The Chinese Ambassador has praised the Russia-China relationship as “the best in the world,” but analysts tell RT it falls short of a close economic or military alliance. This may change if Washington chooses to confront Beijing.   [...]

A new report issued by the US-based research think tank RAND Corporation has suggested that under the threat of open confrontation with Russia and China, the United States is likely to suffer sufficient losses and eventually will be defeated. [...]

After threatening Pyongyang with a military option US President Donald Trump turned to Russia and China calling upon them to join his efforts to solve the North Korean dilemma, analysts told Sputnik, explaining what is behind the new US sanction policy targeting the world's financial institutions that work with North Korea. [...]

US President Donald Trump has arrived in Beijing for a two-day visit as part of his five-nation tour of Asia. Sputnik looks at how the relationship between the US and China has changed Richard Nixon's historic eight-day trip in 1972. [...]

The international financial system needs to balance which is why there is no place for a dominant currency, said Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev. “The balanced system of financial relations should be based on the use of various reserve currencies, various forms of settlement. There should be no domination of any one currency,” said Medvedev, speaking at the regular Russia and China heads of govern [...]

China raised the maximum speed of its popular Beijing-Shanghai bullet trains up to 350 kph Tuesday, following years of restrictions amid safety concerns. China's Fuxings have once again become the world's fastest trains with the journey between Beijing and Shanghai being reduced from 5 hours and 45 minutes to 4 hours and 28 minutes. [...]

The United States dare not enter a trade war with China because it would certainly lose as it has already lost global economic, manufacturing and purchasing power leadership, analysts told Sputnik. [...]

Commenting on the recent statement of White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon that the US is at 'economic war' with China, Hong Kong-based political scientist Joseph Cheng explained to Sputnik that the US, in fact, can't do much to prevent Beijing from growing into the world's economic leader and why the two countries should avoid a trade war. [...]

Amid expectations of the US launching investigations into China’s alleged theft of American intellectual property as well as unfair trade practices, Beijing appears unmoved by the imminent probe while US businesses fear reprisals in case the row unintentionally escalates. Washington is expected to soon announce investigations into how China tackles copyright protection, protectionism and mark [...]

The US-South Korean military drills which are due to start next Monday may dramatically deteriorate the situation on the Korean Peninsula, RIA Novosti contributor Gevorg Mirzayan writes, adding that the country with the EU's leading economy, Germany, has openly demonstrated its discontent with US policy in the region. [...]

America’s chronic trade deficit with the rest of the world is testimony to a failed US economy. In reality, the US has no-one else to blame but itself for such an historic failure. But in typical chauvinist fashion, the Trump administration has found a handy scapegoat by blaming China — its top bilateral trading partner. President Donald Trump this week ordered a probe into alleged tr [...]

China "will stay neutral" if North Korea launches missiles threatening the United States, according to an op-ed in the influential Chinese newspaper Global Times. At the same time, Beijing will respond if the US and South Korea strike first and try to overthrow the North Korean regime. [...]

The commander of the United States Pacific Fleet said Thursday that he would launch a nuclear strike on China if President Donald Trump ordered it. "The answer would be: Yes," Adm. Scott Swift said, responding to a hypothetical question at a security conference at the Australian National University, according to ABC News. [...]

Syria’s Ambassador to China and former Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha stated that Beijing has never played an active role in Syrian crisis, but always vetoed resolutions sponsored by the West to sanction the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. [...]

As the West dithers, Russia is moving closer to China, and it increasingly appears the G7 will never be the G8 again. Soon after the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, advertisements began appearing around the city for the “G8 English School.” The proprietor was evidently using the conference, slated for the Black Sea city, to drum up interest in learning the language. [...]

China’s Foreign Minister warned that an armed conflict with North Korea may break out “at any moment,” urging Washington and Pyongyang to tone down their hawkish rhetoric and realize the price to pay for both sides if a new Korean War were to start. [...]

Beijing has called on the US to stop its hacking practices against China and other countries, following a WikiLeaks release which reportedly exposes the CIA’s extensive hacking capabilities and lists Chinese routers as targets. [...]

China has become the world’s largest producer of solar energy, according to a new report from the country’s energy administration. The most populous nation on Earth nearly doubled their capacity for solar power in 2016, but they still have a very low per-capita rate for solar power use. [...]

Over the next three decades, the global economy will be dominated by China, and the US economy will lose steam and fall behind India, says consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Russia will become the leading European economy ahead of Germany, UK, and Italy with GDP of $7 trillion, according to a PwC report. [...]

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has begun practicing the deployment of medium-range Dongfeng (DF) missiles capable of reaching strategic US and Japanese bases near China, the latest iteration of Beijing’s war game-preparations for an armed conflict in the South and East China Seas. [...]

Both Beijing and Washington are by no means interested in unleashing an all-out trade war, experts believe. Beijing and Washington are exchanging signals and testing waters before starting a serious dialogue about the future of bilateral relations, Russian expert Nikita Maslennikov told Sputnik. [...]

Thom talks Trump, trade, and trickle-down economics with economist Richard Wolff. Later on in the program, Thom talks with Alex Lawson of Social Security Works and Jessica Jackson Sloan of #cut50 about Trump’s pick of Steve Bannon to serve as chief White House strategist, how Democrats can win over working-class voters, and whether Trump could actually stage a fascist takeover of our democracy. [...]