a missing co-pilot from an F-15 fighter jet struck over a mountainous area of southwestern Iran. Both pilots reportedly managed to eject safely, but only one has thus far been rescued by US special forces. An Iranian news agency said the Revolutionary Guards offered a bounty to anyone locating and capturing the missing pilot. US President Donald Trump in an interview with NBC News declined to discuss ongoing search-and rescue efforts. In a separate incident, an A-10 Thunderbolt "Warthog" that was part of the search effort for the missing pilot was struck and damaged by Iranian small arms fire near the Strait of Hormuz. It managed to make it to Kuwaiti airspace, where the single pilot safely ejected before the aircraft crashed.

Trump, in an earlier blustery post on social media, said "with a little more time, we can easily open the Hormuz Strait, take the oil and make a fortune." Military analysts have said taking the strait, which carries a fifth of the world's oil, by force would be logistically difficult.

An Arab-led UN Security Council resolution to authorize military force to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz was watered down after Russia, China, and France balked at offensive action and said they would veto the measure. A vote on a revised version authorizing only defensive action is scheduled for Saturday.

About half of Iran's missile launchers are still intact and thousands of attack drones remain in its arsenal despite five weeks of intense bombing by the US and Israel, and Trump's claim that Iran's military capability has been decimated, CNN reported, citing US intelligence sources. The Pentagon denied the report.

China Rejects US Panama Claims

China on Friday dismissed accusations by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that it had interfered with Panama-flagged vessels, calling the claims "completely groundless" and politically motivated. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the US remarks "reverse right and wrong" and reflect Washington's intention to dominate the Panama Canal. Rubio alleged that China harassed or detained ships flying the Panamanian flag following the cancellation of a Hong Kong company's contract to operate ports at either end of the canal. The dispute over control of the ports has been ongoing since President Donald Trump said last year that he didn't want any Chinese influence over the canal. Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, which held the contracts, agreed last year to sell the two ports as part of a global disposal of all its port assets to a US-Italian led consortium, but the deal stalled after China said it wanted part of the new shareholding.

Cuba to Pardon 2,010 Prisoners

Cuban authorities said they will release 2,010 prisoners as a humanitarian gesture, after the US slightly eased its blockade on oil shipments to the energy-starved island. A standoff continues over Washington's vow to topple the communist government in Havana. Release of political prisoners has been one of US demands.

Want to See the 2026 World Cup Final? Dig Deep in Your Pockets

FIFA, the governing body of international football, opened ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup final, with seats costing up to US$10,990, the highest admission price ever for a football match, barring secondary market sales. The box office price compares with top price seat price of US$1,604 price at the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar. The US, Canada and Mexico are jointly hosting this year's cup matches. The final is scheduled to be held on July 19 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, near New York City.

Top Business

Countdown Starts for CAS Space IPO in Shanghai

CAS Space, a leading Chinese commercial rocket maker, said it filed application for an initial public offering on Shanghai's tech-focused STAR market, where it seeks to raise 4.1 billion yuan (US$600 million) to fund research and development of reusable rockets, spacecraft and liquid-fuel engines. The initial public offering dovetails with stepped-up support for the sector from Beijing. The filing came a day after the company successfully launched the maiden flight of its Lijian-2 Y1 carrier rocket. Founded in 2018 and nurtured in its initial stages by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the company said it has completed 11 launch missions, delivering 86 satellites and one spacecraft into orbit, with a total payload of nearly 16 tons. CAS Space reported a loss of 749 million yuan in the first nine months of 2025 on revenue of 84.2 million yuan.

OpenClaw Releases Easier Access for China Users

OpenClaw has released an official China "mirror" for ClawHub, to provide a localized access point for users in China. It uses infrastructure support from Chinese tech giant ByteDance's Volcano Engine. A mirror is an exact copy of an existing server or website that is operated on separate infrastructure. The goal is to improve access for users in a specific region by routing requests through a local node rather than international paths. OpenClaw is a digital assistant capable of independently operating software, managing files and executing workflows. The popularity of its AI agent has spawned the tag "lobsters" in China to describe the agents. Chinese startups such as Moonshot AI and Zhipu AI have developed their own AI models that can be connected directly to the OpenClaw framework. Tencent this week, which is developing its own agent version called QClaw, this week launched a new OpenClaw tool for easier business deployment of the agent.

China E-Commerce Sellers Face EU Setbacks

China-based e-commerce sellers are bracing for sweeping changes in e-commerce with Europe after a series of policy shifts. The EU said it is overhauling its customs system, shifting liability for product safety and compliance onto online sales platforms. Companies such as Amazon and China's Temu could face fines of up to 6 percent of EU revenue if they allow unsafe or illegal goods into the bloc. At the same time, the EU is aiming to slap a 3 euro (US$3.50) processing fee on package deliveries from foreign e-commerce companies as part of plans to end duty free access for smaller parcels, the mainstay model of companies like Temu, which is owned by China's PDD Holdings.

