The direct meeting with China’s leader is a sign of continued effort to ease tensions, but officials expect little progress on core issues like Taiwan, trade and Chinese support of Russia.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is in China this week as tensions have risen over trade, security, Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Middle East crisis.
In a display of solidarity and combat readiness, the United States and the Philippines have launched their largest joint military drills to date, amid escalating tension in the South China Sea. The drills, known as Balikatan (meaning "shoulder-to-shoulder" in Tagalog), saw around 9,000 troops engage in a series of exercises designed to reinforce interoperability and…