Leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia proclaimed Friday a shared commitment to safeguarding democracy in the Indo-Pacific region, leaving unspoken their common concern about China’s growing power.
Two Canadian citizens, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and business executive Michael Spavor who were jailed in China since 2018, have been released.
China sent 24 fighter planes, including two capable nuclear bombers, towards Taiwan on Thursday after the self-governing island said it plans to join an 11-nation Pacific trade group, the Taiwanese military said.
Chinese authorities are asking local governments to prepare for the potential downfall of China Evergrande Group, according to officials familiar with the discussions, signaling a reluctance to bail out the debt-saddled property developer while bracing for any economic and social fallout from the company’s travails.
Police from China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) descended on the fifth-anniversary celebration of the Shenzhen Trinity Harvest Gospel Church in Huizhou earlier this month, harassing congregants and trying to prevent them from attending the event, China Aid reports.
The U.S. medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci came under pressure Wednesday after leaked documents showed American and Chinese scientists planned to release coronavirus particles.
US President Joe Biden used his first address to the UN General Assembly to affirm that America is prepared to resume full compliance with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran deal, provided Iran does the same, the Jerusalem Post reports. At the same time, the president said in his speech Tuesday, the US “remains committed to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.”
The U.S. global influence was further challenged over the weekend, with several Latin American and Caribbean nations aspiring to form their bloc like the European Union.
The United States said Friday it regrets France’s decision to recall its ambassador from Washington after a row over submarines caused their worst diplomatic tensions in years.
China has condemned a new nuclear submarine pact between Britain, the United States, and Australia shows “a Cold War mentality” and warned it could send warships to Hawaii.
Japan’s army has begun its largest exercises in decades after warning China it will defend disputed islands that Tokyo views as Japanese territory.
France has reacted angrily to Australia’s announcement Wednesday that it will be working with the US and the UK to acquire nuclear-powered submarines for use by the Australian navy, the Washington Times reports.
The UK, the US, and Australia on Wednesday announced a landmark “partnership” agreement, under which the two nuclear nations will help non-nuclear Australia to obtain a multibillion-dollar fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, Sky News Australia reports. The collaboration on the project is the most significant to have taken place between the three countries in decades.
The former Pentagon chief on Wednesday said he did not authorize Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to directly contact China’s top military commander – contrary to Milley’s claims that his conversations with Beijing were approved by defense officials.
The United States, Britain, and Australia announced a special security pact Wednesday, just hours after the European Union’s chief hinted at setting up an EU army operating outside the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.
The Institute of International Finance (IIF) has announced that global debt reached a new record high of $296 trillion in the second quarter of 2021, with total debt rising by $36 trillion in the 18 months since the pandemic began, Zero Hedge reports. Global debt includes government, household, corporate, and bank debt but not derivatives and other exotic products.
Iran has reportedly come within a month of having enough material to fuel a single nuclear weapon, adding to pressure on U.S President Joe Biden to renew the 2015 nuclear deal.
In continued governmental, systemic harassment of Christians in China, on September 4 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials raided a Christian music school in Heilongjiang province and took away the school principal, who has not been heard of since, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. The CCP considers Christians a threat to its authority and seeks to suppress them through persecution and a nationwide Sinicization program.
China, on Wednesday, threatened to send warships into U.S. territorial waters.
China is considering deploying military personnel and economic development officials to Bagram airfield, perhaps the single-most prominent symbol of the 20-year U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.