Deep Dive

Trial by Fire: Iran War Accelerates Maturity of China's Green Industries

War doesn't just destroy–it reshapes industries.

The Iran conflict is accelerating China's green transition, turning renewables from climate choice into strategic necessity.

Energy security is now the real driver.

Economy & Markets

China Chip Industry's Record Revenue Expected to Grow in 2026

Chinese semiconductor firms, from Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) to Moore Threads and Hua Huang, reported record revenue last year driven by AI demand, a shortage of memory chips and US export restrictions on chip sales to China, CNBC reported. That's good news for Beijing's efforts to wean the nation off reliance on chip imports. The industry is expecting further gains this year. SMIC, the mainland's largest ship maker, reported record revenue of US$9.3 billion last year and could top US$11 billion in 2026, analysts said. Chinese makers of AI chips and graphics processing units captured about 41 percent of the mainland market for AI accelerator servers last year, eroding Nvidia's once-dominant position, according to International Data Corp.

China Expands Digital Yuan Operators

China's central bank has added 12 Chinese financial institutions, including Citic Bank, Everbright Bank and Minsheng Bank, to its digital yuan operations, expanding the network to 22 as authorities push for wider adoption of the e-currency. The People's Bank of China said the new entrants will connect to its digital currency system and begin services after completing technical and operational preparations. Other newly added institutions include Shanghai-based Pudong Development Bank, Guangfa Bank and Bank of Beijing, reflecting a broader inclusion of more mid-sized lenders.

Trump Rejigs Some Import Tariffs

US President Donald Trump, trying to restructure tariffs so they won't be overturned by the courts, ordered 100 percent tariffs on certain branded pharmaceutical imports and overhauled duties on steel, aluminum and copper imports. Trump said the drug tariff will be levied against all foreign manufacturers who don't make deals with Washington to cut prescription drug prices and don't agree to moving some production to America. However, drug tariffs will be capped at 15 percent for the EU, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland under pre-existing trade deals with those countries. Trump also halved the tariff on some derivative products of steel, aluminum and copper to 25 percent, dropping duties altogether on products with metal content of less than 15 percent by weight. But he kept in place 50 percent tariffs on bulk commodity imports of the three metals. The US Chamber of Commerce warned that the latest move would increase already high tariff-induced prices for businesses. However, the ailing US steel industry welcomed the move.

Corporate

ByteDance Opens Limited Seedance 2.0 Version

The much-anticipated video AI Seedance 2.0, developed by China's ByteDance, has officially opened but not yet to individual users. The AI product drew global attention after invitation-only testing in February but was delayed due to various issues, including content security, overseas copyright and computing power. The current testing is open only to company users, with a lot of restrictions.

Tesla Deliveries From Shanghai in First Quarter Rise 24 Percent

Tesla first-quarter deliveries from its mega-factory in Shanghai, which include both domestic and overseas shipments, rose 24 percent from a year earlier to 213,000 electric vehicles. In March, the US company said it delivered over 85,600 vehicles, a high for this year.

Starbucks Completes Sale of 60 Percent Stake to Boyu

Starbucks said it finalized a deal with Boyu Capital, one of China's largest private equity firms, to sell control of its China operations in a deal said to value those assets at US$4 billion. The agreement, first announced last November, is aimed at restoring growth on the mainland, which has been undercut by lower-priced competition from domestic chains like Luckin Coffee. Boyu will hold a 60 percent stake in Starbucks China outlets, while the US-based chain will license the brand and intellectual property to the venture. China is Starbucks' second-largest market, with about 8,000 Starbucks shops. Boyu is hoping to expand that number at up to 20,000.

Xiaomi Raises Phone Prices on Soaring Memory-Chip Costs

China's Xiaomi, the fourth largest smartphone maker in the world, announced it is raising prices on its Redmi series phones, to take effect April 11, on surging costs of memory chips vital in phone production. The price of the K90 Pro Max will increase by 200 yuan (US$29), Chinese New Year discount for the Turbo 5 and Turbo 5 Max will be terminated, and the 512 gigabyte versions of the Turbo 5 series will continue to receive a 200 subsidy.

Alibaba Releases Latest Qwen Model

Tech giant Alibaba launched Qwen3.6-Plus, the latest version of its flagship Qwen large language model, with upgrades in agent coding, multimodal perception and reasoning. The new model was designed to address growing demand for AI assistants that can perform more complex tasks autonomously.