11 h. ago Secure Arctic shipping route essential for China, senior official says

The Arctic shipping route is essential to safeguard China’s development over the next decade, a senior Chinese official said in Beijing, calling for greater efforts to expand its practical use. With proposals for the next five-year plan incorporating security and development, China must ensure its international transport channels remain unimpeded, Ma Jiantang, deputy director of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s economic committee, said. China’s traditional trade lanes...

Politics

31 h. ago Japan vows never to possess nuclear weapons, rebuffing official’s idea

Japan reaffirmed its decades-old pledge never to possess nuclear weapons on Friday after local media reported that a senior security official suggested the country should acquire them to deter potential aggressors. The unnamed official said Japan needed nuclear weapons because of a worsening security environment but acknowledged that such a move would be politically difficult, public broadcaster NHK and other outlets reported, describing the official as being from Prime Minister Sanae...

Events

37 h. ago Senior Ukraine diplomat in Beijing for rare meeting with Chinese officials

Senior Ukraine diplomat in Beijing for rare meeting with Chinese officials  The Straits Times

Politics

39 h. ago Senior Ukraine diplomat in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials

Senior Ukraine diplomat in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials  Naharnet

Politics

39 h. ago Senior Ukraine Diplomat In Beijing For Talks With Chinese Officials: Kyiv

Senior Ukraine Diplomat In Beijing For Talks With Chinese Officials: Kyiv  Barron's

Politics

42 h. ago Putin vows victory in Ukraine as US and Russia prepare for Miami talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence in victory for his war in Ukraine during a meeting with senior military officials on Wednesday amid a renewed diplomatic push to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict. He said that more than 300 localities in the neighbouring country have been conquered this year alone. “Among them are also large cities that have been turned by the enemy into fortress nodes with permanent defensive installations,” Putin said. The Russian president said...

Politics

58 h. ago PLA division’s new leaders, lessons from 2025 trade war: SCMP daily highlights

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. PLA division overseeing Taiwan sees newcomers in charge The Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command, the division that oversees Taiwan and that has been hit hard in Beijing’s anti-graft campaign, appears to be presided over by two officers who joined the division only recently. 2. Senior US and Chinese defence officials continue ‘military-to-military’...

Politics

3 d. ago As Doha Forum made clear, Europe is losing its seat at the table

The latest Doha Forum laid bare an uncomfortable truth: Europe is losing its seat at the table of global affairs. The convergence of the Trump administration’s newly released national security strategy and pointed remarks from senior US officials has exposed the continent’s precarious position in a rapidly transforming landscape – one where Europe increasingly finds itself relegated to the sidelines. At the forum, the message from US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker was blunt and unequivocal:...

Politics

4 d. ago China’s currency comeback: yuan seen as strong as 6.8 in 2026, breaking key dollar level

China’s currency appears poised to break through the psychological 7.0-per-dollar barrier next year, fuelled by US Federal Reserve rate cuts and thawing trade tensions, with some bulls betting that the yuan could strengthen to 6.8. Analysts and onlookers are increasingly optimistic, with some citing the potential for a relatively weaker US dollar and pointing to signs that Beijing’s policy support is stabilising the world’s second-largest economy. Guan Tao, a former senior official with China’s...

Politics

5 d. ago China aims to boost imports, exports in 2026 to drive trade: senior official

China aims to boost imports, exports in 2026 to drive trade: senior official  scmp.com

Politics

9 d. ago South Korea vows ‘stern response’ as Japan renews claim to disputed Liancourt Rocks

South Korea has rejected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s renewed claim to disputed islets in the East Sea, setting off the latest round of diplomatic friction over one of the region’s most enduring territorial disputes. A senior official at the presidential office in Seoul said on Tuesday there was no ambiguity about who controlled the rocky outcrops – known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan – describing them as “an integral part of Korean territory historically,...

Events

9 d. ago Flat owners affected by Hong Kong fire to get HK$100,000 from authorities

Flat owners affected by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will each receive HK$100,000 (US$12,850) from authorities, a senior government official has said, while announcing that funds raised for survivors have reached HK$3.4 billion. Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said on Wednesday that many owners had lost rental income when seven out of the eight blocks at Wang Fuk Court were ruined in the fire last month that killed at least 160 people. “During our visits to those affected,...

Events

1 week ago Hong Kong signs aviation deals with 7 countries to expand global network

Hong Kong has reached aviation agreements with at least seven countries, mostly in Latin America, over the past two months to expand its global network and tap into extra capacity from the three-runway system, according to a senior official. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan revealed on Tuesday morning that the government had signed deals with the Latin American countries of Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Cuba, along with Poland in Europe and Togo in West Africa. The new deals...

Economics

1 week ago Hong Kong signs aviation deals with 7 countries to expand global reach

Hong Kong has signed aviation agreements with seven countries – mostly in Latin America – to expand its global reach and tap into extra capacity from the airport’s three-runway system, according to a senior official. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan revealed on Tuesday morning that the government had signed deals with the Latin American countries of Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru and Cuba, along with Poland in Europe and Togo in West Africa, over the past two months. The new...

Politics

2 w. ago Chen Weijun joins list of senior Xinjiang officials investigated for corruption

China has put another senior official in Xinjiang under investigation, as Beijing vows to resolutely “eradicate the soil for corruption”. Chen Weijun, executive vice-chairman of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was “under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation” for suspected “serious violations of discipline and law” – a euphemism for corruption – the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top anti-graft agency, said on Sunday. The probe announcement came two...

Politics

3 w. ago Tesla affirms confidence in Chinese partners, rejects supplier bans

Tesla does not exclude suppliers based on their country of origin as the US electric-vehicle (EV) maker applies unified and rigorous standards in selecting vendors from around the globe, according to a senior official. Grace Tao, vice-president of the US company, offered a vote of confidence to the more than 400 Chinese manufacturers that supply car components from batteries to heat-control systems to Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory. She made the remarks on Wednesday, in what appeared to be an...

Politics

3 w. ago Tesla affirms confidence in Chinese partners, repudiates supplier ban

Tesla does not exclude suppliers based on their country of origin as the US electric-vehicle (EV) maker applies unified and rigorous standards in selecting vendors from around the globe, according to a senior official. Grace Tao, vice-president of the US company, offered a vote of confidence to the more than 400 Chinese manufacturers that supply car components from batteries to heat-control systems to Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory. She made the remarks on Wednesday, in what appeared to be an...

Politics

3 w. ago Japanese mayor resigns over repeated hotel visits with married official

The mayor of Maebashi, the capital city of Gunma prefecture in eastern Japan, on Tuesday tendered her resignation after her repeated hotel visits with a senior city official, assembly members said. Akira Ogawa had long rejected calls from city assembly members to resign, saying that she did not have an affair with the official, who is married. But she made an about-face on Tuesday, submitting a letter of resignation, effective Thursday, to the chairperson of the city assembly, according to the...

Politics

3 w. ago FM responds to EU senior official's claim that China and Russia 'are working together to overhaul global order'

FM responds to EU senior official's claim that China and Russia 'are working together to overhaul global order'  Global Times

Politics

3 w. ago ‘Blood and lives’: Chinese foreign minister wades into war of words with Japan

Politburo member Wang Yi has become the most senior Chinese official to wade into the war of words over the new Japanese prime minister’s comments on the Taiwan Strait, saying her remarks “crossed a red line”. Wang, who is China’s foreign minister, said China must “resolutely respond” to the comments to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and defend its post-war achievements. “It is shocking that Japan’s current leader has publicly sent the wrong signal of attempting military intervention in the...

Events