China Warns South Korea Not to Politicize Economic Issues

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the 10th trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in Busan on November 26, 2023. (AFP)

08:51-26 November 2023 AD ـ 15 Jumada Al-Ula 1445 AH

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the 10th trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in Busan on November 26, 2023. (AFP)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned his South Korean counterpart on Sunday not to politicize economic and tech issues as the two prepared to meet Japan's top diplomat on the sidelines of a trilateral meeting aimed at boosting cooperation.

"China and South Korea have become cooperation partners with highly integrated interests and highly interconnected production and supply chains," Wang told South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.

"Both sides should jointly resist the tendency to politicize economic issues, instrumentalize science and tech issues, and the broad securitization of trade issues."

South Korea has sought to avoid becoming embroiled in a tit-for-tat row between China and the United States over semiconductors.

The US last month granted Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) permission to supply US chip equipment to their China factories indefinitely, ending a conundrum for the world's two largest memory chipmakers.

"China is willing to jointly promote the restart of revamped trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan," Wang said on Sunday.

While China and the United States have been mending frayed ties, including a summit this month between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, Beijing is concerned that Washington and its key regional allies are strengthening their three-way partnership.

Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul had agreed to hold summits every year starting in 2008 to bolster diplomatic and economic exchanges, but the plan has been blocked by bilateral rows and the COVID-19 pandemic. Their last trilateral leaders' meeting was in 2019.

The three foreign ministers are gathering in the port city of Busan, also the first such meeting since 2019. In September, senior officials from the three countries agreed to arrange a trilateral summit at the "earliest convenient time".

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have taken steps to repair ties strained by history and trade feuds, and held a historic trilateral summit in August with Biden.

EU Nations to Hold Emergency Meeting on Soaring Diesel Prices amid US Pressure

FILE -Diesel prices are displayed at a gas station Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Carlsbad, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Asharq Al Awsat

06:00-2 October 2026 AD ـ 21 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

06:00-2 October 2026 AD ـ 21 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

EU Nations to Hold Emergency Meeting on Soaring Diesel Prices amid US Pressure

FILE -Diesel prices are displayed at a gas station Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Carlsbad, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

EU nations will meet Friday, aiming to develop a unified response to soaring diesel prices, a day after the US called on its European allies to release strategic reserves "immediately" to stem the crisis.

The emergency meeting between EU member states and the European Commission is scheduled for early in the day, a Commission spokesperson said late Thursday.

Washington is piling on pressure to get European help with fuel costs, with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday floating the possibility of banning diesel exports, said AFP.

EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters Thursday on the sidelines of the G20 trade ministers gathering in Milwaukee that any move by the US to ban diesel exports would be "unexpected for Europeans."

"It would have very dramatic consequences for our economic performance," Sefcovic said of any potential diesel export ban.

Sefcovic told reporters that he did not go into details with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on energy exports at the meeting, but the transatlantic partners "decided to stay in close touch to avoid any surprises here."

- 'Ongoing disruptions' -

Reports said the Trump administration wants France and Germany in particular to tap their stockpiles of diesel to try to curb prices sent soaring by the US war on Iran.

"Our European partners should accelerate delivery on their existing commitments and make additional supplies immediately available to address ongoing disruptions," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on social media.

High energy costs loom as a threat to Trump's Republican party in next month's midterm elections.

"It is in Europe's best interest to work with the United States as we pursue multiple pathways to boost the supply of refined products and lower costs for consumers," a US official told AFP.

At G20 trade talks in Milwaukee, Greer struck a conciliatory tone, saying there was an "eagerness on both sides to work together" on the diesel issue.

And Trump told reporters in Texas on Thursday that he "may" ask European countries to release diesel reserves.

- 'Balanced solutions' -

France's minister delegate for international trade, Nicolas Forissier, told AFP in Milwaukee: "I can't imagine that there will be a ban."

