Beijing

Japan's top diplomat Takeshi Iwaya expressed "serious concerns" to his Chinese counterpart over Beijing's increasing military activity, Tokyo said Wednesday.

Iwaya also told Wang Yi in Beijing that "Japan is closely monitoring the Taiwan situation and recent military developments", a Japanese foreign ministry statement said.

China will raise its deficit in order to boost spending next year, its finance minister said, according to state media, as Beijing looks to prop up its struggling economy.

The world's second-largest economy has for years battled sluggish domestic consumption, a persistent crisis in the property sector, and soaring government debt.

China has issued a strong warning to the United States, labeling Taiwan as the "first red line that cannot be crossed" in their bilateral relations. The warning follows the White House's announcement of a significant arms package and military assistance to Taiwan, totaling 1.3 million in weapons and training.

BEIJING - Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with Chinese FM Wang Yi in Beijing on Friday, noting that Serbia-China relations were at a historic high and that the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries had been deepened further by Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia this year and raised to the level of a community with a shared future in the new era.

BEIJING - Kicking off a visit to China, Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with the president of the China Institute of International Studies, Chen Bo, on Thursday, and the parties agreed Serbia-China relations were at a historic high.

In a world where global balances are shifting and geopolitical strategies are reshaping, China appears to retain a “magic weapon” that it uses with precision to influence events and control global rhetoric. As described by Mao Zedong and reaffirmed by Xi Jinping, this weapon is none other than the United Front Work Department (UFWD).

FILE - Visitors look at manatees at the Tampa Electric Company Manatee Viewing Center near the coal-fired Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach, Fla., on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.

World coal use is set to reach an all-time high in 2024, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday, in a year all but certain to be the hottest in recorded history.

Taiwan has received 38 advanced Abrams battle tanks from the United States, the Defense Ministry said on Dec. 16, reportedly the island's first new tanks in 30 years.

Washington has long been Taipei's most important ally and biggest arms supplier, angering Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory.

A new scandal involving funding from Chinese donors through links to a Chinese Communist Party spy has put Prince Andrew, who has been targeted by MI5,
at the centre of a new scandal.

Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council held talks today with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which they discussed the crises in Ukraine and Syria, state news agency TASS reported.

Medvedev said Russia is ready for peacemaking with Ukraine, but only if Kiev understands the realities on the ground, TASS reported.