Dear Focus Readers,

Welcome to the latest edition of Focus This Week. Today, we're paying close attention to the recent meeting between China's Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, their second encounter within a month. This unprecedented interaction signals a growing thaw between the two nations.

Additionally, John Kerry will be heading to China soon for climate talks with his counterpart, Xie Zhenhua. Kerry noted that he's committed to cooperation rather than concessions, setting an optimistic tone for future collaboration.

In other news, the NATO Summit concluded this week, where China was a large topic of discussion, particularly in the contexts of Taiwan and Ukraine. The alliance said in a communique that they're, "open to constructive engagement" with China, but emphasized that Beijing's ambitions pose "systemic challenges" to "Euro-Atlantic security."

Below, you can catch up on our top Focus content from the last week on several high-level issues, including outcomes from the Summer Davos, the global arms race, and people-to-people exchanges.

As always, we encourage you to continue sharing your feedback with us and to join the conversation.

- Team Focus