Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused mainly by burning fossil fuels are set to rebound in 2021 to pre-COVID levels, with China's share increasing to nearly a third of the total, according to an assessment published Thursday.Overall, CO2 pollution this year will be just shy of the record set in 2019, according to the annual report from the Global Carbon Project consortium, released as nearly 200 nations at the COP26 climate summit confront the threat of catastrophic warming.Emissi

China is expanding its nuclear arsenal much more quickly than anticipated, narrowing the gap with the United States (US), the Pentagon said in a report published Wednesday.China could have 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027, and could top 1,000 by 2030 – an arsenal two-and-a-half times the size of what the Pentagon predicted only a year ago, according to the report.The People's Republic of China (PRC) "is investing in, and expanding, the number of its land-, sea-, and air-base

United States (US) President Joe Biden on Tuesday accused China and Russia of failing to show leadership on climate change in blistering criticism of their leaders for not attending the COP26 summit in Glasgow.Speaking at the United Nation (UN) summit aimed at forging an ambitious new climate agreement, Biden called his own presence and promises proof that "America is back" after the go-it-alone approach of his predecessor Donald Trump."The fact that China is trying to assert,

China's government has urged citizens to stock up on daily necessities and for authorities to take steps to ensure adequate food supplies as the country adopts increasingly tight measures to contain its latest COVID outbreak.A notice posted on the website of the Ministry of Commerce late on Monday urged "families to store a certain amount of daily necessities as needed to meet daily life and emergencies".The directive made no mention of a food shortage or of whether the instruc

Beijing lashed out against a United States (US) intelligence review into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday, calling it "political and false" while urging Washington to "stop attacking" China.The Chinese foreign ministry's retort came days after the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a fuller version of its findings from a 90-day review ordered by President Joe Biden.The paper said that, without new information, intelligence agenci

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has called for mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccines based on the World Health Organization’s emergency use list, according to a transcript of his remarks delivered to leaders of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit, published by the official Xinhua news agency.Speaking to the participants in Rome via video link, Xi said China had provided more than 1.6 billion COVID shots to the world, and was working with 16 nations to cooperate on manufacturing doses.“China is w

Beijing introduced new COVID-19 curbs on Saturday to stamp out a "serious" outbreak as the Chinese capital maintains its strict zero-tolerance policy, with less than 100 days before it hosts the Winter Olympics.China's leading epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said Saturday that authorities could contain a nationwide outbreak within a month – but also warned the "pandemic cannot be eradicated within a short period of time".The outbreak has hit at least 14 of China's p

Amid repeated air incursions close to Taiwan, and reports that China has tested hypersonic weapons, the world is paying closer attention to the modernisation of China’s armed forces and its pursuit of ever more sophisticated weaponry.Once hailed by the Communist Party as having defeated past adversaries with only “millet plus rifles”, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has now grown into the world’s largest fighting force, with more than two million active personnel.Under President Xi Jinping

Billed as a chance for humanity to save itself from climate catastrophe, the United Nations (UN) COP26 summit starting Sunday will task world leaders with turning ambitions to restrain global heating into the actions needed to slash greenhouse gas emissions.With just over one-degree Celsius warming so far after 150 years of burning fossil fuels, the world is experiencing a rapid-fire onslaught of weather disasters supercharged by climate change.

President Joe Biden told Southeast Asian nations on Wednesday the United States (US) would stand with them in defending the freedom of the seas and democracy and called China's actions towards Taiwan "coercive" and a threat to peace and stability.Speaking at a virtual East Asia Summit attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Biden said Washington would start talks with partners in the Indo-Pacific about developing a regional economic framework, something critics say his regional