President Xi Jinping has said that no one can ever stop Taiwan's reunification with China as he signed off 2024 amid growing anxieties in the country over the continued slowdown of the economy and the return of Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose punitive tariffs and trade measures against Beijing in his second term.
China has reiterated its plan to build the world's largest dam over the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, near the Indian border. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has assured that the project, estimated to cost around USD 137 billion, will not have any negative impact on downstream countries, India and Bangladesh. The ministry has stated that the project has undergone rigorous scientific verification and will be conducive to disaster prevention and mitigation, as well as climate change response. India has expressed concerns about the dam, raising the issue during talks with the visiting US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. China has maintained that the project will not negatively affect the lower reaches and has committed to maintaining communication with downstream countries.
The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the blast was a suicide attack targeting a convoy of Chinese engineers and investors leaving the Jinnah International Airport.
China's foreign ministry on Monday parried questions on a possible meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia this week.
India has expressed concerns over China's plan to build a mega dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, stating that it will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect its interests. New Delhi has urged Beijing to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed by activities in upstream areas. The dam, estimated to cost USD 137 billion, has raised apprehensions about its impact on the ecological balance of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, through which the Brahmaputra flows. India has repeatedly expressed its concerns to China through diplomatic channels, highlighting the need for transparency and consultation with downstream countries.
China has defended its plan to build the world's largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, assuring that the project will not affect riparian states and safety issues have been addressed through decades of studies. The dam, estimated to cost USD 137 billion, has raised concerns in India and Bangladesh, but Chinese authorities maintain that the project has been thoroughly studied and safeguards are in place. The dam is part of China's efforts to develop clean energy and respond to climate change.
As COVID-19 cases in China continue to rise, Beijing will soon start distributing Pfizer's Covid-19 drug Paxlovid to the community health centres in forthcoming days, CNN reported citing state media on Monday.
China on Wednesday said the Chinese and Indian militaries are implementing the resolutions concerning the disengagement in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in an 'orderly' manner.
Doval is in Beijing for the 23rd round of the Special Representatives' talks being held after a gap of five years.
The Tata Group is one of the very few Indian MNCs which has carved out a niche in China's highly competitive market, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's strict adherence to a 'zero COVID' policy had led to widespread civilian protests across the country.
Rohan Bopanna and his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig suffered a shock loss to the pair of Francisco Cerundolo and Nicolas Jarry in the first round match of the China Open.
China has said that the disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh by the Chinese and Indian armies is going on "smoothly" following a recent agreement between the two nations.
'The government is actively engaging with EU to ensure that concerns of Indian companies and hard-to-abate sectors are adequately addressed under CBAM'
If China is accommodating regarding Depsang and Demchok, a resolution of the Sino-India territorial dispute in Eastern Ladakh could be possible.
The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
Ever since the Quad started taking shape in 2007, China has been saying that the four-member grouping will be bound to fail. But much to the chagrin of Beijing, it picked up pace in the recent years emerging as a premier strategic group especially challenging China's assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
The US intelligence assessment highlights Pakistan's near-certain procurement of weapons of mass destruction-applicable goods from foreign suppliers, primarily through Chinese support.
The Chinese military has conducted nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) drills using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), robotic dogs, and explosive ordnance disposal robots, official media reported. The drills, conducted by a brigade attached to the People's Liberation Army's 73rd Group Army, focused on exploring training methods that integrate technology and networked systems. Experts highlighted the increasing use of unmanned equipment in military operations, citing its ability to reduce human casualties and increase combat effectiveness. The drills also showcased the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and intelligentisation, which is becoming a growing trend in defense.
A total of 750 pilgrims have been selected through a computerised draw for the upcoming Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in Tibet, marking the resumption of the pilgrimage after a five-year gap. The Yatra's resumption is seen as an attempt to normalize India-China relations, which were strained by the eastern Ladakh border standoff. The pilgrimage will begin in June and continue until August, with pilgrims traveling in five batches via the Lipulekh route and ten batches via the Nathu La route. The selection process was deemed "fair, computer-generated, random, gender-balanced" by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which organized the pilgrimage.
