China

  FILE - In this screen grab from video released by the Taiwan Coast Guard, a member of the Taiwan Coast Guard monitors a China Coast Guard boat as it passes near the coast of Matsu islands, Taiwan on Oct. 14, 2024. Taipei, Taiwan — Taiwan said Monday it had detected a Chinese balloon over waters northwest of the island, the first reported since April, as Beijing maintains pressure on Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty. Communist China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has refused to renounce the use of force to bring it under its control. Beijing regularly deploys fighter jets, drones and warships around Taiwan, and occasionally balloons, as it keeps up military pressure. The latest balloon was spotted at 6:...

  FILE - Shipping containers and gantry cranes are seen at a port in Lianyungang, in eastern China's Jiangsu province on Aug. 7, 2024. Influential members of Congress, including the senator poised to become secretary of state in the incoming Trump administration, are pressing hard to revoke China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the U.S. Commonly known as “Most Favored Nation” status, PNTR means that Chinese goods being imported into the United States are granted the most advantageous terms that the country offers when it applies tariffs and other restrictions. China was granted PNTR in 2000, as it prepared for entry into the World Trade Organization. Since then, some of the advantages the status confers have been stripped awa...

  FILE- Passengers walk out of the International arrival hall of the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, March 14, 2023. BEIJING — China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy. Starting November 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the C...

  China's President Xi Jinping, left, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attend a bilateral agreement signing ceremony, at the Alvorada palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 20, 2024. RIO DE JANEIRO — As the world’s two largest economies vie for influence in South America, Brazil sits at the heart of the global power struggle. The choices the country makes in the coming years could reshape the region’s economic and political trajectory, according to analysts. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Brazil for a state visit and the G20 Summit marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries and underscored Beijing\'s expanding influence in South America amid intensifying U.S.–China competit...

  FILE - Estonia's Kaja Kallas, nominee for European Union High Representative and Vice President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaks during her hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Nov. 12, 2024. VIENNA, AUSTRIA — Kaja Kallas, the European Union\'s next foreign policy chief, is already sending signals that she will take a tough stance on Russia and China and be an advocate for a strong alliance between Europe and America. Kallas spoke to the European Parliament for the first time in her new role at a hearing on November 12, where she stressed that the EU will be steadfast in its commitment to support Ukraine against Russian aggression. She begins her five-year term as the High Representative of the Union fo...

  Defense ministers Lloyd Austin of the U.S., Pat Conroy of Australia, Gen Nakatani of Japan, Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. of the Philippines and Kim Yong Hyun of South Korea pose during an ASEAN meeting in Vientiane, Laos, Nov. 21, 2024. (South Korean Defense Ministry via AP) VIENTIANE, LAOS — Southeast Asian defense chiefs met Thursday with their counterparts from China, the United States and other nations in Laos for security talks, which come as Beijing\'s increasingly assertive stance in its claim to most of the South China Sea is leading to more confrontations. The closed-door talks put U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in the same room, a day after Dong refused a request to meet with Austin one...

  Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after a meeting at Alvorada Palace in Brasilia on Nov. 20, 2024. BRASILIA, BRAZIL — Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday they had raised the status of their countries\' global strategic partnership during a state visit on a regional tour showing Beijing\'s growing diplomatic clout. Xi and Lula said the China-Brazil relationship had become a "Community with a Shared Future for a More Just World and Sustainable Planet" — expanding a key slogan from the Chinese president — in a news conference at the presidential residence. They also agreed to find "synergies" between the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and Brazilian ...

  A child reacts to an Unitree Go2 intelligent side-follow robot during a performance at a popular shopping district in Beijing, Nov. 17, 2024. BERLIN — China has overtaken Germany in the use of robots in industry, an annual report published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) showed on Wednesday, underscoring the challenges facing Europe\'s biggest economy from Beijing. In terms of robot density, an important indicator for international comparisons of the automation of the manufacturing industry, South Korea is the world leader with 1,012 robots per 10,000 employees, up 5% since 2018, said the IFR, which is based in Germany. Singapore comes next, followed by China with 470 robots per 10,000 workers - more than double the density it had in 2019. That compar...

  FILE - Media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of Apple Daily, walks to a prison van to head to court, after being charged under the national security law, in Hong Kong, China, December 12, 2020. HONG KONG — Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai insisted his newspaper had championed democracy and "freedom" as he took the witness stand for the first time in his collusion trial on Wednesday. Lai\'s case is one of the most prominent prosecuted under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, with Western countries and rights groups demanding his release. The 76-year-old founder of tabloid Apple Daily is accused of colluding with foreign forces, a charge that could carry a sentence of up to life in prison. The case ...

  Pakistani policemen stand guard outside a factory where two Chinese nationals were allegedly shot, in Karachi, Nov. 5, 2024. China said on Nov. 19, 2024, it will send troops to Pakistan for the first joint counterterrorism exercise in five years to enhance security cooperation. Islamabad — China said Tuesday it will send troops to Pakistan later this month for the countries first joint counterterrorism military exercise in five years to enhance security cooperation with its South Asian neighbor and close ally. The announcement follows reports that Beijing is pushing Islamabad to permit its security personnel to safeguard thousands of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan from deadly terrorist attacks. It also comes amid a spike in terro...