Tag: summit

Chinese premier hopes Japan, China can meet halfway, keep relations on right track

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese Premier Li Qiang said he hopes Japan can meet China halfway and keep bilateral relations on the right track, state media reported, as the two countries try to ease escalating tensions in the region. In talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Li also said he hoped China and Japan can continuously strengthen dialogue and cooperation, […]

Elon Musk hits out at Britain after reported summit snub

By Muvija M LONDON (Reuters) – Elon Musk hit back at Britain on Thursday after reports that he had not been invited to the country’s upcoming investment summit, alleging the government was releasing convicted paedophiles while imprisoning people over social media posts. The BBC reported that the U.S. billionaire had not been invited to the summit next month after his posts on his X platform regarding the violent, racist anti-immigration riots in Britain last month. […]

Plan for summit on UN sidelines to seek ways ‘to talk sense’ into China, Philippines envoy says

David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A summit of at least 20 nations is planned on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this month to seek ways “to talk some sense” into China over its confrontation with the Philippines in the South China Sea, Manila’s Washington envoy said on Tuesday. “The more countries band together and give a message to China that what they’re doing is definitely not on the right side of history, then we […]

NATO meets in Washington as questions swirl over Biden

By Max DELANY WASHINGTON, July 9, 2024 (AFP) – NATO leaders gather Tuesday in Washington for a summit aimed at showing resolve against Russia and support for Ukraine — but the meeting is set to be overshadowed by US President Joe Biden’s fight for political survival. The 81-year-old leader will try to use the three days of pomp marking NATO’s 75th anniversary to reassure allies over US leadership, and his own ability to govern, as […]

Nuclear fears in focus at Ukraine peace summit

By Robin MILLARD BURGENSTOCK, Switzerland, June 16, 2024 (AFP) – The international Ukraine peace summit focused Sunday on food security, avoiding a nuclear disaster and returning deported children from Russia as countries outlined building blocks towards ending the war. More than two years after Russia invaded, leaders and top officials from more than 90 states were spending the weekend at a Swiss mountainside resort for a landmark two-day summit dedicated to resolving the largest European […]

Ukraine seeks path to just peace at Swiss summit

By Robin MILLARD with Jake CORDELL in Warsaw BURGENSTOCK, Switzerland, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to find paths to a “just peace” as soon as possible, as a first international summit on pathways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine opened Saturday. More than 50 world leaders were joining Zelensky at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland for a two-day peace summit — though with Moscow rejecting the event, it only […]

Trade, submarines feature at ASEAN talks in Australia

MELBOURNE, March 5, 2024 (AFP) – Australia unveiled plans to ramp up investment in Southeast Asia on Tuesday, setting aside US$1.3 billion to bolster trade in a region of rising economic might. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the funding as leaders from the 10-nation ASEAN forum met in Melbourne for a three-day summit. “The government I lead has made it clear. More than any other region, Southeast Asia is where Australia’s future lies,” Albanese told […]

WTO head ‘less optimistic’ for world trade due to Red Sea strikes

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17, 2024 (AFP) – The World Trade Organization’s chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday said she was “less optimistic” about world trade in 2024, pointing to tensions in the Red Sea. The head of the international trade body said weaker global economic growth, “worsening geopolitical tensions, the new disruptions we see in the Red Sea, on the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal” meant “we are less optimistic”. She was speaking to journalists at […]

Japan, ASEAN agree to boost maritime security cooperation

  TOKYO, Dec 17, 2023 (AFP) – Southeast Asian and Japanese leaders agreed on Sunday to boost dialogue and cooperation in “maritime security” in the face of China’s growing assertiveness in the region. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, a vital trade corridor, and its increased deployment of vessels and other methods to assert its claims in disputed areas have riled nations across the region as well as Washington. Japan and the Association […]

Japan PM voices ‘serious concerns’ to Xi on Chinese military activity, Russia collaboration

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17, 2023 (AFP) – Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that he expressed to President Xi Jinping his “serious concerns” about Chinese military activity in the region while demanding that a ban on seafood imports be revoked. “I… expressed our serious concerns over China’s increasing military activity near Japan, including its collaboration with Russia,” Kishida said after meeting Xi for the first time in a year. “At the same time, I […]

Philippines embraces nuclear energy as US signs cooperation pact

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17, 2023 (AFP) – The United States on Thursday signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with the Philippines, clearing a path for US investment to jumpstart atomic power in a country racing to expand its electricity supply. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who has become a close US ally in his more-than one year in power, was on hand when his energy secretary signed the pact with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the […]

Biden, Xi compete for Asia-Pacific allies at summit

By Danny KEMP SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping made rival bids to win over Asia-Pacific allies at a summit in San Francisco Thursday, just a day after the two leaders met in a bid to reduce tensions between the superpowers. “We’re not going anywhere,” Biden told business leaders attending the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in San Francisco as he tried to reassure […]