The Washington Post reports: "Britain says a missing Hong Kong bookseller was likely abducted to mainland China, calling it a 'serious breach' of the treaty under which Beijing took control of the city. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a twice-yearly report on Hong Kong affairs released Thursday that Lee Bo was 'involuntarily removed' to the mainland....The Joint Declaration is the treaty signed in 1984 between Britain and China safeguarding Hong Kong's rights and freedoms after Beijing took power in 1997. Under the 'one country, two systems' principle, Hong Kong retains a high degree of control over its own affairs, including law enforcement....The Hong Kong government said in a statement Friday that while its police are continuing to investigate and have sought assistance from mainland authorities, 'Any suggestion that 'Mr. Lee was involuntarily removed to the mainland' remains speculative.'"
Reuters reports: "China will back a U.N. Security Council resolution to make North Korea 'pay the necessary price' for recent rocket launches, its foreign minister told Reuters on Friday, adding the goal was to get Pyongyang back to the negotiating table....North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since its first nuclear test in 2006. It has conducted three more atomic tests since then, including last month's, and numerous ballistic missile launches. Washington and Beijing have appeared divided over how to respond to North Korea, with Washington urging tougher sanctions and Beijing stressing the need for dialogue. However, Wang [Yi] told Reuters at an interview in Munich that it was time for a 'strong' resolution covering a wide range of areas. '(We) support the United Nations Security Council to take further steps and in adopting a new resolution so that North Korea will pay the necessary price and show there are consequences for its behavior,' the minister said, speaking through an interpreter."
Financial Times reports: "Later this year an obscure international tribunal in The Hague will issue a decision about contested islands in the South China Sea. For the Obama administration, the ruling will be a seminal moment in the fierce disputes about the South China Sea — a test of China's willingness to follow international law in its dealings with its neighbours....A United Nations tribunal is expected to rule between April and June on a case brought by the Philippines which seeks to invalidate the 'nine-dash line' — markings on maps that Beijing uses to claim almost the entire South China Sea. China lost the first round of the case in October when The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, which hears disputes related to the UN Law of the Sea, decided that it would accept the case despite protests by Beijing that the tribunal did not have jurisdiction....China says it will not recognise the court's ruling and US officials do not expect it to result in any claims being surrendered."