Beijing

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday kicked off two days of high-stakes diplomatic talks in Beijing aimed at trying to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge.

In Washington they paused; in Frankfurt they hiked; and in Beijing, they cut.

Central bankers in three of the world's key economic regions have unveiled divergent monetary policies this week as they each contend with their own challenges.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank "serves China's interest" and Beijing wields "undue" influence over what is supposed to be a multilateral organisation, a former executive told AFP yesterday after resigning.

In the wake of his resignation, Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Ottawa would "immediately halt all government-led activity at the Bank".

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas began a visit to China on Tuesday that comes as Beijing is seeking a larger role in Middle East politics and competing for energy resources.

Honduras opened an embassy in Beijing on Sunday, Chinese state media reported, months after the Central American nation broke off relations with Taiwan to form diplomatic ties with China.

Chinese inflation came in flat again in May, official figures showed on June 9, as the country's economy sputters owing to softening demand and falling exports, leading to calls for a rate cut and a bigger government stimulus.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2 percent on-year, from 0.1 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said.

China dismissed as "fake news" on Thursday accusations that the Asian power is failing to stop production of fentanyl, after the U.S. ambassador said there had been no progress.

More than 30 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan's air defence zone over the course of about six hours, the island's defence ministry said Thursday, a sharp ramp-up in single-day incursions by China's military.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to take it one day -- by force if necessary.

Alamy Photo

Senior U.S. and Chinese diplomats held "candid and productive" talks in Beijing and agreed to keep open lines of communication to avoid tensions from spiraling into conflict, officials said Tuesday.

Elon Musk and China's industry minister discussed ways to develop new energy vehicles yesterday, a day after the Tesla CEO flew into Beijing and declared he wanted to expand his business in the world's second largest economy.

The mercurial billionaire, one of the world's richest men, is on his first trip to China in more than three years.