Spotlight
From Deep Thinking to Deep Prayer: How a Groundbreaking Issue of the ChinaSource Journal Can Activate Prayer (July 21, 2026, ChinaSource)
At ChinaSource, we have never wanted the act of reading our articles and using our resources to be merely an intellectual activity that makes us “better educated.” Instead, we want the reading to inform our thinking, which will, in turn, motivate how we pray. We long for every article and resource we produce to serve as a catalyst that helps us pray with greater depth and focus. As we think more deeply, we pray more deeply. Download a Prayer Guide based on this latest issue.
Featured Article
Ten Years After the Charity Law: Whither Chinese NGOs? (July 21, 2026, Made in China Journal)
While the Party-State’s firm grip on civil society has long rested on its formidable coercive capacities, it has increasingly sought to complement regulatory control with ideological legitimacy. By emphasising NGOs’ roles as providers of social services and their alignment with the Party-State’s policy priorities, the charity-centred framework reinforces the Party-State’s preferred understanding of the NGO sector and its place within the existing political order.
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
Hong Kong Booksellers Arrested for Allegedly Selling Seditious Books (July 15, 2026, NPR)
Videos and photos from multiple media outlets showed officers wearing vests marked with “Police” seizing boxes from the building housing Have A Nice Stay, a bookshop founded by former journalists. A bookseller was seen being taken away. A few streets away a similar scene played out, with boxes taken from the building housing Greenfield Book Store, according to a video by online news outlet The Collective.
What Is the Next Chapter in US-China Relations? (July 21, 2026, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations)
Following the Trump–Xi meeting in mid-May, officials in both the United States and China started describing bilateral ties as “a constructive relationship of strategic stability.” However, both countries have different views of what this term means and its implications for US-China relations. While the United States does not see a large difference between “strategic stability” and its other recent approaches to China, China views this new term as an acknowledgement of its superpower status on the global stage. Is the US-China relationship entering a new phase or is this simply a new rhetorical framing?
Religion
From the Enlightenment to the Digital Age (July 8, 2026, ChinaSource Journal)
The contemporary pluralistic society dominated by secularism is not a value-neutral society; rather, it is a society that rejects the one true God. In this pluralistic society that seemingly embraces diversity but demonstrates hostility toward any belief system that claims to possess absolute truth, Christians must first understand the social and cultural developments of the past five hundred years if they are to live out the power of the gospel in this context. They must understand how the cultural narrative of contemporary society formed step by step.
Public Mission in a Pluralistic Social Context (July 8, 2026, ChinaSource Journal)
This article explores how the Malaysian Chinese Church can reinterpret “holistic mission” within a context characterized by ethnic pluralism, religious diversity, and multiple structural tensions, and how it can find possibilities for constructing a public theology from this reinterpretation. In other words, the question is not merely how the church can continue to grow. Rather, the question is: can the Malaysian Chinese Church shift from a community primarily concerned with its own survival to one that participates in the holistic mission of God and seeks the peace of this land?
A God of Miracles (July 15, 2026, ChinaSource)
On Saturday afternoon, July 4, as various members of the ChinaSource team were beginning their America250 celebrations, we began to receive text messages from friends that Pastor Ezra Jin of Zion Church had been released from prison in China and sent to the United States the day before. Like millions of Christians around the world who had prayed for Pastor Jin and the other church leaders imprisoned with him for the past nine months, we were thrilled.
Australia: Praying for the Chinese Diaspora (July 16, 2026, China Partnership)
Join us this week, as we pray for Chinese living in Australia. Tim L, director of Asian Ministries for City to City, tells us about the Chinese population in Australia, and how he hopes to mobilize Chinese to reach Australia’s mainstream culture.
From Wuzhou to Makassar (July 17, 2026, ChinaSource)
Two years ago, Pastor Steven Lee found himself standing in a place he had only recently learned was connected to his own family story. He had been invited to speak at a pastors’ conference at the school Robert A. Jaffray established in Makassar, Indonesia. The school still sits at its original location.1 For many attending, Jaffray’s name belonged to mission history. For Lee, however, the connection had become deeply personal.
