US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently expressed concerns over Beijing’s "destabilising actions" in the South China Sea during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. This meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' gathering in Laos. Despite ongoing tensions, both leaders aimed to keep communication channels open.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian declared the decision, citing that ongoing American arms sales to Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province, had severely disrupted the political environment necessary for continued bilateral consultations.

Four US college instructors from Iowa College, visiting China, were injured in a stabbing incident in a public park in Jilin. The instructors, affiliated with Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, were accompanied by a faculty member from Beihua University, their partner institution, when the incident occurred on Monday, local time.

Sharif is currently on a visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, seeking to upgrade cooperation under the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. 

Russian President Putin is scheduled to embark on a two-day visit to China on May 16, marking his second visit to the country in less than a year amidst escalating conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. This visit comes shortly after Putin's extension of his term in office until 2030.

This Friday marks the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH370. The Boeing 777, which was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 individuals onboard on March 8, 2014, abruptly changed course southward and disappeared from the radar. It never arrived in Beijing.

Russia is a power with an enormous tradition of statecraft and it is turning more towards Asia or non-West parts of the world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday