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“You could do with some international exposure. China, maybe,” a law firm partner said as we stood over the water cooler. His offhand comment was so blasé. I wasn’t sure what unsettled me more – the comment or my reaction to it. Was it xenophobia or the inertia of assumption? He was perfectly pleasant, encouraging even, but beneath the civility was an implication I couldn’t ignore. I had never set foot in Asia, yet suddenly, it felt as though my credibility required a pilgrimage. I wrestled with...

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China’s top UN diplomat slammed the US on Friday over its coercive behaviour, sanctioning of Chinese vessels and firms and for starting the Iran war along with Israel as Beijing assumed the rotating one-month presidency of the UN Security Council. The verbal blast came as Washington heaped more pressure on China on Friday by sanctioning a China-based petroleum terminal operator, the latest in a string of recent US moves to cut off Chinese funding to Iran under what the White House has dubbed...

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US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order expanding sanctions on Cuba, authorising penalties not only against Cuban officials but also on foreign companies and financial institutions that do business with the island. The order significantly broadens Washington’s ability to exert economic pressure, allowing US authorities to target third-country actors deemed to support the Cuban government, in a move that could have implications for global firms, including those in China and...

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The United States on Friday announced fresh sanctions on entities and individuals it said were involved in trading Iranian petroleum, including a China-based oil terminal operator and a Chinese national, as it ramped up pressure on Tehran to end the conflict. The State Department said the operator, Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd, “imported tens of millions of barrels of sanctioned Iranian crude oil”. Also on the sanctions list are Li Xinchun, a Chinese national who is the president of a...

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Chinese Ambassador to the UN Fu Cong has reiterated China’s clear positions on the rights of the Palestinian people and on the present situation in the Strait of Hormuz at open debates in the Security Council held on consecutive days. Speaking on April 28, Fu Cong said: “The Palestinian question has always been at the … Continue reading China sets out position on Palestine and Strait of Hormuz at UN

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Fujian province, the closest mainland Chinese province to Taiwan, is an important site for Beijing’s messaging towards the island. In the first of a two-part series, Xinlu Liang examines how Beijing is framing the executions of Communist Party spies in Taiwan within a reunification narrative. A courtyard house in an old quarter of Fuzhou, capital of the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, has become the unlikeliest of national pilgrimage sites. For decades, the residence at No 1...

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We have selected six of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Chile exposes smuggling ring that shipped US$917m in stolen copper to China Chinese buyers were the end destination of a five-year smuggling pipeline that drained an estimated US$917 million worth of stolen copper from Chile, authorities said in April after police dismantled the network...

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A Chinese boycott of the “World Cup of mathematics” this year could be decisive, according to a co-organiser of a petition calling for the event to be moved out of the United States this year. Ila Varma, a University of Toronto mathematician and boycott co-organiser, said the country was “uniquely situated” to act – both as a target of US restrictions and as a major scientific powerhouse. “The Chinese government does not apply sanctions to US universities the way the US government does to...

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On April 25, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, exchanged congratulations with Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and Lao president, on the 65th anniversary of China-Laos diplomatic relations. Xi said that as socialist neighbours in a community … Continue reading China and Laos mark 65 years of relations

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In the following article, Kemran Mamedov, a staff member of the Confucius Institute at the Free University of Tbilisi in Georgia, assesses the prospects for China-Ukraine relations, noting that the allegations made against China by powerful forces in Ukrainian society, from President Zelensky downwards, are generally “devoid of substantive content and carry a politically biased … Continue reading It takes two to tango: Will Ukraine meet China halfway?

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Japan has overhauled its overseas arms transfer regulations, a move analysts said paves the way for the country to export high-end weapons and defence platforms, including sixth-generation fighter jets. On April 21, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that her cabinet had amended the Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology and the accompanying implementation guidelines that had constituted Japan’s framework for controlling military hardware and technology...

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The Chinese Society of International Law has issued a powerful statement on April 25 opposing the illegal use of force by the United States and Israel, citing the examples of Venezuela and Iran. The statement notes that Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter establishes the fundamental principle under international law of the prohibition of … Continue reading Chinese lawyers condemn US and Israel

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The recent launch of the World Data Organization in Beijing added another node to a growing network of bodies headquartered in China with international participation and cross-border mandates. China is fostering these lenders, institutions and intergovernmental organisations as President Xi Jinping pushes for improved “global governance”. The move came as Washington’s measures – from global tariff hikes, war on Iran and the recently released “Economic Fury” strategy – have set back some key...

