The New York Times reports: "China hosted a visit this week to its sole aircraft carrier by senior U.S. Navy officers amid tensions over reported plans by Washington to challenge Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea. The delegation of 27 commanders and captains boarded the Liaoning on Mondayand held discussions on "exercise management, personnel training, medical protection and strategies in carrier development," the Chinese navy said on its official microblog. That was followed Tuesday morning by a visit to the navy's submarine academy, where further dialogues were held, the navy said. The visits appear to reflect the growing momentum of military exchanges between the sides, despite occasional flare-ups in tensions and Washington's complaints over what it calls the Chinese military's lack of transparency."
Financial Times reports: "Just before Xi Jinping visited the US last month, President Barack Obama warned that he was prepared to sanction China over cyber crime. His stern message stood in contrast to the stance in the UK ahead of the Chinese leader's visit this week, which saw officials haggle over whether the Sino-British relationship had entered a 'golden decade' or a 'golden era...' But China experts in Washington say that in almost every other way, the two Atlantic allies have diverged in the way they treat the rising Pacific power. Evan Medeiros, head of the Asia practice at Eurasia Group and a former top Asia adviser to Mr Obama, says Britain is misguided in its China approach. 'If there is one truism in managing relations with a rising China, it is that if you give in to Chinese pressure, it will inevitably lead to more Chinese pressure,' he says.
CNN reports: "Actor James Woods, who frequently gets political on his Twitter account, called out Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Monday for a tweet about China. Sanders tweeted, 'China -- not exactly seen as a model when it comes to human rights -- provides 14 weeks of paid maternity leave. The US provides zero.' Woods responded within a few hours: 'China has notoriously killed female infants for population control, you utter moron. #ChinaGendercide.' Sanders did not respond to Woods' tweet on either his senatorial account or his presidential twitter account,"