He stressed the importance of diesel to the United States and European countries, adding both sides will "try to find solutions."

"In France, we'll try to find balanced solutions all over the world," Forissier added. "If not with the Americans, it will be with other countries."

Trump on Wednesday said he was still considering a possible ban on US diesel exports, while adding that he thought it could ultimately cause gasoline prices to rise.

"I'm thinking about it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Speaking alongside Trump, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the world would "hear announcements from our friends in Europe" to push diesel prices down.

Asked about a release from strategic reserves, the French presidency said no such demand had been made when Emmanuel Macron and Trump met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week.

Macron would also soon convene a video meeting of G7 leaders "to make progress on the various levers that can be used to address the rising fuel prices... including coordination on releasing reserves."

Macron announced on September 18 a plan for such a meeting. The G7 gathering is expected in mid-October, according to Macron's press office.

Average US diesel prices have surged more than 70 percent to $6.39 a gallon since the start of the Iran war, according to AAA motor club data.

Fuel prices have caused living costs to soar, leaving Trump's Republican Party fearing it could lose control of Congress in November's midterm elections.

Business

IMF Says Lebanon Needs Key Reforms for Program

People walk along the Corniche Al-Manara seafront promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as the sun sets in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2026. (EPA)

06:56-2 October 2026 AD ـ 21 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

00:06-2 October 2026 AD ـ 21 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

06:56-2 October 2026 AD ـ 21 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

00:06-2 October 2026 AD ـ 21 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

IMF Says Lebanon Needs Key Reforms for Program

People walk along the Corniche Al-Manara seafront promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as the sun sets in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon must push through a number of key economic and banking sector reforms to secure a new International Monetary Fund program, the Fund said on Thursday.

"It will require continued progress on key reforms, including the entry into force of the bank resolution ‌law, and appropriate ‌financial gap laws ‌consistent ⁠with international standards," IMF ⁠spokesperson Julie Kozack told reporters during a press conference.

She added a 2027 budget and medium-term fiscal framework that were "consistent with debt sustainability for the country" were also ⁠required.

Lebanon first signed a ‌preliminary agreement ‌with the IMF in April 2022, more ‌than two years after its ‌financial system imploded following decades of profligate spending and corruption in the ruling elite.

It recently passed a new ‌banking restructuring law which was welcomed by the IMF, but ⁠this ⁠week Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun quietly referred that law to the country’s constitutional council, triggering a review.

The move has sparked concerns among reformists in Lebanon that the country is backtracking on the key piece of legislation and potentially putting its IMF support hopes at risk.

Business

Riyadh Air Adds Two Flights to London Heathrow, Increases Service to Nine Weekly

Riyadh Air’s first two Dreamliners at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, June 5, 2026. (SPA)

23:23-1 October 2026 AD ـ 20 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

Riyadh Air Adds Two Flights to London Heathrow, Increases Service to Nine Weekly

Riyadh Air’s first two Dreamliners at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, June 5, 2026. (SPA)

Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia’s national carrier, announced on Thursday that it will operate two additional flights between Riyadh and London Heathrow, expanding its service between the two cities to nine times weekly from the current daily service.

Following its successful launch to London Heathrow on June 10, the airline now flies eight aircraft to 14 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and aims to be on sale to almost 30 destinations by the end of 2026.

Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas said: “Since launching our London service four months ago, we have continued to build our presence in the UK by launching flights to Manchester and now increasing two additional roundtrip flights to Heathrow.”

“The additional flights help us meet the growing demand on this important route while giving guests more choice and flexibility while strengthening the connection between Riyadh and London,” he added.

The additional return services are planned for Monday and Wednesday, with a daytime flight from Riyadh to London followed by an overnight departure to Riyadh and are scheduled to begin on November 2.

The expanded schedule will give guests more options for travel between the two cities, including business trips, short breaks and extended weekends.

China Warns South Korea Not to Politicize Economic Issues

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