Russia and China discussed resuming six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program this week, while a South Korean diplomat said five of the participants had agreed on conditions to present to Pyongyang for restarting the negotiations.
China executed three accused separatists on Tuesday for their role in an attack that killed 31 people at a train station in the southwest last year, a court said.
Lee Kuan Yew, a towering figure in post-colonial Asia, oversaw tiny Singapore's transformation from British tropical outpost to an affluent, global city in just over a generation, setting the example for developing economies from China to Dubai.
Japan will sign a defense pact with Indonesia next week, officials in both governments said, the latest effort by Tokyo to forge closer security ties with Southeast Asian nations and build a counter-balance to China.
The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China on Saturday hold their first meeting in three years, in a bid to warm frosty ties and restore a regular three-way summit of their leaders, stalled because of tensions over history and territory.
The news websites of Reuters, including those in English and Chinese, were inaccessible in China on Friday, after users first experienced difficulties accessing them late on Thursday.
China and Japan held their first security talks in four years on Thursday and agreed to keep alive and foster a nascent recovery in bilateral ties plagued by the legacy of Japan's wartime aggression and a territorial dispute.
The Chinese government will audit the overseas assets of state-owned enterprises, the regulator announced, as it tries to improve transparency and combat corruption.
The potential deployment of a sophisticated U.S. air defense system in South Korea to counter the North's missile threat is proving a headache for Seoul as it tries to walk a fine line between its closest security ally Washington and its biggest trade partner China.
The U.N. human rights investigator for North Korea said on Monday he would probe allegations of an estimated 20,000 North Koreans working in slave-like conditions abroad, mainly in China, Russia and the Middle East.
Myanmar expressed "deep sorrow" on Monday for the deaths of five people across the border in China's Yunnan province that it has been blamed for, while Beijing said it was clear Myanmar's air force was responsible.
China's relations with Japan face a "test" this year linked to whether Japan can properly atone for its wartime past, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday.
China's military will take "decisive" measures if there is a repeat attack by Myanmar forces on its territory, a senior military officer said after a bomb from a Myanmar aircraft killed four people.
Japan and France signed a deal on military equipment and technology transfers on Friday, in a move to drive cooperation and joint development of defense gear, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strengthens security ties with major powers.
Taiwan is spinning away from China's idealized model of "one country, two systems" as a renewed spirit of democracy sweeps across its political sphere, rousing a new cadre of grassroots leaders critical of a shared future with China.
Major world powers have begun talks about a United Nations Security Council resolution to lift U.N. sanctions on Iran if a nuclear agreement is struck with Tehran, a step that could make it harder for the U.S. Congress to undo a deal, Western officials said.
The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea are preparing to meet this month for their first talks in nearly three years, in a bid to resolve tension over Japan's wartime past and discuss a three-way summit.
Panama's banking regulator said on Wednesday it had seized the local unit of Banca Privada D'Andorra (BPA), as the lender's Andorra-based headquarters is being investigated by the United States government for possible money laundering.
The United States has asked Vietnam to stop letting Russia use a former U.S. base to refuel nuclear-capable bombers engaged in shows of strength over the Asia-Pacific region, exposing strains in Washington's steadily warming relations with Hanoi.
Chinese authorities have fined Procter & Gamble Co's Crest toothpaste division nearly $1 million for what regulators say is false advertising, a Shanghai watchdog said on Tuesday.
Foreign non-government organizations (NGOs) in China are bracing for a crackdown as the government prepares to pass a new law to regulate their activities, which critics fear could curb activism and drive out several groups.