‘Suddenly, I Was Free’: A Chinese Pastor’s Journey From Jail to the US (July 17, 2026, The New York Times) (subscription required)
In his first interview since being released by China, Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri details his surprise release after a direct appeal by President Trump to Xi Jinping.
When the Law Redefines the Church (July 20, 2026, ChinaSource)
The pressures facing Chinese Christians are often reported in terms of dramatic events—demolished churches, arrested pastors, confiscated Bibles. These are real and serious. But alongside these visible crackdowns, something more systematic is happening: the law is being used to redefine what Christianity is allowed to be.
Society / Life
China Can’t Talk About Birth Rates Without Talking About Rural Pensions (July 15, 2026, The Diplomat)
As China’s birth rate plunges to record lows, the country’s leaders have responded by offering childcare subsidies, expanding maternity leave, free preschool, and cash incentives for young families. The government is aware of the problem, but its proffered solutions assume that family planning is primarily shaped by the immediate costs of raising children. For many Chinese families, particularly those from rural areas, a more pressing financial concern lies at the opposite end of the life cycle.
Picking Up the Threads (July 16, 2026, ChinaFile)
On a hot, humid day in mid-May, I joined a group of elderly Chinese immigrant women for a textile workshop at a senior center in my Brooklyn neighborhood, Sunset Park. After I greeted my classmates—a dozen or so gray-haired women from different parts of China and Hong Kong—I settled into a corner of the classroom next to a heap of cloth scraps, strands of thread, and balls of yarn all jumbled together. The workshop’s teacher, my friend Lin Qiqing, handed me a set of embroidery tools.
China Wants to End AI Romances (subscription required) (July 16, 2026, The Economist)
I could talk to him for the rest of my life,” says Yu Miao, a 27-year-old woman from Zhejiang province in eastern China; he is at once “a lover, a friend, and family”. She claims she shares everything with him. Her confidant is an AI agent on Doubao, a chatbot made by ByteDance, that Ms. Yu has customized to mimic a dead friend of hers. When she learned recently that ByteDance would soon remove this type of personalized agent entirely, Ms. Yu became so depressed that she left her job at an e-commerce company.
Why Is China a Football World Cup No-Show? (July 20, 2026, MERICS)
With the World Cup just concluded and a new champion crowned, it seems like a good time to step back and recall the thrilling moments delivered by the 48 national teams in the tournament, while also reflecting on the countries that did not qualify. One glaring absence was Italy. Another noteworthy absentee was China. But in contrast to four-time world champion Italy, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has made only one underwhelming tournament appearance.
History / Culture
Gung Ho: How a Linguistic Misunderstanding Became an American Catchphrase (July 15, 2026, The World of Chinese)
In the pantheon of American English, few phrases carry as much unbridled energy as “gung ho.” Today, it is a ubiquitous adjective and adverb used to describe someone who is fiercely eager, wholeheartedly committed, or perhaps recklessly impulsive. But if you consult the latest update to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) released in late June 2026, you will find that editors have significantly revised the entry for this term. The update does more than modernize the word’s usage; it spotlights a linguistic paradox. “Gung ho” is a Chinese phrase that Americans fundamentally misunderstood, and it was precisely this misinterpretation that allowed it to thrive.
The Ghosts of Xuanwu Gate: A Bloody Coup and a Rewritten History (July 18, 2026, The World of Chinese)
Fourteen hundred years ago this month, fratricidal bloodshed paved the way for one of China’s greatest emperors to ascend the throne. Yet what really happened remains a mystery.
Science / Technology
‘World’s 1st Mass-Produced Humanoid Robot’ Motors to Market in China (July 18, 2026, New Atlas)
People have been fantasizing about humanoid robots for decades. Movies such as Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence imagined a future where robots and AI could interact with humans and save them from loneliness. Today, those sci-fi stories seem to be closer to reality than ever before, as Chinese company Ubtech has recently launched a product it calls the world’s first full-size, mass-produced “ultra-bionic” companion robot.
