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China-Taiwan Relations
Sources: Xi hopes to get Trump to change Taiwan policy

Donald Trump's desire to reach a trade deal with China could mean the US making concessions on the Taiwan issue. At least that's what Chinese President Xi Jinping hopes, according to sources to the Wall Street Journal.

Xi is said to be dissatisfied with the current US policy, which is that the country "does not support Taiwan independence". He wants the US to declare that it "opposes Taiwan independence".

- Driving a wedge between Washington and Taipei is the holy grail for Beijing, says Evan Medeiros, a former adviser to the Obama administration, to the newspaper.

A meeting between Trump and Xi is planned for the Apec conference in Seoul in November.

The situation in North Korea
Meeting between North Korea and the US may be in the works

It "cannot be ruled out" that the US and North Korea will meet in connection with the upcoming meeting of the economic cooperation organization Apec meeting in South Korea later this year. This is what South Korean officials say, according to AFP.

Relations between the countries have been at rock bottom since a highly publicized meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un in 2019 failed to produce any results. However, Kim is reported to have recently signaled that he is interested in thawing relations if the US drops its demand that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Trump met Kim three times during his first term and said in August that he hopes the two will meet again, perhaps as early as this year.

Thailand-Cambodia border conflict
Fighting on the border between Thailand and Cambodia

Forces from both sides have fired at each other in the border area between Thailand and Cambodia, Bloomberg reports. These are the first clashes since the countries signed a ceasefire agreement in August.

According to the Thai army, Cambodian soldiers fired at the Chong An Ma area in Ubon Ratchathani province, whereupon Thai soldiers returned fire.

Cambodia, for its part, claims that Thai forces fired and used grenades at the An Seh military base.

Neither side has reported any deaths or injuries. 

Iran's nuclear program
New sanctions against Iran: "Not the end of diplomacy"

For the first time in ten years, extensive UN sanctions against Iran have now been reimposed, several media outlets report. The sanctions include freezing Iranian assets abroad and halting arms trade with the country.

The sanctions were lifted when Iran signed the international nuclear agreement in 2015. France, Germany and the UK have been the driving force behind their reimposition. The countries are now warning Iran against escalating, writes TT.

"The reimposition of UN sanctions is not the end of diplomacy," the three countries' foreign ministers wrote in a joint statement.