How UN chief Antonio Guterres tests the limits of quiet diplomacy
Portugal's ex-PM seeks to resolve crises via patient negotiation, but success relies on leaders' willingness to act.
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Portugal's ex-PM seeks to resolve crises via patient negotiation, but success relies on leaders' willingness to act.
The Chinese ambassador to the Philippines says Beijing could “easily win” should it use force in the region but instead chooses peace, remarks that have drawn sharp criticism from Manila and calls for diplomatic restraint. The war of words came as tension over the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea rises, with Beijing repeatedly driving away Philippine aircraft over the shoal in recent months, most recently about two weeks ago, while accusing Manila of violating Chinese...
Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner sharply criticised Formula One's plans to hold an African Grand Prix in Rwanda, saying it would help “polish the image of an authoritarian leader.”
China and the United States are in regular talks about artificial intelligence (AI) as they seek to firm up plans for an incident “hotline” and develop a formalised dialogue process ahead of a presidential summit next month. The two sides aim to agree on a basic framework for addressing AI incidents before Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump meet on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ meeting in Shenzhen, the South China Morning...
Susan Thornton is a former American diplomat who for decades worked on US policy in Eurasia in the State Department before becoming acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs during the first Trump presidency. She is the director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Centre, Yale Law School. She spoke to Orange Wang about keeping the lines of China-US communication...
The Philippine military has rejected calls to restore direct communication channels with its Chinese counterpart, despite warnings from Beijing that their absence risks “miscalculation” during confrontations and could further escalate tensions in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would not communicate with its Chinese counterpart in advance of its maritime operations, arguing that such channels were ineffective without mutual respect for international...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Azerbaijan and three Balkan countries amid Beijing’s push to shore up its trade corridors and geopolitical influence in the regions. Wang will attend the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday “as special representative of President Xi Jinping”, according to China’s foreign ministry. Aside from Azerbaijan, Beijing’s top diplomat will visit Croatia, Montenegro and...
Kurt Campbell is a veteran US diplomat and strategist who has played a leading role in shaping Washington’s approach to China and the Indo-Pacific for more than a decade. He served as the White House coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs from 2021 to 2024 and as US deputy secretary of state from 2024 to 2025. Previously, he served as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs from 2009 to 2013 and was a key architect of the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia”. Often...
Navi Pillay says the Trump administrations' sweeping penalties on the international tribunal were "unheard of".
Mr. Jaishankar arrived in Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) from Ghana on the second leg of his three-nation tour of African countries, which also includes Ethiopia
Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hosted Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing for talks Thursday, though his government was careful to underscore it still doesn’t recognize the regime.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday said Malaysia would do “whatever is possible” to strengthen cooperation with Myanmar and fully reintegrate the diplomatically isolated nation into the Asean fold. The pledge came during an unusually high-profile official welcome for Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing, despite Malaysia’s position that such engagement does not amount to recognition of his government. Min Aung Hlaing inspected a guard of honour in Putrajaya before holding private talks with...
El Salvador's Vice President Félix Ulloa met Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi on 7 October and said the Bukele model was never discussed. The post Uruguay Hosts Bukele’s No. 2, Who Denies Security Talks appeared first on The Rio Times.
China and the US – Iran’s key partner and its chief adversary – found firmer common ground on Tehran at the Washington summit last month, and further head-of-state diplomacy could work in Iran’s favour, according to analysts. Iran was on the agenda when the presidents of the United States and China met in Beijing in May and again in Washington in September. There was no direct reference to Tehran in Beijing’s statement after the May summit, but following the September meeting China was more...
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Romuald Wadagni to the Elysee Palace on Monday. It’s the Beninese president’s first official visit to France since taking office in May.
Egyptian, Eritrean, Somali and Sudanese leaders also call for talks to end the civil war in Sudan.
Foreign Ministry says it summoned India's charge d'affaires to lodge 'strong protest' over killing of two civilians.
President Lee Jae Myung also accused Kyiv of "attempting to provoke a war on the Korean Peninsula".
Amid global tumult, the two countries alliance is not the only unlikely pairing.
Five days after Chinese President Xi Jinping left Washington, the US State Department marked the 77th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China with a greeting short enough to fit on a calling card. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s congratulatory statement landed on Wednesday, a few hours before dawn on National Day in Beijing. It made no mention of Xi’s visit, the trade understandings reached during the trip or the meetings the two leaders have scheduled for later this year. Washington...
Tokyo, Oct. 1 (Jiji Press)--A former Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force member admitted to trespassing at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo in March, during the first court hearing of his trial at Tokyo District Court on Thursday. According to the indictment, Kodai Murata, 24, entered the embassy grounds on March 24 carrying a kitchen knife with an 18-centimeter blade. The former second lieutena...
Tokyo, Oct. 1 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Masayoshi Arai has visited South Korea, marking the first visit by a GSDF chief in 17 years, according to Japan's Ground Staff Office. During the two-day visit, made at the invitation of South Korea from Tuesday to Wednesday, Arai met with Kim Gyu-ha, chief of staff of the South Korean army, the office said We...
Benjamin Netanyahu travelled secretly to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, Israeli media has reported, to ask its leader to deny claims he had warned the Israeli prime minister about a looming Hamas threat ahead of the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel. Netanyahu himself has confirmed making the secret trip, but denies he urged his UAE counterpart to do anything of the kind. France 24’s Douglas Herbert takes a closer look.
Qatari leader tells Piers Morgan that Doha will continue to uphold diplomacy and mediate for peace in the Middle East.
First such official visit by Indian delegation since Operation Indoor; Senior External Affair Ministry official leads team at three-day SCO preparatory meeting
China’s top diplomat suggested relations with Japan had deteriorated to a low point unseen in decades, adding pressure on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to amend her Taiwan remarks.
Canadian and US diplomats in Havana fell ill with unexplained symptoms from 2016. The Globe and Mail now reports, citing two sources, that Canadians were working with US intelligence at the time; Ottawa denies it. The post Canada Denies Its Diplomats Spied for the US in Cuba in Havana Syndrome Era appeared first on The Rio Times.
An escalating diplomatic row over Ukraine’s disclosure of a North Korean prisoner-of-war transfer is threatening to jeopardise South Korea’s future ties with and support for Kyiv, analysts say, even as it hands fresh ammunition to the political opposition in Seoul. South Korea’s presidential official issued a statement late on Sunday demanding an official explanation and apology for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s disclosure about the POWs at last week’s UN General Assembly. Seoul said...
Francisco Pérez Mackenna is the first Chilean foreign minister summoned to a formal questioning since 2005. Kast’s move into the US-led Shield of the Americas is the main charge. The post Chile Grills a Foreign Minister for the First Time, With a US Pact in Focus appeared first on The Rio Times.
Two giant pandas have arrived in Atlanta to take up residency at the southern US city’s zoo. The pandas, male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang, left Chengdu in China’s southwest on Sunday, within days of Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapping up his three-day state visit to the United States. During the visit, Xi said the pandas would arrive “in a few days”. Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, whose names mean peace and double blessings, arrived at Atlanta International Airport on a chartered flight, state...