While this is shocking and unexpected it is not common for people to disappear in China. The nation has a standing reputation for kidnapping its own citizens for many reasons including alleged corruption or any kind of human rights collaboration against the government.

Citizens that have been abducted usually show up months later having been tried in court and prosecuted without representation if they even show up at all.

The new facility, expected to be in operation by 2020, is set to simulate flight speeds at 12 kilometers per second. A vessel traveling at such speed from China can reach the U.S. in 14 minutes.

The ground structure is meant to help scientists detect potential flaws and find solutions before actual test flights of new hypersonic vehicles commence.

“It will boost the engineering application of hyper-sonic technology, mostly in military sectors, by duplicating the environment of extreme hyper-sonic flights, so problems can be discovered and solved on the ground,” said Zhao Wei, a senior scientist working on the project, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

Hyper-sonic speed is defined as traveling at least Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound. In March, China conducted seven successful test flights of its hyper-sonic glider WU-14, which travels at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 10.

Currently, the title for most powerful wind tunnel stands with the United States. The LENX-X facility in Buffalo, New York, simulates speeds of up to 10 kilometers per second or Mach 30.

“China and the US have started a hyper-sonic race,” said Wu Dafang, professor at the school of aeronautic science and engineering at Beihang University in Beijing, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

But they’re not the only ones with horses in the race. Russia, India and Australia have also tested early prototypes of the WU-14, which could be used to deliver nuclear-armed missiles.

Wu—who has helped develop hyper-sonic cruise missiles, a near space vehicle and other weapons under wraps for the People’s Liberation Army— says existing wind tunnels in mainland China have already helped solidify the success of its hypersonic weapons.

Some fear that U.S.-Taiwan relations would be downgraded in exchange for a stronger Chinese stance against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Katherine Chang, the minister for mainland affairs, tells the Washington Post that Taiwan could become a “bargaining chip” in such a case.

Currently, China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has not ruled out force as a path to reunification. The U.S. has historically backed the “One China Policy” by refusing to diplomatically recognize Taiwan even though it has maintained an unofficial relationship involving trade.

Taiwan was not mentioned by either Trump or Xi during a joint news conference following their meeting on Thursday.

However, a number of Trump’s advisers have been known to be sympathetic to Taiwan’s concerns and grievances. In early December, Trump broke away from decades of tradition by making a congratulatory phone call to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen following her election victory. But, Trump has since said he will not engage with the Taiwanese president again without checking in with China first.

Furthermore, Trump and Xi have been enjoying an improved relationship, with Trump even saying both shared “great chemistry.” During a news conference in South Korea on Tuesday, Trump said Xi had “been trying very hard to solve the problem” with North Korea. In fact, the U.S. president has enjoyed some success where predecessors have failed on the North Korean issue. China, which is Pyongyang’s biggest trading partner, recently agreed to cut coal exports with the nation and sever ties with its banks.

When Trump was defending his call with Tsai Ing-wen, he had said that the U.S. stance on the One China Policy would depend on whether he can “make a deal” with Beijing on trade and other issues.

Still, the U.S. and Taiwan have enjoyed some good relations including a $1.42 billion weapons deal agreed on earlier this year. This is one of the reasons some diplomats feel a major shift in U.S. relations with Taiwan is unlikely.

Taipei is also looking forward to increase defense spending, establish a bi-lateral trade agreement with the U.S., and end all trade with North Korea.

But whether Taiwan can become a bargaining chip in the North Korean issue strongly depends on Xi’s decisions.

“Many have debated here in Taiwan whether President Trump will trade Taiwan in exchange for China’s position in North Korea,” said Alexander Huang, chairman of Taiwan’s Council on Strategic and Wargaming Studies. “But my hunch is that even if President Trump makes such an offer, President Xi would say no: ‘Taiwan is not in your hands. It’s in mine.’”

Chinese President Xi Jinping said he has been firmly opposing and preventing Taiwan’s Independence over the past five years in the opening speech of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China delivered on Wednesday. ‘We will never allow anyone, any organization or any political party at any time or in any form, to…

Chinese leaders are expected to emerge from a party congress this month with signals on whether they will take a hard or soft stance toward the widely contested South China Sea, a region of concern from Southeast Asia to Washington. China claims nearly the entire 3.5 million-square-kilometer, resource-rich sea between its south coast and the island…

China’s state run Global Times, which is often filled with nationalistic and pro-military rhetoric, recently ran an editorial calling for peace. It read, “Washington and Pyongyang have been intensifying hostile and threatening rhetoric against each other for some time. Their frequent saber-rattling, unimaginable in the past, is escalating tensions in Northeast Asia,”

No stranger to speaking his mind, President Donald Trump on Saturday issued to North Korea what many called a warning of war. Via a Twitter post, he slammed his predecessors for decades of failed negotiations and monetary incentives that only made the North Korean war machine stronger. “ … agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!” he Tweeted.

Later on Tuesday, the U.S. sent two Air Force B-1B Lancer Bombers over the Korean peninsula — perhaps even visible from Kim Jong Un’s throne. The Hermit Kingdom has recently come under more sanctions after testing nuclear devices.

