TAIPEI, June 25 (Reuters) – China has been contacting U.S. states and private firms to discourage engagement with Taiwan and mischaracterising U.S. policy, but links with Taiwan should be expanded, three U.S. government departments said in joint letters. The U.S. is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic…
VIENNA, June 24 (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog will carry out inspections in Iran soon following an interim peace accord between the United States and Iran, but modalities have yet to be finalised, the agency’s chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday. The two sides signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding last week setting out…
BEIJING, June 24 (Reuters) – China has a right to target people outside of its borders who contravene its new law on ethnic unity, a senior official said on Wednesday, adding that this was in line with international practice, and was legal and necessary. China passed the law in March to create a “shared” national…
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department announced visa restrictions targeting people it said were undermining peace in Ethiopia on Thursday, focused on hardliners in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and their immediate family members. “Rising tensions between Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) hardliners and the Ethiopian government have threatened to reignite the…
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard TAIPEI, June 18 (Reuters) – Taiwan safeguarding its own security and refusing rule by China’s Communist Party should not be seen as a provocation, President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday, adding he hoped a new U.S. arms sale package can be approved soon. Democratically governed Taiwan is viewed by…
DUBAI, June 17 (Reuters) – Iran and the United States will end fighting on all fronts, per MoU details published by Iran’s official IRNA news agency on Wednesday, adding both countries to end naval blockades in the region. Iran’s official news agency released details of the deal planned to be signed on Friday, shortly after…
By Julia Payne, John Irish and Michel Rose EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France, June 17 (Reuters) – G7 host France is pushing partners to agree a statement on critical minerals on Wednesday that could include measures to help the West reduce its reliance on China and shield investors from counter-measures and dumping, diplomats said. The leaders will discuss…
BEIJING, June 17 (Reuters) – China said on Wednesday that it will take countermeasures in response to a new Taiwan government website for Chinese nationals to report intelligence tips, saying the site exposed Taipei’s “confrontational mindset”. Taiwan and China, which views the democratically governed island as its own territory, have long spied on each other,…
By Brenda Goh and Liz Lee SEOUL/BEIJING, June 10 (Reuters) – North Korea and China both walked away claiming major wins from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit this week to the isolated state, which helped elevate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s global stature and pulled Pyongyang more tightly into China’s orbit. The two countries each…
BRUSSELS, June 10 (Reuters) – The world has just experienced the second-hottest May since records began, as climate change and the developing El Niño weather pattern conspired to push up average land and sea temperatures, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Wednesday. • The hottest May on record was in 2024,…