US President Donald Trump said Thursday he was considering a “pretty severe” response to North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile test, even as China appealed for a scaling down of rhetoric. Tuesday’s launch marked a milestone in Pyongyang’s decades-long drive to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear strike, posing a thorny policy challenge for Trump, … Read more
China on Thursday warned against “words and deeds” that could heighten tensions over North Korea, after Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that Kim Jong-Un dubbed a gift to “American bastards”. Tuesday’s launch marked a milestone in Pyongyang’s decades-long drive for the capability to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear strike, and poses a … Read more
Nuclear-armed North Korea has muscled its way onto the agenda of the G20 leaders’ annual summit in Germany Thursday, with Pyongyang’s first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile set to dominate discussions. The US is seeking new sanctions against Pyongyang and is due to hold a summit with Japan and South Korea on the sidelines, … Read more
Donald Trump’s high-stakes trip to Europe, where he faces a prickly G20 meeting and animosity from traditional US allies, kicks off on a comforting note Thursday — in front of a friendly crowd bussed in by his sympathetic Polish hosts. Air Force One touched down in Warsaw late Wednesday, for what is the US president’s … Read more
Donald Trump arrived for high-stakes visit to Europe on Wednesday, landing in Poland ahead of his first G20 summit in Hamburg and a closely-watched meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The still-novice US president begins a four-day swing through Warsaw and Hamburg, where tricky geopolitical currents — from rumbling transatlantic discord to the North Korean … Read more
Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Wednesday to make China’s new “special envoys” feel welcome in Berlin, as she unveiled two eagerly awaited giant pandas at the German capital’s zoo alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping. “I think that this event today is a symbol of the relationship between our two countries,” said Merkel at the ceremony to … Read more
US President Donald Trump lashed out at China Wednesday, pointing to a surge in its trade with North Korea as evidence that US reliance on Beijing to rein in Pyongyang was misplaced. “Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us – but we … Read more
China’s ambassador has said the withdrawal of Indian troops from disputed territory is a “precondition” for peace, in an apparent escalation of a border row between the two Asian powers that has drawn in tiny Bhutan. Indian and Chinese troops are reportedly facing off on a section of land high in the Himalayas near what … Read more
The US and Chinese presidents face an awkward encounter at the G20 summit this week as rising tensions over how to deal with North Korea threaten to shatter the already-crumbling facade of their friendly rhetoric. North Korea’s landmark test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching Alaska has intensified friction between the superpowers … Read more
The Chinese hospital caring for cancer-stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo has decided to invite US, German and other foreign experts to treat him in China following international pressure to let him go abroad. The legal bureau of Shenyang — the northeastern city where Liu is being treated — said in a statement Wednesday the invitation … Read more
Russia and China have urged North Korea to “freeze” its missile and nuclear programmes after it claimed to have successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. Both countries also called for a simultaneous suspension of US-South Korea large-scale military exercises. North Korea said its missile could hit anywhere in the world. But while Pyongyang appears … Read more
Russia and China have urged North Korea to “freeze” its missile and nuclear programmes after it claimed to have successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. Both countries also called for a simultaneous suspension of US-South Korea large-scale military exercises. North Korea said its missile could hit anywhere in the world. But while Pyongyang appears … Read more
Russia and China on Tuesday called for a simultaneous freeze on North Korean nuclear and missile tests and military exercises by the United States as tensions ratcheted up on the peninsula. “The two sides propose that the DPRK (North Korea) as a voluntary political decision declares a moratorium on testing nuclear explosive devices and ballistic … Read more
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met Tuesday against a backdrop of mounting tensions over North Korea ahead of G20 summit talks with US President Donald Trump. The sit-down in Moscow is meant to focus on bolstering trade ties between the two partners, with deals worth billions of dollars expected to be … Read more
Chinese cinema-goers now have to sit through a short clip promoting “core socialist values” and President Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” political credo before the show starts — and some aren’t happy about it. Authorities enlisted action star Jackie Chan and domestic film idols as part of the public-service adverts, which have been ordered shown at … Read more
China defended its “relentless efforts” to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue on Tuesday following a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump, as Pyongyang claimed to have tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. The US president has piled pressure on China to use its diplomatic and economic clout over North Korea, its Communist ally, to … Read more
China’s UN ambassador on Monday warned of “disastrous” consequences if world powers fail to find a way to ease tensions with North Korea which he said could “get out of control”. Ambassador Liu Jieyi made the remarks a day after US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the threat … Read more
Germany on Monday urged China to allow terminally ill Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo to quickly get the medical help he needs, after friends of the Chinese activist said he wanted to be treated abroad. Liu, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for “subversion” after calling for democratic reforms, was released on … Read more
US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel plan to meet in Hamburg on Thursday, the eve of a Group of 20 summit, Merkel’s spokesman said. “Indeed a meeting with the US president is planned before the G20 summit, most probably in the early evening of Thursday,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said at a … Read more
The United States and Japan are united in their efforts to clamp down on North Korea’s “growing threat,” as the regime ramps up its nuclear drive and other belligerent efforts, the White House said Sunday. During a phone call, President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “reaffirmed that the United States-Japan Alliance stands … Read more