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African eels, frozen meat and rare earths now have one thing in common – at least in China. The commodities are among a wide variety of products that can enter the country tariff-free as part of a policy to help redress the continent’s massive trade imbalance with China. The zero-tariff policy has applied to 33 “least-developed” African countries since 2024 and, from May 1, has been expanded to include 20 “middle-income” African nations. The schedule will remain in effect for two years, covering...

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The world’s eyes have been fixed on the oil tankers clogging the Strait of Hormuz. But the US-Israel war on Iran has exposed a quieter vulnerability: the undersea cables that form the digital backbone of the Middle East. Last week, a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps highlighted that the strait functioned not only as a crucial chokepoint for oil and gas shipments but also as an essential corridor for internet communications. The outlet warned that damage to...

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Matt King, a 34-year-old graphic designer living in New York, has long grappled with his identity as the son of a Canadian-Chinese mother and white father. Despite being born in the US and raised in Los Angeles, he is aware that mainstream US society does not always see him as a bona fide US citizen. “You’ll always get … a sprinkling of this ‘you’re not truly American’,” the 34-year-old resident of Brooklyn, New York, said, prompting him to claim his own definition. “To me, being an American is...

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The Pakistan Navy has received the first of its Chinese-built Hangor-class attack submarine fleet, as Beijing and Islamabad step up defence cooperation. A commissioning ceremony was held for the advanced submarine – named the PNS/M Hangor – in the Chinese city of Sanya on Hainan Island on Thursday, according to a statement from Pakistan’s military. Asif Ali Zardari, the country’s president, and naval chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf attended the event along with senior officials from both the...

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The US-Israeli war on Iran enters a third month and efforts for Washington and Tehran to resume talks remain stalled. These are major takeaways from the events overnight. What did Trump say? US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that Iran is “dying to make a deal”. When asked whether talks with Tehran have stalled, Trump said only a few people know the status of talks with Iran. He also pointed to uncertainty over the Iranian leadership: “We have a problem...

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China has built a state-driven campaign to harvest American data and weaponise it as a strategic asset that could prove critical in a conflict with the US, including over Taiwan, a key advisory committee to the US Congress heard. Experts told the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission on Thursday that Washington was falling short in countering Beijing’s data-collection drive, one that could have far-reaching implications for American society and the economy, as well as US wartime...

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China’s diplomatic strategy has undergone a conspicuous shift, with Beijing conducting far fewer overseas state visits, opting instead to welcome a steady stream of foreign leaders to the capital. According to data compiled by the South China Morning Post, Beijing is placing greater emphasis on neighbourhood diplomacy and engagement with European middle powers. The changing dynamic reflects Beijing’s shift towards favouring high-level multilateralism, in a sign of growing confidence and an...

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The UN’s climate science body is pressing ahead with its work despite the US government’s withdrawal from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year, the organisation’s top official has said. According to IPCC chair Jim Skea, around 110 to 120 of the UN body’s 195 members typically show up when it meets. “So the US has not been there. It’s one country, more or less,” Skea said on the sidelines of the Regional Ecological Summit in Kazakhstan last week. “The meetings...

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Chinese solar exports surged in March, doubling to a record high as demand accelerated across dozens of markets, according to a new report. The spike comes as global energy systems react to renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the dual blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and the US. The Persian Gulf shipping corridor, a critical chokepoint for global oil and gas flows, has become a focal pressure point amid escalating tensions that began on February 28 with US-Israel...

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Taiwan is “the biggest risk factor in China-US relations” during a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The call laid the groundwork for a highly anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing in mid-May. According to CCTV, Wang said that Beijing and Washington “must safeguard the hard-won stability and make thorough preparations for...

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The row between China and Japan has ratcheted up a notch, with Beijing issuing a strongly worded position paper warning that Tokyo would soon be able to produce nuclear weapons. In the document released on Thursday, China called on the United Nations to make Japan’s potential pursuit of nuclear arms an “important agenda item” at an ongoing convention at the organisation’s New York headquarters. China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and will assume the monthly rotating presidency...

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With Congress again failing to curb US President Donald Trump’s authority over Cuba, the centre of gravity in US policy towards the island is shifting decisively back to the White House – and to a narrower, more consequential question: what comes next? Tuesday’s 51-47 Senate vote to block a Democratic-led war powers resolution on Cuba does not change policy on its own. It was widely expected, reflecting a long-standing pattern in which Congress has struggled to assert its war powers authority...

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