Economics / Trade / Business
Beijing Tightens Control Over Outbound Investment (July 11, 2026, The Jamestown Foundation – China Brief)
A new State Council administrative regulation is the first in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to govern outbound investment as a whole. It defines “resident individuals” as outbound investors for the first time, subjecting private overseas investment to the approval, reporting, security-review, and penalty framework that previously only encompassed enterprises.
China’s Economy Grows at 4.3%, One of Its Lowest Rates on Record (July 15, 2026, The Guardian)
China has posted worse-than-expected growth figures for the three months to June as its economy expanded by just 4.3%—one of its lowest quarterly readings on record. The rate, which came in under the government’s target of 4.5% to 5%, was one of the weakest since reporting on official quarterly GDP figures began in the early 1990s.
Arts / Entertainment / Media
China’s Internet Got So Mad about a Celebrity’s ‘Bad’ Singing, Her Concert Was Cancelled (July 3, 2026, BBC)
Popularity can make or break a career in show business. But for one celebrity in China, even a legion of devoted fans was not enough to stave off the wrath of the internet. Xie Na, one of the most recognizable faces on Chinese television, realized this recently when her attempt to hold a nationwide concert tour ended in ignominy.
Deliver Rider Wins China’s Top Literary Prize for Poetry (July 17, 2026, Sixth Tone)
Food delivery rider and poet Wang Jibing has won one of China’s highest literary honors, the Lu Xun Literary Prize, for his poetry collection “Low Flight.” The prize, announced July 15 and in its ninth edition, honored 35 works across seven categories. The award was established in 1996 in memory of the renowned Chinese writer Lu Xun and is given every four years.
Travel / Food
60% of World’s Caviar Comes From China? (March 31, 2026, Our China Story)
Caviar, known as the “black gold,” is deeply favored by European and American consumers. However, do you know that China is actually the largest producer of caviar? Data shows that 60% of the world’s caviar comes from China, with Quzhou in Zhejiang Province and Ya’an in Sichuan Province, the hometown of giant pandas, being the major production areas.
China’s Scenic Spots Chase Views. Travelers Want the Real Ones. (July 15, 2026, Sixth Tone)
In the end, it wasn’t the crowds that made Xiao Minhan lose her appreciation for China’s tourist sites—it was a blue-and-white street sign. On it, where you’d expect to find the name of a street, was written: “I’m in Chongqing, missing you.”
Beijing’s Message to the World’s Tourists: Come Here and Judge China for Yourselves (July 17, 2026, The Guardian)
Walk through central Beijing today and one thing quickly becomes apparent: foreigners are back. They are taking photos outside the Forbidden City and sitting in cafes around Gulou and Sanlitun. The shift is visible online, too; YouTube is increasingly filled with videos titled “China Shocked Me” or “My First Week in China”. Most of the creators are tourists, not China specialists or journalists, and many of them are encountering the country for the first time.
Events
Online Book Club Discussion (ERRChina)
Join us for a discussion of the book Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, by Dan Wang. Now would be a great time to purchase the book and start reading it in order to be ready for a lively and vibrant discussion.
Date: August 5, 2026:
Time: 5pm PST / 6pm MST / 7pm CST / 8pm EST (US)
Platform: Zoom
Register here
Pray for China
July 25 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
On July 25, 1900, Wang Mingdao (王明道先生) was born in Beijing. His parents had taken refuge in the Foreign Legation to escape Boxer assaults; however, a few days before his birth, his father committed suicide. Wang was baptized as a believer on January 5, 1921, a doctrinal decision that cost him his teaching position at a Christian school. He pastored one of China’s largest indigenous churches—the Christian Tabernacle in Beijing—before being imprisoned more than 20 years for refusing to join the Three Self Movement. Pray for Christians to have courage and strength in today’s challenging climate in China. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21
ChinaSource Journal Prayer Guide (July 21, 2026, ChinaSource)
Prayer 2026: Off the Beaten Path (January 1, 2026, China Partnership)
Operation World (April 21, 2025, ChinaSource)
Pray for China (prayforchina.us)
Prayer Walking as a Rhythm of Life (May 30, 2025, ChinaSource)