Chinese money laundering networks were accused of being “financial fuel” for the Mexican cartels at a congressional hearing on Tuesday, where witnesses urged US President Donald Trump to prioritise the issue at his next face-to-face meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. “I want to be very clear, Chinese money laundering networks have become the financial fuel for cartels to poison Americans and threaten our borders, we’re seeing a Silk Road of crime across the Americas,” said Leland...

On a state visit to China last month, US President Donald Trump shocked his political base with a series of rhetorical concessions. In an interview, he warmly endorsed Chinese students studying in America, supported China-linked acquisition of US farmland, and dismissed concerns over state espionage as a routine, two-way reality. It was not the first time Trump’s softer stance on China clashed with his own administration’s hardline approach. Even before the summit, he repeatedly suggested...

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea may have helped cement China’s “indispensable” role in ensuring regional stability and highlighted its importance to his host’s economy, analysts said. The Chinese president wrapped up his visit on Tuesday afternoon after reaching what he said was a “critical consensus” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Xi told a lunch at the Kumsusan State Guest House that he was ready to work with Kim to to “jointly guide China-North Korea relations...

US President Donald Trump’s administration is holding regular high-level discussions with Britain to secure the long-term future of the strategically important Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, a US official has told the South China Morning Post. The confirmation comes amid reports that the White House is actively considering buying the Chagos Islands – host to a strategically important joint US-British military facility – amid concerns over China’s expanding naval ambitions in the...

A frenzied fortnight of EU policymaking on China kicked off on Tuesday, amid signs that big member states may be willing to take a tougher stance on trade despite huge pressure from Beijing. Beijing’s commerce vice-minister, Ling Ji, was set to meet with new EU trade director Ditte Juul Jorgensen in Brussels and have talks with Chinese businesses in the Belgian capital before heading to forums in Berlin and Dusseldorf. At the same time, EU diplomats began preparations for next week’s blockbuster...

The Philippines has accused China of building an artificial structure at the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Citing aerial monitoring, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, an inter-agency body overseeing Manila’s maritime strategy in the South China Sea, said on Tuesday that a floating platform six metres (19.7 feet) wide and six metres long was located within the shoal. The structure appeared to be an antenna and individuals were seen on board, the task...

The Pentagon added tech giants Alibaba and Baidu and carmaker BYD to a blacklist of Chinese companies with military ties amid widening competition between the world’s two largest economies. Drug maker WuXi AppTec, robot company Unitree and carmaker Nio were among other businesses added to the 1260H list, according to a US Department of Defence notice. Some Chinese companies no longer operating in the United States were removed in the annual update. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. The...

Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasised the shared sacrifices and deep historical ties between China and North Korea during a visit to a historic mountainside in Pyongyang on Tuesday. Xi and first lady Peng Liyuan paid tribute at the Sino-Korean Friendship Tower in Moran Hill, accompanied by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju. Honour guards placed a floral basket at the monument with a ribbon inscribed with the words “The martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteer (CPV) Army...

China and North Korea have pledged to strengthen strategic cooperation and defend each other’s sovereignty, according to a North Korean state media report covering Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day visit to Pyongyang. The two leaders vowed to “open a new chapter” in bilateral ties and expand exchanges and cooperation in political, economic, cultural and other fields, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday. It quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as saying that...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has returned to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan State Guest House, the highly secluded counterpart to Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guest House. Xi began a two-day state visit to North Korea on Monday. He was welcomed at the airport by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, before attending a welcoming ceremony at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Square and then heading on to the guest house. The guest house, completed in 2019, was first publicly used during Xi’s visit to North Korea that...