During a Friday press conference, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said talks with Indian officials had been “very productive” as he concluded a 9-day diplomatic tour addressing the Israel–Hamas conflict. On his third visit to India this year, Mr. Blinken was joined by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to meet with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh for the annual “two-plus-two” talks between the countries, which center on defense and security cooperation. “We continue—India and the United States—to deepen our partnership, to deepen our collaboration on everything from emerging technologies to defense to people-to-people ties, as well as our shared diplomacy to try to advance an Indo-Pacific region that’s free, that’s open, that’s prosperous, that’s resilient,” Mr. Blinken said....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/blinken-positive-after-talks-with-india-on-china-middle-east-5527474
Lai Ching-te, vice president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, amid the Chinese communist regime’s increasing war threat, said, “If I become president, the probability of a war between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will be the lowest.” The Republic of China was established in 1911 after the fall of China’s last imperial dynasty—the Qing Dynasty. After being defeated by the communists in China’s civil war, the nationalist government retreated to the island of Taiwan, the last territory of the Republic of China, while the communists established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Today, Taiwan’s official name is still the Republic of China.... 
Prominent Chinese communist patriarchies were absent from the recent official funeral of former Premier Li Keqiang. A China watcher has said it is an indication of a growing split in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hierarchy over the scrutiny of Mr. Li’s death. The 68-year-old’s body was cremated at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing on Nov. 2. State media CCTV broadcasted a video showing CCP leader Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, shaking hands with Mr. Li’s wife, Cheng Hong, at the ceremony that day. Six other Mr. Xi’s Politburo of Central Committee members attended the funeral....
The fiscal crisis plaguing China’s largest private asset management corporation, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group (ZEG), has reverberated through multiple industries in China. Often dubbed China’s “Blackstone,” ZEG managed assets exceeding approximately $516.7 billion. But when it was learned in August that it was facing a liquidity crisis, panic in the market followed. Concerns arose that ZEG’s crisis could be as dire or worse as the Evergrande or Country Garden crises, posing a substantial financial threat to China. ZEG’s core investment management platform, Zhongrong International Trust, and its subsidiaries, namely Hengtian Wealth, Datang Wealth, Xinhu Wealth, and Gaosheng Wealth, all experienced significant defaults....