SANYA, China, April 13 (Reuters) – India and China have
agreed to restore defence ties and will exchange visits by their
top leaders as well as take steps to enhance their balance of
trade, India’s National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon said
on Wednesday.

The two will also set up a consultation mechanism for a
long-running border dispute, Menon said, in a sign that the
Asian giants are willing to sidestep contentious issues to align
with each other on global platforms like the G20.

SANYA, China (Reuters) – Trade ministers of the five BRICS nations gave no sign on Wednesday of being ready to make concessions to break a deadlock in decade-old talks to free up global commerce.

The Doha Round of negotiations, being conducted under the umbrella of the World Trade Organisation, has made little progress since coming tantalisingly close to a breakthrough in 2008.

BEIJING (Reuters) – When Indian media reported recently that Chinese troops were in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the response from China was vehement.

“Such talk is utterly baseless and totally absurd,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters last week.

BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese government said on Thursday detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei was being investigated for “suspected economic crimes,” while his family said he was the innocent victim of a political witchhunt.

The confirmation from the Foreign Ministry that Ai faces a police investigation for alleged business-related crimes is unlikely to end the international uproar about his secretive detention, and the departing U.S. ambassador to Beijing, Jon Huntsman, added his voice to the condemnations.

BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese government said on Thursday detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei was being investigated for “suspected economic crimes,” while his family said he was the innocent victim of a political witchhunt.

The confirmation from the Foreign Ministry that Ai faces a police investigation for alleged business-related crimes is unlikely to end the international uproar about his secretive detention, and the departing U.S. ambassador to Beijing, Jon Huntsman, added his voice to the condemnations.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Counter-culture hero and 1960s protest singer-songwriter Bob Dylan got a rapturous welcome from fans on Wednesday at his first ever concert in China, despite having agreed to sing only an approved set designed not to offend political sensitivities.

Famous for his songs against injustice and for civil liberties and pacifism, Dylan struck a cautious line in Beijing and did not sing anything that might have overtly offended China’s Communist rulers, like “The Times They Are A-Changin.”

BEIJING (Reuters) – Burly, bearded and blunt, artist Ai Weiwei is one of China’s loudest and most colourful challengers of Communist Party controls, whose art spans porcelain sunflower seeds to names of earthquake victims scrolling on a computer screen.

But his recent detention signals the 53-year-old’s busy career as an artistic and political provocateur may have run into a wall of Party score-settling.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Leaders from five of the world’s top emerging economies will discuss a coordinated stance on economic issues such as commodity price fluctuations, but the yuan’s exchange rate is off the agenda, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Saturday.

The mid-April “BRICS” summit will gather leaders from China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa in the southern Chinese beach resort of Sanya.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Thursday it faced an increasingly “volatile” Asian region where the United States has expanded its strategic footprint, maintaining that better military ties between Beijing and Washington rested on respect for each other’s interests.

China’s People’s Liberation Army spelled out its concerns about U.S. intentions in a policy paper setting out broad priorities for Beijing’s growing military forces.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Thursday it faced an increasingly “volatile” Asian region where the United States has expanded its strategic footprint, maintaining that better military ties between Beijing and Washington rested on respect for each other’s interests.

China’s People’s Liberation Army spelled out its concerns about U.S. intentions in a policy paper setting out broad priorities for Beijing’s growing military forces.