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Diplomacy

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US-China relations
China-Vatican relations
China-Africa relations
China-Australia relations
China-India border dispute
China-Japan relations
China-Sri Lanka relations
China-India relations
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2025. Photo: PIB/AFP
China-India relations

Xi in India, bank capital injections, EU-China trade

This week: Xi heads to India for Brics summit, state-owned banks and insurers get 360 billion yuan capital boost and China shows willingness to broker Trump-Kim summit. Next week: EU’s Von der Leyen delivers annual address as China trade deadline looms, defence officials attend Beijing Xiangshan Forum, Fed may raise interest rates, lanterns light up Hong Kong and more.

2026 Xi-Trump summits

China ready to help Trump meet North Korea’s Kim

Vietnam

Vietnam’s To Lam visits Russia and France amid South China Sea tensions

India

‘Important part of India’: the phrase rattling US-Pakistan ties

Whether a slip or a calculated trade tactic, Sergio Gor’s remark upended decades of studied American neutrality on Kashmir.

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A paramilitary policeman waves India’s national flag in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir, on the eve of Independence Day celebrations this month. Photo: Reuters
A paramilitary policeman waves India’s national flag in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir, on the eve of Independence Day celebrations this month. Photo: Reuters
Myanmar

Myanmar’s president heads to Moscow seeking Russian arms and oil

Fresh off a five-year military deal, Min Aung Hlaing is meeting Vladimir Putin for talks on further economic and security cooperation.

China-Russia relations

In Focus | Why the Arctic sea route has become so important for China and Russia

Global shipping disruptions, along with oil and gas projects, have added to the strategic value of the Northern Sea Route.

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Pacific nations

New Zealand’s Pacific defence diplomacy shifts into overdrive

Wellington’s four-month diplomatic blitz aims to lock down regional allies as Washington’s commitment wavers.

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Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (left) meets with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, in 2025. Photo: AFP
Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (left) meets with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, in 2025. Photo: AFP
China-India relations

India and China revive Himalayan trade at high-altitude pass

Six years after Nathu La’s closure and the deadly Galwan border clashes, its reopening throws local traders a lifeline.

US-China relations

Top Chinese South Pacific security partner to let US patrol its waters

Agreement will allow US vessels to patrol with local police as Honiara expands maritime ties with Washington despite close Beijing links.

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North Korea

North Korea paves way for possible Kim trip to Moscow

Pyongyang’s top diplomat met Putin to discuss the Ukraine war, munition shipments and a likely Kim visit, analysts say.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui shake hands during their meeting in Moscow on Sunday. Photo: Kremlin/Sputnik/EPA
Myanmar

Myanmar edges out of isolation as Asean steps up engagement

Bangkok talks spark warnings that Southeast Asian diplomats are legitimising a military regime still waging a bloody war on its own people.

Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and his Myanmar counterpart U Tin Maung Swe attend talks on Saturday, a day before an informal meeting with Asean foreign ministers in Bangkok. Photo: Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP
Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and his Myanmar counterpart U Tin Maung Swe attend talks on Saturday, a day before an informal meeting with Asean foreign ministers in Bangkok. Photo: Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP
Japan

Japan wants 60 million tourists, but China isn’t sending them

Tokyo is banking on a massive visitor boom to do what its factories and financiers increasingly cannot: carry the economy forward.

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The Philippines

After China sanctions Philippines’ defence chief, Marcos breaks his silence

For weeks, Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said nothing about the sanctions on Gilberto Teodoro. Then, on a work trip to Vancouver, he finally did.

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2025 Cambodia-Thailand conflict

Can Asean keep the Thailand-Cambodia peace?

With zero enforcement powers, monitors risk being used to simply validate rival propaganda campaigns, analysts say.

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The Asean Observer Team visits an area of Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province where a civilian was killed. Photo: AKP/AFP
The Philippines

Inside Germany’s plan to transform a Philippine Cold War relic

A multimillion-dollar aviation deal at Clark highlights European economic investment as a tool of strategic power.

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A Philippine soldier guards an American F-18 fighter jets on a refuelling stop at Clark Airbase in 2001. Photo: AFP
A Philippine soldier guards an American F-18 fighter jets on a refuelling stop at Clark Airbase in 2001. Photo: AFP
India

3 killed, no apology: the strike straining India-US relations

Instead of showing remorse, Washington ordered New Delhi to obey its blockade, stoking public outrage.

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Thailand

Costly Malaysia-Thailand seafood stand-off nears an end

Talks are advancing on resolving the dispute, but every day of delay is costing thousands of Thai shrimp farmers.

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South China Sea

What is Marcos’ diplomatic end game? Inside Philippines’ South China Sea shift

By making undersea cables and fisheries the issue, analysts say Manila is trying to give all Asean members ‘skin in the game’.

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (centre) leads a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the Philippines’ Independence Day on Friday. Photo: EPA
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (centre) leads a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the Philippines’ Independence Day on Friday. Photo: EPA
Thailand

Thailand and Vietnam team up in an Asean ‘plus or minus’ gamble

Southeast Asia’s second- and third-largest economies opt for bilateral insurance over reliance on the regional bloc.

Japan

Japan adds Indonesia to its ‘network of navies’ after Australia, Philippines

By exporting warships, analysts say Tokyo is sidestepping military pacts to bind partners through shared hardware.

Asean

Asean at 60: peace, prosperity and polite paralysis

Non-interference bought decades of stability, but now breeds inaction. Is Asean due an overhaul?

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Illustration: Huy Truong
China-North Korea relations

Xi lands in North Korea with denuclearisation likely off the table

Chinese President Xi Jinping is making a rare trip to North Korea having stepped back from efforts to deter his host from building nuclear weapons.

Crowds await Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang. Photo: Xinhua
Crowds await Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang. Photo: Xinhua
India

Quad’s proposed port project in Fiji risks being ‘another empty promise’

Analysts warn that a lack of commitment by the four-member bloc on the project could open the door for China to expand its economic clout.

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India

Why India is rolling out welcome mat for Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing

The military leader’s first presidential trip to New Delhi signals pragmatic engagement as India moves to counter rising Chinese influence.

The Philippines

Philippines and Vietnam close ranks on South China Sea as To Lam visits

The Vietnamese president is wrapping up a Southeast Asia tour aimed at shoring up regional security alliances.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (right) and Vietnam’s President To Lam shake hands at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila on Monday. Photo: Reuters
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