Day: September 21, 2026

The US and China continue to wrangle over extending the 2025 Busan trade agreement just hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington for a state visit, even as they report progress on implementing a narrow tariff-reduced trade mechanism. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Monday blamed China for creating “uncertainty” over the pact’s extension, saying Beijing was still holding out on supplying enough strategic mineral exports to the United States. “They have limited rare earth exports. They’ve controlled them,” Greer said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “President…

When the presidents of the United States and China meet in Washington, the world will be watching to see whether their two countries can make good on their agreement to work towards “constructive strategic stability”. In this series, we examine where both powers stand ahead of the high-stakes summit. South China Morning Post

When Tung Chee-hwa died, the obituaries predictably described a Hong Kong shipping mogul who became the city’s first postcolonial chief executive. How his government navigated the Asian financial crisis and severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic and its retreat from Article 23 were highlighted. There was less attention paid to the political hybrid he embodied. Tung sat as vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, until 2023 – state-leader rank, no diplomatic portfolio. His working instrument was the China-United States Exchange Foundation, which he…

When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets US President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday, the leader casting the longest shadow over the meeting will not even be in the building. Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on Thursday – two days after Takaichi meets the US leader on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. It will be Xi’s first state visit to the US in over 10 years. Faced with an unpredictable American president eager for tangible results… South China Morning Post

The US and China should agree on international regulatory standards for artificial intelligence (AI), akin to atomic-era guardrails, said Ro Khanna, the ranking member of the US House Select Committee on China, in New York on Monday ahead of the two countries’ high-stakes summit. The remarks come two days before Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to arrive in Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump for a closely watched summit where AI is expected to be on the agenda after the two… South China Morning Post

The top Democrat on the US Senate’s foreign policy panel urged Donald Trump on Monday not to signal any retreat from Taiwan when he hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. Speaking at the Concordia Summit in New York, Senator Jeanne Shaheen said she hoped the president “will not say anything that indicates a lack of support for Taiwan” during his talks with the Chinese leader. Shaheen is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which reviews US arms sales abroad,… South China Morning Post

The United States, Japan and South Korea announced a new economic-security consultation and reinforced their support for stability across the Taiwan Strait on Monday, sending a coordinated message on two of Beijing’s most sensitive issues just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s summit with US President Donald Trump. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun unveiled the initiative after meeting on the… South China Morning Post