Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in Beijing.

He said Panetta's visit will help to further advance the relationship between the two militaries as well as the two nations.

For his part, Panetta said he appreciates Xi's all-round support to encourage the military-to-military relationship and that he has confidence in better dialogues and communication between the two countries.

Panetta is on his first visit to China as Pentagon chief.

 

 

Most Americans support strong Sino-US relations, according to Poll figures

 

A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project has found most Americans supporting strong relations with China.

With China being considered a competitor rather than an enemy, 65 percent of Americans view China-U.S relations as generally good, compared with 29% who think otherwise.

Meanwhile, 55 percent of Americans advocate building a strong relationship with China, while most Americans also remain vigilant about China's fast rise as a world power.

66 percent of Americans regard China as a competitor, compared with 16% who see China as a partner, and 15% as an enemy.

The poll was released at a time when President Barrack Obama and Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney compete to harden their China-bashing rhetoric in order to win more votes.

 

 

Chinese surveillance ships continue patrol around Diaoyu Islands

 

Chinese marine surveillance ships patrolling the Diaoyu Islands have been encountering resistance from Japanese patrol ships.

The State Oceanic Administration says 10 Chinese surveillance ships have been cut off by the Japanese side.

The details of the encounter have not been revealed.

Japan has sent 6 vessels and 3 planes into the area.

 

 

Japan's "purchase" of Diaoyu Islands affects China-Japan-ROK FTA talks

 

China says that Japan's unlawful "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands will definitely affect planned talks on a free trade area between China, Japan and South Korea.

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang says Japan's move will impose adverse impact on Sino-Japanese economic ties and will consequentially affect the planned trilateral FTA talks.

Shen says China is still overseeing the situation however, he didn't say if the trilateral talks, scheduled to start within this year, have been canceled.

 

 

Taiwan negotiator on cross-Strait affairs says to resign

 

Chiang Pin-kung announced this morning that he will resign from his post as chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation on Thursday next week.

Taiwan authorities have approved his resignation.

Founded in 1990, the Foundation is authorized by Taiwan to handle cross-Strait affairs.

 

 

Alibaba closes buyback deal with Yahoo

 

China's Alibaba group has officially concluded a 7.6-billion-U.S. dollar buyback deal to repurchase a 20-percent stake in itself from Yahoo.

It paid Yahoo 6.3 billion U.S. dollars in cash and 800 million U.S. dollars in preference shares in Alibaba in the deal.

The initial repurchase of shares represented half of Yahoo's 40 percent stake in Alibaba on a fully diluted basis.

Before the deal, Yahoo had been the largest shareholder in Alibaba, with its voting rights in the company's board increased from 35 percent to 39 percent in 2010.

 

 

Iranian FM arrives in Damascus for talks with officials

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi has arrived in Syria's capital of Damascus, where he will meet with his counterpart Walid al-Moallem and President Bashar al-Assad.

Iran, the main regional ally of Syria, is a member of the newly-established quartet committee, which also groups Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.

The formation of the quartet group was called for by the new Egyptian leader Mohammad Morsi with the aim of handling the Syrian issue in a peaceful way.

The committee held its first foreign ministers meeting Monday in Egypt's capital, Cairo.

The next meeting for the quartet committee will be held in New York next Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

 

 

Popular S. Korean software mogul announces presidential bid

 

A popular South Korean entrepreneur-turned-professor, Ahn Cheol-soo, has broken his silence to officially declare his presidential bid.

The announcement ended months of frenzied media speculation over the political future of Ahn.

The soft-spoken millionaire philanthropist, who founded the anti-virus software firm AhnLab, said the current political system fails to represent the popular will and the economic system widens the wealth gap.

The presidential election is slated for in Dec, with incumbent President Lee Myung-bak constitutionally barred from seeking re-election.

 

 

S. Africa's Lonmin mine strike to end

 

Striking miners at the Marikana mine in South Africa have accept a wage offer of 22 percent.

They will return to work on Thursday.

This follows a bloody 6-week strike at the mine which has left 45 people dead.

The wildcat strike by miners at the Lonmin facility has sparked job action across South Africa's mining sector.

It's also ignited criticism of South African President Jacob Zuma and his ruling African National Congress.