Day: May 1, 2026

“You could do with some international exposure. China, maybe,” a law firm partner said as we stood over the water cooler. His offhand comment was so blasé. I wasn’t sure what unsettled me more – the comment or my reaction to it. Was it xenophobia or the inertia of assumption? He was perfectly pleasant, encouraging even, but beneath the civility was an implication I couldn’t ignore. I had never set foot in Asia, yet suddenly, it felt as though my credibility required a pilgrimage. I wrestled with a familiar refrain:…

Fujian province, the closest mainland Chinese province to Taiwan, is an important site for Beijing’s messaging towards the island. In the first of a two-part series, Xinlu Liang examines how Beijing is framing the executions of Communist Party spies in Taiwan within a reunification narrative. A courtyard house in an old quarter of Fuzhou, capital of the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, has become the unlikeliest of national pilgrimage sites. For decades, the residence at No 1… South China Morning Post

China’s top UN diplomat slammed the US on Friday over its coercive behaviour, sanctioning of Chinese vessels and firms and for starting the Iran war along with Israel as Beijing assumed the rotating one-month presidency of the UN Security Council. The verbal blast came as Washington heaped more pressure on China on Friday by sanctioning a China-based petroleum terminal operator, the latest in a string of recent US moves to cut off Chinese funding to Iran under what the White House has dubbed… South China Morning Post

US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order expanding sanctions on Cuba, authorising penalties not only against Cuban officials but also on foreign companies and financial institutions that do business with the island. The order significantly broadens Washington’s ability to exert economic pressure, allowing US authorities to target third-country actors deemed to support the Cuban government, in a move that could have implications for global firms, including those in China and… South China Morning Post

The United States on Friday announced fresh sanctions on entities and individuals it said were involved in trading Iranian petroleum, including a China-based oil terminal operator and a Chinese national, as it ramped up pressure on Tehran to end the conflict. The State Department said the operator, Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd, “imported tens of millions of barrels of sanctioned Iranian crude oil”. Also on the sanctions list are Li Xinchun, a Chinese national who is the president of a… South China Morning Post

We have selected six of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chile exposes smuggling ring that shipped US$917m in stolen copper to China Photo: AFP Chinese buyers were the end destination of a five-year smuggling pipeline that drained an estimated US$917 million worth of stolen copper from Chile, authorities said in April after police dismantled the network in one of the largest organised crime operations ever…

Japan has overhauled its overseas arms transfer regulations, a move analysts said paves the way for the country to export high-end weapons and defence platforms, including sixth-generation fighter jets. On April 21, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that her cabinet had amended the Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology and the accompanying implementation guidelines that had constituted Japan’s framework for controlling military hardware and technology exports since 2014. Takaichi said the amendment included abolishing restrictions limiting the overseas transfer of Japanese-made military equipment to non-lethal systems…