China | Pakistan

The United States and China announced on Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, de-escalating a trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised fears of a global economic downturn. After their first talks since US President Donald Trump launched his trade war, the world’s two biggest economies agreed in a joint statement to bring their triple-digit tariffs down to two figures and continue negotiations. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the weekend talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang as “productive” and “robust”. “Both sides showed a great respect,” Bessent told reporters. US President Donald Trump had imposed duties of 145 per cent on imports for China last month — compared to 10pc for other countries in the global tariff blitz he launched last month. Beijing hit back with duties of 125pc on US goods. Bessent said the two sides agreed to reduce those tariffs by 115pc, taking US tariffs to 30pc and ...

The United States and China on Sunday said that progress had been made after a weekend of talks aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff rollout. The increasingly ugly trade spat between Washington and Beijing has rocked financial markets and raised fears of a global economic slowdown and an inflationary spike in the United States. “We’ve made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Geneva after the second day of discussions. “The talks were productive,” he said, taking no questions but promising a “complete briefing” on the outcome on Monday. In a statement on Sunday, which did not provide any additional details, the White House hailed what it called a new “trade deal” with China. China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng told reporters the meetings had achieved “substantial progress,” echoing Bessent’s remarks, and described the atmosphere as “candid, in-depth...

The Afghan government under the Taliban has called for “mutual respect and constructive engagement” with Pakistan and China, according to a statement issued by its interior ministry. The statement was issued after special envoys of Pakistan and China, Mohammad Sadiq and Yue Xiaoyong, met Afghan Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani in Kabul. The trilateral forum was established in 2017, with earlier meetings held in Beijing and the Afghan capital. “Minister of Interior Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani emphasised the importance of strengthening regional ties, stating that, from the Islamic Emirate’s perspective, the advancement of economic and political relations, as well as regional understanding, can be achieved through mutual respect and constructive engagement,” the Afghan interior ministry said. It added that the special envoys of China and Pakistan reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening good neighbourly relations and fostering cooperation with Afghanistan based on mutual engagement. They also agreed that ...

China on Saturday strongly urged both India and Pakistan to act in larger interest of peace and stability and return to the track of political settlement through peaceful means.

The conflict between India and Pakistan over occupied Kashmir offers a potentially rich intelligence harvest for China in its own rivalry with India as it gleans data from its fighter jets and other weapons used in action by Pakistan. Security analysts and diplomats say China’s military modernisation has reached a point where it has the ability to deeply scrutinise Indian actions in real-time from its border installations and Indian Ocean fleets as well as from space. “From an intelligence perspective, this is a rare target of opportunity right on China’s borders involving a key potential adversary,” said Singapore-based security analyst Alexander Neill. Two US officials said a Chinese-made J-10 Pakistani jet fighter shot down at least two Indian military planes — one of them a French-made Rafale fighter. India has not acknowledged the loss of any of its planes while Pakistan’s defence and foreign ministers have confirmed the use of J-10 aircraft but have not commented on which missiles or other weapons were ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday thanked China’s envoy for endorsing his offer to conduct a neutral probe into the Pahalgam attack, following India’s actions against Pakistan that have heightened the risks of a military confrontation between the two countries. The April 22 attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed 26 people, mostly tourists, marking one of the deadliest assaults in the region since 2000. India has implied cross-border links without evidence, while Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership have rejected the accusation and called for a neutral probe. Tensions have since spiked, with Pakistan reinforcing its forces and India’s premier granting “operational freedom” to his military. As Pakistan, in the early hours of Wednesday, said it expected an incursion from India within the next 24-36 hours, diplomatic channels from other countries have been engaged to prevent a possible military confrontation. Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong called on Shehbaz at the PM House in Islamabad toda...

A restaurant fire in northeastern China killed 22 people and injured three on Tuesday, Beijing’s state media said, with footage posted online showing fierce flames engulfing the building. The blaze erupted at 12:25pm (9:25am PKT) in a restaurant in a residential area of Liaoning Province’s Liaoyang City, state broadcaster CCTV said. “The incident has resulted in 22 deaths and three injuries,” it added. President Xi Jinping said that the blaze had caused “significant casualties” and that the lessons from it were “profoundly serious”, CCTV said. Xi called for “every effort to treat the injured, properly handle the aftermath for the deceased and provide support to their families, swiftly determine the cause of the fire, and pursue accountability in accordance with the law,” the report added. Official news agency Xinhua did not identify the cause of the fire but said President Xi Jinping called it “a deeply sobering lesson”. Footage shared online and verified by AFP showed the inferno engulfing the two-storey res...

ISLAMABAD - China yesterday supported Pakistan’s efforts for fair and just investigations into the at-tack in Pahalgam, occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan and China have reiterated their firm resolve to uphold regional peace and stability, promote mutual respect and understanding, and jointly oppose unilateralism and hegemonic policies. The understanding was reached during a telephone conversation between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday. During the conversation, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar briefed Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on current regional situation. He categorically rejected India's unilateral and illegal actions, as well as its baseless propaganda against Pakistan. Expressing deep appreciation for China's consistent and unwavering support, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister reaffirmed Pakistan's strong commitment to the iron-clad Pakistan-China friendship and the shared vision of an All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership. He emphasized Pakistan's determination to further deepen bilateral cooperation across all spheres. Both sides agreed to...

Pakistan and China have reiterated their firm resolve to uphold regional peace and stability, promote mutual respect and understanding, and jointly oppose unilateralism and hegemonic policies.