China-japan Tension

China and Japan on Friday pledged to forge closer ties as both countries stood together at an "historic turning point", signing a broad range of agreements including a $30 billion currency swap pact, amid rising trade tensions with Washington.

China's Defence Ministry complained today that Japanese surveillance activities threatened the safety of Chinese ships and aircraft, raising the issue after Japan said earlier this week that its jet fighter scrambles had hit levels unseen since the Cold War.

Political tensions are partly to blame for Japanese investment in China recording its biggest fall for almost a quarter of a century, Beijing's commerce ministry said Thursday.

China and Japan engaged on Friday in a fresh round of invective over military movements near a disputed group of uninhabited islands, fuelling tensions that for months have bedevilled relations between the two major Asian powers.

The Philippines has asked China to explain its deployment of a patrol ship to guard disputed territory it claims in the South China Sea, saying the move has sparked new tensions over the potentially oil-rich waters, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Wednesday.

China has decided to approve new nuclear power plants as part of plans to reduce reliance on oil and coal, ending the moratorium it imposed to review safety in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster last year.

China and Japan on Friday pledged to forge closer ties as both countries stood together at an "historic turning point", signing a broad range of agreements including a $30 billion currency swap pact, amid rising trade tensions with Washington.

China's Defence Ministry complained today that Japanese surveillance activities threatened the safety of Chinese ships and aircraft, raising the issue after Japan said earlier this week that its jet fighter scrambles had hit levels unseen since the Cold War.

Political tensions are partly to blame for Japanese investment in China recording its biggest fall for almost a quarter of a century, Beijing's commerce ministry said Thursday.

China and Japan engaged on Friday in a fresh round of invective over military movements near a disputed group of uninhabited islands, fuelling tensions that for months have bedevilled relations between the two major Asian powers.

The Philippines has asked China to explain its deployment of a patrol ship to guard disputed territory it claims in the South China Sea, saying the move has sparked new tensions over the potentially oil-rich waters, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Wednesday.

China has decided to approve new nuclear power plants as part of plans to reduce reliance on oil and coal, ending the moratorium it imposed to review safety in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster last year.