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Beijing and Washington are battling for influence in the strategically important Pacific region
Located between the US, China and Australia, the Pacific island countries hold strategic importance for security and defence. The US has long maintained influence and a military presence in the Pacific region. Over the last decade, China has focused on strengthening its ties in Pacific through , development, and security cooperation.
In 2022, Solomon Islands , sparking international concern over the possibility of Beijing building its first military base in the region. At the same time, the US ramped up its Pacific diplomacy, hosting a landmark and whirlwind tours by senior officials, including , and pledged . In February the US after a 30 year absence. Australia, which had been accused of neglecting its own relationship with Pacific countries, has also conducted a amid fears of Chinese influence growing in the region.

Former health secretary was asked to make clear in Pandemic Diaries that he was not reflecting government’s view
Matt Hancock was instructed by the Cabinet Office to tone down claims in his memoir that the Covid-19 pandemic originated from a laboratory leak in China, according to leaked correspondence.
Officials warned it would “cause problems” if Hancock repeated the claim in his Pandemic Diaries and insisted he must make clear he was not reflecting the government’s view, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Also, protests in Georgia and armed villagers in Kashmir.

BGI Group, which is said to have made multiple attempts to hack into Genomics England, was given £11m testing contract in 2021
China’s leading genomics research company was given a Covid testing contract in the UK despite ministers knowing it had repeatedly sought to hack into the NHS’s genetic datacentre, a government minister has said.
The BGI Group was making multiple attempts every week to “hack” into Genomics England in 2014, George Freeman, a minister for science, innovation and technology, revealed to MPs, and is said to remain a “danger”.

Students deserve to learn about the unjust, exclusionist and politically-motivated actions — including those initiated by Stanford alumni and faculty — that have impacted Asian American lives and our ...

Robert Fong was one among many in a crowd, beaming as a Congressional Gold Medal was presented to honor the contributions and service of Chinese American veterans during World War II. For Fong, who ...

Move comes as White House backs bill that could give it power to ban Chinese-owned app nationwide
TikTok has announced a data security regime for protecting user information across Europe, as political pressure increases in the US to ban the social video app.
The plan, known as Project Clover, involves user data being stored on servers in Ireland and Norway at an annual cost of €1.2bn (£1.1bn), while any data transfers outside Europe will be vetted by a third-party IT company.

Improving situation in China prompts decision, say news reports quoting Biden administration officials

The US is preparing to relax Covid-19 testing restrictions for travellers from China as soon as Friday, according to two people familiar with the decision.
The people, who were not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Biden administration had decided to roll back the testing requirements as cases, hospitalisations and deaths were declining in China and the US had gathered better information about the surge. The Washington Post was first to report on Tuesday about the easing of requirements.

After months of extreme heat, Wuhan has registered spring temperatures of 26C, while Beijing and surrounding cities hit 25C
Temperatures in more than a dozen Chinese cities have hit record seasonal highs this week, with central China’s Wuhan and Zhengzhou more than 10C hotter than average for early March, official data showed.
Wuhan, located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, registered temperatures of 26C on Monday, 12 degrees higher than the long-term early March average, while Beijing and surrounding cities also saw temperatures reach 25C earlier this week.