Politics

  Bloomberg A US aircraft carrier and strike group have entered the South China Sea as part of what the 7th Fleet said was a scheduled operation amid rising tensions with China over a potential Taiwan visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, made its way to the disputed waters following a five-day ...

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s parliament on Thursday passed a bipartisan bill to curb defections by lawmakers, a major cause of political instability and a sign that elections may be round the corner. The ban on party-hopping was approved with a more than two-thirds majority and is part of a series of reforms introduced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri in September aimed ...

Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is getting bipartisan support for a possible trip to Taiwan, with some lawmakers from both parties arguing that it’s important that the top leader in the US Congress show no sign of giving in to pressure from China’s government. “If we can allow the Chinese to dictate who can visit Taiwan and who cannot, then ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden will speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday amid fresh tensions over Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter. The first conversation between the two presidents since March will take place at a particularly difficult juncture for US-China ties: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff and security officials aren’t ruling out plans for her to ...

Bloomberg Turkey said grain exports from Ukrainian ports could resume within a week and reach 25 million tonnes by the end of the year, after it brokered a deal between Kyiv and Moscow that eased fears of a global food crisis. Exactly when exports halted by Russia’s invasion would begin will be determined by logistical groundwork, Turkish President Recep Tayyip ...

Bloomberg North Korea used the anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting on the peninsula 69 years ago to warn of a “second Korean War,” blaming the US and South Korea for inflaming hostilities. “The joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, which are being carried out with a thick gunpowder smell, are exacerbating the situation on ...

Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff and security officials aren’t ruling out plans for her to visit Taiwan in early August on a trip that has already stoked more US-China tensions. No final decision has been made about stopping in Taiwan during a trip to Asia next month, according to a person familiar with the details, but if it happens ...

Bloomberg Now that Ukraine’s grain-export deal has been signed, all eyes are on clearing a major obstacle: freeing the scores of ships stuck there since February. As many as 100 vessels carrying grain and agricultural products were trapped in Ukrainian ports when Russia’s invasion began, and seeing them sail would mark a first step in revitalizing seaborne trade. But even ...

Bloomberg Indonesian President Joko Widodo invited China’s Xi Jinping to attend the Group of 20 summit in November, as the two leaders held a rare meeting in Beijing amid strict Covid controls. Xi thanked the G-20 host for his invitation and wished him success, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But it was unclear whether he ...

Bloomberg Myanmar has sufficient foreign reserves to avoid an economic crisis similar to Sri Lanka’s, the military government said, pushing back on suggestions by some analysts that the Southeast Asian nation faces a growing possibility of default. Major General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the State Administration Council, said at a press conference on Tuesday that Myanmar has a ...