A suspected Chinese spy balloon, said to be the size of three buses, was spotted over the United States' airspace, the Pentagon has said, a development that has further strained the already tense bilateral ties as Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday abruptly postponed his key visit to Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday pledged to strengthen the strategic relationships with neighbouring countries by 'appropriately' managing differences and enhancing supply chain ties as China's tariff war with the United States escalated.
'China has thus far been cautious, emphasising its focus on development rather than weaponising water resources.'
Though Beijing asserts the Dalai Lama's successor needs its approval, observers say it remains concerned as the present Panchen Lama, the number two spiritual leader who was appointed by it after unseating the boy nominated by the Dalai Lama, has not gained much traction in Tibet.
However, Beijing residents will still require a negative Covid-19 test taken within 48 hours to enter restaurants, schools, bars, internet cafes, indoor gaming stadiums, nursing homes, welfare facilities, hospitals and medical institutions.
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.
A strong earthquake struck southwest China's Yunnan province bordering Myanmar on Friday, causing tremors that were felt across the region. While no casualties have been reported so far, residents in the provincial capital of Kunming rushed outdoors to escape the shaking. The epicenter of the earthquake was located at 21.85 degrees north latitude and 95.95 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 30 kilometers.
The Chinese Defence Ministry has stated that the Indian and Chinese militaries are implementing the resolutions to end the standoff in eastern Ladakh in a "compressive and effective manner." This follows the disengagement process completed late last year after a pact for troop withdrawal from Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points in eastern Ladakh. The disengagement has paved the way for the resumption of various dialogue mechanisms between the two countries, with the aim of normalizing bilateral relations.
The Chinese capital issued a fresh coronavirus alert on Thursday after it reported 21 local COVID-19 infections a day earlier, three of which were from a high school and the rest from a university, health officials said.
The US intelligence assessment highlights Pakistan's near-certain procurement of weapons of mass destruction-applicable goods from foreign suppliers, primarily through Chinese support.
There is a "high possibility" of a meeting between Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, a senior official said. The meeting comes amid strained ties between the two countries, marked by India's concerns over violence against Hindus and a rise of hardline Islamist forces in Bangladesh. Yunus's recent comments about India's northeastern states being landlocked and Bangladesh being the "only guardian of the ocean" in the region have drawn sharp reactions from Indian politicians. However, a Bangladesh official insists that Yunus's statement was misinterpreted.
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.
'The government is actively engaging with EU to ensure that concerns of Indian companies and hard-to-abate sectors are adequately addressed under CBAM'
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.
The marchers -- many wrapped in the red, yellow and blue flag of Tibet and dressed in traditional robes -- chanted and played drums, holding a minute of silence for their "martrys" before starting a "peace march" along Lake Geneva.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's strict adherence to a 'zero COVID' policy had led to widespread civilian protests across the country.
In the talks, China emphasised that the two sides should proceed from the fundamental interests of China, India and adhere to the strategic height and long-term perspective of China-India relations, the readout said.
'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.
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.
Arif was India's sole representative at the Beijing 2022.
'The Modi visit will prove to be the watershed where India and the United States commenced technology trade and transfer.'
"China is an absolutely impossible factor to ignore in what has been our confrontation with Pakistan," Tharoor said.
China has toned down its rhetoric on fighting a trade or any other type of war with the US, saying that no such wars should be fought because they cannot be won. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian responded to US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth's remarks that his country doesn't seek a war with China, but will rebuild the military and prepare for war. However, on Tuesday, Lin had said that China is ready to fight till the end if the US wants a trade war or any other type of war. Hegseth said on Wednesday that the US is not actively seeking conflict with China, but is rebuilding its military and establishing deterrence.
Doggedly persisting with its much-criticised zero-Covid policy, China has slipped deeper into the coronavirus quagmire as it reported a record 31,444 infections on Thursday with many of its cities, including Beijing, resorting to community lockdowns to stem the virus amid worsening wintery weather.
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.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday called on Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussed issues of bilateral interest.
All Olympic-related units will provide appropriate quantities of condoms for free at the appropriate time to people who've checked in to stay inside the loop.
With just over a month until the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony the CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said he is increasingly concerned if the Games can go ahead as planned.
The Chinese capital, which is battling the spread of the Omicron variant similar to Shanghai, has ordered mass testing from Tuesday in 11 of its districts, virtually covering all its 21 million population.
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.
And while delegates from all over China attended the National People's Congress, all eyes were on one man, the anointed-by-personal-diktat ruler for life, Xi Jinping.
Beijing OLympics will be remembered for the extremes of its anti-COVID-19 measures
Held on the first day of Spring by the Chinese calendar, it began with a performance by dancers waving glowing green stalks to convey the vitality of the season, followed by an explosion of white and green fireworks that spelled the word "Spring".
Gearing up for Trump 2.0 era, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday cautioned there will be no winner in a tariff or tech wars between China and the United States and vowed that Beijing would firmly safeguard its interests.
People in a Beijing district with some 2 million residents were ordered Sunday to undergo mass coronavirus testing following a series of infections as China tightened anti-disease controls ahead of the Winter Olympics.
He said that in recent times, based on the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, China and India have maintained close communication on the border situation through diplomatic and military channels and achieved great progress.
Former India shooting coach Sunny Thomas, who guided the Indian marksmen from 1993 to 2012 and witnessed multiple Olympic medals, died on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest.
'The lesson Beijing would have learned is that there is, cost-benefit wise, no better option than to keep the Pakistan military supplied with its most advanced armaments, certain that in hostilities with India these would be used for maximum effect.'
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will travel to Beijing for a two-day trip beginning Sunday, marking the second high-profile visit from India to China in less than one-and-a-half months. The visit comes amidst ongoing border tensions and follows a recent disengagement pact between the two countries in eastern Ladakh. The Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism meeting will focus on the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains. The decision to revive this bilateral mechanism was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan in October.
'No military offensive by Pakistan will end the insurgency in Balochistan without simultaneous, concerted efforts toward political dialogue to de-escalate tensions.'
