President Xi calls India and China ‘friends and partners’

Chinese President Xi Jinping has described China and India as “good neighbours, friends and partners,” signalling continued efforts to stabilise ties between Asia’s two largest nations despite lingering border tensions.

Myanmar began the final phase of its general election on Sunday, with polling under way in 60 townships including major urban centres such as Yangon and Mandalay.

The Philippines has hosted a meeting involving political and ethnic stakeholders from military-ruled Myanmar, marking a renewed attempt by ASEAN to revive its long-stalled peace efforts in the conflict-hit country.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will not recognise or certify Myanmar’s ongoing election and will not deploy observers to monitor the vote, Malaysia’s foreign minister said.

China’s birth rate dropped to its lowest level on record last year, official data showed on Tuesday, highlighting deepening demographic challenges as the country’s population shrank for a fourth consecutive year despite policy efforts to encourage larger families.

Asia continues to dominate the top of the global passport power rankings. Singapore once again secured the number one position worldwide in 2026, with its citizens enjoying visa-free access to 192 destinations. Japan and South Korea jointly ranked second, offering access to 188 destinations. 

China on Monday urged the United States not to use other countries as an excuse to pursue its own interests, after US President Donald Trump said the US needed to own Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying it in the future.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will open full hearings on Monday in a landmark case accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, marking the first time in more than a decade that the UN’s top court will hear a genocide case in its entirety.

Voters in conflict-hit Myanmar went to polling stations on Sunday for the second phase of a military-organised election, as the ruling junta presses ahead with a vote widely criticised as an attempt to legitimise its grip on power after years of unrest.

China has sharply criticised what it described as unilateral actions by powerful nations, saying it cannot accept any country acting as a `world judge,` following the detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States.

Calm continued along the Cambodia-Thailand border for a second straight day on Sunday as a ceasefire agreement appeared to be holding after weeks of deadly clashes that killed more than 100 people and forced over half a million civilians to flee their homes on both sides.

Polling stations opened across Myanmar on Sunday for a general election held amid an ongoing civil war and widespread doubts over its legitimacy, marking the first nationwide vote since the military seized power in a 2021 coup. 

The United States and Iran exchanged sharp accusations at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday over the future of nuclear negotiations, underscoring deep divisions that continue to block a return to diplomacy.

China has likely loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) across three newly developed silo fields, underscoring a rapid expansion of its nuclear forces and a lack of interest in arms control talks, according to a draft Pentagon report.

Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia are set to meet in Malaysia on Monday in an urgent effort to contain escalating clashes between Thailand and Cambodia that have left at least 40 people dead and forced more than half a million residents from their homes this month.

Japan’s prime minister said on Wednesday she remains open to dialogue with China even as tensions between the two Asian powers rise over Taiwan and recent military encounters.