Bloomberg News: "The sell orders piled up fast on Monday at Shenwan Hongyuan Group, China's fifth-biggest brokerage by market value. China's CSI 300 Index had just tumbled 5 percent, triggering a 15-minute trading halt, and investors were scrambling to exit before getting locked in by a full-day suspension set to take effect at 7 percent. When the first halt was lifted, the market reaction was swift: it took just seven minutes for losses to reach the threshold for a second suspension as volumes surged to their highs of the day. 'Investors rushed to the door during the level-one stage of the circuit breaker as they fretted the market would go down further,' said William Wong, the head of sales trading at Shenwan Hongyuan in Hong Kong."
The Associated Press reports: "The Philippine government said Monday that like Vietnam, it opposes China's recent test of a newly completed runway on one of seven islands Beijing has constructed in the disputed South China Sea. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said the government was considering protesting China's action, as Vietnam did, adding that the test at Fiery Cross Reef 'adds to tension and uncertainties in the region.' Vietnam last week protested the test, saying it violated Hanoi's sovereignty, and demanded that China stop such actions. China rejected Hanoi's protest and will likely dismiss Manila's concerns as well. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Saturday that China deployed a 'civil aircraft' on the island, which it calls Yongshu Jiao, to determine whether the new airfield in what she said was Chinese territory conformed to civil aviation standards."
The Diplomat writes that the Pakistani Navy and the Chinese People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) have concluded their first-ever exercise in the East China Sea. The exercise, which took place from December 31, 2015 to January 1, 2016, was part of a seven-day visit to Shanghai by a Pakistani naval taskforce consisting of a frigate and a supply ship. According to the Chinese defense ministry, the exercise included a joint drill focused on ship formation movement, search and rescue, and live-fire exercises striking aerial and sea targets. The exercise also included an anti-piracy component and, according to a CCTV report, an anti-submarine warfare component.