Do the United States (US) and China have an agreement on Taiwan’s political status?The question was raised on Tuesday when US President Joe Biden told reporters that he and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had agreed to “abide by the Taiwan agreement”, leaving many around the world scratching their heads.Biden made the remark at the White House in response to a reporter’s question about rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait, with Beijing sending more than 150 military planes towards Taiwan

As United States (US) President Joe Biden’s administration implements its strategy of great power competition with China, analysts seek historical metaphors to explain the deepening rivalry. But while many invoke the onset of the Cold War, a more worrisome historical metaphor is the start of World War I. In 1914, all the great powers expected a short third Balkan War.

The top diplomat of the Philippines issued a statement published on the Department of Foreign Affairs’ website on 19 September, 2021 saying that “The Philippines welcomes Australia’s decision to establish an enhanced trilateral security partnership with the US primarily and the UK.

Beijing high schooler Chen Zhichu used to spend 30 minutes a day boosting actor Xiao Zhan online as one of a legion of superfans, before the practice fell afoul of the government for promoting "unhealthy values".State regulations last month banned "irrational star-chasing" – online celebrity rankings, fundraising and other tools used by China's fandoms to get their idols trending on social media – in the latest of a series of crackdowns across Chinese society.&nbs

The 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a United States (US) warrant, followed by China's detention of two Canadians, sparked an unprecedented dispute between Beijing and Ottawa.Last Friday, a legal agreement in New York paved the way for Meng to board a plane to China after nearly three years of detention in Canada and for the two Canadian men to also set off home.Here are the key dates in the case:Wanted: Meng Wanzhou In August 2018, a Ne

Is there a larger purpose to the Chinese government’s recent actions against the country’s largest corporations, and does its clean-up of the financial sector fit into its economic strategy? China has sought for at least 15 years to rebalance its growth from exports and fixed-asset investment to greater domestic consumption – efforts that have assumed a new urgency, owing to conflicts with the United States (US) and other countries. As long as its domestic market expands, Ch

China hands out at least twice as much development money as the United States (US) and other major powers, new evidence shows, with most of it coming in the form of risky high-interest loans from Chinese state banks.The sheer amount of Chinese lending is startling.

China has issued new guidelines restricting the number of abortions performed for “non-medical purposes”.The State Council, China’s cabinet, published the new rules on Monday.The country has already enacted strict measures aimed at preventing sex-selective abortions, and health authorities also warned in 2018 that the use of abortion to end unwanted pregnancies was harmful to women’s bodies and risks causing infertility.The State Council said the new guidelines would aim to improve women’s ov

The planet is heating up – and so are global geopolitics. With less than two months until the crucial United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the United States (US) and China must commit to cooperate on the existential challenge global warming represents. But bilateral relations remain burdened by mistrust, antagonism, and even warmongering. Technically, the US and China are both willing to cooperate on climate change.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that relations between Beijing and Taipei were "grim" on Sunday, urging the island's main opposition party to help seek "unification of the country."China views self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and vows to retake it one day, by force if necessary.Xi has become the most bellicose leader since Mao Zedong, describing the seizure of the island as "inevitable."In a congratulatory letter to Eric Chu – the ne