With wars raging in Ukraine, the Middle East, an emboldened North Korea, and the coming US presidential election, it is prudent Seoul not get involved in a potential Taiwan crisis, one expert said.

Struggling US-China ties, a human rights shock and a student in big trouble: these are the highlights from the SCMP’s overseas correspondents from April 2024.

Observers speculate the investigation is politically motivated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s ongoing feud with his predecessor.

China’s Communist Party will hold one of its most-watched meetings in July, as analysts predict the political body will lay out reforms to aid in the country’s economic recovery.

Beijing’s top anti-graft agency says Liu, who once served on Interpol executive committee, is ‘suspected of serious violations of discipline and law’ which is widely understood to mean corruption.

One of Europe’s most hawkish leaders towards Beijing is confirmed to meet the Chinese president during his first trip to the continent in five years.

Visit comes amid growing trade tensions with EU following the launch of a series of probes into alleged subsidies.

‘Our interaction is important for strategic stability on the planet,’ Dong Jun says after meeting with Sergey Shoigu; both chiefs back continued military cooperation.

Observers say Ukraine will be high on the agenda when Chinese President Xi Jinping travels to France, Serbia and Hungary next month, while the West will be watching Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s visit to China for signs Beijing is supporting Moscow’s war efforts.

Their manifesto criticises President Marcos Jnr’s South China Sea stance, claims China’s aggressive actions justified by his provocations

Trip would be the long-time leader’s first abroad since his re-election, amid Western claims that China is propping up Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

Secretary of State raised concerns in meeting with Shanghai party chief Chen Jining, but also said direct engagement between the two sides is a ‘necessity’.

While visiting Chongqing’s Army Medical University, Xi says China needs ‘new generation of red military doctors’ and stresses importance of improved training, logistical support and specialised battlefield medicine as Beijing steps up war readiness.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Beijing that Hungary is a ‘European country of unique influence’.

The Golden Horizon Fund, which will target companies across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and China, marks the first time that CIC has invested in the Middle East.

Trade, Ukraine among topics on the agenda, with Blinken expected to pressure China to urge its firms to stop supplying dual-use goods to Russia or face more punitive measures.

New force is ‘a key pillar in coordinating the construction and application of the network information system’, according to President Xi Jinping

Developments hours apart come amid rising anxiety in some European capitals over the threat of Beijing’s surveillance practices.

Exchanges between people are ‘as important’ as political relations between countries, analyst says.

Meetings with Foreign Minister Wang Yi expected to cover unfair trade practices and industrial overcapacity in ‘productive and constructive’ trip.

Announcement comes as US city’s mayor, London Breed, nears the end of a weeklong trip to China and just days before US secretary of state is expected in Beijing.

At a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy, a US official said China is ‘contributing to Russia’s ability to prosecute’ the Ukraine war in ways that threaten all of Europe.

As well as programmes in industry and education, local governments are encouraged to provide perks, including incentives in housing, start-up investment and schooling and jobs for the family of digital workers.