"U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet senior Chinese leaders in Beijing this weekend at a time of heightened concerns in Asia and Washington over China's pursuit of maritime claims and shared worries about North Korea, the State Department said. Kerry will be the most senior U.S. official to visit China since many U.S. allies rushed to embrace a new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which some see as a challenge to U.S. leadership of the global financial system. Kerry will spend Saturday and Sunday in the Chinese capital and will discuss the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue scheduled to be held in Washington in late June as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected visit to the U.S. capital in September," reports Reuters.
According to Bloomberg, "Support for China-backed legislation to overhaul Hong Kong's next chief executive election has slipped 4 percentage points as officials head into a third week of campaigning for public approval, according to the latest survey. Some 42.5 percent of respondents in the city supported the government's election proposal...The legislation -- unveiled April 22 by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying -- is intended to meet a government pledge to hold the former British colony's first popular leadership vote in 2017. The proposal would require candidates to secure majority support from a 1,200-member nominating committee, something pro-democracy groups argue would let only Beijing loyalists compete in the public election."
Reuters writes, "China rebuked the Philippines on Tuesday for taking journalists to a disputed island in the South China Sea, dismissing its occupation as 'futile and illegal' in the latest war of words between the two sides. China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas. Its claims overlap with those of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan...China has so far not permitted journalists to visit the islands it controls in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year."
An opinion article from The National Interest writes, "For Americans, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the United States was a proud reminder of what can be achieved through the advancement of common interests and universal values...From China's perspective, rather than demonstrating the power of reconciliation, the revision of the U.S.-Japan defense guidelines 'is a worry for all nations with direct experience of these countries' previous overseas military escapades.' Once seen as a valued restraint that checked Japan's ambitions for regional hegemony, the U.S.-Japan alliance is now viewed as a threat."