Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent Pyongyang visit may ultimately be remembered as a turning point in the international debate over North Korea’s nuclear weapons. While most headlines focused on the visit’s timing and the many pledges made by the two leaders aimed at expanding cooperation, the most significant development may have been what was left unsaid. Throughout the visit, neither side publicly referenced the denuclearisation issue. On the contrary, Xi called for expanded cooperation in...

China is capable of a direct missile strike on Australia and the threat is growing as Beijing amasses long-range and hypersonic weapons and builds islands in the South China Sea, an Australian think tank said on Sunday. A Lowy Institute report found the main threat to Australia was from Chinese missiles fired from ships, submarines and a new intermediate-range ballistic missile that could reach the island continent from China. China’s capacity to strike Australia would grow over the next decade...

Taiwan has for the first time reported mainland Chinese law enforcement vessels near an island it controls in the South China Sea, a development experts say could form the basis of Beijing’s effective control in the waters. The move comes after Beijing accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of inaction in the face of Japan-Philippines maritime delineation talks, which could concern exclusive economic zones claimed by Beijing and Taipei. Two mainland Chinese law enforcement ships –...

Not long ago, China was the villain of choice in much of India’s public discourse. The 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, in which both sides lost soldiers in hand-to-hand combat over their disputed Himalayan border, changed Indian public sentiment almost overnight. From WeChat to TikTok, Chinese apps disappeared from Indian app stores. Investment rules tightened. Television debates grew more jingoistic after arch-rival Pakistan used Chinese-supplied jets and missiles in a three-day conflict with India...

A Taiwanese sea search-and-rescue group has called on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to work together on maritime rescue drills. Yin Liu-sheng, secretary general of the Taiwan-based volunteer group Chinese Search and Rescue Association, said in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Sunday that “maritime search and rescue should remain completely above politics” and that Beijing and Taipei should cooperate “to ensure the safety of life and property of vessels navigating the Taiwan Strait”. “Maritime...

A materials scientist whose career took him from rural China to California is heading for a post in Macau after 30 years in the United States. According to the University of Macau’s website, Pei Qibing has been appointed chair professor and director of the Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering. Pei, an emeritus professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, began his studies in a very different world, attending a small rural school on an island in the Yangtze River in...

Two Chinese football fans were carjacked shortly after arriving in Mexico to watch the World Cup. The Chinese embassy said one suspect had been arrested while the two victims had returned to China on Friday after less than 48 hours in the country. State news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday that the two men, identified only by their surnames Wang and Li, had landed at Mexico City International Airport on Wednesday evening. Two masked motorbike riders held up their car at gunpoint near the...

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pushed for stronger cross-border transport and trade ties during a visit to Mongolia over the weekend as Beijing sought to anchor the country’s newly formed government within its economic orbit. “China’s policy towards Mongolia maintains stability and continuity, and has always placed the development of bilateral relations in an important position in its neighbourhood diplomacy,” Wang said during a meeting with President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Saturday. “China...

The Chinese legal system is grappling with a surge of artificial intelligence cases, but experts have warned that the lack of a unified legislative framework is hampering efforts to tackle the problem. In a recent landmark case, a court in the eastern city of Hangzhou ruled against a tech company that had fired one of its workers after he refused to accept a demotion and pay cut, with the company telling him he could be replaced by AI. The worker had been employed by a fintech firm to evaluate...

What began as an internal personnel dispute at the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation has evolved into an increasingly bitter and publicly fought battle that is engulfing the former Taiwanese leader whose political legacy it is meant to preserve. Allegations of financial misconduct at Ma’s foundation have spiralled into criminal complaints, publicly traded accusations among long-time allies and an unprecedented intervention by his family. The dispute has also raised broader questions about Ma’s health,...

In less than two months, the indie film Dear You has become an unlikely mass hit. Shot in the Teochew language from the Chaoshan region of southern China’s Guangdong province, the movie follows a man uncovering his family’s past by tracing remittance letters sent home from Thailand. As he pieces together his grandfather’s life story, the movie also explores Chinese migration to the region and the diaspora’s struggle to preserve its heritage. In one scene, an elderly schoolmaster risks arrest in...