China has issued new rules on financial accounting at religious organisations, state media said Friday, in an apparent bid to increase its already tight controls on faith-based groups. China officially allows freedom of religion, but in practice, the atheist Communist Party restricts religious groups through a bureaucratic registration process that demands allegiance to the ruling party. The new rules, issued ...

China urged the United States Friday not to politicise a row over the value of its currency as it announced a top official would travel to Washington for talks on the issue and other trade disputes. As trade tensions between the two powers rise, Beijing warned of a negative impact from pending US legislation that would impose tough new penalties ...

The United States left open the possibility of further arms sales to Taiwan, with a senior official saying that China's military buildup was aimed squarely at the self-governing island. President Barack Obama's administration in January approved a 6.4 billion dollar arms package for Taiwan including helicopters, Patriot missiles and mine-hunting ships, angering Beijing. State Department official David ...