"China played down U.S. concerns that proposed anti-terror legislation would give the Chinese government sweeping power to police electronic communications and marginalize foreign companies fighting for a share of China's $465 billion technology market, saying Tuesday that the law is purely designed to address domestic security issues...Four U.S. Cabinet members, including Secretary of State John Kerry, and the U.S. trade representative wrote their Chinese counterparts in February, expressing 'serious concerns' about the draft anti-terror law and rules for technology procurement at Chinese banks...China's moves to strengthen cybersecurity come in the wake of revelations of widespread U.S. government surveillance, and have raised questions about the extent to which government surveillance will interfere with the ability of private companies to effectively globalize," writes The Washington Post.  

According to The Wall Street Journal, "The annual meeting of China's legislature, usually a time for shows of political unity, is taking place this year amid a campaign to rid the Communist Party of the factions that have long dominated its inner workings. President Xi Jinping 's war on graft-unprecedented in scope-began in recent months to more overtly target what the leadership calls 'cliques' of officials with common political or economic interests...Mr. Xi's boosters argue that he is finally ridding the party of cliques that are technically banned and have long caused infighting, graft and scandals... Some political analysts and foreign diplomats say Mr. Xi is himself engaging in factionalism, by filling top posts with his allies." 

The New York Times reports, "China has quickly become among [South Sudan's] most important patrons, building its roads and pumping its oil. Now, more than a year after South Sudan's leaders plunged their country into a nasty civil war, the nation has become something of a test of diplomacy between the United States and China, raising the question: Can Washington and Beijing turn their mutual interests in South Sudan into a shared strategy to stop the bloodshed?... Peace talks - funded by both Beijing and Washington - are underway in Ethiopia this week...neither Washington nor Beijing has advanced a comprehensive strategy to stop the civil war. Both nations have been hesitant to substantially defang the kingpins of the war, including imposing an arms embargo or limiting how oil revenues might be used to fund the conflict."