China will host the 14th BRICS Summit on Thursday in what analysts see as a chance for Beijing to promote its governance and development model at a time of global instability.Chinese President Xi Jinping will join with the leaders of Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa via video link to discuss issues of mutual concern as part of the summit themed around ushering in a “new era” for global development. Ahead of the summit in Beijing, Chinese state media have praised the BRICS – an

Chinese President Xi Jinping assured his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of Beijing's support for Moscow on "sovereignty and security" during a call Wednesday, according to state media.China is "willing to continue to offer mutual support (to Russia) on issues concerning core interests and major concerns such as sovereignty and security," Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported Xi as saying.It was the second reported call between the two leaders since Putin launche

Weeks after the United States (US) president warned China over Taiwan, Beijing has delivered its sternest rebuttal yet, saying it would "resolutely crush any attempt" at Taiwan's independence.On Sunday, China's Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe essentially accused the US of supporting the island's independence, saying it was "violating its promise on Taiwan" and "interfering" in China's affairs."Let me make this clear: if anyone dares t

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang last week urged a reported 100,000 local government officials to immediately take action to “stabilise” the situation in China amid upset and anger over the fallout from its commitment to ‘zero COVID’.Speaking over video link at a State Council executive meeting, Li said China’s economy was facing an even greater challenge than at the start of the pandemic in 2020, according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency, when employment, industrial production and consumption

With global attention focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s territorial expansionism in Asia – especially its expanding border conflict with India – has largely fallen off the international community’s radar. Yet, in the vast glaciated heights of the Himalayas, the world’s demographic titans have been on a war footing for over two years, and the chances of violent clashes rise almost by the day.The confrontation began in May 2020.

In Pyongyang, COVID is spreading fast, and one capital where the North Korean disaster is surely being watched with rapt attention is Beijing. North Korea, like China, has made a virtue of its authoritarian system being better suited to COVID control than the democracies.Unlike North Korea, China has been rolling out vaccines for more than a year, but like its neighbour, it has millions of older people who have never taken the jab.

From quoting the national anthem to referencing Hollywood blockbusters and George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984", Chinese web users are using creative methods to dodge censorship and voice discontent over COVID measures.China maintains a tight grip over the internet, with legions of censors scrubbing out posts that cast the Communist Party's policies in a negative light.The censorship machine is now in overdrive to defend Beijing's stringent zero-COVID policy as the

The return to Earth of three astronauts on Saturday after six months at China's new space station marks a landmark step in the country's space ambitions, ending its longest crewed mission ever.The world's second-largest economy has put billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of eventually sending humans to the Moon.China has come a long way in catching up with the United States (US) and Russia, whose astronauts and cosmonauts have decades of experience in spa

China has said it held military drills around Taiwan, as a group of United States (US) lawmakers visited the self-ruled island in a show of support that Beijing slammed as “deliberately provocative”.The Chinese military sent frigates, bombers and fighter planes to the East China Sea and the area around Taiwan, the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command said on Friday, in a statement released as the US legislators were holding a news conference in Taipei.

When Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for a “sense of urgency” about growing economic risks during a meeting with provincial officials earlier this week, it was his third such warning in days.“We need to be highly vigilant for unexpected changes in the international and domestic situations, and downward economic pressure has further mounted,” China’s No 2 official told a symposium in Jiangxi province on Monday, according to a report in South China Morning Post, less than a week after drawing