Xi Jinping

President Xi Jinping will host a two-day summit with the leaders of five Central Asian nations next week, Beijing said on Monday, as China moves to increase its influence in the region.

Leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to attend the China-Central Asia Summit from May 18 to 19, said China's foreign ministry.

China's foreign minister stepped up threats Friday against the self-governing island of Taiwan, saying any who go against Beijing's demand to exert control over the island are "playing with fire."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is visiting China, called for a peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue, Reuters reported.

"Conflicts must be resolved peacefully," Baerbock said at a news conference in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Qing Gan.

She called on China to exert its influence on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

Laurence Boone, France's minister of state for European affairs, expresses Paris' satisfaction at the lowering of Greek-Turkish tensions. Speaking to Kathimerini, she praises the Greek response to the earthquakes in Turkey and confirms France's abiding interest in the Mediterranean.

China's President Xi Jinping has called on the country's armed forces to "strengthen military training oriented towards real combat operations", state-run Chinese television reported, as quoted by AFP.

In return, he brought with him a handful of orders for French industry, writes Alexander Gerlach.

The patches have attracted attention because they are a provocation directed at Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Namely, the patches show a Formosan black bear (which is the symbol of Taiwan) punching Winnie the Pooh - who represents Chinese President Xi Jinping - as a defiant symbol of the island's resistance to Chinese military provocations.

Emmanuel Macron has come under fire after he said Europe should not become a "vassal" and should avoid being drawn into a conflict between the US and China over Taiwan, the Guardian reported.

"Europe must reduce its dependence on the United States and avoid being drawn into a confrontation between China and the United States over Taiwan", French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with several media outlets on his way back from a three-day state visit to China.

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday celebrated the close, "inseparable" U.S.-Canada relationship and vowed that the two nations remain committed to defending Ukraine as it tries to repel a Russian invasion that has no end in sight.