Beijing: Calling the fentanyl issue ‘a flimsy excuse’ to raise US tariffs on Chinese imports, Beijing on Wednesday said tactics of pressure, coercion or threats are not the right way to deal with them. In a message posted on X, the Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing has taken robust steps to assist Washington in dealing … Read more
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wants to restart nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China and that eventually he hopes all three countries could agree to cut their massive defense budgets in half. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump lamented the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested … Read more
PENTAGON — U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called for NATO’s European members to increase their role in the defense of Europe as the United States focuses on defending the alliance’s Pacific flank. It is a move that he says will likely require European allies to significantly increase defense spending from 2% of GDP … Read more
WASHINGTON — A newly released report from the United Nations’ International Labor Organization states that authorities in China are not only using “vocational skills training and education centers” for forced labor in Xinjiang and Tibet, but also the large-scale transfer of “surplus” rural workers to state-led labor programs across the country. China called the report … Read more
London — China’s demand for road and air transport fuels may have passed its peak, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Thursday, citing data showing that the country’s consumption of gasoline, gasoil and jet fuel declined marginally in 2024. Combined consumption of the three fuels in China last year was at 8.1 million barrels per … Read more
Seoul — As a high school junior in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, Daneel Kutsenko never gave much thought to China. Last month, though, as the U.S. government prepared to ban TikTok – citing national security concerns about its Chinese ownership – Kutsenko downloaded RedNote, another Chinese video-sharing app, which he felt gave him a … Read more
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A gas explosion at a department store in Taiwan on Thursday killed four people and left eight hospitalized, fire authorities said. The blast occurred at the food court on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store in Taichung city, the Taichung Fire Bureau said. Among the dead were two … Read more
LONDON — Hundreds of world leaders and delegates are set to attend the Munich Security Conference in Germany this weekend, with conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo high on the agenda, alongside simmering tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. It’s the first major global summit for the new administration … Read more
SINGAPORE — China started construction on 94.5 gigawatts of coal-fired power in 2024, the highest volume of new builds since 2015, hampering the country’s transition away from fossil fuels, researchers said in a report published on Thursday. The world’s biggest coal consumer and emitter of climate-warming greenhouse gases had vowed to “strictly control” coal power … Read more
WASHINGTON — After the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last week, the two nations voiced alignment on Trump’s “peace through strength” approach toward countering China in the Indo-Pacific region, analysts said. “The prime minister and I will be working closely together to maintain peace and security — and … Read more
BEIJING — Two U.S. Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks. The U.S. Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once … Read more
WASHINGTON — After the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last week, the two nations voiced alignment on Trump’s “peace through strength” approach toward countering China in the Indo-Pacific region, analysts said. “The prime minister and I will be working closely together to maintain peace and security — and … Read more