Chinese authorities have intercepted 430kg (948lbs) of cocaine aided by tip-offs by the United States, a sign of possible progress on the issue following an agreement on counternarcotics cooperation reached by the leaders of the two countries in October. Chinese authorities had found the drug in an international container at the Yantian port in Shenzhen,…
Across the strategic waterway of the South China Sea, claimant countries are increasingly relying on long-endurance aerial drones to carry out continuous patrols – overcoming the geographic and logistical limitations of traditional aircraft and ships. The US Marine Corps last month deployed MQ-9A Reaper drones to the Philippines, at Manila’s request, to “support Philippine regional…
By lifting its arms embargo on Cambodia, Washington has signalled that President Donald Trump aims to lure Phnom Penh away from Beijing – a move experts warn would be difficult to achieve. According to a notice from the US Federal Register, the State Department formally ended its arms embargo on Cambodia as of November 7,…
President Xi Jinping reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to Moscow, saying it was a “strategic choice” to strengthen ties, during a meeting with visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Tuesday. Xi told Mishustin that China-Russia ties were advancing with steady determination “despite the turbulent and challenging external environment”, according to state news agency Xinhua. “Safeguarding, consolidating…
China’s top envoy to the US said the top priority for both countries is to translate recent outcomes from meetings in Busan and Kuala Lumpur into concrete actions without “causing new disruptions”. Speaking via video link to the US-China Business Council’s annual conference in Shanghai, Xie Feng also reiterated Beijing’s four red lines, including the…
Beijing and Washington may be set to revive dormant military communication channels but it is just a first step and the two sides are still some way from genuine trust, an observer has cautioned. The assessment followed US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement on social media on Sunday that the two countries had “agreed that…
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday urged Southeast Asian nations to stand firm and strengthen their maritime forces to counter China’s increasingly “destabilizing” actions in the South China Sea. Speaking at a meeting in Malaysia with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Hegseth reiterated U.S. concern…
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun in person for the first time on Friday, with both sides saying they are pushing for peace a day after a summit between their presidents brought tensions down. The discussion on the sidelines of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Malaysia was the…
The first in-person summit between Chinese and American leaders since US President Donald Trump’s return to office marked a symbolic reset in the balance of power between the two rivals, yielding a time-bound agreement to pause escalation in their intensifying trade conflict. From freezing new tariffs and rare earth export controls to resuming key US…
American soybean farmers got some rare good news on Wednesday just hours before a high-stakes meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump when news broke that Beijing had placed its first order after months of trade tension that saw shipments blocked. The Trump administration hailed the move as a “positive step…