China’s daring engineering feat, Malaysia border chaos: 5 weekend reads you missed

From China’s underground engineering triumph to calls to curb Japan militarism, here are five stories you may have missed over the weekend

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The 6.4km Jiangyin-Jingjiang Yangtze River Tunnel is a major infrastructure project in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Photo: Handout

Published: 11:31am, 12 Jan 2026Updated: 11:59am, 12 Jan 2026

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. China turns mega-project failure into defining moment in modern engineering

The team of engineers deployed a second shield tunnelling machine to excavate from the opposite direction underneath the Yangtze for a mid-river docking. Photo: Handout

China has pulled off a daring underground feat, using a multimillion-dollar tunnel boring machine (TBM) to recover its stranded twin beneath the country’s largest river.

2. System failure at Malaysia-Singapore border leaves thousands stranded

An image circulated on social media on Saturday shows a crowd of travellers waiting to pass through automated immigration gates at the Malaysia-Singapore border. Photo: Facebook

Tens of thousands of travellers were left stranded at Malaysia’s two main land checkpoints with Singapore on Saturday after a major system failure shut down most automated immigration gates, causing hours-long queues at one of the world’s busiest border crossings.

3. China calls on US to form united front against Japanese militarism

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