But for China, the war games and shouting matches are getting all too real.

Another state-run paper The People’s Daily ran an editorial warning, “War on the Korean Peninsula would be catastrophic, and dialogue remains the best option.” And although the article acknowledged “logic behind Trump’s threats,” it concluded that war can’t be the answer.

A day before that editorial ran, Hua Chunying said at a press conference, “The current situation on the Korean Peninsula remains highly complex and severe. We hope that various parties can strictly observe and implement the UN Security Council resolutions, refrain from provoking each other and aggravating the contradiction, exercise restraint and caution to ease the tension.”

The 13-story palace has stood for 1,300 years. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994 and is now the most popular tourist attraction in Tibet. Its 45 rooms are seen by so many that tourist numbers are now restricted to 1,600 per day to avoid overcrowding.

State media quoted an official from the palace administration who reported that once approved by China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage, renovation projects will focus on repairing the gold-plated roof and enhancing the security surveillance system.

Before becoming a tourist attraction, it served as a political and religious capital for Tibetans before the latest Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a squashed uprising against Chinese rule.

“I applaud China for breaking off all banking relationships with North Korea, something that people would have thought unthinkable even two months ago,” Trump said. “I want to thank President Xi.”

For years, China has remained North Korea’s largest trading partner and virtually its only military ally. Beijing’s banks and financial institutions elsewhere have served as a lifeline for the nuclear armed “Hermit Kingdom”– often characterized by a burgeoning military and an impoverished populace.

The Treasury Department recently announced new sanctions on eight North Korean banks, 26 people in China, and three other countries the Trump administration says have been funneling money to the dictatorship.

Speaking before the Rose Garden, Trump called upon the nations of the world to band together against the nuclear threat of North Korea.

“North Korean nuclear weapons and missile development threaten the entire world with unthinkable loss of life,” Trump said. “All nations must act now to ensure the regime’s complete denuclearization.” That has been the diplomatic Holy Grail which none of the former real-estate mogul’s predecessors have ever found.

But, Trump says change is coming.

Beyond tougher sanctions imposed on Pyongyang by the UN within the last two months, the U.S. is also pressuring nations to isolate themselves from North Korea even if its severing the slightest of trade, banking and diplomatic ties.

“I appreciate the United Nations Security Council voting twice, unanimously — 15 to nothing, twice — to adopt hard-hitting resolutions against North Korea,” Trump said Tuesday. “I have recently issued tough new sanctions against those who do business with this outlaw regime. And I applaud China’s latest action to restrict its trade with North Korea.”

The state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying both countries were now on the right track. The station also reported that Xi told his counterpart than strong and healthy ties between the two countries were needed. Modi congratulated Xi on his country’s execution of the summit, which brought together leaders from emerging economies including South Africa and Brazil to the discussion room with Beijing in the port city of Xiamen.

Tensions between China and India flared after India’s military blocked China’s attempt at building a road into the Doklam plateau. After several reported clashes between the two sides, they finally came to an agreement.

At a media briefing, India’s Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said “Both sides agreed that there should be better communication and cooperation so that such occurrences don’t happen again.”

But in the age of the Internet and mobile everything, the most influential wing of its propaganda machine isn’t necessarily “fake news.” It’s simply a well-coordinated, government-backed social media campaign that’s not built to spread fear. It’s there to keep the people happy.

That’s the conclusion drawn by three university researchers who conducted an extensive investigation into the social media world on the screens of Chinese residents. By analyzing a leaked email archive depicting how the government operates social media, they found that Beijing was not focusing on refuting critics or defending policies online. Instead, it put its efforts on spreading positive posts about China’s history, culture, and current events.

The findings were published in a research paper titled “How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument.”

Sean Illing of Vox.com conducted an interview with co-author Margaret Roberts of the University of California San Diego.

“Their calculation is pretty simple,” Roberts tells Illing. “If they engage critics on issues that are complicated or reflect poorly on the government, they only amplify the attention those issues receive. So their approach is to ignore the criticisms and shift attention to other topics, and they do that by deluging the internet with positive propaganda.”

That’s not to say it’s all Chinese Disneyland on social media. Enough criticism makes it through to promote the illusion of free discourse, the researchers argue.

Roberts says: “China’s government does its best to distinguish between useful criticisms (the kinds of criticisms that help them figure out how to satisfy the citizenry) and dangerous criticisms (the kinds of criticisms that might lead to mass protest events). They usually wait until there is a possibility for major mobilization against the government before they engage in overt censorship.”

Until then, it’s pretty vanilla. It seems like the opposite of the loud, rage-driven online discourse that armchair Hashtagtivists in the free world have become accustomed to.

And who is directly responsible for this feel-good campaign? According to the researchers, it’s an informal wing of the government comprised of officials posing as ordinary citizens.

Roberts adds, “They want people talking about and responding to content that favors the regime. But they also want people to think that content is coming from civilians and not from the government, which is why most of this is presented as someone’s opinion.”

How many people in this shadow department? It’s rumored to be at around 2 million.

Be careful who you add on social media. Especially when you’re in China.