A sea of blue-and-white had greeted the teams as they stepped out onto the pitch with an overwhelming majority of the 68,000 capacity crowd sporting Argentina jerseys.
The Indian Embassy in Beijing has warned China's state-run tabloid Global Times to verify information before spreading it on social media. The embassy accused the publication of spreading disinformation about Indian military strikes on Pakistan's terror infrastructure. The embassy's statement comes after the Global Times published articles based on Pakistan Air Force claims about the strikes, which were later debunked by Indian authorities.
China on Tuesday confirmed that it has reached an agreement with India to end the standoff between the two armies in eastern Ladakh.
Beijing on Monday began mass COVID-19 testing of over 3.5 million people in one of the city's high-profile districts following a spike in cases, while Shanghai reported a record 51 deaths in a day as the eastern metropolis continued to grapple with the Omicron variant for the fourth week.
A former Bangladesh army officer and close aide of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has suggested that Dhaka should collaborate with China to occupy India's northeastern states if it attacks Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Bangladesh's interim government has distanced itself from the remarks made by Major General (Retd) ALM Fazlur Rahman on his social media account. Rahman's comments come amidst growing tensions between India and Bangladesh following Yunus' remarks in China about India's northeastern states being landlocked and needing Bangladesh's access to the ocean. These incidents have further strained relations between the two countries, with India withdrawing transhipment facilities granted to Bangladesh for exporting goods to the Middle East, Europe, and various other countries.
China's military has said it is willing to work with India to find a solution to the border issue, while also pushing for sound and stable defence ties. The statement comes after recent meetings between officials from both countries to normalize relations following a prolonged period of tension.
Why can't the Indian government propose to the Chinese a corridor circumambulating the Holy Mountain where people from both sides could perform the yatra again? asks Claude Arpi.
'In the Indian government there are no illusions about the United States reliability or the possibility of having any kind of preferential treatment from Washington when it comes to trade.'
'Given China's past behaviour and their territorial claims, should we be sceptical regarding China's willingness to adhere to these agreements fully? The answer is yes.' 'As Ronald Reagan famously said in the context of the SALT talks, 'Trust, but verify!' India should also do the same.' 'This has already begun with foot patrolling, drones, satellite imagery and so on. India's military deployment did mirror China's and will continue to do so in the future.'
Lee Jae-myung's decisive victory in South Korea's snap presidential election marks a major political shift driven by public backlash against authoritarian, with significant implications for domestic reform and the future of the US-South Korea alliance, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'A small boat with a single sail cannot withstand the stormy waves, and only by working together can we sail steadily and far,' Xi told the Vietnamese leadership.
On Saturday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told the media in New Delhi that the Indian Army has commenced verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh.
China on Thursday said the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia's Kazan on Wednesday carries a "great significance" as they reached an "important common understandings" to improve the bilateral ties.
Without mentioning the boundary dispute, the spokesperson said that China-India relations have been stable on the whole and "our two sides have maintained dialogue and communication at various levels".
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
India will look at disengagement and de-escalation of the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh after restoration of the status quo of April 2020, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi said on Tuesday, a day after New Delhi announced striking an agreement with Beijing to end the over four-year border row in the region.
The trigger that led Japan and the Philippines to ink the deal was because of the deteriorating security situation in the South China Sea. China's coast guard increased the frequency and intensity of incursions into Philippine waters, provoking the Philippines to take countermeasures to deter China, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
China and India were able to "reduce differences" and build "some consensus" on disengaging troops from friction points to end the standoff in eastern Ladakh and agreed to maintain dialogue to reach a resolution acceptable to both sides at an "early date", the Chinese defence ministry said on Thursday.
A 150 million year old short-tailed bird fossil discovered in China's Fujian Province pushes back the emergence of modern bird body structures by 20 million years, suggesting birds originated earlier than previously thought. The Baminornis zhenghensis fossil, with its unique combination of modern and ancient features, challenges the previous understanding of bird evolution and suggests a more diverse Jurassic bird fauna.