Cui Fandi Beijing: China stands ready to strengthen high-level exchanges with France, give play to the leading role of head-of-state diplomacy, and add new connotations to the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, said China’s top diplomat Wang Yi this week, amid rising high-level contacts between China and France in the past few months. […]

Sam Jones and Ashifa Kassam Lisbon: The Portuguese government has dismissed suggestions from the country’s president that it should “pay the costs” for slavery and other colonial-era crimes, saying it has no plans for reparations and will instead focus on deepening international cooperation “based on the reconciliation of brotherly peoples”. Campaigners have long appealed to […]

Beining: Beijing officials are decrying the deployment of U.S. medium-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time since the Cold War. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, at a regular press briefing this week, said China “expresses grave concern” and “strongly opposes the U.S. … strengthening forward deployment at China’s doorstep to seek […]

Paris: Relations between Singapore and France, which go back a long way, are in excellent shape and on an upward trajectory, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said. Speaking to about 200 overseas Singaporeans at a reception at Hotel Le Marois on April 11, DPM Wong noted that France was one of the first countries to […]

Lisbon: Portugal’s parliament voted down two motions put forward by hard-left parties against the minority centre-right government’s inaugural legislative programme, clearing the first hurdle for the administration of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro. Despite the widely expected successful investiture, analysts say his government will be highly unstable as it will constantly require complex negotiations with the […]

Victor Jack Brussels: Put your money where your mouth is. Such grumbling is percolating across Europe as new data reveals France quietly ramping up gas payments to Russia just as President Emmanuel Macron loudly positions himself as one of Ukraine’s staunchest defenders. In the first three months of this year, Russian liquefied natural gas deliveries […]

Cao Desheng Beijing: The Chinese economy is healthy and sustainable, and China will consistently improve its business environment to provide broader development space for enterprises from various countries, including the United States, President Xi Jinping said this week. He made the remarks during a meeting in Beijing with representatives from American business, strategic and academic […]

Brussels: The French president this week praised the US change of position on Gaza by supporting a cease-fire, including by sponsoring a UN Security Council resolution. “It is important to note that the US changed its position and clearly expressed its will to back a cease-fire, which is a good thing for us and the […]

Newswire Beijing: The United States and China are likely to remain “systemic rivals” for the next decade as they wrestle over differences and compete in areas such as the military and technology, according to Washington’s top envoy in Beijing. Speaking at a virtual seminar this week, ambassador Nicholas Burns called the deepening competition between the […]

Paul Luckman Lisbon: Even a glance at the news every day will reveal more outbreaks of violence, terrorism, civil unrest or increasing civil demonstrations, not always peaceful. Sadly, we now live in a world where people with strong opinions feel they have the right to express their views any way they wish, sometimes violently. Most […]

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron said this week that Europe should prepare for war if it wants peace, calling President Vladimir Putin’s Russia an adversary that would not stop in Ukraine if it defeated Kyiv’s troops in the two-year-old conflict. Mr Macron caused controversy in February after he said he could not rule out the […]

Xinhua Beijing: China enters its most important political week with the beginning of its “two sessions,” the assembly of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). This year’s gathering will be particularly important given the crisis in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, and the increased economic pressure from the […]