China · share of its news about armed violence, last 12 months
China: how tense is it right now?
3.9% of the news located in China this week is about armed violence (war and terrorism): #58 of the 74 countries we track. Compared with its own history since 2017, that is below its usual level (18 out of 100).
Armed-conflict intensity3.9%of its news, last 7 days
Rank#58of 74 countries
Vs its own history18below its usual level
Share of the world’s war news1.2%weighed by severity
In the news nowAll headlines
31 OctWORLDChina’s new export curbs draw a line around its AI crown jewelsTaipei Times31 OctDIPLOMACYChina expels record number of officials from CCPTaipei Times31 OctWORLDBeijing denies spying on Nvidia CEO Jensen HuangTaipei TimesChina · weekly average since 2017 (highest: 10 August 2022)
The tensest weeks for China since 2017share of its news about armed violence, 7 days
| Week ending | Intensity | Nearby event |
|---|---|---|
| 10 August 2022 | 9.7% | — |
| 22 June 2020 | 8.3% | — |
| 2 January 2026 | 7.8% | — |
| 2 May 2022 | 7.1% | — |
| 2 September 2020 | 6.9% | — |
Year by year
| Year | Average intensity | Highest week | Typical rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 4.6% | 7.8% | #57 |
| 2025 | 4.5% | 7.4% | #56 |
| 2024 | 4.7% | 6.8% | #55 |
| 2023 | 4.2% | 6.6% | #60 |
| 2022 | 5.1% | 9.7% | #48 |
| 2021 | 4.9% | 6.0% | #48 |
| 2020 | 4.9% | 8.3% | #46 |
| 2019 | 4.1% | 5.7% | #56 |
| 2018 | 4.2% | 5.7% | #56 |
| 2017 | 4.6% | 6.3% | #55 |
Major events involving China
Full historyCompare China
Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific
All countriesFrequently asked questions
How tense is China right now?
3.9% of the news located in China over the last 7 days was about armed violence (war and terrorism), which ranks it #58 of the 74 countries Riftrate tracks.
Is China more tense than usual?
Compared with its own history since 2017, China is below its usual level: it has been calmer on 18% of days.
When was China most tense since 2017?
The highest reading was 9.7%, in the 7 days to 10 August 2022.
Which countries in Asia-Pacific are the most tense right now?
Myanmar (16.2%), Afghanistan (13.1%), North Korea (11.0%).
Where does this data come from?
From the GDELT Project, which codes events reported in the world’s news in more than 100 languages and locates them. Riftrate measures the share of each country’s news about armed violence, excluding ordinary crime and policing. It measures the news, not casualties.
How it is measured: GDELT locates every event reported in the news. We take all the coverage of events located in the country over 7 days and measure the part about armed violence: war and terrorism, excluding ordinary crime and policing. It does not depend on the size of the country or on how many newspapers cover it. It measures the news, not the number of victims. Methodology