China's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian has given a rare media conference, encouraging Australia to drop WTO complaints over Chinese-imposed trade sanctions.
The alarming COVID-19 wave ravaging China's population may be worrying the treasurer but economists expect any economic consequences to be short lived.Â
Beijing is threatening retaliatory action against nations - like Australia - that are making travellers from China test negative to COVID-19 before departure.
From medical professionals to delivery men and women, from community workers to next-door neighbors, ordinary Chinese people are doing their best and lending a hand to help others cope with the latest waves of COVID-19 infections in the country.
Australia doesn't need to impose additional travel requirements for people coming from China because domestic vaccination rates and local surveillance systems are strong, the chief medical officer says.
Health Minister Mark Butler says Australia welcomes renewed travel with China despite slapping new entry requirements on people arriving from the mainland.Â
Protests have simmered in Shanghai as residents in several Chinese cities, many of them angered by a deadly fire in the country's far west, push back against heavy COVID-19 curbs almost three years into the pandemic.
Hundreds of Hong Kong residents are lining up in front of the British Consulate General for hours each day to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, leaving piles of flowers and handwritten notes.
India and Japan say they will deepen defence cooperation, with New Delhi inviting investment by Japanese industries and both countries planning a joint military drill involving their air force fighters.
Cities in eastern China have suspended ferry services and closed schools as they brace for the arrival of Typhoon Hinnamnor, a strong storm that is also affecting neighbouring Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
China has issued its first national drought alert of the year as authorities battle forest fires and mobilise specialist teams to protect crops from scorching temperatures across the Yangtze river basin.
Suspected drones have flown over outlying Taiwanese islands and hackers have attacked its defence ministry website, authorities in Taipei say, a day after a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi that outraged China.
