Chinese FM Wang Yi to Embark on Southeast Asia Tour 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi poses as he meets Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (not seen) in Ankara, Türkiye, July 26, 2023. (Reuters)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi poses as he meets Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (not seen) in Ankara, Türkiye, July 26, 2023. (Reuters)
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Chinese FM Wang Yi to Embark on Southeast Asia Tour 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi poses as he meets Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (not seen) in Ankara, Türkiye, July 26, 2023. (Reuters)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi poses as he meets Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (not seen) in Ankara, Türkiye, July 26, 2023. (Reuters)

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia this week, Beijing said on Wednesday as it seeks to build ties in the region.

Wang, who returned to the post last month after the unexplained disappearance of predecessor Qin Gang, will travel to the three countries from Thursday to Sunday, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

"China hopes to strengthen strategic communication with the three Southeast Asian countries through this visit," the foreign ministry said.

Cambodia has become one of China's strongest allies in the region under the rule of outgoing ruler Hun Sen, receiving huge sums of Chinese investment.

China's relations with Southeast Asia have been complicated by self-proclaimed control over most of the South China Sea despite competing claims from nations including Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Maritime disagreements have pitted some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) against Beijing and boosted sympathy for US opposition to China's growing assertiveness. Others have backed Beijing.

Singapore has for decades juggled ties with China and the US, engaging in an increasingly delicate balancing act amid the growing rivalry between the two powers across the Asia-Pacific.



Russia: Hypersonic Missile Strike on Ukraine Was a Warning to 'Reckless' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
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Russia: Hypersonic Missile Strike on Ukraine Was a Warning to 'Reckless' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS

The Kremlin said on Friday that a strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile was designed as a message to the West that Moscow will respond to their "reckless" decisions and actions in support of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new missile - the Oreshnik or Hazel Tree - at a Ukrainian military facility.
"The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries that produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine and subsequently participate in strikes on Russian territory cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side," Peskov told reporters.
"The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns are not taken into account have been quite clearly outlined,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Peskov said Russia had not been obliged to warn the United States about the strike, but had informed the US 30 minutes before the launch anyway.
President Vladimir Putin remained open to dialogue, Peskov said, but he said the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden "prefers to continue down the path of escalation".
Putin said on Thursday that Russia had fired the new missile after Ukraine, with approval from the Biden administration, struck Russia with six US-made ATACMS missiles on Tuesday and with British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and US-made HIMARS on Thursday.
He said this meant that the Ukraine war had now "acquired elements of a global character".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Russia's use of the new missile amounted to "a clear and severe escalation" in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.