Day: June 7, 2026

Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Pyongyang on Monday for a two-day visit, his first to North Korea since 2019. In an article published by Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, on Monday morning, Xi said the combat friendship “forged in blood” and comradely bond of mutual trust between the two countries stood the test of time and the changing international landscape. Xi pledged to deepen strategic communication and interact frequently “like relatives”, including between the parties, governments, and militaries. Advertisement…

China has discovered a new source of high-purity quartz in its western Tibet autonomous region, potentially reducing its reliance on imports of the critical material to make solar panels and semiconductors. High-purity quartz is a gold standard manufacturing material for numerous hi-tech items, including some whose global market is dominated by China. China has relied on imports to obtain the important material, with most coming from the United States, because of a lack of domestic sources for the rare quartz. But recent geological discoveries could help China rewrite that dependence.…

As Monday morning broke over a Middle East bracing for renewed conflict, a fragile regional ceasefire appeared to have collapsed after an exchange of direct strikes between Iran and Israel. The latest developments came as US President Donald Trump said Israel would have no choice but to accept a potential deal, following an interview walkout when pressed on his campaign pledge of “no new wars”. Some experts said Trump’s credibility was being called into question as Israel defied his warnings against further strikes. Advertisement Here is the latest on the…

China should speed up aircraft carrier group upgrades and boost their combat capabilities to counter Japan’s growing defence strength amid mounting tensions, military experts have said. This comes as Tokyo ramps up its defence posture with long-range anti-ship missiles and deployments on Japanese islands near Taiwan, putting Beijing on high alert. A recent simulated attack also highlighted the potential threat. As tensions escalated in December over the Japanese prime minister’s comments on… South China Morning Post

A US congressional committee has cast doubt on Donald Trump’s “Golden Fleet” programme, warning it could overwhelm already strained nuclear-powered shipbuilding capacity and calling for a detailed review of its centrepiece battleship. One lawmaker also warned of the vulnerability of battleships in modern maritime warfare, citing the capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army’s Dongfeng missile series, which includes the DF-21D ballistic missile – widely dubbed a “carrier killer”. The… South China Morning Post

When China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Canada late last month to consolidate a new economic partnership, Prime Minister Mark Carney was in New York pitching for more than US$1 trillion in investment. “The timing was almost certainly deliberate,” said Alejandro Reyes, a professor of politics and a senior fellow at the Centre on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong. “It signals to Washington that engagement with Beijing does not come at the expense of the primary relationship.” Carney, who did meet Wang after…

After Donald Trump’s meeting with Xi last month, the United States said the two leaders shared the goal of denuclearising the Korean peninsula, although the Chinese statement did not mention the issue. But Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, described the comments as “false information”, and described the US call for denuclearisation as an “anachronistic dream”, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Advertisement She said: “Steadily beefing up the nuclear war deterrent for self-defence … is an irreversible final conclusion to be…

President Xi Jinping is heading to North Korea on Monday with the aim of proving that China remains the best prospect for reviving his host country’s economy. The carefully timed sequence of diplomatic meetings also reflects Beijing’s growing confidence on the world stage and its ability to engage directly with multiple powers. Advertisement It will be Xi’s first foreign trip of the year and comes less than a month after he hosted back-to-back meetings with US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. “While hosting Trump and Putin in Beijing…